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At least 253 records · Page 14

MARIKA - A model revision system using qualitative analysis of simulations

This paper describes portions of a novel system called MARIKA (Model Analysis and Revision of Implicit Key Assumptions) to automatically revise a model of the normal human orientation system. The revision is based on analysis of discrepancies between experimental results and computer simulations. The discrepancies are calculated from qualitative analysis of quantitative simulations. The experimental and simulated time series are first discretized in time segments. Each segment is then approximated by linear combinations of simple shapes. The domain theory and knowledge are represented as a constraint network. Incompatibilities detected during constraint propagation within the network yield both parameter and structural model alterations. Interestingly, MARIKA diagnosed a data set from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Vestibular Laboratory as abnormal though the data was tagged as normal. Published results from other laboratories confirmed the finding. These encouraging results could lead to a useful clinical vestibular tool and to a scientific discovery system for space vestibular adaptation.

Groleau, Nicolas↗

A compendium of multi-omics data illuminating host responses to lethal human virus infections

Human infections caused by viral pathogens trigger a complex gamut of host responses that limit disease, resolve infection, generate immunity, and contribute to severe disease or death. Here, we present experimental methods and multi-omics data capture approaches representing the global host response to infection generated from 45 individual experiments involving human viruses from the Orthomyxoviridae, Filoviridae, Flaviviridae, and Coronaviridae families. Analogous experimental designs were implemented across human or mouse host model systems, longitudinal samples were collected over defined time courses, and global multi-omics data (transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics) were acquired by microarray, RNA sequencing, or mass spectrometry analyses. For comparison, we have included transcriptomics datasets from cells treated with type I and type II human interferon. Raw multi-omics data and metadata were deposited in public repositories, and we provide a central location linking the raw data with experimental metadata and ready-to-use, quality-controlled, statistically processed multi-omics datasets not previously available in any public repository. This compendium of infection-induced host response data for reuse will be useful for those endeavouring to understand viral disease pathophysiology and network biology.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Performance Evaluation of Intravehicular Activity Spacesuit Without the Use of a Liquid Cooling Garment

The Orion Crew Survival Systems (OCSS) suit is equipped with safety technology that protects the crew during launch and re-entry and Intravehicular Activities (IVA). It was designed to be used with a Liquid Cooling Garment (LCG), an undergarment with tubes that circulate water to remove excess heat from a crew member. The objective of this study is to determine if the Modified Advanced Crew Escape Suit (MACES), which has very similar material, assembly, and pressure characteristics as the OCSS suit, can be used without the LCG to maintain the crew within their heat storage requirements where exceedances can lead to cognitive and physiological impairment. Testing was completed for both hot and cold environments where test subjects wore varying configurations of the MACES suit ensemble without the LCG. The tests were conducted in a temperature and humidity-controlled chamber with four test subjects ranging from extra small to large. Target metabolic rates were reached using an arm ergometer. To represent the different suit configurations seen in the concept of operations, the suit was tested with visor-down, visor-up, and without helmet and gloves. The test data was analyzed to determine how the environment, test subject size, metabolic rate, and suit configuration affected heat storage. Furthermore, the test data was used to correlate the METMAN model, a transient metabolic man program that simulates the heat transfer within a crew member’s body and from a crew member to the surrounding environment. The METMAN correlation showed good agreement between predicted heat storage and test data at the end of the test duration, with a coefficient of determination (R 2 ) value of 0.8999 for visor-down cases and R 2 of 0.8902 for visor-up and helmet off cases. A correlated METMAN model allows for the analysis and prediction of IVA suit performance without an LCG in additional scenarios.

Spacesuit↗

A Cell Kinetic Model of Granulocytopoiesis Under Radiation Exposure: Extension from Murines to Canines and Humans

Space radiation poses significant challenges to space travel, and it is essential to understand the possible adverse effects from space radiation exposure to the radiosensitive organ systems that are important for immediate survival of human, e.g., the hematopoietic system. In this presentation a biomathematical model of granulocytopoiesis is described and used to analyze the blood granulocyte changes seen in the blood of mammalians under continuous and acute radiation exposure. This is one of a set of hematopoietic models that have been successfully utilized to simulate and interpret the experimental data of acute and chronic radiation on rodents. We discuss the underlying implicit regulation mechanism and the biological relevance of the kinetic parameters estimation method. Extension of the model to predictions in dogs and humans systems indicates that the modeling results are consistent with the cumulative experimental and empirical data from various sources. This implies the potential to integrate the models into one united system for monitoring the hematopoietic response of various species under irradiation. Based on the evidence of threshold responses of dogs to extended periods of low daily dose exposures, we discuss the potential health risks of the space traveler under chronic stress of low-dose irradiation and the possibly encountered Solar Particle Events.

