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Results for “cluster characterization”

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 991 records · Page 55
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Characterization of multiple-bit errors from single-ion tracks in integrated circuits

The spread of charge induced by an ion track in an integrated circuit and its subsequent collection at sensitive nodal junctions can cause multiple-bit errors. The authors have experimentally and analytically investigated this phenomenon using a 256-kb dynamic random-access memory (DRAM). The effects of different charge-transport mechanisms are illustrated, and two classes of ion-track multiple-bit error clusters are identified. It is demonstrated that ion tracks that hit a junction can affect the lateral spread of charge, depending on the nature of the pull-up load on the junction being hit. Ion tracks that do not hit a junction allow the nearly uninhibited lateral spread of charge.

Zoutendyk, J. A.↗
DOE OSTI2020

On the enhanced sulfur and coking tolerance of Ni-Co-rare earth oxide catalysts for the dry reforming of methane

In this study, sulfur and coking tolerance of Ni-based dry reforming catalysts were examined. Catalysts utilizing both Ce/Zr and Ce/La oxide supports, some with additional Co, were tested. Long-term reaction runs were conducted with and without sulfur in the feed. Catalysts were also characterized by STEM, XPS, XAFS and XANES and CO chemisorption. Only catalysts where Co was also present, and supported on the Ce-Zr oxide, were capable of extended sulfur tolerance at >20 ppm sulfur. This tolerance, along with a greatly reduced coking rate, is linked to Co in intimate contact with Ni, the mixture existing as clusters anchored and influenced electronically by the oxide support. The activation of methane takes place on these sites. Larger metal aggregates formed by ripening during reaction appear to be spectators. The measured activation energies for dry reforming suggest that CO 2 activation takes place at the oxide interface, and is a kinetically significant step.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Machine-learning-assisted analysis of transition metal dichalcogenide thin-film growth

In situ reflective high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) is widely used to monitor the surface crystalline state during thin-film growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and pulsed laser deposition. With the recent development of machine learning (ML), ML-assisted analysis of RHEED videos aids in interpreting the complete RHEED data of oxide thin films. The quantitative analysis of RHEED data allows us to characterize and categorize the growth modes step by step, and extract hidden knowledge of the epitaxial film growth process. In this study, we employed the ML-assisted RHEED analysis method to investigate the growth of 2D thin films of transition metal dichalcogenides (ReSe2) on graphene substrates by MBE. Principal component analysis (PCA) and K-means clustering were used to separate statistically important patterns and visualize the trend of pattern evolution without any notable loss of information. Using the modified PCA, we could monitor the diffraction intensity of solely the ReSe2 layers by filtering out the substrate contribution. These findings demonstrate that ML analysis can be successfully employed to examine and understand the film-growth dynamics of 2D materials. Further, the ML-based method can pave the way for the development of advanced real-time monitoring and autonomous material synthesis techniques.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2006

The Distant Magnetotail Under Long Duration, Very Northward IMF Conditions: October 22-24, 2003

A unique 32 hour interval of very northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) on October 22-24, 2003 created a exceptionally thick cold dense magnetotail plasma sheet, a small polar cap and accompanying small tail lobe. These features were detected by the Cluster DMSP and FAST spacecraft and modeled by a global simulation as described in papers by Oieroset et al. (2005) and Li et al. (2005). During the same interval the Wind spacecraft was passing through the center of the magnetotail about 130 Re downstream of Earth. Wind results will be described that reveal a very unusual magnetotail characterized by (1) continual tailward flow of 200-400 km/s with densities in the range 0.2-3/cc, both of whch are clearly less than those expected in the magnetosheath, (2) a mostly northward Bz but with a predominant Bx field component with sign reversals indicating crossings between the two hemispheres of the tail, and (3) velocity waves superposed on the downstream flow with peak-to-peak amplitudes of 100 to 200 km/s, periods of 10 to 20 minutes and clockwise polarization. Low altitude DMSP and Fast measurements reveal an auroral oval with enhanced latitudinal thickness and a small polar cap filled with structured precipitzting electrons and few ions. A new global MHD simulation of the event exhibits a highly elliptical tail of diminished cross-section at 130 Re with major axis aligned with the northward IMF. The tail current sheet also tends to be aligned in a north-south direction with the two tail hemispheres to the east and west with their polarities depending on prior history of the IMF. The simulation appears to be consistent with many, but not all, of the observations. High latitude cusp reconnection and subsequent downtail flow of closed field lines may explain the tail structure, but the waves are more likely due to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability often thought to occur during northward IMF conditions.

