Inorganic analysis in a controlled ecological life support system

Techniques useful for the elemental analysis of samples of types which might require analysis within a controlled ecological life support system are investigated

Guiding the development of a controlled ecological life support system

The workshop is reported which was held to establish guidelines for future development of ecological support systems, and to develop a group of researchers who understand the interdisciplinary requirements of the overall program

Controlled Ecological Life Support System: Research and Development Guidelines

Results of a workshop designed to provide a base for initiating a program of research and development of controlled ecological life support systems (CELSS) are summarized. Included are an evaluation of a ground based manned demonstration as a milestone in CELSS development, and a discussion of development requirements for a successful ground based CELSS demonstration. Research recommendations are presented concerning the following topics: nutrition and food processing, food production, waste processing, systems engineering and modelling, and ecology-systems safety

A review of the analytical simulation of aircraft crash dynamics

A large number of full scale tests of general aviation aircraft, helicopters, and one unique air-to-ground controlled impact of a transport aircraft were performed. Additionally, research was also conducted on seat dynamic performance, load-limiting seats, load limiting subfloor designs, and emergency-locator-transmitters (ELTs). Computer programs were developed to provide designers with methods for predicting accelerations, velocities, and displacements of collapsing structure and for estimating the human response to crash loads. The results of full scale aircraft and component tests were used to verify and guide the development of analytical simulation tools and to demonstrate impact load attenuating concepts. Analytical simulation of metal and composite aircraft crash dynamics are addressed. Finite element models are examined to determine their degree of corroboration by experimental data and to reveal deficiencies requiring further development

Preparation and analysis of standardized waste samples for Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS)

The preparation and analysis of standardized waste samples for controlled ecological life support systems (CELSS) are considered. Analysis of samples from wet oxidation experiments, the development of ion chromatographic techniques utilizing conventional high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipment, and an investigation of techniques for interfacing an ion chromatograph (IC) with an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICPOES) are discussed

Modulation of Phosducin-Like Protein 3 (PhLP3) Levels Promotes Cytoskeletal Remodelling in a MAPK and RhoA-Dependent Manner

Background Phosducin-like protein 3 (PhLP3) forms a ternary complex with the ATP-dependent molecular chaperone CCT and its folding client tubulin. In vitro studies suggest PhLP3 plays an inhibitory role in ?-tubulin folding while conversely in vivo genetic studies suggest PhLP3 is required for the correct folding of ?-tubulin. We have a particular interest in the cytoskeleton, its chaperones and their role in determining cellular phenotypes associated with high level recombinant protein expression from mammalian cell expression systems. Methodology/Principal Findings As studies into PhLP3 function have been largely carried out in non mammalian systems, we examined the effect of human PhLP3 over-expression and siRNA silencing using a single murine siRNA on both tubulin and actin systems in mammalian Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines. We show that over-expression of PhLP3 promotes an imbalance of ? and ? tubulin subunits, microtubule disassembly and cell death. In contrast, ?-actin levels are not obviously perturbed. On-the-other-hand, RNA silencing of PhLP3 increases RhoA-dependent actin filament formation and focal adhesion formation and promotes a dramatic elongated fibroblast-like change in morphology. This was accompanied by an increase in phosphorylated MAPK which has been associated with promoting focal adhesion assembly and maturation. Transient overexpression of PhLP3 in knockdown experiments rescues cells from the morphological change observed during PhLP3 silencing but mitosis is perturbed, probably reflecting a tipping back of the balance of PhLP3 levels towards the overexpression state. Conclusions Our results support the hypothesis that PhLP3 is important for the maintenance of ?-tubulin levels in mammalian cells but also that its modulation can promote actin-based cytoskeletal remodelling by a mechanism linked with MAPK phosphorylation and RhoA-dependent changes. PhLP3 levels in mammalian cells are thus finely poised and represents a novel target for engineering industrially relevant cell lines to evolve lines more suited to suspension or adherent cell growth

