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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Organizational System Resilience to Disinformation: A Viable Systems Model Exploration

This paper explores the utility of organizational system modeling frameworks to provide valuable insight into information flows within organizations and subsequently the opportunities for increasing resilience against disinformation campaigns targeting the system's ability to utilize information within its decision making. Disinformation is a growing challenge for many organizations and in recent years has created delay in decision making. Here the paper has utilized the viable systems model (VSM) to characterize organizational systems and used this approach to outline potential subsystem requirements to promote resilience of the system. The results of this paper can support the development of simulations and models considering the human elements within the system as well as support the development of quantitative measures of resilience.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Leveraging public AI tools to explore systems biology resources in mathematical modeling

Predictive mathematical modeling is an essential part of systems biology and is interconnected with information management. Systems biology information is often stored in specialized formats to facilitate data storage and analysis. These formats are not designed for easy human readability and thus require specialized software to visualize and interpret results. Therefore, comprehending modeling and underlying networks and pathways is contingent on mastering systems biology tools, which is particularly challenging for users with no or little background in data science or system biology. To address this challenge, we investigated the usage of public Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in exploring systems biology resources in mathematical modeling. We tested public AI’s understanding of mathematics in models, related systems biology data, and the complexity of model structures. Our approach can enhance the accessibility of systems biology for non-system biologists and help them understand systems biology without a deep learning curve.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Hydrogen as Part of a 100% Clean Energy System: Exploring Its Decarbonization Roles

Today's energy system uses a variety of fuels and energy carriers in molecular forms, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, each contributing to CO2 emissions (Figure 1). As solar and wind levels grow and the energy system becomes more electrified, fossil molecular fuels will contribute a progressively smaller fraction of overall energy. As shown in Figure 2, hydroelectric storage and molecules, such as coal and natural gas, provide substantial storage and dispatch functionality today that will become increasingly critical for electricity operation and stability. Emerging low-carbon gases, such as hydrogen, can support the efficient integration of renewables in the transition from today's energy system to one that is 100% clean from a carbon emissions perspective.

clean energy system↗
DOE OSTI2026

Evaluating Lithium-Lead Mixtures for Increased Tritium Breeding in Fusion Energy Blanket Systems: Exploring the Impact of Composition and Temperature

This project investigates hypo- and hyper-eutectic liquid lithium-lead (PbLi) mixtures as a coolant in fusion blanket systems, with a focus on testing the compatibility of compositions with better tritium breeding ratios (TBR). The 12-month study concentrates on static corrosion experiments, comparing silicon carbide (SiC) corrosion rates in Li-rich and eutectic Li-Pb mixtures, and examining interactions between Mo and PbLi. The research seeks to determine the maximum operating temperatures for this material combination, acknowledging the balance between Li-Pb melting temperature and achievable TBR to unlock new opportunities for blanket design. This work lays the groundwork for future collaboration between Kyoto Fusioneering and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Findings could enhance the TBR of fusion blanket designs, and impact fusion energy development by confirming material compatibility between different Li-Pb mixtures with SiC and Mo at higher temperatures, including at temperatures relevant for very high-temperature blankets (1,000 °C), which could enable higher electricity conversion efficiencies and commercial applications using process heat.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Exploring topography-based methods for downscaling subgrid precipitation for use in Earth System Models

Topography exerts major control on land surface processes. To improve representation of topographic impacts on land surface processes, a new topography-based subgrid structure has been introduced to the Energy Exascale Earth System Model to represent the subgrid heterogeneity of surface elevation. To take advantage of the new subgrid structure for improving land surface modeling, this study explores four variations of topography-based methods for downscaling grid precipitation to the corresponding subgrids. In the first three methods, the deviation of the subgrid precipitation from the grid’s is equal to the grid precipitation multiplied by the ratio of the elevation difference between the subgrid and grid mean to a specified elevation equals to the grid elevation, the difference between the maximum and minimum subgrid elevation, and the maximum subgrid elevation, respectively. The second method limits the ratio to 0.5 to avoid extreme values on mountains and the third method accounts for the slope effect. The fourth method is similar to the third method except that the Froude Number is used to limit the numerator in a blocking regime of the ambient flow. The downscaled precipitation is evaluated using the PRISM precipitation data over the U.S. using statistical metrics. Results show that by accounting for topographic slope besides elevation, the third and fourth methods show clear advantages over the first and second methods. Furthermore, introducing the Froude Number in the fourth method improves downscaling skill and shows consistent advantages over the third method in areas with larger subgrid heterogeneity across different grids sizes.

