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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 163 records · Page 9

The Ephb2 Receptor Uses Homotypic, Head-to-Tail Interactions within Its Ectodomain as an Autoinhibitory Control Mechanism

The Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and their ephrin ligands direct axon pathfinding and neuronal cell migration, as well as mediate many other cell–cell communication events. Their dysfunctional signaling has been shown to lead to various diseases, including cancer. The Ephs and ephrins both localize to the plasma membrane and, upon cell–cell contact, form extensive signaling assemblies at the contact sites. The Ephs and the ephrins are divided into A and B subclasses based on their sequence conservation and affinities for each other. The molecular details of Eph–ephrin recognition have been previously revealed and it has been documented that ephrin binding induces higher-order Eph assemblies, which are essential for full biological activity, via multiple, distinct Eph–Eph interfaces. One Eph–Eph interface type is characterized by a homotypic, head-to-tail interaction between the ligand-binding and the fibronectin domains of two adjacent Eph molecules. While the previous Eph ectodomain structural studies were focused on A class receptors, we now report the crystal structure of the full ectodomain of EphB2, revealing distinct and unique head-to-tail receptor–receptor interactions. The EphB2 structure and structure-based mutagenesis document that EphB2 uses the head-to-tail interactions as a novel autoinhibitory control mechanism for regulating downstream signaling and that these interactions can be modulated by posttranslational modifications.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Pivotal trial characteristics and types of endpoints used to support Food and Drug Administration rare disease drug approvals between 2013 and 2022

Background/aims Rare disease drug development faces unique challenges, such as genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity within small patient populations and a lack of established outcome measures for conditions without previously successful drug development programs. These challenges complicate the process of selecting the appropriate trial endpoints and conducting clinical trials in rare diseases. In this descriptive study, we examined novel drug approvals for non-oncologic rare diseases by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research over the past decade and characterized key regulatory and trial design elements with a focus on the primary efficacy endpoint utilized as the basis of approval. Methods Using the Food and Drug Administration’s Data Analysis Search Host database, we identified novel new drug applications and biologics license applications with orphan drug designation that were approved between 2013 and 2022 for non-oncologic indications. From Food and Drug Administration review documents and other external databases, we examined characteristics of pivotal trials for the included drugs, such as therapeutic area, trial design, and type of primary efficacy endpoints. Differences in trial design elements associated with primary efficacy endpoint type were assessed such as randomization and blinding. Then, we summarized the primary efficacy endpoint types utilized in pivotal trials by therapeutic area, approval pathway, and whether the disease etiology is well defined. Results One hundred and seven drugs that met our inclusion criteria were approved between 2013 and 2022. Assessment of the 107 drug development programs identified 150 pivotal trials that were subsequently analyzed. The pivotal trials were mostly randomized (80%) and blinded (69.3%). Biomarkers (41.1%) and clinical outcomes (42.1%) were commonly utilized as primary efficacy endpoints. Analysis of the use of clinical trial design elements across trials that utilized biomarkers, clinical outcomes, or composite endpoints did not reveal statistically significant differences. The choice of primary efficacy endpoint varied by the drug’s therapeutic area, approval pathway, and whether the indicated disease etiology was well defined. For example, biomarkers were commonly selected as primary efficacy endpoints in hematology drug approvals (70.6%), whereas clinical outcomes were commonly selected in neurology drug approvals (69.6%). Further, if the disease etiology was well defined, biomarkers were more commonly used as primary efficacy endpoints in pivotal trials (44.7%) than if the disease etiology was not well defined (27.3%). Discussion In the past 10 years, numerous novel drugs have been approved to treat non-oncologic rare diseases in various therapeutic areas. To demonstrate their efficacy for regulatory approval, biomarkers and clinical outcomes were commonly utilized as primary efficacy endpoints. Biomarkers were not only frequently used as surrogate efficacy endpoints in accelerated approvals, but also in traditionally approved rare disease drugs. The choice of primary efficacy endpoints varied by therapeutic area, approval pathway, and understanding of disease etiology.

