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At least 1,423 records · Page 79
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Adsorption Studies of Dimetridazole and Metronidazole onto Biochar Derived from Sugarcane Bagasse: Kinetic, Equilibrium, and Mechanisms

Biochar derived from sugarcane bagasse was prepared at different pyrolysis temperatures and holding times for adsorption of dimetridazole and metronidazole from aqueous solution. The optimal pyrolysis temperature and holding time were 500 °C and 120 min, respectively. The removal efficiencies of dimetridazole and metronidazole were 98.0% and 88.8%, respectively, at biochar dosage of 4.0 g L{sup −1} and solution temperature of 30 °C. Kinetics data were fitted by four kinetics models, and results indicated that adsorption was governed by pseudo-second-order kinetics. Adsorption is a multi-step process that involves film diffusion and pore filling. In addition, five isotherm models were employed to describe the adsorption equilibrium. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller model presented better fitting for the adsorption equilibrium, and the maximum adsorption capacities were 72.17 and 23.61 mg g{sup − 1} for dimetridazole and metronidazole, respectively. The calculated values of ΔG{sup 0} and ΔH{sup 0} indicated the non-spontaneous and exothermic nature of the adsorption process at the range of temperature studied. Thermodynamic studies also revealed that physical and chemical adsorptions were co-action. The adsorption mechanisms of dimetridazole and metronidazole onto biochar were mainly hydrogen bonding and π–π interaction. All the results revealed that sugarcane bagasse biochar can be used as alternative to costly adsorbents for the removal of dimetridazole and metronidazole from aqueous solution.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Kinetic model for quartz and spinel dissolution during melting of high-level-waste glass batch

The dissolution of quartz particles and the growth and dissolution of crystalline phases during the conversion of batch to glass potentially affects both the glass melting process and product quality. Crystals of spinel exiting the cold cap to molten glass below can be troublesome during the vitrification of iron-containing high-level wastes. To estimate the distribution of quartz and spinel fractions within the cold cap, we used kinetic models that relate fractions of these phases to temperature and heating rate. Fitting the model equations to data showed that the heating rate, apart from affecting quartz and spinel behavior directly, also affects them indirectly via concurrent processes, such as the formation and motion of bubbles. Because of these indirect effects, it was necessary to allow one kinetic parameter (the pre-exponential factor) to vary with the heating rate. The resulting kinetic equations are sufficiently simple for the detailed modeling of batch-to-glass conversion as it occurs in glass melters. The estimated fractions and sizes of quartz and spinel particles as they leave the cold cap, determined in this study, will provide the source terms needed for modeling the behavior of these solid particles within the flow of molten glass in the melter.

Batch melting, Cold cap, Quartz, Spinel, Waste gla↗
DOE OSTI2022

The dark matter halo masses of elliptical galaxies as a function of observationally robust quantities

Context. The assembly history of the stellar component of a massive elliptical galaxy is closely related to that of its dark matter halo. Measuring how the properties of galaxies correlate with their halo mass can therefore help to understand their evolution. Aims. We investigate how the dark matter halo mass of elliptical galaxies varies as a function of their properties, using weak gravitational lensing observations. To minimise the chances of biases, we focus on the following galaxy properties that can be determined robustly: the surface brightness profile and the colour. Methods. We selected 2409 central massive elliptical galaxies (log M*/M ⊙ ≳ 11.4) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopic sample. We first measured their surface brightness profile and colours by fitting Sérsic models to photometric data from the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS). We fitted their halo mass distribution as a function of redshift, rest-frame r-band luminosity, half-light radius, and rest-frame u - g colour, using KiDS weak lensing measurements and a Bayesian hierarchical approach. For the sake of robustness with respect to assumptions on the large-radii behaviour of the surface brightness, we repeated the analysis replacing the total luminosity and half-light radius with the luminosity within a 10 kpc aperture, L r, 10 , and the light-weighted surface brightness slope, Γ 10 . Results. We did not detect any correlation between the halo mass and either the half-light radius or colour at fixed redshift and luminosity. Using the robust surface brightness parameterisation, we found that the halo mass correlates weakly with L r,10 and anti-correlates with Γ 10 . At fixed redshift, L r, 10 and Γ 10 , the difference in the average halo mass between galaxies at the 84th percentile and 16th percentile of the colour distribution is 0.00 ± 0.11 dex. Conclusion. Our results indicate that the average star formation efficiency of massive elliptical galaxies has little dependence on their final size or colour. This suggests that the origin of the diversity in the size and colour distribution of these objects lies with properties other than the halo mass.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

