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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,441 records · Page 80
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Is Pilocarpine Effective in Preventing Radiation-Induced Xerostomia? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of concomitant administration of pilocarpine on radiation-induced xerostomia in patients with head and neck cancers. Methods and Materials: The PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials were searched to identify randomized, controlled trials studying the effect of concomitant administration of pilocarpine for radiation-induced xerostomia. Included trials were systematically reviewed, and quantifiable outcomes were pooled for meta-analysis. Outcomes of interest included salivary flow, clinician-rated xerostomia grade, patient-reported xerostomia scoring, quality of life, and adverse effects. Results: Six prospective, randomized, controlled trials in 8 articles were included in this systematic review. The total number of patients was 369 in the pilocarpine group and 367 in the control group. Concomitant administration of pilocarpine during radiation could increase the unstimulated salivary flow rate in a period of 3 to 6 months after treatment, and also reduce the clinician-rated xerostomia grade. Patient-reported xerostomia was not significantly impacted by pilocarpine in the initial 3 months but was superior at 6 months. No significant difference of stimulated salivary flow rate could be confirmed between the 2 arms. Adverse effects of pilocarpine were mild and tolerable. Conclusions: The concomitant administration of pilocarpine during radiation increases unstimulated salivary flow rate and reduces clinician-rated xerostomia grade after radiation. It also relieves patients' xerostomia at 6 months and possibly at 12 months. However, pilocarpine has no effect on stimulated salivary flow rate.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2025

p -Coumaroylated Lignins Are Natively Produced in Three Rosales Families

Carbon-rich plant cell walls contain biopolymers that, with some processing, could replace fossil fuels as a major component of the current petrochemical production. To realize this, biorefineries need to be paired with biomass that during the deconstruction and fractionation processes transforms into the desired products. One component of interest is p-coumarate that, in some species, can account for up to 1% of the biomass’ dry weight. When p-coumarate is present in eudicot cell walls, it is mostly part of the suberin (bark and root), acylates the γ-hydroxy group of the lignin, in part of the tannins, or is a metabolite. The current understanding of eudicot plant cell wall composition is that the lignin is sometimes acylated with acetate and rarely with hydroxycinnamates (p-coumarate or ferulate). This study identified a clear division in the Rosales in which three families produce p-coumaroylated lignins whereas the other six families showed no evidence of the trait.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Food resources affect territoriality of invasive wild pig sounders with implications for control

Abstract Interest in control methods for invasive wild pigs ( Sus scrofa ) has increased due to their range expansion, population growth, and an improved understanding of their destructive ecological and economic effects. Recent technological advances in traps for control of pig populations facilitate capture of entire social groups (sounders), but the efficacy of “whole-sounder” trapping strategies is heavily dependent on the degree of territoriality among sounders, a topic little research has explored. We assessed territoriality in wild pig sounders on the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA, and examined whether availability of food resources provided by a municipal-waste landfill affected among-sounder territoriality. We estimated utilization distribution overlap and dynamic interactions among 18 neighboring sounders around a landfill. We found that although neighboring sounders overlapped in space, intensity of use in shared areas was uniformly low, indicating territorial behavior. Neighbors tended to share slightly more space when closer to the landfill waste cells, indicating availability of a super-abundant resource somewhat weakens the degree of territoriality among sounders. Nevertheless, we conclude that sounders behaved in a generally territorial manner, and we discuss implications for whole-sounder trapping programs, particularly near concentrated resources such as landfills and crop fields.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Exotic stable cesium polynitrides at high pressure

