Space Technology Utilization In An Industrial Company -A Case Study

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen - In contemplating the theme of this session Spinoffs From Space, I was reminded of the shoe company who sent two marketing teams to deepest Africa to determine the market potential for shoes. One team reported back, n Forget this market, nobody wears shoes. The other team sent a rush telegram saying, Get ready to build a factory here, everybody needs shoes\u27.\u27 The attitude of the public toward the benefits flowing from the space program appears to be similarly divided. Those who feel the taxpayerT s money is being wasted in the space program seem impatient that a new world has not been discovered; that the dollars spent have not resulted in two chickens in every pot; that these funds could be better spent on our social problems. In my opinion, we have failed to teach these people the science-technology-economic gain-social benefit cycle. The optimistic supporters of the space program, on the other hand, are aware of the bounty produced by this cycle, can point to the multitude of benefits that have already accrued, and visualize the vast potential yet to be realized from only 10 years of effort. Those in the industrial complex of our country have no cause to complain of a lack of technology flowing from the space program into the private sector. The people in industry who might complain are those who expect automatic flow with neither search nor adaptation on their part. Those who are seeking out and adapting this technology to their use are the ones who are now, and who will continue to be, ahead of their un-informed competitors. Support for these statements is abundant in the experience of the company with which I am associated and I am sure our experience is not unique

Cancer-associated epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM; CD326) enables epidermal Langerhans cell motility and migration in vivo

After activation, Langerhans cells (LC), a distinct subpopulation of epidermis-resident dendritic cells, migrate from skin to lymph nodes where they regulate the magnitude and quality of immune responses initiated by epicutaneously applied antigens. Modulation of LC-keratinocyte adhesion is likely to be central to regulation of LC migration. LC express high levels of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM; CD326), a cell-surface protein that is characteristic of some epithelia and many carcinomas and that has been implicated in intercellular adhesion and metastasis. To gain insight into EpCAM function in a physiologic context in vivo, we generated conditional knockout mice with EpCAM-deficient LC and characterized them. Epidermis from these mice contained increased numbers of LC with normal levels of MHC and costimulatory molecules and T-cell-stimulatory activity in vitro. Migration of EpCAM-deficient LC from skin explants was inhibited, but chemotaxis of dissociated LC was not. Correspondingly, the ability of contact allergen-stimulated, EpCAM-deficient LC to exit epidermis in vivo was delayed, and strikingly fewer hapten-bearing LC subsequently accumulated in lymph nodes. Attenuated migration of EpCAM-deficient LC resulted in enhanced contact hypersensitivity responses as previously described in LC-deficient mice. Intravital microscopy revealed reduced translocation and dendrite motility in EpCAM-deficient LC in vivo in contact allergen-treated mice. These results conclusively link EpCAM expression to LC motility/migration and LC migration to immune regulation. EpCAM appears to promote LC migration from epidermis by decreasing LC-keratinocyte adhesion and may modulate intercellular adhesion and cell movement within in epithelia during development and carcinogenesis in an analogous fashion

A determination of the molar gas constant R by acoustic thermometry in helium

We have determined the acoustic and microwave frequencies of a misaligned spherical resonator maintained near the temperature of the triple point of water and filled with helium with carefully characterized molar mass M = (4.002 6032 ± 0.000 0015) g mol-1, with a relative standard uncertainty ur(M) = 0.37×10-6. From these data and traceable thermometry we estimate the speed of sound in our sample of helium at TTPW = 273.16 K and zero pressure to be u0 2 = (945 710.45 ± 0.85) m2 s-2 and correspondingly deduce the value R = (8.314 4743 ± 0.000 0088) J mol-1 K-1 for the molar gas constant. We estimate the value k = R/NA = (1.380 6508 ± 0.000 0015) × 10-23 J K-1 for the Boltzmann constant using the currently accepted value of the Avogadro constant NA. These estimates of R and k, with a relative standard uncertainty of 1.06 × 10-6, are 1.47 parts in 106 above the values recommended by CODATA in 2010