One of the most pressing current questions in space science is whether life has ever arisen anywhere else in the universe. Water is a critical prerequisite for all life-as-we-know-it, thus the ...possible exploration targets for extraterrestrial life are bodies that have or had copious liquid: Mars, Europa, and Enceladus. Due to the oxidizing nature of Mars' surface, as well as subsurface liquid water reservoirs present on Europa and Enceladus, the search for evidence of existing life must likely focus on subsurface locations, at depths sufficient to support liquid water or retain biologic signatures. To address these questions, an Auto-Gopher sampler has been developed that is a wireline type drill. This drill is suspended on a tether and its motors and mechanisms are built into a tube that ends with a coring bit. The tether provides the mechanical connection to a rover/lander on a surface as well as power and data communication. Upon penetrating to a target depth, the drill is retracted from the borehole, the core is deposited into a sample transfer system, and the drill is lowered back into the hole. Wireline operation sidesteps one of the major drawbacks of traditional continuous drill string systems by obviating the need for multiple drill sections, which add significantly to the mass and the complexity of the system. The Auto-gopher has been successfully tested in a laboratory environment in rock to a depth of 2 m. Field testing of the drill took place in November, 2012 at the US Gypsum quarry outside Borrego Springs, CA. The drill successfully penetrated to over 3 m depth with an average penetration rate of 1 m/hr.
The SC route of administration for bortezomib was approved in the USA in January 2012 and the EU in September 2012, in addition to the intravenous (IV) route. Although there is limited guidance in ...the US Prescribing Information and EU SmPC regarding how to administer SC bortezomib, more broadly there is a lack of clear direction in the literature on administering SC injections. Studies in non-oncology fields suggest that injection site reactions, pain, and bruising can be reduced by using small, short needles, the air bubble rather than purge technique, and slower injections. Inconsistent or poor administration techniques may increase injection site reactions and could contribute to patients stopping effective treatment. Thus, it is important to identify how oncology nurses are administering SC bortezomib. This observational survey of oncology nurses practicing in US community oncology clinics (Cancer Clinics of Excellence) aimed to identify the techniques used and explore nurses' opinions about SC bortezomib administration.
A 41-question electronic survey on SC bortezomib administration was developed, with all questions based on current literature regarding appropriate techniques for administering SC injections. The questions explored site of administration, needle length, angle of insertion, use of air purge or bubble technique, and duration of administration. Questions were also included regarding convenience of SC administration, nurses' opinions on patients' preferences for administration site, and correlation between facility layout and administration site. Nurses at 19 clinics who had administered SC bortezomib were invited to participate in the survey, with limitations imposed on respondent numbers to ensure country-wide input.
A total of 43 nurses from 17 clinics responded to the survey. The majority (74%) had been practicing oncology nursing for >5 years, including 21% for >20 years. Most respondents (93%) indicated that oncologists were responsible for ordering bortezomib for SC administration. Nurse practitioners shared this responsibility according to 53% of respondents. 60% of nurses indicated that they always/sometimes provided input into the decision to use SC administration, with 40% always/sometimes responsible for bortezomib reconstitution. Nurses reported using the abdomen (98%), thigh (19%), and arm (53%) for SC bortezomib. Only the abdomen and thigh were used in the phase 3 study of SC vs IV bortezomib (Moreau et al, Lancet Oncol 2011). The abdomen (88%) and arm (12%) were nurses' preferred sites due to presence of more tissue, ease of access, less irritation, and patient preference. Nurses believed that patients preferred SC injections in the abdomen (72%) and arm (28%). Nurses' injection site preferences differed significantly according to facility layout. All respondents indicated a preference for abdominal injection in private/somewhat private facilities, while the abdomen (76%) and arm (24%) were preferred in non-private facilities (p=0.02). Nurses used 25 gauge 5/8 inch (42%) and 27–30 gauge ≤1/2 inch (56%) needles, with both 45º (61%, 42%) and 90º (39%, 58%) angles of insertion used with these respective needle sizes (p=0.21). The air purge technique was used by 49% of nurses, with 51% using an air bubble. Nurses took 3–5 (49%), 5–10 (35%), 10–30 (9%), and >30 seconds (7%) to administer each mL of SC bortezomib injection. All but 1 nurse (98%) indicated that SC administration was much more or somewhat more convenient than IV, with 95% indicating that SC administration took much less or somewhat less time than IV. Most nurses (86%) believed that patients preferred the SC route for reasons including less time spent at clinic, avoidance of IV access, and less toxicity. All nurses completely agreed (77%) or somewhat agreed (23%) that developing a practice guideline would be important, and all but 1 completely agreed (67%) or somewhat agreed (30%) that nurses would change their practice to be consistent with such a guideline.
