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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12

Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Refractive Index or Mass Spectrometric Detection for Metabolite Profiling in Lysate-based Cell-free Systems

Engineering cellular metabolism for targeted biosynthesis can require extensive design-build-test-learn (DBTL) cycles as the engineer works around the cell's survival requirements. Alternatively, carrying out DBTL cycles in cell-free environments can accelerate this process and alleviate concerns with host compatibility. A promising approach to cell-free metabolic engineering (CFME) leverages metabolically active crude cell extracts as platforms for biomanufacturing and for rapidly discovering and prototyping modified proteins and pathways. Realizing these capabilities and optimizing CFME performance requires methods to characterize the metabolome of lysate-based cell-free platforms. That is, analytical tools are necessary for monitoring improvements in targeted metabolite conversions and in elucidating alterations to metabolite flux when manipulating lysate metabolism. In this work, metabolite analyses using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with either optical or mass spectrometric detection were applied to characterize metabolite production and flux in E. coli S30 lysates. Specifically, this report describes the preparation of samples from CFME lysates for HPLC analyses using refractive index detection (RID) to quantify the generation of central metabolic intermediates and by-products in the conversion of low-cost substrates (i.e., glucose) to various high-value products. The analysis of metabolite conversion in CFME reactions fed with 13 C-labeled glucose through reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), a powerful tool for characterizing specific metabolite yields and lysate metabolic flux from starting materials, is also presented. Altogether, applying these analytical methods to CFME lysate metabolism enables the advancement of these systems as alternative platforms for executing faster or novel metabolic engineering tasks.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Particle Matter Index and Fuel Wall-wetting Relations on Stochastic Pre-ignition

This works explores the effect of the particle matter index (PMI) and aromatic content on fuel wall impingement and associated stochastic pre-ignition (SPI) propensity. Statically significant measurements of SPI rates are directly coupled with laser induced florescence (LIF) measurements of fuel dilution from spray-linear impingement. Literature suggests that PMI is could be correlated with the number of SPI events, but the root cause(s) of PMI and SPI are directly causational or are a predicator of SPI. Three fuels have been used in this study with 3 different PMI and two different aromatic contents. These fuels are direct injected at two different injection timings, an earlier injection timing which targets the piston crown, 310°CA bTDC, and a later injection timing that the linear, 220°CA bTDC start of injection timings (SOI) respectively. The earlier 310 SOI injection increases soot, whereas the later 220°CD SOI targets the linear and increases wall-wetting. The findings of this work highlight that the SPI activity has a weak correlation with the soot promoted by the combustion process and increased PMI. However, SPI activity shows a strong dependency with high levels of oil dilution and aromatic content, suggesting that PMI might be an indicator of fuel chemistry conducive to SPI and the soot form increased PMI fuels is not a strong source of SPI relative to fuel wall wetting.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Nanostructured layer for graded index freeform optics

The present disclosure relates to a method for creating an optical component having a spatially controlled refractive index. The method may involve applying a thin metal material layer to a substrate. The thin metal material layer may then be heated to create a mask having a spatially varying nano-particle distribution. The substrate may then be etched, using the mask, to imprint a spatially patterned nanostructure pattern on a surface the substrate.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Heat Vulnerability Index Development and Mapping

Extreme heat is one of the leading causes of weather-related deaths in the U.S. Exposure to extreme heat will be exacerbated due to global climate change. It is thus crucial to design a key performance indicator, heat vulnerability index (HVI), to represent overall heat risk which can help identify susceptible regions and sub-populations in cities in the face of heatwaves. Most existing HVI tools only consider outdoor heat exposure. This paper developed an HVI web map tool incorporating both the outdoor and the indoor heat exposure, as well as population sensitivity and adaptation capability across census tracts in the city of Fresno, California. The tool can assist the planning of infrastructure and resources to reduce residents’ vulnerability to extreme heat events.

Xu, Yujie↗

Personal Resiliency Index

A plethora of information exists in literature focusing on different aspects of personal resilience. There are a number of questionnaires available to measure resilience in different aspects of an individual’s life, such as mental health. However, there is a lack of comprehensive information on the subject of personal resilience to natural and man-made disasters. A Personal Resiliency Index identifying four key areas of resilience related to natural and man-made disasters will help fill this gap by providing individuals an idea of where the stand comparatively to their peers on this topics. As an increasing amount of man-made disasters, natural disasters and pandemics occur, we realize that preparation is key.?“Crisis can be experienced at individual, group and mass levels and at local, regional, national or supra-national levels.” 1? Dr. Ron Fisher, the principal investigator has over 20 years’ critical infrastructure protection including developing vulnerability assessment methodology, risk and resiliency analyses and infrastructure interdependencies. Dr. Fisher and his team will research and develop a voluntary survey which evaluates the user’s personal resilience level to natural and man-made disasters. The research team is focusing on 4 main categories:? financial resilience, cyber security, physical and mental health, and emergency preparedness.?The web based application will?provide a resilience score for each of the categories and also a comprehensive personal resiliency score based on the voluntary survey. The application will also provide feedback to the user on actions to take to become more resilient to natural and man-made disasters. Through this effort, we will also be able to identify the areas where participants are excelling as well as opportunities for improvement in terms of resilience. This information will provide insight into areas of further investigation and identify potential areas of support needed for the general public to adopt strategies to become more resilient. 1 Lynott, William. “Surviving a Natural (or Man-Made) Disaster: How to Prepare for and Bounce Back? from a Crisis in Your Business | 2018-02-01 | NOLN.” Home Page, NOLN, 1 Feb. 2018, https://www.noln.net/articles/2683-surviving-a-natural-or-man-made-disaster-how-to-prepare-for-and-bounce-back-from-a-crisis-in-your-business.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

