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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 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

Priority scheme planning for the robust SSM/PMAD testbed

Whenever mixing priorities of manually controlled resources with those of autonomously controlled resources, the space station module power management and distribution (SSM/PMAD) environment requires cooperating expert system interaction between the planning function and the priority manager. The elements and interactions of the SSM/PMAD planning and priority management functions are presented. Their adherence to cooperating for common achievement are described. In the SSM/PMAD testbed these actions are guided by having a system planning function, KANT, which has insight to the executing system and its automated database. First, the user must be given access to all information which may have an effect on the desired outcome. Second, the fault manager element, FRAMES, must be informed as to the change so that correct diagnoses and operations take place if and when faults occur. Third, some element must engage as mediator for selection of resources and actions to be added or removed at the user's request. This is performed by the priority manager, LPLMS. Lastly, the scheduling mechanism, MAESTRO, must provide future schedules adhering to the user modified resource base.

Elges, Michael R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Photoaffinity labeling of regulatory subunits of protein kinase A in cardiac cell fractions of rats

Photoaffinity labeling in heart tissue of rats flown on Cosmos 2044 was used to measure the regulatory (R) subunits of adenosine monophosphate-dependent protein kinase. A significant decrease of RII subunits in the particulate cell fraction extract (S2; P less than 0.05 in all cases) was observed when extracts of tissue samples from vivarium controls were compared with those from flight animals. Photoaffinity labeling of the soluble fraction (S1) was observed to be unaffected by spaceflight or any of the simulation conditions. Proteins of the S2 fraction constitute a minor (less than 10 percent) component of the total, whereas the S1 fraction contained most of the cell proteins. Changes in a relatively minor aspect of adenosine monophosphate-mediated reactions are considered to be representative of a metabolic effect.

Mednieks, M. I.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Attenuation of human carotid-cardiac vagal baroreflex responses after physical detraining

Astronauts who are occupied with prelaunch schedules may have to limit their regular physical exercise routines. To assess a potential effect on blood pressure control, carotid baroreceptor-cardiac reflex responses of 16 men were evaluated before and after two weeks of exercise detraining that followed ten weeks of regular scheduled exercise (30 min/d, 4 d/week at 75 percent V(O2) max). After detraining, the baroreflex stimulus-response relationship had a reduced slope 0.4 msec/mmHg and range of response. In addition, there was a resetting of the relationship on the R-R interval axis. Both the minimum and maximum R-R interval responses to the stimulus were significantly reduced after detraining. Baseline systolic pressure did not change with detraining, and the carotid baroreceptor-cardiac response relationship did not shift on the pressure axis. These results suggest that detraining from regular exercise can compromise vagally-mediated mechanisms of blood pressure regulation.

Convertino, Victor A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Micromotional studies of utricular and canal afferents

The long-range goal of this research was to refine our understanding of the sensitivity of the vestibular components of the ear to very-low-amplitude motion, especially, the role of gravity in this sensitivity. We focused on the American bullfrog--a common animal subject for vestibular sensory research. Our principal experimental method was to apply precise, sinusoidal microrotational stimuli to an anesthetized animal subject, to record the resulting responses in an individual vestibular nerve fiber from the intact ear, and to use intracellular dye to trace the fiber and thus identify the vestibular sensor that gave rise to it. In this way, we were able to identify specific micromotional sensitivities and to associate those sensitivities definitely with specific sensors. Furthermore, by recording from nerve fibers after they leave the intact inner-ear cavity, we were able to achieve these identifications without interrupting the delicate micromechanics of the inner ear. We were especially concerned with the relative roles of the utricle and the anterior semicircular canal in the sensing of microrotational motion of the head about horizontal axes, and with the role of gravity in mediating that sensing process in the utricle. The functional characterization of individual nerve fibers was accomplished with a conventional analytical tool, the cycle histogram, in which the nerve impulse rate was plotted against the phase of the sinusoidal stimulus.

Lewis, Edwin R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Alfven wave transport effects in the time evolution of parallel cosmic-ray modified shocks

Some of the issues associated with a more complete treatment of Alfven transport in cosmic ray shocks are explored qualitatively. The treatment is simplified in some important respects, but some new issues are examined and for the first time a nonlinear, time dependent study of plane cosmic ray mediated shocks with both the entropy producing effects of wave dissipation and effects due to the Alfven wave advection of the cosmic ray relative to the gas is included. Examination of the direct consequences of including the pressure and energy of the Alfven waves in the formalism began.

