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At least 667 records · Page 37
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Neutrino Heating Drives a Supernova (Silent Animation)

When a neutron star forms, compression creates heat that generates neutrinos. When the star’s core collapses, a shock wave propagates around the star but stalls. The neutrinos reenergize a stalled shock wave, and the convection created leads to an asymmetric explosion that shoots elements into the cosmos. The heat content, or entropy, is shown, with greater entropy represented by “warmer” hues. At center is a volume rendering of the developing explosion above the newly formed neutron star (based on a simulation with the CHIMERA code); side images of orthogonal slices through the star reveal additional detail. The movie starts 100 milliseconds after the formation of the neutron star, depicts the shockwave’s bounce and follows astrophysical events up to 432 milliseconds after the bounce.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1996

Alterations of Body Mass Gain of Neonates (P7&P14) During Certrifugation AT 2G

Previous research has shown animal body mass to be significantly affected by centrifugation. At the onset of centrifugation, animals have a selective loss of fat, causing an initial body mass loss. Body mass gain will resume at the same rate as uncentrifuged animals, but this subsequent gain will be lower. For this study, two different ages of Sprague Hawley neonate families were observed during centrifugation. Eight litters (dam with eight neonates) of postnatal day (PN) seven and four litters (dam with ten neonates) of PN 14 were separated into two separate groups each, centrifuge (+2G(sub z)) and environmental controls (EC) and placed into either the centrifuge or an animal holding unit in the centrifuge rotunda for a total of 16 days. P7: Total litter start mass of +2G(sub z) litter = 138.90 g/end = 311.0 g EC litter = 150.85 g/end = 516.9 g. P14: Total litter start mass of +2G(sub z) litter = 287.70 g/end = 762.5g; EC litter = 245 g/end = 942.9 g. An initial body mass loss was observed in both groups of +2G(sub z) animals for two days after the onset of centrifugation, but then an increase began to occur. Literature suggests adult animals at +2G(sub z), will have an initial loss, but will resume similar growth rates over time as compared to control animals. The P7 +2G(sub z) animals began to gain body mass, but showed a significantly slower growth rate than their EC animals for the duration of the test (pace). The P14 +2G(sub z) animals began to show similar growth rates to their EC after day nine. At day 16, both groups of +2Gz animals were significantly smaller than the EC animals (pace). At +2Gz, animals experience an initial body mass loss. Older animals are able to resume similar growth rates as their controls, but younger animals showed growth rates to be significantly reduced.

Baer, L. A.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Using dorsal surface for individual identification of dairy calves through 3D deep learning algorithms

Advances in machine learning techniques have allowed the development of computer vision systems (CVS) that can accurately predict several phenotypes of interest for livestock operations. In this context, 3D images taken from a top-down view are particularly useful for estimating body condition score, growth development, and body biometrics in cattle. Frequently, such CVS rely on identification (ID) systems, such as electronic tags, as a way to match animal ID and the predicted phenotype. However, the same 3D images used to predict body weight and other animal biometrics could be adopted for animal recognition as well. Such alternative would optimize CVS to recognize animal ID and monitor growth development simultaneously while leveraging the same hardware infrastructure. Furthermore, this strategy could be used to recognize animals with similar color patterns. Nonetheless, growing animals are continuously changing body shape, which could limit its use as an invariant feature for pattern recognition. Thus, the objectives of this study were: (1) to compare algorithms for different 3D object representations to identify individual animals; and (2) to evaluate how short-term changes in body shape due to animal growth affect the predictive performance of these algorithms. For objective 1, the algorithms were trained (n = 4,558) and tested (n = 1,139) using images from 38 Holstein calves. For objective 2, we designed three different experiments using images (n = 2,347) from five Holstein calves taken over six weeks during their growing period, always training and testing on different weeks. Each experiment evaluated how changing a different parameter of the image capturing procedure affected the predictive ability of the trained algorithms. In the first experiment, we varied the total number of images per animal in the training set; in the second experiment, we varied the number of weeks while keeping a fixed number of images in the training set; and in the third experiment, we skipped weeks between images in the training and test sets. The F 1 score for objective (1) was up to 0.804 when testing with the last frames of each video, and up to 0.959 when using random frames for testing. For objective (2), the F 1 score was up to 0.947 for the first experiment when using 130 images per animal; up to 0.979 for the second experiment when using all five weeks; and up to 0.917 when not skipping weeks between training and testing. In conclusion, these results show that deep learning algorithms can be used to identify individual animals through their dorsal area 3D surfaces, and, from our experiments using calves in their growing period, that they are robust enough to account for changes in body shape and size, making them a promising tool for animal recognition during growth.