Hu, Shaowen↗

Reimagine fire science for the anthropocene

Fire is an integral component of ecosystems globally and a tool that humans have harnessed for millennia. Altered fire regimes are a fundamental cause and consequence of global change, impacting people and the biophysical systems on which they depend. As part of the newly emerging Anthropocene, marked by human-caused climate change and radical changes to ecosystems, fire danger is increasing, and fires are having increasingly devastating impacts on human health, infrastructure, and ecosystem services. Increasing fire danger is a vexing problem that requires deep transdisciplinary, trans-sector, and inclusive partnerships to address. Here, we outline barriers and opportunities in the next generation of fire science and provide guidance for investment in future research. We synthesize insights needed to better address the long-standing challenges of innovation across disciplines to (i) promote coordinated research efforts; (ii) embrace different ways of knowing and knowledge generation; (iii) promote exploration of fundamental science; (iv) capitalize on the “firehose” of data for societal benefit; and (v) integrate human and natural systems into models across multiple scales. Fire science is thus at a critical transitional moment. We need to shift from observation and modeled representations of varying components of climate, people, vegetation, and fire to more integrative and predictive approaches that support pathways toward mitigating and adapting to our increasingly flammable world, including the utilization of fire for human safety and benefit. Only through overcoming institutional silos and accessing knowledge across diverse communities can we effectively undertake research that improves outcomes in our more fiery future.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Issues of exploration: human health and wellbeing during a mission to Mars

Today, the tools are in our hands to enable us to travel away from our home planet and become citizens of the solar system. Even now, we are seriously beginning to develop the robust infrastructure that will make the 21st century the Century of Space Travel. But this bold step must be taken with due concern for the health, safety and wellbeing of future space explorers. Our long experience with space biomedical research convinces us that, if we are to deal effectively with the medical and biomedical issues of exploration, then dramatic and bold steps are also necessary in this field. We can no longer treat the human body as if it were composed of muscles, bones, heart and brain acting independently. Instead, we must lead the effort to develop a fully integrated view of the body, with all parts connected and fully interacting in a realistic way. This paper will present the status of current (2000) plans by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute to initiate research in this area of integrative physiology and medicine. Specifically, three example projects are discussed as potential stepping stones towards the ultimate goal of producing a digital human. These projects relate to developing a functional model of the human musculoskeletal system and the heart. c2002 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

NASA Discipline General Space Life Sciences↗

Lunar Transient Accelerations White Paper

Recently, the United States announced a plan to return astronauts to the moon by 2024 [8]. Lunar landing (and subsequent Mars landing) architecture was not considered when the current NASA standards and vehicle design requirements for crew injury risk were developed. Therefore a gap exists in protecting the crew in planetary landing scenarios. One of the interesting aspects of this design reference mission (DRM)is the consideration of having the crew stand during dynamic phases of flight. Although this approach was contemplated for the Apollo Lunar Module, current NASA standards do not address design solutions that allow the crew to stand. Currently, NASA uses several tools and associated limits to mitigate crew injury because of dynamic loads. Some of these tools are the Brinkley Dynamic Response Criterion (BDRC) model and Hybrid III Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATDs) [10]; and these have several limitations for assessing spaceflight loading environments, as well as specific underlying assumptions that may not be applicable in planetary landing vehicles. The BDRC is a simple lumped mass parameter model developed by the U.S. military, and has been used primarily to evaluate injury risk associated with aircraft ejection systems. The model evaluates seat accelerations in each axis to determine injury risk. Because the model treats the human-seat-restraint system as a single system, it is contingent on a restraint system and seat with similar characteristics of the original test data underlying the model. In particular, the model requires a rigid seat with a minimum natural frequency of 15Hz, minimal seat pan padding, side supports, and multipoint harness. The BDRC model uses undamped natural frequency and damping coefficients based on these requirements and any deviations may render the model injury predictions void. In lunar landing, one expects that a minimal or even no seat with minimal restraints will be employed. In this case, the original model parameters are likely to not be applicable. For capsule-based spacecraft returning crew to Earth, the Hybrid III ATD in various sizes also is used to supplement the BDRC. This analytical tool was added to address limitations in the BDRC related to spacecraft landings while wearing a pressure garment and helmet. Although the Hybrid III ATD has additional measurement capability; head, neck,and lumbar spine responses were the only metrics included because of the limitations imposed by the model.Lunar landing acceleration limits must assume the crew is standing during landing, an orientation for which we have limited data.Although the Apollo missions did employ a standing orientation for the crew, much of the data is lost. Therefore data from othersources havebeen examined to inform lunar landing acceleration limits.

