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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 55 records · Page 3

Who is benefiting from the dramatic decline in U.S. cancer mortality? Place-based evidence of disparities in rates of improvement

After decades of increasing cancer mortality, U.S. rates declined from 1991 to 2019, a 32% decrease. we investigated rates of cancer mortality improvement across 2954 counties and selected characteristics associated with mortality improvements. Data was 21,381,009 county-level neoplasm deaths gleaned from death certificates via CDC WONDER. Analytical techniques included GIS and Moran’s I, OLS, GWR models, and trend comparisons. Counties with the greatest improvement (reduction) in cancer mortality tended to be coastal, higher-income, metropolitan locations. OLS model (R 2 = 0.65) indicated that greatest improvements were observed in counties with higher initial mortality ($\beta =.32$) closely followed by percent urban ($\beta =.31$) and median household income ($\beta =.16$). Whereas percent Black residents ($\beta =-.06$), and percent with education beyond high school ($\beta =-.10$) was less associated on outcomes. Highest income counties were the first to experience improvement in cancer mortality, the highest rates of mortality decline, and the greatest reduction in excess deaths. Even though there was significant improvement in cancer mortality nationally, there were variations in the degree of improvement linked to county location, income, and urbanisation. These results underlie the need to expand place-based initiatives designed to advance cancer health and more equitable improvements in cancer mortality outcomes.

developing world↗

Unlocking the potential of biogas systems for energy production and climate solutions in rural communities

On-site conversion of organic waste into biogas to satisfy consumer energy demand has the potential to realize energy equality and mitigate climate change reliably. However, existing methods ignore either real-time full supply or methane escape when supply and demand are mismatched. Here, we show an improved design of community biogas production and distribution system to overcome these and achieve full co-benefits in developing economies. We take five existing systems as empirical examples. Mechanisms of synergistic adjusting out-of-step biogas flow rates on both the plant-side and user-side are defined to obtain consumption-to-production ratios of close to 1, such that biogas demand of rural inhabitants can be met. Furthermore, carbon mitigation and its viability under universal prevailing climates are illustrated. Coupled with manure management optimization, Chinese national deployment of the proposed system would contribute a 3.77% reduction towards meeting its global 1.5 °C target. Additionally, fulfilling others’ energy demands has considerable decarbonization potential.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Milestone in predicting core plasma turbulence: successful multi-channel validation of the gyrokinetic code GENE

On the basis of several recent breakthroughs in fusion research, many activities have been launched around the world to develop fusion power plants on the fastest possible time scale. In this context, high-fidelity simulations of the plasma behavior on large supercomputers provide one of the main pathways to accelerating progress by guiding crucial design decisions. When it comes to determining the energy confinement time of a magnetic confinement fusion device, which is a key quantity of interest, gyrokinetic turbulence simulations are considered the approach of choice – but the question, whether they are really able to reliably predict the plasma behavior is still open. The present study addresses this important issue by means of careful comparisons between state-of-the-art gyrokinetic turbulence simulations with the GENE code and experimental observations in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak for an unprecedented number of simultaneous plasma observables.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Global trend of methane abatement inventions and widening mismatch with methane emissions

Substantially reducing methane emissions is the fastest way to repress near-term warming and is an essential prerequisite for reaching the 1.5 °C target. However, knowledge about the global invention trend, sectoral and national distribution and international diffusion of methane-targeted abatement technologies (MTATs) remains limited. On the basis of patent data, we identify more than 175,000 MTAT inventions applied between 1990 and 2019 by 133 countries or dependent territories. Our results revealed that after sustained growth of more than fourfold, the number of global high-quality MTAT inventions declined by 3.5% annually from 2010 to 2019. The sectoral and national-level distributions of MTAT inventions and methane emissions are strongly mismatched. Additionally, the international diffusion of MTATs is 11.1% lower than that of overall climate change mitigation technologies and most transfers occur between developed countries or flow to China, South Korea and Brazil; however, other developing countries and the least developed countries are rarely involved.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Enhance indigenous agricultural systems to reduce migration

Changes in social and environmental conditions in the Western Highlands of Guatemala undermine food security and job opportunities. Here, we describe how targeted assistance can build upon traditional agricultural systems to increase adaptive capacity, improve nutrition, provide jobs and thereby reduce pressures to migrate.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The Human Phenotype Ontology in 2024: phenotypes around the world

The Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) is a widely used resource that comprehensively organizes and defines the phenotypic features of human disease, enabling computational inference and supporting genomic and phenotypic analyses through semantic similarity and machine learning algorithms. The HPO has widespread applications in clinical diagnostics and translational research, including genomic diagnostics, gene-disease discovery, and cohort analytics. In recent years, groups around the world have developed translations of the HPO from English to other languages, and the HPO browser has been internationalized, allowing users to view HPO term labels and in many cases synonyms and definitions in ten languages in addition to English. Since our last report, a total of 2239 new HPO terms and 49235 new HPO annotations were developed, many in collaboration with external groups in the fields of psychiatry, arthrogryposis, immunology and cardiology. The Medical Action Ontology (MAxO) is a new effort to model treatments and other measures taken for clinical management. Finally, the HPO consortium is contributing to efforts to integrate the HPO and the GA4GH Phenopacket Schema into electronic health records (EHRs) with the goal of more standardized and computable integration of rare disease data in EHRs.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

The European ERL Roadmap

Following the European Strategy process in 2019, five Roadmap Panels were set up to prepare the technologies needed for future accelerators and colliders: high-field magnets, SRF, muon colliders, plasma wakefield accelera-tors and Energy Recovery Linacs (ERLs). The ERL Roadmap Panel, consisting of ERL experts from around the world, first developed an overview of current and future ERLs. From this it was possible to carry out a gap analysis to see what R&D would be needed, from which the roadmap could be developed. The European ERL Roadmap [1] focused on three main aspects: 1) the con-tinuation and development of facility programs for which no additional funds are needed, S-DALINAC in Darm-stadt and MESA in Mainz; 2) technology development for room-temperature HOM damping and twin-axis SRF cavities; 3) the timely upgrade of bERLinPro for 100 mA current and the construction of PERLE at Orsay as a dedi-cated 10 MW power multi-turn facility. The roadmap entails a vision of a future energy frontier electron-positron and electron-hadron collider and describes a high-quality ERL program for 4.4K SRF technology at high Q0.

Hutton, A.↗

Specimen Size Artifacts Associated with a Glovebox Deployable Laser Flash Diffusivity Measurement System

To accelerate nuclear fuel qualification and deployment efforts, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has led the world in developing vehicles for accelerating burnup accumulation in nuclear fuel by testing miniature samples in the High Flux Isotope Reactor. However, a challenge remains to establish parity between post irradiation characterization methods for miniature fuel specimens in comparison to conventional fuel elements. This work aims to identify artifacts associated with the thermal analysis of miniature disk specimens in comparison to samples of standardized dimensions through a combination of experimental and computational tools. Using a newly procured Netzsch 427 laser flash diffusivity system, preliminary data on mild steel specimens were collected, and finite element techniques were used to model heat transfer using 1D conditions to assess issues associated with pulse width and data collection frequency effects. These preliminary investigations found that significant variability in measured thermal diffusivity exist within datasets. These variations are not necessarily attributed to limitations with respect to data collection rate; nor are they associated with limitations on pulse width. Instead, these artifacts may be a result of limitations in detector intensity. Future work aims to design a focusing lens to better measure the smaller surface area of miniature specimens analyzed using the laser flash analysis system.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

The European ERL Roadmap

Following the European Strategy process in 2019, five Roadmap Panels were set up to prepare the technologies needed for future accelerators and colliders: high-field magnets, SRF, muon colliders, plasma wakefield accelerators and Energy Recovery Linacs (ERLs). The ERL Roadmap Panel, consisting of ERL experts from around the world, first developed a comprehensive overview of current and future ERLs. From this a gap analysis was carried out to evaluate the necessary R&D, which led to the development of the Roadmap. The European ERL Roadmap focused on three main aspects: 1) the continuation and development of facility programs for which no additional funds are needed (S-DALINAC in Darmstadt and MESA in Mainz); 2) technology development for room-temperature HOM damping and twin-axis SRF cavities; 3) the timely upgrade of bERLinPro for 100mA current, and 4) the construction of PERLE at Orsay as a dedicated 10MW beam-power multi-turn facility. The Roadmap also describes a vision for future energy-frontier electron-positron and electron-hadron colliders, and describes a high-quality ERL program for 4.4K SRF technology at high Q0. The presentation will address the ERL Roadmap process and results in detail.

Hutton, Andrew↗

Rediscovered photographs of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s 1964 visit to LANL

National Security Research Center staff recently rediscovered a trove of images of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s last known visit to the Laboratory, tucked away among the NSRC’s collections of millions of classified and unclassified photographs and not seen for over thirty years. Oppenheimer, who served as our first Director from 1943–1945, led the United States’ successful wartime effort to develop the world’s first atomic weapons in just 27 months. He left the Lab shortly after World War II ended, but came back in May of 1964 to deliver a lecture about Niels Bohr at the Civic Auditorium (now Duane Smith Auditorium) and visit the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Museum (which would become the Bradbury Science Museum), as is captured in these photos.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Development of Laboratory Testbeds Simulating Real-World Greenhouse Gas Emissions [Slides]

