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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 775 records · Page 43

An Assessment of GCM Performance at a Regional Scale Using a Score-Based Method

A multicriteria score-based method was developed to assess the performances of 18 general circulation models (GCMs) in the study region from 1970 to 2005. The results indicate the following. (1) GCMs simulate temperature better than rainfall. The temporal and spatial distributions of simulated temperature performed well compared with those from the observations. In comparison to temperature, the spatial distribution of simulated precipitation performed poorly. Most of the GCMs underestimated temperature and overestimated precipitation. (2) The Grubbs test was used to detect anomalous moving changes in the rank score (RS) results; the inm-cm4 and ipsl-cm5b-lr models were rejected when simulating temperature, while the bnu-esm and canesm2 models performed poorly when simulating precipitation. (3) Adding or removing any criterion does not significantly influence the RS result, which indicates that the multicriteria score-based method is robust. The advantages of using multicriteria score-based method to assess GCMs performance were demonstrated, and this method also provides a more comprehensive assessment when compared with the single-criterion method. The multicriteria method could replace other criteria as the research requirements and could be easily extended to different study regions; the results could be used for better informed regional climate change impact analyses.

Shi, Fangxin↗

Robust inference of ecosystem soil water stress from eddy covariance data

Eddy covariance data are invaluable for determining ecosystem water use strategies under soil water stress. However, existing stress inference methods require numerous subjective data processing and model specification assumptions whose effect on the inferred soil water stress signal is rarely quantified. These uncertainties may confound the stress inference and the generalization of ecosystem water use strategies across multiple sites and studies. In this research, we quantify the sensitivity of soil water stress signals inferred from eddy covariance data to the prevailing data and modeling assumptions (i.e., their robustness) to compile a comprehensive list of sites with robust soil water stress signals and assess the performance of current stress inference methods. To accomplish this, we identify the most prevalent assumptions from the literature and perform a digital factorial experiment to extract probability distributions of plausible soil water stress signals and model performance at 151 FLUXNET2015 and AmeriFlux-FLUXNET sites. Here, we develop a new framework that summarizes these probability distributions to classify and rank the robustness of each site’s soil water stress signal, which we display with a user-friendly heat map. We estimate that only 5%–36% of sites exhibit a robust soil water stress signal due to deficient model performance and poorly constrained ecosystem water use parameters. We also find that the lack of robustness is site-specific, which undermines grouping stress signals by broad ecosystem categories or comparing results across studies with differing assumptions. Lastly, existing stress inference methods appear better suited for eddy covariance sites with grass/annual vegetation. Our findings call for more careful and consistent inference of ecosystem water stress from eddy covariance data.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Global Sensitivity Analysis of a Reactive Transport Model for Mineral Scale Formation During Hydraulic Fracturing

Injection of water-based hydraulic fracturing fluid (HFF) into tight shale gas/oil formations can increase formation permeability and enhance production rates, but this process frequently causes mineral scale formation that can occlude pore space and hinder flow. To identify the most important factors that control the formation of mineral scales, we applied a novel global sensitivity analysis method—distance-based generalized sensitivity analysis (DGSA)—to a reactive transport model (RTM) that was previously built and calibrated to simulate precipitation of barite [BaSO4] and iron (hydr)oxide [Fe(OH) 3 ] in shale matrices and on fracture surfaces. Reactive transport simulations were run with model parameters randomly sampled based on assigned uncertainties. Modeling results for barite and Fe(OH)3 formation were clustered using machine-learning algorithms. A list of ranked critical input parameters was obtained after statistical quantification of cumulative distribution functions of input parameters. We found that barite formation is most sensitive to the rate of sulfate ion generation, which is determined by the pyrite dissolution rate coefficient and oxidant availability. In addition, barite formation is sensitive to the initial amounts of barite in HFF and shale, followed by barite thermodynamics/kinetics. For Fe(OH) 3 formation, the ranked factors are Fe(OH)3 precipitation rate coefficients, initial HFF pH, initial Fe(OH) 3 amount in HFF, and oxidant availability. Overall, our results provide insights into managing mineral scale formation during hydraulic fracturing to enhance production. Meanwhile, this study serves as an example of global sensitivity analysis of RTMs using the efficient, straightforward, and open-source DGSA method.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

