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Results for “description length”

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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1988

Parallel algorithm for determining motion vectors in ice floe images by matching edge features

A parallel algorithm is described to determine motion vectors of ice floes using time sequences of images of the Arctic ocean obtained from the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument flown on-board the SEASAT spacecraft. Researchers describe a parallel algorithm which is implemented on the MPP for locating corresponding objects based on their translationally and rotationally invariant features. The algorithm first approximates the edges in the images by polygons or sets of connected straight-line segments. Each such edge structure is then reduced to a seed point. Associated with each seed point are the descriptions (lengths, orientations and sequence numbers) of the lines constituting the corresponding edge structure. A parallel matching algorithm is used to match packed arrays of such descriptions to identify corresponding seed points in the two images. The matching algorithm is designed such that fragmentation and merging of ice floes are taken into account by accepting partial matches. The technique has been demonstrated to work on synthetic test patterns and real image pairs from SEASAT in times ranging from .5 to 0.7 seconds for 128 x 128 images.

Manohar, M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Evolutionary tree reconstruction

It is described how Minimum Description Length (MDL) can be applied to the problem of DNA and protein evolutionary tree reconstruction. If there is a set of mutations that transform a common ancestor into a set of the known sequences, and this description is shorter than the information to encode the known sequences directly, then strong evidence for an evolutionary relationship has been found. A heuristic algorithm is described that searches for the simplest tree (smallest MDL) that finds close to optimal trees on the test data. Various ways of extending the MDL theory to more complex evolutionary relationships are discussed.

Cheeseman, Peter↗
DOE OSTI2020

Bayesian Model Selection as a Continuous-Variable Helmholtz Machine

We show that Bayesian model selection is equivalent to optimization of a suitably defined free energy. The entropy term in the free energy is defined over the space of possible model selections and model parameters for a given model. Bayesian model selection thus follows a minimum description length principle.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Change-point Detection and Image Segmentation for Time Series of Astrophysical Images

Many astrophysical phenomena are time-varying, in the sense that their intensity, energy spectrum, and/or the spatial distribution of the emission suddenly change. This paper develops a method for modeling a time series of images. Under the assumption that the arrival times of the photons follow a Poisson process, the data are binned into 4D grids of voxels (time, energy band, and x-y coordinates), and viewed as a time series of non-homogeneous Poisson images. The method assumes that at each time point, the corresponding multiband image stack is an unknown 3D piecewise constant function including Poisson noise. It also assumes that all image stacks between any two adjacent change points (in time domain) share the same unknown piecewise constant function. The proposed method is designed to estimate the number and the locations of all of the change points (in time domain), as well as all of the unknown piecewise constant functions between any pairs of the change points. The method applies the minimum description length principle to perform this task. A practical algorithm is also developed to solve the corresponding complicated optimization problem. Simulation experiments and applications to real data sets show that the proposed method enjoys very promising empirical properties. Applications to two real data sets, the XMM observation of a flaring star and an emerging solar coronal loop, illustrate the usage of the proposed method and the scientific insight gained from it.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1977

Discovering Jupiter. II

Data derived from Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 and other sources on the Jovian magnetosphere, the circum-Jovian radiation belts, and Jupiter's radio emission are presented at some length, descriptions are given of the principal Jovian satellites (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto), and inferences are drawn on the origin of the planet and its place in the solar system. The inner, middle, and outer regions of the magnetosphere, the bow shock wave, and the particularly heavy intensity of the inner radiation belt region (within 1.44 million km of the planet) are discussed. All of the major satellites except Callisto lie immersed in the intense radiation belts. Jupiter's failure to become a stellar companion to the sun, Io's action in 'switching on' Jovian radio emission, and other Pioneer discoveries relating to asteroids, the solar system in general, and trans-Jovian space, are discussed

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2020

Parsimonious Inference Information-Theoretic Foundations for a Complete Theory of Machine Learning (CIS-LDRD Project 218313 Final Technical Report)

This work examines how we may cast machine learning within a complete Bayesian framework to quantify and suppress explanatory complexity from first principles. Our investigation into both the philosophy and mathematics of rational belief leads us to emphasize the critical role of Bayesian inference in learning well-justified predictions within a rigorous and complete extended logic. The Bayesian framework allows us to coherently account for evidence in the learned plausibility of potential explanations. As an extended logic, the Bayesian paradigm regards probability as a notion of degrees of truth. In order to satisfy critical properties of probability as a coherent measure, as well as maintain consistency with binary propositional logic, we arrive at Bayes' Theorem as the only justifiable mechanism to update our beliefs to account for empiracle evidence. Yet, in the machine learning paradigm, where explanations are unconstrained algorithmic abstractions, we arrive at a critical challenge: Bayesian inference requires prior belief. Conventional approaches fail to yield a consistent framework in which we could compare prior plausibility among the infinities of potential choices in learning architectures. The difficulty of articulating well-justified prior belief over abstract models is the provinence of memorization in traditional machine learning training practices. This becomes exceptionally problematic in the context of limited datasets, when we wish to learn justifiable predictions from only a small amount of data.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1976

