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At least 649 records · Page 36

Vivianite oxidation is not photocatalyzed

Vivianite is a hydrous Fe2+ phosphate mineral found in anoxic environments that plays an integral role in P cycling and environmental biogeochemistry. Imbued in the vivianite literature dating as far back as 1918 is the notion that vivianite is light-sensitive and susceptible to rapid photooxidation induced entirely by solar light. However, despite an exhaustive search, to our knowledge this conventionally accepted assumption has never been directly tested, nor has the band gap ever been measured. Resolving this question of photochemical control of vivianite redox chemistry is important for performing and interpreting experiments involving vivianite reactivity with contaminants, and potentially iron and phosphate cycling in the photic zone of aquatic systems. The present study was specifically designed to add¬ress this question. Pure synthetic vivianite samples were irradiated in aqueous suspensions with a Xe lamp at conditions mimicking the solar spectrum and compared to dark controls. Particles stirred in anoxic suspensions for up to 66 days showed no detectable oxidation irrespective of light exposure, according to colorimetric Fe2+/Fe3+ assays, micro X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. In contrast, the same experiment performed using air-equilibrated suspensions showed systematic oxidation of up to ~80% mol% Fe(II) at 66 days, but again with no detectable light exposure effect. To test for UV reactivity, further experiments on vivianite powders under air versus N2 atmosphere were performed using a Hg lamp with a longpass filter. In contrast to oxidation in air where no effect of light was detected, after 24 hrs irradiation anoxically, 0.78% Fe was oxidized compared to dark controls, and after 13 days only an additional 0.3% Fe was oxidized. The band gap of pure vivianite was measured by the Tauc method to be 3.5 eV. Contrary to previous reports, solar light has minimal impact on the oxidation of pure vivianite, insignificant in particular when compared to its relatively fast oxidation by oxygen exposure. As such, light does not need to be excluded when running typical vivianite laboratory experiments. Long-term storage of natural vivianite in museums or private collections should continue protective measures given that a possible photocatalytic role of impurities cannot yet be ruled out. Nonetheless, at all depths in natural aquatic systems it appears that the primary abiotic control on the reactivity and half-life of vivianite particles should be the dissolved oxygen concentration, not light exposure.

Vivianite, photochemistry, oxidation↗

Quantification of Cas9 binding and cleavage across diverse guide sequences maps landscapes of target engagement

The RNA-guided nuclease Cas9 has unlocked powerful methods for perturbing both the genome through targeted DNA cleavage and the regulome through targeted DNA binding, but limited biochemical data have hampered efforts to quantitatively model sequence perturbation of target binding and cleavage across diverse guide sequences. We present scalable, sequencing-based platforms for high-throughput filter binding and cleavage and then perform 62,444 quantitative binding and cleavage assays on 35,047 on- and off-target DNA sequences across 90 Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) loaded with distinct guide RNAs. We observe that binding and cleavage efficacy, as well as specificity, vary substantially across RNPs; canonically studied guides often have atypically high specificity; sequence context surrounding the target modulates Cas9 on-rate; and Cas9 RNPs may sequester targets in nonproductive states that contribute to “proofreading” capability. Lastly, we distill our findings into an interpretable biophysical model that predicts changes in binding and cleavage for diverse target sequence perturbations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Automated Classification of Vehicle Movements at Signalized Intersections Using Vehicle Trajectories

