missions

INTRODUCTION: Assessing the internal dynamics of organizations has been shown to provide information that can help planners and policymakers improve service delivery. A good organizational climate, which in this study incorporates mission clarity, team cohesion, staff autonomy, communication, levels of stress, and openness to change has been shown to be of particular importance. Still, there is a dearth of evidence in this area, and while relationships between organizational factors have been identified, little is known about the mechanisms that might underpin these relationships, and there is little understanding of how to address deficits once they are identified...

This review explores the convergence of clinical radiotherapy and space radiation therapeutics, focusing on ionizing radiation (IR)-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS). IR, with high-energy particles, induces precise cellular damage, particularly in cancer treatments. The paper discusses parallels between clinical and space IR, highlighting unique characteristics of high-charge and energy particles in space and potential health risks for astronauts. Emphasizing the parallel occurrence of ROS generation in both clinical and space contexts, the review identifies ROS as a crucial factor with dual roles in cellular responses and potential disease initiation...

Soft-bodied animals, such as worms and snakes, use many muscles in different ways to traverse unstructured environments and inspire tools for accessing confined spaces. They demonstrate versatility of locomotion which is essential for adaptation to changing terrain conditions. However, replicating such versatility in untethered soft-bodied robots with multimodal locomotion capabilities have been challenging due to complex fabrication processes and limitations of soft body structures to accommodate hardware such as actuators, batteries and circuit boards...

Purpose: Continuous exposure to ionizing radiation at a low dose rate poses significant health risks to humans on deep space missions, prompting the need for mechanistic studies to identify countermeasures against its deleterious effects. Mitochondria are a major subcellular locus of radiogenic injury, and may trigger secondary cellular responses through the production of reactive oxygen species (mtROS) with broader biological implications. Methods and Materials: To determine the contribution of mtROS to radiation-induced cellular responses, we investigated the impacts of protracted γ-ray exposures (IR; 1...

Background: Humanitarian medical missions attempt to lessen the burden of limited access to cardiac surgery in low- and middle-income countries. While organizations express difficulties obtaining follow-up information, there is currently little evidence to support the various assumptions for lack of data. This study examines the factors influencing long-term patient follow-ups on repeated short-term cardiac surgery missions across nine countries. Methods: A retrospective analysis of CardioStart International's database (RedCap) was conducted to investigate demographic, socioeconomic, and surgical factors associated with follow-ups...

Youth literature allows for the exploration of linguistic and cultural elements, guiding learners to develop their oral interaction skills and critical thinking in the face of sensitive topics such as coexistence, differences, tolerance, xenophobia, and racism. The UNESCO (2010) considers the learning of living together as a fundamental educational mission. Starting from the premise that these values can be embraced by educational systems, this paper examines the effect of storytelling on the development of language and social skills among French as a foreign language learners...

BACKGROUND: In Finland, the yearly number of mechanical thrombectomies for acute stroke is increasing and more patients are transported over 100 km to the comprehensive stroke centre (CSC) for definitive care. This leaves the rural townships without immediate emergency medical services (EMS) for hours. In this study we compare the EMS' estimated return times to own station after the handover of a thrombectomy candidate between two transport methods: (1) using ground transportation with an ambulance to the CSC or (2) using a hydrid strategy starting the transportation with an ambulance and continuing by air with a helicopter emergency medical services unit (HEMS)...

Shifting to a competency-based (CBME) and not time-bound curricular structure is challenging in the undergraduate medical education (UME) setting for a number of reasons. There are few examples of broad scale CBME-driven interventions that make the UME program less time-bound. However, given the range of student ability and varying speed of acquisition of competencies, this is an area in need of focus. This paper describes a model that uses the macro structure of a UME program to make UME curricula less time-bound, and driven more by student competency acquisition and individual student goals...

This study aimed to describe the prevalence and predictors of a positive VIA (visual inspection with acetic acid) cervical cancer screening test in women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We retrospectively analysed data from women aged ≥15 who accessed VIA screening from health facilities in the Lubombo and Manzini regions of Eswatini. Sociodemographic and clinical data from October 2020 to June 2023 were extracted from the client management information system (CMIS). VIA screening outcome was categorised into negative, positive, or suspicious...

Individuals experiencing chronic homelessness have high rates of persistent co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (COD), and they often have difficulty with service engagement and retention, resulting in symptom exacerbation and housing loss. This study pilot tested Maintaining Independence and Sobriety Through Systems Integration, Outreach and Networking (MISSION), a multicomponent wraparound treatment approach to improve COD symptoms and housing stability among individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and persistent COD...

