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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 271 records · Page 15
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

National serosurvey and risk mapping reveal widespread distribution of Coxiella burnetii in Kenya

Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever, is an emerging pathogen that has the potential to cause severe chronic infections in animals and humans worldwide. The detrimental impact on public health is projected to be higher in the low- and middle-income countries given their lower capacity to sustain effective surveillance and response measures. We implemented a national serosurvey of cattle in Kenya to map the spatial distribution of the pathogen. The study used serum samples that were collected from randomly selected cattle in different ago-ecological zones across the country. These samples were screened for the pathogen using PrioCHECK Ruminant Q Fever AB Plate ELISA kit. The laboratory findings were analyzed using INLA package to identify risk factors for C. burnetii exposure from herd- and animal-level factors, area, and bioclimatic datasets accessed from online databases. A total of 6,593 cattle were recruited for the study; of these, 7.9% (95% CI; 7.2–8.5) were seropositive. Outputs from the multivariable analysis revealed that the animal age and some of the geographical variables including wind speed, area under shrubs and “petric calcisols” type of soil were significantly associated with C. burnetii seropositivity. Being a calf, weaner or subadult was associated with lower odds of exposure compared to being an adult by 0.24 (credibility interval: 2.5% and 97.5%), 0.41 (0.30–0.55) and 0.51 (0.38–0.69), respectively. In addition, a unit increase in the wind speed increased the odds of C. burnetii seropositivity by 1.27 (1.05–1.52) while an increase on the land area under shrubs was associated with lower odds of exposure (0.67 [0.47–0.69]). The effect of petric calcisols was non-linear; an increase of the land area with this soil type was associated with an exponential increase in C. burnetii seropositivity. This study provides new data on C. burnetii seroprevalence, information of its risk factors and a prevalence map that can be used for C. burnetii risk surveillance and control. The identification of environmental risk factors for C. burnetii exposure, and the increasing awareness of the zoonotic potential of the pathogen, calls for the need to enhance the existing collaborations for the surveillance and control of C. burnetii in line with the One Health framework. The evidence generated on the potential role of environmental factors can also be used to design nature-based interventions, such as replacement of vegetation in denuded areas, to reduce potential for the aerosolization of the pathogen. Livestock vaccination in the hotspots would also reduce animal infections and hence the contamination of the environment.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Where to cool off: a geospatial framework for placement of cooling centers

Indoor cooling is essential to reduce heat stress and increase passive survivability during heatwaves. Although air conditioning (AC) is recommended for maintaining indoor thermal comfort, low- and medium-income households in the U.S. often do not own an AC and/or limit AC usage to reduce energy consumption and associated costs, thereby risking their health and safety. With the frequency and intensity of heatwaves increasing, cooling centers are considered an appropriate alternative to indoor cooling and a possible mitigation strategy to prevent adverse health impacts of heat exposure. However, these centers are limited in numbers and not always accessible. This requires (i) developing a geospatial framework using physical and social factors for optimal siting of cooling centers to meet future needs and (ii) ranking of existing and potential cooling centers (schools, libraries, religious institutions) based on their accessibility among vulnerable populations and proximity to healthcare facilities. We developed and deployed a geospatial framework based on the Multi-criteria Decision Analysis approach in five U.S. cities (Los Angeles (LA), Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta, Miami) to evaluate the effectiveness of the framework in ranking cooling centers based on accessibility and population coverage. The results revealed that (i) access to cooling centers varies across cities and 32.2–50.7% of centers are within walking distance of the most vulnerable populations, (ii) vulnerable populations exposed to Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects are more likely to experience energy burden, and (iii) about 21.2–49.4% of population with high energy burden have access to these centers. Considering that more cooling centers are needed to assist energy burdened households alleviate heat exposure impacts, the framework developed herein could be adapted to incorporate other factors (e.g. health impacts, policies) to assess site suitability of existing shelters, identify potential sites for new cooling centers, and geo-target communities where energy efficient emerging technologies could be deployed to reduce heat stress.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Ongoing Cooperative Engagement Facilitates Agile Pandemic and Outbreak Response: Lessons Learned Through Cooperative Engagement Between Uganda and the United States

