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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

IDEF4 technical report, version 1.0

A language for the representation of object oriented software designs is described. IDEF4, a methodology for object-oriented design, is being developed as a design tool for software designers who use such object-oriented languages. Such languages include the Common LISP Object System, Flavors, C++, Smalltalk, Objective C, and others. Since effective usage of the object-oriented paradigm requires a different thought process than that used with conventional procedural or database languages, standard methodologies such as structure charts, data flow diagrams, and traditional data design models (hierarchical, relational, and network) are not sufficient. IDEF4 seeks to provide the necessary facilities to support the object-oriented design decision making process. Specifically, the two primary design goals of IDEF4 are: (1) to provide support for creating object oriented designs whose implementations will exhibit desirable life cycle qualities and reduce total implementation development time; and (2) to make it easy to evaluate object oriented code to determine whether or not the delivered product both conforms to the design and exhibits the desired life cycle qualities. The application of IDEF4 in the life cycle of a software development project is intended to be focused on those activities after a decision has been made to employ object oriented programming technology, but prior to detailed code specification.

Mayer, Richard J.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Analysis of Patient-Reported Outcome Utilization Within National Clinical Trials Network Cooperative Group Radiation Oncology Trials Over the Past 2 Decades

When treating cancer, both quantity and quality of life are valuable, though oncology trials have long placed greater emphasis on the former. The goal of this work was to evaluate how patient-reported outcomes (PROs) have been incorporated into radiation therapy trials within the National Clinical Trials Network over the last 2 decades to measure quality of life and to assess how PRO data have been disseminated in publications upon trial conclusion.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
NASA NTRS2009

The Urban Environmental Monitoring/100 Cities Project: Legacy of the First Phase and Next Steps

The Urban Environmental Monitoring (UEM) project, now known as the 100 Cities Project, at Arizona State University (ASU) is a baseline effort to collect and analyze remotely sensed data for 100 urban centers worldwide. Our overarching goal is to use remote sensing technology to better understand the consequences of rapid urbanization through advanced biophysical measurements, classification methods, and modeling, which can then be used to inform public policy and planning. Urbanization represents one of the most significant alterations that humankind has made to the surface of the earth. In the early 20th century, there were less than 20 cities in the world with populations exceeding 1 million; today, there are more than 400. The consequences of urbanization include the transformation of land surfaces from undisturbed natural environments to land that supports different forms of human activity, including agriculture, residential, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure such as roads and other types of transportation. Each of these land transformations has impacted, to varying degrees, the local climatology, hydrology, geology, and biota that predate human settlement. It is essential that we document, to the best of our ability, the nature of land transformations and the consequences to the existing environment. The focus in the UEM project since its inception has been on rapid urbanization. Rapid urbanization is occurring in hundreds of cities worldwide as population increases and people migrate from rural communities to urban centers in search of employment and a better quality of life. The unintended consequences of rapid urbanization have the potential to cause serious harm to the environment, to human life, and to the resulting built environment because rapid development constrains and rushes decision making. Such rapid decision making can result in poor planning, ineffective policies, and decisions that harm the environment and the quality of human life. Slower, more thought-out, decision making could result in more favorable outcomes. The harm to the environment includes poor air quality, soil erosion, polluted rivers and aquifers, and loss of wildlife habitat. Human life is then threatened because of increased potential for disease spreading, human conflict, environmental hazards, and diminished quality of life. The built environment is potentially threatened when cities are built in areas that can be impacted by events such as hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, fires, and landslides. Our goals include assessing the threat of such events on cities and the people living there.

Stefanov, William L.↗
NASA NTRS2011

NASA Space Technology Draft Roadmap Area 13: Ground and Launch Systems Processing

