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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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Emergence of relations and the essence of learning: a review of Sidman's Equivalence relations and behavior: a research story. Book review

The author reviews and comments on the book Equivalence relations and behavior: a research story by Murray Sidman. Sidman's book reports his research about equivalence relations and competencies in children with mental retardation and how it relates to behavior. Sidman used the idea of stimulus-stimulus relations among features of the environment to develop his theories about equivalence relations. Experimental work with children and animals demonstrated their ability to use equivalence relations to learn new tasks. The subject received feedback and reinforcement for specific choices made during training, then was presented with new choices during testing. Results of the tests indicate that subjects were able to establish relations and retrieve them in different situations.

NASA Discipline Space Human Factors↗
DOE OSTI2019

The dependence of radius on relative humidity and solute mass at high relative humidities up to and including 100%

This manuscript presents a rigorous examination of the equilibrium radius ratio of hygroscopic aerosol particles that are solution drops of ideal and actual inorganic solutes for a range of solute masses in the relative humidity range 99-100%. Analysis is presented first for ideal solutes over a range of solute masses for different hygroscopicities, providing a theoretical framework for the subsequent analysis of actual solutes. Dimensionless quantities are used to reduce the Kohler equation to one with no free parameters and an approximate solution is presented. Next analysis is presented for three common inorganic solutes of atmospheric importance: sodium chloride, ammonium sulfate, and sulfuric acid, with a range of solute masses considered for each substance. The extent to which non-ideality is important for these solutes over the ranges of relative humidities and solute masses considered is examined. A simple but accurate single-parameter expression is presented for the equilibrium radius ratio as a function of relative humidity that contains the dependenceso on solute mass and composition for these solutes. The accuracy of this expression is quantified and factors that limit this accuracy are discussed. The expression is accurate to within 5% over most of the range of mass-equivalent dry radii from 10 to 250 nm and relative humidities from below 99 up to 100%, over which the equilibrium radius ratio varies by more than a factor of five, and it remains finite at 100% relative humidity. Lastly, measurements of hygroscopic growth of aerosol particles in this relative humidity range are discussed.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Measurement of the branching ratio of B ¯ 0 → D * + τ - ν ¯ τ relative to B ¯ 0 → D * + ℓ - ν ¯ ℓ decays with a semileptonic tagging method

Here, we report a measurement of the ratio R ( D * ) = B ( B ¯ 0 → D * + τ - ν ¯ τ ) / B ( B ¯ 0 → D * + ℓ - ν ¯ ℓ ) , where ℓ denotes an electron or a muon. The results are based on a data sample containing 772 × 1 0 6 B B ¯ pairs recorded at the Υ ( 4 S ) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB e + e - collider. We select a sample of B 0 B ¯ 0 pairs by reconstructing both B mesons in semileptonic decays to D * ∓ ℓ ± . We measure R ( D * ) = 0.302 ± 0.030 ( stat ) ± 0.011 ( syst ) , which is within 1.6 σ of the Standard Model theoretical expectation, where the standard deviation σ includes systematic uncertainties. We use this measurement to constrain several scenarios of new physics in a model-independent technique.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Reversion of aging-related DHEAS decline in mouse plasma alleviates aging-related glucose tolerance impairment by potentiation of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion of acute phase

Highlights: • Aging-related DHEAS decline in mouse plasma contribute to aging-related impairment of glucose tolerance. • Reversion of aging-related DHEAS deficiency in aging mice could alleviate aging-related glucose tolerance impairment. • In vitro, physical concentration of DHEAS potentiated GSIS of acute phase in aging mice pancreatic islets and MIN6 cells. The latest research proposes mild age-related diabetes (MARD) as a subgroup of type 2 diabetes. While in human circulating dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) decline with age is related to MARD, the role of circulating DHEAS in insulin secretion remains little known.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Modelica-based system modeling for studying control-related faults in chiller plants and boiler plants serving large office buildings

System modeling is critical when studying operation faults in chiller plants and boiler plants. However, current fault models have difficulties faithfully representing the operation of chiller plants and boiler plants under the effects of those faults, especially the control-related ones. In this study, we present a systematic method to develop high-fidelity models for approximating the behaviors of chiller plants and boiler plants under faulty conditions. Compared to existing ones, the resulting fault models have two advantages: first, they better characterize the dynamic patterns in the system operation. In those models, control architecture and control logic are faithfully implemented. Thus, they can be used to study control-related faults, such as incorrect staging control due to sensor bias and mistuned feedback control. Second, they are readily extensible and can support large-scale investigations to explore different faulty conditions/scenarios. Those models are established in a hierarchical structure while modules in each layer can be redeclared and parameterized at upper layers. In such a case, modifications to the models can be realized through model modifiers and the process can be easily streamlined with scripts. We applied the proposed models in a comprehensive fault impact evaluation of the 13 control-related faults of chiller and boiler plants. In this evaluation, the proposed plant model is coupled with the EnergyPlus thermal load model to study the impact of various faulty scenarios. Based on the evaluation results, we identified the faults that have the most significant impacts on the operation of the chiller and boiler plants, respectively. We also found that the relationship between the impacts of the studied faults and the severity level of the faults are highly non-linear