3D neural networks↗
NASA NTRS2006

Effect of 16-Day Spaceflight on the Morphology of Thick-Toed Geckos (Pachydactylus Bibronii Smith, 1846)

There are grounds to believe that space flown experiments on thick-toed geckos may help solve the problem of floatation of vertebrates in microgravity. Geckos of this species carry on the lower surface of their toes numerous setae, which allow them to remain attached to any surfaces regardless of the gravitational effects. Experiments were performed on 5 animals in each of the following groups: flight, basal, synchronous and laboratory controls. 32 hours after a 16- day flight the animals were euthanazed and examined using traditional histology and X-ray microtomography. Body mass losses were 10% in the flight animals, 7.4% in the synchronous controls, and 12.3% in the laboratory controls. Since the flight and synchronous animals were kept at 15-19 C, whereas the laboratory controls - at 26-28 C, it can be inferred that environmental temperatures impacted animal metabolism no less than flight induced stress. Blood tests of the flown animals showed a 12% decrease of erythrocytes and a 40% decrease of dark-nuclear granulocytes, with the number of light-nuclear granulocytes remaining unchanged. In the small intestine the number of goblet cells increased allowing them to occupy a large portion of the cyptal surface. Enhanced secretion was accompanied by the appearance of dead intestinal cells in the lumen. Clusters of degraded hepatocytes were found at the liver edges of flight animals. Signs of liver involution were similar to the changes produced by alcohol consumption but did not spread to its central part. In the heart, insignificant hypertrophy and excessive blood supply that still remained within the physiological norm were detected. No significant changes were found in the pancreas, lungs, nervous systems or the snouts of the flown animals, but the volume of their gallbladders was greater than in controls. The epithelium of toe pads of the flight animals became thinner. Histological examination of the humerus did not demonstrate significant mineral losses. However, X-ray microtomography showed changes in the trabecular structure in the subepyphyseal zone of bones in flight animals compared to the controls. In summary, all the changes detected in the flight animals were adaptive. Therefore, geckos of this species can be used as an animal model for morphological studies in longer-duration space flights.

Gulimova, V. I.↗
NASA NTRS2017

New Development in NASA's Rodent Research Hardware for Conducting Long Duration Biomedical and Basic Research in Space

