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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 289 records · Page 16

Methods integrating innate and adaptive immune responses in human in vitro immunization assays

Rapid vaccine development and innovative immunotherapeutics are critical in the fight against emerging outbreaks and global pandemic threats, yet the high costs and prolonged timelines for developing new vaccines underscore the urgent need for robust, predictive pre-clinical testing platforms. The rapid down-selection of vaccine candidates and identification of optimal vaccine formulations can be performed using human in vitro immunization (IVI) assays that recapitulate the complex interactions of the innate and adaptive human immune response. In this review, we present a comprehensive evaluation of three key IVI platforms: the whole blood assay (WBA), monocyte-derived dendritic cell (MoDC) assay with dendritic cell-T cell interface assay (DTI), and the microphysiological human tissue construct assay (HTC). The WBA offers a cost-effective and straightforward approach, while the MoDC + DTI system represents the current gold standard for balancing experimental efficiency with immunological complexity. The HTC assay, by mimicking both spatial and temporal aspects of immune interactions, provides enhanced physiological relevance. We discuss the methodological advantages and limitations of each platform, explore their roles in rapid vaccine candidate screening, and propose strategies for integrating these assays with complementary in vivo models. These insights pave the way for refining IVI assays and accelerating the translational pipeline for next-generation vaccines and immunotherapies.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Evaluation of quartz melt rate furnace with the nitric-glycolic flowsheet

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) was tasked to support validation of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) melter offgas flammability model for the Nitric-Glycolic (NG) flowsheet. The work is supplemental to the Cold Cap Evaluation Furnace (CEF) testing conducted in 20141 and the Slurry-fed Melt Rate Furnace (SMRF) testing conducted in 20162 that supported Deliverable 4 of the DWPF & Saltstone Facility Engineering Technical Task Request (TTR).3 The Quartz Melt Rate Furnace (QMRF) was evaluated as a bench-scale scoping tool to potentially be used in lieu of or simply prior to the use of the larger-scale SMRF or CEF. The QMRF platform has been used previously to evaluate melt rate behavior and offgas compositions of DWPF glasses prepared from the Nitric-Formic (NF) flowsheet but not for the NG flowsheet and not with continuous feeding.4 The overall objective of the 2016-2017 testing was to evaluate the efficacy of the QMRF as a lab-scale platform for steady state, continuously fed melter testing with the NG flowsheet as an alternative to more expensive and complex testing with the SMRF or CEF platforms.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Evaluating the Cloud for Capability Class Leadership Workloads

Cloud platforms offer a variety of benefits that are very appealing for a large scale HPC facility with a diverse and dynamic user base and workload set. At the same time, there is cause for concern about transitioning to the cloud. Incorporating cloud resources into existing HPC facilities or even fully transitioning to a cloud deployment poses significant challenges at the technical, organizational, and economic levels. Regardless, based on current trends it is highly likely that cloud platforms will become an integral component of many HPC centers in some form. To gain a better understanding of both the limitations and capabilities of current cloud infrastructures we evaluated the public offerings of the three leading cloud platforms (Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform) using a selection of representative application workloads from our facility. Our findings show that while current HPC offerings are still nascent, significant progress is being made to address the present shortcomings. At the same time, significant challenges and questions remain about whether HPC cloud offerings will be able to deliver the full range of expected benefits.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Securing Your ICS Software with the AttackSurface Host Analyzer (AHA)

Implementing a secure development lifecycle (SDL) presents increasing challenges to software developers as they must ensure software correctly integrates both underlying operating system security features while also managing dependencies on third-party libraries or executables. There are a growing number of security functions that require a close integration between the OS security features and software builds to ensure strong protection. Furthermore, as software platforms grow in complexity, they present many opportunities for misconfigurations and inadequate defenses. This challenge is especially prevalent for industrial control systems (ICS), which oten depend on both legacy sotware platforms, or out of date operating systems. This paper presents the AttackSurface Host Analyzer (AHA) tool, which is used to assess the security of a software platform through its integration with a host operating system. The tool collects data from the various platforms running on an OS, evaluates an array of security properties, and then introduces metrics and visualizations to provide feedback on the system's attack surface based on the external interconnections and the completeness of the available security protections. The paper then explores the attack surface of a variety of industry-standard ICS platforms to provide insight into the current degree of protection enabled by them.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Air Launch: Examining Performance Potential of Various Configurations and Growth Options