Accurate vehicle movement classification through signalized intersections is of paramount importance to the analysis of intersection performance and the optimization of traffic control strategies. Conventional techniques for tracking vehicle turning movements depend on infrastructure-based strategies like human counts, loop detectors, and video analytics, all of which are costly, prone to errors, and spatially constrained. High-frequency trajectory data can be utilized to determine vehicle movement patterns in a scalable and infrastructure-independent method due to the adoption of connected vehicles (CVs). In recent years, several studies have utilized connected vehicle data to generate performance measures. Most of the trajectory-based performance measures approaches, however, require map matching-i.e., extracting geospatial references from maps to identify the movements that individual vehicles make at a signalized intersection. These approaches are often time-consuming and hinder scalability since geographic features need to be provided for an analysis to be conducted. Map matching methods are prone to errors as different map versions change these geographic features. This research presents a novel automatic classification pipeline that uses CV trajectory data to classify vehicle movements at signalized crossings, specifically pass-through left-turn and right-turn maneuvers. The process starts by filtering trips that cross a spatial bounding box that has been defined at the target intersection. Approach and departure headings for each trajectory crossing the boundary are computed and are clustered together to identify dominant movements. The proposed algorithm is used to classify the movement of vehicles at 10 intersections in the state of California, and the results indicate that the algorithm can classify movements at these intersections with varying traffic volumes and road network configurations, all in a map-less framework with no need for conflation of vehicle trajectories to a digital base map.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Methods and devices configured to operated scanning tunneling microscopes using out-of-bandwidth frequency components added to bias voltage and related software

In the system and method disclosed, an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip is used to selectively desorb hydrogen atoms from the Si(100)-2X1:H surface by injecting electrons at a negative sample bias voltage. A new lithography method is disclosed that allows the STM to operate under imaging conditions and simultaneously desorb H atoms as required. A high frequency signal is added to the negative sample bias voltage to deliver the required energy for hydrogen removal. The resulted current at this frequency and its harmonics are filtered to minimize their effect on the operation of the STM's feedback loop. This approach offers a significant potential for controlled and precise removal of hydrogen atoms from a hydrogen-terminated silicon surface and thus may be used for the fabrication of practical silicon-based atomic-scale devices.

Moheimani, Seyed Omid Reza↗

Methods and devices configured to operated scanning tunneling microscopes using out-of-bandwidth frequency components added to bias voltage and related software

In the system and method disclosed, an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip is used to selectively desorb hydrogen atoms from the Si(100)-2X1:H surface by injecting electrons at a negative sample bias voltage. A new lithography method is disclosed that allows the STM to operate under imaging conditions and simultaneously desorb H atoms as required. A high frequency signal is added to the negative sample bias voltage to deliver the required energy for hydrogen removal. The resulted current at this frequency and its harmonics are filtered to minimize their effect on the operation of the STM's feedback loop. This approach offers a significant potential for controlled and precise removal of hydrogen atoms from a hydrogen-terminated silicon surface and thus may be used for the fabrication of practical silicon-based atomic-scale devices.

Moheimani, Seyed Omid Reza↗

Enhanced thermoelectric efficiency in nanocrystalline bismuth telluride nanotubes

We report on the thermal and thermoelectric properties of individual nanocrystalline Bi 2 Te 3 nanotubes synthesized by the solution phase method using 3ω method and a microfabricated testbench. Measurements show that the nanotubes offer improved ZT compared to bulk Bi 2 Te 3 near room temperature due to an enhanced Seebeck coefficient and suppressed thermal conductivity. This improvement in ZT originates from the nanocrystalline nature and low dimensionality of the nanotubes. Domain boundary filtering of low-energy electrons provides an enhanced Seebeck coefficient. The scattering of phonons at the surface of the nanotube leads to suppressed thermal conductivity. These have been theoretically analyzed using the Boltzmann equation based on the relaxation time approximation and Landauer approach. This work clearly demonstrates the possibility of achieving enhancement in thermoelectric efficiency by combining nanocrystalline and low-dimensional systems.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Earth System Reanalysis in Support of Climate Model Improvements

