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At least 1,477 records · Page 82

Experiments on identification and control of inflow disturbances in contracting streams

Vorticity from all surfaces and isolated objects in the vicinity of the fan intake, including the outside surfaces of the fan housing, were identified as the major sources for disturbances leading to blade passing frequency noise. The previously proposed mechanism based on atmospheric turbulence is refuted. Flow visualization and hot wire techniques were used in three different facilities to document the evolution of various types of disturbances, including the details of the mean flow and turbulence characteristics. The results suggest that special attention must be devoted to the design of the inlet and that geometric modeling may not lead to adequate simulation of the in flight characteristics. While honeycomb type flow manipulators appear to be effective in reducing some of the disturbances, higher pressure drop devices that generate adequate turbulence, for mixing of isolated nonuniformities, may be necessary to suppress the remaining disturbances. The results are also applicable to the design of inlets of open return wind tunnels and similar flow facilities.

Lee, A. H.↗

Identification of the Periodic Hard X-Ray Transient GRO J1849-03 with the X-Ray Pulsar GS 1843-02 = X1845-024: A New Be/X-Ray Binary

We identify the periodic transient hard X-ray source GRO J1849-03 with the transient x-ray pulsar GS 1843-02 = X1845-024 based on the detection of x-ray outbursts from X1845-024 coincident with hard x-ray outbursts of GRO J1849-03. Based on its spin period of 94.8 s and its orbital period of 241 days, we classify the system as a Be/X-ray binary.

Soffitta, P.↗

Switch Using Radio Frequency Identification

Disclosed is an apparatus for use as a switch. In one embodiment, the switch comprises at least one RFID tag, each RFID tag comprising an antenna element and an RFID integrated circuit, at least one source element, and at least one lever arm. Each lever arm is connected to one of the RFID tags, and each lever arm is capable of two positions. One of the positions places the lever arm and the RFID tag connected thereto into alignment with the source element. Other embodiments are also described.

Fink, Patrick W.↗

Sensitivity Analysis of Geometric Imperfection Sources in Honeycomb Cores on Flatwise Compression Behavior

Manufacturing aluminum honeycomb core material using the expansion process can lead to geometric imperfections in the cellular core structures. These imperfections arise due to irregularities introduced in the initial foil bonding, variations in foil thickness, and residual stresses from manufacturing processes. Such geometric imperfections include cell shape distortions, cell wall waviness, non-uniform cell wall thickness, and variability in the shape and height of the adhesive fillet. Imperfections in the cell walls negatively affect the transverse compression and shear strength, while also reducing the resistance to damage under impact loads. Previous work presented the identification and quantification of these manufactured imperfections using high resolution X-ray computed tomography (CT) scans of honeycomb cores in co-cured composite sandwich panels. The present paper presents a sensitivity analysis of individual components of the sources of geometric imperfections on the flatwise compression of aluminum honeycomb cores. The initial geometric imperfections in honeycomb cells are decomposed into three components, namely cell shape (cell edge length and cell internal angles) in-plane cell wall waviness, and out-of-plane waviness along the core thickness. A sensitivity analysis is conducted using finite element (FE) models of the decomposed imperfections to understand how each component affects compression failure.

