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The prospect of establishing a human presence on the Moon has transitioned from the realm of science fiction to an achievable goal. The long-term objective of the Artemis program is to establish a habitat on the Moon that would enable crews to remain on the lunar surface for extended periods. The developmental pathway for such facilities culminates in structures that are manufactured and constructed predominantly from materials sourced on the lunar surface, in alignment with the In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) concept. This paper presents a conceptual lunar habitat that was created by covering 17 m diameter crater in the Mare Tranquillitatis with a structure made from a lunar regolith-based geopolymer. Five shapes of the covering lid were analysed, including: two concave domes with rises of 0.5 m and 1 m; a flat circular slab; and two convex domes with rises of 0.5 m and 1 m. Structural analysis was performed using the Finite Element Method, employing material data from existing literature as well as original strength tests of alkali-activated material based on lunar regolith simulants conducted by the authors. Each model of structure was subjected to dead loads and varying levels of internal air pressure. The numerical analysis revealed the advantages of concave-shaped structures, where internal pressure induced compressive stress within the cross-section, thereby mitigating the risks of air leakage and decompression of the habitat and taking advantage of material in which compressive strength is higher than tensile strength.

MOXIE is a technology demonstration that addresses the Mars 2020 (Perseverance) objective of preparing for future human exploration by demonstrating In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) in the form of dissociating atmospheric CO 2 into O 2 . The primary goals of the MOXIE project are to verify and validate the technology of Mars ISRU as a springboard for the future, and to establish achievable performance requirements and design approaches that will lead to a full-scale ISRU system based on MOXIE technology. MOXIE has three top-level requirements: to be capable of producing at least 6 g/hr of oxygen in the context of the Mars 2020 mission (assuming atmospheric intake at 5 Torr, typical of Jezero Crater, and 0 ∘ C , typical of the rover interior); to produce oxygen with > 98 % purity; and to meet these first two requirements for at least 10 operational cycles after delivery. Since MOXIE is expected to operate in all seasons and at all times of day and night on Mars, these requirements are intended to be satisfied under worst-case environmental conditions, including during a dust storm, if possible.

Robust and affordable technology capabilities are needed before a sustained human presence on the lunar and Martian surfaces can be established. A key challenge is the production of high-strength structural materials from resources to provide spacious habitats with adequate radiation shielding. Ideally, the production of such materials will be achieved through relatively simple, low-energy processes that support other critical systems. Here, we demonstrate the use of ordinary starch as a binder for simulated extraterrestrial regolith to produce a high-strength biocomposite material, termed StarCrete. With this technique, surplus starch produced as food for inhabitants could be used for construction, integrating two critical systems and significantly simplifying the architecture needed to sustain early extraterrestrial colonies. After optimisation, lunar and Martian StarCrete achieved compressive strengths of 91.7 and 72.0 MPa, respectively, which is well within the domain of high-strength concrete (>42 MPa) and surpasses most other proposed technology solutions despite being a relatively low-energy process. The flexural strength of the lunar and Martian StarCrete, at 2.1 and 8.4 MPa, respectively, was also comparable to ordinary concrete (2.5–4.5 MPa).

Finding sustainable approaches to achieve independence from terrestrial resources is of pivotal importance for the future of space exploration. This is relevant not only to establish viable space exploration beyond low Earth–orbit, but also for ethical considerations associated with the generation of space waste and the preservation of extra-terrestrial environments. Here we propose and highlight a series of microbial biotechnologies uniquely suited to establish sustainable processes for in situ resource utilization and loop-closure. Microbial biotechnologies research and development for space sustainability will be translatable to Earth applications, tackling terrestrial environmental issues, thereby supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Establishing sustainable approaches for human space exploration is key to achieve independency from terrestrial resources, as well as for ethical considerations. Here the authors highlight microbial biotechnologies that will support sustainable processes for space-based in situ resource utilization and loop-closure, and may be translatable to Earth applications.

