Results for “Human Computer Interaction” — Page 29

DOE OSTI2024

National User Resource for Biological Accelerator Mass Spectrometry

The National User Resource for Biological Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (User Resource) will provide isotopic analysis (primarily radiocarbon or 14C) by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for NIH- funded researchers across the United States and will be the only User Resource of its type in the United States. The User Resource will provide measurement capability and expertise to a research community that requires highly sensitive, quantitative isotope analyses. Since commissioning a new accelerator mass spectrometer in June 2014, we have measured over 4000 samples a year for collaborators and service users. The User Resource will enable us to continue to meet these research needs, as well as provide for new users whose research programs would benefit from AMS as a measurement tool. The User Resource’s forte will be ultra-high sensitivity quantitation of radiocarbon and selected other radioisotopes for research studies where isotopes are required. Radioisotope labeling studies have been and will continue to be an important tool for addressing many complex biomedical science problems. AMS is a specialized and unique type of mass spectrometry that provides absolute quantitation of radiocarbon and other relevant radioisotopes with extreme sensitivity, having limits of detection in real samples on the order of a few attomol/mg of sample at measurement precisions of ~3%. It is the only instrumental method capable of quantifying radioisotope-labeled agents routinely in real-world samples with such precision and sensitivity. The sensitivity of AMS allows for the quantification of radiolabeled metabolites in extremely complex matrices of cells and organisms at very low concentrations and in small samples. AMS allows studies to be conducted without perturbing metabolism leading to more relevant quantification of metabolic rates and pathways. In addition, it enables quantification of pharmacokinetic and metabolic properties of toxicants at environmentally relevant concentrations in model systems as well as the ability to quantify pharmacokinetics and other molecular endpoints directly in humans. Such quantitative assessments can 1) improve risk assessment for toxicants, 2) address safety and efficacy considerations for therapeutic entities, 3) deepen understanding of xenobiotic and intermediary metabolism, 4) help understand the interactions between critical molecular pathways, and 5) improve efforts to model and predict various metabolic and biological states. These capabilities have been applied in a number of areas including research in carcinogenesis, toxicology, nutrition, pharmacology/drug development and basic biological science. As a NIGMS National Resource the National User Resource for Biological Accelerator Mass Spectrometry will help NIH funded scientists achieve a deeper understanding of the etiology of human health concerns by (1) enabling the quantification of pharmacokinetics and other molecular endpoints directly in humans; (2) offering the ability to conduct quantitative studies using biologics such as proteins or lipids, and thereby reducing the amount of radioisotope usage in biomedical labs; and (3) enabling more relevant studies of metabolic pathways in health and disease through the use of much lower, more biologically-relevant, concentrations of metabolic substrates in cells and intact organisms. Such studies support NIGMS’s basic biomedical research areas that contribute to the understanding of fundamental cellular and physiological principles and enable research supported by the Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences (BBCB); Genetics and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (GMCDB); Pharmacology, Physiology, Biological Chemistry (PPBC) and Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity (TWD) Divisions.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2025

National User Resource for Biological Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (Final Report)

