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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 433 records · Page 24

Muscularity as a function of species, sex and age in small mammals

Changes in the body skeletal muscle mass SMM (measured as a function of the ratio between the body creatine mass and the fat-free muscle creatine), and in muscularity (expressed as the ratio of SMM to fat-free body mass) were studied as functions of age, sex, and species in mouse, rat, hamster, guinea pig, and rabbit. Six animals of each sex were examined in eight age cohorts ranging from 1 to 24 months. Both species and age factors affect SMM. Strong sexual dimorphism in the SMM changes with age was displayed by mouse, rat, and guinea pig, whereas the hamster and rabbit were statistically monomorphic. The mouse, rat, and hamster attain a maximal SMM at about 1 year of age, whereas in the guinea pig and rabbit the decrease in SMM starts after 2 years. The value of muscularity reached a peak at age of 2-3 months in all animals of both sexes, with a pronounced difference among the species. The mouse emerged as the most muscular, while the guinea pig the least muscular, of all species.

Pace, N.↗

Fuel utilization during exercise after 7 days of bed rest

Energy yield from carbohydrate, fat, and protein during physical activity is partially dependent on an individual's fitness level. Prolonged exposure to microgravity causes musculoskeletal and cardiovascular deconditioning; these adaptations may alter fuel utilization during space flight. Carbohydrate and fat metabolism during exercise were analyzed before and after 7 days of horizontal bed rest.

Barrows, Linda H.↗

Reduced energy intake and moderate exercise reduce mammary tumor incidence in virgin female BALB/c mice treated with 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene

The concurrent effects of diet (standard AIN-76A, restricted AIN-76A and high-fat diet) and moderate rotating-drum treadmill exercise on the incidence of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced mammary carcinomas in virgin female BALB/cMed mice free of murine mammary tumor virus are evaluated. Analyses show that, although energy intake was related to mammary tumor incidence, neither body weight nor dietary fat predicted tumor incidence.

Lane, Helen W.↗

Logistic Risk Model for the Unique Effects of Inherent Aerobic Capacity on (+)G(sub z) Tolerance Before and After Simulated Weightlessness

Small sample size (n less than 1O) and inappropriate analysis of multivariate data have hindered previous attempts to describe which physiologic and demographic variables are most important in determining how long humans can tolerate acceleration. Data from previous centrifuge studies conducted at NASA/Ames Research Center, utilizing a 7-14 d bed rest protocol to simulate weightlessness, were included in the current investigation. After review, data on 25 women and 22 men were available for analysis. Study variables included gender, age, weight, height, percent body fat, resting heart rate, mean arterial pressure, Vo(sub 2)max and plasma volume. Since the dependent variable was time to greyout (failure), two contemporary biostatistical modeling procedures (proportional hazard and logistic discriminant function) were used to estimate risk, given a particular subject's profile. After adjusting for pro-bed-rest tolerance time, none of the profile variables remained in the risk equation for post-bed-rest tolerance greyout. However, prior to bed rest, risk of greyout could be predicted with 91% accuracy. All of the profile variables except weight, MAP, and those related to inherent aerobic capacity (Vo(sub 2)max, percent body fat, resting heart rate) entered the risk equation for pro-bed-rest greyout. A cross-validation using 24 new subjects indicated a very stable model for risk prediction, accurate within 5% of the original equation. The result for the inherent fitness variables is significant in that a consensus as to whether an increased aerobic capacity is beneficial or detrimental has not been satisfactorily established. We conclude that tolerance to +Gz acceleration before and after simulated weightlessness is independent of inherent aerobic fitness.

Ludwig, David A.↗

Effect of Elevated Carbon Dioxide on Nutritional Quality of Tomato

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cvs. Red Robin (RR) and Reimann Philipp (RP) were grown hydroponically for 105 d with a 12 h photoperiod, 26 C/22 C thermoperiod, and 500 micromol/ sq m/s PPF at either 400, 1200, 5000, or 10,000 micromol/mol (0.04, 0.12, 0.50, 1.00 kPa) CO2. Harvested fruits were analyzed for proximate composition, total dietary fiber, nitrate, and elemental composition. No trends were apparent with regard to CO2 effects on proximate composition, with fruit from all treatments and both cultivars averiging 18.9 % protein, 3.6 % fat, 10.2 % ash, and 67.2 % carbohydrate. In comparison, average values for field-grown fruit are 16.6 % protein, 3.8 % fat, 8.1 % ash, and 71.5 % carbohydrate (Duke and Atchely, 1986). Total dietary fiber was highest at 10,000 micromol/mol (28.4 % and 22.6 % for RR and RP) and lowest at 1000 micromol/mol (18.2 % and 15.9 % for RR and RP), but showed no overall trend in response to CO2. Nitrate values ranged from 0.19 % to 0.35 % and showed no trend with regard to CO2. K, Mg, and P concentrations showed no trend in response to CO2, but Ca levels increased from 198 and 956 ppm in RR and RP at 400 micromol/mol, to 2537 and 2825 ppm at 10,000 micromol/mol. This increase in Ca caused an increase in fruit Ca/P ratios from 0.07 and 0.37 for RR and RP at 400 micromol/molto 0.99 and 1.23 for RR and RP at 10,000 micromol/mol suggesting that more dietary Ca should be available from high CO2-grown fruit.

