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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 1,639 records · Page 91

TU-C-BRE-10: A Streamlined Approach to EPID Transit Dosimetry

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of a simple and efficient transit dosimetry method using the electronic portal imaging device (EPID) for dose delivery error detection and prevention. Methods: In the proposed method, 2D reference transit images are generated for comparison with online images acquired during treatment. Reference transit images are generated by convolving through-air EPID measurements of each field with pixel-specific kernels selected from a library of pre-calculated Monte Carlo pencil kernels of varying radiological thickness. The kernel used for each pixel is selected based on the calculated radiological thickness of the patient along a line joining the pixel and the virtual source. The accuracy of the technique was evaluated in flat homogeneous and heterogeneous plastic water phantoms, a heterogeneous cylindrical phantom, and an anthropomorphic head phantom. Gamma criteria of 3%/3 mm was used to quantify the accuracy of the technique for the various cases. Results: An average of 99.9% and 99.7% of the points in the comparison between the measured and predicted images passed a 3%/3mm gamma for the homogeneous and heterogeneous plastic water phantoms, respectively. 97.1% of the points passed for the analysis of the heterogeneous cylindrical phantom. For the anthropomorphic head phantom, an average of 97.8% of points passed the 3%/3mm gamma criteria for all field sizes. Failures were observed primarily in areas of drastic thickness or material changes and at the edges of the fields. Conclusion: The data suggest that the proposed transit dosimetry method is a feasible approach to in vivo dose monitoring. Future research efforts could include implementation for more complex fields and sensitivity testing of the method to setup errors and changes in anatomy. Oncology Data Systems provided partial funding support but did not participate in the collection or analysis of data.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Open data set of live cyanobacterial cells imaged using an X-ray laser

Structural studies on living cells by conventional methods are limited to low resolution because radiation damage kills cells long before the necessary dose for high resolution can be delivered. X-ray free-electron lasers circumvent this problem by outrunning key damage processes with an ultra-short and extremely bright coherent X-ray pulse. Diffraction-before-destruction experiments provide high-resolution data from cells that are alive when the femtosecond X-ray pulse traverses the sample. This paper presents two data sets from micron-sized cyanobacteria obtained at the Linac Coherent Light Source, containing a total of 199,000 diffraction patterns. Utilizing this type of diffraction data will require the development of new analysis methods and algorithms for studying structure and structural variability in large populations of cells and to create abstract models. Such studies will allow us to understand living cells and populations of cells in new ways. New X-ray lasers, like the European XFEL, will produce billions of pulses per day, and could open new areas in structural sciences.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

COVID-19 Evidence Accelerator: A parallel analysis to describe the use of Hydroxychloroquine with or without Azithromycin among hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic remains a significant global threat. However, despite urgent need, there remains uncertainty surrounding best practices for pharmaceutical interventions to treat COVID-19. In particular, conflicting evidence has emerged surrounding the use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, alone or in combination, for COVID-19. The COVID-19 Evidence Accelerator convened by the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA, in collaboration with Friends of Cancer Research, assembled experts from the health systems research, regulatory science, data science, and epidemiology to participate in a large parallel analysis of different data sets to further explore the effectiveness of these treatments. Methods: Electronic health record (EHR) and claims data were extracted from seven separate databases. Parallel analyses were undertaken on data extracted from each source. Each analysis examined time to mortality in hospitalized patients treated with hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and the two in combination as compared to patients not treated with either drug. Cox proportional hazards models were used, and propensity score methods were undertaken to adjust for confounding. Frequencies of adverse events in each treatment group were also examined. Results: Neither hydroxychloroquine nor azithromycin, alone or in combination, were significantly associated with time to mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. No treatment groups appeared to have an elevated risk of adverse events. Conclusion: Administration of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and their combination appeared to have no effect on time to mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Continued research is needed to clarify best practices surrounding treatment of COVID-19.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

