61 research outputs found

    Fault Management in Manned Spacecraft: From Design to Operations

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    The contents include: 1) Fault Management dimensions; 2) Fault Management analysis; 3) Real-time Fault Management; 4) Learning from Real Failures; 5) Evolution of on-board Fault Management Approach

    Advanced Technologies for Future Spacecraft Cockpits and Space-based Control Centers

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    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is embarking on a new era of Space Exploration, aimed at sending crewed spacecraft beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO), in medium and long duration missions to the Lunar surface, Mars and beyond. The challenges of such missions are significant and will require new technologies and paradigms in vehicle design and mission operations. Current roles and responsibilities of spacecraft systems, crew and the flight control team, for example, may not be sustainable when real-time support is not assured due to distance-induced communication lags, radio blackouts, equipment failures, or other unexpected factors. Therefore, technologies and applications that enable greater Systems and Mission Management capabilities on-board the space-based system will be necessary to reduce the dependency on real-time critical Earth-based support. The focus of this paper is in such technologies that will be required to bring advance Systems and Mission Management capabilities to space-based environments where the crew will be required to manage both the systems performance and mission execution without dependence on the ground. We refer to this concept as autonomy. Environments that require high levels of autonomy include the cockpits of future spacecraft such as the Mars Exploration Vehicle, and space-based control centers such as a Lunar Base Command and Control Center. Furthermore, this paper will evaluate the requirements, available technology, and roadmap to enable full operational implementation of onboard System Health Management, Mission Planning/re-planning, Autonomous Task/Command Execution, and Human Computer Interface applications. The technology topics covered by the paper include enabling technology to perform Intelligent Caution and Warning, where the systems provides directly actionable data for human understanding and response to failures, task automation applications that automate nominal and Off-nominal task execution based on human input or integrated health state-derived conditions. Shifting from Systems to Mission Management functions, we discuss the role of automated planning applications (tactical planning) on-board, which receive data from the other cockpit automation systems and evaluate the mission plan against the dynamic systems and mission states and events, to provide the crew with capabilities that enable them to understand, change, and manage the timeline of their mission. Lastly, we discuss the role of advanced human interface technologies that organize and provide the system md mission information to the crew in ways that maximize their situational awareness and ability to provide oversight and control of aLl the automated data and functions

    CO2 Sink Effect Of Concrete Carbonation Spain

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    Although carbonation of cement phases is well known, the amount of carbon dioxide combined during the process has been much less investigated. Related to the greenhouse effect much more attention is being paid to the sinks for C 0 2 in order to correctly compute the gases emission during production of materials. In the case of cement a strict calculation should discount the C 0 2 emitted from that fixed by the concrete. This is the aim of present work which is a study of the cement based materials ability to combine C 02. Using Thermogravimetry and Differential Thermal Analysis as well as phenolphthalein indicator, quantities of C 0 2 combined and carbonation depth in several cement pastes and concretes exposed to different environments have been measured. A calculation to estimate the contribution of cement based materials carbonation to the partial re-absorption of the C 02 emitted in cement production is proposed

    Dynamic Edematous Response of the Human Heart to Myocardial Infarction Implications for Assessing Myocardial Area at Risk and Salvage

