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At least 217 records · Page 12

Image wavelet decomposition and applications

The general problem of computer vision has been investigated for more that 20 years and is still one of the most challenging fields in artificial intelligence. Indeed, taking a look at the human visual system can give us an idea of the complexity of any solution to the problem of visual recognition. This general task can be decomposed into a whole hierarchy of problems ranging from pixel processing to high level segmentation and complex objects recognition. Contrasting an image at different representations provides useful information such as edges. An example of low level signal and image processing using the theory of wavelets is introduced which provides the basis for multiresolution representation. Like the human brain, we use a multiorientation process which detects features independently in different orientation sectors. So, images of the same orientation but of different resolutions are contrasted to gather information about an image. An interesting image representation using energy zero crossings is developed. This representation is shown to be experimentally complete and leads to some higher level applications such as edge and corner finding, which in turn provides two basic steps to image segmentation. The possibilities of feedback between different levels of processing are also discussed.

Treil, N.↗

Uncertainty quantification for molecular property predictions with graph neural architecture search

Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have emerged as a prominent class of data-driven methods for molecular property prediction. However, a key limitation of typical GNN models is their inability to quantify uncertainties in the predictions. This capability is crucial for ensuring the trustworthy use and deployment of models in downstream tasks. To that end, we introduce AutoGNNUQ, an automated uncertainty quantification (UQ) approach for molecular property prediction. AutoGNNUQ leverages architecture search to generate an ensemble of high-performing GNNs, enabling the estimation of predictive uncertainties. Our approach employs variance decomposition to separate data (aleatoric) and model (epistemic) uncertainties, providing valuable insights for reducing them. In our computational experiments, we demonstrate that AutoGNNUQ outperforms existing UQ methods in terms of both prediction accuracy and UQ performance on multiple benchmark datasets, and generalizes well to out-of-distribution datasets. Additionally, we utilize t-SNE visualization to explore correlations between molecular features and uncertainty, offering insight for dataset improvement. AutoGNNUQ has broad applicability in domains such as drug discovery and materials science, where accurate uncertainty quantification is crucial for decision-making.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Abstract-Reasoning Software for Coordinating Multiple Agents

A computer program for scheduling the activities of multiple agents that share limited resources has been incorporated into the Automated Scheduling and Planning Environment (ASPEN) software system, aspects of which have been reported in several previous NASA Tech Briefs articles. In the original intended application, the agents would be multiple spacecraft and/or robotic vehicles engaged in scientific exploration of distant planets. The program could also be used on Earth in such diverse settings as production lines and military maneuvers. This program includes a planning/scheduling subprogram of the iterative repair type that reasons about the activities of multiple agents at abstract levels in order to greatly improve the scheduling of their use of shared resources. The program summarizes the information about the constraints on, and resource requirements of, abstract activities on the basis of the constraints and requirements that pertain to their potential refinements (decomposition into less-abstract and ultimately to primitive activities). The advantage of reasoning about summary information is that time needed to find consistent schedules is exponentially smaller than the time that would be needed for reasoning about the same tasks at the primitive level.

Clement, Bradley↗

Many‐body response of benzene at monolayer MoS 2 : Van der Waals interactions and spectral broadening

Abstract Models of surface enhancement of molecular electronic response properties are challenging for two reasons: (a) molecule‐surface interactions require a simultaneous solution of the molecular and the surface dynamic response (a daunting task), and (b) when solving for the electronic structure of the combined molecule + surface system, it is not trivial to single out the particular physical effects responsible for enhancement. To tackle this problem, in this work, we apply a formally exact decomposition of the system's response function into subsystem contributions by using subsystem density functional theory (DFT), which grants access to dynamic polarizabilities and optical spectra. In order to access information about the interactions between the subsystems, we extend a previously developed subsystem‐based adiabatic connection fluctuation‐dissipation theorem of DFT to separate the additive from the nonadditive correlation energy and identify the nonadditive correlation as the van der Waals interactions. As an example, we choose benzene adsorbed on monolayer MoS 2 . We isolate the contributions to benzene's dynamic response arising from the interaction with the surface, and for the first time, we evaluate the enhancements to the effectiveness of C 6 coefficients as a function of benzene‐MoS 2 distance and adsorption site. We also quantify the spectral broadening of the benzene's electronic excited states due to their interaction with the surface. We find that the broadening has a similar decay law with the molecule‐surface distance as the leading van der Waals interactions (ie, R −6 ) and that the surface enhancement of dispersion interactions between benzene molecules is less than 5% but is still large enough (0.5 kcal/mol) to likely play a role in the prediction of interface morphologies.

