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At least 1,531 records · Page 85

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2018

Inventory and Waste Characterization Status Report and OWL Update.

This report represents completion of milestone deliverable M2SF-18SNO10309013 "Inventory and Waste Characterization Status Report and OWL Update that reports on FY2018 activities for the work package (WP) SF-18SNO1030901. This report provides the detailed final information for completed FY2018 work activities for WP SF-18SN01030901, and a summary of priorities for FY2019. This status report on FY2018 activities includes evaluations of waste form characteristics and waste form performance models, updates to the OWL development, and descriptions of the two planned management processes for the OWL. Updates to the OWL include an updated user's guide, additions to the OWL database content for wastes and waste forms, results of the Beta testing and changes implemented from it. There are two processes being planned in FY2018, which will be implemented in FY2019. One process covers methods for interfacing with the DOE SNF DB (DOE 2007) at INL on the numerous entries for DOE managed SNF, and the other process covers the management of updates to, and version control/archiving of, the OWL database. In FY2018, we have pursued three studies to evaluate/redefine waste form characteristics and/or performance models. First characteristic isotopic ratios for various waste forms included in postclosure performance studies are being evaluated to delineate isotope ratio tags that quantitatively identify each particular waste form. This evaluation arose due to questions regarding the relative contributions of radionuclides from disparate waste forms in GDSA results, particularly, radionuclide contributions of DOE-managed SNF vs HLW glass. In our second study we are evaluating the bases of glass waste degradation rate models to the HIP calcine waste form. The HIP calcine may likely be a ceramic matrix material, with multiple ceramic phases with/without a glass phase. The ceramic phases are likely to have different degradation performance from the glass portion. The distribution of radionuclides among those various phases may also be a factor in the radionuclide release rates. Additionally, we have an ongoing investigation of the performance behavior of TRISO particle fuels and are developing a stochastic model for the degradation of those fuels that accounts for simultaneous corrosion of the silicon carbide (SiC) layer and radionuclide diffusion through it. The detailed model of the TRISO particles themselves, will be merged with models of the degradation behavior(s) of the graphite matrix (either prismatic compacts or spherical "pebbles") containing the particles and the hexagonal graphite elements holding the compacts.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2018

Determining Off-Cycle Fuel Economy Benefits of 2-Layer HVAC Technology

This work presents a methodology to determine the off-cycle fuel economy benefit of a 2-Layer HVAC system which reduces ventilation and heat rejection losses of the heater core versus a vehicle using a standard system. Experimental dynamometer tests using EPA drive cycles over a broad range of ambient temperatures were conducted on a highly instrumented 2016 Lexus RX350 (3.5L, 8 speed automatic). These tests were conducted to measure differences in engine efficiency caused by changes in engine warmup due to the 2-Layer HVAC technology in use versus the technology being disabled (disabled equals fresh air-considered as the standard technology baseline). These experimental datasets were used to develop simplified response surface and lumped capacitance vehicle thermal models predictive of vehicle efficiency as a function of thermal state. These vehicle models were integrated into a database of measured on road testing and coupled with U.S. typical meteorological data to simulate vehicle efficiency across seasonal thermal and operational conditions for hundreds of thousands of drive cycles. Fuel economy benefits utilizing the 2-Layer HVAC technology are presented in addition to goodness of fit statistics of the modeling approach relative to the experimental test data.

2-layer technology↗

NASA NTRS1989

Cloud field classification based on textural features

An essential component in global climate research is accurate cloud cover and type determination. Of the two approaches to texture-based classification (statistical and textural), only the former is effective in the classification of natural scenes such as land, ocean, and atmosphere. In the statistical approach that was adopted, parameters characterizing the stochastic properties of the spatial distribution of grey levels in an image are estimated and then used as features for cloud classification. Two types of textural measures were used. One is based on the distribution of the grey level difference vector (GLDV), and the other on a set of textural features derived from the MaxMin cooccurrence matrix (MMCM). The GLDV method looks at the difference D of grey levels at pixels separated by a horizontal distance d and computes several statistics based on this distribution. These are then used as features in subsequent classification. The MaxMin tectural features on the other hand are based on the MMCM, a matrix whose (I,J)th entry give the relative frequency of occurrences of the grey level pair (I,J) that are consecutive and thresholded local extremes separated by a given pixel distance d. Textural measures are then computed based on this matrix in much the same manner as is done in texture computation using the grey level cooccurrence matrix. The database consists of 37 cloud field scenes from LANDSAT imagery using a near IR visible channel. The classification algorithm used is the well known Stepwise Discriminant Analysis. The overall accuracy was estimated by the percentage or correct classifications in each case. It turns out that both types of classifiers, at their best combination of features, and at any given spatial resolution give approximately the same classification accuracy. A neural network based classifier with a feed forward architecture and a back propagation training algorithm is used to increase the classification accuracy, using these two classes of features. Preliminary results based on the GLDV textural features alone look promising.

