The bearings used in energy storage flywheels dissipate a significant amount of energy and can fail catastrophically. Magnetic bearings would both reduce energy dissipation and increase flywheel reliability. The component of magnetic bearing that creates lift is a magnetically soft material embedded into a rebate cut into top of the inner annulus of the flywheel. Because the flywheels stretch about 1% as they spin up, this magnetic material must also stretch and be more compliant than the flywheel itself, so it does not part from the flywheel during spin up. At the same time, the material needs to be sufficiently stiff that it does not significantly deform in the rebate and must have a sufficiently large magnetic permeability and saturation magnetization to provide the required lift. It must also have high electrical resistivity to prevent heating due to eddy currents. In this paper we investigate whether adequately magnetic, mechanically stiff composites that have the tensile elasticity, high electrical resistivity, permeability and saturation magnetism required for flywheel lift magnet applications can be fabricated. We find the best composites are those comprised of bidisperse Fe particles in the resin G/Flex 650. The primary limiting factor of such materials is the fatigue resistance to tensile strain.
The transient transport of electrolytes in thermally-activated batteries is studied using electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA), demonstrating the robust capability of EPMA as a useful tool for studying and quantifying mass transport within porous materials, particularly in difficult environments where classical flow measurements are challenging. By tracking the mobility of bromine and potassium ions from the electrolyte stored within the separator into the lithium silicon anode and iron disulfide cathode, we are able to quantify the transport mechanisms and physical properties of the electrodes including permeability and tortuosity. Due to the micron to submicron scale porous structure of the initially dry anode, a fast capillary pressure driven flow is observed into the anode from which we are able to set a lower bound on the permeability of 10-1 mDarcy. The transport into the cathode is diffusion-limited because the cathode originally contained some electrolyte before activation. Using a transient one-dimensional diffusion model, we estimate the tortuosity of the cathode electrode to be 2.8 ± 0.8.
Durfee, Paul N.; Lin, Yu-Shen; Dunphy, Darren R.; Muniz, Ayse J.; Butler, Kimberly S.; Humphrey, Kevin R.; Lokke, Amanda J.; Agola, Jacob O.; Chou, Stanley S.; Chen, I-Ming; Wharton, Walker; Townson, Jason L.; Willman, Cheryl L.; Brinker, C.J.
Many nanocarrier cancer therapeutics currently under development, as well as those used in the clinical setting, rely upon the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect to passively accumulate in the tumor microenvironment and kill cancer cells. In leukemia, where leukemogenic stem cells and their progeny circulate within the peripheral blood or bone marrow, the EPR effect may not be operative. Thus, for leukemia therapeutics, it is essential to target and bind individual circulating cells. Here in this research, we investigate mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN)-supported lipid bilayers (protocells), an emerging class of nanocarriers, and establish the synthesis conditions and lipid bilayer composition needed to achieve highly monodisperse protocells that remain stable in complex media as assessed in vitro by dynamic light scattering and cryo-electron microscopy and ex ovo by direct imaging within a chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model. We show that for vesicle fusion conditions where the lipid surface area exceeds the external surface area of the MSN and the ionic strength exceeds 20 mM, we form monosized protocells (polydispersity index <0.1) on MSN cores with varying size, shape, and pore size, whose conformal zwitterionic supported lipid bilayer confers excellent stability as judged by circulation in the CAM and minimal opsonization in vivo in a mouse model. Having established protocell formulations that are stable colloids, we further modified them with anti-EGFR antibodies as targeting agents and reverified their monodispersity and stability. Then, using intravital imaging in the CAM, we directly observed in real time the progression of selective targeting of individual leukemia cells (using the established REH leukemia cell line transduced with EGFR) and delivery of a model cargo. In conclusion, overall we have established the effectiveness of the protocell platform for individual cell targeting and delivery needed for leukemia and other disseminated disease.
Here, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a potent ial tool for alleviating various forms of cognitive decline, including memory loss, in older adults. However, past effects of tDCS on cognitive ability have been mixed. One important potential moderator of tDCS effects is the baseline level of cognitive performance. We tested the effects of tDCS on face-name associative memory in older adults, who suffer from performance deficits in this task relative to younger adults. Stimulation was applied to the left inferior prefrontal cortex during encoding of face-name pairs, and memory was assessed with both a recognition and recall task. As a result, face–name memory performance was decreased with the use of tDCS. This result was driven by increased false alarms when recognizing rearranged face–name pairs.
