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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 577 records · Page 32
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Effect of Second-Order and Fully Nonlinear Wave Kinematics on a Tension-Leg-Platform Wind Turbine in Extreme Wave Conditions

In this study, we assess the impact of different wave kinematics models on the dynamic response of a tension-leg-platform wind turbine. Aero-hydro-elastic simulations of the floating wind turbine are carried out employing linear, second-order, and fully nonlinear kinematics using the Morison equation for the hydrodynamic forcing. The wave kinematics are computed from either theoretical or measured signals of free-surface elevation. The numerical results from each model are compared to results from wave basin tests on a scaled prototype. The comparison shows that sub and superharmonic responses can be introduced by second-order and fully nonlinear wave kinematics. The response at the wave frequency range is better reproduced when kinematics are generated from the measured surface elevation. In the future, the numerical response may be further improved by replacing the global, constant damping coefficients in the model by a more detailed, customizable definition of the user-defined numerical damping.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Improving spot-scanning proton therapy patient specific quality assurance with HPlusQA, a second-check dose calculation engine

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to validate the use of HPlusQA, spot-scanning proton therapy (SSPT) dose calculation software developed at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, as second-check dose calculation software for patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA). The authors also showed how HPlusQA can be used within the current PSQA framework.Methods: The authors compared the dose calculations of HPlusQA and the Eclipse treatment planning system with 106 planar dose measurements made as part of PSQA. To determine the relative performance and the degree of correlation between HPlusQA and Eclipse, the authors compared calculated with measured point doses. Then, to determine how well HPlusQA can predict when the comparisons between Eclipse calculations and the measured dose will exceed tolerance levels, the authors compared gamma index scores for HPlusQA versus Eclipse with those of measured doses versus Eclipse. The authors introduce the αβγ transformation as a way to more easily compare gamma scores.Results: The authors compared measured and calculated dose planes using the relative depth, z/R × 100%, where z is the depth of the measurement and R is the proton beam range. For relative depths than less than 80%, both Eclipse and HPlusQA calculations were within 2 cGy of dose measurements on average. When the relative depth was greater than 80%, the agreement between the calculations and measurements fell to 4 cGy. For relative depths less than 10%, the Eclipse and HPlusQA dose discrepancies showed a negative correlation, −0.21. Otherwise, the correlation between the dose discrepancies was positive and as large as 0.6. For the dose planes in this study, HPlusQA correctly predicted when Eclipse had and had not calculated the dose to within tolerance 92% and 79% of the time, respectively. In 4 of 106 cases, HPlusQA failed to predict when the comparison between measurement and Eclipse's calculation had exceeded the tolerance levels of 3% for dose and 3 mm for distance-to-agreement.Conclusions: The authors found HPlusQA to be reasonably effective (79%± 10%) in determining when the comparison between measured dose planes and the dose planes calculated by the Eclipse treatment planning system had exceeded the acceptable tolerance levels. When used as described in this study, HPlusQA can reduce the need for patient specific quality assurance measurements by 64%. The authors believe that the use of HPlusQA as a dose calculation second check can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the QA process.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-D-16A-01: A Novel Method to Estimate Normal Tissue Dose for Radiotherapy Patients to Support Epidemiologic Studies of Second Cancer Risk

Purpose: Patient cohort of second cancer study often involves radiotherapy patients with no radiological images available: We developed methods to construct a realistic surrogate anatomy by using computational human phantoms. We tested this phantom images both in a commercial treatment planning system (Eclipse) and a custom Monte Carlo (MC) transport code. Methods: We used a reference adult male phantom defined by International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The hybrid phantom which was originally developed in Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) and polygon mesh format was converted into more common medical imaging format. Electron density was calculated from the material composition of the organs and tissues and then converted into DICOM format. The DICOM images were imported into the Eclipse system for treatment planning, and then the resulting DICOM-RT files were imported into the MC code for MC-based dose calculation. Normal tissue doses were calculation in Eclipse and MC code for an illustrative prostate treatment case and compared to each other. Results: DICOM images were generated from the adult male reference phantom. Densities and volumes of selected organs between the original phantom and ones represented within Eclipse showed good agreements, less than 0.6%. Mean dose from Eclipse and MC code match less than 7%, whereas maximum and minimum doses were different up to 45%. Conclusion: The methods established in this study will be useful for the reconstruction of organ dose to support epidemiological studies of second cancer in cancer survivors treated by radiotherapy. We also work on implementing body size-dependent computational phantoms to better represent patient's anatomy when the height and weight of patients are available.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

