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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 127 records · Page 7

RuralAI in Tomato Farming: Integrated Sensor System, Distributed Computing, and Hierarchical Federated Learning for Crop Health Monitoring

Precision horticulture is evolving due to scalable sensor deployment and machine learning (ML) integration. These advancements boost the operational efficiency of individual farms, balancing the benefits of analytics with autonomy requirements. However, given concerns that affect wide geographic regions (e.g., climate change), there is a need to apply models that span farms. Federated learning (FL) has emerged as a potential solution. FL enables decentralized ML across different farms without sharing private data. Traditional FL assumes simple two-tier network topologies and, thus, falls short of operating on more complex networks found in real-world agricultural scenarios. Networks vary across crops and farms and encompass various sensor data modes, extending across jurisdictions. New hierarchical FL (HFL) approaches are needed for more efficient and context-sensitive model sharing, accommodating regulations across multiple jurisdictions. Here, we present the RuralAI architecture deployment for tomato crop monitoring, featuring sensor field units for soil, crop, and weather data collection. HFL with personalization is used to offer localized and adaptive insights. Model management, aggregation, and transfers are facilitated via a flexible approach, enabling seamless communication between local devices, edge nodes, and the cloud.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Robust local search for spacecraft operations using adaptive noise

Randomization is a standard technique for improving the performance of local search algorithms for constraint satisfaction. However, it is well-known that local search algorithms are constraints satisfaction. However, it is well-known that local search algorithms are to the noise values selected. We investigate the use of an adaptive noise mechanism in an iterative repair-based planner/scheduler for spacecraft operations. Preliminary results indicate that adaptive noise makes the use of randomized repair moves safe and robust; that is, using adaptive noise makes it possible to consistently achieve, performance comparable with the best tuned noise setting without the need for manually tuning the noise parameter.

planning↗

A new procedure for dynamic adaption of three-dimensional unstructured grids

A new procedure is presented for the simultaneous coarsening and refinement of three-dimensional unstructured tetrahedral meshes. This algorithm allows for localized grid adaption that is used to capture aerodynamic flow features such as vortices and shock waves in helicopter flowfield simulations. The mesh-adaption algorithm is implemented in the C programming language and uses a data structure consisting of a series of dynamically-allocated linked lists. These lists allow the mesh connectivity to be rapidly reconstructed when individual mesh points are added and/or deleted. The algorithm allows the mesh to change in an anisotropic manner in order to efficiently resolve directional flow features. The procedure has been successfully implemented on a single processor of a Cray Y-MP computer. Two sample cases are presented involving three-dimensional transonic flow. Computed results show good agreement with conventional structured-grid solutions for the Euler equations.

Biswas, Rupak↗

Reduced Navier Stokes Relaxation Procedures for Internal Flows

In spite of significant advancement in the field of high speed computing, flow calculations involving complex geometries and/or flow behavior still require large amounts of CPU time and memory. In order to predict such flows without sacrificing grid convergence and accuracy, adaptive gridding techniques that provide optimal resolution are highly desirable. The present work combines multigrid techniques and domain decomposition concepts to provide local, solution adaptive, grid refinement. Several viscous compressible and incompressible, two and three-dimensional, flows with strong inviscid interaction and/or axial flow reversal, are considered with a segmented multigrid domain decomposition (SMGDD) procedure for which uniform meshes result in each domain. A pressure-based form of flux-vector splitting is applied to the Navier-Stokes equations, which are represented by an implicit lowest-order reduced Navier-Stokes (RNS) system and a purely diffusive, higher-order, deferred-corrector. A trapezoidal or box-like form of discretization insures that all mass conservation properties are satisfied at interfacial and outflow boundaries, even for this primitive-variable non-staggered grid computation. The SMGDD technique presented herein has previously been applied for incompressible two dimensional flows. The present work offers improvement in the gridding strategy, by allowing for disjoint subdomains that provide optimal resolution of disparate flow features. It also extends the SMGDD technique to three dimensional compressible flows. Laminar and turbulent flow in a backward facing step channel is considered; although the procedure is applicable to more severe geometries. The standard K-epsilon model is applied for turbulence closure. For Re greater than 400, differences between two-dimensional theory and experiment are resolved through a three dimensional simulation, which confirms the experimentally observed three dimensionality of the recirculation patterns on the upper and lower surfaces.