aluminum honycomb↗

Occurrence characteristics of VLF bursts in the nightside ionosphere of Venus

Many of the impulsive VLF signals observed by the Pioneer Venus orbiter electric field detector (OEFD) in the nightside ionosphere have been interpreted as arising from lightning in the Venus atmosphere. In order to determine the characteristics of the source, and to compare with terrestrial lightning, the normalized occurrence rate for individual bursts at Venus are determined, as opposed to previous studies of activity in 30-s intervals. Burst identification criteria are determined which take into account the decay constant of the instrument to calculate the burst rate. Under the assumption that all OEFD observations in the nightside ionosphere are due to impulsive signals, it is found that the 100-Hz channel has the highest burst rate, about 0.20/s in the altitude range 150-180 km and in the postmidnight local time sector. The burst occurrence rates for all four frequency channels decrease with increasing altitude. Burst rates at frequencies above 100 Hz are greater in the premidnight hours while 100-Hz signals peak after midnight; however, these burst rates vary from orbit to orbit. The 100-Hz low-frequency burst rate has a stronger dependence on the magnetic field strength than the higher-frequency rates. Most 100-Hz bursts are closely spaced and occur independently of signals at higher frequencies. These dependences suggest that the low- and high-frequency signals have different propagation mechanisms. The properties of the bursts are generally consistent with a lightning source, and the planet-wide burst rate at Venus may be comparable to or larger than the terrestrial lightning rate.

Ho, C.-M.↗

Detection of very-high-energy gamma-ray transients with monitoring facilities

ABSTRACT The observation of very-high-energy γ-rays (VHE γ-rays, $E \gt 100\,$ GeV) has ledto the identification of extremely energetic processes and particle-acceleration sites both within our Galaxy and beyond. It is expected that VHE facilities, such as the Cherenkov Telescope Array, will explore these sources with an unprecedented level of detail. However, the transient and unpredictable nature of many important processes means that their observation requires the development of proper monitoring strategies. In this study, we estimate the properties of VHE transients that can be effectively detected by monitoring facilities. We use data collected by the Fermi-LAT instrument during its monitoring campaign to select events that are probably associated with VHE emission. We use this sample to estimate the frequency, the luminosity and the time-scales of various transients, focusing on blazar flares and gamma-ray bursts. We discuss how the balance between the field of view, sensitivity and duty cycle of an observatory affects the likelihood of detecting transients that occur at the inferred rates, and we conclude by describing the contribution that current and near-future monitoring facilities can make to the identification and study of VHE transient emission.

La Mura, G.↗

The Strontium Filament within the Homunculus of Eta Carinae

During a series of HST/STIS observations of Eta Carinae and associated ejecta, we noticed a peculiar emission filament located a few arcseconds north of the central source. While bright in nebular standards, it is submerged in a sea of scattered starlight until moderately high dispersion, long-slit spectroscopy with the STIS (R- 8000) brings the emission lines out. The initial spectrum, centered on 6768A with the STIS G750M grating, led to identification of twenty lines from singly-Ionized species including [Sr II], [Fe II], [Ti II], [Ni II], [Mn II], and [Co II] (Zethson, etal., 2001, AJ 122,322). No Balmer emission is detected from this filament and the Fe II 2507,9 lines, known to be pumped by Lyman alpha radiation in other regions near the central source, are not detected. Followup observations have led to detection of hundreds more emission lines from iron group elements in neutral and singly-ionized states. Thus far all are excited by less than 10 eV. This peculiar nebular emission is thought to be due to very intense stellar radiation, stripped of uv flux shortward of Lyman alpha, bathing a neutral structure. We are systematically identifying the many lines (over 90% identified) and measuring line intensities that will then be modeled to determine excitation mechanisms, temperature and density. Two [Sr II] and two Sr II lines have now been measured. Bautista, etal. (in preparation) have modeled the strontium flux ratios and find that large radiation fluxes and/or high strontium abundances may account for the detected emission. These observations were supported by STIS GTO funding and GO funding through the STScI

Gull, Theodore R.↗

On the Nature of the mHz X-Ray QPOs from ULX M82 X-1: Evidence for Timing-Spectral (anti) Correlation

