Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Dimensionality Reduction”

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 1,315 records · Page 73
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Magnetic excitations in the quasi-two-dimensional ferromagnet Fe 3 - x GeTe 2 measured with inelastic neutron scattering

Fe 3-x GeTe 2 is an itinerant ferromagnet made up of of two-dimensional layers weakly connected by van der Waals bonding that shows a variety of intriguing phenomena. Inelastic neutron scattering measurements on bulk single crystals of Fe 2.75 GeTe 2 were performed to quantify the magnetic exchange interaction energies and anisotropy. The observed inelastic excitations, which extend to a maximum energy of ~75 meV, are indicative of dominant in-plane correlations with negligible magnetic interactions between the layers. A spin gap of 3.7 meV is observed, allowing a measure of the magnetic anisotropy. The excitations are damped, reflective of both the magnetic site occupancy reduction of 25% on one Fe sublattice and the itinerant interactions. A minimal model is employed to describe the excitation spectra and extract magnetic exchange interaction values. The temperature evolution of the excitations are probed and correlations shown to persist above T c , further indicating the low-dimensional nature of the magnetism.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS2012

Aeroelastic Modeling of Elastically Shaped Aircraft Concept via Wing Shaping Control for Drag Reduction

Lightweight aircraft design has received a considerable attention in recent years as a means for improving cruise efficiency. Reducing aircraft weight results in lower lift requirements which directly translate into lower drag, hence reduced engine thrust requirements during cruise. The use of lightweight materials such as advanced composite materials has been adopted by airframe manufacturers in current and future aircraft. Modern lightweight materials can provide less structural rigidity while maintaining load-carrying capacity. As structural flexibility increases, aeroelastic interactions with aerodynamic forces and moments become an increasingly important consideration in aircraft design and aerodynamic performance. Furthermore, aeroelastic interactions with flight dynamics can result in issues with vehicle stability and control. Abstract This paper describes a recent aeroelastic modeling effort for an elastically shaped aircraft concept (ESAC). The aircraft model is based on the rigid-body generic transport model (GTM) originally developed at NASA Langley Research Center. The ESAC distinguishes itself from the GTM in that it is equipped with highly flexible wing structures as a weight reduction design feature. More significantly, the wings are outfitted with a novel control effector concept called variable camber continuous trailing edge (VCCTE) flap system for active control of wing aeroelastic deflections to optimize the local angle of attack of wing sections for improved aerodynamic efficiency through cruise drag reduction and lift enhancement during take-off and landing. The VCCTE flap is a multi-functional and aerodynamically efficient device capable of achieving high lift-to-drag ratios. The flap system is comprised of three chordwise segments that form the variable camber feature of the flap and multiple spanwise segments that form a piecewise continuous trailing edge. By configuring the flap camber and trailing edge shape, drag reduction could be achieved. Moreover, some parts of the flap system can be made to have a high frequency response for roll control, gust load alleviation, and aeroservoelastic (ASE) modal suppression control. Abstract The aeroelastic model of the ESAC is based on one-dimensional structural dynamic theory that captures the aeroelastic deformation of a wing structure in a combined motion that involves flapwise bending, chordwise bending, and torsion. The model includes the effect of aircraft propulsion due to wing flexibility which causes the propulsive forces and moments to couple with the wing elastic motion. Engine mass is also accounted in the model. A fuel management model is developed to describe the wing mass change due to fuel usage in the main tank and wing tanks during cruise. Abstract The model computes both static and dynamic responses of the wing structures. The static aeroelastic deflections are used to estimate the effect of wing flexibility on induced drag and the potential drag reduction by the VCCTE flap system. A flutter analysis is conducted to estimate the flutter speed boundary. Gust load alleviation via adaptive control has been recently investigated to address flexibility of aircraft structures. A multi-objective flight control approach is presented for drag reduction control. The approach is based on an optimal control framework using a multi-objective cost function. Future studies will demonstrate the potential benefits of the approach.