Fiber-reinforced composite materials offer light-weight solutions to many structural challenges. In the development of high-performance composite structures, a thorough understanding is required of the composite materials themselves as well as methods for the analysis and failure prediction of the relevant composite structures. However, the mechanical properties required for the complete constitutive definition of a composite material can be difficult to determine through experimentation. Therefore, efficient methods are necessary that can be used to determine which properties are relevant to the analysis of a specific structure and to establish a structure's response to a material parameter that can only be defined through estimation. The objectives of this study deal with demonstrating the potential value of sensitivity and uncertainty quantification techniques during the failure analysis of loaded composite structures; and the proposed methods are applied to the simulation of the four-point flexural characterization of a carbon fiber composite material. Utilizing a recently implemented, phenomenological orthotropic material model that is capable of predicting progressive composite damage and failure, a sensitivity analysis is completed to establish which material parameters are truly relevant to a simulation's outcome. Then, a parameter study is completed to determine the effect of the relevant material properties' expected variations on the simulated four-point flexural behavior as well as to determine the value of an unknown material property. This process demonstrates the ability to formulate accurate predictions in the absence of a rigorous material characterization effort. The presented results indicate that a sensitivity analysis and parameter study can be used to streamline the material definition process as the described flexural characterization was used for model validation.
This review focuses on the striking recent progress in solving for hydrophobic interactions between small inert molecules. We discuss several new understandings. First, the inverse temperature phenomenology of hydrophobic interactions, i.e., strengthening of hydrophobic bonds with increasing temperature, is decisively exhibited by hydrophobic interactions between atomic-scale hard sphere solutes in water. Second, inclusion of attractive interactions associated with atomic-size hydrophobic reference cases leads to substantial, nontrivial corrections to reference results for purely repulsive solutes. Hydrophobic bonds are weakened by adding solute dispersion forces to treatment of reference cases. The classic statistical mechanical theory for those corrections is not accurate in this application, but molecular quasi-chemical theory shows promise. Finally, because of the masking roles of excluded volume and attractive interactions, comparisons that do not discriminate the different possibilities face an interpretive danger.
This study introduces dual-resolution Raman spectroscopy as a novel diagnostics approach for measurements of temperature and species in flames where multiple hydrocarbons are present. Simultaneous measurement of multiple hydrocarbons is challenging because their vibrational Raman spectra in the C–H stretch region are closely overlapped and are not well known over the range of temperature encountered in flames. Overlap between the hydrocarbon spectra is mitigated by adding a second spectrometer, with a higher dispersion grating, to collect the Raman spectra in the C–H stretch region. A dual-resolution Raman spectroscopy instrument has been developed and optimized for measurements of major species (N2, O2, H2O, CO2, CO, H2, DME) and major combustion intermediates (CH4, CH2O, C2H2, C2H4 and C2H6) in DME–air flames. The temperature dependences of the hydrocarbon Raman spectra over fixed spectral regions have been determined through a series of measurements in laminar Bunsen-burner flames, and have been used to extend a library of previously acquired Raman spectra up to flame temperature. The paper presents the first Raman measurements of up to twelve species in hydrocarbon flames, and the first quantitative Raman measurements of formaldehyde in flames. Lastly, the accuracy and precision of the instrument are determined from measurements in laminar flames and the applicability of the instrument to turbulent DME–air flames is discussed.
We have developed a four-channel optically pumped atomic magnetometer for magnetoencephalography (MEG) that incorporates a passive diffractive optical element (DOE). The DOE allows us to achieve a long, 18-mm gradiometer baseline in a compact footprint on the head. Using gradiometry, the sensitivities of the channels are < 5 fT/Hz1/2, and the 3-dB bandwidths are approximately 90 Hz, which are both sufficient to perform MEG. Additionally, the channels are highly uniform, which offers the possibility of employing standard MEG post-processing techniques. This module will serve as a building block of an array for magnetic source localization.
In this study, we have developed a conceptual design of a next-generation pulsed-power accelerator that is optmized for driving megajoule-class dynamic-material-physics experiments at pressures as high as 1 TPa. The design is based on an accelerator architecture that is founded on three concepts: single-stage electrical-pulse compression, impedance matching, and transit-time-isolated drive circuits. Since much of the accelerator is water insulated, we refer to this machine as Neptune. The prime power source of Neptune consists of 600 independent impedance-matched Marx generators. As much as 0.8 MJ and 20 MA can be delivered in a 300-ns pulse to a 16-mΩ physics load; hence Neptune is a megajoule-class 20-MA arbitrary waveform generator. Neptune will allow the international scientific community to conduct dynamic equation-of-state, phase-transition, mechanical-property, and other material-physics experiments with a wide variety of well-defined drive-pressure time histories. Because Neptune can deliver on the order of a megajoule to a load, such experiments can be conducted on centimeter-scale samples at terapascal pressures with time histories as long as 1 μs.
