Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Association study”

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 1,405 records · Page 78

Using the H Index to Assess Impact of DOE National Laboratories

The most readily accessible elements of the Emerald Matrix by quantitative measures are the knowledge and economy related measures. In this paper, the H Index for an institution will be used to assess STE impact, which is in the knowledge generation element. The H Index was developed by Hirsch (2005) as a measure of an individual’s scientific impact. The H Index is defined as the number of publications that have been cited h or more times for a given author. It has been generalized to organizations. Doing so leads to a complication in that H index scales with the number of publications. Although this may not be problematic when comparing individual researchers, it systematically favors larger institutions. Molinari and Molinari (2008) proposed an alternative index (hm) designed to assess organizational impact. It transforms the H Index for an organization into an impact index by removing a factor dependent on the number of publications. The hm provides another approach to compare institutions provided that differences in the citation patterns associated with fields of study are addressed. Kinney (2007) used the Molinari and Molinari (2008) approach to compare various scientific institutions in nonbiomedical research areas. Kinney (2007) used the Thomson Reuters Web of Science (WoS) as the source and used publications in nonbiomedical research areas, which is very important because the research areas of universities are much broader than say a DOE national laboratory. Also there are differences in citation rates for the various research fields that make comparisons between individuals or organizations difficult. The results from Kinney (2007) are given in Table 1 and indicate that the DOE national laboratories compare favorably with the selected universities in terms of impact (hm) in the research areas used in Kinney’s analysis. This report will compare hm for DOE national laboratories using an approach similar to Kinney (2007) providing a measure of impact of the DOE national laboratories.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Models and methods for assessing the value of HVDC adn MVDC technologies in modern power grids (Annual Report, Executive Summary)

Evolution of today’s predominantly alternating current (ac) transmission grid in to mixed ac transmission – high-voltage direct current (HVdc) systems is expected with the decreasing costs of and advancements in power electronics technologies. The recent technological advancements include the development of more efficient and compact voltage source converters (VSCs) that can provide fast response. Because of their controllability and fast response, HVdc systems provide the ability to enhance reliability of the ac transmission grid through frequency support, voltage control, and congestion relief. The HVdc systems can also provide other ancillary services to enhance the economics and reliability of the ac transmission grids, and to optimize their performance. The tools, models, and methods developed to evaluate their benefits will be key enablers to understanding the value proposition introduced by the fast-acting HVdc systems. The main motivation of this work was to develop models and methods to explore and quantify the technical and economic benefits of HVdc systems and fast response VSC technologies in the future grid of United States. The models and methods explore the benefits of HVdc systems through provision of controlled active/reactive power and fast response. The fast response can provide much-needed multiobjective services to the grid (e.g., frequency response, voltage control) while moving blocks of energy. The models and methods can be applied to study other power electronics technologies and scenarios such as those undertaken in ongoing studies led by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Inverter-based Resource Performance Task Force (IRPTF). The IRPTF studies identify the problems associated with power electronics-based technologies as they are integrated in to the bulk power system (or the ac transmission system).

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Testing a novel peptide drug towards a goal of reducing mortality in critically ill COVID19 patients

COVID 19 has been devastating the globe over the past year, and although our knowledge of how the disease progresses is constantly evolving, there is a significant amount we now about the mechanisms underlying COVID19. There is growing evidence that a 'cytokine storm' is a significant driver of mortality associated with COVID19, with studies showing high levels of hallmark inflammatory indicators in critically ill COVID19 patients. This essentially consists of the patient's immune system going awry and causing white blood cells to constantly release a large number of small molecules called cytokines. The result of this is further activation of the immune system, which ends up attacking not only infected but also healthy patient tissues, resulting in organ failure.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Extending the Air and Moisture Leakage Calculator to add Residential Buildings and Additional Commercial Buildings

The DOE Windows and Building Envelope Research and Development Roadmap for Emerging Technologies shows that in 2010, infiltration was responsible for 4 quads of space conditioning primary energy use in the residential and commercial sectors. The relative contribution of air leakage in building heating and cooling load is increasing with improvement in the thermal resistance of building envelopes. Advanced air barrier technologies and construction practices have been developed to reduce air leakage in buildings. However, limited information on the impact of air barrier technologies on energy consumption and the durability of buildings has hindered their adoption. In the past Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Air Barrier Association of America (ABBA), and U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center for Building Energy Efficiency (CERC-BEE) collaborated to develop an online calculator that estimates the potential energy and cost savings in major U.S., Canadian and Chinese cities from improvement in air tightness in commercial buildings. In 2018–2019, the calculator was expanded to add moisture transfer calculations given that air leakage through the building envelope can have a significant impact on moisture transfer and associated impacts. In this study, the calculator is expanded further by adding data for two additional commercial buildings (strip mall and primary school) and a residential building. The team investigated the impact of airtightness on energy consumption and moisture transfer of the added buildings. The study includes the analysis of air tightness in 52 major cities in the U.S. and 5 cities in Canada.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Implementation of Detailed Polyethylene Pyrolysis Kinetics into CFD Simulations using Machine Learning