Aeroelasticity↗
DOE OSTI2015

ND 2 AV: N-dimensional data analysis and visualization analysis for the National Ignition Campaign

Here, one of the biggest challenges in high-energy physics is to analyze a complex mix of experimental and simulation data to gain new insights into the underlying physics. Currently, this analysis relies primarily on the intuition of trained experts often using nothing more sophisticated than default scatter plots. Many advanced analysis techniques are not easily accessible to scientists and not flexible enough to explore the potentially interesting hypotheses in an intuitive manner. Furthermore, results from individual techniques are often difficult to integrate, leading to a confusing patchwork of analysis snippets too cumbersome for data exploration. This paper presents a case study on how a combination of techniques from statistics, machine learning, topology, and visualization can have a significant impact in the field of inertial confinement fusion. We present the $\mathrm{ND}^2\mathrm{AV}$: N-dimensional data analysis and visualization framework, a user-friendly tool aimed at exploiting the intuition and current workflow of the target users. The system integrates traditional analysis approaches such as dimension reduction and clustering with state-of-the-art techniques such as neighborhood graphs and topological analysis, and custom capabilities such as defining combined metrics on the fly. All components are linked into an interactive environment that enables an intuitive exploration of a wide variety of hypotheses while relating the results to concepts familiar to the users, such as scatter plots. $\mathrm{ND}^2\mathrm{AV}$ uses a modular design providing easy extensibility and customization for different applications. $\mathrm{ND}^2\mathrm{AV}$ is being actively used in the National Ignition Campaign and has already led to a number of unexpected discoveries.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Strong effect of liquid Fe–S on elastic wave velocity of olivine aggregate: Implication for the low velocity anomaly at the base of the lunar mantle

The origin of the seismic low velocity zone (LVZ) observed at the base of the lunar mantle is important for understanding the nature of the lunar mantle. Liquid Fe–S is considered as a possible candidate of the cause of the LVZ. However, effect of liquid Fe–S on elastic wave velocity of mantle rock has been considered to be minor, according to theoretical estimation based on the high dihedral angle of liquid Fe–S in olivine aggregate observed in previous microstructural analysis of polished sample cross sections. Here, in this work, we carry out direct measurements of elastic wave velocities of liquid Fe–S-bearing olivine aggregate and report strong reduction of the elastic wave velocities in the presence of liquid Fe–S. The effects of liquid Fe–S in olivine aggregates are much more pronounced than the theoretical estimation. Three-dimensional X-ray microtomography analysis reveals that the geometry of liquid Fe–S strongly depends on the size, with larger liquid Fe–S blobs having low aspect ratios, which may predominantly affect elastic wave velocity. Since smaller spherical Fe–S blobs are much more abundant than the larger elongated blobs, conventional dihedral angle analyses based on scanning electron microscope images tend to statistically over-sample smaller blobs and under-sample larger blobs. Our results suggest that the LVZ at the base of the lunar mantle can be explained by the presence of 4.3–5.0 vol.% liquid Fe–S. The LVZ may be a hidden reservoir of highly siderophile elements (HSEs), which may explain the low abundance of HSEs in the lunar mantle compared to the Earth.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Fe(III) and Cu(II) coordination polymers assembled from di/tris-phosphonic acid and auxiliary ligands: Structure, SOD-like activity and magnetic behavior