Jones, T. W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Methane emissions from Alaska Arctic tundra - An assessment of local spatial variability

The findings of an extensive midsummer survey of CH4 emissions measurements representing the Alaska Arctic tundra are presented. Variability in rates of emissions was similar in magnitude on local and regional scales, ranging from 0 to 286.5 mg/sq m/d overall and often varying across two orders of magnitude within 0.5 m distances. Primary control on rates of emission was determined by the substrate and position of the water table relative to the surface. Emission rates in the Arctic Foothills ranged from 0.2 mg/sq m/d for tussock tundra to 55.53 mg/sq m/d over wet meadows. Plant-mediated release of CH4 to the atmosphere was directly proportional to green leaf area and represented 92-98 percent of the total emission rates over vegetated sites. The results suggest the current published emission rates may have overestimated the contribution of boreal ecosystems to the global CH4 budget by several fold.

Morrissey, L. A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The life span of the biosphere revisited

How much longer the biosphere can survive on earth is reexamined using a more elaborate model than that of Lovelock and Whitfield (1982). The model includes a more accurate treatment of the greenhouse effect of CO2, a biologically mediated weathering parametrization, and the realization that C4 photosynthesis can persist to much lower concentrations of atmospheric CO2. It is found that a C4-plant-based biosphere could survive for at least another 0.9 Gyr to 1.5 Gyr after the present time, depending respectively on whether CO2 or temperature is the limiting factor. Within an additional 1 Gyr, earth may lose water to space, thereby following the path of Venus.

Caldeira, Ken↗
NASA NTRS1993

The role of magnetic loops in particle acceleration at nearly perpendicular shocks

The acceleration of superthermal ions is investigated when a planar shock that is on average nearly perpendicular propagates through a plasma in which the magnetic field is the superposition of a constant uniform component plus a random field of transverse hydromagnetic fluctuations. The importance of the broadband nature of the transverse magnetic fluctuations in mediating ion acceleration at nearly perpendicular shocks is pointed out. Specifically, the fluctuations are composed of short-wavelength components which scatter ions in pitch angle and long-wavelength components which are responsible for a spatial meandering of field lines about the mean field. At nearly perpendicular shocks the field line meandering produces a distribution of transient loops along the shock. As an application of this model, the acceleration of a superthermal monoenergetic population of seed protons at a perpendicular shock is investigated by integrating along the exact phase-space orbits.

Decker, R. B.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Increased release of brain serotonin reduces vulnerability to ventricular fibrillation in the cat

The effect of administering the serotonin precursor 5-l-hydroxytryptophan, in conjunction with a monamine oxidase inhibitor phenelzine and a l-amino acid decarboxylase inhibitor carbidopa, on neurochemical changes in the concentrations of serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the cerebrospinal fluid of the cat were investigated. Results showed that this drug regimen led to increases of serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid by 330 and 830 percent, respectively. Concomitantly, the threshold of ventricular fibrillation was found to be elevated by 42 percent and the effective refractory period was prolonged by 7 percent; the efferent sympathetic neural activity was suppressed in the normal heart. The results indicate that the enhancement of central serotoninergic neurotransmission can reduce the susceptibility of the heart to ventricular fibrillation mediated through a decline in sympathetic neural traffic to the heart.

Lehnert, Hendrik↗
NASA NTRS1989

Dopamine release in rat striatum - Physiological coupling to tyrosine supply

Intracerebral microdialysis was used to monitor dopamine release in rat striatal extracellular fluid following the intraperitoneal administration of dopamine's precursor amino acid, L-tyrosine. Dopamine concentrations in dialysates increased transiently after tyrosine (50-100 mg/kg) administration. Pretreatment with haloperidol or the partial lesioning of nigrostriatal neurons enhanced the effect of tyrosine on dopamine release, and haloperidol also prolonged this effect. These data suggest that nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons are responsive to changes in precursor availability under basal conditions, but that receptor-mediated feedback mechanisms limit the magnitude and duration of this effect.