A multi-dimensional search for new heavy resonances decaying to boosted $\text{W}$ $\text{W}$, $\text{W}$ $\text{Z}$, or $\text{Z}$ $\text{Z}$ boson pairs in the dijet final state at 13 $\text {Te}\text{V}$

A search in an all-jet final state for new massive resonances decaying to $\text{ W }{}{}\text{ W }{}{}$, $\text{ W }{}{}\text{ Z }{}{}$, or $\text{ Z }{}{}\text{ Z }{}{}$ boson pairs using a novel analysis method is presented. The analysis is performed on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 77.3 $\,\text {fb}^{-1}$ recorded with the CMS experiment at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 $\text {Te}\text {V}$. The search is focussed on potential narrow-width resonances with masses above 1.2 $\text {Te}\text {V}$, where the decay products of each $\text{ W }{}{}$ or $\text{ Z }{}{}$ boson are expected to be collimated into a single, large-radius jet. The signal is extracted using a three-dimensional maximum likelihood fit of the two jet masses and the dijet invariant mass, yielding an improvement in sensitivity of up to 30% relative to previous search methods. No excess is observed above the estimated standard model background. In a heavy vector triplet model, spin-1 ${\text {Z}}^{\prime }$ and ${\text {W}}^{\prime }$ resonances with masses below 3.5 and 3.8 $\text {Te}\text {V}$, respectively, are excluded at 95% confidence level. In a bulk graviton model, upper limits on cross sections are set between 27 and 0.2 $\,\text {fb}$ for resonance masses between 1.2 and 5.2 $\text {Te}\text {V}$, respectively. The limits presented in this paper are the best to date in the dijet final state.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

TopFusion: Using Topological Feature Space for Fusion and Imputation in Multi-Modal Data

We present a novel multi-modal data fusion technique using topological features. The method, TopFusion, leverages the flexibility of topological data analysis tools (namely persistent homology and persistence images) to map multi-modal datasets into a common feature space by forming a new multi-channel persistence image. Each channel in the image is representative of a view of the data from a modality-dependent filtration. We demonstrate that the topological perspective we take allows for more effective data reconstruction, i.e. imputation. In particular, by performing imputation in topological feature space we are able to outperform the same imputation techniques applied to raw data or alternatively derived features. We show that TopFusion representations can be used as input to downstream deep learning-based computer vision models and doing so achieves comparable performance to other fusion methods for classification on two multi-modal datasets.

Myers, Audun D.↗

Characterizing Signatures of Geothermal Exploration Data with Machine Learning Techniques: An Application to the Nevada Play Fairway Analysis

We are introducing machine learning methods to the play fairway analysis to generate geothermal potential maps to support the evaluation of geothermal resource potential and the exploration for undiscovered blind geothermal systems in the Nevada Great Basin region. Our project aims to identify new ways to combine the play fairway data and empirically organize relationships between feature weights and labels in an improved workflow. As a means of doing this, we introduce machine learning methods to evaluate the influence of certain geological and geophysical features/feature sets in predicting geothermal favorability. This report highlights promising approaches based on supervised and unsupervised learning methods. First, we demonstrate a filter method applied to supervised classification modeling. The supervised filter method is based on permutation analysis to evaluate every possible feature combination/drop out scenario and rank feature influence based on the performance variance of supervised classification models. Additionally, we present an unsupervised factor analysis based on principal component analysis coupled with a semi-supervised kmeans clustering algorithm. This analysis allows us to identify the optimal number of groups/clusters for training sites and structural settings to identify feature patterns including correlation, variance, and latent and dominant feature relationships. The results from these methods offer a promising avenue for identifying favorable sources of predictive information to identify the locations of blind geothermal systems and furthering our understanding of complex geothermal feature and label relationships in the Great Basin region and beyond.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Analysis of variable-head viscometer data

Nonnewtonian mathematical model and plotting method for analyzing variable head viscometer data obtained on pseudo-plastic polymer solutions - Rheology

MATHEMATICAL MODEL↗

Aircraft motion analysis using limited flight and radar data

The development and application of methods for reconstructing, from a limited set of recorded data, a comprehensive scenario of aircraft motions before and during an accident are described. The accuracy of these analytical methods is investigated using data recorded onboard the Ames CV-990 research aircraft. In these experiments, the expanded set of data, derived from either foil or ATC records, is compared with corresponding values measured by the research instrumentation system onboard the aircraft. The results indicate that many of the derived quantities are in good agreement with the corresponding onboard measurements. A recent application of this procedure using actual accident records is presented and potential applications are briefly reviewed.