The National User Resource for Biological Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (User Resource) will provide isotopic analysis (primarily radiocarbon or 14C) by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for NIH- funded researchers across the United States and will be the only User Resource of its type in the United States. The User Resource will provide measurement capability and expertise to a research community that requires highly sensitive, quantitative isotope analyses. Since commissioning a new accelerator mass spectrometer in June 2014, we have measured over 4000 samples a year for collaborators and service users. The User Resource will enable us to continue to meet these research needs, as well as provide for new users whose research programs would benefit from AMS as a measurement tool. The User Resource’s forte will be ultra-high sensitivity quantitation of radiocarbon and selected other radioisotopes for research studies where isotopes are required. Radioisotope labeling studies have been and will continue to be an important tool for addressing many complex biomedical science problems. AMS is a specialized and unique type of mass spectrometry that provides absolute quantitation of radiocarbon and other relevant radioisotopes with extreme sensitivity, having limits of detection in real samples on the order of a few attomol/mg of sample at measurement precisions of ~3%. It is the only instrumental method capable of quantifying radioisotope-labeled agents routinely in real-world samples with such precision and sensitivity. The sensitivity of AMS allows for the quantification of radiolabeled metabolites in extremely complex matrices of cells and organisms at very low concentrations and in small samples. AMS allows studies to be conducted without perturbing metabolism leading to more relevant quantification of metabolic rates and pathways. In addition, it enables quantification of pharmacokinetic and metabolic properties of toxicants at environmentally relevant concentrations in model systems as well as the ability to quantify pharmacokinetics and other molecular endpoints directly in humans. Such quantitative assessments can 1) improve risk assessment for toxicants, 2) address safety and efficacy considerations for therapeutic entities, 3) deepen understanding of xenobiotic and intermediary metabolism, 4) help understand the interactions between critical molecular pathways, and 5) improve efforts to model and predict various metabolic and biological states. These capabilities have been applied in a number of areas including research in carcinogenesis, toxicology, nutrition, pharmacology/drug development and basic biological science. As a NIGMS National Resource the National User Resource for Biological Accelerator Mass Spectrometry will help NIH funded scientists achieve a deeper understanding of the etiology of human health concerns by (1) enabling the quantification of pharmacokinetics and other molecular endpoints directly in humans; (2) offering the ability to conduct quantitative studies using biologics such as proteins or lipids, and thereby reducing the amount of radioisotope usage in biomedical labs; and (3) enabling more relevant studies of metabolic pathways in health and disease through the use of much lower, more biologically-relevant, concentrations of metabolic substrates in cells and intact organisms. Such studies support NIGMS’s basic biomedical research areas that contribute to the understanding of fundamental cellular and physiological principles and enable research supported by the Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences (BBCB); Genetics and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (GMCDB); Pharmacology, Physiology, Biological Chemistry (PPBC) and Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity (TWD) Divisions. Over the next five years, our goals are to: 1. Improve the efficiency of operation for AMS measurements through installation of new interfaces to our AMS systems, technical modifications to improve gas accepting ion source efficiency and upgrading our data analysis software for improved ease of use and data reporting. 2. Increase the accessibility and visibility of ultra-sensitive 14C measurements for the biomedical research community by training of new investigators and expanding our national user base. 3. Provide high throughput, ultra-sensitive 14C analysis for the NIGMS and NIH user community.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

NASA NTRS2006

Utilizing a Common Model Architecture for the Simulation of On-Orbit Human Spaceflight Operations

Advances in computing and simulation technology during the 1980 s promoted the development of multiple simulations for on-orbit human spaceflight operations at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC). By the late 1980 s, it became increasingly clear that redundancy risked leading to inefficiencies in dissemination and incorporation of models across simulations, institutional organizations, and spaceflight programs. Software development tools, such as the Trick Simulation Environment, began to emerge providing a generalized framework for the development, integration, and operation of simulations. Throughout the 1990s, engineering, operations, and training simulations began to migrate to Trick in order to take advantage of a common simulation environment. Due to forecasted reductions in funding to the Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) programs in the early 2000s, the common framework that arose from this simulation migration was formalized as the Common Model Architecture (CMA). The CMA was established in order to further reduce redundancy, while promoting model sharing and enhancing model integrity. A minimal set of standards for data flows, functional interactions, and model organization based on Trick were defined for those features found to be most important in facilitating model interaction. Model-providing organizations within NASA JSC took ownership of models for their specific areas of expertise, and agreements were reached on common model sharing and usage. This paper describes the evolution of commonality enabled by the Trick Simulation Environment at JSC leading to the CMA, the standards defined by the CMA, a recent CMA simulation example, and potential application of the CMA to NASA s new Exploration program.

Leslie J Quiocho↗

NASA NTRS2001

Orientation processing mechanisms revealed by the plaid tilt illusion

The tilt after-effect (TAE) and tilt illusion (TI) have revealed a great deal about the nature of orientation coding of 1-dimensional (1D) lines and gratings. Comparatively little research however has addressed the mechanisms responsible for encoding the orientation of 2-dimensional (2D) plaid stimuli. A multi-stage model of edge detection has recently been proposed [Georgeson, M. A. (1998) Image & Vision Computing, 16(6-7), 389-405] to account for the perceived structure of a plaid stimulus that incorporates extraction of the zero-crossings (ZCs) of the plaid. Data is presented showing that the ZCs of a plaid inducing stimulus can interact with vertical grating test stimulus to induce a standard tilt illusion. However, by considering the second-order structure of a plaid rather than ZCs, it was shown that the perceived orientation of the vertical test grating results from the combination of orientation illusions due to the first- and second-order components of an inducing plaid. The data suggest that the mechanisms encoding the orientation of second-order contours are similar to, and interact directly with, those that encode first-order contours.