Salt formations hold promise for eternal removal of nuclear waste from our biosphere. Germany and the United States have ample salt formations for this purpose, ranging from flat-bedded formations to geologically mature dome structures. As both nations revisit nuclear waste disposal options, the choice between bedded, domal, or intermediate pillow formations is once again a contemporary issue. For decades, favorable attributes of salt as a disposal medium have been extoled and evaluated, carefully and thoroughly. Yet, a sense of discovery continues as science and engineering interrogate naturally heterogeneous systems. Salt formations are impermeable to fluids. Excavation-induced fractures heal as seal systems are placed or natural closure progresses toward equilibrium. Engineering required for nuclear waste disposal gains from mining and storage industries, as humans have been mining salt for millennia. This great intellectual warehouse has been honed and distilled, but not perfected, for all nuances of nuclear waste disposal. Nonetheless, nations are able and have already produced suitable license applications for radioactive waste disposal in salt. A remaining conundrum is site location. Salt formations provide isolation, and geotechnical barriers reestablish impermeability after waste is placed in the geology. Between excavation and closure, physical, mechanical, thermal, chemical, and hydrological processes ensue. Positive attributes for isolation in salt have many commonalities independent of the geologic setting. In some cases, specific details of the environment will affect the disposal concept and thereby define interaction of features, events and processes, while simultaneously influencing scenario development. Here we identify and discuss high-level differences and similarities of bedded and domal salt formations. Positive geologic and engineering attributes for disposal purposes are more common among salt formations than are significant differences. Developing models, testing material, characterizing processes, and analyzing performance all have overlapping application regardless of the salt formation of interest.
Description Of Event: On June, 28, 2016, the HERMES III accelerator (TA-IV, Building 970) operations team began preparing for the third test shot of the day. Prior to the shot, operations personnel conducted the required pre-shot clearance and lock-up process. Following the shot, an operator and RCT re-entered the controlled area to perform post-shot clearance activities and found the shield door in the open position. All other control measures (interlocks and other access controls) were in place during this event and there was no personnel exposure. The test cell shield door is a six-inch thick steel door; it's principal function is to privide shielding, however, it also serves as a pedestrian entrance into the test cell. The shield door is located on the north side of the test cell and, aside from distance, is a primary control to mitigate personnel exposure to ionizing radiation.
Negatively charged nanoparticles (NPs) in 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 electrolyte solutions are studied in a primitive ion model using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and classical density functional theory (DFT). We determine the conditions for attractive interactions between the like-charged NPs. Ion density profiles and NP-NP interaction free energies are compared between the two methods and are found to be in qualitative agreement. The NP interaction free energy is purely repulsive for monovalent counterions, but can be attractive for divalent and trivalent counterions. Using DFT, the NP interaction free energy for different NP diameters and charges is calculated. The depth and location of the minimum in the interaction depend strongly on the NPs' charge. For certain parameters, the depth of the attractive well can reach 8-10 kBT, indicating that kinetic arrest and aggregation of the NPs due to electrostatic interactions is possible. Rich behavior arises from the geometric constraints of counterion packing at the NP surface. Layering of counterions around the NPs is observed and, as secondary counterion layers form the minimum of the NP-NP interaction free energy shifts to larger separation, and the depth of the free energy minimum varies dramatically. We find that attractive interactions occur with and without NP overcharging.
Negatively charged nanoparticles (NPs) in 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 electrolyte solutions are studied in a primitive ion model using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and classical density functional theory (DFT). We determine the conditions for attractive interactions between the like-charged NPs. Ion density profiles and NP-NP interaction free energies are compared between the two methods and are found to be in qualitative agreement. The NP interaction free energy is purely repulsive for monovalent counterions, but can be attractive for divalent and trivalent counterions. Using DFT, the NP interaction free energy for different NP diameters and charges is calculated. The depth and location of the minimum in the interaction depend strongly on the NPs' charge. For certain parameters, the depth of the attractive well can reach 8-10 kBT, indicating that kinetic arrest and aggregation of the NPs due to electrostatic interactions is possible. Rich behavior arises from the geometric constraints of counterion packing at the NP surface. Layering of counterions around the NPs is observed and, as secondary counterion layers form the minimum of the NP-NP interaction free energy shifts to larger separation, and the depth of the free energy minimum varies dramatically. We find that attractive interactions occur with and without NP overcharging.
