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The act provides that utilities must purchase power for qualifying producers of electricity at nondiscriminatory rates. It exempts private generators from virtually all state and federal utility regulation. Pertinent reference material is provided.
Science in Flux traces the history of one of the most powerful nuclear test reactors in the United States and the only nuclear facility ever built by NASA. In the late 1950's NASA constructed Plum Brook Station on a vast tract of undeveloped land near Sandusky, Ohio. Once fully operational in 1963, it supported basic research for NASA's nuclear rocket program (NERVA). Plum Brook represents a significant, if largely forgotten, story of nuclear research, political change, and the professional culture of the scientists and engineers who devoted their lives to construct and operate the facility. In 1973, after only a decade of research, the government shut Plum Brook down before many of its experiments could be completed. Even the valiant attempt to redefine the reactor as an environmental analysis tool failed, and the facility went silent. The reactors lay in costly, but quiet standby for nearly a quarter-century before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided to decommission the reactors and clean up the site. The history of Plum Brook reveals the perils and potentials of that nuclear technology. As NASA, Congress, and space enthusiasts all begin looking once again at the nuclear option for sending humans to Mars, the echoes of Plum Brook's past will resonate with current policy and space initiatives.
A recent history of electricity forecasting in California is given. Dealing with forecasts and regulatory uncertainty is discussed. Graphs are presented for: (1) Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Pacific Gas and Electric present and projected reserve margins; (2) California electricity peak demand forecast; and (3) California electricity production.
This publication contains the proceedings of the Second NASA Formal Methods Symposium sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and held in Washington D.C. April 13-15, 2010. Topics covered include: Decision Engines for Software Analysis using Satisfiability Modulo Theories Solvers; Verification and Validation of Flight-Critical Systems; Formal Methods at Intel -- An Overview; Automatic Review of Abstract State Machines by Meta Property Verification; Hardware-independent Proofs of Numerical Programs; Slice-based Formal Specification Measures -- Mapping Coupling and Cohesion Measures to Formal Z; How Formal Methods Impels Discovery: A Short History of an Air Traffic Management Project; A Machine-Checked Proof of A State-Space Construction Algorithm; Automated Assume-Guarantee Reasoning for Omega-Regular Systems and Specifications; Modeling Regular Replacement for String Constraint Solving; Using Integer Clocks to Verify the Timing-Sync Sensor Network Protocol; Can Regulatory Bodies Expect Efficient Help from Formal Methods?; Synthesis of Greedy Algorithms Using Dominance Relations; A New Method for Incremental Testing of Finite State Machines; Verification of Faulty Message Passing Systems with Continuous State Space in PVS; Phase Two Feasibility Study for Software Safety Requirements Analysis Using Model Checking; A Prototype Embedding of Bluespec System Verilog in the PVS Theorem Prover; SimCheck: An Expressive Type System for Simulink; Coverage Metrics for Requirements-Based Testing: Evaluation of Effectiveness; Software Model Checking of ARINC-653 Flight Code with MCP; Evaluation of a Guideline by Formal Modelling of Cruise Control System in Event-B; Formal Verification of Large Software Systems; Symbolic Computation of Strongly Connected Components Using Saturation; Towards the Formal Verification of a Distributed Real-Time Automotive System; Slicing AADL Specifications for Model Checking; Model Checking with Edge-valued Decision Diagrams; and Data-flow based Model Analysis.
Several years of stress, smoking, increased alcohol use, and weight gain accompanied hypertension in a young man with an ominous family history. Aided by short-term drug therapy, he changed his ways and reduced his blood pressure for the long term.
On Earth, the primary purpose of the skeleton is provide structural support for the body. In space, the support function of the skeleton is reduced since, without gravity, structures have only mass and no weight. The adaptation to space flight is manifested by shifts in mineral distribution, altered bone turnover, and regional mineral deficits in weight-bearing bones. The shifts in mineral distribution appear to be related to the cephalic fluid shift. The redistribution of mineral from one bone to another or to and from areas in the same bone in response to alterations in gravitational loads is more likely to affect skeletal function than quantitative whole body losses and gains. The changes in bone turnover appear dependent upon changes in body weight with weight loss tending to increase bone resorption as well as decrease bone formation. During bedrest, the bone response to unloading varies depending upon the routine activity level of the subjects with more active subjects showing a greater suppression of bone formation in the iliac crest with inactivity. Changes in body composition during space flight are predicted by bedrest studies on Earth which show loss of lean body mass and increase tn body fat in adult males after one month. In ambulatory studies on Earth, exercising adult males of the same age, height, g weight, body mass index, and shoe size show significantly higher whole body mineral and lean body mass. than non-exercising subjects. Nutritional preference appears to change with activity level. Diet histories in exercisers and nonexercisers who maintain identical body weights show no differences in nutrients except for slightly higher carbohydrate intake in the exercisers. The absence of differences in dietary calcium in men with higher total body calcium is noteworthy. In this situation, the increased bone mineral content was facilitated by the calcium endocrine system. This regulatory system can be by-passed by raising dietary calcium. Increased calcium intake can increase the calcium content in normally loaded bone. However, bone with a higher calcium content still decreases proportionally to normal bone during unloading. Nutritional requirements in space should be reevaluated with respect to these adaptive changes to loading and physical activity.