In this presentation, I discussed the development of laboratory test beds that simulate field greenhouse gas emissions. Field experiments are used to test new landscape management practices that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, field experiments are very expensive and time consuming. Laboratory experiments are generally more cost efficient and timesaving. There are methods that can be used to make these laboratory tests more closely replicate natural systems for the improvement of agricultural lands used in biofuel and food production. The goal of this project is to develop a laboratory testbed that will mimic field greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve this goal, we used soil cores taken from agricultural and marginal lands, then attached fiberglass wicks to improve the drainage system in the core to simulate a more natural hydraulic system. The combination of using native soils and fiberglass wicks should demonstrate similar greenhouse gas emissions between the lab and the field. Our preliminary results suggest that the carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide flux from the agricultural land site were comparable to the greenhouse soil cores equipped with the drainage wicks. The data suggests that laboratory testbeds can be used to mimic field greenhouse gas emissions if parameters, such as soil water content are in a set range.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Optical Spectrometer With a Pulse-to-Pulse Resolution for Terahertz and mm-Wave Signals

The development of ultra-compact particle accelerators and accelerator-based high-power THz generators are some of the top priorities for research and development programs around the world. These tools require the development of accelerating structures, operating in the mm-Wave and THz range, where diagnostics are not available or are insufficient. This article presents the design of a pulse-to-pulse THz spectrometer, primarily developed for diagnostics of accelerating structures and THz radiation sources. In particular, this spectrometer can be used to detect RF pulse shortening caused by vacuum breakdown and beam misalignment in THz accelerators, as well as for bunch length monitoring and radiation source diagnostics. The spectrometer is based on a diffraction grating and is capable of covering a frequency range where RF-based breakdown measurements are not possible. We have built and tested the first prototype with different sources in a frequency range of 0.1-1.0 THz. In this article, we present the physical design, supported numerical simulations, electronics development, and test results.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Enhancing strontium clock atom interferometry using quantum optimal control

Strontium clock atom interferometry is a promising new technology, with multiple experiments under development around the world to explore its potential for dark matter and gravitational wave detection. In these detectors, large momentum transfer using sequences of many laser pulses is necessary, and thus high-fidelity pulses are important since small errors become magnified. Quantum optimal control (QOC) is a framework for developing control pulse waveforms that achieve high fidelity and are robust against experimental imperfections. Resonant single-photon transitions using the narrow clock transition of strontium involve significantly different quantum dynamics than more established atom interferometry methods based on far-detuned two-photon Raman or Bragg transitions, which leads to new opportunities and challenges when applying QOC. Here, we study in simulation QOC pulses for strontium clock interferometry and demonstrate their advantage over basic square pulses (primitive pulses) and composite pulses in terms of robustness against multiple noise channels. In conclusion, this could improve the scale of large momentum transfer in Sr clock interferometers, paving the way to achieving these scientific goals.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Geolocated dataset of Chinese overseas development finance

China is now the world's largest source of bilateral development finance and will likely continue to play a prominent role in sovereign lending through its multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative. This paper introduces major methodological enhancements in tracking this finance: the use of an original application programming interface (API) to gathers news in multiple languages; double verification of every record to ensure every finance commitment has been formalized; and visual geo-location to trace the precise footprint of every project. The resulting dataset enables economic, environmental, and social analyses with high-precision spatial accuracy, as well as spatiotemporal monitoring by project stakeholders and enhanced planning by project managers. It covers the years 2008-2019 to enable analysis before and after the announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative. It includes 862 finance commitments, 669 of which have geographic location, to 94 countries across the world.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

2021 Annual Site Environmental Report

This report provides the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the public with information on the level of radioactive and non-radioactive pollutants (if any) that are added to the environment as a result of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s (PPPL) operations. The results of PPPL’s 2021 environmental surveillance and monitoring program are presented and discussed. The report also summarizes environmental initiatives, assessments, and community involvement programs that were undertaken in 2021. PPPL’s on-site operations were significantly curtailed in 2021 due to the global coronavirus pandemic. PPPL has engaged in fusion energy research since 1951. The Laboratory’s mission is to develop the scientific knowledge and advanced engineering to enable fusion to power the U.S. and the world, and to developing the understanding of plasmas from the nano- to the astrophysical scale. PPPL’s primary experiment, the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) is a collaboration among national laboratories, universities, and national and international research institutions and is a major element in the US Fusion Energy Sciences Program. Its design tests the physics principles of spherical torus (ST) plasmas, playing an important role in the development of smaller, more economical fusion reactors. Due to previous operational issues, NSTX-U did not operate in 2021. PPPL is engaged in a project to replace key NSTX-U components and systems to enable operation of this international fusion user facility. In 2021, PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program measured tritium in the air at the NSTX-U Stack and at onsite sampling stations. Using highly sensitive air monitors, PPPL is capable of detecting small changes in the ambient levels of tritium. The operation of an in-stack monitor located on D-site is used to demonstrate compliance with the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) regulations. Also included in PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program, are water monitoring – ground, surface, and waste waters. PPPL’s radiological monitoring program characterized the background levels of tritium in the environment and those data are presented in this report. Ground water monitoring continued under New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Site Remediation Program regulations. PPPL monitored for non-radiological contaminants, mainly volatile organic compounds (components of common degreasing solvents). In 2021, PPPL complied with permit limits for surface and sanitary discharges. PPPL was honored with awards for EPEAT-certified electronics purchasing and use of peracetic acid as an alternative water treatment chemical in its non-potable process water systems an NJDEP recycling award.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