Huang, Sen↗
DOE OSTI2015

Lagrangian space consistency relation for large scale structure

Consistency relations, which relate the squeezed limit of an (N+1)-point correlation function to an N-point function, are non-perturbative symmetry statements that hold even if the associated high momentum modes are deep in the nonlinear regime and astrophysically complex. Recently, Kehagias & Riotto and Peloso & Pietroni discovered a consistency relation applicable to large scale structure. We show that this can be recast into a simple physical statement in Lagrangian space: that the squeezed correlation function (suitably normalized) vanishes. This holds regardless of whether the correlation observables are at the same time or not, and regardless of whether multiple-streaming is present. Furthermore, the simplicity of this statement suggests that an analytic understanding of large scale structure in the nonlinear regime may be particularly promising in Lagrangian space.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

The Spectroscopy and H-band Imaging of Virgo Cluster Galaxies (SHIVir) Survey: Scaling Relations and the Stellar-to-total Mass Relation

We present parameter distributions and fundamental scaling relations for 190 Virgo cluster galaxies in the SHIVir survey. The distribution of galaxy velocities is bimodal about V {sub circ} ∼ 125 km s{sup −1}, hinting at the existence of dynamically unstable modes in the inner regions of galaxies. An analysis of the Tully-Fisher relation (TFR) of late-type galaxies (LTGs) and the fundamental plane (FP) of early-type galaxies (ETGs) is presented, yielding a compendium of galaxy scaling relations. The slope and zero-point of the Virgo TFR match those of field galaxies, while scatter differences likely reflect distinct evolutionary histories. The velocities minimizing scatter for the TFR and FP are measured at large apertures where the baryonic fraction becomes subdominant. While TFR residuals remain independent of any galaxy parameters, FP residuals (i.e., the FP “tilt”) correlate strongly with the dynamical-to-stellar mass ratio, yielding stringent galaxy formation constraints. We construct a stellar-to-total mass relation (STMR) for ETGs and LTGs and find linear but distinct trends over the range M {sub *} = 10{sup 8–11} M {sub ⊙}. Stellar-to-halo mass relations (SHMRs), which probe the extended dark matter halo, can be scaled down to masses estimated within the optical radius, showing a tight match with the Virgo STMR at low masses; possibly inadequate halo abundance matching prescriptions and broad radial scalings complicate this comparison at all masses. While ETGs appear to be more compact than LTGs of the same stellar mass in projected space, their mass-size relations in physical space are identical. The trends reported here may soon be validated through well-resolved numerical simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1995

Emergence of Relations and the Essence of Learning: A Review of Sidman's Equivalence Relations and Behavior: A Research Story

Sidman addresses two very important questions in Equivalence Relations and Behavior: A Research Story: What are the bases of behavioral competence? And how do units of learning become related? The book recounts the story of how an understanding of emergent relations and competencies was achieved through studies in his teaching-research program with mentally retarded subjects. Although children normally accrue vast networks of relations between stimuli and events, those with mental retardation typically do not. Consequently, by learning how to establish those networks, Sidman and his students contribute richly both to the cultivation of competencies by their subjects and, more generally, to an understanding of real-world human behavior. The basic equivalence paradigm affords the subject feedback and reinforcement for very specific choices during training, but the test is not for those choices! Rather, tests for equivalence look for new choices, ones seemingly quite foreign to the training regimen. The tests for equivalence relations entail presentations of stimuli that were the options for conditional choice during reinforced training. In tests of equivalence, correct choices are novel; hence, they have never been reinforced during training. The study of equivalence relations can encourage the emergence of new perspectives that are more symbiotic than competitive. In full acknowledgment of the important role and contributions made by those who identify themselves as experimental analysts of behavior, it is timely that rapprochements be worked toward, as indeed they are, to meld that perspective with others of our time. Both our research methods and our expectations about the nature of the learning process and the abilities of our subjects can delimit what they might learn and what we, in turn, learn about their learning. The text will be of great value for instruction at the upper-division and graduate levels. Its impact will be substantial, for it defines an important advance in our efforts to understand the richness of behavior in both humans and nonhuman animals. Although not presented to that end, the book might also serve to bridge communications with other groups of animal researchers whose interests lie more in a comparative or ethological framework.