Fairfield, Donald H.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Remote Sensing techniques used to characterize soil erosion in southwestern Sao Paulo state

Within randomly sampled squares of a 1 km x 1 km grid, rill/gullies frequency, land cover/land use type and shape of the slopes were extracted from aerial photographs of the Ribeirao Anhumas drainage basin. Mean slope gradient, stream frequency and slope length were calculated on topographic maps. Ground truth data on fine sand/coarse sand ratio and vegetation cover densities were obtained. The MSS-LANDSAT-2 data (CCTs) were analyzed using single-cell, cluster synthesis and slicer algorithms. Graphical and statistical analyses of the data indicate that different slope gradients and land cover/land use types are the most significant factors related to the soil erosion process. The digital analysis of MSS data allowed the association among gray level classes and vegetation cover classes, which defined seven classes. These gray level classes and slope gradient classes were used to rank erosion risk.

Parada, N. D. J.↗
DOE OSTI2020

An image-driven machine learning approach to kinetic modeling of a discontinuous precipitation reaction

Micrograph quantification is an essential component of several materials science studies. Machine learning methods, in particular convolutional neural networks, have previously demonstrated performance in image recognition tasks across several disciplines (e.g. materials science, medical imaging, facial recognition). Here, we apply these well-established methods to develop an approach to microstructure quantification for kinetic modeling of a discontinuous precipitation reaction in a case study on the uranium-molybdenum system. Prediction of material processing history based on image data (classification), calculation of area fraction of phases present in the micrographs (segmentation), and kinetic modeling from segmentation results were performed. Results indicate that convolutional neural networks represent microstructure image data well, and segmentation using the k-means clustering algorithm yields results that agree well with manually annotated images. Classification accuracies of original and segmented images are both 94% for a 5-class classification problem. Kinetic modeling results agree well with previously reported data using manual thresholding. The image quantification and kinetic modeling approach developed and presented here aims to reduce researcher bias introduced into the characterization process, and allows for leveraging information in limited image data sets.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2013

Profiling and Improving I/O Performance of a Large-Scale Climate Scientific Application

Exascale computing systems are soon to emerge, which will pose great challenges on the huge gap between computing and I/O performance. Many large-scale scientific applications play an important role in our daily life. The huge amounts of data generated by such applications require highly parallel and efficient I/O management policies. In this paper, we adopt a mission-critical scientific application, GEOS-5, as a case to profile and analyze the communication and I/O issues that are preventing applications from fully utilizing the underlying parallel storage systems. Through in-detail architectural and experimental characterization, we observe that current legacy I/O schemes incur significant network communication overheads and are unable to fully parallelize the data access, thus degrading applications' I/O performance and scalability. To address these inefficiencies, we redesign its I/O framework along with a set of parallel I/O techniques to achieve high scalability and performance. Evaluation results on the NASA discover cluster show that our optimization of GEOS-5 with ADIOS has led to significant performance improvements compared to the original GEOS-5 implementation.

Exascale↗
DOE OSTI2020

Large electromechanical strain and unconventional domain switching near phase convergence in a Pb-free ferroelectric

In many ferroelectrics, large electromechanical strains are observed near regions of composition- or temperature- driven phase coexistence. Phenomenologically, this is attributed to easy re-orientation of the polarization vector and/or phase transition, although their effects are highly convoluted and difficult to distinguish experimentally. Here, we used synchrotron X-ray scattering and digital image correlation to differentiate between the microscopic mechanisms leading to large electrostrains in an exemplary Pb-free piezoceramic Sn-doped barium calcium zirconate titanate. Large electrostrains of ~0.2% measured at room-temperature are attributed to an unconventional effect, wherein polarization switching is aided by a reversible phase transition near the tetragonal-orthorhombic phase boundary. Additionally, electrostrains of ~0.1% or more could be maintained from room temperature to 140°C due to a succession of different microscopic mechanisms. In situ X-ray diffraction elucidates that while 90° domain reorientation is pertinent below the Curie temperature ( T C ), isotropic distortion of polar clusters is the dominant mechanism above T C .

