The development of low cost, highly efficient, desulfurization technology with integrated sulfur recovery remains a principle barrier issue for Vision 21 integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation plants. In this plan, the U. S. Department of Energy will construct ultra-clean, modular, co-production IGCC power plants each with chemical products tailored to meet the demands of specific regional markets. The catalysts employed in these co-production modules, for example water-gas-shift and Fischer-Tropsch catalysts, are readily poisoned by hydrogen sulfide (H{sub 2}S), a sulfur contaminant, present in the coal-derived fuel gases. To prevent poisoning of these catalysts, the removal of H{sub 2}S down to the parts-per-billion level is necessary. Historically, research into the purification of coal-derived fuel gases has focused on dry technologies that offer the prospect of higher combined cycle efficiencies as well as improved thermal integration with co-production modules. Primarily, these concepts rely on a highly selective process separation step to remove low concentrations of H{sub 2}S present in the fuel gases and produce a concentrated stream of sulfur bearing effluent. This effluent must then undergo further processing to be converted to its final form, usually elemental sulfur. Ultimately, desulfurization of coal-derived fuel gases may cost as much as 15% …

Electron clouds limit the performance of many major accelerators and storage rings. Significant quantities of electrons result when halo ions are lost to beam tubes, generating gas which can be ionized and ion-induced electrons that can multiply and accumulate, causing degradation or loss of the ion beam. In order to understand the physical mechanisms of ion-induced electron production, experiments studied the impact of 50 to 400 keV K{sup +} ions on stainless steel surfaces near grazing incidence, using the 500 kV Ion Source Test Stand (STS-500) at LLNL. The experimental electron yield scales with the electronic component (dE{sub e}/dx) of the stopping power and its angular dependence does not follow l/cos({theta}). A theoretical model is developed, using TRIM code to evaluate dE{sub e}/dx at several depths in the target, to estimate the electron yield, which is compared with the experimental results. The experiment extends the range of energy from previous works and the model reproduces the angular dependence and magnitude of the electron yield.

During Run-8, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) provided collisions of spin-polarized proton beams at two interaction regions. Physics data were taken with vertical orientation of the beam polarization, which in the 'Yellow' RHIC ring was significantly lower than in previous years. We present recent developments and improvements as well as the luminosity and polarization performance achieved during Run-8, and we discuss possible causes of the not as high as previously achieved polarization performance of the 'Yellow' ring.

Conformal symmetry provides a systematic approximation to QCD in both its perturbative and nonperturbative domains. One can use the AdS/CFT correspondence between Anti-de Sitter space and conformal gauge theories to obtain an analytically tractable approximation to QCD in the regime where the QCD coupling is large and constant. For example, there is an exact correspondence between the fifth-dimensional coordinate of AdS space and a specific impact variable which measures the separation of the quark constituents within the hadron in ordinary space-time. This connection allows one to compute the analytic form of the frame-independent light-front wavefunctions of mesons and baryons, the fundamental entities which encode hadron properties and allow the computation of exclusive scattering amplitudes. One can also use conformal symmetry as a template for perturbative QCD predictions where the effects of the nonzero beta function can be systematically included in the scale of the QCD coupling. This leads to fixing of the renormalization scale and commensurate scale relations which relate observables without scale or scheme ambiguity. The results are consistent with the renormalization group and the analytic connection of QCD to Abelian theory at N{sub C} {yields} 0. I also discuss a number of novel phenomenological features of QCD. Initial- …

I discuss a number of novel topics in QCD, including the use of the AdS/CFT correspondence between Anti-de Sitter space and conformal gauge theories to obtain an analytically tractable approximation to QCD in the regime where the QCD coupling is large and constant. In particular, there is an exact correspondence between the fifth-dimension coordinate z of AdS space and a specific impact variable {zeta} which measures the separation of the quark constituents within the hadron in ordinary space-time. This connection allows one to compute the analytic form of the frame-independent light-front wavefunctions of mesons and baryons, the fundamental entities which encode hadron properties and allow the computation of exclusive scattering amplitudes. I also discuss a number of novel phenomenological features of QCD. Initial- and final-state interactions from gluon-exchange, normally neglected in the parton model, have a profound effect in QCD hard-scattering reactions, leading to leading-twist single-spin asymmetries, diffractive deep inelastic scattering, diffractive hard hadronic reactions, the breakdown of the Lam Tung relation in Drell-Yan reactions, and nuclear shadowing and non-universal antishadowing--leading-twist physics not incorporated in the light-front wavefunctions of the target computed in isolation. I also discuss tests of hidden color in nuclear wavefunctions, the use of diffraction to materialize …

