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At least 1,261 records · Page 70

Skeletal muscle satellite cells cultured in simulated microgravity

Satellite cells are postnatal myoblasts responsible for providing additional nuclei to growing or regenerating muscle cells. Satellite cells retain the capacity to proliferate and differentiate in vitro and therefore provide a useful model to study postnatal muscle development. Most culture systems used to study postnatal muscle development are limited by the two-dimensional (2-D) confines of the culture dish. Limiting proliferation and differentiation of satellite cells in 2-D could potentially limit cell-cell contacts important for developing the level of organization in skeletal muscle obtained in vivo. Culturing satellite cells on microcarrier beads suspended in the High-Aspect-Ratio-Vessel (HARV) designed by NASA provides a low shear, three-dimensional (3-D) environment to study muscle development. Primary cultures established from anterior tibialis muscles of growing rats (approximately 200 gm) were used for all studies and were composed of greater than 75 % satellite cells. Different inoculation densities did not affect the proliferative potential of satellite cells in the HARV. Plating efficiency, proliferation, and glucose utilization were compared between 2-D flat culture and 3-D HARV culture. Plating efficiency (cells attached - cells plated x 100) was similar between the two culture systems. Proliferation was reduced in HARV cultures and this reduction was apparent for both satellite cells and non-satellite cells. Furthermore, reduction in proliferation within the HARV could not be attributed to reduced substrate availability since glucose levels in media from HARV and 2-D cell culture were similar. Morphologically, microcarrier beads within the HARVS were joined together by cells into three-dimensional aggregates composed of greater than 10 beads/aggregate. Aggregation of beads did not occur in the absence of cells. Myotubes were often seen on individual beads or spanning the surface of two beads. In summary, proliferation and differentiation of satellite cells on microcarrier beads within the HARV bioreactor results in a three dimensional level of organization that could provide a more suitable model to study postnatal muscle development.

Molnar, Greg↗

Persistent Sampling: Enhancing the Efficiency of Sequential Monte Carlo

Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) samplers are powerful tools for Bayesian inference but suffer from high computational costs due to their reliance on large particle ensembles for accurate estimates. We introduce persistent sampling (PS), an extension of SMC that systematically retains and reuses particles from all prior iterations to construct a growing, weighted ensemble. By leveraging multiple importance sampling and resampling from a mixture of historical distributions, PS mitigates the need for excessively large particle counts, directly addressing key limitations of SMC such as particle impoverishment and mode collapse. Crucially, PS achieves this without additional likelihood evaluations-weights for persistent particles are computed using cached likelihood values. This framework not only yields more accurate posterior approximations but also produces marginal likelihood estimates with significantly lower variance, enhancing reliability in model comparison. Furthermore, the persistent ensemble enables efficient adaptation of transition kernels by leveraging a larger, decorrelated particle pool. Experiments on high-dimensional Gaussian mixtures, hierarchical models, and non-convex targets demonstrate that PS consistently outperforms standard SMC and related variants, including recycled and waste-free SMC, achieving substantial reductions in mean squared error for posterior expectations and evidence estimates, all at reduced computational cost. PS thus establishes itself as a robust, scalable, and efficient alternative for complex Bayesian inference tasks.

Karamanis, Minas↗

Electron mobility enhancement by electric field engineering of AlN/GaN/AlN quantum-well HEMTs on single-crystal AlN substrates

To enhance the electron mobility in quantum-well high-electron-mobility transistors (QW HEMTs), we investigate the transport properties in AlN/GaN/AlN heterostructures on Al-polar single-crystal AlN substrates. Theoretical modeling combined with experiment shows that interface roughness scattering due to high electric field in the quantum well limits mobility. Increasing the width of the quantum well to its relaxed form reduces the internal electric field and scattering, resulting in a binary QW HEMT with a high two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density of 3.68×1013 cm–2, a mobility of 823 cm2/Vs, and a record-low room temperature (RT) sheet resistance of 206 Ω/□. Further reduction of the quantum well electric field yields a 2DEG density of 2.53×1013 cm–2 and RT mobility > 1000 cm2/V s. These findings will enable future developments in high-voltage and high-power microwave applications on the ultrawide bandgap AlN substrate platform.

