FLEXSTAB analysis

The wing differential pressure distributions of two vehicles are predicted using FLEXSTAB. Three space shuttle configurations were investigated. Comparisons were made of wind tunnel and analytical data for a selected range of angle of attack, angle of sideslip, and Mach number. A drone-type vehicle was investigated and comparisons were made between flight and analytical data of wing pressure distributions and static longitudinal stability derivatives

Investigation of DC-8 nacelle modifications to reduce fan-compressor noise in airport communities. Part 3 - Static tests of noise suppressor configurations, May 1967 - October 1969

Static tests of noise suppressor configurations of DC-8 aircraft nacelle modifications to reduce fan-compressor noise levels - Part

Exercise Prior to Pregnancy Enhances the Suppressive Function of Tregs in Offspring in a Mouse Model of Asthma

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a specialized subset of T cells responsible for peripheral tolerance and the mediation of inappropriate immune responses, such as those seen in asthma and allergy. Our lab is interested in the role that exercise plays in Treg responses. Using a mouse model of asthma, we have shown that exercise increases both the number and suppressive function of Tregs. It has been shown that exposing nursing dams to allergens confers protection against airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation (trademarks of asthma) in pups exposed to the same allergen. In the present study, we wanted to determine if the exercise-induced increase in number and suppressive function of Tregs would be similarly passed from dams to their pups. Male pups from dams that were exercised prior to pregnancy (E) and pups from sedentary dams (S) were OVA-sensitized and challenged beginning at 4wks of age. Mice were sacrificed and tissues were taken for cell analysis. When co-cultured with CD4+CD25- responder cells, Tregs from E pups enhanced suppression of responder cells between 8.4-10% when compared to Tregs from S pups. While the number of Tregs from the mediastinal lymph node was not significantly different between E and S pups, there was a significant decrease in the number of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in E pups from S pups (51.24% + 10.2 vs. 33.51% + 3.3 and 21.42% + 7.3 vs. 12.94% + 1.2, respectively), indicating a reduction in cellular infiltration and a muted immune response to allergen. Although not significant, there was a doubling of the number of Tregs in the thymus and bone marrow of E pups compared to S pups. This study indicates that exercise prior to pregnancy may confer some Treg-mediated protection against asthma

Investigation of DC-8 nacelle modifications to reduce fan-compressor noise in airport communities. Part 4 - Flight acoustical and performance evaluations, for period May 1967 - October 1969

Flight acoustical and performance evaluations of DC 8 nacelle modifications to reduce fan-compressor noise in airport communitie

Strangelets: Who is Looking, and How?

It has been over 30 years since the first suggestion that the true ground state of cold hadronic matter might be not nuclear matter but rather strange quark matter (SQM). Ever since, searches for stable SQM have been proceeding in various forms and have observed a handful of interesting events but have neither been able to find compelling evidence for stable strangelets nor to rule out their existence. I will survey the current status and near future of such searches with particular emphasis on the idea of SQM from strange star collisions as part of the cosmic ray flux.Comment: Talk given at International Conference on Strangeness in Quark Matter, 2006. 8 pages. 1 figur

A novel research definition of bladder health in women and girls: Implications for research and public health promotion

BACKGROUND:Bladder health in women and girls is poorly understood, in part, due to absence of a definition for clinical or research purposes. This article describes the process used by a National Institutes of Health funded transdisciplinary research team (The Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms [PLUS] Consortium) to develop a definition of bladder health. METHODS:The PLUS Consortium identified currently accepted lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and outlined elements of storage and emptying functions of the bladder. Consistent with the World Health Organization's definition of health, PLUS concluded that absence of LUTS was insufficient and emphasizes the bladder's ability to adapt to short-term physical, psychosocial, and environmental challenges for the final definition. Definitions for subjective experiences and objective measures of bladder dysfunction and health were drafted. An additional bioregulatory function to protect against infection, neoplasia, chemical, or biologic threats was proposed. RESULTS:PLUS proposes that bladder health be defined as: "A complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being related to bladder function and not merely the absence of LUTS. Healthy bladder function permits daily activities, adapts to short-term physical or environmental stressors, and allows optimal well-being (e.g., travel, exercise, social, occupational, or other activities)." Definitions for each element of bladder function are reported with suggested subjective and objective measures. CONCLUSIONS:PLUS used a comprehensive transdisciplinary process to develop a bladder health definition. This will inform instrument development for evaluation of bladder health promotion and prevention of LUTS in research and public health initiatives

Model-Independent Comparison of Direct vs. Indirect Detection of Supersymmetric Dark Matter

We compare the rate for elastic scattering of neutralinos from various nuclei with the flux of upward muons induced by energetic neutrinos from neutralino annihilation in the Sun and Earth. We consider both scalar and axial-vector interactions of neutralinos with nuclei. We find that the event rate in a kg of germanium is roughly equivalent to that in a $10^5$- to $10^7$-m$^2$ muon detector for a neutralino with primarily scalar coupling to nuclei. For an axially coupled neutralino, the event rate in a 50-gram hydrogen detector is roughly the same as that in a 10- to 500-m$^2$ muon detector. Expected experimental backgrounds favor forthcoming elastic-scattering detectors for scalar couplings while the neutrino detectors have the advantage for axial-vector couplings.Comment: 10 pages, self-unpacking uuencoded PostScript fil

Plasmas and Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Contains reports on three research projects.U. S. Atomic Energy Commission (Contract AT(30-1)-3980

Square Root Compression and Noise Effects in Digitally Transformed Images

We report on a particular example of noise and data representation interacting to introduce systematic error into scientific measurements. Many instruments collect integer digitized values and apply nonlinear coding, in particular square root coding, to compress the data for transfer or downlink; this can introduce surprising systematic errors when they are decoded for analysis. Square root coding and subsequent decoding typically introduces a variable &plusmn;1 count value-dependent systematic bias in the data after reconstitution. This is significant when large numbers of measurements (e.g., image pixels) are averaged together. Using direct modeling of the probability distribution of particular coded values in the presence of instrument noise, one may apply Bayes' theorem to construct a decoding table that reduces this error source to a very small fraction of a digitizer step; in our example, systematic error from square root coding is reduced by a factor of 20 from 0.23 to 0.012 count rms. The method is suitable both for new experiments such as the upcoming PUNCH mission, and also for post facto application to existing data sets&mdash;even if the instrument noise properties are only loosely known. Further, the method does not depend on the specifics of the coding formula, and may be applied to other forms of nonlinear coding or representation of data values. &nbsp;</p