Mars Atmospheric In Situ Resource Utilization Projects at the Kennedy Space Center

The atmosphere of Mars, which is approximately 95% carbon dioxide (CO2), is a rich resource for the human exploration of the red planet, primarily by the production of rocket propellants and oxygen for life support. Three recent projects led by NASA's Kennedy Space Center have been investigating the processing of CO2. The first project successfully demonstrated the Mars Atmospheric Processing Module (APM), which freezes CO2 with cryocoolers and combines sublimated CO2 with hydrogen to make methane and water. The second project absorbs CO2 with Ionic Liquids and electrolyzes it with water to make methane and oxygen, but with limited success so far. A third project plans to recover up to 100% of the oxygen in spacecraft respiratory CO2. A combination of the Reverse Water Gas Shift reaction and the Boudouard reaction eventually fill the reactor up with carbon, stopping the process. A system to continuously remove and collect carbon is under construction

Trash-to-Gas: Using Waste Products to Minimize Logistical Mass During Long Duration Space Missions

Just as waste-to-energy processes utilizing municipal landftll and biomass wastes are finding increased terrestrial uses, the Trash-to-Gas (TtG) project seeks to convert waste generated during spaceflight into high value commodities. These include methane for propulsion and water for life support in addition to a variety of other gasses. TtG is part of the Logistic Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) project under the NASA Advanced Exploration Systems Program. The LRR project will enable a largely mission-independent approach to minimize logistics contributions to total mission architecture mass. LRR includes technologies that reduce the amount of consumables that need to be sent to space, repurpose items sent to space, or convert wastes to commodities. Currently, waste generated on the International Space Station is stored inside a logistic module which is de-orbited into Earth's atmosphere for destruction. The waste consists of food packaging, food, clothing and other items. This paper will discuss current results on incineration as a waste processing method. Incineration is part of a two step process to produce methane from waste: first the waste is converted to carbon oxides; second, the carbon oxides are fed to a Sabatier reactor where they are converted to methane. The quantities of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and water were measured under the different thermal degradation conditions. The overall carbon conversion efficiency and water recovery are discusse

Decreased Aerobic Exercise Capacity After Long-Term Remission From Cushing Syndrome: Exploration of Mechanisms.

BACKGROUND: Although major improvements are achieved after cure of Cushing syndrome (CS), fatigue and decreased quality of life persist. This is the first study to measure aerobic exercise capacity in patients in remission of CS for more than 4 years in comparison with matched controls, and to investigate whether the reduction in exercise capacity is related to alterations in muscle tissue. METHODS: Seventeen patients were included. A control individual, matched for sex, estrogen status, age, body mass index, smoking, ethnicity, and physical activity level was recruited for each patient. Maximal aerobic capacity (VO2peak) was assessed during incremental bicycle exercise to exhaustion. In 8 individually matched patients and controls, a percutaneous muscle biopsy was obtained and measures were made of cross-sectional areas, capillarization, and oxphos complex IV (COXIV) protein content as an indicator of mitochondrial content. Furthermore, protein content of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and eNOS phosphorylated on serine1177 and of the NAD(P)H-oxidase subunits NOX2, p47phox, and p67phox were measured in the microvascular endothelial layer. FINDINGS: Patients showed a lower mean VO2peak (SD) (28.0 [7.0] vs 34.8 [7.9] ml O2/kg bw/min, P < .01), maximal workload (SD) (176 [49] vs 212 [67] watt, P = .01), and oxygen pulse (SD) (12.0 [3.7] vs 14.8 [4.2] ml/beat, P < .01) at VO2peak. No differences were seen in muscle fiber type-specific cross-sectional area, capillarization measures, mitochondrial content, and protein content of eNOS, eNOS-P-ser1177, NOX2, p47phox, and p67phox. INTERPRETATION: Because differences in muscle fiber and microvascular outcome measures are not statistically significant, we hypothesize that cardiac dysfunction, seen in active CS, persists during remission and limits blood supply to muscles

Treatment of hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules by percutaneous ethanol injection

BACKGROUND: Autonomous thyroid nodules can be treated by a variety of methods. We assessed the efficacy of percutaneous ethanol injection in treating autonomous thyroid nodules. METHODS: 35 patients diagnosed by technetium-99 scanning with hyperfunctioning nodules and suppressed sensitive TSH (sTSH) were given sterile ethanol injections under ultrasound guidance. 29 patients had clinical and biochemical hyperthyroidism. The other 6 had sub-clinical hyperthyroidism with suppressed sTSH levels (<0.24 μIU/ml) and normal thyroid hormone levels. Ethanol injections were performed once every 1–4 weeks. Ethanol injections were stopped when serum T(3), T(4 )and sTSH levels had returned to normal, or else injections could no longer be performed because significant side effects. Patients were followed up at 3, 6 and, in 15 patients, 24 months after the last injection. RESULTS: Average pre-treatment nodule volume [18.2 ± 12.7 ml] decreased to 5.7 ± 4.6 ml at 6 months follow-up [P < 0.001]. All patients had normal thyroid hormone levels at 3 and 6 months follow-up [P < 0.001 relative to baseline]. sTSH levels increased from 0.09 ± 0.02 μIU/ml to 0.65 ± 0.8 μIU/ml at the end of therapy [P < 0.05]. Only 3 patients had persistent sTSH suppression at 6 months post-therapy. T(4 )and sTSH did not change significantly between 6 months and 2 years [P > 0.05]. Ethanol injections were well tolerated by the patients, with only 2 cases of transient dysphonia. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that ethanol injection is an alternative to surgery or radioactive iodine in the treatment of autonomous thyroid nodules