Rubin, Stanley G.↗

A Sparse-Grid Probabilistic Scheme for Approximation of the Runaway Probability of Electrons in Fusion Tokamak Simulation

Runaway electrons (RE) generated during magnetic disruptions present a major threat to the safe operation of plasma nuclear fusion reactors. A critical aspect of understanding RE dynamics is to calculate the runaway probability, i.e., the probability that an electron in the phase space will runaway on, or before, a prescribed time. Such probability can be obtained by solving the adjoint equation of the underlying Fokker-Planck equation that controls the electron dynamics. In this effort, we present a sparse-grid probabilistic scheme for computing the runaway probability. The key ingredient of our approach is to represent the solution of the adjoint equation as a conditional expectation, such that discretizing the differential operator reduces to the approximation of a set of integrals. Adaptive sparse grid interpolation is utilized to approximate the map from the phase space to the runaway probability. The main novelties of this effort are the integration of the sparse-grid method into the probabilistic numerical scheme for computing escape probability, and the application of the proposed method in computing RE probabilities. Two numerical examples are given to illustrate that the proposed method can achieve O(Δt) convergence, and that the local anisotropic adaptive refinement strategy (M. Stoyanov, Adaptive sparse grid construction in a context of local anisotropy and multiple hierarchical parents. In: Sparse Grids and Applications-Miami 2016, Springer, Berlin, 2018, pp. 175–199) can effectively handle the sharp transition layer between the runaway and non-runaway regions.

Yang, Minglei↗

Knowledge-based low-level image analysis for computer vision systems

Two algorithms for entry-level image analysis and preliminary segmentation are proposed which are flexible enough to incorporate local properties of the image. The first algorithm involves pyramid-based multiresolution processing and a strategy to define and use interlevel and intralevel link strengths. The second algorithm, which is designed for selected window processing, extracts regions adaptively using local histograms. The preliminary segmentation and a set of features are employed as the input to an efficient rule-based low-level analysis system, resulting in suboptimal meaningful segmentation.

Dhawan, Atam P.↗

Adaptive Hierarchical Cyber Attack Detection and Localization in Active Distribution Systems

Development of a cyber security strategy for the active distribution systems is challenging due to the inclusion of distributed renewable energy generations. Here this paper proposes an adaptive hierarchical cyber attack detection and localization framework for distributed active distribution systems via analyzing electrical waveforms. Cyber attack detection is based on a sequential deep learning model, via which even minor cyber attacks can be identified. The two-stage cyber attack localization algorithm first estimates the cyber attack sub-region, and then localize the specified cyber attack within the estimated subregion. We propose a modified spectral clustering-based network partitioning method for the hierarchical cyber attack ‘coarse’ localization. Next, to further narrow down the cyber attack location, a normalized impact score based on waveform statistical metrics is proposed to obtain a ‘fine’ cyber attack location by characterizing different waveform properties. Finally, compared with classical and state-of-art methods, a comprehensive quantitative evaluation with two case studies shows promising estimation results of the proposed framework.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Adaptive differentiation and rapid evolution of a soil bacterium along a climate gradient

Significance Increasing evidence suggests that evolutionary processes frequently shape ecological patterns; however, most microbiome studies thus far have focused on only the ecological responses of these communities. By using parallel field experiments and focusing in on a model soil bacterium, we showed that bacterial “species” are differentially adapted to local climates, leading to changes in their composition. Furthermore, we detected strain-level evolution, providing direct evidence that both ecological and evolutionary processes operate on annual timescales. The consideration of eco-evolutionary dynamics may therefore be important to understand the response of soil microbiomes to future environmental change.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Advanced techniques and technology for efficient data storage, access, and transfer

