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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 1,153 records · Page 64

Vacuum-ultraviolet light source for enhanced production of metastable krypton and xenon beams

Here, we demonstrate excitation of metastable krypton and xenon beams using a vacuum ultraviolet lamp and directly compare the performance of this method to metastable excitation based on a radio-frequency-driven plasma discharge. In our apparatus, lamp-based metastable excitation outperforms the plasma discharge across a wide range of beam flux values relevant for atom trap trace analysis (ATTA). Moreover, we do not observe significant degradation in lamp performance after over 160 h of operation. We find that lamp-based excitation is particularly advantageous at the smallest and largest beam fluxes tested, demonstrating the utility of this approach both for improving krypton ATTA and for enabling the detection of radioactive xenon isotopes using ATTA. Finally, we demonstrate an additional enhancement to lamp-based metastable excitation efficiency and stability by applying an external magnetic field.

Metastable noble gases↗

Superconducting properties of the spin Hall candidate Ta 3 Sb with eightfold degeneracy

We report the synthesis and characterization of phase pure Ta 3 Sb, a material predicted to be topological with eightfold degenerate fermionic states [Bradlyn et al., Science 353, aaf5037 (2016)] and to exhibit a large spin Hall effect [Derunova et al., Sci. Adv. 5, eaav8575 (2019)]. We observe superconductivity in Ta 3 Sb with T c ~0.67 K in both electrical resistivity ρ(T) and specific heat c(T) measurements. Field-dependent measurements yield the superconducting phase diagram with an upper critical field of H c2 (0) ~0.95 T, corresponding to a superconducting coherence length of ξ ≈ 18.6 nm. The gap ratio deduced from specific heat anomaly, 2Δ 0 /k B T c is 3.46, a value close to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer value of 3.53. From a detailed analysis of both the transport and thermodynamic data within the Ginsburg-Landau (GL) framework, a GL parameter of κ ≈ 90 is obtained, identifying Ta 3 Sb as an extreme type-II superconductor. The observation of superconductivity in an eightfold degenerate fermionic compound with topological surface states and predicted large spin Hall conductance positions Ta 3 Sb as an appealing platform to further explore exotic quantum states in multifold degenerate systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

The nanodiffraction problem

The results of a systematic rigorous study on the accuracy of lattice parameters computed from X-ray diffraction patterns of ideally perfect nanocrystalline powder and thin-film samples are presented. It is shown that, if the dimensions of such samples are below 20 nm, the lattice parameters obtained from diffraction analysis will deviate from their true values. The relative deviation depends on the relevant size parameter through an inverse power law and, for particular reflections, depends on the angular peak positions. This size-dependent error, Δ a / a , is larger than the precision of typical X-ray diffraction measurements for ~20 nm-thick diffracting domains, and it can be several orders of magnitude larger for particles smaller than 5 nm.

Chemistry↗

Multi-Objective Hyperparameter Optimization for Spiking Neural Network Neuroevolution

Neuroevolution has had significant success over recent years, but there has been relatively little work applying neuroevolution approaches to spiking neural networks (SNNs). SNNs are a type of neural network that includes temporal processing component, are not easily trained using other methods, and can be deployed into energy-efficient neuromorphic hardware. In this work, we investigate two evolutionary approaches for training SNNs. We explore the impact of the hyperparameters of the evolutionary approaches, including tournament size, population size, and representation type, on the performance of the algorithms. We present a multi-objective Bayesian-based hyperparameter optimization approach to tune the hyperparameters to produce the most accurate and smallest SNNs. We show that the hyperparameters can significantly affect the performance of these algorithms. We also perform sensitivity analysis and demonstrate that every hyperparameter value has the potential to perform well, assuming other hyperparameter values are set correctly.

Parsa, Maryam↗

SU-G-JeP4-15: Feasibility Study of Tumor Monitoring Technique Using Prompt Gamma Rays During Antiproton Therapy