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    BACKGROUND: Clinical protocols aimed to characterize the post-myocardial infarction (MI) heart by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) need to be standardized to take account of dynamic biological phenomena evolving early after the index ischemic event. Here, we evaluated the time course of edema reaction in patients with ST-segment-elevation MI by CMR and assessed its implications for myocardium-at-risk (MaR) quantification both in patients and in a large-animal model. METHODS: A total of 16 patients with anterior ST-segment-elevation MI successfully treated by primary angioplasty and 16 matched controls were prospectively recruited. In total, 94 clinical CMR examinations were performed: patients with ST-segment-elevation MI were serially scanned (within the first 3 hours after reperfusion and at 1, 4, 7, and 40 days), and controls were scanned only once. T2 relaxation time in the myocardium (T2 mapping) and the extent of edema on T2-weighted short-tau triple inversion-recovery (ie, CMR-MaR) were evaluated at all time points. In the experimental study, 20 pigs underwent 40-minute ischemia/reperfusion followed by serial CMR examinations at 120 minutes and 1, 4, and 7 days after reperfusion. Reference MaR was assessed by contrast-multidetector computed tomography during the index coronary occlusion. Generalized linear mixed models were used to take account of repeated measurements. RESULTS: In humans, T2 relaxation time in the ischemic myocardium declines significantly from early after reperfusion to 24 hours, and then increases up to day 4, reaching a plateau from which it decreases from day 7. Consequently, edema extent measured by T2-weighted short-tau triple inversion-recovery (CMR-MaR) varied with the timing of the CMR examination. These findings were confirmed in the experimental model by showing that only CMR-MaR values for day 4 and day 7 postreperfusion, coinciding with the deferred edema wave, were similar to values measured by reference contrast-multidetector computed tomography. CONCLUSIONS: Post-MI edema in patients follows a bimodal pattern that affects CMR estimates of MaR. Dynamic changes in post-ST-segment-elevation MI edema highlight the need for standardization of CMR timing to retrospectively delineate MaR and quantify myocardial salvage. According to the present clinical and experimental data, a time window between days 4 and 7 post-MI seems a good compromise solution for standardization. Further studies are needed to study the effect of other factors on these variables.This study was partially supported by a competitive grant from the Spanish Society of Cardiology (Proyectos de Investigacion Traslacional en Cardiologia de la Sociedad Espanola de Cardiologia 2015, for the project Caracterizacion tiSUlar miocaRdica con resonancia magnetica en pacientes tras inFarto agudo de mioCardio con elevacioN de ST sometidos a angloplastia Coronaria primaria. Estudio SURF-CNIC), by a competitive grant from the Carlos III Institute of Health-Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria- and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER) (PI10/02268 and PI13/01979), the Spanish Ministry of economy, industry, and competitiveness (MEIC) and ERDF/FEDER SAF2013-49663-EXP. Dr Fernandez-Jimenez holds a FICNIC fellowship from the Fundacio Jesus Serra, the Fundacion Interhospitalaria de Investigacion Cardiovascular, and the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), and Dr Aguero is a FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN-Cardionext fellow. This study forms part of a Master Research Agreement between the CNIC and Philips Healthcare, and is part of a bilateral research program between Hospital de Salamanca Cardiology Department and the CNIC. This research program is part of an institutional agreement between FIIS-Fundacion Jimenez Diaz and CNIC. The CNIC is supported by the MEIC and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (MEIC award SEV-2015-0505).S

    Metoprolol blunts the time-dependent progression of infarct size.

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    Early metoprolol administration protects against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, but its effect on infarct size progression (ischemic injury) is unknown. Eight groups of pigs (total n = 122) underwent coronary artery occlusion of varying duration (20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, or 60 min) followed by reperfusion. In each group, pigs were randomized to i.v. metoprolol (0.75 mg/kg) or vehicle (saline) 20 min after ischemia onset. The primary outcome measure was infarct size (IS) on day7 cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) normalized to area at risk (AAR, measured by perfusion computed tomography [CT] during ischemia). Metoprolol treatment reduced overall mortality (10% vs 26%, p = 0.03) and the incidence and number of primary ventricular fibrillations during infarct induction. In controls, IS after 20-min ischemia was ≈ 5% of the area AAR. Thereafter, IS progressed exponentially, occupying almost all the AAR after 35 min of ischemia. Metoprolol injection significantly reduced the slope of IS progression (p = 0.004 for final IS). Head-to-head comparison (metoprolol treated vs vehicle treated) showed statistically significant reductions in IS at 30, 35, 40, and 50-min reperfusion. At 60-min reperfusion, IS was 100% of AAR in both groups. Despite more prolonged ischemia, metoprolol-treated pigs reperfused at 50 min had smaller infarcts than control pigs undergoing ischemia for 40 or 45 min and similar-sized infarcts to those undergoing 35-min ischemia. Day-45 LVEF was higher in metoprolol-treated vs vehicle-treated pigs (41.6% vs 36.5%, p = 0.008). In summary, metoprolol administration early during ischemia attenuates IS progression and reduces the incidence of primary ventricular fibrillation. These data identify metoprolol as an intervention ideally suited to the treatment of STEMI patients identified early in the course of infarction and requiring long transport times before primary angioplasty.This study received funding from the Ministry of Science and Innovation (“RETOS 2019” Grant no. PID2019-107332RB-I00), from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII; PI16/02110) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) “A way of making Europe” (# AC16/00021), and from the Spanish Society of Cardiology through a 2017 Translational Research grant. BI has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (ERC-Consolidator Grant agreement no. 819775). M.L received support from a 2015 Severo Ochoa CNIC intramural grant. X.R. received support from the SEC-CNIC CARDIOJOVEN fellowship program. R.F-J is a recipient of funding from the Carlos III Institute of Health-Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria (PI19/01704) and has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 707642. EO is recipient of funds from Programa de Atracción de Talento (2017-T1/BMD-5185) of Comunidad de Madrid. The CNIC is supported by the ISCIII, the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505).S

    Intracoronary Administration of Allogeneic Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Improves Myocardial Perfusion But Not Left Ventricle Function, in a Translational Model of Acute Myocardial Infarction