Wheeler, R. M.↗

Peripheral Signals of Food Intake in Response to Low Leptin Levels Induced by Centrifugation

The focus of the study was to examine leptin and other peripheral signals of energy balance, following hypergravity. The study was conducted in two experiments. In experiment 1 rats were centrifuged at either 1.5, 2, or remained at 1 G. During days 8 to 14 of experiment 1, mean body mass of the 1.5 and 2 G groups was significantly (p<0.05) lower than controls. No differences were found in food intake (g/day/100 g body mass). Epididymal fat in the 2 G group was 21% lower than controls and 14% lower than the 1.5 G group. Plasma leptin was reduced from controls in the 1.5 and 2 G groups by 45 and 63%, respectively. A significant correlation was found between G load and urinary catecholamines. In experiment 2, rats were centrifuged at either 1.25, 1.5, or remained at 1 G. During days 8 to 14, body mass and food intake were similar between the 1, 1.25, and 1.5 G groups. Epididymal fat was reduced from controls in the 1.25 (14%) and 1.5 (19%) G groups. Leptin was reduced from controls in the 1.25 (45%) and 1.5 (46%) G groups. No differences were found in urinary epinephrine. Urinary norepinephrine levels were significantly higher than controls in each centrifuge group. During hypergravity exposure, food intake is the result of a complex relationship between multiple pathways, which abates the importance of leptin as a primary signal.

Moran, M. M.↗

Matching Crew Diet and Crop Food Production in BIO-Plex

This paper matches the BIO-Plex crop food production to the crew diet requirements. The expected average calorie requirement for BIO-Plex is 2,975 Calories per crewmember per day, for a randomly selected crew with a typical level of physical activity. The range of 2,550 to 3,400 Calories will cover about two-thirds of all crews. The exact calorie requirement will depend on the gender composition, individual weights, exercise, and work effort of the selected crew. The expected average crewmember calorie requirement can be met by 430 grams of carbohydrate, 100 grams of fat, and 90 grams of protein per crewmember per day, for a total of 620 grams. Some fat can replaced by carbohydrate. Each crewmember requires only 2 grams of vitamins and minerals per day. Only unusually restricted diets may lack essential nutrients. The Advanced Life Support (ALS) consensus is that BIO-Plex should grow wheat, potato, and soybean, and maybe sweet potato or peanut, and maybe lettuce and tomato. The BIO-Plex Biomass Production System food production and the external food supply must be matched to the crew diet requirement for calories and nutritional balance. The crop production and external supply specifications can each be varied as long as their sum matches the required diet specification. We have wide flexibility in choosing the crops and resupply. We can easily grow one-half the crew calories in one BIO-Plex Biomass Production Chamber (BPC) if we grow only the most productive crops (wheat, potato, and sweet potato) and it we achieve nominal crop productivity. If we assume higher productivity we can grow a wider variety of crops. If we grow one-half of the crew calories, externally supplied foods can easily provide the other half of the calories and balance the diet. We can not grow 95 percent of the crew calories in two BPCs at nominal productivity while growing a balanced diet. We produce maximum calories by growing wheat, potato, and peanut.

