One problem facing many scientists is not the absence of tools to analyze data, but rather a shortage of interrelated diagnostic software that is consistent, flexible, portable, adaptable, efficient, sharable, and easy to use. Consequently, many scientists are writing their own programs to ingest, manipulate and display data. Debugging and enhancing special purpose software diverts time that otherwise would be spent on research. The result is often not ''friendly'', reusable, or portable, nor does it promote standards within the research community. In response to the needs of the scientific community, PCMDI has developed a suite of software tools for the storage, diagnosis, and visualization of data. PCMDI's principal tools are the Climate Data Analysis Tool (CDAT), the Climate Database Management System (CDMS), and the Visualization and Computation System (VCS). The design goal of this suite of software is to reduce the redundancy encountered so often in scientific analysis and to allow researchers to concentrate on their science. One obstacle to sharing analysis software is the wide variety of data file formats that are in use. Programs must be written to convert data to a user's preferred file format and conventions. This data conversion requires additional expenditure of efforts on testing …

Organizations with increasingly diverse workforces and customer populations face challenges in reaping diversity's benefits while managing its potentially disruptive effects. This article defines workplace diversity and identifies best practices supporting planned and positive diversity management. It explores how academic libraries can apply diversity management best practices and provides a reading list for leaders and human resource managers wishing to optimize their organization's approach to diversity.

We present the Genomic Standards Consortium's (GSC) 'Minimum Information about an ENvironmental Sequence' (MIENS) standard for describing marker genes. Adoption of MIENS will enhance our ability to analyze natural genetic diversity across the Tree of Life as it is currently being documented by massive DNA sequencing efforts from myriad ecosystems in our ever-changing biosphere.

This report consists of Yucca Mountain Project bibliographies. It is the appendix to a report that summarizes data collected between September 1986 and September 1988 relative to Native American concerns involving the potential siting of a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The data were collected from Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute people upon whose aboriginal lands the repository potentially is to be located. Western Shoshone people involved in the study were those resident or affiliated with reservation communities at Yomba and Duckwater, Nevada, and Death Valley, California. Southern Paiute people were at reservation communities at Moapa and Las Vegas. Additional persons of Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute descent were interviewed at Beatty, Tonopah, Caliente, Pahrump, and Las Vegas, Nevada. The work was part of a larger project of socioeconomic studies for the State of Nevada`s Nuclear Waste Projects office, conducted by Mountain West of Phoenix, Arizona.

This report describes the seismicity and earthquake monitoring activities within the Yucca Mountain region during fiscal year 2004 (FY2004 - October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004) based on operation of the Southern Great Basin Digital Seismic Network (SGBDSN). Network practices and earthquake monitoring conducted at the Nevada Seismological Laboratory (NSL) under DOE directives for prior fiscal years are covered in similar yearly reports (see references). Real-time systems, including regional data telemetry and data management at NSL, provide for the automatic determination of earthquake locations and magnitudes and notification of important earthquakes in the region to UNR staff and DOE management. All waveform and meta-data, including automatic locations, phase arrival information, and analyst reviewed information, are managed through a relational database system allowing quick and reliable evaluation and analysis of ongoing earthquake activity near Yucca Mountain. This network, which contains weak-motion and strong-motion instrumentation, addresses the seismic hazard of the Yucca Mountain area by providing accurate earthquake magnitudes for earthquake recurrence estimates, spatial hypocentral control to very low magnitudes for identifying and assessing active faults and verifying tectonic models, true ground motions over the complete range of expected earthquake amplitudes for developing predictive models, and earthquake source information for characterizing …

