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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 181 records · Page 10

Colloquium: Eigenvector continuation and projection-based emulators

Eigenvector continuation is a computational method for parametric eigenvalue problems that uses subspace projection with a basis derived from eigenvector snapshots from different parameter sets. It is part of a broader class of subspace-projection techniques called reduced-basis methods. In this Colloquium, the development, theory, and applications of eigenvector continuation and projection-based emulators are presented. In conclusion, the basic concepts are introduced, the underlying theory and convergence properties are discussed, and recent applications for quantum systems and future prospects are presented.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Identification and selection of optimal reference genes for qPCR-based gene expression analysis in Fucus distichus under various abiotic stresses

Quantitative gene expression analysis is an important tool in the scientist’s belt. The identification of evenly expressed reference genes is necessary for accurate quantitative gene expression analysis, whether by traditional RT-PCR (reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction) or by qRT-PCR (quantitative real-time PCR; qPCR). In the Stramenopiles (the major line of eukaryotes that includes brown algae) there is a noted lack of known reference genes for such studies, largely due to the absence of available molecular tools. Here we present a set of nine reference genes (Elongation Factor 1 alpha (EF1A), Elongation Factor 2 alpha (EF2A), Elongation Factor 1 beta (EF1B), 14-3-3 Protein, Ubiquitin Conjugating Enzyme (UBCE2), Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate Dehydrogenase (GAPDH), Actin Related Protein Complex (ARP2/3), Ribosomal Protein (40s; S23), and Actin) for the brown alga Fucus distichus . These reference genes were tested on adult sporophytes across six abiotic stress conditions (desiccation, light and temperature modification, hormone addition, pollutant exposure, nutrient addition, and wounding). Suitability of these genes as reference genes was quantitatively evaluated across conditions using standard methods and the majority of the tested genes were evaluated favorably. However, we show that normalization genes should be chosen on a condition-by-condition basis. We provide a recommendation that at least two reference genes be used per experiment, a list of recommended pairs for the conditions tested here, and a procedure for identifying a suitable set for an experimenter’s unique design. With the recent expansion of interest in brown algal biology and accompanied molecular tools development, the variety of experimental conditions tested here makes this study a valuable resource for future work in basic biology and understanding stress responses in the brown algal lineage.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Resource availability governs polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) accumulation and diversity of methanotrophic enrichments from wetlands

Aquatic environments account for half of global CH 4 emissions, with freshwater wetlands being the most significant contributors. These CH 4 fluxes can be partially offset by aerobic CH 4 oxidation driven by methanotrophs. Additionally, some methanotrophs can convert CH 4 into polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), an energy storage molecule as well as a promising bioplastic polymer. In this study, we investigate how PHA-accumulating methanotrophic communities enriched from wetlands were shaped by varying resource availability (i.e., C and N concentrations) at a fixed C/N ratio. Cell yields, PHA accumulation, and community composition were evaluated in high (20% CH 4 and 10 mM NH 4 + ) and low resource (0.2% CH 4 and 0.1 mM NH 4 + ) conditions simulating engineered and environmental settings, respectively. High resource availability decreased C-based cell yields, while N-based cell yields remained stable, suggesting nutrient exchange patterns differed between methanotrophic communities at different resource concentrations. PHA accumulation was only observed in high resource enrichments, producing approximately 12.6% ± 2.4% (m/m) PHA, while PHA in low resource enrichments remained below detection. High resource enrichments were dominated by Methylocystis methanotrophs, while low resource enrichments remained significantly more diverse and contained only a minor population of methanotrophs. This study demonstrates that resource concentration shapes PHA-accumulating methanotrophic communities. Together, this provides useful information to leverage such communities in engineering settings as well as to begin understanding their role in the environment.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

X-ray CT Scans - Molluscs - Set 2

A collection of x-ray computed tomography scans of specimens from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Advancing Energy Efficiency Through Workforce Training

This Final Technical Report summarizes the work done on to develop and implement the Energy Basics Training Tool with industry partners and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. This project leveraged existing infrastructure and content developed by DOE in the Building America Solution Center (BASC) and Building Science Education Solution Center (BSESC) to design model content sets for use in entry-level construction programs at the high school certificate, boot camp, and other entry level training programs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

ARM data-oriented metrics and diagnostics package for climate model evaluation (ARM-DIAGS-V3) version 3

