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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2003

Rehabilitation After International Space Station Flights

Rehabilitating U.S. crew members to preflight status following flights on the Russian Mir Space Station required longer than six months for full functional recovery of some of the seven crew members. Additional exercise hardware has been added on the International Space Station as well as a rehabilitative emphasis on functional fitness/agility and proprioception. The authors will describe and present the results of the rehabilitation program for ISS and evaluate rehabilitative needs for longer missions. Pre- and in-flight programs emphasize strength and aerobic conditioning. One year before launch, crew members are assigned an Astronaut Strength and Conditioning specialist. Crew members are scheduled for 2 hours, 3 days a week, for pre-flight training and 2.5 hours, six days a week, for in-flight training. Crewmembers are tested on functional fitness, agility, isokinetic strength, and submaximal cycle ergometer evaluation before and after flight. The information from these tests is used for exercise prescriptions, comparison, and evaluation of the astronaut and training programs. The rehabilitation program lasts for 45 days and is scheduled for 2 hours during each crew workday. Phase 1 of the rehabilitation program starts on landing day and places emphasis on ambulation, flexibility, and muscle strengthening. Phase 2 adds proprioceptive exercise and cardiovascular conditioning. Phase 3 (the longest phase) focuses on functional development. All programs are tailored specifically for each individual according to their test results, preferred recreational activities, and mission roles and duties. Most crew members reached or exceeded their preflight test values 45 days after flight. Some crew members subjectively indicated the need for a longer rehabilitation period. The current rehabilitation program for returning ISS crew members seems adequate in content but may need to be extended for longer expeditions.

Chauvin, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Outcome analysis of individualized vestibular rehabilitation protocols

OBJECTIVE: To determine the outcome of vestibular rehabilitation protocols in subjects with peripheral vestibular disorders compared with normal and abnormal control subjects. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study using repeated measure, matched control design. Subjects were solicited consecutively according to these criteria: vestibular disorder subjects who had abnormal results of computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) sensory organization tests (SOTs) 5 and 6 and underwent rehabilitation; vestibular disorder subjects who had abnormal results of SOTs 5 and 6 and did not undergo rehabilitation; and normal subjects (normal SOTs). SETTING: Tertiary neurotology clinic. SUBJECTS: Men and women over age 18 with chronic vestibular disorders and chief complaints of unsteadiness, imbalance, and/or motion intolerance, and normal subjects. INTERVENTIONS: Pre- and post-rehabilitation assessment included CDP, vestibular disability, and activities of daily living questionnaires. Individualized rehabilitation plans were designed and implemented to address the subject's specific complaints and functional deficits. Supervised sessions were held at weekly intervals, and self-administered programs were devised for daily home use. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: CDP composite and SOT scores, number of falls on CDP, and self-assessment questionnaire results. RESULTS: Subjects who underwent rehabilitation (Group A) showed statistically significant improvements in SOTs, overall composite score, and reduction in falls compared with abnormal (Group B) control groups. Group A's performances after rehabilitation were not significantly different from those of normal subjects (Group C) in SOTs 3 through 6, and close to normal on SOTs 1 and 2. Subjects in Group A also reported statistically significant symptomatic improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Outcome measures of vestibular protocol physical therapy confirmed objective and subjective improvement in subjects with chronic peripheral vestibular disorders. These findings support results reported by other investigators.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗
DOE OSTI2023

Understanding the use intention and influencing factors of telerehabilitation in people with rehabilitation needs: a cross-sectional survey