High-frequency characterization of thermionic charge transport in silicon-on-insulator nanowire transistors

We report on DC and microwave electrical transport measurements in silicon-on-insulator nano-transistors at low and room temperature. At low source-drain voltage, the DC current and radio frequency response show signs of conductance quantization. We attribute this to Coulomb blockade resulting from barriers formed at the spacer-gate interfaces. We show that at high bias transport occurs thermionically over the highest barrier: Transconductance traces obtained from microwave scattering-parameter measurements at liquid helium and room temperature are accurately fitted by a thermionic model. From the fits we deduce the ratio of gate capacitance and quantum capacitance, as well as the electron temperature.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Radial velocity variations of photometrically quiet, chromospherically inactive Kepler stars: A link between RV jitter and photometric flicker

We compare stellar photometric variability, as measured from Kepler light curves by Basri et al., with measurements of radial velocity (RV) rms variations of all California Planet Search overlap stars. We newly derive rotation periods from the Kepler light curves for all of the stars in our study sample. The RV variations reported herein range from less than 4 to 135 m s{sup –1}, yet the stars all have amplitudes of photometric variability less than 3 mmag, reflecting the preference of the RV program for chromospherically 'quiet' stars. Despite the small size of our sample, we find with high statistical significance that the RV rms manifests strongly in the Fourier power spectrum of the light curve: stars that are noisier in RV have a greater number of frequency components in the light curve. We also find that spot models of the observed light curves systematically underpredict the observed RV variations by factors of ∼2-1000, likely because the low-level photometric variations in our sample are driven by processes not included in simple spot models. The stars best fit by these models tend to have simpler light curves, dominated by a single relatively high-amplitude component of variability. Finally, we demonstrate that the RV rms behavior of our sample can be explained in the context of the photometric variability evolutionary diagram introduced by Bastien et al. We use this diagram to derive the surface gravities of the stars in our sample, revealing many of them to have moved off the main sequence. More generally, we find that the stars with the largest RV rms are those that have evolved onto the 'flicker floor' sequence in that diagram, characterized by relatively low amplitude but highly complex photometric variations which grow as the stars evolve to become subgiants.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

ALMA MEASUREMENTS OF THE HNC AND HC{sub 3}N DISTRIBUTIONS IN TITAN'S ATMOSPHERE

We present spectrally and spatially resolved maps of HNC and HC{sub 3}N emission from Titan's atmosphere, obtained using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array on 2013 November 17. These maps show anisotropic spatial distributions for both molecules, with resolved emission peaks in Titan's northern and southern hemispheres. The HC{sub 3}N maps indicate enhanced concentrations of this molecule over the poles, consistent with previous studies of Titan's photochemistry and atmospheric circulation. Differences between the spectrally integrated flux distributions of HNC and HC{sub 3}N show that these species are not co-spatial. The observed spectral line shapes are consistent with HNC being concentrated predominantly in the mesosphere and above (at altitudes z ≳ 400 km), whereas HC{sub 3}N is abundant at a broader range of altitudes (z ≈ 70-600 km). From spatial variations in the HC{sub 3}N line profile, the locations of the HC{sub 3}N emission peaks are shown to be variable as a function of altitude. The peaks in the integrated emission from HNC and the line core (upper atmosphere) component of HC{sub 3}N (at z ≳ 300 km) are found to be asymmetric with respect to Titan's polar axis, indicating that the mesosphere may be more longitudinally variable than previously thought. The spatially integrated HNC and HC{sub 3}N spectra are modeled using the NEMESIS planetary atmosphere code and the resulting best-fitting disk-averaged vertical mixing ratio profiles are found to be in reasonable agreement with previous measurements for these species. Vertical column densities of the best-fitting gradient models for HNC and HC{sub 3}N are 1.9 × 10{sup 13} cm{sup –2} and 2.3 × 10{sup 14} cm{sup –2}, respectively.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