The Advanced Concepts Office at NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center conducted a high-level analysis of various air launch vehicle configurations, objectively determining maximum launch vehicle payload while considering carrier aircraft capabilities and given dimensional constraints. With the renewed interest in aerial launch of low-earth orbit payloads, referenced by programs such as Stratolaunch and Spaceship2, there exists a need to qualify the boundaries of the trade space, identify performance envelopes, and understand advantages and limiting factors of designing for maximum payload capability. Using the NASA/DARPA Horizontal Launch Study (HLS) Point Design 2 (PD-2) as a pointof- departure configuration, two independent design actions were undertaken. Both designs utilized a Boeing 747-400F as the carrier aircraft, LOX/RP-1 first stage and LOX/LH2 second stage. Each design was sized to meet dimensional and mass constraints while optimizing propellant loads and stage delta V splits. All concepts, when fully loaded, exceeded the allowable Gross Takeoff Weight (GTOW) of the aircraft platform. This excess mass was evaluated as propellant/fuel offload available for a potential in-flight propellant loading scenario. Results indicate many advantages such as payload delivery of approximately 47,000 lbm and significant mission flexibility including variable launch site inclination and launch window. However, in-flight cryogenic fluid transfer and carrier aircraft platform integration are substantial technical hurdles to the realization of such a system configuration.

Waters, Eric D.↗

JSC flight experiment recommendation in support of Space Station robotic operations

The man-tended configuration (MTC) of Space Station Freedom (SSF) provides a unique opportunity to move robotic systems from the laboratory into the mainstream space program. Restricted crew access due to the Shuttle's flight rate, as well as constrained on-orbit stay time, reduces the productivity of a facility dependent on astronauts to perform useful work. A natural tendency toward robotics to perform maintenance and routine tasks will be seen in efforts to increase SSF usefulness. This tendency will provide the foothold for deploying space robots. This paper outlines a flight experiment that will capitalize on the investment in robotic technology made by NASA over the past ten years. The flight experiment described herein provides the technology demonstration necessary for taking advantage of the expected opportunity at MTC. As a context to this flight experiment, a broader view of the strategy developed at the JSC is required. The JSC is building toward MTC by developing a ground-based SSF emulation funded jointly by internal funds, NASA/Code R, and NASA/Code M. The purpose of this ground-based Station is to provide a platform whereby technology originally developed at JPL, LaRC, and GSFC can be integrated into a near flight-like condition. For instance, the Automated Robotic Maintenance of Space Station (ARMSS) project integrates flat targets, surface inspection, and other JPL technologies into a Station analogy for evaluation. Also, ARMSS provides the experimental platform for the Capaciflector from GSPC to be evaluated for its usefulness in performing ORU change out or other tasks where proximity detection is required. The use and enhancement of these ground-based SSF models are planned for use through FY-93. The experimental data gathered from tests in these facilities will provide the basis for the technology content of the proposed flight experiment.

Berka, Reginald B.↗

Air Launch: Examining Performance Potential of Various Configurations and Growth Options