Objective This study aimed to investigate the use intention and influencing factors of telerehabilitation in people with rehabilitation needs. Methods This cross-sectional survey recruited a total of 183 participants with rehabilitation needs from May 2022 to December 2022. Sociodemographic and medical data were collected by a structured questionnaire. The factors influencing the use intention of telerehabilitation were measured by the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses were performed. Results A total of 150 valid questionnaires were included for analysis. The results indicated that the use intention of telerehabilitation was overall high in people with rehabilitation needs. Health condition ( β = −0.21, p = 0.03), performance expectancy ( β = 0.21, p = 0.01), facilitating conditions ( β = 0.25, p = 0.03), perceived trust ( β = 0.25, p < 0.01), and self-efficacy ( β = 0.19, p = 0.04) were significant factors influencing the use intention of telerehabilitation. Conclusion Overall, the use intention of telerehabilitation is high in individuals with rehabilitation needs. Health conditions, performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, perceived trust, and self-efficacy are important factors influencing the use intention of telerehabilitation in individuals with rehabilitation needs.

Wang, Mao-Yuan↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Soil Profile Rehabilitation for Pluvial Flood Mitigation Through Two-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Modeling

Pluvial flooding, driven by increasingly impervious surfaces and intense storm events, presents a growing challenge for urban areas worldwide. In Baltimore City, MD, USA, climate change, rapid urbanization, and aging stormwater infrastructure are exacerbating flooding impacts, resulting in significant socio-economic consequences. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a soil profile rehabilitation scenario using a 2D hydrodynamic modeling approach for the Tiffany Run watershed, Baltimore City. This study utilized different extreme storm events, a high-resolution (1 m) LiDAR Digital Terrain Model (DTM), building footprints, and hydrological soil data. These datasets were integrated into a fully coupled 2D hydrodynamic model, the City Catchment Analysis Tool (CityCAT), to simulate urban flood dynamics. The pre-soil rehabilitation simulation revealed a maximum water depth of 3.00 m in most areas, with hydrologic soil groups C and D, especially downstream of the study area. The post-soil rehabilitation simulation was targeted at vacant lots and public parcels, accounting for 33.20% of the total area of the watershed. This resulted in a reduced water depth of 2.50 m. Additionally, the baseline runoff coefficient of 0.49 decreased to 0.47 following the rehabilitation, and the model consistently recorded a peak runoff reduction rate of 4.10 across varying rainfall intensities. The validation using a contingency matrix demonstrated true-positive rates of 0.75, 0.50, 0.64, and 0 for the selected events, confirming the model’s capability at capturing real-world flood occurrences.

Baltimore City↗
NASA NTRS2013

A New Application to Facilitate Post-Fire Recovery and Rehabilitation in Savanna Ecosystems

The U.S. government spends an estimated $3billion per year to fight forest fires in the United States. Post-fire rehabilitation activities represent a small but essential portion of that total. The Rehabilitation Capability Convergence for Ecosystem Recovery (RECOVER) system is currently under development for Savanna ecosystems in the western U.S. The prototype of this system has been built and will have realworld testing during the summer 2013 fire season. When fully deployed, the RECOVER system will provide the emergency rehabilitation teams with critical and timely information for management decisions regarding stabilization and rehabilitation strategies.

post-fire↗
DOE OSTI2024

Visual feedback and guided balance training in an immersive virtual reality environment for lower extremity rehabilitation

Balance training is essential for physical rehabilitation procedures, as it can improve functional mobility and enhance cognitive coordination. However, conventional balance training methods may have limitations in terms of motivation, real-time objective feedback, and personalization, which a virtual reality (VR) setup may provide a better alternative. In this work, we present an immersive VR training environment for lower extremity balance rehabilitation with real-time guidance and feedback. The VR training environment immerses the user in a 3D ice rink model where a virtual coach (agent) leads them through a series of balance poses, and the user controls a trainee avatar with their own movements. Here we developed two coaching styles: positive-reinforcement and autonomous-supportive, and two viewpoints of the trainee avatar: first-person and third-person. The proposed environment was evaluated in a user study with healthy, non-clinical participants (n = 16, 24.4 ± 5.7 years old, 9 females). Our results show that participants showed stronger performance in the positive-reinforcement style compared to the autonomous-supportive style. Additionally, in the third-person viewpoint, the participants exhibited more stability in the positive-reinforcement style compared to the autonomous-supportive style. For viewpoint, participants exhibited stronger performance in the first-person viewpoint compared to third-person in the autonomous-supportive style, while they were comparable in the positive-reinforcement style. We observed no significant effects on the foot height and number of mistakes. Furthermore, we report the analysis of user performance with balance training poses and subjective measures based on questionnaires to assess the user experience, usability, and task load. The proposed VR balance training could offer an interactive, adaptive, and engaging environment and open new potential research directions for lower extremity rehabilitation.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1978

