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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 343 records · Page 19

ESAC v1: Enhanced AI-Powered Chatbot for EQ-SANS Experiment Automation Improvements and Updates

ESAC (EQ-SANS Assisting Chatbot) is an advanced AI-powered application designed to streamline the workflow of neutron scattering experiments at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). This report documents the significant advancements in ESAC v1, which include the integration of a combined In-Context Learning (ICL) + Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) capability, a robust integrated development environment, and standalone executable distribution. These enhancements address the limitations of the original version, making ESAC v1 a transformative tool for researchers. The report also discusses the technical challenges encountered during development and their resolution, highlighting the impact of these improvements on the neutron scattering research community.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

High-performance computing leadership to enable advances in artificial intelligence and a thriving compute ecosystem

The past three decades have witnessed the widespread adoption of high-performance computing (HPC) as an essential tool in the advancement of science. From accelerating critical research in the wake of a global pandemic to climate modelling and national security, HPC has become integral to the most cutting-edge scientific research around the world and across application domains. The global competition to debut the next fastest supercomputer keeps pushing the field forward. Meanwhile, increasing capabilities are bringing hallmarks of science fiction, such as artificial intelligence (AI), into daily life. However, the tremendous power of new computing systems comes with an increased concern about equitable access to these resources and their impact on supporting a thriving workforce.

Tourassi, Georgia↗

A Scoping Review of Mixed Initiative Visual Analytics in the Automation Renaissance

Artificial agents are increasingly integrated into data analysis workflows, carrying out tasks that were primarily done by humans. Our research explores how the introduction of automation recalibrates the dynamic between humans and automating technology. To explore this question, we conducted a scoping review encompassing twenty years of mixed-initiative visual analytic systems. To describe and contrast the relationship between humans and automation, we developed an integrated taxonomy to delineate the objectives of these mixed-initiative visual analytics tools, how much automation they support, and the assumed roles of humans. Here, we describe our qualitative approach of integrating existing theoretical frameworks with new codes we developed. Our analysis shows that the visualization research literature lacks consensus on the definition of mixed-initiative systems and explores a limited potential of the collaborative interaction landscape between people and automation. Our research provides a scaffold to advance the discussion of human-AI collaboration during visual data analysis. Our integrated taxonomy is available in the form of a web application on https://smonadjemi.github.io/miva.

Monadjemi, Shayan [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000293855969)↗

BOSC 2025, the 26th Bioinformatics Open Source Conference

The 26th annual Bioinformatics Open Source Conference (BOSC 2025, open-bio.org/events/bosc-2025) brought its community-driven focus on open-source bioinformatics and open science to the 2025 conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology and the European Conference on Computational Biology (ISMB/ECCB 2025). Since its launch in 2000, BOSC has been the premier annual meeting covering open-source bioinformatics and open science. Framed by two keynote addresses and a thought-provoking panel discussion, the two-day conference included sessions dedicated to open data, analytic tools and pipelines, workflow platforms, knowledge representation, and the application of AI/ML. The first keynote talk was delivered by Christine Orengo: “Working together to develop, promote and protect our data resources: Lessons learnt developing CATH and TED.” A joint session with the Bio-Ontologies and Knowledge Representation (BOKR) track the second day of BOSC started with a keynote talk by Chris Mungall entitled “Open Knowledge Bases in the Age of Generative AI”. A closing panel on Data Sustainability, moderated by Mónica Muñoz Torres, featured panelists Scott Edmunds, Varsha Khodiyar, Tony Burdett, Nicky Mulder, and Chris Mungall. This year, the CollaborationFest collaborative work event that typically precedes or follows ISMB was incorporated as part of the main conference and organized by BOSC with help from the Function and 3D-SIG tracks.

bioinformatics↗

A Methodology to Evaluate the Grid Reliability Impact of Oscillations Induced by Large Loads

