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Creators/Authors contains: "Souza, J."

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  1. Abstract The paper presents the effects of the storm‐time prompt penetration electric fields (PPEF) and traveling atmospheric disturbances (TADs) on the total electron content (TEC), foF2 and hmF2 in the American sector (north and south) during the geomagnetic storm on 23–24 April 2023. The data show a poleward shift of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) crests to 18°N and 20°S in the evening of 23 April (attributed to eastward PPEF) and the EIA crests remaining almost in the same latitudes after the PPEF reversed westward. The thermospheric neutral wind velocity, foF2, hmF2, and TEC variations show that TADs from the northern and southern high latitudes propagating equatorward and crossing the equator after midnight on 23 April. The meridional keograms of ΔTEC show the TAD structures in the north/south propagated with phase velocity 470/485 m/s, wave length 4,095/4,016 km and period 2.42/2.30 hr, respectively. The interactions of the TADs also appear to modify the wind velocities in low latitudes. The eastward PPEF and equatorward TADs also favored the development of a clear/not so clear F3 layer in northern/southern regions of the equator. 
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  2. Houston Lightning Mapping Array (HLMA) post-processed (L2+) data, collected during the ESCAPE (Experiment of Sea Breeze Convection, Aerosols, Precipitation, and Environment) field campaign IOP period (6 June - 31 July 2022), and the remaining DOE TRACER IOP period (July-Sep 2022). These data were processed uniformly with reasonable default quality control parameters and are available in NetCDF format. 
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  3. This commentary paper addresses the outdated and misleading terminology used to categorize termites into “higher” and “lower”. These terms perpetuate a linear progression view of evolution, which is both inaccurate and detrimental to our understanding of the diversity of life. We trace the historical origins of these terms and highlight their flawed interpretation of evolutionary relationships. We advocate for the adoption of Termitidae (or termitid), rather than “higher termites”. As for the paraphyletic group of “lower termites”, we recommend refraining from grouping them together, unless specifically referring to their symbionts. In such cases, we propose “protist-dependent termites” or “non-Termitidae termites”. 
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    Methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI 3 ) is an important light-harvesting semiconducting material for solar-cell devices. We investigate the effect of long thermal annealing in an inert atmosphere of compacted MAPbI 3 perovskite powders. The microstructure morphology of the MAPbI 3 annealed samples reveals a well-defined grain boundary morphology. The voids and neck-connecting grains are observed throughout the samples, indicating a well-sintered process due to mass diffusion transfer through the grain boundary. The long 40 h thermal annealing at T = 522 K ( k B T = 45 meV) causes a significant shift in the structural phase transition, stabilizing the low-electrical conductivity and high-efficiency cubic structure at room temperature. The complete disordered orientation of MA cations maximizes the entropy of the system, which, in turn, increases the Pb–I–Pb angle close to 180°. The MA rotation barrier and entropy analysis determined through DFT calculations suggest that the configurational entropy is a function of the annealing time. The disordered organic molecules are quenched and become kinetically trapped in the cubic phase down to room temperature. We propose a new phase diagram for this important system combining different structural phases as a function of temperature with annealing time for MAPbI 3 . The absence of the coexistence of different structural phases, leading to thermal hysteresis, can significantly improve the electrical properties of the solar cell devices. Through an entropy-driven stabilization phenomenon, we offer an alternative path for improving the maintenance, toughness, and efficiency of the optoelectronic devices by removing the microstructural stress brought by the structural phase transformation within the solar cell working temperature range. 
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  6. Abstract The spectral line profile of the atomic oxygen O1D23P2transition near 6300 Å in the airglow has been used for more than 50 years to extract neutral wind and temperature information from the F‐region ionosphere. A new spectral model and recent samples of this airglow emission in the presence of the nearby lambda‐doubled OH Meinel (9‐3) P2(2.5) emission lines underscores earlier cautions that OH can significantly distort the OI line center position and line width observed using a single‐etalon Fabry‐Perot interferometer (FPI). The consequence of these profile distortions in terms of the emission profile line width and Doppler position is a strong function of the selected etalon plate spacing. Single‐etalon Fabry‐Perot interferometers placed in the field for thermospheric measurements have widely varying etalon spacings, so that systematic wind biases caused by the OH line positions differ between instruments, complicating comparisons between sites. Based on the best current determinations of the OH and O1D line positions, the ideal gap for a single‐etalon FPI wind measurements places the OH emissions in the wings of the O1D spectral line profile. Optical systems that can accommodate prefilters with square passbands less than ∼3 Å in the optical beam can effectively block the OH contamination. When that is not possible, a method to fit for OH contamination and remove it in the spectral background of an active Fabry‐Perot system is evaluated. 
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    Drug development suffers from a lack of predictive and human-relevant in vitro models. Organ-on-chip (OOC) technology provides advanced culture capabilities to generate physiologically appropriate, human-based tissue in vitro , therefore providing a route to a predictive in vitro model. However, OOC technologies are often created at the expense of throughput, industry-standard form factors, and compatibility with state-of-the-art data collection tools. Here we present an OOC platform with advanced culture capabilities supporting a variety of human tissue models including liver, vascular, gastrointestinal, and kidney. The platform has 96 devices per industry standard plate and compatibility with contemporary high-throughput data collection tools. Specifically, we demonstrate programmable flow control over two physiologically relevant flow regimes: perfusion flow that enhances hepatic tissue function and high-shear stress flow that aligns endothelial monolayers. In addition, we integrate electrical sensors, demonstrating quantification of barrier function of primary gut colon tissue in real-time. We utilize optical access to the tissues to directly quantify renal active transport and oxygen consumption via integrated oxygen sensors. Finally, we leverage the compatibility and throughput of the platform to screen all 96 devices using high content screening (HCS) and evaluate gene expression using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). By combining these capabilities in one platform, physiologically-relevant tissues can be generated and measured, accelerating optimization of an in vitro model, and ultimately increasing predictive accuracy of in vitro drug screening. 
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