ITC/USA 2007 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Third Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2007 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / In support of iNET maturation, NASA-JPL has collaborated with NASA-Dryden to develop, test and demonstrate an over-the-horizon vehicle-to-ground networking capability, using Iridium as the vehicle-to-ground communications link for relaying critical vehicle telemetry. To ensure reliability concerns are met, the Space Communications Protocol Standards (SCPS) transport protocol was investigated for its performance characteristics in this environment. In particular, the SCPS-TP software performance was compared to that of the standard Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) over the Internet Protocol (IP). This paper will report on the results of this work.

In history there are numerous examples of strong market-leaders who have lost everything through the emergence of a new breakthrough technology which has replaced the existing one. That could be the reason why Christensen received such high attention when he presented his famous work about disruptive technologies in 1997. In his work, and in many following studies, several aspects of this phenomenon have been investigated. However, the key point for the market leaders, the ability of identifying a market disruption before it happens, ex ante, is still a field that has not reached a definedstate of the art. In this work one of Christensen's original ideas of disruption, driven by changes incustomer demand, is highlighted as a possible improvement for the ex ante methodology. In this thesis a selected existing holistic prediction model is extended explicitly with this aspect of need change. The purpose of this work is thus to evaluate if including the property of shifting customer needs in an existing holistic model would improve the ex ante prediction of disruption and lead to a simple, practical but yet rich model. With a literature review of the existing types of ex ante methods a fitting base model for the holistic approach to disruptive prediction is found. A second literature review is performed with the focus on disruption and its link to changes in need, as expressed by customer demand. This serves as a starting point for the extension of the base ex ante model into a methodology that look also upon the aspect of shifting customer demand. To validate and use the proposed extended ex ante model a qualitative approach is selected. It consists of two studies within the automotive industry. One is a history analysis of a known disruptive case to validate the extension, the entry of Japanese car manufacturers into the US market. One is a case-study of a present potentially disruptive case to apply the extended method as a genuine ex ante method for final evaluation at a post-disruption stage. It investigates the effects of electric vehicles on the Chinese automotive market. Through the analysis of the two studies the conclusion is reached that a qualitative improvement of the prediction has been obtained. Additionally it is shown that the analysis of customer need change can provide an increased understanding of the underlying drivers of the disruption.

Marital disruption (i.e., marital separation, divorce) is associated with a wide range of poor mental and physical health outcomes, including increased risk for all-cause mortality. One biological intermediary that may help explain the association between marital disruption and poor health is accelerated cellular aging.

Clavicipitaceous fungal endophytes provide several ecological benefits to their hosts. Besides improving host’s growth characteristics, Neotyphodium coenophialum, the endophyte of tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum), produces ergot alkaloids that have been proposed to be involved in fescue toxicosis. One approach to address the toxicosis problem is to genetically manipulate and modify N. coenophialum by knocking out a pair of homologous genes, (dmaW1 and dmaW2), encoding dimethylallyltryptophan synthase, the enzyme for the first and determinant step in ergot-alkaloid biosynthesis. In this study, disruption of dmaW2 was attempted using several disruption methods. Out of 1522 transformants screened, three putative knockouts were identified. Southern blot analysis of digested genomic DNA indicated that homologous gene replacement at dmaW2 locus took place while dmaW1 was still present. Chromosome separation followed by Southern-blot hybridization showed that the dmaW genes in N. coenophialum are located on different chromosomes. The aim of this study was to obtain a nontoxic endophyte free of marker genes that could be used to inoculate popular tall fescue cultivars. Therefore the Cre/loxP system developed in this study allows reusing the marker gene for sequential transformations. Protoplasts from Neotyphodium coenophialum, Neotyphodium uncinatum, or Epichloë festucae isolates, containing a floxed hygromycin phosphotransferase (hph) gene (loxP::hph::loxP), were transfected with a Crerecombinase expression plasmid and then cultured without selection. The marker was excised in 0.5-2% of the colonies, leaving a single loxP sequence. This strategy will help to reduce the concerns related to field release or commercialization of economically important grasses associated with manipulated fungal strains. It is expected that the technology will likely be adapted and applied in other fungal species. Manipulation of the ergot alkaloid (EA) gene cluster from C. purpurea and C. fusiformis by introducing and expressing its genes in different fungal-grass symbionts was also investigated. Heterologous expression of the ergot alkaloid cluster could result either in the synthesis of compounds similar to the ones produced by the host or in synthesis of novel compounds with new modes of action. Even though the results indicated that several EA genes were expressed in the new symbiota, none of the ergot alkaloids intermediates were detected.