In the first report in this series we described the relationships and evolution of 152 individual proteins of the EF-hand subfamilies. Here we add 66 additional proteins and define eight (CDC, TPNV, CLNB, LPS, DGK, 1F8, VIS, TCBP) new subfamilies and seven (CAL, SQUD, CDPK, EFH5, TPP, LAV, CRGP) new unique proteins, which we assume represent new subfamilies. The main focus of this study is the classification of individual EF-hand domains. Five subfamilies--calmodulin, troponin C, essential light chain, regulatory light chain, CDC31/caltractin--and three uniques--call, squidulin, and calcium-dependent protein kinase--are congruent in that all evolved from a common four-domain precursor. In contrast calpain and sarcoplasmic calcium-binding protein (SARC) each evolved from its own one-domain precursor. The remaining 19 subfamilies and uniques appear to have evolved by translocation and splicing of genes encoding the EF-hand domains that were precursors to the congruent eight and to calpain and to SARC. The rates of evolution of the EF-hand domains are slower following formation of the subfamilies and establishment of their functions. Subfamilies are not readily classified by patterns of calcium coordination, interdomain linker stability, and glycine and proline distribution. There are many homoplasies indicating that similar variants of the EF-hand evolved by independent pathways.
The long history of space flight includes missions that used Space Nuclear Auxiliary Power devices, starting with the Transit 4A Spacecraft (1961), continuing through the Apollo, Pioneer, Viking, Voyager, Galileo, Ulysses, Mars Pathfinder, and most recently, Cassini (1997). All Major Radiological Source (MRS) missions were processed at Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral Air Station (KSC/CCAS) Launch Site in full compliance with program and regulatory requirements. The cumulative experience gained supporting these past missions has led to significant innovations which will be useful for benchmarking future MRS mission ground processing. Innovations developed during ground support for the Cassini mission include official declaration of sealed-source classifications, utilization of a mobile analytical laboratory, employment of a computerized dosimetry record management system, and cross-utilization of personnel from related disciplines.
The determination of the magnitude of sonic boom exposure which would be acceptable to the general population requires, as a starting point, a method to assess and compare individual sonic booms. There is no consensus within the scientific and regulatory communities regarding an appropriate sonic boom assessment metric. Loudness, being a fundamental and well-understood attribute of human hearing was chosen as a means of comparing sonic booms of differing shapes and amplitudes. The figure illustrates the basic steps which yield a calculated value of loudness. Based upon the aircraft configuration and its operating conditions, the sonic boom pressure signature which reaches the ground is calculated. This pressure-time history is transformed to the frequency domain and converted into a one-third octave band spectrum. The essence of the loudness method is to account for the frequency response and integration characteristics of the auditory system. The result of the calculation procedure is a numerical description (perceived level, dB) which represents the loudness of the sonic boom waveform.
Now that the NASA Commercial Crew Program (CCP) is beginning its full certification contract for crew transportation to the International Space Station (ISS), is it time for industry to embrace a minimum set of core safety attributes? Those attributes can then be evolved into an industry-led set of basic safety standards and requirements. After 50 years of human space travel sponsored by governments, there are two basic conditions that now exist within the international space industry. The first, there is enough of a space-faring history to encourage the space industry to design, develop and operate human spaceflight systems without government contracts for anything other than services. Second, industry is capable of defining and enforcing a set of industry-based safety attributes and standards for human spaceflight to low-Earth orbit (LEO). This paper will explore both of these basic conditions with a focus on the safety attributes and standards. In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now starting to dialogue with industry about the basic safety principles and attributes needed for potential future regulatory oversight. This process is not yet formalized and will take a number of years once approval is given to move forward. Therefore, throughout the next few years, it is an excellent time and opportunity for industry to collaborate together and develop the core set of attributes and standards. As industry engages and embraces a common set of safety attributes, then government agencies, like the FAA and NASA can use that industry-based product to strengthen their efforts on a safe commercial spaceflight foundation for the future. As the commercial space industry takes the lead role in establishing core safety attributes, and then enforcing those attributes, the entire planet can move away from governmental control of design and development and let industry expand safe and successful space operations in LEO. At that point the governmental agencies can focus on oversight of the industries' defined standards and enforcement for common welfare of the space-faring populous and overall public safety.
