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At least 199 records · Page 11

Symmetry Analysis Using Symbolic Computation

The symmetry group of a system of differential equations reveals basic invariant properties of the underlying model and its solutions. In many cases symmetry groups have simple geometric interpretations that can be applied to simplify the model and determine certain classes of solutions explicitly. The general procedure to compute the symmetry group of a given system of differential equations follows a well-known algorithm. However, this procedure involves a large number of laborious and usually error-prone calculations, especially in the case of higher-order systems. The purpose of this report is explain how to use an existing software program designed to automate the major steps of this algorithm in order to calculate the symmetry group of any system of differential equations more efficiently.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Impaired osteoblast differentiation in Annexin A2- and -A5-deficient cells

Annexins are a class of calcium-binding proteins with diverse functions in the regulation of lipid rafts inflammation,fibrinolysis, transcriptional programming and ion transport. Within bone, they are well-characterized as components of mineralizing matrix vesicles, although little else is known as to their function during osteogenesis. We generated annexin A2 (AnxA2)- or annexin A5 (AnxA5)-knockdown pre-osteoblasts, and asked whether proliferation or osteogenic differentiation was altered in knockdown cells, compared to vector controls. We report that DNA content, a marker of proliferation, was significantly reduced in both AnxA2 and AnxA5 knockdown cells. Alkaline phosphatase expression and staining activity were also suppressed in AnxA2- or AnxA5-knockdown after 14 days of culture. The pattern of osteogenic gene expression was altered in knockdown cells, with Col1a1 expressed more rapidly in knock-down cells, compared to controls. In contrast, Runx2, Ibsp, and Bglap all revealed decreased expression after 14 days of culture. Using a murine fracture model, we demonstrate that AnxA2 and AnxA5 are rapidly expressed within the fracture callus. These data demonstrate that AnxA2 and AnxA5 can influence bone formation via regulation of osteoprogenitor proliferation and differentiation in addition to their well-studied function in matrix vesicles.

annexin, bone, gene expression↗

THERMAL ANNEALING OF IRRADIATED PREHYDRIDED ZIRCALOY-4 MATERIALS

Hydrogen-assisted irradiation growth is an important issue for reliability and performance of nuclear materials in nuclear fuel cladding and fuel assembly components. The mechanisms of irradiation growth are not entirely clear and the role of hydrogen and hydrides are less so. There is evidence that breakaway irradiation growth is strongly influenced by the formation and dynamics of dislocation loops that vary with alloy composition, heat treatment and hydrogen content. Thermal annealing of eight Zircaloy-4 specimens irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory as part of the joint EPRI Nuclear Fuels Industry Research (NFIR) and Fuel Reliability Program (FRP) AsTeR irradiation growth study were performed by hot-stage transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dilatometry via NSUF RTE 17-1093. Two fluence levels (6.7 and 12.3 dpa) and three hydrogen contents (~10, 40, 120 ppm) were investigated. TEM with a hot stage was used for the quantification of "a" and "c" dislocation loop population densities and size distributions at a range of temperatures from 25 to 800oC. DSC and dilatometry were performed by dynamically heating and cooling from 30 to 750ºC at rates of 5, 10, and 20 oC/min to determine the behavior of dislocation loop annealing. Dynamic temperature DSC tests were able to detect the temperature ranges and enthalpies of "a" and "c" loop annihilation, hydride dissolution and precipitation, secondary particle precipitation, and a?a + ß phase transformations upon heating and cooling. Dilatometry tests showed that all of the test showed initial linear expansion followed by a decrease in expansion rate from about 400 to 600 ºC associated with annihilation of "a" and "c" loops and showed evidence for the thermal stabilizing effect of hydrogen on dislocation loops. The results are discussed in the context of the larger AsTeR program that will include higher exposure (~20 dpa) and different alloys when they become available in 2021.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Recursion relation for general 3d blocks

