OBJECTIVES Wnt signaling pathway may be crucial in the pathogenesis of disuse-induced bone loss. Sclerostin and DKK1, antagonists of the Wnt signaling pathway, were assessed during immobilization by bed rest in young, healthy people. METHODS Two bed rest studies were conducted at the German Aerospace Center in Cologne. 14 days of 6° head-down-tilt bed rest were applied to eight healthy young ...

Understanding genetic variation among populations of medically significant pest insects is important in studying insecticide resistance and insect dispersal. The bed bug, Cimex lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), is widespread hematophagus insect pest around the world, including North America, and it has recently been identified as an emerging resurgent pest. To date, no studies have been co...

The ability to identify individual human hosts based on analyses of blood recovered from hematophagous insects is beneficial for both medical and forensic entomology. Bed bugs, Cimex lectularius L. (Heteroptera: Cimicidae), may have several advantages over other blood-feeding arthropods for forensics because they do not remain on the host after their blood-feeding activity and remain in close p...

BACKGROUND Bed-rest experiments are designed for investigation on catabolic effects of hypokinetic conditions and/or for microgravity simulation in on-ground aerospace research. Bed-rest effects include a reduction in fat-free mass and muscle mass. Urea and creatinine are catabolites of endogenous protein and of muscular energetic metabolism which are excreted mainly by the kidney. The study in...

PURPOSE To evaluate Lipiodol as a liquid, radio-opaque fiducial marker for image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) for bladder cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between 2011 and 2012, 5 clinical T2a-T3b N0 M0 stage II-III bladder cancer patients were treated with maximal transurethral resection of a bladder tumor (TURBT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) to 64.8 Gy in 36 fractions ± concurr...

We report results from a study designed to explore the utility of artificial gravity (AG) as a countermeasure to bone loss induced by microgravity simulation. After baseline testing, 15 male subjects underwent 21 days of 6 degrees head-down bed rest to simulate the deconditioning associated with spaceflight. Eight of the subjects underwent 1 h of centrifugation (AG; 1 G(z) at the heart, 2.5 G(z...