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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 847 records · Page 47

Gateway Command and Data Handling Network Implementation and Validation

As initial Lunar Gateway modules approach design maturity, the Artemis Network Validation and Integration Lab (ANVIL) has begun demonstrations to validate avionics network dataflows. The flight architecture design includes utilizing Time-Triggered Ethernet (TTE) and layer-3 switching capabilities to enable greater automation and flexibility of critical and best effort traffic. Critical traffic is considered as Time-Triggered (TT), Rate Constrained (RC) and prioritized Best Effort (BE) traffic classes. End systems, such as mission computers, power control, and robotics, use three planes and all traffic classes while other devices interface via Best Effort. Typical best effort devices include video, laptops, wireless access points, and payloads. Other devices have a various hybrid approach of interfaces including alarms, telemetry/logging, and communication units. In the paper, we will present an update of the Gateway network architecture and how the system will operate nominally and during a stack topology reconfiguration. We will also discuss the network risks, and trade-offs of performance, flexibility, and redundancy. Finally, we will show the process for validation, demonstration, and verification approaches to the vehicle network.

Gateway↗

Ballistic Ejection of Microdroplets from Overpacked Interfacial Assemblies

Spontaneous emulsification, resulting from the assembly and accumulation of surfactants at liquid–liquid interfaces, is an interfacial instability where microdroplets are generated and diffusively spread from the interface until complete emulsification. Here, it is shown that an external magnetic field can modulate the assembly of paramagnetic nanoparticle surfactants (NPSs) at liquid–liquid interfaces to trigger an oversaturation in the areal density of the NPSs at the interface, as evidenced by a marked reduction in the interfacial tension, γ, and corroborated with a magnetostatic continuum theory. Despite the significant reduction in γ, the presence of the magnetic field does not cause stable interfaces to become unstable. Upon rapid removal of the field, however, an explosive ejection of a plume of microdroplets from the surface occurs, a dynamical interfacial instability which is termed explosive emulsification. Further, this explosive event rapidly reduces the areal density of the NPSs to its pre-field level, stabilizing the interface. The ability to externally suppress or trigger the explosive emulsification and controlled generation of tens of thousands of microdroplets, uncovers an efficient energy storage and release process, that has potential applications for controlled and directed delivery of chemicals and remotely controlled soft microrobots, taking advantage of the ferromagnetic nature of the microdroplets.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Thermal Runaway of Nonflammable Localized High‐Concentration Electrolytes for Practical LiNi 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 O 2 |Graphite‐SiO Pouch Cells

Abstract With continuous improvement of batteries in energy density, enhancing their safety is becoming increasingly urgent. Herein, practical high energy density LiNi 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 O 2 |graphite‐SiO pouch cell with nonflammable localized high concentration electrolyte (LHCE) is proposed that presents unique self‐discharge characteristic before thermal runaway (TR), thus effectively reducing safety hazards. Compared with the reference electrolyte, pouch cell with nonflammable LHCE can increase self‐generated heat temperature by 4.4 °C, increase TR triggering temperature by 47.3 °C, decrease the TR highest temperature by 71.8 °C, and extend the time from self‐generated heat to triggering TR by ≈8 h. In addition, the cell with nonflammable LHCE presents superior high voltage cycle stability, attributed to the formation of robust inorganic‐rich electrode–electrolyte interphase. The strategy represents a pivotal step forward for practical high energy and high safety batteries.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Bright Infrared‐to‐Ultraviolet/Visible Upconversion in Small Alkaline Earth‐Based Nanoparticles with Biocompatible CaF 2 Shells

Abstract Upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) are promising candidates for photon‐driven reactions, including light‐triggered drug delivery, photodynamic therapy, and photocatalysis. Herein, we investigate the NIR‐to‐UV/visible emission of sub‐15 nm alkaline‐earth rare‐earth fluoride UCNPs (M 1− x Ln x F 2+ x , MLnF) with a CaF 2 shell. We synthesize 8 alkaline‐earth host materials doped with Yb 3+ and Tm 3+ , with alkaline‐earth (M) spanning Ca, Sr, and Ba, MgSr, CaSr, CaBa, SrBa, and CaSrBa. We explore UCNP composition, size, and lanthanide doping‐dependent emission, focusing on upconversion quantum yield (UCQY) and UV emission. UCQY values of 2.46 % at 250 W cm −2 are achieved with 14.5 nm SrLuF@CaF 2 particles, with 7.3 % of total emission in the UV. In 10.9 nm SrYbF:1 %Tm 3+ @CaF 2 particles, UV emission increased to 9.9 % with UCQY at 1.14 %. We demonstrate dye degradation under NIR illumination using SrYbF:1 %Tm 3+ @CaF 2 , highlighting the efficiency of these UCNPs and their ability to trigger photoprocesses.