One of the primary goals of the study of thirst is to understand why drinking occurs under ad libitum or natural conditions. An appreciation of the experimental strategies applied by physiologists studying thirst from different perspectives can facilitate progress toward understanding the natural history of drinking behavior. Drinking research carried out using three separate perspectives-homeostatic, circadian rhythms, and food-associated-generates types of information about the mechanisms underlying drinking behavior. By combining research strategies and methods derived from each of these approaches, it has been possible to gain new information that increases our appreciation of the interactions between homeostatic mechanisms and circadian rhythms in the modulation of water intake and how these might be related to drinking associated with food intake under near natural conditions.
The effects of spaceflight and analogues of spaceflight are discussed here and in nine accompanying articles. In this summary we present spaceflight studies with human subjects, animal subjects, and cell cultures and we review ground-based systems used to model the observed effects of spaceflight on the immune system. Human paradigms include bed rest, academic or psychological stress, physical stress, hypobaric or high altitude stress, and confinement. Animal models include antiorthostatic and orthostatic suspension, hypobarism, and confinement. The ten manuscripts in this collection were selected to provide a summary that should give the reader an overview of the various activities of spaceflight immunology researchers throughout the history of space travel. This manuscript identifies the major contributors to the study of spaceflight immunology, explains what types of studies have been conducted, and how they have changed over the years. Also presented is a discussion of the unusual limitations associated with spaceflight research and the efforts to develop appropriate ground-based surrogate model systems. Specific details, data, and mechanistic speculations will be held to a minimum, because they will be discussed in depth in the other articles in the collection.
PROBLEM: Discovering the causes of unusual phenotypes in human subjects is an important aspect of patient-oriented research. MATERIAL: The tools of clinical pharmacology are uniquely useful in addressing these problems. PATIENTS, SUBJECTS, OR CASE HISTORIES: We evaluated a 42-year-old patient with lifelong orthostatic hypotension and ptosis of the eyelids. He underwent a series of biochemical, physiological, and pharmacological tests outlined in this article. RESULTS: These studies indicated that sympathetic innervation was intact but that the sympathetic neurotransmitter was dopamine rather than norepinephrine. These results demonstrated that dopamine-beta-hydroxylase deficiency underlies the clinical abnormalities of this patient. CONCLUSION: In selected individuals with unusual phenotypes, the techniques of clinical chemistry and clinical pharmacology can define the nature of the defect at almost the resolution of the human genome.
A complex but crucial relationship exists between blood volume and blood pressure in human subjects; it has been recognized that in essential hypertension, renovascular hypertension, and pheochromocytoma, the relationship between plasma volume and diastolic blood pressure is an inverse one. This phenomenon has not been studied in individuals with low normal and reduced blood pressures. Orthostatic intolerance is a commonly encountered abnormality in blood pressure regulation often associated with tachycardia in the standing position. Most of these patients have varying degrees of reduced blood volume. We tested the hypothesis that the relationship previously found between plasma volume and diastolic blood pressure in pressor states would also hold in orthostatic intolerance. We studied 16 patients with a history of symptomatic orthostatic intolerance associated with an elevation in plasma norepinephrine in the upright posture and hypovolemia in 9 patients and normovolemia in 7 patients. Our studies demonstrate an inverse relationship between plasma volume and diastolic blood pressure in patients with orthostatic intolerance. This finding also holds for the change in diastolic blood pressure in response to upright posture. In this relationship, patients with orthostatic intolerance with high plasma norepinephrine resemble those with essential hypertension, renovascular hypertension, and pheochromocytoma. We conclude that in a variety of conditions at both ends of the blood pressure spectrum, the seemingly paradoxical association of hypovolemia and diastolic blood pressure is preserved.
Estrogen deficiency results in increased bone turnover and net bone loss in rats as well as humans. The respective roles of bone turnover and mechanical strain in mediating estrogen deficiency-induced cancellous bone loss were investigated in ovariectomized rats. Ovariectomy resulted in increased bone turnover in long bones. However, cancellous bone was preferentially lost in the metaphysis, a site that experiences low strain energy during normal physical activity. No bone loss was observed in the epiphysis, a site experiencing higher strain energy, despite a similar increase in bone turnover. The role of mechanical strain in maintaining bone balance was investigated by altering the strain history. Mechanical strain was increased or decreased in long bones of ovariectomized rats by treadmill exercise or functional unloading, respectively. Increasing mechanical loading reduced bone loss in the metaphysis. In contrast, decreasing weight bearing accentuated bone loss in the metaphysis and resulted in bone loss in the epiphysis. Finally, administration of estrogen to ovariectomized rats reduced bone loss in unloaded limbs and prevented bone loss in the loaded limbs. These results suggest that estrogen alters the mechanosensory (mechanostat) set point for skeletal adaptation, effectively reducing the minimum strain energy levels at which bone is added. Additionally, these studies suggest that physical activity as well as endocrine status play an important role in maintenance of the female skeleton during aging.
