Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “variable selection”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,297 records · Page 72
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 Summary of Scientific Results: Numerical Simulation of Reservoir Response to Depressurization

The India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 (NGHP-02) discovered gas hydrate at high saturation in sand reservoirs at several sites in the deepwater Bay of Bengal. To assess the potential response of those deposits to scientific depressurization experiments, comprehensive geologic models were constructed to enable numerical simulation for two sites. Both sites (NGHP-02-09 and NGHP-02-16) feature thick sequences of thinly-interbedded reservoir and non-reservoir facies at sub-seafloor depths less than 300m and sub-sea depths of 2400m or more. These settings pose significant challenges to current modeling capabilities. First, the thinly-interbedded reservoir architecture complicates the determination of basic reservoir parameters from both log and core data due to measurement resolution issues. Secondly, the fine scale variation in sediment properties imparts great contrasts in key parameters over very short distances, creating high gradients at multiple scales and varying orientations that necessitate careful design of high-definition simulation grids. Thirdly, the deposits include internal sources of water, as well as a range of complex boundary conditions, including variable permeability within the overlying mud-rich “seals,” that complicate reservoir depressurization. Lastly, because of the unique combination of great water depth and relatively shallow sub-seafloor depth: models designed to maximize the dissociation rate impose large pressure drawdowns on relatively low-strength sediments. This condition renders the proper evaluation and integration of the geomechanical response to hydrate dissociation critical. In this report, we review the history of gas hydrate reservoir simulation, discuss methods for creating geologic input models, and summarize the key findings and implications of the collaborative NGHP-02 numerical simulation effort. Together, the studies confirm the viability of the modeled accumulations for scientific testing and identify key challenges related to the selection of specific test sites and the design of test wells.

Boswell, Ray↗
DOE OSTI2026

BASIN-3D Data Integration for Selected ARM Data Field Campaign Report

The purpose of this data services request was to demonstrate integration of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility’s “met” datastreams with time series data from other earth science data sources using the BASIN-3D data synthesis software tool. BASIN-3D is an open-source Python library that enables researchers to integrate data across configured public and private data sources. It provides a common query language for researchers to request measurement locations and time series data based on specified locations, variables, time period, statistics, aggregation, and data quality. BASIN-3D acquires the data that match the query from each configured data source and translates the results into harmonized vocabularies, thus reducing researchers' data-wrangling effort. In addition, because the queries are executed on demand, researchers can easily regenerate their synthesized data sets as new data and/or data updates become available, eliminating one-off data products. BASIN-3D can output data using a variety of different data structures for end-user applications including Python pandas data frames and hdf5 output formats.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Visible-light Phase Curves from the Second Year of the TESS Primary Mission

We carried out a systematic study of full-orbit phase curves for known transiting systems in the northern ecliptic sky that were observed during Year 2 of the TESS primary mission. We applied the same methodology for target selection, data processing, and light-curve fitting as we did in our Year 1 study. Out of the 15 transiting systems selected for analysis, seven—HAT-P-7, KELT-1, KELT-9, KELT-16, KELT-20, Kepler-13A, and WASP-12—show statistically significant secondary eclipses and day–night atmospheric brightness modulations. Small eastward dayside hot-spot offsets were measured for KELT-9b and WASP-12b. KELT-1, Kepler-13A, and WASP-12 show additional phase-curve variability attributed to the tidal distortion of the host star; the amplitudes of these signals are consistent with theoretical predictions. We combined occultation measurements from TESS and Spitzer to compute dayside brightness temperatures, TESS-band geometric albedos, Bond albedos, and phase integrals for several systems. The new albedo values solidify the previously reported trend between dayside temperature and geometric albedo for planets with 1500 K < T {sub day} < 3000 K. For Kepler-13Ab, we carried out an atmospheric retrieval of the full secondary eclipse spectrum, which revealed a noninverted temperature–pressure profile, significant H{sub 2}O and K absorption in the near-infrared, evidence for strong optical atmospheric opacity due to sodium, and a confirmation of the high geometric albedo inferred from our simpler analysis. We explore the implications of the phase integrals (ratios of Bond to geometric albedos) for understanding exoplanet clouds. We also report updated transit ephemerides for all of the systems studied in this work.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Temporal Characterization of Hydrates System Dynamics beneath Seafloor Mounds. Integrating Time-Lapse Electrical Resistivity Methods and In Situ Observations of Multiple Oceanographic Parameters

