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At least 1,117 records · Page 62

Geometry-Driven Detection, Tracking and Visual Analysis of Viscous and Gravitational Fingers

Viscous and gravitational flow instabilities cause a displacement front to break up into finger-like fluids. The detection and evolutionary analysis of these fingering instabilities are critical in multiple scientific disciplines such as fluid mechanics and hydrogeology. However, previous detection methods of the viscous and gravitational fingers are based on density thresholding, which provides limited geometric information of the fingers. The geometric structures of fingers and their evolution are important yet little studied in the literature. In this work, we explore the geometric detection and evolution of the fingers in detail to elucidate the dynamics of the instability. Additionally, we propose a ridge voxel detection method to guide the extraction of finger cores from three-dimensional (3D) scalar fields. After skeletonizing finger cores into skeletons, we design a spanning tree based approach to capture how fingers branch spatially from the finger skeletons. Finally, we devise a novel geometric-glyph augmented tracking graph to study how the fingers and their branches grow, merge, and split over time. Feedback from earth scientists demonstrates the usefulness of our approach to performing spatio-temporal geometric analyses of fingers.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A genetic technique for planning a control sequence to navigate the state space with a quasi-minimum-cost output trajectory for a non-linear multi-dimnensional system

There are many multi-stage optimization problems that are not easily solved through any known direct method when the stages are coupled. For instance, we have investigated the problem of planning a vehicle's control sequence to negotiate obstacles and reach a goal in minimum time. The vehicle has a known mass, and the controlling forces have finite limits. We have developed a technique that finds admissible control trajectories which tend to minimize the vehicle's transit time through the obstacle field. The immediate applications is that of a space robot which must rapidly traverse around 2-or-3 dimensional structures via application of a rotating thruster or non-rotating on-off for such vehicles is located at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville Alabama. However, it appears that the development method is applicable to a general set of optimization problems in which the cost function and the multi-dimensional multi-state system can be any nonlinear functions, which are continuous in the operating regions. Other applications included the planning of optimal navigation pathways through a transversability graph; the planning of control input for under-water maneuvering vehicles which have complex control state-space relationships; the planning of control sequences for milling and manufacturing robots; the planning of control and trajectories for automated delivery vehicles; and the optimization and athletic training in slalom sports.

Hein, C.↗

SU-F-BRB-16: A Spreadsheet Based Automatic Trajectory GEnerator (SAGE): An Open Source Tool for Automatic Creation of TrueBeam Developer Mode Robotic Trajectories

Purpose: To automate creation and delivery of robotic linac trajectories with TrueBeam Developer Mode, an open source spreadsheet-based trajectory generation tool has been developed, tested and made freely available. The computing power inherent in a spreadsheet environment plus additional functions programmed into the tool insulate users from the underlying schema tedium and allow easy calculation, parameterization, graphical visualization, validation and finally automatic generation of Developer Mode XML scripts which are directly loadable on a TrueBeam linac. Methods: The robotic control system platform that allows total coordination of potentially all linac moving axes with beam (continuous, step-and-shoot, or combination thereof) becomes available in TrueBeam Developer Mode. Many complex trajectories are either geometric or can be described in analytical form, making the computational power, graphing and programmability available in a spreadsheet environment an easy and ideal vehicle for automatic trajectory generation. The spreadsheet environment allows also for parameterization of trajectories thus enabling the creation of entire families of trajectories using only a few variables. Standard spreadsheet functionality has been extended for powerful movie-like dynamic graphic visualization of the gantry, table, MLC, room, lasers, 3D observer placement and beam centerline all as a function of MU or time, for analysis of the motions before requiring actual linac time. Results: We used the tool to generate and deliver extended SAD “virtual isocenter” trajectories of various shapes such as parameterized circles and ellipses. We also demonstrated use of the tool in generating linac couch motions that simulate respiratory motion using analytical parameterized functions. Conclusion: The SAGE tool is a valuable resource to experiment with families of complex geometric trajectories for a TrueBeam Linac. It makes Developer Mode more accessible as a vehicle to quickly translate research ideas into machine readable scripts without programming knowledge. As an open source initiative, it also enables researcher collaboration on future developments. I am a full time employee at Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, California.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