TU-F-18A-06: Dual Energy CT Using One Full Scan and a Second Scan with Very Few Projections

Purpose: The conventional dual energy CT (DECT) requires two full CT scans at different energy levels, resulting in dose increase as well as imaging errors from patient motion between the two scans. To shorten the scan time of DECT and thus overcome these drawbacks, we propose a new DECT algorithm using one full scan and a second scan with very few projections by preserving structural information. Methods: We first reconstruct a CT image on the full scan using a standard filtered-backprojection (FBP) algorithm. We then use a compressed sensing (CS) based iterative algorithm on the second scan for reconstruction from very few projections. The edges extracted from the first scan are used as weights in the Objectives: function of the CS-based reconstruction to substantially improve the image quality of CT reconstruction. The basis material images are then obtained by an iterative image-domain decomposition method and an electron density map is finally calculated. The proposed method is evaluated on phantoms. Results: On the Catphan 600 phantom, the CT reconstruction mean error using the proposed method on 20 and 5 projections are 4.76% and 5.02%, respectively. Compared with conventional iterative reconstruction, the proposed edge weighting preserves object structures and achieves a better spatial resolution. With basis materials of Iodine and Teflon, our method on 20 projections obtains similar quality of decomposed material images compared with FBP on a full scan and the mean error of electron density in the selected regions of interest is 0.29%. Conclusion: We propose an effective method for reducing projections and therefore scan time in DECT. We show that a full scan plus a 20-projection scan are sufficient to provide DECT images and electron density with similar quality compared with two full scans. Our future work includes more phantom studies to validate the performance of our method.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Commissioning the neutron production of a Linac: Development of a simple tool for second cancer risk estimation

Purpose: Knowing the contribution of neutron to collateral effects in treatments is both a complex and a mandatory task. This work aims to present an operative procedure for neutron estimates in any facility using a neutron digital detector. Methods: The authors’ previous work established a linear relationship between the total second cancer risk due to neutrons (TR{sup n}) and the number of MU of the treatment. Given that the digital detector also presents linearity with MU, its response can be used to determine the TR{sup n} per unit MU, denoted as m, normally associated to a generic Linac model and radiotherapy facility. Thus, from the number of MU of each patient treatment, the associated risk can be estimated. The feasibility of the procedure was tested by applying it in eight facilities; patients were evaluated as well. Results: From the reading of the detector under selected irradiation conditions, m values were obtained for different machines, ranging from 0.25 × 10{sup −4}% per MU for an Elekta Axesse at 10 MV to 6.5 × 10{sup −4}% per MU for a Varian Clinac at 18 MV. Using these values, TR{sup n} of patients was estimated in each facility and compared to that from the individual evaluation. Differences were within the range of uncertainty of the authors’ methodology of equivalent dose and risk estimations. Conclusions: The procedure presented here allows an easy estimation of the second cancer risk due to neutrons for any patient, given the number of MU of the treatment. It will enable the consideration of this information when selecting the optimal treatment for a patient by its implementation in the treatment planning system.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-I-20: Comprehensive Quality Assurance Test of Second Generation Toshiba Aquilion Large Bore CT Simulator Based On AAPM TG-66 Recommendations