This study was designed to investigate temporal variations in hydrate system dynamics by measuring changes in volumes of hydrate beneath hydrate-bearing mounds on the continental slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico, the landward extreme of hydrate occurrence in this region. Direct Current Resistivity (DCR) measurements were made contemporaneously with measurements of oceanographic parameters at Woolsey Mound, a carbonate-hydrate complex on the mid-continental slope, where formation and dissociation of hydrates are most vulnerable to variations in oceanographic parameters affected by climate change, and where changes in hydrate stability can readily translate to loss of seafloor stability, impacts to benthic ecosystems, and venting of greenhouse gases to the water-column, and eventually, the atmosphere. We focused our study on hydrate within seafloor mounds because the structurally-focused methane flux at these sites likely causes hydrate formation and dissociation processes to occur at higher rates than at sites where the methane flux is less concentrated and we wanted to maximize our chances of witnessing association/dissociation of hydrates. We selected a particularly well-studied hydrate-bearing seafloor mound near the landward extent of the hydrate stability zone, Woolsey Mound (MC118). This mid-slope site has been studied extensively and the project was able to leverage considerable resources from the team’s research experience at MC118. The site exhibits seafloor features associated with gas expulsion, hydrates have been documented at the seafloor, and changes in the outcropping hydrates have been documented, photographically, to have occurred over a period of months. We conducted observatory-based, in situ measurements to 1) characterize, geophysically, the sub-bottom distribution of hydrate and its temporal variability, and 2) contemporaneously record relevant environmental parameters (temperature, pressure, salinity, turbidity, bottom currents) to detect short-term changes within the hydrates system, identify relationships/impacts of local oceanographic parameters on the hydrates system, and improve our understanding of how seafloor instability is affected by hydrates-driven changes. A 2009 DCR survey of MC118 demonstrated that we could image resistivity anomalies to a depth of 75m below the seafloor in water depths of 1km. We reconfigured this system to operate autonomously on the seafloor in a pre-programmed mode, for periods of months. We designed and built a novel seafloor lander and deployment capability that would allow us to investigate the seafloor at potential deployment sites and deploy instruments only when conditions met our criteria. This lander held the DCR system, controlling computers, and battery power supply, as well as instruments to record oceanographic parameters. During the first of two cruises to the study site, we conducted resistivity surveying, selected a monitoring site, and deployed the instrumented lander and DCR, centered on what appeared to be the most active locations within the site, programmed to collect a DCR profile, weekly. After a 4.5-month residence on the seafloor, the team recovered all equipment. Unfortunately, several equipment failures occurred prior to recovery of the instrument packages. Prior to the failures, however, two resistivity profiles were collected together with oceanographic data. Results show, unequivocally, that significant changes can occur in both hydrate volume and distribution during time periods as brief as one week. Occurrences appear to be controlled by both deep and near-surface structure. Results have been integrated with seismic data from the area and show correspondence in space of hydrate and structures, including faults and gas chimneys.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC SHOCKS IN AND ABOVE POST-FLARE LOOPS: TWO-DIMENSIONAL SIMULATION AND A SIMPLIFIED MODEL

