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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.

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At least 1,603 records · Page 89
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2012

The Origin of Carbon-Bearing Volatiles in a Continental Hydrothermal System in the Great Basin: Water Chemistry and Isotope Characterizations

Hydrothermal systems on Earth are active centers in the crust where organic molecules can be synthesized biotically or abiotically under a wide range of physical and chemical conditions [1-3]. Not only are volatile species (CO, CO2, H2, and hydrocarbons) a reflection of deep-seated hydrothermal alteration processes, but they also form an important component of biological systems. Studying carbon-bearing fluids from hydrothermal systems is of specific importance to understanding (bio-)geochemical processes within these systems. With recent detection of methane in the martian atmosphere [4-7] and the possibility of its hydrothermal origin [8, 9], understanding the formation mechanisms of methane may provide constraints on the history of the martian aqueous environments and climate.

Fu, Qi↗
NASA NTRS2012

Nature's Autonomous Oscillators

Nonlinearity is required to produce autonomous oscillations without external time dependent source, and an example is the pendulum clock. The escapement mechanism of the clock imparts an impulse for each swing direction, which keeps the pendulum oscillating at the resonance frequency. Among nature's observed autonomous oscillators, examples are the quasi-biennial oscillation and bimonthly oscillation of the Earth atmosphere, and the 22-year solar oscillation. The oscillations have been simulated in numerical models without external time dependent source, and in Section 2 we summarize the results. Specifically, we shall discuss the nonlinearities that are involved in generating the oscillations, and the processes that produce the periodicities. In biology, insects have flight muscles, which function autonomously with wing frequencies that far exceed the animals' neural capacity; Stretch-activation of muscle contraction is the mechanism that produces the high frequency oscillation of insect flight, discussed in Section 3. The same mechanism is also invoked to explain the functioning of the cardiac muscle. In Section 4, we present a tutorial review of the cardio-vascular system, heart anatomy, and muscle cell physiology, leading up to Starling's Law of the Heart, which supports our notion that the human heart is also a nonlinear oscillator. In Section 5, we offer a broad perspective of the tenuous links between the fluid dynamical oscillators and the human heart physiology.

Mayr, H. G.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Campaign: Telemetry-based Biology for the Artemis Era and Beyond

We call for a major dedicated campaign to develop and fly autonomous biological payloads in lunar orbit and on the lunar surface during the next decade, followed by subsequent expansion to Martian orbit. This ambitious goal will require dedicated effort to develop hardware, biological models and data acquisition and processing techniques. We believe that it would be best achieved as a single comprehensive, NASA-led and funded mission project, analogous to planetary science missions. Furthermore, technological developments should be accompanied by collaborations within and between agencies and a robust program for acquisition and retention of talented scientists and engineers.

Egle Cekanaviciute↗
DOE OSTI2016

Single-Molecule Fluorescence Imaging for Studying Organic, Organometallic, and Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms

The reactive behavior of individual molecules is seldom observed, because we usually measure the average properties of billions of molecules. What we miss is important: the catalytic activity of less than 1% of the molecules under observation can dominate the outcome of a chemical reaction seen at a macroscopic level. Currently available techniques to examine reaction mechanisms (such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry) study molecules as an averaged ensemble. These ensemble techniques are unable to detect minor components (under ~1%) in mixtures or determine which components in the mixture are responsible for reactivity and catalysis. In the field of mechanistic chemistry, there is a resulting heuristic device that if an intermediate is very reactive in catalysis, it often cannot be observed (termed “Halpern’s Rule” ). Ultimately, the development of single-molecule imaging technology could be a powerful tool to observe these “unobservable” intermediates and active catalysts. Single-molecule techniques have already transformed biology and the understanding of biochemical processes. The potential of single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to address diverse chemical questions, such as the chemical reactivity of organometallic or inorganic systems with discrete metal complexes, however, has not yet been realized. In this respect, its application to chemical systems lags significantly behind its application to biophysical systems. This transformative imaging technique has broad, multidisciplinary impact with the potential to change the way the chemistry community studies reaction mechanisms and reactivity distributions, especially in the core area of catalysis.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Take a Trip Around a 3D Printing Lab (360)

