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The thermodynamics of organic chemistry under mild aqueous conditions was examined in order to begin to understand its influence on the structure and operation of metabolism and its antecedents. Free energies (deltaG) were estimated for four types of reactions of biochemical importance carbon-carbon bond cleavage and synthesis, hydrogen transfer between carbon groups, dehydration of alcohol groups, and aldo-keto isomerization. The energies were calculated for mainly aliphatic groups composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The energy values showed (1) that generally when carbon-carbon bond cleavage involves groups from different functional group classes (i.e., carboxylic acids, carbonyl groups, alcohols, and hydrocarbons), the transfer of the shared electron-pair to the more reduced carbon group is energetically favored over transfer to the more oxidized carbon group, and (2) that the energy of carbon-carbon bond transformation is primarily determined by the functional group class of the group that changes oxidation state in the reaction (i.e., the functional group class of the group that donates the shared electron-pair during cleavage, or that accepts the incipient shared electron-pair during synthesis). In contrast, the energy of hydrogen transfer between carbon groups is determined by the functional group class of both the hydrogen-donor group and the hydrogen-acceptor group. From these and other observations we concluded that the chemistry involved in the origin of metabolism (and to a lesser degree modern metabolism) was strongly constrained by (1) the limited redox-based transformation energy of organic substrates that is readily dissipated in a few energetically favorable irreversible reactions; (2) the energy dominance of a few transformation half-reactions that determines whether carbon-carbon bond transformation (cleavage or synthesis) is energetically favorable (deltaG < -3.5 kcal/mol), reversible (deltaG between +/-3.5 kcal/mol), or unfavorable (deltaG > +3.5 kcal/mol); and (3) the dependence of carbon group transformation energy on the functional group class (i.e., oxidation state) of participating groups that in turn is contingent on prior reactions and precursors in the synthetic pathway.
Despite a vast amount of research, little is known concerning the effect of group structure, and individuals' understanding of that structure, on conflict in Antarctic groups. The overall objective of the research discussed is to determine the interrelationships of group structure, social cognition, and group function and conflict in isolated and extreme environments. In the two decades following WWII, a large body of research focused on the physiological, psychological, and social psychological factors affecting the functioning of individuals and groups in a variety of extreme and isolated environments in both the Arctic and Antarctic. There are two primary reasons for further research of this type. First, Antarctic polar stations are considered to be natural laboratories for the social and behavioral sciences and provide an opportunity to address certain theoretical and empirical questions concerned with agreement and conflict in social groups in general and group behavior in extreme, isolated environments in particular. Recent advances in the analysis of social networks and intracultural variation have improved the methods and have shifted the theoretical questions. The research is motivated by three classes of questions: (1) What are the characteristics of the social relations among individuals working and living together in extreme and isolated environments?; (2) What do individuals understand about their group, how does that understanding develop, and how is it socially distributed?; and (3) What is the relationship between that understanding and the functioning of the social group? Answers to these questions are important if we are to advance our knowledge of how individuals and groups adapt to extreme environments. Second, although Antarctic winter-over candidates may be evaluated as qualified on the basis of individual characteristics, they may fail to adapt because of certain characteristics of the social group. Consequently, the ability of winter-over-groups to adapt to these extreme conditions has varied dramatically from year to year. In the past, differences in personality, background, and social status have led to conflicts between individuals or cliques precipitating, in turn, an overall decline in morale, failure to accomplish work tasks, and increases in insomnia, depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse. A better understanding of the role of group structure and social cognition in processes of group adaptation and conflict in Antarctica would contribute towards the revision of existing screening methods, potentially leading to a reduction of group conflict and improved performance of scientific research and support activities. An improved screening protocol for the Antarctic would also have applications for other isolated environments such as scientific outposts and the proposed NASA space station. In sum, this research will (1) contribute significantly to our theoretical understanding of the role of social structure and cognition in the functioning of groups in isolation; (2) complement current work on health and adaptation in polar environments; and (3) provide for models of the formation of group structure that will aid in the development of improved procedures for assembling groups for the Antarctic and other isolated environments (e.g., space stations).
