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Method mixture of cyanamide, phosphoric acid, and monobasic ammonium phosphates for preliminary treatment of paper. Papier-mache, in second step, is pulped in water and latex is added. Urea formaldehyde solution mixed to maximize foaming and resin dispersion is added. Mixture is then cast within 30 to 60 seconds and dried twice.
The design, fabrication, and testing of an automatic bacteria detection system with a zero-g capability and based on the filter-capsule approach is described. This system is intended for monitoring the sterility of regenerated water in a spacecraft. The principle of detection is based on measuring the increase in chemiluminescence produced by the action of bacterial porphyrins (i.e., catalase, cytochromes, etc.) on a luminol-hydrogen peroxide mixture. Since viable as well as nonviable organisms initiate this luminescence, viable organisms are detected by comparing the signal of an incubated water sample with an unincubated control. Higher signals for the former indicate the presence of viable organisms. System features include disposable sealed sterile capsules, each containing a filter membrane, for processing discrete water samples and a tape transport for moving these capsules through a processing sequence which involves sample concentration, nutrient addition, incubation, a 4 Molar Urea wash and reaction with luminol-hydrogen peroxide in front of a photomultiplier tube. Liquids are introduced by means of a syringe needle which pierces a rubber septum contained in the wall of the capsule. Detection thresholds obtained with this unit towards E. coli and S. marcescens assuming a 400 ml water sample are indicated.
Questions regarding the combination of amino acids and ribonucleotides to polypeptides and polynucleotides are investigated. Each of the reactions considered occurs in the solid state in plausible prebiotic conditions. Together they provide the basis for a unified scheme of amino acid and nucleotide activation. Urea, imidazole and Mg(++) are essential catalytic components of the reaction mixtures. However, these compounds could probably be replaced by other organic molecules.
The chemolithotroph, Hydrogenomonas eutropha, was considered as a life support, bioregenerative system. This project focuses on several metabolic functions that are related to the proposed nitrogen cycle between man and this microbe. Specifically this organism has the capability to utilize as the sole nitrogen source such urine components as urea and fifteen individual amino acids, but not nine other amino acids. The effectiveness of utilization was high for many amino acids. Several specific growth inhibitions were also observed. The enzyme that catalyzes the incorporation of ammonia in the medium into amino acids was identified as a NADP-specific, L-glutamate dehydrogenase. This enzyme has a constitutive nature. This organism can synthesize all of its amino acids from carbon dioxide and ammonia. Therefore with the background literature of multiple pathways of individual amino acid biosyntheses, our evidence to date is consistent with the Hydrogeneomonas group having the same pathway of valine-isoleucine formation as the classical E. coli.
A rapid and simple method employing the laboratory centrifuge shows promise for evaluation of membrane performance during reverse osmosis. Results are presented for cellulose acetate membranes for rejection of salt and urea dissolved solids. Implications of the study are to rapid screening of membrane performance, use in laboratories with limited facilities, and possible space waste water purification.
Analyzer employs chemical-sensing electrodes for determination of blood, gas, and ion concentrations. It is rugged, easily serviced, and comparatively simple to operate. System can analyze up to eight parameters and can be modified to measure other blood constituents including nonionic species, such as urea, glucose, and oxygen.
Performance data consisting of solute rejections and product flux were measured, as dependent on the operation parameters. These parameters and ranges were pressure (500,000 n/m2 to 700,000 n/m2), temperature (74 C to 95 C), velocity (1.6 M/sec to 10 M/sec), and concentration (up to 14x). Tests were carried out on analog washwater. Data presented include rejections of organic materials, ammonia, urea, and an assortment of ions. The membrane used was deposited in situ on a porcelain ceramic substrate.
Two samples of the Murchinson C2 chondrite were analyzed for organic nitrogen compounds, using mass spectrometry in combination with paper and thin-layer chromatography. Under mild extraction conditions (water or formic acid), only alphatic amines and some alkylpyridines were seen. Drastic extraction conditions (hot 3-6 M HCL) a variety of nitrogen compounds appeared, including adenine (15 ppm), guanine (5ppm), melamine (20 ppm), cyanuric acid (20 to 30 ppm), guanylurea (30 to 45 ppm), and urea (25 ppm). It appears that these compounds are present mainly in macromolecular material. Failure of other investigators to identify these compounds in carboneceous chondrites is attributed to inadequate extraction conditions (water and formic acid rather than HCl).
Performance data consisting of solute rejections and product flux have been measured, as dependent on the operational parameters. These parameters were pressure, 5,000,000 N/sq m (750 psia) to 7,000,000 N/sq m (1040 psia); temperature, 347 K (165 F) to 368 K (200 F); velocity, 1.6 m/s to 10 m/s; and concentration (up to 14x). Tests were carried out on analog wash water. Data taken include rejections of organic materials (TOC), ammonia, urea, and an assortment of ions. The membrane used was a dual-layer, polyacrylic acid over zirconium oxide, deposited in situ on a porcelain ceramic substrate.