Shaping immune responses through the activation of dendritic cells–P2 receptors

Dendritic cells (DCs) activate and shape the adaptive immune response by capturing antigens, migrating to peripheral lymphoid organs where naïve T cells reside, expressing high levels of MHC and costimulatory molecules and secreting cytokines and chemokines. DCs are endowed with a high degree of functional plasticity and their functions are tightly regulated. Besides initiating adaptive immune responses, DCs play a key role in maintaining peripheral tolerance toward self-antigens. On the basis of the information gathered from the tissue where they reside, DCs adjust their functional activity to ensure that protective immunity is favoured while unwanted or exaggerated immune responses are prevented. A wide variety of signals from neighbouring cells affecting DC functional activity have been described. Here we will discuss the complex role of extracellular nucleotides in the regulation of DC function and the role of P2 receptors as possible tools to manipulate immune responses

Quantification of estradiol cypionate in plasma by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry: Application in a pharmacokinetic study in healthy female volunteers

The combination of medroxyprogesterone acetate 25 mg + estradiol cypionate 5 mg is a highly effective, monthly injectable contraceptive. For the first time, this study presents the development and validation of a sensitive method for estradiol cypionate analysis in human plasma by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Aliquots (500 μL) of plasma were extracted with ethyl ether (100%) and derivatized with dansyl chloride. Its separation was performed on a Jones Chromatography Genesis C8 column and the quantification was performed with a mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray interface operating in negative ion mode. The run time was 6 min and the calibration curve was linear over the range of 0.005-0.15 ng/mL. The method was applied to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of estradiol cypionate in plasma collected up to 1008 h (42 days) after a single intramuscular administration of 25 mg/mL medroxyprogesterone acetate +5 mg/mL estradiol cypionate to healthy female volunteers (n = 12). The estradiol cypionate maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) was 0.14 ± 0.08 ng/mL reached at 16.83 ± 21.07 h and the area under the plasma concentration versus time curve (AUC0-last) was 14.07 ± 6.32 ng.h/mL. Elimination half-life (t½), apparent volume of distribution (Vd/F), apparent clearance (CL/F) and mean residence time (MRT) were 89.65 ± 76.04 h, 28038 ± 9636 L, 49.02 ± 10.62 L/h and 576.05 ± 238.32 h, respectively, showing that the estradiol cypionate release from the administration site was prolonged and there was no drug accumulation

Quantification of estradiol cypionate in plasma by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry : application in a pharmacokinetic study in healthy female volunteers

The combination of medroxyprogesterone acetate 25 mg + estradiol cypionate 5 mg is a highly effective, monthly injectable contraceptive. For the first time, this study presents the development and validation of a sensitive method for estradiol cypionate analysis in human plasma by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Aliquots (500 μL) of plasma were extracted with ethyl ether (100%) and derivatized with dansyl chloride. Its separation was performed on a Jones Chromatography Genesis C8 column and the quantification was performed with a mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray interface operating in negative ion mode. The run time was 6 min and the calibration curve was linear over the range of 0.005−0.15 ng/mL. The method was applied to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of estradiol cypionate in plasma collected up to 1008 h (42 days) after a single intramuscular administration of 25 mg/mL medroxyprogesterone acetate +5 mg/mL estradiol cypionate to healthy female volunteers (n = 12). The estradiol cypionate maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) was 0.14 ± 0.08 ng/mL reached at 16.83 ± 21.07 h and the area under the plasma concentration versus time curve (AUC0-last) was 14.07 ± 6.32 ng.h/mL. Elimination half-life (t½), apparent volume of distribution (Vd/F), apparent clearance (CL/F) and mean residence time (MRT) were 89.65 ± 76.04 h, 28038 ± 9636 L, 49.02 ± 10.62 L/h and 576.05 ± 238.32 h, respectively, showing that the estradiol cypionate release from the administration site was prolonged and there was no drug accumulation170273278The combination of medroxyprogesterone acetate 25 mg + estradiol cypionate 5 mg is a highly effective, monthly injectable contraceptive. For the first time, this study presents the development and validation of a sensitive method for estradiol cypionate analysis in human plasma by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Aliquots (500 μL) of plasma were extracted with ethyl ether (100%) and derivatized with dansyl chloride. Its separation was performed on a Jones Chromatography Genesis C8 column and the quantification was performed with a mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray interface operating in negative ion mode. The run time was 6 min and the calibration curve was linear over the range of 0.005−0.15 ng/mL. The method was applied to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of estradiol cypionate in plasma collected up to 1008 h (42 days) after a single intramuscular administration of 25 mg/mL medroxyprogesterone acetate +5 mg/mL estradiol cypionate to healthy female volunteers (n = 12). The estradiol cypionate maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) was 0.14 ± 0.08 ng/mL reached at 16.83 ± 21.07 h and the area under the plasma concentration versus time curve (AUC0-last) was 14.07 ± 6.32 ng.h/mL. Elimination half-life (t½), apparent volume of distribution (Vd/F), apparent clearance (CL/F) and mean residence time (MRT) were 89.65 ± 76.04 h, 28038 ± 9636 L, 49.02 ± 10.62 L/h and 576.05 ± 238.32 h, respectively, showing that the estradiol cypionate release from the administration site was prolonged and there was no drug accumulationThis study was funded by Biolab Sanus Farmacêutica Ltda., Brazi