Sengupta, Sailes Kumar↗

NASA NTRS2022

The hierarchical organization of autocatalytic reaction networks and its relevance to origin of life

Abiogenesis has long been suspected to require that chemical reaction networks contain multiple autocatalytic cores, but little is known about what features of these networks allow for the gradual accretion of complexity. To identify realistic scenarios for the emergence of life-like properties, we develop the concept of a seed-dependent autocatalytic system (SDAS), which is a subnetwork that can autocatalytically self-maintain given a flux of food, but cannot be initiated by food alone. Rather, initiation of SDASs requires the transient introduction of chemical “seeds”. We show that, depending on the topological relationship of SDASs in a chemical reaction network, a food-driven system can accrete complexity in a historically contingent manner, governed by rare seeding events. We develop new algorithms for detecting and analyzing SDASs in chemical reaction databases and describe parallels between multi-SDAS networks and biological ecosystems. Applying our algorithms to both an abiotic reaction network and a biochemical one, each driven by a set of simple food chemicals, we detect SDASs that are organized as trophic tiers, of which the higher tier can be seeded by relatively simple chemicals if the lower tier is already activated. This indicates that sequential activation of trophically organized SDASs by seed chemicals that are not much more complex than what already exist could be a mechanism of gradual complexification from relatively simple abiotic reactions to more complex life-like systems. Interestingly, in both reaction networks, higher-tier SDASs include chemicals that might alter emergent features of chemical systems and could serve as early targets of selection. Our analysis provides computational tools for analyzing very large chemical/biochemical reaction networks and suggests new approaches to studying abiogenesis in the lab.

Zhen Peng↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Improving Simulation of Irrigation in a Global Land Surface Model

Studies have shown that irrigated agriculture has substantial effects on local to regional hydrologic and atmospheric processes. These effects include increased evapotranspiration and near surface humidity, decreased air and ground temperature, augmented downwind precipitation, enhanced recharge, depletion of source water stocks, and overall changes to the regional water budget. However, developers of global offline and coupled modeling systems have been slow to incorporate irrigation. This presentation will describe progress towards simulating irrigation worldwide in the Land Information System (LIS) and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS). We have developed and refined the ability to simulate sprinkler irrigation, furrow irrigation, paddy irrigation, and drip irrigation. We have reconciled multiple global and national irrigation, land cover, and crop type databases in an effort to (1) distinguish irrigated and rainfed agriculture, (2) simulate the proper distribution of crops (as sub-grid tiles) in each model grid pixel, and (3) apply the most likely irrigation method in each tile based on the crop type and country or state level information on the relative usage of sprinkler, flood, and drip irrigation. Using agricultural water withdrawal data, as available, for calibration and evaluation, we show that the implemented approach is promising but that much fine tuning remains to be done. In particular, irrigation model parameters that produce good results in one location often produce less satisfying results in others.

Matthew Rodell↗

DOE OSTI2016

Evaluation of interfacial area transport models for horizontal bubbly flow

This paper presents evaluation results of interfacial area transport equation (IATE) for horizontal air-water bubbly flow. The steady-state one-dimensional, one-group IATE for adiabatic air-water bubbly flow developed by Talley [1] is employed in the current evaluation study. The models evaluated include: (a) drift-flux-based closure relations for void-weighted bubble velocity and void fraction; (b) frictional pressure drop model based on the Lockhart-Martinelli approach; (c) bubble interaction mechanisms; and (d) covariance associated with asymmetric bubble distribution in horizontal two-phase flow. In order to evaluate the models, a local two-phase flow database obtained by the four-sensor conductivity probe in fourteen different test conditions is employed, which covers a wide range of flow conditions in horizontal bubbly flow regime, with superficial liquid and gas velocities ranging from 3.50-6.00 m/s and 0.09- 1.00 m/s, respectively. It is demonstrated that both the void weighted bubble velocity and void fraction are predicted well with an average percent difference of ±2.7%. The fictional pressure loss can be predicted with an average percent difference of ±1.12%. The covariance parameters calculated from the modeling approach generally compare well with those calculated from experimental data within ±20% difference. It is found that the IATE generally predicts the measured interfacial area concentration with an average percent difference of ±5.7%. Furthermore, the effect of liquid velocity on individual bubble interaction mechanisms is investigated. It is found that both the contributions of random collision and turbulent impact decrease as liquid velocity decreases. (authors)