Jeffrey T Somers↗

Human-Robot Interaction in High Vulnerability Domains

Future NASA missions will require successful integration of the human with highly complex systems. Highly complex systems are likely to involve humans, automation, and some level of robotic assistance. The complex environments will require successful integration of the human with automation, with robots, and with human-automation-robot teams to accomplish mission critical goals. Many challenges exist for the human performing in these types of operational environments with these kinds of systems. Systems must be designed to optimally integrate various levels of inputs and outputs based on the roles and responsibilities of the human, the automation, and the robots; from direct manual control, shared human-robotic control, or no active human control (i.e. human supervisory control). It is assumed that the human will remain involved at some level. Technologies that vary based on contextual demands and on operator characteristics (workload, situation awareness) will be needed when the human integrates into these systems. Predictive models that estimate the impact of the technologies on the system performance and the on the human operator are also needed to meet the challenges associated with such future complex human-automation-robot systems in extreme environments.

workload↗

Astrobiology Sample Analysis as a Design Driver

This effort supports the Astrobiology Objective 8 the Search for LIFE ON MARS PAST AND PRESENT -(Astrobiology Program Office, 1998, p.7). The essential trade analysis is between returning very small samples to the Earth while protecting them versus in situ analysis on Mars. Developing these explicit parameters encompasses design, instrumentation, system integration, human factors and surface operations for both alternatives. This allocation of capability approach incorporates a "humans and machines in the loop" model that recognizes that every exploration system involves both humans and automated systems. The question is where in the loop they occur whether on Earth, in the Mars Base, in the rover or creeping over the Mars surface.

Cohen, Marc M.↗

An Overview of the Human Systems Integration Division

This presentation will provide an overview of the Human Systems Integration Division, and will highlight some of the human performance modeling efforts undertaken in previously presented MIDAS human performance modeling efforts.

human systems integration↗

Design, Development, and Use of a Lunar Lander Simulation for NASA's Artemis Program

This paper describes the design, development, and initial use of a generalized and configurable lunar lander simulation to support NASA’s Artemis Program. This simulation is being developed for the Crew Compartment Office (CrewCo) in the Human Landing Systems (HLS) program and is called the HLS CrewCo Lander Simulation (HCLS). The HCLS provides insight into the challenges associated with returning humans to the Moon and the particular difficulties of operating at the Lunar South Pole. The simulation models a generalized integrated lunar landing spacecraft based on a government reference design but can and has been adapted to model vendor specific designs as well. The simulation architecture and tool sets provide a flexible framework that allows for quickly prototyping and evaluating various aspects of a piloted lunar landing system. This includes the modeling of all principal human controlled flight phases: rendezvous and docking with crew transfer systems; docked orbital outpost operations; undocking and lunar transfer; lunar orbital operations; lunar deorbit, descent, and landing (DDL); lunar surface operations; lunar ascent; and return to the orbital outpost. The flexibility of the simulation allows for the integrated evaluation of potential vehicle subsystems, crew displays, guidance and control modes, and trajectory designs. The purpose of the HCLS is not to design the ideal lunar lander, but rather to understand and the strengths and weaknesses of vehicle design choices. This paper describes the basic simulation architecture and discusses the tool sets used to develop the HCLS. This includes a number of open source tool sets and publicly available data sets. This paper also describes some of the early use cases and findings. The primary focus of early HCLS use has been on the manual piloting task to safely get the crew to the desired landing site in case of a failure in the automated guidance system. Several guidance modes and cues have been implemented which allow a pilot to manually fly the vehicle to the targeted landing site starting anywhere from powered descent initiation. It has been a valuable tool for understanding what is required to manually fly a lunar lander as well as giving a sense of the vehicle dynamics, which are much different than anything that is flown on Earth. A number of experienced test pilots have participated in manual piloting evaluations using the HCLS and provided valuable feedback on the piloting task which has been very beneficial to NASA and the HLS program.