Tesfa, Teklu K.↗
DOE OSTI2022

LungMAP Portal Ecosystem: Systems-level Exploration of the Lung

An improved understanding of the human lung necessitates advanced systems models informed by an ever-increasing repertoire of molecular omics, cellular, imaging, and pathological datasets. To centralize and standardize information across broad lung research efforts we expanded the LungMAP.net website into a new gateway portal. This portal connects a broad spectrum of research networks, bulk and single-cell multi-omics data and a diverse collection of image data that span mammalian lung development, and disease. The data are standardized across species and technologies using harmonized data and metadata models that leverage recent advances including those from the Human Cell Atlas, diverse ontologies, and the LungMAP CellCards initiative. To cultivate future discoveries, we have aggregated a diverse collection of single-cell atlases for multiple species (human, rhesus, mouse), to enable consistent queries across technologies, cohorts, age, disease, and drug treatment. These atlases are provided as independent and integrated queryable datasets, with an emphasis on dynamic visualization, figure generation, re-analysis, cell-type curation, and automated reference-based classification of user-provided single-cell genomics datasets (Azimuth). Finally, as this resource grows, we intend to increase the breadth of available interactive interfaces, supported data types, data portals and datasets from LungMAP and external research efforts.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

An in situ shearing x-ray measurement system for exploring structures and dynamics at the solid–liquid interface

Revealing interfacial structure and dynamics has been one of the essential thematic topics in material science and condensed matter physics. Synchrotron-based x-ray scattering techniques can deliver unique and insightful probing of interfacial structures and dynamics, in particular, in reflection geometries with higher surface and interfacial sensitivity than transmission geometries. We demonstrate the design and implementation of an in situ shearing x-ray measurement system, equipped with both inline parallel-plate and cone-and-plate shearing setups and operated at the advanced photon source at Argonne National Laboratory, to investigate the structures and dynamics of end-tethered polymers at the solid-liquid interface. With a precise lifting motor, a micrometer-scale gap can be produced by aligning two surfaces of a rotating upper shaft and a lower sample substrate. A torsional shear flow forms in the gap and applies tangential shear forces on the sample surface. The technical combination with nanoscale rheology and the utilization of in situ x-ray scattering allow us to gain fundamental insights into the complex dynamics in soft interfaces under shearing. In this work, we demonstrate the technical scope and experimental capability of the in situ shearing x-ray system through the measurements of charged polymers at both flat and curved interfaces upon shearing. Furthermore, through the in situ shearing x-ray scattering experiments integrated with theoretical simulations, we aim to develop a detailed understanding of the short-range molecular structure and mesoscale ionic aggregate morphology, as well as ion transport and dynamics in soft interfaces, thereby providing fundamental insight into a long-standing challenge in ionic polymer brushes with a significant technological impact.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Exploring Water System Vulnerabilities in California's Central Valley Under the Late Renaissance Megadrought and Climate Change

Abstract California faces cycles of drought and flooding that are projected to intensify, but these extremes may impact water users across the state differently due to the region's natural hydroclimate variability and complex institutional framework governing water deliveries. To assess these risks, this study introduces a novel exploratory modeling framework informed by paleo and climate‐change based scenarios to better understand how impacts propagate through the Central Valley's complex water system. A stochastic weather generator, conditioned on tree‐ring data, produces a large ensemble of daily weather sequences conditioned on drought and flood conditions under the Late Renaissance Megadrought period (1550–1580 CE). Regional climate changes are applied to this weather data and drive hydrologic projections for the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Tulare Basins. The resulting streamflow ensembles are used in an exploratory stress test using the California Food‐Energy‐Water System model, a highly resolved, daily model of water storage and conveyance throughout California's Central Valley. Results show that megadrought conditions lead to unprecedented reductions in inflows and storage at major California reservoirs. Both junior and senior water rights holders experience multi‐year periods of curtailed water deliveries and complete drawdowns of groundwater assets. When megadrought dynamics are combined with climate change, risks for unprecedented depletion of reservoir storage and sustained curtailment of water deliveries across multiple years increase. Asymmetries in risk emerge depending on water source, rights, and access to groundwater banks.

Gupta, Rohini S. [School of Civil and Environmenta↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Role of Grain Boundary Structure and Chemistry in Materials Failure

The objective of this project was to reveal how we can design materials with a tunable mechanical behavior through interface engineering. To do so we focused on understanding slip transmission across internal surfaces and how it relates to the strength and chemistry of the internal surface. In doing so we followed an interdisciplinary approach that employed theory, experiments and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. Our guideline was that interfaces are characterized by their own mechanically induced interface parameter. New dislocation-grain boundary interaction mechanisms were revealed and the strengthening effects of non-traditional interfaces. We began studying simple grain boundaries in Fe systems, and then moved on to newly explored systems such as graphene-metal and nanolayer composites.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