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At least 613 records · Page 34

Visual Impairment/Intracranial Pressure Risk Assessment

Since 2006 there have been 6 reported cases of altered visual acuity and intracranial pressure (ICP) in long duration astronauts. In order to document this risk and develop an integrated approach to its mitigation, the NASA Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) and Human Research Program (HRP) have chosen to use the Human System Risk Board (HSRB) and the risk management analysis tool (RMAT). The HSRB is the venue in which the stakeholders and customers discuss and vet the evidence and the RMAT is the tool that facilitates documentation and comparison of the evidence across mission profiles as well as identification of risk factors, and documentation of mitigation strategies. This process allows for information to be brought forward and dispositioned so that it may be properly incorporated into the RMAT and contribute to the design of the research and mitigation plans. The evidence thus far has resulted in the identification of a visual impairment/intracranial pressure (VIIP) project team, updating of both short and long duration medical requirements designed to assess visual acuity, and a research plan to characterize this issue further. In order to understand this issue more completely, a plan to develop an Accelerated Research Collaboration (ARC) has been approved by the HSRB. The ARC is a novel research model pioneered by the Myelin Repair Foundation. It is a patient centered research model that brings together researchers and clinicians, under the guidance of a scientific advisory panel, to collaborate and produce results much quickly than accomplished through traditional research models. The data and evidence from the updated medical requirements and the VIIP ARC will be reviewed at the HSRB on a regular basis. Each review package presented to the HSRB will include an assessment and recommendation with respect to continuation of research, countermeasure development, occupational surveillance modalities, selection criteria, etc. This process will determine the course of the VIIP project and ultimately how SLSD and HRP mitigate this emerging human health and performance risk.

Fogarty, Jennifer A.↗

High-Pressure Apparatus for Monitoring Solid–Liquid Phase Transitions

This work presents a new technique for observing the solid–liquid phase transformations in complex diesel fuel blends and diesel surrogates under high-pressure conditions intended to simulate those occurring in vehicle fuel injectors. A high-pressure apparatus based on a visual identification of freezing and thawing has been designed and built to monitor phase behavior and determine the crystallization temperature of complex fuels to predict wax precipitation. The proposed methodology was validated using pure substances—n-hexadecane (C16H34), cyclohexane (C6H12), and a binary cyclohexane/n-hexadecane mixture—all of which have been well-characterized previously. The crystallization temperatures of these compounds were measured from atmospheric pressure to 400 MPa for temperatures varying from 290 to 363 K and compared to those reported in the literature. The standard error of the estimated temperatures, based on a given pressure, between the experimental data obtained in this work was compared to data in the literature from Domanska et al. This methodology is being extended to investigate the properties of more complex fuel mixtures.

High-Pressure, phase change, diesel, solidificatio↗

RAVIS: Resource Forecast and Ramp Visualization for Situational Awareness - An Introduction to the Open-Source Tool and Use Cases

The Resource Forecast and Ramp Visualization for Situational Awareness (RAVIS) is an open-source tool for visualizing variable renewable resource forecasts and ramp alerts for significant up/down ramps in renewable resource and the consequent net-load. The modular dashboard of RAVIS contains configurable panes for viewing- probabilistic time series forecasts, ramp event alerts on the look-ahead timeline, spatially resolved resource sites and forecasts, and system simulation and market clearing data such as transmission lines utilization, nodal prices and available generation flexibility. RAVIS uses a technology suite that is assembled to provide optimum visualization facility while maintaining a wide pool of potential deployment and client environments. The tool is designed to take advantage of web application technologies, open source visualization libraries and tooling. Utilizing this technology will enable deployment in any environment, using any operating system, and is scalable to much higher spatial and temporal scales of visualization. As a prototype of the tool and demonstrating a use case of variable renewable integration, RAVIS currently integrates site-specific solar power forecasts in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and Mid-continent ISO (MISO) footprint from the IBM WattSun forecasting platform, and also superimposes market simulation data for CAISO footprint from as in-house NREL market clearing tool. The tool has the ability to alert the viewer for excessive up or down ramps for both individual solar sites as well as regionally aggregated net-load ramps, and alerts can also be qualified with respect to available flexible generation. This report will provide an introduction to the RAVIS tool, and summarize the above mentioned capabilities, typical use cases and possible extensions of the tool. The RAVIS development team believes there are likely to be high economic and reliability benefits of integrating probabilistic forecasts of variable renewables into control center visualizations and improved ramp events situational awareness for system operators and forecasting teams in the ISOs and electric utilities in comparison with their business as usual practices.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