Hydrothermal reactions of (benzylazanediyl)bis(methylene)-diphosphonic acid (H{sub 4}L{sup 1}) or (benzene-1,3,5-triyltris(methylene))triphosphonic acid (H{sub 6}L{sup 2}) with Fe(III)/Cu(II) nitrate and 4, 4′-bipy or 2, 2′-bipy result in five new phosphonates, namely, [FeHL{sup 1}(H{sub 2}O)]{sub n} (1), {[Cu_2L"1(4, 4′-bipy)_0_._5(H_2O)]·0.25H_2O}{sub n} (2), [Cu{sub 2}H{sub 2}L{sup 2}(4, 4′-bipy)(H{sub 2}O){sub 2}]{sub n} (3), [CuH{sub 4}L{sup 2}(2, 2′-bipy)]{sub n} (4) and [Cu{sub 2}(H{sub 4}L{sup 2}){sub 2}(2, 2′-bipy){sub 2}(H{sub 2}O){sub 4}] (5), respectively. X-ray structural analysis indicates that 2 and 3 feature 3D framework structures with 3, 3, 3, 4-connected and 4, 5-connected topology; 1 and 4 display 1D chain structures, while 5 has a dimer structure. The di- or trisphosphonate ligands (H{sub 4}L{sup 1} and H{sub 6}L{sup 2}) in the five complexes adopt different coordination modes and auxiliary ligands (4, 4′-bipy and 2, 2′-bipy) control the dimensionality of the final complexes. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities of 2–5 were assessed by modified nitrobluetetrazolium (NBT) assay. The IC{sub 50} values required to yield 50% inhibition of the reduction of NBT are 1.84, 2.02, 6.95 and 1.70 μM for 2–5, respectively, demonstrating better SOD-like activity than most of the Cu-SOD mimic enzymes reported in literatures. Among them, 2 and 3 have good stability and reusability under the simulative physiological conditions. The dismutation of 4 and 5 toward superoxide anion radicals can be attributed to the synergistic effect of the decomposition products of 4 and 5 containing Cu(II) and [H{sub 4}L{sup 2}]{sup 2-} with or without 2, 2′-bipy or Cu(II) and 2, 2′-bipy, which were identified by liquid mass spectrometry (LC/MS). The magnetic properties of complexes 1–4 were also investigated, indicating the presence of magnetic exchange between metal ions. The results show that 1 and 3 exhibit antiferromagnetic interactions, while 2 and 4 show ferromagnetic interactions between metal centres.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Tailoring MoS 2 for Small-Molecule Electroreduction: The Role of Metal Doping and Heterostructures

The electrification of chemical transformations central to sustainable fuel production and waste valorization, such as overall water splitting (OWS), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and electrochemical reduction of CO 2 (CO 2 R), presents a powerful opportunity to advance carbon-neutral energy technologies. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), particularly MoS 2 , have emerged as promising electrocatalyst candidates, owing to their abundance, tunable active sites, and defect-rich structures. This review highlights recent progress in leveraging metal doping and heterostructure engineering of MoS 2 to enhance the electrocatalytic activity and selectivity. By compiling insights from experimental studies and density functional theory (DFT) predictions, we examine how defect creation, electronic structure modification, and interface design contribute to improved charge transport and catalytic efficiency. Particular emphasis is placed on rational design principles, synthetic strategies, and operando characterization methods that provide a pathway to understanding and optimizing MoS 2 -based materials. We also discuss the challenges of stability, mechanistic ambiguity, and scaling while outlining opportunities to bridge theory and experiment. Collectively, this review underscores how defect and heterostructure engineering of MoS 2 can accelerate the development of efficient, sustainable electrocatalysts for both fuel generation and waste-to-value generation.

CO2 reduction↗
DOE OSTI2017

Localization landscape theory of disorder in semiconductors. I. Theory and modeling

Here, we present here a model of carrier distribution and transport in semiconductor alloys accounting for quantum localization effects in disordered materials. This model is based on the recent development of a mathematical theory of quantum localization which introduces for each type of carrier a spatial function called localization landscape. These landscapes allow us to predict the localization regions of electron and hole quantum states, their corresponding energies, and the local densities of states. We show how the various outputs of these landscapes can be directly implemented into a drift-diffusion model of carrier transport and into the calculation of absorption/emission transitions. This creates a new computational model which accounts for disorder localization effects while also capturing two major effects of quantum mechanics, namely, the reduction of barrier height (tunneling effect) and the raising of energy ground states (quantum confinement effect), without having to solve the Schrödinger equation. Finally, this model is applied to several one-dimensional structures such as single quantum wells, ordered and disordered superlattices, or multiquantum wells, where comparisons with exact Schrödinger calculations demonstrate the excellent accuracy of the approximation provided by the landscape theory.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Rigid Band Shifts in Two-Dimensional Semiconductors through External Dielectric Screening