Scaled equation of state parameters for gases in the critical region

In the light of recent theoretical developments, the paper presents an accurate characterization of anomalous thermodynamic behavior of xenon, helium 4, helium 3, carbon dioxide, steam and oxygen in the critical region. This behavior is associated with long range fluctuations in the system and the physical properties depend primarily on a single variable, namely, the correlation length. A description of the thermodynamic behavior of fluids in terms of scaling laws is formulated, and the two successfully used scaled equations of state (NBS equation and Linear Model parametric equation) are compared. Methods for fitting both equations to experimental equation of state data are developed and formulated, and the optimum fit for each of the two scaled equations of the above gases are presented and the results are compared. By extending the experimental data for the above one-component fluids to partially miscible binary liquids, superfluid liquid helium, ferromagnets and solids exhibiting order-disorder transitions, the principle of universality is concluded. Finally by using this principle, the critical regions for nine additional fluids are described.

Sengers, J. M. H. L.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Jet quenching in the glasma phase: Medium-induced radiation

Inspired by the recent considerations of parton momentum broadening in the glasma phase, we study the medium-induced soft gluon radiation of jet partons at early times in heavy-ion collisions. The glasma state is assumed to be comprised of independent color domains with homogenous longitudinal fields that vary event by event, and we further complete this model with an event-averaging procedure accounting for the finite correlation length. Using this description, we evaluate the rate of medium-induced radiation from an energetic parton at midrapidity in the glasma phase. We mainly focus on SU(2) color fields for simplicity, also referring to the U(1) case and comparing with the Baier, Dokshitzer, Mueller, Peigné, Schiff, and Zakharov rate to gain further insight. Our results show that there is an intricate interplay of the synchrotron-like radiation in a single color domain with the destructive interference between different color domains, after the medium averaging is performed. Thus, we find that the emission rate is sensitive to the matter structure, decreasing for a glasma state populated by smaller color domains—i.e., for a glasma with a larger characteristic saturation scale. Our approach can be applied to more realistic backgrounds, and it sets the stage for the modeling of jet evolution in the early stages of heavy-ion collisions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1974

Space shuttle configuration accounting functional design specification

An analysis is presented of the requirements for an on-line automated system which must be capable of tracking the status of requirements and engineering changes and of providing accurate and timely records. The functional design specification provides the definition, description, and character length of the required data elements and the interrelationship of data elements to adequately track, display, and report the status of active configuration changes. As changes to the space shuttle program levels II and III configuration are proposed, evaluated, and dispositioned, it is the function of the configuration management office to maintain records regarding changes to the baseline and to track and report the status of those changes. The configuration accounting system will consist of a combination of computers, computer terminals, software, and procedures, all of which are designed to store, retrieve, display, and process information required to track proposed and proved engineering changes to maintain baseline documentation of the space shuttle program levels II and III.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2017

Modeling Microgravity Induced Fluid Redistribution Autoregulatory and Hydrostatic Enhancements

Space flight induces a marked cephalad (headward) redistribution of blood and interstitial fluid potentially resulting in a loss of venous tone and reduction in heart muscle efficiency upon introduction into the microgravity environment. Using various types of computational models, we are investigating how this fluid redistribution may induce intracranial pressure changes, relevant to reported reductions in astronaut visual acuity, part of the Visual Impairment and Intracranial Pressure (VIIP) syndrome. Methods: We utilize a lumped parameter cardiovascular system (CVS) model, augmented by compartments comprising the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) space, as the primary tool to describe how microgravity, and the associated lack of hydrostatic gradient, impacts fluid redistribution. Models of ocular fluid pressures and biomechanics then accept the output of the above model as boundary condition input to allow more detailed, local analysis (see IWS Abstract by Ethier et al.). Recently, we enhanced the capabilities our previously reported CVS model through the implementation of robust autoregulatory mechanisms and a more fundamental approach to the implementation of hydrostatic mechanisms. Modifying the approach of Blanco et al., we implemented auto-regulation in a quasi-static manner, as an averaged effect across the span of one heartbeat. This approach reduced the higher frequency perturbations from the regulatory mechanism and was intended to allow longer simulation times (days) than models that implement within-beat regulatory mechanisms (minutes). A more fundamental approach to hydrostatics was implemented by a quasi-1D approach, in which compartment descriptions include compartment length, orientation and relative position, allowed for modeling of body orientation, relative body positioning and, in the future, alternative gravity environments. At this time the inclusion of hydrostatic mechanisms supplies additional capabilities to train and validate the CVS model with terrestrial data. Results and Conclusions: With the implementation of auto-regulation and hydrostatic modeling capabilities, the model performs as expected in the maintaining the CA (Central Artery) compartment pressure when simulating orientations ranging from supine to standing. The model appears to generally overpredict heart rate and thus cardiac output, possibly indicating sensitivity to the nominal heart rate, which is used as an initial set point of the regulation mechanisms. Despite this sensitivity, the model performs consistently for many hours of simulation time, indicating the success of our quasi-static implementation approach.