The GMRT archive atomic gas survey – II. Mass modelling and dark matter halo properties across late-type spirals

Studying the kinematics and mass modelling of galaxies from H i 21 cm data provides valuable insights into the properties of both the baryonic components and the dark matter halo in nearby galaxies. Despite many observational studies, mass modelling of galaxies remains challenging due to different limitations. For example, most of the previous studies involving mass modelling are based on rotation curves derived from 2D velocity fields from H i or H α spectroscopic observation which are often affected by beam smearing and projection effect. However, kinematic modelling done by fitting the ‘Tilted ring model’ to 3D data cube is not affected by these issues. In this study, we present and compare 3D kinematic modelling of a pilot sample of 11 galaxies from the GMRT archive atomic gas survey (GARCIA) using two different publicly available pipelines. We model the observed H i rotation curve using 3.6-μm infrared data and SDSS r-band data for stellar contribution, H i surface density profile for gas, and Navarro–Frenk–White profile for dark matter halo; and employ the Markov chain Monte Carlo optimization method for parameter estimation. Further, to validate our analysis, we revisit important scaling relations, e.g. the M gas –M star relation, M star –M halo relation, M gas –M halo relation and Baryonic Tully–Fisher relation. Here, the scaling relations from our analysis are broadly consistent with that reported in the literature. A larger sample of galaxies from GARCIA in the near future will allow studying these scaling relations in greater details.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Connecting relativistic density functional theory to microscopic calculations

The development of systematic effective field theories (EFTs) for nuclear forces and advances in solving the nuclear many-body problem have greatly improved our understanding of dense nuclear matter and the structure of finite nuclei. For global nuclear calculations, density functional theories (DFTs) have been developed to reduce the complexity and computational cost required in describing nuclear systems. However, DFT often makes approximations and assumptions about terms included in the functional, which may introduce systematic uncertainties compared to microscopic calculations using EFTs. In this work, we investigate possible avenues of improving nuclear DFT using nonlinear relativistic mean-field (RMF) theory. We explore the impact of RMF model extensions by fitting the nonlinear RMF model to predictions of nuclear matter and selected closed-shell nuclei using four successful chiral EFT Hamiltonians. We find that these model extensions are impactful and important in capturing the physics present within chiral Hamiltonians, particularly for charge radii and neutron skins of closed-shell nuclei. However, there are additional effects that are not captured within the RMF model, particularly within the isoscalar sector of RMF theory. Additional model extensions and the reliability of the nonlinear RMF model are discussed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Real-space refinement in PHENIX for cryo-EM and crystallography

This article describes the implementation of real-space refinement in the phenix.real_space_refine program from the PHENIX suite. The use of a simplified refinement target function enables very fast calculation, which in turn makes it possible to identify optimal data-restraint weights as part of routine refinements with little runtime cost. Refinement of atomic models against low-resolution data benefits from the inclusion of as much additional information as is available. In addition to standard restraints on covalent geometry, phenix.real_space_refine makes use of extra information such as secondary-structure and rotamer-specific restraints, as well as restraints or constraints on internal molecular symmetry. The re-refinement of 385 cryo-EM-derived models available in the Protein Data Bank at resolutions of 6 Å or better shows significant improvement of the models and of the fit of these models to the target maps.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

