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At least 181 records · Page 10

Are permafrost microorganisms as old as permafrost?

ABSTRACT Permafrost describes the condition of earth material (sand, ground, organic matter, etc.) cemented by ice when its temperature remains at or below 0°C continuously for longer than 2 years. Evidently, permafrost is as old as the time passed from freezing of the earth material. Permafrost is a unique phenomenon and may preserve life forms it encloses. Therefore, in order to talk confidently about the preservation of paleo-objects in permafrost, knowledge about the geological age of sediments, i.e. when the sediments were formed, and permafrost age, when those sediments became permanently frozen, is essential. There are two types of permafrost—syngenetic and epigenetic. The age of syngenetic permafrost corresponds to the geological age of its sediments, whereas the age of epigenetic permafrost is less than the geological age of its sediments. Both of these formations preserve microorganisms and their metabolic products; however, the interpretations of the microbiological and molecular-biological data are inconsistent. This paper reviews the current knowledge of time–temperature history and age of permafrost in relation to available microbiological and metagenomic data.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Optical properties of hydrothermally synthesized Ti 3 C 2 T X MXene quantum dots and their application in biosensor

The remarkable properties of Ti 3 C 2 T X MXene quantum dots (MQDs) highlight their potential in diverse fields, including domains such as biocompatible nanoprobe, ion sensing, energy applications etc. Given their relevance in emerging technologies, a systematic study of their optical properties is crucial. MXene nanosheets were utilized in Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) based biosensors for the detection of organophosphate (OP) pesticides, this suggests there is significant potential for further development of electrochemical biosensor by incorporating MQDs in this field. The synthesis of MQDs has been achieved through various methods, either individually or in combination of methods, including hydrothermal, acoustic microfluidic, electrochemical, ball milling etc. Furthermore, we synthesized Ti 3 C 2 T X MQDs using hydrothermal method and characterized using atomic force microscopy, optical spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Tuning magnetism and band topology through antisite defects in Sb-doped MnBi 4 ⁢Te 7

The fine control of magnetism and electronic structure in a magnetic topological insulator is crucial in order to realize various novel magnetic topological states including axion insulators, magnetic Weyl semimetals, Chern insulators, etc. Through crystal growth, transport, thermodynamic, neutron diffraction measurements, we show that under Sb doping the newly discovered intrinsic antiferromagnetic (AFM) topological insulator MnBi 4 Te 7 evolves from AFM to ferromagnetic (FM) and then ferrimagnetic. We attribute this to the formation of Mn(Bi,Sb) antisites upon doping, which results in additional Mn sublattices that modify the delicate interlayer magnetic interactions and cause the dominant Mn sublattice to go from AFM to FM. We further investigate the effect of antisites on the band topology using the first-principles calculations. Without considering antisites, the series evolves from AFM topological insulator (x=0) to FM axion insulators. In the exaggerated case of 16.7% of periodic antisites, the band topology is modified and a type-I magnetic Weyl semimetal phase can be realized at intermediate dopings. Therefore, this doping series provides a fruitful platform with continuously tunable magnetism and topology for investigating emergent phenomena, including quantum anomalous Hall effect, Fermi arc states, etc.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Review of Particle Physics - Scalar Mesons below 1 GeV

The summarizes much of particle physics and cosmology. Using data from previous editions, plus 2,717 new measurements from 869 papers, we list, evaluate, and average measured properties of gauge bosons and the recently discovered Higgs boson, leptons, quarks, mesons, and baryons. We summarize searches for hypothetical particles such as supersymmetric particles, heavy bosons, axions, dark photons, etc. Particle properties and search limits are listed in Summary Tables. We give numerous tables, figures, formulae, and reviews of topics such as Higgs Boson Physics, Supersymmetry, Grand Unified Theories, Neutrino Mixing, Dark Energy, Dark Matter, Cosmology, Particle Detectors, Colliders, Probability and Statistics. Most of the 120 reviews are updated, including many that are heavily revised. The is divided into two volumes. Volume 1 includes the Summary Tables and 97 review articles. Volume 2 consists of the Particle Listings and contains also 23 reviews that address specific aspects of the data presented in the Listings. The complete (both volumes) is published online on the website of the Particle Data Group () and in a journal. Volume 1 is available in print as the . A with the Summary Tables and essential tables, figures, and equations from selected review articles is available in print, as a web version optimized for use on phones, and as an Android app. The 2024 edition of the Review of Particle Physics should be cited as: S. Navas et al. (Particle Data Group), Phys. Rev. D 110, 030001 (2024)© 20242024

