Health, Medicine, & Biotechnology

A controlled environment agricultural (CEA) technique to increase the nutritive value of spinach has been developed. This technique makes it possible to reduce the concentration of oxalic acid in spinach leaves. It is desirable to reduce the oxalic acid content because oxalic acid acts as...

Sensor systems are under development for use in real-time detection and quantitation of microbes in water without need for sampling. These systems include arrays of optical sensors; miniature, portable electronic data-acquisition circuits; and optoelectronic interfaces between the sensor...

A report presents additional information about the Impairscope — an instrument for noninvasive meas- urement of fine neuromuscular control and, more particularly, for quantifying the degradation of neuromuscular performance under psychological stress. The instrument, previously called the...

A procedure has been devised for the use of steam to sterilize a water-purification cartridge, chrom- atographic column, or other closed packed column that is required to be kept filled with water and from which it is required to exclude air bubbles, which could impede flow. For the...

This report examines the simulation of eye move- ment and resulting stresses with mech- anical event simulation software to research retinal detachments, a condition that affects 25,000 people annually. The set-up of the bio- mechanical finite element model of the eye, as...

A report presents additional information on the devices described in “Noise-Reducing Slots in Quantum-Well Infrared Photodetectors” (NPO-20518), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 25, No. 6 (June 2001), page 6a. To recapitulate: it was proposed that incorporation of suitably dimensioned crossed...

An artificial-intelligence computer program generates and evaluates plans for spacecraft missions subject to constraints associated with spacecraft designs. The input to the program includes spacecraft design parameters (e.g., slew rates and battery capacities) and mission parameters (e.g.,...

Generalized Timelines API is a computer program that provides (1) a means of representing arbitrary realworld state and resource information for use in planning, scheduling, and plan- and schedule-executing software and (2) an application-programming interface (API) that accelerates the...

A mathematical model of a quantum analog-computing device that would simulate the human decision-making process has been developed. Like the immune-inspired- computing model described in the preceding article, this model is intended to contribute to improvement in the autonomy of robots and spacecraft.

A report discusses the development of thin-shell curved mirrors comprised of metallic multilayer nanolaminate substrates that contain integral inplane actuators for controlling surface figure with micron-level precision. These mirrors, intended for incorporation into scientific imaging...

A proposed method of designing antiviral drugs provides for the utilization of combinatorial-chemistry techniques that have been used previously for this purpose, in conjunction with applicable principles of information theory. In its information-theoretic aspect, the method can be...

A method of relatively easily, rapidly, and inexpensively quantifying the structural diversity of a multiple-species community of micro-organisms is based on the rate of extinction of phenotypic traits across a dilution gradient of a sample of the community. In this context, the concept of...

A report presents a proposal to harness photosynthetic bacteria to generate essential materials needed during human and robotic exploration on the surface of Mars. Utilizing an extremely small amount of H2O and an ample amount of CO2 (and N2 and/or other elements and compounds) already...

Ferrate (VI) salts have been proposed for use in sterilizing water (perhaps also in sterilizing air). The iron in ferrate (VI) salts is in its highest oxidation state (VI), and these salts are extremely strong oxidants. In laboratory experiments, it was shown that treatment of DNA solutions with...

A report describes experiments that were performed to isolate and characterize microbes that survive conditions of controlled circulation of air, desiccation, low nutrient concentrations, and moderately high temperatures in a spacecraft-assembly facility. These conditions are more severe...