We present a characterization of short-term stability of Kauffman's NK (random) Boolean networks under arbitrary distributions of transfer functions. Given such a Boolean network where each transfer function is drawn from the same distribution, we present a formula that determines whether short-term chaos (damage spreading) will happen. Our main technical tool which enables the formal proof of this formula is the Fourier analysis of Boolean functions, which describes such functions as multilinear polynomials over the inputs. Numerical simulations on mixtures of threshold functions and nested canalyzing functions demonstrate the formula's correctness.
In 1986, this author presented a paper at a conference, giving a sampling of computer and network security issues, and the tools of the day to address them. The purpose of this current paper is to revisit the topic of computer and network security, and see what changes, especially in types of attacks, have been brought about in 30 years. This paper starts by presenting a review of the state of computer and network security in 1986, along with how certain facets of it have changed. Next, it talks about today's security environment, and finally discusses some of today's many computer and network attack methods that are new or greatly updated since 1986. Many references for further study are provided. The classes of attacks that are known today are the same as the ones known in 1986, but many new methods of implementing the attacks have been enabled by new technologies and the increased pervasiveness of computers and networks in today's society. The threats and specific types of attacks faced by the computer community 30 years ago have not gone away. New threat methods and attack vectors have opened due to advancing technology, supplementing and enhancing, rather than replacing the long-standing threat methods.
Moving Target Defense (MTD) has received significant focus in technical publications. The publications describe MTD approaches that periodically change some attribute of the computer network system. The attribute that is changed, in most cases, is one that an adversary attempts to gain knowledge of through reconnaissance and may use its knowledge of the attribute to exploit the system. The fundamental mechanism an MTD uses to secure the system is to change the system attributes such that the adversary never gains the knowledge and cannot execute an exploit prior to the attribute changing value. Thus, the MTD keeps the adversary from gaining the knowledge of attributes necessary to exploit the system. Most papers conduct theoretical analysis or basic simulations to assess the effectiveness of the MTD approach. More effective assessment of MTD approaches should include behavioral characteristics for both the defensive actor and the adversary; however, limited research exists on running actual attacks against an implemented system with the objective of determining the security benefits and total cost of deploying the MTD approach. This paper explores empirical assessment through experimentation of MTD approaches. The cyber-kill chain is used to characterize the actions of the adversary and identify what classes of attacks were successfully thwarted by the MTD approach and what classes of attacks could not be thwarted In this research paper, we identify the experiment environments and where experiment fidelity should be focused to evaluate the effectiveness of MTD approaches. Additionally, experimentation environments that support contemporary technologies used in MTD approaches, such as software defined networking (SDN), are also identified and discussed.
The Republic of Estonia faced a series of cyber attacks and riots in 2007 that seemed to be highly coordinated and politically motivated, causing short-lived but substantial impact to Estonia's cyber and economic systems. Short-Term harm from these hybrid incidents led to long-Term improvements and leadership by Estonia in the cyber arena. We created a causal model of these attacks to simulate their dynamics. The model uses the DYMATICA framework, a cognitive-system dynamics structure used to quantify and simulate elicited information from subject matter experts. This historical case study underscores how cyber warfare can be a major threat to modern society, and how it can be combined with information operations and kinetic effects to create further disruption. Given states' potential vulnerability to cyber attacks, a deeper understanding of how to analyze, prevent, defend, and utilize the aftermath of these for improvement to systems is critical, as is insight into the fundamental rationale of the outcomes.
This study examined high-current events observed in Xilinx Field-Programmable Gate Arrays irradiated with heavy ions. A probable cause and proposed changes to the test methodology to prevent these high-current events is described.
In next-generation extreme-scale systems, application performance will be limited by memory performance characteristics. The first exascale system is projected to contain many petabytes of memory. In addition to the sheer volume of the memory required, device trends, such as shrinking feature sizes and reduced supply voltages, have the potential to increase the frequency of memory errors. As a result, resilience to memory errors is a key challenge. In this paper, we evaluate the viability of using memory compression to repair detectable uncorrectable errors (DUEs) in memory. We develop a software library, evaluate its performance and demonstrate that it is able to significantly compress memory of HPC applications. Further, we show that exploiting compressed memory pages to correct memory errors can significantly improve application performance on next-generation systems.