Luciferase assay for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was used as a rapid method to determine the number of bacteria in a urine sample after nonbacterial components were removed. Accurate cellular ATP values, determined when bacteria were grown in an environment similar to that in which they were found, were necessary for the calculation of bacterial titer in urine. Cellular ATP values vary depending on the extraction method, the cell growth phase, and cell growth conditions. ATP per cell values of stationary E. coli grown in urine were two times greater than ATP per cell values of cells grown in trypticase soy broth. Glucose and urea were examined as possible components responsible for the cellular ATP variation.
Complete nucleotide sequences are presented for 5S rRNA from Bacillus subtilis, B. firmus, B. pasteurii, B. brevis, Lactobacillus brevis, and Streptococcus faecalis, and 5S rRNA oligonucleotide catalogs and partial sequence data are given for B. cereus and Sporosarcina ureae. These data demonstrate a striking consistency of 5S rRNA primary and secondary structure within a given bacterial grouping. An exception is B. brevis, in which the 5S rRNA sequence varies significantly from that of other bacilli in the tuned helix and the procaryotic loop. The localization of these variations suggests that B. brevis occupies an ecological niche that selects such changes. It is noted that this organism produces antibiotics which affect ribosome function.
The characteristics and efficiencies of biochemical reactions involving nucleoside 5'-diphosphates and -triphosphates (important substrates of RNA and DNA synthesis) under conditions corresponding to the primitive prebiotic earth are investigated. Urea catalysis of the formation of linear inorganic polyphosphates and metal ions promoting the reactions are discussed. Linear polyphosphate was incubated with Mg(++) in the presence of a nucleoside 5'-phosphate, to yield nucleoside 5'-polyphosphates when products are dried, while Mg(++) prompts depolymerization to trimetaphosphate in aqueous solutions. Plausible biogenetic pathways are examined.
The results of an analytical study and assessment of state-of-the-art wash water reclamation technology for advanced manned spacecraft is presented. All non-phase-change unit operations, unit processes, and subsystems currently under development by NASA are considered. Included among these are: filtration, ultrafiltration, carbon adsorption, ion exchange, chemical pretreatment, reverse osmosis, hyperfiltration, and certain urea removal techniques. Performance data are given together with the projected weights and sizes of key components and subsystems. In the final assessment, a simple multifiltration approach consisting of surface-type cartridge filters, carbon adsorption and ion exchange resins receives the highest rating for six-man orbital missions of up to 10 years in duration.
The effect of operating parameters on the performance of the hyperfiltration membrane when operating on washwater was examined. The parameters were pressure, temperature, velocity, and concentration. Data taken included rejections of organic materials, ammonia, urea, and an assortment of ions. The membrane used was a dual layer, polyacrylic acid over zirconium oxide, deposited in situ on a porcelain ceramic substrate.
A total wash water renovation system concept was developed for removing objectionable materials from spacecraft wash water in order to make the water reusable. The breadboard model system described provides for pretreatment with ferric chloride to remove soap by chemical precipitation, carbon adsorption to remove trace dissolved organics, and ion exchange for removal of dissolved salts. The entire system was put into continuous operation and carefully monitored to assess overall efficiency and equipment maintenance problems that could be expected in actual use. In addition, the capacity of the carbon adsorbers and the ion-exchange resin was calculated and taken into consideration in the final evaluation of the system adequacy. The product water produced was well within the Tentative Wash Water Standards with regard to total organic carbon, conductivity, urea content, sodium chloride content, color, odor, and clarity.
The effects of various oral input water loads on solute and water distribution throughout the body are presented in the form of a model. The model was a three compartment model; the three compartments being plasma, interstitial fluid and cellular fluid. Sodium, potassium, chloride and urea were the only major solutes considered explicitly. The control of body water and electrolyte distribution was affected via drinking and hormone levels.
The model is basically a three-compartment model, the three compartments being the plasma, interstitial fluid and cellular fluid. Sodium, potassium, chloride and urea are the only major solutes considered explicitly. The control of body water and electrolyte distribution is affected via drinking and hormone levels. Basically, the model follows the effect of various oral input water loads on solute and water distribution throughout the body.
A method was established for the isolation and purification of nuclei in high yield from the microplasmodia of Physarum flavicomum. Purified nuclei were resistant to breakage by methods commonly employed for isolated plant and animal nuclei. Several methods for the extraction of nuclear protein were compared. Incubation of nuclear lysates with either 2 M NaCl, with or without 5 M urea, or 1 M CaCl2 resulted in the extraction of nuclear action together with histones. The histones were chemically fractionated into the 5 basic groups common to other eucaryotic tissue. Amino acid analyses of the total histone were also performed. Nuclear actin was found to have a molecular weight of 41,000 ? 4,000 daltons as determined by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The amino acid composition of the nuclear action was established.