Advanced techniques for efficiently representing most forms of data are being implemented in practical hardware and software form through the joint efforts of three NASA centers. These techniques adapt to local statistical variations to continually provide near optimum code efficiency when representing data without error. Demonstrated in several earlier space applications, these techniques are the basis of initial NASA data compression standards specifications. Since the techniques clearly apply to most NASA science data, NASA invested in the development of both hardware and software implementations for general use. This investment includes high-speed single-chip very large scale integration (VLSI) coding and decoding modules as well as machine-transferrable software routines. The hardware chips were tested in the laboratory at data rates as high as 700 Mbits/s. A coding module's definition includes a predictive preprocessing stage and a powerful adaptive coding stage. The function of the preprocessor is to optimally process incoming data into a standard form data source that the second stage can handle.The built-in preprocessor of the VLSI coder chips is ideal for high-speed sampled data applications such as imaging and high-quality audio, but additionally, the second stage adaptive coder can be used separately with any source that can be externally preprocessed into the 'standard form'. This generic functionality assures that the applicability of these techniques and their recent high-speed implementations should be equally broad outside of NASA.

Rice, Robert F.↗

Bayesian sparse learning with preconditioned stochastic gradient MCMC and its applications

Deep neural networks have been successfully employed in an extensive variety of research areas, including solving partial differential equations. Despite its significant success, there are some challenges in effectively training DNN, such as avoiding overfitting in over-parameterized DNNs and accelerating the optimization in DNNs with pathological curvature. Here, we propose a Bayesian type sparse deep learning algorithm. The algorithm utilizes a set of spike-and-slab priors for the parameters in the deep neural network. The hierarchical Bayesian mixture will be trained using an adaptive empirical method. That is, one will alternatively sample from the posterior using preconditioned stochastic gradient Langevin Dynamics (PSGLD), and optimize the latent variables via stochastic approximation. The sparsity of the network is achieved while optimizing the hyperparameters with adaptive searching and penalizing. A popular SG-MCMC approach is Stochastic gradient Langevin dynamics (SGLD). However, considering the complex geometry in the model parameter space in nonconvex learning, updating parameters using a universal step size in each component as in SGLD may cause slow mixing. To address this issue, we apply a computationally manageable preconditioner in the updating rule, which provides a step-size parameter to adapt to local geometric properties. Moreover, by smoothly optimizing the hyperparameter in the preconditioning matrix, our proposed algorithm ensures a decreasing bias, which is introduced by ignoring the correction term in the preconditioned SGLD. According to the existing theoretical framework, we show that the proposed algorithm can asymptotically converge to the correct distribution with a controllable bias under mild conditions. Numerical tests are performed on both synthetic regression problems and learning solutions of elliptic PDE, which demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the present work.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Extreme hydroclimates amplify the biophysical effects of advanced green-up in temperate China

Vegetation phenology modulates climate by altering energy and water exchange between the land and atmosphere. However, how extreme hydroclimatic conditions modify these phenology-climate feedbacks is still poorly understood. Here, in this study, we used a land–atmosphere-coupled Weather Research and Forecasting model to explore the impacts of advanced green-up on air temperature under different hydroclimate conditions across temperate China and to Mechanistic analysis elucidate the underlying biophysical mechanisms. By imposing a 14-day earlier green-up in line with recent satellite observations, we found that under mean climate conditions, an earlier leaf-out induces immediate surface cooling of 0.14 °C during green-up and a lagging 0.02 °C warming during senescence averaged for temperate China. Extremely humid conditions amplify the cooling effects to 0.18 °C during green-up, extending this cooling into the senescence period. Conversely, under extremely arid conditions, earlier green-up cools air temperature by 0.09 °C, and amplified senescence warming to 0.16 °C. Mechanism analysis revealed that evapotranspiration-dominated non-radiative processes drive immediate cooling during green-up while radiation and circulation process dominates the delayed but opposite warming/cooling effects during senescence in extremely arid/humid hydroclimates. Given the projected continuation of warming trends and increased frequency of extreme climatic events, it is imperative to incorporate the biophysical effects of vegetation phenology into local climate adaptation strategies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

A phase-field diffraction model for thermo-hydro-mechanical propagating fractures

