Nonsurvivable momentum exchange system

A demiseable momentum exchange system includes a base and a flywheel rotatably supported on the base. The flywheel includes a web portion defining a plurality of web openings and a rim portion. The momentum exchange system further includes a motor for driving the flywheel and a cover for engaging the base to substantially enclose the flywheel. The system may also include components having a melting temperature below 1500 degrees Celsius. The momentum exchange system is configured to demise on reentry

Sociodemographic disparities in survival from colorectal cancer in South Australia: a population-wide data linkage study

Copyright © Beckmann et al. 2016 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background: Inequalities in survival from colorectal cancer (CRC) across socioeconomic groups and by area of residence have been described in various health care settings. Few population-wide datasets which include clinical and treatment information are available in Australia to investigate disparities. This study examines socio-demographic differences in survival for CRC patients in South Australia (SA), using a population-wide database derived via linkage of administrative and surveillance datasets. Methods: The study population comprised all cases of CRC diagnosed in 2003-2008 among SA residents aged 50-79 yrs in the SA Central Cancer Registry. Measures of socioeconomic status (area level), geographical remoteness, clinical characteristics, comorbid conditions, treatments and outcomes were derived through record linkage of central cancer registry, hospital-based clinical registries, hospital separations, and radiotherapy services data sources. Socio-demographic disparities in CRC survival were examined using competing risk regression analysis. Results: Four thousand six hundred and forty one eligible cases were followed for an average of 4.7 yrs, during which time 1525 died from CRC and 416 died from other causes. Results of competing risk regression indicated higher risk of CRC death with higher grade (HR high v low =2.25, 95 % CI 1.32-3.84), later stage (HR C v A = 7.74, 95 % CI 5.75-10.4), severe comorbidity (HR severe v none =1.21, 95 % CI 1.02-1.44) and receiving radiotherapy (HR = 1.41, 95 % CI 1.18-1.68). Patients from the most socioeconomically advantaged areas had significantly better outcomes than those from the least advantaged areas (HR =0.75, 95 % 0.62-0.91). Patients residing in remote locations had significantly worse outcomes than metropolitan residents, though this was only evident for stages A-C (HR = 1.35, 95 % CI 1.01-1.80). These disparities were not explained by differences in stage at diagnosis between socioeconomic groups or area of residence. Nor were they explained by differences in patient factors, other tumour characteristics, comorbidity, or treatment modalities. Conclusions: Socio-economic and regional disparities in survival following CRC are evident in SA, despite having a universal health care system. Of particular concern is the poorer survival for patients from remote areas with potentially curable CRC. Reasons for thes

The role of a disulfide bridge in the stability and folding kinetics of Arabidopsis thaliana cytochrome c6A

Cytochrome c 6A is a eukaryotic member of the Class I cytochrome c family possessing a high structural homology with photosynthetic cytochrome c 6 from cyanobacteria, but structurally and functionally distinct through the presence of a disulfide bond and a heme mid-point redox potential of + 71 mV (vs normal hydrogen electrode). The disulfide bond is part of a loop insertion peptide that forms a cap-like structure on top of the core α-helical fold. We have investigated the contribution of the disulfide bond to thermodynamic stability and (un)folding kinetics in cytochrome c 6A from Arabidopsis thaliana by making comparison with a photosynthetic cytochrome c 6 from Phormidium laminosum and through a mutant in which the Cys residues have been replaced with Ser residues (C67/73S). We find that the disulfide bond makes a significant contribution to overall stability in both the ferric and ferrous heme states. Both cytochromes c 6A and c 6 fold rapidly at neutral pH through an on-pathway intermediate. The unfolding rate for the C67/73S variant is significantly increased indicating that the formation of this region occurs late in the folding pathway. We conclude that the disulfide bridge in cytochrome c 6A acts as a conformational restraint in both the folding intermediate and native state of the protein and that it likely serves a structural rather than a previously proposed catalytic role. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Prenatal exposures and exposomics of asthma

This review examines the causal investigation of preclinical development of childhood asthma using exposomic tools. We examine the current state of knowledge regarding early-life exposure to non-biogenic indoor air pollution and the developmental modulation of the immune system. We examine how metabolomics technologies could aid not only in the biomarker identification of a particular asthma phenotype, but also the mechanisms underlying the immunopathologic process. Within such a framework, we propose alternate components of exposomic investigation of asthma in which, the exposome represents a reiterative investigative process of targeted biomarker identification, validation through computational systems biology and physical sampling of environmental medi

Integration and Testing of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Attitude Control System

Throughout the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Integration and Testing (I&T) phase of the project, the Attitude Control System (ACS) team completed numerous tests on each hardware component in ever more flight like environments. The ACS utilizes a select group of attitude sensors and actuators. This paper chronicles the evolutionary steps taken to verify each component was constantly ready for flight as well as providing invaluable trending experience with the actual hardware. The paper includes a discussion of each ACS hardware component, lessons learned of the various stages of I&T, a discussion of the challenges that are unique to the LRO project, as well as a discussion of work for future missions to consider as part of their I&T plan. LRO ACS sensors were carefully installed, tested, and maintained over the 18 month I&T and prelaunch timeline. Care was taken with the optics of the Adcole Coarse Sun Sensors (CSS) to ensure their critical role in the Safe Hold mode was fulfilled. The use of new CSS stimulators provided the means of testing each CSS sensor independently, in ambient and vacuum conditions as well as over a wide range of thermal temperatures. Extreme bright light sources were also used to test the CSS in ambient conditions. The integration of the two SELEX Galileo Star Trackers was carefully planned and executed. Optical ground support equipment was designed and used often to check the performance of the star trackers throughout I&T in ambient and thermal/vacuum conditions. A late discovery of potential contamination of the star tracker light shades is discussed in this paper. This paper reviews how each time the spacecraft was at a new location and orientation, the Honeywell Miniature Inertial Measurement Unit (MIMU) was checked for data output validity. This gyro compassing test was performed at several key testing points in the timeline as well as several times while LRO was on the launch pad. Sensor alignment tests were completed several times to ensure that hardware remained on a rigid platform

Future warming and acidification result in multiple ecological impacts to a temperate coralline alga

Coralline algae are a crucial component of reef systems, stabilising reef substrate, providing habitat and contributing to accretion. Coralline algae and their surface microbial biofilms are also important as settlement cues for marine invertebrates, yet few studies address the impact of future environmental conditions on interactions between coralline algae, reef microbes and settlement by larvae of marine invertebrates. We exposed the temperate coralline algal species Amphiroa gracilis to warming and/or acidification scenarios for 21 days. Algae became bleached but photosystem II function was not measurably impacted. Settlement by larvae of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma was reduced and the structure of the prokaryotic community associated with A. gracilis was altered. Coralline algae in ambient conditions were dominated by Alphaproteobacteria from the Rhodobacteraceae including Loktonella; those under warming were dominated by Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobia; acidification resulted in less Loktonella and more Planctomycetes and a combination of warming and acidification caused increases in Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia and the Alphaproteobacteria family Hyphomonadaceae. These experiments indicate that predicted future environmental change may reduce the ability of some temperate reef coralline algae and associated reef microbes to facilitate settlement of invertebrate larvae as well as having a direct impact to algae via bleaching