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Miller, Teresa Y.

Publications and source records attributed to Miller, Teresa Y..

12 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Spacelab J experiment descriptions

Brief descriptions of the experiment investigations for the Spacelab J Mission which was launched from the Kennedy Space Center aboard the Endeavour in Sept. 1992 are presented. Experiments cover the following: semiconductor crystals; single crystals; superconducting composite materials; crystal growth; bubble behavior in weightlessness; microgravity environment; health monitoring of Payload Specialists; cultured plant cells; effect of low gravity on calcium metabolism and bone formation; and circadian rhythm.

Miller, Teresa Y.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A comparison between protein crystals grown with vapor diffusion methods in microgravity and protein crystals using a gel liquid-liquid diffusion ground-based method

Crystals of human serum albumin have been successfully grown in a variety of gels using crystallization conditions otherwise equivalent to those utilized in the popular hanging-drop vapor-equilibrium method. Preliminary comparisons of gel grown crystals with crystals grown by the vapor diffusion method via both ground-based and microgravity methods indicate that crystals superior in size and quality may be grown by limiting solutal convection. Preliminary X-ray diffraction statistics are presented.

Miller, Teresa Y.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Protein crystal growth tray assembly

A protein crystal growth tray assembly includes a tray that has a plurality of individual crystal growth chambers. Each chamber has a movable pedestal which carries a protein crystal growth compartment at an upper end. The several pedestals for each tray assembly are ganged together for concurrent movement so that the solutions in the various pedestal growth compartments can be separated from the solutions in the tray's growth chambers until the experiment is to be activated.

Carter, Daniel C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Hollow fiber clinostat for simulating microgravity in cell culture

A clinostat for simulating microgravity on cell systems carried in a fiber fixedly mounted in a rotatable culture vessel is disclosed. The clinostat is rotated horizontally along its longitudinal axis to simulate microgravity or vertically as a control response. Cells are injected into the fiber and the ends of the fiber are sealed and secured to spaced end pieces of a fiber holder assembly which consists of the end pieces, a hollow fiber, a culture vessel, and a tension spring with three alignment pins. The tension spring is positioned around the culture vessel with its ends abutting the end pieces for alignment of the spring. After the fiber is secured, the spring is decompressed to maintain tension on the fiber while it is being rotated. This assures that the fiber remains aligned along the axis of rotation. The fiber assembly is placed in the culture vessel and culture medium is added. The culture vessel is then inserted into the rotatable portion of the clinostat and subjected to rotate at selected rpms. The internal diameter of the hollow fiber determines the distance the cells are from the axis of rotation.

Rhodes, Percy H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Compact Apparatus For Growth Of Protein Crystals

Compact apparatus proposed specifically for growth of protein crystals in microgravity also used in terrestrial laboratories to initiate and terminate growth at prescribed times automatically. Has few moving parts. Also contains no syringes difficult to clean, load, and unload and introduces contaminant silicon grease into crystallization solution. After growth of crystals terminated, specimens retrieved and transported simply.

Carter, Daniel C.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Hollow-Fiber Clinostat

Hollow-fiber clinostat, is bioreactor used to study growth and other behavior of cells in simulated microgravity. Cells under study contained in porous hollow fiber immersed in culture medium inside vessel. Bores in hollow fiber allow exchange of gases, nutrients, and metabolic waste products between living cells and external culture media. Hollow fiber lies on axis of vessel, rotated by motor equipped with torque and speed controls. Desired temperature maintained by operating clinostat in standard tissue-culture incubator. Axis of rotation made horizontal or vertical. Designed for use with conventional methods of sterilization and sanitation to prevent contamination of specimen. Also designed for asepsis in assembly, injection of specimen, and exchange of medium.

Rhodes, Percy H.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Three-dimensional structure of human serum albumin

The three-dimensional structure of human serum albumin has been solved at 6.0 A resolution by the method of multiple isomorphous replacement. Crystals were grown from solutions of polyethylene glycol in the infrequently observed space group P42(1)2 and diffracted X-rays to lattice d-spacings of less than 2.9 A. The electron density maps are of high quality and revealed the structure as a predominantly alpha-helical globin protein in which the course of the polypeptide can be traced. The binding loci of several organic compounds have been determined.