This report provides technical data regarding the reuse of excess foundry sand. The report addresses three topics: a statistically sound evaluation of the characterization of foundry sand, a laboratory investigation to qualify excess foundry sand as a major component in controlled low-strength material (CLSM), and the identification of the best methods for using foundry sand as a replacement for natural aggregates for construction purposes, specifically in asphalt paving materials. The survival analysis statistical technique was used to characterize foundry sand over a full spectrum of general chemical parameters, metallic elements, and organic compounds regarding bulk analysis and leachate characterization. Not limited to characterization and environmental impact, foundry sand was evaluated by factor analyses, which contributes to proper selection of factor and maximization of the reuse marketplace for foundry sand. Regarding the integration of foundry sand into CLSM, excavatable CLSM and structural CLSM containing different types of excess foundry sands were investigated through laboratory experiments. Foundry sand was approved to constitute a major component in CLSM. Regarding the integration of foundry sand into asphalt paving materials, the optimum asphalt content was determined for each mixture, as well as the bulk density, maximum density, asphalt absorption, and air voids at Nini, Ndes, …

This report summarizes the methodology and results of a user perspectives study conducted by the Community Driven Improvement of Globus Software (CDIGS) project. The purpose of the study was to document the work-related goals and challenges facing today's scientific technology users, to record their perspectives on Globus software and the distributed-computing ecosystem, and to provide recommendations to the Globus community based on the observations. Globus is a set of open source software components intended to provide a framework for collaborative computational science activities. Rather than attempting to characterize all users or potential users of Globus software, our strategy has been to speak in detail with a small group of individuals in the scientific community whose work appears to be the kind that could benefit from Globus software, learn as much as possible about their work goals and the challenges they face, and describe what we found. The result is a set of statements about specific individuals experiences. We do not claim that these are representative of a potential user community, but we do claim to have found commonalities and differences among the interviewees that may be reflected in the user community as a whole. We present these as a series …

The goal of this DOE Vision-21 project work scope was to develop an integrated suite of software tools that could be used to simulate and visualize advanced plant concepts. Existing process simulation software did not meet the DOE's objective of ''virtual simulation'' which was needed to evaluate complex cycles. The overall intent of the DOE was to improve predictive tools for cycle analysis, and to improve the component models that are used in turn to simulate equipment in the cycle. Advanced component models are available; however, a generic coupling capability that would link the advanced component models to the cycle simulation software remained to be developed. In the current project, the coupling of the cycle analysis and cycle component simulation software was based on an existing suite of programs. The challenge was to develop a general-purpose software and communications link between the cycle analysis software Aspen Plus{reg_sign} (marketed by Aspen Technology, Inc.), and specialized component modeling packages, as exemplified by industrial proprietary codes (utilized by ALSTOM Power Inc.) and the FLUENT{reg_sign} computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code (provided by Fluent Inc). A software interface and controller, based on an open CAPE-OPEN standard, has been developed and extensively tested. Various test runs …

This report summarizes data collected between September 1986 and September 1988 relative to Native American concerns involving the potential siting of a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The data were collected from Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute people upon whose aboriginal lands the repository potentially is to be located. Western Shoshone people involved in the study were those resident or affiliated with reservation communities at Yomba and Duckwater, Nevada, and Death Valley, California. Southern Paiute people were at reservation communities at Moapa and Las Vegas. Additional persons of Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute descent were interviewed at Beatty, Tonopah, Caliente, Pahrump, and Las Vegas, Nevada. The work was part of a larger project of socioeconomic studies for the State of Nevada`s Nuclear Waste Projects office, conducted by Mountain West of Phoenix, Arizona.

The purpose of this analysis report is to evaluate and document the inclusion or exclusion of the system-level features, events, and processes (FEPs) with respect to modeling used to support the total system performance assessment for the license application (TSPA-LA). A screening decision, either Included or Excluded, is given for each FEP along with the technical basis for screening decisions. This information is required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) at 10 CFR 63.113 (d, e, and f) (DIRS 156605). The system-level FEPs addressed in this report typically are overarching in nature, rather than being focused on a particular process or subsystem. As a result, they are best dealt with at the system level rather than addressed within supporting process-level or subsystem-level analyses and models reports. The system-level FEPs also tend to be directly addressed by regulations, guidance documents, or assumptions listed in the regulations; or are addressed in background information used in development of the regulations. For included FEPs, this analysis summarizes the implementation of the FEP in the TSPA-LA (i.e., how the FEP is included). For excluded FEPs, this analysis provides the technical basis for exclusion from the TSPA-LA (i.e., why the FEP is excluded). The initial …