Thermal infrared observations of Mars (7.5-12.8 microns) during the 1990 opposition

Thirteen spectra of Mars, in the 7.5 to 12.8 micron wavelength were obtained on 7 Dec. 1990 from the Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). For these observations, a grating with an ultimate resolving power of 120 to 250 was used and wavelengths were calibrated for each grating setting by comparison with the absorption spectrum of polystyrene measured prior to each set of observations. By sampling the Nyquist limit at the shortest wavelengths, an effective resolving power of about 120 over the entire wavelength range was achieved. A total of four grating settings were required to cover the entire wavelength region. A typical observing sequence consisted of: (1) positioning the grating in one of the intervals; (2) calibrating the wavelength of positions; and (3) obtaining spectra for a number of spots on Mars. Several observations of the nearby stellar standard star, alpha Tauri, were also acquired throughout the night. Each Mars spectrum represents an average of 4 to 6 measurements of the individual Mars spots. As a result of this observing sequence, the viewing geometry for a given location or spot on Mars does not change, but the actual location of the spot on Mars's surface varies somewhat between the different grating settings. Other aspects of the study are presented

The development and technology transfer of software engineering technology at NASA. Johnson Space Center

The United State's big space projects of the next decades, such as Space Station and the Human Exploration Initiative, will need the development of many millions of lines of mission critical software. NASA-Johnson (JSC) is identifying and developing some of the Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) technology that NASA will need to build these future software systems. The goal is to improve the quality and the productivity of large software development projects. New trends are outlined in CASE technology and how the Software Technology Branch (STB) at JSC is endeavoring to provide some of these CASE solutions for NASA is described. Key software technology components include knowledge-based systems, software reusability, user interface technology, reengineering environments, management systems for the software development process, software cost models, repository technology, and open, integrated CASE environment frameworks. The paper presents the status and long-term expectations for CASE products. The STB's Reengineering Application Project (REAP), Advanced Software Development Workstation (ASDW) project, and software development cost model (COSTMODL) project are then discussed. Some of the general difficulties of technology transfer are introduced, and a process developed by STB for CASE technology insertion is described

Insecticide resistance enhances male reproductive success in a beetle

peer reviewe

Documenting Surface and Sub-surface Volatiles While Drilling in Frozen Lunar Simulant

NASA's Resource Prospector (RP) mission is intended to characterize the three-dimensional nature of volatiles in lunar polar regions and permanently shadowed regions. RP is slated to carry two instruments for prospecting purposes. These include the Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS) and Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS). A Honybee Robotics drill (HRD) is intended to sample to depths of 1 m, and deliver a sample to a crucible that is processed by the Oxygen Volatile Extraction Node (OVEN) where the soil is heated and evolved gas is delivered to the gas chromatograph / mass spectrometer of the Lunar Advanced Volatile Analysis system (LAVA). For several years, tests of various sub-systems have been undertaken in a large cryo-vacuum chamber facility (VF-13) located at Glenn Research Center. In these tests a large tube (1.2 m high x 25.4 cm diameter) is filled with lunar simulant, NU-LHT-3M, prepared with known abundances of water. There are thermo-couples embedded at different depths, and also across the surface of the soil tube. The soil tube is placed in the chamber and cooled with LN2 as the pressure is reduced to approx.5-6x10(exp -6) Torr. Here we discuss May 2016 tests where two soil tubes were prepared and placed in the chamber. Also located in the chamber were 5 crucibles, an Inficon mass spectrometer, and a trolly permitting x-y translation, where the HRD and NIRVSS, were mounted. The shroud surrounding the soil tube was held at different temperatures for each tube to simulate a warm and cold lunar environment

Optimal functional outcome measures for assessing treatment for Dupuytren's disease: A systematic review and recommendations for future practice

