Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Reporting”

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 865 records · Page 48

Sensor Chip Assembly (SCA) Test Report

This report summarizes the measured performance for the Sensor Chip Assembly (SCA), which is identified in Table 1. The SCA architecture is a substrate-removed HgCdTe detector with an area of 4096x4096 pixels (with a reference pixel area of four pixels deep around all four sides, available to substitute corresponding image pixels) and a pixel pitch of 10 μm. This SCA has been tested at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC/NASA) Detector Characterization Laboratory (DCL). Teledyne (the vendor) classifies its detectors into different grades based on testing performed at its facility. The classification of this SCA and the tested dates are included in Table 1 below. The tests performed on this array are derived from the document WFIRST-PROC-09220_WFIRST-SCA-ATP_-.docx. A summary of the test parameters, requirements, and test results is presented in Table 2. The details of each test are subsequently described in the report. In the Summary (Table 2), SCA results are reported at an operating temperature of 95K, and 1.0 V bias voltage. In the detailed section of each test, the results for 90 K (1.0V bias voltage) and 95 K (0.5V bias voltage) are also reported. For all cases, the frame time used is 2.764 seconds. Reference pixel correction was applied to every raw frame.

WFIRST SCA TEST REPORT↗

Annual Report on the State of the DOE National Laboratories

This first Annual Report to Congress on the State of the DOE National Laboratories provides a comprehensive overview of the Lab system, covering S&T programs, management and strategic planning. The Department committed to prepare this report in response to recommendations from the Congressionally mandated Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories (CRENEL) that the Department should better communicate the value that the Laboratories provide to the Nation. We expect that future annual reports will be much more compact, building on the extensive description of the Laboratories and of the governance structures that are part of this first report.

DOE, Annual, Report, Laboratories, Labs, National ↗

Analysis of Geothermal Reservoir and Well Operational Conditions using Monthly Production Reports from Nevada and California

When conducting techno-economic analysis of geothermal systems, assumptions are typically necessary for reservoir and wellbore parameters such as producer/injector well ratio, production temperature drawdown, and production/injection temperature, pressure and flow rate. To decrease uncertainty of several of these parameters, we analyzed field data reported by operators in monthly production reports. This paper presents results of a statistical analysis conducted on monthly production reports at 19 power plants in California and Nevada covering 196 production wells and 175 injection wells. The average production temperature was 304 degrees F (151 degrees C) for binary plants and 310 degrees F (154 degrees C) for flash plants. The average injection temperature was 169 degrees F (76 degrees C) for binary plants and 173 degrees F (78 degrees C) for flash plants. The average production temperature drawdown was 0.5% per year for binary plants and 0.8% per year for flash plants. The average production well flow rate was 112 L/s for binary plant wells and 62 L/s for flash plant wells. For all 19 plants combined, the median injectivity index value was 3.8 L/s/bar, and the average producer/injector well ratio was 1.6. As an additional example of analysis using data from monthly production reports, a coupled reservoir-wellbore model was developed to derive productivity curves at various pump horsepower settings. The workflow and model were applied to two example production wells.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Utah FORGE: Daily Reports for the 2024 Stimulation of Wells 16A/16B(78)-32

The zip file below contains daily reports produced during the spring 2024 stimulation of wells 16A/16B(78)-32 at Utah FORGE . These reports cover a period from March 29th to April 28th, 2024. They discuss the activity on the rig each day, with each report containing information on general operations, management, safety, and weather.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Utah FORGE: LBNL Reports on VEMP Electromagnetic Data Collection and Processing - 2024

This archive contains reports related to Vertical Electromagnetic Profiling (VEMP) tool data collection and processing at Utah FORGE in 2024. The first report describes LBNL's effort to collect electromagnetic geophysical data with the tool in well 78-32B and a downhole electrode in well 16A. The second report describes the final data acquisition and processing of the VEMP electromagnetic data collected at the Utah FORGE site in May of 2024. Also included are a noise analysis as well as a comparison of the data to numerical models. This was originally presented as a paper at the 2025 Stanford Geothermal Workshop.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Interobserver agreement of computed tomography reporting standards for chronic pancreatitis

