Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “effectiveness factor”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7

Dynamical correlation effects on structure factor of spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas

We report a theoretical study on static density structure factor S(q) of a spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas over a wide range of electron number density r{sub s}. The electron correlations are treated within the dynamical version of the self-consistent mean-field theory of Singwi, Tosi, Land, and Sjolander, the so-called qSTLS approach. The calculated S(q) exhibits almost perfect agreement with the quantum Monte Carlo simulation data at r{sub s}=1. However, the extent of agreement somewhat diminishes with increasing r{sub s}, particularly for q around 2k{sub F}. Seen in conjunction with the success of qSTLS theory in dealing with correlations in the unpolarized phase, our study suggests that the otherwise celebrated qSTLS theory is not that good in treating the like-spin correlations.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Studying the effect of meteorological factors on the SO2 and PM10 pollution levels with refined versions of the SARIMA model

Numerous time series methods are used in environmental sciences allowing the detailed investigation of air pollution processes. The goal of this study is to present the empirical analysis of various aspects of stochastic modeling and in particular the ARIMA/SARIMA methods. The subject of investigation is air pollution in the town of Kardzhali, Bulgaria with 2 problematic pollutants – sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM10). Various SARIMA Transfer Function models are built taking into account meteorological factors, data transformations and the use of different horizons selected to predict future levels of concentrations of the pollutants.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Towards maintaining canine training aid integrity: Effects of environmental factors and operational use on the triacetone triperoxide polymer odor capture‐and‐release system

Abstract There are many factors that may affect the longevity of or guide the use of canine training aids. Literature to date has mainly focused on identifying the headspace volatiles associated with training aids or odors and only minimal research exists into how different variables may alter those volatiles. The current study examines several factors affecting canine training aids: humidity, air flow, transportation, and operational deployment, using the triacetone triperoxide polymer odor capture‐and‐release canine training aid (TATP POCR) as the target. The TATP POCR is an absorption‐based canine training aid developed to be used to safely train canines to detect the odor of the explosive TATP in operational settings. Comparisons of the TATP POCR to neat TATP are made throughout the manuscript. First, humidity increased the background components of the POCR matrix, as well as the amount of TATP recovered was above the POCR. Humidity thus affected the amount of TATP detected but did not prevent detection. Second, air flow lessened the lifetime of the TATP POCR. Third, the practice of using primary and secondary containment successfully prevented contamination, cross‐contamination, and significant target loss, thereby maintaining kit integrity. Finally, the absorption of background odors from training environments was not observed. TATP headspace concentrations between a Deployed and Control POCR kit were not significantly different at time 0 (i.e., upon opening), which suggests that the operational use does not affect the function of the TATP POCR system. This information provides pivotal evidence for explosives detection canine handlers or trainers who utilize the TATP POCR.

Legal Medicine↗

Effect of Environmental Factors on Sulfur Gas Emissions from Drywall

Problem drywall installed in U.S. homes is suspected of being a source of odorous and potentially corrosive indoor pollutants. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) investigation of problem drywall incorporates three parallel tracks: (1) evaluating the relationship between the drywall and reported health symptoms; (2) evaluating the relationship between the drywall and electrical and fire safety issues in affected homes; and (3) tracing the origin and the distribution of the drywall. To assess the potential impact on human health and to support testing for electrical and fire safety, the CPSC has initiated a series of laboratory tests that provide elemental characterization of drywall, characterization of chemical emissions, and in-home air sampling.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Estimating Effects of Various Factors on Corrosion of Pipeline Grade Carbon Steel Under Disbonded Coating (Status Update)

This report provides description of the activities, associated data and results for a work focused on understanding corrosion of pipeline grade carbon steel under coating disbondment. Specifically, the work reported here was for a pipeline that was installed in 1968 with the following characteristics. The line was coated with polyethylene tape coat (brand Polyken), and the line joints were electric-flash welded. The line joints are 34-inch outer diameter, and made of API 5L X52 grade carbon steel. The line was initially operated at 55 °F, but subsequently the line temperature increased to 105 °F due to higher fluid flow rate inside the pipe. Due to age and type of the pipeline coating, coating disbondment has occurred at several locations. The increase in operating temperature, coupled with age of the coating, is likely to have resulted in migration in corrosive species from the soil underneath the coating. As a result, the pipeline is experiencing enhanced corrosion. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the change in operating temperature has affected the corrosion rate of the pipeline external surfaces under areas of disbonded coating.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Identification and Characterization of Soluble Factors Involved in Delayed Effects of Low Dose Radiation (Final Report)