CT-based machine learning model to predict the Fuhrman nuclear grade of clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Purpose: To predict the Fuhrman grade of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) with a machine learning classifier based on single- or three-phase computed tomography (CT) images. Materials and methods: Patients with pathologically proven ccRCC from February 1, 2009 to September 31, 2018 who were not treated were retrospectively collected for machine learning-based analysis. The texture features were extracted and ranked from precontrast phase (PCP), corticomedullary phase (CMP), nephrographic phase (NP) and three-phase CT images, and open-source gradient boosting from the decision tree library of CatBoost was used to establish a machine learning classifier to differentiate low- from high-grade ccRCC. The performances of machine learning classifiers based on features from single- and three-phase CT images were compared with each other. Results: A total of 231 patients with 232 pathologically proven ccRCC lesions were retrospectively collected. 35, 36, 41, and 22 Features were extracted and ranked from PCP, CMP, NP, and three-phase CT images, respectively. The machine learning model based on three-phase CT images [area under the ROC curve (AUC) = 0.87] achieved the best diagnostic performance for differentiating low- from high-grade ccRCC, followed by single-phase NP (AUC = 0.84), CMP (AUC = 0.80), and PCP images (AUC = 0.82). Conclusion: Machine learning classifiers can be promising noninvasive techniques to differentiate low- and high-Fuhrman nuclear grade ccRCC, and classifiers based on three-phase CT images are superior to those based on features from each single phase.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Branches, quivers, and ideals for knot complements

We generalize the F K invariant, i.e. Z^ for the complement of a knot K in the 3-sphere, the knots-quivers correspondence, and A-polynomials of knots, and find several interconnections between them. We associate an F K invariant to any branch of the A-polynomial of K and we work out explicit expressions for several simple knots. We show that these F K invariants can be written in the form of a quiver generating series, in analogy with the knots-quivers correspondence. We discuss various methods to obtain such quiver representations, among others using R-matrices. We generalize the quantum a-deformed A-polynomial to an ideal that contains the recursion relation in the group rank, i.e. in the parameter a, and describe its classical limit in terms of the Coulomb branch of a 3d-5d theory. We also provide t-deformed versions. Furthermore, we study how the quiver formulation for closed 3-manifolds obtained by surgery leads to the superpotential of 3d N = 2 theory T[M 3 ] and to the data of the associated modular tensor category MTC[M 3 ].

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A complex systems analysis of stick-slip dynamics of a laboratory fault

We study the stick-slip behavior of a granular bed of photoelastic disks sheared by a rough slider pulled along the surface. Time series of a proxy for granular friction are examined using complex systems methods to characterize the observed stick-slip dynamics of this laboratory fault. Nonlinear surrogate time series methods show that the stick-slip behavior appears more complex than a periodic dynamics description. Phase space embedding methods show that the dynamics can be locally captured within a four to six dimensional subspace. These slider time series also provide an experimental test for recent complex network methods. Phase space networks, constructed by connecting nearby phase space points, proved useful in capturing the key features of the dynamics. In particular, network communities could be associated to slip events and the ranking of small network subgraphs exhibited a heretofore unreported ordering.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Spectrum of chronic kidney disease in China: A national study based on hospitalized patients from 2010 to 2015

ABSTRACT Aim To investigate the spectrum of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in China. Methods We used a large national in‐patient database covering 878 class three hospitals and involving 64.7 million adult patients in China from 2010 to 2015. The class 3 hospital in China is ranked as the top tier of medical system in China with at least 500 beds and the accreditation from health authorities. The specific causes of CKD were extracted from the International Classification of Diseases‐10 codes of discharge diagnoses. Results A total of 4.5% of hospitalized patients (1.8 million) were identified as CKD, with an increased percentage from 2010 (3.7%) to 2015 (4.7%). Increasing trends of diabetic kidney disease and hypertensive nephropathy were observed from 2010 to 2015 (19.5% vs 24.3% and 11.5% vs 15.9%, respectively), especially for urban residents from north China. The proportion of obstructive nephropathy also increased gradually (10.3% in 2010 vs 15.6% in 2015) and constituted another important cause of CKD for patients, especially for those from south China and rural residents. Conclusion The spectrum of CKD is changing in China, with variations over time and geographic regions, which has implication regarding developing the prevention strategy of CKD.