Aim: To assess the interobserver agreement of computed tomography (CT) reporting standards for chronic pancreatitis (CP). Subjects and methods: Retrospective analysis of CT of 47 patients (33 males and 11 females, age range 36 to 56 years) with CP who presented with abdominal pain (n = 41), steatorrhea (n = 37), and glucose intolerance (n = 31). The patients underwent CT study using a 16-multidetector CT scanner with a pancreatic protocol including a nonenhanced scan followed by pancreatic phase at 35 s and portal venous phase at 65 s after intravenous injection of nonionic contrast medium. Image analysis was performed by two radiologists according to reporting standards for CP. Results: There was excellent interobserver agreement (84.8 %) between the two reviewers in CT reporting standards for CP (K = 0.80, 95 % CI 0.75–0.85, P = 0.001). There was good interobserver agreement for pancreatic duct (PD) caliber (K = 0.71, 95 % CI 0.56–0.87, P = 0.001), PD contour (K = 0.76, 95 % CI 0.61–0.91, P = 0.001), PD stricture (K = 0.070, 95 % CI 0.53–0.88, P = 0.001), and distribution of findings (K = 0.69, 95 % CI 0.51–0.86, P = 0.001). There was excellent interobserver agreement for intraductal calculi (K = 0.84, 95 % CI 0.68–0.98, P = 0.001), pancreatic calcifications (K = 0.86, 95 % CI 0.84–0.98, P = 0.001), and pancreatic diameter (K = 0.87, 95 % CI 0.75–0.99, P = 0.001). Conclusion: CT reporting standards for CP is a reliable method for diagnosis of patients with CP.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Validity of self-reported indicators to assess secondhand smoke exposure in the home

Highlights: • Self-reported indicators showed moderate-strong correlations, low sensitivity and high specificity. • Low sensitivities suggest that SHS exposure could be underreported due to other SHS sources. • The self-reported exposure indicators studied are good to assess SHS exposure at home. • Questions about outdoor sources and third hand smoke should be included in questionnaires. Questionnaires are widely used to assess secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure. However, the validity of self-reported SHS exposure indicators has been rarely assessed. We aimed to assess correlations, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values between self-reported SHS exposure indicators and airborne nicotine concentrations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Self-Reported Cognitive Outcomes in Patients With Brain Metastases Before and After Radiation Therapy

Purpose: Patients with brain metastases may experience treatment-related cognitive deficits. In this study, we prospectively assessed the self-reported cognitive abilities of patients with brain metastases from any solid primary cancer before and after irradiation of the brain. Methods and Materials: The treatment group (TG) consisted of adult patients (n=50) with brain metastases who received whole or partial irradiation of the brain without having received prior radiation therapy (RT). The control group (CG) consisted of breast cancer patients (n=27) without cranial involvement who were treated with adjuvant RT. Patients were recruited between May 2008 and December 2010. Self-reported cognitive abilities were acquired before RT and 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after irradiation. The information regarding the neurocognitive status was collected by use of the German questionnaires for self-perceived deficits in attention (FEDA) and subjectively experienced everyday memory performance (FEAG). Results: The baseline data showed a high proportion of self-perceived neurocognitive deficits in both groups. A comparison between the TG and the CG regarding the course of self-reported outcomes after RT showed significant between-group differences for the FEDA scales 2 and 3: fatigue and retardation of daily living activities (P=.002) and decrease in motivation (P=.032) with an increase of attention deficits in the TG, but not in the CG. There was a trend towards significance in FEDA scale 1: distractibility and retardation of mental processes (P=.059) between the TG and the CG. The FEAG assessment presented no significant differences. An additional subgroup analysis within the TG was carried out. FEDA scale 3 showed significant differences in the time-related progress between patients with whole-brain RT and those receiving hypofractionated stereotactic RT (P=.025), with less decrease in motivation in the latter group. Conclusion: Self-reported attention declined in patients with brain metastases after RT to the brain, whereas it remained relatively stable in breast cancer patients.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Identifying Predictive Factors for Incident Reports in Patients Receiving Radiation Therapy