biomechanics↗
NASA NTRS2020

Testing of Composite Laminate Specimens with Mid-Length Lateral Notches

Eight fiber-reinforced, carbon-epoxy composite laminate specimens without external stiffeners (unstiffened) were loaded to failure to determine their failure load and mode under the Advanced Composites Project (ACP) Rapid Design Tools activity. Each specimen contained a lateral notch located at the mid-length location. A description of the specimens, instrumentation, test fixtures and procedures is presented, followed by the presentation of the experimental results.

Dawn C Jegley↗
DOE OSTI2026

Quantum kinetic modeling of KEEN waves in a warm-dense regime

We report the first fully kinetic, quantum study of kinetic electrostatic electron nonlinear (KEEN) waves, showing that quantum diffraction systematically erodes the classical trapping mechanism, narrows harmonic locking to the fundamental, and hastens post-drive decay. Electrons are evolved with a second-order Strang-split 1D1V Wigner–Poisson solver that couples conservative semi-Lagrangian WENO advection to an analytic Fourier space update for the non-local Wigner term, while ions remain classical. We focus on collisionless dynamics in a weakly coupled regime, providing a controlled baseline before collisional extensions. Short, frequency-tuned ponderomotive pulses drive KEEN formation in a uniform Maxwellian plasma; as the dimensionless quantum parameter H rises from the classical limit to values relevant to warm-dense matter, doped semiconductors, and 2D electron systems, the drive threshold increases, higher harmonics are damped, trapped electron vortices diffuse, and the subplasma electrostatic energy relaxes to a lower stationary level, as confirmed by continuous wavelet analysis. These microscopic changes carry macroscopic weight. Ignition-scale capsules now compress matter to regimes where the electron de Broglie wavelength rivals the Debye length, making classical kinetic descriptions insufficient. By extending KEEN physics into this quantum domain, our results offer a potential diagnostic of non-equilibrium electron dynamics for next-generation inertial-confinement designs and high-energy-density platforms, indicating that predictive fusion modeling may benefit from the integration of kinetic fidelity with quantum effects.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Unstructured clinical notes within the 24 hours since admission predict short, mid & long-term mortality in adult ICU patients

Mortality prediction for intensive care unit (ICU) patients is crucial for improving outcomes and efficient utilization of resources. Accessibility of electronic health records (EHR) has enabled data-driven predictive modeling using machine learning. However, very few studies rely solely on unstructured clinical notes from the EHR for mortality prediction. In this work, we propose a framework to predict short, mid, and long-term mortality in adult ICU patients using unstructured clinical notes from the MIMIC III database, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning (ML) models. Depending on the statistical description of the patients’ length of stay, we define the short-term as 48-hour and 4-day period, the mid-term as 7-day and 10-day period, and the long-term as 15-day and 30-day period after admission. We found that by only using clinical notes within the 24 hours of admission, our framework can achieve a high area under the receiver operating characteristics (AU-ROC) score for short, mid and long-term mortality prediction tasks. The test AU-ROC scores are 0.87, 0.83, 0.83, 0.82, 0.82, and 0.82 for 48-hour, 4-day, 7-day, 10-day, 15-day, and 30-day period mortality prediction, respectively. We also provide a comparative study among three types of feature extraction techniques from NLP: frequency-based technique, fixed embedding-based technique, and dynamic embedding-based technique. Lastly, we provide an interpretation of the NLP-based predictive models using feature-importance scores.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1975

Microelectronic bioinstrumentation systems

The possibility of using RF fields to power biologically implanted transmitters used in biomedical experiments was investigated. This approach would be especially useful when animal subjects are strapped in chairs or confined in cages. A telemetry system using an external source of energy has the additional advantage of not being limited in operation by battery lifetime and can therefore operate for virtually infinite lengths of time. A description of a system based on this principle is given. Progress in the development of battery-driven transmitters is also reported, including an ingestible temperature telemetry system and a resistance-to-pulse frequency convertor for implantable temperature telemetry systems.