Purpose: AAPM radiation therapy committee task group No. 66 (TG-66) published a report which described a general approach to CT simulator QA. The report outlines the testing procedures and specifications for the evaluation of patient dose, radiation safety, electromechanical components, and image quality for a CT simulator. The purpose of this study is to thoroughly evaluate the performance of a second generation Toshiba Aquilion Large Bore CT simulator with 90 cm bore size (Toshiba, Nasu, JP) based on the TG-66 criteria. The testing procedures and results from this study provide baselines for a routine QA program. Methods: Different measurements and analysis were performed including CTDIvol measurements, alignment and orientation of gantry lasers, orientation of the tabletop with respect to the imaging plane, table movement and indexing accuracy, Scanogram location accuracy, high contrast spatial resolution, low contrast resolution, field uniformity, CT number accuracy, mA linearity and mA reproducibility using a number of different phantoms and measuring devices, such as CTDI phantom, ACR image quality phantom, TG-66 laser QA phantom, pencil ion chamber (Fluke Victoreen) and electrometer (RTI Solidose 400). Results: The CTDI measurements were within 20% of the console displayed values. The alignment and orientation for both gantry laser and tabletop, as well as the table movement and indexing and scanogram location accuracy were within 2mm as specified in TG66. The spatial resolution, low contrast resolution, field uniformity and CT number accuracy were all within ACR’s recommended limits. The mA linearity and reproducibility were both well below the TG66 threshold. Conclusion: The 90 cm bore size second generation Toshiba Aquilion Large Bore CT simulator that comes with 70 cm true FOV can consistently meet various clinical needs. The results demonstrated that this simulator complies with the TG-66 protocol in all aspects including electromechanical component, radiation safety component, and image quality component. Employee of Toshiba America Medical Systems.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Full complex amplitude control of second-harmonic generation via electrically tunable intersubband polaritonic metasurfaces

Nonlinear intersubband polaritonic metasurfaces based on coupling of the intersubband nonlinear optical response of quantum-engineered semiconductor heterostructures and electromagnetic modes of nanoresonators provide efficient frequency mixing with moderate pump intensities. The resonant nonlinear optical response, represented as a complex function, can be modulated via Stark tuning of intersubband transition energies under applied voltages. However, achieving full complex amplitude control (both phase and magnitude) remains challenging. In this work, we present and experimentally validate electrically tunable nonlinear intersubband polaritonic metasurfaces that achieve complete complex amplitude control for second-harmonic generation (SHG). Through a design featuring two in-plane flipped meta-atoms per unit cell, we achieve complete electrical control of both the amplitude and phase of the metasurface second-order nonlinear susceptibility, with a tuning range of 0 to 30 nm V −1 for the magnitude and 0-2π for the phase of the nonlinear optical response. Using these properties, we achieve complete on-off SHG modulation and beam diffraction tuning through electrically controlled amplitude and phase gratings.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Molecular Architecture of Early Dissemination and Massive Second Wave of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus in a Major Metropolitan Area

We sequenced the genomes of 5,085 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strains causing two coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease waves in metropolitan Houston, TX, an ethnically diverse region with 7 million residents. The genomes were from viruses recovered in the earliest recognized phase of the pandemic in Houston and from viruses recovered in an ongoing massive second wave of infections. The virus was originally introduced into Houston many times independently. Virtually all strains in the second wave have a Gly614 amino acid replacement in the spike protein, a polymorphism that has been linked to increased transmission and infectivity. Patients infected with the Gly614 variant strains had significantly higher virus loads in the nasopharynx on initial diagnosis. We found little evidence of a significant relationship between virus genotype and altered virulence, stressing the linkage between disease severity, underlying medical conditions, and host genetics. Some regions of the spike protein—the primary target of global vaccine efforts—are replete with amino acid replacements, perhaps indicating the action of selection. We exploited the genomic data to generate defined single amino acid replacements in the receptor binding domain of spike protein that, importantly, produced decreased recognition by the neutralizing monoclonal antibody CR3022. Our report represents the first analysis of the molecular architecture of SARS-CoV-2 in two infection waves in a major metropolitan region. The findings will help us to understand the origin, composition, and trajectory of future infection waves and the potential effect of the host immune response and therapeutic maneuvers on SARS-CoV-2 evolution.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Polarization Effects in Optical Second Harmonic Generation from Chiral Nanostructures

The main experimental results that have been recently obtained for the linear and nonlinear optical responses of ordered two-dimensional arrays of planar chiral metallic nanostructures are considered. These experimental results demonstrate that the polarization state of the linear and nonlinear optical responses of metasurfaces are substantially determined by the chirality of a single nanoelement and the related spatial distribution of the optical second harmonic generation intensity. As a result, circular dichroism effects appear in the linear and nonlinear optical responses of a chiral metasurface. The anisotropy of the second harmonic is experimentally shown to play a substantial role in the effects of extrinsic chirality, which is determined by the spatial symmetry of an array of nanoelements. The main properties of circular dichroism in the quadratic optical response are supported by numerical calculations and symmetry analysis of structures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Stationary Solutions of Second-Order Equations for Point Fermions in the Schwarzschild Gravitational Field