Pathogens threaten human lives and disrupt economies around the world. This has been clearly illustrated by the current COVID-19 pandemic and outbreaks in livestock and food crops. Here, to manage pathogen emergence and spread, cooperative engagement programs develop and strengthen biosafety, biosecurity, and biosurveillance capabilities among local researchers to detect pathogens. In this case study, we describe the efforts of a collaboration between the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Uganda Virus Research Institute, the primary viral diagnostic laboratory in Uganda, to implement and ensure the sustainability of sequencing for biosurveillance. We describe the process of establishing this capability along with the lessons learned from both sides of the partnership to inform future cooperative engagement efforts in low- and middle-income countries. We found that by strengthening sequencing capabilities at the Uganda Virus Research Institute before the COVID-19 pandemic, the institute was able to successfully sequence SARS-CoV-2 samples and provide data to the scientific community. We highlight the need to strengthen and sustain capabilities through in-country training, collaborative research projects, and trust.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Campylobacter jejuni uses energy taxis and a dehydrogenase enzyme for l -fucose chemotaxis

ABSTRACT Campylobacter jejuni is a leading cause of bacterial diarrhea worldwide, and infection in infants is associated with growth stunting in low- and middle-income countries. Approximately half of all C. jejuni isolates are asaccharolytic, while the remainder encode enzymes capable of l -fucose catabolism. Our previous study suggested that breastfed infants originating from sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia were colonized less frequently with l -fucose-metabolizing C. jejuni isolates compared to asaccharolytic strains. We also showed that FucX is an l -fucose dehydrogenase that binds to its NADP + cofactor even in the absence of l -fucose and that this enzyme is sufficient for l -fucose chemotaxis when introduced into strains lacking the metabolic pathway. This study indicates that FucX may influence l -fucose chemotaxis by increasing cellular NADPH/NADP + ratios, which subsequently affect the energy taxis components, CetABC that respond to shifting gradients of electron acceptors and donors. Furthermore, C. jejuni CetAB and CetAC can complement Escherichia coli aerotaxis. Our data support a model in which the shift in NADP + levels, impacted by the FucX dehydrogenase, affects chemotaxis in response to l -fucose. This swimming behavior can be phenocopied with a homologous l -fucose dehydrogenase from Burkholderia multivorans . Taken together, our work provides a possible explanation for why l -fucose-metabolizing C. jejuni isolates swim away from intestinal epithelial cells toward free fucose in the lumen where they are subsequently cleared by breastfed infants. IMPORTANCE In this study, we identify a separate role for the Campylobacter jejuni l -fucose dehydrogenase in l -fucose chemotaxis and demonstrate that this mechanism is not only limited to C. jejuni but is also present in Burkholderia multivorans . We now hypothesize that l -fucose energy taxis may contribute to the reduction of l -fucose-metabolizing strains of C. jejuni from the gastrointestinal tract of breastfed infants, selecting for isolates with increased colonization potential.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Campylobacter jejuni resistance to human milk involves the acyl carrier protein AcpP

Campylobacter jejuni is a common foodborne pathogen worldwide that is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality among infants in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs). Human milk provides infants with an important source of nutrients and contains antimicrobial components for protection against infection. However, recent studies, including our own, have found significantly higher levels of Campylobacter in diarrheal stool samples collected from breastfed infants compared to non-breastfed infants in LMICs. We hypothesized that C. jejuni has unique strategies to resist the antimicrobial properties of human milk. Transcriptional profiling found human milk exposure induces genes associated with ribosomal function, iron acquisition, and amino acid utilization in C. jejuni strains 81–176 and 11168. However, unidentified proteinaceous components of human milk prevent bacterial growth. Evolving both C. jejuni isolates to survive in human milk resulted in mutations in genes encoding the acyl carrier protein (AcpP) and the major outer membrane porin (PorA). Introduction of the PorA/AcpP amino acid changes into the parental backgrounds followed by electron microscopy showed distinct membrane architectures, and the AcpP changes not only significantly improved growth in human milk, but also yielded cells surrounded with outer membrane vesicles. Analyses of the phospholipid and lipooligosaccharide (LOS) compositions suggest an imbalance in acyl chain distributions. For strain 11168, these changes protect both evolved and 11168ΔacpP G33R strains from bacteriophage infection and polymyxin killing. Taken together, this study provides insights into how C. jejuni may evolve to resist the bactericidal activity of human milk and flourish in the hostile environment of the gastrointestinal tract.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Community Solar 101 [Slides]

This presentation deck provides an overview of community solar for a new user. The presentation covers community solar structures, considerations for low- and moderate-income (LMI) customers, policies related to community solar design, and a community solar market overview.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Smart, Connected Manufactured Housing Solutions through High-Performance Design. Final CRADA report

