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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

Making the Case for Reusable Booster Systems: The Operations Perspective

Presentation to the Aeronautics Space Engineering Board National Research Council Reusable Booster System: Review and Assessment Committee. Addresses: the criteria and assumptions used in the formulation of current RBS plans; the methodologies used in the current cost estimates for RBS; the modeling methodology used to frame the business case for an RBS capability including: the data used in the analysis, the models' robustness if new data become available, and the impact of unclassified government data that was previously unavailable and which will be supplied by the USAF; the technical maturity of key elements critical to RBS implementation and the ability of current technology development plans to meet technical readiness milestones.

reusable launch vehicle↗

Templated Mesoporous Silica Outer Shell for Controlled Silver Release of a Magnetically Recoverable and Reusable Nanocomposite for Water Disinfection

Here, we encapsulated Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 @Ag (MS-Ag), a bifunctional magnetic silver core–shell structure, with an outer mesoporous silica (mS) shell to form an Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 @ 2 Ag@mSiO 2 (MS-Ag-mS) nanocomposite using a cationic CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) micelle templating strategy. The mS shell acts as protection to slow down the oxidation and detachment of the AgNPs and incorporates channels to control the release of antimicrobial Ag + ions. Results of TEM, STEM, HRSEM, EDS, BET, and FTIR showed the successful formation of the mS shells on MS-Ag aggregates 50–400 nm in size with highly uniform pores ~4 nm in diameter that were separated by silica walls ~2 nm thick. Additionally, the mS shell thickness was tuned to demonstrate controlled Ag + release; an increase in shell thickness resulted in an increased path length required for Ag + ions to travel out of the shell, reducing MS-Ag-mS’ ability to inhibit E. coli growth as illustrated by the inhibition zone results. Through a shaking test, the MS-Ag-mS nanocomposite was shown to eradicate 99.99+% of a suspension of E. coli at 1 × 10 6 CFU/mL with a silver release of less than 0.1 ppb, well under the EPA recommendation of 0.1 ppm. This high biocidal efficiency with minimal silver leach is ascribed to the nanocomposite’s mS shell surface characteristics, including having hydroxyl groups and possessing a high degree of structural periodicity at the nanoscale or “smoothness” that encourages association with bacteria and retains high Ag + concentration on its surface and in its close proximity. Furthermore, the nanocomposite demonstrated consistent antimicrobial performance and silver release levels over multiple repeated uses (after being recovered magnetically because of the oxidation-resistant silica-coated magnetic Fe 3 O 4 core). It also proved effective at killing all microbes from Long Island Sound surface water. The described MS-Ag-mS nanocomposite is highly synergistic, easy to prepare, and readily recoverable and reusable and offers structural tunability affecting the bioavailability of Ag + , making it excellent for water disinfection that will find wide applications.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

A Quality Function Deployment Method Applied to Highly Reusable Space Transportation

This paper will describe a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) currently in work the goal of which is to add definition and insight to the development of long term Highly Reusable Space Transportation (HRST). The objective here is twofold. First, to describe the process, the actual QFD experience as applies to the HRST study. Second, to describe the preliminary results of this process, in particular the assessment of possible directions for future pursuit such as promising candidate technologies or approaches that may finally open the space frontier. The iterative and synergistic nature of QFD provides opportunities in the process for the discovery of what is key in so far as it is useful, what is not, and what is merely true. Key observations on the QFD process will be presented. The importance of a customer definition as well as the similarity of the process of developing a technology portfolio to product development will be shown. Also, the relation of identified cost and operating drivers to future space vehicle designs that are robust to an uncertain future will be discussed. The results in particular of this HRST evaluation will be preliminary given the somewhat long term (or perhaps not?) nature of the task being considered.

hypersonics↗

CLARAty: an architecture for reusable robotic software

In this article, we will present an overview of the Coupled Layered Architecture for Robotic Autonomy. CLARAty develops a framework for generic and reusable robotic components that can be adapted to a number of heterogeneous robot platforms.

robotic↗

Bidentate N‐based Ligands for Highly Reusable, Ligand‐coordinated, Supported Pt Hydrosilylation Catalysts