Physics↗

Compressive and rarefactive DIA solitons beyond the KdV limit

The modified Gardner equation (MGE), showing the existence of compressive and rarefactive dust-ion-acoustic (DIA) solitons in a nonplanar dusty plasma (containing inertial ions, Boltzmann electrons, and negatively charged stationary dust) beyond the KdV Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) limit, is derived and numerically solved. The basic features of the compressive and rarefactive cylindrical and spherical DIA solitons, which are found to exist beyond the KdV limit, i.e., exist for {mu} {approx} 2/3 (where {mu} = Z{sub n}n{sub d0}/n{sub i0}, z{sub d} is the number of electrons residing onto the dust grain surface, n{sub d0}(n{sub i0}) is the dust (ion) number density at equilibrium, and {mu} {approx} 2/3 means that {mu} is not equal to 2/3, but it is around 2/3) are identified. These solitons (which can be referred to as DIA Gardner solitons (DIA-GSs)) are completely different from the KdV solitons because {mu} = 2/3 corresponds to the vanishing of the nonlinear coefficient of the KdV equation, and {mu} {approx} 2/3 corresponds to extremely large amplitude KdV solitons for which the validity of the reductive perturbation method breaks down. It is also shown that the properties of the nonplanar (cylindrical and spherical) DIA-GSs are significantly different from those of the one dimensional planar ones.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Simulation of Local Error Correction of the Surface Shape by a Low-Dimensional Ion Beam

We propose an algorithm for solving the problem of local error correction of the surface shape by a low-dimensional ion beam. The algorithm presumes successive sampling running over protrusions relative to the average height aimed at searching for the optimal etching point satisfying the criterion for the reduction of the sum of derivative moduli on the etching spot. It is shown that the new approach makes it possible to considerably extend the range of spatial frequencies accessible to the action for a given dimension of an ion beam.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Navier-Stokes flowfield computation of wing/rotor interaction for a tilt rotor aircraft in hover

The download on the wing produced by the rotor-induced downwash of a tilt rotor aircraft in hover is of major concern because of its severe impact on payload-carrying capability. A method has been developed to help gain a better understanding of the fundamental fluid dynamics that causes this download, and to help find ways to reduce it. In particular, the method is employed in this work to analyze the effect of a tangential leading edge circulation-control jet on download reduction. Because of the complexities associated with modeling the complete configuration, this work focuses specifically on the wing/rotor interaction of a tilt rotor aircraft in hover. The three-dimensional, unsteady, thin-layer compressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved using a time-accurate, implicit, finite difference scheme that employs LU-ADI factorization. The rotor is modeled as an actuator disk which imparts both a radical and an azimuthal distribution of pressure rise and swirl to the flowfield. A momentum theory blade element analysis of the rotor is incorporated into the Navier-Stokes solution method. Solution blanking at interior points of the mesh has been shown here to be an effective technique in introducing the effects of the rotor and tangential leading edge jet. Results are presented both for a rotor alone and for wing/rotor interaction. The overall mean characteristics of the rotor flowfield are computed including the flow acceleration through the rotor disk, the axial and swirl velocities in the rotor downwash, and the slipstream contraction. Many of the complex tilt rotor flow features are captured including the highly three-dimensional flow over the wing, the recirculation fountain at the plane of symmetry, wing leading and trailing edge separation, and the large region of separated flow beneath the wing. Mean wing surface pressures compare fairly well with available experimental data, but the time-averaged download/thrust ratio is 20-30 percent higher than the measured value. The discrepancy is due to a combination of factors that are discussed. Leading edge tangential blowing, of constant strength along the wing span, is shown to be effective in reducing download. The jet serves primarily to reduce the pressure on the wing upper surface. The computation clearly shows that, because of the three-dimensionality of the flowfield, optimum blowing would involve a spanwise variation in blowing strength.

Fejtek, Ian G.↗

Imaging for Hypersonic Experimental Aeroheating Testing (IHEAT) Version 4.0: User Manual

