Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Standards”

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 613 records · Page 34

Retrospective review of Contura HDR breast cases to improve our standardized procedure

To retrospectively review our first 20 Contura high dose rate breast cases to improve and refine our standardized procedure and checklists. We prepared in advance checklists for all steps, developed an in-house Excel spreadsheet for second checking the plan, and generated a procedure for efficient contouring and a set of optimization constraints to meet the dose volume histogram criteria. Templates were created in our treatment planning system for structures, isodose levels, optimization constraints, and plan report. This study reviews our first 20 high dose rate Contura breast treatment plans. We followed our standardized procedure for contouring, planning, and second checking. The established dose volume histogram criteria were successfully met for all plans. For the cases studied here, the balloon-skin and balloon-ribs distances ranged between 5 and 43 mm and 1 and 33 mm, respectively; air{sub s}eroma volume/PTV{sub E}val volume≤5.5% (allowed≤10%); asymmetry<1.2 mm (goal≤2 mm); PTV{sub E}val V90%≥97.6%; PTV{sub E}val V95%≥94.9%; skin max dose≤98%Rx; ribs max dose≤137%Rx; V150%≤29.8 cc; V200%≤7.8 cc; the total dwell time range was 225.4 to 401.9 seconds; and the second check agreement was within 3%. Based on this analysis, more appropriate ranges for the total dwell time and balloon diameter tolerance were found. Three major problems were encountered: balloon migration toward the skin for small balloon-to-skin distances, lumen obstruction, and length change for the flexible balloon. Solutions were found for these issues and our standardized procedure and checklists were updated accordingly. Based on our review of these cases, the use of checklists resulted in consistent results, indicating good coverage for the target without sacrificing the critical structures. This review helped us to refine our standardized procedure and update our checklists.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Uniformly 15N-Labeled Recombinant Ricin A-chain as an Internal Retention Time Standard for Increased Confidence in Forensic Identification of Ricin by Untargeted Nanoflow Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Ricin, a toxic protein from the castor plant, is of forensic and biosecurity interest because of its high toxicity and common occurrence in crimes and attempted crimes. Qualitative methods to detect ricin are therefore needed. Untargeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) proteomics methods are well-suited because of their high speci-ficity. Specificity in LC-MS/MS comes from both the LC and MS components. However, modern untargeted proteomics methods often use nanoflow LC, which has less reproducible retention times than standard-flow LC, making it challenging to use retention time as a point of identification in a forensic assay. We address this challenge by using retention times rela-tive to a standard, namely uniformly 15N–labeled ricin A-chain produced recombinantly in a bacterial expression system. This material, added as an internal standard prior to trypsin digestion, produces a stable isotope labeled standard for every ricin tryptic peptide in the sample. We show that the MS signals for 15N and natural isotopic abundance ricin peptides are distinct, with mass shifts that correspond to the numbers of nitrogen atoms in each peptide or fragment. We also show that, as expected, labeled and unlabeled peptides coelute, with relative retention time differences of less than 0.2%.

ricin, mass spectrometry, isotope, nitrogen-15, re↗

ProForma: A Standard Proteoform Notation

The Consortium for Top-Down Proteomics (CTDP) proposes a standardized notation, ProForma, for writing the sequence of fully characterized proteoforms. ProForma provides a means to communicate any proteoform by writing the amino acid sequence using standard one-letter notation and specifying modifications or unidentified mass shifts within brackets following certain amino acids. The notation is unambiguous, human readable, and can easily be parsed and written by bioinformatic tools. This system uses seven rules and supports a wide range of possible use cases, ensuring compatibility and reproducibility of proteoform annotations. Standardizing proteoform sequences will simplify storage, comparison, and reanalysis of proteomic studies, and the Consortium welcomes input and contributions from the research community on the continued design and maintenance of this standard.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗

The Gaia EDR3 view of Johnson-Kron-Cousins standard stars: the curated Landolt and Stetson collections