New polynitrides containing metastable forms of nitrogen are actively investigated as potential high energy-density materials. Using a structure search method based on the CALYPSO methodology, we investigated the stable stoichiometries and structures of cesium polynitrides at high pressures. Along with the CsN 3 , we identified five new stoichiometric compounds (Cs 3 N, Cs 2 N, CsN, CsN 2 , and CsN 5 ) with interesting structures that may be experimentally synthesizable at modest pressures (i.e., less than 50 GPa). Nitrogen species in the predicted structures have various structural forms ranging from single atom (N) to highly endothermic molecules (N 2 , N 3 , N 4 , N 5 , N 6 ) and chains (N ∞ ). Polymeric chains of nitrogen were found in the high-pressure C2/c phase of CsN 2 . This structure contains a substantially high content of single N-N bonds that exceeds the previously known nitrogen chains in pure forms, and also exhibit metastability at ambient conditions. We also identified a very interesting CsN crystal that contains novel N 4 4- anion. In conclusion, to our best knowledge, this is the first time a charged N 4 species being reported. Results of the present study suggest that it is possible to obtain energetic polynitrogens in main-group nitrides under high pressure.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Recommendations for harmonized reporting of radiation Dosimetry by adoption of Compatibility in Irradiation Research Protocols Expert Roundtable (CIRPER)

Here, in radiobiology, radiation physics, and related areas, there is growing interest in transitioning from cesium-based irradiators to X-ray technologies. Therefore, it makes it imperative for reproducibility purposes, for researchers to provide specifications regarding device parameters, machine calibration details, and experimental setup when innovative X-ray technology is being employed. Several groups have already identified a glaring lack in completeness of critical information on experimental setups, equipment, and physical parameters in published radiation biology studies. The Alternative Technologies Meta Study Report by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) examined 456 manuscripts published between 2017-2021. Only 64 of the reviewed studies (14.0%) consistently reported methods that could allow for replication of their studies. However, 85% provided information on the manufacturer, the irradiator model and the absorbed radiation dose. Approximately 66% provided information on the energy spectra and the dose rate, but only one third disclosed the filter used. Less than 15% of the reviewed studies reported information on calibration and field geometry, specifically field size and distance from source, which are critical parameters in determining the absorbed radiation dose.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2014

MO-E-18C-01: Open Access Web-Based Peer-To-Peer Training and Education in Radiotherapy

Purpose: Current training and education delivery models have limitations which result in gaps in clinical proficiency with equipment, procedures, and techniques. Educational and training opportunities offered by vendors and professional societies are by their nature not available at point of need or for the life of clinical systems. The objective of this work is to leverage modern communications technology to provide peer-to-peer training and education for radiotherapy professionals, in the clinic and on demand, as they undertake their clinical duties. Methods: We have developed a free of charge web site ( https://i.treatsafely.org ) using the Google App Engine and datastore (NDB, GQL), Python with AJAX-RPC, and Javascript. The site is a radiotherapy-specific hosting service to which user-created videos illustrating clinical or physics processes and other relevant educational material can be uploaded. Efficient navigation to the material of interest is provided through several RT specific search tools and videos can be scored by users, thus providing comprehensive peer review of the site content. The site also supports multilingual narration\translation of videos, a quiz function for competence assessment and a library function allowing groups or institutions to define their standard operating procedures based on the video content. Results: The website went live in August 2013 and currently has over 680 registered users from 55 countries; 27.2% from the United States, 9.8% from India, 8.3% from the United Kingdom, 7.3% from Brazil, and 47.5% from other countries. The users include physicists (57.4%), Oncologists (12.5%), therapists (8.2%) and dosimetrists (4.8%). There are 75 videos to date including English, Portuguese, Mandarin, and Thai. Conclusion: Based on the initial acceptance of the site, we conclude that this open access web-based peer-to-peer tool is fulfilling an important need in radiotherapy training and education. Site functionality should expand in the future to include document sharing and continuing education credits.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Sustained Energy Savings Achieved through Successful Industrial Customer Interaction with Ratepayer Programs: Case Studies

