NASA Lewis F100 engine testing

Two builds of an F100 engine model derivative (EMD) engine were evaluated for improvements in engine components and digital electronic engine control (DEEC) logic. Two DEEC flight logics were verified throughout the flight envelope in support of flight clearance for the F100 engine model derivative program (EMPD). A nozzle instability and a faster augmentor transient capability was investigated in support of the F-15 DEEC flight program. Off schedule coupled system mode fan flutter, DEEC nose-boom pressure correlation, DEEC station six pressure comparison, and a new fan inlet variable vane (CIVV) schedule are identified

The ketogenic diet reverses gene expression patterns and reduces reactive oxygen species levels when used as an adjuvant therapy for glioma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malignant brain tumors affect people of all ages and are the second leading cause of cancer deaths in children. While current treatments are effective and improve survival, there remains a substantial need for more efficacious therapeutic modalities. The ketogenic diet (KD) - a high-fat, low-carbohydrate treatment for medically refractory epilepsy - has been suggested as an alternative strategy to inhibit tumor growth by altering intrinsic metabolism, especially by inducing glycopenia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Here, we examined the effects of an experimental KD on a mouse model of glioma, and compared patterns of gene expression in tumors vs. normal brain from animals fed either a KD or a standard diet.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Animals received intracranial injections of bioluminescent GL261-luc cells and tumor growth was followed <it>in vivo</it>. KD treatment significantly reduced the rate of tumor growth and prolonged survival. Further, the KD reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in tumor cells. Gene expression profiling demonstrated that the KD induces an overall reversion to expression patterns seen in non-tumor specimens. Notably, genes involved in modulating ROS levels and oxidative stress were altered, including those encoding cyclooxygenase 2, glutathione peroxidases 3 and 7, and periredoxin 4.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data demonstrate that the KD improves survivability in our mouse model of glioma, and suggests that the mechanisms accounting for this protective effect likely involve complex alterations in cellular metabolism beyond simply a reduction in glucose.</p

Ketones Prevent Oxidative Impairment of Hippocampal Synaptic Integrity through K\u3csub\u3eATP\u3c/sub\u3e Channels

Dietary and metabolic therapies are increasingly being considered for a variety of neurological disorders, based in part on growing evidence for the neuroprotective properties of the ketogenic diet (KD) and ketones. Earlier, we demonstrated that ketones afford hippocampal synaptic protection against exogenous oxidative stress, but the mechanisms underlying these actions remain unclear. Recent studies have shown that ketones may modulate neuronal firing through interactions with ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels. Here, we used a combination of electrophysiological, pharmacological, and biochemical assays to determine whether hippocampal synaptic protection by ketones is a consequence of KATP channel activation. Ketones dose-dependently reversed oxidative impairment of hippocampal synaptic integrity, neuronal viability, and bioenergetic capacity, and this action was mirrored by the KATP channel activator diazoxide. Inhibition of KATP channels reversed ketone-evoked hippocampal protection, and genetic ablation of the inwardly rectifying K+ channel subunit Kir6.2, a critical component of KATP channels, partially negated the synaptic protection afforded by ketones. This partial protection was completely reversed by co-application of the KATP blocker, 5-hydoxydecanoate (5HD). We conclude that, under conditions of oxidative injury, ketones induce synaptic protection in part through activation of KATP channels

Dynamical System Analysis of Cosmologies with Running Cosmological Constant from Quantum Einstein Gravity

We discuss a mechanism that induces a time-dependent vacuum energy on cosmological scales. It is based on the instability induced renormalization triggered by the low energy quantum fluctuations in a Universe with a positive cosmological constant. We employ the dynamical systems approach to study the qualitative behavior of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmologies where the cosmological constant is dynamically evolving according with this nonperturbative scaling at low energies. It will be shown that it is possible to realize a "two regimes" dark energy phases, where an unstable early phase of power-law evolution of the scale factor is followed by an accelerated expansion era at late times.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures. To appear in New Journal of Physic

Isolation of Flow and Nonflow Correlations by Two- and Four-Particle Cumulant Measurements of Azimuthal Harmonics in √sNN = 200 GeV Au+Au Collisions

A data-driven method was applied to measurements of Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV made with the STAR detector at RHIC to isolate pseu- dorapidity distance ∆η-dependent and ∆η-independent correlations by using two- and four-particle azimuthal cumulant measurements. We identified a component of the correlation that is ∆η-independent, which is likely dom- inated by anisotropic flow and flow fluctuations. It was also found to be independent of η within the measured range of pseudorapidity |η| 0.7

