Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Protection Challenges”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2005

Planetary Protection Technologies: Technical Challenges for Mars Exploration

The search for life in the solar system, using either in situ analysis or sample return, brings with it special technical challenges in the area of planetary protection. Planetary protection (PP) requires planetary explorers to preserve biological and organic conditions for future exploration and to protect the Earth from potential extraterrestrial contamination that could occur as a result of sample return to the Earth-Moon system. In view of the exploration plans before us, the NASA Solar System Exploration Program Roadmap published in May 2003 identified planetary protection as one of 13 technologies for "high priority technology investments." Recent discoveries at Mars and Jupiter, coupled with new policies, have made this planning for planetary protection technology particularly challenging and relevant.New missions to Mars have been formulated, which present significantly greater forward contamination potential. New policies, including the introduction by COSPAR of a Category IVc for planetary protection, have been adopted by COSPAR in response. Some missions may not be feasible without the introduction of new planetary protection technologies. Other missions may be technically possible but planetary protection requirements may be so costly to implement with current technology that they are not affordable. A strategic investment strategy will be needed to focus on technology investments designed to enable future missions and reduce the costs of future missions. This presentation will describe some of the potential technological pathways that may be most protective.

planetary protections↗
DOE OSTI2026

Machine Protection Studies of Fast Instability-Driven Beam Losses in the EIC Electron Storage Ring

Fast transverse beam instabilities represent one of the most challenging protection scenarios for the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) electron storage ring (ESR). Coherent betatron oscillations driven by collective effects can grow rapidly and lead to substantial beam losses within only a few tens of turns, posing a threat to collimators, superconducting (SC) magnets, cryogenic systems, and detector components. A dedicated simulation framework based on distributed transverse excitations was developed to evaluate instability-driven beam losses in the ESR. A conservative instability rise time on the order of 10 turns was used to define a bounding protection scenario. Simulations show that the original two-collimator configuration is insufficient to localize losses under all operating conditions, whereas an optimized four-collimator configuration reduces loss leakage into protected regions by more than two orders of magnitude. Nevertheless, the most severe instability scenarios produce catastrophic beam impacts, with nearly half of the stored beam being intercepted by the collimators within a single turn, exceeding the preliminary estimated survivability limits of the baseline collimator design. The results demonstrate that collimation alone is insufficient to guarantee safe ESR operation and must be complemented by a fast machine-protection system. Dedicated turn-by-turn beam-position monitors and fast beam-loss monitors provide sufficient advance warning to detect instability growth and initiate a beam abort before equipment-damaging loss levels are reached. These findings establish quantitative requirements for the ESR machine-protection architecture and support the implementation of a multilayer protection strategy for both accelerator and detector systems.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Galactic cosmic ray simulation at the NASA space radiation laboratory – Progress, challenges and recommendations on mixed-field effects

For missions beyond low Earth orbit to the moon or Mars, space explorers will encounter a complex radiation field composed of various ion species with a broad range of energies. Such missions pose significant radiation protection challenges that need to be solved in order to minimize exposures and associated health risks. An innovative galactic cosmic ray simulator (GCRsim) was recently developed at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The GCRsim technology is intended to represent major components of the space radiation environment in a ground analog laboratory setting where it can be used to improve understanding of biological risks and serve as a testbed for countermeasure development and validation. The current GCRsim consists of 33 energetic ion beams that collectively simulate the primary and secondary GCR field encountered by humans in space over the broad range of particle types, energies, and linear energy transfer (LET) of interest to health effects. A virtual workshop was held in December 2020 to assess the status of the NASA baseline GCRsim. Workshop attendees examined various aspects of simulator design, with a particular emphasis on beam selection strategies. Experimental results, modeling approaches, areas of consensus, and questions of concern were also discussed in detail. This report includes a summary of the GCRsim workshop and a description of the current status of the GCRsim. This information is important for future advancements and applications in space radiobiology.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Utility Experience with Inverter-Based Resource Impacts on Transmission Protection

High penetration of inverter-based resources (IBR) can adversely affect the transmission protection schemes in the area. With the proliferation of IBRs, utilities are finding out that conventional protection schemes are not adequately equipped to protect the electric systems because the existing system has been designed based on the fault current response of conventional rotating-machine-based generators. This report identifies various protection challenges due to IBRs that industry is facing.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS2001

Using Artificial Life to Assess the Typicality of Terrestrial Life: Implications for Human Mission Planetary Protection