In this work, we investigate the effects of external dielectric screening on the electronic dispersion and the band gap in the atomically thin, quasi-two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor WS 2 using angle-resolved photoemission and optical spectroscopies, along with first-principles calculations. We find the main effect of increased external dielectric screening to be a reduction of the quasiparticle band gap, with rigid shifts to the bands themselves. Specifically, the band gap of monolayer WS 2 is decreased by about 140 meV on a graphite substrate as compared to a hexagonal boron nitride substrate, while the electronic dispersion of WS 2 remains unchanged within our experimental precision of 17 meV. These essentially rigid shifts of the valence and conduction bands result from the special spatial structure of the changes in the Coulomb potential induced by the dielectric environment of the monolayer.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Massively parallel direct numerical simulations of forced compressible turbulence: a hybrid MPI/OpenMP approach. In:XSEDE '12 Proceedings of the 1st Conference of the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment: Bridging from the eXtreme to the campus and beyond, Article No. 23

A highly scalable simulation code for turbulent flows which solves the fully compressible Navier-Stokes equations is presented. The code, which supports one, two and three dimensional domain decompositions is shown to scale well on up to 262,144 cores. Introducing multiple levels of parallelism based on distributed message passing and shared-memory paradigms results in a reduction of up to 33% of communication time at large core counts. The code has been used to generate a large database of homogeneous isotropic turbulence in a stationary state created by forcing the largest scales in the flow. The scaling of spectra of velocity and density fluctuations are presented. While the former follow classical theories strictly valid for incompressible flows, the latter presents a more complicated behavior. Fluctuations in velocity gradients and derived quantities exhibit extreme though rare fluctuations, a phenomenon known as intermittency. The simulations presented provide data to disentangle Reynolds and Mach number effects.

Jagannathan, Shriram↗
DOE OSTI2017

Combined Aero and Underhood Thermal Analysis for Heavy Duty Trucks

Aerodynamic analysis of the medium-duty delivery truck was performed to achieve vehicle design optimization. Three dimensional CFD simulations were carried out for several improved designs, with a detailed external component analysis of wheel covers, side skirts, roof fairings, and rounded trailer corners. The overall averaged aerodynamics drag reduction through the design modifications were shown up to 22.3% through aerodynamic considerations alone, which is equivalent to 11.16% fuel savings. The main identified fuel efficiencies were based on second generation devices, including wheel covers, side skirts, roof fairings, and rounded trailer corners. The important findings of this work were; (i) the optimum curvature radius of the rounded trailer edges found to be 125 mm, with an arc length of 196.3 mm, (ii) aerodynamic drag reduction increases with dropping clearance of side skirts between wheels and ground, and (iii) aerodynamic drag reduction increases with an extension of front bumper towards the ground.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Survey of Antihomology Research

Homology has been gaining traction as a tool for studying patterns in real-world datasets. During the past year, I have sought to understand a slight variant on the typical computation of homology of a metric space which we term antihomology . This exposition will survey that work. In section 2, I begin with findings from computations on samples from common spaces (the circle, the disc, and the square). Section 3 presents one conjecture and one lemma regarding 1-dimensional cycles on the circle with evenly space points and the circle with random sampling. In section 4, I applied antihomology to power grid datasets and compared results with more traditional data reduction techniques. Lastly, section 5 reveals the connection between antihomology and location covering problems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Molecular understanding of new-particle formation from α-pinene between -50 and +25 °C