In the era of large surveys and space missions, it is necessary to rely on large samples of well-characterized stars for inter-calibrating and comparing measurements from different surveys and catalogues. Among the most employed photometric systems, the Johnson-Kron-Cousins has been used for decades and for a large amount of important datasets. Our goal is to profit from the Gaia EDR3 data, Gaia official cross-match algorithm, and Gaia -derived literature catalogues, to provide a well-characterized and clean sample of secondary standards in the Johnson-Kron-Cousins system, as well as a set of transformations between the main photometric systems and the Johnson-Kron-Cousins one. Using Gaia as a reference, as well as data from reddening maps, spectroscopic surveys, and variable stars monitoring surveys, we curated and characterized the widely used Landolt and Stetson collections of more than 200 000 secondary standards, employing classical as well as machine learning techniques. In particular, our atmospheric parameters agree significantly better with spectroscopic ones, compared to other machine learning catalogues. We also cross-matched the curated collections with the major photometric surveys to provide a comprehensive set of reliable measurements in the most widely adopted photometric systems. We provide a curated catalogue of secondary standards in the Johnson-Kron-Cousins system that are well-measured and as free as possible from variable and multiple sources. We characterize the collection in terms of astrophysical parameters, distance, reddening, and radial velocity. We provide a table with the magnitudes of the secondary standards in the most widely used photometric systems (ugriz, grizy, Gaia , HIPPARCOS, Tycho , 2MASS). We finally provide a set of 167 polynomial transformations, valid for dwarfs and giants, metal-poor and metal-rich stars, to transform UBVRI magnitudes in the above photometric systems and vice-versa.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Toward a New Evaluation of Neutron Standards

Measurements related to neutron cross section standards and certain prompt neutron fission spectra are being evaluated. In addition to the standard cross sections, investigations of reference data that are not as well known as the standards are being considered. We discuss procedures and codes for performing this work. A number of libraries will use the results of this standards evaluation for new versions of their libraries. Most of these data have applications in neutron dosimetry.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Appointing silver and bronze standards for noncovalent interactions: A comparison of spin-component-scaled (SCS), explicitly correlated (F12), and specialized wavefunction approaches

A systematic examination of noncovalent interactions as modeled by wavefunction theory is presented in comparison to gold-standard quality benchmarks available for 345 interaction energies of 49 bimolecular complexes. Quantum chemical techniques examined include spin-component-scaling (SCS) variations on second-order perturbation theory (MP2) [SCS, SCS(N), SCS(MI)] and coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) [SCS, SCS(MI)]; also, method combinations designed to improve dispersion contacts [DW-MP2, MP2C, MP2.5, DW-CCSD(T)-F12]; where available, explicitly correlated (F12) counterparts are also considered. Dunning basis sets augmented by diffuse functions are employed for all accessible ζ-levels; truncations of the diffuse space are also considered. After examination of both accuracy and performance for 394 model chemistries, SCS(MI)-MP2/cc-pVQZ can be recommended for general use, having good accuracy at low cost and no ill-effects such as imbalance between hydrogen-bonding and dispersion-dominated systems or non-parallelity across dissociation curves. Moreover, when benchmarking accuracy is desirable but gold-standard computations are unaffordable, this work recommends silver-standard [DW-CCSD(T**)-F12/aug-cc-pVDZ] and bronze-standard [MP2C-F12/aug-cc-pVDZ] model chemistries, which support accuracies of 0.05 and 0.16 kcal/mol and efficiencies of 97.3 and 5.5 h for adenine·thymine, respectively. Choice comparisons of wavefunction results with the best symmetry-adapted perturbation theory [T. M. Parker, L. A. Burns, R. M. Parrish, A. G. Ryno, and C. D. Sherrill, J. Chem. Phys. 140, 094106 (2014)] and density functional theory [L. A. Burns, Á. Vázquez-Mayagoitia, B. G. Sumpter, and C. D. Sherrill, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 084107 (2011)] methods previously studied for these databases are provided for readers' guidance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Quantum primordial standard clocks