This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright © 2013 Ball et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.Background: Dupuytren's disease of the hand is a common condition affecting the palmar fascia, resulting in progressive flexion deformities of the digits and hence limitation of hand function. The optimal treatment remains unclear as outcomes studies have used a variety of measures for assessment. Methods: A literature search was performed for all publications describing surgical treatment, percutaneous needle aponeurotomy or collagenase injection for primary or recurrent Dupuytren’s disease where outcomes had been monitored using functional measures. Results: Ninety-one studies met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-two studies reported outcomes using patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) ranging from validated questionnaires to self-reported measures for return to work and self-rated disability. The Disability of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score was the most utilised patient-reported function measure (n=11). Patient satisfaction was reported by eighteen studies but no single method was used consistently. Range of movement was the most frequent physical measure and was reported in all 91 studies. However, the methods of measurement and reporting varied, with seventeen different techniques being used. Other physical measures included grip and pinch strength and sensibility, again with variations in measurement protocols. The mean follow-up time ranged from 2 weeks to 17 years. Conclusions: There is little consistency in the reporting of outcomes for interventions in patients with Dupuytren’s disease, making it impossible to compare the efficacy of different treatment modalities. Although there are limitations to the existing generic patient reported outcomes measures, a combination of these together with a disease-specific questionnaire, and physical measures of active and passive individual joint Range of movement (ROM), grip and sensibility using standardised protocols should be used for future outcomes studies. As Dupuytren’s disease tends to recur following treatment as well as extend to involve other areas of the hand, follow-up times should be standardised and designed to capture both short and long term outcomes

Critical Perspective: Named Reactions Discovered and Developed by Women

Named organic reactions. As chemists, we’re all familiar with them: who can forget the Diels−Alder reaction? But how much do we know about the people behind the names? For example, can you identify a reaction named for a woman? How about a reaction discovered or developed by a woman but named for her male adviser? Our attempts to answer these simple questions started us on the journey that led to this Account. We introduce you to four reactions named for women and nine reactions discovered or developed by women. Using information obtained from the literature and, whenever possible, through interviews with the chemists themselves, their associates, and their advisers, we paint a more detailed picture of these remarkable women and their outstanding accomplishments. Some of the women you meet in this Account include Irma Goldberg, the only woman unambiguously recognized with her own named reaction. Gertrude Maud Robinson, the wife of Robert Robinson, who collaborated with him on several projects including the Piloty−Robinson pyrrole synthesis. Elizabeth Hardy, the Bryn Mawr graduate student who discovered the Cope rearrangement. Dorothee Felix, a critical member of Albert Eschenmoser’s research lab for over forty years who helped develop both the Eschenmoser−Claisen rearrangement and the Eschenmoser−Tanabe fragmentation. Jennifer Loebach, the University of Illinois undergraduate who was part of the team in Eric Jacobsen’s lab that discovered the Jacobsen−Katsuki epoxidation. Keiko Noda, a graduate student in Tsutomu Katsuki’s lab who also played a key role in the development of the Jacobsen−Katsuki epoxidation. Lydia McKinstry, a postdoc in Andrew Myers’s lab who helped develop the Myers asymmetric alkylation. Rosa Lockwood, a graduate student at Boston College whose sole publication is the discovery of the Nicholas reaction. Kaori Ando, a successful professor in Japan who helped develop the Roush asymmetric alkylation as a postdoc at MIT. Bianka Tchoubar, a critically important member of the organic chemistry community in France who developed the Tiffeneau−Demjanov rearrangement. The accomplishments of the women in this Account illustrate the key roles women have played in the discovery and development of reactions used daily by organic chemists around the world. These pioneering chemists represent the vanguard of women in the field, and we are confident that many more of the growing number of current and future female organic chemists will be recognized with their own named reactions

Eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid reduce interleukin-1β-mediated cartilage degradation

