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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 127 records · Page 7

Modulating coordinate site occupancy in high-entropy spinel electrocatalysts

High entropy spinel oxides provide a versatile platform for electrocatalysis because multiple metal cations can be incorporated into a single crystalline lattice, enabling tunable electronic structures. However, controlling how these cations distribute between tetrahedral and octahedral coordination sites remains a major challenge, limiting rational catalyst design. Here, we modulate cation coordination site occupancy between tetrahedral and octahedral sites in a Co–Fe–Cr–Mn–Ni framework by introducing a sixth cation (Zn, Ga, Mg, or Al) with distinct site preference energies. Using density functional theory, synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and magnetic circular dichroism, we demonstrate that Zn preferentially occupies tetrahedral sites, driving increased octahedral occupancy of cobalt. This redistribution increases the population of octahedrally coordinated cobalt in mixed oxidation states, enhances electrical conductivity, and improves oxygen evolution reaction activity. Our findings establish coordination site occupancy as a critical design parameter, providing a strategic pathway for tailoring multicomponent spinel electrocatalysts with optimized performance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A high-fidelity residential building occupancy detection dataset

Abstract This paper describes development of a data acquisition system used to capture a range of occupancy related modalities from single-family residences, along with the dataset that was generated. The publicly available dataset includes: grayscale images at 32-by-32 pixels, captured every second; audio files, which have undergone processing to remove personally identifiable information; indoor environmental readings, captured every ten seconds; and ground truth binary occupancy status. The data acquisition system, coined the mobile human presence detection (HPDmobile) system, was deployed in six homes for a minimum duration of one month each, and captured all modalities from at least four different locations concurrently inside each home. The environmental modalities are available as captured, but to preserve the privacy and identity of the occupants, images were downsized and audio files went through a series of processing steps, as described in this paper. This dataset adds to a very small body of existing data, with applications to energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Singleplex, multiplex and pooled sample real-time RT-PCR assays for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in an occupational medicine setting

Abstract For workplaces which cannot operate as telework or remotely, there is a critical need for routine occupational SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing. Although diagnostic tests including the CDC 2019-Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel (CDC Diagnostic Panel) (EUA200001) were made available early in the pandemic, resource scarcity and high demand for reagents and equipment necessitated priority of symptomatic patients. There is a clearly defined need for flexible testing methodologies and strategies with rapid turnaround of results for (1) symptomatic, (2) asymptomatic with high-risk exposures and (3) asymptomatic populations without preexisting conditions for routine screening to address the needs of an on-site work force. We developed a distinct SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic assay based on the original CDC Diagnostic Panel (EUA200001), yet, with minimum overlap for currently employed reagents to eliminate direct competition for limited resources. As the pandemic progressed with testing loads increasing, we modified the assay to include 5-sample pooling and amplicon target multiplexing. Analytical sensitivity of the pooled and multiplexed assays was rigorously tested with contrived positive samples in realistic patient backgrounds. Assay performance was determined with clinical samples previously assessed with an FDA authorized assay. Throughout the pandemic we successfully tested symptomatic, known contact and travelers within our occupational population with a ~ 24–48-h turnaround time to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. Our singleplex assay had a detection limit of 31.25 copies per reaction. The three-color multiplexed assay maintained similar sensitivity to the singleplex assay, while tripling the throughput. The pooling assay further increased the throughput to five-fold the singleplex assay, albeit with a subtle loss of sensitivity. We subsequently developed a hybrid ‘multiplex-pooled’ strategy to testing to address the need for both rapid analysis of samples from personnel at high risk of COVID infection and routine screening. Herein, our SARS-CoV-2 assays specifically address the needs of occupational healthcare for both rapid analysis of personnel at high-risk of infection and routine screening that is essential for controlling COVID-19 disease transmission. In addition to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, this work demonstrates successful flexible assays developments and deployments with implications for emerging highly transmissible diseases and future pandemics.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Simultaneous occupancy of Cu C and Cu D in the ammonia monooxygenase active site