Ko, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Survey of university programs in remote sensing funded under grants from the NASA University-Space Applications program

NASA's Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications (OSTA) is currently assessing approaches to transferring NASA technology to both the public and private sectors. As part of this assessment, NASA is evaluating the effectiveness of an ongoing program in remote sensing technology transfer conducted by 20 university contractors/grantees, each supported totally or partially by NASA funds. The University-Space Applications program has as its objective the demonstration of practical benefits from the use of remote sensing technology to a broad spectrum of new users, principally in state and local governments. To evaluate the University-Space Applications program, NASA has a near-term requirement for data on each university effort including total funding, funding sources, length of program, program description, and effectiveness measures.

Madigan, J. A.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Neat, Simple, and Wrong: Debunking Electrostatic Fallacies Regarding Noncovalent Interactions

Multipole moments such as charge, dipole, and quadrupole are often invoked to rationalize intermolecular phenomena, but a low-order multipole expansion is rarely a valid description of electrostatics at the length scales that characterize nonbonded interactions. This is illustrated by examining several common misunderstandings rooted in erroneous electrostatic arguments. First, the notion that steric repulsion originates in Coulomb interactions is easily disproved by dissecting the interaction potential for Ar2. Second, the Hunter-Sanders model of π–π interactions, which is based on quadrupolar electrostatics, is shown to have no basis in accurate calculations. Third, curved “buckybowls” exhibit unusually large dipole moments, but these are ancillary to the forces that control their intermolecular interactions, as illustrated by two examples involving corannulene. Finally, the assumption that interactions between water and small anions are dictated by the dipole moment of H 2 O is shown to be false in the case of binary halide–water complexes. Furthermore, these examples present a compelling case that electrostatic explanations based on low-order multipole moments are very often counterfactual for nonbonded interactions at close range and should not be taken seriously in the absence of additional justification.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2013

Advancements in Spacecraft Brine Water Recovery: Development of a Radial Vaned Capillary Drying Tray

Technology improvements in the recovery of water from brine are critical to establishing closedloop water recovery systems, enabling long duration missions, and achieving a sustained human presence in space. A genre of 'in-place drying' brine water recovery concepts, collectively referred to herein as Brine Residual In-Containment (BRIC), are under development which aim to increase the overall robustness and reliability of the brine recovery process by performing drying inside the container used for final disposal of the solid residual waste. Implementation of in-place drying techniques have been demonstrated for applications where gravity is present and phase separation occurs naturally by buoyancy induced effects. In this work, a microgravity compatible analogue of the gravity-driven phase separation process is considered by exploiting capillarity in the form of surface wetting, surface tension, and container geometry. The proposed design consists of a series of planar radial vanes aligned about a central slotted core. Preliminary testing of the fundamental geometry in a reduced gravity environment has shown the device to spontaneously fill and saturate rapidly creating a free surface from which evaporation and phase separation can occur similar to a 1-g like 'cylindrical pool' of fluid. Mathematical modeling and analysis of the design suggest predictable rates of filling and stability of fluid containment as a function of relevant system dimensions, e.g., number of vanes, vane length, width, and thickness. A description of the proposed capillary design solution is presented along with preliminary results from testing, modeling and analysis of the system.

Callahan, Michael R.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Advances in Spacecraft Brine Water Recovery: Development of a Radial Vaned Capillary Drying Tray

Technology improvements in the recovery of water from brine are critical to establishing closed-loop water recovery systems, enabling long-duration missions, and achieving a sustained human presence in space. A genre of 'in-place drying' brine water recovery concepts, collectively referred to herein as Brine Residual In-Containment, are under development. These brine water recovery concepts aim to increase the overall robustness and reliability of the brine recovery process by performing drying inside the container used for final disposal of the solid residual waste. Implementation of in-place drying techniques have been demonstrated for applications where gravity is present and phase separation occurs naturally by buoyancy-induced effects. In this work, a microgravity-compatible analogue of the gravity-driven phase separation process is considered by exploiting capillarity in the form of surface wetting, surface tension, and container geometry. The proposed design consists of a series of planar radial vanes aligned about a central slotted core. Preliminary testing of the fundamental geometry in a reduced gravity environment has shown the device to spontaneously fill and saturate rapidly, thereby creating a free surface from which evaporation and phase separation can occur similar to a terrestrial-like 'cylindrical pool' of fluid. Mathematical modeling and analysis of the design suggest predictable rates of filling and stability of fluid containment as a function of relevant system dimensions; e.g., number of vanes, vane length, width, and thickness. A description of the proposed capillary design solution is presented along with preliminary results from testing, modeling, and analysis of the system.

Callahan, Michael R.↗