Additive manufacturing has changed the way the world thinks about manufacture and design. Scientists and researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Lab are using a number of 3D printing processes to experiment with unique combinations of plastic, metal, and ceramics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Enabling Lignin Valorization Through Integrated Advances in Plant Biology and Biorefining

Despite lignin having long been viewed as an impediment to the processing of biomass for the production of paper, biofuels, and high-value chemicals, the valorization of lignin to fuels, chemicals, and materials is now clearly recognized as a critical element for the lignocellulosic bioeconomy. However, the intended application for lignin will likely require a preferred lignin composition and form. To that end, effective lignin valorization will require the integration of plant biology, providing optimal feedstocks, with chemical process engineering, providing efficient lignin transformations. Recent advances in our understanding of lignin biosynthesis have shown that lignin structure is extremely diverse and potentially tunable, while simultaneous developments in lignin refining have resulted in the development of several processes that are more agnostic to lignin composition. Here, we review the interface between in planta lignin design and lignin processing and discuss the advances necessary for lignin valorization to become a feature of advanced biorefining.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Elevating the Quality of Space Omics Sequencing Data: Innovations and Methodologies from NASA GeneLab Sample Processing Laboratory

NASA’s GeneLab, part of the NASA Open Science Data Repository, is a space-related database that hosts a diverse range of transcriptomics, proteomics, epigenomics and genomics data. The NASA GeneLab Sample Processing Laboratory (SPL) generates omics data from biological experiments conducted aboard the International Space Station, Space Shuttle and space related ground experiments, this omics data then hosted on the GeneLab repository. Samples generated such experiments pose numerous technical challenges such as small experimental sample size, variance in dissection times, limited tissue preservation methods, prolonged storage time, and more. GeneLab SPL team had developed specialized expertise in nucleic acid extraction, library preparation and sequencing of such biological samples via extensive training and years of experience. In order to ensure data accuracy and consistency across experiments, SPL has developed standardized protocols for each species and tissue type. These protocols in conjunction with quality control metrics and data standards are crucial in generating of high-quality data. SPL protocols and standards have been developed in collaboration with the scientific community and had been made publicly available on the GeneLab portal, guaranteeing comparability of datasets across spaceflight experiments. To ensure reliability of data generation, SPL leverages cutting-edge innovations in laboratory automation for sample processing. By leveraging these state-of-the-art platforms, SPL achieves high levels of data reproducibility while significantly minimizing sources of bias and variability, especially across experiments with large numbers of samples. Over the past few years, the space biology investigator community has accessed SPL-generated data from the Open Science Data Repository for a myriad of data re-analysis and re-use studies. We observe a trend that in-house SPL-generated data consistently outperforms outsourced sequencing data in terms of technical standards, quality control metrics, timeliness of data delivery, and sequencing and reagent efficiency. Superior data generation has and will continue to enable discoveries in disease, diagnostic tools, and the biological effects of long duration spaceflight.

GeneLab↗
DOE OSTI2015

An Investigation into the Effects of Interface Stress and Interfacial Arrangement on Temperature Dependent Thermal Properties of a Biological and a Biomimetic Material

