This paper describes the approach taken by two Fluor Hanford projects for implementing of the seismic design criteria from DOE-STD-1189-2008, Appendix A. The existing seismic design criteria and the new seismic design criteria is described, and an assessment of the primary differences provided. The gaps within the new system of seismic design criteria, which necessitate conduct of portions of work to the existing technical standards pending availability of applicable industry standards, is discussed. Two Hanford Site projects currently in the Control Decision (CD)-1 phase of design have developed an approach to implementation of the new criteria. Calculations have been performed to determine the seismic design category for one project, based on information available in early CD-1. The potential effects of DOE-STD-1189-2008, Appendix A seismic design criteria on the process of project alternatives analysis is discussed. Present of this work is expected to benefit others in the DOE Complex that may be implementing DOE-STD-1189-2008.

We present a novel LOD (level-of-detail) algorithm to accelerate ray tracing of massive models. Our approach computes drastic simplifications of the model and the LODs are well integrated with the kd-tree data structure. We introduce a simple and efficient LOD metric to bound the error for primary and secondary rays. The LOD representation has small runtime overhead and our algorithm can be combined with ray coherence techniques and cache-coherent layouts to improve the performance. In practice, the use of LODs can alleviate aliasing artifacts and improve memory coherence. We implement our algorithm on both 32bit and 64bit machines and able to achieve up to 2.20 times improvement in frame rate of rendering models consisting of tens or hundreds of millions of triangles with little loss in image quality.

High precision measurements of the {sup 239}Pu(n,f) cross section have been identified as important for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) and other programs. Currently the uncertainty on this cross section is of the order 2-3% for neutron energies below 14 MeV and the goal is to reduce this to less than 1%. The Time Projection Chamber (TPC) has been identified as a possible tool to make this high precision measurement.

Advances in the development of laser-produced x-ray sources have enabled a new class of high-energy density physics experiments. Powerful narrow-bandwidth x rays penetrate through short-lived hot dense states of matter and probe the physical properties with spectrally resolved x-ray scattering. Experiments from isochorically-heated plasmas with electron densities in the range of solid density and above have been demonstrated allowing for the first time exploration of the microscopic properties of dense matter regime close to strongly-coupled and Fermi degenerate conditions. Backscatter measurements have accessed the non-collective Compton scattering regime, which provides accurate diagnostic information on the temperature, density and ionization states. The forward scattering spectrum has been shown to measure the collective plasmon oscillations. Besides extracting the standard plasma parameters, density and temperature, forward scattering yields new observables such as a direct measure of collisions, quantum effects and detailed balance. In this talk, we will discuss new results important for applications of this technique for novel experiments in a wide range of research areas such as inertial confinement fusion, radiation-hydrodynamics, material science, and laboratory astrophysics.

The next generation of synchrotrons and free electron laser facilities requires x-ray optical systems with extremely high performance, generally of diffraction limited quality. Fabrication and use of such optics requires adequate, highly accurate metrology and dedicated instrumentation. Previously, we suggested ways to improve the performance of the Long Trace Profiler (LTP), a slope measuring instrument widely used to characterize x-ray optics at long spatial wavelengths. The main way is use of a CCD detector and corresponding technique for calibration of photo-response non-uniformity [J. L. Kirschman, et al., Proceedings of SPIE 6704, 67040J (2007)]. The present work focuses on the performance and characteristics of the upgraded LTP-II at the ALS Optical Metrology Laboratory. This includes a review of the overall aspects of the design, control system, the movement and measurement regimes for the stage, and analysis of the performance by a slope measurement of a highly curved super-quality substrate with less than 0.3 microradian (rms)slope variation.

We present the design and simulation of a three-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide for linear laser-driven acceleration in vacuum. The structure confines a synchronous speed-of-light accelerating mode in both transverse dimensions. We report the properties of this mode, including sustainable gradient and optical-to-beam efficiency. We present a novel method for confining a particle beam using optical fields as focusing elements. This technique, combined with careful structure design, is shown to have a large dynamic aperture and minimal emittance growth, even over millions of optical wavelengths.