During, Matthew J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Atrial natriuretic peptide degradation by CPA47 cells - Evidence for a divalent cation-independent cell-surface proteolytic activity

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is rapidly cleared and degraded in vivo. Nonguanylate-cyclase receptors (C-ANPR) and a metalloproteinase, neutral endopeptidase (EC 3.4.24.11) (NEP 24.11), are thought to be responsible for its metabolism. We investigated the mechanisms of ANP degradation by an endothelial-derived cell line, CPA47. CPA47 cells degraded 88 percent of 125I-ANP after 1 h at 37 degrees C as determined by HPLC. Medium preconditioned by these cells degraded 41 percent of the 125I-ANP, and this activity was inhibited by a divalent cation chelator, EDTA. Furthermore, a cell-surface proteolytic activity degraded 125I-ANP in the presence of EDTA when receptor-mediated endocytosis was inhibited either by low temperature (4 degrees C) or by hyperosmolarity at 37 degrees C. The metalloproteinase, NEP 24.11, is unlikely to be the cell-surface peptidase because 125I-ANP is degraded by CPA47 cells at 4 degrees C in the presence of 5 mM EDTA. These data indicate that CPA47 cells can degrade ANP by a novel divalent cation-independent cell-surface proteolytic activity.

Frost, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Mechanistic investigations of shuttle glow

A series of laboratory measurements have been performed in order to provide a mechanistic interpretation for the visible shuttle glow. These studies involved interactions of an 8 km/s oxygen atom beam with both contaminant dosed surfaces and gaseous targets. We conclude that visible shuttle glow arises from surface mediated O + NO recombination via a Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism and that the gas-phase exchange reaction O + N2 - NO + N provides a viable source of precursor NO above surfaces oriented in the ram direction.

Caledonia, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Periodic and chaotic spatiotemporal states in a phase-conjugate resonator using a photorefractive BaTiO3 phase-conjugate mirror

The dynamics of an externally pumped phase-conjugate resonator that uses four-wave mixing in BaTi03 is investigated experimentally. The emergence of spatiotemporal instabilities as the degree of transverse confinement is varied by changing the Fresnel number is described in detail. Local intensity time series show that relaxing the transverse confinement leads the system from a stationary state to periodic, then to quasi-periodic, motions and finally to chaotic behavior. In some regions of parameter space two frequencies are identified in the power spectra of the time series, indicating a route to chaos following the Ruelle-Takens-Newhouse scheme. Wave-front topological defects are identified by interferometry. As the system's confinement is varied, the phase-defect density and the spatial correlation index are found to follow similar trends, indicating that the observed spatiotemporal dynamics may indeed be an example of defect-mediated turbulence.

Liu, Siuying R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Tyrosine - Effects on catecholamine release

Tyrosine administration elevates striatal levels of dopamine metabolites in animals given treatments that accelerate nigrostriatal firing, but not in untreated rats. We examined the possibility that the amino acid might actually enhance dopamine release in untreated animals, but that the technique of measuring striatal dopamine metabolism was too insensitive to demonstrate such an effect. Dopamine release was assessed directly, using brain microdialysis of striatal extracellular fluid. Tyrosine administration (50-200 mg/kg IP) did indeed cause a dose related increase in extracellular fluid dopamine levels with minor elevations in levels of DOPAC and HVA, its major metabolites, which were not dose-related. The rise in dopamine was short-lived, suggesting that receptor-mediated feedback mechanisms responded to the increased dopamine release by diminishing neuronal firing or sensitivity to tyrosine. These observations indicate that measurement of changes in striatal DOPAC and HVA, if negative, need not rule out increases in nigrostriatal dopamine release.

Acworth, Ian N.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Particle acceleration in cosmic plasmas; Proceedings of the Workshop, Bartol Research Inst., Newark, DE, Dec. 4-6, 1991

The present volume on particle acceleration in cosmic plasmas discusses transport theory, particle acceleration in the sun, heliosphere, and galaxy, particle acceleration at nonrelativistic shocks, and stochastic particle acceleration. Attention is given to particle acceleration in relativistic flows and shocks, simulations, composition and sources of high-energy cosmic rays, electron acceleration, and observation priorities and perspectives. Topics addressed include particle acceleration in the magnetosphere, particle transport from a turbulence perspective, numerical simulations of time-dependent cosmic ray mediated shocks, and solar flare plasma. Also discussed are relativistic shock waves and the excitation of plerions, ion acceleration at collisionless shock interactions, ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays from Fanaroff Riley, and constraints on electron acceleration in the Crab Nebula.