Using all the archival XMM-Newton X-ray (3-10 keV) observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) M82 X-1 we searched for a correlation between its variable mHz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) frequency and its energy spectral power-law index. These quantities are known to correlate in stellar mass black holes (StMBHs) exhibiting Type-C QPOs (approx 0.2-15 Hz). The detection of such a correlation would strengthen the identification of its mHz QPOs as Type-C and enable a more reliable mass estimate by scaling its QPO frequencies to those of Type-C QPOs in StMBHs of known mass. We resolved the count rates of M82 X-1 and a nearby bright ULX (source 5/X42.3+59) through surface brightness modeling and identify observations in which M82 X-1 was at least as bright as source 5. Using only those observations, we detect QPOs in the frequency range of 36-210 mHz during which the energy spectral power-law index varied from 1.7-2.2. Interestingly, we find evidence for an anti-correlation (Pearsons correlation coefficient = -0.95) between the power-law index and the QPO centroid frequency. While such an anti-correlation is observed in StMBHs at high Type-C QPO frequencies (approx 5-15 Hz), the frequency range over which it holds in StMBHs is significantly smaller (factor of approx 1.5-3) than the QPO range reported here from M82 X-1 (factor of 6). However, it remains possible that contamination from source 5 can bias our result. Joint Chandra/XMM-Newton observations in the future can resolve this problem and confirm the timing-spectral anti-correlation reported here.

Pasham, Dheeraj R.↗

Low Energy Neutron-induced Charged-particle (Z) (LENZ) instrument development with a focus on pulse shape discrimination for low-energy charged particles

To study neutron-induced charged-particle reactions with high precision, the Low Energy Neutron-induced Charged-particle (Z) instrument (LENZ) was developed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. For the interest of measuring (n,p) and (n, α) reactions simultaneously, Pulse Shape Discrimination methods were investigated to identify different charged particles in the energy range of 3 - 20 MeV and improve signal-to-background ratios using Double-sided Silicon Strip Detectors and waveform digitizers. The risetime and pulse shape properties of detected charged particles were characterized for various silicon detector’s thickness with different orientations. During the post-processing of waveforms, we implemented different digital filters for effective particle identifications and improved energy- and timing- resolutions. We validated the optimized digital filters and pulse shape analyses, via measurements with 228 Th and 229 Th calibration sources, proton-induced reactions on a 7 LiF target, and neutron-induced reactions on CH 2 , Ta 2 O 5 , 58 Ni, and 6 LiF/ 59 Ni targets at the time-of-flight facility, LANSCE. In conclusion, the summary of effective thresholds and Figure of Merits on separating different charged particles is reported.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Towards bulk syntheses of nanomaterials: a homeostatically supersaturated synthesis of polymer-like Bi 2 S 3 nanowires with nearly 100% yield and no injection

This article reports the implementation of a one-pot strategy for the synthesis of polymer-like Bi 2 S 3 nanowires from supersaturated precursors. These conditions result in (i) a homeostatically regulated supersaturation of the growing phase during most of the reaction, (ii) a nearly 100% conversion of the limiting reagent, and (iii) an improved colloidal stability and polydispersity of the product (when compared to the hot-injection product) that allows the identification of three new exciton transitions in the absorption spectrum (one of them, importantly, being a weakly absorbing ground state at 1.64 eV). Three different commercial sources of ligands do not yield significantly different conversion rates. Scalability is further improved by lack of stirring after the initial stage of reaction and a lower reaction temperature (90 °C).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Robust identification of multiple-input single-output system response for efficient pickup noise removal from tokamak diagnostics

We report electromagnetic pickup noise in the tokamak environment imposes an imminent challenge for measuring weak diagnostic photocurrents in the nA range. The diagnostic signal can be contaminated by an unknown mixture of crosstalk signals from coils powered by currents in the kA range. To address this issue, an algorithm for robust identification of linear multi-input single-output (MISO) systems has been developed. The MISO model describes the dynamic relationship between measured signals from power sources and observed signals in the diagnostic and allows for a precise subtraction of the noise component. The proposed method was tested on experimental diagnostic data from the DIII-D tokamak, and it has reduced noise by up to 20 dB in the 1–20 kHz range.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Clocking out and letting go to unleash green biotech applications in a photosynthetic host