Wingrove, R. C.↗

The Scale Method as an Approach for Prompt Fission Neutron Spectra Analysis and Evaluation

The Scale Method was applied for an analysis of experimental and evaluated data of Prompt Fission Neutron Spectra for different isotopes and incident neutron energies below 6 MeV. It was demonstrated that the method describes all experimental data sets in the outgoing neutron energy range 0–7 MeV within uncertainties. Theoretical arguments were provided to support the application of this method. Some important peculiarities connected with the neutron emission mechanism were identified, and proposals for future theoretical and experimental investigations were discussed. It was concluded that the new evaluations completed recently for {sup 235}U systematically overestimate the average energy of experimental prompt fission neutron spectra.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

A method for analyzing the non-stationary nucleation and overall transition kinetics: A case of water

We present the statistical method as a direct extension of the mean first-passage time concept to the analysis of molecular dynamics simulation data of a phase transformation. According to the method, the mean first-passage time trajectories for the first (i = 1) as well as for the subsequent (i = 2, 3, 4,…) nucleation events should be extracted that allows one to calculate the time-dependent nucleation rate, the critical value of the order parameter (the critical size), the waiting times for the nucleation events, and the growth law of the nuclei – i.e., all the terms, which are usually necessary to characterize the overall transition kinetics. There are no restrictions in the application of the method by the specific thermodynamic regions; and the nucleation rate parameters are extracted according to their basic definitions. The method differs from the Wedekind-Bartell scheme and its modification [A. V. Mokshin and B. N. Galimzyanov, J. Phys. Chem. B 116, 11959 (2012)], where the passage-times for the first (largest) nucleus are evaluated only and where the average waiting time for the first nucleation event is accessible instead of the true steady-state nucleation time scale. We demonstrate an efficiency of the method by its application to the analysis of the vapor-to-liquid transition kinetics in water at the different temperatures. The nucleation rate/time characteristics and the droplet growth parameters are computed on the basis of the coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation data.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Application of a Split-Fiber Probe to Velocity Measurement in the NASA Research Compressor

A split-fiber probe was used to acquire unsteady data in a research compressor. The probe has two thin films deposited on a quartz cylinder 200 microns in diameter. A split-fiber probe allows simultaneous measurement of velocity magnitude and direction in a plane that is perpendicular to the sensing cylinder, because it has its circumference divided into two independent parts. Local heat transfer considerations indicated that the probe direction characteristic is linear in the range of flow incidence angles of +/- 35. Calibration tests confirmed this assumption. Of course, the velocity characteristic is nonlinear as is typical in thermal anemometry. The probe was used extensively in the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) low-speed, multistage axial compressor, and worked reliably during a test program of several months duration. The velocity and direction characteristics of the probe showed only minute changes during the entire test program. An algorithm was developed to decompose the probe signals into velocity magnitude and velocity direction. The averaged unsteady data were compared with data acquired by pneumatic probes. An overall excellent agreement between the averaged data acquired by a split-fiber probe and a pneumatic probe boosts confidence in the reliability of the unsteady content of the split-fiber probe data. To investigate the features of unsteady data, two methods were used: ensemble averaging and frequency analysis. The velocity distribution in a rotor blade passage was retrieved using the ensemble averaging method. Frequencies of excitation forces that may contribute to high cycle fatigue problems were identified by applying a fast Fourier transform to the absolute velocity data.