Renewable Energy Landscapes: Southwest and Pacific Northwest Workshops

To connect landscape architects and the energy sector, the University of Arizona and the University of Oregon hosted two virtual workshops with support from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in January 2023. These workshops were intended to co-create new principles and perspectives for designing renewable energy landscapes for the Southwest and Pacific Northwest, respectively, balancing place-based perspectives and at-scale deployment. Working across six design pathways through three phases, participants in the Southwest Workshop established and prioritized design opportunities by identifying relevant actions that are high impact, low effort; high impact, high effort; low impact, high effort; low impact, low effort. In contrast, participants in the Pacific Northwest Workshop produced a series of design options for the three sites to support broader efforts to visualize energy infrastructure deployment. The workshop outcomes reflect the current state of innovation in designing renewable energy landscapes. Collective understanding is largely focused on the practical—what is feasible in this moment—rather than pushing the boundaries on what might be possible. Achieving that next step requires that we first catch up to existing innovation in implementation and design since it is not yet commonplace. These workshops served as the first step in reimagining the potential of energy infrastructure across landscapes.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Double-Shell Tank Primary Bottom Inspection Development - 19067

Double-Shell Tank (DST) integrity at Hanford is maintained with a variety of activities such as ultrasonic and visual inspections, chemistry controls, corrosion monitoring and structural analyses methods [1]. A pressing need for the Double-Shell Tank Integrity Program is the ability to inspect the bottom of the tanks. Though the DSTs' annulus spaces (the space between the internal and external tank walls) have been inspected visually since 1992 and with Ultrasonic Testing (UT) since 1996, WRPS has been unable to conduct inspections of the tank bottoms due to limitations of available technology, omitting about 40 percent of the tank surface below the maximum fill level from routine inspection. Visual inspections of the tank annulus have been conducted up to five times in some DSTs and the annulus space for all of the DSTs has been inspected twice with UT. The annulus region includes the walls of the primary tank and secondary liner along with accessible portions of the secondary liner bottom. Due to the lack of under-tank inspection technology, degradation of the primary tank bottom in Tank AY-102 was undetected until the tank leaked into its annulus space, confirmed in 2012 [2]. Since that time, WRPS has been working with the nondestructive examination community and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to evaluate potential technologies to conduct these challenging remote inspections. Recent work has included the development, testing, and deployment of several remote visual inspection technologies to observe the condition of the primary tank bottom of the DSTs by leveraging air distribution slots in the refractory pad on which it rests. Robotic solutions to conduct this inspection were developed with a detailed understanding of the physical configuration and operational logistics. Understanding and subsequent communication of these details to vendors within the robotics and nondestructive examination community was a critical component to the successful production of these new tools. In total, two remote visual inspection tools were produced by two vendors. The first tool was designed to leverage existing ultrasonic testing magnetic wall crawler technology in use within the double-shell tank annuli at Hanford. This resulted in a cost savings, immediate familiarization with the equipment, and a more streamlined shop to field experience. The second tool was developed from the ground up, and represents a more tailored and purpose-built solution to the problem. While costlier and more complex, it is also more versatile and capable of future growth or adaptation. Initial design of both tools began in early FY17 with fabrication and testing completed in early FY18. The tools were designed to be deployed alongside existing inspection operations and expand coverage. Development of visual inspection tools to evaluate the primary tank bottom region of the double-shell tanks was planned as the first stage of inspection. Continued development of volumetric sensors and incorporation of these inspection tools into Hanford's ongoing Double-Shell Tank Integrity Program are the next steps, continuously seeking to expand understanding of asset integrity and remaining useful life. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Laser Light Sheet Flow Visualization of the Space Launch System Booster Separation Test

Planar flow visualizations were obtained in a wind tunnel test in the NASA Langley Research Center’s Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel using the laser-light-sheet method. This method uses a laser to illuminate fine particles generated in the wind tunnel to visualize flow structures. The test article was designed to simulate the separation of the two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) from the core stage of the NASA Space Launch System (SLS) at Mach 4 using a scale model. The test was run on of the SLS Block 1B Cargo (27005) configuration and the SLS Block 1B Crew (28005) configuration. Planar flow visualization was obtained only on the crew configuration. Air at pressures up to 1500 psi was used to simulate plumes from the booster separation motors (BSMs) located at the nose, and aft skirt of the two boosters. The facility free stream was seeded with water vapor, which condensed and froze into small ice crystals in the tunnel nozzle expansion. A continuous wave green (532 nm) laser sheet was used to illuminate the ice crystals, and the resulting Mie-scattered light was collected with a camera. The resulting images clearly identify shock waves and other flow features including BSM plume shapes. Measurements were acquired for different BSM pressures and booster separation locations.

