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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 199 records · Page 11

Aryl azide-sulfonamide hybrids induce cellular apoptosis: synthesis and preliminary screening of their cytotoxicity in human HCT116 and A549 cancer cell lines

Simple, small, drug-like molecules bearing aryl azide and aryl sulfonamide moieties were designed and synthesized. The cytotoxic activity of these compounds was measured on colon cancer HCT116, lung cancer A549, and normal fibroblast cells F180 cell lines. All the synthesized compounds showed a significant cytotoxic activity below 100 µM in both HCT116 and A549 cells. Compounds 10e and 10f exhibited the most potent activity with IC{sub 50} values of 2.20 and 6.27 µM on A549 and HCT116 cells, respectively. Also, compounds 10e and 10f showed significant tumor selectivity on HCT116 and A549 cell lines when compared with the reference cytotoxic agent staurosporine. This indicated the promising safety of these compounds on normal cells. In addition, flow cytometry studies showed that HCT116 cell lines treated with the most active compound 10f were arrested in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. 10f boosted both early and late apoptosis at HCT116 cells. A hypothetical pharmacophore model was built using 14 reported potent carbonic anhydrase I inhibitors. The pharmacophoric study revealed that the tested sulfonamide derivatives 10e and 10f showed significant fitting on the pharmacophore query with reasonable RMSD values. Molecular docking study showed a chelation reaction with the key Zn atom, in addition to different hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals interactions with several important amino acids inside the CA Ι active site. .

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Sheath-induced distortions in particle distributions near enhanced polar outflow probe particle sensors

We discuss sheath and kinetic effects on ion and electron distribution functions at the aperture of enhanced Polar Outflow Probe particle sensors. For this purpose, the interaction between the CASSIOPE spacecraft and space environment is simulated fully kinetically using the electrostatic Particle In Cell code PTetra. The simulations account for the geometry of the main features of the spacecraft body, the booms, and the sensors. In addition to the background plasma, the model also accounts for Earth magnetic field. The plasma parameters assumed in the simulations are obtained from the latest version of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model and the value of magnetic field is obtained from the International Geophysical Reference Field model. Our analysis shows significant distortions in the ion distribution function in the plane of the sensor aperture, as well as in the direction along the boom holding the sensor. We argue that significant distortions and asymmetries should also occur at the aperture of the suprathermal electron imager when suprathermal electrons are detected, with energies of 5 eV or more.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Microscale 3D Liver Bioreactor for In Vitro Hepatotoxicity Testing under Perfusion Conditions

The accurate prediction of hepatotoxicity demands validated human in vitro models that can close the gap between preclinical animal studies and clinical trials. In this study we investigated the response of primary human liver cells to toxic drug exposure in a perfused microscale 3D liver bioreactor. The cellularized bioreactors were treated with 5, 10, or 30 mM acetaminophen (APAP) used as a reference substance. Lactate production significantly decreased upon treatment with 30 mM APAP (p < 0.05) and ammonia release significantly increased in bioreactors treated with 10 or 30 mM APAP (p < 0.0001), indicating APAP-induced dose-dependent toxicity. The release of prostaglandin E2 showed a significant increase at 30 mM APAP (p < 0.05), suggesting an inflammatory reaction towards enhanced cellular stress. The expression of genes involved in drug metabolism, antioxidant reactions, urea synthesis, and apoptosis was differentially influenced by APAP exposure. Histological examinations revealed that primary human liver cells in untreated control bioreactors were reorganized in tissue-like cell aggregates. These aggregates were partly disintegrated upon APAP treatment, lacking expression of hepatocyte-specific proteins and transporters. In conclusion, our results validate the suitability of the microscale 3D liver bioreactor to detect hepatotoxic effects of drugs in vitro under perfusion conditions.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Diagnostic for Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition and Etch Systems