Transitions to altered gravity environments result in acute sensorimotor impairment for astronauts, leading to serious mission and safety risks in the crucial first moments in a new setting. Our understanding of the time course and severity of impairment in the early stages of adaptation remains limited and confounded by unmonitored head movements, which are likely to impact the rate of adaptation. Here, we aimed to address this gap by using a human centrifuge to simulate the first hour of hypergravity (1.5g) exposure and the subsequent 1g readaptation period, with precisely controlled head tilt activity...

BACKGROUND: Promoting college students' mental health remains a significant concern, necessitating a clear understanding of what constitutes good mental health. Variations in the conceptualizations of mental health across cultures, typically derived from academic and authoritative perspectives, have overlooked insights from laypeople. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of mentally healthy college students within Chinese cultural contexts, emphasizing perspectives provided by college students themselves...

Moon dust presents a significant hazard to manned moon exploration missions, yet our understanding of its toxicity remains limited. The objective of this study is to investigate the pattern and mechanism of lung inflammation induced by subacute exposure to moon dust simulants (MDS) in rats. SD rats were exposed to MDS and silica dioxide through oral and nasal inhalation for 6hours per day continuously for 15 days. Pathological analysis indicated that the toxicity of MDS was lower than that of silica dioxide...

In this qualitative study we explore the concept of ideological meaning-making, with a focus on political radicalization and its relation to the process of meaning-making. Through interviews with 33 individuals who experienced the loss of a close family member in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and subsequently became politically radicalized, four key themes emerged: preliminary decision, zoom out, mission, and radicalized self. Participants initially stabilize their beliefs through a preliminary ideological decision, followed by adopting a broader perspective (zoom out) that encompasses the political context...

The identification of species in the interstellar medium requires precise and molecule-specific spectroscopic information in the laboratory framework, in broad spectral ranges and under conditions relevant to interstellar environments. In this work, we measure the gas-phase infrared spectra of neutral carbon clusters, C N ( N = 6-11), in a molecular beam. The C N distribution is formed by photofragmentation of C60 molecules, concurrently showing a top-down formation mechanism. A broad spectral range in the infrared between 500-3200 cm-1 (20-3...

UNLABELLED: Volcanic islands are often subject to flank instability, resulting from a combination of magmatic intrusions along rift zones and gravitational spreading causing extensional faulting at the surface. Here, we study the Koa'e fault system (KFS), located south of the summit caldera of Kīlauea volcano in Hawai'i, one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, prone to active faulting, episodic dike intrusions, and flank instability. Two rift zones and the KFS are major structures controlling volcanic flank instability and magma propagation...

High-frequency gravitational waves (HFGWs) carry a wealth of information on the early Universe with a tiny comoving horizon and astronomical objects of small scale but with dense energy. We demonstrate that the nearby planets, such as Earth and Jupiter, can be utilized as a laboratory for detecting the HFGWs. These GWs are then expected to convert to signal photons in the planetary magnetosphere, across the frequency band of astronomical observation. As a proof of concept, we present the first limits from the existing low-Earth-orbit satellite for specific frequency bands and project the sensitivities for the future more-dedicated detections...

The mission of this review is to identify immune-damaging participants involved in antiviral immunoinflammatory lesions. We argue these could be targeted and their activity changed selectively by maneuvers that, at the same time, may not diminish the impact of components that help resolve lesions. Ideally, we need to identify therapeutic approaches that can reverse ongoing lesions that lack unwanted side effects and are affordable to use. By understanding the delicate balance between immune responses that cause tissue damage and those that aid in resolution, novel strategies can be developed to target detrimental immune components while preserving the beneficial ones...

Olive quick decline syndrome (OQDS) is a devastating plant disease caused by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa ( Xf ). Exploratory missions in the Salento area led to the identification of putatively Xf -resistant olive trees (putatively resistant plants, PRPs) which were pauci-symptomatic or asymptomatic infected plants belonging to different genetic clusters in orchards severely affected by OQDS. To investigate the defense strategies employed by these PRPs to contrast Xf infection, the PRPs were analyzed for the anatomy and histology of xylem vessels, patterns of Xf distribution in host tissues (by the fluorescent in situ hybridization technique-FISH) and the presence of secondary metabolites in stems...

The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) is one of the two focal plane detectors of Athena, a large-class high energy astrophysics space mission approved by ESA in the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Science Program. The X-IFU consists of a large array of transition edge sensor micro-calorimeters that operate at ~100 mK inside a sophisticated cryostat. To prevent molecular contamination and to minimize photon shot noise on the sensitive X-IFU cryogenic detector array, a set of thermal filters (THFs) operating at different temperatures are needed...