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At least 1,153 records · Page 64

The Development and Deployment of a Ground-Based, Laser-Induced Fluorescence Instrument for the In Situ Detection of Iodine Monoxide Radicals

High abundances of iodine monoxide (IO) are known to exist and to participate in local photochemistry of the marine boundary layer. Of particular interest are the roles IO plays in the formation of new particles in coastal marine environments and in depletion episodes of ozone and mercury in the Arctic polar spring. This paper describes a ground-based instrument that measures IO at mixing ratios less than one part in 1012. The IO radical is measured by detecting laser-induced fluorescence at wavelengths longer that 500 nm. Tunable visible light is used to pump the A23/2 (v = 2) ← X23/2 (v = 0) transition of IO near 445 nm. The laser light is produced by a solid-state, Nd:YAG-pumped Ti:Sapphire laser at 5 kHz repetition rate. The laser-induced fluorescence instrument performs reliably with very high signal-to-noise ratios (>10) achieved in short integration times (<1 min). The observations from a validation deployment to the Shoals Marine Lab on Appledore Island, ME are presented and are broadly consistent with in situ observations from European Coastal Sites. Mixing ratios ranged from the instrumental detection limit (<1 pptv) to 10 pptv. These data represent the first in situ point measurements of IO in North America.

marine boundary layer↗

Multiview Incomplete Knowledge Graph Integration with application to cross-institutional EHR data harmonization

Objective: The growing availability of electronic health records (EHR) data opens opportunities for integrative analysis of multi-institutional EHR to produce generalizable knowledge. A key barrier to such integrative analyses is the lack of semantic interoperability across different institutions due to coding differences. We propose a Multiview Incomplete Knowledge Graph Integration (MIKGI) algorithm to integrate information from multiple sources with partially overlapping EHR concept codes to enable translations between healthcare systems. Methods: The MIKGI algorithm combines knowledge graph information from (i) embeddings trained from the co-occurrence patterns of medical codes within each EHR system and (ii) semantic embeddings of the textual strings of all medical codes obtained from the Self-Aligning Pretrained BERT (SAPBERT) algorithm. Due to the heterogeneity in the coding across healthcare systems, each EHR source provides partial coverage of the available codes. MIKGI synthesizes the incomplete knowledge graphs derived from these multi-source embeddings by minimizing a spherical loss function that combines the pairwise directional similarities of embeddings computed from all available sources. MIKGI outputs harmonized semantic embedding vectors for all EHR codes, which improves the quality of the embeddings and enables direct assessment of both similarity and relatedness between any pair of codes from multiple healthcare systems. Results: With EHR co-occurrence data from Veteran Affairs (VA) healthcare and Mass General Brigham (MGB), MIKGI algorithm produces high quality embeddings for a variety of downstream tasks including detecting known similar or related entity pairs and mapping VA local codes to the relevant EHR codes used at MGB. Based on the cosine similarity of the MIKGI trained embeddings, the AUC was 0.918 for detecting similar entity pairs and 0.809 for detecting related pairs. For cross-institutional medical code mapping, the top 1 and top 5 accuracy were 91.0% and 97.5% when mapping medication codes at VA to RxNorm medication codes at MGB; 59.1% and 75.8% when mapping VA local laboratory codes to LOINC hierarchy. When trained with 500 labels, the lab code mapping attained top 1 and 5 accuracy at 77.7% and 87.9%. MIKGI also attained best performance in selecting VA local lab codes for desired laboratory tests and COVID-19 related features for COVID EHR studies. Compared to existing methods, MIKGI attained the most robust performance with accuracy the highest or near the highest across all tasks. Conclusions: The proposed MIKGI algorithm can effectively integrate incomplete summary data from biomedical text and EHR data to generate harmonized embeddings for EHR codes for knowledge graph modeling and cross-institutional translation of EHR codes.