In order to meet NASA's requirements for the rapid development and validation of future generation electronic devices as well as associated materials and processes, enabling technologies ion the processing of semiconductor materials arising from understanding etch chemistries are being developed through a research collaboration between Stanford University and NASA-Ames Research Center, Although a great deal of laboratory-scale research has been performed on many of materials processing plasmas, little is known about the gas-phase and surface chemical reactions that are critical in many etch and deposition processes, and how these reactions are influenced by the variation in operating conditions. In addition, many plasma-based processes suffer from stability and reliability problems leading to a compromise in performance and a potentially increased cost for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Such a lack of understanding has hindered the development of process models that can aid in the scaling and improvement of plasma etch and deposition systems. The research described involves the study of plasmas used in semiconductor processes. An inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source in place of the standard upper electrode assembly of the Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC) radio-frequency (RF) Reference Cell is used to investigate the discharge characteristics and chemistries. This ICP source generates plasmas with higher electron densities (approximately 10(exp 12)/cu cm) and lower operating pressures (approximately 7 mTorr) than obtainable with the original parallel-plate version of the GEC Cell. This expanded operating regime is more relevant to new generations of industrial plasma systems being used by the microelectronics industry. The motivation for this study is to develop an understanding of the physical phenomena involved in plasma processing and to measure much needed fundamental parameters, such as gas-phase and surface reaction rates. species concentration, temperature, ion energy distribution, and electron number density. A wide variety of diagnostic techniques are under development through this consortium grant to measure these parameters. including molecular beam mass spectrometry (MBMS). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, broadband ultraviolet (UV) absorption spectroscopy, a compensated Langmuir probe. Additional diagnostics. Such as microwave interferometry and microwave absorption for measurements of plasma density and radical concentrations are also planned.

Cappelli, Mark A.↗

An explicit scheme to enforce charge conservation in transient Particle-in-Cell simulations with Maxwell-Boltzmann electrons

The Maxwell-Boltzmann electron model is a very popular approximation of the electronic behavior in electrostatic plasmas, adopted in all cases where the electron dynamics is governed only by a balance between electric and pressure forces. In such a model, the electron dynamics is reduced to solving for a nonlinear Poisson problem together with an additional expression enforcing charge conservation. In this work we derive an expression of charge conservation which can be conveniently applied to explicit schemes to update the reference Boltzmann density, particularly useful when simulating plasma sheaths. The scheme can be equally applied to both steady-state and transient problems. Two examples are shown, a steady-state plasma sheath, and a radio-frequency magnetic presheath. Our proposed scheme allows to enforce global charge conservation locally in time, and can thus be applied to the simulation of transient phenomena.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Numerical power balance and free energy loss analysis for solar cells including optical, thermodynamic, and electrical aspects

A method for analyzing the power losses of solar cells is presented, supplying a complete balance of the incident power, the optical, thermodynamic, and electrical power losses and the electrical output power. The involved quantities have the dimension of a power density (units: W/m{sup 2}), which permits their direct comparison. In order to avoid the over-representation of losses arising from the ultraviolet part of the solar spectrum, a method for the analysis of the electrical free energy losses is extended to include optical losses. This extended analysis does not focus on the incident solar power of, e.g., 1000 W/m{sup 2} and does not explicitly include the thermalization losses and losses due to the generation of entropy. Instead, the usable power, i.e., the free energy or electro-chemical potential of the electron-hole pairs is set as reference value, thereby, overcoming the ambiguities of the power balance. Both methods, the power balance and the free energy loss analysis, are carried out exemplarily for a monocrystalline p-type silicon metal wrap through solar cell with passivated emitter and rear (MWT-PERC) based on optical and electrical measurements and numerical modeling. The methods give interesting insights in photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion, provide quantitative analyses of all loss mechanisms, and supply the basis for the systematic technological improvement of the device.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Mathematical Modeling of Hydroxide-Exchange-Membrane Water Electrolyzer