Purpose: To describe radiation therapy cases during which voluntary incident reporting occurred; and identify patient- or treatment-specific factors that place patients at higher risk for incidents. Methods and Materials: We used our institution's incident learning system to build a database of patients with incident reports filed between January 2011 and December 2013. Patient- and treatment-specific data were reviewed for all patients with reported incidents, which were classified by step in the process and root cause. A control group of patients without events was generated for comparison. Summary statistics, likelihood ratios, and mixed-effect logistic regression models were used for group comparisons. Results: The incident and control groups comprised 794 and 499 patients, respectively. Common root causes included documentation errors (26.5%), communication (22.5%), technical treatment planning (37.5%), and technical treatment delivery (13.5%). Incidents were more frequently reported in minors (age <18 years) than in adult patients (37.7% vs 0.4%, P<.001). Patients with head and neck (16% vs 8%, P<.001) and breast (20% vs 15%, P=.03) primaries more frequently had incidents, whereas brain (18% vs 24%, P=.008) primaries were less frequent. Larger tumors (17% vs 10% had T4 lesions, P=.02), and cases on protocol (9% vs 5%, P=.005) or with intensity modulated radiation therapy/image guided intensity modulated radiation therapy (52% vs 43%, P=.001) were more likely to have incidents. Conclusions: We found several treatment- and patient-specific variables associated with incidents. These factors should be considered by treatment teams at the time of peer review to identify patients at higher risk. Larger datasets are required to recommend changes in care process standards, to minimize safety risks.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Clinical Indicators of Psychosocial Distress Predict for Acute Radiation-Induced Fatigue in Patients Receiving Adjuvant Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer: An Analysis of Patient-Reported Outcomes

Purpose: To assess the magnitude and predictors of patient-reported fatigue among breast cancer patients receiving radiation therapy (RT). Methods and Materials: Patients receiving breast RT completed a survey querying fatigue at each weekly on-treatment visit. Patient-reported fatigue severity and interference was assessed on an ordinal scale of 0 to 4, using a validated scoring system. Baseline anxiety and depression scores were also obtained. The kinetics of mean fatigue scores per week and the maximum fatigue scores over the course of the entire treatment were assessed, and clinical predictors were identified by univariate and multivariate regression. Results: The average fatigue severity and interference scores were 0.6 and 0.46. The average fatigue scores increased to an equivalent extent from week to week, with expected increases of 0.99 in fatigue severity and 0.85 in interference over 7 weeks. Patients treated with hypofractionated RT (HF-RT) versus conventionally fractionated RT (CF-RT) had significantly fewer maximum fatigue severity or interference scores that were >2 (ie, severe or very severe; 29% vs 10% for severity, and 26% vs 8% for interference, P<.01). Age ≤45 years, presence of psychiatric/pain-related comorbidities, and baseline sadness and anxiety severity were predictive of average and maximum fatigue scores (P<.05), but variables related to treatment intensity (eg, mastectomy vs lumpectomy, chemotherapy use, radiation target volumes) and other host factors (working, children, marital status, proximity to RT facility) were not. Conclusion: Patient-reported fatigue modestly increases over RT courses, with less maximum fatigue reported with HF-RT. Younger age and baseline sadness, anxiety, and psychiatric/pain-related comorbidities are powerful predictors of fatigue, whereas other factors, such as treatment intensity, are not. Future studies will investigate interventions for patients at high risk for fatigue.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Five-Year Biochemical Results, Toxicity, and Patient-Reported Quality of Life After Delivery of Dose-Escalated Image Guided Proton Therapy for Prostate Cancer