Abstract A significant challenge in designing supported metal‐ligand catalysts for solution‐phase reactions is the stabilization of the metal active sites against leaching into solution. Here, we examine alkene hydrosilylation reactions as model systems to improve the stability of highly dispersed Pt using a metal‐ligand coordination strategy on high surface area oxide supports. By evaluating a series of bidentate N‐based ligands, we demonstrate several design strategies to improve stability of the highly dispersed Pt 2+ centers against leaching, while maintaining a high level of catalytic activity, selectivity, and recyclability for alkene hydrosilylation batch reactions under mild conditions. These involve a bi‐functional approach to ligand design, which considers interaction to the support and a well‐defined coordination environment for the metal active site. Three strategies are reported: modifying ligands for stronger interaction with oxide surfaces, mixing ligands, and pre‐depositing an “anchoring ligand” to the support before loading the metal‐ligand catalyst. Each of these is successful in enhancing Pt recyclability. Particularly, two Pt‐phenanthroline catalysts exhibit excellent reusability for multiple batch reaction cycles, due to high stability of the active Pt species. Addressing the active site leaching problem significantly enhances the utility of ligand‐coordinated supported metal catalysts as highly stable and selective catalysts for solution‐phase reactions.

Chen, Linxiao↗

Novel reusable animal model for comparative evaluation of in vivo growth and protein-expression of Escherichia coli O157 strains in the bovine rumen

Previously, we had demonstrated that Escherichia coli O157:H7 (O157) strain 86–24 expresses proteins involved in survival rather than virulence in vitro in rumen fluid from dairy cattle limit fed a maintenance diet. Here, we verified if this observation would be true for different O157 strains grown in vitro in rumen fluid from, and in vivo in the rumen of, animals on contrasting maintenance (high fiber) and lactation (high energy-protein) diets usually limit fed to dairy cattle. For the in vivo studies, an economical, novel, reusable and non-terminal rumen-fistulated animal model permitting simultaneous evaluation of multiple bacterial strains in the bovine rumen was developed. All experiments were conducted in duplicate using different animals to account for host-related variations. The O157 strains included, 86–24, EDL933 and the super shed SS-17. E. coli Nal R (#5735), derived from a bovine intestinal commensal E. coli, was included as a control. As expected, diet influenced ruminal pH and volatile fatty acid (VFA) composition. The pH ranged from 6.2–7.0 and total VFA concentrations from 109–141 μM/ml, in animals fed the maintenance diet. In comparison, animals fed the lactation diet had a ruminal pH ranging between 5.18–6.0, and total VFA of 125–219 μM/ml. Strain dependent differences in O157 recovery from the rumen fluid of cattle fed either diet was observed, both in vitro and in vivo, with O157 strains 86–24 and EDL933 demonstrating similar survival patterns. Analysis of the O157 proteomes expressed in the rumen fluid/rumen verified previous observations of adaptive responses. Any difference in the adaptive response was mainly influenced by the animal’s diet and growth conditions (in vitro and in vivo) and not the O157 strain. These new insights into the O157 responses could help formulate modalities to control O157 across strains in cattle at all stages of husbandry.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

RC-SFA Data Management Templates and Guidance for Standardized, Reusable AI-Ready Data Packages

This data package provides templates and supporting documentation developed by the River Corridor Science Focus Area (RC-SFA; https://www.pnnl.gov/projects/river-corridor) to communicate its approach to managing and publishing AI-ready data. The package is intended to help data users and data producers understand the structures, metadata practices, and quality-control approaches that support consistent, reusable, and machine-actionable data products across RC-SFA studies. Rather than focusing on a single experimental dataset, this package documents the data management framework used to make RC-SFA data easier to find, ingest, navigate, and interpret. The materials in this package reflect RC-SFA practices for standardized data package organization, including the use of a human- and machine-readable README, file-level metadata, data dictionaries, descriptive file naming, method identifiers, and automated and review-based quality assurance procedures. Together, these components illustrate how RC-SFA extends FAIR data principles toward AI-readiness by prioritizing deep metadata, consistency across data packages, and support for informed downstream reuse by both humans and computational tools. This dataset is comprised of (1) readme; (2) presentation slides with an overview of RC-SFA approach and guidance; (3) document of RC-SFA best practices; (4) data dictionary (dd); (5) file level metadata (flmd); and a subfolder containing templates for dd and flmd. All files are .csv and .pdf. For details on how to navigate data packages generated by this project, see https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/portals/PNNLRiverCorridorSFA/About.