Navas, S. [Universidad de Granada]↗

Conduction via surface states in antiferromagnetic Mott-insulating Ni S 2 single crystals

Pyrite structure transition-metal disulfides exhibit diverse ground states vs d-band filling, spanning diamagnetic semiconducting, ferromagnetic metallic, antiferromagnetic Mott insulating, and superconducting in FeS 2 , CoS 2 , NiS 2 , and CuS 2 . NiS is particularly interesting and poorly understood as its Mott insulating behavior is accompanied by complex antiferromagnetic ordering below ~38 K and perplexing weak ferromagnetism below ~30 K. Temperature-, pressure-, and composition-dependent insulator-metal transitions also occur, particularly in bandwidth-controlled NiS 2–x Se x , hole-doped Ni 1–x Co x S 2 , etc. Here, we use high-quality chemical-vapor-transport-grown NiS 2 single crystals characterized by x-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, magnetometry, and extensive transport and magnetotransport measurements, to generate new insight into this system. In particular, resistivity, magnetoresistance, and Hall effect analyses vs temperature, thickness, and surface preparation, provide unequivocal evidence of surface conduction, where the more conductive surface shunts essentially all current at low temperatures. The surface transport changes from two dimensional and insulating to three dimensional and metallic as the surface preparation is varied (also displaying intriguing sensitivity to magnetic ordering), significantly clarifying literature ambiguities with respect to the electronic ground state. These results have immediate implications. First, the temperature-, pressure-, and composition-dependent insulator-metal transitions deduced in the extensive prior work on NiS 2-x Se x , Ni 1–x Co x S 2 , etc., must clearly be reexamined in light of rife metallic surface conduction, not previously taken into account. Second, NiS 2 now joins FeS 2 and CoS 2 as systems in which bulk and surface electronic behaviors are strikingly different, suggesting that metallic surface states could be a universal feature of pyrite structure transition-metal disulfides.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Integrated Modeling and Optimal Operation of Multi-Energy System for Coastal Community

Focusing on remote, isolated, and underserved communities, a multi-energy system is designed in this research which is capable of utilizing different energy sources in a more coordinated and energy-efficient way to support various demands, such as fresh water, electricity, hydrogen, thermal demand, etc. The energy sources considered are renewables (wind, solar, marine) and natural gas. The energy conversion process includes water desalination, gas combustion, water electrolyzation, and different types of storage (hydrogen tank, electricity, thermal, etc.) are designed to serve as buffers in supply-demand balancing. Sets of experiments are designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed operating model and investigate the impact of uncertainties from renewable generations and demands.

Chen, Yang↗

AWB-GCN: A Graph Convolutional Network Accelerator with Runtime Workload Rebalancing

The recent development of deep learning has been mostly focusing on Euclidean data, such as images, videos, audios, etc. However, most real-world information and relation are often expressed as graphs. To efficiently learn from graph data, graph convolutional networks (GCNs) emerge as a promising approach, showing advantages in several practical applications such as social network analysis, knowledge discovery, 3D modeling, motion capturing, etc. Real-world graphs are usually extremely large and imbalanced, posting significant performance demand and design challenges on the hardware dedicated for GCN inference. In this paper, we propose an architecture design called UW-GCN to accelerate graph convolutional network inference. To tackle the major performance bottleneck from workload imbalance, we propose dynamic neighborhood stealing and remote chunk shuffling techniques, relying on hardware flexibility to achieve hardware auto-tuning under negligible area or delay overhead. Specifically, UW-GCN is able to smartly profile the sparse graph pattern while continuously adjusting the workload distribution via routing reconfiguration among parallel processing elements (PEs). The ideal configuration is then reused in the remaining iterations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first accelerator design particularly for GCN and the first work relying on hardware auto-tuning, which is normally based on software, to achieve near-optimal workload balance in processing sparse structures.