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Iron ions provide many valuable plasma diagnostics for cosmic plasmas. The accuracy of these diagnostics, however, often depends on an accurate understanding of the ionization structure of the emitting gas. Dielectronic recombination (DR) is the dominant electron-ion recombination mechanism for most iron ions in cosmic plasmas. Using the heavy-ion storage ring at the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, we have measured the low temperature DR rates for Fe{sup q+} where q = 15, 17, 18, and 19. These rates are important for photoionized gases which form in the media surrounding active galactic nuclei, X-ray binaries, and cataclysmic variables. Our results demonstrate that commonly used theoretical approximations for calculating low temperature DR rates can easily under- or over-estimate the DR rate by a factor of {approx} 2 or more. As essentially all DR rates used for modeling photoionized gases are calculated using these approximations, our results indicate that new DR rates are needed for almost all charge states of cosmically abundant elements. Measurements are underway for other charge states of iron.

A model of energy gain induced by fast ignition of thermonuclear burn in compressed deuterium-tritium fuel, is used to show the potential for 300x gain with a driver energy of 1 M J, if the National Ignition Facility (NIF) were to be adapted for fast ignition. The physics of fast ignition has been studied using a petawatt laser facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Laser plasma interaction in a preformed plasma on a solid target leads to relativistic self-focusing evidenced by x-ray images. Absorption of the laser radiation transfers energy to an intense source of relativistic electrons. Good conversion efficiency into a wide angular distribution is reported. Heating by the electrons in solid density CD{sub 2} produces 0.5 to 1/keV temperature, inferred from the D-D thermo-nuclear neutron yield.

The computing power available to scientists and engineers has increased dramatically in the past decade, due in part to progress in making massively parallel computing practical and available. The expectation for these machines has been great. The reality is that progress has been slower than expected. Nevertheless, massively parallel computing is beginning to realize its potential for enabling significant break-throughs in science and engineering. This paper provides a perspective on the state of the field, colored by the authors' experiences using large scale parallel machines at Sandia National Laboratories. We address trends in hardware, system software and algorithms, and we also offer our view of the forces shaping the parallel computing industry.

Coordinated sliding of microtubule doublets, driven by dynein motors, produces periodic beating of the axoneme. Recent structural studies of the axoneme have used cryo-electron tomography to reveal new details of the interactions among some of the multitude of proteins that form the axoneme and regulate its movement. Connections among the several sets of dyneins, in particular, suggest ways in which their actions may be coordinated. Study of the molecular architecture of isolated doublets has provided a structural basis for understanding the doublet's mechanical properties that are related to the bending of the axoneme, and has also offered insight into its potential role in the mechanism of dynein activity regulation.

This article uses the 4 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South survey to place direct constraints on the ubiquity of z ≈ 2 heavily obscured active galactic nuclei.

Using high frequency (12-22 GHz) VLBA observations we confirm the existence of a Faraday rotation measure gradient of {approx}500 rad m{sup -2} mas{sup -1} transverse to the jet axis in the quasar 3C273. The gradient is seen in two epochs spaced roughly six months apart. This stable transverse rotation measure gradient is expected if a helical magnetic field wraps around the jet. The overall order to the magnetic field in the inner projected 40 parsecs is consistent with a helical field. However, we find an unexpected increase in fractional polarization along the edges of the source, contrary to expectations. This high fractional polarization rules out internal Faraday rotation, but is not readily explained by a helical field. After correcting for the rotation measure, the intrinsic magnetic field direction in the jet of 3C273 changes from parallel to nearly perpendicular to the projected jet motion at two locations. If a helical magnetic field causes the observed rotation measure gradient then the synchrotron emitting electrons must be separate from the helical field region. The presence or absence of transverse rotation measure gradients in other sources is also discussed.

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Magnetohydrodynamic flows in insulated circular ducts in nonuniform magnetic fields are studied with reference to liquid metal blankets and divertors of fusion reactors. Particular emphasis is made on C-MOD. The ducts are supposed to be straight, while the gradient of the magnetic field to be inclined by an angle {alpha} to the duct axis. The results are presented for the values of the Hartmann numbers, Ha, of 1000 and 100. Three-dimensional pressure drop, development length, three-dimensional length and nonuniformities of the velocity profiles have been evaluated. It has been shown that for Ha = 1000 the three-dimensional effects are of considerable importance, while for Ha = 100 they may be neglected.