Huang, Yu‐Ming↗

Computationally Efficient Decompositions of Oblique Projection Matrices

Oblique projection matrices arise in problems in weighted least squares, signal processing, and optimization. While these matrices can be potentially very large, their low-rank structure can be exploited for efficient computation. Here, we propose fast and scalable algorithms for computing their eigendecomposition and singular value decomposition (SVD). Numerical experiments that compare our proposed approaches to existing methods, including randomized SVD, are presented. In addition, we test their accuracy on linear systems from equality constrained optimization problems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A Mixed-Method Design Approach for Empirically Based Selection of Unbiased Data Annotators

Implicit bias embedded in the annotated data is by far the greatest impediment in the effectual use of supervised machine learning models in tasks involving race, ethics, and geopolitical polarization. For societal good and demonstrable positive impact on wider society, it is paramount to carefully select data annotators and rigorously validate the annotation process. Current approaches to selecting annotators are not sufficiently grounded in scientific principles and are limited at the policy-guidance level, thereby rendering them unusable for machine learning practitioners. This work proposes a new approach based on the mixed-methods design that is functional, adaptable, and simpler to implement in selecting unbiased annotators for any machine learning problem. By demonstrating it on a real-world geopolitical problem, we also identified and ranked key inane profile characteristics towards an empirically-based selection of unbiased data annotators.

Thakur, Gautam Malviya↗

Evaluation of the cyclic behavior of aircraft turbine disk alloys, part 2

Several nickel-base aircraft turbine disk superalloys were evaluated at 650 C for resistance to fatigue crack initiation and propagation under cyclic and cyclic/dwell conditions. Controlled strain low cycle fatigue (LCF) and controlled load crack propagation tests were performed and results utilized to provide a direct comparison among the alloys. Tests were performed on selected alloys to evaluate the effects of hold times, mean stresses, stress-dwell cycle types, inert environment, and contractor test methods. At the lower total strain ranges of interest, the alloys exhibited generally increasing initiation life with increasing tensile strength for both cyclic (0.33 Hz) and cyclic/dwell (900-sec hold per cycle) conditions. Rank order of the alloys by LCF initiation life changed substantially at higher strain ranges, approaching the rank order expected from monotonic tensile ductilities. The effect of the 900 sec (15 min) hold time fatigue life varied significantly from alloy to alloy. Generally, the higher-strength, finer-grained alloys exhibited more significant reductions in fatigue life due to the dwell. The effects of mean strain were found to be negligible and the effects of mean stress were pronounced. At high strain ranges the mean stress was near zero and did not contribute to reduction in life. At low strain ranges, however, mean stresses were large and significant reductions in LCF lives occurred.

Cowles, B. A.↗

The Business Case for Automated Software Engineering

Adoption of advanced automated SE (ASE) tools would be more favored if a business case could be made that these tools are more valuable than alternate methods. In theory, software prediction models can be used to make that case. In practice, this is complicated by the 'local tuning' problem. Normally. predictors for software effort and defects and threat use local data to tune their predictions. Such local tuning data is often unavailable. This paper shows that assessing the relative merits of different SE methods need not require precise local tunings. STAR 1 is a simulated annealer plus a Bayesian post-processor that explores the space of possible local tunings within software prediction models. STAR 1 ranks project decisions by their effects on effort and defects and threats. In experiments with NASA systems. STARI found one project where ASE were essential for minimizing effort/ defect/ threats; and another project were ASE tools were merely optional.

model evaluation↗

A Scaling-based Applicability Assessment of the CAER Integrated Systems Test Facility

This paper presents a scaling-based applicability assessment of the Integrated Systems Test (IST) facility located at the Center of Advanced Engineering Research in Forest, Virginia. The assessment draws upon both traditional and contemporary scaling methods, seeking an optimal representation of light water reactor (LWR) and small modular reactor (SMR) characteristics during design-basis events. Based on published LWR loss-of-coolant-accident phenomena identification and ranking tables compiled with a similar assessment completed by BWXT mPower, Inc., for the mPower{sup TM} SMR, the phenomena considered in the IST design include break flow, decay heat, loop thermal-hydraulics, and primary-to-secondary heat transfer. Among these, the single- and two-phase natural circulation and system depressurization, by association to loop thermal-hydraulics, were the principal challenges. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Dynamic Mode Decomposition for Compressive System Identification

