Portable Electron Microscopy for ISS and Beyond

Advances in space exploration have evolved in lockstep with key technology advances in diverse fields such as materials science, biological science, and engineering risk management. Research in these areas, where structure and physical processes come together, can proceed rapidly in part due to sophisticated ground-based analytical tools that help re-searchers develop technologies and engineering processes that push frontiers of human space exploration. Electron microscopes (EM) are an example of such a workhorse tool, lending a unique blend of strong optical scattering, high native resolution, large depth of focus, and spectroscopy via characteristic X-ray emission, providing exquisite high-magnification structural imaging and chemical analysis. Ground-based EMs have been essential in NASA research for many years. In particular, in mineralogy and petrology, EM is used to understand the origin and evolution of the solar system, particularly rocky bodies. In microbiology, EM has helped visualize the architecture of tissues and cells. In engineering/materials science, EM has been used to characterize particulate debris in air and water samples, determine pore sizes in ceramics/catalysts, understand the nature of fibers, determine composition and morphology of new and existing materials, and characterize micro-textures of vapor deposited films. EM is highly effective at investigating a wide variety of nanoscale materials/biomaterials at the core of many of NASAs inquiries. Despite exquisite optical performance and versatility, EMs are traditionally large, heavy, and have high power consumption. They are also expensive so they tend to be housed at universities and large research institutions, or at major industrial laboratory sites with support staff, supplies, and skilled operators. Since most organizations cannot support their own EM, samples are often sent to these large institutions and service centers to be imaged, at great expense and of-ten with delay of weeks to months for complex analyses. Complexity, high cost, and maintenance associated with collecting EM image data has until now severely limited fields in which EM is used. Making EM accessible outside constrained terrestrial laboratory environments will bring EMs performance and versatility to a much broader range of scientific and engineering endeavors, including in space

Gender Specific Disruptions in Emotion Processing in Younger Adults with Depression

Background: One of the principal theories regarding the biological basis of major depressive disorder (MDD) implicates a dysregulation of emotion-processing circuitry. Gender differences in how emotions are processed and relative experience with emotion processing might help to explain some of the disparities in the prevalence of MDD between women and men. This study sought to explore how gender and depression status relate to emotion processing. Methods: This study employed a 2 (MDD status) × 2 (gender) factorial design to explore differences in classifications of posed facial emotional expressions (N=151). Results: For errors, there was an interaction between gender and depression status. Women with MDD made more errors than did nondepressed women and men with MDD, particularly for fearful and sad stimuli (Ps Ps P=.01). Men with MDD, conversely, performed similarly to control men (P=.61). Conclusions: These results provide novel and intriguing evidence that depression in younger adults (years) differentially disrupts emotion processing in women as compared to men. This interaction could be driven by neurobiological and social learning mechanisms, or interactions between them, and may underlie differences in the prevalence of depression in women and men. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. Published 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Flight Readiness of Mochii S: Portable Spectroscopic Scanning Electron Microscope Facility on the International Space Station (ISS)

The ISS (International Space Station) currently lacks the capability to image and chemically analyze nano-to-micron scale particles from numerous engineering systems. To identify these particles, we must wait for a re-entry vehicle to return them from low earth orbit for ground-based SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) / EDS (Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy) analysis. This may take months, potentially delaying the affected system. Having an EDS-equipped SEM (Mochii S) aboard the ISS will accelerate response time thereby enhancing crew and vehicle safety by rapid and accurate identification of microscopic threats, especially in time-critical situations.The Mochii S payload will be stationed in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) powered by 120 VAC (Volts Alternating Current) inverter and connected to station Ethernet and WiFi (Fig. 1). To date the Mochii S payload has undergone testing for command and data handling, power quality, flight vibration, and radiation testing at Johnson Space Center (JSC). Mochii's high-RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) rotating vacuum pumps and high voltage systems have been reviewed to meet safety standards by JSC (Johnson Space Center) Engineering. Topology of the system in the JEM module has been baselined by ISS Safety and JAXA (Japan Space Exploration Agency). Digital controls to and from ISS over Joint Station LAN (Local Area Network) uplink have been simulated and the latencies and data rates have been found to be sufficient for successful operation of the payload from ground.Transporting sensitive electron optical instruments aboard a rocket that sustains 7G acceleration for 8 minutes and then operating it the unique microgravity (micro-g) environment is no trivial matter. To meet strict safety requirements and increase robustness for mission success, over 500 unique verifications must be completed before the payload is certified for spaceflight. Two of which will be discussed in detail are: vibroacoustic testing and magnetic susceptibility shielding and validation

Use of fresh cow's milk in infant feeding

As a substitute for breast feeding, cow's milk is the best food that has yet been found, from the point of view of economy and adaptability. For infant feeding, definite standards in the composition and in the cleanliness of production are essential. Fresh cow’s milk, even whole, is perfectly digestible by the normal infant, even under three months old; but in certain cases of impaired or feeble digestion some sort of modification is necessary. An exact way of "humanizing" cow’s milk has not yet been devised; but good results are found from many modifications, viz. boiling, citrating, diluting and acidifying

Delay and Cost Overrun Risks in Sudanese Construction Projects: QuantitativeApproach