Ammonia monooxygenase (AMO), a copper-dependent membrane enzyme, catalyzes the first and rate-limiting step of nitrification: the oxidation of ammonia to hydroxylamine. Despite its central role in the global nitrogen cycle and its biotechnological relevance, structural characterization of AMO has lagged behind that of its homolog, particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO), due to the slow growth rates of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and the instability of AMO upon purification. Recent cryoEM studies of Nitrosomonas europaea AMO and Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) pMMO in native membranes revealed new structural features, including two adjacent copper-binding sites in the transmembrane region, Cu C and Cu D , believed to constitute the active site. Although multiple structures were determined under various conditions, simultaneous occupancy of Cu C and Cu D was never observed, leaving their potential functional interplay unresolved. Here we report the 2.6 Å resolution cryoEM structure of AMO from Nitrosospira briensis C-128 in isolated native membranes. This structure reveals the first instance of simultaneous copper occupancy of the Cu C and Cu D sites, along with occupancy of the periplasmic Cu B site. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopic data indicate that the Cu B site is primarily occupied by Cu(II), while Cu C and Cu D are primarily occupied by diamagnetic ions, presumably Cu(I). Notably, a lipid molecule is bound between the Cu C and Cu D sites, separating them by ∼8.0 Å. The results underscore the importance of studying these enzymes in their native environments across species to resolve conserved and divergent molecular features.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

The DESI One-Percent survey: exploring the Halo Occupation Distribution of Emission Line Galaxies with AbacusSummit simulations

The One-Percent survey of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument collected ~ 270k emission line galaxies (ELGs) at 0.8 < z < 1.6. The high completeness of the sample allowed the clustering to be measured down to scales never probed before, 0.04 Mpc/h in rp for the projected 2-point correlation function (2PCF) and 0.17 Mpc/h in galaxy pair separation s for the 2PCF monopole and quadrupole. The most striking feature of the measurements is a strong signal at the smallest scales, below 0.2 Mpc/h in rp and 1 Mpc/h in s. We analyse these data in the halo occupation distribution framework. We consider different distributions for central galaxies, a standard power law for satellites with no condition on the presence of a central galaxy and explore several extensions of these models. For all considered models, the mean halo mass of the sample is found to be log10 $\langle$Mh$\rangle$ ~ 11.9. We obtain a satellite mean occupation function which agrees with physically motivated ELG models only if we introduce central-satellite conformity, meaning that the satellite occupation is conditioned by the presence of central galaxies of the same type. To achieve in addition a good modelling of the clustering between 0.1 and 1 Mpc/h in rp, we allow for ELG positioning outside of the halo virial radius and find 0.5% of ELGs residing in the outskirts of halos. Furthermore, the satellite velocity dispersion inside halos is found to be ~ 30% larger than that of the halo dark matter particles. These are the main findings of our work. Here we investigate assembly bias as a function of halo concentration, local density or local density anisotropies and observe no significant change in our results. We split the data sample in two redshift bins and report no significant evolution with redshift. Lastly, changing the cosmology in the modelling impacts only slightly our results.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Entanglement entropy, single-particle occupation probabilities, and short-range correlations

For quantum many-body systems with short-range correlations (SRCs), the intimate relationship between their magnitude, the behavior of the single-particle occupation probabilities at momenta larger than the Fermi momentum, and the entanglement entropy is a new qualitative aspect not studied and exploited yet. A large body of recent condensed matter studies indicates that the time evolution of the entanglement entropy describes the nonequilibrium dynamics of isolated and strongly interacting many-body systems, in a manner similar to the Boltzmann entropy, which is strictly defined for dilute and weakly interacting many-body systems. Both theoretical and experimental studies in nuclei and cold atomic gases have shown that the fermion momentum distribution has a generic behavior n(k)=C/k 4 at momenta larger than the Fermi momentum, due to the presence of SRCs, with approximately 20% of the particles having momenta larger than the Fermi momentum. Further, the presence of the long momentum tails in the presence of SRCs changes the textbook relation between the single-particle kinetic energy and occupation probabilities, n mf ⁡(k) = 1/{1+ exp ⁡β[ϵ⁡(k)-μ]} for momenta very different form the Fermi momentum, particularly for dynamics processes. SRCs induced high-momentum tails of the single-particle occupation probabilities increase the entanglement entropy of fermionic systems, which in its turn affects the dynamics of many nuclear reactions, such as heavy-ion collisions and nuclear fission.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Fault Detection via Occupation Kernel Principal Component Analysis

