The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) commitment to assuring the health and safety of its workers includes the conduct of illness and injury surveillance activities that provide an early warning system to detect health problems among workers. The Illness and Injury Surveillance Program monitors illnesses and health conditions that result in an absence, occupational injuries and illnesses, and disabilities and deaths among current workers.

"A dashboard is a visual interface that provides at-a-glance views into key measures relevant to a particular objective or business process." Key Attributes: Graphical to focus attention on key trends, comparisons and exceptions, Display only relevant data, Inherently contain predefined conclusions. Note: Collecting user requirements is KEYfrom'Excel 2007 Dashboards& Reports for Dummies' by Michael Alexander

The Static X-ray Imager (SXI) is a diagnostic used at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to measure the position of the X-rays produced by lasers hitting a gold foil target. The intensity distribution taken by the SXI camera during a NIF shot is used to determine how accurately NIF can aim laser beams. This is critical to proper NIF operation. Imagers are located at the top and the bottom of the NIF target chamber. The CCD chip is an X-ray sensitive silicon sensor, with a large format array (2k x 2k), 24 {micro}m square pixels, and 15 {micro}m thick. A multi-anode Manson X-ray source, operating up to 10kV and 10W, was used to characterize and calibrate the imagers. The output beam is heavily filtered to narrow the spectral beam width, giving a typical resolution E/{Delta}E {approx} 10. The X-ray beam intensity was measured using an absolute photodiode that has accuracy better than 1% up to the Si K edge and better than 5% at higher energies. The X-ray beam provides full CCD illumination and is flat, within {+-}1% maximum to minimum. The spectral efficiency was measured at 10 energy bands ranging from 930 eV to 8470 eV. We observed an …

The last decade witnessed the rapid development and implementation of aberration correction in electron optics, realizing a more-than-70-year-old dream of aberration-free electron microscopy with a spatial resolution below one angstrom [1-9]. With sophisticated aberration correctors, modern electron microscopes now can reveal local structural information unavailable with neutrons and x-rays, such as the local arrangement of atoms, order/disorder, electronic inhomogeneity, bonding states, spin configuration, quantum confinement, and symmetry breaking [10-17]. Aberration correction through multipole-based correctors, as well as the associated improved stability in accelerating voltage, lens supplies, and goniometers in electron microscopes now enables medium-voltage (200-300kV) microscopes to achieve image resolution at or below 0.1nm. Aberration correction not only improves the instrument's spatial resolution but, equally importantly, allows larger objective lens pole-piece gaps to be employed thus realizing the potential of the instrument as a nanoscale property-measurement tool. That is, while retaining high spatial resolution, we can use various sample stages to observe the materials response under various temperature, electric- and magnetic- fields, and atmospheric environments. Such capabilities afford tremendous opportunities to tackle challenging science and technology issues in physics, chemistry, materials science, and biology. The research goal of the electron microscopy group at the Dept. of Condensed Matter Physics and …

The author discusses two recent results in b {yields} s{gamma} decays from BABAR. The first is a measurement of the branching fraction and photon energy spectrum in the B meson frame of the decay B {yields} X{sub s{gamma}}. The second result probes the photon polarization via time-dependent CP violation in neutral B decays to K*{sup 0}{gamma}.

A primary component of the observed, recent climate change is the radiative forcing from increased concentrations of long-lived greenhouse gases (LLGHGs). Effective simulation of anthropogenic climate change by general circulation models (GCMs) is strongly dependent on the accurate representation of radiative processes associated with water vapor, ozone and LLGHGs. In the context of the increasing application of the Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. (AER) radiation models within the GCM community, their capability to calculate longwave and shortwave radiative forcing for clear sky scenarios previously examined by the radiative transfer model intercomparison project (RTMIP) is presented. Forcing calculations with the AER line-by-line (LBL) models are very consistent with the RTMIP line-by-line results in the longwave and shortwave. The AER broadband models, in all but one case, calculate longwave forcings within a range of -0.20 to 0.23 W m{sup -2} of LBL calculations and shortwave forcings within a range of -0.16 to 0.38 W m{sup -2} of LBL results. These models also perform well at the surface, which RTMIP identified as a level at which GCM radiation models have particular difficulty reproducing LBL fluxes. Heating profile perturbations calculated by the broadband models generally reproduce high-resolution calculations within a few hundredths K d{sup …