Orientation/physiology↗

NASA NTRS2004

A Multiagent Modeling Environment for Simulating Work Practice in Organizations

In this paper we position Brahms as a tool for simulating organizational processes. Brahms is a modeling and simulation environment for analyzing human work practice, and for using such models to develop intelligent software agents to support the work practice in organizations. Brahms is the result of more than ten years of research at the Institute for Research on Learning (IRL), NYNEX Science & Technology (the former R&D institute of the Baby Bell telephone company in New York, now Verizon), and for the last six years at NASA Ames Research Center, in the Work Systems Design and Evaluation group, part of the Computational Sciences Division (Code IC). Brahms has been used on more than ten modeling and simulation research projects, and recently has been used as a distributed multiagent development environment for developing work practice support tools for human in-situ science exploration on planetary surfaces, in particular a human mission to Mars. Brahms was originally conceived of as a business process modeling and simulation tool that incorporates the social systems of work, by illuminating how formal process flow descriptions relate to people s actual located activities in the workplace. Our research started in the early nineties as a reaction to experiences with work process modeling and simulation . Although an effective tool for convincing management of the potential cost-savings of the newly designed work processes, the modeling and simulation environment was only able to describe work as a normative workflow. However, the social systems, uncovered in work practices studied by the design team played a significant role in how work actually got done-actual lived work. Multi- tasking, informal assistance and circumstantial work interactions could not easily be represented in a tool with a strict workflow modeling paradigm. In response, we began to develop a tool that would have the benefits of work process modeling and simulation, but be distinctively able to represent the relations of people, locations, systems, artifacts, communication and information content.

Sierhuis, Maarten↗

NASA NTRS2008

Concept of Operations Visualization for Ares I Production

Establishing Computer Aided Design models of the Ares I production facility, tooling and vehicle components and integrating them into manufacturing visualizations/simulations allows Boeing and NASA to collaborate real time early in the design/development cycle. This collaboration identifies cost effective and lean solutions that can be easily shared with Ares stakeholders (e.g., other NASA Centers and potential science users). These Ares I production visualizations and analyses by their nature serve as early manufacturing improvement precursors for other Constellation elements to be built at the Michoud Assembly Facility such as Ares V and the Altair Lander. Key to this Boeing and Marshall Space Flight Center collaboration has been the use of advanced virtual manufacturing tools to understand the existing Shuttle era infrastructure and trade potential modifications to support Ares I production. These approaches are then used to determine an optimal manufacturing configuration in terms of labor efficiency, safety and facility enhancements. These same models and tools can be used in an interactive simulation of Ares I and V flight to the Space Station or moon to educate the human space constituency (e.g., government, academia, media and the public) in order to increase national and international understanding of Constellation goals and benefits.

Chilton, Jim↗

NASA NTRS2010

Terrain Hazard Detection and Avoidance During the Descent and Landing Phase of the Altair Mission

This paper describes some of the environmental challenges associated with landing a crewed or robotic vehicle at any certified location on the lunar surface (i.e. not a mountain peak, permanently dark crater floor or overly steep terrain), with a specific focus on how hazard detection technology may be incorporated to mitigate these challenges. For this discussion, the vehicle of interest is the Altair Lunar Lander, being the vehicle element of the NASA Constellation Program aimed at returning humans to the moon. Lunar environmental challenges for such global lunar access primarily involve terrain and lighting. These would include sizable rocks and slopes, which are more concentrated in highland areas; small craters, which are essentially everywhere independent of terrain type; and for polar regions, low-angle sunlight, which leaves significant terrain in shadow. To address these issues, as well as to provide for precision landing, the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) Project was charted by NASA Headquarters, and has since been making significant progress. The ALHAT team considered several sensors for real-time hazard detection, settling on the use of a Flash Lidar mounted to a high-speed gimbal, with computationally intense image processing and elevation interpretation software. The Altair Project has been working with the ALHAT team to understand the capabilities and limitations of their concept, and has incorporated much of the ALHAT hazard detection system into the Altair baseline design. This integration, along with open issues relating to computational performance, the need for system redundancy, and potential pilot interaction, will be explored further in this paper.