A Python-based metrics and diagnostics package is currently being developed by the ARM Infrastructure Team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to facilitate the use of long-term high frequency measurements from the ARM program in evaluating the regional climate simulation of clouds, radiation, precipitation, and aerosols. This metrics and diagnostics package computes climatological means of targeted climate model simulation and generates tables and plots for comparing the model simulation with ARM observational data. The CMIP model data sets are also included in the package to enable model inter-comparison as demonstrated in Zhang et al. (2018) and Zhang et al. (2020). The mean of the CMIP model can be served as a reference for individual models. Basic performance metrics are computed to measure the accuracy of mean state and variability of climate models. The evaluated physical quantities include cloud fraction, temperature, relative humidity, cloud liquid water path, total column water vapor, precipitation, sensible and latent heat fluxes, aerosol optical depth, and radiative fluxes, with plan to extend to more fields, such as the evaluation of model simulated aerosol physicochemical properties and cloud microphysics properties. Process-oriented diagnostics focusing on aerosol, cloud, and precipitation-related phenomena are also being developed for the evaluation and development of specific model physical parameterizations. In addition to the Southern Great Plains (SGP), North Slope of Alaska (NSA) and Tropical Western Pacific (TWP) atmospheric observatories in the ARMDIAGS version 2.0, the version 3.0 package have extended to the data collected at the ARM Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) atmospheric observatory and the Observation and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GOAMAZON) field campaign. The metrics and diagnostics package are currently built upon standard Python libraries and additional Python packages developed by DOE (CDAT). The ARM metrics and diagnostic package is available publicly with the hope that it can serve as an easy entry point for climate modelers to compare their models with ARM data. In this report, we first provide an overview of major metrics in section 2. The input data, which constitutes the core content of the metrics and diagnostics package, is summarized in section 3. A user's guide documenting the workflow/structure of the version 3.0 codes and including step-by-step instruction for running the package is described in section 4.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The Human Proteoform Project: Defining the human proteome

Proteins are the primary effectors of function in biology, and thus, complete knowledge of their structure and properties is fundamental to deciphering function in basic and translational research. The chemical diversity of proteins is expressed in their many proteoforms, which result from combinations of genetic polymorphisms, RNA splice variants, and posttranslational modifications. This knowledge is foundational for the biological complexes and networks that control biology yet remains largely unknown. We propose here an ambitious initiative to define the human proteome, that is, to generate a definitive reference set of the proteoforms produced from the genome. Several examples of the power and importance of proteoform-level knowledge in disease-based research are presented along with a call for improved technologies in a two-pronged strategy to the Human Proteoform Project.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Evaluation of a visual interpretation method for tau-PET with 18 F-flortaucipir

Introduction: Positron emission tomography targeting tau (tau-PET) is a promising diagnostic tool for the identification of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Currently available data rely on quantitative measures, and a visual interpretation method, critical for clinical translation, is needed. Methods: In this work, we developed a visual interpretation method for 18 F-flortaucipir tau-PET and tested it on 274 individuals (cognitively normal controls, patients with mild cognitive impairment [MCI], AD dementia, and non-AD diagnoses). Two readers interpreted 18 F-flortaucipir PET using two complementary indices: a global visual score and a visual distribution pattern. Results: Global visual scores were reliable, correlated with global cortical 18 F-flortaucipir standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) and were associated with clinical diagnosis and amyloid status. The AD-like 18 F-flortaucipir pattern had good sensitivity and specificity to identify amyloid-positive patients with AD dementia or MCI. Discussion: This 18 F-flortaucipir visual rating scheme is associated with SUVR quantification, clinical diagnosis, and amyloid status, and constitutes a promising approach to tau measurement in clinical settings.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Discovering Innovations in Stress Tolerance through Comparative Gene Regulatory Network Analysis and Cell-Type Specific Expression Maps (Final Technical Report with Cover Page)

Through this grant, we developed a comparative framework to elucidate the mechanisms behind variations in environmental stress responses among a diverse group of species within the Brassicaceae family. Our focus was on the differences in physiological and transcriptomic responses to abscisic acid (ABA), a hormone associated with water stress. We examined the differential growth responses of four Brassicaceae species, finding that most exhibited reduced root growth correlated with smaller meristem size. In contrast, Schrenkiella parvula showed accelerated growth due to increased root cell elongation. We employed RNA sequencing to analyze the transcriptional responses to ABA across these species, and innovative bioinformatics techniques were used to pinpoint biological pathways with significant divergence. Additionally, we utilized DAP-seq to map the gene regulatory networks associated with ABAresponsive transcription factors, revealing that variations in the regulation of growth hormone biosynthesis play a critical role in the distinct ABA effects on root growth among the species. This research sets a new standard for comparative physiology by integrating comparative genomics and transcriptomics to uncover pathway divergences.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

RMACXX: An Efficient High-Level C++ Interface over MPI-3 RMA

Parallel scientific applications can benefit from de- coupling communication and synchronization. One-sided pro- gramming abstractions, which separate communication from syn- chronization, have in fact served as a motivation for partitioned global address space (PGAS) models. However, the use of PGAS models in application codes in a manner that fully exploits the benefit of these programming models requires significant development effort. Meanwhile, a vast majority of scientific codes already use the Message Passing Interface (MPI) and need convenient features to support application-specific one-sided communication scenarios. MPI Remote Memory Access (RMA) can be employed for this purpose. MPI is a low-level API, however, and developing applications with MPI RMA requires programmers to be well versed in its nuances. We present RMACXX, a compact set of C++ bindings to MPI-3 RMA, to ease the use of MPI RMA. Unlike other PGAS models, which may have interoperability issues with MPI, RMACXX is written on top of MPI and uses the same runtime as MPI. The basic functionality of RMACXX adds only a relatively small number of extra instructions (about 20) to the critical communication path. Moreover, RMACXX provides an intuitive API for building a wide variety of scientific applications while enjoying performance matching handwritten MPI-3 RMA codes.