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effect of Cr(III) Adsorption on the Dissolution of Boehmite Nanoparticles in Caustic Solution

Incorporation of relatively minor impurity metals onto metal (oxy)hydroxides can strongly impact solubility. In complex highly alkaline multicomponent tank waste such as that at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, tests indicate that the surface area-normalized dissolution rate of boehmite ($γ$-AlOOH) nanomaterials is at least an order of magnitude lower than that predicted for the pure phase. In this work we examine the dissolution kinetics of boehmite coated by adsorbed Cr(III), which adheres at saturation coverages as sparse chemisorbed monolayer clusters. Using 40 nm boehmite nanoplates as a model system, temperature-dependent dissolution rates of pure versus Cr(III)-adsorbed boehmite showed that the initial rate for the latter is consistently several times lower, with an apparent activation energy 16 kJ·mol -1 higher. Although the surface coverage is only around 50%, solution analytics coupled to multimethod solids characterization reveals a phyicochemical armoring effect by adsorbed Cr(III) that substantially reduces the number of dissolution-active sites on particle surfaces. Such findings could help improve kinetics models of boehmite and/or metal ion adsorbed boehmite nanomaterials, ultimately providing a stronger foundation for the development of more robust complex radioactive liquid waste processing strategies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Chemical structure and genetic organization of the E. coli O6:K15 capsular polysaccharide

Capsular polysaccharides are important virulence factors in pathogenic bacteria. Characterizing the structural components and biosynthetic pathways for these polysaccharides is key to our ability to design vaccines and other preventative therapies that target encapsulated pathogens. Many gramnegative pathogens such as Neisseria meningitidis and Escherichia coli express acidic capsules. The E. coli K15 serotype has been identifed as both an enterotoxigenic and uropathogenic pathogen. Despite its relevance as a disease-causing serotype, the associated capsular polysaccharide remains poorly characterized. We describe in this report the chemical structure of the K15 polysaccharide, based on chemical analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data. The repeating structure of the K15 polysaccharide consists of 4)-α-GlcpNAc-(1→5)-α-KDOp-(2→partially O-acetylated at 3-hydroxyl of GlcNAc. We also report, the organization of the gene cluster responsible for capsule biosynthesis. We identify genes in this cluster that potentially encode an O-acetyltransferase, an N-acetylglucosamine transferase, and a KDO transferase consistent with the structure we report.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Comparative proteomics of a versatile, marine, iron-oxidizing chemolithoautotroph

This study conducted a comparative proteomic analysis to identify potential genetic markers for the biological function of chemolithoautotrophic iron oxidation in the marine bacterium Ghiorsea bivora. To date, this is the only characterized species in the class Zetaproteobacteria that is not an obligate iron-oxidizer, providing a unique opportunity to investigate differential protein expression to identify key genes involved in iron-oxidation at circumneutral pH. Over 1000 proteins were identified under both iron- and hydrogen-oxidizing conditions, with differentially expressed proteins found in both treatments. Notably, a gene cluster upregulated during iron oxidation was identified. This cluster contains genes encoding for cytochromes that share sequence similarity with the known iron-oxidase, Cyc2. Interestingly, these cytochromes, conserved in both Bacteria and Archaea, do not exhibit the typical β-barrel structure of Cyc2. This cluster potentially encodes a biological nanowire-like transmembrane complex containing multiple redox proteins spanning the inner membrane, periplasm, outer membrane, and extracellular space. The upregulation of key genes associated with this complex during iron-oxidizing conditions was confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. These findings were further supported by electromicrobiological methods, which demonstrated negative current production by G. bivora in a three-electrode system poised at a cathodic potential. This research provides significant insights into the biological function of chemolithoautotrophic iron oxidation.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

The foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ) terpene synthase gene family

