The JWST Optical Telescope Element (OTE) assembly is the largest optically stable infrared-optimized telescope. The primary mirrors, secondary mirror, and the Aft Optics Sub-systems (AOS) are ...designed to be passively cooled and operate at near 45K. This paper describes the JWST cryogenic test program, focusing on the series of integrated `Pathfinder' cryogenic vacuum tests and finally performing the cryo-vac test of the Flight Optical Telescope Element mated with the Science Instruments as an integrated assembly (OTIS). The JWST OTIS cryo-vac was carefully planned, designed to safely manage numerous challenging risks, and executed in a highly-orchestrated operation. Although the OTIS test was operated and on-schedule as planned, the mother-nature provided an extreme challenge in the form of Harvey, a Category-4 Hurricane. Presented in this paper is an overview of the in-situ test operations and innovative solutions developed in real time to maintain the flight hardware safety with dwindling supplies of consumable materials, such as Liquid Nitrogen, while continuing with the cryo-vac test in the midst of one of the largest natural disaster.
Space environment simulation testing can involve many complex and interdependent operations. A fundamental issue when defining these tests is the organization of information into a format that is ...understandable by reviewers and contributors. Plans are typically developed by simple combination of written procedures for individual systems. State diagram methodology was instead used to address the test definition problem for facility operations supporting a large-scale, long-duration space environment test of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) inside the Chamber A facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. The state diagram technique selected for the JWST test is described and associated models are presented. This includes processes required to operate the cryogenic vacuum chamber and its support systems during both nominal and off-nominal conditions. Utilizing state diagram abstraction methods for JWST cryogenic vacuum test planning has facilitated refinement of the test processes and has expedited the orientation process for stakeholders with various technical backgrounds.
Currently as many as one-half of women with suspected myocardial ischemia have no obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), and abnormal coronary reactivity (CR) is commonly found.
The authors ...prospectively investigated CR and longer-term adverse cardiovascular outcomes in women with and with no obstructive CAD in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute–sponsored WISE (Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation) study.
Women (n = 224) with signs and symptoms of ischemia underwent CR testing. Coronary flow reserve and coronary blood flow were obtained to test microvascular function, whereas epicardial CR was tested by coronary dilation response to intracoronary (IC) acetylcholine and IC nitroglycerin. All-cause mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure), and angina hospitalizations served as clinical outcomes over a median follow-up of 9.7 years.
The authors identified 129 events during the follow-up period. Low coronary flow reserve was a predictor of increased MACE rate (hazard ratio HR: 1.06; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.01 to 1.12; p = 0.021), whereas low coronary blood flow was associated with increased risk of mortality (HR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.24; p = 0.038) and MACE (HR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.20; p = 0.006) after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors. In addition, a decrease in cross-sectional area in response to IC acetylcholine was associated with higher hazard of angina hospitalization (HR: 1.05; 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.07; p < 0.0001). There was no association between epicardial IC-nitroglycerin dilation and outcomes.
On longer-term follow-up, impaired microvascular function predicts adverse cardiovascular outcomes in women with signs and symptoms of ischemia. Evaluation of CR abnormality can identify those at higher risk of adverse outcomes in the absence of significant CAD. (Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation WISE; NCT00000554)
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Women with signs and symptoms of ischemia, no obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) often have diastolic dysfunction and experience elevated ...rates of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including heart failure (HF) hospitalization with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). We evaluated the predictive value of inflammatory biomarkers for long-term HF hospitalization and all-cause mortality in these women.
We performed a cross-sectional analysis to investigate the relationships between inflammatory biomarkers serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) and median of 6 years follow-up for all-cause mortality and HF hospitalization among women with signs and symptoms of ischemia, non-obstructive CAD and preserved EF. Multivariable Cox regression analysis tested associations between biomarker levels and adverse outcomes.
Among 390 women, mean age 56 ± 11 years, median follow up of 6 years, we observed that there is continuous association between IL-6 level and HF hospitalization (adjusted hazard ratio AHR 2.5 1.2-5.0, p = 0.02). In addition, we found significant association between IL-6, SAA levels and all-cause mortality AHR (1.8 1.1-3.0, p = 0.01) (1.5 1.0-2.1, p = 0.04), respectively.