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2018

Evaluation of trace elements in U.S. coals using the USGS COALQUAL database version 3.0. Part II: Non-REY critical elements

Coal is a potential source of some valuable elements. In this work, concentrations of 25 critical elements in U.S. coals were evaluated using the COALQUAL Database Version 3.0 aiming to identify best coal sources for potential recovery of critical element. A method was proposed to calculate the mean concentrations of critical elements in U.S. coals, including Li (11.5 ppm), Be (1.9 ppm), Ti (721 ppm), V (21.6 ppm), Mn (50.8 ppm), Co (4.5 ppm), Ga (5.1 ppm), Ge (7.2p pm), Se (2.4 ppm), Zr (30.4 ppm), Nb (3.3 ppm), Sn (1.8 ppm), Sb (1.0 ppm), Ba (266 ppm), Hf (0.77 ppm), and Ta (0.19 ppm).Based on the calculated mean concentrations, a rough estimate indicates that U.S. coals contain a large amount of critical elements that are enough to meet U.S. demands for many years to come, if these elements can be commercially extracted. By comparing with the suggested cut-off grades, we found that 5.8% of the coal samples have Ga concentrations higher than the suggested cut-off grade. The percentages of promising coal samples (higher than cut-off grades) of other elements are below 3%. Results further indicate that despite some variations among elements, bituminous coals from the Appalachian region are likely to have high concentrations of Li, Ga, Be, Se, and Sb which make them a potential source of these critical elements. Bituminous coals from the Interior Coal Province, both Eastern and Western, were found to have relatively high probabilities of having high Ge concentrations. Furthermore very limited coal samples were found from mixed regions to have V and Zr concentrations higher than the corresponding suggested cut-off grades.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

DOE OSTI2012

An accelerated workflow for untargeted metabolomics using the METLIN database

Metabolites, which are typically recognized as small molecules that are involved in cellular reactions, provide a functional signature of phenotype that is complementary to the upstream biochemical information obtained from genes, transcripts and proteins. The high correlation between metabolites and phenotype has created a surge of interest in the field that is reflected in the number of metabolomic publications growing from just a few articles in 1999 to over 5,000 in 2011. Although relatively new compared with its genomic and proteomic predecessors, research in the field of metabolomics has already led to the discovery of biomarkers for disease, fundamental insights into cellular biochemistry and clues related to disease pathogenesis.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2017

Prognostic significance of high YY1AP1 and PCNA expression in colon adenocarcinoma

Highlights: • YY1AP1 expression might play an important role in the tumorgenesis of colon adenocarcinoma. • YY1AP1 expression is related with colon adenocarcinoma patient M-class/distant metastasis. • High YY1AP1 indicates poor overall survival of colon adenocarcinoma patients. • Cox proportional-hazards model analysis indicated YY1AP1 as an independent predictor for overall survival. To investigate the relationship between YY1AP1 and various clinicopathological features of colon adenocarcinoma (COAD), we conducted immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses of human tissue microarrays. We found that YY1AP1 protein expression was significantly higher in tumor tissue of the colon and liver, and was significantly lower in tumor tissue of the kidney. An analysis that employed the SurvExpress database indicated that increased expression of YY1AP1 mRNA was significantly associated with the overall survival of COAD patients. To clarify the validity of YY1AP1 or PCNA as determined by the IHC analysis was performed on 59 paired samples from COAD and adjacent normal tissue. Statistically significant differences of immunoreactivity for YY1AP1 or PCNA protein expression was observed between COAD tissue and adjacent normal tissue. High protein expression levels of YY1AP1 and PCNA were also found to be significantly correlated with M-class and distant metastasis. We also determined that YY1AP1 was correlated with PCNA expression in COAD samples, and Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated that YY1AP1 protein expression was significantly associated with poor survival. Finally, a univariate analysis demonstrated that YY1AP1 protein expression was related to YY1AP1 score, and multivariate analysis revealed that the YY1AP1 protein expression level was an independent risk factor of overall COAD survival. Taken together, our findings indicate that YY1AP1 expression plays an important role in the tumorigenesis and progression of COAD and could serve as a clinical prognostic indicator for COAD.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2013