Many states have implemented ratepayer-funded programs to acquire energy efficiency as a predictable and reliable resource for meeting existing and future energy demand. These programs have become a fixture in many U.S. electricity and natural gas markets as they help postpone or eliminate the need for expensive generation and transmission investments. Industrial energy efficiency (IEE) is an energy efficiency resource that is not only a low cost option for many of these efficiency programs, but offers productivity and competitive benefits to manufacturers as it reduces their energy costs. However, some industrial customers are less enthusiastic about participating in these programs. IEE ratepayer programs suffer low participation by industries across many states today despite a continual increase in energy efficiency program spending across all types of customers, and significant energy efficiency funds can often go unused for industrial customers. This paper provides four detailed case studies of companies that benefited from participation in their utility’s energy efficiency program offerings and highlights the business value brought to them by participation in these programs. The paper is designed both for rate-payer efficiency program administrators interested in improving the attractiveness and effectiveness of industrial efficiency programs for their industrial customers and for industrial customers interested in maximizing the value of participating in efficiency programs.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRS1984

Data base management: MSTRAC (keynote paper), part 8

Technical Aspects of MST radars were discussed. The name of the group is MST Radar Coordination (MSTRAC). The geophysical parameters to be included in the sample data tapes were determined. It was suggested that MSTRAC compile a catalog of existing data at each of the facilities. It is found that: (1) there is a community of interested users for MST data; (2) the initial responses from observatories indicates that interest in MSTRAC is not overwhelming, probably because of time involved; and (3) the program needs reassessment.

Avery, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

High rate science data handling on Space Station Freedom

A study by NASA's User Information System Working Group for Space Station Freedom (SSF) has determined that the proposed onboard Data Management System, as initially configured, will be incapable of handling the data-generation rates typical of numerous scientific sensor payloads; many of these generate data at rates in excess of 10 Mbps, and there are at least four cases of rates in excess of 300 Mbps. The SSF Working Group has accordingly suggested an alternative conceptual architecture based on technology expected to achieve space-qualified status by 1995. The architecture encompasses recorders with rapid data-ingest capabilities and massive storage capabilities, optical delay lines allowing the recording of only the phenomena of interest, and data flow-compressing image processors.

Handley, Thomas H., Jr.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Relating Lightning Activity to the Convective Evolution of Pre-Genesis Tropical Disturbances

Lightning and environmental characteristics are analyzed for National Hurricane Center (NHC) invest disturbances. For 2019-2021, Atlantic NHC invest tracks are grouped into disturbances that eventually developed into tropical cyclones (TCs) and ones that did not. Data from the NASA/NOAA Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) is used to quantify potential differences in total optical energy, flash extent density, and flash area between the groups. To provide environmental context to the lightning results, vertical profiles from the NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) dataset will be investigated. Specifically, the profiles will provide insight into the temperature and moisture structure of the invests. In addition to the composite analysis, interesting cases of tropical cyclogenesis will be examined in further detail. Overall, this work seeks to further our understanding of lightning properties and convective environments in tropical cyclogenesis.

Justin W Whitaker↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

US-EUSST SSA Data Exchange for Improved Orbital Safety

Data sharing and exchange among different Space Situational Awareness (SSA) data collectors/providers is frequently discussed as a mechanism to improve the accuracy and precision of orbital safety products. Indeed, at the conceptual level this claim is quite sensible: objects with more tracking, and thus presumably better distribution of that tracking about their orbit, should produce updates with smaller epoch errors and more realistic covariances at epoch, which should then translate into better performance in prediction and thus improved close approach calculations. However, this thesis has not been verified with any large study involving two different data providers, through which the amount of realized improvement can be quantified and, perhaps more importantly, the logistics of effecting observation data sharing in a regularized way can be established and circulated to assist others. To create rubrics for helpful data sharing for conjunction assessment applications, and to collect empirical data on the improvements achieved through sharing of measurement data, the US Office of Space Commerce and the European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking (EUSST) Support Framework have embarked on a joint experiment to collect and exchange satellite metric observations on selected satellites of interest over an experimental period. Each entity will perform orbit determination with their own observations, the other entity’s observations, and with both observation data sets combined. The product results will be compared with each other, showing differences attributable both to the three different data groups and to the two entities’ different approaches to orbit determination. The exemplar satellites include both objects that have external precision reference ephemerides and those that do not, allowing the experiment to exercise both precision-comparison and assimilative-comparison techniques. The present reporting will give preliminary results and a set of lessons learned for data sharing; a second presentation later in 2023 will provide a full accounting of the experiment’s results. The hope is that, through this work, a pathway can be established for the expeditious and fruitful sharing among collection entities, both commercial and governmental.

