Paper Sessions IV-B - Shuttle and Space Station Scientific Payloads: Their Role in the Next Generation

This paper presents an overview of the scientific payloads which will be flown aboard the Space Shuttle in the next era of spaceflight operations. In addition, planning for Space Station paylpads is now far enough along for us to identify many of the Space\u27 Stations\u27 major payload initiatives. Those payloads which are currently manifested for flight have their planned launch years noted. The Shuttle payloads may be either deployed from the Shuttle, deployed and retrieved for return to Earth, or they may remain in the payload bay for the entire mission, depending on the individual payload mission research objectives

Paper Session I-B - Prelaunch Processing Scientific Payloads Since Challenger: Lessons Learned Exercise

The Kennedy Space Center is responsible for processing a large number of payloads for integration and launch with the Space Shuttle. The processing of unclassified Shuttle mission payloads is the responsibility of the KSC Payload Management and Operations Directorate and its NASA-McDonnell Douglas personnel. Each individual STS mission may involve several payload elements such as deployable satellites, upperstages, free flying platforms, scientific instrument carriers, as well as flight support equipment. As of this writing, 1990 will see the KSC payload processing organizations supporting the launch and/or download of fifteen different payload elements on eight separate STS launches. The variety of payloads processed and the lack of similarity among successive mission processing flows provides a rich opportunity to utilize the experiences Q\u27f the past flows to enhance the payload processing team\u27s future operational activities. The payload processing teams have taken this opportunity to engage, therefore, in some effort to retain the corporate knowledge acquired on each of the STS missions, and to attempt to collect that knowledge in an accessible knowledge base. To that end, a lessons learned 11 effort forms a part of each of the payload processing operations

The phosphate balance : current developments and future outlook

Phosphate is essential for agricultural production and therefore plays a key role in the global production of food and biofuels. There are no agricultural alternatives for phosphate, and a substantial fraction of our annual phosphate consumption is dispersed into the environment where it is largely lost to agriculture. Phosphate is an irreplaceable, and to a considerable extent non-renewable, resource that is being exploited at an ever increasing rate. The ongoing depletion of phosphate resources combined with recently increased phosphate prices urge us to reconsider our phosphate consumption patterns. In addition to economic and geo-political reasons, further reducing phosphate consumption would moreover be beneficial to the quality of our environment. Even if we increase the reserve base, for which there are plenty of opportunities, it is clear that the phosphate industry will sooner or later have to make a switch from a reserve-based industry to a recycling industry

Wendbaar en dienstbaar:Het PDC door de ogen van operatiën (en andersom)

Het Politiedienstencentrum (PDC) werkt aan een volgend niveau van serviceverlening. Daar moeten ook de operatieën (wijkagenten, noodhulpagenten en rechercheurs) bij worden betrokken. Wat zijn weder-zijdse beelden en verwachtingen? Hoe kan het PDC een verdere professionaliseringsslag maken

Exploring co-dispensed drug use in patients on sevelamer or polystyrene sulfonate to identify potential novel binding interactions:a cross sectional in silico study: Potential novel binding interactions with resins

Background Sevelamer and polystyrene sulfonate are used for treating hyperphosphatemia and hyperkalaemia in chronic kidney disease patients. Because of their binding properties, these resins potentially bind other drugs in the gastrointestinal tract, thereby decreasing their bioavailability and clinical effectiveness. Aim The aim of this study was to explore co-dispensed drug use in patients on sevelamer or polystyrene sulfonate to identify potential novel binding interactions. Method In this in silico study, the 100 drugs most frequently co-dispensed with sevelamer/polystyrene sulfonate in the period 2000-2018 were extracted from the University Groningen IADB.nl database. Drugs dispensed to  2.0 were identified as potential interacting drug. For polystyrene sulfonate, drugs with a pKa (base) > 1.5 were identified as potential interacting drug. Results Of the top 100 drugs most frequently co-dispensed with sevelamer/polystyrene sulfonate, 22 and 27 potentially clinically relevant new interacting drugs were identified for sevelamer and polystyrene sulfonate respectively. Conclusion Several potentially relevant novel binding interactions for sevelamer and polystyrene sulfonate were identified based on dispensing data and assessment of chemical properties for which further interaction research is warranted

The impact and challenges of implementing CTCA according to the 2019 ESC guidelines on chronic coronary syndromes:a survey and projection of CTCA services in the Netherlands