Estrogenic contamination of waterways is of world-wide concern due to the adverse effects observed in aquatic biota. Recently, wastes from agricultural activities have been identified as likely sources of steroid estrogens released into the environment. Wastes from dairying activities are of particular concern in New Zealand. This project included development of analytical methods to measure free and conjugated estrogens, measurement of estrogens from the source to receiving environments and an investigation of effluent treatment technologies. The analytical method developed in this study was based on GC-MS measurement of free estrogens (17α-estradiol (17α-E2), 17β-estradiol (17β-E2) and estrone (E1)) and LC-IT-MS measurement of their sulfate-conjugates (17α-E2-3S, 17β-3S, E1-3S) in raw and treated farm dairy shed effluents (DSE). Effluents from farms in the Canterbury and Waikato Regions, two regions where dairy farming is the dominant land-use, were collected and analysed. All effluents demonstrated high concentrations of steroid estrogens, particularly 17α-E2 (median 760 ng/L). Estrogenic activity was also elevated, at up to 500 ng/L 17β-E2 equivalents using the E-Screen, an in vitro cell proliferation bioassay. Comparison to the chemical data indicated that for most samples, the highest proportion of estrogenic activity was derived from steroid estrogens naturally excreted by dairy cows. Conjugated estrogens were measured in several raw effluent samples, at similar concentrations to those of free estrogens, particularly E1. Dairy effluent treatment systems reduced free estrogen concentrations by 63-99% and reduced estrogenic activity by up to 89%. In spite of high removal efficiencies, estrogens remained elevated in the treated effluents that are discharged into waterways. Steroid estrogens and estrogenic activity were detected in streams and groundwater in areas impacted by dairy farming. Although concentrations were generally low, in two streams the concentrations were above levels regarded as safe for aquatic biota (<1 ng/L). The results demonstrate that dairy effluents are indeed a major source of estrogens to the environment and to waterways.

Evidence of feminising effects, including additional or enlarged female organs, have been reported in the (sub)-tropical freshwater prosobranch Marisa cornuarietis exposed to vertebrate estrogen receptor agonists. The primary symptom is an increase in the number of eggs laid, but this is only observed when exposure occurs at relatively low temperatures. This research project exposed temperate freshwater prosobranchs and a pulmonate to 17β-oestradiol (10-200 ngL-l, nominal) in an outdoor mesocosm subject to natural seasons to determine whether similar effects occur in European native temperate freshwater gastropods. Laboratory exposures to 17β-oestradiol (1-100 ngL-l, nominal) and Bisphenol-A (0.2-20 ngL-l, nominal) were also carried out over a range of different temperatures and photoperiods to simulate natural seasons. In the mesocosm exposures, significant increases in reproduction were measured in Viviparus viviparus, Bithynia tentaculata and, if the mortality rate was not significantly increased, Planorbarius corneus. It was observed that increases only occurred after the onset of autumn. In the laboratory, the oviposition rate in P. corneus was constant at 20oC with a 16h photoperiod, but declined significantly at 15oC with a 12h photoperiod, except at 100 ngL-l 17β-oestradiol, when the rate remained constant. There were no similar effects from Bisphenol-A exposure. Small increases in reproduction were observed in all the prosobranch exposures to both compounds, but the interpretation of the data was confounded by several factors (test chemical degradation, high mortality rates and parasitized organisms) and there were no significant differences. In conclusion, there were indications that all of the assessed species were capable of increased reproduction, and in P. corneus this appears to be a perpetuation of summer oviposition rates in autumnal conditions. The consequences of this effect in annual semelparous pulmonates may not be detrimental at the population level, but the long-term fitness of iteroparous prosobranchs that practice ‘restrained reproduction’ in early breeding seasons may be adversely affected.

For the past few years there has been increasing concern surrounding a group of chemicals known as phthalate esters. In mammals, phthalates are known antiandrogens, interfering with the production or activity of testosterone. Phthalates are ubiquitous in the aquatic environment. With recent findings suggesting that antiandrogens may be responsible for much of the endocrine disruption found in wild fish populations, the study of phthalate esters has become integral to determining whether or not these anti-androgenic chemicals are of concern. I investigated whether di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) was able to cause antiandrogenic endocrine disruption in fish under controlled laboratory conditions. Three experiments were undertaken. In the first study, two generations of fathead minnows were exposed to nominal concentrations of 6 to 100 μg/L for 21 and 150 days, respectively. The second experiment examined the effects of early life-stage exposure to DBP (50, 100 and 200 μg DBP/L) on three-spined sticklebacks. The final experiment examined the effects of DBP on adult male three-spined sticklebacks in a 21-day nesting study (15 and 35 μg DBP/L). DBP had no effect on the fecundity, survival, growth, sex ratio, or gonadal histology of the exposed fish in any of the experiments. Further, it failed to alter the expression of two steroidogenic genes in adult male sticklebacks. In contrast, DBP was often found to significantly alter plasma androgen concentrations in both species, and spiggin concentrations in the three-spined stickleback, most notably causing significantly reduced spiggin concentrations in the adult males exposed to DBP. Ultimately, DBP-exposure did not disrupt the ability of the fish to reproduce successfully, and did not appear to alter reproductive behaviours or the expression of secondary sexual characteristics. In conclusion, while DBP did appear to have some capacity for endocrine disruption in fish, it was unable to interfere with the ability of the fish to develop normally and reproduce successfully. Thus, environmentallyrelevant concentrations of phthalate esters are likely not of particular concern to fish populations.