Strhan, Alan L.↗

NASA NTRS1995

How far away is plug 'n' play? Assessing the near-term potential of sonification and auditory display

The commercial music industry offers a broad range of plug 'n' play hardware and software scaled to music professionals and scaled to a broad consumer market. The principles of sound synthesis utilized in these products are relevant to application in virtual environments (VE). However, the closed architectures used in commercial music synthesizers are prohibitive to low-level control during real-time rendering, and the algorithms and sounds themselves are not standardized from product to product. To bring sound into VE requires a new generation of open architectures designed for human-controlled performance from interfaces embedded in immersive environments. This presentation addresses the state of the sonic arts in scientific computing and VE, analyzes research challenges facing sound computation, and offers suggestions regarding tools we might expect to become available during the next few years. A list of classes of audio functionality in VE includes sonification -- the use of sound to represent data from numerical models; 3D auditory display (spatialization and localization, also called externalization); navigation cues for positional orientation and for finding items or regions inside large spaces; voice recognition for controlling the computer; external communications between users in different spaces; and feedback to the user concerning his own actions or the state of the application interface. To effectively convey this considerable variety of signals, we apply principles of acoustic design to ensure the messages are neither confusing nor competing. We approach the design of auditory experience through a comprehensive structure for messages, and message interplay we refer to as an Automated Sound Environment. Our research addresses real-time sound synthesis, real-time signal processing and localization, interactive control of high-dimensional systems, and synchronization of sound and graphics.

Bargar, Robin↗

NASA NTRS1988

Design of automation tools for management of descent traffic

The design of an automated air traffic control system based on a hierarchy of advisory tools for controllers is described. Compatibility of the tools with the human controller, a key objective of the design, is achieved by a judicious selection of tasks to be automated and careful attention to the design of the controller system interface. The design comprises three interconnected subsystems referred to as the Traffic Management Advisor, the Descent Advisor, and the Final Approach Spacing Tool. Each of these subsystems provides a collection of tools for specific controller positions and tasks. This paper focuses primarily on the Descent Advisor which provides automation tools for managing descent traffic. The algorithms, automation modes, and graphical interfaces incorporated in the design are described. Information generated by the Descent Advisor tools is integrated into a plan view traffic display consisting of a high-resolution color monitor. Estimated arrival times of aircraft are presented graphically on a time line, which is also used interactively in combination with a mouse input device to select and schedule arrival times. Other graphical markers indicate the location of the fuel-optimum top-of-descent point and the predicted separation distances of aircraft at a designated time-control point. Computer generated advisories provide speed and descent clearances which the controller can issue to aircraft to help them arrive at the feeder gate at the scheduled times or with specified separation distances. Two types of horizontal guidance modes, selectable by the controller, provide markers for managing the horizontal flightpaths of aircraft under various conditions. The entire system consisting of descent advisor algorithm, a library of aircraft performance models, national airspace system data bases, and interactive display software has been implemented on a workstation made by Sun Microsystems, Inc. It is planned to use this configuration in operational evaluations at an en route center.

Erzberger, Heinz↗

DOE OSTI2024

Affinity of Nicotinoids to a Model Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor (nAChR) Binding Pocket in the Human Brain

The binding affinity of nicotinoids to the binding residues of the a4ß2 variant of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) was identified as a strong predictor of the nicotinoid’s addictive character. Using ab-iniito calculations for model binding pockets of increasing size comprising of 3, 6, and 14 amino acids (3AA, 6AA, and 14AA) that are derived from the crystal structure, the differences in binding affinity of 6 nicotinoids, namely nicotine (NIC), nornicotine (NOR), anabasine (ANB), anatabine (ANT), myosmine (MYO), and cotinine (COT) were correlated to their previously reported doses required for increases in intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) thresholds, a metric for their addictive function. By employing the many body decomposition, the differences in the binding affinities of the various nicotinoids could be attributed mainly to the proton exchange energy between the Pyridine and non-Pyridine rings of the nicotinoids and the interactions between them and a handful of proximal amino acids, namely Trp156, Trpß57, Tyr100, and Tyr204. Interactions between the guest nicotinoid and the amino acids of the binding pocket were found to be mainly classical in nature, except for those between the nicotinoid and Trp156. The larger pockets were found to model binding structures more accurately and predicted the addictive character of all nicotinoids while smaller models, which are more computationally feasible, would only predict the addictive character of nicotinoids that are similar to nicotine. Here, the present study identifies the binding affinity of the guest nicotinoid to the host binding pocket as a strong descriptor of the nicotinoid’s addiction potential and as such it can be employed as a fast screening technique for the potential addiction of nicotine analogs.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1989