Jones, Harry↗

Efficacy of Code Optimization on Cache-based Processors

The current common wisdom in the U.S. is that the powerful, cost-effective supercomputers of tomorrow will be based on commodity (RISC) micro-processors with cache memories. Already, most distributed systems in the world use such hardware as building blocks. This shift away from vector supercomputers and towards cache-based systems has brought about a change in programming paradigm, even when ignoring issues of parallelism. Vector machines require inner-loop independence and regular, non-pathological memory strides (usually this means: non-power-of-two strides) to allow efficient vectorization of array operations. Cache-based systems require spatial and temporal locality of data, so that data once read from main memory and stored in high-speed cache memory is used optimally before being written back to main memory. This means that the most cache-friendly array operations are those that feature zero or unit stride, so that each unit of data read from main memory (a cache line) contains information for the next iteration in the loop. Moreover, loops ought to be 'fat', meaning that as many operations as possible are performed on cache data-provided instruction caches do not overflow and enough registers are available. If unit stride is not possible, for example because of some data dependency, then care must be taken to avoid pathological strides, just ads on vector computers. For cache-based systems the issues are more complex, due to the effects of associativity and of non-unit block (cache line) size. But there is more to the story. Most modern micro-processors are superscalar, which means that they can issue several (arithmetic) instructions per clock cycle, provided that there are enough independent instructions in the loop body. This is another argument for providing fat loop bodies. With these restrictions, it appears fairly straightforward to produce code that will run efficiently on any cache-based system. It can be argued that although some of the important computational algorithms employed at NASA Ames require different programming styles on vector machines and cache-based machines, respectively, neither architecture class appeared to be favored by particular algorithms in principle. Practice tells us that the situation is more complicated. This report presents observations and some analysis of performance tuning for cache-based systems. We point out several counterintuitive results that serve as a cautionary reminder that memory accesses are not the only factors that determine performance, and that within the class of cache-based systems, significant differences exist.

VanderWijngaart, Rob F.↗

Neurovestibular modulation of circadian and homeostatic regulation: vestibulohypothalamic connection?

Chronic exposure to increased force environments (+G) has pronounced effects on the circadian and homeostatic regulation of body temperature (T(b)), ambulatory activity (Act), heart rate, feeding, and adiposity. By using the Brn 3.1 knockout mouse, which lacks vestibular hair cells, we recently described a major role of the vestibular system in mediating some of these adaptive responses. The present study used the C57BL6JEi-het mouse strain (het), which lacks macular otoconia, to elucidate the contribution of specific vestibular receptors. In this study, eight het and eight WT mice were exposed to 2G for 8 weeks by means of chronic centrifugation. In addition, eight het and eight WT mice were maintained as 1G controls in similar conditions. Upon 2G exposure, the WT exhibited a decrease in T(b) and an attenuated T(b) circadian rhythm. Act means and rhythms also were attenuated. Body mass and food intake were significantly lower than the 1G controls. After 8 weeks, percent body fat was significantly lower in the WT mice (P < 0.0001). In contrast, the het mice did not exhibit a decrease in mean T(b) and only a slight decrease in T(b) circadian amplitude. het Act levels were attenuated similarly to the WT mice. Body mass and food intake were only slightly attenuated in the het mice, and percent body fat, after 8 weeks, was not different in the 2G het group. These results link the vestibular macular receptors with specific alterations in homeostatic and circadian regulation.

NASA Discipline Regulatory Physiology↗

Ecological study of dietary and smoking links to lymphoma

The ecological approach is used to investigate dietary and smoking links to lymphoma. International mortality rate data for 1986 and 1994 by gender and age group are compared with national dietary supply values of various food components for up to 10 years prior to the mortality data as well as per capita cigarette consumption rates 5 and 15 years earlier. The non-fat portion of milk, 3-9 years prior to the 1986 mortality data and 4 years prior to the 1994 data, was found to have the highest association with lymphoma, with r as high as 0.89. The results imply that 70 percent of lymphoma mortality may be related to this dietary component. Cigarette smoking in 1980 was found to have a weaker association with 1994 lymphoma mortality rates, being most important for younger men and statistically insignificant for younger women. The non-fat milk result is consistent with both case-control studies and a Norwegian prospective study, and with the often-observed finding that abnormal calcium metabolism, hypercalciuria, and dysregulated calcitriol production are common in normocalcemic patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). It is hypothesized that excess dietary calcium from milk is a significant risk factor for lymphoma.

Calcium/adverse effects↗

The concentration and distribution of 2,3,7,8-dibenzo-p-dioxins/-furans in chickens

The concentrations of the 2,3,7,8-Cl substituted dibenzo-p-dioxins/-furans (PCDDs/PCDFs) were determined in the edible tissues of whole chicken fryers and compared with the values found in their abdominal fat. The values are presented both on a whole weight basis and on a lipid adjusted basis for each tissue. While there is a marked difference in the concentration of the 2,3,7,8-dibenzo-p-dioxins in the edible tissues expressed on a whole weight basis, the lipid-adjusted concentrations of the individual dioxins were not statistically different in the various tissues. This validates the use of lipid adjusted concentrations of 2,3,7,8-PCDDs/PCDFs in abdominal fat for the determination of the presence of these compounds in different tissues.

