The cultivation of higher plants occupies an essential role within bio-regenerative life support systems. It contributes to all major functional aspects by closing the different loops in a habitat ...like food production, CO2 reduction, O2 production, waste recycling and water management. Fresh crops are also expected to have a positive impact on crew psychological health. Plant material was first launched into orbit on unmanned vehicles as early as the 1960s. Since then, more than a dozen different plant cultivation experiments have been flown on crewed vehicles beginning with the launch of Oasis 1, in 1971. Continuous subsystem improvements and increasing knowledge of plant response to the spaceflight environment has led to the design of Veggie and the Advanced Plant Habitat, the latest in the series of plant growth systems. The paper reviews the different designs and technological solutions implemented in higher plant flight experiments. Using these analyses a comprehensive comparison is compiled to illustrate the development trends of controlled environment agriculture technologies in bio-regenerative life support systems, enabling future human long-duration missions into the solar system.
The measurement of rapid regional lung volume changes by electrical impedance tomography (EIT) could determine regional lung function in patients with obstructive lung diseases during pulmonary ...function testing (PFT). EIT examinations carried out before and after bronchodilator reversibility testing could detect the presence of spatial and temporal ventilation heterogeneities and analyse their changes in response to inhaled bronchodilator on the regional level. We examined seven patients suffering from chronic asthma (49 ± 19 years, mean age ± SD) using EIT at a scan rate of 33 images s−1 during tidal breathing and PFT with forced full expiration. The patients were studied before and 5, 10 and 20 min after bronchodilator inhalation. Seven age- and sex-matched human subjects with no lung disease history served as a control study group. The spatial heterogeneity of lung function measures was quantified by the global inhomogeneity indices calculated from the pixel values of tidal volume, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), peak flow and forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of FVC as well as histograms of pixel FEV1/FVC values. Temporal heterogeneity was assessed using the pixel values of expiration times needed to exhale 75% and 90% of pixel FVC. Regional lung function was more homogeneous in the healthy subjects than in the patients with asthma. Spatial and temporal ventilation distribution improved in the patients with asthma after the bronchodilator administration as evidenced mainly by the histograms of pixel FEV1/FVC values and pixel expiration times. The examination of regional lung function using EIT enables the assessment of spatial and temporal heterogeneity of ventilation distribution during bronchodilator reversibility testing. EIT may become a new tool in PFT, allowing the estimation of the natural disease progression and therapy effects on the regional and not only global level.
Several c-MET targeting inhibitory molecules have already shown promising results in the treatment of patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Combination of EGFR- and c-MET-specific ...molecules may overcome EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) resistance. The aim of this study was to allow for the identification of patients who might benefit from TKI treatments targeting MET and to narrow in on the diagnostic assessment of MET.
222 tumor tissues of patients with NSCLC were analyzed concerning c-MET expression and activation in terms of phosphorylation (Y1234/1235 and Y1349) using a microarray format employing immunohistochemistry (IHC). Furthermore, protein expression and MET activation was correlated with the amplification status by Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization (FISH).
Correlation was observed between phosphorylation of c-MET at Y1234/1235 and Y1349 (spearman correlation coefficient rs = 0.41; p < 0.0001). No significant correlation was shown between MET expression and phosphorylation (p > 0.05). c-MET gene amplification was detected in eight of 214 patients (3.7%). No significant association was observed between c-MET amplification, c-MET protein expression and phosphorylation.
Our data indicate, that neither expression of c-MET nor the gene amplification status might be the best way to select patients for MET targeting therapies, since no correlation with the activation status of MET was observed. We propose to take into account analyzing the phosphorylation status of MET by IHC to select patients for MET targeting therapies. Signaling of the receptor and the activation of downstream molecules might be more crucial for the benefit of therapeutics targeting MET receptor tyrosine kinases than expression levels alone.