Water electrolyzers can transform intermittent renewable energy like solar energy and wind energy into the chemical energy of hydrogen with zero greenhouse-gas emissions. The hydroxide-exchange membrane electrolyzer (HEME) combines the capability to produce pressurized hydrogen with the advantage of being able to use low or non-platinum group metal (PGM) electrocatalysts in the alkaline environment.1 Hydroxide salts, for example, KOH, are added to the HEME water feed on both anode and cathode to improve its performance. However, the specific mechanism of performance improvement still needs to be further understood. In addition, at high current densities, bubble evolution can result in mass-transport limitations, a less well studied phenomena. Mathematical modeling is ideal to explore these issues as it is cost and time efficient and can deconvolute the physics, processes, and observed phenomena and study the applied-voltage breakdown. In this work, we extend our previously developed 1D two-phase continuum model2 to study the varies processes in the HEME and provide insights on performance optimizations. First, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) kinetics at different hydroxide concentrations have been studied by rotating disk electrodes (RDE) and implemented in the model. Then, the model is calibrated and validated against experimental HEME polarization curves for different KOH concentrations as a liquid electrolyte. The model clearly shows a performance increase with increasing KOH concentrations, which is consistent with the experimental results. The reduced ohmic resistance and increased electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) are the two main reasons for performance increase. The large amount of hydroxide in the liquid electrolyte not only helps to distribute the reactant hydroxide throughout the catalyst layer (CL), which reduces ohmic loss, but also enables reaction at the interface between the liquid electrolyte and electrocatalyst, which increases the ECSA. Applied-voltage breakdown demonstrates that the electrolyzer performance is dominated by anode kinetics and ohmic loss. A comparison with the DI water feed shows a more uniform current distribution in the anode CL when KOH is added, which indicates a higher utilization of the CL. Second, we present modeling on the effects of bubble coverage. As gas evolves, part of the ECSA is minimized due to bubble coverage. To account for this effect, an empirical relationship between the fractional bubble coverage and the current density is implemented in the model.3 The model shows this bubble coverage effect is more pronounced at large current densities with DI water feed. Acknowledgements This work was funded under the HydroGEN Consortium by the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, of the U. S. Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC02-05CH11231. References R. Abbasi, B. P. Setzler, S. Lin, J. Wang, Y. Zhao, H. Xu, B. Pivovar, B. Tian, X. Chen, G. Wu and Y. Yan, 31, 1805876 (2019). L. N. Stanislaw, M. R. Gerhardt and A. Z. Weber, ECS Transactions, 92, 767 (2019). H. Vogt and R. J. Balzer, Electrochimica Acta, 50, 2073 (2005).

Liu, Jiangjin↗

A THEORY ON THE CONVECTIVE ORIGINS OF ACTIVE LONGITUDES ON SOLAR-LIKE STARS

Using a thin flux tube model in a rotating spherical shell of turbulent, solar-like convective flows, we find that the distribution of emerging flux tubes in our simulation is inhomogeneous in longitude, with properties similar to those of active longitudes on the Sun and other solar-like stars. The large-scale pattern of flux emergence our simulations produce exhibits preferred longitudinal modes of low order, drift with respect to a fixed reference system, and alignment across the equator at low latitudes between {+-}15 Degree-Sign . We suggest that these active-longitude-like emergence patterns are the result of columnar, rotationally aligned giant cells present in our convection simulation at low latitudes. If giant convecting cells exist in the bulk of the solar convection zone, this phenomenon, along with differential rotation, could in part provide an explanation for the behavior of active longitudes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Toward fully self-consistent simulation of the interaction of E-Clouds and beams with WARP-POSINST