The extent to which extraterrestrial life questions can be addressed, in the absence of an actual example, rests in some measure on the extent to which terrestrial life is representative of life in general since we will likely have to draw heavily, if not completely, from terrestrial life research. One example of a practical question involving extraterrestrial life that arises in preparing for a human mission to another planet such as Mars, is trying to assess and minimize the possible adverse effects of the presence of humans on possible indigenous extraterrestrial life-forms. This paper will present some key planetary protection challenges for a human Mars mission and then focus on one possible approach for assessing the extent to which terrestrial life is representative of biological phenomena in general, informing perhaps, the level of confidence we might have in applying terrestrial research - to extraterrestrial life issues. The approach involves appealing to the relatively new field of Artificial Life (A-Life) to: (1) use what might be the most basic minimal set of life-defining characteristics in (2) a large number of open-ended Artificial Life simulations to generate a "life possibility space" (3) the products of which can be examined for their plausibility within the context of relevant constraining knowledge, so that (4) the remaining possibility space can be examined for its variability relative to terrestrial life, where low variability might suggest that terrestrial life is representative of life in general, and high variability would indicate otherwise.

Lupisella, Mark↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Galactic Cosmic Ray Simulation at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory – 2021 Update

For missions beyond low Earth orbit to the Moon or Mars, astronauts will encounter a complex space radiation field composed of various ion species with a broad range of energies. Such missions pose significant radiation protection challenges that need to be managed to minimize astronaut exposures and associated health risks. An innovative galactic cosmic ray simulator (GCRsim) was recently developed for the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The GCRsim technology is intended to recapitulate major components of the space radiation environment in a ground-analog laboratory setting. It is used for experimental studies to improve the understanding of biological risks and act as a test bed for counter measure development and validation. Currently, the GCRsim consists of 33 energetic ion beams that collectively simulate the primary and secondary GCR field encountered by astronauts over the broad range of particle types, energies, and linear energy transfer (LET) of interest to human health effects. A virtual workshop was held in December 2020 to assess the status of NASA's GCRsim and attendees examined various aspects of simulator design, with an emphasis on beam selection strategies. Modeling approaches, experimental constraints, areas of consensus, and questions of concern were also discussed in detail. An overview of the workshop considerations and discussion for research strategies that are important for future advancements and applications in space radio biology are presented.

Nafisah Khan↗
DOE OSTI2022

Deletion of E184L, a Putative DIVA Target from the Pandemic Strain of African Swine Fever Virus, Produces a Reduction in Virulence and Protection against Virulent Challenge

African swine fever (ASF) is currently causing a major pandemic affecting the swine industry and protein availability from Central Europe to East and South Asia. No commercial vaccines are available, making disease control dependent on the elimination of affected animals. Here, we show that the deletion of the African swine fever virus (ASFV) E184L gene from the highly virulent ASFV Georgia 2010 (ASFV-G) isolate produces a reduction in virus virulence during the infection in swine. Of domestic pigs intramuscularly inoculated with a recombinant virus lacking the E184L gene (ASFV-GDE184L), 40% experienced a significantly (5 days) delayed presentation of clinical disease and, overall, had a 60% rate of survival compared to animals inoculated with the virulent parental ASFV-G. Importantly, all animals surviving ASFV-G-DE184L infection developed a strong antibody response and were protected when challenged with ASFV-G. As expected, a pool of sera from ASFV-G-DE184L-inoculated animals lacked any detectable antibody response to peptides partially representing the E184L protein, while sera from animals inoculated with an efficacious vaccine candidate, ASFV-GDMGF, strongly recognize the same set of peptides. These results support the potential use of the E184L deletion for the development of vaccines able to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA). Therefore, it is shown here that the E184L gene is a novel ASFV determinant of virulence that can potentially be used to increase safety in preexisting vaccine candidates, as well as to provide them with DIVA capabilities. To our knowledge, E184L is the first ASFV gene product experimentally shown to be a functional DIVA antigenic marker.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Deletion of the H108R Gene Reduces Virulence of the Pandemic Eurasia Strain of African Swine Fever Virus with Surviving Animals Being Protected against Virulent Challenge