2022 Annual Site Environment Report, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

This report provides the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the public with information on the level of radioactive and non-radioactive pollutants (if any) that are added to the environment as a result of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s (PPPL) operations. This report fulfills the annual public reporting requirements of DOE Order 231.1B. The results of PPPL’s 2022 environmental surveillance and monitoring program are presented and discussed. The report also summarizes environmental initiatives, assessments, and community involvement programs that were undertaken in 2022. PPPL’s on-site operations started to be restored in 2022, following curtailments in 2020 and 2021 for the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. PPPL has engaged in fusion energy research since 1951 and at its current locations since 1958. The Laboratory’s mission is to develop the scientific knowledge and advanced engineering to enable fusion to power the U.S. and the world, and to develop the understanding of plasmas from the nano- to the astrophysical scale. PPPL’s primary experiment, the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) is a collaboration among national laboratories, universities, and national and international research institutions and is a major element in the US Fusion Energy Sciences Program. Its design tests the physics principles of spherical torus (ST) plasmas, playing an important role in the development of smaller, more economical fusion reactors. Due to previous operational issues, NSTX-U did not operate in 2022. PPPL is engaged in a project to replace key NSTX-U components and systems to enable the operation of this international magnetic fusion user facility. In 2022, PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program measured tritium in the air at onsite sampling stations. Using highly sensitive air monitors, PPPL is capable of detecting small changes in the ambient levels of tritium. The operation of monitors located on D-site is used to demonstrate compliance with the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) regulations. Also included in PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program, are water monitoring – ground, surface, and waste waters. PPPL’s radiological monitoring program characterized the background levels of tritium in the environment and those data are presented in this report. Ground water monitoring continued under New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Site Remediation Program regulations. PPPL monitored for non-radiological contaminants, mainly volatile organic compounds (components of common degreasing solvents). In 2022, PPPL complied with permit limits for surface water and sanitary wastewater discharges. PPPL was honored with an award for EPEAT-certified electronics purchasing from the Global Electronics Council.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Annual Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2024

This report provides the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the public with information on the level of radioactive and non-radioactive pollutants (if any) that are added to the environment as a result of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s (PPPL) operations. This report fulfills the annual public reporting requirements of DOE Order 231.1B. The results of PPPL’s 2024 environmental surveillance and monitoring program are presented and discussed. The report also summarizes environmental initiatives, assessments, and community involvement programs that were undertaken in 2024. PPPL has engaged in fusion energy research since 1951 and at its current locations since 1958. The Laboratory’s mission is to develop the scientific knowledge and advanced engineering to enable fusion to power the US and the world, and to develop the understanding of plasmas from the nano- to the astrophysical scale. PPPL’s primary experiment, the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) is a collaboration among national laboratories, universities, and national and international research institutions and is a major element in the US Fusion Energy Sciences Program. Its design tests the physics principles of spherical torus (ST) plasmas, playing an important role in the development of smaller, more economical fusion reactors. Due to previous operational issues, NSTX-U did not operate in 2024. PPPL is engaged in a project to replace key NSTX-U components and systems to enable the operation of this international magnetic fusion user facility. In 2024, PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program measured tritium in the air at onsite sampling stations. Using highly sensitive air monitors, PPPL is capable of detecting small changes in the ambient levels of tritium. The operation of monitors located on D-site is used to demonstrate compliance with the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) regulations. Also included in PPPL’s radiological environmental monitoring program, are water monitoring – ground, surface, and waste waters. PPPL’s radiological monitoring program characterized the background levels of tritium in the environment and those data are presented in this report. Ground water monitoring continued under New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Site Remediation Program regulations. PPPL monitored for nonradiological contaminants, mainly volatile organic compounds (components of common degreasing solvents). In 2024, PPPL complied with permit limits for surface water and sanitary wastewater discharges. PPPL was honored with an award for EPEAT-certified electronics purchasing from the Global Electronics Council on July 25, 2024.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