Municipal solid waste (MSW) and waste plastics have received significant attention due to the issues of waste generation and storage, as well as their potential as an energy resource. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) makes up a large portion of plastic waste and has been the subject of several conversion studies. However, the mechanisms associated with converting HDPE through pyrolysis and gasification are extensive and complex making them difficult to implement into high-fidelity computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations. For this project, a primary pyrolysis mechanism containing 42 unique species and 737 heterogeneous reactions was used to generate kinetic data over a range of operating conditions. A machine learning (ML) model was developed to replicate the results of the detailed pyrolysis mechanism while significantly increasing the computational efficiency. A deep operator network (DeepONet) architecture was adopted to train the model using time steps relevant to CFD simulations. The ML used physics-based loss functions to ensure mass conservation. The ML model has been deployed in simple MFiX CFD simulations, single particle, and an experimental drop tube reactor, and has shown promising performance compared to the original scheme.

Houston, Ross↗

Reference Station Risk Assessment for Refueling Heavy-Duty Vehicles Using HyRAM+

The deployment of heavy-duty (HD) hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that are entering the market now is driving the need for expanded HD hydrogen refueling station infrastructure to meet demand. This expansion must prioritize safety and reliability, necessitating careful consideration of the associated risks. In this study, we use a light-duty (LD) hydrogen refueling station as a comparative tool to quantify the risks for a HD station, which is essentially a scaled-up version of a LD station.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Collaborative Enhancements to Unlock Interregional Transmission

Multiple recent studies highlight significant benefits associated with expansion of interregional transfer capabilities for efficiently adapting to these changes. Despite these proposed benefits, few, if any, interregional transmission projects have been built in recent memory . The objective of this report is to confront the barriers to interregional transmission that exist today and address them with potential reforms and collaborative solutions. This report identifies solutions with the potential for immediate beneficial impact on interregional transmission with the ultimate goal of allowing more effective identification and advancement of interregional transmission projects that create the most positive net value to the participating systems . It distinguishes between states, federal government, and planning regions as key actors in implementing solutions designed to be flexible to accommodate regional differences.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Bacterial endophyte communities in the foliage of coast redwood and giant sequoia

The endophytic bacterial microbiome, with an emerging role in plant nutrient acquisition and stress tolerance, is much less studied in natural plant populations than in agricultural crops. In a previous study, we found consistent associations between trees in the pine family and acetic acid bacteria (AAB) occurring at high relative abundance inside their needles. Our objective here was to determine if that pattern may be general to conifers, or alternatively, is more likely restricted to pines or conifers growing in nutrient limited and exposed environments. We used 16S rRNA pyrosequencing to characterize the foliar endophyte communities of two conifers in the Cupressaceae family: Two coast redwood (CR; Sequoia sempervirens) populations and one giant sequoia (GS; Sequoiadendron giganteum) population were sampled. Similar to the pines, the endophyte communities of the giant trees were dominated by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria. However, although some major operational taxonomic units (OTUs) occurred at a high relative abundance of 10–40% in multiple samples, no specific group of bacteria dominated the endophyte community to the extent previously observed in high-elevation pines. Several of the dominating bacterial groups in the CR and GS foliage (e.g., Bacillus, Burkholderia, Actinomycetes) are known for disease- and pest suppression, raising the possibility that the endophytic microbiome protects the giant trees against biotic stress. Many of the most common and abundant OTUs in our dataset were most similar to 16S rRNA sequences from bacteria found in lichens or arctic plants. For example, an OTU belonging to the uncultured Rhizobiales LAR1 lineage, which is commonly associated with lichens, was observed at high relative abundance in many of the CR samples. Lastly, the taxa shared between the giant trees, arctic plants, and lichens may be part of a broadly defined endophyte microbiome common to temperate, boreal, and tundra ecosystems.

