Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “differentiable programming”

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 1,603 records · Page 89

Plant Water Profiler: A Tool for Understanding Water Use, Cost and Savings Potential for Manufacturing Plants

In the 1746 Poor Richard’s Almanack, Benjamin Franklin published “When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water” (Franklin, 1746); industrial water users have begun to see the truth in these words as they examine the potential and reality of water scarcity becoming a significant business risk. Through the authors’ interactions with manufacturers via the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Plants program and Strategic Analysis projects, they realized that manufacturing facilities often do not fully understand the risks to the water supply and the consequential risks to their business. The authors’ also noticed that many facilities do not know how their water is used (baselining), how they compare with their peers (benchmarking), the actual cost impacts of water use (true cost of water), and potential areas for water savings. This results in a lack of motivation and ability to identify and implement effective water-efficiency measures.The Plant Water Profiler Tool (PWP) was created to help manufacturing plant management address these issues by identifying and accounting for water use in manufacturing operations, helping determine the true cost of water, and providing some high-level estimates for peer comparison. The PWP uses a water mass balance and common engineering equations to estimate water use by each of the facility’s systems (e.g., differentiating process water use from cooling and restroom water use), even when no submetering data is available. This new tool also helps users identify possible areas for water savings and associated water and energy cost savings, making it a potentially useful resource for corporations conducting water assessments. Additionally, governments and private organizations can use the methodology behind this tool to design a survey to help build a database of industrial water use. This paper and corresponding presentation provide an overview of current industrial water use practices and tools, as well as the value of determining the true cost of water. It also briefly describes the methodology behind the tool, then focuses on its functionality through an industrial case study and lessons learned from implementing the case study.

Armstrong, Kristina O.↗

Rate of production, dissolution and accumulation of biogenic solids in the ocean

The equatorial current system, by its response to global circulation changes, provides a unique recording mechanism for long range climatic oscillations. A permanent record of the changes in rate of upwelling and organic production is generated in the equatorial deep sea sediments, particularly by such biogenic components which are unaffected by secondary dissolution. In order to determine the rates of accumulation of various sedimentary components, a reliable differential measurement of age of the strata must be obtained. Various approaches to this problem are reviewed, and sources of error discussed. Secondary dissolution of calcium carbonate introduces a substantial and variable difference between the dissolution-modified, and hence a priori unknown, rate of deposition on one hand and the rate of accumulation, derivable from the observed concentration, on the other. The cause and magnitude of these variations are of importance, particularly since some current dating schemes are based on assumed constancy in the rate of accumulation of this and, in some cases, also all other sedimentary components. The concepts used in rate evaluation are discussed with emphasis on the difference between the state of dissolution, an observable property of the sediment, and the rate of dissolution, a parameter that requires deduction of the carbonate fraction dissolved, and of the time differential. As a most likely cause of the enhanced state of dissolution of the interglacial carbonate sediments is proposed the lowered rates of biogenic production and deposition, which cause longer exposure of the carbonate microfossils to corrosion in the bioturbated surface layer of the sediment. Historical perspective is included in the discussion in view of the dedication of the Symposium to Hans Pettersson, the leader of the Swedish Deep Sea Expedition 1947-1948, an undertaking that opened a new era in deep sea research and planetary dynamics.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗

Arabidopsis ribosomal proteins control vacuole trafficking and developmental programs through the regulation of lipid metabolism