The rapid growth of hyperscale AI data centers is bringing renewed attention to the reliability risk that sustained forced oscillations pose to bulk power systems, with cyclic computational workloads emerging as a new forcing source. Unlike the broadband, stochastic disturbances from traditional industrial loads such as arc furnaces, AI training and inference facilities can inject large active power swings concentrated at specific frequencies over extended durations - characteristics that existing grid planning practices do not account for. While the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has recognized this gap and called for system-level studies of large load interconnections, no standardized methodology exists to screen, simulate, and quantify these risks at the planning stage. This report presents the Risk Assessment Tool for Large Load-induced Events (RATLLE), a Python-based, publicly available script suite developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to evaluate bulk power system reliability risks from data center-induced oscillations. RATLLE implements a three-module workflow: a screening module that identifies vulnerable interconnection locations and excitable system modes; a simulation module that models cyclic data center load behavior using a commercial positive sequence simulation platform; and an analysis module that computes risk metrics and generates interactive visualization dashboards. The risk metrics, formulated around simulation observables, map oscillation impacts to a three-stage severity scale spanning latent equipment fatigue through imminent cascading failure. The methodology is demonstrated on two Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) system models: a publicly available 240-bus reduced representation and a detailed 2031 Heavy Winter planning case. Case studies illustrate that even modest 50 MW forced oscillations at resonant frequencies can produce wide-area power swings, N-1 security constraint violations, and cascading generator trips through protection actions - outcomes that would not occur under normal operating conditions without oscillations present. The results underscore the need for standardized oscillation impact assessment in large load interconnection studies and provide a reproducible, extensible framework for utilities to adopt or customize within their existing planning workflows.

Biswas, Shuchismita↗

Mathematical nuances of Gaussian process-driven autonomous experimentation

Abstract The fields of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) have transformed almost every aspect of science and engineering. The excitement for AI/ML methods is in large part due to their perceived novelty, as compared to traditional methods of statistics, computation, and applied mathematics. But clearly, all methods in ML have their foundations in mathematical theories, such as function approximation, uncertainty quantification, and function optimization. Autonomous experimentation is no exception; it is often formulated as a chain of off-the-shelf tools, organized in a closed loop, without emphasis on the intricacies of each algorithm involved. The uncomfortable truth is that the success of any ML endeavor, and this includes autonomous experimentation, strongly depends on the sophistication of the underlying mathematical methods and software that have to allow for enough flexibility to consider functions that are in agreement with particular physical theories. We have observed that standard off-the-shelf tools, used by many in the applied ML community, often hide the underlying complexities and therefore perform poorly. In this paper, we want to give a perspective on the intricate connections between mathematics and ML, with a focus on Gaussian process-driven autonomous experimentation. Although the Gaussian process is a powerful mathematical concept, it has to be implemented and customized correctly for optimal performance. We present several simple toy problems to explore these nuances and highlight the importance of mathematical and statistical rigor in autonomous experimentation and ML. One key takeaway is that ML is not, as many had hoped, a set of agnostic plug-and-play solvers for everyday scientific problems, but instead needs expertise and mastery to be applied successfully. Graphical abstract

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A Common Tracking Software Project

Abstract The reconstruction of the trajectories of charged particles, or track reconstruction, is a key computational challenge for particle and nuclear physics experiments. While the tuning of track reconstruction algorithms can depend strongly on details of the detector geometry, the algorithms currently in use by experiments share many common features. At the same time, the intense environment of the High-Luminosity LHC accelerator and other future experiments is expected to put even greater computational stress on track reconstruction software, motivating the development of more performant algorithms. We present here A Common Tracking Software (ACTS) toolkit, which draws on the experience with track reconstruction algorithms in the ATLAS experiment and presents them in an experiment-independent and framework-independent toolkit. It provides a set of high-level track reconstruction tools which are agnostic to the details of the detection technologies and magnetic field configuration and tested for strict thread-safety to support multi-threaded event processing. We discuss the conceptual design and technical implementation of ACTS, selected applications and performance of ACTS, and the lessons learned.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DeepLynx Ecosystem 2025