INTRODUCTION: The objectives of this study were to investigate possible relationships between catecholamine excretion and long-duration confinement in an isolated environment. METHODS: Stays of long duration were made by Group I (n = 4, all Russian, weeks 1-34), Group II (n = 4, mixed nationality, weeks 3-18), and Group III (n = 4, mixed nationality, weeks 22-38); other groups joined the residents for 1-wk intervals at weeks #13, #19, and #33. Data were collected from Groups I and III. RESULTS: In both Group I and Group III, the daily epinephrine excretion was significantly elevated during and after confinement compared with the pre-isolation baseline (p < 0.05), but remained mostly within normal limits during the experiment. During isolation, epinephrine excretion was significantly higher, compared with other weeks in isolation, during weeks #19 and #27 for Group I, and during week #30 for Group III. In both Group I and Group II, norepinephrine excretion increased significantly during and after isolation (p < 0.05) and was above the normal range. The daily norepinephrine excretion was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in Group I during weeks #12, #13, and #27, and during week #30 for Group III. DISCUSSION: Epinephrine excretion generally remained in the normal range. However, occasional elevations occurred due to psychological stress, which apparently correlate with changes in group dynamics. Norepinephrine excretion was above the normal range and was correlated with social events. These results suggest that to ensure optimum crew performance, entire crews along with their visiting crews should be selected collectively, rather than individually.
It is well known that galaxies associate in groups and clusters. Perhaps 40% of all galaxies are found in groups of 4 to 20 galaxies (e.g., Tully 1987). Although most groups appear to be so loose that the galaxy interactions within them ought to be insignificant, the apparently densest groups, known as compact groups appear so dense when seen in projection onto the plane of the sky that their members often overlap. These groups thus appear as dense as the cores of rich clusters. The most popular catalog of compact groups, compiled by Hickson (1982), includes isolation among its selection critera. Therefore, in comparison with the cores of rich clusters, Hickson's compact groups (HCGs) appear to be the densest isolated regions in the Universe (in galaxies per unit volume), and thus provide in principle a clean laboratory for studying the competition of very strong gravitational interactions. The $64,000 question here is then: Are compact groups really bound systems as dense as they appear? If dense groups indeed exist, then one expects that each of the dynamical processes leading to the interaction of their member galaxies should be greatly enhanced. This leads us to the questions: How stable are dense groups? How do they form? And the related question, fascinating to any theorist: What dynamical processes predominate in dense groups of galaxies? If HCGs are not bound dense systems, but instead 1D change alignments (Mamon 1986, 1987; Walke & Mamon 1989) or 3D transient cores (Rose 1979) within larger looser systems of galaxies, then the relevant question is: How frequent are chance configurations within loose groups? Here, the author answers these last four questions after comparing in some detail the methods used and the results obtained in the different studies of dense groups.
Compact groups are small, relatively isolated, systems of galaxies with projected separations comparable to the diameters of the galaxies themselves. Two well-known examples are Stephan's Quintet (Stephan, 1877) and Seyfert's Sextet (Seyfert 1948a,b). In groups such as these, the apparent space density of galaxies approaches 10(exp 6) Mpc(sub -3), denser even than the cores of rich clusters. The apparent unlikeliness of the chance occurrence of such tight groupings lead Ambartsumyan (1958, 1975) to conclude that compact groups must be physically dense systems. This view is supported by clear signs of galaxy interactions that are seen in many groups. Spectroscopic observations reveal that typical relative velocities of galaxies in the groups are comparable to their internal stellar velocities. This should be conducive to strong gravitational interactions - more so than in rich clusters, where galaxy velocities are typically much higher. This suggests that compact groups could be excellent laboratories in which to study galaxy interactions and their effects. Compact groups often contain one or more galaxies whose redshift differs greatly from those of the other group members. If these galaxies are at the same distance as the other members, either entire galaxies are being ejected at high velocities from these groups, or some new physical phenomena must be occurring. If their redshifts are cosmological, we must explain why so many discordant galaxies are found in compact groups. In recent years much progress has been made in addressing these questions. Here, the author discusses the current observational data on compact groups and their implications.
