Spaceflight Activates Lipotoxic Pathways in Mouse Liver

Spaceflight affects numerous organ systems in the body, leading to metabolic dysfunction that may have long-term consequences. Microgravity-induced alterations in liver metabolism, particularly with respect to lipids, remain largely unexplored. Here we utilize a novel systems biology approach, combining metabolomics and transcriptomics with advanced Raman microscopy, to investigate altered hepatic lipid metabolism in mice following short duration spaceflight. Mice flown aboard Space Transportation System -135, the last Shuttle mission, lose weight but redistribute lipids, particularly to the liver. Intriguingly, spaceflight mice lose retinol from lipid droplets. Both mRNA and metabolite changes suggest the retinol loss is linked to activation of PPARα-mediated pathways and potentially to hepatic stellate cell activation, both of which may be coincident with increased bile acids and early signs of liver injury. Although the 13-day flight duration is too short for frank fibrosis to develop, the retinol loss plus changes in markers of extracellular matrix remodeling raise the concern that longer duration exposure to the space environment may result in progressive liver damage, increasing the risk for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

An Open-Section Shell Designed for Customized Bending and Twisting to Ease Sitting and Rising in a Chair

This paper is concerned with a compliant-hinge mechanism in an assistive chair that does not use external power in aiding the elderly and arthritics in stand-to-sit and sit-to-stand manoeuvres. The mechanism, attached to the seat of the chair, acts like a nonlinear torsion spring that is effectively pivoted to the frame. A pair of semi-circular open-section shells that are rigidly connected to each other and fastened to the chair frame comprise the spring. A cam profile on a guide plate enables the shells to deform transversely even as they twist to provide customized torque-angle characteristic as per the weight of the occupant. The formulation of the design specification based on biomechanical considerations, kinetics of sitting and rising in a chair, kinetoelastic modelling of open-section shells, a new energy mapping method of designing the guideway for the shells, and simulation of the entire unitized compliant spring mechanism are presented

INHS Reports, January/February 1992

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Deutsche Investitionen in den wirtschaftlichen Wachstumszentren am Pazifik

Written as an expertise by order of the Federal Ministry for Economic with the title: German direct investment in Australia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and the USA as starting point for economic activities in the Pacific areaSIGLEBibliothek Weltwirtschaft Kiel C 117,595 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman