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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 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Cold acclimation threshold induction temperatures of switchgrass ecotypes grown under a long and short photoperiod

Abstract Plants can cold acclimate to enhance their freezing tolerance by sensing declining temperature and photoperiod cues. However, the factors influencing genotypic variation in the induction of cold acclimation are poorly understood among perennial grasses. We hypothesized that the more northern upland switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.) ecotype develops a higher degree of freezing tolerance by initiating cold acclimation at higher temperatures as compared with the coastal and southern lowland ecotypes. First, we determined the optimal method for assessing freezing tolerance and the length of exposure to 8/4°C required to induce the maximum level of freezing tolerance in the most northern upland and most southern lowland genotypes. We characterized the maximum freezing tolerance of eight uplands, three coastal and five lowland genotypes grown for 21 days at 8/4°C and a 10 or 16 h photoperiod. Next, we identified the temperature required to induce cold acclimation by exposing the 16 genotypes for 7 days at 20–6°C constant temperatures under a 10 or 16 h photoperiod. Cold acclimation initiated at temperatures 5 and 7°C higher in upland than in coastal and lowland genotypes. Among upland genotypes the shorter photoperiod induced cold acclimation at a 1°C higher temperature. Genotypes originating from a more northern latitude initiate cold acclimation at higher temperatures and develop higher maximum freezing tolerances. An earlier response to declining temperatures may provide the upland ecotype with additional time to prepare for winter and provide an advantage when plants are subjected to the rapid changes in fall temperature associated with injurious frosts.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Proton-induced reactions on Fe, Cu, and Ti from threshold to 55 MeV

Theoretical models often differ significantly from measured data in their predictions of the magnitude of nuclear reactions that produce radionuclides for medical, research, and national security applications. In this paper, we compare a priori predictions from several state-of-the-art reaction modeling packages (CoH, EMPIRE, TALYS, and ALICE) to cross sections measured using the stacked-target activation method. The experiment was performed using the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 88-Inch Cyclotron with beams of 25 and 55 MeV protons on a stack of iron, copper, and titanium foils. Thirty-four excitation functions were measured from 4–55 MeV, including the first measurement of the independent cross sections for nat Fe(p,x) 49,51 Cr, 51,52m,52g,56 Mn, and 58m,58g Co. All of the models, using default input parameters to assess their predictive capabilities, failed to reproduce the isomer-to-ground state ratio for reaction channels at compound and pre-compound energies, suggesting issues in modeling the deposition or distribution of angular momentum in these residual nuclei.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

OperonSEQer: A set of machine-learning algorithms with threshold voting for detection of operon pairs using short-read RNA-sequencing data

Operon prediction in prokaryotes is critical not only for understanding the regulation of endogenous gene expression, but also for exogenous targeting of genes using newly developed tools such as CRISPR-based gene modulation. A number of methods have used transcriptomics data to predict operons, based on the premise that contiguous genes in an operon will be expressed at similar levels. While promising results have been observed using these methods, most of them do not address uncertainty caused by technical variability between experiments, which is especially relevant when the amount of data available is small. In addition, many existing methods do not provide the flexibility to determine the stringency with which genes should be evaluated for being in an operon pair. We present OperonSEQer, a set of machine learning algorithms that uses the statistic and p-value from a non-parametric analysis of variance test (Kruskal-Wallis) to determine the likelihood that two adjacent genes are expressed from the same RNA molecule. We implement a voting system to allow users to choose the stringency of operon calls depending on whether your priority is high recall or high specificity. In addition, we provide the code so that users can retrain the algorithm and re-establish hyperparameters based on any data they choose, allowing for this method to be expanded as additional data is generated. We show that our approach detects operon pairs that are missed by current methods by comparing our predictions to publicly available long-read sequencing data. OperonSEQer therefore improves on existing methods in terms of accuracy, flexibility, and adaptability.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Deuteron-induced reactions on natural Zr from threshold to 50 MeV: production of 86g Y

Two stacks of thin Zr foils were irradiated with 30 and 50 MeV deuterons, respectively, using the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 88-Inch Cyclotron, and 19 excitation functions for nat Zr(d,x) reactions were measured over a beam energy range of 6.3–47.64 MeV, where the independent cross sections for nat Zr(d,x) 88 Nb and nat Zr(d,x) 86m,g Y were measured for the first time. The well-characterized nat Fe(d,x) 56 Co, nat Ni(d,x) 56 Co, nat Ni(d,x) 58 Co, nat Ni(d,x) 61 Cu, nat Ti(d,x) 46 Sc and nat Ti(d,x) 48 V monitor reactions were used to determine the deuteron beam current throughout the stacks. All cross sections were determined using High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector γ-ray spectroscopy. A variance minimization technique was employed to simultaneously constrain the deuteron beam currents with multiple monitor reactions, thus reducing systematic uncertainties. An additional 16 channels are reported for reactions on the nickel, titanium, and iron monitor foils, leading to a total of 35 excitation functions, with seven reaction channels reported for the first time in this work. The measured excitation functions are compared to calculations provided by the reaction modeling codes TALYS – 2.0, ALICE – 2020, CoH – 3.5.3 and EMPIRE – 3.2.3, as well as the TENDL – 2023 data library. The degree of agreement between theory and experiments is discussed. The possible production of the important PET radionuclide 86g Y via the nat Zr(d,x) route was critically examined. The physical yields for nat Zr(d,x) 86 Y and other yttrium isotopes produced were calculated and compared to other production pathways. Due to high-level of associated radionuclide impurities, this route cannot deliver 86g Y suitable for medical applications.

86gY↗