Dynamic mode decomposition has emerged as a leading technique to identify spatiotemporal coherent structures from high-dimensional data, benefiting from a strong connection to nonlinear dynamical systems via the Koopman operator. In this work, we integrate and unify two recent innovations that extend DMD to systems with actuation [Proctor et al., 2016] and systems with heavily subsampled measurements [Brunton et al., 2015]. When combined, these methods yield a novel framework for compressive system identification [code is publicly available at: https://github.com/zhbai/cDMDc]. It is possible to identify a low-order model from limited input-output data and reconstruct the associated full-state dynamic modes with compressed sensing, adding interpretability to the state of the reduced-order model. Moreover, when full-state data is available, it is possible to dramatically accelerate downstream computations by first compressing the data. We demonstrate this unified framework on two model systems, investigating the effects of sensor noise, different types of measurements (e.g., point sensors, Gaussian random projections, etc.), compression ratios, and different choices of actuation (e.g., localized, broadband, etc.). In the first example, we explore this architecture on a test system with known low-rank dynamics and an artificially inflated state dimension. The second example consists of a real-world engineering application given by the fluid flow past a pitching airfoil at low Reynolds number. This example provides a challenging and realistic test-case for the proposed method, and results demonstrate that the dominant coherent structures are well characterized despite actuation and heavily subsampled data.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Integration of microseismic monitoring data into coupled flow and geomechanical models with ensemble Kalman filter

Abstract Hydraulic stimulation of low‐permeability rocks in enhanced geothermal systems, shale resources, and CO 2 storage aquifers can trigger microseismic events, also known as microearthquakes (MEQs). The distribution of microseismic source locations in the reservoir may reveal important information about the distribution of hydraulic and geomechanical rock properties. In this paper, we present a framework for conditioning heterogeneous rock permeability and geomechanical property distributions on microseismic data. To simulate the multiphysics processes in these systems, we combine a fully coupled flow and geomechanical model with the Mohr‐Coulomb type rock failure criterion. The resulting multiphysics simulation constitutes the forecast model that relates microseismic source locations to reservoir rock properties. We adopt this forward model in an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) data assimilation framework to jointly estimate reservoir permeability and geomechanical property distributions from injection‐induced microseismic response measurements. We show that integration of a large number of spatially correlated microseismic data with practical ensemble sizes can lead to severe underestimation of ensemble spread, and eventually ensemble collapse. To mitigate the variance underestimation issue, two low‐rank data representation schemes are presented and discussed. In the first approach, microseismic data are projected onto a low‐dimensional subspace defined by the left singular vectors of the perturbed observation matrix. The second method uses a coarser grid for representing the microseismic data. A series of numerical experiments is presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed methods and to illustrate their applicability for assimilating microseismic data into coupled flow and geomechanical forward models to estimate multiphysics rock properties.

Tarrahi, Mohammadali↗

Machine learning assisted phase and size-controlled synthesis of iron oxide particles

Synthesis of iron oxides with specific phases and particle sizes is a crucial challenge in various fields, including materials science, energy storage, biomedical applications, environmental science, and earth science. However, despite significant advances in this area, much of the current palette of particle outcomes has been based on time-consuming trial-and-error exploration of synthesis conditions. The present study was designed to explore a very different approach to 1) predict the outcome of synthesis from specified reaction parameters based on using machine learning (ML) techniques, and 2) correlate sets of parameters to obtain products with desired outcomes by a newly designed recommendation algorithm. To achieve this, four ML algorithms were tested, namely random forest, logistic regression, support vector machine, and k-nearest neighbor. Among the models, random forest outperformed the others, attaining 96% and 81% accuracy when predicting the phase and size of iron oxide particles in the test dataset. Surprisingly, the permutation feature importance analysis revealed that volume, which may strongly relate to pressure, was one of the important features, along with precursor concentration, pH, temperature, and time, influencing the phase and size of iron oxide particles during synthesis. To verify the robustness of the random forest models, prediction and experimental results were compared based on 24 randomly generated methods in additive and non-additive systems not included in the datasets. The predictions of product phase and particle size from the models agreed well with the experimental results. Furthermore, a searching and ranking algorithm was developed to recommend potential synthesis parameters for obtaining iron oxide products with the desired phase and particle size from previous studies in the dataset. Furthermore, this study lays the foundation for a closed-loop approach in materials synthesis and preparation, beginning with suggesting potential reaction parameters from the dataset and predicting potential outcomes, followed by conducting experiments and analyses, and ultimately enriching the dataset.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A Profile of Academic Training Program Directors and Chairs in Radiation Oncology