The thermodynamics of organic chemistry under mild aqueous conditions was examined in order to begin to understand its influence on the structure and operation of metabolism and its antecedents. Free energies were estimated for four types reactions of biochemical importance carbon-carbon bond cleavage and synthesis, hydrogen transfer between carbon groups, dehydration of alcohol groups, and aldo-keto isomerization. The energies were calculated for mainly aliphatic groups composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The energy values showed that (1) when carbon-carbon bond cleavage involves two different types of functional groups, transfer of the shared electron-pair to the more reduced carbon group is energetically favored over transfer to the more oxidized carbon group, and (2) the energy of carbon-carbon bond transformation is strongly dependent on the type of functional group that donates the shared electron-pair during cleavage, and the group that accepts the shared electron-pair during synthesis, and (3) the energetics of C-C bond transformation is determined primarily by the half-reaction energies of the couples: carbonyl/carboxylic acid, carboxylic acid/carbon dioxide, alcohol/carbonyl, and hydrocarbon/alcohol. The energy of hydrogen-transfer between carbon groups was found to depend on the functional group class of both the hydrogen-donor and hydrogen-acceptor. From these and other observations we concluded that the chemistry of the origin of metabolism (and to a lesser degree modem metabolism) is strongly constrained by the (1) limited disproportionation energy of organic substrates that can be dissipated in a few irreversible reactions, (2) the energy-dominance of few half-reaction couples in carbon-carbon bond transformation that establishes whether a chemical reaction is energetically irreversible, reversible or unfeasible, and (3) the dependence of the transformation-energy on the oxidation state of carbon groups (functional group type) which is contingent on prior reactions in the synthetic pathway.
We present new data or iron meteorites that are members of group IAB or are closely related to this large group, and we have also reevaluated some of our earlier data for these irons. In the past it was not possible to distinguish IAB and IIICD irons on the basis of their positions on element-Ni diagrams. We now find that plotting, the new and revised data yields six sets of compact fields on element-Au diagrams, each set corresponding to a compositional group. The largest set includes the majority (approximately equal to 70) of irons previously designated IA: We christened this set the IAB main group. The remaining five sets we designate subgroups within the IAB complex. Three of these subgroups have Au contents similar to the main group, and form parallel trends in most element-Ni diagrams. The groups originally designated IIIC and IIID are two of these subgroups: they are now well resolved from each other and from the main group. The other low-Au subgroup has Ni contents just above the main group. Two other IAB subgroups have appreciably higher Au contents than the main group and show weaker compositional links to it. We have named these five subgroups on the basis of their Au and Ni contents. The three subgroups having Au contents similar to the main group are the low-Au (L) subgroups the two others the high-Au (H) subgroups. The Ni contents are designated high (H), medium (M), or low (L). Thus the old group IIID is now the sLH subgroup. the old group IIIC is the sLM subgroup. In addition, eight irons assigned to two grouplets plot between sLL and sLM on most element-Au diagrams. A large number (27) of related irons plot outside these compact fields but nonetheless appear to be sufficiently related to also be included in the IAB complex.