The structural approach to joint inversion, entailing common boundaries or gradients, offers a flexible way to invert diverse types of surface-based and/or crosshole geophysical data. The cross-gradients function has been introduced as a means to construct models in which spatial changes in two models are parallel or anti-parallel. Inversion methods that use such structural constraints also provide estimates of non-linear and non-unique field-scale relationships between model parameters. Here, we invert jointly crosshole radar and seismic traveltimes for structurally similar models using an iterative non-linear traveltime tomography algorithm. Application of the inversion scheme to synthetic data demonstrates that it better resolves lithological boundaries than the individual inversions. Tests of the scheme on observed radar and seismic data acquired within a shallow aquifer illustrate that the resultant models have improved correlations with flowmeter data than with models based on individual inversions. The highest correlation with the flowmeter data is obtained when the joint inversion is combined with a stochastic regularization operator, where the vertical integral scale is estimated from the flowmeter data. Point-spread functions shows that the most significant resolution improvements of the joint inversion is in the horizontal direction.

The Physical Sciences Directorate applies frontier physics and technology to grand challenges in national security. Our highly integrated and multidisciplinary research program involves collaborations throughout Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Energy, and with academic and industrial partners. The Directorate has a budget of approximately $150 million, and a staff of approximately 350 employees. Our scientists provide expertise in condensed matter and high-pressure physics, plasma physics, high-energy-density science, fusion energy science and technology, nuclear and particle physics, accelerator physics, radiation detection, optical science, biotechnology, and astrophysics. This document highlights the outstanding research and development activities in the Physical Sciences Directorate that made news in 2007. It also summarizes the awards and recognition received by members of the Directorate in 2007.

Increasingly we are aware as a community of the growing need to manage the avalanche of genomic and metagenomic data, in addition to related data types like ribosomal RNA and barcode sequences, in a way that tightly integrates contextual data with traditional literature in a machine-readable way. It is for this reason that the Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC) formed in 2005. Here we suggest that we move beyond the development of standards and tackle standards-compliance and improved data capture at the level of the scientific publication. We are supported in this goal by the fact that the scientific community is in the midst of a publishing revolution. This revolution is marked by a growing shift away from a traditional dichotomy between 'journal articles' and 'database entries' and an increasing adoption of hybrid models of collecting and disseminating scientific information. With respect to genomes and metagenomes and related data types, we feel the scientific community would be best served by the immediate launch of a central repository of short, highly structured 'Genome Notes' that must be standards-compliant. This could be done in the context of an existing journal, but we also suggest the more radical solution of launching a new journal. …

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The purpose of this study is to quantify the effects of variations of the Light Water Reactor (LWR) Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) and fast reactor reprocessing cooling time on a Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR) assuming a single-tier fuel cycle scenario. The results from this study show the effects of different cooling times on the SFR’s transuranic (TRU) conversion ratio (CR) and transuranic fuel enrichment. Also, the decay heat, gamma heat and neutron emission of the SFR’s fresh fuel charge were evaluated. A 1000 MWth commercial-scale SFR design was selected as the baseline in this study. Both metal and oxide CR=0.50 SFR designs are investigated.

We observed the TeV blazar 1ES 1218+304 with the X-ray astronomy satellite Suzaku in May 2006. At the beginning of the two-day continuous observation, we detected a large flare in which the 5-10 keV flux changed by a factor of {approx}2 on a timescale of 5 x 10{sup 4} s. During the flare, the increase in the hard X-ray flux clearly lagged behind that observed in the soft X-rays, with the maximum lag of 2.3 x 10{sup 4} s observed between the 0.3?1 keV and 5?10 keV bands. Furthermore we discovered that the temporal profile of the flare clearly changes with energy, being more symmetric at higher energies. From the spectral fitting of multi-wavelength data assuming a one-zone, homogeneous synchrotron self-Compton model, we obtain B {approx} 0.047 G, emission region size R = 3.0 x 10{sup 16} cm for an appropriate beaming with a Doppler factor of {delta} = 20. This value of B is in good agreement with an independent estimate through the model fit to the observed time lag ascribing the energy-dependent variability to differential acceleration timescale of relativistic electrons provided that the gyro-factor {zeta} is 10{sup 5}.