The authors measured labradorite (Ca{sub 0.6}Na{sub 0.4}Al{sub 1.6}Si{sub 2.4}O{sub 8}) dissolution rates using a mixed flow reactor from 30 to 130 C as a function of CO{sub 2} (3 x 10{sup -3} and 0.6 M), and aluminum (10{sup -6} to 10{sup -3}M) at pH 3.2. Over these conditions, labradorite dissolution can be described with a single rate expression that accounts for observed increases in dissolution rate with temperature and decreases in dissolution rate with dissolved aluminum: Rate{sub Si} (mol Labradorite cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}) = k{double_prime} x 10{sup -Ea/2.303RT} [(a{sub H{sup +}}{sup 3n}/a{sub Al{sup 3+}}{sup n})K{sub T}/(1+K{sub T} (a{sub H{sup +}}{sup 3n}/a{sub Al{sup 3+}}{sup n}))] where the apparent dissolution rate constant, k{double_prime} = 10{sup -5.69} (mol Labradorite cm{sup -2}s{sup -1}); the net activation energy, E{sub a} = 10.06 (kcal mol{sup -1}); H{sup +}-Al{sup 3+} exchange coefficient, n = 0.31; and silica rich surface complex formation constant K{sub T} = 4.5 to 5.6 from 30 to 130 C. The effect of CO{sub 2}(aq) on mineral dissolution is accounted for by changes in solution pH. At temperatures below 60 C, labradorite dissolves incongruently with preferential dissolution of Na, Ca and Al over Si.

Background: Molecular evolutionary studies of noncodingsequences rely on multiple alignments. Yet how multiple alignmentaccuracy varies across sequence types, tree topologies, divergences andtools, and further how this variation impacts specific inferences,remains unclear. Results: Here we develop a molecular evolutionsimulation platform, CisEvolver, with models of background noncoding andtranscription factor binding site evolution, and use simulated alignmentsto systematically examine multiple alignment accuracy and its impact ontwo key molecular evolutionary inferences: transcription factor bindingsite conservation and divergence estimation. We find that the accuracy ofmultiple alignments is determined almost exclusively by the pairwisedivergence distance of the two most diverged species and that additionalspecies have a negligible influence on alignment accuracy. Conservedtranscription factor binding sites align better than surroundingnoncoding DNA yet are often found to be misaligned at relatively shortdivergence distances, such that studies of binding site gain and losscould easily be confounded by alignment error. Divergence estimates frommultiple alignments tend to be overestimated at short divergencedistances but reach a tool specific divergence at which they cease toincrease, leading to underestimation at long divergences. Our moststriking finding was that overall alignment accuracy, binding sitealignment accuracy and divergence estimation accuracy vary greatly acrossbranches in a tree and are most accurate for terminal branches connectingsister taxa and least …

Industrial gas turbines are primarily fueled with natural gas. However, changes in fuel cost and availability, and a desire to control carbon dioxide emissions, are creating pressure to utilize other fuels. There is an increased interest in the use of fuels from coal gasification, such as syngas and hydrogen, and renewable fuels, such as biogas and biodiesel. Current turbine fuel injectors have had years of development to optimize their performance with natural gas. The new fuels appearing on the horizon can have combustion properties that differ substantially from natural gas. Factors such as turbulent flame speed, heat content, autoignition characteristics, and range of flammability must be considered when evaluating injector performance. The low swirl injector utilizes a unique flame stabilization mechanism and is under development for gas turbine applications. Its design and mode of operation allow it to operate effectively over a wide range of conditions. Studies conducted at LBNL indicate that the LSI can operate on fuels with a wide range of flame speeds, including hydrogen. It can also utilize low heat content fuels, such as biogas and syngas. We will discuss the low swirl injector operating parameters, and how the LSC performs with various alternative fuels.

Grinstein, O'Connell and Wise have recently presented an extension of the Standard Model (SM), based on the ideas of Lee and Wick (LW), which demonstrates an interesting way to remove the quadratically divergent contributions to the Higgs mass induced by radiative corrections. This model predicts the existence of negative-norm copies of the usual SM fields at the TeV scale with ghost-like propagators and negative decay widths, but with otherwise SM-like couplings. In earlier work, it was demonstrated that the LW states in the gauge boson sector of these models, though easy to observe, cannot be uniquely identified as such at the LHC. In this paper, we address the issue of whether or not this problem can be resolved at an e{sup +}e{sup -} collider with a suitable center of mass energy range. We find that measurements of the cross section and the left-right polarization asymmetry associated with Bhabha scattering can lead to a unique identification of the neutral electroweak gauge bosons of the Lee-Wick type.