Geng, Tong↗

Post-Disturbance Dynamic Distribution System Restoration with DGs and Mobile Resources

Distributed generations (DGs) can act as emergency power supplies when distribution systems suffer from outages. However, the generation capabilities of DGs are generally limited by a number of factors including weather conditions, fuel limitations, etc. In this context, mobile resources that are able to reallocate resources to desired locations are regarded as important complements to conventional fixed DGs in assisting distribution system restoration. In this paper, a distribution system restoration model with DGs and mobile resources is proposed. Firstly, the dispatch and allocation of mobile resources are modeled with respect to the characteristics of the traffic network. Then the developed mobile resource models are integrated into the distribution system restoration model to co-optimize the scheduling of DGs and mobile resources. Uncertainty factors are managed by a model predictive control approach so that system operators can dynamically adjust the restoration strategy with the up-to-date information. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated through an IEEE 13-bus test system.

distributed generations (DGs)↗

Impact of Spatial Variation in Flexibility on System Operations in Electric Power Systems

With the expansion of renewable energy resources in the electric power systems, having flexibility in the setup will allow to maintain the system's reliability and prevailing operations. Such flexibility can be extracted from utility operated and/or consumer owned devices, such as, storage devices, electric vehicles, etc. For the demand side, generally consumer preferences, incentives, etc. enact on the availability of the flexibility; besides, both the spatial and temporal dimension dictates the degree of the flexibility. Consequently, the optimal dispatch of the grid resources might appear intractable as the considerable amount of flexibility are obliquely stemming from the ungovernable consumer devices. Thus characterizing the consequences of diverged feasible flexibility in the system is crucial for operations. In this paper, a procedure is developed to quantify the degree of flexibility of power systems in terms of resource dispatch reconfiguration. Specifically, we develop optimization problems to attain equivalent resource configurations for the power systems to evaluate the spatial volatility of the network and asses the flexibility of the system. The developed process is then validated using numerical simulations for IEEE-30 bus test system.

Sadnan, Rabayet↗

The Impact of Behind-the-Meter Heterogeneous Distributed Energy Resources on Distribution Grids

The increasing integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) on the electric grid brings new challenges and opportunities for utility grid operations. With the rapid deployment of DERs, there is emerging interest in integrating these controllable devices with utility operations at all levels for monitoring and management. To understand the challenges with increasing behind-the-meter (BTM) DERs and to identify the needs in deploying advanced controls, a comprehensive grid impact study is indispensable. This paper presents the analysis which help visualize the DER impact on the grid, identify the challenges and provides an insight into the new distribution management and control needs to enable reliable and resilient grid operations.

behind-the-meter↗

Scalable Programming Workflows for Validation of Quantum Computers

Hybrid quantum-classical workflows have become standard methods for executing variational algorithms and other quantum simulation techniques, which are key applications for noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) computers. Validating these simulations is an important task which helps gauge the progress of quantum computer development, and classical simulation can serve as a tool to this end. Both exact and more scalable approximate methods with quantifiable error bounds can be used in validation tasks where the applicable metrics include the distance from a calculable ground truth, the quality of an error model fit to data, etc. Here we present a library extension that includes methods for validation of quantum simulations based on scalable hybrid workflows executable on high performance computers. We provide examples that use approximate methods based on tensor networks and stabilizer simulators to bound the error of quantum simulations on NISQ hardware.

Nguyen, Thien↗

A Two-Dimensional Non-Linear Magnetic Equivalent Circuit Model to Facilitate the Preliminary Design of a Normal Conducting Quadrupole

Normal conducting quadrupoles have been used to focus charged particle beams in synchrotrons, beam transfer lines, medical linacs, etc. for a long time. Optimization techniques based on analytical expressions combined with the use of a numerical field analysis tool exist in the literature for the design of an optimal pole tip shape. However, the initial shape and dimensions of the remaining yoke (including the pole itself and yoke base that act as the return path) are usually less well defined. This article discusses a design methodology for a normal conducting quadrupole based on a two-dimensional magnetic equivalent circuit. Here, this approach considers the geometry of the entire magnet and the non-linear behavior of the yoke material, thereby eliminating the initial iterations. The design outcome of this exercise serves as a competent starting point and can then be used to refine the pole tip, pole taper, yoke size, and add other geometrical features to achieve the required field quality, gradient, coil considerations, etc. by employing a finite element analysis tool. An example design study to demonstrate the proposed methodology is presented.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Challenges and Gaps in the Development of Pulsed Power for Fusion Applications: A Preroadmapping Perspective From Industry, Academia, and National Laboratory Experts