Poor data integration and governance continue to plague complex engineering projects, resulting in missed cost, schedule, and performance targets. Departments operate in isolated systems with manual data exchange, creating fragmented information that compounds errors and leads to significant delays and cost overruns. The DeepLynx ecosystem addresses these challenges through an open-source, modular data management platform that transforms fragmented project data into an integrated digital thread. Built on a federated microservice architecture, the ecosystem comprises seven specialized tools centered around DeepLynx Nexus, a unified data catalog with hierarchical organization and graph-based navigation capabilities. The ecosystem includes: DeepLynx Stream for real-time timeseries data ingestion from industrial sources; DeepLynx Ingest for governed data uploads with formal review workflows; DeepLynx Lattice for ontology-based entity and relationship extraction; DeepLynx Run for workflow orchestration and secure AI/ML compute; DeepLynx Visualize for 3D digital twin visualization; and DeepLynx Insight for AI-assisted document analysis with traceable, grounded responses. Deployable in cloud, on-premise, or hybrid environments using containerized Docker applications and Helm charts, the DeepLynx ecosystem provides flexible infrastructure that adapts to organizational requirements. By consolidating project data into a unified data lake with role-based access controls and OAuth2 authentication, DeepLynx enables digital thread and digital twin capabilities that improve decision-making, reduce risk, and support complex engineering workflows throughout the project lifecycle.

42 - ENGINEERING↗

Digital twin framework for PIP-II linac: AI-driven multi-scale modeling from ion source to 800 MeV

The PIP-II superconducting linac at Fermilab is designed to deliver multi-megawatt proton beams for neutrino physics and other high-intensity applications. To expedite commissioning and enhance operational reliability, we have developed an EPICS-based data flow framework that seamlessly integrates digital twins (DT) with physical twins (PT). These digital twins comprise high-fidelity beam dynamics models or data-driven surrogate models connected to their physical counterparts through real-time diagnostics and advanced machine-learning algorithms.Central to this framework is Linac_Gen, an accelerated simulation tool that incorporates convolutional neural networks, random forests, and genetic algorithms to provide up to a tenfold speedup in optimizing the accelerator geometry model. An EPICS translator layer ensures interoperability by efficiently mapping lattice parameters across diverse simulation platforms.Our EPICS-based framework supports multiple operational modes—monitoring, passive learning, closed-loop control, and online learning—covering the entire machine lifecycle. By leveraging HPC resources and multi-objective optimization techniques, the digital twin enables adaptive trajectory correction, real-time fault detection, and predictive modeling of beam stability. This comprehensive approach paves the way for robust, high-intensity operation and data-driven accelerator R&D at Fermilab.

Pathak, Abhishek [Fermilab]↗

Beyond Component Optimization: Systems Level Biodesign for Lanthanide Recovery

Global demand for lanthanides (Ln) is projected to rise sharply over the next decade, while geographically concentrated supply chains and the low concentrations and matrix complexity of secondary feedstocks limit the reach of conventional hydro- and pyrometallurgical separation. Engineered biological systems offer a selective, low-energy alternative, and component-level advances in Ln-binding proteins, AI-designed selective scaffolds, and cell-surface display platforms now rival synthetic chelators in affinity and selectivity. These components, however, remain functionally isolated. Currently, there are no engineered chassis coupling recognition, intracellular trafficking, accumulation, and controlled release into an end-to-end pipeline. Here, we outline how new biodesign strategies and chassis selection must move beyond bioleaching to encompass the full recovery pathway. Achieving this requires integrating AI/ML-guided design, genome-scale build tools, high-throughput phenotyping, and biophysical transport modeling within a Design–Build–Test–Learn cycle tuned to recognition, trafficking, accumulation, and release.

Biodesign↗

A comprehensive academic and industrial survey of blockchain technology for the energy sector using fuzzy Einstein decision-making

The global energy sector is undergoing a significant transformation driven by decarbonization and digitalization, leading to the emergence of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) — particularly blockchain — as a promising tool for enhancing transparency, security, and efficiency in modern power systems. This study aims to provide a comprehensive academic and industrial survey of blockchain applications in the energy sector and develop a robust decision-making framework to identify and prioritize the most promising real-world use cases based on multidisciplinary criteria. A three-stage methodology was adopted: (i) a literature and market review encompassing over 300 academic publications and commercial blockchain initiatives in energy, (ii) an in-depth evaluation of the evolution and viability of blockchain initiatives in energy with the help of expert surveys, and (iii) a novel decision-making model using a q-rung orthopair fuzzy Multi-Attributive Border Approximation (q-ROF-MABAC) method under the Einstein operator. The results were compared with existing decision models to validate consistency and robustness. Nine key blockchain use case categories were identified and ranked based on technical, economic, and governance dimensions. The results demonstrated that integrating expert insights into a fuzzy logic framework helps filter out overhyped claims in the literature and prioritize realistic and high-impact applications such as green certificates, grid services, and peer-to-peer energy trading. The model’s rankings remained stable across varying weight configurations, confirming the robustness of the methodology. This study provides an evidence-based decision-support tool for researchers, industry stakeholders, and policymakers to better understand, evaluate, and adopt blockchain technologies in the energy sector.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

