System Applications Software Development and Testing for the Spaceport Command and Control System

Known as "America's Spaceport," one of Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) primary responsibilities is the successful preparation for and launch of rockets into space. KSC's Engineering Software Branch has been tasked with creating a new command and control system that will provide check-out and launch control for future rockets and spacecraft. While work on the software began several years ago, development is ongoing and the operators who use the software on a daily basis have requested several features to improve their user experience. My internship in the fall of 2018 involved developing the source code and unit tests for two of these requested features: "Display Data with Persistence" (DDP) and "Save Events Button" (SEB). DDP's primary goal is to aid with ergonomics. Currently, users must press-and-hold on the mouse button to display information about points on a data plot. Once DDP is integrated, users will have the ability to double-click on a data plot to display that same information with persistence. Independent from DDP, the SEB provides users the ability to take information about different events that occur in the control system and save that data into a simple Comma Separated File (.csv) file format for easier analysis at a future time

Free-radical maleation of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) in supercritical carbon dioxide and its effect on the percolation and deformation mechanism of layered silicate nanocomposites

The utilization of compostable polymers such as poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) in single-use packaging applications can mitigate the water, solvents, and energy required for processing plastic waste. PBAT exhibits exceptional elongational properties, but its moderate water vapor permeability and low tensile modulus limit the applications in which PBAT can be employed. In this work, PBAT nanocomposites were produced at various loadings of organically-modified montmorillonite. The secondary structure of nanoparticles formed within the PBAT matrix was evident in the terminal region of the linear viscoelastic response under oscillatory shear, and a percolation threshold was determined to occur at 3.88% clay by weight. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) were also utilized to elucidate the clay nanoparticle structure and the effect of increased clay loading on thermal and mechanical and properties was also studied. To improve the level of clay exfoliation, a graft copolymer was developed as a compatiblizer. The maleation of PBAT was demonstrated via a solvent-free free-radical initiated grafting process in a supercritical carbon dioxide medium. The grafted anhydride moieties were modified with benzylamine to aid in FTIR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy, and it was calculated that PBAT-g-MA was produced at a graft level ranging between 1.16 and 1.63%. The graft copolymer was then incorporated in PBAT nanocomposites to examine the compatibilization effects on the development of a nanoparticle network. The addition of 5% PBAT-g-MA resulted in improved clay dispersion and exfoliation evidenced through TEM, XRD, permeation analysis, and tensile testing. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed that the presence of PBAT-g-MA nucleated early onset crystallization but the organized folding of the PBAT chains was hindered by the percolated clay structure resulting in a lower overall percent crystallinity. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the compatibilized samples demonstrated onset degradation at lower temperatures and an increased char formation at 600°C

Injection of liquids into the soil with a high-pressure jet

With regard to injection fertilizing, the more general topic of liquid injection into the soil with the aid of a high-pressure jet is of great importance.  Injection fertilizing means that liquid fertilizer is injected into the soil near the plant roots.  This provides many agronomical advantages.  However, currently available mechanical injection fertilizing techniques in the field use have some disadvantages, such as very heavy wear on individual components.  Therefore, research on the direct, contactless injection of liquids into the soil with the aid of a high-pressure jet is being carried out at the Institute of Agricultural Machinery and Fluid Power of the Technische Universitaet of Braunschweig.  The potential and the possibilities of injection by a high-pressure jet are being examined in trials on a stationary test rig.  In these trials, different soils were used under different conditions (soil moisture, and soil density), and the possibilities of injecting pure water in the form of a high-pressure water jet were studied.  It was shown that the variation of different parameters of the high-pressure jet, such as water pressure, volume flow, etc., allow different injection depths in the soil to be realized.  Especially soil moisture has a very great influence on injection.  In dry soils, for example, the binding forces of the soil bodies (solid body bridges, van-der-Waals forces, etc.) are very strong so that only small injection depths can be reached.  The higher the degree of soil moisture is, the larger the injection depth becomes.  Depending on the soil type, average soil moisture, water pressure of 40 MPa, and speed of the nozzle over the ground of 2 m/s provide injection depths of 70 – 90 mm.  In addition to application in the area of injection fertilizing, the considered injection of liquids into the soil also shows great potential in plant protection, irrigation, as well as the injection of decontamination agents into contaminated soils.Keywords: injection of liquids, soil, fertilisation, high pressure, contactless, frictionles