Fusion energy meets the twenty-first century World Grand Challenge of sustainable, ubiquitous, and safer energy sources. However, harnessing the promise of fusion energy has proven elusive. The competing approaches to fusion power plant design include inertial confinement fusion, National Ignition Facility (ICF-NIF, Z machine, etc.,) magnetic confinement fusion (MCF-Tokamak, stellarators, etc.), and other approaches that show promise in small- (flow stabilized Z pinches) or large-scale applications. These approaches are being accelerated with private and public funding and seek to demonstrate the feasibility of different approaches to fusion-based power plants. Yet, how can the necessary pulsed power technologies for these disruptive technology bases be accelerated with no clear “Dominant Design?” Roadmapping holds the promise to identify and develop common critical pulsed power components for laboratory, prototype, and commercial fusion, and can accelerate the commercialization of fusion reactor designs. A preroadmapping Workshop on Pulsed Power for Fusion was held at the IEEE International Pulsed Power Conference in San Antonio, TX, USA, in June 2023. The workshop had 177 attendees. Here, the common elements for many of the ICF technologies vying for dominant design were identified. The advancement of these technologies through roadmapping will enhance commercial expectations that require their rapid and innovative development in the next five years, as well as the next five to ten years. The key technologies identified that underpin and limit the advancement of fusion power include pulsed power technologies such as energy storage, high-voltage switching, additive manufacturing, and modular pulsed power circuit topologies. In conclusion, they are the focus of our effort in the following roadmap scenario, which will delineate potential paths to technology development.

Curry, Randy D. [I-Pulse Group, Albuquerque, NM (U↗

Minimizing the Electromechanical Stresses in Poloidal Field Coils by Optimizing their Numbers and Locations using FREDA Framework

Poloidal field (PF) and central solenoid (CS) coils play a crucial role in sustaining the equilibrium and preserving the shape of highly confined tokamak plasmas. Ensuring that PF coil current and mechanical stress stay within superconducting and structural limitations is an important check in the design assessment. Minimizing the PF coil currents and mechanical stresses influences reliability, cost, and performance. A free-boundary MHD equilibrium code—FreeGS is employed within the fusion reactor design and assessment (FREDA) whole facility modeling (WFM) framework to construct the plasma equilibrium based on the configuration and currents in the PF coils. Here, we present the capability of the FreeGS code to minimize the currents, forces, and electromagnetic stresses on the PF coils by optimizing their number, sizes, structures, and locations while maintaining an MHD stable plasma configuration with a large confinement factor. The workflow is initialized with a configuration of plasma parameters and coils’ locations from the 0-D tokamak build systems code in the FREDA framework. Then, FreeGS is called to calculate the initial equilibrium at the minimum total current in PF coils. Thereafter, FreeGS’s internal optimizer minimizes the currents and hoop and central forces on the PF coils while maintaining the reference equilibrium. Finally, the input configuration is updated with the optimized parameters for equilibria over the ramp-up phase of a burning-plasma operation. FREDA’s whole facility optimization capability, which includes all magnetic field coil systems, blanket, vacuum vessel (VV), first wall, divertor, etc., is under development and out of the scope for this study.

Hassan, Ehab [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000181060301)↗

Effects of Al:Si and (Al+Na):Si Ratios on the Properties of the International Simple Glass, Part II: Structure