The vacuole is the most prominent compartment in plant cells and is important for ion and protein storage. In our effort to search for key regulators in the plant vacuole sorting pathway, ribosomal large subunit 4 (rpl4d) was identified as a translational mutant defective in both vacuole trafficking and normal development. Polysome profiling of the rpl4d mutant showed reduction in polysome-bound mRNA compared with wild-type, but no significant change in the general mRNA distribution pattern. Ribsomal profiling data indicated that genes in the lipid metabolism pathways were translationally down-regulated in the rpl4d mutant. Live imaging studies by Nile red staining suggested that both polar and nonpolar lipid accumulation was reduced in meristem tissues of rpl4d mutants. Pharmacological evidence showed that sterol and sphingolipid biosynthetic inhibitors can phenocopy the defects of the rpl4d mutant, including an altered vacuole trafficking pattern. Genetic evidence from lipid biosynthetic mutants indicates that alteration in the metabolism of either sterol or sphingolipid biosynthesis resulted in vacuole trafficking defects, similar to the rpl4d mutant. Tissue-specific complementation with key enzymes from lipid biosynthesis pathways can partially rescue both vacuole trafficking and auxin-related developmental defects in the rpl4d mutant. These results indicate that lipid metabolism modulates auxin-mediated tissue differentiation and endomembrane trafficking pathways downstream of ribosomal protein function.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Compiler generation and autotuning of communication-avoiding operators for geometric multigrid

This paper describes a compiler approach to introducing communication-avoiding optimizations in geometric multigrid (GMG), one of the most popular methods for solving partial differential equations. Communication-avoiding optimizations reduce vertical communication through the memory hierarchy and horizontal communication across processes or threads, usually at the expense of introducing redundant computation. We focus on applying these optimizations to the smooth operator, which successively reduces the error and accounts for the largest fraction of the GMG execution time. Our compiler technology applies both novel and known transformations to derive an implementation comparable to manually-tuned code. To make the approach portable, an underlying autotuning system explores the tradeoff between reduced communication and increased computation, as well as tradeoffs in threading schemes, to automatically identify the best implementation for a particular architecture and at each computation phase. Results show that we are able to quadruple the performance of the smooth operation on the finest grids while attaining performance within 94% of manually-tuned code. Overall we improve the overall multigrid solve time by 2.5× without sacrificing programer productivity.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

High Performance Thermal Switch for Lunar and Planetary Surface Extreme Environments

This paper describes a high performance thermal switch for lunar/planetary extreme environments. This device has been given the name Reverse-Operation DTE Thermal Switch (or ROD-TSW). Two different prototypes were designed, built, and tested. Their basis of operation is the mating/de-mating of parallel flat metal surfaces driven by the differential thermal expansion (DTE) between mid-to-high CTE metal/polymer or metal-only end-pieces and a low CTE, low thermal conductivity (k) metal/polymer support rod. The requirements were to be fully ON above 300 K and fully OFF below 260 K. A series of four tests were carried out to verify/qualify the prototypes. In the first (non-vacuum) test, the thermal switches were cooled with freeze-spray and the non-conductive rod in the OFF thermal path allowed electrical resistance to confirm the 273 K as-designed ON/OFF actuation temperature. In the second (vacuum) test, a calibrated Q-meter was used, which indicated 5 W/K ON, 0.002 W/K OFF conductance (2500:1 ON/OFF ratio). To increase readiness to TRL6, a vibration test with pre/post thermal cycling followed by a 36-day test in a relevant environment were also carried out. This paper describes the development program and on-going related work at JPL.

Bugby, David C↗

High Performance Thermal Switch for Lunar and Planetary Surface Extreme Environments

This paper describes a high performance thermal switch for lunar/planetary extreme environments. This device has been given the name Reverse-Operation DTE Thermal Switch (or ROD-TSW). Two different prototypes were designed, built, and tested. Their basis of operation is the mating/de-mating of parallel flat metal surfaces driven by the differential thermal expansion (DTE) between mid-to-high CTE metal/polymer or metal-only end-pieces and a low CTE, low thermal conductivity (k) metal/polymer support rod. The requirements were to be fully ON above 300 K and fully OFF below 260 K. A series of four tests were carried out to verify/qualify the prototypes. In the first (non-vacuum) test, the thermal switches were cooled with freeze-spray and the non-conductive rod in the OFF thermal path allowed electrical resistance to confirm the 273 K as-designed ON/OFF actuation temperature. In the second (vacuum) test, a calibrated Q-meter was used, which indicated 5 W/K ON, 0.002 W/K OFF conductance (2500:1 ON/OFF ratio). To increase readiness to TRL6, a vibration test with pre/post thermal cycling followed by a 36-day test in a relevant environment were also carried out. This paper describes the development program and on-going related work at JPL.