space situational awareness↗
DOE OSTI2013

Characterizing Walk Trips in communities by Using Data from 2009 National Household Travel Survey, American Community Survey, and Other Sources

Non-motorized travel (i.e. walking and bicycling) are of increasing interest to the transportation profession, especially in context with energy consumption, reducing vehicular congestion, urban development patterns, and promotion of healthier life styles. This research project aimed to identify factors impacting the amount of travel for both walk and bike trips at the Census block group or tract level, using several public and private data sources. The key survey of travel behavior is the 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) which had over 87,000 walk trips for persons 16 and over, and over 6000 bike trips for persons 16 and over. The NHTS, in conjunction with the Census Bureau s American Community Survey, street density measures using Census Bureau TIGER, WalkScore , Nielsen Claritas employment estimates, and several other sources were used for this study. Stepwise Logistic Regression modeling techniques as well as Discriminant Analysis were applied using the integrated data set. While the models performed reasonably well for walk trips, travel by bike was abandoned due to sparseness of data. This paper discusses data sources utilized and modeling processes conducted under this study. It also presents a summary of findings and addresses data challenges and lesson-learned from this research effort.

NHTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Reactive Grinding of Coal Ash For Enhanced Rare Earth Extraction

Monazite and coal ash contain varying trace amounts of Rare Earth Elements (REE). Rare earth elements are considered to be the elements in the lanthanide series. These elements be categorized into two separate groups, light and heavy rare earth groups. Rare Earth Elements play an essential role to society and industry and can be found in a spectrum of applications such as Capacitors, Power Generation, and Catalysts for Petroleum Refining. Due to the abundance of Coal Ash and ongoing production, there is an increasing interest from the scientific community to develop renewable source of energy by extracting rare earth elements from within its contents. Commercial and experimental reactive grinding and leaching procedures have been created to help to maximize the recovery of Rare Earth Elements from Coal Ash.

Keller, Murphy↗
DOE OSTI2016

After School Matters Program at the Hanford Site - 16569

CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M), a prime contractor for environmental remediation at the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site in southeast Washington State, partnered with the nonprofit After School Matters (ASM) organization to provide outreach to local elementary school students in 2013-2014. The program emphasizes building relationships between youths and adults through academic tutoring, homework assistance, mentoring and physical fitness development. The program assists students from families where adults are often unemployed or underemployed. This project not only gives employees an opportunity to mentor and teach local youths, it also helps them prepare the next generation of leaders and experts. A substantial number of employees will be eligible for retirement within the next ten years, and their extensive institutional knowledge will go with them. Visiting schools and sharing this knowledge and experience gives students insights into career opportunities they might not otherwise consider. This program proved so successful, another Hanford Contractor involved their workers, expanding the program to a second elementary school. Also, the program caught the eye of a nonprofit organization, 21. Century After-School Program, who invited the team to expand to a third elementary school. The ASM program at the Hanford Site: (1) targets an often overlooked group of students and provides an opportunity to mentor and teach the future generation; (2) positively impacts the students, volunteers and community; (3) has expanded its reach to other contractors and schools. Lessons learned from this community education program provide valuable context for other organizations interested in similar outreach efforts. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2017

Overview and status of domestic and international standards for nuclear criticality safety