The IHEAT v4.0 software is a data reduction code for global thermography data acquired in the NASA Langley Aerothermodynamics Laboratory (LAL) hypersonic wind tunnels. IHEAT uses red and green color-intensity data from two-dimensional images of wind tunnel models to compute temperatures and heat-transfer rates using a semi-infinite, one-dimensional heat transfer approximation at each image pixel. Multiple automated tools in IHEAT v4.0 decrease the time required to reduce the data from a phosphor thermography wind tunnel run. Data at one or all of the image pixel locations can be exported to computer files for further analysis. The prior version of IHEAT, v3.2, was written in PV-WAVE® (now owned by Rogue Wave® Software) in 1994 and was limited in functionality to fit within the memory constraints of the available computers at the time. IHEAT v4.0 is written in MATLAB® by MathWorks® and contains several new features that leverage the increase in available memory of the current computers. A Piecewise tool permits the user to extract data along a segmented line cut that can follow interesting features in the image better than the single, straight line cuts that were possible with the legacy Length and Profile tools. The new Load Run and Batch tools facilitate batch processing by loading in all of the input files and images for a run at the same time. Load Run permits the user to process the available run images manually, while Batch automatically saves heat transfer data from all of the images based on the analysis previously performed on a single frame. IHEAT v4.0 also can automatically calculate the temporal collapse of reference line cuts from the time history heating data for a run to indicate the appropriate frame to reduce for each run. The IHEAT v4.0 source code was compiled into a standalone executable file that can be accessed remotely from several computers with different operating systems, simultaneously. The software is run through the MATLAB® Compiler Runtime engine, and therefore, IHEAT does not require a software license to run. Any software commands executed in the IHEAT v4.0 code will not affect other similar applications running on the same machine. Similarly, changes to the parent software do not affect a compiled code. These features of IHEAT v4.0 are improvements over the legacy v3.2 code, which required regular maintenance to avoid losing functionality as the PVWAVE ® programming language was upgraded.

Mason, Michelle L.↗

Parameter Reduction of Composite Load Model Using Active Subspace Method

Over the past decades, the increasing penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) has dramatically changed the power load composition in the distribution networks. The traditional static and dynamic load models can hardly capture the dynamic behavior of modern loads especially for fault-induced delayed voltage recovery (FIDVR) events. Thus, a more comprehensive composite load model with combination of static load, different types of induction motors, single-phase A/C motor, electronic load and DERs has been proposed by Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). However, due to the large number of parameters and model complexity, the WECC composite load model (WECC CMLD) raises new challenges to power system studies. To overcome these challenges, in this paper, a cutting-edge parameter reduction (PR) approach for WECC CMLD based on active subspace method (ASM) is proposed. Firstly, the WECC CMLD is parameterized in a discrete-time manner for the application of the proposed method. Then, parameter sensitivities are calculated by discovering the active subspace, which is a lower-dimensional linear subspace of the parameter space of WECC CMLD in which the dynamic response is most sensitive. The interdependency among parameters can be taken into consideration by our approach. Finally, the numerical experiments validate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed approach for WECC CMLD model.

active subspace↗

Boosting efficiency and reducing graph reliance: Basis adaptation integration in Bayesian multi-fidelity networks

The computational cost of high-fidelity numerical models makes outer-loop analysis, which requires repeated interrogation of the model such as uncertainty quantification, computationally demanding. Multi-fidelity methods, which construct a surrogate model using data from an ensemble of models of varying cost and accuracy, can substantially reduce the cost of outer-loop analysis. However, these methods can be difficult to apply when the model ensemble does not admit a clear hierarchy a priori and the correlations between models are low. Consequently, in this paper, we present a multi-fidelity method that leverages dimension reduction to enhance the correlation between models, thereby reducing the amount of data needed to train a surrogate from an unordered ensemble of models. Our method utilizes basis adaptation to build low-dimensional polynomial chaos expansions of each model and employs Multi-fidelity Networks to encode the relationships among models. We show that the resulting method exhibit two notable advantages over its counterpart: (1) enhanced accuracy (both reduced bias and variance); and (2) reduced dependency on the graph structure encoding relationships among models. We demonstrate the approach on an analytical test problem and a challenging finite element model for a spent nuclear fuel. Our method produces a surrogate model that is significantly more accurate than either a single-fidelity surrogate or a multi-fidelity surrogate constructed without basis adaptation.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Highly Crystalline Multimetallic Nanoframes with Three-Dimensional Electrocatalytic Surfaces

