SPE dose prediction using locally weighted regression.

When astronauts are outside Earth's protective magnetosphere, they are subject to large radiation doses resulting from solar particle events. The total dose received from a major solar particle event in deep space could cause severe radiation poisoning. The dose is usually received over a 20-40 h time interval but the event's effects may be reduced with an early warning system. This paper presents a method to predict the total dose early in the event. It uses a locally weighted regression model, which is easier to train, and provides predictions as accurate as the neural network models that were used previously.

SPE dose prediction using locally weighted regression.

When astronauts are outside earth's protective magnetosphere, they are subject to large radiation doses resulting from solar particle events (SPEs). The total dose received from a major SPE in deep space could cause severe radiation poisoning. The dose is usually received over a 20-40 h time interval but the event's effects may be mitigated with an early warning system. This paper presents a method to predict the total dose early in the event. It uses a locally weighted regression model, which is easier to train and provides predictions as accurate as neural network models previously used.

Bion 11 mission hardware.

The mission hardware provided for Bion 11 shared primate experiments included the launch vehicle, biosatellite, spaceflight operational systems, spacecraft recovery systems, life support systems, bioinstrumentation, and data collection systems. Under the unique Russia/US bilateral contract, the sides worked together to ensure the reliability and quality of hardware supporting the primate experiments. Parameters recorded inflight covered biophysical, biochemical, biopotential, environmental, and system operational status.

Bion 11 mission: primate experiments.

A summary is provided of the major operations required to conduct the wide range of primate experiments on the Bion 11 mission, which flew for 14 days beginning December 24, 1996. Information is given on preflight preparations, including flight candidate selection and training; attachment and implantation of bioinstrumentation; flight and ground experiment designs; onboard life support and test systems; ground and flight health monitoring; flight monkey selection and transport to the launch site; inflight procedures and data collection; postflight examinations and experiments; and assessment of results.

Assessment of polystyrene extract for estrogenic activity in the rat uterotrophic model and an in vitro recombinant receptor reporter gene assay.

The purpose of the study was to determine whether polystyrene used in food-contact applications would elicit an estrogenic response when extracts simulating exaggerated conditions of use were subjected to in vivo and in vitro tests. A sample of polystyrene was subjected to extraction conditions that simulate, or exaggerate, the actual food-contact uses of polystyrene to maximize the amount of low molecular weight polystyrene extractables. The food-simulating solvent and the time and temperature conditions recommended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were selected to maximize the level of extractable components from polystyrene. The extract was examined for its estrogenic response in vivo using the immature rat uterotrophic assay and in vitro using an estrogen receptor (ER)-mediated recombinant receptor reporter gene assay. In vivo, the uterine weights of juvenile female Sprague Dawley rats (10 rats/group) were determined after oral gavage exposure to the extract (two dosage levels: one represents the maximum potential daily human exposure to polystyrene extractables and the other represents one-tenth of the maximum exposure level), vehicle control (sesame oil), or positive control [diethylstilbestrol (DES), at 200 micrograms/kg body weight]. In addition, five treatment groups were dosed by subcutaneous injection of either estradiol (1, 50, and 500 micrograms/kg body weight) or DES (2 and 200 micrograms/kg body weight). Dosing began on postnatal day (pnd) 21 and continued daily through pnd 23. Body weights were collected at study initiation (pnd 21) and at necropsy (pnd 24). Body weights were not different statistically between treatment groups at study initiation or at necropsy. Uterine wet weights and uterine weights relative to body weights were significantly increased (p < 0.05) for estradiol at 50 and 500 micrograms/kg, DES at 2 and 200 micrograms/kg, and DES at 200 micrograms/kg (oral) over vehicle control. The polystyrene extract had no effect on uterine wet weight or uterine weights relative to body weights at either level tested. An in vitro recombinant estrogen receptor/reporter gene assay that involved transiently transfecting MCF-7 human breast cancer cells with the chimeric human ER, Ga14-HEGO, consisting of the yeast Ga14 DNA binding domain linked to the ligand binding domain of the human ER and a Ga14 response element (17mer)-regulated reporter gene (17m5-G-Luc) was employed. Dose-dependent induction of the reporter gene, 17m5-G-Luc, was observed with the positive control, 17 beta-estradiol (E2). Induction of greater than 100-fold was obtained following incubation of transfected MCF-7 cells with 10 nM E2 for 24 hours. No induction of reporter gene activity was observed with the polystyrene extracts dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide (0.01, 0.1 or 0.01 mg/ml) using the same assay conditions. These results indicate that polystyrene extract does not elicit ER-mediated activity using the Ga14-HEGO/17m5-G-Luc recombinant receptor/reporter gene assay. In conclusion, extracts from polystyrene produced no estrogenic response in either the rat uterotrophic assay or the MCF-7 cell assay for estrogen receptor-mediated activity.

Medical and surgical applications of space biosensor technology.

