Mars spacecraft power system development Interim report

Modified Mariner power system design for Mars mission

Mars Spacecraft Power System Development Final Report

Development of optimum Mariner spacecraft power system for application to future flyby and orbiter mission

Role of Nutrition in Alcoholic Liver Disease: Summary of the Symposium at the ESBRA 2017 Congress.

The symposium, "Role of Nutrition in Alcoholic Liver Disease", was held at the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism Congress on 9 October 2017 in Crete, Greece. The goal of the symposium was to highlight recent advances and developments in the field of alcohol and nutrition. The symposium was focused on experimental and clinical aspects in relation to the role of different types of dietary nutrients and malnutrition in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). The following is a summary of key research presented at this session. The speakers discussed the role of dietary fats and carbohydrates in the development and progression of alcohol-induced multi-organ pathology in animal models of ALD, analyzed novel nutrition-related therapeutics (specifically, betaine and zinc) in the treatment of ALD, and addressed clinical relevance of malnutrition and nutrition support in ALD. This summary of the symposium will benefit junior and senior faculty currently investigating alcohol-induced organ pathology as well as undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students and fellows

Trade-off between cost and accuracy in large-scale surface water dynamic modeling

Recent efforts have led to the development of the local inertia formulation (INER) for anaccurate but still cost-efficient representation of surface water dynamics, compared to the widely used kinematic wave equation (KINE). In this study, both formulations are evaluated over the Amazon basin in terms of computational costs and accuracy in simulating streamflows and water levels through synthetic experiments and comparisons against ground-based observations. Varying time steps are considered as part of the evaluation and INER at 60-second time step is adopted as the reference for synthetic experiments. Five hybrid (HYBR) realizations are performed based on maps representing the spatial distribution of the two formulations that physically represent river reach flow dynamics within the domain. Maps have fractions of KINE varying from 35.6% to 82.8%. KINE runs show clear deterioration along the Amazon river andmain tributaries, with maximum RMSE values for streamflow and water level reaching7827m(exp 3).s(exp -1) and 1379 cm near the basins outlet. However, KINE 20 is at least 25%more efficient than INER with low model sensitivity to longer time steps. A significant improvement is achieved with HYBR, resulting in maximum RMSE values of 3.9-292 m(exp 3).s(exp -1) for streamflows and 1.1-28.5 cm for water levels, and cost reduction of 6-16%, depending on the map used. Optimal results using HYBR are obtained when the local inertia formulation is used in about one third of the Amazon basin, reducing computational costs in simulations while preserving accuracy. However, that threshold may vary when applied to different regions, according to their hydrodynamics and geomorphological characteristics

Short-term Forecasts of the COVID-19 Epidemic in Guangdong and Zhejiang, China: February 13–23, 2020

The ongoing COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread within and outside of China, despite several social distancing measures implemented by the Chinese government. Limited epidemiological data are available, and recent changes in case definition and reporting further complicate our understanding of the impact of the epidemic, particularly in the epidemic’s epicenter. Here we use previously validated phenomenological models to generate short-term forecasts of cumulative reported cases in Guangdong and Zhejiang, China. Using daily reported cumulative case data up until 13 February 2020 from the National Health Commission of China, we report 5- and 10-day ahead forecasts of cumulative case reports. Specifically, we generate forecasts using a generalized logistic growth model, the Richards growth model, and a sub-epidemic wave model, which have each been previously used to forecast outbreaks due to different infectious diseases. Forecasts from each of the models suggest the outbreaks may be nearing extinction in both Guangdong and Zhejiang; however, the sub-epidemic model predictions also include the potential for further sustained transmission, particularly in Zhejiang. Our 10-day forecasts across the three models predict an additional 65–81 cases (upper bounds: 169–507) in Guangdong and an additional 44–354 (upper bounds: 141–875) cases in Zhejiang by February 23, 2020. In the best-case scenario, current data suggest that transmission in both provinces is slowing down

Радіометричні вимірювання електромагнітних полів слабко концентрованих розчинів солі і цукру

In the article results of research extraordinarily of low power radiations of the poorly concentrated solutions of salt, sugar, and also other physical and biological objectives at mm-range of wavelengthВ статье приведены результаты исследования чрезвычайно слабых излучений слабо концентрированных растворов соли и сахара, а также других физических и биологических объектов в мм-диапазоне волнВ статті наведені результати дослідження надзвичайно слабких випромінювань слабо концентрованих розчинів солі і цукру, а також інших фізичних і біологічних об′єктів в мм-діапазоні хвил

Effect of the Non-Stationarity of Rainfall Events on the Design of Hydraulic Structures for Runoff Management and Its Applications to a Case Study at Gordo Creek Watershed in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

[EN] The 24-h maximum rainfall (P24h-max) observations recorded at the synoptic weather station of Rafael Núñez airport (Cartagena de Indias, Colombia) were analyzed, and a linear increasing trend over time was identified. It was also noticed that the occurrence of the rainfall value (over the years of record) for a return period of 10 years under stationary conditions (148.1 mm) increased, which evidences a change in rainfall patterns. In these cases, the typical stationary frequency analysis is unable to capture such a change. So, in order to further evaluate rainfall observations, frequency analyses of P24h-max for stationary and non-stationary conditions were carried out (by using the generalized extreme value distribution). The goodness-of-fit test of Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), with values of 753.3721 and 747.5103 for stationary and non-stationary conditions respectively, showed that the latter best depicts the increasing rainfall pattern. Values of rainfall were later estimated for different return periods (2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 years) to quantify the increase (non-stationary versus stationary condition), which ranged 6% to 12% for return periods from 5 years to 100 years, and 44% for a 2-year return period. The effect of these findings were tested in the Gordo creek watershed by first calculating the resulting direct surface runoff (DSR) for various return periods, and then modeling the hydraulic behavior of the downstream area (composed of a 178.5-m creek¿s reach and an existing box-culvert located at the watershed outlet) that undergoes flooding events every year. The resulting DSR increase oscillated between 8% and 19% for return periods from 5 to 100 years, and 77% for a 2-year return period when the non-stationary and stationary scenarios were compared. The results of this study shed light upon to the precautions that designers should take when selecting a design, based upon rainfall observed, as it may result in an underestimation of both the direct surface runoff and the size of the hydraulic structures for runoff and flood management throughout the city.Gonzalez-Alvarez, A.; Coronado-Hernández, OE.; Fuertes-Miquel, VS.; Ramos, HM. (2018). Effect of the Non-Stationarity of Rainfall Events on the Design of Hydraulic Structures for Runoff Management and Its Applications to a Case Study at Gordo Creek Watershed in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Fluids. 3(2):1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids3020027S1193

Aberrant post-translational protein modifications in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced liver injury

It is likely that the majority of proteins will undergo post-translational modification, be it enzymatic or non-enzymatic. These modified protein(s) regulate activity, localization and interaction with other cellular molecules thereby maintaining cellular hemostasis. Alcohol exposure significantly alters several of these post-translational modifications leading to impairments of many essential physiological processes. Here, we present new insights into novel modifications following ethanol exposure and their role in the initiation and progression of liver injury. This critical review condenses the proceedings of a symposium at the European Society for the Biomedical Research on Alcoholism Meeting held September 12-15, 2015, in Valencia, Spain