Bugby, David C.↗

NASA Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research: South Carolina

The use of an appropriate relationship model is critical for reliable prediction of future urban growth. Identification of proper variables and mathematic functions and determination of the weights or coefficients are the key tasks for building such a model. Although the conventional logistic regression model is appropriate for handing land use problems, it appears insufficient to address the issue of interdependency of the predictor variables. This study used an alternative approach to simulation and modeling urban growth using artificial neural networks. It developed an operational neural network model trained using a robust backpropagation method. The model was applied in the Myrtle Beach region of South Carolina, and tested with both global datasets and areal datasets to examine the strength of both regional models and areal models. The results indicate that the neural network model not only has many theoretic advantages over other conventional mathematic models in representing the complex urban systems, but also is practically superior to the logistic model in its capability to predict urban growth with better - accuracy and less variation. The neural network model is particularly effective in terms of successfully identifying urban patterns in the rural areas where the logistic model often falls short. It was also found from the area-based tests that there are significant intra-regional differentiations in urban growth with different rules and rates. This suggests that the global modeling approach, or one model for the entire region, may not be adequate for simulation of a urban growth at the regional scale. Future research should develop methods for identification and subdivision of these areas and use a set of area-based models to address the issues of multi-centered, intra- regionally differentiated urban growth.

Sutton, Michael A.↗

Butylated hydroxyanisole induces distinct expression patterns of Nrf2 and detoxification enzymes in the liver and small intestine of C57BL/6 mice

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) is widely used as an antioxidant and preservative in food, food packaging and medicines. Its chemopreventive properties are attributing to its ability to activate the transcription factor NF-E2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2), which directs central genetic programs of detoxification and protection against oxidative stress. This study was to investigate the histological changes of Nrf2 and its regulated phase II enzymes Nqo1, AKR1B8, and Ho-1 in wild-type (WT) and Nrf2{sup −/−} mice induced by BHA. The mice were given a 200 mg/kg oral dose of BHA daily for three days. Immunohistochemistry revealed that, in the liver from WT mice, BHA increased Nqo1 staining in hepatocytes, predominately in the pericentral region. In contrast, the induction of AKR1B8 appeared mostly in hepatocytes in the periportal region. The basal and inducible Ho-1 was located almost exclusively in Kupffer cells. In the small intestine from WT mice, the inducible expression patterns of Nqo1 and AKR1B8 were nearly identical to that of Nrf2, with more intense staining in the villus than that the crypt. Conversely, Keap1 was more highly expressed in the crypt, where the proliferative cells reside. Our study demonstrates that BHA elicited differential expression patterns of phase II-detoxifying enzymes in the liver and small intestine from WT but not Nrf2{sup −/−} mice, demonstrating a cell type specific response to BHA in vivo. - Highlights: • Histological view of basal and inducible Nrf2 and its targets in vivo • Induction of detoxification enzymes by BHA is cell-type dependent. • BHA induces the expression of HO-1 in Kupffer cells.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Fundamental Properties of Salts

Thermal properties of molten salt systems are of interest to electrorefining operations, pertaining to both the Fuel Cycle Research & Development Program (FCR&D) and Spent Fuel Treatment Mission, currently being pursued by the Department of Energy (DOE). The phase stability of molten salts in an electrorefiner may be adversely impacted by the build-up of fission products in the electrolyte. Potential situations that need to be avoided, during electrorefining operations, include (i) fissile elements build up in the salt that might approach the criticality limits specified for the vessel, (ii) electrolyte freezing at the operating temperature of the electrorefiner due to changes in the liquidus temperature, and (iii) phase separation (non-homogenous solution). The stability (and homogeneity) of the phases can be monitored by studying the thermal characteristics of the molten salts as a function of impurity concentration. Simulated salt compositions consisting of the selected rare earth and alkaline earth chlorides, with a eutectic mixture of LiCl-KCl as the carrier electrolyte, were studied to determine the melting points (thermal characteristics) using a Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC). The experimental data were used to model the liquidus temperature. On the basis of the this data, it became possible to predict a spent fuel treatment processing scenario under which electrorefining could no longer be performed as a result of increasing liquidus temperatures of the electrolyte.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Status Report and Research Plan for Cables Harvested from Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant

Harvested cables from operating or decommissioned nuclear power plants present an important opportunity to validate models, understanding material aging behavior, and validate characterization techniques. Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant is a pressurized water reactor that was licensed to operate from 1976 to 2013. Cable segments were harvested and made available to the Light Water Reactor Sustainability research program through the Electric Power Research Institute. Information on the locations and circuits within the reactor from whence the cable segments came, cable construction, sourcing and installation information, and photographs of the cable locations prior to harvesting were provided. The cable variations provided represent six of the ten most common cable insulations in the nuclear industry and experienced service usage for periods from 15 to 42 years. Subsequently, these cables constitute a valuable asset for research to understand aging behavior and measurement of nuclear cables. Received cables harvested from Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant consist of low voltage, insulated conductor surrounded by jackets in lengths from 24 to 100 feet each. Cable materials will primarily be used to investigate aging under simultaneous thermal and gamma radiation exposure. Each cable insulation and jacket material will be characterized in its as-received condition, including determination of the temperatures associated with endothermic transitions in the material using differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis. Temperatures for additional thermal exposure aging will be selected following the thermal analysis to avoid transitions in accelerated laboratory aging that do not occur in field conditions. Aging temperatures above thermal transitions may also be targeted to investigate the potential for artifacts in lifetime prediction from rapid accelerated aging. Total gamma doses and dose rates targeted for each material will be determined based on filling gaps in prior work, known limits of material classes and resource constraints. Experimental plans will be developed in the context of existing data for the insulation and jacket materials available in published Department of Energy and Electric Power Research Institute reports toward addressing identified knowledge gaps.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

A Parallel Compact Multi-Dimensional Numerical Algorithm with Aeroacoustics Applications

In this study we propose a novel method to parallelize high-order compact numerical algorithms for the solution of three-dimensional PDEs (Partial Differential Equations) in a space-time domain. For this numerical integration most of the computer time is spent in computation of spatial derivatives at each stage of the Runge-Kutta temporal update. The most efficient direct method to compute spatial derivatives on a serial computer is a version of Gaussian elimination for narrow linear banded systems known as the Thomas algorithm. In a straightforward pipelined implementation of the Thomas algorithm processors are idle due to the forward and backward recurrences of the Thomas algorithm. To utilize processors during this time, we propose to use them for either non-local data independent computations, solving lines in the next spatial direction, or local data-dependent computations by the Runge-Kutta method. To achieve this goal, control of processor communication and computations by a static schedule is adopted. Thus, our parallel code is driven by a communication and computation schedule instead of the usual "creative, programming" approach. The obtained parallelization speed-up of the novel algorithm is about twice as much as that for the standard pipelined algorithm and close to that for the explicit DRP algorithm.

Povitsky, Alex↗

Ask-The-Expert: Minimizing Human Review for Big Data Analytics Through Active Learning

In this CIF project, we worked toward semi-automating knowledge discovery from anomaly detection algorithms through the use of active learning. Active learning is an area of research within machine learning that uses an "expert in the loop" to learn from large data sets that have very few annotations or labels available, and where providing such labels is expensive. In our case, the task can be defined as the identification of safety events from flight operational data. Since traditional anomaly detection algorithms cannot differentiate between operationally relevant and irrelevant statistical anomalies, Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) have a lengthy and expensive burden of investigating every example identified by the detection algorithm, classifying and labeling them as relevant or irrelevant. Active learningidentifies the unlabeled example for which a label would most improve the classifier, asks the domain expert for a label, and repeats this process until there are no more resources (time, budget) available for labeling or a minimum required performance is reached. A positive label indicates an operationally significant safety event whereas a negative label indicates otherwise. Based on these few labels we propose to build an active learning system that utilizes the SME's time in the most effective manner by iteratively asking for labels for as few informative instances as possible. Our work was proposed to be a stepping stone toward implementation and deployment of the system with user interface to be pursued by the Aviation Operations and Safety Program (AOSP) given its interest in safety monitoring and discovery of safety incidents.