In 1986, this author presented a paper at a conference, giving a sampling of computer and network security issues, and the tools of the day to address them. The purpose of this current paper is to revisit the topic of computer and network security, and see what changes, especially in types of attacks, have been brought about in 30 years. This paper starts by presenting a review of the state of computer and network security in 1986, along with how certain facets of it have changed. Next, it talks about today's security environment, and finally discusses some of today's many computer and network attack methods that are new or greatly updated since 1986. Many references for further study are provided. The classes of attacks that are known today are the same as the ones known in 1986, but many new methods of implementing the attacks have been enabled by new technologies and the increased pervasiveness of computers and networks in today's society. The threats and specific types of attacks faced by the computer community 30 years ago have not gone away. New threat methods and attack vectors have opened due to advancing technology, supplementing and enhancing, rather than replacing the long-standing threat methods.
International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis, SC
Brown, W.M.; Semin, Andrey; Hebenstreit, Michael; Khvostov, Sergey; Raman, Karthik; Plimpton, Steven J.
Electrical power efficiency is a primary concern in designing modern HPC systems. Common strategies to improve CPU power efficiency rely on increased parallelism within a processor that is enabled both by an increase in the vector capabilities within the core and also the number of cores within a processor. Although many-core processors have been available for some time, achieving power-efficient performance has been challenging due to the offload model. Here, we evaluate performance of the molecular dynamics code LAMMPS on two new Intel® processors including the second generation many-core Intel® Xeon Phi™ processor that is available as a bootable CPU. We describe our approach to measure power consumption out-of-band and software optimizations necessary to achieve energy efficiency. We analyze benefits from Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 512 instructions and demonstrate increased simulations rates with over 9X the CPU+DRAM power efficiency when compared to the unoptimized code on previous generation processors.
Predicting the long-term integrity of caprock is essential for determining the viability of carbon sequestration. Accurate prediction requires incorporating knowledge about small-scale, subcritical fracture and how they contribute to developing micro and macro-cracks. Tests such as short rod, notched three-point bending (N3PB), cylinder splitting, double torsion, etc. are used to determine the physical characteristics of material. Unlike other materials such as metals, geomaterials have different moduli in tension than compression. This study compares the effects of separate tension and compression moduli on simulations in Abaqus for the N3PB test. Previous models of N3PB created by Rhinehart et al. and Borowski have struggled to create results that accurately portrayed experimental results. Borowski found that previous models with only one value for Young's modulus improved when two moduli were used though it was difficult to determine regions of tension and compression prior to simulation. This study develops an Abaqus subroutine written in Fortran to dynamically reassign material properties as the simulation progresses and produces simulation results capable of much better replication of experimental data. However, the accuracy of the model heavily depends on accurate determination of the Young's modulus in tension.
Lane, Todd; Lane, Pamela; Williams, Kelly P.; Wilkenfeld, Joshua S.; Solberg, Owen D.; Fuqua, Zachary B.; Cornelius, Nina G.; Gillespie, Shaunette; Samocha, Tzachi M.; Carney, Laura T.
Productivity of algal mass culture can be severely reduced by contaminating organisms. It is, therefore, important to identify contaminants, determine their effect on productivity and, ultimately, develop countermeasures against such contamination. In the present study we utilized microbiome analysis by second-generation sequencing of small subunit rRNA genes to characterize the predator and pathogen burden of open raceway cultures of Nannochloropsis salina. Samples were analyzed from replicate raceways before and after crashes. In one culture cycle, we identified two algivorous species, the rotifer Brachionus and gastrotrich Chaetonotus, the presence of which may have contributed to the loss of algal biomass. In the second culture cycle, the raceways were treated with hypochlorite in an unsuccessful attempt to interdict the crash. Our analyses were shown to be an effective strategy for the identification of the biological contaminants and the characterization of intervention strategies.
This paper presents a statistical analysis of edge flames in a turbulent lifted flame using direct numerical simulation (DNS). To investigate the dynamics of edge flames, a theoretical framework describing the edge-flame propagation velocity as a function of propagation velocities of mixture-fraction and product-mass fraction iso-surfaces at the flame base is used. The correlations between these propagation velocities and several other variables are then studied, including iso-surface curvatures, iso-surface orientations, strain rates, scalar dissipation rate and gradients of product mass fraction. The contribution of these parameters to the overall behaviour of the edge flame is also investigated using conditional averaging on two-dimensional spatial locations at the flame base. The analysis reveals that the tangential and normal strain rates in addition to the curvatures and scalar dissipation rates have significant contributions to the overall behaviour of the edge flame. The elliptical motion of the flame base described in our earlier study [1] is extended to provide a clearer picture of how these various parameters affect the large fluctuations of edge-flame velocity observed at the flame base.