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic bacteria whose gene expression patterns are globally regulated by their circadian (daily) clocks. Due to their ability to use sunlight as their energy source, they are also attractive hosts for “green” production of pharmaceuticals, renewable fuels, and chemicals. However, despite the application of traditional genetic tools such as the identification of strong promoters to enhance the expression of heterologous genes, cyanobacteria have lagged behind other microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and yeast as economically efficient cell factories. The previous approaches have ignored large-scale constraints within cyanobacterial metabolic networks on transcription, predominantly the pervasive control of gene expression by the circadian (daily) clock. Here, we show that reprogramming gene expression by releasing circadian repressor elements in the transcriptional regulatory pathways coupled with inactivation of the central oscillating mechanism enables a dramatic enhancement of expression in cyanobacteria of heterologous genes encoding both catalytically active enzymes and polypeptides of biomedical significance.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗

Identifications of RR Lyrae Stars and Quasars from the Simulated Data of Mephisto-W Survey

We have investigated the feasibilities and accuracies of the identifications of RR Lyrae stars and quasars from the simulated data of the Multi-channel Photometric Survey Telescope (Mephisto) W Survey. Based on the variable sources light curve libraries from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 data and the observation history simulation from the Mephisto-W Survey Scheduler, we have simulated the uvgriz multi-band light curves of RR Lyrae stars, quasars and other variable sources for the first-year observation of Mephisto W Survey. We have applied the ensemble machine learning algorithm Random Forest Classifier (RFC) to identify RR Lyrae stars and quasars, respectively. We build training and test samples and extract ~150 features from the simulated light curves and train two RFCs respectively for the RR Lyrae star and quasar classification. We find that, our RFCs are able to select the RR Lyrae stars and quasars with remarkably high precision and completeness, with purity = 95.4% and completeness = 96.9% for the RR Lyrae RFC and purity = 91.4% and completeness = 90.2% for the quasar RFC. In conclusion, we have also derived relative importances of the extracted features utilized to classify RR Lyrae stars and quasars.

(galaxies:) quasars: general↗

Non-Stationary Power System Forced Oscillation Analysis using Synchrosqueezing Transform

Non-stationary forced oscillations (FOs) have been observed in power system operations. However, most detection methods assume that the frequency of FOs is stationary. In this paper, we present a methodology for the analysis of nonstationary FOs. Firstly, Fourier synchrosqueezing transform (FSST) is used to provide a concentrated time-frequency representation of the signals that allows identification and retrieval of non-stationary signal components. To continue, the Dissipating Energy Flow (DEF) method is applied to the extracted components to locate the source of forced oscillations. The methodology is tested using simulated as well as real PMU data. In conclusion, the results show that the proposed FSST-based signal decomposition provides a systematic framework for the application of DEF Method to non-stationary FOs.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Power System Recovery from Momentary Cessation with Transient Stability Improvement

Power system dynamics will be significantly changed by integrating wind farms and solar photovoltaic plants into power systems. This study investigates the effect of momentary cessation of inverter-based resources (IBRs) on transient stability and provides a recovery strategy for bulk IBRs in power systems. The theoretical analysis was initially carried out on a one-machine infinite-bus system, demonstrating the IBR impact in a critical group. The analysis was then expanded to a multimachine power system with IBRs using the single-machine equivalent method. The study found that IBRs in critical and noncritical groups exert contrasting effects on transient stability. Finally, a strategy for enhancing transient stability is proposed by controlling IBRs during power system recovery. The proposed strategy was verified by simulation on IEEE 9-bus and IEEE 39-bus power systems with the addition of IBRs. A 39-bus power system simulation demonstrates the scalability of the proposed method. Here, the proposed strategy provides effective and executable measures for improving system security in the presence of IBRs.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Impact of Monoenergetic Photon Sources on Nonproliferation Applications Final Report