For many years, the domestic and international consensus standards for nuclear criticality safety (NCS) have provided guidance for those performing hands-on operations involving fissionable materials. These consensus standards have been crucial to reducing the number of criticality accidents in process facilities. The last known criticality accident inside the United States was in 1978 (39 years ago at this writing) at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant, and outside the United States, an accident occurred at Tokai-Mura, Japan, in 1999 (18 years ago at this writing). The domestic consensus standards for NCS include the American Nuclear Society (ANS) standards. The ANS Standards Board, the NCS Consensus Committee, and the ANS-8 Subcommittee oversee the development and maintenance of these standards. There are currently eighteen standards in revision (seven) or maintenance (eleven) cycles, and one standard is currently in development. The international consensus standards for NCS calculations, procedures, and practices are maintained and developed within the International Organization for Standardization, Technical Committee 85 on Nuclear Energy, Subcommittee 5 on Nuclear Fuel Technology, and Working Group 8, Nuclear Criticality Safety. Seven standards are currently available, one standard is in revision, and four standards are at various stages of development. This paper provides the NCS community with an overview and status report of domestic and international NCS consensus standards to stimulate interest and to support their continued development. (author)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Nanospheres of a New Intermetalic FeSn5 Phase: Synthesis Magnetic Properties and Anode Performance in Li-ion Batteries

We synthesized monodisperse nanospheres of an intermetallic FeSn{sub 5} phase via a nanocrystal-conversion protocol using preformed Sn nanospheres as templates. This tetragonal phase in P4/mcc space group, along with the defect structure Fe{sub 0.74}Sn{sub 5} of our nanospheres, has been resolved by synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Rietveld refinement. Importantly, FeSn{sub 5}, which is not yet established in the Fe-Sn phase diagram, exhibits a quasi-one dimensional crystal structure along the c-axis, thus leading to interesting anisotropic thermal expansion and magnetic properties. Magnetization measurements indicate that nanospheres are superparamagnetic above the blocking temperature T{sub B} = 300 K, which is associated with the higher magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant K = 3.33 kJ m{sup -3}. The combination of the magnetization measurements and first-principles density functional theory calculations reveals the canted antiferromagnetic nature with significant spin fluctuation in lattice a-b plane. The low Fe concentration also leads Fe{sub 0.74}Sn{sub 5} to enhanced capacity as an anode in Li ion batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Second-order renormalized Hamiltonian of Yukawa theory

Using the renormalization group procedure for effective particles we calculate the effective Hamiltonians in the theory of a fermion field coupled to a scalar field via the Yukawa interaction. The theory is renormalized by the addition of counterterms. Necessary counterterms are determined by computing matrix elements of the effective Hamiltonian. All calculations are performed up to the second order in the expansion in powers of the coupling constant. Renormalized effective Hamiltonians are well-defined symmetric forms acting in the Fock space as opposed to the renormalized bare Hamiltonian, which is not well defined without regularization. We introduce computational techniques that should streamline higher-order calculations and may be of independent interest.

Ab initio calculations↗
NASA NTRS1991

Naming the newly found landforms on Venus

The mapping of Venus is unique in the history of cartigraphy; never has so much territory been discovered and mapped in so short a period of time. Therefore, in the interest of international scientific communication, there is a unique urgency to the development of a system of names for surface features on Venus. The process began with the naming of features seen on radar images taken from Earth and continued through mapping expeditions of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. However, the Magellan Mission resolves features twenty-five times smaller than those mapped previously, and its radar data will cover an area nearly equivalent to that of the continents and the sea-floors of the Earth combined. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) was charged with the formal endorsement of names of features on the planets. Proposed names are collected, approved, and applied through the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) and its task groups, prior to IAU approval by the IAU General Assembly. Names approved by the WGPSN and its task groups, prior to final approval may be used on published maps and articles, provided that their provisional nature is stipulated. The IAU has established themes for the names to be used on each of the planets; names of historical and mythological women are used on Venus. Names of political entities and those identified with active religions are not acceptable, and a person must have been deceased for three years or more to be considered. Any interested person may propose a name for consideration by the IAU.

Batson, R. M.↗