This slide presentation reviews the technology development roadmap for the area of ground and launch systems processing. The scope of this technology area includes: (1) Assembly, integration, and processing of the launch vehicle, spacecraft, and payload hardware (2) Supply chain management (3) Transportation of hardware to the launch site (4) Transportation to and operations at the launch pad (5) Launch processing infrastructure and its ability to support future operations (6) Range, personnel, and facility safety capabilities (7) Launch and landing weather (8) Environmental impact mitigations for ground and launch operations (9) Launch control center operations and infrastructure (10) Mission integration and planning (11) Mission training for both ground and flight crew personnel (12) Mission control center operations and infrastructure (13) Telemetry and command processing and archiving (14) Recovery operations for flight crews, flight hardware, and returned samples. This technology roadmap also identifies ground, launch and mission technologies that will: (1) Dramatically transform future space operations, with significant improvement in life-cycle costs (2) Improve the quality of life on earth, while exploring in co-existence with the environment (3) Increase reliability and mission availability using low/zero maintenance materials and systems, comprehensive capabilities to ascertain and forecast system health/configuration, data integration, and the use of advanced/expert software systems (4) Enhance methods to assess safety and mission risk posture, which would allow for timely and better decision making. Several key technologies are identified, with a couple of slides devoted to one of these technologies (i.e., corrosion detection and prevention). Development of these technologies can enhance life on earth and have a major impact on how we can access space, eventually making routine commercial space access and improve building and manufacturing, and weather forecasting for example for the effect of these process improvements on our daily lives.

Clements, Greg↗
DOE OSTI2020

Measuring Mobility Potential: A Novel Metric to Quantify Mobility Energy Productivity (MEP) of Transportation Systems

For nearly a century, the automobile has been the primary mode of personal transportation in American life. This remains true today as millions of people rely heavily on cars to connect suburbs with cities or to travel long distances - often out of routine or convenience. However, advances in technology are fueling an era of transportation transformation, with the potential to transform a system that has remained virtually unchanged for decades. The challenges of interconnecting our cities and creating a cross-continental transportation system for military purposes spawned the interstate highway system, generating the age of the automobile. In this century, congestion and mobility challenges of rising urban populations are spawning ever-evolving mobility and communications technologies to connect people to goods, services, and employment within a metropolitan and national context - all of which define a high quality of life. Aspiring smart cities are wrestling with questions such as: How does mobility impact a person's quality of life? Would people make different travel choices if they were presented with better information about their mobility options? Would businesses make different location decisions if they could assess the quality of mobility in that area? The ability to quantify the quality of mobility at a given location is the first step toward answering these questions. In response, an interdisciplinary team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed the Mobility-Energy Productivity (MEP) metric. The MEP metric provides an avenue to not only measure the quality of mobility at a specific location in its current configuration, but also to test how various technological advances (e.g., connected and automated vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles, shared mobility) and infrastructure investments (e.g., building an additional highway lane, constructing a new shopping mall, implementing a transit-oriented development) impact the mobility of that location over time.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Floor and ceiling effects in the EORTC QLQ-C30 Physical Functioning subscale among patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer

The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 Physical Functioning subscale is a widely used patient-reported outcome measure that quantifies cancer patients' physical functioning. Strong floor/ceiling effects can affect a scale's sensitivity to change. The aim of this study was to characterize floor/ceiling effects of the physical functioning domain in patients with advanced/metastatic breast cancer enrolled in commercial clinical trials and a community-based trial. The clinical trial cohort comprised patients from 5 registrational trials submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for review (2010-2017). The community cohort comprised a subgroup of patients from the Alliance Patient Reported Outcomes to Enhance Cancer Treatment (PRO-TECT) trial. The distribution of patient responses to Physical Functioning items and the summed score were assessed at the baseline and 3-month follow-up for both cohorts. Descriptive statistics were used to determine floor/ceiling effects at the item and scale levels. The clinical trial cohort and the community cohort consisted of 2407 and 178 patients, respectively. Twenty-four percent or more of the respondents reported “not at all” for having trouble/needing help with each Physical Functioning item across both cohorts and measurement time points. Fourteen to twenty percent of the patients scored perfectly (100 of 100) on the Physical Functioning subscale summary measure (where higher scores indicated better physical functioning) across both cohorts and time points. Minor floor effects and notable ceiling effects were found at the item and scale levels of the Physical Functioning subscale, regardless of cohort, and this creates some uncertainty about its ability to detect changes in physical functioning among high-functioning patients. In conclusion, investigators may consider adding additional high-functioning items from the EORTC's item library to more accurately describe the impact of anticancer treatment on patients' physical functioning.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Xanthohumol Microbiome and Signature in Healthy Adults (the XMaS Trial): Safety and Tolerability Results of a Phase I Triple-Masked, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Scope Xanthohumol, a prenylflavonoid from hops, has been extensively studied preclinically but has undergone limited research in human subjects. A triple-masked, placebo-controlled phase I clinical trial was conducted to examine the safety and tolerability of xanthohumol. Methods and results Thirty healthy volunteers were randomized to 24?mg/day xanthohumol (99.8% pure) or placebo for eight weeks. Comprehensive metabolic panels, complete blood counts, body weight, vital signs, and health-related quality of life questionnaires were assessed every two weeks. Participants were interviewed for adverse events (AEs) throughout the trial. Thirteen of 14 (93%) and 14 of 16 (88%) participants completed the trial in Group A and B respectively. There were no withdrawals due to AEs. There were no clinically relevant, between-group differences in laboratory biomarkers, body weight, vital signs, or health-related quality of life. There were no severe or FDA-defined serious AEs, but non-serious AEs were documented in both Group A (n=42) and Group B (n=58). Conclusion Over an eight-week period, 24 mg daily xanthohumol was safe and well-tolerated by healthy adults.