For direct drive ICF, a capsule is imploded by directly illuminating the surface with laser light. Beam smoothing and uniformity of illumination affect the seeding of instabilities at the ablation front. We have developed a technique for studying the imprint of a laser beam on a thin foil using an x-ray laser as an XUV backlighter. We use multilayer XUV optics to relay the x-ray laser onto the directly driven foil, and then to image the foil modulation onto a CCD camera. This technique allows us to measure small fractional variations in the foil thickness. We have measured the modulation due to imprint from a low intensity 0.35 pm drive beam incident on a 3 {mu}m Si foil using an yttrium x-ray laser on Nova. We present results from a similar technique to measure the imprinted modulation due to a low intensity 0.53 {mu}m drive beam incident on a 2 {mu}m Al foil using a germanium x-ray laser at the Vulcan facility.

In this project, an advanced computational software tool will be developed for the design of low emission combustion systems required for Vision 21 clean energy plants. This computational tool will utilize Large Eddy Simulation (LES) methods to predict the highly transient nature of turbulent combustion. The time-accurate software will capture large scale transient motion, while the small scale motion will be modeled using advanced subgrid turbulence and chemistry closures. This three-year project is composed of: Year 1--model development/implementation, Year 2--software alpha validation, and Year 3--technology transfer of software to industry including beta testing. In this first year of the project, subgrid models for turbulence and combustion are being developed through university research (Suresh Menon-Georgia Tech and J.-Y. Chen- UC Berkeley) and implemented into a leading combustion CFD code, CFD-ACE+. The commercially available CFDACE+ software utilizes unstructured , parallel architecture and 2nd-order spatial and temporal numerics. To date, the localized dynamic turbulence model and reduced chemistry models (up to 19 species) for natural gas, propane, hydrogen, syngas, and methanol have been incorporated. The Linear Eddy Model (LEM) for subgrid combustion-turbulence interaction has been developed and implementation into CFD-ACE+ has started. Ways of reducing run-time for complex stiff reactions is being studied, …

Models that address the impacts to forests of climate change are reviewed by four levels of biological organization: global, regional or landscape, community, and tree. The models are compared as to their ability to assess changes in greenhouse gas flux, land use, maps of forest type or species composition, forest resource productivity, forest health, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat. No one model can address all of these impacts, but landscape transition models and regional vegetation and land-use models consider the largest number of impacts. Developing landscape vegetation dynamics models of functional groups is suggested as a means to integrate the theory of both landscape ecology and individual tree responses to climate change. Risk assessment methodologies can be adapted to deal with the impacts of climate change at various spatial and temporal scales. Four areas of research development are identified: (1) linking socioeconomic and ecologic models, (2) interfacing forest models at different scales, (3) obtaining data on susceptibility of trees and forest to changes in climate and disturbance regimes, and (4) relating information from different scales.

This report summarizes the final program and provides the abstracts presented at the fourth American Society of Microbiology-sponsored conference on Cell-cell Communication in Bacteria, held November 6-9, 2011 in Miami, Florida. Bacteria are the paradigm for unicellular life, yet they also exhibit elaborate coordinated behaviors that often defy unicellularity. Research over the past two decades has revealed that a wide range of microbes communicate by diverse mechanisms. In most cases these microbial conversations occur through the exchange of diffusible signals, although there are also clear examples of contact-dependent communication. Many microbes use these signaling mechanisms to monitor and respond to population density, a process often described as quorum sensing. Interbacterial communication is not, however restricted to quorum sensing mechanisms, and there is mounting evidence that signaling can function in a range of different capacities. Communication between microorganisms has profound impacts on host interactions, as pathogens and commensals often regulate factors critical for interaction with their hosts via signal production and perception. The CCCB-4 conference provided a unique forum for the discussion, dissemination and exchange of new information and ideas among researchers working within this rapidly developing, yet mature field. Sessions were arranged around topics such as: the diversity of signal …

This article describes how perceptions of different social stakeholders influenced whether respondents complied with the Protective Action Recommendation—PAR (i.e., drank boiled water), took alternative protective actions (i.e., drank bottled water or/and self-chlorinated water), or ignored the threat (i.e., continued to drink untreated tap water), during a water contamination emergency in Boston, USA.

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