L’archipel japonais jouit d’un environnement riche en ressources naturelles : ressources halieutiques, climat diversifié et relativement doux, abondance des ressources forestières, diversité de la faune et de la flore. Ces bienfaits,rendus possibles par des conditions géo-climatiques particulières, s’accompagnent d’un prix élevé. Séismes, typhons et pluies torrentielles sont le quotidien des habitants de l’archipel. Ce dernier est occasionnellement le théâtre dephénomènes plus spectaculaires comme les tsunamis et les éruptions volcaniques. Au fil des siècles, la société japonaise s’est très bien adaptée à la récurrence de ces phénomènes et aux cycles de catastrophes qu’ils induisentdans leur sillon, et elle a construit ses propres stratégies pour les surmonter, constituant un véritable paradigme cindynique. Néanmoins, au détour du XXe siècle, de nouvelles formes de danger ont émergé au sein des sociétés industrielles. Ce sont les risques technologiques, auxquels le Japon n’a pas échappé. Dans ce nouveau contexte social, politique et économique, le 11 mars 2011 un séisme et un tsunami ont frappé la centrale de Fukushima, au nord-est du Japon, et déclenché une catastrophe nucléaire d’une gravité encore difficilement sondable. Au fil des années, l’ampleur de la crise sociale, environnementale, politique et sanitaire se révélant progressivement a fait émerger de nouveaux problèmes, qui de plus en plus remettent en cause le paradigme cindynique japonais contemporain. La crise met ainsi la société japonaise à l’épreuve d’un type de catastrophe dont les enjeux collatéraux, les plus dommageables, sont également les plus difficilement appréhensibles. Cette thèse cherche à prendre de la distance par rapport à l’événement de mars 2011 tout en faisant un parallèle avec celui-ci, afin de mieux comprendre les logiques de fond qui sous-tendent le fonctionnement du paradigme cindynique « traditionnel », et ses insuffisances au regard de la situation cindynique du Japon contemporain. J’ai pour cette raison axé le centre du terrain sur la péninsule de Kii, un petit morceau de terre situé au sud de Kyōto et constitué de montagnes boisées, abritant un grand nombre de petits villages côtiers et forestiers mais aussi quelques grandes villes, exposés à des aléas très violents. À travers différents domaines du fait social et culturel, la thèse analyse les stratégies de gestion développées par les communautés de la péninsule pour vivre avec les aléas, les catastrophes et surtout les ruptures qu’ils induisent. Les angles d’approches sont multiples : l’expérience directe et la mémoire, les structures sociales, le fait religieux, les savoirs et les dimensions spatiales et temporelles du rapport aux aléas et aux événements catastrophiques. Ces différents aspects, transversaux au vécu et à la gestion des cycles catastrophiques, sont explorés conjointement pour montrer les logiques adaptatives grâce auxquelles la société japonaise a composé, dans son développement, avec les instabilités de son contexte socio-politique interne et de son milieu naturel. / Japanese archipelago has the advantage of a rich environment, full of natural resources : halieutic resources, a diversified climate, large forests blessed with a rich wildlife and flora. In the other hand, Japanese populations suffer from violent and geophysical hazards, from common earthquakes, hurricanes and huge floods to more dangerous tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Thus, population of Japanese archipelago early developed advanced strategies to overcome the influence of natural disasters cycles over centuries, building their very own cindynic paradigm. However, in the edge of the 20th century, new danger like technologic risks rose from industrial societies like Japan’s, America’s and so on. In such changing social, economical and political context, a mega-quake, followed by a huge tsunami, stroke the northern coast of Japan, in 2011, march the 11th. The day after the tsunami hit the Fukushima nuclear power plant, a nuclear disaster alert were released by Japanese government and foreign governments around the world. The years passing by, the social, environmental, political, and health crisis that expanded from this event revealed new environmental issues, encompassing this type of disaster that redefines and question the traditional Japanese cindynic paradigm. In order to grab the dynamic underlying traditional cindynic paradigm and the reason why it revealed itself to be unable to successfully overcome the crisis that Japan faces today,I chose to move the focus to a field away from Fukushima’s nuclear issues, while keeping an eye on it. The fieldwork of this Ph.D thesis is located in Kii peninsula, a small piece of land standing south of Kyōto. Kii is the landing place of powerful tsunamis, unleashed by mega-quakes produced by the Nankai trough, every 90 to 150 year period. It is also on the usual route of violent hurricanes and torrential rains, that strike from summer to autumn, causing heavy flooding damage. This thesis approaches the problem from multiple angles, crossing exploration of direct experience, memory of disasters, knowledge, religious and political issues. Through this method, I try to enlighten underlying dynamics that made Japanese population able to live in their dangerous environment.