Animal models, particularly rodents, are the foundation of pre-clinical research to understand human diseases and evaluate new therapeutics, and play a key role in advancing biomedical discoveries both on Earth and in space. The National Research Councils Decadal survey emphasized the importance of expanding NASAs life sciences research to perform long duration, rodent experiments on the International Space Station (ISS). To accomplish this objective, flight hardware, operations, and science capabilities were developed at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) to enhance science return for both commercial (CASIS) and government-sponsored rodent research. The Rodent Research program at NASA ARC has pioneered a new research capability on the International Space Station and has progressed toward translating research to the ISS utilizing commercial rockets, collaborating with academia and science industry, while training crewmembers to assist in performing research on orbit. Throughout phases of these missions, our practices, hardware and operations have evolved from tested to developed standards, and we are able to modify and customize our procedure and operations for mission specific requirements. The Rodent Research Habitat is capable of providing a living environment for animals on ISS according to standard animal welfare requirements. Using the cameras in the Habitat, the Rodent Research team has the ability to perform daily health checks on animals, and further analyze the collected videos for behavioral studies. A recent development of the Rodent Research hardware is inclusion of enrichment, to provide the animals the ability to rest and huddle. The Enrichment Hut is designed carefully for adult mice (up to 35 week old) within animal welfare, engineering, and operations constraints. The Hut is made out of the same stainless steel mesh as the cage interior, it has an ingress and an egress to allow animals move freely, and a hinge door to allow crewmembers remove the animals easily. The Rodent Research team has also developed Live Animal Return (LAR) capability, which will be implemented during Rodent Research-5 mission for the first time. The animals will be transported from the Habitat to a Transporter, which will return on the Dragon capsule and splashes down in the Pacific Ocean. Once SpaceX retrieves the Dragon, all powered payloads will be transferred to a SeaVan and transferred to the Long Beach pier. The NASA team then receives the transporter and delivers to a PI-designated laboratory within 120 mile radius of Long Beach. This is a significant improvement allowing researchers to examine animals within 72 hrs. of reentry or to conduct recovery experiments. Together, the hardware improvements and experience that the Rodent Research team has gained working with principal investigators and ISS crew to conduct complex experiments on orbit are expanding capabilities for long duration rodent research on the ISS to achieve both basic science and biomedical objectives.

ISS↗
NASA NTRS1992

Stabilization of gaze during circular locomotion in darkness. II. Contribution of velocity storage to compensatory eye and head nystagmus in the running monkey

1. Yaw eye in head (Eh) and head on body velocities (Hb) were measured in two monkeys that ran around the perimeter of a circular platform in darkness. The platform was stationary or could be counterrotated to reduce body velocity in space (Bs) while increasing gait velocity on the platform (Bp). The animals were also rotated while seated in a primate chair at eccentric locations to provide linear and angular accelerations similar to those experienced while running. 2. Both animals had head and eye nystagmus while running in darkness during which slow phase gaze velocity on the body (Gb) partially compensated for body velocity in space (Bs). The eyes, driven by the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR), supplied high-frequency characteristics, bringing Gb up to compensatory levels at the beginning and end of the slow phases. The head provided substantial gaze compensation during the slow phases, probably through the vestibulocollic reflex (VCR). Synchronous eye and head quick phases moved gaze in the direction of running. Head movements occurred consistently only when animals were running. This indicates that active body and limb motion may be essential for inducing the head-eye gaze synergy. 3. Gaze compensation was good when running in both directions in one animal and in one direction in the other animal. The animals had long VOR time constants in these directions. The VOR time constant was short to one side in one animal, and it had poor gaze compensation in this direction. Postlocomotory nystagmus was weaker after running in directions with a long VOR time constant than when the animals were passively rotated in darkness. We infer that velocity storage in the vestibular system had been activated to produce continuous Eh and Hb during running and to counteract postrotatory afterresponses. 4. Continuous compensatory gaze nystagmus was not produced by passive eccentric rotation with the head stabilized or free. This indicates that an aspect of active locomotion, most likely somatosensory feedback, was responsible for activating velocity storage. 5. Nystagmus was compared when an animal ran in darkness and in light. the beat frequency of eye and head nystagmus was lower, and the quick phases were larger in darkness. The duration of head and eye quick phases covaried. Eye quick phases were larger when animals ran in darkness than when they were passively rotated. The maximum velocity and duration of eye quick phases were the same in both conditions. 6. The platform was counterrotated under one monkey in darkness while it ran in the direction of its long vestibular time constant.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS).

