Evaluation of positive G sub Z tolerance following simulated weightlessness (bedrest)

The magnitude of physiologic changes which are known to occur in human subjects exposed to varying levels of + G sub Z acceleration following bed rest simulation of weightlessness was studied. Bed rest effects were documented by fluid and electrolyte balance studies, maximal exercise capability, 70 deg passive tilt and lower body negative pressure tests and the ability to endure randomly prescribed acceleration profiles of +2G sub Z, +3G sub Z, and +4G sub Z. Six healthy male volunteers were studied during two weeks of bed rest after adequate control observations, followed by two weeks of recovery, followed by a second two-week period of bed rest at which time an Air Force cutaway anti-G suit was used to determine its effectiveness as a countermeasure for observed cardiovascular changes during acceleration. Results showed uniform and significant changes in all measured parameters as a consequence of bed rest including a reduced ability to tolerate +G sub Z acceleration. The use of anti-G suits significantly improved subject tolerance to all G exposures and returned measured parameters such as heart rate and blood pressure towards or to pre-bed-rest (control) values in four of the six cases

Ventilation heterogeneity in obesity.

Obesity is associated with important decrements in lung volumes. Despite this, ventilation remains normally or near normally distributed at least for moderate decrements in functional residual capacity (FRC). We tested the hypothesis that this is because maximum flow increases presumably as a result of an increased lung elastic recoil. Forced expiratory flows corrected for thoracic gas compression volume, lung volumes, and forced oscillation technique at 5-11-19 Hz were measured in 133 healthy subjects with a body mass index (BMI) ranging from 18 to 50 kg/m(2). Short-term temporal variability of ventilation heterogeneity was estimated from the interquartile range of the frequency distribution of the difference in inspiratory resistance between 5 and 19 Hz (R5-19_IQR). FRC \% predicted negatively correlated with BMI (r = -0.72, P < 0.001) and with an increase in slope of either maximal (r = -0.34, P < 0.01) or partial flow-volume curves (r = -0.30, P < 0.01). Together with a slight decrease in residual volume, this suggests an increased lung elastic recoil. Regression analysis of R5-19_IQR against FRC \% predicted and expiratory reserve volume (ERV) yielded significantly higher correlation coefficients by nonlinear than linear fitting models (r(2) = 0.40 vs. 0.30 for FRC \% predicted and r(2) = 0.28 vs. 0.19 for ERV). In conclusion, temporal variability of ventilation heterogeneities increases in obesity only when FRC falls approximately below 65\% of predicted or ERV below 0.6 liters. Above these thresholds distribution is quite well preserved presumably as a result of an increase in lung recoil

Branch Mode Selection during Early Lung Development

Many organs of higher organisms, such as the vascular system, lung, kidney, pancreas, liver and glands, are heavily branched structures. The branching process during lung development has been studied in great detail and is remarkably stereotyped. The branched tree is generated by the sequential, non-random use of three geometrically simple modes of branching (domain branching, planar and orthogonal bifurcation). While many regulatory components and local interactions have been defined an integrated understanding of the regulatory network that controls the branching process is lacking. We have developed a deterministic, spatio-temporal differential-equation based model of the core signaling network that governs lung branching morphogenesis. The model focuses on the two key signaling factors that have been identified in experiments, fibroblast growth factor (FGF10) and sonic hedgehog (SHH) as well as the SHH receptor patched (Ptc). We show that the reported biochemical interactions give rise to a Schnakenberg-type Turing patterning mechanisms that allows us to reproduce experimental observations in wildtype and mutant mice. The kinetic parameters as well as the domain shape are based on experimental data where available. The developed model is robust to small absolute and large relative changes in the parameter values. At the same time there is a strong regulatory potential in that the switching between branching modes can be achieved by targeted changes in the parameter values. We note that the sequence of different branching events may also be the result of different growth speeds: fast growth triggers lateral branching while slow growth favours bifurcations in our model. We conclude that the FGF10-SHH-Ptc1 module is sufficient to generate pattern that correspond to the observed branching modesComment: Initially published at PLoS Comput Bio

Aero-Heating of Shallow Cavities in Hypersonic Freestream Flow

The purpose of these experiments and analysis was to augment the heating database and tools used for assessment of impact-induced shallow-cavity damage to the thermal protection system of the Space Shuttle Orbiter. The effect of length and depth on the local heating disturbance of rectangular cavities tested at hypersonic freestream conditions has been globally assessed using the two-color phosphor thermography method. These rapid-response experiments were conducted in the Langley 31-Inch Mach 10 Tunnel and were initiated immediately prior to the launch of STS-114, the initial flight in the Space Shuttle Return-To-Flight Program, and continued during the first week of the mission. Previously-designed and numerically-characterized blunted-nose baseline flat plates were used as the test surfaces. Three-dimensional computational predictions of the entire model geometry were used as a check on the design process and the two-dimensional flow assumptions used for the data analysis. The experimental boundary layer state conditions were inferred using the measured heating distributions on a no-cavity test article. Two test plates were developed, each containing 4 equally-spaced spanwise-distributed cavities. The first test plate contained cavities with a constant length-to-depth ratio of 8 with design point depth-to-boundary-layer-thickness ratios of 0.1, 0.2, 0.35, and 0.5. The second test plate contained cavities with a constant design point depth-to-boundary-layer-thickness ratio of 0.35 with length-to-depth ratios of 8, 12, 16, and 20. Cavity design parameters and the test condition matrix were established using the computational predictions. Preliminary results indicate that the floor-averaged Bump Factor (local heating rate nondimensionalized by upstream reference) at the tested conditions is approximately 0.3 with a standard deviation of 0.04 for laminar-in/laminar-out conditions when the cavity length-to-boundary-layer thickness is between 2.5 and 10 and for cavities in the depth-to-boundary-layer-thickness range of 0.3 to 0.8. Over this same range of conditions and parameters, preliminary results also indicate that the maximum Bump Factor on the cavity centerline falls between 2.0 and 2.75, as long as the cavity-exit conditions remain laminar. Cavities with length-to-boundary-layer-thickness ratio less than 2.5 can not be easily classified with this approach and require further analysis