This report focuses on HVAC, domestic hot water, and miscellaneous electric loads via voluntary opportunities that may arise from partnerships with utilities, as well as future US Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR and DOE Zero Energy Ready Manufactured Home programs. Phase I of this project has begun the technical dialogue toward developing an implementation plan among DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Clayton Manufactured Homes, and US Department of Housing and Urban Development Code manufactured housing stakeholders. These activities have focused on delivering high-performance design through integration of technology. Project tasks include the following: Identifying baseline energy analysis resources opportunities from a variety of DOE and utility stakeholders; Developing a smart home and business solution by leveraging existing utility programs working with Smart Homes Partners resources such as ACE IoT Solutions, Google Nest, and Ecobee; Developing improved smarter ventilation systems with industry ventilation partners such as the Madison Group; Developing improved building science QA/QC testing equipment with manufacturers such as The Energy Conservatory, and supporting other feasible concepts vetted under DOE’s Advanced Buildings Collaborative with Slipstream, reinventing HVAC in manufactured housing; and, Developing smart home short- and long-term viable technical solutions in coordination with Clayton Manufactured Homes in new and/or revitalized community scales for future Phase II prototype demonstrations, which may include design (and perhaps construction) of single-section homes targeting rental property developers and multi-section homes targeting low- to middle-income affordable housing community developers Given the ongoing US Department of Energy (DOE) rulemaking activities, baseline energy analysis assessments of envelope prescriptive and Uo (i.e., the overall thermal energy efficiency of the home in British thermal units per square foot of exterior heat loss/gain surfaces) measures were removed from the scope of Phase I of this project.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Achieving Cooperative Community Equitable Solar Sources (ACCESS) (Final Technical Report)

Since 2011, solar has grown from a niche technology to a widely accessible source of power for homes and businesses across the United States and has become a fundamental part of the modern grid. There are still challenges, however, in learning how to integrate and use PV most effectively and how to make PV universally available. Most low- and moderate-income (LMI) customers cannot currently afford PV; capital costs and financing costs are too high to drive significant penetration. Providing access to LMI individuals and communities is a critical and immediate priority, and the focus of this project. The overall objective of the Achieving Cooperative Community Equitable Solar Sources (ACCESS) project is to explore and amplify the use of innovative, cost-effective energy access programs to serve co-ops’ LMI members1. ACCESS will research at least three financing mechanisms and at least six LMI program designs including LMI engagement strategies to maximize participation for these hard-to-reach audiences. ACCESS evaluated the financial mechanisms and program designs from field tests sited at diverse co-ops that provide recognizable models for the broader co-op community to identify optimal solutions for small utilities. The research with these cooperatives allowed testing of concepts and development of models and tools for other utilities to adapt to their own program designs and expansions. ACCESS published results and developed an “ACCESS Solar Access Toolkit” consisting of program designs, LMI engagement strategies, how-to guidance, and other tools to facilitate replication at small utilities across the country. Through the dissemination practices of the ACCESS project team, all NRECA member co-ops (~900) were made aware of the “ACCESS Solar Access Toolkit” and all other ACCESS resources. NRECA and its partners developed innovations to expand co-ops’ solar energy offerings to provide all of a co-op’s members—especially those who struggle to pay their bills—with cost-effective options that meet their needs. ACCESS specifically explored utility financing mechanisms and program designs that, independently or used in combination, increase solar access for rural electric cooperatives’ LMI members/ratepayers and that reduce LMI member/ratepayers’ electricity costs by at least 10%. LMI engagement strategies focused on maximizing the number of members who receive benefits and on the cost savings to LMI participants.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Extreme Decentralized Water Treatment: Exploring the Future of Premise-Scale Water Treatment and Reuse

Access to an adequate quantity of piped water and management of wastewater produced in homes and businesses is an expectation of city dwellers in wealthy countries, and an aspiration for many people living in rapidly developing cities in low- and middle-income countries. It is also crucial to public health and protection of the environment. For well over a century, municipal drinking water provision and wastewater management have been made possible by large investments in centralized systems in which fresh water passes through a small number of drinking water treatment plants before being distributed through a vast underground pipe network to buildings throughout the city (Sedlak 2014). After it is used, wastewater is collected in underground sewers that route it to treatment plants prior to its discharge to the environment. In some water-stressed cities, a fraction of the treated wastewater undergoes additional treatment prior to reuse. This recycled water often is returned to users through another dedicated water distribution system, which is designated in many places with purple pipes (non-potable water reuse). Alternatively, treated wastewater may be subjected to advanced treatment (e.g., reverse osmosis followed by advanced oxidation) prior to being returned to the drinking water supply (potable water reuse).