Detection and Isolation of Viable Mouse IL-17-Secreting T Cells

The MACS Cytokine Secretion Assay technology allows detection of secreted cytokines on the single cell level and sensitive isolation of viable cytokine-secreting cells. In order to label IL-17-secreting cells, a single cell suspension of mouse splenocytes is prepared and stimulated at 37°C with PMA/ionomycin to induce cytokine secretion. To stop secretion cells are then placed on ice and are exposed to the IL-17 Catch Reagent a bi-specific antibody that binds to CD45 on the cell surface of leukocytes and to IL-17 as it is secreted and caught near the cell surface. Secretion is then re-started by increasing the temperature to 37°C and IL-17 is trapped by the Catch Reagent. Secretion is then stopped again, by placing cells on ice. To detect the trapped IL-17, cells are incubated with a second IL-17-specific antibody conjugated to biotin and an Anti-Biotin-PE antibody. Cells can now be directly analyzed by flow cytometry or prepared for isolation and enrichment by subsequent labeling with Anti-PE conjugated MicroBeads

Lower risk of severe hypoglycaemia with insulin glargine 300 U/mL versus glargine 100 U/mL in participants with type 1 diabetes : A meta‐analysis of 6‐month phase 3 clinical trials

Severe hypoglycaemia (SH) remains a challenge to people with type 1 diabetes (T1DM), and new‐generation basal insulins may improve patient outcomes. This post hoc meta‐analysis explored the risk of SH with insulin glargine 300 U/mL (Gla‐300) versus glargine 100 U/mL (Gla‐100) in a pooled population with T1DM from three randomized, multicentre, 6‐month similarly designed phase 3 trials: EDITION 4, EDITION JP 1 and EDITION JUNIOR. Endpoints included incidence and time to first occurrence of SH. Among 629 and 626 participants randomized to Gla‐300 and Gla‐100, respectively, glycated haemoglobin reductions were similar. Fewer participants experienced ≥1 SH event with Gla‐300 (6.2%) than with Gla‐100 (9.3%). From baseline to month 6, the risk of a first SH event was lower with Gla‐300: hazard ratio 0.65 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.44–0.98; stratified log‐rank test P = 0.038]. SH event rates were numerically lower with Gla‐300 versus Gla‐100 from baseline to month 6 [relative risk (RR) 0.80 (95% CI 0.49–1.29); P = 0.356] and baseline to week 8 [RR 0.73 (95% CI 0.37–1.44); P = 0.369]. Thus, Gla‐300 demonstrated similar glycaemic control with lower risk of SH versus Gla‐100, particularly during the titration period

Efficacy and safety of insulin glargine/lixisenatide (iGlarLixi) fixed-ratio combination in older adults with type 2 diabetes.

Abstract Aims This study assessed the efficacy and safety of iGlarLixi (a titratable, fixed-ratio combination of insulin glargine [iGlar] plus lixisenatide) in older patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods This post hoc analysis used patient-level data from patients aged ≥65 years from the phase III LixiLan-O and LixiLan-L studies, which compared iGlarLixi with iGlar and lixisenatide (LixiLan-O only). Efficacy endpoints were changes in glycated hemoglobin A1C, fasting plasma glucose, postprandial glucose, weight, and achievement of A1C Results In both trials, older patients treated with iGlarLixi achieved significantly greater reductions in A1C at Week 30 than comparators. Treatment with iGlarLixi mitigated insulin-associated weight gain and lixisenatide-associated gastrointestinal events. Results were largely comparable between patients aged ≥65 versus Conclusions iGlarLixi provides significant improvements in glycemic control in patients aged ≥65 years without increasing hypoglycemia risk. As a once-daily injection, it simplifies treatment regimens and may contribute to improved adherence in this patient population

Structural, magnetic and electrical properties of single crystalline La_(1-x)Sr_xMnO_3 for 0.4 < x < 0.85