Chickens/metabolism↗

Validity of VO(2 max) in predicting blood volume: implications for the effect of fitness on aging

A multiple regression model was constructed to investigate the premise that blood volume (BV) could be predicted using several anthropometric variables, age, and maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2 max)). To test this hypothesis, age, calculated body surface area (height/weight composite), percent body fat (hydrostatic weight), and VO(2 max) were regressed on to BV using data obtained from 66 normal healthy men. Results from the evaluation of the full model indicated that the most parsimonious result was obtained when age and VO(2 max) were regressed on BV expressed per kilogram body weight. The full model accounted for 52% of the total variance in BV per kilogram body weight. Both age and VO(2 max) were related to BV in the positive direction. Percent body fat contributed <1% to the explained variance in BV when expressed in absolute BV (ml) or as BV per kilogram body weight. When the model was cross validated on 41 new subjects and BV per kilogram body weight was reexpressed as raw BV, the results indicated that the statistical model would be stable under cross validation (e.g., predictive applications) with an accuracy of +/- 1,200 ml at 95% confidence. Our results support the hypothesis that BV is an increasing function of aerobic fitness and to a lesser extent the age of the subject. The results may have implication as to a mechanism by which aerobic fitness and activity may be protective against reduced BV associated with aging.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

Bioelectrical impedance analysis. What does it measure?

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) has been proposed for measuring fat-free mass, total body water, percent fat, body cell mass, intracellular water, and extracellular water: a veritable laboratory in a box. Although it is unlikely that BIA is quite this versatile, correlations have been demonstrated between BIA and all of these body compartments. At the same time, it is known that all of the compartments are correlated among themselves. Because of this, it is difficult to determine whether BIA is specific for any or all of these compartments. To investigate this question, we induced acute changes in total body water and its compartments over a 3-h period. Using this approach, we demonstrated that multifrequency BIA, using the Cole-Cole model to calculate the zero frequency and infinite frequency resistance, measures extracellular and intracellular water.

NASA Discipline Regulatory Physiology↗

Left ventricular dimensions and mass using magnetic resonance imaging in female endurance athletes

Few published studies of left ventricular (LV) mass in female endurance athletes have been performed with M-mode echocardiography, which involves assumptions of LV geometry. Therefore, magnetic resonance imaging, a 3-dimensional technique, was used to examine LV mass, LV end-diastolic volume and mean wall thickness in female long distance runners (n = 13; mean age 29 years), cyclists (n = 12; mean age 26 years) and cross-country skiers (n = 11; mean age 24 years), and the findings were compared with sedentary control subjects (n = 10; mean age 27 years) matched for height and body weight. The physical characteristics for all subjects included height (mean 166 cm, and body weight (mean 56 kg). The percent body fat (mean 11.7) and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max, mean 63 ml.kg-1.min-1) were similar (p greater than 0.05) among all athletic groups, but significantly different from the control group (body fat, mean 22.5%; VO2max, mean 35 ml.kg-1.min-1). LV mass (mean 159 kg), LV end-diastolic volume (mean 122 ml), and mean wall thickness (mean 11.5 mm) were also similar among the athletic groups and significantly larger than the following control values: LV mass (mean 115 g), LV end-diastolic volume (mean 93 ml) and mean wall thickness (mean 9.8 mm). Ratios of LV mass to lean body weight were similar among all athletic groups, although athletic groups had larger ratios (p less than 0.05) than the sedentary control subjects. LV mass/LV end-diastolic volume ratio was similar (p greater than 0.05) among all groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS).

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

Prediction of functional aerobic capacity without exercise testing

The purpose of this study was to develop functional aerobic capacity prediction models without using exercise tests (N-Ex) and to compare the accuracy with Astrand single-stage submaximal prediction methods. The data of 2,009 subjects (9.7% female) were randomly divided into validation (N = 1,543) and cross-validation (N = 466) samples. The validation sample was used to develop two N-Ex models to estimate VO2peak. Gender, age, body composition, and self-report activity were used to develop two N-Ex prediction models. One model estimated percent fat from skinfolds (N-Ex %fat) and the other used body mass index (N-Ex BMI) to represent body composition. The multiple correlations for the developed models were R = 0.81 (SE = 5.3 ml.kg-1.min-1) and R = 0.78 (SE = 5.6 ml.kg-1.min-1). This accuracy was confirmed when applied to the cross-validation sample. The N-Ex models were more accurate than what was obtained from VO2peak estimated from the Astrand prediction models. The SEs of the Astrand models ranged from 5.5-9.7 ml.kg-1.min-1. The N-Ex models were cross-validated on 59 men on hypertensive medication and 71 men who were found to have a positive exercise ECG. The SEs of the N-Ex models ranged from 4.6-5.4 ml.kg-1.min-1 with these subjects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS).

