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Keppel, Cynthia

Publications and source records attributed to Keppel, Cynthia.

11 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

The United States Department of Energy and National Institutes of Health Collaboration: Medical Care Advances by Discovery in Radiation Detection

A National Institutes of Health (NIH) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science virtual workshop on shared general topics was held in July of 2021 and reported on in this publication in January of 2023. Following the inaugural 2021 joint meeting representatives from the DOE Office of Science and NIH met to discuss organizing a second joint workshop that would concentrate on radiation detection to bring together teams from both agencies and their grantee populations to stimulate collaboration and efficiency. To meet this scientific mission within the NIH and DOE radiation detection space, the organizers assembled workshop sessions covering the state–of–the–art in cameras, detectors, and sensors for radiation external and internal (diagnostic and therapeutic) to human, data acquisition and electronics, image reconstruction and processing, and the application of artificial intelligence. NIH and DOE are committed to continuing the process of convening a joint workshop every 12–24 months. This Special Report recaps the findings of this second workshop. Beyond showing only the innovations and areas of success, important gaps in our knowledge were defined and presented. Finally, we summarize by defining four areas of greatest opportunity and need that emerged from the unique, dynamic dialogue the in–person workshop provided the attendees.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2023

A New Era of Discovery: The 2023 Long-Range Plan for Nuclear Science (V.1.2)

Nuclear science is the investigation of how protons and neutrons are formed from elementary particles and how the forces between those particles produce both nuclei and the vast variety of nuclear phenomena that occur in the universe. It has evolved into a broad field that addresses profound scientific questions: Where does the mass of visible matter come from? How do stars ignite, live, and die? How do nuclei illuminate the search for new laws of nature? This science points the way to using nuclei to build new technologies that benefit society. The 2015 Nobel Prize in physics was shared by nuclear physicists Art McDonald and Takaaki Kajita for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which confirmed that neutrinos have mass. Our progress on big questions like this one since 2015 has been remarkable owing to new experimental tools, theoretical breakthroughs, powerful computational techniques, and the talented people who make these innovations possible. Focusing on these new tools, the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University is already producing exciting results on decays of never-before-produced isotopes a year after it was completed on time and on budget. The energy upgrade of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) was also completed on schedule and on budget—new data from this facility are revealing the spectrum, structure, and dynamics of protons, neutrons, nuclei, and mesons. On the theory front, we can now calculate the distribution of quarks inside the proton from first principles. The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques has led to improved data analysis and increased efficiency in running experiments and theoretical calculations. The impact of nuclear science goes beyond expanding the frontiers of knowledge about matter in the universe. We simultaneously develop a STEM work force that advances the security, technology, health, and wealth of our nation. Some connections are obvious. Expert scientists trained to work with radioactive nuclei are in demand in nuclear security arenas and are highly sought after by various government agencies and private industries. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (postdocs) obtain extensive computational, modeling, and data science skills that are similarly in high demand. Less obvious but equally important is the connection between these trained scientists and success in other professions, including medicine, energy, and entrepreneurial pursuits. The workforce that enables discovery in nuclear science also makes breakthroughs in technologies with tremendous impact on the nation’s economic advancement.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Second Report of the Nuclear Data Subcommittee of the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee

The central importance of the nuclear data curated by the US Nuclear Data Program (USNDP) for clean energy generation, national security, nonproliferation, medical applications, and space exploration as well as basic science was described in a prior report issued by the DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee subcommittee on Nuclear Data (NSAC-ND) in September 2022. In this report, we present a set of fourteen (14) recommendations that will enhance and advance DOE-NP's stewardship of nuclear data. The first three recommendations focus on the existing core USNDP capabilities, namely: 1) Support the nuclear structure evaluation workforce to improve the currency, consistency, and accessibility of the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF); 2) Enhance nuclear reaction evaluation within the USNDP in support of the Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF) through expansion of the workforce and integration of high-performance computing, automation, and machine learning and; 3) Continue atomic mass evaluation in support AME and NUBASE databases. This is followed by eight (8) recommendations representing new cross-cutting initiatives involving both measurement and evaluation to address outstanding nuclear data needs. These new initiatives require a highly trained, diverse workforce that includes personnel with expertise from both inside and outside the nuclear physics community from which evaluators have traditionally been recruited. As such, many of these initiatives are accomplished via a Topical Nuclear Data Collaborations (TNDC). A TNDC is made up of domestic and international stakeholders, subject matter and nuclear data experts, and nuclear data evaluators and features a workforce development plan to ensure that nuclear data evaluators maintain currency in the relevant applications and are seen as equity partners in the endeavor. These include: 1) Establish a coordinated effort to improve evaluation and modeling in nuclear astrophysics for stellar dynamics, multi-messenger astronomy and nucleosynthesis; 2) Initiate a TNDC to develop and maintain nuclear structure evaluation beyond discrete states, including nuclear level densities, photon strength functions and photonuclear data for improved reaction modeling, and exploring nuclear structure at finite temperature; 3) Create a TNDC to perform correlated fission data evaluation, including cross sections, fragment yields, v(A), v(E n ) for nuclear energy, national security, nonproliferation and basic science; 4) From a panel of subject matter experts to establish and annually update a roster of key decay data to nurture its accelerated dissemination including both measurement and evaluation for targeted high-value nuclides for national security, nonproliferation and medical applications; 5) Comprehensive, consistent neutron-induced structure and reaction data for nuclear energy, national security, nonproliferation and planetary nuclear spectroscopy; 6) Charged-particle stopping powers for detector design, space effects and ion beam therapy; 7) High-energy reactions for space exploration and medical nuclide production, and; 8) The creation of an infrastructure for open data and data preservation for use by the entire nuclear physics community. All told, these initiatives require approximately $6.5M increase in NP support of the USNDP in fiscal year 2023 dollars and would require at least 3-5 years to carry out due to the length of time needed to recruit and train new nuclear data researchers. This relatively modest investment would help ensure that the fruits of the nuclear data research carried out by DOE-NP and its collaborators would be brought to bear to address some of the most important needs of our nation and the world. To ensure effective execution of this plan, we present an overview of recruitment, training, and retention goals for the USNDP, the centerpiece of which is a mutually agreed upon code of conduct. Finally, we identify the facility and instrumentation needed to perform the recommended experimental activities. This includes a short review of target fabrication capabilities, reactors, neutron beam, light- and heavy-stable ion, gamma-ray, high-energy and radioactive ion beam facilities. Lastly, a more complete appendix of experimental facilities previously compiled is included with new input provided for 6 facilities.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

