NMR spectroscopy conveys information about chemical structure through ppm-scale shifts of the resonance frequency depending on the chemical environment. In order to observe these small shifts, magnets with highly homogeneous magnetic field B{sub 0} are used. The high cost and large size of these magnets are a consequence of the requirement for high homogeneity. In this contribution we introduce a new method for recording high-resolution NMR spectra from samples in inhomogeneous B{sub 0}, opening up the possibility of exploiting magnets of lower homogeneity and cost. Instead of using the traditional B{sub 0} ''shim coils'', adiabatic radiofrequency (RF) pulse sequences and modulated B{sub 0} gradients generated by coils in the probe are used to produce ''shim pulses''. A great deal of work has been devoted to finding methods for retrieving chemical shift information even when B{sub 0} is inhomogeneous. One class of methods relies on zero- or multiple quantum coherences which evolve independently of B{sub 0}. These methods are inherently two-dimensional and the high-resolution information is obtained indirectly. In order to minimize experimental time it is desirable to acquire a high-resolution spectrum directly just as for traditional NMR in homogeneous fields. A further advantage with direct acquisition is that modification of …

Currently the sales of clothes washers in China consist ofseveral general varieties. Some use more energy (with or withoutincluding hot water energy use) and some use more water. Both energy andwater are in short supply in China. This poses the question - how do youtrade off water versus energy in establishing efficiency standards? Thispaper discusses how China dealt with this situation and how itestablished minimum efficiency standards for clothes washers.

A detailed chemical kinetic mechanism has been used to simulate ignition delay times recorded by a number of experimental shock tube studies over the temperature range 900 {le} T {le} 1800 K, in the pressure range 0.75-40 atm and in the equivalence ratio range 0.5 {le} {phi} {le} 2.0. Flame speed measurements at 1 atm in the equivalence ratio range 0.4 {le} {phi} {le} 1.8 have also been simulated. Both of these data sets, particularly those recorded at high pressure, are of particular importance in validating a kinetic mechanism, as internal combustion engines operate at elevated pressures and temperatures and rates of fuel oxidation are critical to efficient system operation. Experiments in which reactant, intermediate and product species were quantitatively recorded, versus temperature in a jet-stirred reactor (JSR) and versus time in a flow reactor are also simulated. This data provide a stringent test of the kinetic mechanism as it must reproduce accurate quantitative profiles for all reactant, intermediate and product species. The JSR experiments were performed in the temperature range 1000-1110 K, in the equivalence ratio range 0.5 {le} {phi} {le} 4.0, at a pressure of 5 atm. These experiments are complemented by those carried out in a flow …

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This paper presents the results of a broad investigation into the effects of the electron energy distribution function on the predictions of non-LTE collisional-radiative atomic kinetics models. The effects of non-Maxwellian and suprathermal (''hot'') electron distributions on collisional rates (including three-body recombination) are studied. It is shown that most collisional rates are fairly insensitive to the functional form and characteristic energy of the electron distribution function as long as the characteristic energy is larger than the threshold energy for the collisional process. Collisional excitation and ionization rates, however, are highly sensitive to the fraction of hot electrons. This permits the development of robust spectroscopic diagnostics that can be used to characterize the electron density, bulk electron temperature, and hot electron fraction of plasmas with non-equilibrium electron distribution functions (EDFs). Hot electrons are shown to increase and spread out plasma charge state distributions, amplify the intensities of emission lines fed by direct collisional excitation and radiative cascades, and alter the structure of satellite features in both K- and L-shell spectra. The characteristic energy, functional form, and spatial properties of hot electron distributions in plasmas are open to characterization through their effects on high-energy continuum and line emission and on the polarization …

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We use the eight year light curve database from the MACHO (MAssive Compact Halo Objects) project together with infrared colors and magnitudes from 2MASS (the Two Micron All Sky Survey) to identify a sample of 22,000 long period variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud (referred to hereafter as LMC LPVs). A period luminosity diagram of these stars reveals six well defined sequences, in substantial agreement with previous analyses of samples from OGLE (Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment). In our analysis we identify analogues to galactic LPVs in the LMC LPV sample. We find that carbon dominated AGB stars populate only two of the sequences, one of which includes the Mira variables. The high luminosity end of the same two sequences are also the location of the only stars with J K{sub s} > 2, indicating that they are enshrouded in dust. The unknown mechanism that produces the variability of the last sequence--those stars with long secondary periods--produces different morphology in the period luminosity diagram than what is seen in the first four sequences, which are thought to be caused by pulsation. In particular, the last sequence extends to lower luminosity RGB stars and the luminosity function does not peak among the …

