The thermal expansion coefficient as a key design parameter for thermoelectric materials and its relationship to processing-dependent bloating
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charge transport↗
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Results for “KEYING”
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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Key results from irradiation and post-irradiation examination of AGR-1 UCO TRISO fuel
The AGR-1 irradiation experiment was performed as the first test of tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel in the US Advanced Gas Reactor Fuel Development and Qualification Program. The experiment consisted of 72 right cylinder fuel compacts containing approximately 3 × 105 coated fuel particles with uranium oxide/uranium carbide (UCO) fuel kernels. The fuel was irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor for a total of 620 effective full power days. Fuel burnup ranged from 11.3 to 19.6% fissions per initial metal atom and time-average, volume-average irradiation temperatures of the individual compacts ranged from 955 to 1136 °C. This paper focuses on key results from the irradiation and post-irradiation examination, which revealed a robust fuel with excellent performance characteristics under the conditions tested and have significantly improved the understanding of UCO coated particle fuel irradiation behavior. The fuel exhibited zero TRISO coating failures (failure of all three dense coating layers) during irradiation and post-irradiation safety testing at temperatures up to 1700 °C. Advanced PIE methods have allowed particles with SiC coating failure that were discovered to be present in a very-low population to be isolated and meticulously examined, which has elucidated the specific causes of SiC failure in these specimens. The level of fission product release from the fuel during irradiation and post-irradiation safety testing has been studied in detail. Results indicated very low release of krypton and cesium through intact SiC and modest release of europium and strontium, while also confirming the potential for significant silver release through the coatings depending on irradiation conditions. Focused study of fission products within the coating layers of irradiated particles down to nanometer length scales has provided new insights into fission product transport through the coating layers and the role various fission products may have on coating integrity. The broader implications of these results and the application of lessons learned from AGR-1 to fuel fabrication and post-irradiation examination for subsequent fuel irradiation experiments as part of the US fuel program are also discussed.
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
Data integration reveals key homeostatic mechanisms following low dose radiation exposure
The goal of this study was to define pathways regulated by low dose radiation to understand how biological systems respond to subtle perturbations in their environment and prioritize pathways for human health assessment. Using an in vitro 3-D human full thickness skin model, we have examined the temporal response of dermal and epidermal layers to 10 cGy X-ray using transcriptomic, proteomic, phosphoproteomic and metabolomic platforms. Bioinformatics analysis of each dataset independently revealed potential signaling mechanisms affected by low dose radiation, and integrating data shed additional insight into the mechanisms regulating low dose responses in human tissue. We examined direct interactions among datasets (top down approach) and defined several hubs as significant regulators, including transcription factors (YY1, MYC and CREB1), kinases (CDK2, PLK1) and a protease (MMP2). These data indicate a shift in response across time — with an increase in DNA repair, tissue remodeling and repression of cell proliferation acutely (24–72 h). Pathway-based integration (bottom up approach) identified common molecular and pathway responses to low dose radiation, including oxidative stress, nitric oxide signaling and transcriptional regulation through the SP1 factor that would not have been identified by the individual data sets. Significant regulation of key downstream metabolites of nitrative stress was measured within these pathways. Among the features identified in our study, the regulation of MMP2 and SP1 was experimentally validated. Our results demonstrate the advantage of data integration to broadly define the pathways and networks that represent the mechanisms by which complex biological systems respond to perturbation. - Highlights: • Low dose ionizing radiation altered homeostasis in 3D skin tissue model. • Global gene/protein/metabolite data integrated using complementary statistical approaches • Time and location-specific change in matrix regulation, ROS/RNS and DNA repair pathways detected • Low dose exposure alters metabolites involved in nitric oxide biosynthesis and wound healing. • Computationally predicted regulators of primary mechanisms were experimentally validated.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
Partitioned key-value store with one-sided communications for secondary global key lookup by range-knowledgeable clients
Partitioned key-value stores with one-sided communications are provided for secondary global key lookup by range-knowledgeable clients. A secondary global lookups is performed in a partitioned key-value store by receiving a request from an application for a secondary global key; accessing metadata to identify a first server storing the secondary global key; instructing the identified first server to store a first value corresponding to the requested secondary global key into a memory address of the client; and returning program control to the application, wherein the first server identifies a primary key corresponding to the requested secondary global key and instructs a second server storing the corresponding primary key to store a second value corresponding to the primary key into the memory address of the client. The second server stores the second value corresponding to the primary key into the first memory address of the client.