Langley, Blake↗
NASA NTRS2010

When Weather Matters: Science and Service to Meet Critical Societal Needs

The goal of weather prediction is to provide information people and organizations can use to reduce weather-related losses and enhance societal benefits, including protection of life and property, public health and safety, and support of economic prosperity and quality of life. In economic terms, the benefit of the investment in public weather forecasts and warnings is substantial: the estimated annualized benefit is about $31.5 billion, compared to the $5.1 billion cost of generating the information. Between 1980 and 2009, 96 weather disasters in the United States each caused at least $1 billion in damages, with total losses exceeding $700 billion. Between 1999 and 2008, there were an average of 629 direct weather fatalities per year. The annual impacts of adverse weather on the national highway system and roads are staggering: 1.5 million weather-related crashes with 7,400 deaths, more than 700,000 injuries, and $42 billion in economic losses.

Weather forecasting↗
NASA NTRS1990

Habitability: CAMELOT 4

During 1988 to 1989 the NASA/USRA Advanced Design Program sponsored research and design efforts aimed at developing habitability criteria and at defining a habitability concept as a useful tool in understanding and evaluating dwellings for prolonged stays in extraterrestrial space. The Circulating Auto sufficient Mars-Earth Luxurious Orbital Transport (CAMELOT) was studied as a case in which the students would try to enhance the quality of life of the inhabitants by applying architectural design methodology. The study proposed 14 habitability criteria considered necessary to fulfill the defined habitability concept, which is that state of equilibrium that results from the interaction between components of the Individual Architecture Mission Complex, which allows a person to sustain physiological homeostatis, adequate performance, and acceptable social relationships. Architecture, design development, refinements and revisions to improve the quality of life, new insights on artificial gravity, form and constitution problems, and the final design concept are covered.

Alequin, W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The revitalization of health and education in Rural America Act of 1992

During the preceding decade of the 1980's, rural communities witnessed an exodus of over 5 million residents to urban and suburban areas of the nation. It has become increasingly clear that rural parts of the country must adopt aggressive strategies to strengthen rural communities and enhance the quality of life for its citizens into the 21st century. Studies by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Technology Assessment, and the Aspen Institute all identify advanced telecommunications systems as the linchpin for a vigorous future for rural America. The Revitalization of Health and Education in Rural America Act of 1992 incorporates these recommendations into viable strategies to improve health care and educational services for rural citizens. By linking up hospitals and schools through advanced telecommunications technology, vast geographic distances are instantly reduced. With the proper infrastructure in place, up-to-date telecommunications services will facilitate endless opportunities for improving the quality of life in remote areas. This comprehensive legislation is the critical first step in forging a partnership with urban communities to create an economically sound and technologically advanced America for generations to come. Improvement of health care and educational services in rural areas through the implementation of interactive telecommunications systems is addressed. A copy of the Act is included.