Purpose: To identify objective characteristics and benchmarks for program leadership in academic radiation oncology. Methods and Materials: A study of the 87 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education radiation oncology training program directors (PD) and their chairs was performed. Variables included age, gender, original training department, highest degree, rank, endowed chair assignment, National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, and Hirsch index (H-index). Data were gathered from online sources such as departmental websites, NIH RePORTER, and Scopus. Results: There were a total of 87 PD. The median age was 48, and 14 (16%) were MD/PhD. A total of 21 (24%) were female, and rank was relatively equally distributed above instructor. Of the 26 professors, at least 7 (27%) were female. At least 24 (28%) were working at the institution from which they had received their training. A total of 6 individuals held endowed chairs. Only 2 PD had active NIH funding in 2012. The median H-index was 12 (range, 0-51) but the index dropped to 9 (range, 0-38) when those who served as both PD and chair were removed from the group. A total of 76 chairs were identified at the time of the study. The median age was 55, and 9 (12%) were MD/PhD. A total of 7 (9%) of the chairs were female, and rank was professor for all with the exception of 1 who was listed as “Head” and was an associate professor. Of the 76 chairs, at least 10 (13%) were working at the institution from which they received their training. There were a total of 21 individuals with endowed chairs. A total of 13 (17%) had NIH funding in 2012. The median H-index was 29 (range, 3-60). Conclusions: These data provide benchmarks for individuals and departments evaluating leadership positions in the field of academic radiation oncology. Such data are useful for evaluating leadership trends over time and comparing academic radiation oncology with other specialties.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Effect of Microwave and Thermal Co-pyrolysis of Low-Rank Coal and Pine Wood on Product Distributions and Char Structure

Direct conversion of a low-rank coal into valuable chemicals or improving its char’s coking value became very demanding aims in coal utilization strategies. Here, the co-pyrolysis of a low-rank lignite coal and pine wood sawdust biomass blended at a 3:1 coal-to-biomass ratio was investigated along with original coal and biomass samples by microwave-assisted and conventional thermal methods at 550 °C under nitrogen and ambient pressure. The carbon structure and its reactivity in generated chars and the product distributions were greatly affected by the applied heating mechanism and the presence of biomass during coal pyrolysis. High gas and low tar yields were observed for all microwave chars in comparison to thermal chars, regardless of composition. The addition of biomass to coal increased the tar yield under both methods and to a higher extent under the microwave. This agrees with the high gas yield and high aromatic-to-aliphatic fraction observed under the microwave and the presence of biomass. The high O/C ratio and low fixed carbon content in a biomass structure relative to coal affect the product distribution during microwave pyrolysis. This could selectively heat the biomass in the sample, remove its polar groups, and convert it into an efficient microwave absorber biochar that can decompose coal efficiently during co-pyrolysis. The aromatic carbon stacking and its ordering in the generated chars were investigated by powder X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, dielectric property measurements, and electron spin resonance techniques. A synergistic effect was observed upon biomass addition during microwave coal pyrolysis. Electron spin resonance spectroscopy revealed that the microwave coal/biomass char is the most stable char with the lowest free radical concentration. Furthermore, this agrees with the highest I G /I all band area ratio calculated from Raman analysis revealing a more graphitic nature for carbon in this char. Similarly, the dielectric properties confirmed that the addition of biomass to coal under the microwave has the highest loss tangent, indicating a high graphitic nature compared to pure biochar or coal char.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

XPCA - R Implementation

Principal component analysis (PCA) is arguably the most popular tool in multivariate exploratory data analysis. We consider the question of how to handle heterogeneous variables that include continuous, binary, and ordinal. In the probabilistic interpretation of low-rank PCA, the data has a normal multivariate distribution and, therefore, normal marginal distributions for each column. If some marginals are continuous but not normal, the semiparametric copula-based principal component analysis (COCA) method is an alternative to PCA that combines a Gaussian copula with nonparametric marginals. If some marginals are discrete or semi-continuous, we present a new extended PCA (XPCA) method that also uses a Gaussian copula and nonparametric marginals and accounts for discrete variables in the likelihood calculation by integrating over appropriate intervals. Like PCA, the factors produced by XPCA can be used to find latent structure in data, build predictive models, and perform dimensionality reduction. We implement the new model, XPCA, and its ancestors PCA and COCA in both R and Python. This software provides implementations of XPCA, COCA, and probabilistic PCA in both R and Python. XPCA is written in arXiv report https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.07510. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. SAND2019-10591 M

Kincher-Winoto, Kina↗