Measurement of the Inclusive Semi-electronic D0D^0 Branching Fraction

Using the angular correlation between the $\pi^+$ emitted in a $D^{*+} \rightarrow D^0 \pi^+$ decay and the $e^+$ emitted in the subsequent $D^0 \rightarrow Xe^+\nu$ decay, we have measured the branching fraction for the inclusive semi-electronic decay of the $D^0$ meson to be: {\cal B}(D^0 \rightarrow X e^+ \nu) = [6.64 \pm 0.18 (stat.) \pm 0.29 (syst.)] \%. The result is based on 1.7 fb$^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ collisions recorded by the CLEO II detector located at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR). Combining the analysis presented in this paper with previous CLEO results we find, \frac{{\cal B} (D^0 \rightarrow X e^+ \nu)} {{\cal B} (D^0 \rightarrow K^- \pi^+)} = 1.684 \pm 0.056 (stat.) \pm 0.093(syst.) and \frac{{\cal B}(D\rightarrow K^-e^+\nu)} {{\cal B}(D\rightarrow Xe^+\nu)} = 0.581 \pm 0.023 (stat.) \pm 0.028(syst.). The difference between the inclusive rate and the sum of the measured exclusive branching fractions (measured at CLEO and other experiments) is $(3.3 \pm 7.2) \%$ of the inclusive rate.Comment: Latex file, 33pages, 4 figures Submitted to PR

Precision Measurement of the Ds∗+−Ds+D_s^{*+}- D_s^+ Mass Difference

We have measured the vector-pseudoscalar mass splitting $M(D_s^{*+})-M(D_s^+) = 144.22\pm 0.47\pm 0.37 MeV$, significantly more precise than the previous world average. We minimize the systematic errors by also measuring the vector-pseudoscalar mass difference $M(D^{*0})-M(D^0)$ using the radiative decay $D^{*0}\rightarrow D^0\gamma$, obtaining $[M(D_s^{*+})-M(D_s^+)]-[M(D^{*0})-M(D^0)] = 2.09\pm 0.47\pm 0.37 MeV$. This is then combined with our previous high-precision measurement of $M(D^{*0})-M(D^0)$, which used the decay $D^{*0}\rightarrow D^0\pi^0$. We also measure the mass difference $M(D_s^+)-M(D^+)=99.5\pm 0.6\pm 0.3$ MeV, using the $\phi\pi^+$ decay modes of the $D_s^+$ and $D^+$ mesons.Comment: 18 pages uuencoded compressed postscript (process with uudecode then gunzip). hardcopies with figures can be obtained by sending mail to: [email protected]

Observation of a New Charmed Strange Meson

Using the CLEO-II detector, we have obtained evidence for a new meson decaying to $D^0 K^+$. Its mass is $2573.2^{+1.7}_{-1.6}\pm 0.8\pm 0.5$ {}~MeV/$c^2$ and its width is $16^{+5}_{-4}\pm 3$~MeV/$c^2$. Although we do not establish its spin and parity, the new meson is consistent with predictions for an $L=1$, $S=1$, $J_P=2^+$ charmed strange state.Comment: 9 pages uuencoded compressed postscript (process with uudecode then gunzip). hardcopies with figures can be obtained by sending mail to: [email protected]

Observation of the Isospin-Violating Decay Ds∗+→Ds+π0D_s^{*+}\to D_s^+\pi^0

Using data collected with the CLEO~II detector, we have observed the isospin-violating decay $D_s^{*+}\to D_s^+\pi^0$. The decay rate for this mode, relative to the dominant radiative decay, is found to be $\Gamma(D_s^{*+}\to D_s^+\pi^0)/\Gamma(D_s^{*+}\to D_s^+\gamma)= 0.062^{+0.020}_{-0.018}\pm0.022$.Comment: 8 page uuencoded postscript file, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Measurement of the Decay Asymmetry Parameters in Λc+→Λπ+\Lambda_c^+ \to \Lambda\pi^+ and Λc+→Σ+π0\Lambda_c^+ \to \Sigma^+\pi^0

We have measured the weak decay asymmetry parameters (\aLC ) for two \LC\ decay modes. Our measurements are \aLC = -0.94^{+0.21+0.12}_{-0.06-0.06} for the decay mode $\Lambda_c^+ \to \Lambda\pi^+$ and \aLC = -0.45\pm 0.31 \pm 0.06 for the decay mode $\Lambda_c \to \Sigma^+\pi^0$. By combining these measurements with the previously measured decay rates, we have extracted the parity-violating and parity-conserving amplitudes. These amplitudes are used to test models of nonleptonic charmed baryon decay.Comment: 11 pages including the figures. Uses REVTEX and psfig macros. Figures as uuencoded postscript. Also available as http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/1995/CLNS95-1319.p