Monthly Archives: October 2014

Space Station Live: Checking Your Eyes in Space – Video

Posted: October 10, 2014 at 5:47 am


Space Station Live: Checking Your Eyes in Space
Space Station Live commentator Brandi Dean interviews Dr. Christian Otto, Principal Investigator, Ocular Health. This interview aired during Space Station Live on October 9, 2014.

By: ReelNASA

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Let’s Play Alien : Isolation – Episode 1 – Gameplay Walkthrough – Video

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Let #39;s Play Alien : Isolation - Episode 1 - Gameplay Walkthrough
Let #39;s Play Alien : Isolation, shall we? Welcome to my walkthrough of Alien : Isolation, a game in which we will work our way through a derelict space station while avoiding becoming the xenomorph #39;s...

By: SplatterCatGaming

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Let's Play Alien : Isolation - Episode 1 - Gameplay Walkthrough - Video

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NASA's New Winds Mission Installed, Gathers First Data

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NASA's newest Earth observing mission, the International Space Station-Rapid Scatterometer, or ISS-RapidScat, is collecting its first science data on ocean wind speeds and direction following its successful installation and activation on the exterior of the station's Columbus module.

Ground controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston robotically assembled the RapidScat instrument and its nadir adapter, which orients the instrument to point at Earth, on Sept. 29 to 30. On Oct. 1, the instrument was powered on, its antenna began spinning and it started transmitting and receiving its first winds data. The team then began checking out the instrument, a process expected to take about two weeks. Checkout activities to date are proceeding nominally.

Following instrument checkout, the team will perform two weeks of preliminary calibration and validation of science data. RapidScat will then be ready to begin its two-year science mission.

On Oct. 3, mission scientists processed their first winds data and produced their first uncalibrated images: a partial global map of wind speeds and a close-up image of what was then Tropical Storm Simon, brewing off the west coast of Mexico, showing its wind speeds and wind directions at approximately 7 p.m. local time.

The new images are available here.

"Most satellite missions require weeks or even months to produce data of the quality that we seem to be getting from the first few days of RapidScat," said RapidScat Project Scientist Ernesto Rodriguez of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, which built and manages the mission.

"We have been very lucky that within the first days of operations we have already been able to observe a developing tropical cyclone.

"The quality of these data reflect the level of testing and preparation that the team has put in prior to launch," Rodriguez said. "It also reflects the quality of the spare QuikScat hardware from which RapidScat was partially assembled."

RapidScat is the first science payload to be robotically assembled in space since the space station itself. Launched Sept. 21 from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle, RapidScat rode to orbit in the "trunk" of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. The Dragon reached the station on Sept. 23, was captured by the station's robotic arm and was then berthed at the station's Node 2 Nadir, or Earth-facing, port.

Following inspections of RapidScat from cameras installed in the Dragon's trunk and on the station's robotic arm, ground controllers at Johnson Space Center used the DEXTRE manipulator on the station's robotic arm to pluck RapidScat's nadir adapter from the Dragon trunk on Sept. 29.

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International Space Station astronauts conduct maintenance work on 6-hour spacewalk

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A pair of astronauts floated outside the International Space Station on Tuesday for a six-hour spacewalk to perform maintenance work including putting an old cooling pump into storage.

Flight engineers Reid Wiseman with the US'National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)and Alexander Gerst with the European Space Agency (ESA) left the station's Quest airlock about 8:50 am EDT (1250 GMT), a first spacewalk for both, a NASA Television broadcast showed.

Their primary goal was to finish work from December to replace a failed ammonia cooling pump.

"Nice work today, guys. Great job on the tasks," NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock from Mission Control in Houston radioed to the astronauts as they returned to the airlock six hours later.

The old cooling unit was removed and a spare installed during two December spacewalks, but the repair crew ran out of time to put the failed module into storage for possible repair and reuse.

After gathering tools, Wiseman prepared the intended storage site on one of the station's external stowage platforms while Gerst attached himself to the end of the station's 58-foot-(18-metre) long robotic arm to move the old pump.

With NASA crewmate Butch Wilmore operating the crane from inside the station's cupola module, Gerst carried the module, which on Earth weighs about 850 pounds (385 kg), over to its storage site.

"Nice flying, Butch," Wheelock radioed to the crew.

After bolting the module into place, Wiseman and Gerst tackled some electrical work to provide an alternative power source for equipment on the robot arm's mobile base. They also replaced a light in a television camera outside the Destiny laboratory module.