Solar flares are an explosive phenomenon where super-sonic flows and shocks are expected in and above the post-flare loops. To understand the dynamics of post-flare loops, a two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (2D MHD) simulation of a solar flare has been carried out. We found new shock structures in and above the post-flare loops, which were not resolved in the previous work by Yokoyama and Shibata. To study the dynamics of flows along the reconnected magnetic field, the kinematics and energetics of the plasma are investigated along selected field lines. It is found that shocks are crucial to determine the thermal and flow structures in the post-flare loops. On the basis of the 2D MHD simulation, we developed a new post-flare loop model, which we defined as the pseudo-2D MHD model. The model is based on the one-dimensional (1D) MHD equations, where all variables depend on one space dimension, and all the three components of the magnetic and velocity fields are considered. Our pseudo-2D model includes many features of the multi-dimensional MHD processes related to magnetic reconnection (particularly MHD shocks), which the previous 1D hydrodynamic models are not able to include. We compared the shock formation and energetics of a specific field line in the 2D calculation with those in our pseudo-2D MHD model, and found that they give similar results. This model will allow us to study the evolution of the post-flare loops in a wide parameter space without expensive computational cost or neglecting important physics associated with magnetic reconnection.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Integrating biomechanics in evolutionary studies, with examples from the amphidromous goby model system

The functional capacities of animals are a primary factor determining survival in nature. In this context, understanding the biomechanical performance of animals can provide insight into diverse aspects of their biology, ranging from ecological distributions across habitat gradients to the evolutionary diversification of lineages. To survive and reproduce in the face of environmental pressures, animals must perform a wide range of tasks, some of which entail tradeoffs between competing demands. Moreover, the demands encountered by animals can change through ontogeny as they grow, sexually mature or migrate across environmental gradients. To understand how mechanisms that underlie functional performance contribute to survival and diversification across challenging and variable habitats, we have pursued diverse studies of the comparative biomechanics of amphidromous goby fishes across functional requirements ranging from prey capture and fast-start swimming to adhesion and waterfall climbing. The pan-tropical distribution of these fishes has provided opportunities for repeated testing of evolutionary hypotheses. By synthesizing data from the lab and field, across approaches spanning high-speed kinematics, selection trials, suction pressure recordings, mechanical property testing, muscle fiber-type measurements and physical modeling of bioinspired designs, we have clarified how multiple axes of variation in biomechanical performance associate with the ecological and evolutionary diversity of these fishes. Here our studies of how these fishes meet both common and extreme functional demands add new, complementary perspectives to frameworks developed from other systems, and illustrate how integrating knowledge of the mechanical underpinnings of diverse aspects of performance can give critical insights into ecological and evolutionary questions.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Exploring the SDSS Data Set with Linked Scatter Plots. I. EMP, CEMP, and CV Stars

We present the results of a search for extremely metal-poor (EMP), carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP), and cataclysmic variable (CV) stars using a new exploration tool based on linked scatter plots (LSPs). Our approach is especially designed to work with very large spectrum data sets such as the SDSS, LAMOST, RAVE, and Gaia data sets, and it can be applied to stellar, galaxy, and quasar spectra. As a demonstration, we conduct our search using the SDSS DR10 data set. We first created a 3326-dimensional phase space containing nearly 2 billion measures of the strengths of over 1600 spectral features in 569,738 SDSS stars. These measures capture essentially all the stellar atomic and molecular species visible at the resolution of SDSS spectra. We show how LSPs can be used to quickly isolate and examine interesting portions of this phase space. To illustrate, we use LSPs coupled with cuts in selected portions of phase space to extract EMP stars, CEMP stars, and CV stars. We present identifications for 59 previously unrecognized candidate EMP stars and 11 previously unrecognized candidate CEMP stars. We also call attention to 2 candidate He ii emission CV stars found by the LSP approach that have not yet been discussed in the literature.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Variable Speed Heat Pump Sizing Guide for Mixed-Humid Climates