It is quite observed and frequently iterated in the risk literature that construction projects are prone to various and interrelated risks. Risks that span over a wide spectrum such as delays, cost overrun, safety, design, construction, environmental, weathering, legal and operational risks. Delays and cost overruns are considered among the leading threat risks that a project can experience and suffer. Quantifying those risks is intricate due to the complex and interrelated nature of construction projects and risks encountered over them. Isolating and quantifying the effect of those risks (delays and cost overruns), apart from the overall interacted effect of other risks, is an important performance indicator. Moreover, it can serve as a useful predictive and proactive tool for Sudanese construction project management professionals in formulating risk response plans. In order to achieve such a goal, special circumstances and conditions shall hold valid. Conditions as holding still the key other risks that are expected to affect the overall project risk interaction. The aim of this paper is to develop predictive models in order to quantify the magnitude of delays and cost overruns. This is sought by incorporating non-probabilityreadily accessible sample (n=19) of solely-steady funding, defined scope, contractual time frame and cost projects. This is meant to isolate (as much as practical) other than delays and cost over runs risk factors. To achieve the stated goal, regression statistical techniques and Monte Carlo simulation are utilized using Minitab, SPSS and @risk softwares. Comparison between the results obtained by the Monte Carlo simulation and the actual finish durations and costs was conducted. It was found that the uniform distribution is the best fit for the actual project durations and Pareto distribution for the actual cost. It was also found that there is a significant difference between the actual and contractual durations, which resulted in significantly large delays. In the author opinion this is can be attributed to one or collateral of the scenarios of owner imposed contractual time frame, non-compensable time extensions, changes and variations, contract miss -management and lack of accurate project scope definition

Molecular Threading: Mechanical Extraction, Stretching and Placement of DNA Molecules from a Liquid-Air Interface

We present “molecular threading”, a surface independent tip-based method for stretching and depositing single and double-stranded DNA molecules. DNA is stretched into air at a liquid-air interface, and can be subsequently deposited onto a dry substrate isolated from solution. The design of an apparatus used for molecular threading is presented, and fluorescence and electron microscopies are used to characterize the angular distribution, straightness, and reproducibility of stretched DNA deposited in arrays onto elastomeric surfaces and thin membranes. Molecular threading demonstrates high straightness and uniformity over length scales from nanometers to micrometers, and represents an alternative to existing DNA deposition and linearization methods. These results point towards scalable and high-throughput precision manipulation of single-molecule polymers

Attitudes of Media and Political Sciences Students towards the Way Palestinian Television Addresses the political Division: A Field Study

This study aims at recognizing the attitudes of mass communication and political sciences students towards the way Palestinian Television addresses the issue of political division within the framework of several theories, namely: the functional perspective of mass media and the theory of dependence on mass media. To achieve the study objectives, the researchers employed the approach of “surveying the audience of mass media” based on a sample of (400) students from different universities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This sample has been chosen by the stratified random sampling from Al-Najah National University in the West Bank and the Islamic University in Gaza. The study has come up with the following results: (62.7%) of the study sample population watch Palestine T.V, whereas (37.3%) do not. The item related to the evening period of watching T.V gets the highest average value which stands at (1.52). Keywords: Attitudes of Media, political Division, West Bank, Sector Gaza, Palestine T

The Intersection of Early Life Experiences and Serotonergic Gene Expression on Behavior and Physiology.

Adverse early life experiences (aELEs), such as childhood abuse, neglect, or trauma, increase lifetime vulnerability for mental illness. Interactions between aELEs and polymorphisms in serotonergic (5-HT) genes can further increase risk. However, understanding of how aELEs shape the serotonergic system remains limited, despite extensive clinical evidence implicating 5-HT abnormalities in mental illness. This thesis work investigates the long-term consequence of maternal separation (MS), a rat model of aELE, in c57bl/6 mice. Specifically, changes in the expression and DNA methylation of tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2), the rate-limiting enzyme in neuronal 5-HT synthesis, as well as associated behavioral and molecular correlates, are evaluated. In parallel, a transgenic TPH2 knockdown mouse line is characterized to evaluate the effect of decreased TPH2 expression on behavior. Brief (MS15) and prolonged (MS180) maternal separation affects long-term decreases in midline dorsal raphe TPH2 mRNA without altering DNA methylation. These changes are concurrent with shared decreases in raphe serotonin transporter mRNA, increases in dorsal hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor mRNA, and decreases in anxiety-like behavior. The expression and behavioral patterns are in contrast to reported changes in MS rats, indicating a unique response to MS that affects a convergence between MS15 and MS180 c57bl/6 mice that resembles patterns reported in early-life induced ‘resilient’ rats. Underlying convergence, maternal behavior during the MS paradigm is transiently increased as a function of separation duration. This implicates enhanced maternal care as a moderating influence on early life stress, promoting later-life ‘resiliency’ in c57bl/6 mice. In parallel, transgenic knockdown of TPH2 affects a significant decrease in anxiety- and depression- like behavior, supporting a functional role of decreased TPH2 mRNA in shaping long-term behavioral changes during early development. In summary, this thesis work demonstrates that low TPH2 mRNA during early development alters long-term behavior, affecting a phenotype of decreased anxiety- and depression- like behavior. Moreover, it suggests a unique response to MS in c57bl/6 mice, in which maternal mediation not only mitigates aELEs, but can also promote lifetime ‘resiliency.’PHDNeuroscienceUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97907/1/aureias_1.pd