Terpenoid metabolism plays vital roles in stress defense and the environmental adaptation of monocot crops. Here, we describe the identification of the terpene synthase (TPS) gene family of the panicoid food and bioenergy model crop foxtail millet (Setaria italica). The diploid S. italica genome contains 32 TPS genes, 17 of which were biochemically characterized in this study. Unlike other thus far investigated grasses, S. italica contains TPSs producing all three ent-, (+)- and syn-copalyl pyrophosphate stereoisomers that naturally occur as central building blocks in the biosynthesis of distinct monocot diterpenoids. Conversion of these intermediates by the promiscuous TPS SiTPS8 yielded different diterpenoid scaffolds. Additionally, a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYP99A17), which genomically clustered with SiTPS8, catalyzes the C19 hydroxylation of SiTPS8 products to generate the corresponding diterpene alcohols. The presence of syntenic orthologs to about 19% of the S. italica TPSs in related grasses supports a common ancestry of selected pathway branches. Among the identified enzyme products, abietadien-19-ol, syn-pimara-7,15-dien-19-ol and germacrene-D-4-ol were detectable in planta, and gene expression analysis of the biosynthetic TPSs showed distinct and, albeit moderately, inducible expression patterns in response to biotic and abiotic stress. In vitro growth-inhibiting activity of abietadien-19-ol and syn-pimara-7,15-dien-19-ol against Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium subglutinans may indicate pathogen defensive functions, whereas the low antifungal efficacy of tested sesquiterpenoids supports other bioactivities. Together, these findings expand the known chemical space of monocot terpenoid metabolism to enable further investigations of terpenoid-mediated stress resilience in these agriculturally important species.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Structural features of xylan dictate reactivity and functionalization potential for bio-based materials

Plant-based materials have the potential to replace some petroleum-based products, offering compostability and biodegradability as critical advantages. Xylan-rich biomass sources are gaining recognition due to their abundance and underutilization in current industrial applications. Research of potential xylan applications has been complicated by the complex and heterogeneous structure that varies for different xylan feedstocks. Acylation is a broadly used reaction in functionalization of polysaccharides at an industrial scale. However, the efficiency of this reaction varies with the xylan source. To optimize xylan valorization, a systematic understanding of structure–reactivity relationships is essential. This study explores, characterizes, and compares various xylan feedstocks in the acylation process. Xylan feedstocks were analyzed for their chemical composition, degree of polymerization, branching, solubility, and presence of impurities. These features were correlated with xylan glycotypes’ reactivity toward functionalization with succinic anhydride in an optimized DMSO/KOH condition, achieving carboxyl contents of up to 1.46. We used principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering to identify key structural features of xylan that promote its reactivity. Our findings reveal that xylans with higher xylose content and lower degrees of branching exhibit enhanced reactivity, achieving higher carboxyl content and yields. Structural analyses confirmed successful modification, and light scattering analyses showed dramatic changes in the solution properties. Succinylation improves the solubility and film-forming properties of native xylans. This study shows key structure–reactivity relationships in xylan succinylation, establishing that low branching, high xylose content, and reduced lignin impurity enhance chemical functionalization. The results offer a framework for selecting optimal biomass feedstocks and support future efforts in genetic and synthetic biology to design plants with tunable xylan architectures. These findings advance the hemicellulose valorization for applications in coatings and packaging.

Acylation↗
DOE OSTI2025

Discovery of Signaling Small Molecules (e.g. quorum sensing molecules) from the Microbiome

Microbial communities are shaped through the interactions between their microbial members and the environment (microbe-microbe and host-microbe interactions). Signal transduction pathways in the microbiome are often modulated through the small molecule products of microbial biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). Advances in 16S rRNA profiling and shotgun metagenomics have revolutionized our understanding about the microbial composition of various communities and their BGCs. Environmental metagenomes contain thousands of BGCs with uncharacterized small molecule products that potentially play roles in signal transduction. The overarching aim of this proposal was to develop computational techniques for discovering these small molecules and characterizing their bioactivity.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2000