We derive closed-form expressions for all ingredients of the Zamolodchikov-like recursion relation for general spinning conformal blocks in 3-dimensional conformal field theory. This result opens a path to efficient automatic generation of conformal block tables, which has immediate applications in numerical conformal bootstrap program. Our derivation is based on an understanding of null states and conformally-invariant differential operators in momentum space, combined with a careful choice of the relevant tensor structures bases. This derivation generalizes straightforwardly to higher spacetime dimensions d, provided the relevant Clebsch-Gordan coefficients of Spin (d) are known.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Allosteric Inhibition of SHP2: Identification of a Potent, Selective, and Orally Efficacious Phosphatase Inhibitor

SHP2 is a nonreceptor protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) encoded by the PTPN11 gene involved in cell growth and differentiation via the MAPK signaling pathway. SHP2 also purportedly plays an important role in the programmed cell death pathway (PD-1/PD-L1). Because it is an oncoprotein associated with multiple cancer-related diseases, as well as a potential immunomodulator, controlling SHP2 activity is of significant therapeutic interest. Recently in our laboratories, a small molecule inhibitor of SHP2 was identified as an allosteric modulator that stabilizes the autoinhibited conformation of SHP2. A high throughput screen was performed to identify progressable chemical matter, and X-ray crystallography revealed the location of binding in a previously undisclosed allosteric binding pocket. Structure-based drug design was employed to optimize for SHP2 inhibition, and several new protein–ligand interactions were characterized. Furthermore, these studies culminated in the discovery of 6-(4-amino-4-methylpiperidin-1-yl)-3-(2,3-dichlorophenyl)pyrazin-2-amine (SHP099, 1), a potent, selective, orally bioavailable, and efficacious SHP2 inhibitor.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Analysis and Optimization of "Full-Length" Diodes

A method of analyzing the axial variation of the heat generation rate, temperature, voltage, current density and emitter heat flux in a thermionic converter is described. The method is particularly useful for the case of "long" diodes, each extending over the full length of the reactor core. For a given diode geometry and fuel distribution, the analysis combines a nuclear solution of the axial fission density profile with the iterative solution of four differential equations representing the thermal, electrical, and thermionic interactions within the diode. The digital computer program developed to solve these equations can also perform a design optimization with respect to lead resistance, load voltage, and emitter thickness, for a specified maximum emitter temperature. Typical results are presented, and the use of this analysis for predicting the diode operating characteristics is illustrated.

Full Length Diodes↗

Stochastic Differential Games for Fully Coupled FBSDEs with Jumps

This paper is concerned with stochastic differential games (SDGs) defined through fully coupled forward-backward stochastic differential equations (FBSDEs) which are governed by Brownian motion and Poisson random measure. The upper and the lower value functions are defined by the doubly controlled fully coupled FBSDEs with jumps. Using a new transformation introduced in Buchdahn (Stocha Process Appl 121:2715–2750, 2011), we prove that the upper and the lower value functions are deterministic. Then, after establishing the dynamic programming principle for the upper and the lower value functions of this SDGs, we prove that the upper and the lower value functions are the viscosity solutions to the associated upper and the lower second order integral-partial differential equations of Isaacs’ type combined with an algebraic equation, respectively. Furthermore, for a special case (when σ and h do not depend on (y,z,k)), under the Isaacs’ condition, we get the existence of the value of the game.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A Tale from the Trenches: Applying Metamorphic and Differential Testing to Bioinformatics Software

Metamorphic and differential testing have been proposed as best practices for testing software that is difficult to test, such as for programs in scientific domains. An assumption is that these approaches can be easily customized and applied to almost any domain. However, scientific software is often data-driven, and metamorphic relations may require significant domain knowledge to develop. In addition, tools are often written for ad-hoc experimentation by the scientists and often embed many assumptions about the importance and representation of different natural phenomena. In this paper, we present our experience applying both metamorphic and differential testing to a set of four computational biology tools that predict the growth of an organism. While our original goal was to evaluate these techniques to improve our system-level testing, we encountered multiple roadblocks along the way. Although we did find faults (some confirmed by developers), we also uncovered a set of challenges, including the considerable manual effort required for (a) defining domain-specific tests, (b) validating correctness, and (c) distinguishing between issues stemming from poor data and those arising from incorrect software.

