The AMADEE-18 Mars Analog Expedition in the Dhofar Region of Oman.

From February 1 to 28, 2018, the Austrian Space Forum, in cooperation with the Oman Astronomical Society and research teams from 25 nations, conducted the AMADEE-18 mission, a human-robotic Mars expedition simulation in the Dhofar region in the Sultanate of Oman. A carefully selected field crew, supported by a Mission Support Center in Innsbruck, Austria, conducted 19 experiments relevant to astrobiology, engineering disciplines, geoscience, operations research, and human factors. This expedition was the 12th in a series of analog missions that emulate selected aspects of the science expected for a human Mars mission, including the characterization of the (paleo)geological environment, human factors studies, and the search for biomarkers.

Suited versus unsuited analog astronaut performance using the Aouda.X space suit simulator: the DELTA experiment of MARS2013.

Space suit simulators are used for extravehicular activities (EVAs) during Mars analog missions. Flight planning and EVA productivity require accurate time estimates of activities to be performed with such simulators, such as experiment execution or traverse walking. We present a benchmarking methodology for the Aouda.

A case for using ground-based thermal inertia measurements to detect Martian caves.

Martian caves are regarded as one of the most interesting locations in which to search for life on the planet. Data obtained during the MARS2013 expedition at Hamar Laghdad Ridge in the Tafilalt region of Morocco indicate that even small cavities can display thermal behavior that is characteristic for caves. For example, temperature in a cavity equaled 14°C±0.

Field trial of a dual-wavelength fluorescent emission (L.I.F.E.) instrument and the Magma White rover during the MARS2013 Mars analog mission.

Abstract We have developed a portable dual-wavelength laser fluorescence spectrometer as part of a multi-instrument optical probe to characterize mineral, organic, and microbial species in extreme environments. Operating at 405 and 532 nm, the instrument was originally designed for use by human explorers to produce a laser-induced fluorescence emission (L.I.

The MARS2013 Mars analog mission.

We report on the MARS2013 mission, a 4-week Mars analog field test in the northern Sahara. Nineteen experiments were conducted by a field crew in Morocco under simulated martian surface exploration conditions, supervised by a Mission Support Center in Innsbruck, Austria. A Remote Science Support team analyzed field data in near real time, providing planning input for the management of a complex system of field assets; two advanced space suit simulators, four robotic vehicles, an emergency shelter, and a stationary sensor platform in a realistic work flow were coordinated by a Flight Control Team.

Helicobacter pylori isolated from patients with tonsillar cancer or tonsillitis chronica could be of different genotype compared to isolates from gastrointestinal tract.

Helicobacter pylori from patients with different diseases, including so-called autoimmune thyroiditis, chronic tonsillitis and tonsillar cancer, was isolated and cultured. It was identified according to the genotype using labeled hybridization probes complementary to six sequences of cagA and vacA genes. Different types of strains were found in isolates from gastrointestinal tract and patients suffering from thyroiditis.

The feasibility of laryngoscope-guided tracheal intubation in microgravity during parabolic flight: a comparison of two techniques.

We determined the feasibility of laryngoscope-guided tracheal intubation (LG-TI) in microgravity obtained during parabolic flight and tested the hypothesis that LG-TI is similarly successful in the free-floating condition, with the patient's head gripped between the anesthesiologist's knees, as in the restrained condition, with the torso strapped to the surface. Three personnel with no experience in airway management or microgravity participated in the study. LG-TI of a sophisticated full-size manikin was attempted on seven occasions in each condition by each investigator after ground-based training.

[Detection of CagA protein in strains of Helicobacter pylori isolated from patients with gastritis and gastric ulcer disease].

Unlabelled: A total of 156 Helicobacter pylori strains isolated from adult patients (81 men, 75 women) with diagnosis of gastritis (43 strains GAS) and gastric ulcer (113 strains GU) were analyzed for the production of CagA protein by quantitative and qualitative immunoblot methods. 80% of gastric ulcer group strains (84% in men, 73% in women) produced CagA protein, while in the gastritis patients group only 63% of strains were CagA protein positive (59% in men, 65% in women). Quantitative production was estimated by CagA index (mean production of CagA protein in CagA positive strains) in both groups of strains GAS and GU in men and women.

[Helicobacter pylori infection in a group of symptomatic and asymptomatic children and adolescents in the Czech Republic].

Background: There exist only inconsistent results of studies on the relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and functional dyspepsia and/or recurrent abdominal pain in children and adolescents. The answer could bring a comparison of the epidemiological features of H.

[Helicobacter pylori and diabetes mellitus].