To predict the evolution of electron clouds and their effect on the beam, the high energy physics community has relied so far on the complementary use of 'buildup' and 'single/multi-bunch instability' reduced descriptions. The former describes the evolution of electron clouds at a given location in the ring, or 'station', under the influence of prescribed beams and external fields [1], while the latter (sometimes also referred as the 'quasi-static' approximation [2]) follows the interaction between the beams and the electron clouds around the accelerator with prescribed initial distributions of electrons, assumed to be concentrated at a number of discrete 'stations' around the ring. Examples of single bunch instability codes include HEADTAIL [3], QuickPIC [4, 5], and PEHTS [6]. By contrast, a fully self-consistent approach, in which both the electron cloud and beam distributions evolve simultaneously under their mutual influence without any restriction on their relative motion, is required for modeling the interaction of high-intensity beams with electron clouds for heavy-ion beam-driven fusion and warm-dense matter science. This community has relied on the use of Particle-In-Cell (PIC) methods through the development and use of the WARP-POSINST code suite [1, 7, 8]. The development of novel numerical techniques (including adaptive mesh refinement, and a new 'drift-Lorentz' particle mover for tracking charged particles in magnetic fields using large time steps) has enabled the first application of WARP-POSINST to the fully self-consistent modeling of beams and electron clouds in high energy accelerators [9], albeit for only a few betatron oscillations. It was recently observed [10] that there exists a preferred frame of reference which minimizes the number of computer operations needed to simulate the interaction of relativistic objects. This opens the possibility of reducing the cost of fully self-consistent simulations for the interaction of ultrarelativistic beams with electron cloud by orders of magnitude. The computational cost of the fully self-consistent mode is then predicted to be comparable to that of the quasi-static mode, assuming that several stations per betatron period are needed. During the workshop, there was some debate about the number of stations per betatron period that are needed when using the quasi-static mode. The argument was made that if there is less than one station per betatron period, then artificial resonances can be triggered and the resulting emittance growth provides an upper bound. The emittance growth thus obtained will fall either above or below the operational requirements of the machine. In the latter case, one can conclude that the electron effect that has been simulated is of no concern. However, if the emittance growth that was obtained is above the threshold, then the results become inconclusive, and simulations which resolve the betatron motion are then needed. In this case, according to [10], the fully self-consistent approach becomes an option. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether this option is indeed practical.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Appalachian Basin Play Fairway Analysis: Thermal Quality Analysis in Low-Temperature Geothermal Play Fairway Analysis (GPFA-AB)

This collection of files are part of a larger dataset uploaded in support of Low Temperature Geothermal Play Fairway Analysis for the Appalachian Basin (GPFA-AB). Phase 1 of the GPFA-AB project identified potential Geothermal Play Fairways within the Appalachian basin of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York. This was accomplished through analysis of 4 key criteria: thermal quality, natural reservoir productivity, risk of seismicity, and heat utilization. Each of these analyses represent a distinct project task, with the fifth task encompassing combination of the 4 risks factors. Supporting data for all five tasks has been uploaded into the Geothermal Data Repository node of the National Geothermal Data System (NGDS). This submission comprises the data for Thermal Quality Analysis (project task 1) and includes all of the necessary shapefiles, rasters, datasets, code, and references to code repositories that were used to create the thermal resource and risk factor maps as part of the GPFA-AB project. The identified Geothermal Play Fairways are also provided with the larger dataset. Figures (.png) are provided as examples of the shapefiles and rasters. The regional standardized 1 square km grid used in the project is also provided as points (cell centers), polygons, and as a raster. Two ArcGIS toolboxes are available: 1) RegionalGridModels.tbx for creating resource and risk factor maps on the standardized grid, and 2) ThermalRiskFactorModels.tbx for use in making the thermal resource maps and cross sections. These toolboxes contain item description documentation for each model within the toolbox, and for the toolbox itself. This submission also contains three R scripts: 1) AddNewSeisFields.R to add seismic risk data to attribute tables of seismic risk, 2) StratifiedKrigingInterpolation.R for the interpolations used in the thermal resource analysis, and 3) LeaveOneOutCrossValidation.R for the cross validations used in the thermal interpolations. Some file descriptions make reference to various 'memos'. These are contained within the final report submitted October 16, 2015. Each zipped file in the submission contains an 'about' document describing the full Thermal Quality Analysis content available, along with key sources, authors, citation, use guidelines, and assumptions, with the specific file(s) contained within the .zip file highlighted. UPDATE: Newer version of the Thermal Quality Analysis has been added here: https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/879 (Also linked below) Newer version of the Combined Risk Factor Analysis has been added here: https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/880 (Also linked below)