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to suggest a tumor monitoring technique using prompt gamma rays emitted during the reaction between an antiproton and a boron particle, and to verify the increase of the therapeutic effectiveness of the antiproton boron fusion therapy using Monte Carlo simulation code. Methods: We acquired the percentage depth dose of the antiproton beam from a water phantom with and without three boron uptake regions (region A, B, and C) using F6 tally of MCNPX. The tomographic image was reconstructed using prompt gamma ray events from the reaction between the antiproton and boron during the treatment from 32 projections (reconstruction algorithm: MLEM). For the image reconstruction, we were performed using a 80 × 80 pixel matrix with a pixel size of 5 mm. The energy window was set as a 10 % energy window. Results: The prompt gamma ray peak for imaging was observed at 719 keV in the energy spectrum using the F8 tally fuction (energy deposition tally) of the MCNPX code. The tomographic image shows that the boron uptake regions were successfully identified from the simulation results. In terms of the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the area under the curve values were 0.647 (region A), 0.679 (region B), and 0.632 (region C). The SNR values increased as the tumor diameter increased. The CNR indicated the relative signal intensity within different regions. The CNR values also increased as the different of BURs diamter increased. Conclusion: We confirmed the feasibility of tumor monitoring during the antiproton therapy as well as the superior therapeutic effect of the antiproton boron fusion therapy. This result can be beneficial for the development of a more accurate particle therapy.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Dynamics of anisotropic power-law f(R) cosmology

Modified theories of gravity have attracted much attention of the researchers in the recent years. In particular, the f(R) theory has been investigated extensively due to important f(R) gravity models in cosmological contexts. This paper is devoted to exploring an anisotropic universe in metric f(R) gravity. A locally rotationally symmetric Bianchi type I cosmological model is considered for this purpose. Exact solutions of modified field equations are obtained for a well-known f(R) gravity model. The energy conditions are also discussed for the model under consideration. The viability of the model is investigated via graphical analysis using the present-day values of cosmological parameters. The model satisfies null energy, weak energy, and dominant energy conditions for a particular range of the anisotropy parameter while the strong energy condition is violated, which shows that the anisotropic universe in f(R) gravity supports the crucial issue of accelerated expansion of the universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Observation of daily and annular variations in the {sup 214}Po half-life

Results: of the analysis of a time series of values of the half-life (τ) of the {sup 214}Po nucleus with a different time step obtained from the TAU-1 (354 days) and TAU-2 (973 days) installations are presented. The annual variation with an amplitude of (9.8 ± 0.6) × 10{sup −4} and daily variations in the solar, lunar, and sidereal times with amplitudes of (5.3 ± 0.3) × 10{sup −4}, (6.9 ± 2.0) × 10{sup −4}, and (7.2 ± 1.2) × 10{sup −4}, respectively, are found in the series of τ values. It is shown that variations in microclimatic parameters cannot be a cause of τ variations.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

Observation of the Y (4140) structure in the J/ψΦ mass spectrum in B±→ J/ψΦK ± decays

Here, the observation of the $Y(4140)$ structure in $B^\pm\rightarrow J/\psi\,\phi K^\pm$ decays produced in $\bar{p} p $ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96~TeV$ is reported with a statistical significance greater than 5 standard deviations. A fit to the $J/\psi\,\phi$ mass spectrum is performed assuming the presence of a Breit-Wigner resonance. The fit yields a signal of $19^{+6}_{-5}$ resonance events, and resonance mass and width of $4143.4^{+2.9}_{-3.0}(\mathrm{stat})\pm0.6(\mathrm{syst}) ~MeVcc$ and $15.3^{+10.4}_{-6.1}(\mathrm{stat})\pm2.5(\mathrm{syst})~MeVcc$ respectively. The parameters of this resonance-like structure are consistent with values reported from an earlier CDF analysis.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Biocuration: Distilling data into knowledge

Data, including information generated from them by processing and analysis, are an asset with measurable value. The assets that biological research funding produces are the data generated, the information derived from these data, and, ultimately, the discoveries and knowledge these lead to. From the time when Henry Oldenburg published the first scientific journal in 1665 (Proceedings of the Royal Society) to the founding of the United States National Library of Medicine in 1879 to the present, there has been a sustained drive to improve how researchers can record and discover what is known. Researchers' experimental work builds upon years and (collectively) billions of dollars' worth of earlier work. Today, researchers are generating data at ever-faster rates because of advances in instrumentation and technology, coupled with decreases in production costs. Unfortunately, the ability of researchers to manage and disseminate their results has not kept pace, so their work cannot achieve its maximal impact. Strides have recently been made, but more awareness is needed of the essential role that biological data resources, including biocuration, play in maintaining and linking this ever-growing flood of data and information. The aim of this paper is to describe the nature of data as an asset, the role biocurators play in increasing its value, and consistent, practical means to measure effectiveness that can guide planning and justify costs in biological research information resources' development and management.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

OperonSEQer: A set of machine-learning algorithms with threshold voting for detection of operon pairs using short-read RNA-sequencing data