A significant effort in the biomimetic materials research is on developing materials that can mimic and function in the same way as biological tissues, on bio-inspired electronic circuits, on bio-inspired flight structures, on bio-mimetic materials processing, and on structural biomimetic materials, etc. Most structural biological and biomimetic material properties are affected by two primary factors: (1) interfacial interactions between an organic and an inorganic phase usually in the form of interactions between an inorganic mineral phase and organic protein network; and (2) structural arrangement of the constituents. Examples are exoskeleton structures such as spicule, nacre, and crustacean exoskeletons. A significant effort is being directed towards making synthetic biomimetic materials based on a manipulation of the above two primary factors. The proposed research is based on a hypothesis that in synthetic materials with biomimetic morphology thermal conductivity, k, (how fast heat is carried away) and thermal diffusivity, D, (how fast a material’s temperature rises: proportional to the ratio of k and heat capacity) can be engineered to be either significantly low or significantly high based on a combination of chosen interface orientation and interfacial arrangement in comparison to conventional material microstructures with the same phases and phase volume fractions. METHOD DEVELOPMENT 1. We have established a combined Raman spectroscopy and nanomechanical loading based experimental framework to perform environment (liquid vs. air vs. vacuum) dependent and temperature dependent (~1000 degree-C) in-situ thermal diffusivity measurements in biomaterials at nanoscale to micron scale along with the corresponding analytical theoretic calculations. (Zhang and Tomar, 2013) 2. We have also established a new classical molecular simulation based framework to measure thermal diffusivity in biomolecular interfaces. We are writing a publication currently (Qu and Tomar, 2013) to report the framework and findings in tropocollagen-hydroxyapatite based idealized biomaterial interfaces. PHYSICAL FINDINGS 1. Analyses using experiments have revealed that in the case of bone thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity at micron scale shows significant dependence on compressive stress and temperature. Overall, there is a decrease with respect to increase in temperature and increase with respect to increase in compressive stress. Bio-molecular simulations on idealized tropocollagen-hydroxyapatite interfaces confirm such findings. However, simulations also reveal that thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity can be significantly tailored by interfacial orientation. More importantly, in inorganic materials, interfaces contribute to reduce thermal conductivity and diffusivity. However, analyses here reveal that both can be increased despite presence of a lot of interfaces. 2. Based on significant role played by interfaces in affecting bone thermal properties, a crustacean-exoskeleton system is examined for thermal diffusivity using the newly developed setup. Special emphasis here is on this system since such arrangement is found to be common in fresh water shrimp as well as in some deep water organisms surviving in environment extremes. Experiments reveal that in such system thermal diffusivity is highly tailorable. 3. Overall, experiments and models have established that in biomaterial interfaces a counterintuitive role of interfaces in mediating thermal conduction as a function of stress and temperature is possible in contrast to inorganic materials where interfaces almost always lead to reduction of thermal conductivity as a function of such factors. More investigations are underway to reveal physical origins of such counter-physical characteristics. Such principles can be significantly useful in developing new and innovative bioenergy and inorganic energy systems where heat dissipation significantly affects system performance.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Elevating the Quality of Space Omics Sequencing Data: Innovations and Methodologies from NASA GeneLab Sample Processing Laboratory

NASA’s GeneLab, part of the NASA Open Science Data Repository, is a space-related database that hosts a diverse range of transcriptomics, proteomics, epigenomics and genomics data. The NASA GeneLab Sample Processing Laboratory (SPL) generates omics data from biological experiments conducted aboard the International Space Station, Space Shuttle and space related ground experiments, this omics data then hosted on the GeneLab repository. Samples generated such experiments pose numerous technical challenges such as small experimental sample size, variance in dissection times, limited tissue preservation methods, prolonged storage time, and more. GeneLab SPL team had developed specialized expertise in nucleic acid extraction, library preparation and sequencing of such biological samples via extensive training and years of experience. In order to ensure data accuracy and consistency across experiments, SPL has developed standardized protocols for each species and tissue type. These protocols in conjunction with quality control metrics and data standards are crucial in generating of high-quality data. SPL protocols and standards have been developed in collaboration with the scientific community and had been made publicly available on the GeneLab portal, guaranteeing comparability of datasets across spaceflight experiments. To ensure reliability of data generation, SPL leverages cutting-edge innovations in laboratory automation for sample processing. By leveraging these state-of-the-art platforms, SPL achieves high levels of data reproducibility while significantly minimizing sources of bias and variability, especially across experiments with large numbers of samples. Over the past few years, the space biology investigator community has accessed SPL-generated data from the Open Science Data Repository for a myriad of data re-analysis and re-use studies. We observe a trend that in-house SPL-generated data consistently outperforms outsourced sequencing data in terms of technical standards, quality control metrics, timeliness of data delivery, and sequencing and reagent efficiency. Superior data generation has and will continue to enable discoveries in disease, diagnostic tools, and the biological effects of long duration spaceflight.