Purpose: To report clinical outcomes in patients treated with image guided proton therapy (PT) for localized prostate cancer. Methods and Materials: The medical records of 1327 men were reviewed. Each man was enrolled on an outcomes tracking study. Dual enrollment on a prospective clinical trial was allowed. Each patient was treated for localized prostate cancer with PT at our institution between 2006 and 2010. Ninety-eight percent of patients received 78 Gy (radiobiological equivalent [RBE]) or higher; 18% received androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). The 5-year freedom from biochemical progression (FFBP), distant metastasis-free survival, and cause-specific survival rates are reported for each risk group. Data on patient-reported quality of life and high-grade toxicities were prospectively collected and reported. A multivariate analysis was performed to identify clinical predictors of biochemical failure and urologic toxicity. Results: The median follow-up time was 5.5 years. The 5-year FFBP rates were 99%, 94%, and 74% in low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk patients, respectively. The actuarial 5-year rates of late grade 3+ Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 4.0, gastrointestinal (GI) and genitourinary (GU) toxicity were 0.6% and 2.9%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed a significant correlation between grade 3+ GU toxicity and pretreatment prostate reductive procedures (P<.0001), prostate volume (P=.0085), pretreatment α-blockers (P=.0067), diabetes (P=.0195), and dose–volume histogram parameters (P=.0208). The median International Prostate Symptom Scores pretreatment scores and scores at 5 years after treatment were 7 and 7, respectively. The mean Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) scores significantly declined for sexual summary for patients not receiving ADT (from 67 to 53) between baseline and 5 years. Conclusions: Image guided PT provided excellent biochemical control rates for patients with localized prostate cancer. The actuarial rates of high-grade toxicity were low after PT. From pretreatment to 5 years of follow-up, a significant decline was found only in mean EPIC sexual summary scores. Prospective clinical studies are needed to determine the comparative effectiveness of PT and other radiation treatment strategies.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Multinational Prospective Study of Patient-Reported Outcomes After Prostate Radiation Therapy: Detailed Assessment of Rectal Bleeding

Purpose: The new short Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite for Clinical Practice (EPIC-CP) patient-reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL) tool has removed the rectal bleeding question from the previous much longer version, EPIC-26. Herein, we assess the impact of losing the dedicated rectal bleeding question in 2 independent prospective multicenter cohorts. Methods and Materials: In a prospective multicenter test cohort (n=865), EPIC-26 patient-reported HRQOL data were collected for 2 years after treatment from patients treated with prostate radiation therapy from 2003 to 2011. A second prospective multicenter cohort (n=442) was used for independent validation. A repeated-effects model was used to predict the change from baseline in bowel summary scores from longer EPIC instruments using the change in EPIC-CP bowel summary scores with and without rectal bleeding scores. Results: Two years after radiation therapy, 91% of patients were free of bleeding, and only 2.6% reported bothersome bleeding problems. Correlations between EPIC-26 and EPIC-CP bowel scores were very high (r{sup 2}=0.90-0.96) and were statistically improved with the addition of rectal bleeding information (r{sup 2}=0.94-0.98). Considering all patients, only 0.2% of patients in the test cohort and 0.7% in the validation cohort reported bothersome bleeding and had clinically relevant HRQOL changes missed with EPIC-CP. However, of the 2.6% (n=17) of men with bothersome rectal bleeding in the test cohort, EPIC-CP failed to capture 1 patient (6%) as experiencing meaningful declines in bowel HRQOL. Conclusions: Modern prostate radiation therapy results in exceptionally low rates of bothersome rectal bleeding, and <1% of patients experience bothersome bleeding and are not captured by EPIC-CP as having meaningful HRQOL declines after radiation therapy. However, in the small subset of patients with bothersome rectal bleeding, the longer EPIC-26 should strongly be considered, given its superior performance in this patient subset.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Recommendations to standardize reporting, execution, and interpretation of X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy measurements