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

A benchmarking study of Geant4 for Auger electrons emitted by medical radioisotopes

Auger emitting radioisotopes are of great interest in targeted radiotherapy because, once internalised in the tumour cells, they can deliver dose locally to the radiation sensitive targets, while not affecting surrounding cells. Geant4 is a Monte Carlo code widely used to characterise the physics mechanism at the basis of targeted radiotherapy. Here, we benchmarked the modelling of the emission of Auger electrons in Geant4 deriving from the decay of 123 I, 124 I, 125 I radionuclides against existing theoretical approaches. We also compared Geant4 against reference data in the case of 131 Cs, which is of interest for brachytherapy. In the case of 125 I and 131 Cs, the simulation results are compared to experimental measurements as well. Good agreement was found between Geant4 and the reference data. As far as we know, this is the first study aimed to benchmark against experimental measurements the emission of Auger electrons in Geant4 for radiotherapy applications.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Kinetic simulations of piston-driven collisionless shock formation in magnetized laboratory plasmas

Laboratory laser experiments offer a novel approach to studying magnetized collisionless shocks, and a common method in recent experiments is to drive shocks using a laser-ablated piston plasma. However, current experimental capabilities are still limited to spatio-temporal scales on the order of shock formation, making it challenging to distinguish piston and shock dynamics. We present quasi-1D particle-in-cell simulations of piston-driven, magnetized collisionless shock formation using the code psc , which includes a model of laser-driven plasmas that can be well-matched to experimental conditions. The simulations cover a range of upstream and ablation parameters and yield several robust signatures of shock formation that can provide a reference for experimental results.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

PV_LIB Toolbox v. 1.3

PV_LIB comprises a library of Matlab? code for modeling photovoltaic (PV) systems. Included are functions to compute solar position and to estimate irradiance in the PV system's plane of array, cell temperature, PV module electrical output, and conversion from DC to AC power. Also included are functions that aid in determining parameters for module performance models from module characterization testing. PV_LIB is open source code primarily intended for research and academic purposes. All algorithms are documented in openly available literature with the appropriate references included in comments within the code.

Source record↗

Design of high speed proprotors using multiobjective optimization techniques

A multidisciplinary optimization procedure is developed for the design of high speed proprotors. The objectives are to simultaneously maximize the propulsive efficiency in high speed cruise without sacrificing the rotor figure of merit in hover. Since the problem involves multiple design objectives, multiobjective function formulation techniques are used. A derailed two-celled isotropic box beam is used to model the load carrying member within the rotor blade. Constraints are imposed on rotor blade aeroelastic stability in cruise, the first natural frequency in hover and total blade weight. Both aerodynamic and structural design variables are used. The results obtained using both techniques are compared to the reference rotor and show significant aerodynamic performance improvements without sacrificing dynamic and aeroelastic stability requirements.

Mccarthy, Thomas R.↗

Baseline Assumptions and Future Research Areas for Urban Air Mobility Vehicles

NASA is developing Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concepts to (1) create first-generation reference vehicles that can be used for technology, system, and market studies, and (2) hypothesize second-generation UAM aircraft to determine high-payoff technology targets and future research areas that reach far beyond initial UAM vehicle capabilities. This report discusses the vehicle-level technology assumptions for NASA’s UAM reference vehicles, and highlights future research areas for second-generation UAM aircraft that includes deflected slipstream concepts, low-noise rotors for edgewise flight, stacked rotors/propellers, ducted propellers, solid oxide fuel cells with liquefied natural gas, and improved turbo shaft and reciprocating engine technology. The report also highlights a transportation network-scale model that is being developed to understand the impact of these and other technologies on future UAM solutions.