The functional grouping hypothesis, which suggests that complexity in ecosystem function can be simplified by grouping species with similar responses, was tested in the Florida scrub habitat. Functional groups were identified based on how species in fire maintained Florida scrub regulate exchange of carbon and water with the atmosphere as indicated by both instantaneous gas exchange measurements and integrated measures of function (%N, delta C-13, delta N-15, C-N ratio). Using cluster analysis, five distinct physiologically-based functional groups were identified in the fire maintained scrub. These functional groups were tested to determine if they were robust spatially, temporally, and with management regime. Analysis of Similarities (ANOSIM), a non-parametric multivariate analysis, indicated that these five physiologically-based groupings were not altered by plot differences (R = -0.115, p = 0.893) or by the three different management regimes; prescribed burn, mechanically treated and burn, and fire-suppressed (R = 0.018, p = 0.349). The physiological groupings also remained robust between the two climatically different years 1999 and 2000 (R = -0.027, p = 0.725). Easy-to-measure morphological characteristics indicating functional groups would be more practical for scaling and modeling ecosystem processes than detailed gas-exchange measurements, therefore we tested a variety of morphological characteristics as functional indicators. A combination of non-parametric multivariate techniques (Hierarchical cluster analysis, non-metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling, and ANOSIM) were used to compare the ability of life form, leaf thickness, and specific leaf area classifications to identify the physiologically-based functional groups. Life form classifications (ANOSIM; R = 0.629, p 0.001) were able to depict the physiological groupings more adequately than either specific leaf area (ANOSIM; R = 0.426, p = 0.001) or leaf thickness (ANOSIM; R 0.344, p 0.001). The ability of life forms to depict the physiological groupings was improved by separating the parasitic Ximenia americana from the shrub category (ANOSIM; R = 0.794, p = 0.001). Therefore, a life form classification including parasites was determined to be a good indicator of the physiological processes of scrub species, and would be a useful method of grouping for scaling physiological processes to the ecosystem level.
The purpose of a group management scheme is to enable its associated transfer layer protocol to be responsive to user determined reliability requirements for multicasting. Group management (GM) must assist the client process in coordinating multicast group membership, allow the user to express the subset of the multicast group that a particular multicast distribution must reach in order to be successful (reliable), and provide the transfer layer protocol with the group membership information necessary to guarantee delivery to this subset. GM provides services and mechanisms that respond to the need of the client process or process level management protocols to coordinate, modify, and determine attributes of the multicast group, especially membership. XTP GM provides a link between process groups and their multicast groups by maintaining a group membership database that identifies members in a name space understood by the underlying transfer layer protocol. Other attributes of the multicast group useful to both the client process and the data transfer protocol may be stored in the database. Examples include the relative dispersion, most recent update, and default delivery parameters of a group.
The Johnson Space Center (JSC) Safety & Mission Assurance (S&MA) Directorate s Risk and Reliability Analysis Group provides both mathematical and engineering analysis expertise in the areas of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA), Reliability and Maintainability (R&M) analysis, and data collection and analysis. The fundamental goal of this group is to provide National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) decisionmakers with the necessary information to make informed decisions when evaluating personnel, flight hardware, and public safety concerns associated with current operating systems as well as with any future systems. The Analysis Group includes a staff of statistical and reliability experts with valuable backgrounds in the statistical, reliability, and engineering fields. This group includes JSC S&MA Analysis Branch personnel as well as S&MA support services contractors, such as Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and SoHaR. The Analysis Group s experience base includes nuclear power (both commercial and navy), manufacturing, Department of Defense, chemical, and shipping industries, as well as significant aerospace experience specifically in the Shuttle, International Space Station (ISS), and Constellation Programs. The Analysis Group partners with project and program offices, other NASA centers, NASA contractors, and universities to provide additional resources or information to the group when performing various analysis tasks. The JSC S&MA Analysis Group is recognized as a leader in risk and reliability analysis within the NASA community. Therefore, the Analysis Group is in high demand to help the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) continue to fly safely, assist in designing the next generation spacecraft for the Constellation Program (CxP), and promote advanced analytical techniques. The Analysis Section s tasks include teaching classes and instituting personnel qualification processes to enhance the professional abilities of our analysts as well as performing major probabilistic assessments used to support flight rationale and help establish program requirements. During 2008, the Analysis Group performed more than 70 assessments. Although all these assessments were important, some were instrumental in the decisionmaking processes for the Shuttle and Constellation Programs. Two of the more significant tasks were the Space Transportation System (STS)-122 Low Level Cutoff PRA for the SSP and the Orion Pad Abort One (PA-1) PRA for the CxP. These two activities, along with the numerous other tasks the Analysis Group performed in 2008, are summarized in this report. This report also highlights several ongoing and upcoming efforts to provide crucial statistical and probabilistic assessments, such as the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) PRA for the Hubble Space Telescope service mission and the first fully integrated PRAs for the CxP's Lunar Sortie and ISS missions.