The Hanford Site requested, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 approved, a Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) risk-based disposal approval (RBDA) for solidifying approximately four cubic meters of waste from a specific area of one of the K East Basin: the North Loadout Pit (NLOP). The NLOP waste is a highly radioactive sludge that contained polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) regulated under TSCA. The prescribed disposal method for liquid PCB waste under TSCA regulations is either thermal treatment or decontamination. Due to the radioactive nature of the waste, however, neither thermal treatment nor decontamination was a viable option. As a result, the proposed treatment consisted of solidifying the material to comply with waste acceptance criteria at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico, or possibly the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility at the Hanford Site, depending on the resulting transuranic (TRU) content of the stabilized waste. The RBDA evaluated environmental risks associated with potential airborne PCBs. In addition, the RBDA made use of waste management controls already in place at the treatment unit. The treatment unit, the T Plant Complex, is a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA)-permitted facility used for storing and …

Recent measurements from the HERMES and SMC collaborations show a remarkably large azimuthal single-spin asymmetries A{sub UL} and A{sub UT} of the proton in semi-inclusive pion leptoproduction {gamma}*(q)p {yields} {pi}X. We show that final-state interactions from gluon exchange between the outgoing quark and the target spectator system leads to single-spin asymmetries in deep inelastic lepton-proton scattering at leading twist in perturbative QCD; i.e., the rescattering corrections are not power-law suppressed at large photon virtuality q{sup 2} at fixed x{sub bj}. The existence of such single-spin asymmetries requires a phase difference between two amplitudes coupling the proton target with J{sup z}{sub p} = {+-}1/2 to the same final-state, the same amplitudes which are necessary to produce a nonzero proton anomalous magnetic moment. We show that the exchange of gauge particles between the outgoing quark and the proton spectators produces a Coulomb-like complex phase which depends on the angular momentum L{sup z} of the proton's constituents and thus is distinct for different proton spin amplitudes. The single-spin asymmetry which arises from such final-state interactions does not factorize into a product of structure function and fragmentation function, and it is not related to the transversity distribution {delta}q(x;Q) which correlates transversely polarized quarks with …

The growth of water on thin SiO{sub 2} films on Si wafers at vapor pressures between 1.5 and 4 torr and temperatures between -10 and 21 C has been studied in situ using Kelvin Probe Microscopy and X-ray photoemission and absorption spectroscopies. From 0 to 75% relative humidity (RH) water adsorbs forming a uniform film 4-5 layers thick. The surface potential increases in that RH range by about 400 mV and remains constant upon further increase of the RH. Above 75% RH the water film grows rapidly, reaching 6-7 monolayers at around 90% RH and forming a macroscopic drop near 100%. The O K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption spectrum around 75% RH is similar to that of liquid water (imperfect H-bonding coordination) at temperatures above 0 C and ice-like below 0 C.

The effect of resonant magnetic perturbations on heat transport in DIII-D H-mode plasmas has been calculated by combining the TRIP3D field-line tracing code with the E3D two-fluid transport code. Simulations show that the divertor heat flux distribution becomes non-axisymmetric because heat flux is efficiently guided to the divertor along the three-dimensional invariant manifolds of the magnetic field. Calculations demonstrate that heat flux is spread over a wider area of the divertor target, thereby reducing the peak heat flux delivered during steady-state operation. Filtered optical cameras have observed non-axisymmetric particle fluxes at the strike-point and Langmuir probes have observed non-axisymmetric floating potentials. On the other hand, the predicted magnitude of stochastic thermal transport is too large to match the pedestal plasma profiles measured by Thomson scattering and charge exchange recombination spectroscopy. The Braginskii thermal conductivity overestimates the expected heat transport in the pedestal because the mean free path is longer than estimates of the parallel thermal correlation length, and collisionless transport models are probably required for accurate description. However, even the collisionless estimates for electron thermal transport are too large by one to two orders of magnitude. Thus, it is likely that another mechanism such as rotational screening of resonant perturbations …