Recent climate model developments, established through increased model resolution, have led to substantial improvements in model simulations of the time-evolving, coupled Earth system and its subcomponents. However, regardless of resolution, climate models will always produce climate features and variability that differ from the real world and will be prone to biases. This is due to many remaining uncertainties, such as in parametric and structural model uncertainty, in the initial conditions prescribed, and in the prescribed (scenario) forcing which varies on decadal to centennial timescales. Further model improvements are expected to arise specifically from improved representation of physical processes realized through model-data fusion. This will create an unprecedented opportunity to better exploit a large array of Earth observations, from in situ measurements to weather radars and satellite observations, as the resolved scales of the models approach those of the observations. For this, climate DA will be the central tool to bring models and observations into consistency, by improving initial conditions, inferring uncertain model parameters and structure, and quantifying uncertainty. Generally, there will be advantages and complementarities of adjoint-based smoother approaches, ensemble-based filter approaches, or new ML-inspired approaches. Yet, the ever-increasing model resolution will present growing challenges arising from computational cost, calling for new ways of performing data assimilation and model optimization. Using the complementarity in a hybrid approach, blending tools and concepts from variational, ensemble and ML methods might be what is required in the future. In this context ML could be important to handle non-linear responses, and to better approximate non-Gaussian distributions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Performance Comparison of Clipping Detection Techniques in AC Power Time Series: Preprint

In this research, a variety of methods were developed to detect clipping periods in AC power time series. Novel logic-based and machine learning (ML) approaches were developed to classify time series values as clipping or non-clipping. These approaches were compared to the RdTools method for detecting clipping periods. The logic-based and ML XGBoost approaches achieved F-scores of 82.6 and 74.4, respectively, as compared to the current RdTools approach (F-score of 56.4), indicating a significant improvement at detecting clipping periods. Additionally, the effects of using more accurate clipping filters when evaluating system degradation rates will be assessed in our final manuscript.

clipping↗

Timing measurement apparatus

Methods, devices and systems for providing accurate measurements of timing errors using optical techniques are described. An example timing measurement device includes an optical hybrid that receives two optical pulse trains and produces two or more phase shifted optical outputs. The timing measurement device further includes two or more optical filters that receive the outputs of the optical hybrid to produce multiple pulse signals with distinctive frequency bands. The device also includes one or more photodetectors and analog-to-digital converters to receive to produce electrical signals in the digital domain corresponding to the optical outputs of the hybrid. A timing error associated with the optical pulse trains can be determined using the electrical signals in digital domain based on a computed phase difference between a first frequency band signal and a second frequency band signal and a computed frequency difference between the first frequency band signal and the second frequency band.

DeVore, Peter Thomas Setsuda↗

Method and system for recovering filler material

A method of recovering filler material from a polymer material comprises (a) heating the polymer material to a first temperature; (b) heating the polymer material to a second temperature higher than the first temperature resulting in a pyrolyzed material; (c) elutriating the pyrolyzed material to obtain a separated mixture; and (d) filtering the separated mixture to obtain the filler material.

Williams, Benjamin↗

Homography generation for image registration in inlier-poor domains

A method for efficient image registration between two images in the presence of inlier-poor domains includes receiving a set of candidate correspondences between the two images. An approximate homography between the two images is generated based upon a first correspondence in the correspondences. The set of candidate correspondences is filtered to identify inlier correspondences based upon the approximate homography. A candidate homography is computed based upon the inlier correspondences. The candidate homography can be selected as a final homography between the two images based upon a support of the candidate homography against the set of candidate correspondences. An image registration is performed between the two images based upon the candidate homography being selected as the final homography.

Gonzales, Antonio↗

Timing measurement apparatus

Methods, devices and systems for providing accurate measurements of timing errors using optical techniques are described. An example timing measurement device includes an optical hybrid that receives two optical pulse trains and produces two or more phase shifted optical outputs. The timing measurement device further includes two or more optical filters that receive the outputs of the optical hybrid to produce multiple pulse signals with distinctive frequency bands. The device also includes one or more photodetectors and analog-to-digital converters to receive to produce electrical signals in the digital domain corresponding to the optical outputs of the hybrid. A timing error associated with the optical pulse trains can be determined using the electrical signals in digital domain based on a computed phase difference between a first frequency band signal and a second frequency band signal and a computed frequency difference between the first frequency band signal and the second frequency band.