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗
DOE OSTI2018

Microalgae Commodities from Coal-Fired Power Plant Flue Gas CO 2 (Draft Final Report, October 1, 2015 to June 30, 2018)

The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) operates an approximately 900-MWe coal fired-power plant at Stanton Energy Center (SEC), which was the site for this project to develop an integrated process for microalgae utilization of flue gas CO 2 for the production of biofuels and animal feeds. Microalgae have both potentially high yields (tons biomass/acre-year) and can be used for biofuels or high value animal feeds. The high biomass yields of microalgae cultures allows efficient use of land and water resources. They can also use wastewaters, recycle fertilizers, and have lower overall greenhouse gas emissions than conventional biofuels or animal feeds. However, many technical issues and technology gaps related to large-scale algae biomass production still must be resolved before such a process can be scaled-up. In this project, techno-economic analyses (TEAs) and life cycle assessments (LCAs) were carried out, projecting the costs and impacts of large-scale algae biomass cultivation for production of biofuels and animal feeds using OUC-SEC flue gas CO 2 . In addition, 3.5-m 2 (~ 40-ft 2 ) experimental raceway ponds were used for the cultivation of microalgae at OUC-SEC and also at the University of Florida. A large-scale algae farm was designed for a 1,300-acre site (~500-ha) located near the OUC-SEC plant, consisting of 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of paddle wheel mixed raceway ponds (each 4 ha), receiving flue gas piped approximately 3 km (2 miles) from the SEC plant. In the first year of this project (Budget Period 1, BP1), the TEA and LCA studies focused on the production of biogas produced from algae biomass and its use to replace coal at the power plant. However, due to the resulting very high cost of CO 2 mitigation, the process was modified to produce compressed natural gas (‘renewable natural gas’, RNG) for transportation fuel from the biogas, in conjunction with wastewater treatment by the algae cultures. During Budget Period 2 (BP2), the TEA and LCA studies focused on the production of animal feeds by the algae farm, using fresh water and agricultural fertilizers. In this case, CO 2 mitigation costs would be entirely covered if the algal biomass could be sold at between a two to three-fold premium above soybean feed, based on a higher nutritional value for the algal biomass. In support of the above analyses, microalgae cultivation experiments were carried out for over two years during this project in small 3.5-m 2 ponds at both SEC and the University of Florida. The most important results were the demonstration at SEC of the cultivation, on flue gas CO 2 , of filamentous algae biomass, which can be harvested at much lower cost than processes required for the colloidal algae species, as currently used by almost all algal mass culture biofuels and animal feeds projects. The yield of biogas production from the algal biomass was investigated by the University of Florida, and the value of the algal biomass as animal feed was projected based on biochemical analysis of the SEC ad UF biomasses. The conclusion from TEA/LCA carried out for the biogas case in BP1 was that a 400-ha algae system producing biomethane for co-firing at OUC-SEC could generate 27,500 MWh/yr of renewable power, offsetting 28,400 Mg CO 2eq /yr, which amounted to less than 1% of the CO 2 emitted by the SEC plant. (Mg = metric ton = 1.10 short tons). The overall cost was projected at $820/Mg of CO 2eq reduction, making this process unfeasible under any possible scenario. More favorable economics were projected when the biogas was converted to higher value transportation fuel, RNG, which also would benefit from renewable fuel (RINs) and possibly other credits. However, only by combining RNG production with municipal wastewater treatment in the algal ponds would CO 2 utilization result in no net cost or even be economically beneficial (i.e., generate income to the power plant). However, in that case the amount of CO 2 utilization would be even lower than that in the biogas case, because a large fraction of the carbon required would be supplied from the wastewater and CO 2 recovered during biogas upgrading to RNG. In brief, use of power plant CO 2 emissions for algal biofuels production was not favorable, even with optimistic assumptions about biomass productivity and biogas yields. For the animal feed case, developed during BP2, algal biomass would replace soybean feeds. The same scale 400-ha algal production plant was projected to produce 26,280 Mg per year of animal feed with a utilization of 45,300 Mg flue gas CO 2 taken up by the algal biomass. However, the process would result in a projected reduction of 112,500 Mg CO 2eq emissions per year, or roughly 1.9% of OUC-SEC emissions, mainly due to the large CO 2eq emissions from conventional soybean production. A major factor in this analysis were greenhouse gas emissions from land use changes. The cost of CO 2 utilization was projected at $116/Mg if the biomass sold for the same price as soybean meal, but if sold as a premium feed (e.g., based on high omega-3 fatty acid and carotenoid content), the power plant could actually charge for the CO 2 utilized. These economic projections are sensitive to assumptions underlying the TEA and LCA models, including biomass composition and the financial models used to project CAPEX and OPEX. Further development of an algal animal feed production using coal-fired power plant flue gas CO 2 is recommended based on the TEA and LCA, as well as experimental results. The required research and development is detailed in a technology gap analysis (Section 11), which focuses on the demonstrations of the cultivation of higher value filamentous algal biomass at OUC-SEC.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2017