Zhou, Doudou↗

Analysis of Alternative Architectures for Cargo Lunar Landers

NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program has been working with commercial partners to develop human-class lunar landers to return the first American woman and next American man to the lunar surface in the mid 2020’s. In an effort to expand human presence beyond low Earth orbit, NASA’s Artemis program aims to facilitate a sustainable, long-term human presence in cis-lunar space. A component of this will require significant infrastructure to be delivered to the lunar surface. Delivering this infrastructure will require a significant lander capability that has yet to be developed. A thorough understanding of cargo lunar lander architectures is required such that select alternatives can be identified that best support the Artemis program’s objective of sustainability. The goal of this study is to aid NASA and its partners in the understanding of the cargo lunar lander trades space, as well as identify potential robust alternatives. The results will support NASA as it moves forward with key activities such as requirements formulation, agency strategic planning, and potential cargo lunar lander procurements. The study builds off of recent work performed by the Human Landing System program’s Architecture and Systems Analysis group to encompass a broad trade space of cargo lunar lander architecture alternatives. The current trade space as depicted by the morphological matrix and mission graph in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, respectively, includes key alternative options that have become highly relevant due to current HLS activities and include on-orbit refueling, active cryogenic fluid management, Earth orbit aggregation, and global lunar access. The authors believe that there is also a statistically relevant impact of lander-payload configuration on the primary structure of the vehicle that could greatly impact alternative selection. Because of this, several conceptual lander-payload configurations will be evaluated to determine the level of impact. The current set of conceptual configurations are shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. To aid the conceptual evaluation of these configurations, a catalogue of notional payloads has been developed that represent a wide range of masses and volumes that are expected to be delivered in support of a sustained human lunar presence, including pressurized and unpressurized rovers, surface habitats, power systems, and other support infrastructure. In order to execute this study in a timely fashion, a similar approach to that utilized in a similar 2019 study focused on 2024 human lunar sorties will be employed [1]. The team utilized a novel architecture synthesis framework currently being developed by NASA/MSFC to evaluate over 600,000 lunar lander architectures over a two month time frame [2]. From this large data set, varying ground rules and assumptions were applied as filters to explore the trade space to identify alternatives which exhibited robustness, as measured by launch vehicle payload margin, to absorb the natural growth that occurs during design maturation. The set of Earth-Moon system Delta-Vs assumed from the 2019 study, shown in Fig. 5, will be repurposed to accelerate model formulation for this effort. Additionally, current efforts in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Aerospace System Design Lab will be integrated to provide probabilistic modeling of the cargo lunar lander architectures to aid in identifying robust design alternatives [3]. The approach will help minimize potential impacts due to large levels of uncertainty inherent to pre phase-A conceptual design. By leveraging these past and present studies and partnerships, a highly detailed set of data can be generated in a short time period to aid NASA in the coming years to support the goal of a sustained human lunar presence.

Architectures↗

A comparison of surrogate constitutive models for viscoplastic creep simulation of HT-9 steel

Mechanistic microstructure-informed constitutive models for the mechanical response of polycrystals are a cornerstone of computational materials science. However, as these models become increasingly more complex – often involving coupled differential equations describing the effect of specific deformation modes – their associated computational costs can become prohibitive, particularly in optimization or uncertainty quantification tasks that require numerous model evaluations. To address this challenge, surrogate constitutive models that balance accuracy and computational efficiency are highly desirable. Data-driven surrogate models, that learn the constitutive relation directly from data, have emerged as a promising solution. In this work, we develop two local surrogate models for the viscoplastic response of a steel: a piecewise response surface method and a mixture of experts model. These surrogates are designed to adapt to complex material behavior, which may vary with material parameters or operating conditions. The surrogate constitutive models are applied to creep simulations of HT-9 steel, an alloy of considerable interest to the nuclear energy sector due to its high tolerance to radiation damage, using training data generated from viscoplastic self-consistent (VPSC) simulations. In conclusion, we define a set of test metrics to numerically assess the accuracy of our surrogate models for predicting viscoplastic material behavior, and show that the mixture of experts model outperforms the piecewise response surface method in terms of accuracy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Deep Exclusive p 0 Electroproduction Measured in Hall A at Jefferson Lab with the Upgraded CEBAF

Our understanding of the proton's structure in terms of its fundamental degrees of freedom, quarks and gluons, is incomplete. Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) can enhance our understanding of the partonic structure of the proton as it includes the correlation between the momentum and transverse position of partons. Exclusive electroproduction of the pion (ep→e'p'π 0 ) is one of the potential channels to access the GPDs. GPDs are defined at the Bjorken limit where the total amplitude can be factorized in a hard scattering of the photon off the quark and a soft part described by the GPDs. At sufficiently high Q 2 , a factorization scheme for exclusive meson production processes exists but only for longitudinally polarized virtual photons. As long as the longitudinally polarized virtual photons dominate the cross-section, we can have factorization and extract the GPDs. But the existing data for π 0 production at low Q 2 and low x B show the dominance of transverse part of the cross-section over the longitudinal one. Some transversity GPD models have found that an effective way to factorize the contribution from transversely polarized virtual photons to explain the dominance of σ T over σ L , shown by existing data. The experiment E12-06-114 ran in experimental Hall A during 2014-2016. The primary goal of this experiment was to measure the DVCS cross-section but the experimental configuration also allows the measurement of deep exclusive π 0 production. Taking advantage of the upgraded CEBAF at Jefferson Lab, we explored the high Bjorken-x (0.60) and high Q 2 regime for the first time. The extracted cross-section terms for π 0 production helps us to test the validity of QCD factorization in our kinematic regime. Our π 0 production results can be used to test and improve the existing models of proton structure. Cross-section results will be presented at two different Q 2 values for fixed x B of 0.60.