The Advanced Concepts Office at NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center conducted a high-level analysis of various air launch vehicle configurations, objectively determining maximum launch vehicle payload while considering carrier aircraft capabilities and given dimensional constraints. With the renewed interest in aerial launch of low-earth orbit payloads, referenced by programs such as Stratolaunch and Spaceship2, there existed a need to qualify the boundaries of the trade space, identify performance envelopes, and understand advantages and limiting factors of designing for maximum payload capability. Using the NASA/DARPA Horizontal Launch Study (HLS) Point Design 2 (PD-2) as a point-of-departure configuration, two independent design actions were undertaken. Both configurations utilized a Boeing 747-400F as the carrier aircraft, LOX/RP-1 first stage and LOX/LH2 second stage. Each design was sized to meet dimensional and mass constraints while optimizing propellant loads and stage delta V (ΔV) splits. All concepts, when fully loaded, exceeded the allowable Gross Takeoff Weight (GTOW) of the aircraft platform. This excess mass was evaluated as propellant/fuel offload available for a potential in-flight refueling scenario. Results indicate many advantages such as large, relative payload delivery of approximately 47,000 lbm and significant mission flexibility, such as variable launch site inclination and launch window; however, in-flight cryogenic fluid transfer and carrier aircraft platform integration are substantial technical hurdles to the realization of such a system configuration.

Waters, Eric D.↗

Nitric-glycolic flowsheet evaluation with the slurry-fed melt rate furnace

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) was tasked to support validation of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) melter offgas flammability model for the nitric-glycolic (NG) flowsheet. The work supports Deliverable 4 of the DWPF & Saltstone Facility Engineering Technical Task Request (TTR)1 and is supplemental to the Cold Cap Evaluation Furnace (CEF) testing conducted in 2014.2 The Slurry-fed Melt Rate Furnace (SMRF) was selected for the supplemental testing as it requires significantly less resources than the CEF and could provide a tool for more rapid analysis of melter feeds in the future. The SMRF platform has been used previously to evaluate melt rate behavior of DWPF glasses, but was modified to accommodate analysis of the offgas stream. Additionally, the Melt Rate Furnace (MRF) and Quartz Melt Rate Furnace (QMRF) were utilized for evaluations. MRF data was used exclusively for melt behavior observations and REDuction/OXidation (REDOX) prediction comparisons and will be briefly discussed in conjunction with its support of the SMRF testing. The QMRF was operated similarly to the SMRF for the same TTR task, but will be discussed in a separate future report. The overall objectives of the SMRF testing were to; 1) Evaluate the efficacy of the SMRF as a platform for steady state melter testing with continuous feeding and offgas analysis; and 2) Generate supplemental melter offgas flammability data to support the melter offgas flammability modelling effort for DWPF implementation of the NG flowsheet.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Remote sensing techniques for conservation and management of natural vegetation ecosystems

The importance of using remote sensing techniques, in the visible and near-infrared ranges, for mapping, inventory, conservation and management of natural ecosystems is discussed. Some examples realized in Brazil or other countries are given to evaluate the products from orbital platform (MSS and RBV imagery of LANDSAT) and aerial level (photography) for ecosystems study. The maximum quantitative and qualitative information which can be obtained from each sensor, at different level, are discussed. Based on the developed experiments it is concluded that the remote sensing technique is a useful tool in mapping vegetation units, estimating biomass, forecasting and evaluation of fire damage, disease detection, deforestation mapping and change detection in land-use. In addition, remote sensing techniques can be used in controling implantation and planning natural/artificial regeneration.

Parada, N. D. J.↗

Packaging HEP Heterogeneous Mini-apps for Portable Benchmarking and Facility Evaluation on Modern HPCs

High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments are making increasing use of GPUs and GPU dominated High Performance Computer facilities. Both the software and hardware of these systems are rapidly evolving, creating challenges for experiments to make informed decisions as to where they wish to devote resources. In its first phase, the High Energy Physics Center for Computational Excellence (HEP-CCE) produced portable versions of a number of heterogeneous HEP mini-apps, such as p2r, FastCaloSim, Patatrack and the WireCell Toolkit, that exercise a broad range of GPU characteristics, enabling cross platform and facility benchmarking and evaluation. However, these miniapps still require a significant amount of manual intervention to deploy on a new facility. We present our work in developing turn-key deployments of these mini-apps, where by means of containerization and automated configuration and build techniques such as Spack, we are able to quickly test new hardware, software, environments and entire facilities with minimal user intervention, and then track performance metrics over time.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Packaging HEP Heterogeneous Mini-apps for Portable Benchmarking and Facility Evaluation on Modern HPCs