Heterogeneous high-energy explosives are morphologically, mechanically and chemically complex. As such, their ab-initio modeling, in which well-characterized phenomena at the scale of the microstructure lead to a rationally homogenized description at the scale of observation, is a subject of active research but not yet a reality. An alternative approach is to construct phenomenological models, in which forms of constitutive behavior are postulated with an eye on the perceived picture of the micro-scale phenomena, and which are strongly linked to experimental calibration. Most prominent among these is the ignition-and-growth model conceived by Lee and Tarver. The model treats the explosive as a homogeneous mixture of two distinct constituents, the unreacted explosive and the products of reaction. To each constituent is assigned an equation of state, and a single reaction-rate law is prescribed for the conversion of the explosive to products. It is assumed that the two constituents are always in pressure and temperature equilibrium. The purpose of this paper is to investigate in detail the behavior of the model in situations where a detonation turns a corner and undergoes diffraction. A set of parameters appropriate for the explosive LX-17 is selected. The model is first examined analytically for steady, planar, 1-D …

We construct a supersymmetric version of the 'critical' non-relativistic bosonic string theory [1] with its manifest global symmetry. We introduce the anticommuting bc CFT which is the super partner of the {beta}{gamma} CFT. The conformal weights of the b and c fields are both 1/2. The action of the fermionic sector can be transformed into that of the relativistic superstring theory. We explicitly quantize the theory with manifest SO(8) symmetry and find that the spectrum is similar to that of Type IIB superstring theory. There is one notable difference: the fermions are non-chiral. We further consider 'noncritical' generalizations of the supersymmetric theory using the superspace formulation. There is an infinite range of possible string theories similar to the supercritical string theories. We comment on the connection between the critical non-relativistic string theory and the lightlike Linear Dilaton theory.

In two separate shallow field experiments, at two distancescales, we have used continuous monitoring to estimate the effect ofbarometric pressure on crosswell travel time and thereby calibrated thestress sensitivity of the rock volume between the wells. In a 3 mexperiment we found a stress sensitivity of 10-6/Pa while in a 30 mexperiment the sensitivity was 5 x 10-8 /Pa. Results from a deeper (1km), 2 month experiment at the San Andreas fault observation boreholeswill be presented if analysis is completed.

A prototype of an analog, transverse (vertical) feedback system for active damping of the two-stream (e-p) instability has been developed and successfully tested at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Proton Storage Ring (PSR). This system was able to improve the instability threshold by approximately 30% (as measured by the change in RF buncher voltage at instability threshold). Evidence obtained from these tests suggests that further improvement in performance is limited by beam leakage into the gap at lower RF buncher voltage and the onset of instability in the horizontal plane, which had no feedback. Here we describe the present system configuration, system optimization, results of several recent experimental tests, and results from studies of factors limiting its performance.

We calculate the single transverse-spin asymmetry for open charm production in pp collisions within the QCD collinear factorization approach. We include contributions from both twist-three quark-gluon and tri-gluon correlation functions. We find that the quark-gluon correlation functions alone generate only a very small asymmetry for open charm production in the kinematic region of current interest at RHIC, so that the observation of any significant single-spin asymmetry would be a clear indication of the presence of tri-gluon correlations inside a polarized proton. We furthermore demonstrate that the tri-gluon contribution could be very different for the production of D and \bar{D} mesons. These features make the single spin asymmetry in open charm production in polarized pp collisions at RHIC an excellent probe of tri-gluon correlation functions.