When using a second-order Schrödinger-type equation with the effective potential of the Schwarzschild field, the existence of a stationary state of half-spin particles with energy E = 0 is proved. For each of the values of quantum numbers j, l, the physically meaningful energy E = 0 (the binding energy is E{sub b}=mc{sup 2}) is implemented at the value of the gravitational coupling constant α⩾α{sub min}. The particles with E = 0 are, with the overwhelming probability, at some distance from the event horizon within the range from zero to several fractions of the Compton wavelength of a fermion depending on value of the gravitational coupling constants and the values of j, l. In this paper, similar solutions of the second-order equation are announced for bound states of fermions in the Reissner–Nordström, Kerr, Kerr–Newman fields. Atomic-type systems (the point sources of the Schwarzschild gravitational field) with fermions in bound states are proposed as particles of dark matter.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Stationary Solutions of the Second-Order Equation for Fermions in Kerr–Newman Space-Time

When using the quantum mechanical second-order equation with the effective potential of the Kerr–Newman (KN) field for fermions, results were obtained that qualitatively differ from the results obtained when using the Dirac equation. In the presence of two event horizons, existence of degenerate stationary bound states was proved for charged and uncharged fermions with square integrable wavefunctions vanishing on event horizons. The fermions in such states are localized near the event horizons with the maxima of probability densities away from the event horizons by fractions of the Compton wavelength of fermions versus the values of coupling constants, the values of angular and orbital momenta j, l, and the value of the azimuthal quantum number m{sub φ}. In the case of extreme KN fields, absence of stationary bound states of fermions was shown for any values of coupling constants. Existence of discrete energy spectra was shown for charged and uncharged fermions in the field of KN naked singularity at definite values of physical parameters. The KN naked singularity poses no threat to cosmic censorship because of the regular behavior of the effective potentials of the KN field in quantum mechanics with the second-order equation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Second-Order Stationary Solutions for Fermions in an External Coulomb Field

We have studied self-conjugate second-order equations with spinor wavefunctions for fermions moving in an external Coulomb field. For stationary states, the equations are characterized by separated states with positive and negative energies, which render probabilistic interpretation possible. For the Coulomb field of attraction, the energy spectrum of the second-order equation coincides with the spectrum of the Dirac equation, while the probability densities of states are slightly different. For a Coulomb field of repulsion, there exists an impermeable potential barrier with radius depending on the classical electron radius and on the electron energy. The existence of the impermeable barrier does not contradict the results of experiment for determining the inner electron structure and does not affect (in the lowest order of perturbation theory) the Coulomb electron scattering cross section. The existence of the impermeable barrier can lead to positron confinement in supercritical nuclei with Z ≥ 170 in case of realization of spontaneous emission of vacuum electron–positron pairs.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Second- and Third-Order Anharmonic Effects within the Quantum Many-Body Theory

The paper presents a brief review of the results in the self-consistent theory of the anharmonic effects of the second and third orders in the phonon production amplitude, based on the quantum many-body theory. Numerical (for second-order effects) and theoretical analyses of new, i.e., three- and four-quasiparticle correlations in the ground state (backward-going graphs) in magic nuclei and in nuclei with pairing are given. A formula for the probability of transition between one- and two-phonon states is obtained and compared to the solution of a similar problem within the quasiparticle-phonon model. It is shown that the approach under consideration contains a number of new effects.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Optical Properties of AlGaAs/GaAs Resonant Bragg Structure at the Second Quantum State

Photoluminescence, optical reflectance and electro-reflectance spectroscopies were employed to study an AlGaAs/GaAs multiple-quantum-well based resonant Bragg structure, which was designed to match optical Bragg resonance with the exciton-polariton resonance at the second quantum state in the GaAs quantum wells. The structure with 60 periods of AlGaAs/GaAs quantum wells was grown on a semi-insulating substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. Broad and enhanced optical and electro-reflectance features were observed when the Bragg resonance was tuned to the second quantum state of the GaAs quantum well excitons manifesting an enhancement of the light-matter interaction under double-resonance conditions. By applying an alternating electric field, we revealed electro-reflectance features related to the x(e2-hh2) and x(e2-hh1) excitons. The excitonic transition x(e2-hh1), which is prohibited at zero electric field, was allowed by a DC bias due to brake of symmetry and increased overlap of the electron and hole wave functions caused by electric field.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Effect of a Second-Order Phase Transition on the Electrical Conductivity of Metal/Semiconductor Structures