Feasibility of an ED-to-Home Intervention to Engage Patients: A Mixed-Methods Investigation

Introduction: Older, chronically ill patients with limited health literacy are often under-engagedin managing their health and turn to the emergency department (ED) for healthcare needs. Wetested the impact of an ED-initiated coaching intervention on patient engagement and follow-updoctor visits in this high-risk population. We also explored patients’ care-seeking decisions. Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods study including a randomized controlled trial andindepth interviews in two EDs in northern Florida. Participants were chronically ill older EDpatients with limited health literacy and Medicare as a payer source. Patients were assignedto an evidencebased coaching intervention (n= 35) or usual post-ED care (n= 34). Qualitativeinterviews (n=9) explored patients’ reasons for ED use. We assessed average between-groupdifferences in patient engagement over time with the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) tool,using logistic regression and a difference-in-difference approach. Between-group differences infollow-up doctor visits were determined. We analyzed qualitative data using open coding andthematic analysis. Results: PAM scores fell in both groups after the ED visit but fell signi ficantly more in “usualcare” (average decline -4.64) than “intervention” participants (average decline -2.77) (β=1.87,p=0.043). There were no between-group differences in doctor visits. Patients described wellinformedreasons for ED visits including onset and severity of symptoms, lack of timely provideraccess, and immediate and comprehensive ED care. Conclusion: The coaching intervention significantly reduced declines in pati ent engagementobserved after usual post-ED care. Patients reported well-informed reasons for ED use andwill likely continue to make ED visits unless strategies, such as ED-initiated coaching, areimplemented to help vulnerable patients better manage their health and healthcare

Asymmetric ketone hydroboration catalyzed by alkali metal complexes derived from BINOL ligands

The ability of alkali metal complexes featuring functionalized BINOL-derived ligands to catalyze ketone hydroboration reactions was explored. The reduced products were formed in excellent yield and with variable enantioselectivities dependent upon the nature of the ligand and the alkali metal cation

Medicos, poultice wallahs and comrades in service: masculinity and military medicine in Britain during the First World War

The subject of British military medicine during the First World War has long been a fruitful one for historians of gender. From the bodily inspection of recruits and conscripts through the expanding roles of women as medical care providers to the physical and emotional aftermath of conflict experienced by men suffering from war-related wounds and illness, the medical history of the war has shed important light on how the war shaped British masculinities and femininities as cultural, subjective and embodied identities. Much of this literature has, however, focused on the gendered identities of female nurses and sick and wounded servicemen. Increasingly, however, more complex understandings of the ways in which medical caregiving in wartime shaped the gender identities of male caregivers are starting to emerge. This article explores some of these emerging understandings of the masculinity of male medical caregivers, and their relationship to the wider literature around the complex and sometimes contradictory relationship between warfare and medicine. It examines the ways in which the masculine identity of male medical caregivers from the ranks of the Royal Army Medical Corps, namely stretcher bearers and medical orderlies, was perceived and represented both by the men themselves and those they cared for. In doing so it argues that total war played a crucial role in shaping social and cultural perceptions of caregiving as a gendered practice. It also identifies particular tensions between continuity and change in social understandings of medical care as a gendered practice which would continue to shape twentieth-century British society in the war’s aftermath

Love and limblessness: male heterosexuality, disability, and the Great War

Tens of thousands of British men were permanently wounded as a result of war service. Their return home sparked debates about the wounded male body, female accountability for war-injuries, and the ideology, performance, and practice of masculinity. Other historians have shown how ‘broken heroes’ from the First World War were constituted into ‘men’ in four contexts: physical appearance, occupation, sport, and Britishness. This article explores a fifth dimension: sexuality. It explores debates about the need for war-disabled men to establish stable marital relationships and investigates some attempts to encourage this, including encouraging women to take the initiative in proposing marriage and the establishment of The League for the Marrying of Broken Heroes