High-alumina containing high-level waste (HLW) will be vitrified at the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site. The resulting glasses, high in alumina, will have distinct composition-structure-property (C-S-P) relationships compared to previously studied HLW glasses. These C-S-P relationships determine the processability and product durability of glasses and therefore must be understood. The main purpose of this study is to understand the detailed structural changes caused by Al:Si and (Al+Na):Si substitutions in a simplified nuclear waste model glass (ISG, International Simple Glass) by combining experimental structural characterizations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The structures of these two series of glasses were characterized by neutron total scattering and 27Al, 23Na, 29Si, and 11B solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Additionally, MD simulations were used to generate atomistic structural models of the borosilicate glasses and simulation results were validated by the experimental structural data. Short-range (e.g., bond distance, coordination number, etc.) and medium-range (e.g., oxygen speciation, network connectivity, polyhedral linkages) structural features of the borosilicate glasses were systematically investigated as a function of the degree of substitution. The results show that bond distance and coordination number of the cation-oxygen pairs are relatively insensitive to Al:Si and (Al+Na):Si substitutions with the exception of the B-O pair. Additionally, the Al:Si substitution results in an increase of tri-bridging oxygen species, while (Al+Na):Si substitution creates non-bridging oxygen species. Charge compensator preferences were found for Si-[NBO] (Na+), [3]B-[NBO] (Na+), [4]B (mostly Ca2+), [4]Al (nearly equally split Na+ and Ca2+), and [6]Zr (mostly Ca2+). The network former-BO-network former linkages preferences were also tabulated; Si-O-Al and Al-O-Al were preferred at the expense of lower Si-O-[3]B and [3]B-O-[3]B linkages. These results provide insights on the structural origins of property changes such as glass transition temperature caused by the substitutions, providing a basis for future improvements of theoretical and computer simulation models.

Lu, Xiaonan↗

Predicting nepheline precipitation in waste glasses using ternary submixture model and machine learning

Nepheline precipitation in nuclear waste glasses during vitrification can be detrimental due to its negative effect on chemical durability. Developing models to accurately predict nepheline precipitation from compositions is important to increase waste loading since existing models can be overly conservative. In this study, an expanded dataset containing 955 glasses was compiled from literature data, where 355 glasses are for high-level waste (HLW). Previously developed submixture models were refitted using the new dataset, where a misclassification rate of 7.8% was achieved. Nine machine learning (ML) algorithms (e.g., k-nearest neighbor, Gaussian process regression, artificial neural network, support vector machine, decision tree, etc.) were applied to evaluate their ability of predicting nepheline precipitation from compositions. Model accuracy, precision, recall/sensitivity, and F1 score were systemically compared between different ML algorithms and modeling protocols. Good model prediction with an accuracy ~0.9 (misclassification rate of ~10%) was observed with different algorithms under certain protocol. This study evaluated various ML models to predict nepheline precipitations in waste glasses, highlighting the importance of data preparation, modeling protocol, and their effect on model stability and reproducibility. The results provide insights into applying ML to predict glass properties and suggest areas for future research on modeling nepheline precipitations.

Lu, Xiaonan↗

Hybrid Simulation Framework

HYBRID is a modeling toolset to assess the economic viability of Nuclear-Renewable Integrated Energy Systems (N-R IES). The frameworks enabling this toolset are INL’s RAVEN, its CashFlow plugin and the Modelica language. The toolset includes sample RAVEN workflows performing economic assessments. These workflows consist of: generation of stochastic time series and application of probabilistic analysis and optimization algorithms (RAVEN); a library of Modelica models representing the physical behavior of N-R IES; and the CashFlow plugin mapping physical performance to economic performance. The toolset allows assembling existing and new models such as nuclear reactors, renewable energy sources, energy storage, gas turbines, industrial processes, etc. into an N-R IES. The toolset workflows evaluate the dynamics of the N-R IES responding to stochastic conditions (electricity demand, price, etc.) and optimize the dispatch economics as well as N-R IES capacity planning.

Epiney, Aaron↗

Space Situational Awareness for Python

SSAPy is a python package allowing for fast and precise orbital modeling. SSAPy is designed with speed and accuracy in mind and offers the following capabilities: - A variety of integrators, including Runge-Kutta, SciPy, SGP4, etc. - Customizable force propagation models, including a variety of Earth gravity models, lunar gravity, radiation pressure, etc. - Multiple-hypothesis tracking (MHT) UCT linker - Vectorized computations - Short arc probabilistic orbit determination - Conjunction probability estimation - Uncertainty quantification - Monte Carlo data fusion - Support for multiple coordinate frames (with coordinate frame conversions)

Schlafly, Edward↗