Isolated compact groups (CGs) of galaxies present a range of dynamical states, group velocity dispersions, and galaxy morphologies with which to study galaxy evolution, particularly the properties of gas both within the galaxies and in the intragroup medium. As part of a large, multiwavelength examination of CGs, we present an archival study of diffuse X-ray emission in a subset of nine Hickson compact groups (HCGs) observed with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. We find that seven of the groups in our sample exhibit detectable diffuse emission. However, unlike large-scale emission in galaxy clusters, the diffuse features in the majority of the detected groups are linked to the individual galaxies, in the form of both plumes and halos likely as a result of vigourous star formation or activity in the galaxy nucleus, as well as in emission from tidal features. Unlike previous studies from earlier X-ray missions, HCGs 31, 42, 59, and 92 are found to be consistent with the L(sub X-Tau) relationship from clusters within the errors, while HCGs 16 and 31 are consistent with the cluster L(sub X-sigma) relation, though this is likely coincidental given that the hot gas in these two systems is largely due to star formation. We find that L(sub X) increases with decreasing group Hi to dynamical-mass ratio with tentative evidence for a dependence in X-ray luminosity on Hi morphology whereby systems with intragroup Hi indicative of strong interactions are considerably more X-ray luminous than passively evolving groups. We also find a gap in the L(sub X) of groups as a function of the total group specific star formation rate. Our findings suggest that the hot gas in these groups is not in hydrostatic equilibrium and these systems are not low-mass analogs of rich groups or clusters, with the possible exception of HCG 62.
BACKGROUND The Human Factors and Behavioral Performance Exploration Measures (HFBP-EM) suite is a set of standardized measures used to assess behavioral health and performance risks related to future exploration-class space missions. During the HFBP-EM suite development, the importance of assessing unique contextual factors to understand the drivers of team dynamics was identified. Group living skills are a unique workplace skill which applies to those coworkers who live and work together. As mission lengths become longer, the line between work and non-work life may blur. Extreme living conditions such as spaceflight can result in increased stress over time, negatively impact mood and well-being, decrease team cohesion and increase conflict, deteriorate task performance, and potentially reduce mission success [1]. With no breaks in their isolated and confined environment possible, living with a messy, inconsiderate crewmember can add to the stress. Alternatively, crews with good group living skills may support one another, mitigating the negative effects of the extreme environment. There was no direct measure of group living skills. This work sought to fill this measurement gap and collect data related to group living in isolated, confined, extreme (ICE) environments. METHODS Group living skills as an astronaut competency area were developed with the input of experts familiar with ICE environments. Distinct aspects of this competency were reviewed and discussed by a NASA-invited group of spaceflight experts in 2015 to identify individual and team behavioral health and performance measures for operational environments. This work resulted in a 5-item measure focused on group living experiences with each crewmember (or the crew as a whole). A 6th item asks whether an individual would go on another mission with a particular crewmember or crew as a measure of future-oriented group living, or team viability. The measure was deployed in 24 teams living and working together in isolated and confined environments (e.g., International Space Station, space mission simulation analogs). RESULTS & DISCUSSION In this presentation, we will summarize results which indicate the Group Living Skills (GLS) Survey is a reliable, valid, and operationally feasible measure. Reliability was evaluated in several ways. Two-way multilevel mixed models revealed strong repeated measures reliability (ICC2 = .902, Omega between = .954). Reliability of change within teams was strong (Rc = .81). Factor analysis showed a consistent two-factor structure when individuals rated either the whole crew, all individuals, just peers, or a focal roommate. The latter used a sociometric approach to rating the GLS of the roommates. The two factors were tidiness and being considerate of others. We assessed the criterion-related validity of GLS, by examining GLS operationalized as the team-level aggregated GLS Survey scores as a predictor of team viability, team cohesion, and team performance. We used generalized mixed models to account for the repeated measures and longitudinal data. The marginal R2 change was used to determine the extent to which GLS were related to the team outcomes while controlling for mission day and campaign. Results suggested GLS was strongly related to team viability (marginal R2 change = .40), team cohesion (marginal R2 change = 0.28), social cohesion (marginal R2 change = 0.25), and moderately related to task cohesion (marginal R2 change = 0.18). GLS scores had a small relationship with team performance (marginal R2 change = .08). Results support GLS as a measure that can be used to capture group living skills of crews who live and work together in ICE. Because the items were written to be broadly applicable, less extreme environments with teams living and working together for some length of time also benefit from this measure (e.g., college roommates, camps). See Landon et al. (2024) for full results [2]. SUMMARY We report reliability and validity evidence for a new measure that assesses the Group Living Skills for teams that live and work in operational environments such as spaceflight.