Researchers in space life sciences are rapidly approaching a technology impasse. Many of the critical questions on the impact of spaceflight on living systems simply cannot be answered with the limited available technologies. Research subjects, particularly small animal models like the rat, must be allowed to function relatively untended and unrestrained for long periods to fully reflect the impact of microgravity and spaceflight on their behavior and physiology. These requirements preclude the use of present hard-wired instrumentation techniques and limited data acquisition systems. Implantable sensors and miniaturized biotelemetry are the only means of capturing the fundamental and critical data. This same biosensor and biotelemetry technology has direct application to Earth-based medicine and surgery. Continuous, on-line data acquisition and improved measurement capabilities combined with the ease and flexibility offered by automated, wireless, and portable instruments and data systems, should provide a boon to the health care industry. Playing a key role in this technology revolution is the Sensors 2000! (S2K!) Program at NASA Ames Research Center. S2K!, in collaboration with space life sciences researchers and managers, provides an integrated capability for sensor technology development and applications, including advanced biosensor technology development, spaceflight hardware development, and technology transfer and commercialization. S2K! is presently collaborating on several spaceflight projects with dual-use medical applications. One prime example is a collaboration with the Fetal Treatment Center (FTC) at the University of California at San Francisco. The goal is to develop and apply implantable chemical sensor and biotelemetry technology to continuously monitor fetal patients during extra-uterine surgery, replacement into the womb, through birth and beyond. Once validated for ground use, the method will be transitioned to spaceflight applications to remotely monitor key biochemical parameters in flight animals. Successful application of NASA implantable biosensor and biotelemetry technologies should accelerate the advancement of this and other modern medical procedures while furthering the exploration of life in space.

Application of high-performance liquid chromatography and thermospray high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to the analysis and identification of 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine and its metabolite in biological media.

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedures are described for determining the stability of 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine (DDA) in biological fluids at therapeutic dosages. The validated methodology uses both direct injection and solid-phase extraction techniques. Deamination of DDA to 2',3'-dideoxyinosine (DDI) in plasma by adenosine deaminase was monitored by HPLC, and the identification of DDI verified by thermospray HPLC-mass spectrometry. This methodology should prove useful in future studies concerning the stability and metabolism of dideoxynucleosides.

Analysis of candidate anticancer drugs by thermospray high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and by high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Thermospray high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (TSP-HPLC-MS) and direct probe high-resolution MS was used to analyze four candidate anticancer drugs. The techniques were used to confirm the identity of the bulk drug and to identify impurities. Analysis by TSP-HPLC-MS resulted in molecular weight information from the separated components using as little as 50 ng of each drug. The high-resolution direct probe MS analysis provided additional structural information and possible empirical formulas for the parent drugs and their impurities. The use of both of these complimentary techniques proved to be very specific for the detection of the anticancer drugs and for postulating the identity of impurities.

Analysis of candidate anticancer drugs by thermospray high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Thermospray high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to confirm the identity of five bulk anticancer drugs, and in some cases, to identify drug impurities. Analysis resulted in both molecular weight and structural (fragment ions) information obtained from the full scan spectra of as little as 50 ng of each drug. The technique was also used to evaluate the chromatographic specificity of corresponding ultraviolet or refractive index high-performance liquid chromatographic detection in the presence of drug degradation products.

Paired-ion liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of a phenanthrenemethanol antimalarial in whole blood.

A sensitive and specific high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay was developed for the determination of the candidate antimalarial (+/-)-(1,3-dichloro-6-trifluoromethyl-9-phenanthryl)-3-di-(n-butyl )aminopropanol hydrochloride in whole blood. A reversed-phase, paired-ion (lauryl sulfate) system achieved separation of the antimalarial and internal standard from interfering constituents with a sensitivity limit of 10 ng/mL by UV detection (254 nm). Chromatographic variables (counterion concentration, pH, and column temperature) were examined to determine their effect on assay characteristics (retention, efficiency, and relative response) in clinical analysis. The antimalarial was isolated from 2.0 mL of whole blood using overnight extraction with 30% ethyl acetate in hexane followed by an acid/base partition sequence to remove major interferences. Overall recovery for the antimalarial was 84% with a CV of 5.0%, and the recovery of the internal standard was 81% (CV = 3.6%). The assay was validated by analysis of both intra- and interlaboratory samples. The assay was applied to the analysis of whole blood samples taken from a 30-year-old healthy human male who had received a single 14.1-mg/kg oral dose. The stability of the antimalarial in whole blood for up to 4 months and in sample extracts for up to 34 d at -17 degrees C was also demonstrated.

A comparison of thermospray and direct liquid introduction high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry for the analysis of candidate antimalarials.

The analysis of antimalarials by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/mass spectrometry demonstrates a new dimension in specificity along with increased sensitivity compared to conventional HPLC detection methods. Both direct liquid introduction and thermospray HPLC/mass spectrometry interfaces provided molecular weight information as well as characteristic fragment ions for antimalarials not normally amenable to direct probe or gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric techniques. The direct liquid introduction interface, which incorporated a 1/100 split, showed a detection limit of 30 ng using selected ion monitoring. The thermospray technique showed less than 1 ng detection limits using selected ion monitoring.

3-hydroxyisoxazole-5-hydroxamic acid.

The synthesis of the title compound, 3-hydroxyisoxazole-5-hydroxamic acid (4b), by two procedures is described. The first, involving the treatment of dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate with hydroxylamine, had previously been reported to give the 3-hydroxyisoxazole-5-carboxylic acid (4a). In the second, treatment of chlorofumaroyl dichloride with hydroxylamine also gave the intermediate chlorofumarodihydroxamic acid (6). Compound 6 was found to have some activity against P388 lymphocytic leukemia.