Life Support Systems Research Papers (original) (raw)

MELiSSA is a bioregenerative life support system designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the complete recycling of gas, liquid and solid wastes during long distance space exploration. The system uses the combined activity of... more

MELiSSA is a bioregenerative life support system designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the complete recycling of gas, liquid and solid wastes during long distance space exploration. The system uses the combined activity of different living organisms: microbial cultures in bioreactors, a plant compartment and a human crew. In this minireview, the development of a short-cut ecological system for the biotransformation of organic waste is discussed from a microorganism’s perspective. The artificial ecological model—still in full development—that is inspired by Earth’s own geomicrobiological ecosystem serves as an ideal study object on microbial ecology and will become an indispensable travel
companion in manned space exploration.

Eight children suffered drowning or near-drowning in Sydney pools over an 11-day period in January 2007. Four received basic life support (BLS) within 5 minutes of immersion and survived with good functional neurological outcomes. The... more

Eight children suffered drowning or near-drowning in Sydney pools over an 11-day period in January 2007. Four received basic life support (BLS) within 5 minutes of immersion and survived with good functional neurological outcomes. The other four were not discovered for >or= 5 minutes and all died. This cluster serves as a reminder that timely effective bystander BLS is crucial to survival and good clinical outcomes in near-drowning episodes.

Determining the location and distribution of cockpit and aircrew-related equipment within the wider debris field of a military aircraft crash site is an essential first step in planning and executing the recovery of missing aircrew... more

Determining the location and distribution of cockpit and aircrew-related equipment within the wider debris field of a military aircraft crash site is an essential first step in planning and executing the recovery of missing aircrew members presumed still to be on the site. Understanding the spatial relationship of these materials improves the likelihood of finding and recovering the remains of the aircrew during the excavation of an aircraft crash site. Since the greater portion of these unaccounted for crewmembers were involved in aircraft with single-seat cockpits or cockpits with two or three seats in tandem, pre-analysis of the debris pattern may be more-or-less straightforward. Larger, multiple-personnel aircraft, on the other hand, create a potentially more complex analytical situation given the aircrew's greater freedom of movement within the aircraft. Nevertheless, the same fundamental principles apply and, indeed, have been successfully so for some time in the civilian ...

A plant nutrient delivery system that uses a microporous, hydrophilic tube was developed with potential application for crop production in the microgravity of space. The tube contains a nutrient solution and delivers it to the roots.... more

A plant nutrient delivery system that uses a microporous, hydrophilic tube was developed with potential application for crop production in the microgravity of space. The tube contains a nutrient solution and delivers it to the roots. Pumps attached to the tubing create a very small suction that holds the solution within the tube. This system was used to grow wheat (Triticum aestivum cv. Yecora Rojo) for 107 days in a controlled environment at suctions of 0.40, 1.48, or 2.58 kPa. The water absorbed through the pores of the tube by baby diaper sections decreased as suction increased. Correspondingly, final plant biomass, seed number, and spikelet number also tended to decrease as suction increased. The reduced yield at higher suction suggests that the plants experienced water stress, although all suctions were below those typical of soils at field capacity.

The Weber force-deployed personnel parachute, occasionally (& erroneously) referred to as the US Air Force 'BA-24 back style parachute', was a Weber Aircraft Company development that facilitated rapid deployment upon emergency ejection of... more

The Weber force-deployed personnel parachute, occasionally (& erroneously) referred to as the US Air Force 'BA-24 back style parachute', was a Weber Aircraft Company development that facilitated rapid deployment upon emergency ejection of the aircrew parachute through the use of a ballistic gun-fired slug that extracted the chute's drogue quickly, thus facilitating survival in 'low & slow' emergency egress situations. The US Air Force TO (Technical Order) that life support personnel used to sustain and maintain the chute (USAF TO 14D3-11-1) is attached for reference (provided courtesy of NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center ALSE Lab, Edwards AFB, CA).

This paper delves into the development of Soviet/Russian aircrew flight helmets and oxygen breathing masks for military aircraft operations in the atmosphere (excludes pressure suits & related equipment) and may serve as a guide to these... more

This paper delves into the development of Soviet/Russian aircrew flight helmets and oxygen breathing masks for military aircraft operations in the atmosphere (excludes pressure suits & related equipment) and may serve as a guide to these items of ALSE produced by the USSR and the Soviet Socialist Republics; it carries through into the post-Soviet era.