Peridynamics is a nonlocal extension of classical continuum mechanics that is well-suited for solving problems with discontinuities such as cracks. This paper extends the peridynamic formulation to decompose a problem domain into a number of smaller overlapping subdomains and to enable the use of different time steps in different subdomains. This approach allows regions of interest to be isolated and solved at a small time step for increased accuracy while the rest of the problem domain can be solved at a larger time step for greater computational efficiency. Performance of the proposed method in terms of stability, accuracy, and computational cost is examined and several numerical examples are presented to corroborate the findings.
Currently, superconducting qubits lead the way in potential candidates for quantum computing. At the same time, transferring quantum information over long distances typically relies on the use of photons as the elementary qubit. Converting between stationary electronic qubits in superconducting systems and traveling photonic qubits is a challenging yet necessary goal for the interface of quantum computing and communication. One promising path to achieving this goal appears to be the integration of superconductivity with optically active semiconductors, with quantum information being transferred between the two by means of the superconducting proximity effect. Obtaining good interfaces between superconductors and semiconductors is the next obvious step for improving these hybrid systems. Here, we report on our observation of superconductivity in a 2.3 m diameter self-assembled indium structure grown epitaxially on the surface of a semiconductor material.
Yoon, Hongkyu; Lee, Jonghyun; Kitanidis, Peter K.; Werth, Charles J.; Valocchi, Albert J.
Characterizing subsurface properties is crucial for reliable and cost-effective groundwater supply management and contaminant remediation. With recent advances in sensor technology, large volumes of hydrogeophysical and geochemical data can be obtained to achieve high-resolution images of subsurface properties. However, characterization with such a large amount of information requires prohibitive computational costs associated with “big data” processing and numerous large-scale numerical simulations. To tackle such difficulties, the principal component geostatistical approach (PCGA) has been proposed as a “Jacobian-free” inversion method that requires much smaller forward simulation runs for each iteration than the number of unknown parameters and measurements needed in the traditional inversion methods. PCGA can be conveniently linked to any multiphysics simulation software with independent parallel executions. In this paper, we extend PCGA to handle a large number of measurements (e.g., 106 or more) by constructing a fast preconditioner whose computational cost scales linearly with the data size. For illustration, we characterize the heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity (K) distribution in a laboratory-scale 3-D sand box using about 6 million transient tracer concentration measurements obtained using magnetic resonance imaging. Since each individual observation has little information on the K distribution, the data were compressed by the zeroth temporal moment of breakthrough curves, which is equivalent to the mean travel time under the experimental setting. Only about 2000 forward simulations in total were required to obtain the best estimate with corresponding estimation uncertainty, and the estimated K field captured key patterns of the original packing design, showing the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Large-scale open microalgae cultivation has tremendous potential to make a significant contribution to replacing petroleum-based fuels with biofuels. Open algal cultures are unavoidably inhabited with a diversity of microbes that live on, influence, and shape the fate of these ecosystems. However, there is little understanding of the resilience and stability of the microbial communities in engineered semicontinuous algal systems. To evaluate the dynamics and resilience of the microbial communities in microalgae biofuel cultures, we conducted a longitudinal study on open systems to compare the temporal profiles of the microbiota from two multigenerational algal cohorts, which include one seeded with the microbiota from an in-house culture and the other exogenously seeded with a natural-occurring consortia of bacterial species harvested from the Pacific Ocean. From these month-long, semicontinuous open microalga Nannochloropsis salina cultures, we sequenced a time-series of 46 samples, yielding 8804 operational taxonomic units derived from 9,160,076 high-quality partial 16S rRNA sequences. We provide quantitative evidence that clearly illustrates the development of microbial community is associated with microbiota ancestry. In addition, N. salina growth phases were linked with distinct changes in microbial phylotypes. Alteromonadeles dominated the community in the N. salina exponential phase whereas Alphaproteobacteria and Flavobacteriia were more prevalent in the stationary phase. We also demonstrate that the N. salina-associated microbial community in open cultures is diverse, resilient, and dynamic in response to environmental perturbations. This knowledge has general implications for developing and testing design principles of cultivated algal systems.