An Efficient High-Order Solver for Diffusion Equations with Strong Anisotropy on Non-Anisotropy-Aligned Meshes

This paper concerns numerical solution of the diffusion equation with strong anisotropy on meshes not aligned with the anisotropic vector field. In order to resolve the numerical pollution for simulations on a non-anisotropy-aligned mesh and reduce the associated high computational cost we propose an effective preconditioner, extending our previous work. Similar to the anisotropy-aligned mesh case, we apply the auxiliary space preconditioning framework to design a preconditioner where a continuous finite element space is used as the auxiliary space for the discontinuous finite element space. The key component is an effective line smoother that can mitigate the high-frequency errors perpendicular to the magnetic field. We design a graph-based approach to find such a line smoother that is approximately perpendicular to the vector fields when the mesh does not align with the anisotropy. Finally, numerical experiments for several benchmark problems are presented, demonstrating the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed preconditioner when applied to Krylov iterative methods.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

An Intelligent Garbage Sorting System Based on Edge Computing and Visual Understanding of Social Internet of Vehicles

In order to enable Social Internet of Vehicles devices to achieve the purpose of intelligent and autonomous garbage classification in a public environment, while avoiding network congestion caused by a large amount of data accessing the cloud at the same time, it is therefore considered to combine mobile edge computing with Social Internet of Vehicles to give full play to mobile edge computing features of high bandwidth and low latency. At the same time, based on cutting-edge technologies such as deep learning, knowledge graph, and 5G transmission, the paper builds an intelligent garbage sorting system based on edge computing and visual understanding of Social Internet of Vehicles. First of all, for the massive multisource heterogeneous Social Internet of Vehicles big data in the public environment, different item modal data adopts different processing methods, aiming to obtain a visual understanding model. Secondly, using the 5G network, the model is deployed on the edge device and the cloud for cloud-side collaborative management, aiming to avoid the waste of edge node resources, while ensuring the data privacy of the edge node. Finally, the Social Internet of Vehicles devices is used to make intelligent decision-making on the big data of the items. First, the items are judged as garbage, and then the category is judged, and finally the task of grabbing and sorting is realized. The experimental results show that the system proposed in this paper can efficiently process the big data of Social Internet of Vehicles and make valuable intelligent decisions. At the same time, it also has a certain role in promoting the promotion of Social Internet of Vehicles devices.

Shen, Xuehao↗

Continuous integration data-driven platform of industrial-scale subsurface storage for real-time analytics

This project helped address the growing need for efficient and scalable models to support geological carbon and energy storage, which are crucial for achieving net-zero emissions. Traditionally accurate high-fidelity numerical models have been used to simulate relevant storage processes under a handful of processes, however such models are computationally demanding, making uncertainty quantification impractical. Consequently, we first developed a machine learning framework, based on Graph Neural Operators (GNOs), to improving the accuracy of model predictions for a fixed computational budget. We then developed an Ensemble of Improved Neural Operators (ENO), which uses bagging and Monte Carlo dropout techniques, to further improve prediction accuracy. Lastly, we developed the way to explain progressive transfer learning methods to reduce the amount of training data and computational cost of training (i.e., reduce trainable parameters) when using our models for multiple storage sites. Our numerical investigation, which used real-world case studies, demonstrated that our framework can significantly improve the safety and efficiency of geological storage operations, with potential applications in other domains such as geothermal reservoirs and climate modeling.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Method for determining the point of zero zeta potential of semiconductor

A method to determine the potential of zero charge of an unpowdered semiconductor material is presented. The semiconductor material is used as the working electrode of a standard three electrode photoelectrochemical cell. The onset potential of the semiconductor material is measured at several different cell temperatures. The slope of the graph of onset potential versus temperature is used to compute the potential of zero charge.