Reliable operation of automatic systems is heavily dependent on the ability to detect faults in the underlying dynamics. While traditional model-based methods have been widely used for fault detection, data-driven approaches have garnered increasing attention due to their ease of deployment and minimal need for expert knowledge. In this letter, we present a novel principal component analysis (PCA) method that uses occupation kernels. Occupation kernels result in feature maps that are tailored to the measured data, have inherent noise-robustness due to the use of integration, and can utilize irregularly sampled system trajectories of variable lengths for PCA. The occupation kernel PCA method is used to develop a reconstruction error approach to fault detection and its efficacy is validated using numerical simulations.

42 ENGINEERING↗

OpenStudio-Occupant-Variability-Gem v1.0

This gem contains methods to introduce occupant-related variability to extend core OpenStudio SDK. The goal of introducing the variability is to improve the assumptions related to stochastic occupant movement, occupant-related lighting and electric equipment, and thermostat set points schedules in traditional OpenStudio and EnergyPlus models.

Li, Han↗

Occupational Experience Effects on Physiological and Perceptual Responses of Common Soldiering Tasks

Abstract Cohen BS, Redmond JE, Haven CC, Foulis SA, Canino MC, Frykman PN, Sharp MA. Occupational Experience Effects on Physiological and Perceptual Responses of Common Soldiering Tasks. J Strength Cond Res 37(4): 894–901, 2023—This study measured the impact of occupational experience (i.e., time spent deployed, in military service, and in job and task performance frequency in training, deployment, and study practice) on the physiological (heart rate [HR] and oxygen consumption [VO 2 ]) and perceptual (rate of perceived exertion [RPE]) responses to performance of critical physically demanding tasks (CPDTs). Five CPDTs (road march, build a fighting position, move under fire, evacuate a casualty, and drag a casualty to safety), common to all soldiers, were performed by 237 active duty soldiers. Linear regression models examined the association between measures of experience and physiological and perceptual performance responses to task demands. The level of significance was adjusted for multiple comparisons and set at ρ ≤ 0.0125 for this study. Significant and notable effect sizes included the impact of time spent deployed on the physiological measures of the road march (PostHR F = 24.84, p < 0.0001, β=-9.65), sandbag fill (PostHR F = 8.26, p = 0.005, β = −2.83), and sandbag carry (MeanHR F = 7.51, p = 0.007, β = −1.12; PostHR F = 7.35, p = 0.007, β = −0.87). For the road march task, there was a nearly 10 bpm decrease in postperformance HR for every year spent deployed. Road march, sandbag fill, and sandbag carry tasks PostHRs were also notably negatively associated with the experience measures of time in their MOS (job and time in military service but not for other physiological and perceptual responses, including VO 2 and RPE. Frequency of task performance in training, deployment, and study practice was not meaningfully associated with experience. The results suggest that increasing task familiarization through on-the-job occupational operational experience may result in greater proficiency and reduced physiological effort.