In this paper, we point out and study a generic type of signals existing in the primordial universe models, which can be used to model-independently distinguish the inflation scenario from alternatives. These signals are generated by massive fields that function as standard clocks. The role of massive fields as standard clocks has been realized in previous works. Although the existence of such massive fields is generic, the previous realizations require sharp features to classically excite the oscillations of the massive clock fields. Here, we point out that the quantum fluctuations of massive fields can actually serve the same purpose as the standard clocks. We show that they are also able to directly record the defining property of the scenario type, namely, the scale factor of the primordial universe as a function of time a(t), but through shape-dependent oscillatory features in non-Gaussianities. Since quantum fluctuating massive fields exist in any realistic primordial universe models, these quantum primordial standard clock signals are present in any inflation models, and should exist quite generally in alternative-to-inflation scenarios as well. However, the amplitude of such signals is very model-dependent.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Probing scalar non-standard interaction of supernova neutrinos in next-generation neutrino experiments

A new neutrino-matter interaction can potentially affect neutrino propagation through matter. In this work, we explore the impact of a flavor-conserving scalar-mediated non-standard neutrino interaction in the supernova neutrino flux. We observe that the presence of a scalar interaction involving muon and tau neutrinos (parameterized as η μμ and η ττ , respectively) can invert the neutrino mass eigenstate in which three neutrino flavor states are produced inside the supernova core, resulting in a significant modification of the electron neutrino flux from the supernova reaching the Earth. In the context of the DUNE experiment, we estimate the number of supernova neutrino events in the presence of scalar non-standard neutrino interaction η μμ or η ττ and contrast with the case without scalar-mediated non-standard interactions. Our results indicate that such scalar interactions introduce a new degeneracy in the measurement of neutrino mass ordering from supernova neutrinos. We show how the ν̅e event distribution in Hyper-Kamiokande experiment may help resolve the degeneracy between a model with new scalar interactions for normal ordered neutrino masses and the standard model with inverted mass ordering for a galactic supernova.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Ontology Development Kit: a toolkit for building, maintaining and standardizing biomedical ontologies

Similar to managing software packages, managing the ontology life cycle involves multiple complex workflows such as preparing releases, continuous quality control checking and dependency management. To manage these processes, a diverse set of tools is required, from command-line utilities to powerful ontology-engineering environmentsr. Particularly in the biomedical domain, which has developed a set of highly diverse yet inter-dependent ontologies, standardizing release practices and metadata and establishing shared quality standards are crucial to enable interoperability. The Ontology Development Kit (ODK) provides a set of standardized, customizable and automatically executable workflows, and packages all required tooling in a single Docker image. In this paper, we provide an overview of how the ODK works, show how it is used in practice and describe how we envision it driving standardization efforts in our community.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

BiGG Models: A platform for integrating, standardizing and sharing genome-scale models

In this study, genome-scale metabolic models are mathematically structured knowledge bases that can be used to predict metabolic pathway usage and growth phenotypes. Furthermore, they can generate and test hypotheses when integrated with experimental data. To maximize the value of these models, centralized repositories of high-quality models must be established, models must adhere to established standards and model components must be linked to relevant databases. Tools for model visualization further enhance their utility. To meet these needs, we present BiGG Models (http://bigg.ucsd.edu), a completely redesigned Biochemical, Genetic and Genomic knowledge base. BiGG Models contains more than 75 high-quality, manually-curated genome-scale metabolic models. On the website, users can browse, search and visualize models. BiGG Models connects genome-scale models to genome annotations and external databases. Reaction and metabolite identifiers have been standardized across models to conform to community standards and enable rapid comparison across models. Furthermore, BiGG Models provides a comprehensive application programming interface for accessing BiGG Models with modeling and analysis tools. As a resource for highly curated, standardized and accessible models of metabolism, BiGG Models will facilitate diverse systems biology studies and support knowledge-based analysis of diverse experimental data.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Community-Driven Metadata Standards for Agricultural Microbiome Research

Accelerating the pace of microbiome science to enhance crop productivity and agroecosystem health will require transdisciplinary studies, comparisons among datasets, and synthetic analyses of research from diverse crop management contexts. However, despite the widespread availability of crop-associated microbiome data, variation in field sampling and laboratory processing methodologies, as well as metadata collection and reporting, significantly constrains the potential for integrative and comparative analyses. Here we discuss the need for agriculture-specific metadata standards for microbiome research, and propose a list of “required” and “desirable” metadata categories and ontologies essential to be included in a future minimum information metadata standards checklist for describing agricultural microbiome studies. We begin by briefly reviewing existing metadata standards relevant to agricultural microbiome research, and describe ongoing efforts to enhance the potential for integration of data across research studies. Our goal is not to delineate a fixed list of metadata requirements. Instead, we hope to advance the field by providing a starting point for discussion, and inspire researchers to adopt standardized procedures for collecting and reporting consistent and well-annotated metadata for agricultural microbiome research.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Technical Assessment of Internal Surface Smoothness and Particle Transmission to the American National Standard ANSI/HPS N13.1-2011