English, Glenn↗
NASA NTRS1996

Spinoff 1996

By their challenging nature, NASA programs are particularly demanding of technological input. Meeting the aeronautical and space goals of the past four decades has necessitated leading edge advancements across a diverse spectrum that embraces virtually every scientific and technological discipline. Technology is simply knowledge and, like other forms of knowledge, it is often broadly applied and transferable. For that reason, the vast storehouse of technology NASA has built is a national resource, a bank of knowledge available for commercial applications and enhancements to the quality of life-"spinoff"-to new products and processes of benefit to the national economy, industrial efficiency and human welfare. Multiple use of technology has never been more important. Budgetary stringency is reducing the amount of government funding available for new research and development, but at the same time intensifying international competition demands increasing technological innovation to strengthen the U.S. posture in the global marketplace. Reuse of technology offers a relatively inexpensive supplementary means of partnering with industry focused on bringing new products and processes to the market. More than a thousand of spinoff products and processes have emerged from reapplication of technology developed for NASA mission programs. Each has Contributed some measure of benefit to the national economy, productivity or lifestyle; some bring only moderate increments of gain, but many generate benefits of significant order with economic values in the millions of dollars. Other technologies with moderate economic return have added measurably to the quality of life of U.S. citizens. Collectively, they represent a substantial dividend on the national investment in aerospace research. By Congressional mandate, it is NASA's responsibility to promote expansion of spinoff in the public interest. Through its Technology Transfer Program, NASA seeks to encourage greater use of its technological resources by providing a link between the technology and those who might be able to put it to advantageous use. The program's aim is to broaden and accelerate the transfer accomplishments and thereby to gain national benefit in terms of new products, services, and new jobs. This publication is an instrument of-and documents the outcome of-that purpose. It is intended to heighten awareness of the technology available for transfer and its potential for public benefit. Spinoff 1996 is organized in three sections: Section 1, summarizes NASA's current mainline programs, whose objectives require development of new technology and therefore replenish and expand the bank of knowledge available for reapplication. Section 2, the focal point of this volume, contains a representative sampling of spinoff products and processes that resulted from secondary application of NASA technology. Section 3, describes the various mechanisms NASA employs to stimulate technology transfer and lists, in an appendix, contact sources for Further information about the Technology Transfer Program.

Haggerty, James J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Transformations in Air Transportation Systems For the 21st Century

Globally, our transportation systems face increasingly discomforting realities: certain of the legacy air and ground infrastructures of the 20th century will not satisfy our 21st century mobility needs. The consequence of inaction is diminished quality of life and economic opportunity for those nations unable to transform from the 20th to 21st century systems. Clearly, new thinking is required regarding business models that cater to consumers value of time, airspace architectures that enable those new business models, and technology strategies for innovating at the system-of-networks level. This lecture proposes a structured way of thinking about transformation from the legacy systems of the 20th century toward new systems for the 21st century. The comparison and contrast between the legacy systems of the 20th century and the transformed systems of the 21st century provides insights into the structure of transformation of air transportation. Where the legacy systems tend to be analog (versus digital), centralized (versus distributed), and scheduled (versus on-demand) for example, transformed 21st century systems become capable of scalability through technological, business, and policy innovations. Where air mobility in our legacy systems of the 20th century brought economic opportunity and quality of life to large service markets, transformed air mobility of the 21st century becomes more equitable available to ever-thinner and widely distributed populations. Several technological developments in the traditional aircraft disciplines as well as in communication, navigation, surveillance and information systems create new foundations for 21st thinking about air transportation. One of the technological developments of importance arises from complexity science and modern network theory. Scale-free (i.e., scalable) networks represent a promising concept space for modeling airspace system architectures, and for assessing network performance in terms of robustness, resilience, and other metrics. The lecture offers an air transportation system topology and a scale-free network linkage graphic as framework for transportation system innovation. Successful outcomes of innovation in air transportation could lay the foundations for new paradigms for aircraft and their operating capabilities, air transportation system topologies, and airspace architectures and procedural concepts. These new paradigms could support scalable alternatives for the expansion of future air mobility to more consumers in more parts of the world.