Antcliff, Kevin↗

PV_LIB Toolbox v. 1.3

PV_LIB comprises a library of Matlab? code for modeling photovoltaic (PV) systems. Included are functions to compute solar position and to estimate irradiance in the PV system's plane of array, cell temperature, PV module electrical output, and conversion from DC to AC power. Also included are functions that aid in determining parameters for module performance models from module characterization testing. PV_LIB is open source code primarily intended for research and academic purposes. All algorithms are documented in openly available literature with the appropriate references included in comments within the code.

Source record↗

Investigating the Particle Growth in Bimodal Pt/C Catalysts by In-Situ Small-Angle X-ray Scattering: Challenges in the Evaluation of Stress Test Protocol-Dependent Degradation Mechanisms

The influence of different combinations of accelerated stress test (AST) protocols simulating load-cycle and start/stop conditions of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) vehicle is investigated on a bimodal Pt/C catalyst. The bimodal Pt/C catalyst, prepared by mixing two commercial catalysts, serves as a model system and consists of two distinguishable size populations. The change in mean particle size was investigated by in situ small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The comparison to the reference catalysts, i.e., the two single-size population catalysts, uncovers the presence of electrochemical Ostwald ripening as a degradation mechanism in the bimodal catalyst. Increasing the harshness of the applied AST protocol combinations by faster changing between load-cycle or start/stop conditions, the particle size of the larger population of the bimodal catalyst increases faster than expected. Surprisingly, the change in mean particle size of the smaller size population indicates a smaller increase for harsher AST protocols, which might be explained by a substantial electrochemical Ostwald ripening.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Velocity field calculation for non-orthogonal numerical grids

Computational grids containing cell faces that do not align with an orthogonal (e.g. Cartesian, cylindrical) coordinate system are routinely encountered in porous-medium numerical simulations. Such grids are referred to in this study as non-orthogonal grids because some cell faces are not orthogonal to a coordinate system plane (e.g. xy, yz or xz plane in Cartesian coordinates). Non-orthogonal grids are routinely encountered at the Savannah River Site in porous-medium flow simulations for Performance Assessments and groundwater flow modeling. Examples include grid lines that conform to the sloping roof of a waste tank or disposal unit in a 2D Performance Assessment simulation, and grid surfaces that conform to undulating stratigraphic surfaces in a 3D groundwater flow model. Particle tracking is routinely performed after a porous-medium numerical flow simulation to better understand the dynamics of the flow field and/or as an approximate indication of the trajectory and timing of advective solute transport. Particle tracks are computed by integrating the velocity field from cell to cell starting from designated seed (starting) positions. An accurate velocity field is required to attain accurate particle tracks. However, many numerical simulation codes report only the volumetric flowrate (e.g. PORFLOW) and/or flux (flowrate divided by area) crossing cell faces. For an orthogonal grid, the normal flux at a cell face is a component of the Darcy velocity vector in the coordinate system, and the pore velocity for particle tracking is attained by dividing by water content. For a non-orthogonal grid, the flux normal to a cell face that lies outside a coordinate plane is not a true component of velocity with respect to the coordinate system. Nonetheless, normal fluxes are often taken as Darcy velocity components, either naively or with accepted approximation. To enable accurate particle tracking or otherwise present an accurate depiction of the velocity field for a non-orthogonal grid, Darcy velocity components are rigorously derived in this study from normal fluxes to cell faces, which are assumed to be provided by or readily computed from porous-medium simulation code output. The normal fluxes are presumed to satisfy mass balances for every computational cell, and if so, the derived velocity fields are consistent with these mass balances. Derivations are provided for general two-dimensional quadrilateral and three-dimensional hexagonal systems, and for the commonly encountered special cases of perfectly vertical side faces in 2D and 3D and a rectangular footprint in 3D.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