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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 613 records · Page 34

The CHIMERAS project: design framework for the Collisionless HIgh-beta Magnetized Experiment Researching Astrophysical Systems

From the near-Earth solar wind to the intracluster medium of galaxy clusters, collisionless, high-beta, magnetized plasmas pervade our universe. Energy and momentum transport from large-scale fields and flows to small-scale motions of plasma particles is ubiquitous in these systems, but a full picture of the underlying physical mechanisms remains elusive. The transfer is often mediated by a turbulent cascade of Alfvénic fluctuations as well as a variety of kinetic instabilities; these processes tend to be multi-scale and/or multi-dimensional, which makes them difficult to study using spacecraft missions and numerical simulations alone. Meanwhile, existing laboratory devices struggle to produce the collisionless, high ion beta (β i ≳ 1), magnetized plasmas across the range of scales necessary to address these problems. As envisioned in recent community planning documents, it is therefore important to build a next generation laboratory facility to create a β i ≳ 1, collisionless, magnetized plasma in the laboratory for the first time. A working group has been formed and is actively defining the necessary technical requirements to move the facility towards a construction-ready state. Recent progress includes the development of target parameters and diagnostic requirements as well as the identification of a need for source-target device geometry. As the working group is already leading to new synergies across the community, we anticipate a broad community of users funded by a variety of federal agencies (including National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Energy and National Science Foundation) to make copious use of the future facility.

astrophysical plasmas↗

Molecular identification of organic vapors driving atmospheric nanoparticle growth

Abstract Particles formed in the atmosphere via nucleation provide about half the number of atmospheric cloud condensation nuclei, but in many locations, this process is limited by the growth of the newly formed particles. That growth is often via condensation of organic vapors. Identification of these vapors and their sources is thus fundamental for simulating changes to aerosol-cloud interactions, which are one of the most uncertain aspects of anthropogenic climate forcing. Here we present direct molecular-level observations of a distribution of organic vapors in a forested environment that can explain simultaneously observed atmospheric nanoparticle growth from 3 to 50 nm. Furthermore, the volatility distribution of these vapors is sufficient to explain nanoparticle growth without invoking particle-phase processes. The agreement between observed mass growth, and the growth predicted from the observed mass of condensing vapors in a forested environment thus represents an important step forward in the characterization of atmospheric particle growth.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Design of radial interferometer–polarimeter for internal magnetic and density fluctuation measurements at multiple space–time scales in the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U)

A Faraday-effect radial interferometer–polarimeter is designed for the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) to measure multiscale magnetic and density fluctuations critical to understanding fusion plasma confinement and stability, including those originating from magnetohydrodynamic instabilities, energetic particle-driven modes, and turbulence. The diagnostic will utilize the three-wave technique with 5 MHz bandwidth to simultaneously measure line-integrated magnetic and density fluctuations up to the ion-cyclotron frequency. Probe beams will be launched radially from the low-field side at the NSTX-U midplane, where the measured Faraday fluctuations mainly correspond to radial magnetic fluctuations that directly link to magnetic transport. A correlation technique will be employed to reduce the measurement noise to below 0.01° enabling detection of small amplitude fluctuations. Two toroidally displaced chords with 7° separation will be installed to measure toroidal mode numbers up to n = 25 for mode identification. Finally, solid-state microwave sources operating at 321 μm (935 GHz) will be used to minimize the impact of the Cotton–Mouton effect.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Kmer-SSR: a fast and exhaustive SSR search algorithm

Motivation: One of the main challenges with bioinformatics software is that the size and complexity of datasets necessitate trading speed for accuracy, or completeness. To combat this problem of computational complexity, a plethora of heuristic algorithms have arisen that report a ‘good enough’ solution to biological questions. However, in instances such as Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs), a ‘good enough’ solution may not accurately portray results in population genetics, phylogenetics and forensics, which require accurate SSRs to calculate intra- and inter-species interactions. Results: We present Kmer-SSR, which finds all SSRs faster than most heuristic SSR identification algorithms in a parallelized, easy-to-use manner. The exhaustive Kmer-SSR option has 100% precision and 100% recall and accurately identifies every SSR of any specified length. To identify more biologically pertinent SSRs, we also developed several filters that allow users to easily view a subset of SSRs based on user input. Kmer-SSR, coupled with the filter options, accurately and intuitively identifies SSRs quickly and in a more user-friendly manner than any other SSR identification algorithm. Availability and implementation: The source code is freely available on GitHub at https://github. com/ridgelab/Kmer-SSR.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DEPO-related to Radioactive Sources.