This is a 'glue grant' that was part of a DOE Low Dose project entitled 'Identification and Characterization of Soluble Factors Involved in Delayed Effects of Low Dose Radiation'. This collaborative program has involved Drs. David L. Springer from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), John H. Miller from Washington State University, Tri-cities (WSU) and William F. Morgan then from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). In July 2008, Dr. Morgan moved to PNNL and Dr. Janet E. Baulch became PI for this project at University of Maryland. In November of 2008, a one year extension with no new funds was requested to complete the proteomic analyses. The project stemmed from studies in the Morgan laboratory demonstrating that genomically unstable cells secret a soluble factor or factors into the culture medium, that cause cytogenetic aberrations and apoptosis in normal parental GM10115 cells. The purpose of this project was to identify the death inducing effect (DIE) factor or factors, estimate their relative abundance, identify the cell signaling pathways involved and finally recapitulate DIE in normal cells by exogenous manipulation of putative DIE factors in culture medium. As reported in detail in the previous progress report, analysis of culture medium from the parental cell line, and stable and unstable clones demonstrated inconsistent proteomic profiles as relate to candidate DIE factors. While the proposed proteomic analyses did not provide information that would allow DIE factors to be identified, the analyses provided another important set of observations. Proteomic analysis suggested that proteins associated with the cellular response to oxidative stress and mitochondrial function were elevated in the medium from unstable clones in a manner consistent with mitochondrial dysfunction. These findings correlate with previous studies of these clones that demonstrated functional differences between the mitochondria of stable and unstable clones. These mitochondrial abnormalities in the unstable clones contributes to oxidative stress.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗

Effect of the overlapping factor on the microstructure and mechanical properties of pulsed Nd:YAG laser welded Ti6Al4V sheets

The effect of the overlapping factor on the microstructures and mechanical properties of pulsed Nd:YAG laser welded Ti6Al4V alloy sheets was investigated by microstructural observations, microhardness tests, tensile tests and fatigue tests. A microstructural examination shows that by increasing the overlapping factor, the grains in the fusion zone become coarser, and the width of the heat affected zone increases. As overlapping factor increases, the width of region composed completely of martensite α′ and the secondary α phase in the heat affected zone increases, consequently the gradient of microstructure along the direction from the fusion zone to base metal decreases, so does the gradient of microhardness. The results of tensile and fatigue tests reveal that the joints made using medium overlapping factor exhibit better mechanical properties than those welded with low and high overlapping factors. Based on the experimental results, it can be stated that a sound weld of Ti6Al4V alloy can be obtained if an appropriate overlapping factor is used. - Highlights: • The weld quality of Ti6Al4V alloy under various overlapping factors was assessed. • Tensile and fatigue tests were conducted with as-welded specimen. • Localized strain across the weld was measured using DIC photogrammetry system. • A sound weld of Ti6Al4V alloy is obtained by using right overlapping factor.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Electron Effective Mass and g Factor in Wide HgTe Quantum Wells

The magnetic-field (0 T < B < 9 T) dependence of the longitudinal and Hall resistances at fixed temperatures (2 K < T < 50 K) for the HgCdTe/HgTe/HgCdTe system with a HgTe quantum well 20.3 nm in width are measured. The activation analysis of the magnetoresistance curves is used as a tool for identifying the mobility gaps between neighboring Landau levels. The activation-energy values obtained from the temperature dependences of the longitudinal resistance in the plateau regions of the quantum Hall effect with the filling factors ν = 1, 2, 3 make it possible to estimate the effective mass and the g factor of electrons in the system under study. Indications concerning the possibility of large values of the g factor (≅ 80) are obtained.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Uncertainty analysis of a SFR core with sodium plenum

The new concepts of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors have to reach the Generation IV safety objectives. In this regard the Sodium Void Effect has to be minimized for the future projects of large-size SFR as well as the uncertainties on it. The Inst. of Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) as technological support of French public authorities is in charge of safety assessment of operating and under construction reactors, as well as future projects. In order to state about the safety of new SFR designs the IRSN must be able to evaluate core parameters and their uncertainties. In this frame a sensitivity and uncertainty study has been performed to evaluate the impact of nuclear data uncertainty on sodium void effect, for the benchmark model of large SFR BN-800. The benchmark parameters (effective multiplication factor and sodium void effect) have been evaluated using two codes, the deterministic code ERANOS and the Monte Carlo code SCALE, while the S/U analysis has been performed only with SCALE. The results of the these studies point out the most relevant cross section uncertainties that affect the SVE and how efforts should be done in increasing the existing nuclear data accuracies. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Quasiballistic quantum transport through Ge/Si core/shell nanowires

We study signatures of ballistic quantum transport of holes through Ge/Si core/shell nanowires at low temperatures. We observe Fabry–Pérot interference patterns as well as conductance plateaus at integer multiples of 2e 2 /h at zero magnetic field. Magnetic field evolution of these plateaus reveals relatively large effective Landé g-factors. Ballistic effects are observed in nanowires with silicon shell thickness of 1–3 nm, but not in bare germanium wires. These findings inform the future development of spin and topological quantum devices which rely on ballistic sub-band-resolved transport.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Cellular Internalization of Fibroblast Growth Factor-12 Exerts Radioprotective Effects on Intestinal Radiation Damage Independently of FGFR Signaling