BACKGROUND: The 2019 ESC-guidelines on chronic coronary syndromes (ESC-CCS) recommend computed tomographic coronary angiography (CTCA) or non-invasive functional imaging instead of exercise ECG as initial test to diagnose obstructive coronary artery disease. Since impact and challenges of these guidelines are unknown, we studied the current utilisation of CTCA-services, status of CTCA-protocols and modeled the expected impact of these guidelines in the Netherlands. METHODS AND RESULTS: A survey on current practice and CTCA utilisation was disseminated to every Dutch hospital organisation providing outpatient cardiology care and modeled the required CTCA capacity for implementation of the ESC guideline, based on these national figures and expert consensus. Survey response rate was 100% (68/68 hospital organisations). In 2019, 63 hospital organisations provided CTCA-services (93%), CTCA was performed on 99 CTCA-capable CT-scanners, and 37,283 CTCA-examinations were performed. Between the hospital organisations, we found substantial variation considering CTCA indications, CTCA equipment and acquisition and reporting standards. To fully implement the new ESC guideline, our model suggests that 70,000 additional CTCA-examinations would have to be performed in the Netherlands. CONCLUSIONS: Despite high national CTCA-services coverage in the Netherlands, a substantial increase in CTCA capacity is expected to be able to implement the 2019 ESC-CCS recommendations on the use of CTCA. Furthermore, the results of this survey highlight the importance to address variations in image acquisition and to standardise the interpretation and reporting of CTCA, as well as to establish interdisciplinary collaboration and organisational alignment

Arginase strongly impairs neuronal nitric oxide-mediated airway smooth muscle relaxation in allergic asthma

BACKGROUND: Using guinea pig tracheal preparations, we have recently shown that endogenous arginase activity attenuates inhibitory nonadrenergic noncholinergic (iNANC) nerve-mediated airway smooth muscle relaxation by reducing nitric oxide (NO) production – due to competition with neuronal NO-synthase (nNOS) for the common substrate, L-arginine. Furthermore, in a guinea pig model of allergic asthma, airway arginase activity is markedly increased after the early asthmatic reaction (EAR), leading to deficiency of agonist-induced, epithelium-derived NO and subsequent airway hyperreactivity. In this study, we investigated whether increased arginase activity after the EAR affects iNANC nerve-derived NO production and airway smooth muscle relaxation. METHODS: Electrical field stimulation (EFS; 150 mA, 4 ms, 4 s, 0.5 – 16 Hz)-induced relaxation was measured in tracheal open-ring preparations precontracted to 30% with histamine in the presence of 1 μM atropine and 3 μM indomethacin. The contribution of NO to EFS-induced relaxation was assessed by the nonselective NOS inhibitor N(ω)-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA, 100 μM), while the involvement of arginase activity in the regulation of EFS-induced NO production and relaxation was investigated by the effect of the specific arginase inhibitor N(ω)-hydroxy-nor-L-arginine (nor-NOHA, 10 μM). Furthermore, the role of substrate availability to nNOS was measured in the presence of exogenous L-arginine (5.0 mM). RESULTS: At 6 h after ovalbumin-challenge (after the EAR), EFS-induced relaxation (ranging from 3.2 ± 1.1% at 0.5 Hz to 58.5 ± 2.2% at 16 Hz) was significantly decreased compared to unchallenged controls (7.1 ± 0.8% to 75.8 ± 0.7%; P < 0.05 all). In contrast to unchallenged controls, the NOS inhibitor L-NNA did not affect EFS-induced relaxation after allergen challenge, indicating that NO deficiency underlies the impaired relaxation. Remarkably, the specific arginase inhibitor nor-NOHA normalized the impaired relaxation to unchallenged control (P < 0.05 all), which effect was inhibited by L-NNA (P < 0.01 all). Moreover, the effect of nor-NOHA was mimicked by exogenous L-arginine. CONCLUSION: The results clearly demonstrate that increased arginase activity after the allergen-induced EAR contributes to a deficiency of iNANC nerve-derived NO and decreased airway smooth muscle relaxation, presumably via increased substrate competition with nNOS

HappyHier: hoe gelukkig is men waar? : Gegevensverzameling en bepaling van de invloed van het type grondgebruik, deel I

This study set out to measure what influence the type of environment has on how happy people say they feel at a certain moment in time, with the aim of formulating rules for quantifying the effect of spatial changes on wellbeing. A smartphone app was developed for use by a broad sample population in the Netherlands, with push notifications prompting people to report how they felt at a certain moment. From 1 May to 28 July of 2016, 4318 unique participants made use of this HappyHier app, filling in at least one questionnaire on location. The results show that people are happier outdoors than indoors. And when they are outdoors, they are happier in predominantly natural surroundings than in more built-up areas. Moreover, from the ratings given to the surroundings, it can be concluded that they have a more positive effect when the participants found them more restful or stimulating. People’s impressions of the beauty of their surroundings had less influenc