Reichman, B.↗

Scalable Circuit Cutting and Scheduling in a Resource-constrained and Distributed Quantum System

Despite quantum computing's rapid development, current systems remain limited in practical applications due to their limited qubit count and quality. Various technologies, such as superconducting, trapped ions, and neutral atom quantum computing technologies are progressing towards a fault tolerant era, however they all face a diverse set of challenges in scalability and control. Recent efforts have focused on multi-node quantum systems that connect multiple smaller quantum devices to execute larger circuits. Future demonstrations hope to use quantum channels to couple systems, however current demonstrations can leverage classical communication with circuit cutting techniques. This involves cutting large circuits into smaller subcircuits and reconstructing them post-execution. However, existing cutting methods are hindered by lengthy search times as the number of qubits and gates increases. Additionally, they often fail to effectively utilize the resources of various worker configurations in a multi-node system. To address these challenges, we introduce FitCut, a novel approach that transforms quantum circuits into weighted graphs and utilizes a community-based, bottom-up approach to cut circuits according to resource constraints, e.g., qubit counts, on each worker. FitCut also includes a scheduling algorithm that optimizes resource utilization across workers. Implemented with Qiskit and evaluated extensively, FitCut significantly outperforms the Qiskit Circuit Knitting Toolbox, reducing time costs by factors ranging from 3 to 2000 and improving resource utilization rates by up to 3.88 times on the worker side, achieving a system-wide improvement of 2.86 times.

Kan, Shuwen [Fordham University]↗

A Model Integration Pipeline for the Improvement of Human Genome-Scale Metabolic Reconstructions

Abstract Metabolism has been a major field of study in the last years, mainly due to its importance in understanding cell physiology and certain disease phenotypes due to its deregulation. Genome-scale metabolic models (GSMMs) have been established as important tools to help achieve a better understanding of human metabolism. Towards this aim, advances in systems biology and bioinformatics have allowed the reconstruction of several human GSMMs, although some limitations and challenges remain, such as the lack of external identifiers for both metabolites and reactions. A pipeline was developed to integrate multiple GSMMs, starting by retrieving information from the main human GSMMs and evaluating the presence of external database identifiers and annotations for both metabolites and reactions. Information from metabolites was included into a graph database with omics data repositories, allowing clustering of metabolites through their similarity regarding database cross-referencing. Metabolite annotation of several older GSMMs was enriched, allowing the identification and integration of common entities. Using this information, as well as other metrics, we successfully integrated reactions from these models. These methods can be leveraged towards the creation of a unified consensus model of human metabolism.

Vieira, Vítor↗

Pattern ANalytics To Support High-performance Exploitation and Reasoning (PANTHER)

Sandia researchers are developing analytic techniques that efficiently detect patterns in high-volume, noisy, remote sensing and other geospatial data, improving an analysts’ ability to detect possibly off-normal events in complex homeland security, nuclear weapons, and emerging threat environments. High-consequence, national security decisions rely on timely, comprehensive answers to complex questions, yet critical gaps in our approach to these questions remain. PANTHER addresses these gaps through fundamental research on: geospatial-temporal feature extraction via image segmentation and classification; geospatial-temporal graph algorithms and computational geometry; and domain-relevant models of human perception and cognition informing the design of analytic systems. PANTHER’s cross-disciplinary R&D approach uses fundamental science and mathematics to understand how to maximize decision systems through rethinking key aspects of geospatial data analysis. New methods in motion and trajectory analysis support both rapid search for known trajectories as well as rapid clustering and anomaly detection. Thus, the perceptual and visual load on users is reduced by providing pattern analytics with elegant visual cues to spatial and temporal characteristics.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

A research program to reduce interior noise in general aviation airplanes

Analytical and semi-empirical methods for determining the transmission of sound through isolated panels and predicting panel transmission loss are described. Test results presented include the influence of plate stiffness and mass and the effects of pressurization and vibration damping materials on sound transmission characteristics. Measured and predicted results are presented in tables and graphs.