Sport Sciences↗

Hot, Cold, or Just Right? Using a Wide-View Infrared Biometric Sensor to Improve Occupant Comfort and Reduce Overcooling in Buildings via Closed-loop Control (CRADA Final Report)

This research adds to the understanding of building energy management by fundamentally challenging the long-standing paradigm of controlling an environmental parameter—air temperature—and assuming occupant comfort will follow. The project developed and demonstrated a novel approach that directly senses physiological indicators of human comfort to enable closedloop, human-centric control of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. This work shifts the focus from open-loop environmental control to a closed-loop system that prioritizes the occupants' actual thermal state. The primary benefit to the public is the potential for a simultaneous improvement in the quality of indoor environments, where people spend most of their time, and a significant reduction in national energy consumption. Overcooling, or the overuse of cooling energy in a way that discomforts occupants, wastes approximately 0.5 Quads of primary energy annually in U.S. commercial buildings and creates unproductive indoor environments.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Respiration Signal Pattern Analysis for Doppler Radar Sensor with Passive Node and Its Application in Occupancy Sensing of a Stationary Subject

Doppler radar node occupancy sensors are promising for applications in smart buildings due to their simple circuits and price advantage compared to quadrature radar sensors. However, single-channel sensitivity limitations may result in low sensitivity and misinterpreted motion rates if the detected subject is at or close to “null” points. We designed and tested a novel method to eliminate such limits, demonstrating that passive nodes can be used to detect a sedentary person regardless of position. This method is based on characteristics of chest motion due to respiration, found via both simulations and experiments based on a sinusoidal model and a more realistic model of cardiorespiratory motion. In addition, respiratory rate variability is considered to distinguish a true human presence from a mechanical target. Sensor node data were collected simultaneously with an infrared camera system, which provided a respiration signal reference, to test the algorithm with 19 human subjects and a mechanical target. The results indicate that a human presence was detected with 100% accuracy and successfully differentiated from a mechanical target in a controlled environment. The developed method can greatly improve the occupancy detection accuracy of single-channel radar-based occupancy sensors and facilitate their adoption in smart building applications.

Song, Chenyan↗

StOKeDMD: Streaming Occupation kernel dynamic mode decomposition

Dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) has become a common technique for constructing surrogate models for dynamical systems from observed system states. The Occupation Kernel DMD (OKDMD) method proposed in (Rosenfeld et al., 2022) and (Rosenfeld et al., 2024) is a Liouville operator based method that builds surrogate models from system state trajectories. Here, this paper proposes an extension of OKDMD to the case when the system states are observed in a streaming fashion, i.e., only a small fraction of the state trajectory is available at a given time. The developed method, Streaming Occupation Kernel DMD (StOKeDMD), accommodates the streaming data input by leveraging properties of specific choices of kernel functions and occupation kernels. We apply the StoKeDMD method as a compression method for streaming data, analyze the memory complexity, and demonstrate the performance of StoKeDMD in the compression of streaming data generated from a Lorenz system and a fluid flow simulation.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

An improved human display model for occupant crash simulation programs

An improved three-dimensional display model of a human being which can be used to display the results of three-dimensional simulation programs that predict the positions of an occupant during impact of a vehicle was presented. The model allows the user to view the occupant from any orientation in any position during the crash. The display model assumes the usual break up of the body into rigid segments which is normal for occupant crash simulation programs, but the shape of the segments in the display model are not necessarily the same as those used in the crash simulation. The display model is proportioned so as to produce a realistic drawing of the human body in any position. Joints connecting the segments are also drawn to improve realism.

Willmert, K. D.↗

Developing space occupancy - Perspectives on NASA future space programme planning

NASA planning aspects of potential future manned space flight missions are examined and the necessity of long-range planning is pointed out. A listing of desirable future activities is considered, taking into account the permanent occupancy of near-earth orbit space, the permanent occupancy of earth-moon space, the full self-sufficiency of man in geolunar space, and the permanent occupancy of heliocentric space. The technological requirements for the considered activities are discussed, giving attention to transportation, habitation, engineering technology, life sciences, operations technology, and advanced management concepts. A description of future program phasing and advanced studies requirements is also given.

Von Puttkamer, J.↗

Developing space occupancy - Perspectives on NASA future space program planning

Potential future manned space flight missions for the time after the development of the space transportation system with the space shuttle are considered, taking into account a sequence of activities concerning a gradually increasing penetration of space by man. The activities are related to the permanent occupancy of near-earth space, the permanent occupancy of near-moon space, the full self-sufficiency of man in earth-moon space, and the permanent occupancy of heliocentric space. Attention is given to Mars orbiting stations, the exploration of the asteroids, comet exploration, planet engineering programs, heliocentric orbit installation, the evolution of the earth orbit space community, space industrialization technology, lunar base development, and evolutionary paths to far-future space endeavors.