These findings indicate the heterogeneity of techniques used for SC bortezomib administration, and will help inform the development of practice guidelines with the aim of achieving greater consistency among oncology nurses.
Martin:ONS: Edge: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company: Employment. Zhu:Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company: Employment. Agretelis:Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company: Employment; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Equity Ownership.
The UV line intensities appearing in the spectra of terrestrial auroral and airglow observational data by rockets and high altitude satellites contain important diagnostic information on energy input ...taking place into the thermosphere. The intensities of the observed emissions are dependent on the atomic and molecular cross sections for both electrons and photons. UV extinction weakens the emission intensity along the line-of-sight to the spacecraft and is determined by the absorption cross sections of the principal constituents: O2, N2□ and O. An accurate knowledge of both excitation (emission) and photoabsorption cross sections of the dominant atmospheric molecular gases (O2 and N2) is needed for the analysis and interpretation of rocket and satellite observations of airglow and auroral emissions. The absorption cross sections of O2 and N2 are difficult to measure since they are highly structured in the UV from predissociation of Rydberg and valence states.
The aim of this article is to focus upon certain outstanding issues concerning the available experimental excitation (emission) and photoabsorption cross section data primarily in the far UV (FUV) spectral region. These cross sections are important to terrestrial airglow and auroral observations of N2 and O UV emission fluorescence and to critically review the available data.
Experiments where the simple polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) naphthalene (C10H8) is subjected to the energetic environment of a plasma have resulted in the synthesis of a molecular aggregate ...that has ultraviolet spectral characteristics that suggest it provides insight into the nature of the carrier of the 2175 angstroms interstellar extinction feature and may be a laboratory analog. Ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and mass spectroscopy, along with gas chromatography, indicate that it is a molecular aggregate in which an aromatic double ring ("naphthalene") structural base serves as the electron "box" chromophore that gives rise to the envelope of the 2175 angstroms feature. This chromophore can also provide the peak of the feature or function as a mantle in concert with another peak provider such as graphite. The molecular base/chromophore manifests itself both as a structural component of an alkyl-aromatic polymer and as a substructure of hydrogenated PAH species. Its spectral and molecular characteristics are consistent with what is generally expected for a complex molecular aggregate that has a role as an interstellar constituent.
Sample acquisition studies of ice–dirt mixtures under simulated Martian conditions approximating the 2007/8 Phoenix Scout mission are reported. The experiments were performed using a prototype rapid ...acquisition sampling package (RASP) that is similar to the one mounted on the 2007/8 Phoenix scout robotic arm. This mission will acquire a sample from permafrost-like regolith that is estimated at strengths near 45
MPa to measure the volatile composition including H
2O. Sublimation loss during sample acquisition and transfer will have a significant effect on the determination of water content, a major Phoenix mission goal. Laboratory sample acquisition was performed under Martian ambient pressures (5
Torr) in which water is unstable and ice quickly sublimates. Basalt samples consisting of various size, and shapes subjected to various temperature ranges were used as the aggregate material of the water saturated permafrost analogues expected to be found at the Phoenix landing site. In our laboratory experiments roughly 5–6% of the initial water–ice was sublimed due to energy imparted by the tool to the sample during sample acquisition. This loss is in addition to any others from passive sublimation as the samples are transferred to the instruments for analysis. We determined that the energy necessary to excavate the permafrost samples with the RASP to be on the order of 0.05