Marsh, Alexis L [Iowa State University/Ames Labora↗

SOLAR CYCLE VARIABILITY AND SURFACE DIFFERENTIAL ROTATION FROM Ca II K-LINE TIME SERIES DATA

Analysis of over 36 yr of time series data from the NSO/AFRL/Sac Peak K-line monitoring program elucidates 5 components of the variation of the 7 measured chromospheric parameters: (a) the solar cycle (period {approx} 11 yr), (b) quasi-periodic variations (periods {approx} 100 days), (c) a broadband stochastic process (wide range of periods), (d) rotational modulation, and (e) random observational errors, independent of (a)-(d). Correlation and power spectrum analyses elucidate periodic and aperiodic variation of these parameters. Time-frequency analysis illuminates periodic and quasi-periodic signals, details of frequency modulation due to differential rotation, and in particular elucidates the rather complex harmonic structure (a) and (b) at timescales in the range {approx}0.1-10 yr. These results using only full-disk data suggest that similar analyses will be useful for detecting and characterizing differential rotation in stars from stellar light curves such as those being produced by NASA's Kepler observatory. Component (c) consists of variations over a range of timescales, in the manner of a 1/f random process with a power-law slope index that varies in a systematic way. A time-dependent Wilson-Bappu effect appears to be present in the solar cycle variations (a), but not in the more rapid variations of the stochastic process (c). Component (d) characterizes differential rotation of the active regions. Component (e) is of course not characteristic of solar variability, but the fact that the observational errors are quite small greatly facilitates the analysis of the other components. The data analyzed in this paper can be found at the National Solar Observatory Web site http://nsosp.nso.edu/cak{sub m}on/, or by file transfer protocol at ftp://ftp.nso.edu/idl/cak.parameters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Does Peer Review of Radiation Plans Affect Clinical Care? A Systematic Review of the Literature

Purpose: Peer review is a recommended component of quality assurance in radiation oncology; however, it is resource-intensive and its effect on patient care is not well understood. We conducted a systematic review of the published data to assess the reported clinical impact of peer review on radiation treatment plans. Methods and Materials: A systematic review of published English studies was performed in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines using the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases and abstracts published from major radiation oncology scientific meeting proceedings. For inclusion, the studies were required to report the effect of peer review on ≥1 element of treatment planning (eg, target volume or organ-at-risk delineation, dose prescription or dosimetry). Results: The initial search strategy identified 882 potentially eligible studies, with 11 meeting the inclusion criteria for full-text review and final analysis. Across a total of 11,491 patient cases, peer review programs led to modifications in a weighted mean of 10.8% of radiation treatment plans. Five studies differentiated between major and minor changes and reported weighted mean rates of change of 1.8% and 7.3%, respectively. The most common changes were related to target volume delineation (45.2% of changed plans), dose prescription or written directives (24.4%), and non-target volume delineation or normal tissue sparing (7.5%). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that peer review leads to changes in clinical care in approximately 1 of every 9 cases overall. This is similar to the reported rates of change in peer review studies from other oncology-related specialties, such as radiology and pathology.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

On optimal control of hybrid dynamical systems using complementarity constraints

Optimal control for switch-based dynamical systems is a challenging problem in the process control literature. In this study, we model these systems as hybrid dynamical systems with finite number of unknown switching points and reformulate them using non-smooth and non-convex complementarity constraints as a mathematical program with complementarity constraints (MPCC). We utilize a moving finite element based strategy to discretize the differential equation system to accurately locate the unknown switching points at the finite element boundary and achieve high-order accuracy at intermediate non-collocation points. We propose a globalization approach to solve the discretized MPCC problem using a mixed NLP/MILP-based strategy to converge to a non-spurious first-order optimal solution. The method is tested on three dynamic optimization examples, including a gas–liquid tank model and an optimal control problem with a sliding mode solution.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