GeneLab↗
DOE OSTI2020

Modeling biological nitrogen fixation in global natural terrestrial ecosystems

Biological nitrogen fixation plays an important role in the global nitrogen cycle. However, the fixation rate has been usually measured or estimated at a particular observational site. To quantify the fixation amount at the global scale, process-based models are needed. This study develops a biological nitrogen fixation model to quantitatively estimate the nitrogen fixation rate by plants in a natural environment. The revised nitrogen module better simulates the nitrogen cycle in comparison with our previous model that has not considered the fixation effects. The new model estimates that tropical forests have the highest fixation rate among all ecosystem types, which decreases from the Equator to the polar region. The estimated nitrogen fixation in global terrestrial ecosystems is 61.5 Tg N yr-1 with a range of 19.8–107.9 Tg N yr-1 in the 1990s. Our estimates are relatively low compared to some early estimates using empirical approaches but comparable to more recent estimates that involve more detailed processes in their modeling. Furthermore, the contribution of nitrogen made by biological nitrogen fixation depends on ecosystem type and climatic conditions. This study highlights that there are relatively large effects of biological nitrogen fixation on ecosystem nitrogen cycling. and the large uncertainty of the estimation calls for more comprehensive understanding of biological nitrogen fixation. More direct observational data for different ecosystems are in need to improve future quantification of fixation and its impacts.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Oxidative Catalytic Fractionation of Lignocellulosic Biomass under Non-alkaline Conditions

Biomass pretreatment methods are commonly used to isolate carbohydrates from biomass, but they often lead to modification, degradation, and/or low yields of lignin. Catalytic fractionation approaches provide a possible solution to these challenges by separating the polymeric sugar and lignin fractions in the presence of a catalyst that promotes cleavage of the lignin into aromatic monomers. In this work, we demonstrate an oxidative fractionation method conducted in the presence of a heterogeneous non-precious-metal Co-N-C catalyst and O 2 in acetone as the solvent. The process affords a 15 wt% yield of phenolic products bearing aldehydes (vanillin, syringaldehyde) and carboxylic acids (p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid), complementing the alkylated phenols obtained from existing reductive catalytic fractionation methods. The oxygenated aromatics derived from this process have appealing features for use in polymer synthesis and/or biological funneling to value-added products, and the non-alkaline conditions associated with this process support preservation of the cellulose, which remains insoluble at reaction conditions and is recovered as a solid.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS2003

Semiselective Optoelectronic Sensors for Monitoring Microbes

Sensor systems are under development for use in real-time detection and quantitation of microbes in water without need for sampling. These systems include arrays of optical sensors; miniature, portable electronic data-acquisition circuits; and optoelectronic interfaces between the sensor arrays and data-acquisition circuits. These systems are intended for original use in long-term, inline monitoring of waterborne micro-organisms in water-reclamation systems aboard future spacecraft. They could also be adapted to similar terrestrial uses with respect to municipal water supplies, stored drinking water, and swimming water; for detecting low-level biological contamination in biotechnological, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical process streams; and in verifying the safety of foods and beverages. In addition, they could be adapted to monitoring of airborne microbes and of surfaces (e.g., to detect and/or quantitate biofilms). The designs of the sensors in these systems are based partly on those of sensors developed previously for monitoring airborne biological materials. The designs exploit molecular- recognition and fluorescence-spectroscopy techniques, such that in the presence of micro-organisms of interest, fluorescence signals change and the changes can be measured. These systems are characterized as semiselective because they respond to classes of micro-organisms and can be used to discriminate among the classes. This semiselectivity is a major aspect of the design: It is important to distinguish between (1) the principle of detection and quantitation of classes of micro-organisms by use of these sensors and (2) the principle of detection and quantitation of individual microbiological species by means of prior immuno-diagnostic and/or molecular-biology techniques. Detection of classes (in contradistinction to species) is particularly valuable when the exact nature of a contaminant is unknown.