Rumbaugh, Duane M.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Progress in 3D Printing of Carbon Materials for Energy‐Related Applications

The additive‐manufacturing (AM) technique, known as three‐dimensional (3D) printing, has attracted much attention in industry and academia in recent years. 3D printing has been developed for a variety of applications. Printable inks are the most important component for 3D printing, and are related to the materials, the printing method, and the structures of the final 3D‐printed products. Carbon materials, due to their good chemical stability and versatile nanostructure, have been widely used in 3D printing for different applications. Good inks are mainly based on volatile solutions having carbon materials as fillers such as graphene oxide (GO), carbon nanotubes (CNT), carbon blacks, and solvent, as well as polymers and other additives. Studies of carbon materials in 3D printing, especially GO‐based materials, have been extensively reported for energy‐related applications. In these circumstances, understanding the very recent developments of 3D‐printed carbon materials and their extended applications to address energy‐related challenges and bring new concepts for material designs are becoming urgent and important. Here, recent developments in 3D printing of emerging devices for energy‐related applications are reviewed, including energy‐storage applications, electronic circuits, and thermal‐energy applications at high temperature. To close, a conclusion and outlook are provided, pointing out future designs and developments of 3D‐printing technology based on carbon materials for energy‐related applications and beyond.

Fu, Kun↗
DOE OSTI2019

Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect and X-ray Scaling Relations from Weak-Lensing Mass Calibration of 32 SPT Selected Galaxy Clusters

Uncertainty in mass-observable scaling relations is currently the limiting factor for galaxy-cluster-based cosmology. Weak gravitational lensing can provide direct mass calibration and reduce the mass uncertainty. We present new ground-based weak lensing observations of 19 South Pole Telescope (SPT) selected clusters at redshifts 0.29 <= z <= 0.61 and combine them with previously reported space-based observations of 13 galaxy clusters at redshifts 0.576 <= z <= 1.132 to constrain the cluster mass scaling relations with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE), the cluster gas mass M-gas and Y-X, the product of M-gas and X-ray temperature. We extend a previously used framework for the analysis of scaling relations and cosmological constraints obtained from SPT-selected clusters to make use of weak lensing information. We introduce a new approach to estimate the effective average redshift distribution of background galaxies and quantify a number of systematic errors affecting the weak lensing modelling. These errors include a calibration of the bias incurred by fitting a Navarro-Frenk-White profile to the reduced shear using N-body simulations. We blind the analysis to avoid confirmation bias. We are able to limit the systematic uncertainties to 5.6% in cluster mass (68% confidence). Our constraints on the mass-X-ray observable scaling relation parameters are consistent with those obtained by earlier studies and our constraints for the mass-SZE scaling relation are consistent with the simulation-based prior used in the most recent SPT-SZ cosmology analysis. We can now replace the external mass calibration priors used in previous SPT-SZ cosmology studies with a direct, internal calibration obtained for the same clusters.

cosmology: observations↗
DOE OSTI2023

3D Modeling of Safety-Related Upgrade Pilot Project

Constellation Energy and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) have established a public/private partnership to implement a pilot digital upgrade to replace legacy analog, safety-related reactor protection and emergency safety feature actuation systems (RPS/ESFAS) with modern digital systems. This effort is occurring at Constellation’s Limerick Generating Station. This project is being performed in accordance with industry processes that have been adapted to better support digital upgrades. These processes include IP-ENG-001, Standard Design Process, NISP-EN-04, Standard Digital Engineering Process and Electric Power Research Institute Report 3002011816, Digital Engineering Guide. The Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been supporting this effort. Latest INL HFE efforts in support of this project have focused on definition and implementation of the Human Factors Engineering (HFE) Program in support of Constellation design and related licensing efforts. This paper will present the development of the HFE 3D modeling execution of the Main Control Room safety upgrades. New equipment and modifications are planned for upgrading the new safety systems. 3D modeling allows for visualization of the new equipment and modifications to be shared with engineering and design teams for evaluation and review. Anthropometric considerations such as sight lines and functional reach can be evaluated directly using the 3D model. This effort has helped to provide visualizations for additional review with operations personnel and project stakeholders.