The similarities and differences between different capacity units in a model family will vary depending on the manufacturer. These unit specific details are critical to choosing the VSHP capacity that will yield the highest energy savings without compromising comfort. In addition, the house construction, climate, and occupant behavior will influence the balance of the heating and cooling load on the house as well as the sensible and latent cooling demand. All of these factors need to be considered when trying to select the proper unit for the highest energy savings. Based on the simulations performed in this study, it is likely that VSHPs with an enhanced dehumidification mode can be sized up to two times the cooling load of the house without any reduction in comfort when compared to a single speed heat pump assuming a typical home and occupant behavior in the mixed-humid and cold climates.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Relative effect of anthropogenic warming and natural climate variability to changes in Compound drought and heatwaves

Compound drought and heatwave (CDHW) events can be influenced by large scale teleconnections and anthropogenic warming, leading to severe socio-economic impacts across various climate regions. Here, the relative influence of six different teleconnection patterns and anthropogenic global warming on the global CDHW occurrences is quantified systematically using the instrumental data period, 1982–2016. The results from the study suggest a substantial increase in the CDHW events (1–5 events per year) across various parts of the globe at the beginning of 21st century (2000–2016). A Bayesian approach is implemented to identify the most vulnerable climate regions based on the degree of susceptibility of heatwaves (DSHW) towards drought. As such, top ten most vulnerable regions are selected based on the DSHW magnitude, and a partial correlation analysis is performed to select the natural and anthropogenic drivers of CDHW in those regions, separately. A logistic regression model is then used to determine significant changes in the odds of CDHW due to changes in the selected drivers that suggest a significantly positive, and multiplicative effect of anthropogenic global warming in the top ten most vulnerable climate regions. Finally, the same logistic regression model, integrated with an analytical framework, is applied to determine the relative influence of anthropogenic global warming on the changes in odds of CDHW for the future, 1.5 °C and 2 °C warming limits. Finally, the results suggest that relative to the 2 °C global warming, constraining to the 1.5 °C global warming limit may conduce about 17-fold reduction in the odds of CDHW in the most vulnerable climate region, East Asia, 5–8-fold reduction in Western North America, Northern Australia, Central North America, Central Europe, South Asia, and the Mediterranean region, and 3–4-fold reduction in Northeastern Brazil, Eastern North America, and West Asia.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Development of field-based separations for the rapid identification of uranium and plutonium

The development of rapid, radioanalytical techniques to separate uranium and plutonium from complex, field samples are needed for the timely and accurate determination of nuclear material origin, and processing activities. Widespread use of nuclear power and technology in the world has increased demands on analytical laboratories from the monitoring of numerous low-level, environmental samples with variable compositions. Environmental sampling has proven to be one of the strongest technical measures for detecting nuclear material and activities. With the increase in sampling demands, new technologies must offer improvements such as automation, high throughput, reproducible chemical separations, short analysis times, and reduced costs to be effective. We have been developing a portable, separations system for uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu) separations based upon selective extraction of target elements using an extraction chromatographic resin which would allow for simple and fast identifcation when coupled with the appropriate sample digestor and detection systems. The microfluidic design minimizes elution volumes and concentrates the elements of interest in a purified stream. Flowsheet development and testing was demonstrated on a single, micro-column system with an acidified, iron, uranium, and plutonium nitrate stream. The recovery of Pu was optimized by examining various reducing agents at different concentrations for rapid, quantitative recovery from the flow-through design. Quantitative recovery and high selectivity of U and Pu was achieved in the appropriate stripping stages and provided purified and concentrated U and Pu streams. The microfluidic system suggests automation in a small, footprint unit while exploiting the in-line processing of extraction chromatographic resins as the primary means of concentrating the radionuclides from the raw acidic feed and separating the elements into purified streams.