Hong, Kyungwan [Rare Diseases Team, Office of New ↗

Vertebrate and invertebrate competition for carrion in human‐impacted environments depends on abiotic factors

Abstract Human altered landscapes have caused declines in the diversity of wildlife where behaviorally plastic species (i.e., mesocarnivores and invasive species) tend to monopolize these areas and consume predictable and readily accessible food resources, such as human food waste and carrion. Increased consumption of carrion by vertebrates and invasive invertebrate species can alter population dynamics of native necrophagous insects relying on these resources. We tested the hypothesis that vertebrate scavengers and invasive species reduce blow fly (1) ability to use carrion and (2) reproduction in human‐impacted environments in central Texas, USA, with season, habitat (field and wooded landscapes), and carrion type (species of carrion and coat color) acting synergistically. Vertebrate scavengers in this habitat, of which 75% of the documented species were mesocarnivores and obligate scavengers, consumed 100% of carrion during the winter and 62% during summer despite having low species richness (2–5 species). Of the remaining carcasses available for arthropod activity during summer, the invasive red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), monopolized 34%, and blow flies (e.g., Lucilia eximia and Chrysomya rufifacies [Diptera: Calliphoridae]) were only able to colonize 25%. Approximately 90% of carrion that was utilized by blow flies was co‐colonized by fire ants, and subsequent production of adult blow flies experienced up to a ninefold reduction in production compared with carcasses that were not scavenged by vertebrates or fire ants. Our results demonstrate oviposition resources used by blow flies in environments altered by human activity are reduced significantly by vertebrate scavengers and an invasive ant species. Future research should determine whether competitive interactions between vertebrate and invasive ant competitors for access to carrion resources have population‐level impacts to blow flies in human‐mediated ecosystems, or whether blow flies are able to shift to other resources to maintain sustainable populations and continue providing ecosystem services, such as pollination.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

New Predictive Capabilities for Nuclear Weapons in Composite Fires

The prevalence of flammable carbon-based composite airframe materials and their use in high-temperature nuclear weapon re-entry systems requires analysts to address the abnormal thermal environment hazards associated with composite material fires. These fires tend to burn very differently than conventional fuel fires, usually burning less intensely, but much longer. This could lead to challenges in understanding margins in classic safety themes. The technical challenges in modeling the phenomena associated with these new types of fires are considerable, but new models have been developed. Their predictions have been compared with well-documented measurements of a vertical porous burner fire, known as a "wall fire" (a "wall-fire" validation simulation is reflected in the figures below). These measurements were conducted at FMGlobal, a mutual insurance company with a strong fire risk management program, as part of an ongoing collaboration between Sandia and FMGlobal. To date, the "wall-fire" scenario has been set up and initial model assessments with grid refinement studies have been conducted focusing on mesh resolutions suitable for full weapon system simulations. This work will continue with further verification and validation tasks assessing the predictions of the new model. Future work will address specific aspects of the wall models that are lacking in their predictive ability.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

Energy Consumption and Cost Reduction of Future Light-Duty Vehicles through Advanced Vehicle Technologies: A Modeling Simulation Study Through 2050

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) and Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) aim to develop sustainable, affordable and efficient technologies for transportation of goods and people. Translating investments in advanced transportation component technologies and powertrains to estimate vehicle-level fuel savings potential is critical for understanding DOE’s impact. In this work, we simulated technologies funded by VTO and HFTO for light duty vehicles. The simulations were performed across: Multiple powertrain configurations (i.e., conventional, power-split, extended-range electric vehicle, battery electric drive, and fuel-cell vehicles), Vehicle classes (i.e., compact car, midsize car, small sport utility vehicle [SUV], midsize SUV, and pickup trucks); and Fuels (i.e., gasoline, diesel, hydrogen, and battery electricity). These various technologies are assessed for six different timeframes: laboratory years 2015, 2020, 2025, 2030, and 2045. A delay of 5 years is assumed between laboratory year and model year (year technology is introduced into production). Finally, uncertainties are included for both technology performance and cost aspects by considering two cases: Low case, aligned with DOE technology manager estimates of expected original equipment manufacturer (OEM) improvements based on regulations, business as usual; and High case, aligned with aggressive technology advancements based on R&D targets developed through support by VTO & HFTO. These scenarios are not intended as predictions of future performances. The energy and cost impact of different technologies were estimated using Autonomie (www.autonomie.net), Argonne vehicle system simulation tool. Autonomie is a state-of-the-art vehicle system simulation tool used to assess the energy consumption, performance and cost of multiple advanced vehicle technologies across classes (from light to heavy duty), powertrains (from conventional to HEVs, FCEVs, PHEVs and BEVs), components and control strategies. Autonomie is packaged with a complete set of vehicle models for a wide range of vehicle classes, powertrain configurations and component technologies, including vehicle level and component level controls. These controls were developed and calibrated using dynamometer test data. Autonomie has been used to support a wide range of studies including analyzing various component technologies, sizing powertrains components for different vehicle requirements, comparing the benefits of powertrain configurations, optimizing both heuristic and route based vehicle energy control and predicting transportation energy use when paired with a traffic modeling tool such as POLARIS. This report documents the assumptions and estimates the vehicle-level energy consumption benefits and associated technology costs for the various types of light duty vehicles. All details of vehicle assumptions and simulation results are available in the spreadsheets accompanying this report.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Sierra/SD - User's Manual - 4.56