Current nonclinical testing paradigm enables safe entry to First-In-Human clinical trials: The IQ consortium nonclinical to clinical translational database

The contribution of animal testing in drug development has been widely debated and challenged. An industry-wide nonclinical to clinical translational database was created to determine how safety assessments in animal models translate to First-In-Human clinical risk. The blinded database was composed of 182 molecules and contained animal toxicology data coupled with clinical observations from phase I human studies. Animal and clinical data were categorized by organ system and correlations determined. The 2 × 2 contingency table (true positive, false positive, true negative, false negative) was used for statistical analysis. Sensitivity was 48% with a 43% positive predictive value (PPV). The nonhuman primate had the strongest performance in predicting adverse effects, especially for gastrointestinal and nervous system categories. When the same target organ was identified in both the rodent and nonrodent, the PPV increased. Specificity was 84% with an 86% negative predictive value (NPV). The beagle dog had the strongest performance in predicting an absence of clinical adverse effects. If no target organ toxicity was observed in either test species, the NPV increased. While nonclinical studies can demonstrate great value in the PPV for certain species and organ categories, the NPV was the stronger predictive performance measure across test species and target organs indicating that an absence of toxicity in animal studies strongly predicts a similar outcome in the clinic. These results support the current regulatory paradigm of animal testing in supporting safe entry to clinical trials and provide context for emerging alternate models. - Highlights: • Translational database created to determine animal to human safety concordance. • 182 molecules with animal and clinical data; concordance parameters determined • Positive predictive value of 43%; Negative predictive value of 86% • Absence of toxicity in animal study strongly predicts similar outcome in the clinic. • Database supports animal testing to ensure human safety in the clinic.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2003

Hippocampal place cell instability after lesions of the head direction cell network

The occurrence of cells that encode spatial location (place cells) or head direction (HD cells) in the rat limbic system suggests that these cell types are important for spatial navigation. We sought to determine whether place fields of hippocampal CA1 place cells would be altered in animals receiving lesions of brain areas containing HD cells. Rats received bilateral lesions of anterodorsal thalamic nuclei (ADN), postsubiculum (PoS), or sham lesions, before place cell recording. Although place cells from lesioned animals did not differ from controls on many place-field characteristics, such as place-field size and infield firing rate, the signal was significantly degraded with respect to measures of outfield firing rate, spatial coherence, and information content. Surprisingly, place cells from lesioned animals were more likely modulated by the directional heading of the animal. Rotation of the landmark cue showed that place fields from PoS-lesioned animals were not controlled by the cue and shifted unpredictably between sessions. Although fields from ADN-lesioned animals tended to have less landmark control than fields from control animals, this impairment was mild compared with cells recorded from PoS-lesioned animals. Removal of the prominent visual cue also led to instability of place-field representations in PoS-lesioned, but not ADN-lesioned, animals. Together, these findings suggest that an intact HD system is not necessary for the maintenance of place fields, but lesions of brain areas that convey the HD signal can degrade this signal, and lesions of the PoS might lead to perceptual or mnemonic deficits, leading to place-field instability between sessions.