16S rRNA↗

Functional Meta-Analysis of the Proteomic Responses of Arabidopsis Seedlings to the Spaceflight Environment Reveals Multi-Dimensional Sources of Variability across Spaceflight Experiments

The human quest for sustainable habitation of extraterrestrial environments necessitates a robust understanding of life’s adaptability to the unique conditions of spaceflight. This study provides a comprehensive proteomic dissection of the Arabidopsis plant’s responses to the spaceflight environment through a meta-analysis of proteomics data from four separate spaceflight experiments conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) in different hardware configurations. Raw proteomics LC/MS spectra were analyzed for differential expression in MaxQuant and Perseus software. The analysis of dissimilarities among the datasets reveals the multidimensional nature of plant proteomic responses to spaceflight, impacted by variables such as spaceflight hardware, seedling age, lighting conditions, and proteomic quantification techniques. By contrasting datasets that varied in light exposure, we elucidated proteins involved in photomorphogenesis and skotomorphogenesis in plant spaceflight responses. Additionally, with data from an onboard 1 g control experiment, we isolated proteins that specifically respond to the microgravity environment and those that respond to other spaceflight conditions. This study identified proteins and associated metabolic pathways that are consistently impacted across the datasets. Notably, these shared proteins were associated with critical metabolic functions, including carbon metabolism, glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, and amino acid biosynthesis, underscoring their potential significance in Arabidopsis’ spaceflight adaptation mechanisms and informing strategies for successful space farming.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

TRACING SLOW WINDS FROM T TAURI STARS VIA LOW-VELOCITY FORBIDDEN LINE EMISSION

Using Keck/HIRES spectra (Δ v ∼ 7 km s{sup -1}) we analyze forbidden lines of [O i] 6300 Å, [O i] 5577 Å and [S ii] 6731 Å from 33 T Tauri stars covering a range of disk evolutionary stages. After removing a high-velocity component (HVC) associated with microjets, we study the properties of the low-velocity component (LVC). The LVC can be attributed to slow disk winds that could be magnetically (magnetohydrodynamic) or thermally (photoevaporative) driven. Both of these winds play an important role in the evolution and dispersal of protoplanetary material. LVC emission is seen in all 30 stars with detected [O i] but only in two out of eight with detected [S ii], so our analysis is largely based on the properties of the [O i] LVC. The LVC itself is resolved into broad (BC) and narrow (NC) kinematic components. Both components are found over a wide range of accretion rates and their luminosity is correlated with the accretion luminosity, but the NC is proportionately stronger than the BC in transition disks. The full width at half maximum of both the BC and NC correlates with disk inclination, consistent with Keplerian broadening from radii of 0.05 to 0.5 au and 0.5 to 5 au, respectively. The velocity centroids of the BC suggest formation in an MHD disk wind, with the largest blueshifts found in sources with closer to face-on orientations. The velocity centroids of the NC, however, show no dependence on disk inclination. The origin of this component is less clear and the evidence for photoevaporation is not conclusive.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

STOCHASTIC TRANSIENTS AS A SOURCE OF QUASI-PERIODIC PROCESSES IN THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE

Solar dynamics and turbulence occur at all heights of the solar atmosphere and could be described as stochastic processes. We propose that finite-lifetime transients recurring at a certain place could trigger quasi-periodic processes in the associated structures. In this study, we developed a mathematical model for finite-lifetime and randomly occurring transients, and found that quasi-periodic processes with periods longer than the timescale of the transients, are detectable intrinsically in the form of trains. We simulate their propagation in an empirical solar atmospheric model with chromosphere, transition region, and corona. We found that, due to the filtering effect of the chromospheric cavity, only the resonance period of the acoustic resonator is able to propagate to the upper atmosphere; such a scenario is applicable to slow magnetoacoustic waves in sunspots and active regions. If the thermal structure of the atmosphere is less wild and acoustic resonance does not take place, the long-period oscillations could propagate to the upper atmosphere. Such a case would be more likely to occur in polar plumes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Effects of Latent Heating on Atmospheres of Brown Dwarfs and Directly Imaged Planets