Fischer, Stefan↗

Genetic Fusion of Thermoresponsive Polypeptides with UCST‐type Behavior Mediates 1D Assembly of Coiled‐Coil Bundlemers

Abstract Thermoresponsive resilin‐like polypeptides (RLPs) of various lengths were genetically fused to two different computationally designed coiled coil‐forming peptides with distinct thermal stability, to develop new strategies to assemble coiled coil peptides via temperature‐triggered phase separation of the RLP units. Their successful production in bacterial expression hosts was verified via gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, and amino acid analysis. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, ultraviolet‐visible (UV/Vis) turbidimetry, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements confirmed the stability of the coiled coils and showed that the thermosensitive phase behavior of the RLPs was preserved in the genetically fused hybrid polypeptides. Cryogenic‐transmission electron microscopy and coarse‐grained modeling revealed that functionalizing the coiled coils with thermoresponsive RLPs leads to their thermally triggered noncovalent assembly into nanofibrillar assemblies.

Patkar, Sai S.↗

Bright Infrared‐to‐Ultraviolet/Visible Upconversion in Small Alkaline Earth‐Based Nanoparticles with Biocompatible CaF 2 Shells

Abstract Upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) are promising candidates for photon‐driven reactions, including light‐triggered drug delivery, photodynamic therapy, and photocatalysis. Herein, we investigate the NIR‐to‐UV/visible emission of sub‐15 nm alkaline‐earth rare‐earth fluoride UCNPs (M 1− x Ln x F 2+ x , MLnF) with a CaF 2 shell. We synthesize 8 alkaline‐earth host materials doped with Yb 3+ and Tm 3+ , with alkaline‐earth (M) spanning Ca, Sr, and Ba, MgSr, CaSr, CaBa, SrBa, and CaSrBa. We explore UCNP composition, size, and lanthanide doping‐dependent emission, focusing on upconversion quantum yield (UCQY) and UV emission. UCQY values of 2.46 % at 250 W cm −2 are achieved with 14.5 nm SrLuF@CaF 2 particles, with 7.3 % of total emission in the UV. In 10.9 nm SrYbF:1 %Tm 3+ @CaF 2 particles, UV emission increased to 9.9 % with UCQY at 1.14 %. We demonstrate dye degradation under NIR illumination using SrYbF:1 %Tm 3+ @CaF 2 , highlighting the efficiency of these UCNPs and their ability to trigger photoprocesses.

Fischer, Stefan↗

Genetic Fusion of Thermoresponsive Polypeptides with UCST–type Behavior Mediates 1D Assembly of Coiled–Coil Bundlemers

Thermoresponsive resilin-like polypeptides (RLPs) of various lengths were genetically fused to two different computationally designed coiled coil-forming peptides with distinct thermal stability, to develop new strategies to assemble coiled coil peptides via temperature-triggered phase separation of the RLP units. Furthermore, their successful production in bacterial expression hosts was verified via gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, and amino acid analysis. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV/Vis) turbidimetry, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements confirmed the stability of the coiled coils and showed that the thermosensitive phase behavior of the RLPs was preserved in the genetically fused hybrid polypeptides. Cryogenic-transmission electron microscopy and coarse-grained modeling revealed that functionalizing the coiled coils with thermoresponsive RLPs leads to their thermally triggered noncovalent assembly into nanofibrillar assemblies.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Search for Fast Magnetic Monopoles with NOvA Far Detector

The NOvA experiment at Fermilab consists of two functionally identical liquid scintillator detectors called near detector and far detector to study neutrino oscillations using GeV-scale neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI beam. Due to its location close to the earth’s surface, surface area of over 4,000 $(m^{2})$, and little overburden, the NOvA far detector is sensitive to an extensive range of magnetic monopole masses and velocities. With the help of the far detector, we are looking for signals of relic monopoles in the cosmic rays flux that might have been produced in the early universe. We have developed the data-driven trigger(DDT), a robust trigger algorithm optimized for continuously searching the magnetic monopole-like patterns in the live data. Due to the surface proximity of the far detector, the major challenge for this analysis at the offline level is the rejection of cosmic ray background in the collected data. In this talk, I will present the status of the search for fast-moving magnetic monopoles using the data collected by the NOvA far detector.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Charged-particle production as a function of the relative transverse activity classifier in pp, p–Pb, and Pb–Pb collisions at the LHC