Roskam, J.↗

Power spectral estimation algorithms

Algorithms to estimate the power spectrum using Maximum Entropy Methods were developed. These algorithms were coded in FORTRAN 77 and were implemented on the VAX 780. The important considerations in this analysis are: (1) resolution, i.e., how close in frequency two spectral components can be spaced and still be identified; (2) dynamic range, i.e., how small a spectral peak can be, relative to the largest, and still be observed in the spectra; and (3) variance, i.e., how accurate the estimate of the spectra is to the actual spectra. The application of the algorithms based on Maximum Entropy Methods to a variety of data shows that these criteria are met quite well. Additional work in this direction would help confirm the findings. All of the software developed was turned over to the technical monitor. A copy of a typical program is included. Some of the actual data and graphs used on this data are also included.

Bhatia, Manjit S.↗

Simulator for enhanced ATAMM multiprocessing

A simulator is introduced which follows the rules of the enhanced Algorithm to Architecture Mapping Model (ATAMM) multiprocessing strategy. ATAMM is a method for embedding an algorithm into a multiprocessing system in addition to providing system performance prediction capabilities. A discussion of the inner workings of the Architecture Design and Assessment System (ADAS) hosted simulator is introduced to illustrate how the simulator follows the ATAMM rule set. A sample 5-node algorithm graph is given as an example to illustrate: (1) entering of a graph into the simulator and how to run the graph using a graph entry tool; (2) how to analyze the data; and (3) a comparison of the simulation results with the predicted results from ATAMM.

Andrews, Asa M.↗

CHEMREASONER: Heuristic Search over a Large Language Model’s Knowledge Space using Quantum-Chemical Feedback

The discovery of new catalysts is essential for the design of new and more efficient chemical processes in order to transition to a sustainable future. We introduce an AI-guided computational screening framework unifying linguistic reasoning with quantum-chemistry based feedback from 3D atomistic representations. Our approach formulates catalyst discovery as an uncertain environment where an agent actively searches for highly effective catalysts via the iterative combination of large language model (LLM)-derived hypotheses and atomistic graph neural network (GNN)-derived feedback. Identified catalysts in intermediate search steps undergo structural evaluation based on spatial orientation, reaction pathways, and stability. Scoring functions based on adsorption energies and barriers steer the exploration in the LLM's knowledge space toward energetically favorable, high-efficiency catalysts. We introduce planning methods that automatically guide the exploration without human input, providing competitive performance against expert-enumerated chemical descriptor-based implementations. By integrating language-guided reasoning with computational chemistry feedback, our work pioneers AI-accelerated, trustworthy catalyst discovery.

artificial intelligence↗

Data-driven efficient network and surveillance-based immunization

Given a contact network and coarse-grained diagnostic information such as electronic Healthcare Reimbursement Claims (eHRC) data, can we develop efficient intervention policies from data to control an epidemic? Immunization is an important problem in multiple areas, especially epidemiology and public health. However, most existing studies rely on assuming prior epidemiological models to develop pre-emptive strategies, which may fail to adapt to the change in new epidemiological patterns and the availability of rich data such as eHRC. In practice, disease spread is usually complicated, hence assuming an underlying model may deviate from true spreading patterns, leading to possibly inaccurate interventions. Additionally, the abundance of health care surveillance data (such as eHRC) makes it possible to study data-driven strategies without too many restrictive assumptions. Therefore, such a data-driven intervention approach can help public-health experts take more practical decisions. In this work, we take into account propagation log and contact networks for controlling propagation. Furthermore, different from previous model-based approaches, our solutions are solely data driven in a sense that we develop immunization strategies directly from the network and eHRC without assuming classical epidemiological models. In particular, we formulate the novel and challenging data-driven immunization problem. To solve it, we first propose an efficient sampling approach to align surveillance data with contact networks, then develop an efficient algorithm with the provably approximate guarantee for immunization. Finally, we show the effectiveness and scalability of our methods via extensive experiments on multiple datasets, and conduct case studies on nation-wide real medical surveillance data.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Empirical performance bounds for quantum approximate optimization

The quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) has been put forth as a method for near-term quantum computers to solve optimization problems. However, assessments of QAOA performance have mostly focused on small structured problem instances while performance on more general instances is less clear. Here, we numerically simulate QAOA pure state dynamics for every instance of MaxCut on non-isomorphic unweighted graphs with nine or fewer vertices with depth parameters p ≤ 3. We find the approximation ratios and optimized circuit parameters concentrate across graphs of a given size and empirically show increases in concentration as graph size increases. The parameter concentration leads to two median-angle heuristics that overcome difficulties in QAOA parameter optimization and obtain mean approximation ratios within 3% and 0.2% of the optimal. We also analyze the probability to measure an optimal solution and find increasing variations between graphs as depth increases, in stark contrast to the approximation ratios which concentrate as depth increases. Furthermore, the resulting benchmark data set gives empirical bounds for on-going experimental realizations and lays groundwork for theoretical extensions to greater problem sizes and depths where QAOA may prove important for practically relevant problems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Graph representation of protein free energy landscape

The thermodynamics and kinetics of protein folding and protein conformational changes are governed by the underlying free energy landscape. However, the multidimensional nature of the free energy landscape makes it difficult to describe. We propose to use a weighted-graph approach to depict the free energy landscape with the nodes on the graph representing the conformational states and the edge weights reflecting the free energy barriers between the states. Our graph is constructed from a molecular dynamics trajectory and does not involve projecting the multi-dimensional free energy landscape onto a low-dimensional space defined by a few order parameters. The calculation of free energy barriers was based on transition-path theory using the MSMBuilder2 package. We compare our graph with the widely used transition disconnectivity graph (TRDG) which is constructed from the same trajectory and show that our approach gives more accurate description of the free energy landscape than the TRDG approach even though the latter can be organized into a simple tree representation. The weighted-graph is a general approach and can be used on any complex system.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

CRNT4SBML: a Python package for the detection of bistability in biochemical reaction networks

Motivation: Signaling pathways capable of switching between two states are ubiquitous within living organisms. They provide the cells with the means to produce reversible or irreversible decisions. Switchlike behavior of biological systems is realized through biochemical reaction networks capable of having two or more distinct steady states which are dependent on initial conditions. Investigation of whether a certain signaling pathway can confer bistability involves a substantial amount of hypothesis testing. The cost of direct experimental testing can be prohibitive. Therefore, constraining the hypothesis space is highly bene?cial. One such methodology is based on Chemical Reaction Network Theory which uses computational techniques to rule out pathways that are not capable of bistability regardless of kinetic constant values and molecule concentrations. Although useful, these methods are complicated from both pureandcomputationalmathematicsperspectives.Thus,theiradoptionisverylimitedamongstbiologists. Results: We brought Chemical Reaction Network Theory approaches closer to experimental biologists by automating all the necessary steps in CRNT4SMBL. The input is based on SBML format which is the community standard for biological pathway communication. The tool parses SBML and derives C-graph representations of the biological pathway with mass action kinetics. Next steps involve an ef?cient search for potential saddle-node bifurcation points using an optimization technique. This type of bifurcation is important as it has the potential of acting as a switching point between two steady states. Finally, if any bifurcation points are present, numerical continuation analysis extends the equilibria branches for generating the diagram. Presence of an S-shaped bifurcation diagram indicates that the pathway acts as a bistable switch for the given optimization parameters. Availability: CRNT4SBML is available via the Python Package Index. The documentation can be found at https://crnt4sbml.readthedocs.io. CRNT4SBML is licensed under the Apache Software License 2.0. Contact: vladislav.petyuk@pnnl.gov

Reyes, Brandon C.↗