Operon prediction in prokaryotes is critical not only for understanding the regulation of endogenous gene expression, but also for exogenous targeting of genes using newly developed tools such as CRISPR-based gene modulation. A number of methods have used transcriptomics data to predict operons, based on the premise that contiguous genes in an operon will be expressed at similar levels. While promising results have been observed using these methods, most of them do not address uncertainty caused by technical variability between experiments, which is especially relevant when the amount of data available is small. In addition, many existing methods do not provide the flexibility to determine the stringency with which genes should be evaluated for being in an operon pair. We present OperonSEQer, a set of machine learning algorithms that uses the statistic and p-value from a non-parametric analysis of variance test (Kruskal-Wallis) to determine the likelihood that two adjacent genes are expressed from the same RNA molecule. We implement a voting system to allow users to choose the stringency of operon calls depending on whether your priority is high recall or high specificity. In addition, we provide the code so that users can retrain the algorithm and re-establish hyperparameters based on any data they choose, allowing for this method to be expanded as additional data is generated. We show that our approach detects operon pairs that are missed by current methods by comparing our predictions to publicly available long-read sequencing data. OperonSEQer therefore improves on existing methods in terms of accuracy, flexibility, and adaptability.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Publishing statistical models: Getting the most out of particle physics experiments

The statistical models used to derive the results of experimental analyses are of incredible scientific value and are essential information for analysis preservation and reuse. In this paper, we make the scientific case for systematically publishing the full statistical models and discuss the technical developments that make this practical. By means of a variety of physics cases - including parton distribution functions, Higgs boson measurements, effective field theory interpretations, direct searches for new physics, heavy flavor physics, direct dark matter detection, world averages, and beyond the Standard Model global fits - we illustrate how detailed information on the statistical modelling can enhance the short- and long-term impact of experimental results.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Process for Conducting a Cost Benefit Analysis for New Radiation Portal Monitors

The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) has deployed over 1,400 radiation portal monitors (RPMs) around the United States to enhance border security. DNDO is now considering deployment of a newer generation of RPMs, intended to have equal or better sensitivity but a considerably lower nuisance alarm rate due to Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) that is common in the stream of commerce. If the nuisance alarm rate is sufficiently reduced at a site, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may be able to reduce the staffing necessary to respond to nuisance alarms generated by the RPMs. This document provides an overview of some possible processes for conducting a cost benefit analysis to place a reliable dollar amount on the value of these new systems. While there is no hard and fast guide for conducting a cost benefit analysis, an austere method is provided for quick estimating. Two robust methods are also provided, one taking guidance from an Office of Management and Budget circular and the other from the Government Accountability Office.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Distribution System Planning - State Examples by Topic

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently completed a study on how regulators in 16 states have dealt with questions related to distribution system planning (DSP) and distributed energy resource (DER) utilization. During the study, DOE and three of its national laboratories developed a significant amount of information on state-level activities including grid modernization planning; distribution planning; tools for integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) (e.g., hosting capacity analysis and tools for maximizing the value of DERs to the distribution system such as locational value analyses); and linkages between distribution planning and related processes such as cost recovery through general rate cases or rate surcharges. The Oregon Public Utility Commission (Commission) requested assistance from DOE on a list of specific questions related to DSP. The Commission was specifically interested in identifying guidance on the creation of comprehensive and transparent utility distribution system plans; on the linkages between such plans and other utility planning processes such as integrated resource planning; improved forecasting and representation of DERs in distribution system plans and other plans such as integrated resource planning; valuation of DERs; and a roadmap for optimized locational planning for DERs. In response to their interests, we have identified 1) specific topics from the original study that would be of assistance to the Commission and 2) states that could provide potential examples or templates to draw from. In this report, we have summarized and reorganized the pertinent original material by subject. We also developed a matrix that points to specific examples for each topic and provide one or two paragraph summaries of each possible template for each topic area with web links directly to the source documents. For some cases in which states have taken significant steps since the publication of the original DOE study, the original source information has been supplemented to ensure the information provided to the Commission remains current. Finally, we called out a small number of especially pertinent or immediately useful documents and have highlighted these in the introductory section. This report documents the material developed for the Oregon Commission by DOE.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Upcycling Associated Natural Gas into Liquid Chemical Intermediates