Measurements of charged-particle production in pp, p–Pb, and Pb–Pb collisions in the toward, away, and transverse regions with the ALICE detector are discussed. These regions are defined event-by-event relative to the azimuthal direction of the charged trigger particle, which is the reconstructed particle with the largest transverse momentum $(p^{trig}_T)$ in the range 8 < $p^{trig}_T$< 15 GeV/c. The toward and away regions contain the primary and recoil jets, respectively; both regions are accompanied by the underlying event (UE). In contrast, the transverse region perpendicular to the direction of the trigger particle is dominated by the so-called UE dynamics, and includes also contributions from initial- and final-state radiation. The relative transverse activity classifier, $R_T = N^T_{ch}/\langle N^T_{ch}\rangle$, is used to group events according to their UE activity, where $N^T_{ch}$ is the charged-particle multiplicity per event in the transverse region and $\langle N^T_{ch}\rangle$ is the mean value over the whole analysed sample. The energy dependence of the R T distributions in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 2.76, 5.02, 7, and 13 TeV is reported, exploring the Koba-Nielsen-Olesen (KNO) scaling properties of the multiplicity distributions. The first measurements of charged-particle p T spectra as a function of R T in the three azimuthal regions in pp, p–Pb, and Pb–Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV are also reported. Data are compared with predictions obtained from the event generators PYTHIA 8 and EPOS LHC. This set of measurements is expected to contribute to the understanding of the origin of collective-like effects in small collision systems (pp and p–Pb).

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Multiplicity-dependent jet modification from di-hadron correlations in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV

Short-range correlations between charged particles are studied via two-particle angular correlations in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. The correlation functions are measured as a function of the relative azimuthal angle ∆φ and the pseudorapidity separation ∆η for pairs of primary charged particles within the pseudorapidity interval |η| < 0.9 and the transverse-momentum range 1 < p T < 8 GeV/c. Near-side (|∆φ| < 1.3) peak widths are extracted from a generalised Gaussian fitted over the correlations in full pseudorapidity separation (|∆η| < 1.8), while the per-trigger associated near-side yields are extracted for the short-range correlations (|∆η| < 1.3). Both are evaluated as a function of charged-particle multiplicity obtained by two different event activity estimators. The width of the near-side peak decreases with increasing multiplicity, and this trend is reproduced qualitatively by the Monte Carlo event generators PYTHIA 8, AMPT, and EPOS. However, the models overestimate the width in the low transverse-momentum region (p T < 3 GeV/c). The per-trigger associated near-side yield increases with increasing multiplicity. Although this trend is also captured qualitatively by the considered event generators, the yield is mostly overestimated by the models in the considered kinematic range. The measurement of the shape and yield of the short-range correlation peak can help us understand the interplay between jet fragmentation and event activity, quantify the narrowing trend of the near-side peak as a function of transverse momentum and multiplicity selections in pp collisions, and search for final-state jet modification in small collision systems.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Baryogenesis from decaying magnetic helicity in axiogenesis

Generating axion dark matter through the kinetic misalignment mechanism implies the generation of large asymmetries for Standard Model fermions in the early universe. Even if these asymmetries are washed out at later times, they can trigger a chiral plasma instability in the early universe. Similarly, a direct coupling of the axion with the hypercharge gauge field can trigger a tachyonic instability. These instabilities produce helical magnetic fields, which are preserved until the electroweak phase transition. At the electroweak phase transition, these become a source of baryon asymmetry, which can be much more efficient than the original axiogenesis proposal. We discuss constraints on axion dark matter production from the overproduction of the baryon asymmetry as well as a minimal, albeit fine-tuned setup, where both the correct dark matter abundance and baryon asymmetry can be achieved. For a given axion decay constant, this leads to a sharp prediction for the mass of the radial direction of the Peccei Quinn field, which is a soft mass scale in supersymmetric theories.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Enhancing sensitivities to long-lived particles with high granularity calorimeters at the LHC