Danehy, Paul M.↗

Full Lunar Surface Visualization and Simulation Platform

This paper reports the results of the innovative work completed to facilitate the creation of a lunar surface visualization and simulation platform for the entire surface of the moon as a design, test, training, verification, and mission support environment. The mathematical approach to the visualization of the data sets utilizes fractal mathematics to generate not only the highest possible detail that the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) data can provide, but it also additionally supplies an estimation of surface reflectivity and lighting based upon location on the lunar surface. This level of detail and accuracy is required to conduct accurate integrated crew / vehicle risk assessment throughout the design-to-disposal life cycle of vehicles and their supporting procedures and mission priorities. This process starts with safety assessments of integrated hardware / software / crew/ and support environments. Unlike the Apollo Program, the Artemis Program is not risk tolerant.

Simulation↗

Surface flow visualization in the cryogenic wind tunnel

The prospects are reviewed of a range of possible surface flow visualization methods for application to model testing in the large cryogenic wind tunnel. Desirable features are outlined, including the flow details which should be revealed by the various methods. The risks of model and tunnel contamination are discussed, also the coverage of the model surface to be expected, the advance planning and complexity of model design and tunnel equipment required by the visualization method, and the prospects of generating multiple flow images during one tunnel run. The techniques range from the untried to several on which already there is some experience in the cryogenic environment. Directions for further development are suggested.

Goodyer, M. J.↗

Auto Draw from Excel Input Files

The design process often involves the use of Excel files during project development. To facilitate communications of the information in the Excel files, drawings are often generated. During the design process, the Excel files are updated often to reflect new input. The problem is that the drawings often lag the updates, often leading to confusion of the current state of the design. The use of this program allows visualization of complex data in a format that is more easily understandable than pages of numbers. Because the graphical output can be updated automatically, the manual labor of diagram drawing can be eliminated. The more frequent update of system diagrams can reduce confusion and reduce errors and is likely to uncover symmetric problems earlier in the design cycle, thus reducing rework and redesign.

Strauss, Karl F.↗

A Model-Driven Visualization Tool for Use with Model-Based Systems Engineering Projects

Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) promotes increased consistency between a system's design and its design documentation through the use of an object-oriented system model. The creation of this system model facilitates data presentation by providing a mechanism from which information can be extracted by automated manipulation of model content. Existing MBSE tools enable model creation, but are often too complex for the unfamiliar model viewer to easily use. These tools do not yet provide many opportunities for easing into the development and use of a system model when system design documentation already exists. This study creates a Systems Modeling Language (SysML) Document Traceability Framework (SDTF) for integrating design documentation with a system model, and develops an Interactive Visualization Engine for SysML Tools (InVEST), that exports consistent, clear, and concise views of SysML model data. These exported views are each meaningful to a variety of project stakeholders with differing subjects of concern and depth of technical involvement. InVEST allows a model user to generate multiple views and reports from a MBSE model, including wiki pages and interactive visualizations of data. System data can also be filtered to present only the information relevant to the particular stakeholder, resulting in a view that is both consistent with the larger system model and other model views. Viewing the relationships between system artifacts and documentation, and filtering through data to see specialized views improves the value of the system as a whole, as data becomes information

relational databases↗

Spatial issues in user interface design from a graphic design perspective

The user interface of a computer system is a visual display that provides information about the status of operations on data within the computer and control options to the user that enable adjustments to these operations. From the very beginning of computer technology the user interface was a spatial display, although its spatial features were not necessarily complex or explicitly recognized by the users. All text and nonverbal signs appeared in a virtual space generally thought of as a single flat plane of symbols. Current technology of high performance workstations permits any element of the display to appear as dynamic, multicolor, 3-D signs in a virtual 3-D space. The complexity of appearance and the user's interaction with the display provide significant challenges to the graphic designer of current and future user interfaces. In particular, spatial depiction provides many opportunities for effective communication of objects, structures, processes, navigation, selection, and manipulation. Issues are presented that are relevant to the graphic designer seeking to optimize the user interface's spatial attributes for effective visual communication.

