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At least 883 records · Page 49

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2013

Trichohyalin-like 1 protein, a member of fused S100 proteins, is expressed in normal and pathologic human skin

Highlights: ► Trichohyalin-like 1 protein is a member of the fused-type S100 protein gene family. ► Specific antibodies against the C-terminus of the TCHHL1 protein were generated. ► TCHHL1 proteins were expressed in the basal layer of the normal epidermis. ► TCHHL1 proteins were strongly expressed in tumor nests of BCC and SCC. ► The expression of TCHHL1 proteins increased in epidermis of psoriasis vulgaris. - Abstract: Trichohyalin-like 1 (TCHHL1) protein is a novel member of the fused-type S100 protein gene family. The deduced amino acid sequence of TCHHL1 contains an EF-hand domain in the N-terminus, one trans-membrane domain and a nuclear localization signal. We generated specific antibodies against the C-terminus of the TCHHL1 protein and examined the expression of TCHHL1 proteins in normal and pathological human skin. An immunohistochemical study showed that TCHHL1 proteins were expressed in the basal layer of the normal epidermis. In addition, signals of TCHHL1 proteins were observed around the nuclei of cultured growing keratinocytes. Accordingly, TCHHL1 mRNA has been detected in normal skin and cultured growing keratinocytes. Furthermore, TCHHL1 proteins were strongly expressed in the peripheral areas of tumor nests in basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. A dramatic increase in the number of Ki67 positive cells was observed in TCHHL1-expressing areas. The expression of TCHHL1 proteins also increased in non-cancerous hyperproliferative epidermal tissues such as those of psoriasis vulgaris and lichen planus. These findings highlight the possibility that TCHHL1 proteins are expressed in growing keratinocytes of the epidermis and might be associated with the proliferation of keratinocytes.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2025

AC-LGADs Fermilab front-end electronics characterization

Here, we characterized the front-end electronics used to process high-frequency signals from low-gain avalanche diodes (LGADs) at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility. LGADs are silicon detectors employed for charged particle tracking, offering exceptional spatial and temporal resolution. The purpose of this characterization was to understand how the time resolution is influenced by the front-end electronics. To achieve this, we developed a setup capable of generating input signals with varying amplitudes. The output results demonstrated that signal processing by the front-end electronics plays a crucial role in enhancing time resolution. We showed that the time resolution achieved by the FEE board is better than 2 p s at the 1 σ level.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2026

dSph-obic dark matter

We present a mechanism that allows thermal relic dark matter to annihilate efficiently in the Galactic Halo and in galaxy clusters, but not in the lower-velocity environments of dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. We realize this within a complete model in which the dark matter consists of two distinct states separated by a small mass splitting. An indirect detection signal is generated only through the coannihilations of these two states, requiring both to be present. In the halo of the Milky Way, the dark matter particles in the lighter state can be excited into the long-lived heavier state through scattering. Once excited, these heavier particles can coannihilate with those in the lighter state, yielding a gamma-ray signal with little or no suppression. By contrast, the dark matter particles in dwarf galaxies do not possess enough kinetic energy to be excited, thereby suppressing the coannihilation rate and corresponding indirect detection signals from those systems. This framework breaks the predictive relationship that ordinarily exists between these respective gamma-ray signals and complicates our ability to interpret the results of indirect detection searches.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2013

In-situ characterization of femtosecond laser-induced crystallization in borosilicate glass using time-resolved surface third-harmonic generation

Coherent phonon dynamics in condensed-phase medium are responsible for important material properties including thermal and electrical conductivities. We report a structural dynamics technique, time-resolved surface third-harmonic generation (TRSTHG) spectroscopy, to capture transient phonon propagation near the surface of polycrystalline CaF{sub 2} and amorphous borosilicate (BK7) glass. Our approach time-resolves the background-free, high-sensitivity third harmonic generation (THG) signal in between the two crossing near-IR pulses. Pronounced intensity quantum beats reveal the impulsively excited low-frequency Raman mode evolution on the femtosecond to picosecond timescale. After amplified laser irradiation, danburite-crystal-like structure units form at the glass surface. This versatile TRSTHG setup paves the way to mechanistically study and design advanced thermoelectrics and photovoltaics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2019

Toward the implementation of self-powered, wireless, real-time reactor power sensing