We present the results of a kinematical and morphological study of galaxies in the Hickson compact groups. The redshift survey of 457 galaxies has been completed. The great majority of the galaxies have velocities within about 1000 km/s(exp -1) of the median velocity of the group. The velocities of the groups range from 1380 to 41731 km/s(exp -1) with a median of 8889 km/s(exp -1), corresponding to a median distance of 89 h(exp -1)Mpc. With the addition of the radial velocity selection criterion, a relatively large sample of physically dense compact groups was defined. The nature of the velocity dispersion-morphology relation (Hickson, Kindl and Huchra 1989, hereafter HKH) is investigated. This is the tendency of groups with high velocity dispersions to contain fewer late type galaxies. We find that this strong correlation is not due to any sample selection effects. The morphology concordance in compact groups (HKH), which is the trend for galaxies in a group to have similar morphological types, can be fully explained by the velocity dispersion-morphology correlation. A significant correlation is found between crossing time and the fraction of gas-rich galaxies in the groups. Groups with short crossing times typically contain fewer late-type galaxies. This may be evidence that significant dynamical evolution has occurred in these groups.
The small crossing time of compact groups of galaxies (t(sub cr)H(sub 0) approximately less than 0.02) makes it hard to understand why they are observable at all. Our dissipationless N-body simulations show that within a single rich collapsing group compact groups of galaxies continually form. The mean lifetime of a particular compact configuration if approximately 1 Gyr. On this time scale, members may merge and/or other galaxies in the loose group may join the compact configuration. In other words, compact configurations are continually replaced by new systems. The frequency of this process explains the observability of compact groups. Our model produces compact configurations (compact groups (CG's) with optical properties remarkably similar to Hickson's (1982) compact groups (HCG's): (1) CG's have a frequency distribution of members similar to that of HCG's; (2) CG's are approximately equals 10 times as dense as loose groups; (3) CG's have dynamical properties remarkably similar to those of HCG's; (4) most of the galaxy members of CG's are not merger remnants. The crucial aspect of the model is the relationship between CG's and the surrounding rich loose group. Our model predicts the frequency of occurrence of CG's. A preliminary analysis of 18 rich loose groups is consistent with the model prediction. We suggest further observational tests of the model.
We have systematically analyzed a sample of 13 new and archival ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) observations of compact groups of galaxies: 12 Hickson compact groups plus the NCG 2300 group. We find that approximately two-thirds of the groups have extended X-ray emission and, in four of these, the emission is resolved into diffuse emission from gas at a temperature of kT approximately 1 keV in the group potential. All but one of the groups with extended emission have a spiral fraction of less than 50%. The baryon fraction of groups with diffuse emission is 5%-19%, similar to the values in clusters of galaxies. However, with a single exception (HCG 62), the gas-to-stellar mass ratio in our groups has a median value near 5%, somewhat greater than the values for individual early-type galaxies and two orders of magnitude than in clusters of galaxies. The X-ray luminosities of individual group galaxies are comparable to those of similar field galaxies, although the L(sub X)-L(sub B) relation for early-type galaxies may be flatter in compact groups than in the field.