Cohesive Hamaker constants of solid materials are measured via optical and dielectric properties (i.e., Lifshitz theory), inverse gas chromatography (IGC), and contact angle measurements. To date, however, a comparison across these measurement techniques for common energetic materials has not been reported. This has been due to the inability of the community to produce samples of energetic materials that are readily compatible with contact angle measurements. Here we overcome this limitation by using physical vapor deposition to produce thin films of five common energetic materials, and the contact angle measurement approach is applied to estimate the cohesive Hamaker constants and surface energy components of the materials. The cohesive Hamaker constants range from 85 zJ to 135 zJ across the different films. When these Hamaker constants are compared to prior work using Lifshitz theory and nonpolar probe IGC, the relative magnitudes can be ordered as follows: contact angle > Lifshitz > IGC. Furthermore, the dispersive surface energy components estimated here are in good agreement with those estimated by IGC. Due to these results, researchers and technologists will now have access to a comprehensive database of adhesion constants which describe the behavior of these energetic materials over a range of settings.
A three-dimensional direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a turbulent lifted dimethyl ether (DME) slot jet flame was performed at elevated pressure to study interactions between chemical reactions with low-temperature heat release (LTHR), negative temperature coefficient (NTC) reactions and shear generated turbulence in a jet in a heated coflow. By conditioning on mixture fraction, local reaction zones and local heat release rate, the turbulent flame is revealed to exhibit a "pentabrachial" structure that was observed for a laminar DME lifted flame [Krisman et al., (2015)]. The propagation characteristics of the stabilization and triple points are also investigated. Potential stabilization points, spatial locations characterized by preferred temperature and mixture fraction conditions, exhibit autoignition characteristics with large reaction rate and negligible molecular diffusion. The actual stabilization point which coincides with the most upstream samples from the pool of potential stabilization points fovr each spanwise location shows passive flame structure with large diffusion. The propagation speed along the stoichiometric surface near the triple point is compared with the asymptotic value obtained from theory [Ruetsch et al., (1995)]. At stoichiometric conditions, the asymptotic and averaged DNS values of flame displacement speed deviate by a factor of 1.7. However, accounting for the effect of low-temperature species on the local flame speed increase, these two values become comparable. This suggests that the two-stage ignition influences the triple point propagation speed through enhancement of the laminar flame speed in a configuration where abundant low-temperature products from the first stage, low-temperature ignition are transported to the lifted flame by the high-velocity jet.
The texture or patterning of soil on PV surfaces may influence light capture at various angles of incidence (AOI). Accumulated soil can be considered a microshading element, which changes with respect to AOI. Laboratory deposition of simulated soil was used to prepare test coupons for simultaneous AOI and soiling loss experiments. A mixed solvent deposition technique was used to consistently deposit patterned test soils onto glass slides. Transmission decreased as soil loading and AOI increased. Dense aggregates significantly decreased transmission. However, highly dispersed particles are less prone to secondary scattering, improving overall light collection. In order to test AOI losses on relevant systems, uniform simulated soil coatings were applied to split reference cells to further examine this effect. The measured optical transmission and area coverage correlated closely to the observed ISC. Angular losses were significant at angles as low as 25°.
III-nitride light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs) are ultimately limited in performance due to parasitic Auger recombination. For LEDs, the consequences are poor efficiencies at high current densities; for LDs, the consequences are high thresholds and limited efficiencies. Here, we present arguments for III-nitride quantum dots (QDs) as active regions for both LEDs and LDs, to circumvent Auger recombination and achieve efficiencies at higher current densities that are not possible with quantum wells. QD-based LDs achieve gain and thresholds at lower carrier densities before Auger recombination becomes appreciable. QD-based LEDs achieve higher efficiencies at higher currents because of higher spontaneous emission rates and reduced Auger recombination. The technical challenge is to control the size distribution and volume of the QDs to realize these benefits. If constructed properly, III-nitride light-emitting devices with QD active regions have the potential to outperform quantum well light-emitting devices, and enable an era of ultra-efficient solid-state lighting. (Figure presented.) .
The emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV) infections in Latin America and Southeast Asia has created an urgent need for new, simple, yet sensitive, diagnostic tests. We highlight recent work using paper-based sensors coupled with CRISPR/Cas9 to detect ZIKV RNA as a new approach to achieve rapid development and deployment of field-ready diagnostics for emerging infectious diseases.