Extended human spaceflight missions require not only the processing, but also the recycling of human waste streams in bio-regenerative life support systems, which are rich in valuable resources. The ...Combined Regenerative Organic food Production® project of the German Aerospace Center aims for recycling human metabolic waste products to produce useful resources. A biofiltration process based on natural communities of microorganisms has been developed and tested. The processed aqueous solution is, among others, rich in nitrogen present as nitrate. Nitrate is one of the main nutrients required for plant cultivation, resulting in strong synergies between the developed recycling process and plant cultivation. The latter is envisaged as the basis of future bio-regenerative life support systems, because plants do consume carbon dioxide, water and nutrients in order to produce oxygen, water, food and inedible biomass. This paper describes a series of plant cultivation experiments performed with synthetic urine processed in a bioreactor. The aim of the experiments was to investigate the feasibility of growing tomato plants with this solution. The results of the experiments show that such cultivation of tomato plants is generally feasible, but that the plants are less productive. The fruit fresh weight per plant is less compared to plants grown with the half-strength Hoagland reference solution. This lack in production is caused by imbalances of sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium and ammonium in the solution gained from recycling the synthetic urine. An attempt on adjusting the produced bioreactor solution with additional mineral fertilizers did not show a significant improvement in crop yield.
Time-resolved surface photovoltage (SPV) is an important method for studying charge separation, for example, in nanostructured semiconductors. High precision differential measurement of SPV ...transients was realized with two identical measurement capacitors and high-impedance buffers. In addition, logarithmic readout and averaging procedures were implemented for single transients over eight magnitudes in time. As a model system ultrathin CdS layers were investigated. The thickness dependencies of the SPV amplitudes and that of the dominating relaxation mechanisms are demonstrated and discussed.
Europa sucht seine Identität. Welche Werte verbinden uns? Gilt noch etwas jenseits von Mehrheiten und Nützlichkeiten? Das Ja dieses Bandes ist zwar vielseitig, aber überraschend und klar. Brexit, ...Flüchtlingsfrage und Währungskrise stellen Europa vor eine Zerreißprobe. Gesucht wird ein Wertefundament zwischen Säkularität und Religion. Gibt es noch ein gemeinsames Wertefundament, das Europa eine gemeinsame Identität stiftet? Die griechische Philosophie und christliche Ethik haben dafür das Naturrecht vorgeschlagen. Im Dialog zeigt sich dafür deren überraschende Aktualität: ökumenisch, interreligiös und sozialphilosophisch. Ökonomen, Philosophen und Theologen diskutieren offen den Beitrag dieser Denkschule für die Identität Europas.
Charge separation has been investigated at Pd−porphyrin (Pd−P)/TiO2 interfaces by surface photovoltage spectroscopy in the Kelvin-probe arrangement. Ultrathin nanoporous TiO2 layers were covered with ...Pd−P molecules from highly diluted organic solution starting from the submonolayer range. Mechanisms of charge separation including charge separation in TiO2 nanoparticles, an ionic transport component, and injection of electrons into TiO2 from states of solitary Pd−P molecules not interacting with each other on the surface and from Pd−P molecules interacting with each other and with TiO2 were identified. A developed model for the simulation of surface photovoltage spectra considered mechanisms of charge separation and respective recombination paths. Characteristic charge separation lengths and recombination coefficients were obtained for the different components of separated charge.
Non-tuberculous mycobacterioses comprise a group of diseases caused by mycobacteria which do not belong to the Mycobacterium (M.) tuberculosis-complex and are not ascribed to M. leprae. These ...mycobacteria are characterized by a broad variety as to environmental distribution and adaptation. Some of the species may cause specific diseases, especially in patients with underlying immunosuppressive diseases, chronic pulmonary diseases or genetic predisposition, respectively. Worldwide, a rising prevalence and significance of non-tuberculous mycobacterioses is recognized. The present recommendations summarise current aspects of epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical aspects, diagnostics - especially microbiological methods including susceptibility testing -, and specific treatment for the most relevant species. Diagnosis and treatment of non-tuberculous mycobacterioses during childhood and in HIV-infected individuals are described in separate chapters.
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