The X-33 Program, Proving Single Stage to Orbit

The X-33, NASA's flagship for reusable space plane technology demonstration, is on course to permit a crucial decision for the nation by the end of this decade. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, NASA's partner in this effort, has led a dedicated and talented industry and government team that have met and solved numerous challenges within the first 26 months. This program began by accepting the mandate that included two unprecedented and highly challenging goals: 1) demonstrate single stage to orbit technologies in flight and ground demonstration in less than 42 months and 2) demonstrate a new government and industry management relationship working together with industry in the lead

The Use of Plasma Urea as an Indicator of Protein Status in Growing-Finishing Pigs

An experiment is being conducted on commercial swine operations to determine if plasma urea concentration can be used as an indicator of protein status in growing-finishing pigs. Swine producers in Eastern Nebraska are being selected to participate in this on-farm study. The experiment includes the completion of a 30-question survey and an on-farm visit for the collection of blood and feed samples. The survey includes questions about genetics, nutrition, housing and health. Preliminary results suggest that crude protein is overfed in most finishing diets. Gilts consistently have lower plasma urea concentrations than barrows when gilts and barrows are fed the same diet during the finishing growth period. This confirms the concept that gilts utilize protein more efficiently for lean growth. These results suggest that within an individual swine operation, plasma urea is a useful indicator of protein status in growing-finishing pigs

Prioritizing Investment in Residential Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: A Case Study for the U.S. Midwest

Residential building energy use is an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and in the United States represents about 20% of total energy consumption. A number of previous macro-scale studies of residential energy consumption and energy-efficiency improvements are mainly concerned with national or international aggregate potential savings. In this paper we look into the details of how a collection of specific homes in one region might reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, with particular attention given to some practical limits to what can be achieved by upgrading the existing residential building stock. Using a simple model of residential, single-family home construction characteristics, estimates are made for the efficacy of (i) changes to behavioral patterns that do not involve building shell modifications; (ii) straightforward air-infiltration mitigation measures, and (iii) insulation measures. We derive estimates of net lifetime savings resulting from these measures, in terms of energy, carbon emissions and dollars. This study points out explicitly the importance of local and regional patterns in decision-making about what fraction of necessary regional or national emissions reduction might be accomplished through energy-efficiency measures and how much might need to concentrate more heavily on renewable or other carbon-free sources of energy

Targeting Residential Energy Reduction for City Utilities Using Historical Electrical Utility Data and Readily Available Building Data

Energy use data for the eight-year period 2003–2010 was analyzed for over 1200 single family residences in Village of Yellow Springs, Ohio. Electricity, natural gas, residential building, and weather databases are merged to permit determination of the energy intensity of each home in the village. The energy use intensity for each home is disaggregated into weather independent and weather dependent electric and natural gas use. This use is compared to typical baseline, cooling, and heating energy use for the region. From this comparison, priority homes are identified for energy reduction investment. Collective potential low cost energy reduction is estimated for the community. Energy reduction of greater than 41% is determined to be easily achievable. Finally, a process is established, beginning with individual home energy report cards, for turning the analysis and predictions into energy reduction action

Combinations of isoform-targeted histone deacetylase inhibitors and bryostatin analogues display remarkable potency to activate latent HIV without global T-cell activation

AbstractCurrent antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS slows disease progression by reducing viral loads and increasing CD4 counts. Yet ART is not curative due to the persistence of CD4+ T-cell proviral reservoirs that chronically resupply active virus. Elimination of these reservoirs through the administration of synergistic combinations of latency reversing agents (LRAs), such as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors and protein kinase C (PKC) modulators, provides a promising strategy to reduce if not eradicate the viral reservoir. Here, we demonstrate that largazole and its analogues are isoform-targeted histone deacetylase inhibitors and potent LRAs. Significantly, these isoform-targeted HDAC inhibitors synergize with PKC modulators, namely bryostatin-1 analogues (bryologs). Implementation of this unprecedented LRA combination induces HIV-1 reactivation to unparalleled levels and avoids global T-cell activation within resting CD4+ T-cells.</jats:p

Corticosterone Regulates Both Naturally Occurring and Cocaine‐Induced Dopamine Signaling by Selectively Decreasing Dopamine Uptake

Stressful and aversive events promote maladaptive reward‐seeking behaviors such as drug addiction by acting, in part, on the mesolimbic dopamine system. Using animal models, data from our laboratory and others show that stress and cocaine can interact to produce a synergistic effect on reward circuitry. This effect is also observed when the stress hormone corticosterone is administered directly into the nucleus accumbens (NAc), indicating that glucocorticoids act locally in dopamine terminal regions to enhance cocaine\u27s effects on dopamine signaling. However, prior studies in behaving animals have not provided mechanistic insight. Using fast‐scan cyclic voltammetry, we examined the effect of systemic corticosterone on spontaneous dopamine release events (transients) in the NAc core and shell in behaving rats. A physiologically relevant systemic injection of corticosterone (2 mg/kg i.p.) induced an increase in dopamine transient amplitude and duration (both voltammetric measures sensitive to decreases in dopamine clearance), but had no effect on the frequency of transient release events. This effect was compounded by cocaine (2.5 mg/kg i.p.). However, a second experiment indicated that the same injection of corticosterone had no detectable effect on the dopaminergic encoding of a palatable natural reward (saccharin). Taken together, these results suggest that corticosterone interferes with naturally occurring dopamine uptake locally, and this effect is a critical determinant of dopamine concentration specifically in situations in which the dopamine transporter is pharmacologically blocked by cocaine

Knee Injuries in NFL Lineman -- A Correlation with BMI

Knee Injuries in NFL Linemen - Correlation with BMI Dr. Michael Lem, MD; Dr. John Bianchi, DO; Austin Irwin, OMS II; Dr. Robert Farrell, MD; Cole Siegenfeld, OMS II Purpose: Knee injuries are among the most common injuries suffered in the NFL which in turn can decrease a player\u27s playing time in a given season and thus negatively impact future performance. Understanding characteristics like BMI can help modify and identify players at risk for knee injuries. Methods and Study Design: Data collected for this study was extracted from the official NFL database of injuries. Reported knee injuries for offensive and defensive lineman were collected and organized by week during the 2009-2022 seasons; final data was calculated for players with a BMI over 39.95. Pro-football-reference.com was cited for height, weight, career length and draft status. BMI was calculated based on height and weight. Comparisons were made between BMI and game status. Results: Among the players collected, offensive tackles were the most likely to appear on the injury report. Players with a BMI above 40 appeared most commonly as Probable (n=182), followed by Questionable (157), Out (134) then Doubtful (26). The average BMI for the players listed as probable was x=42.4 (SD=2.69); questionable x=41.2 (1.37); doubtful x=41.0 (.856); out x=40.9 (.991). There is a significant difference in the player’s BMI between “probable” game status and both “questionable” (p=.023) and “out” (p\u3c .001). Players with a BMI= +37 appeared as either out or doubtful 30.07% total. Players with a BMI under 37 appeared as either out or doubtful 30.81%. Conclusions: Based on our data, BMI may play a protective role on injury report placement for knee injuries. The abundance of “probable” game status also supports the notion that the injuries studied are lower-grade. More players appear on the injury list towards the end of the season, which may indicate there is a persisting effect to the injuries