Science Missions
Primary Mission -
Dr. Joseph Dituri
During the 100 days, Dr. Dituri will be conducting ongoing testing of his own vital statistics, with the :
•Pre and post weight with two different methods for body mass control – bike / low impulse voltage (Akin to space station research) along with musculature measurements arm chest and back (comparison to see if size decreased)
•EEG Pre/ post and one per week to test brain activity
•EKG using state of the art waterproof sensors / heart rate variability as a means of determining physiological stress
•Sleep and stress studies to include cortisol samples and daily crew diaries (Psychosocial and Psychological)
•Visual acuity for myopia and a countermeasure to reduce myopic events for long duration missions.
The technology used includes the “Butterfly” Butterfly Demonstration
Tests to be administered before during and after
•Vitamin D
•Cytokine Panel
•Methylation Panel
•Circulating STEM cells
•EEG
•EKG
•Psychological battery of exams
ADDITIONAL SCIENCE MISSIONS
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100 Day Ear Study
Dr. Mark Widick, ENT, is conducting a study throughout the mission consisting of three parts 1. Photo document the condition of the external ear canal on a daily basis to document physical changes from the lodge environment. 2. Obtain microbial samples from the ear canal’s intermittently to document changes in the ear environment. 3. Measure Eustachian tube opening pressure during the mission via a small pressure gauge and microphone connected to a PC.
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3-D Sponge Cell Cultures for Habitat Restoration
Conducted by Dr. Shirley Pomponi (Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University). Sponges are important components of benthic, hard-bottom communities in Florida Bay and the Florida reef tract. However, phytoplankton blooms have resulted in massive sponge die-offs that have had a cascading effect on the ecosystems they support (e.g., spiny lobster nursery, commercial sponge fishery). Over the past decade, a coalition of scientists and resource managers from academia, state agencies, non-government organizations, and community volunteers undertook a large-scale sponge restoration project in Florida Bay. While this effort has been very successful, the disadvantage is that dozens to hundreds or even thousands of healthy sponges are needed to supply cuttings for large-scale restoration. We are investigating a complementary approach: grow sponge juveniles from 3-D sponge cell aggregates. Our laboratory has pioneered the technology for sponge cell culture. During Project NEPTUNE 100, we will establish cell cultures from freshly collected individuals of 3 common shallow water sponges and monitor their development into 3-D cell aggregates, the precursor to a fully functional sponge. We hypothesize that the increase in partial pressure of oxygen at depth will stimulate both cell division and differentiation.
https://www.fau.edu/hboi/research/ocean-health-human-health/sponge-biotech/
https://www.fau.edu/hboi/research/ocean-health-human-health/sponge-biotech/
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Team NEPT2NE
A team of five scientists who were part of the original Team NEPT2NE spend five nights in Jules’ conducting the following research:
(1) Study of C. elegans mutation & wild-type behaviors as a model for neurodegenerative disease in a hyperbaric environment
(2) Exploration of bioink as a synthetic skin for burn patients: Bioink behavior in a hyperbaric environment
(3) Changes in Pupillometry and Validation of a Novel, Portable Smartphone App for Ocular Biomarker Measurement in a Hyperbaric Environment
(4) Extended Reality for Point-of-Care Ultrasound Image Acquisition and Collaborative Review in Real-Time in an Isolated, Confined and Extreme Environment
(5) Environmental hardening, testing and deployment of a portable biometric sensor at a dive depth of 22 feet
(6) Food preparation at 1.6 ata: Bread & Creme Brulee - do they rise to the occasion?