The Princess Project: From Differential to Integral Experiments

Following the shutdown of the CEA Valduc experimental facilities, where, for more than 50 years, IRSN used to perform experiments related to criticality safety, IRSN initiated a new project named PRINCESS (PRoject for IRSN Neutron physics and Criticality Experimental data Supporting Safety). The objective is to continue collecting experimental data necessary for the IRSN missions in nuclear safety. For this purpose, collaborations with various national and international laboratories have been established. The PRINCESS project covers various nuclear physics fields from nuclear data to criticality-safety and reactor physics providing information to both differential and integral data improvements.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Dynamics of an Adiabatic Point Reactor

Here, the problem of adiabatic excursions in a reactor is studied in general. We let the prompt temperature reactivity feedback be an unspecified function of temperature, ρ = ρ 0 = ρ 0 + f(T), where ρ is total reactivity, ρ 0 initial step reactivity and f(T) the feedback function. The similarity of the behavior of the reactor for different f(T) is established by means of a topological (qualitative) analysis. A quantitative asymptotic solution of the non-linear system of DE describing the reactor is presented. In delayed critical excursions, the delayed neutrons play a determining role. In the first part of a prompt excursion, the delayed-neutron source is nil; however this is not so in the second part, where it contributes appreciably to the excursion. These conclusions are shown to be valid in general, and allow us to write down almost directly the (approximate) quantitative solution of the non-linear system for any f(T). These results are correlated with the experimental data for the adiabatic excursions of a UO 2 core in SPERT I; in this case the (prompt) dependence of the reactivity on energy is of the form ρ = ρ 0 - 4.588 × 10 -4 E 0.74 .

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

IER-517: Molybdenum Optimized Benchmark System Demonstrating Integral Correlations (MOBY DICK)

Nuclear criticality experiments are essential to the validation of nuclear data used in simulation software. The quality of nuclear data becomes paramount as simulation software becomes more relied upon for criticality safety studies and designs of nuclear systems. To improve the quality of nuclear data, experimenters can design critical experiments that are sensitive to isotope reaction pairs in materials of interest. The efforts conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD-NEA) Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS) Subgroup 8: Preservation of Expert Knowledge and Judgement Applied to Criticality Benchmarks (SG8) to categorize benchmarks according to their usefulness for nuclear data validation have been of great importance. Based on the OECD studies benchmark experiments included in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) Handbook are concisely used by nuclear data evaluators, criticality safety engineers and others to validate nuclear data and simulation results. A lack of benchmarks sensitive to molybdenum in the (ICSBEP), particularly in the intermediate range, was noted by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the French Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), and Y-12 National Security Site prompting them to submit a joint integral experiment request to the Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP) in 2019. The request included both HEU and Plutonium systems in order to validate differential nuclear data focusing on the intermediate energy range but also includes thermal and fast configurations. This document represents the preliminary design work for a series of molybdenum integral experiments known as Molybdenum Optimized Benchmark System Demonstrating Integral Correlations (MOBY DICK).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

KR Persei, a Mid-F Eclipsing Binary with a One-day Period

KR Per is a partially eclipsing binary with an orbital period of 0.9960798 days, very close to one sidereal day, making it difficult to obtain extensive phase coverage in a reasonable amount of time. We used the Wilson–Devinney program to determine its orbital elements and stellar absolute dimensions from recently acquired radial velocities and differential BVRI observations that were supplemented with previous differential UBV measurements and published times of minima. The two components are each F5 V stars with masses of 1.466±0.015 M{sub ⊙} and 1.458±0.015 M{sub ⊙}. The radii are 1.855±0.021 R{sub ⊙} and 1.824±0.022 R{sub ⊙}. The orbital period of the eclipsing system is variable and more times of minima observations are needed. A comparison with evolutionary tracks indicates that the system has an age of 2.1 ± 0.1 Gyr.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