The prevalent and ongoing exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) demands an understanding of the threat they pose and also a means in which to mitigate their potential toxicity. This thesis set out to investigate a phenomenon associated with a specific PCB congener, 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126), for the underpinnings of its mechanism, and also its usefulness as a toxin against which to establish a mitigative strategy. The phenomenon in particular is the disruption of hepatic trace elements, specifically an increase in copper and decreases in zinc, selenium, iron, and manganese in the liver. Four questions were posed to address the overarching goals: 1) When does micronutrient disruption occur in the context of liver pathology? 2) What metal transporters or chaperones are involved? 3) Can the previously shown beneficial micronutrient, zinc, alter the disruption and improve outcome? 4) What is occurring spatially within the liver acinus where micronutrients are distributed? By answering these four questions, a fundamental understanding of this occurrence will be ascertained. A chronology of PCB126-hepatotoxicity showed onset of liver pathology at 36 hours and later alterations in micronutrients at 3 days, suggesting disruption of hepatic trace elements is likely the result of liver degeneration. In addition, a key metal transport protein, metallothionein, was induced by PCB126. Utilizing a double knockout animal model, metallothionein was shown to abrogate some toxicity but had little involvement of micronutrient perturbation. Previous investigations have suggested the unique property of zinc in rescuing/preventing hepatic damage by a variety of toxic agents. Dietary zinc had a modest effect in ameliorating PCB126 hepatotoxicity and preserving micronutrient homeostasis. This suggests that the mitigative potential of zinc supplementation on PCB126 exposure is limited. Finally, a fine spatial investigation of the liver acinus was conducted to establish the levels of trace elements from the portal triad to the central vein. In addition, novel findings of high concentrations of extracellular zinc were discovered. In all, this dissertation has shown that disruption of hepatic micronutrients caused by PCB126 are likely the result of liver degeneration by means of disturbing the spatial trace element gradients and provides appropriate context for therapeutic/preventive strategies against PCBs.

<p>Industrial and domestic sewage effluents have been found to cause reproductive disorders in wild fish, often as a result of the interference of compounds in the effluents with the endocrine system. This thesis describes laboratory-based exposure experiments and a field survey that were conducted with juveniles of the three-spined stickleback, <i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i>. This small teleost is a common fish in Swedish coastal waters and was chosen as an alternative to non-native test species commonly used in endocrine disruption studies, which allows the comparison of field data with results from laboratory experiments.</p><p>The aim of this thesis was to elucidate 1) if genetic sex determination and differentiation can be disturbed by natural and synthetic steroid hormones and 2) whether this provides an endpoint for the detection of endocrine disruption, 3) to evaluate the applicability of specific estrogen- and androgen-inducible marker proteins in juvenile three-spined sticklebacks, 4) to investigate whether estrogenic and/or androgenic endocrine disrupting activity can be detected in effluents from Swedish pulp mills and domestic sewage treatment plants and 5) whether such activity can be detected in coastal waters receiving these effluents.</p><p>Laboratory exposure experiments found juvenile three-spined sticklebacks to be sensitive to water-borne estrogenic and androgenic steroid substances. Intersex – the co-occurrence of ovarian and testicular tissue in gonads – was induced by 17β-estradiol (E2), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), 17α-methyltestosterone (MT) and 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The first two weeks after hatching was the phase of highest sensitivity. MT was ambivalent by simultaneously eliciting masculinizing and feminizing effects. When applying a DNA-based method for genetic sex identification, it was found that application of MT only during the first two weeks after hatching caused total and apparently irreversible development of testis in genetic females. E2 caused gonad type reversal from male to female. E2 and EE2 induced vitellogenin - the estrogen-responsive yolk precursor protein, while DHT and MT induced spiggin – the androgen-responsive glue protein of the stickleback.</p><p>None of the effluents from two pulp mills and two domestic sewage treatment plants had any estrogenic or androgenic activity. Juvenile three-spined sticklebacks were collected during four subsequent summers at the Swedish Baltic Sea coast in recipients of effluents from pulp mills and a domestic sewage treatment plant as well as remote reference sites. No sings of endocrine disruption were observed at any site, when studying gonad development or marker proteins, except for a deviation of sex ratios at a reference site.</p><p>The three-spined stickleback – with focus on the juvenile stage – was found to be a sensitive species suitable for the study of estrogenic and androgenic endocrine disruption.</p>