The weakly nonlinear response and nonaffine interpretation of the Johnson–Segalman/Gordon–Schowalter model

We derive new analytical solutions for the non-affine Johnson-Segalman/Gordon-Schowalter (JS/GS) constitutive equation with a general relaxation kernel in medium-amplitude oscillatory shear (MAOS) deformation. The results show time-strain separable (TSS) nonlinearity, therefore providing new physically-meaningful interpretation to the heuristic TSS nonlinear parameter in MAOS. The upper-convected, lower-convected, and corotational Maxwell models are all subsets of the results presented here. The model assumes that the microscale elements causing stress in the material slip compared to the continuum deformation. We introduce a visualization of the non-affine deformation field that acts on stress-generating elements to reinforce the hysical interpretation of the JS/GS class of models. Lastly, a case study is presented where previously published results, from fitting TSS models to MAOS data, can be re-interpreted based on the concept of non-affine motion of the JS/GS framework.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Antibody Responses during Hepatitis B Viral Infection

Hepatitis B is a DNA virus that infects liver cells and can cause both acute and chronic disease. It is believed that both viral and host factors are responsible for determining whether the infection is cleared or becomes chronic. Here we investigate the mechanism of protection by developing a mathematical model of the antibody response following hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. We fitted the model to data from seven infected adults identified during acute infection and determined the ability of the virus to escape neutralization through overproduction of non-infectious subviral particles, which have HBs proteins on their surface, but do not contain nucleocapsid protein and viral nucleic acids. We showed that viral clearance can be achieved for high anti-HBV antibody levels, as in vaccinated individuals, when: (1) the rate of synthesis of hepatitis B subviral particles is slow; (2) the rate of synthesis of hepatitis B subviral particles is high but either anti-HBV antibody production is fast, the antibody affinity is high, or the levels of pre-existent HBV-specific antibody at the time of infection are high, as could be attained by vaccination. We further showed that viral clearance can be achieved for low equilibrium antiHBV antibody levels, as in unvaccinated individuals, when a strong cellular immune response controls early infection.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Stellar Mass and Stellar Mass-to-light Ratio–Color Relations for Low Surface Brightness Galaxies

We estimate the stellar mass for a sample of low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) by fitting their multiband spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to the stellar population synthesis model. The derived stellar masses (log M {sub *}/M {sub ⊙}) span from 7.1 to 11.1, with a mean of log M {sub *}/M {sub ⊙} = 8.5, which is lower than that for normal galaxies. The stellar mass-to-light ratio (γ*) in each band varies little with the absolute magnitude but increases with higher M {sub *}. This trend of γ* with M {sub *} is even stronger in bluer bands. In addition, the γ* for our LSBGs slightly declines from the r band to the longer-wavelength bands. The log γ{sub ∗}{sup j} (j = g, r, i, and z) have relatively tight relations with optical colors of g − r and g − i. Compared with several representative γ*–color relations (MLCRs) from the literature, our MLCRs based on LSBG data are consistently among those literature MLCRs previously defined on diverse galaxy samples, and the existing minor differences between the MLCRs are caused by the differences in the SED model ingredients (including initial mass function, star formation history, and stellar population model), line fitting techniques, galaxy samples, and photometric zero-point, rather than the galaxy surface brightness itself, which distinguishes LSBGs from high surface brightness galaxies. Our LSBGs would be very likely to follow those representative MLCRs previously defined in diverse galaxy populations, if those main ingredients were taken into account.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1979

The magnetic field of Mercury

Data from Mariner 10 observations of Mercury indicate that there exists an intrinsic magnetic field of the planet, sufficiently strong at present to deflect the solar wind flow around the planet and to form a detached bow shock wave in the super Alfvenic solar wind. Four methods used to analyze the magnetic field data and derive quantitative values for the description of the planetary field include (1) comparison of bow shock and magnetopause relative positions at Mercury to those at Earth; (2) direct spherical harmonic analysis of the data; (3) modeling of the magnetosphere by an image dipole and infinite 2-D current sheet in addition to the planetary field; and (4) scaling of a mathematical model for the terrestrial magnetosphere. The results obtained yield dipole moments ranging from 2.4 to 5.1x10 to the 22d power, with the lower values associated cw cm with certain models using partial quadrupole and octupole terms to improve the least squares fitting of models to observations.