Extraction Chromatography↗
DOE OSTI2015

Computationally-efficient stochastic cluster dynamics method for modeling damage accumulation in irradiated materials

An improved version of a recently developed stochastic cluster dynamics (SCD) method (Marian and Bulatov, 2012) [6] is introduced as an alternative to rate theory (RT) methods for solving coupled ordinary differential equation (ODE) systems for irradiation damage simulations. SCD circumvents by design the curse of dimensionality of the variable space that renders traditional ODE-based RT approaches inefficient when handling complex defect population comprised of multiple (more than two) defect species. Several improvements introduced here enable efficient and accurate simulations of irradiated materials up to realistic (high) damage doses characteristic of next-generation nuclear systems. The first improvement is a procedure for efficiently updating the defect reaction-network and event selection in the context of a dynamically expanding reaction-network. Next is a novel implementation of the τ-leaping method that speeds up SCD simulations by advancing the state of the reaction network in large time increments when appropriate. Lastly, a volume rescaling procedure is introduced to control the computational complexity of the expanding reaction-network through occasional reductions of the defect population while maintaining accurate statistics. The enhanced SCD method is then applied to model defect cluster accumulation in iron thin films subjected to triple ion-beam (Fe{sup 3+}, He{sup +} and H{sup +}) irradiations, for which standard RT or spatially-resolved kinetic Monte Carlo simulations are prohibitively expensive.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Precision analysis of the photomultiplier response to ultra low signals

Here, a new computational model for the description of the photon detector response functions measured in conditions of low light is presented, together with examples of the observed photomultiplier signal amplitude distributions, successfully described using the parameterized model equation. In extension to the previously known approximations, the new model describes the underlying discrete statistical behavior of the photoelectron cascade multiplication processes in photon detectors with complex non-uniform gain structure of the first dynode. Important features of the model include the ability to represent the true single-photoelectron spectra from different photomultipliers with a variety of parameterized shapes, reflecting the variability in the design and in the individual parameters of the detectors. The new software tool is available for evaluation of the detectors’ performance, response, and efficiency parameters that may be used in various applications including the ultra low background experiments such as the searches for Dark Matter and rare decays, underground neutrino studies, optimizing operations of the Cherenkov light detectors, help in the detector selection procedures, and in the experiment simulations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Signatures of local nitrogen adaptation in the Brachypodium distachyon root microbiome

Plants associate with diverse microbiomes that impact their fitness, yet the contribution of the microbiome to plant adaptation is uncertain. As plant recruitment of its microbiome can be both highly variable and genetically determined, we hypothesized this recruitment process may be the result of adaptive evolution, and contributing to plant local adaptation. We investigated the evolution and adaptive benefit of plant–microbiome recruitment by characterizing the rhizosphere communities across a genotypic panel of Brachypodium distachyon in a common garden experiment. By linking microbial communities to their host genotype's historic environment, we identified signatures of selection on plant–microbiome recruitment. Plant–microbiome composition was significantly correlated with the host genotype's historic environment, with enrichment of microbial traits aligned to local resource conditions. For example, genotypes from low-nitrogen environments recruited communities enriched in nitrogen acquisition traits. In a complementary experiment evaluating plant nitrogen response, these same genotypes were well-adapted to low-nitrogen environments, contingent on the presence of key nitrogen-cycling microbes. These results suggest that local adaptation in plants may partially be mediated by recruitment of beneficial microbiomes. This perspective suggests that plant adaptation may be an emergent property of host–microbe interactions, where evolutionary responses favor traits that promote recruitment of locally beneficial microbiomes.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Data from: "Ecophysiological variation in two provenances of Pinus flexilis seedlings across an elevation gradient from forest to alpine"