Clause 6.4.4 in the American National Standards Institute / Health Physics Society (ANSI/HPS) N13.1 standard, Sampling and Monitoring Releases of Airborne Radioactive Substances From the Stacks and Ducts of Nuclear Facilities, addresses the internal smoothness of sample transport lines present between the nozzle and the analyzer (or collector). This paper evaluates the appropriateness of this clause by comparing roughness length of various materials against the required relative roughness, and by conducting computational fluid dynamic modeling. The results indicate that the inclusion of numerical criteria for the relative roughness of pipe by the ANSI Standard N13.1 (Section 6.4.4) is not appropriate. Recommended alternatives would be elimination of the numerical criteria, or modification of the standard to include a variable criteria for relative roughness.

operational topics, aerosols, air sampling, atmosp↗

Improving the PMU Standard

The Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) is perhaps the first representational measurement widely dispersed in the electric power system. Its usefulness has been demonstrated on many occasions. It is shown in this paper that the excellent performance of the PMU is a tribute to PMU makers, and not attributable to the standards that are supposed to specify the performance. The IEEE and IEC standards illustrate, by means of a “reference model,” how a PMU can be made. Both standards base the model on two fundamental conceptual errors. Without these errors several improvements in performance could be made. The standards should be revised to remove the restrictive “guidance” that the reference model presently offers, and to correct the text so that the appropriate concepts are presented.

Phasor Measurement, reference model↗

Optimization-Based Model Reduction Scheme for Renewable Energy Power Plants Using Standardized Testing Scenarios

This paper presents an optimization-based model reduction scheme for renewable energy (RE) power plants consisting of inverter-based resources (IBRs) operating in grid-following (GFL) or grid-forming (GFM) modes. More importantly, the datasets feeding the optimization-based model reduction scheme are generated and re-used through the standardized grid-interactive testing scenarios. Particularly, the proposed scheme makes use of the power plant point of common coupling (PCC) measurements of various quantities specified by standardized tests (e.g., voltage and frequency ride through) as per IEEE 2800, to estimate the parameters of the reduced-order model such that its dynamic performance aligns with the original detailed power plant model. The proposed model reduction approach does not require the parameters of individual IBRs and using standardized test data as input to the formulated optimization problem simplifies the reduced-order modelling scheme. Extensive case studies following standardized test scenarios verified the remarkable accuracy of the proposed approach.

Yallamilli, Ram S. [Purdue University]↗

Real-Time Hardware-in-the-Loop Distributed Energy Resources System Testbed using IEEE 2030.5 Standard

IEEE 2030.5 standard is drawing special attention among communication protocols for smart inverters and distributed energy resources (DER). Moreover, California Rule 21 mandates new DER must be ready to communicate to a host utility using the IEEE 2030.5 standard. Therefore, development of an effective real-time simulation method for managing DER using IEEE 2030.5 network is crucial. This paper presents a real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) DER system testbed using the IEEE 2030.5 standard. The proposed real-time co-simulation testbed consists of a DER physical system simulation using OP AL-RT real-time simulator and a cyber system simulation including DER gateways and a DER management system (DERMS) cloud server. Custom-built client and server programs are developed to meet the compliant with IEEE 2030.5-2018 standard and implemented in the DER gateways and a DERMS server, respectively. Furthermore, the feasibility of the proposed testbed for DER systems is validated by experiments.