AI for nuclear physics: the EXCLAIM project

An overview of the recent activity of the newly funded EXCLusives with AI and Machine learning (EXCLAIM) collaboration is presented. The main goal of the collaboration is to develop a framework to implement AI and machine learning techniques in problems emerging from the phenomenology of high energy exclusive scattering processes from nucleons and nuclei, maximizing the information that can be extracted from various sets of experimental data, while implementing theoretical constraints from lattice QCD. A specific perspective embraced by EXCLAIM is to use the methods of theoretical physics to understand the working of ML, beyond its standardized applications to physics analyses which most often rely on industrially provided tools, in an automated way.

Analysis and statistical methods↗

MicroBooNE Public Data Sets: a Collaborative Tool for LArTPC Software Development

Among liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) experiments MicroBooNE is the one that continually took physics data for the longest time (2015-2021), and represents the state of the art for reconstruction and analysis with this detector. Recently published analyses include oscillation physics results, searches for anomalies and other BSM signatures, and cross section measurements. LArTPC detectors are being used in current experiments such as ICARUS and SBND, and being planned for future experiments such as DUNE. MicroBooNE has recently released to the public two of its data sets, with the goal of enabling collaborative software developments with other LArTPC experiments and with AI or computing experts. These data sets simulate neutrino interactions on top of off-beam data, which include cosmic ray background and noise. The data sets are released in two formats: the native art/ROOT format used internally by the collaboration and familiar to other LArTPC experts, and the HDF5 format which contains reduced and simplified content and is suitable for usage by the broader community. This contribution presents the open data sets, discusses their motivation, the technical implementation, and the extensive documentation -- all inspired by FAIR principles. Finally, opportunities for collaborations are discussed.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Identifying environmentally induced calibration changes in cryogenic RF axion detector systems using deep neural networks

The axion is a compelling hypothetical particle that could account for the dark matter in our universe while simultaneously solving the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics. The most sensitive axion detection technique demonstrated so far makes use of a high Q cavity immersed in a strong magnetic field, where axions are converted to microwave photons. This is called an axion haloscope and has primarily targeted the 1–10 GHz range. As searches scan up in axion mass, toward the parameter space favored by theoretical predictions, individual cavity sizes decrease in order to achieve higher frequencies. This shrinking cavity volume translates directly to a loss in signal-to-noise, motivating the plan to replace individual cavity detectors with arrays of cavities. When the transition from one to (N) multiple cavities occurs, haloscope searches are anticipated to become much more complicated to operate, requiring N times as many measurements but also the new requirement that N detectors operate in unison, which can be achieved by locking them to a common frequency. To offset this anticipated increase in detector complexity, we aim to develop new tools for diagnosing experiments using neural networks. Current experiments monitor scattering parameters of their receiver for periodically measuring cavity quality factor and coupling. However, off-resonant data remain relatively useless. In this paper, we ask if it is possible that off-resonant information contained in vector network analyzer scans could be used to diagnose equipment failures/anomalies and measure physical conditions (e.g., temperatures and ambient magnetic field). We demonstrate a proof-of-concept that AI techniques can help manage the complexity of an axion haloscope search for operators.

Engel, Andrew W. [Pacific Northwest National Labor↗

Teaching AI when to care about gender

Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) concerned with solving language tasks by modeling large amounts of textual data. Some NLP techniques use word embeddings which are semantic models where machine learning (ML) is used to learn to cluster semantically related words by learning about word co-occurrences in the original training text. Unfortunately, these models tend to reflect or even exaggerate biases that are present in the training corpus. Here we describe the Word Embedding Navigator (WEN), which is a tool for exploring word embedding models. We examine a specific potential use case for this tool: interactive discovery and neutralization of gender bias in word embedding models, and compare this human-in-the-loop approach to reducing bias in word embeddings with a debiasing post-processing technique.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Systems Innovation: Modernization & Efficiencies for ESH&Q Reviews