The successful development of real-time, self-powered, wireless reactor power sensing technology would enable key operating parameters of every fuel assembly in a commercial reactor core to be continuously monitored, and potentially be utilized for applications such as closed-loop reactor control. This paper discusses the expansion of successful work on the application of Self Powered Neutron Detectors (SPND) for reactor power monitoring and the wireless transmission of these detector signals using advanced vacuum micro-electronic (VME) transmitter technology developed by Westinghouse in collaboration with the Penn State University Radiation Science and Engineering Center. Results demonstrate that this technology may be successfully applied via long-term testing in the Penn State TRIGA reactor. SPND are inherently slower than, for example, ion chambers due to their dependence on radioactive decay to generate a signal. Additional research developed delay compensation algorithms to accelerate the response of these detectors for use in near-real-time closed-loop reactor control. Initial results indicate that practical signal acceleration can be obtained digitally or with an equivalent analog circuit. Future research will apply an inverse model of the sensor’s balance differential equations to more-effectively accelerate the SPND signal. Use of inverse models will also prove to be adaptive in the sense that time-dependent burn-up of these detectors, due to neutron activation of the detector material, can be modeled and applied in the acceleration algorithm.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2014

SAW correlator spread spectrum receiver

A surface acoustic wave (SAW) correlator spread-spectrum (SS) receiver is disclosed which utilizes a first demodulation stage with a chip length n and a second demodulation stage with a chip length m to decode a transmitted SS signal having a code length l=n.times.m which can be very long (e.g. up to 2000 chips or more). The first demodulation stage utilizes a pair of SAW correlators which demodulate the SS signal to generate an appropriate code sequence at an intermediate frequency which can then be fed into the second demodulation stage which can be formed from another SAW correlator, or by a digital correlator. A compound SAW correlator comprising two input transducers and a single output transducer is also disclosed which can be used to form the SAW correlator SS receiver, or for use in processing long code length signals.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

NASA NTRS1988

Emergency Locating Transmitter and Receiver System

A receiver and transmitter are provided for a distress incident locating telecommunications system. The receiver is a superheterodyne AM receiver which applies the received distress transmissions to a normally unlocked phaselock loop which locks onto the unmodulated carrier signal portion of the distress transmission. The duration of the phaselock loop being locked, and unlocked immediately after being locked, are measured and compared to predetermined values to find a match. Each of the predetermined values corresponds to an item of information, and if a match is found, the receiver indicates it. The receiver is also capable of extracting audio information present in the distress transmission. The transmitter generates three signals which can be applied to a transmitting antenna. These signals are a radio frequency carrier signal, and a carrier signal modulated by a distress waveform or by an audio signal. The signal which is ultimately applied to the transmitting antenna will have four parameters where each set of parameters corresponds to a different item of information. The parameters are which one or more of the three signals will be applied to the antenna, the sequence of application of the signals to the antenna, the duration of each of the signals, and the frequency of the audio signal.

Wren, Paul E.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Position Sensor with Integrated Signal-Conditioning Electronics on a Printed Wiring Board

A position sensor, such as a rotary position sensor, includes the signal-conditioning electronics in the housing. The signal-conditioning electronics are disposed on a printed wiring board, which is assembled with another printed wiring board including the sensor windings to provide a sub-assembly. A mu-metal shield is interposed between the printed wiring boards to prevent magnetic interference. The sub-assembly is disposed in the sensor housing adjacent to an inductor board which turns on a shaft. The inductor board emanates an internally or externally generated excitation signal that induces a signal in the sensor windings. The induced signal represents the rotary position of the inductor board relative to the sensor winding board.

Alhorn, Dean C.↗

DOE OSTI2015

All-metal metamaterial slow-wave structure for high-power sources with high efficiency

In this paper, we have proposed a metamaterial (MTM) which is suitable for the compact high-power vacuum electron devices. For example, an S-band slow-wave structure (SWS) based on the all-metal MTMs has been studied by both simulation and experiment. The results show that this MTM SWS is very helpful to miniaturize the high-power vacuum electron devices and largely improve the output power and the electronic efficiency. The simulation model of an S-band MTM backward wave oscillator (BWO) is built, and the particle-in-cell simulated results are presented here: a 2.454 GHz signal is generated and its peak output power is 4.0 MW with a higher electronic efficiency of 31.5% relative to the conventional BWOs.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