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the etiological agent of African swine fever (ASF), a devastating disease affecting domestic and wild swine and currently causing a global pandemic, severely affecting swine production. Here, we demonstrate that the deletion of the previously uncharacterized ASFV gene, H108R from the highly virulent ASFV-Georgia2007 (ASFV-G) genome strain, reduces virulence in domestic swine. ASFV-G-DH108R, a recombinant virus with the H108R gene deleted, was used to evaluate the involvement of the H108R gene for ASFV replication and virulence in swine. ASFV-G-DH108R showed a delayed replication in swine macrophage cultures. A group of five pigs, intramuscularly inoculated with 102 HAD50 of ASFV-G-DH108R, was observed over a 28-day period and compared with a similar group of animals inoculated with similar doses of the parental virulent virus. While all animals inoculated with ASFV-G developed an acute fatal disease, ASFV-G-DH108R inoculated animals, with the exception of one animal showing a protracted but fatal form of the disease, all survived the infection, remaining clinically healthy during the observational period. The surviving animals presented protracted viremias with lower virus titers compared with those of animals inoculated with the parental virus, and all of them developed a strong virus-specific antibody response. Importantly, all animals surviving ASFV-G-DAH108R infection were protected when challenged with the virulent parental strain, ASFV-G. This report constitutes the first evidence that the H108R gene is involved in ASFV virulence in swine and that the deletion of this gene may be used as a tool to increase the attenuation of currently experimental vaccines to improve their safety profiles.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Recombinant Vaccine Strain ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUK Produced in the IPKM Cell Line Is Genetically Stable and Efficacious in Inducing Protection in Pigs Challenged with the Virulent African Swine Fever Virus Field Isolate Georgia 2010

We have previously reported that the recombinant African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine candidate ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUK efficiently induces protection in domestic pigs challenged with the virulent strain Georgia 2010 (ASFV-G). As reported, ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUK induces protection, while intramuscularly (IM), administered at doses of 10 4 HAD 50 or higher, prevents ASF clinical disease in animals infected with the homologous ASFV g strain. Like other recombinant vaccine candidates obtained from ASFV field isolates, ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUK stocks need to be produced in primary cultures of swine macrophages, which constitutes an important limitation in the production of large virus stocks at the industrial level. Here, we describe the development of ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUK stocks using IPKM (Immortalized Porcine Kidney Macrophage) cells, which are derived from swine macrophages. We show that ten successive passages of ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUK in IPKM cells induced small changes in the virus genome. The produced virus, ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUKp10, presented a similar level of replication in swine macrophages cultures to that of the original ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUK (ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUKp0). The protective efficacy of ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUKp10 was evaluated in pigs that were IM-inoculated with either 10 4 or 10 6 HAD 50 of ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUKp10. While animals inoculated with 10 4 HAD 50 present a partial protection against the experimental infection with the virulent parental virus ASFV-G, those inoculated with 10 6 HAD 50 were completely protected. Therefore, as was just recently reported for another ASF vaccine candidate, ASFV-G-ΔI177L, IPKM cells are an effective alternative to produce stocks for vaccine strains which only grow in swine macrophages.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Presence of Virus Neutralizing Antibodies Is Highly Associated with Protection against Virulent Challenge in Domestic Pigs Immunized with ASFV live Attenuated Vaccine Candidates

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is currently producing a pandemic affecting a large area of Eurasia, and more recently, the Dominican Republic in the Western Hemisphere. ASFV is a large and structurally complex virus with a large dsDNA genome encoding for more than 150 genes. Live attenuated virus strains can induce protection in domestic swine against disease produced by homologous virulent parental viruses. The roles of the different immune mechanisms induced by the attenuated strains in protection still need to be understood. In particular, the role of ASFV neutralizing antibody in protection still is an important controversial issue to be elucidated. Here we present the development of a novel methodology to detect virus neutralizing antibodies based on the reduction of virus infectivity in a Vero cell adapted ASFV strain. The described method was used to assess levels of virus neutralizing antibodies in domestic swine inoculated with live attenuated ASFV. Results demonstrated a high association between the presence of virus neutralizing antibodies and protection in 84 animals immunized with the recombinant vaccine candidates ASFV-G-Δ9GL/ΔUK or ASFV-G-ΔI177L. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating an association between virus neutralizing antibodies and protection against virulent challenge in such a large number of experimental individuals.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

African Swine Fever Vaccine Candidate ASFV-G-ΔI177L Produced in the Swine Macrophage-Derived Cell Line IPKM Remains Genetically Stable and Protective against Homologous Virulent Challenge

ASFV vaccine candidate ASFV-G-ΔI177L has been shown to be highly efficacious in inducing protection against challenges with the parental virus, the Georgia 2010 isolate, as well as against field strains isolated from Vietnam. ASFV-G-ΔI177L has been shown to produce protection even when used at low doses (10 2 HAD 50 ) and shows no residual virulence even when administered at high doses (10 6 HAD 50 ) or evaluated for a relatively long period of time (6 months). ASFV-G-ΔI177L stocks can only be massively produced in primary cell macrophages. Alternatively, its modified version (ASFV-G-ΔI177L/ΔLVR) grows in a swine-derived cell line (PIPEC), acquiring significant genomic modifications. We present here the development of ASFV-G-ΔI177L stocks in a swine macrophage cell line, IPKM, and its protective efficacy when evaluated in domestic pigs. Successive passing of ASFV-G-ΔI177L in IPKM cells produces minimal genomic changes. Interestingly, a stock of ASFV-G-ΔI177L obtained after 10 passages (ASFV-G-ΔI177Lp10) in IPKM cells showed very small genomic changes when compared with the original virus stock. ASFV-G-ΔI177Lp10 conserves similar growth kinetics in primary swine macrophage cultures than the original parental virus ASFV-G-ΔI177L. Pigs infected with 10 3 HAD 50 of ASFV-G-ΔI177Lp10 developed a strong virus-specific antibody response and were completely protected against the challenge with the parental virulent field isolate Georgia 2010. Therefore, IPKM cells could be an effective alternative for the production of ASFV vaccine stocks for those vaccine candidates exclusively growing in swine macrophages.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Study the Protection Improvements for a Weak Grid Area With High IBRs