3D Modeling↗
DOE OSTI2020

Differentiating Vaccine-Related Fowl Cholera from Naturally Occurring Disease

Vaccine-related fowl cholera must be considered when flock mortality increases after use of a live Pasteurella multocida vaccine product. All registered live vaccines serotype as Heddleston 3,4; however, in some regions this is also the most common serotype of outbreak isolates in broiler breeders and turkeys. Therefore, serotyping may not be useful for diagnosing vaccine-related fowl cholera. This project sought to apply a vaccine-specific test to differentiate vaccine-related disease from naturally occurring outbreaks. Results indicate that vaccine strains were commonly isolated from broiler breeders exhibiting signs of fowl cholera post vaccination, but some of these isolates exhibited only serotype 4 antigenicity. The isolates’ lipopolysaccharides, the target antigen for serotyping, contained compositional changes that may explain the varying serotype results and virulence of the commercial preparations. Furthermore, these results suggest that vaccine-related disease may be common in broiler breeders, and live commercial vaccine preparations need to be assessed for serotype and titer prior to use in order to reduce vaccine-related fowl cholera.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Comprehensive Analysis of the Relative Dispersion of Droplet-Size Distributions and Their Relationships to Key Physical Fog Processes Under Different Aerosol Conditions and Evolutionary Stages

The relative dispersion of cloud and fog droplets has significant impacts on aerosol indirect effects, radiative transfer, and microphysical processes. However, previous studies have been mostly concerned with clouds, with limited studies on fog, particularly those that examine the combined influences of all key physical processes and their roles during fog evolution. As such, this study aims to conduct a comprehensive investigation by examining the relationships between relative dispersion and other microphysical variables, as well as the underlying microphysical and dynamic processes, based on field fog campaigns in polluted and clean conditions. In polluted fog, droplet concentrations are higher, leading to smaller droplets and increased dispersion. The correlation between dispersion and droplet volume-mean radius is positive in the polluted fog, but shifts to negative in clean fog. Here, we attribute the difference to various microphysical processes like aerosol activation, condensation, collision-coalescence, and entrainment-mixing. In polluted fog, high aerosol concentrations, low supersaturations, and strong turbulence (entrainment-mixing) provide suitable conditions for the simultaneous occurrence of droplet condensation and aerosol activation, resulting in a positive correlation between dispersion and volume-mean radius, especially during the fog formation stage. In contrast, during the mature stage in clean fog, condensation is dominant with weak aerosol activation leading to a negative correlation between relative dispersion and volume-mean radius. The collision-coalescence process is more active in the mature stage, increasing radii and leading to the negative correlation between dispersion and volume-mean radius. This result sheds new light on understanding the relative dispersion and mechanisms in fog under different aerosol backgrounds.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Unified Perspective on Poincaré and Galilei Relativity: I. Special Relativity

A semantic adjustment to what physicists mean by the terms ‘special relativity’ and ‘general relativity’ is suggested, which prompts a conceptual shift to a more unified perspective on physics governed by the Poincaré group and physics governed by the Galilei group. After exploring the limits of a unified perspective available in the setting of 4-dimensional spacetime, a particular central extension of the Poincaré group—analogous to the Bargmann group that is a central extension of the Galilei group—is presented that deepens a unified perspective on Poincaré and Galilei physics in a 5-dimensional spacetime setting. The immediate focus of this paper is classical physics on affine 4-dimensional and 5-dimensional spacetimes (‘special relativity’ as redefined here), including the electrodynamics that gave rise to Poincaré physics in the first place, but the results here may suggest the existence of a ‘Galilei general relativity’ more extensive than generally known, to be pursued in the sequel.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Valuing the Ozone-Related Health Benefits of Methane Emission Controls

Methane is a greenhouse gas that oxidizes to form ground-level ozone, itself a greenhouse gas and a health-harmful air pollutant. Reducing methane emissions will both slow anthropogenic climate change and reduce ozone-related mortality. We estimate the benefits of reducing methane emissions anywhere in the world for ozone-related premature mortality globally and for eight geographic regions. Our methods are consistent with those used by the U.S. Government to estimate the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC). We find that the global short- and long-term premature mortality benefits due to reduced ozone production from methane mitigation are (2011)$790 and $1775 per tonne methane, respectively. These correspond to approximately 70% and 150% of the valuation of methane’s global climate impacts using the SCC after extrapolating from carbon dioxide to methane using Global Warming Potential (GWP) estimates. Results are most sensitive to the choice of VSL and increase for emission years further in the future. Regionally, most of the global mortality benefits accrue in Asia, but 10% accrue in the United States. This methodology can be used to assess the benefits of methane emission reductions anywhere in the world, including those achieved by national and multinational policies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