The United States Department of Energy and National Institutes of Health Collaboration: Medical Care Advances via Discovery in Physical Sciences

Over several months, representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and National Institutes of Health (NIH) had a number of meetings that lead to the conclusion that innovations in the Nation's health care could be realized by more directed interactions between NIH and DOE. It became clear that the expertise amassed and instrumentation advances developed at the DOE physical science laboratories to enable cutting-edge research in particle physics could also feed innovation in medical healthcare. To meet their scientific mission, the DOE laboratories created advances in such technologies as particle beam generation, radioisotope production, high-energy particle detection and imaging, superconducting particle accelerators, superconducting magnets, cryogenics, high-speed electronics, artificial intelligence, and big data. To move forward, NIH and DOE initiated the process of convening a joint work- shop which occurred on July 12th and 13th, 2021. Here, this Special Report presents a summary of the findings of the collaborative workshop and introduces the goals of the next one.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

First Report of the Nuclear Data Subcommittee of the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee

Accurate, reliable nuclear data is essential for the success of Federal missions such as nonproliferation, nuclear forensics, homeland security, national defense, space exploration, clean energy generation, and scientific research. Data access is also key to innovative commercial developments such as new medicines, automated industrial controls, energy exploration, energy security, nuclear reactor design, and isotope production. The United States Nuclear Data Program (USNDP) is the domestic custodian of nuclear data. In its April 2022 meeting, the DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee was charged with preparing two reports on nuclear data. In this first report, we review recent accomplishments of the USNDP and discuss complementary and collaborative international efforts. Detailed descriptions of nuclear data needs for basic science, nonproliferation, national security, nuclear energy together with medical and space applications are also presented. Lastly, a set of specific cross-cutting nuclear data needs with relevance for multiple applications areas are also identified for further discussion in a follow-on report planned for release at the end of January 2023.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Predictive Radiation Oncology – A New NCI–DOE Scientific Space and Community

With a widely attended virtual kickoff event on January 29, 2021, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Department of Energy (DOE) launched a series of 4 interactive, interdisciplinary workshops—and a final concluding “World Café” on March 29, 2021—focused on advancing computational approaches for predictive oncology in the clinical and research domains of radiation oncology. These events reflect 3,870 human hours of virtual engagement with representation from 8 DOE national laboratories and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL), 4 research institutes, 5 cancer centers, 17 medical schools and teaching hospitals, 5 companies, 5 federal agencies, 3 research centers, and 27 universities. Here we summarize the workshops by first describing the background for the workshops. Participants identified twelve key questions—and collaborative parallel ideas—as the focus of work going forward to advance the field. These were then used to define short-term and longer-term “Blue Sky” goals. In addition, the group determined key success factors for predictive oncology in the context of radiation oncology, if not the future of all of medicine. These are: cross-discipline collaboration, targeted talent development, development of mechanistic mathematical and computational models and tools, and access to high-quality multiscale data that bridges mechanisms to phenotype. The workshop participants reported feeling energized and highly motivated to pursue next steps together to address the unmet needs in radiation oncology specifically and in cancer research generally and that NCI and DOE project goals align at the convergence of radiation therapy and advanced computing.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
NASA NTRS1995

Energy measurement of electron beams by Compton scattering

A method has been proposed to utilize the well-known Compton scattering process as a tool to measure the centroid energy of a high energy electron beam at the 0.01% level. It is suggested to use the Compton scattering of an infrared laser off the electron beam, and then to measure the energy of the scattered gamma-rays very precisely using solid-state detectors. The technique proposed is applicable for electron beams with energies from 200 MeV to 16 GeV using presently available lasers. This technique was judged to be the most viable of all those proposed for beam energy measurements at the nearby Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF). Plans for a prototype test of the technique are underway, where the main issues are the possible photon backgrounds associated with an electron accelerator and the electron and laser beam stabilities and diagnostics. The bulk of my ASEE summer research has been spent utilizing the expertise of the staff at the Aerospace Electronics Systems Division at LaRC to assist in the design of the test. Investigations were made regarding window and mirror transmission and radiation damage issues, remote movement of elements in ultra-high vacuum conditions, etc. The prototype test of the proposed laser backscattering method is planned for this December.

Keppel, Cynthia↗