NLR is collaborating with Florida Power & Light (FPL) and GE to investigate power system stability and protection reliability challenges in a weak-grid region with high penetration of inverter-based resources (IBRs). This presentation will primarily focus on the protection aspects of the study. We will share key insights from this real-world project, including best practices for developing high-fidelity fault study models, establishing a controller-hardware-in-the-loop (CHIL) platform for testing physical relays, identifying system-level protection challenges, and designing enhanced protection schemes to address those issues. Through this discussion, the audience will gain practical understanding of protection studies in IBR-dominated systems, the emerging challenges associated with reduced fault current and altered transient behavior, and effective mitigation strategies. In particular, we will highlight the critical importance of IBR compliance with IEEE 2800-2022 to ensure dependable and secure protection relay operation in modern transmission systems.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Provable Security and Resilience in Critical Infrastructure – Next Steps

With the conclusion of the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project on Provable Security and Resilience (PSaR) in Critical Infrastructure, we present forward-looking technical concepts and strategies that build on the project’s outcomes and INL’s long-standing expertise in infrastructure protection. The challenge is to protect critical infrastructure and functions much more efficiently at scale than capable adversaries can attack at scale. After summarizing progress and ongoing work we’ll discuss what are the challenges that remain and what are new/emerging technologies, strategies, and processes to meet those challenges. Finally, we’ll layout concepts that integrate with other protection work in the coming year and beyond. For example, building secure function-specific platforms based on the seL4 microkernel, and considering the successes of Cyber-Informed Engineering as a model for engage, collaboration, and adoption. We look forward to your feedback and collaboration as we refine and expand this vision.

97 - MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Novel Recombinant Influenza Virus Neuraminidase Vaccine Candidate Stabilized by a Measles Virus Phosphoprotein Tetramerization Domain Provides Robust Protection from Virus Challenge in the Mouse Model

Influenza virus infections remain a high risk to human health, causing up to 650,000 deaths worldwide every year, with an enormous burden on the health care system. Since currently available seasonal vaccines are only partially effective and often mismatched to the circulating strains, a broader protective influenza virus vaccine is needed.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2013

The Challenges of Credible Thermal Protection System Reliability Quantification

The paper discusses several of the challenges associated with developing a credible reliability estimate for a human-rated crew capsule thermal protection system. The process of developing such a credible estimate is subject to the quantification, modeling and propagation of numerous uncertainties within a probabilistic analysis. The development of specific investment recommendations, to improve the reliability prediction, among various potential testing and programmatic options is then accomplished through Bayesian analysis.

Green, Lawrence L.↗
DOE OSTI2024

IBR Bulk System Protection Issues and Modeling Challenges

Issue to be Address: Difficulty in predicting Inverter (IBR) generation dynamic response characteristics. Main challenges are unavailability of proprietary control details for modeling and the aggregate mixed IBRs with different dynamic response characteristics all contributing during system faults. Framework for Discussion: Identifying issues by sharing experience Reviewing options to improve IBR modeling accuracy, computation speed, use of test results. Presenting related research by EPRI and PG&E (DOE project) Desired Outcomes: Provide technical update for participants Get feedback and suggestions for ongoing research Improve research collaboration

IBR, Protection Challenges, dynamic response, IBR ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Lassa Virus Replicon Particle Vaccine Protects Strain 13/N Guinea Pigs Against Challenge With Geographically and Genetically Diverse Viral Strains

Abstract Lassa virus (LASV) causes mild to severe hemorrhagic fever disease in humans. Strain 13/N guinea pigs are highly susceptible to infection with LASV strain Josiah (clade IV), providing a critical model system for therapeutics and vaccine development. To develop additional models of disease, we detail the clinical course in guinea pigs infected with 5 geographically and genetically diverse LASV strains. Two of the developed models (LASV clades II and III) were then used to evaluate efficacy of a virus replicon particle vaccine against heterologous LASV challenge, demonstrating complete protection against clinical disease after a single vaccination dose.

Immunology↗