A second outing by Wiseman and Wilmore is scheduled for October 15 to replace a failed component in a voltage regulator that is part of the station's solar power system. The device failed in May, taking down one of the station's eight power channels.

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Mankind’s Creation from Alien Genetic Engineering Full Length Documentary – Video

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Mankind #39;s Creation from Alien Genetic Engineering Full Length Documentary
Mankind #39;s Creation from Alien Genetic Engineering Full Length Documentary documentary, history, discovery, world, wild life, full length, nature, animal, mys...

By: Discovery TV

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New advances in additive manufacturing using laser solid forming to produce metallic parts

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

9-Oct-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, October 9, 2014Laser Solid Forming (LSF) is an innovative method for direct fabrication of metallic components in additive manufacturing. Renowned researchers Weidong Huang and Lin Xin, from China's Northwestern Polytechnical University, Shaanxi, describe their progress and applications with LSF technology and the excellent mechanical properties of the metallic parts produced in a Review article in 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing website until November 9, 2014. In the article "Research Progress in Laser Solid Forming of High Performance Metallic Components at the State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing of China," the authors review research advances toward the goal of developing LSFan additive manufacturing technique that uses laser cladding with synchronously feeding metal powdersfor obtaining fully dense metal parts with mechanical properties similar to those produced by casting or forging.

"Additive manufacturing technologies have a global reach that is impacting the manufacturing landscape worldwide, and it is critical that both technology developers and users across the planet keep abreast of each other's progress," says Editor-in-Chief Hod Lipson, PhD, Professor at Cornell University's Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ithaca, NY.

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About the Journal

3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing is a peer-reviewed journal published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print. Spearheaded by Hod Lipson, PhD, Director of Cornell University's Creative Machines Lab at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the Journal explores emerging challenges and opportunities ranging from new developments of processes and materials, to new simulation and design tools, and informative applications and case studies. Spanning a broad array of disciplines focusing on novel 3D printing and rapid prototyping technologies, policies, and innovations, the Journal brings together the community to address the challenges and discover new breakthroughs and trends living within this groundbreaking technology. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative medical and biomedical peer-reviewed journals, including Big Data, Soft Robotics, New Space, Tissue Engineering, and Stem Cells and Development. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's more than 80 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

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Long-term treatment success using gene therapy to correct a lethal metabolic disorder

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

9-Oct-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, October 9, 2014Excessive and often lethal blood levels of bilirubin can result from mutations in a single gene that are the cause of the metabolic disease known as Crigler-Najjar syndrome type 1 (CNS1). A new gene therapy approach to correcting this metabolic error achieved significant, long-lasting reductions in bilirubin levels in a mouse model of CNS1 and is described in an Open Access article in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Human Gene Therapy website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/hum.2013.233.

In "Life-Long Correction of Hyperbilirubinemia with a Neonatal Liver-Specific AAV-Mediated Gene Transfer in a Lethal Mouse Model of CriglerNajjar Syndrome," Giulia Bortolussi and coauthors from the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology; Centro Studi Fegato, Fondazione Italiana Fegato; and University of Trieste (Trieste, Italy) and Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic), present details of the adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated gene therapy approach they used to correct the metabolic disorder that causes hyperbilirubinemia in CNS1. The researchers reported 70-80% reductions in plasma bilirubin levels early on among treated animals, with about 50% reductions maintained throughout the study. The authors compared the effectiveness of two delivery strategies: targeting the therapeutic gene directly to the liver or, preferably, to skeletal muscle. They discuss the implications of the different results they obtained with each approach.

"CNS1 is an outstanding model for in vivo gene therapy with easily measured and clinically relevant metabolic endpoints," says James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Human Gene Therapy, and Director of the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia.

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About the Journal

Human Gene Therapy, the Official Journal of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, French Society of Cell and Gene Therapy, German Society of Gene Therapy, and five other gene therapy societies, is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online. Human Gene Therapy presents reports on the transfer and expression of genes in mammals, including humans. Related topics include improvements in vector development, delivery systems, and animal models, particularly in the areas of cancer, heart disease, viral disease, genetic disease, and neurological disease, as well as ethical, legal, and regulatory issues related to the gene transfer in humans. Its sister journals, Human Gene Therapy Methods, published bimonthly, focuses on the application of gene therapy to product testing and development, and Human Gene Therapy Clinical Development, published quarterly, features data relevant to the regulatory review and commercial development of cell and gene therapy products. Tables of contents and sample issues for all three publications may be viewed on the Human Gene Therapy website at http://www.liebertpub.com/hgt.