Umerbekova, Alina↗

PROACTIVE Focus Area 4: Structured Decision Metrics Analysis (Final Report)

A structured decision metrics analysis was developed as one of the tasks under PROACTIVE’s Focus Area 4 (FA4) and used structured decision metrics for processes, items, and facilities (PIF) to determine the efficacy of an M&V system in meeting treaty goals and technical objectives. The method starts with the functional decomposition of a “treaty” with the M&V system overlaid on it. A Functional Decomposition Rubric (FDR) for each PIF is used to determine a score ranging from 0 (weak) to 4 (strong) for assurance, security, and burden. The individual scores are combined to provide an overall Verification System Score (VSS) which assesses the overall verification system’s suitability given goals; scores for each step of the process are also given. The outcome of the evaluation is to identify needs or modifications to the enterprise model, verification system, or proposed testbed capabilities. VeriScore was used to evaluate FA4’s Spiral 0 exercise; those results are included in this report. The VeriScore and FDR framework can also be used in a non-treaty environment, as any goal/objective/method structure will work, thus expanding its applicability beyond traditional arms control structures.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

BoBa

BoBa is a C++ software library for working with large matrices, tensors, and tensor decompositions. The library provides tools for dense matrix and tensor operations, tensor decompositions, and tensor decomposition methods that support modern CPU and GPU architectures. It includes portable abstractions for linear algebra, tensor algebra, and multidimensional computation. BoBa is intended for scientific computing applications that involve large multidimensional data sets or high dimensional mathematical models. Its capabilities support tasks such as data compression, linear algebra, efficient numerical computation, and the development of scalable algorithms for heterogeneous hardware. Tutorials, tests, and example applications are included to help users learn and apply the library.

Yao, Jin [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (↗

Jet Mixing Enhancement by Feedback Control

The objective of this work has been to produce methodologies for high speed jet noise reduction based on natural mechanisms and enhanced feedback control to affect frequencies and structures in a prescribed manner. In this effort the two-point hot wire measurements obtained in the Langley jet facility by Ukeiley were used in conjuction with linear stochastic estimation (LSE) to implement the LSE component of the complementary technique. This method combines the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and LSE to provide an experimental low dimensional time dependent description of the flow field. From such a description it should be possible to identify short time high strain rate events in the jet which contribute to the noise. The main task completed for this effort is summarized: LSE experiments were performed at the downstream locations where the two point hot wire measurements have been obtained by Ukeiley. These experiments involved sampling simultaneously hot wire signals from a relatively course spatial grid in gamma and theta. From this simultaneous data, coupled with the two-point measurements of Ukeiley via the LSE components of the complementary technique, an experimental low dimensional description of the jet at 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 diameters downstream was obtained for Mach numbers of 0.3 and 0.6. We first present an overview of the theory involved. We finish up with a statement of the work performed and finally provide charts from a 1999 APS talk which summarizes the results.

Glauser, Mark↗

From Escherichia coli mutant 13 C labeling data to a core kinetic model: A kinetic model parameterization pipeline