Holmes, Bruce J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Air and water quality monitor assessment of life support subsystems

Preprotype air revitalization and water reclamation subsystems (Mole Sieve, Sabatier, Static Feed Electrolyzer, Trace Contaminant Control, and Thermoelectric Integrated Membrane Evaporative Subsystem) were operated and tested independently and in an integrated arrangement. During each test, water and/or gas samples were taken from each subsystem so that overall subsystem performance could be determined. The overall test design and objectives for both subsystem and integrated subsystem tests were limited, and no effort was made to meet water or gas specifications. The results of chemical analyses for each of the participating subsystems are presented along with other selected samples which were analyzed for physical properties and microbiologicals.

Whitley, Ken↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Effect of Hole Quality on the Fatigue Life of 2024-T3 Aluminum Alloy Sheet

This paper presents the results of a study whose main objective was to determine which type of fabrication process would least affect the fatigue life of an open-hole structural detail. Since the open-hole detail is often the fundamental building block for determining the stress concentration of built-up structural parts, it is important to understand any factor that can affect the fatigue life of an open hole. A test program of constant-amplitude fatigue tests was conducted on five different sets of test specimens each made using a different hole fabrication process. Three of the sets used different mechanical drilling procedures while a fourth and fifth set were mechanically drilled and then chemically polished. Two sets of specimens were also tested under spectrum loading to aid in understanding the effects of residual compressive stresses on fatigue life. Three conclusions were made from this study. One, the residual compressive stresses caused by the hole-drilling process increased the fatigue life by two to three times over specimens that were chemically polished after the holes were drilled. Second, the chemical polishing process does not appear to adversely affect the fatigue life. Third, the chemical polishing process will produce a stress-state adjacent to the hole that has insignificant machining residual stresses.

Everett, Richard A., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Culturing astrocytes on substrates that mimic brain tumors promotes enhanced mechanical forces

Highlights: • Human astrocytes increase traction forces of cells applied to the ECM in response to increased substrate stiffness. • Astrocytes apply intercellular stresses with noticeable increase in higher substrate stiffness. • Cell velocity decreases in human astrocytes in brain tumor like environment compared to normal brain environment. • Astrocytes mechanical strength and function could be potentially enhanced by increased stiffness of the microenvironment. Astrocytes are essential to brain homeostasis and their dysfunction can have devastating consequences on human quality of life. Such deleterious effects are generally due in part to changes that occur at the cellular level, which may be biochemical or biomechanical in nature. One biomechanical change that can occur is a change in tissue stiffness. Brain tumors are generally associated with increased brain tissue stiffness, but the impact increased tissue stiffness has on astrocyte biomechanical behavior is poorly understood. Therefore, in this study we cultured human astrocytes on flexible substrates with stiffness that mimicked the healthy human brain (1 kPa), meningioma (4 kPa), and glioma (11 kPa) and investigated astrocyte biomechanical behavior by measuring cell-substrate tractions, strain energies, cell-cell intercellular stresses, and cellular velocities. In general, tractions, intercellular stresses, and strain energy was observed to increase as a function of increased substrate stiffness, while cell velocities were observed to decrease with increased substrate stiffness. We believe this study will be of great importance to the fields of brain pathology and brain physiology.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1992

An expert system/ion trap mass spectrometry approach for life support systems monitoring

Efforts to develop sensor and control system technology to monitor air quality for life support have resulted in the development and preliminary testing of a concept based on expert systems and ion trap mass spectrometry (ITMS). An ITMS instrument provides the capability to identify and quantitate a large number of suspected contaminants at trace levels through the use of a variety of multidimensional experiments. An expert system provides specialized knowledge for control, analysis, and decision making. The system is intended for real-time, on-line, autonomous monitoring of air quality. The key characteristics of the system, performance data and analytical capabilities of the ITMS instrument, the design and operation of the expert system, and results from preliminary testing of the system for trace contaminant monitoring are described.

Palmer, Peter T.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Executive Summary of the American Radium Society Appropriate Use Criteria for Operable Esophageal and Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma: Systematic Review and Guidelines

Limited guidance exists regarding the relative effectiveness of treatment options for nonmetastatic, operable patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ). In this systematic review, the American Radium Society (ARS) gastrointestinal expert panel convened to develop Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) evaluating how neoadjuvant and/or adjuvant treatment regimens compared with each other, surgery alone, or definitive chemoradiation in terms of response to therapy, quality of life, and oncologic outcomes.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