Robot Acting on Moving Bodies (RAMBO): Interaction with tumbling objects

Interaction with tumbling objects will become more common as human activities in space expand. Attempting to interact with a large complex object translating and rotating in space, a human operator using only his visual and mental capacities may not be able to estimate the object motion, plan actions or control those actions. A robot system (RAMBO) equipped with a camera, which, given a sequence of simple tasks, can perform these tasks on a tumbling object, is being developed. RAMBO is given a complete geometric model of the object. A low level vision module extracts and groups characteristic features in images of the object. The positions of the object are determined in a sequence of images, and a motion estimate of the object is obtained. This motion estimate is used to plan trajectories of the robot tool to relative locations rearby the object sufficient for achieving the tasks. More specifically, low level vision uses parallel algorithms for image enhancement by symmetric nearest neighbor filtering, edge detection by local gradient operators, and corner extraction by sector filtering. The object pose estimation is a Hough transform method accumulating position hypotheses obtained by matching triples of image features (corners) to triples of model features. To maximize computing speed, the estimate of the position in space of a triple of features is obtained by decomposing its perspective view into a product of rotations and a scaled orthographic projection. This allows use of 2-D lookup tables at each stage of the decomposition. The position hypotheses for each possible match of model feature triples and image feature triples are calculated in parallel. Trajectory planning combines heuristic and dynamic programming techniques. Then trajectories are created using dynamic interpolations between initial and goal trajectories. All the parallel algorithms run on a Connection Machine CM-2 with 16K processors.

Davis, Larry S.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Support for Systematic Code Reviews with the SCRUB Tool

SCRUB is a code review tool that supports both large, team-based software development efforts (e.g., for mission software) as well as individual tasks. The tool was developed at JPL to support a new, streamlined code review process that combines human-generated review reports with program-generated review reports from a customizable range of state-of-the-art source code analyzers. The leading commercial tools include Codesonar, Coverity, and Klocwork, each of which can achieve a reasonably low rate of false-positives in the warnings that they generate. The time required to analyze code with these tools can vary greatly. In each case, however, the tools produce results that would be difficult to realize with human code inspections alone. There is little overlap in the results produced by the different analyzers, and each analyzer used generally increases the effectiveness of the overall effort. The SCRUB tool allows all reports to be accessed through a single, uniform interface (see figure) that facilitates brows ing code and reports. Improvements over existing software include significant simplification, and leveraging of a range of commercial, static source code analyzers in a single, uniform framework. The tool runs as a small stand-alone application, avoiding the security problems related to tools based on Web browsers. A developer or reviewer, for instance, must have already obtained access rights to a code base before that code can be browsed and reviewed with the SCRUB tool. The tool cannot open any files or folders to which the user does not already have access. This means that the tool does not need to enforce or administer any additional security policies. The analysis results presented through the SCRUB tool s user interface are always computed off-line, given that, especially for larger projects, this computation can take longer than appropriate for interactive tool use. The recommended code review process that is supported by the SCRUB tool consists of three phases: Code Review, Developer Response, and Closeout Resolution. In the Code Review phase, all tool-based analysis reports are generated, and specific comments from expert code reviewers are entered into the SCRUB tool. In the second phase, Developer Response, the developer is asked to respond to each comment and tool-report that was produced, either agreeing or disagreeing to provide a fix that addresses the issue that was raised. In the third phase, Closeout Resolution, all disagreements are discussed in a meeting of all parties involved, and a resolution is made for all disagreements. The first two phases generally take one week each, and the third phase is concluded in a single closeout meeting.