Suggested approach for establishing a rehabilitation engineering information service for the state of California

An ever expanding body of rehabilitation engineering technology is developing in this country, but it rarely reaches the people for whom it is intended. The increasing concern of state and federal departments of rehabilitation for this technology lag was the stimulus for a series of problem-solving workshops held in California during 1977. As a result of the workshops, the recommendation emerged that the California Department of Rehabilitation take the lead in the development of a coordinated delivery system that would eventually serve the entire state and be a model for similar systems across the nation.

Christy, L. F.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Harnessing Big Data to Support the Conservation and Rehabilitation of Mangrove Forests Globally

Mangrove forests are found on sheltered coastlines in tropical, subtropical, and some warm temperate regions. These forests support unique biodiversity and provide a range of benefits to coastal communities, but as a result of large-scale conversion for aquaculture, agriculture, and urbanization, mangroves are considered increasingly threatened ecosystems. Scientific advances have led to accurate and comprehensive global datasets on mangrove extent, structure, and condition, and these can support evaluation of ecosystem services and stimulate greater conservation and rehabilitation efforts. To increase the utility and uptake of these products, in this Perspective we provide an overview of these recent and forthcoming global datasets and explore the challenges of translating these new analyses into policy action and on-the-ground conservation. We describe a new platform for visualizing and disseminating these datasets to the global science community, non-governmental organizations, government officials, and rehabilitation practitioners and highlight future directions and collaborations to increase the uptake and impact of large-scale mangrove research.

mangrove↗
NASA NTRS1968

Computer magnetic tape rehabilitation study

Study determines the most efficient method for magnetic tapes rehabilitation and storage for reuse. Investigated were the physical changes taking place in the tape during the rehabilitation process, measure of quality of the processed tapes, and the level of quality required to achieve sufficient yield.

Byrd, V. H.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Maximizing Strength: The Stimuli and Mediators of Strength Gains and Their Application to Training and Rehabilitation

Abstract Spiering, BA, Clark, BC, Schoenfeld, BJ, Foulis, SA, and Pasiakos, SM. Maximizing strength: the stimuli and mediators of strength gains and their application to training and rehabilitation. J Strength Cond Res 37(4): 919–929, 2023—Traditional heavy resistance exercise (RE) training increases maximal strength, a valuable adaptation in many situations. That stated, some populations seek new opportunities for pushing the upper limits of strength gains (e.g., athletes and military personnel). Alternatively, other populations strive to increase or maintain strength but cannot perform heavy RE (e.g., during at-home exercise, during deployment, or after injury or illness). Therefore, the purpose of this narrative review is to (a) identify the known stimuli that trigger gains in strength; (b) identify the known factors that mediate the long-term effectiveness of these stimuli; (c) discuss (and in some cases, speculate on) potential opportunities for maximizing strength gains beyond current limits; and (d) discuss practical applications for increasing or maintaining strength when traditional heavy RE cannot be performed. First, by conceptually deconstructing traditional heavy RE, we identify that strength gains are stimulated through a sequence of events, namely: giving maximal mental effort, leading to maximal neural activation of muscle to produce forceful contractions, involving lifting and lowering movements, training through a full range of motion, and (potentially) inducing muscular metabolic stress. Second, we identify factors that mediate the long-term effectiveness of these RE stimuli, namely: optimizing the dose of RE within a session, beginning each set of RE in a minimally fatigued state, optimizing recovery between training sessions, and (potentially) periodizing the training stimulus over time. Equipped with these insights, we identify potential opportunities for further maximizing strength gains. Finally, we identify opportunities for increasing or maintaining strength when traditional heavy RE cannot be performed.