Lepicovsky, Jan↗

Data from: Comparing traditional and Bayesian approaches to ecological meta-analysis

Despite the wide application of meta-analysis in ecology, some of the traditional methods used for meta-analysis may not perform well given the type of data characteristic of ecological meta-analyses. We reviewed published meta-analyses on the ecological impacts of global climate change, evaluating the number of replicates used in the primary studies (ni) and the number of studies or records (k) that were aggregated to calculate a mean effect size. We used the results of the review in a simulation experiment to assess the performance of conventional frequentist and Bayesian meta-analysis methods for estimating a mean effect size and its uncertainty interval. Our literature review showed that ni and k were highly variable, distributions were right-skewed, and were generally small (median ni =5, median k=44). Our simulations show that the choice of method for calculating uncertainty intervals was critical for obtaining appropriate coverage (close to the nominal value of 0.95). When k was low (<40), 95% coverage was achieved by a confidence interval based on the t-distribution that uses an adjusted standard error (the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman, HKSJ), or by a Bayesian credible interval, whereas bootstrap or z-distribution confidence intervals had lower coverage. Despite the importance of the method to calculate the uncertainty interval, 39% of the meta-analyses reviewed did not report the method used, and of the 61% that did, 94% used a potentially problematic method, which may be a consequence of software defaults. In general, for a simple random-effects meta-analysis, the performance of the best frequentist and Bayesian methods were similar for the same combinations of factors (k and mean replication), though the Bayesian approaches had higher than nominal (>95%) coverage for the mean effect when k was very low (k<15). Our literature review suggests that many meta-analyses that used z-distribution or bootstrapping confidence intervals may have over-estimated the statistical significance of their results when the number of studies was low; more appropriate methods need to be adopted in ecological meta-analyses.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE-Managed HLW and SNF Research: FY15 EBS and Thermal Analysis Work Package Status.

This report examines the technical elements necessary to evaluate EBS concepts and perform thermal analysis of DOE-Managed SNF and HLW in the disposal settings of primary interest – argillite, crystalline, salt, and deep borehole. As the disposal design concept is composed of waste inventory, geologic setting, and engineered concept of operation, the engineered barrier system (EBS) falls into the last component of engineered concept of operation. The waste inventory for DOE-Managed HLW and SNF is closely examined, with specific attention to the number of waste packages, the size of waste packages, and the thermal output per package. As expected, the DOE-Managed HLW and SNF inventory has a much smaller volume, and hence smaller number of canisters, as well a lower thermal output, relative to a waste inventory that would include commercial spent nuclear fuel (CSNF). A survey of available data and methods from previous studies of thermal analysis indicates that, in some cases, thermo-hydrologic modeling will be necessary to appropriately address the problem. This report also outlines scope for FY16 work -- a key challenge identified is developing a methodology to effectively and efficiently evaluate EBS performance in each disposal setting on the basis of thermal analyses results.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Active controls: A look at analytical methods and associated tools

A review of analytical methods and associated tools for active controls analysis and design problems is presented. Approaches employed to develop mathematical models suitable for control system analysis and/or design are discussed. Significant efforts have been expended to develop tools to generate the models from the standpoint of control system designers' needs and develop the tools necessary to analyze and design active control systems. Representative examples of these tools are discussed. Examples where results from the methods and tools have been compared with experimental data are also presented. Finally, a perspective on future trends in analysis and design methods is presented.

Newsom, J. R.↗

Active control - A look at analytical methods and associated tools

A review of analytical methods and associated tools for active controls analysis and design problems is presented. Approaches employed to develop mathematical models suitable for control system analysis and/or design are discussed. Significant efforts have been expended to develop tools to generate the models from the standpoint of control system designers' needs and to develop the tools necessary to analyze and design active control systems. Representative examples of these tools are discussed. Examples where results from the methods and tools have been compared with experimental data are also presented. Finally, a perspective on future trends in analysis and design methods is presented.

Newsom, J. R.↗