The fracture toughness properties of Type 21-6-9 stainless steel were measured for forgings in the unexposed, hydrogen-exposed, and tritium-exposed-and-aged conditions. Fracture toughness samples were cut from conventionally-forged and high-energy-rate-forged forward-extruded cylinders and mechanically tested at room temperature using ASTM fracture-toughness testing procedures. Some of the samples were exposed to either hydrogen or tritium gas (340 MPa, 623 K) prior to testing. Tritium-exposed samples were aged for up to seven years and tested periodically in order to measure the effect on fracture toughness of {sup 3}He from radioactive tritium decay. The results show that hydrogen-exposed and tritium-exposed samples had lower fracture- toughness values than unexposed samples and that fracture toughness decreased with increasing decay {sup 3}He content. Forged steels were more resistant to the embrittling effects of tritium and decay {sup 3}He than annealed steels, although their fracture-toughness properties depended on the degree of sensitization that occurred during processing. The fracture process was dominated by microvoid nucleation, growth and coalescence; however, the size and spacing of microvoids on the fracture surfaces were affected by hydrogen and tritium with the lowest-toughness samples having the smallest microvoids and finest spacing.

The authors present improved measurements of the branching fraction {Beta}, the longitudinal polarization fraction f{sub L}, and the direct CP asymmetry A{sub CP} in the B meson decay channel B{sup +} {yields} {rho}{sup +}{rho}{sup 0}. The data sample was collected with the BABAR detector at SLAC. The results are {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {rho}{sup +}{rho}{sup 0}) = (23.7 {+-} 1.4 {+-} 1.4) x 10{sup -6}, f{sub L} = 0.950 {+-} 0.015 {+-} 0.006, and A{sub CP} = -0.054 {+-} 0.055 {+-} 0.010, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. Based on these results, they perform an isospin analysis and determine the CKM weak phase angle {alpha} to be (92.4{sub -6.5}{sup +6.0}){sup 0}.

The electrochemical performance of LiFePO{sub 4} in lithium cells is strongly dependent on the structure (disordered/graphene or D/G ratio) of the in situ carbon produced during synthesis from carbon-containing precursors. Addition of pyromellitic acid (PA) prior to final calcination results in lower D/G ratios, yielding a higher-rate material. Further, improvements in electrochemical performance are realized when graphitization catalysts such as ferrocene are also added during LiFePO{sub 4} preparation, although overall carbon content is still less than 2 wt.%.

Petascale systems will present several new challenges to performance and correctness tools. Such machines may contain millions of cores, requiring that tools use scalable data structures and analysis algorithms to collect and to process application data. In addition, at such scales, each tool itself will become a large parallel application--already, debugging the full Blue-Gene/L (BG/L) installation at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory requires employing 1664 tool daemons. To reach such sizes and beyond, tools must use a scalable communication infrastructure and manage their own tool processes efficiently. Some system resources, such as the file system, may also become tool bottlenecks. In this paper, we present challenges to petascale tool development, using the Stack Trace Analysis Tool (STAT) as a case study. STAT is a lightweight tool that gathers and merges stack traces from a parallel application to identify process equivalence classes. We use results gathered at thousands of tasks on an Infiniband cluster and results up to 208K processes on BG/L to identify current scalability issues as well as challenges that will be faced at the petascale. We then present implemented solutions to these challenges and show the resulting performance improvements. We also discuss future plans to meet the debugging …

Otolith Sr/Ca has become a popular tool for hind casting habitat utilization and migration histories of euryhaline fish. It can readily identify habitat shifts of diadromous fish in most systems. Inferring movements of fish within estuarine habitat, however, requires a model of that accounts of the local water chemistry and the response of individual species to that water chemistry, which is poorly understood. Modeling is further complicated by the fact that high marine Sr and Ca concentrations results in a rapid, nonlinear increase in water Sr/Ca and {sup 87}Sr/{sup 86}Sr between fresh and marine waters. Here we demonstrate a novel method for developing a salinity-otolith Sr/Ca model for the purpose of reconstructing striped bass (Morone saxatilis) habitat use in the San Francisco Bay estuary. We used correlated Sr/Ca and {sup 87}Sr/{sup 86}Sr ratios measurements from adult otoliths from striped bass that experienced a range of salinities to infer striped bass otolith Sr/Ca response to changes in salinity and water Sr/Ca ratio. Otolith {sup 87}Sr/{sup 86}Sr can be assumed to accurately record water {sup 87}Sr/{sup 86}Sr because there is no biological fractionation of Sr isotopes. Water {sup 87}Sr/{sup 86}Sr can in turn be used to estimate water salinity based on the …