Design and Evaluation Process Outline (DEPO) is discussed as it pertains to protection of radioactive sources. The bulk of the report describes features of various kinds of detection systems, and follows this with systems for entry control and personnel identification.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Scalable Hybrid Large-Scale dc-ac Grid Analysis Methods (Phase II)

The goals of the project included the identification and evaluation of a voltage source converter multiterminal high-voltage direct current (VSC-MTdc) system architecture suitable for a high amount of power transfer through long transmission lines.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Genetic diversity, population structure and anthracnose resistance response in a novel sweet sorghum diversity panel

Sweet sorghum is an attractive feedstock for the production of renewable chemicals and fuels due to the readily available fermentable sugars that can be extracted from the juice, and the additional stream of fermentable sugars that can be obtained from the cell wall polysaccharides in the bagasse. An important selection criterion for new sweet sorghum germplasm is resistance to anthracnose, a disease caused by the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum sublineolum. The identification of novel anthracnose-resistance sources present in sweet sorghum germplasm offers a fast track towards the development of new resistant sweet sorghum germplasm. We established a sweet sorghum diversity panel (SWDP) of 272 accessions from the USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm (NPGS) collection that includes landraces from 22 countries and advanced breeding material, and that represents ~15% of the NPGS sweet sorghum collection. Genomic characterization of the SWDP identified 171,954 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with an average of one SNP per 4,071 kb. Population structure analysis revealed that the SWDP could be stratified into four populations and one admixed group, and that this population structure could be aligned to sorghum’s racial classification. Results from a two-year replicated trial of the SWDP for anthracnose resistance response in Texas, Georgia, Florida, and Puerto Rico showed 27 accessions to be resistant across locations, while 145 accessions showed variable resistance response against local pathotypes. A genome-wide association study identified 16 novel genomic regions associated with anthracnose resistance. Four resistance loci on chromosomes 3, 6, 8 and 9 were identified against pathotypes from Puerto Rico, and two resistance loci on chromosomes 3 and 8 against pathotypes from Texas. In Georgia and Florida, three resistance loci were detected on chromosomes 4, 5, 6 and four on chromosomes 4, 5 (two loci) and 7, respectively. One resistance locus on chromosome 2 was effective against pathotypes from Texas and Puerto Rico and a genomic region of 41.6 kb at the tip of chromosome 8 was associated with resistance response observed in Georgia, Texas, and Puerto Rico. This publicly available SWDP and the extensive evaluation of anthracnose resistance represent a valuable genomic resource for the improvement of sorghum.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Sources of electromagnetic radiation

Electromagnetic radiation sources for remote sensing application to identification of water, moist soil and vegetation, discussing optical properties of diverse materials

Legault, R. R.↗

Spectra of type I supernovae. I - Generalities. II - Interpretation of the spectra of Sn 1960 in NGC 4496 from 8 to 20 days after the maximum of luminosity.

In the late stages of type I supernovae evolution (t greater than 50 days) the spectrum is without doubt an emission line spectrum, but in the early stages it is difficult to tell if an emission line spectrum is observed, or a continuum spectrum modified by the overlaying absorption formed in the outer layers. The mechanism of formation of the observed spectra, the physical conditions in the shell, different possible sources of heating of the shell, identification of the lines, and theoretical computations of the line intensities are discussed. An attempt is made to interpret the set of spectra assuming that a spectrum of widely broadened emission lines truncated by an overlaying absorption is seen. The absorption spectrum is first studied. An identification for the emission lines is proposed, and their intensity on the observed spectra is tentatively estimated. These identifications have to be justified by the theoretical computations of a model of the shell.

Gordon, C.↗

The peculiar star He 2-177 - A slow nova and a possible X-ray source

The remarkable detail resemblence of the spectrum of the peculiar emission-line star He 2-177 to that of the slow nova RR Telescopii is illustrated by tabulated data and discussed. The evolution of the spectrum since 1965 closely resembles the evolution of RR Tel between 1951 and 1954. A newly determined position of X-ray source 2U 1639-62 makes its identification with He 2-177 less probable than before.