Climate projections from three atmosphere-ocean climate models with a range of low to mid-high temperature sensitivity forced by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change SRES higher, middle, and lower emission scenarios indicate that, over the 21st century, extreme heat events for major cities in heavily air-conditioned California will increase rapidly. These increases in temperature extremes are projected to exceed the rate of increase in mean temperature, along with increased variance. Extreme heat is defined here as the 90 percent exceedance probability (T90) of the local warmest summer days under the current climate. The number of extreme heat days in Los Angeles, where T90 is currently 95 F (32 C), may increase from 12 days to as many as 96 days per year by 2100, implying current-day heat wave conditions may last for the entire summer, with earlier onset. Overall, projected increases in extreme heat under the higher A1fi emission scenario by 2070-2099 tend to be 20-30 percent higher than those projected under the lower B1 emission scenario, ranging from approximately double the historical number of days for inland California cities (e.g. Sacramento and Fresno), up to four times for previously temperate coastal cities (e.g. Los Angeles, San Diego). These findings, …

The Can Puncture Device (CPD) serves as a containment vessel during the puncture of nested 3013 containers as part of surveillance operations in K-Area. The purpose of the CPD sampling process is to determine the original pressure and composition of gases within the inner 3013 container. The relation between the composition of the gas sample drawn from the CPD and that originally in the inner 3013 container depends on the degree of mixing that occurs over the interval of time from the puncture to drawing the sample. Gas mixing is bounded by the extremes of no mixing of gases in the inner container and that of complete mixing, in which case the entire CPD system is of uniform composition. Models relating the sample composition and pressure to the initial (pre-puncture) inner can composition and pressure for each of these extremes were developed. Predictions from both models were compared to data from characterization experiments. In the comparison, it was found that the model that assumed complete gas mixing after puncture, the Uniform Mixing Model, showed significantly better agreement with the data than the model that assumed no change in the composition of the inner container, referred to as the Non-Uniform Mixing …

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The objectives of the project were (i) to develop the coating process information to achieve good quality coatings on 3 advanced high strength hot rolled steels while retaining target mechanical properties, (ii) to obtain precise knowledge of the behavior of these steels in the various forming operations and (iii) to establish accurate user property data in the coated conditions. Three steel substrates (HSLA, DP, TRIP) with compositions providing yield strengths in the range of 400-620 MPa were selected. Only HSLA steel was found to be suitable for galnaizing and galvannealing in the hot rolled condition.

A remarkable manifestation of the quantum character of electrons in matter is offered by graphene, a single atomic layer of graphite. Unlike conventional solids where electrons are described with the Schrödinger equation, electronic excitations in graphene are governed by the Dirac hamiltonian. Some of the intriguing electronic properties of graphene, such as massless Dirac quasiparticles with linear energy-momentum dispersion, have been confirmed by recent observations. Here, we report an infrared spectromicroscopy study of charge dynamics in graphene integrated in gated devices. Our measurements verify the expected characteristics of graphene and, owing to the previously unattainable accuracy of infrared experiments, also uncover significant departures of the quasiparticle dynamics from predictions made for Dirac fermions in idealized, free-standing graphene. Several observations reported here indicate the relevance of many-body interactions to the electromagnetic response of graphene.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies conducted a program in the 1960s and 1970s that evaluated technology for the nuclear stimulation of low-permeability natural gas reservoirs. The second project in the program, Project Rulison, was located in west-central Colorado. A 40-kiltoton nuclear device was detonated 2,568 m below the land surface in the Williams Fork Formation on September 10, 1969. The natural gas reservoirs in the Williams Fork Formation occur in low permeability, fractured sandstone lenses interbedded with shale. Radionuclides derived from residual fuel products, nuclear reactions, and activation products were generated as a result of the detonation. Most of the radionuclides are contained in a cooled, solidified melt glass phase created from vaporized and melted rock that re-condensed after the test. Of the mobile gas-phase radionuclides released, tritium ({sup 3}H or T) migration is of most concern. The other gas-phase radionuclides ({sup 85}Kr, {sup 14}C) were largely removed during production testing in 1969 and 1970 and are no longer present in appreciable amounts. Substantial tritium remained because it is part of the water molecule, which is present in both the gas and liquid (aqueous) phases. The objectives of this work are to calculate the nature …