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Global Issues of Radiopharmaceutical Access and Availability: a Nuclear Medicine Global Initiative Project

The Nuclear Medicine Global Initiative (NMGI) was formed in 2012 by 13 international organizations to promote human health by advancing the field of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging by supporting the practice and application of nuclear medicine. The first project focused on standardization of administered activities in pediatric nuclear medicine and resulted in two manuscripts. For its second project the NMGI chose to explore issues impacting on access and availability of radiopharmaceuticals around the world. Methods: Information was obtained by survey responses from 35 countries on available radioisotopes, radiopharmaceuticals and kits for diagnostic and therapeutic use. Issues impacting on access and availability of radiopharmaceuticals in individual countries were also identified. Results: Detailed information on radiopharmaceuticals utilized in each country, and sources of supply, was evaluated. Responses highlighted problems in access particularly due to the reliance on a sole provider, regulatory issues and reimbursement, as well as issues of facilities and workforce particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Conclusion: Finally, strategies to address access and availability of radiopharmaceuticals are outlined, to enable timely and equitable patient access to nuclear medicine procedures worldwide. In the face of disruptions to global supply chains by the COVID-19 outbreak, renewed focus on ensuring reliable supply of radiopharmaceuticals is a major priority for nuclear medicine practice globally.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Missing Pieces: The Role of Secretion Systems in Campylobacter jejuni Virulence

Campylobacter jejuni is likely the most common bacterial cause of gastroenteritis worldwide, responsible for millions of cases of inflammatory diarrhea characterized by severe abdominal cramps and blood in the stool. Further, C. jejuni infections are associated with post-infection sequelae in developed countries and malnutrition and growth-stunting in low- and middle-income countries. Despite the increasing prevalence of the disease, campylobacteriosis, and the recognition that this pathogen is a serious health threat, our understanding of C. jejuni pathogenesis remains incomplete. In this review, we focus on the Campylobacter secretion systems proposed to contribute to host-cell interactions and survival in the host. Moreover, we have applied a genomics approach to defining the structural and mechanistic features of C. jejuni type III, IV, and VI secretion systems. Special attention is focused on the flagellar type III secretion system and the prediction of putative effectors, given that the proteins exported via this system are essential for host cell invasion and the inflammatory response. We conclude that C. jejuni does not possess a type IV secretion system and relies on the type III and type VI secretion systems to establish a niche and potentiate disease.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Community Solar Barriers, Project Models, and Considerations for Multifamily Affordable Housing

Community solar can offer immense benefits to multifamily affordable housing (MFAH) providers and low- and moderate-income (LMI) households through reduced electricity bills or enhanced services or building amenities. Although MFAH providers and households may wish to pursue the benefits of community solar, barriers exist. This issue brief summarizes the current MFAH market and challenges to community solar adoption, followed by a discussion of four community solar project models that address solar adoption barriers faced by MFAH providers and households.

community solar↗
DOE OSTI2020

Will Consumers Really Pay for Green Electricity? Comparing Stated and Revealed Preferences for Residential Programs in the United States

Public support is growing for policy initiatives to spur a transition from a fossil to renewable energy portfolio in the electricity sector. Some utilities in the United States offer programs that allow consumers to voluntarily pay premiums (0.1-7.0 cents/kWh) for electricity from renewable sources. However, it is unclear whether public support translates to paying for green electricity if given the option. Our analysis employs data from two national, longitudinal surveys on energy attitudes and willingness to pay for renewables to investigate whether environmental concerns and stated preferences for renewable energy translate to consumer behavior as measured through ratepayer participation in voluntary utility renewable energy programs known as utility green pricing. We find higher green pricing program participation rates in areas where consumers have stronger feelings about the environmental impacts of energy. Consumers in high-participation areas also have a higher stated willingness to pay for renewable energy, on average, than consumers in low-participation areas. We also find income, homeownership, and home value explain some of the difference between high- and low-participation programs. Further, program participation is lower in areas where utilities charge higher green pricing program premiums. These findings suggest that green power programs - such as utility green pricing - offer a market-based mechanism for consumers to realize their desire to purchase renewable energy. Policymakers may use these results to support further expansion of green power programs in areas where customers currently lack accessible and affordable options to act on their environmental beliefs and concerns.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Assessment of Warm and Dry Bias over ARM SGP Site in E3SMv2 and E3SM-MMF

