Mission Control Center - Houston

The Mission Control Center - Houston (MCC-H) was designed to control all NASA manned space flights from the first Gemini rendezvous through the Apollo program. The MCC-H is a three-story building which contains 112,000 square feet, and which required 30 months to implement. It has a capability to control a live mission and a simulation simultaneously, or two simulations simultaneously. This capability was provided by locating duplicate operational areas on separate floors. The facility layout is shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3. The MCC-H is comprised of five basic systems: the Display/Control System, the Real Time Computer Complex (RTCC), the Communications System, the Command System, and the Simulation, Checkout, and Training System (SCATS). These systems are designed to provide the flight operations team with the necessary real-time data and associated reference data for rapid assessment of mission progress, and for rapid decisions in the event of abnormal or emergency situations. The reference data are the result of the enormous effort that is spent prior to the mission in analyzing every possible contingency situation that may occur, and contains predicted trend data, mission rules and carefully planned, detailed operational procedures for regulating the mission

Status of vaccine research and development of vaccines for Nipah virus

AbstractNipah virus (NiV) is a highly pathogenic, recently emerged paramyxovirus that has been responsible for sporadic outbreaks of respiratory and encephalitic disease in Southeast Asia. High case fatality rates have also been associated with recent outbreaks in Malaysia and Bangladesh. Although over two billion people currently live in regions in which NiV is endemic or in which the Pteropus fruit bat reservoir is commonly found, there is no approved vaccine to protect against NiV disease. This report examines the feasibility and current efforts to develop a NiV vaccine including potential hurdles for technical and regulatory assessment of candidate vaccines and the likelihood for financing

Inserting a Mutation into the Putative Clostridium difficile Bile Salt Hydrolase-Encoding Gene

Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium that causes infections in the gastrointestinal tract. The mechanisms by which C. difficile is able to germinate in such a toxic environment are not fully understood. However, our lab and others have shown that certain bile components have the capacity to induce C. difficile spore germination and affect growth of C. difficile cells. Interestingly, C. difficile encodes a bile salt hydrolase (cholylglycine hydrolase), but it is unknown how this affects the bacterium’s ability to grow in the presence of bile acids. This research project is centered around the goal of inserting a mutation into the C. difficile bile salt hydrolase. This will be completed using the TargeTron Gene Knockout System, which inserts group II introns into a specific DNA location, and allelic-coupled exchange. Successful completion of this project would allow further investigation into the relationship between C. difficile’s bile salt hydrolase activity and its ability to grow in the presence of bile acids. Ultimately, fully understanding the bacterium’s method of growth could help with the development of more effective treatments for C. difficile infections in the future

So That the People May Live (Hecel Lena Oyate Ki Nipi Kte): Lakota and Dakota Elder Women as Reservoirs of Life and Keepers of Knowledge about Health Protection and Diabetes Prevention

Around the world, Type 2 diabetes is on the rise, affecting adults and youth from societies in the throes of industrialization. Over time, uncontrolled diabetes can leave in its wake people facing renal failure, blindness, and heart disease, and communities daunted by new, chaotic phenomena. Westernized lifestyles are a recognized explanation for the escalating prevalence. The web of causation, however, may be broader and thicker, woven by complex interactions with environmental, sociological, and historical roots. The purpose of this participatory ethnographic study was to document, understand, and support Lakota and Dakota elder women’s beliefs and knowledge about health protection and diabetes prevention. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine elder women to learn: (1) about the factors attributable to diabetes, (2) about related narratives addressing health protection and diabetes prevention, and (3) how knowledge about health protection is shared. The elders saw diabetes as an outside, unnatural disorder, the contributing influences of which are external as well as internal. They offered narratives about chaos, restitution, testimony, and quests for cures and meaning. The elders connected health to traditional values and ways, the land, and memory. Reservoirs of wisdom reside in the knowledge systems of tribal elders who remember when diabetes was unknown. Health leaders at local and national levels would be wise to respect and draw upon this knowledge for guidance in program planning and policy development