Sierra/SD provides a massively parallel implementation of structural dynamics finite element analysis, required for high-fidelity, validated models used in modal, vibration, static and shock analysis of weapons systems. This document provides a user's guide to the input for Sierra/SD. Details of input specifications for the different solution types, output options, element types and parameters are included. The appendices contain detailed examples, and instructions for running the software on parallel platforms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Sierra/SD - User's Manual

Sierra/SD provides a massively parallel implementation of structural dynamics finite element analysis, required for high-fidelity, validated models used in modal, vibration, static and shock analysis of weapons systems. This document provides a user’s guide to the input for Sierra/SD. Details of input specifications for the different solution types, output options, element types and parameters are included. The appendices contain detailed examples, and instructions for running the software on parallel platforms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Sierra/SD--User's Manual - 4.58

Sierra/SD provides a massively parallel implementation of structural dynamics finite element analysis, required for high-fidelity, validated models used in modal, vibration, static and shock analysis of weapons systems. This document provides a user's guide to the input for Sierra/SD . Details of input specifications for the different solution types, output options, element types and parameters are included. The appendices contain detailed examples, and instructions for running the software on parallel platforms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Sierra/SD - User's Manual - 5.4

Sierra/SD provides a massively parallel implementation of structural dynamics finite element analysis, required for high-fidelity, validated models used in modal, vibration, static and shock analysis of weapons systems. This document provides a user's guide to the input for Sierra/SD. Details of input specifications for the different solution types, output options, element types and parameters are included. The appendices contain detailed examples, and instructions for running the software on parallel platforms.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

Sierra/SD - User's Manual (V.5.2)

Sierra/SD provides a massively parallel implementation of structural dynamics finite element analysis, required for high-fidelity, validated models used in modal, vibration, static and shock analysis of weapons systems. This document provides a user’s guide to the input for Sierra/SD. Details of input specifications for the different solution types, output options, element types and parameters are included. The appendices contain detailed examples, and instructions for running the software on parallel platforms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Sierra/SD - User's Manual - 5.6

Sierra/SD provides a massively parallel implementation of structural dynamics finite element analysis, required for high-fidelity, validated models used in modal, vibration, static and shock analysis of weapons systems. This document provides a user's guide to the input for Sierra/SD. Details of input specifications for the different solution types, output options, element types and parameters are included. The appendices contain detailed examples, and instructions for running the software on parallel platforms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Sierra/SD - User's Manual - 5.8

Sierra/SD provides a massively parallel implementation of structural dynamics finite element analysis, required for high-fidelity, validated models used in modal, vibration, static and shock analysis of weapons systems. This document provides a user's guide to the input for Sierra/SD. Details of input specifications for the different solution types, output options, element types and parameters are included. The appendices contain detailed examples, and instructions for running the software on parallel platforms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Sierra/SD - User's Manual - 5.10

Sierra/SD provides a massively parallel implementation of structural dynamics finite element analysis, required for high-fidelity, validated models used in modal, vibration, static and shock analysis of weapons systems. This document provides a user’s guide to the input for Sierra/SD. Details of input specifications for the different solution types, output options, element types and parameters are included. The appendices contain detailed examples, and instructions for running the software on parallel platforms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A Comprehensive Simulation Study to Evaluate Future Vehicle Energy and Cost Reduction Potential