W
h/cm
3. Finally, we discuss the potential to use a RASP on future in situ Martian missions.
Recent studies in electrospray ionization (ESI)/ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) have focussed on employing different drift gases to alter separation efficiency for some molecules. This study ...investigates four structurally similar classes of molecules (cocaine and metabolites, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, and small peptides) to determine the effect of structure on relative mobility changes in four drift gases (helium, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide). Collision cross sections were plotted against drift gas polarizability and a linear relationship was found for the nineteen compounds evaluated in the study. Based on the reduced mobility database, all nineteen compounds could be separated in one of the four drift gases, however, the drift gas that provided optimal separation was specific for the two compounds.
As part of an ongoing effort to explore the utility of high-resolution electrospray ionization ion mobility spectrometry (ESI-IMS) for the detection and identification of organic molecules on other ...planetary bodies, pursuant to NASA objectives, the reduced ion mobilities of 14 amino acids that have been identified in meteoritic material were determined in both N2 and CO2 drift gases. A (12,4) hard core potential model of the ion−neutral interaction was applied to a combined data set of amino acid mobilities from the present work (abiotic) and an earlier investigation of twenty common biotic amino acids (Beegle, L. W.; Kanik, I.; Matz, L.; Hill, H. H. Anal. Chem. 2001, 73, 3028−3034). The model was used to investigate the protonated amino acid mass−mobility correlation to extract details of the ion−neutral interaction and to gain insight into the structural details of these ions.
In most analytical investigations, there is a need to process complex field samples for the unique detection of analytes especially when detecting low concentration organic molecules that may ...identify extant and extinct extraterrestrial life. Sample processing for analytical instruments is time, resource and manpower consuming in terrestrial laboratories. Every step in this laborious process will have to be automated for in situ life detection. We have developed, and are currently testing, an automated wet chemistry preparation system that can operate autonomously on Earth and is designed to operate under Martian ambient conditions. This will enable a complete wet chemistry laboratory as part of future missions. Our system, namely the Automated Sample Processing System (ASPS) receives fines, extracts organics through solvent extraction, processes the extract by removing non-organic soluble species and delivers sample to multiple instruments for analysis (including for non-organic soluble species). One of the main goals of NASA in the exploration of the Solar System is to determine if life exists on any planet beyond earth. To over simplify, life on the Earth consists of water and a collection of key organic molecules that range from simple carbon bearing species from simple amino acids to highly complex macromolecule like DNA. If one was targeting identification of DNA like macromolecules, simple detection maybe enough to identify biomarkers, assuming they can be distinguished from terrestrial contamination. For smaller molecules, i.e. amino acids, quantification is vital so that potential biosignatures can be distinguished from ones abioticlly synthesized. Our system is inherently flexible and better enables both detection and quantification of these types of molecules.
This investigation is a continuation of our previous work on the feasibility of utilizing ultra-high resolution electrospray ionization/ion mobility spectrometry (ESI/IMS) for in situ analysis of ...biomolecular compounds. The compounds we studied, in this investigation, were glycine, the smallest amino acid and four of its oligomers, namely triglycine, tetraglycine, pentaglycine, and hexaglycine. Experimental effects of drift-gas polarizability on target ions in IMS were explored by utilizing four different drift-gases with differing polarizability values (He, Ar, N
2, and CO
2). The gas-phase ion radii for all five compounds were calculated from the reduced ion mobilities,
K
0
m
, and the effective drift-gas radii employing a simple hard-sphere model. When ion radii were plotted against the polarizabilities of the drift-gases, linear plots with different slopes were produced. This empirical observation indicated that the polarizing of drift-gas can change the calculated ion radii in a linear fashion over a limited range of polarizability values and does not affect all ions equally. This effect can be exploited in order to alter the separation factors between different ions since all ions that yield different slopes can, theoretically, be separated with IMS using different drift-gases. We demonstrated that the separation factor (
α) is highly dependent on the drift-gas. The maximum separability and, hence, unique identification of target ions was achieved when He and CO
2 were used.
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