Plant functional traits are a representation of plant resource utilization strategies. Plants with higher specific leaf area (SLA) and lower leaf dry matter content (LDMC) exhibit faster investment-return resource utilization strategies. However, the distribution patterns and driving factors of plant resource utilization strategies at the macroscale are rarely studied. We investigated the relative importance of climatic and soil factors in shaping plant resource utilization strategies at different life forms in forests using data collected from 926 plots across 163 forests in China. SLA and LDMC of plants at different life forms (i.e., trees, shrubs, and herbs) differ significantly. Resource utilization strategies show significant geographical differences, with vegetation in the western arid regions adopting a slower investment-return survival strategy and vegetation in warmer and wetter areas adopting a faster investment-return survival strategy. SLA decreases significantly with increased temperature and reduced rainfall, and vegetation growing in these conditions exhibits conservative resource utilization. Mean annual precipitation (MAP) is a key climatic factor that controls the resource utilization strategies of plants at the macroscale. Plants use resources more conservatively as soil pH increases. The influence of climate and soil factors is coupled to determine the resource utilization strategies of plants occupying different life forms at the macroscale, but the relative contribution of each varies across life forms. Our findings provide a theoretical framework for understanding the potential impact of increasing global temperatures on plant resource utilization.

Summary Fracture-related costs vary by country. A standardized methodology and presentations were proposed to fairly assess the economic burden of osteoporotic fracture. Results indicated substantial costs of osteoporotic fractures for pharmacy, hospitalization, emergency care, and outpatient visits in women aged ≥ 50 years in Australia, Germany, South Korea, Spain, and the USA. Purpose The objective of this multinational, retrospective matched cohort study was to use a standardized methodology across different healthcare systems to estimate the burden of osteoporotic fracture (OF) in women aged ≥ 50 years in Australia, Germany, South Korea, Spain, and the USA. Methods Within each country, healthcare resource utilization and direct costs of care were compared between patients with newly identified OF and a propensity score–matched cohort without OF during follow-up periods of up to 5 years. Results Across all five countries, the OF cohort had significantly higher rates and length of inpatient admissions compared with the non-OF cohort. In each country, the adjusted total costs of care ratio between OF and non-OF cohorts were significant. The adjusted cost ratios for pharmacy, inpatient care, emergency care, and outpatient visits were similarly higher in the OF cohort across countries. Conclusion The current study demonstrates the substantial economic burden of OF across different countries when compared with matched non-OF patients. The findings would assist stakeholders and policymakers in developing appropriate health policies.

Background Depression (major depressive disorder [MDD]) affects the functioning of patients in many facets of life. Very few large-scale studies to date have compared health and economic related outcomes of those with versus without depression, and across various depression severity groups. We aimed to evaluate humanistic and economic burden in respondents with and without depression diagnosis, and across symptom severity groups. Methods Data from the 2017 US National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS) were utilized. Of the adult respondents ( N  = 75,004), 59,786 were < 65 years old. Respondents not meeting eligibility criteria were excluded (e.g., those self-reporting bipolar disorder or experiencing depression in past 12 months but no depression diagnosis). Overall, data from 39,331 eligible respondents (aged 18–64 years) were analyzed; and comprised respondents ‘with depression diagnosis’ ( n  = 8853; self-reporting physician diagnosis of depression and experiencing depression in past 12 months) and respondents ‘without depression diagnosis’ ( n  = 30,478; no self-reported physician diagnosis of depression and not experiencing depression). Respondents with depression were further examined across depression severity based on Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Outcome measures included health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL; Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form [SF-36v2]: mental and physical component summary [MCS and PCS]; Short-Form 6 Dimensions [SF-6D]; and EuroQol 5 Dimensions [EQ-5D]), work productivity and activity impairment (WPAI), and health resource utilization (HRU). Multivariate analysis was performed to examine group differences after adjusting covariates. Results Respondents with depression diagnosis reported significantly higher rates of diagnosed anxiety and sleep problems versus those without depression (for both; P  < 0.001). Adjusted MCS, PCS, SF-6D, and EQ-5D scores were significantly lower in respondents with depression versus those without depression (all P  < 0.001). Consistently, respondents with depression reported higher absenteeism, presenteeism, and overall WPAI, as well as greater number of provider visits, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations compared with those without depression (all P  < 0.001). Further, burden of each outcome increased with an increase in disease severity. Conclusions Diagnosed depression was associated with lower health-related quality-of-life and work productivity, and higher healthcare utilization than those without depression, and burden increased with an increase in symptom severity. The results show the burden of depression remains high even among those experiencing minimal symptoms.