Increasing Confidence of LC-MS Identifications by Utilizing Ion Mobility Spectrometry

Ion mobility spectrometry in conjunction with liquid chromatography separations and mass spectrometry offers a range of new possibilities for analyzing complex biological samples. To fully utilize the information obtained from these three measurement dimensions, informatics tools based on the accurate mass and time tag methodology were modified to incorporate ion mobility spectrometry drift times for peptides observed in human serum. A reference human serum database was created using 12,139 peptides, tracking the monoisotopic mass, liquid chromatography normalized elution time, and ion mobility spectrometry drift time(s) for each peptide. We demonstrate that the use of three dimensions for peak matching during the peptide identification process resulted in increased numbers of identifications and lower false discovery rates relative to the use of only the mass and normalized elution time dimensions.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗

DOE OSTI2015

Asteroid spin-rate study using the intermediate palomar transient factory

Two dedicated asteroid rotation-period surveys have been carried out in the R band with ∼20 minute cadence using the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) during 2014 January 6–9 and February 20–23. The total survey area covered 174 deg{sup 2} in the ecliptic plane. Reliable rotation periods for 1438 asteroids are obtained from a larger data set of 6551 mostly main-belt asteroids, each with ⩾10 detections. Analysis of 1751, PTF-based, reliable rotation periods clearly shows the spin barrier at ∼2 hr for rubble-pile asteroids. We found a new large super-fast rotator, 2005 UW163, and another five candidates as well. For asteroids of 3<D<15 km, our spin-rate distribution shows a number decrease along with frequency after 5 rev day{sup −1}, which is consistent with the results of the Asteroid Light Curve Database. The discrepancy between our work and that of Pravec et al. (update 2014 April 20) comes mainly from asteroids with Δm<0.2 mag, which could be the result of different survey strategies. For asteroids with D<3 km, we see a significant number drop at f = 6 rev day{sup −1}. The relatively short YORP effect timescale for small asteroids could have spun up those elongated objects to reach their spin-rate limit resulting in breakup to create such a number deficiency. We also see that the C-type asteroids show a smaller spin-rate limit than the S-type, which agrees with the general impression that C-type asteroids have a lower bulk density than S-type asteroids.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Association of optical, ultraviolet, and soft X-ray excess emissions in AGNs

Soft X-ray emission (0.5–2.0 keV) plays a pivotal role in regulating the optical and ultraviolet (UV) emission in the active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We collected a sample of 1811 AGNs from the SDSS database and obtained various parameters of Balmer lines, optical continuum, Mg ii line & UV continuum and studied their dependencies on soft X-ray luminosity. Based on the linear regression analysis, we found that FWHM$_{\rm {Mg\,\,\small {II}}}$ ∝ FWHM$_{\text{H}\beta }^{0.554}$ suggesting that UV emission is arising from a region relatively outside the broad-line region (BLR) associated to the Hβ emission and found a strong correlation between optical and UV luminosities (L$_{\rm {Mg\,\,\small {II}}}$ ∝ $L_{\rm {H}\beta }^{0.822}$). It was noticed that the dependency of optical continuum luminosities on soft excess changes with the redshift (L X ∝ L$^{0.596}_{5100\, \mathring{\rm A}}$ for z < 0.5 and L X ∝ L$^{0.429}_{5100\, \mathring{\rm A}}$ for z > 0.5). The full width at half-maximum components of Hβ and Mg II core components were found to be virialized and is not affected by the soft excess emission whereas the wings of Mg II display a dependency. We estimated a relation viz. L X ∝L$^{0.520}_{3000\, \mathring{\rm A}}$ FWHM$^{0.525}_{\rm {Mg\,\,\small {II}}}$ and found to be well in agreement with a proposed physical scenario. All the derived relations were used to understand the intermodulating association of the BLR and disc in the AGNs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Machine Learning for Automated Metadata Assignment in Buildings: Cooperative Research and Development (Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-18-00767)