Carter, Daniel C.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Continuous flow electrophoresis system experiments on shuttle flights STS-6 and STS-7

The development of a space continuous flow electrophoresis system (CFES) is discussed. The objectives of the experiment were: (1) to use a model sample material at a high concentration to evaluate the continuous flow electrophoresis process in the McDonnell Douglass CFES instrument and compare its separation resolution and sample throughput with related devices on Earth, and (2) to expand the basic knowledge of the limitations imposed by fluid flows and particle concentration effects on the electrophoresis process by careful design and evaluation of the space experiment. Hemoglobin and polysaccharide were selected as samples of concentration effects. The results from space show a large band spread of the high concentration of the single species of hemoglobin that was principally due to the mismatch of electrical conductivity between the sample and buffer.

Snyder, Robert S.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Continuous flow electrophoresis system experiments on shuttle flights STS-6 and STS-7

A space continuous flow electrophoresis system (CFES) was developed that would incorporate specific modifications to laboratory instruments to take advantage of weightlessness. The specific objectives were to use a model sample material at a high concentration to evaluate the continuous flow electrophoresis process in the CFES instrument and compare its separation resolution and sample throughput with related devices on Earth and to expand the basic knowledge of the limitations imposed by fluid flows and particle concentration effects on the electrophoresis process by careful design and evaluation of the space experiment. Hemoglobin and polysaccharide were selected as primary samples. The results from space show a large band spread of the high concentration of the single species of hemoglobin that was due to the mismatch of electrical conductivity between the sample and the buffer. On STS-7 the major objective was to evaluate the influence of the electrical properties of the sample constituents on the resolution of the CFES. As expected, the polystyrene latex microspheres dispersed in a solution with 3 times the electrical conductivity of the curtain buffer separated with a larger band spread than in the 2nd experiment.

Snyder, Robert S.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Analysis of free zone electrophoresis of fixed erythrocytes performed in microgravity

A free fluid zone electrophoresis experiment was performed in the microgravity environment of Space Shuttle flight STS-3 (March 1983). The experiment was designed to confirm observations made on the Apollo-Soyuz mission of 1975 and to test the effect of high red blood cell (RBC) concentration on free fluid electrophoresis. Photographic documentation of cell zone progression in one-hour separations of mixtures of formaldehyde-fixed human and rabbit erythrocytes, which were subjected to a field of approximately 13 V/cm in low ionic strength buffer, was analyzed. One of two columns contained 2 x 10 to the 8th RBC/ml; (low concentration), and the other contained 1 x 10 to the 9th RBC/ml (high concentration). The observed and calculated leading edge displacements of the RBC in the two columns were in agreement, indicating the absence of unexpected effects of the reduced gravity environment. Post-flight analyses of the contents of the columns was not possible, and additional microgravity experiments are needed to evaluate the role of particle-particle interactions in concentrated suspensions undergoing electrophoresis.

Snyder, Robert S.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Effect of conductivity and concentration on the sample stream in the transverse axis of a continuous flow electrophoresis chamber

The resolution of continuous flow electrophoresis systems is generally measured by the spread of the sample bands in the direction of the electrophoretic migration. This paper evaluates the cross section of the sample bands in the plane perpendicular to the flow and shows that the spread in the direction perpendicular to the migration increased significantly with the applied electric field. Concentrated samples of monodisperse latex particles and vinyltoluene T-butylstyrene particles in sample buffers of different electrical conductivities were used to map the shape of the sample bands relative to the zero electric field case. As the electric field was applied, the sample band spread from an initial diameter of only one-third the chamber thickness until it approached the chamber walls where electroosmosis significantly reduced the resolution of separation. It can be shown, however, that it is possible to minimize these distortions by careful sample preparation and experiment design.

Miller, Teresa Y.↗