This document provides a methodology for the performance-based assessment of security systems designed for the protection of nuclear and radiological materials and the processes that produce and/or involve them. It is intended for use with both relatively simple installations and with highly regulated complex sites with demanding security requirements.
This document serves as the System-Level Acceptance Test (SLAT) Plan for Site Name, City, Country. This test plan is to provide independent testing of the Radiation Detection System (RDS) installed at Site Name to verify that Customs has been delivered a fully-functioning system as required by all contractual commitments. The system includes all installed hardware and software components. The SLAT plan will verify that separate components are working individually and collectively from a system perspective.
The Security and Emergency Management (S&EM) Center at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is responsible for ensuring overall security for people, information, and facilities at SNL. The center runs a broad Security and Emergency Management Program in close cooperation with other organizations throughout SNL. The mission of the Security program is to minimize current and future security threats so that Sandia can protect, sustain and enhance SNL’s ability to function as a multidisciplinary national security laboratory. The mission of the Emergency Management program is to provide SNL with dedicated professionals who deliver safe, prompt, courteous, efficient emergency planning and response to fire-related incidents, hazardous materials, confined space, emergency medical emergencies, and non-emergency events to protect the workers, the public and the environment. They embrace mission success in the National Interest, actively supporting all Divisions. The Emergency Management (EM) Program’s vision is to be recognized by SNL/NM and the entire DOE complex as the model for superior emergency management services. Emergency Management plans to accomplish this vision through a leadership philosophy that promotes respect and mutual trust among all members through open and honest communication.
The addition of a compressible degree of freedom (CDOF) to a wave energy converter (WEC)-which results in a compressible WEC-has been shown to significantly increase power absorption compared to a rigid WEC of the same shape and mass for a variety of architectures. This study demonstrates that a compressible point absorber, with a passive power-take-off (PTO) and optimized damping, can also achieve equal or better performance levels than an optimally controlled rigid point absorber (with the same shape and mass) using reactive power from the PTO. Wave energy is converted to mechanical energy in both cases using a linear damper PTO, with the PTO coefficient optimized for each resonance frequency and compressible volume. The large compressible volume required to tune the compressible point absorber to the desired frequency is a practical limitation that needs to be addressed with further research, especially for low frequencies. While realistic, these auxiliary units would increase the CapEx and OpEx costs, potentially reducing the aforementioned benefits gained by CDOF. However, alternative approaches can be developed to implement CDOF without the large compressible volume requirements, including the development of flexible surface panels tuned with mechanical springs.
Dish Stirling energy systems have been developed for distributed and large-scale utility deployment. This report summarizes the state of the technology in a joint project between Stirling Energy Systems, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Department of Energy in 2011. It then lays out a feasible path to large scale deployment, including development needs and anticipated cost reduction paths that will make a viable deployment product.
Suppression of the ambient gamma background radiation by traffic structure and cargo is a well-understood and studied effect for deployed radiation portal monitors (RPM). For effective analysis of measured RPM profiles with the objective of inferring the spatial characteristics of radiation sources, it is important to account for the effects of background suppression. In this report we analyze background suppression for a test dataset from vehicle RPMs at a sample port and estimate the distributions of suppression amplitudes and shapes. Cluster analysis of standardized and normalized profiles is used to obtain the dominant suppression shapes in the sample field data. We determine that a large fraction of non-alarm RPM occupancies are represented by a small number of suppression shapes. This fraction increases when the signal-to-noise ratio of an occupancy profile is improved by the addition of signals for multiple RPM detectors located at the same height. The calculated suppression shapes from RPM data can be used along with source models in the process of spatial profile analysis both in the field or offline. This background suppression analysis is an important step in improving the effectiveness of the RPM profile analysis methodology which is currently being investigated and may lead to methods that reduce the number of secondary inspections as well as to decision support tools that aid operators in evaluating RPM data that do not contain spectral information.
Peridynamic correspondence material models provide a way to combine a material model from the local theory with the inherent capabilities of peridynamics to model long-range forces and fracture. However, correspondence models in a typical particle discretization suffer from zero-energy mode instability. These instabilities are shown here to be an aspect of material stability. A stability condition is derived for state-based materials starting from the requirement of potential energy minimization. It is shown that all correspondence materials fail this stability condition due to zero-energy deformation modes of the family. To eliminate these modes, a term is added to the correspondence strain energy density that resists deviations from a uniform deformation. The resulting material model satisfies the stability condition while effectively leaving the stress tensor unchanged. Computational examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the modified material model in avoiding zero-energy mode instability in a peridynamic particle code.