This project supports the Solar America Initiative by working on: (1) wafer Si accounts for 92% world-wide solar cell production; (2) research to fill the industry R and D pipeline for the issues in wafer Si; (3) development of industry collaborative research; (4) improvement of NREL tools and capabilities; and (5) strengthen US wafer Si research.

Quarterly newsletter describing the activities of the National Bioenergy Center's Biochemical Platform Integration Project including ongoing research and goals.

The authors report the first observation of two Cabibbo-suppressed decay modes, {Xi}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} {Sigma}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +} and {Xi}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} {Sigma}{sup -} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +}. They observe 56 {+-} 13 over a background of 21, and 23 {+-} 7 over a background of 12 events, respectively, for the signals. The data were accumulated using the SELEX spectrometer during the 1996-1997 fixed target run at Fermilab, chiefly from a 600 GeV/c {Sigma}{sup -} beam. The branching ratios of the decays relative to the Cabibbo-favored {Xi}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} {Xi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +} are measured to be B({Xi}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} {Sigma}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +})/B({xi}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} {Xi}{sup -} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +}) = 0.50 {+-} 0.20, and B({Xi}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} {Sigma}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +})/B({Xi}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} {Xi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +}) = 0.23 {+-} 0.11, respectively. They also report branching ratios for the same decay modes of the {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} relative to {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} {yields} pK{sup -}{pi}{sup +}.

Efforts during Phase III focused mainly on the shell-alloy systems. A high melting point alloy, 17-4PH stainless steel, was considered. The experimental part of the program was conducted at ORNL and commercial foundries, where wax patterns were injected, molds were invested, and alloys were poured. Shell molds made of fused-silica and alumino-silicates were considered. A literature review was conducted on thermophysical and thermomechanical properties alumino-silicates. Material property data, which were not available from material suppliers, was obtained. For all the properties of 17-4PH stainless steel, the experimental data available in the literature did not cover the entire temperature range necessary for process simulation. Thus, some material properties were evaluated using ProCAST, based on CompuTherm database. A comparison between the predicted material property data and measured property data was made. It was found that most material properties were accurately predicted only over several temperature ranges. No experimental data for plastic modulus were found. Thus, several assumptions were made and ProCAST recommendations were followed in order to obtain a complete set of mechanical property data at high temperatures. Thermal expansion measurements for the 17-4PH alloy were conducted during heating and cooling. As a function of temperature, the thermal expansion for both the …

A detailed chemical kinetic model is used to explore the flammability and detonability of hydrogen mixtures. In the case of flammability, a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism for hydrogen is coupled to the CHEMKIN Premix code to compute premixed, laminar flame speeds. The detailed chemical kinetic model reproduces flame speeds in the literature over a range of equivalence ratios, pressures and reactant temperatures. A series of calculation were performed to assess the key parameters determining the flammability of hydrogen mixtures. Increased reactant temperature was found to greatly increase the flame speed and the flammability of the mixture. The effect of added diluents was assessed. Addition of water and carbon dioxide were found to reduce the flame speed and thus the flammability of a hydrogen mixture approximately equally well and much more than the addition of nitrogen. The detailed chemical kinetic model was used to explore the detonability of hydrogen mixtures. A Zeldovich-von Neumann-Doring (ZND) detonation model coupled with detailed chemical kinetics was used to model the detonation. The effectiveness on different diluents was assessed in reducing the detonability of a hydrogen mixture. Carbon dioxide was found to be most effective in reducing the detonability followed by water and nitrogen. The chemical …