Environmental compliance reviews at INL have traditionally been managed through fragmented systems, relying on multiple spreadsheets and manual processes. This inefficiency led to time-consuming status updates and redundant tasks, such as manually sending reminder emails and transferring data from Excel to the Environmental Review Process (ERP). Initial attempts to streamline these processes using Power Automate and Excel revealed significant limitations, necessitating a more comprehensive solution. To address these immediate inefficiencies, automated workflows were developed using Power Automate. These workflows were designed to send scheduled status update reminders and capture responses through standardized forms, with submitted data flowing directly into centralized Excel trackers. This automation reduced the administrative burden, improved data accuracy, and enabled faster, more consistent reporting. Specifically, email automation achieved a 65% efficiency gain, while data integration saw a 48% improvement, resulting in 91% of project statuses being updated within two months. Despite the improvements brought by Power Automate, the fragmented nature of the review processes persisted. To further enhance efficiency and accuracy, the Integrated Review Tool (IRT) was developed. The IRT aims to centralize review initiation and connect team systems, creating an interconnected data infrastructure that preserves team autonomy while enhancing overall efficiency. This tool automates email reminders, centralizes reviews, and streamlines data integration, significantly improving the accuracy and efficiency of environmental compliance reviews. The design and development of the IRT involved advanced systems methodology, process mapping, project management, and collaboration with subject matter experts. The minimum viable product design is 100% complete, and system development is currently underway, with expected outcomes including a centralized entry point for all ESH&Q reviews, automated routing, real-time tracking and analytics, AI integration, and a user-friendly interface. This project demonstrates the potential of leveraging automation and integrated systems to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and decision-making in environmental reporting and compliance processes at INL.

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Digital Twin Framework for PIP-II Linac: AI-Driven Multi-Scale Modeling from Ion Source to 800 MeV

The PIP-II linac will enable >1.2 MW beam power for DUNE, requiring unprecedented operational reliability across its warm front-end (RFQ, MEBT) and five distinct SRF sections operating at 162.5/325/650 MHz. We present a comprehensive digital twin framework uniquely combining a fully differentiable fast beam transport code with neural network surrogates trained on high-fidelity PIC simulations, capturing space charge and nonlinear dynamics beyond traditional envelope codes while achieving 10⁴ speedup at <1% accuracy. End-to-end differentiability enables gradient-based optimization across 500+ parameters simultaneously previously impossible with conventional tools while the model incorporates static/dynamic errors and serves as a virtual commissioning platform for diverse hardware integration. The framework facilitates reinforcement learning for pulsed/CW mode transitions, predictive maintenance through anomaly detection, and autonomous tuning algorithm development with real-time execution capability. Validation against physics simulations shows excellent agreement for the front-end, with initial results demonstrating potential for 30% commissioning time reduction and proactive fault mitigation, providing a scalable blueprint for operating next-generation high-intensity accelerators.

Pathak, Abhishek [Fermilab] (ORCID:000000021704208↗

Digital Twin Framework for PIP-II Linac: AI-Driven Multi-Scale Modeling from Ion Source to 800 MeV

The PIP-II linac will enable >1.2 MW beam power for DUNE, requiring unprecedented operational reliability across its warm front-end (RFQ, MEBT) and five distinct SRF sections operating at 162.5/325/650 MHz. We present a comprehensive digital twin framework uniquely combining a fully differentiable fast beam transport code with neural network surrogates trained on high-fidelity PIC simulations, capturing space charge and nonlinear dynamics beyond traditional envelope codes while achieving 10⁴× speedup at <1% accuracy. End-to-end differentiability enables gradient-based optimization across 500+ parameters simultaneously—previously impossible with conventional tools—while the model incorporates static/dynamic errors and serves as a virtual commissioning platform for diverse hardware integration. The framework facilitates reinforcement learning for pulsed/CW mode transitions, predictive maintenance through anomaly detection, and autonomous tuning algorithm development with real-time execution capability. Validation against physics simulations shows excellent agreement for the front-end, with initial results demonstrating potential for 30% commissioning time reduction and proactive fault mitigation, providing a scalable blueprint for operating next-generation high-intensity accelerators.

Pathak, Abhishek [Fermilab] (ORCID:000000021704208↗