Tabacco, Mary Beth↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cognitive analysis of metabolomics data for systems biology

Cognitive computing is revolutionizing the way big data are processed and integrated, with artificial intelligence (AI) natural language processing (NLP) platforms helping researchers to efficiently search and digest the vast scientific literature. Most available platforms have been developed for biomedical researchers, but new NLP tools are emerging for biologists in other fields and an important example is metabolomics. NLP provides literature-based contextualization of metabolic features that decreases the time and expert-level subject knowledge required during the prioritization, identification and interpretation steps in the metabolomics data analysis pipeline. Here, we describe and demonstrate four workflows that combine metabolomics data with NLP-based literature searches of scientific databases to aid in the analysis of metabolomics data and their biological interpretation. Additionally, the four procedures can be used in isolation or consecutively, depending on the research questions. The first, used for initial metabolite annotation and prioritization, creates a list of metabolites that would be interesting for follow-up. The second workflow finds literature evidence of the activity of metabolites and metabolic pathways in governing the biological condition on a systems biology level. The third is used to identify candidate biomarkers, and the fourth looks for metabolic conditions or drug-repurposing targets that the two diseases have in common. The protocol can take 1–4 h or more to complete, depending on the processing time of the various software used.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Biomanufacturing and bioprocessing of lunar regolith

Microbial biomanufacturing is important to accelerate lunar construction because it can leverage lunar material and waste streams as feedstocks to create a circular production system. In-space bio-mining and biomanufacturing using moon and asteroidal source material will enable the creation of infrastructure, produce industrial fuels and lubricants, and enable recovery of actinides and rare-earth elements (REEs) present in trace concentrations. Moreover, biomanufacturing in closed-loop systems (recycling and reuse of resources toward the establishment of a circular economy) will enable long-term lunar activities by recycling waste (CO 2 , gray water) and producing oxygen and biomaterials. Our response focuses on the use of lunar regolith and waste streams as feedstocks for protein and microbial-enabled biomining and bioprocessing to extract actinides and REEs, and to create biocomposites for lunar infrastructure. We envision an enclosed process that initiates with (1a) extracting actinides and REEs from lunar regolith using immobilized proteins, followed by (1b) creating biocomposites from the post-extracted lunar regolith for infrastructure, and (1c) cultivating diatoms and other microalgae on waste streams to harvest silica shells for incorporating into biocomposites and to generate O 2 for human respiration and/or producing refinable feedstocks. LLNL has significant expertise in all three processes and provides facilities, personnel, and expertise at the intersection of metal (lanthanide, actinide, transition) separations, purifications, biohydrometallurgy, radiobiochemistry, synthetic and systems biology, and materials science and engineering. Importantly, all three processes are relatively well-studied for Earth-based workflows and can be derisked for demonstration on the lunar surface by 2029.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

PNNL DataHub Project: Omics Lethal Human Viruses Project Profiling of the Host Response to Ebola Virus Infection, Processed Experimental Dataset Catalog