Foreword: Palliative care (PC) is a relatively new medical specialization that embodies a number of universally shared values. Its principal aims are to relieve pain and other distressing symptoms (such as shortness of breath), improve... more

Foreword:
Palliative care (PC) is a relatively new medical specialization that embodies
a number of universally shared values. Its principal aims are to relieve pain and
other distressing symptoms (such as shortness of breath), improve quality of life
for people living with serious illness, and provide patients with good end-of-life
care. In their attempt to serve these noble goals, and to approach the patient
as a whole person, rather than just someone with a health condition, PC physicians
face various ethical dilemmas. To provide culturally sensitive PC, patients’
(religious) beliefs and moral worlds must be integral parts of the care package.
This study addresses some of the key ethical questions raised around PC
from an Islamic perspective. Because Islamic ethics do not work in a vacuum,
substantial attention is paid to PC practices worldwide and in Muslim-majority
countries. Contemporary Islamic bioethics has not produced a substantial body
of research dedicated to PC so, in some areas, we started from the beginning.
This report should be seen as exploratory research, to open up new ideas and
discourse rather than provide definitive answers.
Our study is informed by research commissioned by World Innovation Summit
for Health (WISH) and carried out by YouGov. An online survey conducted in
Muslim-majority countries – including Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar and
Saudi Arabia – asked the general public to evaluate PC services and explored
whether considering a patient’s religious beliefs and values was an integral part
of good-quality PC.
This study does not claim to exhaust all PC ethical dilemmas and issues. It focuses
on analyzing ethical issues faced by healthcare professionals, including insight
into the moral issues present when treating patients with a Muslim background.
We hope this study will also highlight to healthcare policymakers and legislators
the need to develop regulatory frameworks in alignment with the religioethical
fabric of Muslim societies.
Summary:
PC is an integral part of healthcare, and many countries in the Arab world are
increasingly offering this care. Experts predict a rise in the demand for PC.
There are various reasons for this, including the increase of geriatric populations
and prevalence of chronic and life-limiting diseases, which affect adults
and children of all ages.
This study focuses on Islamic bioethical perspectives, although other perspectives
are considered. And, as in the WISH 2016 report Genomics in the Gulf
Region and Islamic Ethics,1 the structure of this study reflects a specific vision
for how Islamic bioethics should engage with PC.
The study is divided into three sections covering:
1. International perspectives, including a historical overview of PC’s development,
global expansion and evolving scope
2. PC practices in the Middle East, especially Qatar
3. Islamic ethical perspectives on PC and Muslim patients.

For Western philosophy, “life support systems” (LSS) may be assumed to mean merely emergency medical devices, because there is no category for life’s ecological and social infrastructures in its canon. Western philosophy’s second-order... more

For Western philosophy, “life support systems” (LSS) may be assumed to mean merely emergency medical devices, because there is no category for life’s ecological and social infrastructures in its canon. Western philosophy’s second-order realm of concepts, principles and arguments are in this way essentially decoupled from the encompassing social and environmental systems that lie presupposed beneath its reflective inquiries. While every moment of human existence silently depends on and expresses these very LSS—the life-ground standpoint adopted in this chapter—philosophy’s discourses make them disappear before our eyes as, to employ an often-used term, the mere “furniture of the world.” Accordingly, a “life-value turn” to connect the regulating agency of human thought to its systemic effects, or alternatives, of world construction is an emergent turn for Western philosophy, which we may derive from its very abdication of it, a mind-world dualism underpins most of its 2500-year development after the Pre-Socratics. From Plato on, there is a realm of pure concepts and reasoned visions dwelling above the world of corporeal interests, prejudices and certain death, which seeks to transcend its confused self-desires, illusions and fleeting changes, but does so in peerlessly diverse ways that illuminate our earthly lot—as explained ahead.

Design decisions to aid the development of future space-based biological life support systems (BLSS) can be made with simulation models. Here we develop the biochemical stoichiometry for 1) protein, carbohydrate, fat, fiber, and lignin... more

Design decisions to aid the development of future space-based biological life support systems (BLSS) can be made with simulation models. Here we develop the biochemical stoichiometry for 1) protein, carbohydrate, fat, fiber, and lignin production in the edible and inedible parts of plants; 2) food consumption and production of organic solids in urine, feces, and wash water by the humans; and 3) operation of the waste processor. Flux values for all components are derived for a steady-state system with wheat as the sole food source. The large-scale dynamics of a materially-closed (BLSS) computer model is described in a companion paper /1/. An extension of this methodology can explore multi-food systems and more complex biochemical dynamics while maintaining whole-system closure as a focus.

Co-authors Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger (architect and habitability researcher Vienna), Carrie Paterson (artist-researcher, Los Angeles), and Daniel Schubert (DLR-German Space Agency) consider the role of plants in long-term space missions... more

Co-authors Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger (architect and habitability researcher Vienna), Carrie Paterson (artist-researcher, Los Angeles), and Daniel Schubert (DLR-German Space Agency) consider the role of plants in long-term space missions historically since 1971 (Salyut 1) and propose design requirements for greenhouses and constructed environments given a range of plant-human relationships. Greenhouses in space will require advanced technical systems of automatic watering, soil-less cultivation, artificial lighting, and computerized observation of plants. In addition, functions discussed for plants in space habitats include physical/health requirements and human psychology, social cohesion, as well as the complex sensorial benefits of plants for humans. The authors cite recent research conducted by the German Space Agency (DLR) into the use of greenhouses in extreme environments to reveal the relative importance among of greenhouses for people living in isolated locations, and where ...