MPI-3 RMA, one-sided communication, PGAS, C++, exp↗

Quantum Plasmonic Sensors

The extraordinary sensitivity of plasmonic sensors is well-known in the optics and photonics community. These sensors exploit simultaneously the enhancement and the localization of electromagnetic fields close to the interface between a metal and a dielectric. This enables, for example, the design of integrated biochemical sensors at scales far below the diffraction limit. Despite their practical realization and successful commercialization, the sensitivity and associated precision of plasmonic sensors are starting to reach their fundamental classical limit given by quantum fluctuations of light—known as the shot-noise limit. To improve the sensing performance of these sensors beyond the classical limit, quantum resources are increasingly being employed. This area of research has become known as “quantum plasmonic sensing”, and it has experienced substantial activity in recent years for applications in chemical and biological sensing. This review aims to cover both plasmonic and quantum techniques for sensing, and it shows how they have been merged to enhance the performance of plasmonic sensors beyond traditional methods. We discuss the general framework developed for quantum plasmonic sensing in recent years, covering the basic theory behind the advancements made, and describe the important works that made these advancements. We also describe several key works in detail, highlighting their motivation, the working principles behind them, and their future impact. The intention of the review is to set a foundation for a burgeoning field of research that is currently being explored out of intellectual curiosity and for a wide range of practical applications in biochemistry, medicine, and pharmaceutical research.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Multivariate chemogenomic screening prioritizes new macrofilaricidal leads

Development of direct acting macrofilaricides for the treatment of human filariases is hampered by limitations in screening throughput imposed by the parasite life cycle. In vitro adult screens typically assess single phenotypes without prior enrichment for chemicals with antifilarial potential. We developed a multivariate screen that identified dozens of compounds with submicromolar macrofilaricidal activity, achieving a hit rate of >50% by leveraging abundantly accessible microfilariae. Adult assays were multiplexed to thoroughly characterize compound activity across relevant parasite fitness traits, including neuromuscular control, fecundity, metabolism, and viability. Seventeen compounds from a diverse chemogenomic library elicited strong effects on at least one adult trait, with differential potency against microfilariae and adults. Our screen identified five compounds with high potency against adults but low potency or slow-acting microfilaricidal effects, at least one of which acts through a novel mechanism. We show that the use of microfilariae in a primary screen outperforms model nematode developmental assays and virtual screening of protein structures inferred with deep learning. These data provide new leads for drug development, and the high-content and multiplex assays set a new foundation for antifilarial discovery.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

A structural framework for unidirectional transport by a bacterial ABC exporter

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter of mitochondria (Atm1) mediates iron homeostasis in eukaryotes, while the prokaryotic homolog from Novosphingobium aromaticivorans (NaAtm1) can export glutathione derivatives and confer protection against heavy-metal toxicity. To establish the structural framework underlying the NaAtm1 transport mechanism, we determined eight structures by X-ray crystallography and single-particle cryo-electron microscopy in distinct conformational states, stabilized by individual disulfide crosslinks and nucleotides. As NaAtm1 progresses through the transport cycle, conformational changes in transmembrane helix 6 (TM6) alter the glutathione-binding site and the associated substrate-binding cavity. Significantly, kinking of TM6 in the post-ATP hydrolysis state stabilized by MgADPVO4 eliminates this cavity, precluding uptake of glutathione derivatives. The presence of this cavity during the transition from the inward-facing to outward-facing conformational states, and its absence in the reverse direction, thereby provide an elegant and conceptually simple mechanism for enforcing the export directionality of transport by NaAtm1. One of the disulfide crosslinked NaAtm1 variants characterized in this work retains significant glutathione transport activity, suggesting that ATP hydrolysis and substrate transport by Atm1 may involve a limited set of conformational states with minimal separation of the nucleotide-binding domains in the inward-facing conformation.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

X-ray CT Scans - Bats (Set 5)

A collection of x-ray computed tomography scans of specimens from the Museum of Southwestern Biology.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

FuncQEE CT Scans - Set 6

A collection of x-ray computed tomography scans of specimens from the Museum of Southwestern Biology.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

X-ray CT Scans - Bats (Set 1)

A collection of x-ray computed tomography scans of specimens from the Museum of Southwestern Biology.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

X-ray CT Scans - Bats (Set 2)

A collection of x-ray computed tomography scans of specimens from the Museum of Southwestern Biology.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

FuncQEE CT Scans (Set 2)

A collection of x-ray computed tomography scans of specimens from the Museum of Southwestern Biology.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