BOREAS AFM-12 1-km AVHRR Seasonal Land Cover Classification

The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Airborne Fluxes and Meteorology (AFM)-12 team's efforts focused on regional scale Surface Vegetation and Atmosphere (SVAT) modeling to improve parameterization of the heterogeneous BOREAS landscape for use in larger scale Global Circulation Models (GCMs). This regional land cover data set was developed as part of a multitemporal one-kilometer Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) land cover analysis approach that was used as the basis for regional land cover mapping, fire disturbance-regeneration, and multiresolution land cover scaling studies in the boreal forest ecosystem of central Canada. This land cover classification was derived by using regional field observations from ground and low-level aircraft transits to analyze spectral-temporal clusters that were derived from an unsupervised cluster analysis of monthly Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) image composites (April-September 1992). This regional data set was developed for use by BOREAS investigators, especially those involved in simulation modeling, remote sensing algorithm development, and aircraft flux studies. Based on regional field data verification, this multitemporal one-kilometer AVHRR land cover mapping approach was effective in characterizing the biome-level land cover structure, embedded spatially heterogeneous landscape patterns, and other types of key land cover information of interest to BOREAS modelers.The land cover mosaics in this classification include: (1) wet conifer mosaic (low, medium, and high tree stand density), (2) mixed coniferous-deciduous forest (80% coniferous, codominant, and 80% deciduous), (3) recent visible bum, vegetation regeneration, or rock outcrops-bare ground-sparsely vegetated slow regeneration bum (four classes), (4) open water and grassland marshes, and (5) general agricultural land use/ grasslands (three classes). This land cover mapping approach did not detect small subpixel-scale landscape features such as fens, bogs, and small water bodies. Field observations and comparisons with Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) suggest a minimum effective resolution of these land cover classes in the range of three to four kilometers, in part, because of the daily to monthly compositing process. In general, potential accuracy limitations are mitigated by the use of conservative parameterization rules such as aggregation of predominant land cover classes within minimum horizontal grid cell sizes of ten kilometers. The AFM-12 one-kilometer AVHRR seasonal land cover classification data are available from the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884).

Steyaert, Lou↗
NASA NTRS2000

Metal Nanoparticle Aerogel Composites

We have fabricated sol-gels containing gold and silver nanoparticles. Formation of an aerogel produces a blue shift in the surface plasmon resonance as a result of the decrease in the dielectric constant of the matrix upon supercritical extraction of the solvent. However, as a result of chemical interface damping this blue shift does not obey effective medium theories. Annealing the samples in a reducing atmosphere at 400 C eliminates this discrepancy and results in narrowing and further blue shifting of the plasmon resonance. Metal particle aggregation also results in a deviation from the predictions of effective medium theories, but can be controlled through careful handling and by avoiding the use of alcohol. By applying effective medium theories to the heterogeneous interlayer surrounding each metal particle, we extend the technique of immersion spectroscopy to inhomogeneous materials characterized by spatially dependent dielectric constants, such as aerogels. We demonstrate that the shift in the surface plasmon wavelength provides the average fractional composition of each component (air and silica) in this inhomogeneous layer, i.e. the porosity of the aerogel or equivalently, for these materials, the catalytic dispersion. Additionally, the kinetics suggest that collective particle interactions in coagulated metal clusters are perturbed during silica gelation resulting in a change in the aggregate geometry.

Smith, David D.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Characterization of the inner edge of the neutron star crust

The poorly known crustal equation of state plays a critical role in many observational phenomena associated with a neutron star. Here using semiclassical Monte Carlo simulations, we explore the possible configurations of the inner edge of the neutron star crust for a variety of baryon densities and proton fractions. Applying the Kirkwood-Buff theory to these two-component systems, we observe how the isothermal compressibility reaches a maximum when isolated nonsymmetric (or quasispherical) clusters are formed in an extremely dilute neutron gas. To determine the neutron fraction, we suggest a geometrical model based on the behavior of the proton-neutron pair correlation function. Accordingly, the equation of state of the inner crust is calculated, illustrating that the nuclear energy in β equilibrium follows a power-law behavior with baryon density. As a possible astrophysical outcome of this study, our results could help refine the mass-radius relation. Finally, our results pave the way towards further investigations of the impact of the proton-neutron pair correlation function on transport properties within the neutron star crust.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Revealing the elusive role of water vapor in the oxidation behavior of a Mn-Si containing NiCr alloy at 950 °C

Detailed nanoscale characterizations revealed the formation of a considerably higher fraction of SiO 2 particles in the external Cr 2 O 3 layer on a NiCr alloy. In addition, atom probe tomography revealed substantially lower segregation of Mn at the Cr 2 O 3 grain boundaries in wet air compared to dry air exposures, where the intriguing formation of Mn-rich clusters was observed in the Cr 2 O 3 grains for the very first time. These findings provided additional evidence regarding the impact of distinct transport processes through the Cr 2 O 3 layer on the resulting oxidation rates and subsurface alloy compositional changes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