Abstract Many climate models exhibit a dry and warm bias over the central United States during the summer months, including the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) and its Multiscale Modeling Framework (MMF) configuration. Understanding the causes of this bias is important to shine a light on this common model error and reduce the uncertainty in future projections. In this study, we use E3SMv2 and E3SM-MMF to assess how parameterized and resolved convection affect temperature and precipitation biases over the Southern Great Plains site of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program. Both configurations overestimate near-surface temperature and underestimate precipitation at the ARM SGP site. The bias is associated with a lack of low-level clouds during days without precipitation and too much incoming solar radiation causing the surface to warm. Low-level cloud fraction in E3SM-MMF during the nonprecipitating days is lower in comparison to E3SMv2 and observation, consistent with the larger warm bias. We also find that the underestimated precipitation can be characterized as “too frequent, too weak” in E3SMv2 and “too rare, too intense” in E3SM-MMF. These deficiencies conspire to sustain the warm and dry bias over the central United States.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dark Matter Induced Power in Quantum Devices

We point out that power measurements of single quasiparticle devices open a new avenue to detect dark matter (DM). The threshold of these devices is set by the Cooper pair binding energy, and is therefore so low that they can detect DM as light as about an MeV incoming from the Galactic halo, as well as the low-velocity thermalized DM component potentially present in the Earth. Using existing power measurements with these new devices, as well as power measurements with SuperCDMS-CPD, we set new constraints on the spin-independent DM scattering cross section for DM masses from about 10 MeV to 10 GeV. We outline future directions to improve sensitivity to both halo DM and a thermalized DM population in the Earth using power deposition in quantum devices. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

What lies beneath: Vertical temperature heterogeneity in a Mediterranean woodland savanna

As the availability of satellite and airborne thermal infrared remote sensing (TIR-RS) data increases and their spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions improve, researchers are finding diverse applications for TIR-RS measurements. TIR-RS is now commonly applied in regional- and continental-scale analyses, such as those focused on fire and surface energy balance. However, its application lags in plant physiology and ecology, for which a finer-scale understanding of plant canopy temperatures would be useful to elucidate plant water dynamics, for example. In particular, while methods to disaggregate TIR-RS pixels in horizontal space have advanced, possible vertical stratification of plant canopy temperature and its implications for understanding the correspondence between TIR-RS and finer-scale, field-based thermal measurements (e.g. made with a thermal camera) remain unexplored. Here, we use data from a thermal camera deployed concurrently with the recent ECOSTRESS mission to quantify vertical temperature gradients within tree canopies and temperatures of over- vs. under-story plants in a Mediterranean woodland savanna. We then leverage diverse ancillary data to maximize the geometric comparability of ECOSTRESS and thermal camera measurements, in order to assess the extent to which the two forms of thermal measurements correspond. Specifically, we ask: (1) What are the patterns of intra-canopy and over- vs. under-story vertical temperature in a Mediterranean woodland savanna?, and (2) How can vertically-resolved, but spatially-limited field-based temperature measurements be reconciled with spatially-extensive, but surface-only, temperature measurements of a space-borne remote sensor? Further, we found consistent patterns of vertical thermal heterogeneity both within tree canopies and between ecosystem over- and under-stories. The daytime difference between the top and bottom thirds of blue oak canopies was, on average, 0.48 ° C – and sometimes several times larger. Notably, canopy tops are cooler, likely associated with the under-story grass reaching daytime temperatures often exceeding over-story temperatures by 10° C. Given the consistency of the intra-canopy temperature gradients, we expected the ECOSTRESS sensor would be in better agreement with camera measurements of canopy tops than bulk canopies or canopy bottoms. However, within-canopy gradients were overwhelmed by other sources of disagreement between the measurements, in part associated with upscaling camera measurements across space. Overall, thermal camera and ECOSTRESS measurements were largely in agreement at night (pixel RMSE = 1.1°C), but they were more divergent during times of low (but >0 W/m2) and high incoming solar radiation (daytime pixel RMSE = 3.5°C).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

ResStock Communities LEAP Pilot Residential Housing Analysis - Detailed Methodology

This methodology document supports residential building analysis for some communities receiving technical assistance through the Department of Energy Communities LEAP (Local Energy Action Program). Communities LEAP supports community-wide economic and environmental benefits through technical assistance.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