Holzmann, Gerald J.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Gas-Granular Simulation Framework for Spacecraft Landing Plume-Surface Interaction and Debris Transport Analysis

The Gas-Granular Flow Solver (GGFS) multi-phase flow computational framework has been developed to enable simulations of particle flows complex extra-terrestrial regolith materials. Particle flows of interest include the damage of unprepared landing sites from rocket plume impingement on Moon, Mars, and asteroids. The flow solver implements an Eulerian-Eulerian two-fluid model with fluid representation of the gas phase and granular phase to avoid the need to model billions of particle interactions. The granular phase is modeled as an Eulerian fluid with constituent physics closure models derived from first-principle Discrete Element Model (DEM) particle interaction simulations that capture the complex, non-linear granular particle interaction effects. Granular phase constituent models have been developed and integrated that address the complex, non-linear granular material mechanics complexities resulting from both: the irregular, jagged particle shapes and poly-disperse mixture effects encountered in extra-terrestrial regolith, with lunar regolith as the extreme. The GGFS capabilities are being integrated into a proven NASA plume-surface interaction and debris transport simulation framework featuring the Loci/CHEM CFD program and Debris Transport Analysis (DTA) post-processing tools for applications in robotic and human Moon and Mars lander development. Integration of the three simulation tool components. Loci/CHEM, GGFS, and DTA, into a coordinated simulation framework will enable time-accurate spacecraft landing simulations that account for the alteration of the landing surface through plume-induced cratering and the resulting redirection of plume impingement flow and debris transport. Initial implementation of this simulation framework and application examples will be presented.

Liever, Peter A.↗

NASA NTRS1999

NASA Microgravity Combustion Science Program

Combustion has been a subject of increasingly vigorous scientific research for over a century, not surprising considering that combustion accounts for approximately 85% of the world's energy production and is a key element of many critical technologies used by contemporary society. Although combustion technology is vital to our standard of living, it also poses great challenges to maintaining a habitable environment. A major goal of combustion research is production of fundamental (foundational) knowledge that can be used in developing accurate simulations of complex combustion processes, replacing current "cut-and-try" approaches and allowing developers to improve the efficiency of combustion devices, to reduce the production of harmful emissions, and to reduce the incidence of accidental uncontrolled combustion. With full understanding of the physics and chemistry involved in a given combustion process, including details of the unit processes and their interactions, physically accurate models which can then be used for parametric exploration of new combustion domains via computer simulation can be developed, with possible resultant definition of radically different approaches to accomplishment of various combustion goals. Effects of gravitational forces on earth impede combustion studies more than they impede most other areas of science. The effects of buoyancy are so ubiquitous that we often do not appreciate the enormous negative impact that they have had on the rational development of combustion science. Microgravity offers potential for major gains in combustion science understanding in that it offers unique capability to establish the flow environment rather than having it dominated by uncontrollable (under normal gravity) buoyancy effects and, through this control, to extend the range of test conditions that can be studied. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that our program is dedicated to taking advantage of microgravity to untangle complications caused by gravity, allowing major strides in our understanding of combustion processes and in subsequent development of improved combustion devices leading to improved quality of life on Earth. Fire and/or explosion events aboard spacecraft could be devastating to international efforts to expand the human presence in space. Testing to date has shown that ignition and flame spread on fuel surfaces (e.g., paper, wire insulation) behave quite differently under partial gravity and microgravity conditions. In addition, fire signatures-i.e., heat release, smoke production, flame visibility, and radiation-are now known to be quite different in reduced gravity environments; this research has provided data to improve the effectiveness of fire prevention practices, smoke and fire detectors, and fire extinguishment systems. The more we can apply our scientific and technological understanding to potential fire behavior in microgravity and partial gravity, the more assurance can be given to those people whose lives depend on the environment aboard spacecraft or eventually on habitats on the Moon or Mars.

King, Merrill K.↗

DOE OSTI2025

LLM Generation of Online Courses from a Curated Set of Documents in the Nuclear Safeguards Domain

A multidisciplinary team at Argonne National Laboratory explores the application of advanced technologies to enhance knowledge transfer and retention within the nuclear safeguards domain. Specifically, it examines the feasibility of leveraging secure large language models (LLMs) to streamline the creation of e-learning modules for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of International Nuclear Safeguards (NA-241). The initiative addresses the critical need for preserving institutional memory and accelerating skill development amidst the imminent retirement of senior professionals in the field in addition to supporting good knowledge management practices. The project integrates instructional design theory with cutting-edge AI technologies to transform curated document sets from the Safeguards Knowledge Repository (SKR) into modular online courses. By automating the generation of learning objectives and instructional content, the effort aims to reduce manual effort while maintaining high-quality educational outcomes. A limited measure of human supervision, however, ensures accuracy, relevance, and alignment with NNSA’s strategic priorities. Key findings highlight the potential of AI-assisted course generation to support safeguards professionals by creating structured, interactive learning experiences. The report underscores the importance of SME validation to address limitations in AI-generated content, such as terminology errors and gaps in coverage. Recommendations include adopting a structured workflow combining LLM acceleration with expert oversight to ensure accuracy, usability, and alignment with learner needs. This work demonstrates Argonne’s commitment to advancing national security and scientific excellence through innovative knowledge management solutions.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