Abstract. Highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs) contribute substantially to the formation and growth of atmospheric aerosol particles, which affect air quality, human health and Earth's climate. HOMs are formed by rapid, gas-phase autoxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as α-pinene, the most abundant monoterpene in the atmosphere. Due to their abundance and low volatility, HOMs can play an important role in new-particle formation (NPF) and the early growth of atmospheric aerosols, even without any further assistance of other low-volatility compounds such as sulfuric acid. Both the autoxidation reaction forming HOMs and their NPF rates are expected to be strongly dependent on temperature. However, experimental data on both effects are limited. Dedicated experiments were performed at the CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets) chamber at CERN to address this question. In this study, we show that a decrease in temperature (from +25 to -50°C) results in a reduced HOM yield and reduced oxidation state of the products, whereas the NPF rates (J1.7 nm) increase substantially. Measurements with two different chemical ionization mass spectrometers (using nitrate and protonated water as reagent ion, respectively) provide the molecular composition of the gaseous oxidation products, and a two-dimensional volatility basis set (2D VBS) model provides their volatility distribution. The HOM yield decreases with temperature from 6.2 % at 25°C to 0.7 % at -50°C. However, there is a strong reduction of the saturation vapor pressure of each oxidation state as the temperature is reduced. Overall, the reduction in volatility with temperature leads to an increase in the nucleation rates by up to 3 orders of magnitude at -50°C compared with 25°C. In addition, the enhancement of the nucleation rates by ions decreases with decreasing temperature, since the neutral molecular clusters have increased stability against evaporation. The resulting data quantify how the interplay between the temperature-dependent oxidation pathways and the associated vapor pressures affect biogenic NPF at the molecular level. Our measurements, therefore, improve our understanding of pure biogenic NPF for a wide range of tropospheric temperatures and precursor concentrations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1992

Navier-Stokes computation of wing leading edge tangential blowing for a tilt rotor in hover

The effect of a thin tangential jet located at the leading edge of the wing of a tilt rotor configuration in hover is computed using the thin-layer Navier-stokes equations. Computations showed that leading edge tangential blowing is effective in reducing the download caused by the impingement of the rotor download caused by the impingement of the rotor downwash on the wing. Results from the numerical model support previous experimental findings that download reduction is due mainly to a decrease in upper surface pressure and not an increase in pressure on the lower surface. The numerical solution clearly shows that because of the three-dimensionality of the flow field, the download could be reduced further by allowing a spanwise variation in blowing strength.

Fejtek, Ian↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA Tech Briefs, July 2013