This study evaluated the economic burden of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients before and after the availability of an immuno-oncology (IO) regimen as a first-line (1L) treatment. Patients from 2014 to 2020 were categorized according to mutational status into mutation-positive and negative/unknown groups, which were further divided into pre-1L IO and post-1L IO sub-groups depending on the availability of pembrolizumab monotherapy in 1L. Healthcare costs and HCRU for a 1L treatment and overall follow-up were reported as the mean total and per-month cost per patient by groups. Of 644 patients, 125were mutation-positive and 519 negative/unknown (229 and 290 in pre- and post-1L IO, respectively). The mean total per-patient cost in 1L was lower in pre- (EUR 7804) and post-1L IO (EUR 19,301) than the mutation-positive group (EUR 45,247), persisting throughout overall disease follow-up. However, this difference was less when analyzing monthly costs. Therapy costs were the primary driver in 1L, while hospitalization costs rose during follow-up. In both mutation-positive and post-IO 1L groups, the 1L costs represented a significant portion (70.1% and 66.3%, respectively) of the total costs in the overall follow-up. Pembrolizumab introduction increased expenses but improved survival. Higher hospitalisation and emergency room occupation rates during follow-up reflected worsening clinical conditions of the negative/unknown group than the mutation-positive population.

Cloud computing is an important technology to offer consumer appliances a wide pool of elastic resources. The heterogeneous network faces collision while making communication, which reduces the entire network performance. The future cloud-edge networks will deal with a vast amount of clients and servers, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and the 6G networks, which require flexible solutions. From these points, Multiple Machine Access Learning with Collision Carrier Avoidance (MMALCCA) protocol is proposed in the environment of 6G Internet of Things for creating an effective communication process. This protocol employs the Media Access Control (MAC) protocol for the sync of high-speed wireless communication networks in the Terahertz (THz) band. MMALCCA performs multiple machine access and collision control for improving the resource utilization and latency-less services of the users. The decisions of the protocol are made using the output of the classification and regression learning method for improving the efficiency of MAC sync. The performance of the proposed protocol is verified using the metrics latency, collision probability, service failure, and resource utilization by varying channels and user equipment density.

Future in situ resource utilisation (ISRU) lunar mission concepts will require mechanisms that allow the available feedstock–mainly the lunar regolith–to be extracted from the lunar surface. Such extraction techniques in the reduced gravity environment of the Moon will need to minimise excavation forces, due to mass restrictions for robotic landers/vehicles and the large financial implications of placing cargo onto Earth’s satellite. An investigation of necessary excavation forces, both horizontally as well as vertically, for small-scale continuous lunar excavation systems based on their geometric inlet shapes, cutting angles, and digging depths has been undertaken. The use of vibration to disaggregate lunar soil and to reduce the necessary forces is explored as a proof-of-concept. Tests performed in a large analogue testbed have shown that the optimisation of the cutting geometry is crucial, as it inherently influences the necessary forces or even prevents deeper cuts into the soil. Our experiments indicate that shallow cuts (low digging depth) into soil at shallow angles are beneficial, and that the piling up of large surcharge masses must be avoided. Critically, applying vibration to cutting edges seems highly beneficial, as the achievable force reductions of up to 50% in the tested conditions far outweigh the additional power requirements. To make these implications immediately applicable to a wider audience, an estimation of available traction forces for certain robotic vehicles based on their mass is added for comparison.