This archive contains data used to support conclusions drawn in “Ecophysiological variation in two provenances of Pinus flexilis seedlings across an elevation gradient from forest to alpine”, by Reinhardt et al., 2011. Data were collected over one summer season in plots within the Alpine Treeline Warming Experiment (ATWE), before climate manipulations began. The experiment was located on Niwot Ridge, in the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. This data package includes five comma-separated-values (.csv) files, five Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) files, one .pdf file, and two types of geospatial files: keyhole markup language (.kml), and ESRI shapefiles (.shp). .csv files can be opened using any simple text-editing software (such as Notepad and TextEdit), R, and Microsoft Excel. .xlsx files can only be opened using Microsoft Excel. The .pdf file can be opened using Adobe Acrobat Reader or any other compatible file viewing software. The .kml file can be opened using Google Earth and Google Maps, and shapefiles can be opened using any software compatible with the file type, such as ESRI’s ArcGIS suite and QGIS.Data archived contain gas exchange and plant physiology measurements, non-structural carbohydrate data, among others. Geospatial files are also provided for additional locational context. The files and their contents in this data package are summarized under "Data Summary" in the included Data User's Guide. All files (excluding geospatial) are available in both Microsoft Excel and in .csv format, and are indicated in the Data Summary list as well.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Climate change is predicted to cause upward shifts in forest tree distributions, which will require seedling recruitment beyond current forest boundaries. However, predicting the likelihood of successful plant establishment beyond current species’ ranges under changing climate is complicated by the interaction of genetic and environmental controls on seedling establishment. To determine how genetics and climate may interact to affect seedling establishment, we transplanted recently germinated seedlings from high- and low-elevation provenances (HI and LO, respectively) of Pinus flexilis in common gardens arrayed along an elevation and canopy gradient from subalpine forest into the alpine zone and examined differences in physiology and morphology between provenances and among sites. Plant dry mass, projected leaf area and shoot:root ratios were 12–40% greater in LO compared with HI seedlings at each elevation. There were no significant changes in these variables among sites except for decreased dry mass of LO seedlings in the alpine site. Photosynthesis, carbon balance (photosynthesis/respiration) and conductance increased >2× with elevation for both provenances, and were 35–77% greater in LO seedlings compared with HI seedlings. There were no differences in dark-adapted chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm) among sites or between provenances. Our results suggest that for P. flexilis seedlings, provenances selected for above-ground growth may outperform those selected for stress resistance in the absence of harsh climatic conditions, even well above the species’ range limits in the alpine zone. This indicates that forest genetics may be important to understanding and managing species’ range adjustments due to climate change.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Diverse plant-associated pleosporalean fungi from saline areas: Ecological tolerance and nitrogen-status dependent effects on plant growth

Similar to mycorrhizal mutualists, the rhizospheric and endophytic fungi are also considered to act as active regulators of host fitness (e.g., nutrition and stress tolerance). Despite considerable work in selected model systems, it is generally poorly understood how plant-associated fungi are structured in habitats with extreme conditions and to what extent they contribute to improved plant performance. Here, we investigate the community composition of root and seed-associated fungi from six halophytes growing in saline areas of China, and found that the pleosporalean taxa (Ascomycota) were most frequently isolated across samples. A total of twenty-seven representative isolates were selected for construction of the phylogeny based on the multi-locus data (partial 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, and transcription elongation factor 1-a), which classified them into seven families, one clade potentially representing a novel lineage. Fungal isolates were subjected to growth response assays by imposing temperature, pH, ionic and osmotic conditions. The fungi had a wide pH tolerance, while most isolates showed a variable degree of sensitivity to increasing concentration of either salt or sorbitol. Subsequent plant fungal co-culture assays indicated that most isolates had only neutral or even adverse effects on plant growth in the presence of inorganic nitrogen. Interestingly, when provided with organic nitrogen sources the majority of the isolates enhanced plant growth especially above ground biomass. Most of the fungi preferred organic nitrogen over its inorganic counterpart, suggesting that these fungi can readily mineralize organic nitrogen into inorganic nitrogen. Microscopy revealed that several isolates can successfully colonize roots and form melanized hyphae and/or microsclerotia-like structures within cortical cells suggesting a phylogenetic assignment as dark septate endophytes. Furthermore, this work provides a better understanding of the symbiotic relationship between plants and pleosporalean fungi, and initial evidence for the use of this fungal group in benefiting plant production.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Measurements of W + W - + ≥ 1 jet production cross-sections in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Fiducial and differential cross-section measurements of W + W - production in association with at least one hadronic jet are presented. These measurements are sensitive to the properties of electroweak-boson self-interactions and provide a test of perturbative quantum chromodynamics and the electroweak theory. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data collected at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb -1 . Events are selected with exactly one oppositely charged electron-muon pair and at least one hadronic jet with a transverse momentum of p T > 30 GeV and a pseudorapidity of |η| < 4.5. After subtracting the background contributions and correcting for detector effects, the jet-inclusive W + W - + ≥ 1 jet fiducial cross-section and W + W - + jets differential cross-sections with respect to several kinematic variables are measured. These measurements include leptonic quantities, such as the lepton transverse momenta and the transverse mass of the W + W - system, as well as jet-related observables such as the leading jet transverse momentum and the jet multiplicity. Limits on anomalous triple-gauge-boson couplings are obtained in a phase space where interference between the Standard Model amplitude and the anomalous amplitude is enhanced.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Deformable Image Registration for Adaptive Radiation Therapy of Head and Neck Cancer: Accuracy and Precision in the Presence of Tumor Changes