The growing number of observations of brown dwarfs (BDs) has provided evidence for strong atmospheric circulation on these objects. Directly imaged planets share similar observations and can be viewed as low-gravity versions of BDs. Vigorous condensate cycles of chemical species in their atmospheres are inferred by observations and theoretical studies, and latent heating associated with condensation is expected to be important in shaping atmospheric circulation and influencing cloud patchiness. We present a qualitative description of the mechanisms by which condensational latent heating influences circulation, and then illustrate them using an idealized general circulation model that includes a condensation cycle of silicates with latent heating and molecular weight effect due to the rainout of the condensate. Simulations with conditions appropriate for typical T dwarfs exhibit the development of localized storms and east–west jets. The storms are spatially inhomogeneous, evolving on a timescale of hours to days and extending vertically from the condensation level to the tropopause. The fractional area of the BD covered by active storms is small. Based on a simple analytic model, we quantitatively explain the area fraction of moist plumes and show its dependence on the radiative timescale and convective available potential energy (CAPE). We predict that if latent heating dominates cloud formation processes, the fractional coverage area of clouds decreases as the spectral type goes through the L/T transition from high to lower effective temperature. This is a natural consequence of the variation of the radiative timescale and CAPE with the spectral type.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

On the role of aerosols, humidity, and vertical wind shear in the transition of shallow-to-deep convection at the Green Ocean Amazon 2014/5 site

Abstract. The preconditioning of the atmosphere for a shallow-to-deep convective transition during the dry-to-wet season transition period (August–November) is investigated using Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) GoAmazon2014/5 campaign data from March 2014 to November 2015 in Manacapuru, Brazil. In comparison to conditions observed prior to shallow convection, anomalously high humidity in the free troposphere and boundary layer is observed prior to a shallow-to-deep convection transition. An entraining plume model, which captures this leading dependence on lower tropospheric moisture, is employed to study indirect thermodynamic effects associated with vertical wind shear (VWS) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration on preconvective conditions. The shallow-to-deep convective transition primarily depends on humidity, especially that from the free troposphere, which tends to increase plume buoyancy. Conditions preceding deep convection are associated with high relative humidity, and low-to-moderate CCN concentration (less than the 67th percentile, 1274 cm−3). VWS, however, shows little relation to moisture and plume buoyancy. Buoyancy estimates suggest that the latent heat release due to freezing is important to deep convective growth under all conditions analyzed, consistent with potential pathways for aerosol effects, even in the presence of a strong entrainment. Shallow-only convective growth, however, shows an association with a strong (weak) low (deep) level VWS and with higher CCN concentration.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Short Sleep Duration: Children’s Mental, Behavioral, and Developmental Disorders and Demographic, Neighborhood, and Family Context in a Nationally Representative Sample, 2016–2019

Many children and adolescents experience insufficient sleep, which poses risks for their short- and long-term health and development. This study examined the concurrent associations of contextual factors, including child, demographic, neighborhood, and family factors, with short sleep duration.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

ADVANCED VALVE TECHNOLOGY FOR SPACECRAFT ENGINES FINAL REPORT

This final report describes the work that was done to determine the state-of-the-art of valves required for space exploration vehicles and the steps that were taken to advance the technology. Interviews were held with personnel of major prime manufacturers to determine current problems and current and future requirements. Manufacturers were surveyed by mail to determine what equipment is presently being produced. An extensive search of patent office files was made to determine if any novel valve concepts not already applied to aerospace valves might exist. A literature search was conducted to provide the necessary technical information that was required for the program. Several extensive studies were made to determine the effects on materials resulting from use in space applications, and an investigation of the basic phenomena of valve seat wear was initiated. With the information developed in the surveys and studies, the significant problems associated with valves were identified and are described under "Discussion of Problems. " A novel valve concept was developed and a prototype valve was built and successfully tested. A seal compound of Teflon and stainless steel was developed which possesses superior cold flow characteristics while retaining the desirable properties of the basic Teflon material.

Spacecraft propulsion↗

Some aspects of flare properties versus magnetic boundary morphology.

Flares often begin near lines of zero-longitudinal magnetic field. These boundary lines between opposite polarities can have the magnetic field either parallel to or transverse to the boundary. A study of 75 flares associated with one or the other type of boundary indicates that the difference in boundary morphology is not reflected in the frequency or properties of the associated flares.

Prata, S. W.↗

The light ion trough, the main trough, and the plasmapause

Extensive observations of mid-latitude depletions in electron and total ion density by both direct and indirect techniques, have prompted numerous studies of the possible association between these troughs, observed in the F-region, the topside ionosphere, and the plasmapause. One basic problem arises, in that while the plasmapause was detected as a global phenomenon both by VLF and ion composition measurements, the electron and ion density troughs were identified primarily as nightside features. This problem, as well as the difficulty in explaining various inconsistencies in relating the position of the plasmapause and the ionization trough, is explained by a close examination of the ion composition. In particular, ion composition results from the polar orbiting OGO satellites identify the persistence of a pronounced light ion trough in H(+) and He(+) identified by order of magnitude decreases in the light ion concentrations.

Taylor, H. A., Jr.↗