NASA NTRS1994

A computational approach to the relationship between radiation induced double strand breaks and translocations

A theoretical framework is presented which provides a quantitative analysis of radiation induced translocations between the ab1 oncogene on CH9q34 and a breakpoint cluster region, bcr, on CH 22q11. Such translocations are associated frequently with chronic myelogenous leukemia. The theory is based on the assumption that incorrect or unfaithful rejoining of initial double strand breaks produced concurrently within the 200 kbp intron region upstream of the second abl exon, and the 16.5 kbp region between bcr exon 2 and exon 6 interact with each other, resulting in a fusion gene. for an x-ray dose of 100 Gy, there is good agreement between the theoretical estimate and the one available experimental result. The theory has been extended to provide dose response curves for these types of translocations. These curves are quadratic at low doses and become linear at high doses.

NASA Discipline Radiation Health↗

NASA NTRS2003

Issues of exploration: human health and wellbeing during a mission to Mars

Today, the tools are in our hands to enable us to travel away from our home planet and become citizens of the solar system. Even now, we are seriously beginning to develop the robust infrastructure that will make the 21st century the Century of Space Travel. But this bold step must be taken with due concern for the health, safety and wellbeing of future space explorers. Our long experience with space biomedical research convinces us that, if we are to deal effectively with the medical and biomedical issues of exploration, then dramatic and bold steps are also necessary in this field. We can no longer treat the human body as if it were composed of muscles, bones, heart and brain acting independently. Instead, we must lead the effort to develop a fully integrated view of the body, with all parts connected and fully interacting in a realistic way. This paper will present the status of current (2000) plans by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute to initiate research in this area of integrative physiology and medicine. Specifically, three example projects are discussed as potential stepping stones towards the ultimate goal of producing a digital human. These projects relate to developing a functional model of the human musculoskeletal system and the heart. c2002 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

NASA Discipline General Space Life Sciences↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Earth System Digital Twins (ESDT) Technology for NASA Earth Science

For NASA's Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) Program, an Earth System Digital Twin (ESDT) is defined as an interactive and integrated multidomain, multiscale, digital replica of the state and temporal evolution of Earth systems. It dynamically integrates: relevant Earth system models and simulations; other relevant models (e.g., related to the world's infrastructure); continuous and timely (including near real time and direct readout) observations (e.g., space, air, ground, over/underwater, Internet of Things (IoT), socioeconomic); long-time records; as well as analytics and artificial intelligence tools. Effective ESDTs enable users to run hypothetical scenarios to improve the understanding, prediction of and mitigation/response to Earth system processes, natural phenomena and human activities as well as their many interactions. An ESDT is a type of integrated information system that, for example, enables continuous assessment of impact from naturally occurring and/or human activities on physical and natural environments. AIST ESDT strategic goals are to: 1. Develop information system frameworks to provide continuous and accurate representations of systems as they change over time; 2. Mirror various Earth Science systems and utilize the combination of Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Thread, and state-of-the-art models to help predict the Earth’s response to various phenomena; 3. Provide the tools to conduct "what if" investigations that can result in actionable predictions. The AIST ESDT thrust is developing capabilities toward the development of future digital twins of the Earth or of subcomponents of the Earth. This will enable the development of an overarching framework that will integrate New Observing Strategies (NOS) to enable new observation measurements, i.e., multi-source, coordinated, dynamic and responsive to needs and requests defined by Analytic Collaborative Frameworks (ACF) that enable agile science investigations fusing and analyzing very large amounts of diverse data. NOS and ACF capabilities along with open access to various science, infrastructure and human data, interconnected modeling, data assimilation, simulations, surrogate modeling, high-performance computing and advanced visualization, will define a powerful framework that could be utilized for local, regional or global and/or thematic digital twins. This presentation will describe a general overview of the AIST ESDT vision including prior work done in the areas of NOS and ACF as well as current and upcoming ESDT projects.

Jacqueline Le Moigne↗