Ness, N. F.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The debate over the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary

Large-body impact on the Earth is a rare but indisputable geologic process. The impact rate is approximately known from objects discovered in Earth-crossing orbits and from the statistics of craters on the Earth's surface. Tektite and microtektite strewn fields constitute unmistakable ejecta deposits that can be due only to large-body impacts. The Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary coincides with an unusually severe biological trauma, and this stratigraphic horizon is marked on a worldwide basis by anomalous concentrations of noble metals in chondritic proportions, mineral spherules with relict quench-crystallization textures, and mineral and rock grains showing shock deformation. These features are precisely compatible with an impact origin. Although only impact explains all the types of K-T boundary evidence, the story may not be as simple as once thought. The original hypothesis envisioned one large impact, triggering one great extinction. Newer evidence hints at various complications. Different challenges are faced by the occupants of each apex of a three-cornered argument over the K-T event. Proponents of a non-impact explanation must show that the evidence fits their preferred model better than it fits the impact scenario. Proponents of the single impact-single extinction view must explain away the complications. Proponents of a more complex impact crisis must develop a reasonable scenario which honors the new evidence.

Alvarez, W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Video transmission on ATM networks

The broadband integrated services digital network (B-ISDN) is expected to provide high-speed and flexible multimedia applications. Multimedia includes data, graphics, image, voice, and video. Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is the adopted transport techniques for B-ISDN and has the potential for providing a more efficient and integrated environment for multimedia. It is believed that most broadband applications will make heavy use of visual information. The prospect of wide spread use of image and video communication has led to interest in coding algorithms for reducing bandwidth requirements and improving image quality. The major results of a study on the bridging of network transmission performance and video coding are: Using two representative video sequences, several video source models are developed. The fitness of these models are validated through the use of statistical tests and network queuing performance. A dual leaky bucket algorithm is proposed as an effective network policing function. The concept of the dual leaky bucket algorithm can be applied to a prioritized coding approach to achieve transmission efficiency. A mapping of the performance/control parameters at the network level into equivalent parameters at the video coding level is developed. Based on that, a complete set of principles for the design of video codecs for network transmission is proposed.

Chen, Yun-Chung↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Impact of Truth Surrogate Variance on Quality Assessment/Assurance in Wind Tunnel Testing

Minimum data volume requirements for wind tunnel testing are reviewed and shown to depend on error tolerance, response model complexity, random error variance in the measurement environment, and maximum acceptable levels of inference error risk. Distinctions are made between such related concepts as quality assurance and quality assessment in response surface modeling, as well as between precision and accuracy. Earlier research on the scaling of wind tunnel tests is extended to account for variance in the truth surrogates used at confirmation sites in the design space to validate proposed response models. A model adequacy metric is presented that represents the fraction of the design space within which model predictions can be expected to satisfy prescribed quality specifications. The impact of inference error on the assessment of response model residuals is reviewed. The number of sites where reasonably well-fitted response models actually predict inadequately is shown to be considerably less than the number of sites where residuals are out of tolerance. The significance of such inference error effects on common response model assessment strategies is examined.