Marcus, Aaron↗

Light flash phenomena induced by HzE particles

Astronauts and Apollo and Skylab missions have reported observing a variety of visual phenomena when their eyes are closed and adapted to darkness. These phenomena have been collectively labelled as light flashes. Visual phenomena which are similar in appearance to those observed in space have been demonstrated at the number of accelerator facilities by expressing the eyes of human subjects to beams of various types of radiation. In some laboratory experiments Cerenkov radiation was found to be the basis for the flashes observed while in other experiments Cerenkov radiation could apparently be ruled out. Experiments that differentiate between Cerenkov radiation and other possible mechanisms for inducing visual phenomena was then compared. The phenomena obtained in the presence and absence of Cerenkov radiation were designed and conducted. A new mechanism proposed to explain the visual phenomena observed by Skylab astronauts as they passed through the South Atlantic Anomaly, namely nuclear interactions in and near the sensitive layer of the retina, is covered. Also some studies to search for similar transient effects of space radiation on sensors and microcomputer memories are described.

Mcnulty, P. J.↗

Developing a MATLAB(registered)-Based Tool for Visualization and Transformation

An important step in the structural design and development of spacecraft is the experimental identification of a structure s modal characteristics, such as its natural frequencies and modes of vibration. These characteristics are vital to developing a representative model of any given structure or analyzing the range of input frequencies that can be handled by a particular structure. When setting up such a representative model of a structure, careful measurements using precision equipment (such as accelerometers and instrumented hammers) must be made on many individual points of the structure in question. The coordinate location of each data point is used to construct a wireframe geometric model of the structure. Response measurements obtained from the accelerometers is used to generate the modal shapes of the particular structure. Graphically, this is displayed as a combination of the ways a structure will ideally respond to a specified force input. Two types of models of the tested structure are often used in modal analysis: an analytic model showing expected behavior of the structure, and an experimental model showing measured results due to observed phenomena. To evaluate the results from the experimental model, a comparison of analytic and experimental results must be made between the two models. However, comparisons between these two models become difficult when the two coordinate orientations differ in a manner such that results are displayed in an unclear fashion. Such a problem proposes the need for a tool that not only communicates a graphical image of a structure s wireframe geometry based on various measurement locations (called nodes), but also allows for a type of transformation of the image s coordinate geometry so that a model s coordinate orientation is made to match the orientation of another model. Such a tool should also be designed so that it is able to construct coordinate geometry based on many different listings of node locations and is able to transform the wireframe coordinate orientation to match almost any possible orientation (i.e. it should not be a problem specific application) if it is to be of much value in modal analysis. Also, since universal files are used to store modal parameters and wireframe geometry, the tool must be able to read and extract information from universal files and use these files to exchange model data.The purpose of this project is to develop such a tool as a computer graphical user interface (GUI) capable of performing the following tasks: 1) Browsing for a particular universal file within the computer directory and displaying the name of this file to the screen; 2) Plotting each of the nodes within the universal file in a useful, descriptive, and easily understood figure; 3) Reading the node numbers from the selected file and listing these node numbers to the user for selection in an easily accessible format; 4) Allowing for user selection of a new model orientation defined by three selected nodes; and 5) Allowing the user to specify a directory to which the transformed model s node locations will be saved, and saving the transformed node locations to the specified file.

Anderton, Blake J.↗

The Viskores User's Guide, Release 1.1

High-performance computing relies on ever finer threading. Advances in processor technology include ever greater numbers of cores, hyperthreading, accelerators with integrated blocks of cores, and special vectorized instructions, all of which require more software parallelism to achieve peak performance. Traditional visualization solutions cannot support this extreme level of concurrency. Extreme scale systems require a new programming model and a fundamental change in how we design algorithms. To address these issues we created Viskores: the visualization toolkit for multi/many-core architectures. Viskores supports a number of algorithms and the ability to design further algorithms through a top-down design with an emphasis on extreme parallelism. Viskores also provides support for finding and building links across topologies, making it possible to perform operations that determine manifold surfaces, interpolate generated values, and find adjacencies. Although Viskores provides a simplified high-level interface for programming, its template-based code removes the overhead of abstraction.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Simulator test to study hot-flow problems related to a gas cooled reactor