High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments are making increasing use of GPUs and GPU dominated High Performance Computer facilities. Both the software and hardware of these systems are rapidly evolving, creating challenges for experiments to make informed decisions as to where they wish to devote resources. In its first phase, the High Energy Physics Center for Computational Excellence (HEP-CCE) produced portable versions of a number of heterogeneous HEP mini-apps, such as \ptor, FastCaloSim, Patatrack and the WireCell Toolkit, that exercise a broad range of GPU characteristics, enabling cross platform and facility benchmarking and evaluation. However, these mini-apps still require a significant amount of manual intervention to deploy on a new facility. We present our work in developing turn-key deployments of these mini-apps, where by means of containerization and automated configuration and build techniques such as Spack, we are able to quickly test new hardware, software, environments and entire facilities with minimal user intervention, and then track performance metrics over time.

Atif, Mohammad [Brookhaven] (ORCID:000000026889770↗

Application-level benchmarking of quantum computers using nonlocal game strategies

In a nonlocal game, two noncommunicating players cooperate to convince a referee that they possess a strategy that does not violate the rules of the game. Quantum strategies allow players to optimally win some games by performing joint measurements on a shared entangled state, but computing these strategies can be challenging. We present a variational quantum algorithm to compute quantum strategies for nonlocal games by encoding the rules of a nonlocal game into a Hamiltonian. We show how this algorithm can generate a short-depth optimal quantum strategy for a graph coloring game with a quantum advantage. This quantum strategy is then evaluated on fourteen different quantum hardware platforms to demonstrate its utility as a benchmark. Finally, we discuss potential sources of errors that can explain the observed decreased performance of the executed task and derive an expression for the number of samples required to accurately estimate the win rate in the presence of noise.

nonlocal games↗

Expanded Signal to Noise Ratio Estimates for Validating Next-Generation Satellite Sensors in Oceanic, Coastal, and Inland Waters

The launch of the NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) and the Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) satellite sensors will provide increased spectral resolution compared to existing platforms. These new sensors will require robust calibration and validation datasets, but existing field-based instrumentation is limited in its availability and potential for geographic coverage, particularly for coastal and inland waters, where optical complexity is substantially greater than in the open ocean. The minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is an important metric for assessing the reliability of derived biogeochemical products and their subsequent use as proxies, such as for biomass, in aquatic systems. The SNR can provide insight into whether legacy sensors can be used for algorithm development as well as calibration and validation activities for next-generation platforms. We extend our previous evaluation of SNR and associated uncertainties for representative coastal and inland targets to include the imaging sensors PRISM and AVIRIS-NG, the airborne-deployed C-AIR radiometers, and the shipboard HydroRad and HyperSAS radiometers, which were not included in the original analysis. Nearly all the assessed hyperspectral sensors fail to meet proposed criteria for SNR or uncertainty in remote sensing reflectance (R rs ) for some part of the spectrum, with the most common failures (>20% uncertainty) below 400 nm, but all the sensors were below the proposed 17.5% uncertainty for derived chlorophyll-a. Instrument suites for both in-water and airborne platforms that are capable of exceeding all the proposed thresholds for SNR and R rs uncertainty are commercially available. Thus, there is a straightforward path to obtaining calibration and validation data for current and next-generation sensors, but the availability of suitable high spectral resolution sensors is limited.

signal-to-noise ratio↗

Evaluating the feasibility of tidal energy extraction at non-operational gas platforms and effects of sedimentation and sea ice in Cook Inlet (Abstract)