Near-monoenergetic photon sources (MPSs) have the potential to improve sensitivity at greatly reduced dose in existing applications and enable new capabilities in other applications, particularly where passive signatures do not penetrate or are insufficiently accurate. MPS advantages include the ability to select energy, energy spread, flux, and pulse structures to deliver only the photons needed for the application, while suppressing extraneous dose and background. Some MPSs also offer narrow angular divergence photon beams which can target dose and/or mitigate scattering contributions to image contrast degradation. Current bremsstrahlung photon sources (e.g., linacs and betatrons) produce photons over a broad range of energies, thus delivering unnecessary dose that in some cases also interferes with the signature to be detected and/or restricts operations. Current sources must be collimated (reducing flux) to generate narrow divergence beams. While MPSs can in principle resolve these issues, they remain at relatively low TRL status. Candidate MPS technologies for nonproliferation applications are now being developed, each of which has different properties (e.g. broad vs. narrow angular divergence). Within each technology, source parameters trade off against one another (e.g. flux vs. energy spread), representing a large operation space. This report describes a broad survey of potential applications, identification of high priority applications, and detailed simulations addressing those priority applications. Requirements were derived for each application, and analysis and simulations were conducted to define MPS parameters that deliver benefit. The results can inform targeting of MPS development to deliver strong impact relative to current systems.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

The Stellar Content of H72.97-69.39, a Potential Super Star Cluster in the Making

Young massive clusters and super star clusters (SSCs) represent an extreme mode of star formation. Far-infrared imaging of the Magellanic Clouds has identified one potential embedded SSC, HSO BMHERICC J72.971176-69.391112 (H72.97-69.39 in short), in the southwest outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud. We present Gemini Flamingos 2 and GSAOI near-infrared imaging of a 3′ × 3′ region around H72.97-69.39 in order to characterize the stellar content of the cluster. The stellar content is probed down to 1.5 M {sub ⊙}. We find substantial dust extinction across the cluster region, extending up to A {sub K} of 3. Deeply embedded stars are associated with ALMA-detected molecular gas suggesting that star formation is ongoing. The high spatial resolution of the GSAOI data allows identification of the central massive object associated with the {sup 13}CO ALMA observations and detection of fainter low-mass stars around the H30α ALMA source. The morphology of the molecular gas and the nebulosity from adjacent star formation suggest they have interacted covering a region of several parsecs. The total stellar content in the cluster is estimated from the intermediate- and high-mass stellar content to be at least 10,000 M {sub ⊙}, less than R136 with up to 100,000 M {sub ⊙} within 4.7 pc radius, but places it in the regime of an SSC. Based on the extinction determination of individual stars we estimate a molecular gas mass in the vicinity of H72.97-69.39 of 6600 M {sub ⊙}, suggesting more star formation can be expected.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Electromagnetic Signals Following Stellar-mass Black Hole Mergers

It is often assumed that gravitational-wave (GW) events resulting from the merger of stellar-mass black holes are unlikely to produce electromagnetic (EM) counterparts. We point out that the progenitor binary has probably shed a mass ≳10 M {sub ⊙} during its prior evolution. If even a tiny fraction of this gas is retained in a circumbinary disk, the sudden mass loss and recoil of the merged black hole shocks and heats it within hours of the GW event. Whether the resulting EM signal is detectable is uncertain. The optical depth through the disk is likely to be high enough that the prompt emission consists only of photons from its optically thin skin, while the majority may take years to emerge. However, if some mechanism can release more photons in a time comparable to the few-hour energy production time, the peak luminosity of the EM signal could be detectable. For a disk retaining only ∼10{sup −3} of the mass shed in the earlier binary evolution, medium-energy X-rays to infrared emission would be observable hours after the GW event for source distances of ∼500 Mpc. Events like this may already have been observed, but ascribed to unidentified active galactic nuclei. Improved sky localization should eventually allow identification based on spatial coincidence. A detection would provide unique constraints on formation scenarios and potentially offer tests of strong-field general relativity. Accordingly, we argue that the high scientific payoff of an EM detection fully justifies search campaigns.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