In women with signs and symptoms of ischemia, non-obstructive CAD and preserved EF, elevated IL-6 predicted HF hospitalization and all-cause mortality, while SAA level was only associated with all-cause mortality. These results suggest that inflammation plays a role in the pathogenesis of development of HFpEF, as well all-cause mortality.
We investigated whether coronary microvascular dysfunction predicts major adverse outcomes during follow-up among women with signs and symptoms of ischemia.
Altered coronary reactivity occurs ...frequently in women evaluated for suspected ischemia, and the endothelium-dependent component is linked with adverse outcomes. Possible links between endothelium-independent microvascular coronary reactivity and adverse outcomes remain uncertain.
As part of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute-sponsored WISE (Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation), we investigated relationships between major adverse outcomes and baseline coronary flow reserve (CFR) after intracoronary adenosine in 189 women referred to evaluate suspected ischemia.
At a mean of 5.4 years, we observed significant associations between CFR and major adverse outcomes (death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospital stay for heart failure). An exploratory receiver-operator characteristic analysis identified CFR <2.32 as the best discriminating threshold for adverse outcomes (event rate 26.7%; and >or=2.32 event rate 12.2%; p = 0.01). Lower CFR was associated with increased risk for major adverse outcomes (hazard ratio: 1.16, 95% confidence interval: 1.04 to 1.30; p = 0.009). This held true among the 152 women without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) (hazard ratio: 1.20, 95% confidence interval: 1.05 to 1.38; p = 0.008). The CFR significantly improved prediction of adverse outcomes over angiographic CAD severity and other risk conditions.
Among women with suspected ischemia and atherosclerosis risk factors, coronary microvascular reactivity to adenosine significantly improves prediction of major adverse outcomes over angiographic CAD severity and CAD risk factors. These findings suggest that coronary microvessels represent novel targets for diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to predict and limit adverse outcomes in women. (Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation WISE; NCT00000554).
Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the U.S., but recent advances have not led to declines in case fatality rates for women. The current review highlights ...gender-specific issues in ischemic heart disease (IHD) presentation, evaluation, and outcomes with a special focus on the results derived from the National Institutes of Health-National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-sponsored Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study. In the second part of this review, we will assess new evidence on gender-based differences in vascular wall or metabolic alterations, atherosclerotic plaque deposition, and functional expression on worsening outcomes of women. Additionally, innovative cardiovascular imaging techniques will be discussed. Finally, we identify critical areas of further inquiry needed to advance this new gender-specific IHD understanding into improved outcomes for women.
Extreme environmental conditions are a major challenge in livestock production. Changes in climate, particularly those that contribute to weather extremes like drought or excessive humidity, may ...result in reduced performance and reproduction and could compromise the animal's immune function. Animal survival within extreme environmental conditions could be in response to natural selection and to artificial selection for production traits that over time together may leave selection signatures in the genome. The aim of this study was to identify selection signatures that may be involved in the adaptation of indigenous chickens from two different climatic regions (Sri Lanka = Tropical; Egypt = Arid) and in non-indigenous chickens that derived from human migration events to the generally tropical State of São Paulo, Brazil. To do so, analyses were conducted using fixation index (Fst) and hapFLK analyses. Chickens from Brazil (
= 156), Sri Lanka (
= 92), and Egypt (
= 96) were genotyped using the Affymetrix Axiom
600k Chicken Genotyping Array. Pairwise Fst analyses among countries did not detect major regions of divergence between chickens from Sri Lanka and Brazil, with ecotypes/breeds from Brazil appearing to be genetically related to Asian-Indian (Sri Lanka) ecotypes. However, several differences were detected in comparisons of Egyptian with either Sri Lankan or Brazilian populations, and common regions of difference on chromosomes 2, 3 and 8 were detected. The hapFLK analyses for the three separate countries suggested unique regions that are potentially under selection on chromosome 1 for all three countries, on chromosome 4 for Sri Lankan, and on chromosomes 3, 5, and 11 for the Egyptian populations. Some of identified regions under selection with hapFLK analyses contained genes such as
, and
whose biological functions could provide insights in understanding adaptation mechanisms in response to arid and tropical environments.
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