AI-readiness↗

The Circular Home: Development and Demonstration of a Net Negative Carbon, Reusable Residence

This project started the development of an innovative modular building system intended for residential construction. The project was centered around single-family homes that were carbon-negative cradle-to-grave over a 100 year time frame, which is approximately double the current standard for operational life. The project sought to accomplish this objective by designing the modular home in a manner that ensures circularity, where the main house components can be used over several consecutive 50-year lifespans. To accomplish these objectives, this project utilized integrated design with the inclusion of life-cycle assessment to design the single-family house for architectural, structural, energy, mechanical, thermal, and moisture demands, while ensuring carbon negativity and annual net-zero energy use. The core technology of this project was the use of cross-laminated timber and biogenic materials, such as wood-fiber insulation, in the construction of the modular building units. The robustness and factory manufacturing ability of cross-laminated timber allow for factory construction of most of the home, which minimizes on-site time, saving money and reducing construction waste. During this project, initial milestones were met that delivered the architectural plans for the circular home and an initial structural testing matrix. Compared to current code-built homes, which average 13 kg CO2eq. / ft2 and are demolished at their end of life, the circular home has an estimated -30 kg CO2eq. / ft2 of embodied carbon emissions during its first build iteration. It is estimated that approximately 60%-70% of the total building mass could be reused and/or recycled during subsequent rebuilds. This project was concluded at approximately the 1/3 point and a separate project was established to conclude the remaining milestones. This project promises to benefit the public by delivering another option for single-family, and eventually multi-family, housing using a novel building construction system. The system of reusable modular construction facilitates not only lower emissions during the first building iteration, but also lower emissions during subsequent iterations that drastically reduce waste and help society meet its climate goals. Many other industries, such as clothing and technology sectors, are starting to focus on circularity and this project adds the residential building construction industry to that list.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Ontology-Enriched Specifications Enabling Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable Marine Metagenomic Datasets in Cyberinfrastructure Systems

Marine microbial ecology requires the systematic comparison of biogeochemical and sequence data to analyze environmental influences on the distribution and variability of microbial communities. With ever-increasing quantities of metagenomic data, there is a growing need to make datasets Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) across diverse ecosystems. FAIR data is essential to developing analytical frameworks that integrate microbiological, genomic, ecological, oceanographic, and computational methods. Although community standards defining the minimal metadata required to accompany sequence data exist, they haven’t been consistently used across projects, precluding interoperability. Moreover, these data are not machine-actionable or discoverable by cyberinfrastructure systems. By making ‘omic and physicochemical datasets FAIR to machine systems, we can enable sequence data discovery and reuse based on machine-readable descriptions of environments or physicochemical gradients. In this work, we developed a novel technical specification for dataset encapsulation for the FAIR reuse of marine metagenomic and physicochemical datasets within cyberinfrastructure systems. This includes using Frictionless Data Packages enriched with terminology from environmental and life-science ontologies to annotate measured variables, their units, and the measurement devices used. This approach was implemented in Planet Microbe, a cyberinfrastructure platform and marine metagenomic web-portal. Here, we discuss the data properties built into the specification to make global ocean datasets FAIR within the Planet Microbe portal. We additionally discuss the selection of, and contributions to marine-science ontologies used within the specification. Finally, we use the system to discover data by which to answer various biological questions about environments, physicochemical gradients, and microbial communities in meta-analyses. This work represents a future direction in marine metagenomic research by proposing a specification for FAIR dataset encapsulation that, if adopted within cyberinfrastructure systems, would automate the discovery, exchange, and re-use of data needed to answer broader reaching questions than originally intended.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Filtration Performance of Layering Masks and Face Coverings and the Reusability of Cotton Masks after Repeated Washing and Drying

In this study, filtration efficiency of different respirators, face masks, and a 2-ply cotton handkerchief bandana was compared for particles in the size range of 60 nm-4 um under a "perfect fit" condition. The filtration efficiency at the most penetrating particle size of 0.3 um on average ranged from 83-99% for N95 and KN95 respirators, 42-88% for surgical masks, 16-23% for cloth masks, and 9% for bandana. We also investigated the effects of using double surgical masks or layering a cloth mask over various surgical masks in terms of their filtration characteristics. In most of these combinations, the filtration efficiency improved by ~25% for particles 0.3-1 um in diameter without any substantial change in the filter quality factor when compared to the highest of the individual mask results. To investigate the reusability of cotton cloth masks, 2-layer cotton fabric sample coupons were machine washed and dried for 52 cycles leading to an increase in inhalation resistance (~20 Pa) without affecting size-resolved filtration efficiency. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that washing and drying led to the gradual deconstruction of cotton fibers at the scale of several micrometers to hundreds of nanometers in the form of delamination of the fiber wall and fibrillation of the nanofiber constituents. Results indicate that cloth masks may be layered over surgical masks for additional benefits, and that cloth masks made out of cotton fabric can be washed and reused numerous times without a significant loss in filtration efficiency.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Reusable neoprene jacket protects parts for chemical milling

Reusable neoprene jacket is used to prepare metal part or panel for chemical milling. Jacket covers back and upper rim of part and is sealed before the masking solution is applied to surface to be milled. This reduces amount of masking material required for milling identical parts and increases production.

Source record↗