Bent, John M.↗
Key-value store with internal key-value storage interface
A key-value store is provided having one or more key-value storage interfaces. A key-value store on at least one compute node comprises a memory for storing a plurality of key-value pairs; and an abstract storage interface comprising a software interface module that communicates with at least one persistent storage device providing a key-value interface for persistent storage of one or more of the plurality of key-value pairs, wherein the software interface module provides the one or more key-value pairs to the at least one persistent storage device in a key-value format. The abstract storage interface optionally processes one or more batch operations on the plurality of key-value pairs. A distributed embodiment for a partitioned key-value store is also provided.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
Structural investigation of 2-naphthyl phenyl ether inhibitors bound to WT and Y181C reverse transcriptase highlights key features of the NNRTI binding site
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99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
Theoretical Study of Reductive Functionalization of Methyl Ligands of Group 9 Complexes Supported by Two Bipyridyl Ligands: A Key Step in Catalytic Hydrocarbon Functionalization
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catalysis (homogeneous), catalysis (heterogeneous)↗
Photovoltaic Inverter Momentary Cessation: Recovery Process is Key
Momentary cessation refers to an inverter control mode. When the inverter terminal voltage falls below (or exceeds) a certain level, the inverter ceases to output any current, but attempts to maintain (or quickly regain) phase-locked loop synchronization to allow for quick reinjection of current when the voltage recovers to a certain point. This paper presents a photovoltaic (PV) momentary cessation model developed in PSS/E. Simulations are presented for a high voltage transmission line fault contingency in the Hawaiian island of Oahu power system on a validated PSS/E model, modified to include a custom distributed PV inverter model, and different near-future distributed PV penetration levels. Simulations for the island power system include different penetration levels of PV, and different recovery times (ramp rates and delays) after momentary cessation. The results indicate that during low voltage events, such as faults, momentary cessation can produce severe under frequency events, causing significant load shed and shortly thereafter, in some cases, over frequency events that cause generation to trip offline. The problem is exacerbated with higher penetration levels of PV. If momentary cessation is used (as is typically the case for distribution-connected resources), the recovery process after momentary cessation should be carefully considered to minimize impacts to bulk power system stability.
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
Portable SHMEMCache: A High-Performance Key-Value Store on OpenSHMEM and MPI
The integration of Big Data frameworks and HPC capabilities has drawn enormous interests in recent years. SHMEMCache is a distributed key-value store built on the OpenSHMEM global address space. It has solved several practical issues in leveraging OpenSHMEM’s one-sided operations for a distributed key-value store and providing efficient key-value operations on both commodity machines and supercomputers. However, being based solely on OpenSHMEM, SHMEMCache cannot leverage one-sided operations from a variety of software packages. This results in several limitations for SHMEMCache. First, we cannot make SHMEMCache available to a wider range of platforms. Second, an opportunity for potential performance improvement is missed. Third, there is a lack of deep understanding about how different one-sided operations can fit in with SHMEMCache and other distributed key-values in general. For example, the one-sided operations in OpenSHMEM and MPI have many differences in their interfaces, memory semantics and synchronization methods, all of which can have distinct implications and also increase the complexity in supporting both OpenSHMEM and MPI for SHMEMCache. Therefore, we have taken on an effort on leveraging different one-sided operations for SHMEMCache and proposed a design of portable SHMEMCache. Based on this new framework, we have supported both OpenSHMEM and MPI for SHMEMCache. We have also conducted an extensive set of experiments to compare the performance of the two versions on both commodity machines and the Titan supercomputer.