Under the umbrella of EERE’s Office of Sustainable Transportation, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) and Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) seek to develop sustainable, affordable, and efficient technologies for transportation of goods and people. Translating investments in advanced transportation component technologies and powertrains to estimate the potential for vehicle-level fuel savings is critical to understanding DOE’s impact and success in this mission For this study, Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) simulated technologies funded by VTO and HFTO for light-duty vehicles across the following: Powertrain configurations (conventional, power-split hybrid electric vehicle, extended-range electric vehicle, battery electric drive, and fuel-cell vehicles); Vehicle classes (compact car, mid-size car, small sport utility vehicle [SUV], mid-size SUV, and pickup truck); Fuels (gasoline, diesel, natural gas, hydrogen, and battery electricity). We assessed each technology for five different timeframes: laboratory years 2015 (reference), 2020, 2025, 2030, and 2045. We assumed a delay of 5 years between laboratory year and model year (i.e., the year the technology is introduced into production). Finally, we included uncertainties for both technology performance and cost by considering two cases (note that these cases are not intended as predictions of future performance): Low case , aligned with DOE technology manager estimates of expected original equipment manufacturer (OEM) improvements based on business as usual regulatory and market environments; High case , aligned with aggressive technology advancements based on research and development (R&D) targets developed through support by VTO and HFTO. We estimated the energy and cost impact of different technologies using Autonomie (Argonne undated), a state-of-the-art vehicle system simulation tool developed by Argonne and used to assess the energy consumption, performance, and cost of multiple advanced vehicle technologies. The tool comprises a complete set of vehicle models to assess impacts across a wide range of classes (from light- to heavy-duty), powertrain configurations (from conventional to hybrid electric vehicles [HEVs], fuel cell electric vehicles [FCEVs], plug-in hybrid electric vehicles [PHEVs], and battery electric vehicles [BEVs]), components, and control strategies, including vehicle-level and component-level controls developed and calibrated using dynamometer test data. Autonomie has been used to support a wide range of studies: analyzing various component technologies, sizing powertrain components to meet different vehicle requirements, comparing the benefits of powertrain configurations, optimizing both heuristic and route-based vehicle energy control, and predicting transportation energy use when paired with a traffic modeling tool such as POLARIS. This report documents the assumptions made and the vehicle-level energy consumption benefits and associated technology costs estimated for various types of light-duty vehicles. Details regarding vehicle assumptions and simulation results are available in the spreadsheets accompanying this report.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Alternative Materials Literature Review: A Review of Alternative Materials for Xenon Capture in Comparison to AgZ-PAN

A collaborative literature review between Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Pacific National Laboratory (PNNL) was conducted to research alternative metals/materials for xenon adsorption in gaseous effluents generated from used nuclear fuel (UNF) reprocessing. The review was conducted to research sorbents that could outperform silver mordenite (AgZ) at ambient temperature. The use of silver requires complex and expensive waste disposal processes due to it being an RCRA metal, therefore alternative materials need to be researched and evaluated. The report details two different types of sorbent material: alternative zeolite materials and non-zeolite-based materials (i.e., MOFs, COFs, etc.). This report documents a brief history of the materials, what testing has been conducted on them, and what results suggest the possibility of outperforming the silver-based materials. Sorbent performance characteristics such as durability, capacity, and operating temperatures were evaluated. The simplicity of the sorbents was also evaluated, meaning how they are acquired (synthesized vs. naturally abundant). Recommendations were made for the most promising sorbents based on available research in the subject area and these recommended sorbents will be tested in the upcoming fiscal year. The recommended sorbents that are zeolite based are CHA zeolites, ZIF-69, and Na-ETS-10. The recommended sorbents that are non-zeolite based are SBMOF-1 and CC3.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Sierra/SD – User's Manual – 5.18

Sierra/SD provides a massively parallel implementation of structural dynamics finite element analysis, required for high-fidelity, validated models used in modal, vibration, static and shock analysis of weapons systems. This document provides a user’s guide to the input for Sierra/SD. Details of input specifications for the different solution types, output options, element types and parameters are included. The appendices contain detailed examples, and instructions for running the software on parallel platforms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Sierra/SD – User’s Manual (V.5.16)

Sierra/SD provides a massively parallel implementation of structural dynamics finite element analysis, required for high-fidelity, validated models used in modal, vibration, static and shock analysis of weapons systems. This document provides a user’s guide to the input for Sierra/SD. Details of input specifications for the different solution types, output options, element types and parameters are included. The appendices contain detailed examples, and instructions for running the software on parallel platforms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