Conformal Transformations in Cosmology of Modified Gravity: the Covariant Approach Perspective

The 1+3 covariant approach and the covariant gauge-invariant approach to perturbations are used to analyze in depth conformal transformations in cosmology. Such techniques allow us to obtain very interesting insights on the physical content of these transformations, when applied to non-standard gravity. The results obtained lead to a number of general conclusions on the change of some key quantities describing any two conformally related cosmological models. In particular, it is shown that the physics in the Einstein frame has characteristics which are completely different from those in the Jordan frame. Even if some of the geometrical properties of the cosmology are preserved (homogeneous and isotropic Universes are mapped into homogeneous and isotropic universes), it can happen that decelerating cosmologies are mapped into accelerated ones. Differences become even more pronounced when first-order perturbations are considered: from the 1+3 equations it is seen that first-order vector and tensor perturbations are left unchanged in their structure by the conformal transformation, but this cannot be said of the scalar perturbations, which include the matter density fluctuations. Behavior in the two frames of the growth rate, as well as other evolutionary features, like the presence or absence of oscillations, etc., appear to be different too. The results obtained are then explicitly interpreted and verified with the help of some clarifying examples based on $f(R)$-gravity cosmologies.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figure

Isolation of Flow and Nonflow Correlations by Two- and Four-Particle Cumulant Measurements of Azimuthal Harmonics in √\u3csup\u3es\u3c/sup\u3eNN=200 GeV Au+Au collisions

A data-driven method was applied to Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV made with the STAR detector at RHIC to isolate pseudorapidity distance Δη-dependent and Δη-independent correlations by using two- and four-particle azimuthal cumulant measurements. We identified a Δη-independent component of the correlation, which is dominated by anisotropic flow and flow fluctuations. It was also found to be independent of η within the measured range of pseudorapidity |η| \u3c 1. In 20–30% central Au+Au colli- sions, the relative flow fluctuation was found to be 34% ± 2%(stat.) ± 3%(sys.) for particles with transverse momentum PT less than 2 GeV/c. The Δη-dependent part, attributed to nonflow correlations, is found to be 5% ± 2%(sys.) relative to the flow of the measured second harmonic cumulant at |Δη| \u3e 0.7

Isolation of Flow and Nonflow Correlations by Two and Four Particle Cumulant Measurements of Azimuthal Harmonics in √Sɴɴ = GeV Au+Au Collisions

A data-driven method was applied to Au+Au collisions at √Sɴɴ = 200 GeV made with the STAR detector at RHIC to isolate pseudorapidity distance Δ η-dependent and Δ η-independent correlations by using two- and four-particle azimuthal cumulant measurements. We identified a Δ η-independent component of the correlation, which is dominated by anisotropic flow and flow fluctuations. It was also found to be independent of η within the measured range of pseudorapidity | η | \u3c 1. In 20-30% central Au+Au collisions, the relative flow fluctuation was found to be 34% ± 2%(stat.) ± 3%(sys.) for particles with transverse momentum pT less than 2 GeV/c. The Δ η-dependent part, attributed to nonflow correlations, is found to be 5% ± 2%(sys.) relative to the flow of the measured second harmonic cumulant at | Δ η | \u3e 0.7

Neurological effects of glucocerebrosidase gene mutations

The association between Gaucher disease (GD) and Parkinson disease (PD) has been described for almost two decades. In the biallelic state (homozygous or compound heterozygous) mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) may cause GD, in which glucosylceramide, the sphingolipid substrate of the glucocerebrosidase enzyme (GCase), accumulates in visceral organs leading to a number of clinical phenotypes. In the biallelic or heterozygous state, GBA mutations increase the risk for PD. Mutations of the GBA allele are the most significant genetic risk factor for idiopathic PD, found in 5%–20% of idiopathic PD cases depending on ethnicity. The neurological consequences of GBA mutations are reviewed and the proposition that GBA mutations result in a disparate but connected range of clinically and pathologically related neurological features is discussed. The literature relating to the clinical, biochemical and genetic basis of GBA PD, type 1 GD and neuronopathic GD is considered highlighting commonalities and distinctions between them. The evidence for a unifying disease mechanism is considered