Purpose: To compare deformable image registration (DIR) accuracy and precision for normal and tumor tissues in head and neck cancer patients during the course of radiation therapy (RT). Methods and Materials: Thirteen patients with oropharyngeal tumors, who underwent submucosal implantation of small gold markers (average 6, range 4-10) around the tumor and were treated with RT were retrospectively selected. Two observers identified 15 anatomical features (landmarks) representative of normal tissues in the planning computed tomography (pCT) scan and in weekly cone beam CTs (CBCTs). Gold markers were digitally removed after semiautomatic identification in pCTs and CBCTs. Subsequently, landmarks and gold markers on pCT were propagated to CBCTs, using a b-spline-based DIR and, for comparison, rigid registration (RR). To account for observer variability, the pair-wise difference analysis of variance method was applied. DIR accuracy (systematic error) and precision (random error) for landmarks and gold markers were quantified. Time trend of the precisions for RR and DIR over the weekly CBCTs were evaluated. Results: DIR accuracies were submillimeter and similar for normal and tumor tissue. DIR precision (1 SD) on the other hand was significantly different (P<.01), with 2.2 mm vector length in normal tissue versus 3.3 mm in tumor tissue. No significant time trend in DIR precision was found for normal tissue, whereas in tumor, DIR precision was significantly (P<.009) degraded during the course of treatment by 0.21 mm/week. Conclusions: DIR for tumor registration proved to be less precise than that for normal tissues due to limited contrast and complex non-elastic tumor response. Caution should therefore be exercised when applying DIR for tumor changes in adaptive procedures.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Southwestern U.S. Biomass Burning Smoke Hygroscopicity: The Role of Plant Phenology, Chemical Composition, and Combustion Properties

Biomass burning emissions have substantially increased with continued warming and drying in the southwestern U.S., impacting air quality and atmospheric processes. To better quantify impacts of biomass burning aerosols, an extensive laboratory study of fresh smoke emissions was conducted at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Laboratory burn experiments with selected native and invasive southwestern U.S. fuels were used to elucidate the role of fuel type, chemical composition, and ignition method on the hygroscopicity of smoke. Here we focus on a custom controlled relative humidity (RH) nephelometry system using the direct measurement of aerosol light scattering with two nephelometers—one at dry conditions and one at a controlled high RH (RH ~ 85%). Aerosol hygroscopicity was highly variable with the enhancement in light scattering coefficient in the range of 1.02 < f (RH = 85%) < 2.1 and corresponding to the kappa parameter (κ neph ) ranging from ~0 to 0.18. Hygroscopicity is determined primarily by the fuel's inorganic ion content. For example, invasive halophytes with high inorganic salt content exhibit much greater water uptake than native coniferous species with low inorganic content. Combustion temperature and phase, flaming or smoldering, play a secondary role in the water uptake of smoke. High–temperature ignition methods create flaming conditions that enhance hygroscopicity while lower–temperature smoldering conditions diminish hygroscopicity. Our results construct an empirical relation between κ neph and the inorganic content of the fuel and smoke to predict water uptake.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