Von Puttkamer, J.↗

Prototype Input and Output Data Elements for the Occupational Health and Safety Information System

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration plans to implement a NASA-wide computerized information system for occupational health and safety. The system is necessary to administer the occupational health and safety programs and to meet the legal and regulatory reporting, recordkeeping, and surveillance requirements. Some of the potential data elements that NASA will require as input and output for the new occupational health and safety information system are illustrated. The data elements are shown on sample forms that have been compiled from various sources, including NASA Centers and industry.

Whyte, A. A.↗

Engineered Solutions to Reduce Occupational Noise Exposure at the NASA Glenn Research Center: A Five-Year Progress Summary (1994-1999)

At the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field (formerly the Lewis Research Center), experimental research in aircraft and space propulsion systems is conducted in more than 100 test cells and laboratories. These facilities are supported by a central process air system that supplies high-volume, high-pressure compressed air and vacuum at various conditions that simulate altitude flight. Nearly 100,000 square feet of metalworking and specialized fabrication shops located on-site produce prototypes, models, and test hardware in support of experimental research operations. These activities, comprising numerous individual noise sources and operational scenarios, result in a varied and complex noise exposure environment, which is the responsibility of the Glenn Research Center Noise Exposure Management Program. Hearing conservation, community noise complaint response and noise control engineering services are included under the umbrella of this Program, which encompasses the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard on occupational noise exposure, Sec. 29CFR 1910.95, as well as the more stringent NASA Health Standard on Hearing Conservation. Prior to 1994, in the absence of feasible engineering controls, strong emphasis had been placed on personal hearing protection as the primary mechanism for assuring compliance with Sec. 29CFR 1910.95 as well as NASA's more conservative policy, which prohibits unprotected exposure to noise levels above 85 dB(A). Center policy and prudent engineering practice required, however, that these efforts be extended to engineered noise controls in order to bring existing work areas into compliance with Sec. 29CFR 1910.95 and NASA's own policies and to ensure compliance for new installations. Coincident with the establishment in 1995 of a NASA wide multi-year commitment of funding for environmental abatement projects, the Noise Exposure Management Program was established, with its focus on engineering approaches to reducing occupational and community noise exposure. The organization and mission of this Program were documented shortly after its inception, and individual programmatic components have been the subject of subsequent papers. This paper summarizes the status and accomplishments of the engineering aspects of the Program from a five-year retrospective viewpoint and includes a review of retrofit noise control solution strategies, which have not been previously documented.

Cooper, Beth A.↗

Proceedings from the 2001 NASA Occupational Health Conference: Risk Assessment and Management in 2001

This Conference convened approximately 86 registered participants of invited guest speakers, NASA presenters, and a broad spectrum of the Occupational Health disciplines representing NASA Headquarters and all NASA Field Centers. Two days' Professional Development Courses on Exposure Assessment Strategies and Statistics and on Advanced Cardiac Life Support training and recertification preceded the Conference. With the theme, 'Risk Assessment and Management in 2001,' conferees were first provided updates from the Program Principal Center Office and the Headquarters Office. Plenary sessions elaborated on several topics: biological terrorism, OSHA recordability, Workers' Compensation issues, Federal ergonomic standards, bridging aerospace medicine and occupational health-especially in management of risk in spaceflight, and EAP operations with mission failures. A keynote address dealt with resiliency skills for 21st century workers and two NASA astronaut speakers highlighted a tour of the Johnson Space Center. During discipline specific breakout sessions, current issues in occupational health management and policy, credentialing and privileging, health risk assessment, measurement and standardization, audits, database development, prevention and rehabilitation, international travel and infection control, employee assistance, nursing process, and environmental health were presented.

Roberson, Sheri↗