DeVore, Peter Thomas Setsuda↗

Grid-assisted magnetron sputtering deposition of nitrogen graded TiN thin films

Titanium Nitride (TiN) films were obtained using the grid-assisted magnetron sputtering deposition technique on Al substrates in two conditions: under constant and variable nitrogen concentration along the thin solid film thickness. The formation of a film with variable N concentration (herein referred as graded film) was confirmed using energy filtered transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. The TiN thin films microstructures were also analysed using scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM and TEM). Finally, the viability of synthesizing TiN thin films with variable N concentration is herein proposed as an alternative method for tailoring the properties of such functional coating materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Real-space solution to the electronic structure problem for nearly a million electrons

We report a Kohn–Sham density functional theory calculation of a system with more than 200 000 atoms and 800 000 electrons using a real-space high-order finite-difference method to investigate the electronic structure of large spherical silicon nanoclusters. Our system of choice was a 20 nm large spherical nanocluster with 202 617 silicon atoms and 13 836 hydrogen atoms used to passivate the dangling surface bonds. To speed up the convergence of the eigenspace, we utilized Chebyshev-filtered subspace iteration, and for sparse matrix–vector multiplications, we used blockwise Hilbert space-filling curves, implemented in the PARSEC code. For this calculation, we also replaced our orthonormalization + Rayleigh–Ritz step with a generalized eigenvalue problem step. We utilized all of the 8192 nodes (458 752 processors) on the Frontera machine at the Texas Advanced Computing Center. We achieved two Chebyshev-filtered subspace iterations, yielding a good approximation of the electronic density of states. Our work pushes the limits on the capabilities of the current electronic structure solvers to nearly 106 electrons and demonstrates the potential of the real-space approach to efficiently parallelize large calculations on modern high-performance computing platforms.

Chemistry↗

III/V silicon hybrid laser based on a resonant Bragg structure

We demonstrate a laser tunable in intensity with gigahertz tuning speed based on a III/V reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) coupled to a silicon photonic chip. The silicon chip contains a Bragg-based Fabry–Perot resonator to form a passive bandpass filter within its stopband to enable single-mode operation of the laser. We observe a side mode suppression ratio of 43 dB, linewidth of 790 kHz, and an optical output power of 1.65 mW around 1530 nm. We also investigate using a micro-ball lens as an alternative coupling method between the RSOA and the silicon chip.

Davis, Jordan A. (ORCID:0000000343483295)↗

Scalable augmented enumeration and metadata operations for large filesystems

Systems, apparatus, and methods are disclosed for performing scalable operations in a file system. Metadata entries in a namespace or directory tree are sharded across multiple file metadata servers. An augmented enumeration operation, such as listing a directory, is parallelized across the multiple file metadata servers, transparently to clients. Exemplary augmentation features can include filtering and sorting. Augmentation features can be executed concurrently with enumeration, prior to enumeration, after enumeration, or as a combination of these, and can utilize pre-built index structures or holding structures for intermediate results. Augmented enumeration operations can also include no-output operations such as changing file attributes or deleting a file, and cumulative operations such as counting total disk space usage. The parallelization is compatible with tree-level parallelization and storage-level parallelization. Disclosed technologies can be applied to other fields requiring scalable enumeration, such as database and network applications.

Grider, Gary A.↗

Flow assisted anti-fouling geometries for compact heat exchangers

A header for a heat exchanger and method for cleaning a heat exchanger in a loop without disconnecting loop components is provided. The header is in flow communication with the heat exchanger for distributing fluid through a plurality of adjacent channels. The header is connected between a main heat exchanger inlet nozzle and a channel flow distributor. A filter element is disposed within the header between the nozzle and channel flow distributor. Under normal operation, the filter element removes particulates and fouling material from the main flow stream before it enters the heat exchanger channels. During the cleaning process, fluid is injected on or through the filter element to remove particulates and fouling material through at least one outlet port. The header arrangement allows the filter element to be ‘cleaned in place’ without draining the system and disconnecting the heat exchanger or other components from the flow loop.

Carlson, Matthew David↗