The search for long-lived particles (LLP) is an exciting physics opportunity in the upcoming runs of the Large Hadron Collider. In this paper, we focus on a new search strategy of using the High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL), part of the upgrade of the CMS detector, in such searches. In particular, we demonstrate that the high granularity of the calorimeter allows us to see “shower tracks” in the calorimeter, and can play a crucial role in identifying the signal and suppressing the background. We study the potential reach of the HGCAL using a signal model in which the Standard Model Higgs boson decays into a pair of LLPs, h → XX. After carefully estimating the Standard Model QCD and the misreconstructed fake-track backgrounds, we give the projected reach for both an existing vector boson fusion trigger and a novel displaced-track-based trigger. Our results show that the best reach for the Higgs decay branching ratio, BR(h → XX), in the vector boson fusion channel is about O(10 –4 ) with lifetime cτ X ~ 0.1–1 meters, while for the gluon gluon fusion channel it is about O(10 –5 – 10 –6 ) for similar lifetimes. For longer lifetime cτ X ~ 103 meters, our search could probe BR(h → XX) down to a few ×10 –4 (10 –2 ) in the gluon gluon fusion (vector boson fusion) channels, respectively. In comparison with these previous searches, our new search shows enhanced sensitivity in complementary regions of the LLP parameter space. We also comment on many improvements can be implemented to further improve our proposed search.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Speeding-up fuzzing through directional seeds

Abstract Fuzzing is an automated process for discovering inputs in a program that may trigger unexpected behavior. Today, fuzzing has become a standard practice for the discovery of bugs and security vulnerabilities. However, the main issue with such practices is that the exploration of the input space of programs can often be prohibitively expensive. Therefore, several alternative fuzzing strategies have been introduced during the last few years. Some fuzzing techniques rely on human expertise to provide a plausible set of initial input examples, namely, seeds. However, the process of handcrafting seeds for fuzzing purposes often becomes strenuous for humans as it requires a deeper understanding of the Program-Under-Test (PUT). Also, the use of known inputs to programs often does not trigger vulnerable program behavior or may not reach potentially vulnerable code locations. To address those issues, we propose a seed generation framework that enables Human-In-The-Loop (HITL) directed fuzzing where the human assumes a more active role in the creation of seeds that can penetrate and assess desired locations of the PUT. Our proposed framework uses Symbolic Execution (SE) to generate seeds that exercise paths to target program locations. Moreover, our framework enables the visualization of the explored execution paths in the binary of the PUT for the generated seeds. We evaluated our approach on a set of 12 carefully designed C programs with diverse characteristics that mimic real-world programs. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in improving the performance of standard fuzzing tools such as the American Fuzzy Lop ("Image missing" <#comment/> ). Specifically, our solution can generate seeds that substantially enhance the performance of the fuzzer, achieving speedups ranging from $$1.46\times $$ 1.46 × to $$68.53\times $$ 68.53 × for branch conditions, $$1.39\times $$ 1.39 × to $$254.62\times $$ 254.62 × for branch depths, $$14,879.59\times $$ 14 , 879.59 × to $$30,295.88\times $$ 30 , 295.88 × for branch widths over traditional seeds. Additionally, the speedup increases with the number of target function ranging from $$12,260\times $$ 12 , 260 × to $$22,856.07\times $$ 22 , 856.07 × over traditional seeds while only requiring less than 15 seconds on average for the seed generation step.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

The importance of nutrients for microbial priming in a bog rhizosphere

Wetlands host anaerobic microbes which convert organic carbon into methane (CH 4 ), a powerful greenhouse gas. Wetland plants can influence which carbon compounds are available for microbial processing by exuding freshly fixed carbon from their roots. Notably, exudation of carbon from plant roots can trigger microbial priming: the process of new carbon stimulating the microbial community into processing more soil carbon than they otherwise would have. This study utilized high resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) analysis to probe the chemical composition of soil organic compounds from the rhizosphere of Carex aquatillis, a common wetland sedge, which is known to have stimulated microbial priming within a peat soil. The goal was to identify what types of molecules are created or lost during microbial priming in the wetland rhizosphere and thus advance mechanistic understanding of the process. FT-ICR-MS analysis demonstrated that more microbial transformations of carbon occurred among water-soluble compounds than among hydrophobic compounds, but that some hydrophobic compounds were processed as well. Crucially for understanding microbial priming, the root exudates triggered increased processing of high molecular weight molecules regardless of nutrient content but processed low molecular weight compounds only if they contained essential nutrients. Furthermore, the pattern of which molecules are processed and which are not is evidence for a selective priming effect in which some types of carbon compounds are used at an increased rate, while others are not.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Modeling delayed thermal runaway in nitric acid-soaked cat litter mixed with radioactive waste

