Measuring the Effects of High-Altitude Flight and Upper Atmospheric Radiation on Muscle Cells

There are several physiological barriers to long-term space travel, including the effects of launch, landing, and microgravity on muscle cells. A payload capsule was designed to maintain cell growth during a high altitude balloon flight to model some of these physiological processes. Murine muscle cells (strain C2C12) were cultured and launched in a capsule on a balloon satellite in November 2016. Cells were monitored for changes due to temperature, flight motion, radiation, and gravity differences by quantifying cell characteristics before and after the flight using physical measurements and cell viability. Instruments were selected to monitor flight data, and a payload capsule was designed for cell survival by maintaining a constant temperature of 37°C and redistributing impact forces

The use of microfluidics and dielectrophoresis for separation, concentration, and identification of bacteria

Traditional bacterial identification methods take one to two days to complete, relying on large bacteria colonies for visual identification. In order to decrease this analysis time in a cost-effective manner, a method to sort and concentrate bacteria based on the bacteria\u27s characteristics itself is needed. One example of such a method is dielectrophoresis, which has been used by researchers to separate bacteria from sample debris and sort bacteria according to species. This work presents variations in which dielectrophoresis can be performed and their associated drawbacks and benefits specifically to bacterial identification. In addition, a potential microfluidic design will be discussed

An Activating Killer-Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor (KIR) Gene-Content Haplotype (cB01) is Increased in Autism

Autism is a general term that describes a complex group of neurodevelopmental disorders. These disorders are characterized by deficits in communication and social skills and the presence of repetitive stereotyped behaviors. It has long been suspected that there is a genetic component of autism. Many studies have attempted to identify the genetic risk using a genetic screening method. After studying the entire genome of thousands of subjects, these methods have only identified about 5-10% of the risk. We have taken a more targeted approach to studying the genetic component of autism. It has been shown that the resting state of NK-cell (natural killer cell) killing is increased in autistic subjects. It has also been shown that KIR (killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor) genes, the genes that encode proteins that activate or inhibit the killing response, have been associated with several autoimmune diseases, cancer, and HIV infections. Research done at the CPD suggests that there is a link between the immune system and autism, specifically, a significant association between an increase in activating KIR genes and their cognate HLA (human leukocyte antigen) ligands (Torres 2012). Our objective is to extend this research by examining KIR gene-content haplotypes associated with autism. At this point, our data suggests a significant increase in the activating gene-content cB01 haplotype (p=0.00048) (Odds Ratio =1.7097)