Background: Helicobacter (H.) pylori participates significantly on the pathogeny of chronic gastritis, duodenal a gastric ulcer, carcinoma and lymphoma of the stomach. Attention was attracted also by some extragastric diseases, including diabetes mellitus, where the elevated antibodies levels against H.

[Helicobacter pylori infections: familial clustering and transmission].

Background: The importance of Helicobacter pylori for the development of gastritis and gastro-duodenal ulceration is generally accepted. The objective of the presented work was to find out whether its transmission is involved in families of children examined on account of upper dyspeptic syndrome. Aggregation and transmission of Helicobacter pylori infection were not described so far in the Czech Republic.

Isolation and preliminary evaluation of a low-molecular-mass antigen preparation for improved detection of Helicobacter pylori immunoglobulin G antibodies.

Previously, immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to five antigens with a relative molecular mass of between 15 and 30 kDa from Helicobacter pylori were found to be significantly more frequent in H. pylori-infected patients than in noninfected patients. In this study, these specific low-molecular-mass (LMW) antigens were separated by ultrafiltration of whole-cell sonicates.

[Serologic detection of antibodies to Helicobacter pylori in children and adolescents using ELISA].

Serum antibodies anti-Helicobacter pylori (H.p.) which are specific against antigenic determinants of the bacterial body, were determined in 183 non-ulcer dyspeptic children and adolescents, aged 7- to 20 years.

[Determination of antibodies to Campylobacter pylori in children and adolescents with gastroduodenal disorders].

Serological examination of antibodies against Campylobacter pylori was made in 195 boys and girls aged 9-20 years. In all on account of gastrointestinal complaints endoscopy was indicated. The results of microbiological and histological finding), in particular in the antrum and corpus of the stomach).

[Cytotoxic changes in cell cultures induced by newly isolated strains of Campylobacter pylori].

Suspensions of primocultures of two strains of Camplyobacter pylori, isolated from bioptic materials collected from patients with nodular hyperplasia of the pyloric antrum and with gastric ulcers were inoculated to 20-hour confluent or almost confluent cell cultures line VERO, McCoy and MA 104 in test tubes and Petri dishes. Both strains of C. pylori adhered markedly to cell lines VERO and McCoy and after 72 hours led to marked morphological changes of the cells.

[Can epigastric pain and non-ulcerative dyspepsia in children and adolescents be Campylobacter pylori infection?].

The authors examined 263 children and adolescents aged 5-20 years who suffered from so-called non-ulcerative dyspepsia or epigastric pain, because of the suspected presence of Campylobacter pylori. In 31.9% of the examined subjects direct microbiological methods revealed its presence in the gastroduodenal mucosa.

[New aspects of intolerance of the aqueous iodinated x-ray contrast medium, adipiodone--fatal interaction of adipiodone-Ultrabil with the immunomodulators Corynebacterium parvum (CP) and Shigella dysenteriae endotoxin (LPS)].

The authors assume a new type of interaction of the aqueous X-ray contrast substance type adipiodone (Ultrabil 50% Spofa) with immunomodulators of Corynebacterium parvum (CP) and the endotoxin of Shigella dysenteriae (LPS). The fatal type of interaction developed regularly as a result of the concurrent i.v.

Relation of enterotoxin production and lipolytic activity in Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from acute diarrhoeal diseases to clinical course of illness.

Two sets of cases of acute diarrhoeal disease caused by plasma-coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus strains were studied. Testing the isolates for staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) production and for lipolytic activity on egg-yolk agar in relation to the clinical course of the illness showed that only part of the cases could be attributed to the effect of SE and that lipolytic activity apparently also played some pathogenetic role. In one of the sets (205 cases) SE production was found in only 29% of the strains isolated; the clinical course in the corresponding patients was typical of staphylococcal enterotoxicosis.

Purification and some properties of exotoxin from Corynebacterium ulcerans strain ATCC 9015.

Corynebacterium ulcerans strain ATCC 9015 develops during growth in environmental media an exotoxin which is lethal for guinea-pigs. The exotoxin has been purified by ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex A-50, affinity chromatography using immunosorbent techniques, and gel-filtration through Sephadex G-75. The exotoxin is of a protein nature and consists perhaps of two subunits.

Proof for the lack of diphtheria toxin in culture filtrates of Corynebacterium ulcerans strain ATCC 9015.

Extensive efforts to identify the diphtheria toxin in culture filtrates of C. ulcerans strain ATCC 9015 was unsuccessful. The culture filtrates did contain a component (called D-antigen) which formed a precipitin line with commercial diphtheria antitoxin.