NASA Program Biomedical Research and Countermeasur↗
NASA NTRS1977

Femoral development in chronically centrifuged rats

Groups of 30-d-old male and female rats were centrifuged at 2.00 G (RE, Rotation Experimental), 1.05 G (RC, Rotation Control) or exposed to the noise and wind of the centrifuge at 1.00 G (EC, Earth Control) for periods of 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 weeks. Measurements of their femurs indicated that exposure to centrifugation a) decreased femoral length in RE animals, b) increased femoral length in RC animals, c) reduced femoral diameter in RE and RC animals, d) increased L/D ratios in RC animals, e) decreased L/D ratios in RE animals, f) increased femur length/body weight in RE animals, g) decreased cortical thickness (CT) in RE animals, h) increased relative CT in RE animals, and decreased it in RC animals, i) accelerated ossification in RC femoral heads, j) thinned and distorted RE epiphyseal plates, and k) thickened condylar cartilage in RE females. The effects tended to be strongly sexually dimorphic, with females more severely affected by the stress than males.

Smith, S. D.↗
NASA NTRS2004

A molecular timescale of eukaryote evolution and the rise of complex multicellular life

BACKGROUND: The pattern and timing of the rise in complex multicellular life during Earth's history has not been established. Great disparity persists between the pattern suggested by the fossil record and that estimated by molecular clocks, especially for plants, animals, fungi, and the deepest branches of the eukaryote tree. Here, we used all available protein sequence data and molecular clock methods to place constraints on the increase in complexity through time. RESULTS: Our phylogenetic analyses revealed that (i) animals are more closely related to fungi than to plants, (ii) red algae are closer to plants than to animals or fungi, (iii) choanoflagellates are closer to animals than to fungi or plants, (iv) diplomonads, euglenozoans, and alveolates each are basal to plants+animals+fungi, and (v) diplomonads are basal to other eukaryotes (including alveolates and euglenozoans). Divergence times were estimated from global and local clock methods using 20-188 proteins per node, with data treated separately (multigene) and concatenated (supergene). Different time estimation methods yielded similar results (within 5%): vertebrate-arthropod (964 million years ago, Ma), Cnidaria-Bilateria (1,298 Ma), Porifera-Eumetozoa (1,351 Ma), Pyrenomycetes-Plectomycetes (551 Ma), Candida-Saccharomyces (723 Ma), Hemiascomycetes-filamentous Ascomycota (982 Ma), Basidiomycota-Ascomycota (968 Ma), Mucorales-Basidiomycota (947 Ma), Fungi-Animalia (1,513 Ma), mosses-vascular plants (707 Ma), Chlorophyta-Tracheophyta (968 Ma), Rhodophyta-Chlorophyta+Embryophyta (1,428 Ma), Plantae-Animalia (1,609 Ma), Alveolata-plants+animals+fungi (1,973 Ma), Euglenozoa-plants+animals+fungi (1,961 Ma), and Giardia-plants+animals+fungi (2,309 Ma). By extrapolation, mitochondria arose approximately 2300-1800 Ma and plastids arose 1600-1500 Ma. Estimates of the maximum number of cell types of common ancestors, combined with divergence times, showed an increase from two cell types at 2500 Ma to approximately 10 types at 1500 Ma and 50 cell types at approximately 1000 Ma. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that oxygen levels in the environment, and the ability of eukaryotes to extract energy from oxygen, as well as produce oxygen, were key factors in the rise of complex multicellular life. Mitochondria and organisms with more than 2-3 cell types appeared soon after the initial increase in oxygen levels at 2300 Ma. The addition of plastids at 1500 Ma, allowing eukaryotes to produce oxygen, preceded the major rise in complexity.

Evolution, Molecular↗