Control of structure at the atomic level can precisely and effectively tune catalytic properties of materials, enabling enhancement in both activity and durability. We synthesized a highly active and durable class of electrocatalysts by exploiting the structural evolution of platinum-nickel (Pt-Ni) bimetallic nanocrystals. The starting material, crystalline PtNi 3 polyhedra, transforms in solution by interior erosion into Pt 3 Ni nanoframes with surfaces that offer three-dimensional molecular accessibility. The edges of the Pt-rich PtNi 3 polyhedra are maintained in the final Pt 3 Ni nanoframes. Both the interior and exterior catalytic surfaces of this open-framework structure are composed of the nanosegregated Pt-skin structure, which exhibits enhanced oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. The Pt 3 Ni nanoframe catalysts achieved a factor of 36 enhancement in mass activity and a factor of 22 enhancement in specific activity, respectively, for this reaction (relative to state-of-the-art platinum-carbon catalysts) during prolonged exposure to reaction conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Oxide Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) often exhibit a complex functionalized graphitic structure. Because of this complex structure, limited understanding exists about the design factors for the synthesis of high-performing materials. Graphene, a two-dimensional hexagonal structure of carbon, is amenable to structural and functional group modifications, making it an ideal analogue to study crucial properties of more complex graphitic materials utilized as electrocatalysts. In this paper, we report the synthesis of active nitrogen-doped graphene oxide catalysts for the ORR in which their activity and four-electron selectivity are enhanced using simple solvent and electrochemical treatments. The solvents, chosen based on Hansen’s solubility parameters, drive a substantial change in the morphology of the functionalized graphene materials by (i) forming microporous holes in the graphitic sheets that lead to edge defects and (ii) inducing 3D structure in the graphitic sheets that promotes ORR. Additionally, the cycling of these catalysts has highlighted the multiplicity of the active sites, with different durability, leading to a highly selective catalyst over time, with a minimal loss in performance. High ORR activity was demonstrated in an alkaline electrolyte with an onset potential of ~1.1 V and half-wave potential of 0.84 V vs RHE. Furthermore, long-term stability potential cycling showed minimal loss in half-wave potential (<3%) in both N 2 - and O 2 -saturated solutions with improved selectivity toward the four-electron reduction after 10000 cycles. Lastly, the results described in this work provide additional understanding about graphitic electrocatalysts in alkaline media that may be utilized to further enhance the performance of PGM-free ORR electrocatalysts.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DHIGLS: DRAO H I intermediate galactic latitude survey

Observations of Galactic H i gas for seven targeted regions at intermediate Galactic latitude are presented at 1{sup ′} angular resolution using data from the DRAO Synthesis Telescope (ST) and the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The DHIGLS data are the most extensive arcminute-resolution measurements of the diffuse atomic interstellar medium beyond those in the Galactic plane. The acquisition, reduction, calibration, and mosaicking of the DRAO ST data and the cross calibration and incorporation of the short-spacing information from the GBT are described. The high quality of the resulting DHIGLS products enables a variety of new studies in directions of low Galactic column density. We analyze the angular power spectra of maps of the integrated H i emission (column density) from the data cubes for several distinct velocity ranges. In fitting power-spectrum models based on a power law, but including the effects of the synthesized beam and noise at high spatial frequencies, we find exponents ranging from −2.5 to −3.0. Power spectra of maps of the centroid velocity for these components give similar results. These exponents are interpreted as being representative of the three-dimensional density and velocity fields of the atomic gas, respectively. We find evidence for dramatic changes in the H i structures in channel maps over even small changes in velocity. This narrow line emission has counterparts in absorption spectra against bright background radio sources, quantifying that the gas is cold and dense and can be identified as the cold neutral medium phase. Fully reduced DHIGLS H i data cubes and other data products are available at www.cita.utoronto.ca/DHIGLS.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Porosity as a Design Element for Developing Catalytic Molecular Materials for Electrochemical and Photochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction

The catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) using sustainable energy inputs is a promising strategy for upcycling of atmospheric carbon into value-added chemical products. This goal has inspired the development of catalysts for selective and efficient CO 2 conversion using electrochemical and photochemical methods. Among the diverse array of catalyst systems designed for this purpose, two- and three-dimensional platforms that feature porosity offer the potential to combine carbon capture and conversion. Included are covalent organic frameworks (COFs), metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), porous molecular cages, and other hybrid molecular materials developed to increase active site exposure, stability, and water compatibility while maintaining precise molecular tunability. This mini-review showcases catalysts for the CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) that incorporate well-defined molecular elements integrated into porous materials structures. Selected examples provide insights into how different approaches to this overall design strategy can augment their electrocatalytic and/or photocatalytic CO 2 reduction activity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A block-tridiagonal solver with two-level parallelization for finite element-spectral codes