Purpose: Several fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) were shown to inhibit radiation-induced tissue damage through FGF receptor (FGFR) signaling; however, this signaling was also found to be involved in the pathogenesis of several malignant tumors. In contrast, FGF12 cannot activate any FGFRs. Instead, FGF12 can be internalized readily into cells using 2 cell-penetrating peptide domains (CPP-M, CPP-C). Therefore, this study focused on clarifying the role of FGF12 internalization in protection against radiation-induced intestinal injury. Methods and Materials: Each FGF or peptide was administered intraperitoneally to BALB/c mice in the absence of heparin 24 hours before or after total body irradiation with γ rays at 9 to 12 Gy. Several radioprotective effects were examined in the jejunum. Results: Administration of FGF12 after radiation exposure was as effective as pretreatment in significantly promoting intestinal regeneration, proliferation of crypt cells, and epithelial differentiation. Two domains, comprising amino acid residues 80 to 109 and 140 to 169 of FGF12B, were identified as being responsible for the radioprotective activity, so that deletion of both domains from FGF12B resulted in a reduction in activity. Interestingly, these regions included the CPP-M and CPP-C domains, respectively; however, CPP-C by itself did not show an antiapoptotic effect. In addition, FGF1, prototypic FGF, possesses a domain corresponding to CPP-M, whereas it lacks CPP-C, so the fusion of FGF1 with CPP-C (FGF1/CPP-C) enhanced cellular internalization and increased radioprotective activity. However, FGF1/CPP-C reduced in vitro mitogenic activity through FGFRs compared with FGF1, implying that FGFR signaling might not be essential for promoting the radioprotective effect of FGF1/CPP-C. In addition, internalized FGF12 suppressed the activation of p38α after irradiation, resulting in reduced radiation-induced apoptosis. Conclusions: These findings indicate that FGF12 can protect the intestine against radiation-induced injury through its internalization, independently of FGFRs, suggesting that cellular uptake of FGF12 is an alternative signaling pathway useful for cancer radiation therapy.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Pair breaking in superconductors with strong spin-orbit coupling

Here we study the influence of symmetry-breaking perturbations on superconductivity in multiorbital materials, with a particular focus on an external magnetic field. We introduce the field-fitness function which characterizes the pair-breaking effects of the perturbation on a given superconducting state. For even-parity superconductors we find that this field-fitness function for an external magnetic field is one, implying that the paramagnetic response is controlled only by a generalized effective g factor. For odd-parity superconductors, the interplay of the effective g factor and the field-fitness function can lead to counterintuitive results. We demonstrate this for p-wave pairing in the effective j = $\frac{3}{2}$ electronic states of the Luttinger-Kohn model.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Investigation of the Impact of TSL Data Libraries and Geometry Variations on the MSRE Benchmark

The increasing demand for green, low-carbon energy solutions has amplified the focus on advanced nuclear reactor technologies. Among these, Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) have been spotlighted because of their special features. Historically, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) started the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) in 1956. Later, ORNL and the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) jointly developed the MSRE benchmark. This was then reviewed by the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) committee and added to their 2019 handbook. In the current study, the benchmark model was recreated via the Serpent code. The calculated effective multiplication factor was 1.02087 ± 0.00019, which gives a deviation of about 2000 pcm compared to the benchmark/experimental result. At North Carolina State University (NCSU), recent evaluations were conducted on thermal scattering cross sections for molten salt FLiBe and 20% porous nuclear graphite, anticipated for incorporation in the ENDF/B-VIII.1 library. The influences of these thermal scattering law (TSL) data and geometry changes on the multiplication factor were examined using the ENDF/B-VII.1 and ENDF/B-VIII.0 libraries. Introducing the TSL data for FLiBe and 20% porous graphite resulted in an effective multiplication factor of +270 pcm compared to the reference value obtained with ENDF/B-VII.1 in this study. The adjustment of the reactor vessel dimensions resulted in decrease of -448 pcm in the calculated effective multiplication factor.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Integer quantum Hall effect and enhanced g factor in quantum-confined Cd 3 As 2 films

Here, we investigate the integer quantum Hall effect in Cd 3 ⁢As 2 thin films under conditions of strong to moderate quantum confinement (thicknesses of 10, 12, and 15 nm). In all the films, we observe the integer quantum Hall effect in the spin-polarized lowest Landau level (filling factor v = 1) and at spin-degenerate higher index Landau levels with even filling factors (v = 2,4,6). With increasing quantum confinement, we also observe a lifting of the Landau-level spin degeneracy at v = 3, manifest as the emergence of an anomaly in the longitudinal and Hall resistivities. Tight-binding calculations show that the enhanced g factor likely arises from a combination of quantum confinement and corrections from nearby subbands.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