Ebola virus (EBOV) is high risk biological agent, classified as a Category A priority pathogen (Flaviviridae) by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), known to cause hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in humans. Lethal host-pathogen invasion mechanisms and the cellular intricacies behind these fatal infections still remain unclear. The NIAID Modeling Host Responses to Understand Severe Human Virus Infections Research Program project (2013-2018) aimed to develop an improved comprehensive understanding of the host response to a suite of viruses causing lethal infections leveraging a systems biology approach. Herein, PNNL sub-projects provide a never before released comprehensive infectious disease collection of primary and secondary transformation multi-Omics data profiling a series of priority pathogen primary experimental studies for enhanced open-access to viral Omics datasets and project lifecycle metadata. Secondary host-pathogen viral dataset downloads contain one or more statistically processed (normalization data transformation) quantitative dataset collections resulting in qualitative expression analyses of primary host-pathogen experimental study designs. Leveraging unique high-resolution Omics capabilities for proteomics (P), metabolomics (M), lipidomics (L), and transcriptomics (T) dataset downloads each have a direct relationship to a primary sample submission corresponding to a specific Ebola virus [NCBITAXON:186536] (Zaire/Makona or Zaire/Mayinga) experimental infection study. Human host samples types include peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from blood plasma ["PBMC", BTO:0001025], human hepatoma carcinoma cells ["HUH", BTO:0001950], human umbilical vein endothelial cells ["HUVEC", BTO:0001949], immortalized human hepatocyte cells ["IHH", BTO:0006147], and human histiocytic lymphoma cells ["U937", BTO:0001412].

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2006

Implementing EVM Data Analysis Adding Value from a NASA Project Manager's Perspective

Data Analysis is one of the keys to an effective Earned Value Management (EVM) Process. Project Managers (PM) must continually evaluate data in assessing the health of their projects. Good analysis of data can assist PMs in making better decisions in managing projects. To better support our P Ms, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) recently renewed its emphasis on sound EVM data analysis practices and processes, During this presentation we will discuss the approach that MSFC followed in implementing better data analysis across its Center. We will address our approach to effectively equip and support our projects in applying a sound data analysis process. In addition, the PM for the Space Station Biological Research Project will share her experiences of how effective data analysis can benefit a PM in the decision making process. The PM will discuss how the emphasis on data analysis has helped create a solid method for assessing the project s performance. Using data analysis successfully can be an effective and efficient tool in today s environment with increasing workloads and downsizing workforces

Counts, Stacy↗
DOE OSTI2023

Probing pH-Dependent Dehydration Dynamics of Mg and Ca Cations in Aqueous Solutions with Multi-Level Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The dehydration of aqueous calcium and magnesium cations is the most fundamental process controlling their reactivity in chemical and biological phenomena, such as the formation of ionic solids or passing through ion channels. It holds particular relevance in light of recent advancements in the development of carbon capture techniques that rely on mineralization for long-term carbon storage. Specifically, dehydration of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ is a key step in proposed carbon capture processes aiming to exploit the relatively high concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide in seawater via the formation of carbonate minerals from solvated Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ cations for sequestration and storage. Nevertheless, atomic-scale understanding of the dehydration of aqueous Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ cations remains limited. Here, we utilize rare event sampling via density functional theory molecular dynamics and embedded wavefunction theory calculations to elucidate the dehydration dynamics of aqueous Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ . Emphasis is placed on the investigation of the effect pH has on the stability of the different coordination environments. Here, our results reveal significant differences in the dehydration dynamics of the two cations and provide insight into how they may be modulated by pH changes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS2005

Hydrodynamics of Packed Bed Reactor in Low Gravity

Packed bed reactors are well known for their vast and diverse applications in the chemical industry; from gas absorption, to stripping, to catalytic conversion. Use of this type of reactor in terrestrial applications has been rather extensive because of its simplicity and relative ease of operation. Developing similar reactors for use in microgravity is critical to many space-based advanced life support systems. However, the hydrodynamics of two-phase flow packed bed reactors in this new environment and the effects of one physiochemical process on another has not been adequately assessed. Surface tension or capillary forces play a much greater role which results in a shifting in flow regime transitions and pressure drop. Results from low gravity experiments related to flow regimes and two-phase pressure drop models are presented in this paper along with a description of plans for a flight experiment on the International Space Station (ISS). Understanding the packed bed hydrodynamics and its effects on mass transfer processes in microgravity is crucial for the design of packed bed chemical or biological reactors to be used for water reclamation and other life support processes involving water purification.

Motil, Brian J.↗