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At least 1,423 records · Page 79

Discovering strongly lensed quasar candidates with catalogue-based methods from DESI Legacy Surveys

The Hubble tension, revealed by a ~5σ discrepancy between measurements of the Hubble-Lemaitre constant among observations of the early and local Universe, is one of the most significant problems in modern cosmology. In order to better understand the origin of this mismatch, independent techniques to measure H 0 , such as strong lensing time delays, are required. Notably, the sample size of such systems is key to minimising the statistical uncertainties and cosmic variance, which can be improved by exploring the datasets of large-scale sky surveys such as Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). We identify possible strong lensing time-delay systems within DESI by selecting candidate multiply imaged lensed quasars from a catalogue of 24 440 816 candidate QSOs contained in the ninth data release of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (DESI-LS). Using a friend-of-friends-like algorithm on spatial co-ordinates, our method generates an initial list of compact quasar groups. This list is subsequently filtered using a measure of the similarity of colours among a group’s members and the likelihood that they are quasars. A visual inspection finally selects candidate strong lensing systems based on the spatial configuration of the group members. We identified 620 new candidate multiply imaged lensed quasars (101 grade-A, 214 grade-B, 305 grade-C). This number excludes 53 known spectroscopically confirmed systems and existing candidate systems identified in other similar catalogues. When available, these new candidates will be further checked by combining the spectroscopic and photometric data from DESI.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Determination of the number of ψ(3686) events at BESIII

The numbers of ψ(3686) events accumulated by the BESIII detector for the data taken during 2009 and 2012 are determined to be $(107.0\pm 0.8)\times {10}^{6}$ and $(341.1\pm 2.1)\times {10}^{6}$, respectively, by counting inclusive hadronic events, where the uncertainties are systematic and the statistical uncertainties are negligible. The number of events for the sample taken in 2009 is consistent with that of the previous measurement. The total number of ψ(3686) events for the two data taking periods is $(448.1\pm 2.9)\times {10}^{6}$.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Grid-based diffusion Monte Carlo for fermions without the fixed-node approximation

A diffusion Monte Carlo algorithm is introduced that can determine the correct nodal structure of the wave function of a few-fermion system and its ground-state energy without an uncontrolled bias. This is achieved by confining signed random walkers to the points of a uniform infinite spatial grid, allowing them to meet and annihilate one another to establish the nodal structure without the fixed-node approximation. An imaginary-time propagator is derived rigorously from a discretized Hamiltonian, governing a non-Gaussian, sign-flipping, branching, and mutually annihilating random walk of particles. The accuracy of the resulting stochastic representations of a fermion wave function is limited only by the grid and imaginary-time resolutions and can be improved in a controlled manner. Here, the method is tested for a series of model problems including fermions in a harmonic trap as well as the He atom in its singlet or triplet ground state. For the latter case, the energies approach from above with increasing grid resolution and converge within 0.015 E h of the exact basis-set-limit value for the grid spacing of 0.08 a.u. with a statistical uncertainty of 10 –5 E h without an importance sampling or Jastrow factor.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Simulating PV System Performance with Component Reliability Distributions

A feature developed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) for simulating PV system component reliability has been integrated into the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's System Advisor Model (SAM). The PV Reliability Performance Model (PV-RPM) uses fault/failure and repair distributions to estimate impacts to power, energy production and operational costs. Realization results include the number of failures per component, failure rate, O&M costs incurred based on maintenance strategies, and energy lost based on the failure estimates. As the inputs are inherently uncertain and based on probability distributions, the model realizations include statistical confidence intervals to help bracket the probability that the sample interval contains the true mean value of the variable in question. This paper presents the current validation efforts and provides detail on how this feature is utilized in a PV performance model.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Environmental Persistence of Monkeypox Virus on Surfaces in Household of Person with Travel-Associated Infection, Dallas, Texas, USA, 2021

In July 2021, we conducted environmental sampling at the residence of a person in Dallas, Texas, USA, who had travel-associated human West African monkeypox virus (MPXV-WA). Targeted environmental swab sampling was conducted 15 days after the person who had monkeypox left the household. Results indicate extensive MPXV-WA DNA contamination, and viable virus from 7 samples was successfully isolated in cell culture. There was no statistical difference (p = 0.94) between MPXV-WA PCR positivity of porous (9/10, 90%) vs. nonporous (19/21, 90.5%) surfaces, but there was a significant difference (p<0.01) between viable virus detected in cultures of porous (6/10, 60%) vs. nonporous (1/21, 5%) surfaces. These findings indicate that porous surfaces (e.g., bedding, clothing) may pose more of a MPXV exposure risk than nonporous surfaces (e.g., metal, plastic). Viable MPXV was detected on household surfaces after at least 15 days. However, low titers (<102 PFU) indicate a limited potential for indirect transmission.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Preventing Failures By Dataset Shift Detection in Safety-Critical Graph Applications