aviation safety↗

Phase equilibria in Ca-Co-O system

The phase equilibria in the ternary Ca-Co-O system have been studied by thermal analysis (DSC/DTA, TGA), X-ray diffraction of quenched samples and low temperature heat capacity measurements. These experimental data were combined with the data available in literature and used to assess the thermodynamic quantities of the involved phases. A particular focus was put on the misfit cobaltite Ca{sub 3}Co{sub 3.93}O{sub 9.36} as a potential candidate for high temperature thermoelectric conversion whose observed nonstoichiometry was described in terms of compound energy formalism. The phase diagram was mapped using FactSage program. - Graphical abstract: Heat capacity and decomposition behavior of misfit layer cobaltite, Ca{sub 3}Co{sub 3.93+x}O{sub 9+{delta}}. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Thermodynamic properties of phases involved in the Ca-Co-O system were assessed. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The misfit layer cobaltite Ca{sub 3}Co{sub 3.93+x}O{sub 9+d} was described using compound energy formalism. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The phase diagram of the Ca-Co-O system was calculated.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Traction-drive force transmission for telerobotic joints

The U.S. Space Station Program is providing many technological developments to meet the increasing demands of designing such a facility. One of the key areas of research is that of telerobotics for space station assembly and maintenance. Initial implementation will be teleoperated, but long-term plans call for autonomous robotics. One of the essential components for making this transition successful is the manipulator joints mechanism. Historically, teleoperated manipulators and industrial robotics have had very different mechanisms for force transmission. This is because the design objectives are almost mutually exclusive. A teleoperator must have very low friction and inertia to minimize operator fatigue; backlash and stiffness are of secondary concern. A robot, however, must have minimum backlash, and high stiffness for accurate and rapid positioning. A joint mechanism has yet to be developed that can optimize these divergent performance objectives. A joint mechanism that approaches this optimal performance was developed for NASA Langley, Automation Technology Branch. It is a traction-drive differential that uses variable preload mechanisms. The differential provides compact, dexterous motion range with a torque density similar to geared systems. The traction drive offers high stiffness and zero backlash, for good robotic performance, and the variable loading mechanism (VLM) minimizes the drive-train friction, for improved teleoperation.

Kuban, D. P.↗

Connected Thermostat Alternatives for Room Air Conditioners and Minisplit Heat Pumps

The availability of smart, connected thermostats has improved climate control, energy efficiency, and grid demand-response programs for central HVAC systems. However, a significant gap exists in addressing integrated control systems for point-source heating and cooling systems such as window air-conditioners (window ACs) and mini-split heat pumps (MSHPs). This report examines the emerging market of third-party connected thermostats tailored for these systems, focusing on their effectiveness, reliability, and potential barriers to adoption.This study evaluates several commercially available products designed for room ACs and MSHPs through a series of laboratory tests. While these infrared-based (IR-based) thermostats offer remote temperature control and scheduling via mobile apps, our findings reveal that none are seamless, with reliability of basic functions being a critical factor. Promising features include integration of indoor air quality metrics and time-of-use pricing, but the latter are not yet available in the U.S. Barriers to broad user acceptance include non-seamless setup processes, challenges in thermostat placement, and unclear product differentiation. There is a pressing need for research and development in enabling MSHPs and central thermostats to coordinate, enhancing energy savings and comfort in retrofit applications. This study underscores the importance of further innovation in connected thermostat technology to address the diverse needs of single-zone HVAC systems and promote efficient energy management in households.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