This paper introduces a novel diffraction based thermo-hydraulic–mechanical (THM) model for fracture propagation using a phase-field fracture (PFF) approach. The key innovation of the THM-PFF model lies in its integrated treatment of four solution variables—displacements, phase-field, pressure, and temperature—each governed by a combination of conservation of momentum (mechanics problem), a variational inequality (constrained minimization problem), mass conservation (pressure problem), and energy conservation (temperature problem). This leads to a new formulation of a coupled variational inequality system. A major advancement is the development of an extended fixed-stress algorithm, where displacements, phase-field, pressures, and temperatures are solved in a staggered sequence. An important aspect of this work is the global coupling of pressures and temperatures across the domain using diffraction systems, with diffraction coefficients defined by material parameters weighted by the diffusive phase-field variable. To ensure robust local mass conservation, we employ enriched Galerkin finite elements (EG) for both pressure and temperature diffraction equations. By enriching the continuous Galerkin basis functions with discontinuous piecewise constants, EG accurately represents solution and parameter discontinuities while preserving local mass and energy conservation—crucial aspects for THM problems and realistic behavior. Moreover, the use of a predictor–corrector local mesh adaptivity scheme is employed, allowing the model to handle small phase-field length-scale parameters while maintaining high numerical accuracy and reasonable computational cost. Furthermore, these new model and algorithmic developments represent significant advances in the field and have been substantiated through rigorous numerical tests.

Diffraction systems↗

A Century of Reforestation Reduced Anthropogenic Warming in the Eastern United States

Abstract Restoring and preserving the world's forests are promising natural pathways to mitigate some aspects of climate change. In addition to regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, forests modify surface and near‐surface air temperatures through biophysical processes. In the eastern United States (EUS), widespread reforestation during the 20th century coincided with an anomalous lack of warming, raising questions about reforestation's contribution to local cooling and climate mitigation. Using new cross‐scale approaches and multiple independent sources of data, we uncovered links between reforestation and the response of both surface and air temperature in the EUS. Ground‐ and satellite‐based observations showed that EUS forests cool the land surface by 1–2°C annually compared to nearby grasslands and croplands, with the strongest cooling effect during midday in the growing season, when cooling is 2–5°C. Young forests (20–40 years) have the strongest cooling effect on surface temperature. Surface cooling extends to the near‐surface air, with forests reducing midday air temperature by up to 1°C compared to nearby non‐forests. Analyses of historical land cover and air temperature trends showed that the cooling benefits of reforestation extend across the landscape. Locations surrounded by reforestation were up to 1°C cooler than neighboring locations that did not undergo land cover change, and areas dominated by regrowing forests were associated with cooling temperature trends in much of the EUS. Our work indicates reforestation contributed to the historically slow pace of warming in the EUS, underscoring reforestation's potential as a local climate adaptation strategy in temperate regions.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗

Climate change drives convergent evolution of root traits on Sky Island climate relicts

Roots are essential to the strategies plants use to survive in variable environments, yet we know little of how they vary within species. Experimental conditions demonstrate that intraspecific plant root traits respond strongly to variation in the environment; however, it is unclear when these responses can be characterized as evolution in response to selective pressures of climate change over many generations. Sky Islands are model, natural climate relict ecosystems to examine climate-change driven evolution. Utilizing a common garden with replicate genotypes of Populus angustifolia (Narrowleaf cottonwood) from six Sky Island (SI) populations and nine adjacent Mountain Chain (MC) populations across three genetic provenances, we hypothesized that SI root traits have diverged due to historical isolation in warmer, drier climates. When grown in common conditions, populations originating on SI’s showed convergent evolution across three distinct genetic provenances, which was characterized by 44.16% decreased total root length, 42.64% decreased average root volume, 43.31% decreased root surface area, and significantly less root trait variation, relative to adjacent mountain chains. Convergent evolution of root traits from trees originating on SI’s is correlated with changes in mean annual precipitation and potential evapotranspiration in the field over the past ~ 125 years. These results demonstrate a consistent pattern in root trait evolution at the landscape scale and the role of climate on the evolution of root traits in a genetic and geographic context relevant to climate change.