Computer Science↗
Detector-device-independent quantum key distribution: Security analysis and fast implementation
One of the most pressing issues in quantum key distribution (QKD) is the problem of detector side-channel attacks. To overcome this problem, researchers proposed an elegant “time-reversal” QKD protocol called measurement-device-independent QKD (MDI-QKD), which is based on time-reversed entanglement swapping. However, MDI-QKD is more challenging to implement than standard point-to-point QKD. Recently, an intermediary QKD protocol called detector-device-independent QKD (DDI-QKD) has been proposed to overcome the drawbacks of MDI-QKD, with the hope that it would eventually lead to a more efficient detector side-channel-free QKD system. Here, we analyze the security of DDI-QKD and elucidate its security assumptions. We find that DDI-QKD is not equivalent to MDI-QKD, but its security can be demonstrated with reasonable assumptions. On the more practical side, we consider the feasibility of DDI-QKD and present a fast experimental demonstration (clocked at 625 MHz), capable of secret key exchange up to more than 90 km.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Finite-key security analysis of quantum key distribution with imperfect light sources
In recent years, the gap between theory and practice in quantum key distribution (QKD) has been significantly narrowed, particularly for QKD systems with arbitrarily flawed optical receivers. The status for QKD systems with imperfect light sources is however less satisfactory, in the sense that the resulting secure key rates are often overly dependent on the quality of state preparation. This is especially the case when the channel loss is high. Very recently, to overcome this limitation, Tamaki et al proposed a QKD protocol based on the so-called 'rejected data analysis', and showed that its security in the limit of infinitely long keys is almost independent of any encoding flaw in the qubit space, being this protocol compatible with the decoy state method. Here, as a step towards practical QKD, we show that a similar conclusion is reached in the finite-key regime, even when the intensity of the light source is unstable. More concretely, we derive security bounds for a wide class of realistic light sources and show that the bounds are also efficient in the presence of high channel loss. Our results strongly suggest the feasibility of long distance provably secure communication with imperfect light sources.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
PapyrusKV: a high-performance parallel key-value store for distributed NVM architectures
This paper introduces PapyrusKV, a parallel embedded key-value store (KVS) for distributed high-performance computing (HPC) architectures that offer potentially massive pools of nonvolatile memory (NVM). PapyrusKV stores keys with their values in arbitrary byte arrays across multiple NVMs in a distributed system. PapyrusKV provides standard KVS operations such as put, get, and delete. More importantly, PapyrusKV provides advanced features for HPC such as dynamic consistency control, zero-copy workflow, and asynchronous checkpoint/restart. Beyond filesystems, PapyrusKV provides HPC programmers with a high-level interface to exploit distributed NVM in the system, and it transparently organizes data to achieve high performance. Also, it allows HPC applications to specialize PapyrusKV to meet their specific requirements. We empirically evaluate PapyrusKV on three HPC systems with real NVM devices: OLCF's Summitdev, TACC's Stampede, and NERSC's Cori. Our results show that PapyrusKV can offer high performance, scalability, and portability across these various distributed NVM architectures.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
Reliable numerical key rates for quantum key distribution
In this work, we present a reliable, efficient, and tight numerical method for calculating key rates for finite-dimensional quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols. We illustrate our approach by finding higher key rates than those previously reported in the literature for several interesting scenarios (e.g., the Trojan-horse attack and the phase-coherent BB84 protocol). Our method will ultimately improve our ability to automate key rate calculations and, hence, to develop a user-friendly software package that could be used widely by QKD researchers.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
Reductive Functionalization of a Rhodium(III)-Methyl Bond in Acidic Media: Key Step in the Electrophilic Oxidation of Methane
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catalysis (homogeneous), catalysis (heterogeneous)↗
Key rate for calibration robust entanglement based BB84 quantum key distribution protocol
We apply the approach of verifying entanglement, which is based on the sole knowledge of the dimension of the underlying physical system to the entanglement based version of the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol. We show that the familiar one-way key rate formula holds already if one assumes the assumption that one of the parties is measuring a qubit and no further assumptions about the measurement are needed.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