Kinetic models of metabolic networks offer the promise of quantitative phenotype prediction. The mechanistic characterization of enzyme catalyzed reactions allows for tracing the effect of perturbations in metabolite concentrations and reaction fluxes in response to genetic and environmental perturbation that are beyond the scope of stoichiometric models. In this study, we develop a two-step computational pipeline for the rapid parameterization of kinetic models of metabolic networks using a curated metabolic model and available 13 C-labeling distributions under multiple genetic and environmental perturbations. The first step involves the elucidation of all intracellular fluxes in a core model of E. coli containing 74 reactions and 61 metabolites using 13 C-Metabolic Flux Analysis ( 13 C-MFA). Here, fluxes corresponding to the mid-exponential growth phase are elucidated for seven single gene deletion mutants from upper glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway and the Entner-Doudoroff pathway. The computed flux ranges are then used to parameterize the same (i.e., k-ecoli74) core kinetic model for E. coli with 55 substrate-level regulations using the newly developed K-FIT parameterization algorithm. The K-FIT algorithm employs a combination of equation decomposition and iterative solution techniques to evaluate steady-state fluxes in response to genetic perturbations. k-ecoli74 predicted 86% of flux values for strains used during fitting within a single standard deviation of 13 C-MFA estimated values. By performing both tasks using the same network, errors associated with lack of congruity between the two networks are avoided, allowing for seamless integration of data with model building. Product yield predictions and comparison with previously developed kinetic models indicate shifts in flux ranges and the presence or absence of mutant strains delivering flux towards pathways of interest from training data significantly impact predictive capabilities. Using this workflow, the impact of completeness of fluxomic datasets and the importance of specific genetic perturbations on uncertainties in kinetic parameter estimation are evaluated.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Data processing pipeline for Tianlai experiment

The Tianlai project is a 21cm intensity mapping experiment for detecting dark energy by measuring the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) features in the large scale structure power spectrum. This experiment provides an opportunity to test the data processing methods for cosmological 21cm signal extraction, which is still a great challenge in current radio astronomy research. The 21cm signal is much weaker than the foregrounds and easily aected by the imperfections in the instrumental responses. Furthermore, processing the large volumes of interferometer data poses a practical challenge. We have developed a data processing pipeline called tlpipe to process the drift scan survey data from the Tianlai experiment. It performs oine data processing tasks such as radio frequency interference (RFI) agging, array calibration, binning, and map-making, etc. It also includes utility functions needed for the data analysis, such as data selection, transformation, visualization and others. A number of new algorithms are implemented, for example the eigenvector decomposition method for array calibration and the Tikhnov regularization for m-mode analysis. In this paper we describe the design and implementation of the pipeline and illustrate its functions with some analysis of real data. Finally, we outline directions for future development of this publicly code.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Inverse transport calculations in optical imaging with subspace optimization algorithms

Inverse boundary value problems for the radiative transport equation play an important role in optics-based medical imaging techniques such as diffuse optical tomography (DOT) and fluorescence optical tomography (FOT). Despite the rapid progress in the mathematical theory and numerical computation of these inverse problems in recent years, developing robust and efficient reconstruction algorithms remains a challenging task and an active research topic. We propose here a robust reconstruction method that is based on subspace minimization techniques. The method splits the unknown transport solution (or a functional of it) into low-frequency and high-frequency components, and uses singular value decomposition to analytically recover part of low-frequency information. Minimization is then applied to recover part of the high-frequency components of the unknowns. We present some numerical simulations with synthetic data to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Lessons Learned from Medical System Foundation Development for Long-Duration Lunar Orbit and Lunar Surface Missions

The Human Research Program (HRP) Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element has been tasked with the development of Medical System Foundations for Level of Care IV for both short-duration lunar orbital missions and, subsequently, long-duration lunar orbital and surface operations missions. These Medical System Foundations serve as a framework to aid in early medical system design and mission planning. The content of both Foundation models is similar, consisting of a concept of operations, functional decomposition, clinical content (medical conditions, capabilities, and resources), technical requirements (interface, non-functional, and functional), and traces between these components and to the NASA standards documents and parent-level (Program- and Vehicle habitat system-level) requirements. Additionally, the development of both Foundations employed systems engineering principles and a model-based systems engineering (MBSE) approach. Throughout the development of these Foundations, ExMC has strived to improve the efficiency and robustness of its processes and to be more responsive to change (i.e., in design reference mission parameters and assumptions) and to stakeholders’ feedback. The most significant improvements made between the short- and long-duration Foundation models during this transformation process are the following: • Replacement of the traditional document-based ConOps with a model-based ConOps according to MBSE principles, which facilitated more efficient understanding of the material and the consolidation of all relevant information into a centralized location. • Utilization of an agile approach with tasks organized into sprints. This approach enabled solicitation of more frequent usability feedback from stakeholders, incorporation of more human factors reviews into the sprints, and more efficient tasking of team members. This presentation will discuss the journey of developing both Foundation models, as well as the lessons learned and resulting improvements made between the Short- and Long-Duration models.