Karki, Bishnu↗

Report on High Energy Arcing Fault Experiments

This report documents an experimental program designed to investigate High Energy Arcing Fault (HEAF) phenomena for medium voltage electrical switchgear containing aluminum conductors. This report covers full-scale laboratory experiments using representative nuclear power plant (NPP) three-phase electrical equipment. Electrical, thermal, and pressure data were recorded for each experiment and documented in this report. This report covers four of the fourteen planned medium voltage electrical enclosure experiments. Subsequent reports will document the additional experiments performed in the future. The experiments were performed at KEMA Labs located in Chalfont, Pennsylvania. The experimental design, setup, and execution were completed by staff from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and KEMA. In addition, representatives from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) observed some of the experimental setups and execution. The HEAF experiments were performed on four near-identical units of General Electric metal-clad medium voltage switchgear. The three-phase arcing fault was initiated on the primary cable connection bus. All four experiments used the same system voltage (6.9 kV) but varied the current and duration. Real-time electrical operating conditions, including voltage, current and frequency, were measured during the experiments. Heat fluxes and incident energies were measured with plate thermometers and slug calorimeters at various locations around the electrical enclosures. Internal enclosure pressures were measured during the experiments. The experiments were documented with normal and high-speed videography, infrared imaging, and photography. Insights from the experimental series included timing information related to enclosure breach, event progression, mass loss measurements for electrodes and steel enclosures, peak pressure rise, particle analysis, along with visual and thermal imaging data to better understand and characterize the hazard. These results will be used in subsequent efforts to advance the state of knowledge related to HEAF.

42 ENGINEERING↗

CLAS Database for Studies of the Structure of Hadrons in Electromagnetic Processes

The CLAS Physics Database (CLAS DB) has been developed in collaboration between SINP at MSU and Hall B at Jefferson Lab. CLAS DB contains most experimental results on inclusive, semi-inclusive, and exclusive reactions on proton and nuclei obtained with the CLAS detector. The substantial part of these experimental results represents the only data sets available in the world. The results and analysis tools provided by the CLAS DB are of particular importance for studies of the structure of the ground and excited hadron states, offering insight into strong nonperturbative QCD dynamics, which underlie the generation of hadrons from quarks and gluons.

Chesnokov, V. V.↗

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↗

Probing interspecies metabolic interactions within a synthetic binary microbiome using genome-scale modeling

Metabolic interactions within a microbial community play a key role in determining the structure, function, and composition of the community. However, due to the complexity and intractability of natural microbiomes, limited knowledge is available on interspecies interactions within a community. In this work, using a binary synthetic microbiome, a methanotroph-photoautotroph (M-P) coculture, as the model system, we examined different genome-scale metabolic modeling (GEM) approaches to gain a better understanding of the metabolic interactions within the coculture, how they contribute to the enhanced growth observed in the coculture, and how they evolve over time. Using batch growth data of the model M-P coculture, we compared three GEM approaches for microbial communities. Two of the methods are existing approaches: SteadyCom, a steady state GEM, and dynamic flux balance analysis (DFBA) Lab, a dynamic GEM. We also proposed an improved dynamic GEM approach, DynamiCom, for the M-P coculture. SteadyCom can predict the metabolic interactions within the coculture but not their dynamic evolutions; DFBA Lab can predict the dynamics of the coculture but cannot identify interspecies interactions. DynamiCom was able to identify the cross-fed metabolite within the coculture, as well as predict the evolution of the interspecies interactions over time. A new dynamic GEM approach, DynamiCom, was developed for a model M-P coculture. Constrained by the predictions from a validated kinetic model, DynamiCom consistently predicted the top metabolites being exchanged in the M-P coculture, as well as the establishment of the mutualistic N-exchange between the methanotroph and cyanobacteria. The interspecies interactions and their dynamic evolution predicted by DynamiCom are supported by ample evidence in the literature on methanotroph, cyanobacteria, and other cyanobacteria-heterotroph cocultures.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Report on High Energy Arcing Fault Experiments: Experimental Results from Low-Voltage Switchgear Enclosures