James Michael Gentile↗

LungMAP Portal Ecosystem: Systems-level Exploration of the Lung

An improved understanding of the human lung necessitates advanced systems models informed by an ever-increasing repertoire of molecular omics, cellular, imaging, and pathological datasets. To centralize and standardize information across broad lung research efforts we expanded the LungMAP.net website into a new gateway portal. This portal connects a broad spectrum of research networks, bulk and single-cell multi-omics data and a diverse collection of image data that span mammalian lung development, and disease. The data are standardized across species and technologies using harmonized data and metadata models that leverage recent advances including those from the Human Cell Atlas, diverse ontologies, and the LungMAP CellCards initiative. To cultivate future discoveries, we have aggregated a diverse collection of single-cell atlases for multiple species (human, rhesus, mouse), to enable consistent queries across technologies, cohorts, age, disease, and drug treatment. These atlases are provided as independent and integrated queryable datasets, with an emphasis on dynamic visualization, figure generation, re-analysis, cell-type curation, and automated reference-based classification of user-provided single-cell genomics datasets (Azimuth). Finally, as this resource grows, we intend to increase the breadth of available interactive interfaces, supported data types, data portals and datasets from LungMAP and external research efforts.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Advancing Autonomy in Distributed Space Systems: Insights From on-Orbit Testing with the Starling 1.0 Mission

Autonomous decision-making is crucial for enhancing mission effectiveness in Distributed Space Systems (DSS), particularly in multi-spacecraft operations where communication constraints and mission complexity pose challenges. The Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA) team at NASA’s Ames Research Center is advancing autonomy in DSS through five key technical areas: distributed resource and task management, reactive operations, system modeling and simulation, human-swarm interaction, and ad hoc network communications. The DSA experiment onboard the Starling 1.0 Mission showcases collaborative resource allocation for multi-point science data collection with four small spacecraft. Autonomy in decision-making is highlighted as a crucial factor for multi-spacecraft missions, enabling spacecraft to operate independently, reducing reliance on ground control. This capability is particularly significant for future deep-space missions, where communication delays and limited data transmission capacity make traditional command and control approaches impractical. This demonstration focuses on a GPS Channel Selection Experiment, leveraging emergent capabilities like "shared sampling" and "simultaneous sampling" to optimize channel selection across the spacecraft swarm. The experiment aims to capture ionospheric phenomena such as the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly and Polar Patches. The DSA system's autonomous reconfiguration ability is showcased, emphasizing its adaptability to natural phenomena without significant integration efforts. The GPS Channel Selection Experiment utilizes a dual-band GPS receiver to estimate plasma density in the ionosphere. Explorative and exploitative channel selections are employed based on the nature of observed phenomena. The performance of DSA algorithms is evaluated in terms of optimal channel allocations and responsiveness to changes in observed features. The DSA Flight Software utilizes the Core Flight System (cFS) framework, ensuring compatibility with the Starling 1.0 flight mission software. DSA showcases results from RTI’s Connext DDS Micro communication middleware, enabling message routing over the Ad-Hoc Network of Starling 1.0. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the DSA experiment's initial results, emphasizing the advancements in autonomy for Distributed Space Systems and the successful collaboration with the Starling 1.0 mission.

Caleb Ashmore Adams↗

Fleet Algorithm Design for Pooled Rideshare: Integrating Human Factors, Simulation, and Optimization

This dissertation explores the study the integration of human factors modeling and rideshare fleet control algorithms. Pooled rideshare is a unique transportation mode offering that allows riders increased flexibility and accessibility over public transportation, and decreased cost relative to personal vehicles or traditional rideshare. Additionally, relative to personal vehicles, pooled rideshare offers reduced costs and options for those with difficulty obtaining transportation. Prior research in the space typically focused on modeling human behavior, or optimizing system performance, but a lack of integration of the concepts leads to unrealistic or underutilized outcomes. To tackle this problem, novel rideshare assignment, and repositioning strategies were designed and implemented in a simulation environment. Through a series of successive studies, improvements to current rideshare processes were identified, and beneficial outcomes for profitability, accessibility, and traffic were explored. Further, improved metrics to assess rideshare performance were designed and analyzed in the context of improved rideshare offerings. This research contributes to the field of transportation by tackling novel but pragmatic approaches to challenges facing the rideshare industry. Through the course of this dissertation, rideshares impacts on users, operators, and even regulators will be explored in detail. The justification behind the use of a simulation environment, a set of simulated regional models for testing, and the focus on realism and deployability is illustrated. The research identifies holes in potential markets for the use of both private, and public rideshare systems.