42 ENGINEERING↗

The Effect of 1–10-MeV Neutrons on the JESD89 Test Standard

Here, the JESD89 test standard defines how terrestrial neutron testing is conducted [1] . The test standard covers a number of different types of radiation used for testing, including protons, neutrons, and alphas, and different types of testing, including life testing and accelerated testing. Broad-spectrum neutron testing is the most common type of accelerated radiation testing for the terrestrial radiation environment. Unlike most test standards, the JESD89 defines the minimum energy for determining the cumulative fluence for the deployed and test environment. Currently, the minimum energy is set at 10 MeV. As the test standard is currently being rewritten, changing the minimum energy to 1 MeV is being explored, because it is believed that the onset to neutron-induced single-event effects (SEEs) is less than 10 MeV. There are three separate problems with lowering the minimum energy: determining whether electronics have a sensitivity to neutron-induced SEEs below 10 MeV, determining whether the test spectra match the terrestrial environment in the 1–10-MeV range, and the measurement error caused by not including the fluence from 1 to 10 MeV. In this paper, we present information on these factors and whether the minimum energy should be lowered to 1 MeV.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Binary pseudo-random array standards for calibration of 3D optical surface profilers used for metrology with aspheric x-ray optics

High-accuracy surface metrology is vitally important in manufacturing ultra-high-quality free-form mirrors designed to manipulate x-ray light with nanometer-scale wavelengths. The current and potential capabilities of x˗ray mirror manufacturing are limited by inherent imperfections of the integrated metrology tools. Metrology tools are currently calibrated with super-polished flat test-standard/reference mirrors. This is acceptable for fabrication of slightly curved x-ray optics. However, for even moderately curved aspherical x-ray mirrors the flat-reference calibration is not sufficiently accurate. For micro-stitching interferometry developed for surface measurements with curved x-ray mirrors, the tool aberration errors are known to be transferred into the optical surface topography of x-ray mirrors. Our approach to improving metrology is to thoroughly calibrate the measuring tool and apply the results of the calibration to deconvolution of the measured data. Here we explore the application of a recently developed technique for calibrating the instrument transfer function (ITF) of 3D optical surface profilers to metrology with significantly curved x-ray optics. The technique, based on test standards patterned with two-dimensional (2D) binary pseudo-random arrays (BPRAs), employs the unique properties of the BPRA patterns in the spatial frequency domain. The inherent 2D power spectral density of the pattern has a deterministic white-noise-like character that allows direct determination of the ITF with uniform sensitivity over the entire spatial frequency range and field of view of an instrument. The high efficacy of the technique has been previously demonstrated in application to metrology with flat and slightly curved optics. Here, we concentrate on development of an efficient fabrication process for production of highly randomized (HR) BPRA test standards on flat and 500-mm spherical optical substrates. We also compare and discuss the results of the ITF calibration of an interferometric microscope when using the HR BPRA standards on flat and curved substrates.

Munechika, Keiko↗

SU-E-T-72: Commissioning of a Standardized SRS Cone Set: Determination of the Bolus Gap Factors in a Passively Scattered Proton Beam

Purpose: To determine the proton output factors for an SRS cone set using standardized apertures and varied range compensators (bolus blanks); specifically, to determine the best method for modeling the bolus gap factor (BGF) and eliminate the need for patient specific calibrations. Methods: A Standard Imaging A-16 chamber was placed in a Plastic Water phantom to measure the change in dose/MU with different treatment combinations for a proton SRS cone, using standardized apertures and range compensators. Measurements were made with all apertures in the SRS cone set, with four different range compensator thicknesses and five different air gaps between the end of the SRS cone and the surface of the phantom. The chamber was located at iso-center and maintained at a constant depth at the center of modulation for all measurements. Each aperture was placed in the cone to measure the change in MU needed to maintain constant dose at the chamber, as the air gap was increased with different thicknesses of bolus. Results: The dose/MU varied significantly with decreasing aperture size, increasing bolus thickness, or increasing air gap. The measured data was fitted with the lowest order polynomials that accurately described the data, to create a model for determining the change in output for any potential combination of devices used to treat a patient. For a given standardized aperture, the BGF could be described by its constituent factors: the bolus thickness factor (BTF) and the nozzle extension factor (NEF). Conclusion: The methods used to model the dose at the calibration point could be used to accurately predict the change in output for SRS proton beams due to the BGF, eliminating the need for patient specific calibrations. This method for modeling SRS treatments could also be applied to model other treatments using passively scattered proton beams.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