Spacesuit and Space Vehicle Comparative Ergonomic Evaluation

With the advent of the latest manned spaceflight objectives, a series of prototype launch and reentry spacesuit architectures were evaluated for eventual down selection by NASA based on the performance of a set of designated tasks. A consolidated approach was taken to testing, concurrently collecting suit mobility data, seat-suit-vehicle interface clearances and movement strategies within the volume of a Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle mockup. To achieve the objectives of the test, a requirement was set forth to maintain high mockup fidelity while using advanced motion capture technologies. These seemingly mutually exclusive goals were accommodated with the construction of an optically transparent and fully adjustable frame mockup. The mockup was constructed such that it could be dimensionally validated rapidly with the motion capture system. This paper will describe the method used to create a motion capture compatible space vehicle mockup, the consolidated approach for evaluating spacesuits in action, as well as the various methods for generating hardware requirements for an entire population from the resulting complex data set using a limited number of test subjects. Kinematics, hardware clearance, suited anthropometry, and subjective feedback data were recorded on fifteen unsuited and five suited subjects. Unsuited subjects were selected chiefly by anthropometry, in an attempt to find subjects who fell within predefined criteria for medium male, large male and small female subjects. The suited subjects were selected as a subset of the unsuited subjects and tested in both unpressurized and pressurized conditions. Since the prototype spacesuits were fabricated in a single size to accommodate an approximately average sized male, the findings from the suit testing were systematically extrapolated to the extremes of the population to anticipate likely problem areas. This extrapolation was achieved by first performing population analysis through a comparison of suited subjects performance to their unsuited performance and then applying the results to the entire range of population. The use of a transparent space vehicle mockup enabled the collection of large amounts of data during human-in-the-loop testing. Mobility data revealed that most of the tested spacesuits had sufficient ranges of motion for tasks to be performed successfully. A failed tasked by a suited subject most often stemmed from a combination of poor field of view while seated and poor dexterity of the gloves when pressurized or from suit/vehicle interface issues. Seat ingress/egress testing showed that problems with anthropometric accommodation does not exclusively occur with the largest or smallest subjects, but rather specific combinations of measurements that lead to narrower seat ingress/egress clearance

Beneficios y limitaciones de la dieta vegana en el requerimiento nutricional de atletas: Benefits and limitations of the vegan diet in the nutritional requirement of athletes.

The vegan diet refers to nutrition based on a wide variety of plant-based food groups (i.e., fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, spices and herbs, mushrooms, and algae) that also excludes all. to all foods of animal origin (ie meat, fish, dairy and eggs). Various scientific studies on the nutritional contribution of the vegan diet in athletes seek to identify the benefits and limitations of a vegan diet in the nutritional requirement of athletes, compared to an omnivore diet. Sports nutrition is essential for optimal physical and mental performance, reduces the risk of illness and injury; That is why it is necessary to consume the macro and micronutrient requirements according to the type and intensity of exercise performed by the athlete. Vegan diets in general provide an optimal basis for vegan athletes to develop their overall potential, from increased intake of complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, antioxidant vitamins C and E. However, a plant-based diet reduces intake of exclusive nutrients of animal origin. This influences the performance of endurance and strength, even occasions that female athletes develop diseases such as the female athlete triad (FAT) or the Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) if it is not accompanied by supplements of vitamin B12, creatine and proteins. The present bibliographic review aims to show that with an adequate strategic selection and management of food choices, paying special attention to the achievement of energy, macro and micronutrient recommendations, together with adequate supplementation, a vegan diet can satisfy the needs of most athletes satisfactorily.La dieta vegana se refiere a una nutrición basada en una amplia variedad de grupos de alimentos de origen vegetal (es decir, frutas, verduras, granos , legumbres, nueces y semillas, especias y hierbas, hongos y algas) que además excluye a tdos excluye a todos los alimentos de origen animal (es decir, carne, pescado, lácteos y huevos). Diversos estudios científicos sobre el aporte nutricional de la dieta vegana en atletas, buscan identificar los beneficios y limitaciones de una dieta vegana en el requerimiento nutricional de atletas, respecto a una dieta omnívora. La nutrición deportiva resulta fundamental para un óptimo rendimiento físico y mental, reduciendo el riesgo de enfermedades y lesiones; es por ello que es necesario consumir los requerimientos de macro y micronutrientes según el tipo y la intensidad de ejercicio que realiza el atleta. Las dietas veganas en general constituyen una base óptima para lograr que los atletas veganos desarrollen su potencial general, a partir de una mayor ingesta de carbohidratos complejos, fibra dietética, vitaminas antioxidantes C y E. Sin embargo, una dieta basada en vegetales reduce la ingesta de nutrientes exclusivos de origen animal. Esto influye en el rendimiento de la resistencia y la fuerza, incluso ocasiona que atletas mujeres desarrollen enfermedades como la tríada de la atleta femenina (FAT) o la Deficiencia Relativa de Energía en el Deporte (RED-S) si no se acompaña de suplementos de vitamina B12, creatina y proteínas. La presente revisión bibliográfica tiene el objetivo mostrar que con una adecuada selección estratégica y la gestión de las elecciones de alimentos, prestando especial atención al logro de las recomendaciones de energía, macro y micronutrientes, junto con la suplementación adecuada, una dieta vegana puede satisfacer las necesidades de la mayoría de los atletas de manera satisfactoria

MicroRNA Controlled Adenovirus Mediates Anti-Cancer Efficacy without Affecting Endogenous MicroRNA Activity

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules that regulate mRNA translation and stability by binding to complementary sequences usually within the 3′ un-translated region (UTR). We have previously shown that the hepatic toxicity caused by wild-type Adenovirus 5 (Ad5WT) in mice can be prevented by incorporating 4 binding sites for the liver-specific microRNA, mir122, into the 3′ UTR of E1A mRNA. This virus, termed Ad5mir122, is a promising virotherapy candidate and causes no obvious liver pathology. Herein we show that Ad5mir122 maintains wild-type lytic activity in cancer cells not expressing mir122 and assess any effects of possible mir122 depletion in host cells. Repeat administration of 2×1010 viral particles of Admir122 to HepG2 tumour bearing mice showed significant anti-cancer efficacy. RT-QPCR showed that E1A mRNA was down-regulated 29-fold in liver when compared to Ad5WT. Western blot for E1A confirmed that all protein variants were knocked down. RT-QPCR for mature mir122 in infected livers showed that quantity of mir122 remained unaffected. Genome wide mRNA microarray profiling of infected livers showed that although the transcript level of >3900 different mRNAs changed more than 2-fold following Ad5WT infection, less than 600 were changed by Ad5mir122. These were then filtered to select mRNAs that were only altered by Ad5mir122 and the remaining 21 mRNAs were compared to predicted mir122 targets. No mir122 target mRNAs were affected by Ad5 mir122. These results demonstrate that the exploitation of microRNA regulation to control virus replication does not necessarily affect the level of the microRNA or the endogenous mRNA targets