Paul, Joseph↗

A coupled human–natural system analysis of freshwater security under climate and population change

Limited water availability, population growth, and climate change have resulted in freshwater crises in many countries. Jordan’s situation is emblematic, compounded by conflict-induced population shocks. Integrating knowledge across hydrology, climatology, agriculture, political science, geography, and economics, we present the Jordan Water Model, a nationwide coupled human–natural-engineered systems model that is used to evaluate Jordan’s freshwater security under climate and socioeconomic changes. The complex systems model simulates the trajectory of Jordan’s water system, representing dynamic interactions between a hierarchy of actors and the natural and engineered water environment. A multiagent modeling approach enables the quantification of impacts at the level of thousands of representative agents across sectors, allowing for the evaluation of both systemwide and distributional outcomes translated into a suite of water-security metrics (vulnerability, equity, shortage duration, and economic well-being). Model results indicate severe, potentially destabilizing, declines in freshwater security. Per capita water availability decreases by approximately 50% by the end of the century. Without intervening measures, >90% of the low-income household population experiences critical insecurity by the end of the century, receiving <40 L per capita per day. Widening disparity in freshwater use, lengthening shortage durations, and declining economic welfare are prevalent across narratives. To gain a foothold on its freshwater future, Jordan must enact a sweeping portfolio of ambitious interventions that include large-scale desalinization and comprehensive water sector reform, with model results revealing exponential improvements in water security through the coordination of supply- and demand-side measures.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Transient thermoregulatory model with graphics output

A user's guide is presented for the transient version of the thermoregulatory model. The model is designed to simulate the transient response of the human thermoregulatory system to thermal inputs. The model consists of 41 compartments over which the terms of the heat balance are computed. The control mechanisms which are identified are sweating, vaso-constriction and vasodilation.

Grounds, D. J.↗

Lunar Surface Operations Modeling Using Digital Astronaut Simulation

During Apollo, crew members experienced a number of falls while engaging in extravehicular activity. The Digital Astronaut Simulation (DAS) expanded human biomechanics modeling tools to begin investigating this prospective mission safety and success challenge for the Artemis program. A core capability was developed to detect if a motion is dynamically feasible in a given gravitational environment. Fed by motion capture and mass properties data, this technology enables observation of whether tasks performed in 1G can be performed the same way in lunar gravity or if they require modifications.

Long Duration Health↗

Design, Development, and Use of a Lunar Lander Simulation for NASA's Artemis Program

This paper describes the design, development, and initial use of a generalized and configurable lunar lander simulation to support NASA’s Artemis Program. This simulation is being developed for the Crew Compartment Office (CrewCo) in the Human Landing Systems (HLS) program and is called the HLS CrewCo Lander Simulation (HCLS). The HCLS provides insight into the challenges associated with returning humans to the Moon and the particular difficulties of operating at the Lunar South Pole. A generalized lunar landing spacecraft based on a government reference design has been modeled but the simulation can be modified and adapted to model vendor designs as well. The simulation architecture and toolsets provide a flexible framework that allows for quickly prototyping and evaluating various aspects of a piloted lunar landing system. This includes the modeling of all principal human controlled flight phases: rendezvous and docking with crew transfer systems; docked orbital outpost operations; undocking and lunar transfer; lunar orbital operations; lunar deorbit, descent, and landing (DDL); lunar surface operations; lunar ascent; and return to the orbital outpost. The flexibility of the simulation allows for the integrated evaluation of potential vehicle subsystems, crew displays, guidance and control modes, and trajectory designs. The purpose of the HCLS is not to design the ideal lunar lander, but rather to understand the strengths and weaknesses of vehicle design choices.

Edwin Z Crues↗