M Kaetzer↗

MXER Simulation Study (Appendix B)

The task of prediction of the motion of a momentum exchange system with a 9-digit accuracy is extremely challenging, and it is relentlessly testing our ability to gain fundamental insights into the nature of the tether dynamics in this system. It has been show that the modal decomposition approach developed in the first part of this study is a very powerful and precise tool for the simulation of the dynamics of momentum exchange tethers. However, to get a prediction with required accuracy using this tool, one must have precise inputs, including the initial state, system parameters, and the environmental models. In simulations, the tether tip positioning has been observed to be quite sensitive to even small variations of the parameters involved in the calculations. It is therefore imperative that precise estimation and control algorithms be developed to compensate for the inevitable uncertainties and support high precision rendezvous.

Levin, E. M.↗

Position/force control in multiple-manipulator systems

Multiple-manipulator systems show great potential for accomplishing many tasks beyond the capabilities of a single manipulator. A fundamental task is the control of both the motion and the force of a common payload. Despite the recent progress in the motion and force control of multiple manipulators, there has been a continuing question on which physical force should be and can be controlled. The frequently used orthogonal decomposition is plagued by a unit inconsistency problem, rendering its physical interpretation difficult, if not impossible. This paper discusses one concept of internal force and shows how its regulation can be handled by the existing approaches. The many approaches to the position control of multiple manipulators are categorized, and a detailed outline of a straightforward form of multiple manipulator control is presented.

Wen, John T.↗

Image quality comparison between single energy and dual energy CT protocols for hepatic imaging

Purpose: Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) enables volumetric scans in a single breath hold and is clinically useful for hepatic imaging. For simple tasks, conventional single energy (SE) computed tomography (CT) images acquired at the optimal tube potential are known to have better quality than dual energy (DE) blended images. However, liver imaging is complex and often requires imaging of both structures containing iodinated contrast media, where atomic number differences are the primary contrast mechanism, and other structures, where density differences are the primary contrast mechanism. Hence it is conceivable that the broad spectrum used in a dual energy acquisition may be an advantage. In this work we are interested in comparing these two imaging strategies at equal-dose and more complex settings. Methods: We developed numerical anthropomorphic phantoms to mimic realistic clinical CT scans for medium size and large size patients. MDCT images based on the defined phantoms were simulated using various SE and DE protocols at pre- and post-contrast stages. For SE CT, images from 60 kVp through 140 with 10 kVp steps were considered; for DE CT, both 80/140 and 100/140 kVp scans were simulated and linearly blended at the optimal weights. To make a fair comparison, the mAs of each scan was adjusted to match the reference radiation dose (120 kVp, 200 mAs for medium size patients and 140 kVp, 400 mAs for large size patients). Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of liver against other soft tissues was used to evaluate and compare the SE and DE protocols, and multiple pre- and post-contrasted liver-tissue pairs were used to define a composite CNR. To help validate the simulation results, we conducted a small clinical study. Eighty-five 120 kVp images and 81 blended 80/140 kVp images were collected and compared through both quantitative image quality analysis and an observer study. Results: In the simulation study, we found that the CNR of pre-contrast SE image mostly increased with increasing kVp while for post-contrast imaging 90 kVp or lower yielded higher CNR images, depending on the differential iodine concentration of each tissue. Similar trends were seen in DE blended CNR and those from SE protocols. In the presence of differential iodine concentration (i.e., post-contrast), the CNR curves maximize at lower kVps (80–120), with the peak shifted rightward for larger patients. The combined pre- and post-contrast composite CNR study demonstrated that an optimal SE protocol has better performance than blended DE images, and the optimal tube potential for SE scan is around 90 kVp for a medium size patients and between 90 and 120 kVp for large size patients (although low kVp imaging requires high x-ray tube power to avoid photon starvation). Also, a tin filter added to the high kVp beam is not only beneficial for material decomposition but it improves the CNR of the DE blended images as well. The dose adjusted CNR of the clinical images also showed the same trend and radiologists favored the SE scans over blended DE images. Conclusions: Our simulation showed that an optimized SE protocol produces up to 5% higher CNR for a range of clinical tasks. The clinical study also suggested 120 kVp SE scans have better image quality than blended DE images. Hence, blended DE images do not have a fundamental CNR advantage over optimized SE images.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Quantum advantage for differential equation analysis