Thermal ignition of radioactive waste within a 55-gallon drum was simulated by using a pressure-dependent waste decomposition model (Hobbs et al. in Process Saf Environ Prot https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2022.09.047, 2022) calibrated with data from full-scale drum experiments (Parker et al. in The thermolytic response of a surrogate RNS waste mixture at the drum scale. Los Alamos National Laboratory Report LA-UR-16-21760, 2016) and validated with experiments from multiple laboratories (Hobbs et al. in Thermal analysis of aged nitric acid-soaked kitty litter in TRU waste drums-23370.WM2023 Conference, Phoenix, AZ, 2023). The acceleration of nitric acid chemistry reacting with an organic cat litter leading to thermal ignition was likely triggered by a restricted vent in the drum. Here, we address whether the form of the rate equation in (Hobbs et al. in Process Saf Environ Prot https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2022.09.047, 2022) is sufficient to extrapolate thermal ignition within aged drums of similar content that have been stored in Texas for over nine years by investigating four different reaction rate forms for waste decomposition. A critical reaction rate reduction analysis is performed on each of these models to determine if delayed thermal runaway within vented aged waste is possible after nine years. We found that a pressure-dependent first-order rate expression not only predicted the accidental ignition of the waste drum, but the form also matches multiple experiments from different laboratories. Even though the waste composition decreases over time, the model predicts that acceleration leading to thermal runaway is possible if the waste is confined, even after 9 years. In conclusion, waste containing oxidizers such as nitric acid should not be mixed with organic adsorbents, especially if the waste is confined.

cookoff↗

Copper transformation, speciation, and detoxification in anoxic and suboxic freshwater sediments

The complex chemistry of copper (Cu) in freshwater sediments at low concentrations is not well understood. We evaluated the transformation processes of Cu added to freshwater sediments under suboxic and anoxic conditions. Freshwater sediments from three sources in Michigan with different characteristics (Spring Creek, River Raisin, and Maple Lake) were spiked with 30 or 60 mg kg -1 Cu and incubated under a nitrogen atmosphere. After 28-d, each treatment subset was amended with organic matter (OM) to promote anoxic conditions and evaluate its effects on Cu speciation. OM addition triggered a shift from suboxic to anoxic conditions, and sequential extractions showed that Cu accordingly shifted from acid-soluble to oxidizable fractions. Extended X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy revealed that Cu sulfides dominated all anoxic samples except for Spring Creek 30 mg kg -1 , where Cu(I) was predominantly complexed to thiol groups of OM. Covellite and chalcopyrite (CuFeS 2 ) were the predominant Cu species in nearly all anoxic samples, as determined by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. Copper reduction also occurred under suboxic conditions: for two of three sediments, around 80% had been reduced to Cu(I), while the remaining 20% persisted as Cu(II) complexed to OM. However, in the third coarsest (i.e., Spring Creek), around 50% of the Cu had been reduced, forming Cu(I)-OM complexes, while the remainder was Cu(II)-OM complexes. Toxicity tests showed that survival of H. azteca and D. magna were significantly lower in suboxic treatments. Anoxic sediments triggered a near-complete transformation of Cu to sulfide minerals, reducing its toxicity.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Modeling gas breakthrough and flow phenomena through engineered barrier systems using a discrete fracture approach

Compacted clays are being considered to build engineered barrier systems (EBS) intended for the safe isolation of high-level nuclear waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF). The corrosion of the metallic canister containing the HLW/SNF will lead to the generation and buildup of the gas pressure in the more internal part of the clay buffer. This phenomenon would eventually trigger the formation and propagation of fractures in the clay barrier, jeopardizing its safety functions. Here, in this work, we propose to use the fragmentation technique (MFT) to model evolving fractures in clays triggered by gas pressurization. The MFT has been successfully used to model the formation of fractures in concrete, drying cracks in soil, hydraulic and thermo-fractures in rocks. In this work, we extend the MFT to deal with multiphase fluid flow in deformable porous media, and we upgraded a fully coupled computer finite element code using the extended technique. The proposed approach is first verified against analytical solutions and is then applied to model gas breakthrough experiments in clays. A very satisfactory performance of the method is observed in all the analyses, showing the potential of the MFT to tackle multiphase flow problems in deformable porous media with evolving discontinuities.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