DeLoach, Richard↗
NASA NTRS2014

Alma Measurements of the HNC and HC3N Distributions in Titan's Atmosphere

We present spectrally and spatially resolved maps of HNC and HC3N emission from Titan's atmosphere, obtained using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array on 2013 November 17. These maps show anisotropic spatial distributions for both molecules, with resolved emission peaks in Titan's northern and southern hemispheres. TheHC3N maps indicate enhanced concentrations of this molecule over the poles, consistent with previous studies of Titan's photochemistry and atmospheric circulation. Differences between the spectrally integrated flux distributions of HNC and HC3N show that these species are not co-spatial. The observed spectral line shapes are consistent with HNC being concentrated predominantly in the mesosphere and above (at altitudes z approx.. greater than 400 km), whereas HC3N is abundant at a broader range of altitudes (z approx. equal to 70-600 km). From spatial variations in the HC3N line profile, the locations of the HC3N emission peaks are shown to be variable as a function of altitude. The peaks in the integrated emission from HNC and the line core (upper atmosphere) component of HC3N (at z approx. greater than 300 km) are found to be asymmetric with respect to Titan's polar axis, indicating that the mesosphere may be more longitudinally variable than previously thought. The spatially integrated HNC and HC3N spectra are modeled using the NEMESIS planetary atmosphere code and the resulting best-fitting disk-averaged vertical mixing ratio profiles are found to be in reasonable agreement with previous measurements for these species. Vertical column densities of the best-fitting gradient models for HNC and HC3N are 1.9 × 10(exp 13) per sq.cm and 2.3 × 10(exp 14) per sq.cm, respectively.

ALMA Telescope↗
NASA NTRS2019

Quantifying the Influence of Redox Conditions on the Seismic Properties of Olivine

A series of eight olivine specimens were fabricated by hot-pressing at 1200 degrees Celsius and 300 megapascals (MPa). Each hot-pressed specimen was then wrapped in Pt, Ni or NiFe foil to vary oxygen fugacity (fO2), and interrogated via forced torsional oscillation. Mechanical testing was conducted at 10 oscillation periods between 1 and 1000 seconds, at a confining pressure of 200 MPa, during a slow staged-cooling from a maximum temperature of 1200 degrees Celsius to room temperature. After mechanical testing, each specimen was axially sectioned and EBSD (Electron BackScatter Diffraction) was used for the determination of the representative grain size, and grain size distribution of each sample. In addition, each longitudinal section was mapped via FTIR (Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy) to determine the spatial distribution and concentrations of chemically bound and molecular water. Amongst these specimens, chemically bound ‘water’ contents were observed to vary between 0 and 1150 atom ppm (parts per million) H/Si, and molecular water concentrations varied between 0 and 245 atom ppm H/Si. Our forced-oscillation results demonstrate that the measured magnitude of anelastic relaxation within the experimental ‘window’ of oscillation periods is unrelated to the water content. Rather, a relationship was observed between the magnitude of anelastic relaxation and the prevailing redox conditions, which is influenced by the choice of metal sleeving used during the mechanical test. Further, regardless of water content or metal sleeving, each specimen exhibits coupled variations in shear modulus and dissipation within the observational window, indicative of ‘high-temperature background’ behavior, that can be described by a Burgers-type model. During initial fitting of the Burgers models, the unrelaxed shear modulus at a reference temperature of 900 degrees Celsius (G (sub UR)) and the temperature derivative of the unrelaxed shear modulus (dG (sub U)/dT), were treated as adjustable parameters. For all Fe-bearing olivine samples (but not a hydrous and oxidized Fe-free sample) we observe deficits of G (sub UR), and increased values of dG (sub U)/dT, relative to the expected elastic (anharmonic) behavior of Fo90 olivine. This behavior is indicative of anelastic relaxation occurring at shorter periods than observable within the ‘window’ of oscillation periods used in the mechanical test. Moving towards a comprehensive seismologically applicable Burgers model, which includes this newly observed effect of redox conditions on anelastic relaxation, we will present our progress in reconciling truly anharmonic and elastic behavior of Fo (sub 90) olivine with our observed forced-oscillation data.

Cline, Christopher, II↗