Zank, G. P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Transient development of perturbations in stratified shear flow

Transient development of perturbations in inviscid stratified shear flow is investigated. Use is made of closed form analytic solutions that allow concise identification of optimally growing plane-wave solutions for the case of an unbounded flow with constant shear and stratification. For the case of channel flow, variational techniques are employed to determine the optimally growing disturbances. The maximum energy growth attained over a specific time interval decreases continuously with increasing stratification, and no special significance attaches to Ri = 0.25. Indeed, transient growth can be substantial even for Ri = O(1). A general lower bound on the energy growth attained by an optimal perturbation in a stratified flow over a given time interval is the square root of the growth attained by the corresponding perturbation in unstratified flow. Enhanced perturbation persistence is found for mean-flow stratification lying in the range Ri between 0.1 and 0.3. Small but finite perturbations in mean flow with Ri less than 0.4 produce regions with locally negative total density gradient, which are expected to overturn. Although the perturbations are of wave form, buoyancy fluxes mediate transfer between perturbation kinetic and potential energy during transient development, thus implying that buoyancy flux is not a determinative diagnostic for distinguishing between waves and turbulence in stratified flows.

Farrell, Brian F.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Remote sensing of wetland parameters related to carbon cycling

Measurement of the rates of important biogeochemical fluxes on regional or global scales is vital to understanding the geochemical and climatic consequences of natural biospheric processes and of human intervention in those processes. Remote data gathering and interpretation techniques were used to examine important cycling processes taking place in wetlands over large geographic expanses. Large area estimation of vegetative biomass and productivity depends upon accurate, consistent measurements of canopy spectral reflectance and upon wide applicability of algorithms relating reflectance to biometric parameters. Results of the use of airborne multispectral scanner data to map above-ground biomass in a Delaware salt marsh are shown. The mapping uses an effective algorithm linking biomass to measured spectral reflectance and a means to correct the scanner data for large variations in the angle of observation of the canopy. The consistency of radiometric biomass algorithms for marsh grass when they are applied over large latitudinal and tidal range gradients were also examined. Results of a 1 year study of methane emissions from tidal wetlands along a salinity gradient show marked effects of temperature, season, and pore-water chemistry in mediating flux to the atmosphere.

Bartlett, David S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Meal composition and plasma amino acid ratios: Effect of various proteins or carbohydrates, and of various protein concentrations

The effects of meals containing various proteins and carbohydrates, and of those containing various proportions of protein (0 percent to 20 percent of a meal, by weight) or of carbohydrate (0 percent to 75 percent), on plasma levels of certain large neutral amino acids (LNAA) in rats previously fasted for 19 hours were examined. Also the plasma tryptophan ratios (the ratio of the plasma trytophan concentration to the summed concentrations of the other large neutral amino acids) and other plasma amino acid ratios were calculated. (The plasma tryptophan ratio has been shown to determine brain tryptophan levels and, thereby, to affect the synthesis and release of the neurotransmitter serotonin). A meal containing 70 percent to 75 percent of an insulin-secreting carbohydrate (dextrose or dextrin) increased plasma insulin levels and the tryptophan ratio; those containing 0 percent or 25 percent carbohydrate failed to do so. Addition of as little as 5 percent casein to a 70 percent carbohydrate meal fully blocked the increase in the plasma tryptophan ratio without affecting the secretion of insulin - probably by contributing much larger quantities of the other LNAA than of tryptophan to the blood. Dietary proteins differed in their ability to suppress the carbohydrate-induced rise in the plasma tryptophan ratio. Addition of 10 percent casein, peanut meal, or gelatin fully blocked this increase, but lactalbumin failed to do so, and egg white did so only partially. (Consumption of the 10 percent gelatin meal also produced a major reduction in the plasma tyrosine ratio, and may thereby have affected brain tyrosine levels and catecholamine synthesis.) These observations suggest that serotonin-releasing neurons in brains of fasted rats are capable of distinguishing (by their metabolic effects) between meals poor in protein but rich in carbohydrates that elicit insulin secretion, and all other meals. The changes in brain serotonin caused by carbohydrate-rich, protein-poor meals may affect subsequent food choice and various serotonin-mediated behaviors.

Yokogoshi, Hidehiko↗