A survey of the small RNA population during far-red light-induced apical hook opening

Photomorphogenesis is a mechanism employed by plants to regulate their architecture and developmental program in response to light conditions. As they emerge into light for the first time, dark-grown seedlings employ a rapid and finely-controlled photomorphogenic signaling network. Small RNAs have increasingly been revealed to play an important role in regulating multiple aspects of plant development, by modulating the stability of mRNAs. The rapid alteration of the mRNA transcriptome is a known hallmark of the de-etiolation response, thus we investigated the small RNA transcriptome during this process in specific seedling tissues. Here we describe a survey of the small RNA expression profile in four tissues of etiolated soybean seedlings, the cotyledons, hypocotyl and the convex and concave sides of the apical hook. We also investigate how this profile responds to a 1-h far-red light treatment. Our data suggests that miRNAs show a different global profile between these tissues and treatments, suggesting a possible role for tissue- and treatment-specific expression in the differential morphology of the seedling on de-etiolation. Further evidence for the role of miRNA in light-regulated development is given by the de-etiolation responses of a hypomorphic ago1 mutant, which displays reduced and delayed photomorphogenic responses in apical hook and cotyledon angle to far-red light.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

OPTICAL PROPER MOTION MEASUREMENTS OF THE M87 JET: NEW RESULTS FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

We report new results from a Hubble Space Telescope archival program to study proper motions in the optical jet of the nearby radio galaxy M87. Using over 13 yr of archival imaging, we reach accuracies below 0.1c in measuring the apparent velocities of individual knots in the jet. We confirm previous findings of speeds up to 4.5c in the inner 6'' of the jet, and report new speeds for optical components in the outer part of the jet. We find evidence of significant motion transverse to the jet axis on the order of 0.6c in the inner jet features, and superluminal velocities parallel and transverse to the jet in the outer knot components, with an apparent ordering of velocity vectors possibly consistent with a helical jet pattern. Previous results suggested a global deceleration over the length of the jet in the form of decreasing maximum speeds of knot components from HST-1 outward, but our results suggest that superluminal speeds persist out to knot C, with large differentials in very nearby features all along the jet. We find significant apparent accelerations in directions parallel and transverse to the jet axis, along with evidence for stationary features in knots D, E, and I. These results are expected to place important constraints on detailed models of kiloparsec-scale relativistic jets.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

SU-E-P-04: Transport Theory Learning Module in the Maple Environment

Purpose: The medical physics graduate program at the University of Miami is developing a computerized instructional module which provides an interactive mechanism for students to learn transport theory. While not essential in the medical physics curriculum, transport theory should be taught because the conceptual level of transport theory is fundamental, a substantial literature exists and ought to be accessible, and students should understand commercial software which solves the Boltzmann equation.But conventional teaching and learning of transport theory is challenging. Students may be under prepared to appreciate its methods, results, and relevance, and it is not substantially addressed in textbooks for the medical physicists. Other resources an instructor might reasonably use, while excellent, may be too briskly paced for beginning students. The purpose of this work is to render teaching of transport theory more tractable by making learning highly interactive. Methods: The module is being developed in the Maple mathematics environment by instructors and graduate students. It will refresh the students' knowledge of vector calculus and differential equations, and will develop users' intuition for phase space concepts. Scattering concepts will be developed with animated simulations using tunable parameters characterizing interactions, so that students may develop a “feel” for cross section. Transport equations for one and multiple types of radiation will be illustrated with phase space animations. Numerical methods of solution will be illustrated. Results: Attempts to teach rudiments of transport theory in radiation physics and dosimetry courses using conventional classroom techniques at the University of Miami have had small success, because classroom time is limited and the material has been hard for our students to appreciate intuitively. Conclusion: A joint effort of instructor and students to teach and learn transport theory by building an interactive description of it will lead to deeper appreciation of the transport theoretical underpinnings of dosimetry.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