System and method for ablation assisted nanostructure formation for graded index surfaces for optics

A system and method is disclosed for forming a graded index (GRIN) on a substrate. In one implementation the method may involve applying a metal layer to the substrate. A fluence profile of optical energy applied to the metal layer may be controlled to substantially ablate the metal layer to create a vaporized metal layer. The fluence profile may be further controlled to control a size of metal nanoparticles created from the vaporized metal layer as the vaporized metal layer condenses and forms metal nanoparticles, the metal nanoparticles being deposited back on the substrate to form a GRIN surface on the substrate.

Yoo, Jae Hyuck↗

Low refractive index surface layers and related methods

The disclosure relates to a method for forming a low refractive index layer on a substrate. The method generally includes (a) applying a block copolymer layer on a substrate, the block copolymer including a polar polymeric block and a non-polar polymeric block; (b) swelling the block copolymer layer with a solvent to increase the block copolymer layer thickness; (c) depositing a metal oxide or metalloid oxide layer on polar polymeric blocks of the block copolymer layer; and (d) removing the block copolymer layer from the substrate, thereby forming a porous metal oxide or metalloid oxide layer on the substrate.

Shevchenko, Elena↗

Methodology to Account for Radiation and Temperature Influences on Optical Fibers compaction and Index of Refraction

The effects of radiation induced compaction and index of refraction change can cause significant drift in the measurements from intrinsic fiber optic temperature sensors. The work presented here aims to develop and test a methodology to measure these macroscopic properties that are responsible for the drift in order to correct the measurement. This report discusses the measurement methodology, theory, and sensor construction. Preliminary results from the first irradiation test using this sensor are provided here.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Dark Matter-Electron Interactions Alter the Luminosity and Spectral Index of M87

We investigate the possibility that cosmic-ray electron cooling through dark matter-electron scatterings contributes to the low radiative efficiency observed in radio-loud galaxies such as M87. Light dark matter can scatter efficiently off electrons in M87, lowering the observed bolometric luminosity compared to astrophysical expectations. This consideration allows us to probe previously unexplored regions of the parameter space of dark matter-electron interactions. We further model the cosmic-ray electron distribution by numerically solving a diffusion equation along the jet and find that efficient dark matter-electron interactions can induce a flattening of the spectral index at different distances from the central supermassive black hole, in better alignment with radio observations from M87.

Hussein, Abdelaziz [MIT] (ORCID:0000000255608668)↗

Electrosynthesis of high purity ethylene using high-index facet Cu 2 O nanocrystals electrocatalyst

Electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (eCO2RR) to multi-carbon (C 2+ ) products with copper-based catalysts is often limited by poor selectivity. This challenge arises from the concurrent formation of various intermediates, dictated by the atomic arrangement and electronic properties of surface atoms. In this study, we found that copper (I) oxide (Cu 2 O) nanocrystals with 50 facets (50F-NC), predominantly featuring (211) facets that offers high density of under-coordinated sites, demonstrate superior ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) selectivity of 92% ± 2 with an overall current density of 212 mA/cm 2 at -650 mV vs RHE. Furthermore, after one month of storage in a 1 M KOH electrolyte, this catalyst demonstrated a C 2 H 4 Faradaic efficiency of 87% highlighting its stabile structure under strong alkaline environments. Here, operando electrochemical Raman spectroscopy revealed enhanced CO* intermediate coverage on the 50F-NC catalyst, correlating with improved C-C coupling. SEM, TEM, and XPS analyses, along with DFT calculations, suggested that Cu sites on the (211) facet of 50F-NC and those at the Cu/Cu 2 O interface formed in-situ due to the surface reconstruction during the reaction, are likely active sites for effective C-C coupling and sustained high-rate C 2 H 4 production.

Cu nano particle↗

Index-like theorem for massless fermions in spherically symmetric monopole backgrounds

In this paper we study massless fermions coupled to spherically symmetric SU(N) monopoles without Yukawa couplings between the Higgs and fermion fields. The corresponding Dirac operator is not Fredholm and the associated eigenfunctions are not L 2 -normalizable. Here we derive a formula for the dimension of the plane-wave normalizable kernel of such a Dirac operator for fermions of any representation of SU(N) in the presence of any spherically symmetric monopole background. Notably, our results also apply to fermions coupled to monopoles that preserve non-abelian gauge symmetry.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