Two-level parallelization is introduced to solve a massive block-tridiagonal matrix system. One-level is used for distributing blocks whose size is as large as the number of block rows due to the spectral basis, and the other level is used for parallelizing in the block row dimension. The reason for the added parallelization dimension is to retard the saturation of the scaling due to communication overhead and inefficiencies in the single-level parallelization only distributing blocks. As a technique for parallelizing the tridiagonal matrix, the combined method of “Partitioned Thomas method” and “Cyclic Odd–Even Reduction” is implemented in an MPI-Fortran90 based finite element-spectral code (TORIC) that calculates the propagation of electromagnetic waves in a tokamak. The two-level parallel solver using thousands of processors shows more than 5 times improved computation speed with the optimized processor grid compared to the single-level parallel solver under the same conditions. Three-dimensional RF field reconstructions in a tokamak are reflected as examples of the physics simulations that have been enabled by this algorithmic advance.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Buckling of conical shell with local imperfections

Small geometric imperfections in thin-walled shell structures can cause large reductions in buckling strength. Most imperfections found in structures are neither axisymmetric nor have the shape of buckling modes but rather occur locally. This report presents the results of a study of the effect of local imperfections on the critical buckling load of a specific axially compressed thin-walled conical shell. The buckling calculations were performed by using a two-dimensional shell analysis program referred to as the STAGS (Structural Analysis of General Shells) computer code, which has no axisymmetry restrictions. Results show that the buckling load found from a bifurcation buckling analysis is highly dependent on the circumferential arc length of the imperfection type studied. As the circumferential arc length of the imperfection is increased, a reduction of up to 50 percent of the critical load of the perfect shell can occur. The buckling load of the cone with an axisymmetric imperfections is nearly equal to the buckling load of imperfections which extended 60 deg or more around the circumference, but would give a highly conservative estimate of the buckling load of a shell with an imperfection of a more local nature.

Cooper, P. A.↗

A Galerkin method with two-dimensional Haar basis functions for the computation of the Karhunen–Loève expansion

We study the numerical approximation of a homogeneous Fredholm integral equation of second kind associated with the Karhunen–Loève expansion of Gaussian random fields. We develop, validate, and discuss an algorithm based on the Galerkin method with two-dimensional Haar wavelets as basis functions. The shape functions are constructed from the orthogonal decomposition of tensor-product spaces of one-dimensional Haar functions, and a recursive algorithm is employed to compute the matrix of the discrete eigenvalue system without the explicit calculation of integrals, allowing the implementation of a fast and efficient algorithm that provides considerable reduction in CPU time, when compared with classical Galerkin methods. Numerical experiments confirm the convergence rate of the method and assess the approximation error and the sparsity of the eigenvalue system when the wavelet expansion is truncated. We illustrate the numerical solution of a diffusion problem with random input data with the present method. In this problem, accuracy was retained after dropping the coefficients below a threshold value that was numerically determined. A similar method with scaling functions rather than wavelet functions does not need a discrete wavelet transform and leads to eigenvalue systems with better conditioning but lower sparsity.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Direct Numerical Simulations of Autoignition in Stratified Dimethyl-ether (DME)/Air Turbulent Mixtures

In our paper, two- and three-dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS) of autoignition phenomena in stratified dimethyl-ether (DME)/air turbulent mixtures are performed. A reduced DME oxidation mechanism, which was obtained using rigorous mathematical reduction and stiffness removal procedure from a detailed DME mechanism with 55 species, is used in the present DNS. The reduced DME mechanism consists of 30 chemical species. This study investigates the fundamental aspects of turbulence-mixing-autoignition interaction occurring in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine environments. A homogeneous isotropic turbulence spectrum is used to initialize the velocity field in the domain. Moreover, the computational configuration corresponds to a constant volume combustion vessel with inert mass source terms added to the governing equations to mimic the pressure rise due to piston motion, as present in practical engines. DME autoignition is found to be a complex three-staged process; each stage corresponds to a distinct chemical kinetic pathway. The distinct role of turbulence and reaction in generating scalar gradients and hence promoting molecular transport processes are investigated. Then, by applying numerical diagnostic techniques, the different heat release modes present in the igniting mixture are identified. In particular, the contribution of homogeneous autoignition, spontaneous ignition front propagation, and premixed deflagration towards the total heat release are quantified.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