Littoral Power Systems (LPS) has been granted a FERC preliminary permit for the Upper Cook Inlet Tidal Energy Project in an area that includes existing non-producing natural gas platforms. LPS is working to understand the feasibility of a 2 MW tidal energy project and is considering multiple technologies, the viability of using the platforms to support deployment and operation of the technologies, as well as the environmental conditions that will interact with tidal energy devices. The proposed TEAMER work will conduct a modeling study to understand 1) current velocity and turbulence; 2) the distribution of sea ice trajectories around the platform; and 3) the likelihood of seabed erosion and deposition through an analysis of shear stress in the seabed near the platforms. The results of this work will contribute to determining the feasibility of the site for tidal energy development.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

Evaluation of atmospheric trace constituent sensors operating from remote space and airborne platforms

A laboratory gas analysis system was developed specifically to make trace level measurements of carbon monoxide. To assure that the data collected with this system are correctly aligned with other established methods for making these measurements, an intercalibration study was conducted. The calibration gas was analyzed by the various participating laboratories and found to contain 1.28 ppm CO. Samples were collected at 25 deg, 35 deg, and 45 deg N for profile data to study the variation in concentrations of CO and CH4 as a function of altitude and latitude in continental air over the eastern seaboard of the United States. The experiment was repeated several months later to determine if there were seasonally dependent variations in the CO and CH4 concentrations.

Condon, E.↗

Transplatformer: translating toxicogenomic profiles between generations of platforms

Background Transcriptomic profiling technologies have advanced the analysis of biological and toxicological responses. However, substantial differences in probe design, dynamic range, gene coverage, and preprocessing pipelines across platforms introduce artifacts that limit cross-study integration and hinder the reuse of historical datasets. We aim to develop computational methods for accurate cross-platform translation to maximize the value of legacy resources. Results We present TransPlatformer a deep learning framework for translating gene expression profiles across heterogeneous toxicogenomics platforms. TransPlatformer employs a novel attention-based architecture to map high-dimensional fold-change vectors from legacy microarray technologies to current platforms. Models are trained and evaluated using DrugMatrix, spanning three technological generations. We investigate mixed-tissue, single-tissue, and cross-tissue training paradigms and benchmark performance against multilayer perceptron and matrix-completion baselines. In mixed-tissue training, TransPlatformer achieves a greater than 50% reduction in mean absolute error (0.043 vs. 0.09) and nearly doubles Pearson correlation ( ≈ 0.71 vs. 0.37) relative to baseline methods. Importantly, TransPlatformer preserves rare but biologically meaningful over- and under-expressed signals, with mean absolute error below 0.22. Single-tissue models yield further improvements for well-represented organs, such as a 10% reduction in liver mean absolute error, while underscoring the need for data augmentation strategies in low-sample tissues.ra Conclusions TransPlatformer provides an effective and scalable computational solution for cross-platform transcriptomic translation. By enabling biologically faithful harmonization of gene expression data, the proposed approach facilitates the reuse of legacy toxicogenomics datasets, enhances downstream biomarker discovery, and supports more reproducible predictive modeling in toxicology.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Microfluidics for Antibiotic Susceptibility and Toxicity Testing

The recent emergence of antimicrobial resistance has become a major concern for worldwide policy makers as very few new antibiotics have been developed in the last twenty-five years. To prevent the death of millions of people worldwide, there is an urgent need for a cheap, fast and accurate set of tools and techniques that can help to discover and develop new antimicrobial drugs. In the past decade, microfluidic platforms have emerged as potential systems for conducting pharmacological studies. Recent studies have demonstrated that microfluidic platforms can perform rapid antibiotic susceptibility tests to evaluate antimicrobial drugs’ efficacy. In addition, the development of cell-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip platforms have enabled the early drug testing, providing more accurate insights into conventional cell cultures on the drug pharmacokinetics and toxicity, at the early and cheaper stage of drug development, i.e., prior to animal and human testing. In this review, we focus on the recent developments of microfluidic platforms for rapid antibiotics susceptibility testing, investigating bacterial persistence and non-growing but metabolically active (NGMA) bacteria, evaluating antibiotic effectiveness on biofilms and combinatorial effect of antibiotics, as well as microfluidic platforms that can be used for in vitro antibiotic toxicity testing.

cell-on-a-chip↗