Dielectrophoresis-Based Particle Sensor Using Nanoelectrode Arrays; Multi-Dimensional Damage Detection for Surfaces and Structures; ULTRA: Underwater Localization for Transit and Reconnaissance Autonomy; Autonomous Cryogenic Leak Detector for Improving Launch Site Operations; Submillimeter Planetary Atmospheric Chemistry Exploration Sounder; Method for Reduction of Silver Biocide Plating on Metal Surfaces; Silicon Micromachined Microlens Array for THz Antennas; Forward-Looking IED Detector Ground Penetrating Radar; Fully Printed, Flexible, Phased Array Antenna for Lunar Surface Communication, Battery Charge Equalizer with Transformer Array; An Efficient, Highly Flexible Multi-Channel Digital Downconverter Architecture; Dimmable Electronic Ballast for a Gas Discharge Lamp; Conductive Carbon Nanotube Inks for Use with Desktop Inkjet Printing Technology; Enhanced Schapery Theory Software Development for Modeling Failure of Fiber-Reinforced Laminates; High-Performance, Low-Temperature-Operating, Long-Lifetime Aerospace Lubricants; Carbon Nanotube Microarrays Grown on Nanoflake Substrates; Differential Muon Tomography to Continuously Monitor Changes in the Composition of Subsurface Fluids; Microgravity Drill and Anchor System; 20 Granular Media-Based Tunable Passive Vibration Suppressor; 21 Miga Aero Actuator and 2D Machined Mechanical Binary Latch; Micro-XRF for In Situ Geological Exploration of Other Planets; Hydrogen-Enhanced Lunar Oxygen Extraction and Storage Using Only Solar Power; Uplift of Ionospheric Oxygen Ions During Extreme Magnetic Storms; Miniaturized, High-Speed, Modulated X-Ray Source; Hollow-Fiber Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator 25 High-Power Single-Mode 2.65-micrometers InGaAsSb/AlInGaAsSb Diode Lasers; Optical Device for Converting a Laser Beam Into Two Co-aligned but Oppositely Directed Beams; A Hybrid Fiber/Solid-State Regenerative Amplifier with Tunable Pulse Widths for Satellite Laser Ranging; X-Ray Diffractive Optics; SynGenics Optimization System (SynOptSys); 29 CFD Script for Rapid TPS Damage Assessment; radEq Add-On Module for CFD Solver Loci-CHEM; Science Opportunity Analyzer (SOA) Version 8; 30 Autonomous Byte Stream Randomizer; Distributed Engine Control Empirical/Analytical Verification Tools; Dynamic Server-Based KML Code Generator Method for Level-of-Detail Traversal of Geospatial Data; Automated Planning of Science Products Based on Nadir Overflights and Alerts for Onboard and Ground Processing; Linked Autonomous Interplanetary Satellite Orbit Navigation; Risk-Constrained Dynamic Programming for Optimal Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing; Scheduling Operations for Massive Heterogeneous Clusters; Deepak Condenser Model (DeCoM); Flight Software Math Library; Recirculating 1-K-Pot for Pulse-Tube Cryostats; 35 Method for Processing Lunar Regolith Using Microwaves; Wells for In Situ Extraction of Volatiles from Regolith (WIEVR); and Estimating the Backup Reaction Wheel Orientation Using Reaction Wheel Spin Rates Flight Telemetry from a Spacecraft.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2021

Bridging cognitive gaps between user and model in interactive dimension reduction

Interactive machine learning (ML) systems are difficult to design because of the "Two Black Boxes" problem that exists at the interface between human and machine. Many algorithms that are used in interactive ML systems are black boxes that are presented to users, while the human cognition represents a second black box that can be difficult for the algorithm to interpret. These two black boxes create cognitive gaps between the user and the interactive ML model when a user interacts with the system. In this paper, we identify several cognitive gaps that exist in a previously-developed interactive visual analytics (VA) system, Andromeda. These cognitive gaps that we are addressing in Andromeda are representative of common problems in other VA systems. Our goal with this work is to open both black boxes and bridge these cognitive gaps by making improvements to the original Andromeda system, including designing new visual features to help people better understand how Andromeda processes and interacts with data and improving the underlying algorithm so that the Andromeda system can better understand the intent of the user during the data exploration process. We evaluate our designs through both qualitative and quantitative analysis (i.e., user study and simulation analysis), and the results confirm that the improved Andromeda system outperforms the original version significantly in a series of high-dimensional data understanding tasks.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1996

Three-dimensional organization of otolith-ocular reflexes in rhesus monkeys. II. Inertial detection of angular velocity

