OFM Research (United States)

Located mainly on thick lacustrine sediment, pumping ground water has led to pronounced subsidence in Mexico City, with a rate of nearly 0.35m per year in the worst affected locations. The load of new infrastructure exacerbates the problem. Monitoring the subsidence is crucial for understanding the mechanism and hazard prevention. While InSAR and other methods have provided highly resolved subsidence maps, they lack depth resolution.Seismic velocity, which reflects the state of the sediment (e.g. its stress, pore pressure, and other properties), will change with the compaction during the subsidence. Taking advantage of the omnipresent urban ambient noise recorded by the 30 broad band seismic stations in periods between 2010 and2021 around Mexico City, we calculate the cross correlations between different station pairs to determine the seismic velocity variations with coda wave interferometry in different frequency bands. We aim to obtain the spatial and depth distribution of seismic velocity variations using coda wave sensitivities and surface wave dispersion Previous studies have explained the long durations of ground-motion that has been observed during teleseismic and local earthquakes by higher-mode surface wave propagation in the competent rocks underneath the Mexico Basin, which has important implications for the depth sensitivity of any observed velocity changes.To determine the precise relationship between the subsidence and seismic velocity variations, we will further analysis the tectonic and environment effects. Our study aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the subsidence in Mexico City.

Are older ages more or less accurate at identifying the function of a song? The “Natural History of Song” database features participants’ analyses of the functions of songs from around the world. Participants were randomly assigned 36 out of 118 possible songs to complete this task. The participants were asked to analyze a song with different functions: soothing a baby, dancing, healing, or expressing love. It is hypothesized that older adults would be less accurate in their identification of the function of a song, because they typically have more difficulties in hearing and have significantly reduced automatic auditory processing compared to younger adults. In reality, the older participants were significantly more accurate in identifying the functions for dance and love songs, showing that even though their automatic auditory processing is less acute as they age, they have more experience listening to songs and are able to accurately think through this task.

Graph-based data engineering has emerged as a pivotal paradigm for optimizing query efficacy in extensive networks in recent years. This study investigates techniques to enhance query optimization to facilitate high-performance queries, specifically contrasting traditional methods with AIbased approaches across various graph types, including social networks, financial transactions, and knowledge graphs. The study examines query execution efficiency across various scenarios by altering indexing strategies, partitioning techniques, and implementing heuristic versus cost-based optimizations. We run realistic simulations to look at the main performance metrics, such as real query response time, execution time, and scalability. The outcomes show that AIoptimized query plans make a big difference in performance and that certain graph-oriented searching and partitioning methods can help reduce latency. The results of this study lay the groundwork for a comprehensive framework for scalable, efficient, and privacy-conscious graph query processing, with significant implications for fraud detection, real-time analytics, and knowledge discovery.

International audience

There is a growing global interest in using peptides in the health industry for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and natural food products. Peptides contain two or more linked amino acids, whereas more than 50 amino acids are classified as polypeptides. While there is a growing level of interest in the use of peptides in the health and wellness industry, there is a lack of literature pertaining to a specific tripeptide derived from arginine, alanine, and lysine (RAK) that is of interest for human dietary use. Therefore, a 90-day repeated-dose toxicity study was performed in rats to evaluate the subchronic oral toxicity of RAK. Eighty Han:WIST rats were administered RAK by gavage at doses of 0, 250, 500, or 1000 mg/kg bw/day. There were no mortalities or other treatment related effects, and no target organs were identified. A no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) of 1000 mg/kg bw/day, the highest dose tested, was determined. This study will contribute to the body of research in regard to the safety of the use of RAK.

Microorganisms have the potential to produce nutrient-rich products that can be consumed as food or feed. The protein-rich powder derived from heat treatment of the whole-cell biomass of polyhydroxybutyrate-deficient Cupriavidus necator, a metabolically versatile organism that uses elements found in the air, is an example of such a product. To assess the safety of the protein powder for use as a nutritional ingredient in human food, in accordance with internationally accepted standards, its genotoxic potential and repeated-dose oral toxicity were investigated. A bacterial reverse mutation test, an in vitro mammalian chromosomal aberration test, and an in vivo mammalian micronucleus test were performed. No evidence of mutagenicity or genotoxicity was found. Additionally, a 90-day repeated-dose oral toxicity study in rats was completed, in which a total of 100 male and female Wistar rats were exposed by gavage to daily doses of 1000, 2000, or 3000 mg/kg bw/day of the test material. Following 90 days of continuous exposure, no mortality or treatment-related adverse effects were observed and no target organs were identified. Therefore, a no observed adverse effect level was determined at 3000 mg/kg bw/day, the highest dose tested.

The objective of the document is to empirically test a structural model of the relationship between stigma and attitudes. A cross-sectional, psychometric, and predictive work was carried out with a sample of 100 students, considering their exposure to Covid-19 in their professional practices and social service. A factorial structure was found that explained 89% of the variance and the relationship between both variables, suggesting the inclusion of other variables such as the need for information, media framing, and government communication strategy.

The Spent Fuel & Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) Campaign of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Office of Spent Fuel & Waste Disposition (SFWD) is conducting research and development (R&D) on geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level nuclear waste (HLW). A high priority for SFWST disposal R&D is to develop a disposal system modeling and analysis capability for evaluating disposal system performance for nuclear waste in geologic media. This report describes fiscal year (FY) 2021 advances of the PFLOTRAN Development group of the SFWST Campaign. The mission of this group is to develop a geologic disposal system modeling capability for nuclear waste that can be used to probabilistically assess the performance of generic disposal concepts. In FY 2021, development proceeded along three main thrusts: software infrastructure, code performance, and process model advancement. Software infrastructure improvements included implementing an Agile software development framework and making improvements to the QA Test Suite. Code performance improvements included development of advanced linear and nonlinear solvers as well as design of flexible smoothing algorithms for capillary pressure functions. Process modeling advancements included the addition of flexible thermal conductivity function definitions and refinement of multi-continuum reactive transport to support Sandia’s participation in DECOVALEX