Dataset shift refers to the problem where the input data distribution may change over time (e.g., between training and test stages). Since this can be a critical bottleneck in several safety-critical applications such as healthcare, drug-discovery, etc., dataset shift detection has become an important research issue in machine learning. Though several existing efforts have focused on image/video data, applications with graph-structured data have not received sufficient attention. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate the problem of detecting shifts in graph structured data through the lens of statistical hypothesis testing. Specifically, we propose a practical two-sample test based approach for shift detection in large-scale graph structured data. Our approach is very flexible in that it is suitable for both undirected and directed graphs, and eliminates the need for equal sample sizes. Using empirical studies, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed test in detecting dataset shifts. We also corroborate these findings using real-world datasets, characterized by directed graphs and a large number of nodes.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

SNM Radiation Signature Classification Using Different Semi-Supervised Machine Learning Models

The timely detection of special nuclear material (SNM) transfers between nuclear facilities is an important monitoring objective in nuclear nonproliferation. Persistent monitoring enabled by successful detection and characterization of radiological material movements could greatly enhance the nuclear nonproliferation mission in a range of applications. Supervised machine learning can be used to signal detections when material is present if a model is trained on sufficient volumes of labeled measurements. However, the nuclear monitoring data needed to train robust machine learning models can be costly to label since radiation spectra may require strict scrutiny for characterization. Therefore, this work investigates the application of semi-supervised learning to utilize both labeled and unlabeled data. As a demonstration experiment, radiation measurements from sodium iodide (NaI) detectors are provided by the Multi-Informatics for Nuclear Operating Scenarios (MINOS) venture at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as sample data. Anomalous measurements are identified using a method of statistical hypothesis testing. After background estimation, an energy-dependent spectroscopic analysis is used to characterize an anomaly based on its radiation signatures. In the absence of ground-truth information, a labeling heuristic provides data necessary for training and testing machine learning models. Supervised logistic regression serves as a baseline to compare three semi-supervised machine learning models: co-training, label propagation, and a convolutional neural network (CNN). In each case, the semi-supervised models outperform logistic regression, suggesting that unlabeled data can be valuable when training and demonstrating value in semi-supervised nonproliferation implementations.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Evaluation of Applied Stress on Atmospheric Corrosion and Pitting Characteristics in 304L Stainless Steel

For this study, the effects of applied stress, ranging from tensile to compressive, on the atmospheric pitting corrosion behavior of 304L stainless steel (SS304L) were analyzed through accelerated atmospheric laboratory exposures and microelectrochemical cell analysis. After exposing the lateral surface of a SS304L four-point bend specimen to artificial seawater at 50°C and 35% relative humidity for 50 d, pitting characteristics were determined using optical profilometry and scanning electron microscopy. The SS304L microstructure was analyzed using electron backscatter diffraction. Additionally, localized electrochemical measurements were performed on a similar, unexposed, SS304L four-point bend bar to determine the effects of applied stress on corrosion susceptibility. Under the applied loads and the environment tested, the observed pitting characteristics showed no correlation with the applied stress (from 250 MPa to -250 MPa). Pitting depth, surface area, roundness, and distribution were found to be independent of location on the sample or applied stress. The lack of correlation between pitting statistics and applied stress was more likely due to the aggressive exposure environment, with a sea salt loading of 4 g/m 2 chloride. The pitting characteristics observed were instead governed by the available cathode current and salt distribution, which are a function of sea salt loading, as well as pre-existing underlying microstructure. In microelectrochemical cell experiments performed in Cl - environments comparable to the atmospheric exposure and in environments containing orders of magnitude lower Cl - concentrations, effects of the applied stress on corrosion susceptibility were only apparent in open-circuit potential in low Cl - concentration solutions. Cl - concentration governed the current density and transpassive dissolution potential.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A study of the utilization of ERTS-1 data from the Wabash River Basin

The author has identified the following significant results. Nine projects are defined, five ERTS data applications experiments and four supporting technology tasks. The most significant applications results were achieved in the soil association mapping, earth surface feature identification, and urban land use mapping efforts. Four soil association boundaries were accurately delineated from ERTS-1 imagery. A data bank has been developed to test surface feature classifications obtained from ERTS-1 data. Preliminary forest cover classifications indicated that the number of acres estimated tended to be greater than actually existed by 25%. Urban land use analysis of ERTS-1 data indicated highly accurate classification could be obtained for many urban catagories. The wooded residential category tended to be misclassified as woods or agricultural land. Further statistical analysis revealed that these classes could be separated using sample variance.