Challenge pools of hepatitis C virus genotypes 1-6 prototype strains: replication fitness and pathogenicity in chimpanzees and human liver-chimeric mouse models

Chimpanzees represent the only animal model for studies of the natural history of hepatitis C virus (HCV). To generate virus stocks of important HCV variants, we infected chimpanzees with HCV strains of genotypes 1-6 and determined the infectivity titer of acute-phase plasma pools in additional animals. The courses of first- and second-passage infections were similar, with early appearance of viremia, HCV RNA titers of >10(4.7) IU/mL, and development of acute hepatitis; the chronicity rate was 56%. The challenge pools had titers of 10(3)-10(5) chimpanzee infectious doses/mL. Human liver-chimeric mice developed high-titer infections after inoculation with the challenge viruses of genotypes 1-6. Inoculation studies with different doses of the genotype 1b pool suggested that a relatively high virus dose is required to consistently infect chimeric mice. The challenge pools represent a unique resource for studies of HCV molecular virology and for studies of pathogenesis, protective immunity, and vaccine efficacy in vivo

Study of fuel cells using storable rocket propellants Final report, 18 Aug. 1965 - 23 Jun. 1969

Operating fuel cells on gaseous nitrogen tetroxide and aerozine 5

Project proposal on funding for parks

This study will look at state and county level parks and see what and if there are alternative funding solutions for these parks. We will interview officials and administrators of two parks, while using surveys to gather information about visitors of the parks. The interviews that we will use for the park officials and administrators will be semi-structured. When it comes to analyzing the data we receive from the interviews, we will use three techniques: member checking, qualitative coding, and developing themes. The second method we plan on using is surveys of park visitors. We want to conduct exit surveys with visitors of two different parks, one local and one state. Approximately 200 surveys will be collected from those visiting Table Rock State Park and Nettles Park in Clemson. This will give us a good summary of what people would like and not like. From these results we would be able to make inferences about the population of park visitors, and would we be able to advise parks which funding alternatives would be successful and unsuccessful

Tools to Assess Behavioral and Social Science Competencies in Medical Education: A Systematic Review

Behavioral and social science (BSS) competencies are needed to provide quality health care, but psychometrically validated measures to assess these competencies are difficult to find. Moreover, they have not been mapped to existing frameworks, like those from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). This systematic review aimed to identify and evaluate the quality of assessment tools used to measure BSS competencies

Reading handwritten digits: a ZIP code recognition system

A neural network algorithm-based system that reads handwritten ZIP codes appearing on real US mail is described. The system uses a recognition-based segmenter, that is a hybrid of connected-components analysis (CCA), vertical cuts, and a neural network recognizer. Connected components that are single digits are handled by CCA. CCs that are combined or dissected digits are handled by the vertical-cut segmenter. The four main stages of processing are preprocessing, in which noise is removed and the digits are deslanted, CCA segmentation and recognition, vertical-cut-point estimation and segmentation, and directly lookup. The system was trained and tested on approximately 10000 images, five- and nine-digit ZIP code fields taken from real mail

Amblyopia and quality of life: a systematic review

Background/Aims Amblyopia is a common condition which can affect up to 5% of the general population. The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) implications of amblyopia and/or its treatment have been explored in the literature. Methods A systematic literature search was undertaken (16th-30th January 2007) to identify the HRQoL implications of amblyopia and/or its treatment. Results A total of 25 papers were included in the literature review. The HRQoL implications of amblyopia related specifically to amblyopia treatment, rather than the condition itself. These included the impact upon family life; social interactions; difficulties undertaking daily activities; and feelings and behaviour. The identified studies adopted a number of methodologies. The study populations included; children with the condition; parents of children with amblyopia; and adults who had undertaken amblyopia treatment as a child. Some studies developed their own measures of HRQoL, and others determined HRQoL through proxy measures. Conclusions The reported findings of the HRQoL implications are of importance when considering the management of cases of amblyopia. Further research is required to assess the immediate and long-term effects of amblyopia and/or its treatment upon HRQoL using a more standardised approach