NASA NTRS2003

Time Analyzer for Time Synchronization and Monitor of the Deep Space Network

A software package has been developed to measure, monitor, and archive the performance of timing signals distributed in the NASA Deep Space Network. Timing signals are generated from a central master clock and distributed to over 100 users at distances up to 30 kilometers. The time offset due to internal distribution delays and time jitter with respect to the central master clock are critical for successful spacecraft navigation, radio science, and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) applications. The instrument controller and operator interface software is written in LabView and runs on the Linux operating system. The software controls a commercial multiplexer to switch 120 separate timing signals to measure offset and jitter with a time-interval counter referenced to the master clock. The offset of each channel is displayed in histogram form, and "out of specification" alarms are sent to a central complex monitor and control system. At any time, the measurement cycle of 120 signals can be interrupted for diagnostic tests on an individual channel. The instrument also routinely monitors and archives the long-term stability of all frequency standards or any other 1-pps source compared against the master clock. All data is stored and made available for

Cole, Steven↗

DOE OSTI2015

Note: The design of thin gap chamber simulation signal source based on field programmable gate array

The Thin Gap Chamber (TGC) is an important part of ATLAS detector and LHC accelerator. Targeting the feature of the output signal of TGC detector, we have designed a simulation signal source. The core of the design is based on field programmable gate array, randomly outputting 256-channel simulation signals. The signal is generated by true random number generator. The source of randomness originates from the timing jitter in ring oscillators. The experimental results show that the random number is uniform in histogram, and the whole system has high reliability.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2020

Effect of frequency and applied voltage of an atmospheric-pressure dielectric-barrier discharge on breakdown and hydroxyl-radical generation with a liquid electrode

This work examines the effect of the frequency and peak applied voltage on hydroxyl-radical generation in a dielectric-barrier plasma discharge between a metallic needle electrode and one electrode covered with dielectric. The authors examine a system that can expose up to 96 liquid samples in an automated fashion without human intervention beyond setting the initial software configuration. Then, hydroxylradical concentration, measured through coumarin fluorescence, was measured for 5 s plasma exposures generated under different highvoltage conditions with frequencies from 2 to 16 kHz and amplitudes from 4 to 9 kV. Their results show that an increase in frequency and/or applied voltage, within the range prescribed above and the limits of the high-voltage power supply, can yield up to a 150% increase in fluorescence with an equivalent hydroxyl-radical increase. Applications using typical previous methods, such as the Fenton Reaction, are limited in that they continuously generate hydroxyl radicals over millisecond and longer intervals. These results establish the electrical parameters that can now be applied to polymers, like proteins, which show three dimensional structures that are flexible and fluctuate on a microsecond and nanosecond time scale, with hydroxyl-radical generation on this time scale using this device. Additionally, plasma exposures may be optimized for a great variety of proteins, devices and techniques, where hydroxyl-radical generation is of utmost importance, reducing exposure time and potential subjection of samples to harmful side effects.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2020

Detecting faults in wind turbines

A wind turbine generator fault detection method is described. The method includes obtaining a first signal from a generator of a wind turbine and a second signal from a vibration sensor coupled to the wind turbine, the first signal representing an output current of the generator, and the second signal being a time-sampled signal representing vibrations of a bearing in the wind turbine. Determining a shaft rotation frequency signal from the first signal, the shaft rotation frequency signal representing a time-varying rotational speed of a shaft of the wind turbine. Resampling an envelope of the second signal based on the shaft rotation frequency signal to provide a third signal, the third signal being an angular sampled signal. Detecting, by the at least one processor, a fault in the bearing of the wind turbine by identifying a characteristic signature of a bearing fault in the third signal.

Qiao, Wei↗

DOE OSTI2022

Detecting faults in wind turbines

Qiao, Wei↗

DOE OSTI2025

Testing strong-field QED with the avalanche precursor

A two-beam high-power laser facility is essential for the study of one of the most captivating phenomena predicted by strong-field quantum electrodynamics (QED) and yet unobserved experimentally: the avalanche-type cascade. In such a cascade, the energy of intense laser light can be efficiently transformed into high-energy radiation and electron–positron pairs. The future 50-petawatt-scale laser facility NSF OPAL will provide unique opportunities for studying such strong-field QED effects, as it is designed to deliver two ultra-intense, tightly focused laser pulses onto the interaction point. In this work, we investigate the potential of such a facility for studying elementary particle and plasma dynamics deeply in the quantum radiation-dominated (RD) regime, and the generation of QED avalanches. With three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate that QED avalanche precursors can be reliably triggered under realistic laser parameters and layout (namely, focusing f/2, tilted optical axes, and non-ideal co-pointing) with the anticipated capabilities of NSF OPAL. We demonstrate that seed electrons can be efficiently injected into the laser focus by using targets of three types: a gas of heavy atoms, an overcritical plasma, and a thin foil. A strong positron and high-energy photon signal is generated in all cases. The cascade properties can be identified from the final particle distributions, which have a clear directional pattern. At increasing laser field intensity, such distributions provide signatures of the transition, first, to the RD interaction regime, and then to a QED avalanche. Our findings can also be used for designing related future experiments.