RealTerm Energy and NREL have identified a shared vision to evaluate opportunities to facilitate the organization and assignment of metadata to building control system (BCS) data via industry-informed machine learning (ML). Manual metadata assignment is labor intensive and costly, slowing down any Energy Management and Information System (EMIS) deployment in the building space. This project aims to develop methodologies to accurately assign this metadata and significantly decrease the level of effort associated with deploying EMIS. The objective of this project is to identify/design methodologies to assign metadata to HVAC control points automatically. The identified methodologies will be programmed in analytics algorithms so they can ingest a list of points and produce a detailed tagging following the Haystack classification nomenclature. To validate the efficacy of each methodology, tagging results will be compared utilizing a list of points extracted from RealTerm's building database-as well as data extracted from the NREL campus via the Intelligent Campus program-enabling testing against large datasets with real world challenges. The developed methodologies may leverage building manager/operator input on a limited basis to add context to the classifying algorithms. The partnership aims to advance global efforts in areas related to the DOE missions through improving operational performance of commercial buildings. It is well documented that buildings fall out of commission after they are occupied, wasting significant energy and incurring associated costs simply due to poor operational performance. Emerging EMIS technologies that perform continuous commissioning help to address this issue, yet integration of these systems can be labor intensive both for the technology vendor and the building owner/operator. This project will enable more efficient and cost-effective analytics for buildings, enabling improvement in building operations at lower cost points.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

NASA NTRS1989

Specification of parameters for development of a spatial database for drought monitoring and famine early warning in the African Sahel

Parameters were described for spatial database to facilitate drought monitoring and famine early warning in the African Sahel. The proposed system, referred to as the African Drought and Famine Information System (ADFIS) is ultimately recommended for implementation with the NASA/FEMA Spatial Analysis and Modeling System (SAMS), a GIS/Dymanic Modeling software package, currently under development. SAMS is derived from FEMA'S Integration Emergency Management Information System (IEMIS) and the Pacific Northwest Laborotory's/Engineering Topographic Laboratory's Airland Battlefield Environment (ALBE) GIS. SAMS is primarily intended for disaster planning and resource management applications with the developing countries. Sources of data for the system would include the Developing Economics Branch of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, the World Bank, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine's Famine Early Warning Systems (FEWS) Project, the USAID's Foreign Disaster Assistance Section, the World Resources Institute, the World Meterological Institute, the USGS, the UNFAO, UNICEF, and the United Nations Disaster Relief Organization (UNDRO). Satellite imagery would include decadal AVHRR imagery and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values from 1981 to the present for the African continent and selected Landsat scenes for the Sudan pilot study. The system is initially conceived for the MicroVAX 2/GPX, running VMS. To facilitate comparative analysis, a global time-series database (1950 to 1987) is included for a basic set of 125 socio-economic variables per country per year. A more detailed database for the Sahelian countries includes soil type, water resources, agricultural production, agricultural import and export, food aid, and consumption. A pilot dataset for the Sudan with over 2,500 variables from the World Bank's ANDREX system, also includes epidemiological data on incidence of kwashiorkor, marasmus, other nutritional deficiencies, and synergistically-related infectious diseases.

Rochon, Gilbert L.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Advanced life support study

Summary reports on each of the eight tasks undertaken by this contract are given. Discussed here is an evaluation of a Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS), including modeling and analysis of Physical/Chemical Closed Loop Life Support (P/C CLLS); the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) evolution - Intermodule Ventilation study; advanced technologies interface requirements relative to ECLSS; an ECLSS resupply analysis; the ECLSS module addition relocation systems engineering analysis; an ECLSS cost/benefit analysis to identify rack-level interface requirements of the alternate technologies evaluated in the ventilation study, with a comparison of these with the rack level interface requirements for the baseline technologies; advanced instrumentation - technology database enhancement; and a clean room survey and assessment of various ECLSS evaluation options for different growth scenarios.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1998

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1998

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography

This supplemental issue of Aerospace Medicine and Biology, A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes (NASA/SP-1998-7011) lists reports, articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. In its subject coverage, Aerospace Medicine and Biology concentrates on the biological, physiological, psychological, and environmental effects to which humans are subjected during and following simulated or actual flight in the Earth's atmosphere or in interplanetary space. References describing similar effects on biological organisms of lower order are also included. Such related topics as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, exobiology, and personnel factors receive appropriate attention. Applied research receives the most emphasis, but references to fundamental studies and theoretical principles related to experimental development also qualify for inclusion. Each entry in the publication consists of a standard bibliographic citation accompanied, in most cases, by an abstract.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1998

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes

Source record↗