This work outlines an underwater laser scanner (ULS) operational readiness test (ORT) demonstrating the efficacy of ULS-200 in response to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Planetary Science and Technology through... more

This work outlines an underwater laser scanner (ULS) operational readiness test (ORT) demonstrating the efficacy of ULS-200 in response to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Planetary Science and Technology through Analog Research (PSTAR) Program knowledge gaps. This geographic information science and technology (GIST) project
advises stakeholders on extravehicular activity (EVA) design and engineering (D&E) via cave diving. Analog surveys define strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, risks, and threats (SWORT) in three-dimensional (3D) remote sensing (RS) detection and ranging (DAR) via light (LiDAR) and photogrammetry (PhoDAR). Sidemount cave diving procedures and life-support systems (LSS) facilitate paleontological, hydrogeological, and microbiological evidence sampling, mitigating crew resource management (CRM) risks. 3D geographic information systems (GIS) toolkits produce LiDAR and PhoDAR digital terrain models (DTM) that require British Cave Research Association (BCRA) GIST quality assessment and control (QAC) modernization.
Research outcomes included survey cost reductions, a < .15 cm precision ≈2,000m3 karst photoplethysmogram (volumetric LiDAR cavity system measurements) scan completed in <5 days and a GIST human-robotic (H-R) CRM PSTAR D&E SWORT ORT. Products included geohazard maps, a regional karst network 3DGIS, a LiDAR photonic quasicrystal-vacuum orbifold indicatrix, and 3D underwater imaging artifact characterizations. Analog extraterrestrial environmental (ETE) analysis occurred in Cloudcompare, datasets were unable to be uploaded for virtual reality laboratory (VRL) simulation in Esri City Engine. This work provides PSTAR D&E references in high-fidelity EVA simulations, H-R ergonomics, quantum physics, and area of potential effect (APE) planetary protection design and engineering (PPDE).

Human-centered design is not a new approach to design. Aerospace is a good example of a life-critical systems domain where participatory design was fully integrated, involving experimental test pilots and design engineers as well as many... more

Human-centered design is not a new approach to design. Aerospace is a good example of a life-critical systems domain where participatory design was fully integrated, involving experimental test pilots and design engineers as well as many other actors of the aerospace engineering community. This paper provides six topics that are currently part of the requirements of the Ph.D. Program in Human-Centered Design of the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT.) This Human-Centered Design program offers principles, methods and tools that support human-centered sustainable products such as mission or process control environments, cockpits and hospital operating rooms. It supports education and training of design thinkers who are natural leaders, and understand complex relationships among technology, organizations and people. We all need to understand what we want to do with technology, how we should organize ourselves to a better life and finally find out whom we are and have become. Human-ce...

Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) is a form of partial ventilatory support wherein the machine applies positive pressure to the airway opening throughout each inspiration. In contrast to all other modes of ventilation, which... more

Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) is a form of partial ventilatory support wherein the machine applies positive pressure to the airway opening throughout each inspiration. In contrast to all other modes of ventilation, which adopt conventional pneumatic signals (flow, volume, and airway pressure) to drive and control the ventilator operation, NAVA utilizes the electrical activity of the diaphragm, which is the best available signal to estimate the respiratory drive and to trigger on and cycle off the delivery of the mechanical assistance and regulate its amount and intra-breath profile. With NAVA, therefore, the patient retains full control of the breathing pattern. Following the first description of NAVA ten years ago, various studies have been performed on this mode of ventilation, either in animal models, healthy subjects, or in adult and pediatric critically ill patients. These investigations indicate that this novel mode is efficient in unloading the respiratory muscl...

The coordination of material flows in Earth's biosphere is largely made possible by the buffering effect of huge material reservoirs. Without similarly-sized buffers, a bioregenerative life support system (BLSS) for extraterrestrial use... more

The coordination of material flows in Earth's biosphere is largely made possible by the buffering effect of huge material reservoirs. Without similarly-sized buffers, a bioregenerative life support system (BLSS) for extraterrestrial use will be faced with coordination problems more acute than those in any ecosystem found on earth. A related problem in BLSS design is providing an interface between the various life-support processors, one that will allow for their coordination while still allowing for system expansion. Here we present a modular model of a BLSS that interfaces system processors only with the material storage reservoirs, allowing those reservoirs to act as the principal buffers in the system and thus minimizing difficulties with processor coordination. The modular nature of the model allows independent development of the detailed submodels that exist within the model framework. Using this model, BLSS dynamics were investigated under normal conditions and under various failure modes. Partial and complete failures of various components, such as the waste processor or the plants themselves, drive transient responses in the model system, allowing us to examine the effectiveness of the system reservoirs as buffers. The results from simulations of this sort will help to determine control strategies and BLSS design requirements. An evolved version of this model could be used as an interactive control aid in a future BLSS.