About the Publisher

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Long-term treatment success using gene therapy to correct a lethal metabolic disorder

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Human Genetics Molecular Biology of Gene – Video

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Human Genetics Molecular Biology of Gene
Human Genetics Molecular Biology of the Gene.

By: GEBRI usc

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Human Genetics Molecular Biology of Gene - Video

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University of Chicago establishes national center to study genetics of drug abuse in rats

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

9-Oct-2014

Contact: Kevin Jiang kevin.jiang@uchospitals.edu 773-795-5227 University of Chicago Medical Center @UChicagoMed

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has awarded the University of Chicago a $12 million, five year grant to establish a national Center of Excellence to study drug abuse-associated behaviors by conducting research with rats.

Led by Abraham Palmer, PhD, associate professor of human genetics, the NIDA Center for Genome-Wide Association Studies in Outbred Rats will combine complex behavioral studies with recent technological advances in rat genetics to help scientists shed light on the genes behind drug addiction.

Rats have a long and storied history as an important animal model for research, especially in behavioral studies. But in recent decades, the use of rats has given way to mice because of innovations in the manipulation of mouse genomes. This shift has affected certain research fields, particularly the study of drug abuse and addiction, where behavioral tasks are often too complex for mice to perform. That's led to a slowdown in research aimed at revealing the genetics thought underlie drug abuse-related behaviors.

"The odds of permanently recovering from drug addiction are low and there is currently very little understanding of why that is," Palmer said. "With an animal system, we have a powerful advantage in that once we've found a genetic location or pathway, we can easily manipulate the gene and measure the resulting effects. The use of rats is critical because many of the behaviors we will study have proven difficult or impossible to adapt for mice."

A rat revival

To shed light on the genetics behind complex traits such as drug abuse behavior, the researchers will utilize genome-wide association studies (GWAS) an examination of the entire genomes of different individuals to reveal genetic variants linked with particular traits. Research groups around the country will perform experiments exploring separate behaviors, and send samples to UChicago for genetic analysis. This allows the center to study the genetics of multiple aspects of drug abuse efficiently and at a much more rapid pace than previously possible.

While most animal studies use almost genetically identical subjects, GWAS studies require large numbers of unrelated individuals. The center will support a comprehensive breeding program that provides researchers with a unique population of rats that have been bred to maintain as much genetic diversity as possible. Studies will be performed on both male and female rats to explore the relationship between gender, drug abuse behavior and genetics.

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Multiple neurodevelopmental disorders have a common molecular cause

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

9-Oct-2014

Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary moleary@cell.com 617-397-2802 Cell Press @CellPressNews

Neurodevelopmental disorders such as Down syndrome and autism-spectrum disorder can have profound, lifelong effects on learning and memory, but relatively little is known about the molecular pathways affected by these diseases. A study published by Cell Press October 9th in the American Journal of Human Genetics shows that neurodevelopmental disorders caused by distinct genetic mutations produce similar molecular effects in cells, suggesting that a one-size-fits-all therapeutic approach could be effective for conditions ranging from seizures to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

"Neurodevelopmental disorders are rare, meaning trying to treat them is not efficient," says senior study author Carl Ernst of McGill University. "Once we fully define the major common pathways involved, targeting these pathways for treatment becomes a viable option that can affect the largest number of people."

A large fraction of neurodevelopmental disorders are associated with variation in specific genes, but the genetic factors responsible for these diseases are very complex. For example, whereas common variants in the same gene have been associated with two or more different disorders, mutations in many different genes can lead to similar diseases. As a result, it has not been clear whether genetic mutations that cause neurodevelopmental disorders affect distinct molecular pathways or converge on similar cellular functions.

To address this question, Ernst and his team used human fetal brain cells to study the molecular effects of reducing the activity of genes that are mutated in two distinct autism-spectrum disorders. Changes in transcription factor 4 (TCF4) cause 18q21 deletion syndrome, which is characterized by intellectual disability and psychiatric problems, and mutations in euchromatic histone methyltransferase 1 (EHMT1) cause similar symptoms in a disease known as 9q34 deletion syndrome.

Interfering with the activity of TCF4 or EHMT1 produced similar molecular effects in the cells. Strikingly, both of these genetic modifications resulted in molecular patterns that resemble those of cells that are differentiating, or converting from immature cells to more specialized cells. "Our study suggests that one fundamental cause of disease is that neural stem cells choose to become full brain cells too early," Ernst says. "This could affect how they incorporate into cellular networks, for example, leading to the clinical symptoms that we see in kids with these diseases."

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The American Journal of Human Genetics, Chen et al.: "Molecular convergence of neurodevelopmental disorders."

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