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    Background-Autologous adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ATMSCs) therapy is a promising strategy to improve post-myocardial infarction outcomes. In a porcine model of acute myocardial infarction, we studied the long-term effects and the mechanisms involved in allogeneic ATMSCs administration on myocardial performance. Methods and Results-Thirty-eight pigs underwent 50 minutes of coronary occlusion; the study was completed in 33 pigs. After reperfusion, allogeneic ATMSCs or culture medium (vehicle) were intracoronarily administered. Follow-ups were performed at short (2 days after acute myocardial infarction vehicle-treated, n=10; ATMSCs-treated, n=9) or long term (60 days after acute myocardial infarction vehicle-treated, n=7; ATMSCs-treated, n=7). At short term, infarcted myocardium analysis showed reduced apoptosis in the ATMSCs-treated animals (48.6 +/- 6\% versus 55.9 +/- 5.7\% in vehicle; P=0.017); enhancement of the reparative process with up-regulated vascular endothelial growth factor, granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and stromal-derived factor-1 alpha gene expression; and increased M2 macrophages (67.2 +/- 10\% versus 54.7 +/- 10.2\% in vehicle; P=0.016). In long-term groups, increase in myocardial perfusion at the anterior infarct border was observed both on day-7 and day-60 cardiac magnetic resonance studies in ATMSCs-treated animals, compared to vehicle (87.9 +/- 28.7 versus 57.4 +/- 17.7 mL/min per gram at 7 days; P=0.034 and 99 +/- 22.6 versus 43.3 +/- 14.7 22.6 mL/min per gram at 60 days; P=0.0001, respectively). At day 60, higher vascular density was detected at the border zone in the ATMSCs-treated animals (118 +/- 18 versus 92.4 +/- 24.3 vessels/mm(2) in vehicle; P=0.045). Cardiac magnetic resonance-measured left ventricular ejection fraction of left ventricular volumes was not different between groups at any time point. Conclusions-In this porcine acute myocardial infarction model, allogeneic ATMSCs-based therapy was associated with increased cardioprotective and reparative mechanisms and with better cardiac magnetic resonance-measured perfusion. No effect on left ventricular volumes or ejection fraction was observed.This work was supported by grants from Fundacion la Marato de TV3 (122230); Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria Instituto de Salud Carlos III and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FIS PI14/01682), (RD12/0042/0006), (RD12/0042/0047), (RD12/0019/0029) (TerCel RD16/0011/0006), CIBER Cardiovascular (CB16/11/00403) projects and Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia (SAF2011-30067-C02-01) (SAF2014-59892). Fernaandez-Jimenez was the recipient of nonoverlapping grants from the Ministerio de Economia, Industria, y Competitividad through the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Rio Hortega fellowship); and the Fundacion Jesus Serra, the Fundacion Interhospitalaria de Investigacion Cardiovascular (FIC), and the CNIC (FICNIC fellowship). The use of QMass software was partly supported by a scientific collaboration between the CNIC and Medis Medical Imaging Systems BV. The CNIC is supported by the Ministerio de Economia, Industria, y Competitividad (MINECO) and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (MINECO award SEV-2015-0505). This work was also funded by ``la Caixa Banking Foundation, and the Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR 2014, CERCA Programme). This work has been developed in the context of AdvanceCat with the support of ACCIO (Catalonia Trade \& Investment; Generalitat de Catalunya) under the Catalonian ERDF operational program (European Regional Development Fund) 2014-2020.S

    Association of Candidate Gene Polymorphisms With Chronic Kidney Disease: Results of a Case-Control Analysis in the Nefrona Cohort

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    Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major risk factor for end-stage renal disease, cardiovascular disease and premature death. Despite classical clinical risk factors for CKD and some genetic risk factors have been identified, the residual risk observed in prediction models is still high. Therefore, new risk factors need to be identified in order to better predict the risk of CKD in the population. Here, we analyzed the genetic association of 79 SNPs of proteins associated with mineral metabolism disturbances with CKD in a cohort that includes 2, 445 CKD cases and 559 controls. Genotyping was performed with matrix assisted laser desorption ionizationtime of flight mass spectrometry. We used logistic regression models considering different genetic inheritance models to assess the association of the SNPs with the prevalence of CKD, adjusting for known risk factors. Eight SNPs (rs1126616, rs35068180, rs2238135, rs1800247, rs385564, rs4236, rs2248359, and rs1564858) were associated with CKD even after adjusting by sex, age and race. A model containing five of these SNPs (rs1126616, rs35068180, rs1800247, rs4236, and rs2248359), diabetes and hypertension showed better performance than models considering only clinical risk factors, significantly increasing the area under the curve of the model without polymorphisms. Furthermore, one of the SNPs (the rs2248359) showed an interaction with hypertension, being the risk genotype affecting only hypertensive patients. We conclude that 5 SNPs related to proteins implicated in mineral metabolism disturbances (Osteopontin, osteocalcin, matrix gla protein, matrix metalloprotease 3 and 24 hydroxylase) are associated to an increased risk of suffering CKD
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