Brief History of NTP: Project Rover Began in 1950s by Los Alamos Scientific Labs (now Los Alamos National Labs) and ran until 1970s Tested a series of nuclear reactor engines of varying size at Nevada Test Site (now Nevada National Security Site) Ranged in scale from 111 kN (25 klbf) to 1.1 MN (250 klbf) Included Nuclear Furnace-1 tests Demonstrated the viability and capability of a nuclear rocket engine test program One of Kennedys 4 goals during famous moon speech to Congress Nuclear Engines for Rocket Vehicle Applications (NERVA) Atomic Energy Commission and NASA joint venture started in 1964 Parallel effort to Project Rover was focused on technology demonstration Tested XE engine, a 245-kN (55-klbf) engine to demonstrate startup shutdown sequencing. Hot-hydrogen stream is passed directly through fuel elements potential for radioactive material to be eroded into gaseous fuel flow as identified in previous programs NERVA and Project Rover (1950s-70s) were able to test in open atmosphere similar to conventional rocket engine test stands today Nuclear Furance-1 tests employed a full scrubber system Increased government and environmental regulations prohibit the modern testing in open atmosphere. Since the 1960s, there has been an increasing cessation on open air testing of nuclear material Political and national security concerns further compound the regulatory environment
Estrogen deficiency induced bone loss is associated with increased bone turnover in rats and humans. The respective roles of increased bone turnover and altered balance between bone formation and bone resorption in mediating estrogen deficiency-induced cancellous bone loss was investigated in ovariectomized rats. Ovariectomy resulted in increased bone turnover in the distal femur. However, cancellous bone was preferentially lost in the metaphysis, a site that normally experiences low strain energy. No bone loss was observed in the epiphysis, a site experiencing higher strain energy. The role of mechanical strain in maintaining bone balance was investigated by altering the strain history. Mechanical strain was increased and decreased in long bones of ovariectomized rats by treadmill exercise and functional unloading, respectively. Functional unloading was achieved during orbital spaceflight and following unilateral sciatic neurotomy. Increasing mechanical loading reduced bone loss in the metaphysis. In contrast, decreasing loading accentuated bone loss in the metaphysis and resulted in bone loss in the epiphysis. Finally, administration of estrogen to ovariectomized rats reduced bone loss in the unloaded and prevented loss in the loaded limb following unilateral sciatic neurotomy in part by reducing indices of bone turnover. These results suggest that estrogen regulates the rate of bone turnover, but the overall balance between bone formation and bone resorption is influenced by prevailing levels of mechanical strain.
INTRODUCTION: The current standard for arrhythmic risk stratification is electrophysiologic (EP) testing, which, due to its invasive nature, is limited to patients already known to be at high risk. A number of noninvasive tests, such as determination of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) or heart rate variability, have been evaluated as additional risk stratifiers. Microvolt T wave alternans (TWA) is a promising new risk marker. Prospective evaluation of noninvasive risk markers in low- or moderate-risk populations requires studies involving very large numbers of patients, and in such studies, documentation of the occurrence of ventricular tachyarrhythmias is difficult. In the present study, we identified a high-risk population, recipients of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), and prospectively compared microvolt TWA with invasive EP testing and other risk markers with respect to their ability to predict recurrence of ventricular tachyarrhythmias as documented by ICD electrograms. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ninety-five patients with a history of ventricular tachyarrhythmias undergoing implantation of an ICD underwent EP testing, assessment of TWA, as well as determination of LVEF, baroreflex sensitivity, signal-averaged ECG, analysis of 24-hour Holter monitoring, and QT dispersion from the 12-lead surface ECG. The endpoint of the study was first appropriate ICD therapy for electrogram-documented ventricular fibrillation or tachycardia during follow-up. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that TWA (P < 0.006) and LVEF (P < 0.04) were the only significant univariate risk stratifiers. EP testing was not statistically significant (P < 0.2). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that TWA was the only statistically significant independent risk factor. CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of microvolt TWA compared favorably with both invasive EP testing and other currently used noninvasive risk assessment methods in predicting recurrence of ventricular tachyarrhythmias in ICD recipients. This study suggests that TWA might also be a powerful tool for risk stratification in low- or moderate-risk patients, and needs to be prospectively evaluated in such populations.