An advance study of materials, fuel injection, and hot flow problems related to the gas core nuclear rocket is reported. The first task was to test a previously constructed induction heated plasma GCNR simulator above 300 kW. A number of tests are reported operating in the range of 300 kW at 10,000 cps. A second simulator was designed but not constructed for cold-hot visualization studies using louvered walls. A third task was a paper investigation of practical uranium feed systems, including a detailed discussion of related problems. The last assignment resulted in two designs for plasma nozzle test devices that could be operated at 200 atm on hydrogen.

Poole, J. W.↗

NASA GeneLab: Open Science for Life in Space

NASA’s GeneLab helps scientists understand how the fundamental building blocks of life – DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites – change from exposure to the space environment including microgravity and cosmic radiation exposure. GeneLab does so by providing fully coordinated epigenomics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data (collectively known as omics data) alongside essential metadata describing each spaceflight and space-relevant experiment. The open-access GeneLab repository currently consists of over 300 omics datasets generated by biological experiments, involving various model organisms, that are relevant to spaceflight. In order to maximize the intelligibility of these data, particularly for users with limited bioinformatics knowledge, GeneLab has started processing and analyzing these datasets to generate differential gene expression data and identify biological and physiological pathways that are dysregulated as a result of spaceflight. To aide GeneLab’s efforts to harmonize and democratize space-relevant omics data, over 130 scientists have joined one of four GeneLab Analysis Working Groups (Animal AWG, Plant AWG, Microbe AWG, Multi-Omics AWG) and together helped develop and adopted standard data analysis workflows for all data types available in GeneLab. Currently, the GeneLab Data System includes a data repository with federated search capability, an online controlled-access toolshed powered by "Galaxy" for users to process data with vetted standard workflows, a workspace for data sharing, a data submission portal, and the ability to browse and visualize transcriptomics processed data. The user interface was designed to be accessible to a broad variety of users, including high school and college students who can use it to learn about omics data analysis and space biology. The visualization portal enhances GeneLab’s ability to democratize omics data by removing the need for bioinformatics expertise to interpret transcriptomics data hosted on GeneLab. This presentation will provide an over-view of NASA’s GeneLab including how to navigate the GeneLab Data System and will conclude by providing resources for opportunities to work with GeneLab and NASA at large.

Amanda M Saravia-Butler↗

The Impact of Streaming Data on Sensemaking with Mixed-Initative Visual Analytics

Visual data analysis helps people gain insights into data via interactive visualizations. People generate and test hypotheses and questions about data in context of the domain. This process can generally be referred to as sensemaking. Much of the work on studying sensemaking (and creating visual analytic techniques in support of it) has been focused on static datasets. However, how do the cognitive processes of sensemaking change when data are changing? Further, what implication for design does this create for mixed-initiative visual analytics systems? This paper presents the results of a user study analyzing the impact of streaming data on sensemaking. To perform this study, we developed a mixed-initiative visual analytic prototype, the Streaming Canvas, that affords the analysis of streaming text data. We compare the sensemaking process of people using this tool for a static and streaming dataset. We present the results of this study and discuss the implications on future visual analytic systems that combine machine learning and interactive visualization to help people make sense of streaming data.

visualization↗

The Viskores User's Guide (V.1.0)

High-performance computing relies on ever finer threading. Advances in processor technology include ever greater numbers of cores, hyperthreading, accelerators with integrated blocks of cores, and special vectorized instructions, all of which require more software parallelism to achieve peak performance. Traditional visualization solutions cannot support this extreme level of concurrency. Extreme scale systems require a new programming model and a fundamental change in how we design algorithms. To address these issues we created Viskores: the visualization toolkit for multi-/many-core architectures. Viskores supports a number of algorithms and the ability to design further algorithms through a top-down design with an emphasis on extreme parallelism. Viskores also provides support for finding and building links across topologies, making it possible to perform operations that determine manifold surfaces, interpolate generated values, and find adjacencies. Although Viskores provides a simplified high-level interface for programming, its template-based code removes the overhead of abstraction.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