Landgrebe, D. A.↗

Assessment of variations in thermal cycle life data of thermal barrier coated rods

The reported study had the purpose to examine variations in cyclic life and in adhesive/cohesive coating strength. Possible effects of heating rate, stress reversal, temperature level, and ceramic deposition methods on coating life were also investigated. Life cycle data for 22 thermal barrier coated rods were examined and found to be statistically modeled by normal or log-normal distributions. The sample mean was 1330 cycles with a standard deviation of 520 cycles. Adhesive/cohesive pulloff strength data for 20 thermal barrier coated flat head piston specimens were taken. The average pulloff stress was 9 MPa with a standard deviation of 4.2 MPa. It was found that variations in heating rate can produce significant variations in the life cycle data.

Hendricks, R. C.↗

Cost estimation model for advanced planetary programs, fourth edition

The development of the planetary program cost model is discussed. The Model was updated to incorporate cost data from the most recent US planetary flight projects and extensively revised to more accurately capture the information in the historical cost data base. This data base is comprised of the historical cost data for 13 unmanned lunar and planetary flight programs. The revision was made with a two fold objective: to increase the flexibility of the model in its ability to deal with the broad scope of scenarios under consideration for future missions, and to maintain and possibly improve upon the confidence in the model's capabilities with an expected accuracy of 20%. The Model development included a labor/cost proxy analysis, selection of the functional forms of the estimating relationships, and test statistics. An analysis of the Model is discussed and two sample applications of the cost model are presented.

Spadoni, D. J.↗

Classifying northern forests using Thematic Mapper Simulator data

Thematic Mapper Simulator data were collected over a 23,200 hectare forested area near Baxter State Park in north-central Maine. Photointerpreted ground reference information was used to drive a stratified random sampling procedure for waveband discriminant analyses and to generate training statistics and test pixel accuracies. Stepwise discriminant analyses indicated that the following bands best differentiated the thirteen level II - III cover types (in order of entry): near infrared (0.77 to 0.90 micron), blue (0.46 0.52 micron), first middle infrared (1.53 to 1.73 microns), second middle infrared (2.06 to 2.33 microsn), red (0.63 to 0.69 micron), thermal (10.32 to 12.33 microns). Classification accuracies peaked at 58 percent for thirteen level II-III land-cover classes and at 65 percent for ten level II classes.

Nelson, R. F.↗

Microwave dielectric spectrum of rocks

A combination of several measurement techniques was used to investigate the dielectric properties of 80 rock samples in the microwave region. The real part of the dielectric constant, epsilon', was measured in 0.1 GHz steps from 0.5 to 18 GHz, and the imaginary part, epsilon'', was measured at five frequencies extending between 1.6 and 16 GHz. In addition to the dielectric measurements, the bulk density was measured for all the samples and the bulk chemical composition was determined for 56 of the samples. The study shows that epsilon' is frequency-dependent over the 0.5 to 18 GHz range for all rock samples, and that the bulk density rho accounts for about 50 percent of the observed variance of epsilon'. For individual rock types (by genesis), about 90 percent of the observed variance may be explained by the combination of density and the fractional contents of SiO2, Fe2O3, MgO, and TiO2. For the loss factor epsilon'', it was not possible to establish statistically significant relationships between it and the measured properties of the rock samples (density and chemical composition).

Ulaby, F. T.↗

A survey of the properties of early-type galaxies

A compilation of the properties of elliptical and early disk galaxies was completed. In addition to material from the literature, such as Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) fluxes, the compilation includes recent measurements of HI and CO, as well as a review of the x ray properties by Forman and Jones. The data are used to evaluate the gas content of early systems and to search for correlations with x ray emission. The interstellar medium in early-type galaxies is generally dominated by hot interstellar gas (T approx. 10 to the 7th power K; c.f. the review by Fabbiano 1989 and references therein). In addition, a significant fraction of these galaxies show infrared emission (Knapp, et al., 1989), optical emission lines, and visible dust. Sensitive studies in HI and CO of a number of these galaxies have been completed recently, resulting in several detections, particularly of the later types. Researchers wish to understand the connection among these different forms of the interstellar medium, and to examine the theoretical picture of the fate of the hot gas. To do so, they compiled observations of several forms of interstellar matter for a well-defined sample of early-type galaxies. Here they present a statistical analysis of this data base and discuss the implications of the results.