This report documents an experimental program designed to investigate High Energy Arcing Fault (HEAF) phenomena for low-voltage metal enclosed switchgear containing aluminum conductors. This report covers full-scale laboratory experiments using representative nuclear power plant (NPP) three-phase electrical equipment. Electrical, thermal, and pressure data were recorded for each experiment and documented in this report. This report covers experiments performed on two low-voltage switchgear units with each unit consisting of two vertical sections. The data collected supports characterization of the low-voltage HEAF hazard and these results will be used to support potential improvements in fire probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) methods. The experiments were performed at KEMA Labs located in Chalfont, Pennsylvania. The experimental design, setup, and execution were completed by staff from the NRC, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and KEMA. In addition, representatives from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) observed some of the experimental setup and execution. The HEAF experiments were performed between August 26 and Augsut 29, 2019 on nearidentical Westinghouse Type DS low-voltage metal-enclosed indoor switchgear. The threephase arcing fault was initiated on the aluminum main bus or in select cases on the copper bus stabs near the breaker. These experiments used either nominal 480 volts AC or 600 volts AC. Durations of the experiments ranged from approximately 0.4 s to 8.3 s with fault currents ranging from approximately 9.2 kA to 19.3 kA. Real-time electrical operating conditions, including voltage, current and frequency, were measured during the experiments. Heat fluxes and incident energies were measured with plate thermometers, radiometers, and slug calorimeters at various locations around the electrical enclosures. Environmental measurements of breakdown, conductivity and electromagnetics were also taken. The experiments were documented with normal and high-speed videography, infrared imaging and photography. The results, while limited, indicated the difficulty in maintaining and sustaining low-voltage arcs on aluminum components of sufficient duration and at a single point as observed operating experience.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Neutron spectral measurements at the BNL NSLS-II synchrotron facility

During the first week of August 2022, Tim Gildea of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) RP-SVS group performed a series of neutron spectral measurements at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) 3GeV facility located at Brookhaven National Lab (BNL)1 . These measurements were conducted under Memorandum Purchase Order (MPO) 413911 with the objective of gaining an accurate understanding of the photoneutron fields generated under normal and selected fault conditions. The spectral data collected during the course of the study was analyzed at LANL and the results form the basis of this report.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Development of Laboratory Testbeds Simulating Real-World Greenhouse Gas Emissions [Slides]

In this presentation, I discussed the development of laboratory test beds that simulate field greenhouse gas emissions. Field experiments are used to test new landscape management practices that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, field experiments are very expensive and time consuming. Laboratory experiments are generally more cost efficient and timesaving. There are methods that can be used to make these laboratory tests more closely replicate natural systems for the improvement of agricultural lands used in biofuel and food production. The goal of this project is to develop a laboratory testbed that will mimic field greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve this goal, we used soil cores taken from agricultural and marginal lands, then attached fiberglass wicks to improve the drainage system in the core to simulate a more natural hydraulic system. The combination of using native soils and fiberglass wicks should demonstrate similar greenhouse gas emissions between the lab and the field. Our preliminary results suggest that the carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide flux from the agricultural land site were comparable to the greenhouse soil cores equipped with the drainage wicks. The data suggests that laboratory testbeds can be used to mimic field greenhouse gas emissions if parameters, such as soil water content are in a set range.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Systems Biology-Based Optimization of Extremely Thermophilic Lignocellulose Conversion to Bioproducts

This was a collaborative project involving researchers at the University of Georgia, North Carolina State University, Sanford‐Burnham‐Prebys Med. Discovery Institute and the University of Rhode Island. The over-arching goal was to demonstrate that non-model microorganisms, specifically extreme thermophiles, can be a strategic metabolic engineering platform for industrial biotechnology. We engineered the most thermophilic lignocellulose-degrading organism known, Caldicellulosiruptor bescii (Cbes) , which grows optimally near 80°C, and the most thermophilic fermentative organism known, Pyrococcus furiosus (Pfu) , which grows optimally at 100°C, to produce several key industrial chemicals. This work leveraged recent breakthrough advances in the development of molecular genetic tools for these organisms, complemented by a deep understanding of its metabolism and physiology gained over the past decade of study in the PIs’ laboratories. We applied the latest metabolic reconstruction and modeling approaches to optimize biomass to product conversion. Bio-processing above 70°C can have important advantages over near-ambient operations. Highly genetically-modified microorganisms usually have a fitness disadvantage and can be easily overtaken in culture when contaminating microbes are present. The high growth temperature of extreme thermophiles precludes growth or survival of virtually any contaminating organism or phage. This reduces operating costs associated with reactor sterilization and maintaining a sterile facility. In addition, at industrial scales, heat production from microbial metabolic activity vastly outweighs heat loss through bioreactor walls such that cooling is required. Extreme thermophiles have the advantage that non-refrigerated cooling water can be used if needed, and heating requirements can be met with low-grade steam typically in excess capacity on plant sites. We assembled a highly interdisciplinary team that brought together all of the expertise for the project to have successful outcomes. This project also built upon and utilized extensive information already available in the PIs’ labs for both Cbes and Pfu to develop models that provide a comprehensive description of these organisms’ physiology and metabolism that were utilized to inform metabolic engineering strategies. The models were validated with experimental data and the results demonstrated that unpretreated lignocellulose has the potential to be converted into value-added industrial chemicals at high loading at bioreactor scale. The data generated from this research were published in twenty-one peer-reviewed papers in international journals with online access.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