Introduction: In inflammatory joint disease, such as osteoarthritis (OA), there is an increased level of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1β. These cytokines stimulate the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which leads to the degradation of the cartilage extracellular matrix and the loss of key structural components such as sulphated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) and collagen II. The aim of this study was to examine the therapeutic potential of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in an in vitro model of cartilage inflammation. Methods: Two specific n-3 compounds were tested, namely, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), each at 0.1, 1 and 10 μM. Full thickness bovine cartilage explants, 5 mm in diameter, were cultured for 5 days with or without IL-1β and in the presence or absence of each n-3 compound. The media were replaced every 24 hours and assayed for sGAG content using the 1,9-dimethylmethylene blue (DMB) method. Chondrocyte viability was determined at the end of the culture period using fluorescence microscopy to visualise cells labelled with calcein AM and ethidium homodimer. Results: Treatment with IL-1β (10 ng.ml-1) produced a large increase in sGAG release compared to untreated controls, but with no effect on cell viability, which was maintained above 80% for all treatments. In the absence of IL-1β, both n-3 compounds induced a mild catabolic response with increased loss of sGAG, particularly at 10 μM. By contrast, in the presence of IL-1β, both EPA and DHA at 0.1 and 1 μM significantly reduced IL-1β-mediated sGAG loss. The efficacy of the EPA treatment was maintained at approximately 75% throughout the 5-day period. However, at the same concentrations, the efficacy of DHA, although initially greater, reduced to approximately half that of EPA after 5 days. For both EPA and DHA, the highest dose of 10 μM was less effective. Conclusions: The results support the hypothesis that n-3 compounds are anti-inflammatory through competitive inhibition of the arachidonic acid oxidation pathway. The efficacy of these compounds is likely to be even greater at more physiological levels of IL-1β. Thus we suggest that n-3 PUFAs, particularly EPA, have exciting therapeutic potential for preventing cartilage degradation associated with chronic inflammatory joint disease

Vip3A Resistance Alleles Exist at High Levels in Australian Targets before Release of Cotton Expressing This Toxin

Crops engineered to produce insecticidal crystal (Cry) proteins from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have revolutionised pest control in agriculture. However field-level resistance to Bt has developed in some targets. Utilising novel vegetative insecticidal proteins (Vips), also derived from Bt but genetically distinct from Cry toxins, is a possible solution that biotechnical companies intend to employ. Using data collected over two seasons we determined that, before deployment of Vip-expressing plants in Australia, resistance alleles exist in key targets as polymorphisms at frequencies of 0.027 (n = 273 lines, 95% CI = 0.019–0.038) in H. armigera and 0.008 (n = 248 lines, 0.004–0.015) in H. punctigera. These frequencies are above mutation rates normally encountered. Homozygous resistant neonates survived doses of Vip3A higher than those estimated in field-grown plants. Fortunately the resistance is largely, if not completely, recessive and does not confer resistance to the Bt toxins Cry1Ac or Cry2Ab already deployed in cotton crops. These later characteristics are favourable for resistance management; however the robustness of Vip3A inclusive varieties will depend on resistance frequencies to the Cry toxins when it is released (anticipated 2016) and the efficacy of Vip3A throughout the season. It is appropriate to pre-emptively screen key targets of Bt crops elsewhere, especially those such as H. zea in the USA, which is not only closely related to H. armigera but also will be exposed to Vip in several varieties of cotton and corn

A Two-Locus Model of the Evolution of Insecticide Resistance to Inform and Optimise Public Health Insecticide Deployment Strategies

We develop a flexible, two-locus model for the spread of insecticide resistance applicable to mosquito species that transmit human diseases such as malaria. The model allows differential exposure of males and females, allows them to encounter high or low concentrations of insecticide, and allows selection pressures and dominance values to differ depending on the concentration of insecticide encountered. We demonstrate its application by investigating the relative merits of sequential use of insecticides versus their deployment as a mixture to minimise the spread of resistance. We recover previously published results as subsets of this model and conduct a sensitivity analysis over an extensive parameter space to identify what circumstances favour mixtures over sequences. Both strategies lasted more than 500 mosquito generations (or about 40 years) in 24% of runs, while in those runs where resistance had spread to high levels by 500 generations, 56% favoured sequential use and 44% favoured mixtures. Mixtures are favoured when insecticide effectiveness (their ability to kill homozygous susceptible mosquitoes) is high and exposure (the proportion of mosquitoes that encounter the insecticide) is low. If insecticides do not reliably kill homozygous sensitive genotypes, it is likely that sequential deployment will be a more robust strategy. Resistance to an insecticide always spreads slower if that insecticide is used in a mixture although this may be insufficient to outperform sequential use: for example, a mixture may last 5 years while the two insecticides deployed individually may last 3 and 4 years giving an overall ‘lifespan’ of 7 years for sequential use. We emphasise that this paper is primarily about designing and implementing a flexible modelling strategy to investigate the spread of insecticide resistance in vector populations and demonstrate how our model can identify vector control strategies most likely to minimise the spread of insecticide resistance