Bregman, Joel N.↗

Geography of cretaceous extinctions: Data base development

Data bases built from the source literature are plagued by problems of data quality. Unless the data acquisition is done by experts, working slowly, the data base may contain so much garbage that true signals and patterns cannot be detected. On the other hand, high quality data bases develop so slowly that satisfactory statistical analysis may never be possible due to the small sample sizes. Results of a test are presented of the opposite strategy: rapid data acquisition by non-experts with minimal control on data quality. A published list of 186 species and genera of fossil invertibrates of the latest Cretaceous Age (Maestrichtian) were located through a random search of the paleobiological and geological literature. The geographic location for each faunal list was then transformed electronically to Maestrichtian latitude and longitude and the lists were further digested to identify the genera occurring in each ten-degree, latitude-longitude block. The geographical lists were clustered using the Otsuka similarity coefficient and a standard unweight-pair-group method. The resulting clusters are remarkably consistent geographically, indicating that a strong biogeographic signal is visible despite low-quality data. A further test evaluated the geographic pattern of end-Cretaceaous extinctions. All genera in the data base were compared with Sepkoski's compendium of time ranges of genera to determine which of the reported genera survived the Cretaceous mass extinction. In turn, extinction rates for the ten-degree, latitude-longitude blocks were mapped. The resulting distribution is readily interpretable as a robust pattern of the geography of the mass extinction. The study demonstrates that a low-quality data base, built rapidly, can provide a basis for meaningful analysis of past biotic events.

Raup, D. M.↗

Multivariate space - time analysis of PRE-STORM precipitation

This paper presents the methodologies and results of the multivariate modeling and two-dimensional spectral and correlation analysis of PRE-STORM rainfall gauge data. Estimated parameters of the models for the specific spatial averages clearly indicate the eastward and southeastward wave propagation of rainfall fluctuations. A relationship between the coefficients of the diffusion equation and the parameters of the stochastic model of rainfall fluctuations is derived that leads directly to the exclusive use of rainfall data to estimate advection speed (about 12 m/s) as well as other coefficients of the diffusion equation of the corresponding fields. The statistical methodology developed here can be used for confirmation of physical models by comparison of the corresponding second-moment statistics of the observed and simulated data, for generating multiple samples of any size, for solving the inverse problem of the hydrodynamic equations, and for application in some other areas of meteorological and climatological data analysis and modeling.

Polyak, Ilya↗

Standard Reference Rainfall Products Used in the TRMM Ground Efforts

The Primary goal of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Ground Validation (GV) effort is to provide basic validation of satellite-derived precipitation measurements over monthly climatologies. To this end, the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County produces monthly rainfall accumulation reference products for each of the four primary TRMM GV sites. These products, standard methodology for deriving monthly, gauge-adjusted rainfall products, are utilized for each primary site. The monthly rainfall GV reference products are developed in discrete, modular steps with distinct intermediate products. These developmental steps, which will be fully discussed, include: (1) extracting radar data over locations of rain gauges, (2) merging rain gauge and radar data in time and space with user-defined options, (3) quality control of radar and gauge merged data by tracking accumulations from each instrument, and (4) deriving Z_R relationship from quality-controlled merged data over monthly time scales. A summary of all gauge statistics and GV rainfall reference products available for TRMM science users will be presented. Basic reference product results and trends involving monthly accumulation, Z-R relationship, and gauge statistics for primary GV site will be discussed. Finally, the sample impact on monthly rainfall reference products, through varying the time interval between intermediate rainfall accumulations, will be analyzed and presented.

Marks, David A.↗

Performance Evaluation of Fiber Bragg Gratings at Elevated Temperatures

The development of integrated fiber optic sensors for smart propulsion systems demands that the sensors be able to perform in extreme environments. In order to use fiber optic sensors effectively in an extreme environment one must have a thorough understanding of the sensor s limits and how it responds under various environmental conditions. The sensor evaluation currently involves examining the performance of fiber Bragg gratings at elevated temperatures. Fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) are periodic variations of the refractive index of an optical fiber. These periodic variations allow the FBG to act as an embedded optical filter passing the majority of light propagating through a fiber while reflecting back a narrow band of the incident light. The peak reflected wavelength of the FBG is known as the Bragg wavelength. Since the period and width of the refractive index variation in the fiber determines the wavelengths that are transmitted and reflected by the grating, any force acting on the fiber that alters the physical structure of the grating will change what wavelengths are transmitted and what wavelengths are reflected by the grating. Both thermal and mechanical forces acting on the grating will alter its physical characteristics allowing the FBG sensor to detect both temperature variations and physical stresses, strain, placed upon it. This ability to sense multiple physical forces makes the FBG a versatile sensor. This paper reports on test results of the performance of FBGs at elevated temperatures. The gratings looked at thus far have been either embedded in polymer matrix materials or freestanding with the primary focus of this paper being on the freestanding FBGs. Throughout the evaluation process, various parameters of the FBGs performance were monitored and recorded. These parameters include the peak Bragg wavelength, the power of the Bragg wavelength, and total power returned by the FBG. Several test samples were subjected to identical test conditions to allow for statistical analysis of the data. Test procedures, calibrations, and referencing techniques are presented in the paper along with directions for future research.

Juergens, Jeffrey↗