We report on structural, magnetic and electrical properties of Sr-doped LaMnO_3 single crystals for doping levels 0.4 < x < 0.85. The complex structural and magnetic phase diagram can only be explained assuming significant contributions from the orbital degrees of freedom. Close to x = 0.6 a ferromagnetic metal is followed by an antiferromagnetic metallic phase below 200 K. This antiferromagnetic metallic phase exists in a monoclinic crystallographic structure. Following theoretical predictions this metallic antiferromagnet is expected to reveal an (x^2-y^2)-type orbital order. For higher Sr concentrations an antiferromagnetic insulator is established below room temperature.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

MicroRNA expression profiles in human cancer cells after ionizing radiation

Introduction: MicroRNAs are regulators of central cellular processes and are implicated in the pathogenesis and prognosis of human cancers. MicroRNAs also modulate responses to anti-cancer therapy. In the context of radiation oncology microRNAs were found to modulate cell death and proliferation after irradiation. However, changes in microRNA expression profiles in response to irradiation have not been comprehensively analyzed so far. The present study's intend is to present a broad screen of changes in microRNA expression following irradiation of different malignant cell lines. Materials and methods: 1100 microRNAs (Sanger miRBase release version 14.0) were analyzed in six malignant cell lines following irradiation with clinically relevant doses of 2.0 Gy. MicroRNA levels 6 hours after irradiation were compared to microRNA levels in non-irradiated cells using the "Geniom Biochip MPEA homo sapiens". Results: Hierarchical clustering analysis revealed a pattern, which significantly (p = 0.014) discerned irradiated from non-irradiated cells. The expression levels of a number of microRNAs known to be involved in the regulation of cellular processes like apoptosis, proliferation, invasion, local immune response and radioresistance (e. g. miR-1285, miR-24-1, miR-151-5p, let-7i) displayed 2 - 3-fold changes after irradiation. Moreover, several microRNAs previously not known to be radiation-responsive were discovered. Conclusion: Ionizing radiation induced significant changes in microRNA expression profiles in 3 glioma and 3 squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. The functional relevance of these changes is not addressed but should by analyzed by future work especially focusing on clinically relevant endpoints like radiation induced cell death, proliferation, migration and metastasis

Consistent findings in glycaemic control, body weight and hypoglycaemia with iGlarLixi (insulin glargine/lixisenatide titratable fixed-ratio combination) vs insulin glargine across baseline HbA1c, BMI and diabetes duration categories in the LixiLan-L trial

IGTPAims: To assess the impact of baseline characteristics on clinical outcomes in the LixiLan-L trial, a randomized open-label trial designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of iGlarLixi, a novel fixed-ratio combination of insulin glargine 100 U (iGlar) plus lixisenatide, in comparison with iGlar over 30 weeks in a population of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) inadequately controlled on a previous regimen of basal insulin alone or in combination with 1 or 2 oral glucose-lowering drugs. Materials and Methods: In this exploratory analysis of LixiLan-L (N = 736), efficacy outcomes were assessed within population subgroups derived from the following baseline characteristics: glycated haemoglobin [HbA1c; <8%, ≥8% (<64, ≥64 mmol/mol)]; duration of T2DM (<10, ≥10 years); body mass index (<30, ≥30 kg/m2). Furthermore, the incidence of symptomatic hypoglycaemia with plasma glucose ≤3.9 mmol/L (≤70 mg/dL) was also analysed according to the same subgroups. Results: Compared with the iGlar treatment group, patients treated with iGlarLixi showed consistently greater reductions in HbA1c during the treatment period, with higher percentages of patients achieving the HbA1c target level of <7% (<53 mmol/mol) in all of the subpopulations tested (P < .0001 for all), having consistent mitigation of body weight gain and with no major differences in the incidence of hypoglycaemia. Conclusions: iGlarLixi consistently improved glycaemic control compared with iGlar in all baseline characteristic subgroups of patients with T2DM inadequately controlled with insulin, including difficult-to-treat subgroups of patients with long duration of diabetes, obesity and high HbA1c. Clinical trial number: NCT02058160 (clinicaltrials.gov)