In July of 2022, a National Science Foundation (NSF)- and US Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored workshop was held on the topic of rigor and reproducibility (R&R) in thermal, heterogeneous catalysis. As a result of the workshop, a report has been published entitled "Addressing Rigor and Reproducibility in Thermal, Heterogeneous Catalysis"[1]. This manuscript summarizes one section of the report: "Recommendations for catalyst characterization by X-ray absorption spectroscopy". Here, the section focuses exclusively on X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and is narrowly focused on recommendations for the collection and interpretation of XAS data for routine experiments. Therefore, one should not expect a detailed guide for each different experiment that one may perform nor are the recommendations designed to be overly prescriptive. However, the report is designed to draw attention to key pitfalls and common problems in the collection, reporting, analysis and interpretation of XAS studies.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Light-up and FRET aptamer reporters; evaluating their applications for imaging transcription in eukaryotic cells

The regulation of RNA transcription is central to cellular function. Changes in gene expression drive differentiation and cellular responses to events such as injury. RNA trafficking can also have a large impact on protein expression and its localization. Thus, the ability to image RNA transcription and trafficking in real time and in living cells is a worthwhile goal that has been difficult to achieve. The availability of “light-up” aptamers that cause an increase in fluorescence of their ligands when bound by the aptamer have shown promise for reporting on RNA production and localization in vivo. Here we have investigated two light-up aptamers (the malachite green aptamer and the Spinach aptamers) for their suitabilities as reporters of RNA expression in vivo using two eukaryotic cell types, yeast and mammalian. Our analysis focused on the aptamer ligands, their contributions to background noise, and the impact of tandem aptamer strings on signal strength and ligand affinity. Whereas the background fluorescence is very low in vitro, this is not always true for cell imaging. Our results suggest the need for caution in using light-up aptamers as reporters for imaging RNA. In particular, images should be collected and analyzed by operators blinded to the sample identities. The appropriate control condition of ligand with the cells in the absence of aptamer expression must be included in each experiment. This control condition establishes that the specific interaction of ligand with aptamer, rather than nonspecific interactions with unknown cell elements, is responsible for the observed fluorescent signals. As a result, high background signals due to nonspecific interactions of aptamer ligands with cell components can be minimized by using IMAGEtags (Intracellular Multiaptamer GEnetic tags), which signal by FRET and are promising RNA reporters for imaging transcription.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Prevalence of Americans reporting a family history of cancer indicative of increased cancer risk: Estimates from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey

The collection and evaluation of family health history in a clinical setting presents an opportunity to discuss cancer risk, tailor cancer screening recommendations, and identify people with an increased risk of carrying a pathogenic variant who may benefit from referral to genetic counseling and testing. National recommendations for breast and colorectal cancer screening indicate that men and women who have a first-degree relative affected with these types of cancers may benefit from talking to a healthcare provider about starting screening at an earlier age and other options for cancer prevention. The prevalence of reporting a first-degree relative who had cancer was assessed among adult respondents of the 2015 National Health Interview Survey who had never had cancer themselves (n = 27,999). We found 35.6% of adults reported having at least one first-degree relative with cancer at any site. Significant differences in reporting a family history of cancer were observed by sex, age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and census region. Nearly 5% of women under age 50 and 2.5% of adults under age 50 had at least one first-degree relative with breast cancer or colorectal cancer, respectively. We estimated that 5.8% of women had a family history of breast or ovarian cancer that may indicate increased genetic risk. A third of U.S. adults who have never had cancer report a family history of cancer in a first-degree relative. Furthermore, this finding underscores the importance of using family history to inform discussions about cancer risk and screening options between healthcare providers and their patients.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Investigating and Optimizing the Lysate-Based Expression of Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetases Using a Reporter System