This report assesses the opportunity to utilize associated natural gas (ANG) that is currently flared or vented by conversion to value-added chemicals. In cases where ANG production is not sufficient to justify on-site capture and added investments for transportation and storage, there may be commercial opportunities to perform conversion and value-added processing of ANG. This analysis focuses on CH 4 conversion to liquid intermediates, as opposed to gaseous product, due to the opportunity to transport large volumes of liquids, by truck or rail as opposed to pipeline. This report assesses market opportunities for four liquid intermediates: benzene, toluene, xylene, and formic acid.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

GADRAS-DRF for Safeguards (FY 2025 Mid-Year/Annual Report)

Task 1 – Extract GADRAS-DRF capabilities for a workflow intuitive to safeguards analysis. This task is almost complete. Significant improvements have been made to the functionality of customizing peak fits for use in the isotopics application, as well as peak-based FSA model analysis. The remaining tasks revolve around bug fixes, testing the application, and adding a density scroll bar to isotopics for real time analysis updates. The density scroll bar values will be reflected in summary tables and the self-shielding form accessed within isotopics.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Cataloging and Quantifying Value Streams from Non-Powered Dam Conversion

Hydropower is a key resource in the United States’ renewable energy transition; however, only 3% of existing dams in the United States currently generate electricity. While many non-powered dams (NPDs) have the potential for energy generation, hydropower addition to these dams has been slow. This is likely due, in part, to perceptions that hydropower development has prohibitively long payback periods, especially in comparison to other renewable energy resources that have shorter development processes. On the other hand, powering some NPDs may unlock new value streams in addition to the value obtained from selling generated energy. There is a need to understand and quantify a wider range of additional value streams to help increase the feasibility of such hydropower projects. In this work, we catalog indirect value streams and difficult-to-quantify direct value streams from NPD retrofitting, specifying which stakeholders are affected, and what kind of impacts (positive or negative) might occur. We identify appropriate quantification methodologies for these indirect value streams and describe the best practices around their implementation for NPD site-level analysis. We also demonstrate the quantification of a few indirect value streams for a selected NPD site, allowing for easier integration of these value streams into future studies by providing basis and background for quantifying these elements.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Reference Hardware and Software Architecture for a Solenoid Pulser for Scientific Instrumentation at the National Ignition Facility

High current, high voltage solenoid pulser power systems for the generation of magnetic fields in a solenoid is not a radical or new concept. Despite being a cornerstone of scientific and weapons research for over 100 years, a commercial off the shelf unit easily configurable for a broad set of applications has yet to appear on the open market. Pulser systems are instead designed for specific target requirements. For gigawatt to terawatt systems, this is unavoidable. For megawatt systems however, many hundreds of thousands of dollars are wasted designing pulser systems from the ground up for clients, when it is possible to simply architect a modular system once that can have its capacitors swapped for many possible target applications. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is one such institution that would benefit from such a system, having bought such pulsers for several imaging systems. Ideally, all such a system would require is only a bachelors-level circuit analysis to find the correct capacitor values, as well as a written procedure to calibrate the software to correctly deliver the voltages required by the application. In this work, systems architecture and software engineering techniques are used to design and analyze such a system. Such a design, it is the hope of this author, will be used in scientific and engineering purposes in the future to build solenoid pulsers at the National Ignition Facility and other institutions to drastically cut development costs of scientific instrumentation.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Proteomic Tissue-Based Classifier for Early Prediction of Prostate Cancer Progression

Although ~40% of screen-detected prostate cancers (PCa) are indolent, advanced-stage PCa is a lethal disease with 5-year survival rates around 29%. Identification of biomarkers for early detection of aggressive disease is a key challenge. Starting with 52 candidate biomarkers, selected from existing PCa genomics datasets and known PCa driver genes, we used targeted mass spectrometry to quantify proteins that significantly differed in primary tumors from PCa patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) across three study outcomes: (i) metastasis ≥1-year post-RP, (ii) biochemical recurrence ≥1-year post-RP, and (iii) no progression after ≥10 years post-RP. Sixteen proteins that differed significantly in an initial set of 105 samples were evaluated in the entire cohort (n = 338). A five-protein classifier which combined FOLH1, KLK3, TGFB1, SPARC, and CAMKK2 with existing clinical and pathological standard of care variables demonstrated significant improvement in predicting distant metastasis, achieving an area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.92 (0.86, 0.99, p = 0.001) and a negative predictive value of 92% in the training/testing analysis. This classifier has the potential to stratify patients based on risk of aggressive, metastatic PCa that will require early intervention compared to low risk patients who could be managed through active surveillance.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