The Key Role of U 28 in the Aqueous Self‐Assembly of Uranyl Peroxide Nanocages
Abstract For 11 years now, the structural diversity and aesthetic beauty of uranyl–peroxide capsules have fascinated researchers from the diverse fields of mineralogy, polyoxometalate chemistry, and nuclear fuel technologies. There is still much to be learned about the mechanisms of the self‐assembly process, and the role of solution parameters including pH, alkali template, temperature, time, and others. Here we have exploited the high solubility of the UO 2 2+ /H 2 O 2 /LiOH aqueous system to address the effect of the hydroxide concentration. Important techniques of this study are single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, small‐angle X‐ray scattering, and Raman spectroscopy. Three key phases dominate the solution speciation as a function of time and the LiOH/UO 2 2+ ratio: the uranyl–triperoxide monomer [UO 2 (O 2 ) 3 ] 4− and the two capsules [(UO 2 )(O 2 )(OH)] 24 24− (U 24 ) and [(UO 2 )(O 2 ) 1.5 ] 28 28− (U 28 ). When the LiOH/U ratio is around three, U 28 forms rapidly and this cluster can be isolated in high yield and purity. This result was most surprising and challenges the hypothesis that alkali templating is the most important determinant in the cluster geometry. Moreover, analogous experiments with KOH, NH 4 OH, and TEAOH (TEA=tetraethylammonium) also rapidly yield U 28 , which suggests that U 28 is the kinetically favored species. Complete mapping of the pH–time phase space reveals only a narrow window of the U 28 dominance, which is why it was previously overlooked as an important kinetic species in this chemical system, as well as others with different counterions.
Falaise, Clément↗
Comprehensive Analysis of the Relative Dispersion of Droplet-Size Distributions and Their Relationships to Key Physical Fog Processes Under Different Aerosol Conditions and Evolutionary Stages
The relative dispersion of cloud and fog droplets has significant impacts on aerosol indirect effects, radiative transfer, and microphysical processes. However, previous studies have been mostly concerned with clouds, with limited studies on fog, particularly those that examine the combined influences of all key physical processes and their roles during fog evolution. As such, this study aims to conduct a comprehensive investigation by examining the relationships between relative dispersion and other microphysical variables, as well as the underlying microphysical and dynamic processes, based on field fog campaigns in polluted and clean conditions. In polluted fog, droplet concentrations are higher, leading to smaller droplets and increased dispersion. The correlation between dispersion and droplet volume-mean radius is positive in the polluted fog, but shifts to negative in clean fog. Here, we attribute the difference to various microphysical processes like aerosol activation, condensation, collision-coalescence, and entrainment-mixing. In polluted fog, high aerosol concentrations, low supersaturations, and strong turbulence (entrainment-mixing) provide suitable conditions for the simultaneous occurrence of droplet condensation and aerosol activation, resulting in a positive correlation between dispersion and volume-mean radius, especially during the fog formation stage. In contrast, during the mature stage in clean fog, condensation is dominant with weak aerosol activation leading to a negative correlation between relative dispersion and volume-mean radius. The collision-coalescence process is more active in the mature stage, increasing radii and leading to the negative correlation between dispersion and volume-mean radius. This result sheds new light on understanding the relative dispersion and mechanisms in fog under different aerosol backgrounds.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Redox states of Desulfovibrio vulgaris DsrC, a key protein in dissimilatory sulfite reduction
Highlights: •DsrC is known to interact with the dissimilatory sulfite reductase enzyme (DsrAB). •We show that, however, most cellular DsrC is not associated with DsrAB. •A gel-shift assay was developed that allows monitoring of the DsrC redox state. •The DsrC intramolecularly oxidized state could only be produced by arginine treatment. -- Abstract: Dissimilatory reduction of sulfite is carried out by the siroheme enzyme DsrAB, with the involvement of the protein DsrC, which has two conserved redox-active cysteines. DsrC was initially believed to be a third subunit of DsrAB. Here, we report a study of the distribution of DsrC in cell extracts to show that, in the model sulfate reducer Desulfovibrio vulgaris, the majority of DsrC is not associated with DsrAB and is thus free to interact with other proteins. In addition, we developed a cysteine-labelling gel-shift assay to monitor the DsrC redox state and behaviour, and procedures to produce the different redox forms. The oxidized state of DsrC with an intramolecular disulfide bond, which is proposed to be a key metabolic intermediate, could be successfully produced for the first time by treatment with arginine.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