1. The dynamic contribution of otolith signals to three-dimensional angular vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) was studied during off-vertical axis rotations in rhesus monkeys. In an attempt to separate response components to head velocity from those to head position relative to gravity during low-frequency sinusoidal oscillations, large oscillation amplitudes were chosen such that peak-to-peak head displacements exceeded 360 degrees. Because the waveforms of head position and velocity differed in shape and frequency content, the particular head position and angular velocity sensitivity of otolith-ocular responses could be independently assessed. 2. During both constant velocity rotation and low-frequency sinusoidal oscillations, the otolith system generated two different types of oculomotor responses: 1) modulation of three-dimensional eye position and/or eye velocity as a function of head position relative to gravity, as presented in the preceding paper, and 2) slow-phase eye velocity as a function of head angular velocity. These two types of otolith-ocular responses have been analyzed separately. In this paper we focus on the angular velocity responses of the otolith system. 3. During constant velocity off-vertical axis rotations, a steady-state nystagmus was elicited that was maintained throughout rotation. During low-frequency sinusoidal off-vertical axis oscillations, dynamic otolith stimulation resulted primarily in a reduction of phase leads that characterize low-frequency VOR during earth-vertical axis rotations. Both of these effects are the result of an internally generated head angular velocity signal of otolithic origin that is coupled through a low-pass filter to the VOR. No change in either VOR gain or phase was observed at stimulus frequencies larger than 0.1 Hz. 4. The dynamic otolith contribution to low-frequency angular VOR exhibited three-dimensional response characteristics with some quantitative differences in the different response components. For horizontal VOR, the amplitude of the steady-state slow-phase velocity during constant velocity rotation and the reduction of phase leads during sinusoidal oscillation were relatively independent of tilt angle (for angles larger than approximately 10 degrees). For vertical and torsional VOR, the amplitude of steady-state slow-phase eye velocity during constant velocity rotation increased, and the phase leads during sinusoidal oscillation decreased with increasing tilt angle. The largest steady-state response amplitudes and smallest phase leads were observed during vertical/torsional VOR about an earth-horizontal axis. 5. The dynamic range of otolith-borne head angular velocity information in the VOR was limited to velocities up to approximately 110 degrees/s. Higher head velocities resulted in saturation and a decrease in the amplitude of the steady-state response components during constant velocity rotation and in increased phase leads during sinusoidal oscillations. 6. The response characteristics of otolith-borne angular VORs were also studied in animals after selective semicircular canal inactivation. Otolith angular VORs exhibited clear low-pass filtered properties with a corner frequency of approximately 0.05-0.1 Hz. Vectorial summation of canal VOR alone (elicited during earth-vertical axis rotations) and otolith VOR alone (elicited during off-vertical axis oscillations after semicircular canal inactivation) could not predict VOR gain and phase during off-vertical axis rotations in intact animals. This suggests a more complex interaction of semicircular canal and otolith signals. 7. The results of this study show that the primate low-frequency enhancement of VOR dynamics during off-vertical axis rotation is independent of a simultaneous activation of the vertical and torsional "tilt" otolith-ocular reflexes that have been characterized in the preceding paper. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED).

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗
DOE OSTI2012

Thermodynamics of Electron Flow in the Bacterial Deca-heme Cytochrome MtrF

Electron transporting multiheme cytochromes are essential to the metabolism of microbes that inhabit soils and carry out important biogeochemical processes. Recently the first crystal structure of a prototype bacterial deca-heme cytochrome (MtrF) has been resolved and its electrochemistry characterized. However, the molecular details of electron conductance along heme chains in the cytochrome are difficult to access via experiment due to the nearly identical chemical nature of the heme cofactors. Here we employ large-scale molecular dynamics simulations to compute the reduction potentials of the ten hemes of MtrF in aqueous solution. We find that as a whole they fall within a range of about 0.3 V in agreement with experiment. Individual reduction potentials give rise to a free energy profile for electron conduction that is approximately symmetric with respect to the center of the protein. Our calculations indicate that there is no significant potential bias along the orthogonal octa- and tetra-heme chains suggesting that under aqueous conditions MtrF is a nearly reversible two-dimensional conductor.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Hamiltonian and action formalisms for two-dimensional gyroviscous magnetohydrodynamics

A general procedure for constructing action principles for continuum models via a generalization of Hamilton's principle of mechanics is described. Through the procedure, an action principle for a gyroviscous magnetohydrodynamics model is constructed. The model is shown to agree with a reduced version of Braginskii's fluid equations. The construction reveals the origin of the gyromap, a device used to derive previous gyrofluid models. Also, a systematic reduction procedure is presented for obtaining the Hamiltonian structure in terms of the noncanonical Poisson bracket. The construction procedure yields a class of Casimir invariants, which are then used to construct variational principles for equilibrium equations with flow and gyroviscosity. The procedure for obtaining reduced fluid models with gyroviscosity is also described.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