Lysate-based cell-free expression (CFE) systems are accessible platforms for expressing proteins that are difficult to synthesize in vivo, such as nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). NRPSs are large (>100 kDa), modular enzyme complexes that synthesize bioactive peptide natural products. This synthetic process is analogous to transcription/translation (TX/TL) in lysates, resulting in potential resource competition between NRPS expression and NRPS activity in cell-free environments. Moreover, CFE conditions depend on the size and structure of the protein. Here, a reporter system for rapidly investigating and optimizing reaction environments for NRPS CFE is described. This strategy is demonstrated in E. coli lysate reactions using blue pigment synthetase A (BpsA), a model NRPS, carrying a C-terminal tetracysteine (TC) tag which forms a fluorescent complex with the biarsenical dye, FlAsH. A colorimetric assay was adapted for lysate reactions to detect the blue pigment product, indigoidine, of cell-free expressed BpsA-TC, confirming that the tagged enzyme is catalytically active. An optimized protocol for end point TC/FlAsH complex measurements in reactions enables quick comparisons of full-length BpsA-TC expressed under different reaction conditions, defining unique requirements for NRPS expression that are related to the protein’s catalytic activity and size. Importantly, these protein-dependent CFE conditions enable higher indigoidine titer and improve the expression of other monomodular NRPSs. Notably, these conditions differ from those used for the expression of superfolder GFP (sfGFP), a common reporter for optimizing lysate-based CFE systems, indicating the necessity for tailored reporters to optimize expression for specific enzyme classes. In conclusion, the reporter system is anticipated to advance lysate-based CFE systems for complex enzyme synthesis, enabling natural product discovery.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Why Are There so Few Reports of High-Energy Electron Drift Resonances? Role of Radial Phase Space Density Gradients

Models of monochromatic Pc5 (2–7 mHz) ultralow frequency (ULF) wave interactions with high energy (greater than ~1 MeV) electrons predict drift resonant interactions that can cause rapid radial transport and acceleration. There are few reports of electron drift resonance at energies greater than ~1 MeV, in contrast to lower energies; moreover, all previous reports occur in the aftermath of interplanetary shocks. These two facts are difficult to reconcile with theory and numerical simulations predicting that greater than ~1 MeV drift resonances should occur more often and in a wider variety of driving conditions. In this study, we show that a combination of observational sampling biases and nominal radial phase space density gradients is one explanation for this discrepancy between theory and observations. In particular, we examine electron dynamics in two case studies with very similar satellite coverage, solar wind conditions, and Pc5 wave properties, yet with different radial phase space density profiles. Using global wave and particle observations, we show that the events have vastly different particle responses despite having similar wave properties. Placing these results in context with past studies, we further show here that nominal radial PSD gradients near geostationary orbit can mask the expected drift resonance particle response and explain (1) the small number of past greater than ~1 MeV drift resonance reports and (2) the restriction of these reports to interplanetary shock events. We argue that future observational studies characterizing radial transport via drift resonance should examine global particle dynamics, including observations of the radial phase space density profile.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

STREAMS guidelines: standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated microbiome studies

The interdisciplinary nature of microbiome research, coupled with the generation of complex multi-omics data, makes knowledge sharing challenging. The Strengthening the Organization and Reporting of Microbiome Studies (STORMS) guidelines provide a checklist for the reporting of study information, experimental design and analytical methods within a scientific manuscript on human microbiome research. Here, in this Consensus Statement, we present the standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated microbiome studies (STREAMS) guidelines. The guidelines expand on STORMS and include 67 items to support the reporting and review of environmental (for example, terrestrial, aquatic, atmospheric and engineered), synthetic and non-human host-associated microbiome studies in a standardized and machine-actionable manner. Based on input from 248 researchers spanning 28 countries, we provide detailed guidance, including comparisons with STORMS, and case studies that demonstrate the usage of the STREAMS guidelines. In conclusion, STREAMS, like STORMS, will be a living community resource updated by the Consortium with consensus-building input of the broader community.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