Carlson, E. D.↗

Optical and X-ray observations of 3U 0614+09

Based on positional agreement, ultraviolet excess, and spectroscopic peculiarity, the identification of the X-ray source 3U 0614+09 with a faint blue star, previously suggested by Murdin et al. (1974) as a candidate, is established. Four days of X-ray observations at 1-3 A failed to show evidence for significant variability or eclipses. The possibility that this object may be very similar to Sco X-1, but at a distance of 4-8 kpc, is discussed.

Davidsen, A.↗

Feige 24 - A very hot white dwarf

OAO-2 ultraviolet photometry of the composite spectrum white dwarf Feige 24 is compared with model atmospheres to derive an effective temperature of 70,000 (+20,000, -15,000) K. The distance to this star is estimated to be 90 (+55, -31) pc if the cool component is assumed to be a main-sequence star with a red and near-infrared energy distribution that is normal for its spectral type. The derived characteristics of Feige 24 are compatible with its identification as the extreme-ultraviolet source observed by Margon et al.

Holm, A. V.↗

The X-ray light curve of AM Herculis

Observations by SAS 3 during 1976 show that the soft X-ray flux of 3U 1809+50 is modulated with the same period as the optical phenomena of AM Her. The identification of the X-ray source with AM Her is thus confirmed. It is found that the X-ray source undergoes a total eclipse with a duration of approximately 0.15 period. The heliocentric epoch of the eclipse center is JD 2,442,919.636, which is at phase 0.5 relative to the primary optical minimum and coincides with a secondary optical minimum.

Hearn, D. R.↗

X-ray observations of BL Lac objects

The BL Lac objects MK501 and MK421 have been observed by the HEAO-1 experiment A-2 in the 2-60-keV band. Their spectra are similar with best-fitting power laws having an energy index between -0.2 and 0.2. There was no detectable X-ray absorption with implied column densities of less than 1.5 x 10 to the 22nd H atoms/sq cm. MK421 was a factor 6 weaker in November 1977 then in May 1977. A new identification of PKS0548-322 with a source near 4U 0543-31 is suggested.

Mushotzky, R. F.↗

Discovery of a soft X-ray flux from AN Ursae Majoris

During November 1975, the soft X-ray detectors on the SAS 3 satellite scanned across AN Ursae Majoris, a star very similar to AM Herculis in its unusual optical properties. A soft (0.1-0.4 keV) X-ray flux averaging 2.8 x 10 to the -11th erg/sq cm-sec was detected from AN UMa, as had been anticipated by analogy with AM Her. Folding the X-ray flux measurement with the known binary period reveals an X-ray light curve with approximately 100% modulation, and thereby secures the identification of the X-ray source as AN UMa. Unlike the case in AM Her, the X-ray minimum in AN UMa occurs midway between optical linear-polarization peaks.

Hearn, D. R.↗

Discovery of low-redshift X-ray selected quasars - New clues to the QSO phenomenon

The identification of six X-ray sources discovered by the Einstein Observatory with X-ray quasars is reported, and the properties of these X-ray selected quasars are discussed. The four high-latitude fields of 1 sq deg each in which the Einstein imaging proportional counter detected serendipitous X-ray sources at intermediate exposures of 10,000 sec were observed by 4-m and 1.5-m telescopes, and optical sources with uv excesses and emission line spectra typical of many low-redshift quasars and Seyfert 1 galaxies were found within the 1-arcsec error boxes of the X-ray sources. All six quasars identified were found to be radio quiet, with low redshift and relatively faint optical magnitudes, and to be similar in space density, colors and magnitude versus redshift relation to an optically selected sample at the same mean magnitude. X-ray luminosity was found to be well correlated with both continuum and broad-line emission luminosities for the known radio-quiet quasars and Seyfert 1 galaxies, and it was observed that the five objects with the lowest redshifts have very similar X-ray/optical luminosity ratios despite tenfold variations in X-ray luminosity. It is concluded that photoionization by a continuum extending to X-ray energies is the dominant excitation mechanism in radio-quiet quasars.

Grindlay, J. E.↗