TINES - Time Integration, Newton and Eigen Solver v. 1.0

SAND2021-1505 O. TINES is an open source software providing math infrastructure for solving many stiff time ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and/or differential algebraic equations (DAEs) using a batch hierarchical parallelism. The code is written using a parallel programming model (i.e., Kokkos) to future-proof the next generation parallel computing platforms such as GPU accelerators. This code is developed to support Exascale Catalytic Chemistry (ECC) Project. The code provides fundamental math helpers that can aid other research projects. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Kim, Kyungjoo↗

TAS: 89 0227: TAS Recovery Act - Optimization and Control of Electric Power Systems: ARRA

The name SuperOPF is used to refer several projects, problem formulations and soft-ware tools intended to extend, improve and re-define some of the standard methods of optimizing electric power systems. Our work included applying primal-dual interior point methods to standard AC optimal power flow problems of large size, as well as extensions of this problem to include co-optimization of multiple scenarios. The original SuperOPF problem formulation was based on co-optimizing a base scenario along with multiple post-contingency scenarios, where all AC power flow models and constraints are enforced for each, to find optimal energy contracts, endogenously determined locational reserves and appropriate nodal energy prices for a single period optimal power flow problem with uncertainty. This led to example non-linear programming problems on the order of 1 million constraints and half a million variables. The second generation SuperOPF formulation extends this by adding multiple periods and multiple base scenarios per period. It also incorporates additional variables and constraints to model load following reserves, ramping costs, and storage resources. A third generation of the multi-period SuperOPF, adds both integer variables and a receding horizon framework in which the problem type is more challenging (mixed integer), the size is even larger, and it must be solved more frequently, pushing the limits of currently available algorithms and solvers. The consideration of transient stability constraints in optimal power flow (OPF) problems has become increasingly important in modern power systems. Transient stability constrained OPF (TSCOPF) is a nonlinear optimization problem subject to a set of algebraic and differential equations. Solving a TSCOPF problem can be challenging due to (i) the differential-equation constraints in an optimization problem, (ii) the lack of a true analytical expression for transient stability in OPF. To handle the dynamics in TSCOPF, the set of differential equations can be approximated or converted into equivalent algebraic equations before they are included in an OPF formulation. In Chapter 4, a rigorous evaluation of using a predefined and fixed threshold for rotor angles as a mean to determine transient stability of the system is developed. TSCOPF can be modeled as a large-scale nonlinear programming problem including the constraints of differential-algebraic equations (DAE). Solving a TSCOPF problem can be challenging due to (i) the differential-equation constraints in an optimization problem, (ii) the lack of a true analytical expression for transient stability constraint in OPF. Unfortunately, even the current best TSCOPF solvers still suffer from the curse of dimensionality and unacceptable computational time, especially for large-scale power systems with multiple contingencies. In chapter 5, thse issues will be addressed and a new method to incorporate the transient stability constraints will be presented.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Joint Fleet Sizing and Charging System Planning for Autonomous Electric Vehicles

This paper studies the joint fleet sizing and charging system planning problem for a company operating a fleet of autonomous electric vehicles (AEVs) for passenger and goods transportation. Most of the relevant published papers focus on intracity scenarios and adopt heuristic approaches, e.g., agent based simulation, which do not guarantee optimality. In contrast, we propose a mixed integer linear programming model for intercity scenarios. This model incorporates comprehensive considerations of 1) limited AEV driving range; 2) optimal AEV routing and relocating operations; 3) time-varying origin-destination transport demands; and 4) differentiated operation cost structure of passenger and goods transportation. The proposed model can be computational expensive when the scale of the transportation network is large. We then exploit the structure of this program to expedite its solution. Numerical experiments are conducted to validate the proposed method. Our experimental results show that AEVs in passenger and goods transportation have remarkable planning and operation differences. We also demonstrate that intelligent routing and relocating operations, charging system and vehicle parameters, e.g., charging power, battery capacity, driving speed etc., can significantly affect the economic efficiency and the planning results of an AEV fleet.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