Materials selection for long life in LEO: A critical evaluation of atomic oxygen testing with thermal atom systems

The use of thermal atom test methods as a materials selection and screening technique for low-Earth orbit (LEO) spacecraft is critically evaluated. The chemistry and physics of thermal atom environments are compared with the LEO environment. The relative reactivities of a number of materials determined to be in thermal atom environments are compared to those observed in LEO and in high quality LEO simulations. Reaction efficiencies measured in a new type of thermal atom apparatus are one-hundredth to one-thousandth those observed in LEO, and many materials showing nearly identical reactivities in LEO show relative reactivities differing by as much as a factor of 8 in thermal atom systems. A simple phenomenological kinetic model for the reaction of oxygen atoms with organic materials can be used to explain the differences in reactivity in different environments. Certain specific thermal test environments can be used as reliable materials screening tools. Using thermal atom methods to predict material lifetime in LEO requires direct calibration of the method against LEO data or high quality simulation data for each material

Containerless high temperature property measurements by atomic fluorescence

Laser induced fluorescence techniques were developed for the containerless study of high temperature processes, material properties, levitation, and heating techniques for containerless earth-based experimentation. Experiments were performed in which fluorescence of atomic aluminum, mercury, or tungsten were studied. These experiments include measurements of: (1) Al atom evaporation from CW CO2 laser heated and aerodynamically levitated sapphire and alumina spheres, and self-supported sapphire filaments, (2) Al atom reaction with ambient oxygen in the wake of a levitated specimen, (3) Hg atom concentrations in the wake of levitated alumina and sapphire spheres, relative to the ambient Hg atom concentration, (4) Hg atom concentrations in supersonic levitation jets, and (5) metastable, electronically excited W atom concentrations produced by evaporation of an electrically heated tungsten filament

Catalysis study for space shuttle vehicle thermal protection systems

Experimental results on the problem of reducing aerodynamic heating on space shuttle orbiter surfaces are presented. Data include: (1) development of a laboratory flow reactor technique for measuring gamma sub O and gamma sub N on candidate materials at surfaces, T sub w, in the nominal range 1000 to 2000, (2) measurements of gamma sub O and gamma sub N above 1000 K for both the glass coating of a reusable surface insulation material and the siliconized surface of a reinforced pyrolyzed plastic material, (3) measurement of the ablation behavior of the coated RPP material at T sub w is greater than or equal to 2150 K, (4) X-ray photoelectron spectral studies of the chemical constituents on these surfaces before and after dissociated gas exposure, (5) scanning electron micrograph examination of as-received and reacted specimens, and (6) development and exploitation of a method of predicting the aerodynamic heating consquences of these gamma sub O(T sub w) and gamma sub N(T sub w) measurements for critical locations on a radiation cooled orbiter vehicle

CPVT-associated calmodulin variants N531 and A102V dysregulate Ca2+ signalling via different mechanisms

Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is an inherited condition that can cause fatal cardiac arrhythmia. Human mutations in the Ca2+ sensor calmodulin (CaM) have been associated with CPVT susceptibility, suggesting that CaM dysfunction is a key driver of the disease. However, the detailed molecular mechanism remains unclear. Focusing on the interaction with the cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2), we determined the effect of CPVT-associated variants N53I and A102V on the structural characteristics of CaM and on Ca2+ fluxes in live cells. We provide novel data showing that binding of both Ca2+/CaM-N53I and Ca2+/CaM-A102V to RyR23583-3603 is decreased. Ca2+/CaM:RyR23583-3603 high-resolution crystal structures highlight subtle conformational changes for the N53I variant, with A102V being similar to wild-type. We show that co-expression of CaM-N53I or CaM-A102V with RyR2 in HEK293 cells significantly increased the duration of Ca2+ events, CaM-A102V exhibited a lower frequency of Ca2+ oscillations. In addition, we show that CaMKIIδ phosphorylation activity is increased for A102V, compared to CaM-WT. This paper provides novel insight into the molecular mechanisms of CPVT-associated CaM variants and will facilitate development of strategies for future therapies.</jats:p

A novel fluorescent sensor protein for detecting changes in airway surface liquid glucose concentration.

Both lung disease and elevation of blood glucose are associated with increased glucose concentration (from 0.4 to ~4.0 mM) in the airway surface liquid (ASL). This perturbation of ASL glucose makes the airway more susceptible to infection by respiratory pathogens. ASL is minute (~1 μl/cm(2)) and the measurement of glucose concentration in the small volume ASL is extremely difficult. Therefore, we sought to develop a fluorescent biosensor with sufficient sensitivity to determine glucose concentrations in ASL in situ. We coupled a range of environmentally sensitive fluorophores to mutated forms of a glucose/galactose-binding protein (GBP) including H152C and H152C/A213R and determined their equilibrium binding properties. Of these, GBP H152C/A213R-BADAN (Kd 0.86 ± 0.01 mM, Fmax/F0 3.6) was optimal for glucose sensing and in ASL increased fluorescence when basolateral glucose concentration was raised from 1 to 20 mM. Moreover, interpolation of the data showed that the glucose concentration in ASL was increased, with results similar to that using glucose oxidase analysis. The fluorescence of GBP H152C/A213R-BADAN in native ASL from human airway epithelial cultures in situ was significantly increased over time when basolateral glucose was increased from 5 to 20 mM. Overall our data indicate that this GBP is a useful tool to monitor glucose homoeostasis in the lung