Sport Sciences↗
DOE OSTI2026

Large Power Transformer Supply Chain Gap Analysis and Domestic Content Strategies for Hydropower Rehabilitation: Supplemental Report

Large Power Transformers (LPTs) are indispensable to U.S. hydropower operations, serving as generator step-up (GSU) units that interconnect hydro facilities to the transmission grid. Yet the LPT supply chain faces mounting stress from aging infrastructure, limited domestic production, and long lead times. Currently, more than 80% of LPT demand is met through imports, with primary suppliers including Mexico, South Korea, Brazil, Austria, and Canada. Domestic manufacturers supply only about 20% of units, constrained by bottlenecks in high-grade Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES), copper conductors, bushings, and on-load tap changers (OLTCs). Hydropower rehabilitation projects in particular face additional challenges due to custom design requirements, remote siting, and regulatory needs around domestic content. Regional cost disparities, driven by transportation logistics, labor markets, and import price volatility, further exacerbate project risks. To address these vulnerabilities, coordinated action is required: strengthening domestic capacity for GOES and secondary components, developing near-site assembly hubs, and leveraging IRS domestic content safe harbors to incentivize U.S. manufacturing. This addendum refines the 2024 NREL Hydropower Supply Chain Gap Analysis by focusing specifically on critical issues related to LPT domestic manufacturing capacity and key considerations for hydropower developers and asset owners.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Angle Assessment for Upper Limb Rehabilitation: A Novel Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)-Based Approach

The accurate measurement of joint angles during patient rehabilitation is crucial for informed decision making by physiotherapists. Presently, visual inspection stands as one of the prevalent methods for angle assessment. Although it could appear the most straightforward way to assess the angles, it presents a problem related to the high susceptibility to error in the angle estimation. In light of this, this study investigates the possibility of using a new approach to angle calculation: a hybrid approach leveraging both a camera and LiDAR technology, merging image data with point cloud information. This method employs AI-driven techniques to identify the individual and their joints, utilizing the cloud-point data for angle computation. The tests, considering different exercises with different perspectives and distances, showed a slight improvement compared to using YOLO v7 for angle calculation. However, the improvement comes with higher system costs when compared with other image-based approaches due to the necessity of equipment such as LiDAR and a loss of fluidity during the exercise performance. Therefore, the cost–benefit of the proposed approach could be questionable. Nonetheless, the results hint at a promising field for further exploration and the potential viability of using the proposed methodology.

Klein, Luan C. (ORCID:000000016306574X)↗
NASA NTRS1973

A case study of technology transfer: Rehabilitative engineering at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital

The transfer of NASA technolgy to rehabilitative applications of artificial limbs is studied. Human factors engineering activities range from orthotic manipulators to tiny dc motors and transducers to detect and transmit voluntary control signals. It is found that bicarbon implant devices are suitable for medical equipment and artificial limbs because of their biological compatibility with human body fluids and tissues.

Hildred, W.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Rehabilitation and the Veterans' Administration

The Veteran's Administration health care system provides prosthetic and sensory aids for the rehabilitation of neurologically handicapped veterans. Research and development centers include prosthetic clinic teams, orthopedic shops, restoration clinics, bioengineering services, orthotics, etc.

Meister, F.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Current therapeutic techniques and rehabilitation from neurological disorders

Rancho Los Amigos Hospital is a 1100-bed teaching hospital that is primarily oriented toward rehabilitation. The individual services that deal with neuromuscular disorders are categorically disease entity oriented: They are directed toward the major problems, such as spinal cord injuries, amputations, stroke, cerebral palsy, and rheumatoid arthritis. The services at Rancho cross many traditional medical specialty barriers.

Nickel, V. L.↗