Quantum algorithms for differential equation solving, data processing, and machine learning potentially offer an exponential speedup over all known classical algorithms. However, there also exist obstacles to obtaining this potential speedup in useful problem instances. The essential obstacle for quantum differential equation solving is that outputting useful information may require difficult postprocessing, and the essential obstacle for quantum data processing and machine learning is that inputting the data is a difficult task just by itself. In this study, we demonstrate that, when combined, these difficulties solve one another. We show how the output of quantum differential equation solving can serve as the input for quantum data processing and machine learning, allowing dynamical analysis in terms of principal components, power spectra, and wavelet decompositions. To illustrate this, we consider continuous-time Markov processes on epidemiological and social networks. These quantum algorithms provide an exponential advantage over existing classical Monte Carlo methods.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Monopropellant hydrazine resistojet: Flight application design

The design, development, and testing of an engineering model nominal 20-millipound thrust monopropellant hydrazine resistojet program is directed toward the advanced development of an electrothermal hydrazine thruster (EHT). The EHT decomposes hydrazine thermally and expands the decomposition products through a nozzle to provide the impulse necessary to fulfill spacecraft propulsive requirements. The thruster is capable of operation at pulse widths from 0.050 second to steady state and delivers specific impulse values up to about 230 seconds depending on the duty cycle. The program is comprised of six tasks including analyses, the generation of specifications and other documentation, design, fabrication and test, data correlation, and recommendations for the design of flight units.

Kurch, C. K.↗

An Efficient Multicore Implementation of a Novel HSS-Structured Multifrontal Solver Using Randomized Sampling

Here, we present a sparse linear system solver that is based on a multifrontal variant of Gaussian elimination and exploits low-rank approximation of the resulting dense frontal matrices. We use hierarchically semiseparable (HSS) matrices, which have low-rank off-diagonal blocks, to approximate the frontal matrices. For HSS matrix construction, a randomized sampling algorithm is used together with interpolative decompositions. The combination of the randomized compression with a fast ULV HSS factoriz ation leads to a solver with lower computational complexity than the standard multifrontal method for many applications, resulting in speedups up to 7 fold for problems in our test suite. The implementation targets many-core systems by using task parallelism with dynamic runtime scheduling. Numerical experiments show performance improvements over state-of-the-art sparse direct solvers. The implementation achieves high performance and good scalability on a range of modern shared memory parallel systems, including the Intel Xeon Phi (MIC). The code is part of a software package called STRUMPACK - STRUctured Matrices PACKage, which also has a distributed memory component for dense rank-structured matrices.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A Graph Based Backtracking Algorithm for Solving General CSPs

Many AI tasks can be formalized as constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs), which involve finding values for variables subject to constraints. While solving a CSP is an NP-complete task in general, tractable classes of CSPs have been identified based on the structure of the underlying constraint graphs. Much effort has been spent on exploiting structural properties of the constraint graph to improve the efficiency of finding a solution. These efforts contributed to development of a class of CSP solving algorithms called decomposition algorithms. The strength of CSP decomposition is that its worst-case complexity depends on the structural properties of the constraint graph and is usually better than the worst-case complexity of search methods. Its practical application is limited, however, since it cannot be applied if the CSP is not decomposable. In this paper, we propose a graph based backtracking algorithm called omega-CDBT, which shares merits and overcomes the weaknesses of both decomposition and search approaches.

Pang, Wanlin↗