Convergent evolution↗

Genotype-dependent contribution of CBF transcription factors to long-term acclimation to high light and cool temperature

When grown under cool temperature, winter annuals upregulate photosynthetic capacity as well as freezing tolerance. Here, the role of three cold-induced C-repeat-binding factor (CBF1–3) transcription factors in photosynthetic upregulation and freezing tolerance was examined in two Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes originating from Italy (IT) or Sweden (SW), and their corresponding CBF1–3-deficient mutant lines it: cbf123 and sw: cbf123 . Photosynthetic, morphological and freezing-tolerance phenotypes, as well as gene expression profiles, were characterized in plants grown from the seedling stage under different combinations of light level and temperature. Under high light and cool (HLC) growth temperature, a greater role of CBF1–3 in IT versus SW was evident from both phenotypic and transcriptomic data, especially with respect to photosynthetic upregulation and freezing tolerance of whole plants. Overall, features of SW were consistent with a different approach to HLC acclimation than seen in IT, and an ability of SW to reach the new homeostasis through the involvement of transcriptional controls other than CBF1–3. These results provide tools and direction for further mechanistic analysis of the transcriptional control of approaches to cold acclimation suitable for either persistence through brief cold spells or for maximisation of productivity in environments with continuous low temperatures.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Development and validation of a next-generation sequencing-based multigene assay to predict the prognosis of estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer

Purpose: Multigene assays provide useful prognostic information regarding hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer. Next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based platforms have numerous advantages including reproducibility and adaptability in local laboratories. Here we aimed to develop and validate an NGS-based multigene assay to predict the distant recurrence risk. Experimental Design: In total, 179 genes including 30 reference genes highly correlated with the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) algorithm were selected from public databases. Targeted RNA-sequencing was performed using 250 and 93 archived breast cancer samples with a known RS in the training and verification sets, respectively, to develop the algorithm and NGS–Prognostic Score (NGS-PS). The assay was validated in 413 independent samples with long-term follow-up data on distant metastasis. Results: In the verification set, the NGS-PS and 21-gene RS displayed 91.4% concurrence (85/93 samples). In the validation cohort of 413 samples, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve plotted using NGS-PS values classified for distant recurrence was 0.76. The best NGS-PS cut-off value predicting distant metastasis was 20. Furthermore, 269 and 144 patients were classified as low- and high-risk patients in accordance with the cut-off. Five- and 10-year estimates of distant metastasis–free survival (DMFS) for low- versus high-risk groups were 97.0% versus 77.8% and 93.2% versus 64.4%, respectively. The age-related HR for distant recurrence without chemotherapy was 9.73 (95% CI, 3.59–26.40) and 3.19 (95% CI, 1.40–7.29) for patients aged ≤50 and >50 years, respectively. Conclusions: The newly developed and validated NGS-based multigene assay can predict the distant recurrence risk in ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Tailoring renewable materials via plant biotechnology

Plants inherently display a rich diversity in cell wall chemistry, as they synthesize an array of polysaccharides along with lignin, a polyphenolic that can vary dramatically in subunit composition and interunit linkage complexity. These same cell wall chemical constituents play essential roles in our society, having been isolated by a variety of evolving industrial processes and employed in the production of an array of commodity products to which humans are reliant. However, these polymers are inherently synthesized and intricately packaged into complex structures that facilitate plant survival and adaptation to local biogeoclimatic regions and stresses, not for ease of deconstruction and commercial product development. Herein, we describe evolving techniques and strategies for altering the metabolic pathways related to plant cell wall biosynthesis, and highlight the resulting impact on chemistry, architecture, and polymer interactions. Furthermore, this review illustrates how these unique targeted cell wall modifications could significantly extend the number, diversity, and value of products generated in existing and emerging biorefineries. These modifications can further target the ability for processing of engineered wood into advanced high performance materials. In doing so, we attempt to illuminate the complex connection on how polymer chemistry and structure can be tailored to advance renewable material applications, using all the chemical constituents of plant-derived biopolymers, including pectins, hemicelluloses, cellulose, and lignins.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