An Integrated Approach to Predicting Ash Deposition and Heat Transfer in Coal-Fired Boilers

The overall goal of this project is to develop via measurements and simulations an advanced online technology to predict, monitor and manage fireside ash deposition in a coal-fired boiler allowing for more efficient operations under a range of load conditions and fuel property variability. With this in place fuel sorting and blending can be done upstream and operations can be optimized to compensate for load and fuel properties. In support of this objective, three experimental campaigns were undertaken during the course of the project to measure ash deposition rates within the boiler at different fuel flow rates and its ash composition variability. Simulations of the experimental conditions representing actual geometry, operational scenarios in terms of air flow rates, coal flow rates as well as coal compositions, heating values, and particle size distributions were also carried out. Deposition rates were predicted using a unique particle kinetic energy and viscosity based ash deposition methodology whose validity was ascertained by comparing against deposition rate measurements for widely varying operating conditions and ash compositions in a lab-scale furnace. With a unique end-to-end combustion modeling methodology established and different simulation scenarios carried out, the results from our computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations in conjunction with the plant data summarized in this report were used to refine Microbeam Technology Incorporated’s MTI CSPI-CT Tool to predict and monitor fire-side ash deposition under a range of load conditions and fuel property variability in real time.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) Setback (4-km)

The Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) system is a network of doppler radar operated jointly by the National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the U.S. Air Force. This dataset represents 4-kilometer setback requirements typically applied to wind energy development. A setback requirement is a minimum distance away that an energy project may be developed. For further details and citation, please refer to the publication linked below: Lopez, Anthony, Pavlo Pinchuk, Michael Gleason, Wesley Cole, Trieu Mai, Travis Williams, Owen Roberts, Marie Rivers, Mike Bannister, Sophie-Min Thomson, Gabe Zuckerman, and Brian Sergi. 2024. Solar Photovoltaics and Land-Based Wind Technical Potential and Supply Curves for the Contiguous United States: 2023 Edition. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-6A20-87843.

Airspace/Defense↗

Ridgelines: Department of Interior Definition

This dataset represents ridgelines as defined by the Department of Interior (DOI): "Areas within 660 feet of the top of the ridgeline, where a ridgeline has at least 150 feet of vertical elevation gain with a minimum average slope of 10 percent between the ridgeline and the base." The dataset was created using the Geomorphons package from the University of Guelph, which can be found here: Geomorphons Package, and the 3DEP 1/3 arc-second digital elevation model. A TIF data file and a PNG map of the data are provided.

Array↗

Wind Turbine Road Setbacks: Ordinances (2022) and Extrapolated Trends, 115 Hub Height 170 Rotor Diameter

This dataset represents wind energy setback requirements from roads based on existing county ordinances as of April 2022. A setback requirement is a minimum distance from a road that an energy project may be developed, and these varied widely across the counties in which they existed. Two versions are provided: one reflecting only the county ordinances and another incorporating extrapolated trends. In the extrapolated version, a median setback equivalent to 1.1 times the turbine tip-height was applied in counties that lacked specific railroad setback regulations. A TIF data file and a PNG map of the data are provided for both versions, showing areas where wind energy is prohibited or permitted across the contiguous United States. The turbine parameters used were a hub-height of 115 meters and a rotor diameter of 170 meters, as obtained from the Annual Technology Baseline (ATB) 2022. For further details and citation, please refer to the publication linked below: Lopez, Anthony, Pavlo Pinchuk, Michael Gleason, Wesley Cole, Trieu Mai, Travis Williams, Owen Roberts, Marie Rivers, Mike Bannister, Sophie-Min Thomson, Gabe Zuckerman, and Brian Sergi. 2024. Solar Photovoltaics and Land-Based Wind Technical Potential and Supply Curves for the Contiguous United States: 2023 Edition. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-6A20-87843.

Array↗