The properties of the Cr–p-Si potential barrier near the temperature of the antiferromagnetic–paramagnetic phase transition in chromium are investigated. A significant change in the potential barrier and an anomalous increase in the conductivity in the Cr–p-Si–Au structure are observed near the temperature of the second-order antiferromagnetic–paramagnetic phase transition in chromium. It is established that current fluctuations in the structure are enhanced when approaching the phase-transition point. The experimental results are interpreted based on the assumption that the observed change in the electron-transport properties of the Cr–Si interface is due to a shift of the Fermi quasi-level in chromium as a result of the second-order phase transition.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Second-Harmonic Generation of Subterahertz Gyrotron Radiation by Frequency Doubling in InP:Fe and Its Application for Magnetospectroscopy of Semiconductor Structures

The possibility of obtaining intense terahertz radiation due to second-order lattice nonlinearity in indium-phosphide crystals doped with iron is discussed. As a source of radiation, subterahertz gyrotrons are considered. It is shown that the efficiency of frequency doubling can reach 3%, which opens up the possibility for developing a new generation of terahertz radiation sources. The possibility of applying second-harmonic radiation for the magnetospectroscopy of semiconductor structures with quasi-Dirac dispersion is demonstrated.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Search for resonant production of second-generation sleptons with same-sign dimuon events in proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13\,\text {TeV} $

A search is presented for resonant production of second-generation sleptons ($\tilde{\mu}_L$, $\tilde{\nu}_\mu$) via the $R$-parity-violating coupling $\lambda'_{211}$ to quarks, in events with two same-sign muons and at least two jets in the final state. The smuon (muon sneutrino) is expected to decay into a muon and a neutralino (chargino), which will then decay into a second muon and at least two jets. The analysis is based on the 2016 data set of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. No significant deviation is observed with respect to standard model expectations. Upper limits on cross sections, ranging from 0.24 to 730 fb, are derived in the context of two simplified models representing the dominant signal contributions leading to a same-sign muon pair. The cross section limits are translated into coupling limits for a modified constrained minimal supersymmetric model with $\lambda'_{211}$ as the only nonzero $R$-parity violating coupling. The results significantly extend restrictions of the parameter space compared with previous searches for similar models.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Detection prospects for the second-order weak decays of 124 Xe in multi-tonne xenon time projection chambers

We investigate the detection prospects for two-neutrino and neutrinoless second-order weak decays of 124 Xe – double-electron capture (0/2νECEC), electron capture with positron emission (0/2νECβ + ) and double-positron emission (0/2νβ + β + ) – in multi-tonne xenon time projection chambers. We simulate the decays in a liquid xenon medium and develop a reconstruction algorithm which uses the multi-particle coincidence in these decays to separate signal from background. This is used to compute the expected detection efficiencies as a function of position resolution and energy threshold for planned experiments. In addition, we consider an exhaustive list of possible background sources and find that they are either negligible in rate or can be greatly reduced using our topological reconstruction criteria. In particular, we draw two conclusions: First, with a theoretical half-life of $T^{2νECβ^+}_{1/2}$= (1.7 ± 0.6) ∙10 23 year, the 2νECβ + decay of 124 Xe will likely be detected in upcoming Dark Matter experiments (e.g. XENONnT or LZ), and their major background will be γ-rays from detector construction materials. Second, searches for the 0νECβ + decay mode will likely be background-free, and new parameter space may be within reach. To this end we investigate two different scenarios of existing experimental constraints on the effective neutrino mass. The necessary 500 kg-year exposure of 124 Xe could be achieved by the baseline design of the DARWIN observatory, or by extracting and using the 124 Xe from the tailings of the nEXO experiment. We demonstrate how a combination of 124 Xe results with those from 0νβ - β - searches in 136 Xe could help to identify the neutrinoless decay mechanism.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