Lasers↗

DOE OSTI2025

Understanding the Quadrupole Mass Filter and Testing a High-Resolution QMS RGA for ITER

A common type of residual gas analyzer is the quadrupole mass spectrometer. One of the main components within this instrument is a mass filter known as the quadrupole. It is responsible for the selective throughput of the ionized gas particles - by ascending mass number - prior to ion impacts on the analyzer (or detector) surface from which the ion current signal is generated for processing. However, the quadrupole is not fully described in relation to the electric field characteristics and the function as an ion mass separator. This paper describes the basic origins of the electrical design, the intricate assembly criteria, and performance of the quadrupole within the spectrometer. A specialized quadrupole mass spectrometer is part of a configuration for a diagnostic gas analyzer system planned for ITER, a fusion research machine. It has a verified capability, essential as a diagnostic criterion for this reactor project, to successfully deconvolute the mass signals of Helium-4 and deuterium (reactor fuel exhaust gases, separated by only 0.026 atomic mass units), down to a relative three-percent concentration of the former gas. The associated preliminary testing, performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is also addressed. Finally, one of the key parameters used to express gas concentration, the relative sensitivity factor, will be explained, including an evaluation of dependency on other variables.

Marcus, Chris [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000190139636)↗

NASA NTRS2000

Developmental evolutionary biology of the vertebrate ear: conserving mechanoelectric transduction and developmental pathways in diverging morphologies

This brief overview shows that a start has been made to molecularly dissect vertebrate ear development and its evolutionary conservation to the development of the insect hearing organ. However, neither the patterning process of the ear nor the patterning process of insect sensory organs is sufficiently known at the moment to provide more than a first glimpse. Moreover, hardly anything is known about otocyst development of the cephalopod molluscs, another triploblast lineage that evolved complex 'ears'. We hope that the apparent conserved functional and cellular components present in the ciliated sensory neurons/hair cells will also be found in the genes required for vertebrate ear and insect sensory organ morphogenesis (Fig. 3). Likewise, we expect that homologous pre-patterning genes will soon be identified for the non-sensory cell development, which is more than a blocking of neuronal development through the Delta/Notch signaling system. Generation of the apparently unique ear could thus represent a multiplication of non-sensory cells by asymmetric and symmetric divisions as well as modification of existing patterning process by implementing novel developmental modules. In the final analysis, the vertebrate ear may come about by increasing the level of gene interactions in an already existing and highly conserved interactive cascade of bHLH genes. Since this was apparently achieved in all three lineages of triploblasts independently (Fig. 3), we now need to understand how much of the morphogenetic cascades are equally conserved across phyla to generate complex ears. The existing mutations in humans and mice may be able to point the direction of future research to understand the development of specific cell types and morphologies in the formation of complex arthropod, cephalopod, and vertebrate 'ears'.

Non-NASA Center↗

DOE OSTI2014

Measuring chirality in NMR in the presence of a time-dependent electric field

Traditional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments are “blind” to chirality since the spectra for left and right handed enantiomers are identical in an achiral medium. However, theoretical arguments have suggested that the effective Hamiltonian for spin-1/2 nuclei in the presence of electric and magnetic fields can be different for left and right handed enantiomers, thereby enabling NMR to be used to spectroscopically detect chirality even in an achiral medium. However, most proposals to detect the chiral NMR signature require measuring signals that are equivalent to picomolar concentrations for {sup 1}H nuclei, which are outside current NMR detection limits. In this work, we propose to use an AC electric field that is resonantly modulated at the Larmor frequency, thereby enhancing the effect of the chiral term by four to six orders of magnitude. We predict that a steady-state transverse magnetization, whose direction will be opposite for different enantiomers, will build up during application of an AC electric field. We also propose an experimental setup that uses a solenoid coil with an AC current to generate the necessary periodic electric fields that can be used to generate chiral signals which are equivalent to the signal from a {sup 1}H submicromolar concentration.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