Oxygen Consumption↗

Food Mass Reduction Trade Study

Future long duration manned space flights beyond low earth orbit will require the food system to remain safe, acceptable, and nutritious while efficiently balancing appropriate vehicle resources such as mass, volume, power, water, and crewtime. Often, this presents a challenge since maintaining the quality of the food system can result in a higher mass and volume. The Orion vehicle is significantly smaller than the Shuttle vehicle and the International Space Station and the mass and volume available for food is limited. Therefore, the food team has been challenged to reduce the mass of the packaged food from 1.82 kg per person per day to 1.14 kg per person per day. Past work has concentrated on how to reduce the mass of the packaging which contributes to about 15% of the total mass of the packaged food system. Designers have also focused on integrating and optimizing the Orion galley equipment as a system to reduce mass. To date, there has not been a significant effort to determine how to reduce the food itself. The objective of this project is to determine how the mass and volume of the packaged food can be reduced while maintaining caloric and hydration requirements. The following tasks are the key elements to this project: (1) Conduct further analysis of the ISS Standard Menu to determine moisture, protein, carbohydrate, and fat levels. (2) Conduct trade studies to determine how to bring the mass of the food system down. Trade studies may include removing the water of the total food system and/or increasing the fat content. (3) Determine the preferred method for delivery of the new food (e.g. bars, or beverages) and the degree of replacement. (4) Determine whether there are commercially available products that meet the requirements. By the end of this study, an estimate of the mass and volume savings will be provided to the Constellation Program. In addition, if new technologies need to be developed to achieve the mass savings, the technologies, timeline, and budget will be identified at the end of the project.

Perchonok, Michele H.↗

External Cooling Coupled to Reduced Extremity Pressure Device

Although suited astronauts are currently cooled with a Liquid Cooled Ventilation Garment (LCVG), which can remove up to 85 percent of body heat, their effectiveness is limited because cooling must penetrate layers of skin, muscle, fat, bone, and tissue to reach the bloodstream, where its effect is prominent. Vasoconstriction further reduces the effectiveness by limiting arterial flow when exposed to cold (the frostbite response), resulting in a time constant on the order of 20 minutes from application to maximum effect. This delay can be crucial in severe exposure to hypo- or hyper-thermic conditions, compromising homeostasis. The purpose of this innovation is to provide a lightweight, effective means of delivering heat or cold from an external source directly to the bloodstream. The effectiveness of this ECCREP (External Cooling Coupled to Reduced Extremity Pressure) device is based on not having to penetrate layers of skin, muscle, fat, and tissue, thereby avoiding the thermal lag associated with their mass and heat capacity. This is accomplished by means of an outer boot operating at a slightly reduced pressure than the rest of the body, combined with an inner boot cooled or heated by an external source via water or chemicals. Heat transfer from the external source to the foot takes place by means of circulating water or flexible heat pipes.

Kuznetz, Lawrence H.↗

Consequences of Prenatal Stress on Appetite Control and the Energy Expenditure Pathway

Established research has illustrated that moderate exposure to stress in the womb influences both adult phonotype and genotype for several physiological pathways, especially in males. Proposed explanations include adaptions made by the fetus resulting from a limited supply of nutrients, referred to as the thrifty phenotype. In this study, we examine this fetal programming effect on the appetite control and energy expenditure pathways in prenatally stressed adult male offspring. Subjects were male rats born from time-mated female rats exposed to unpredictable, variable prenatal stress (UVPS) throughout gestation. An analysis of the adult male rat offspring genetic expression of epididymal fat pads and the plasma concentrations of hormones involved in appetite control and energy expenditure pathways showed a significantly diminished expression of leptin and adiponectin compared to unstressed controls. Leptin and adiponectin are both major hormones involved in the appetite control and energy expenditure pathways, with leptin regulating energy balance due to its function as an inhibitor of hunger, and adiponectin modulating glucose levels and fatty acid breakdown. We observed higher leptin concentrations within the prenatally stressed male plasma, and lower expression of leptin (OB) and adiponectin (ADIPOQ) genes from the epididymal fat pads. We suggest that elevated leptin in the plasma elicited a negative feedback effect on OB expression levels, decreasing their quantification compared to control animals. Further analysis will include plasma quantification of insulin and glucose, as well as expression of ghrelin, a peptide which acts on the central nervous system and the bodys perception of hunger.

appetite control↗