Anomaly mediation solves the supersymmetric flavor and CP problems. This is because the superconformal anomaly dictates that supersymmetry breaking is transmitted through nearly flavor-blind infrared physics that is highly predictive and UV insensitive. Slepton mass squareds, however, are predicted to be negative. This can be solved by adding D-terms for U(1)_Y and U(1)_{B-L} while retaining the UV insensitivity. In this paper we consider electroweak symmetry breaking via UV insensitive anomaly mediation in several models. For the MSSM we find a stable vacuum when tanbeta< 1, but in this region the top Yukawa coupling blows up only slightly above the supersymmetry breaking scale. For the NMSSM, we find a stable electroweak breaking vacuum but with a chargino that is too light. Replacing the cubic singlet term in the NMSSM superpotential with a term linear in the singlet wefind a stable vacuum and viable spectrum. Most of the parameter region with correct vacua requires a large superpotential coupling, precisely what is expected in the"Fat Higgs'" model in which the superpotential is generated dynamically. We have therefore found the first viable UV complete, UV insensitive supersymmetry breaking model that solves the flavor and CP problems automatically: the Fat Higgs model with UV insensitive …

The addition of inexpensive high-speed oscilloscopes has enabled higher Te Thomson scattering measurements on the SSPX spheromak. Along with signal correlation techniques, the scopes allow new analyses based on the shape of the scattered laser pulse to discriminate against fluctuating background plasma light that often make gated-integrator measurements unreliable. A 1.4 J Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm is the scattering source. Spatial locations are coupled by viewing optics and fibers to 4-wavelength-channel filter polychrometers. Ratios between the channels determine Te while summations of the channels determine density. Typically, the channel that provides scattered signal at higher Te is contaminated by fluctuating background light. Individual channels are correlated with either a modeled representation of the laser pulse or a noise-free stray light signal to extract channel amplitudes.

Cesium-137 was deposited on Bikini Island at Bikini Atoll in 1954 as a result of nuclear testing and has been transported and cycled in the ecosystem ever since. Atoll soils are of marine origin and are almost pure CaCO{sub 3} with high concentrations of organic matter in the top 40 cm. Data from previous experiments with mature fruit trees show very high transfer factors (TF's), [Bq g{sup -1} plant/ Bq g{sup -1} soil, both in dry weight] into fruits from atoll calcareous soil. These TF's are much higher than reported for continental, silica-based soils. In this report TF's for 5 types of leafy vegetable crops and 2 types of grain crops are provided for use in predictive dose assessments and for comparison with other data from other investigators working with other types of soil in the IAEA CRP ''The Classification of Soil Systems on the Basis of Transfer Factors of Radionuclides from Soil to Reference Plants''. Transfer factors for plants grown on calcareous soil are again very high relative to clay-containing soils and range from 23 to 39 for grain crops and 21 to 113 for leafy vegetables. Results from these experiments, in this unique, high pH, high organic content, …

We have integrated the electron-cloud code POSINST [1] with WARP [2]--a 3-D parallel Particle-In-Cell accelerator code developed for Heavy Ion Inertial Fusion--so that the two can interoperate. Both codes are run in the same process, communicate through a Python interpreter (already used in WARP), and share certain key arrays (so far, particle positions and velocities). Currently, POSINST provides primary and secondary sources of electrons, beam bunch kicks, a particle mover, and diagnostics. WARP provides the field solvers and diagnostics. Secondary emission routines are provided by the Tech-X package CMEE.

We have observed stable avalanche gain in liquid argon when mixed with small amounts of xenon in the high electric field (>7 MV/cm) near the point of a chemically etched needle in a point-plane geometry. We identify two gain mechanisms, one pressure dependent, and the other independent of the applied pressure. We conclude that the pressure dependent signals are from avalanche gain in gas bubbles at the tip of the needle, while the pressure independent pulses are from avalanche gain in liquid. We measure the decay time spectra of photons from both types of avalanches. The decay times from the pressure dependent pulses decrease (increase) with the applied pressure (high voltage), while the decay times from the pressure independent pulses are approximately independent of pressure or high voltage. For our operating conditions, the collected charge distribution from avalanches is similar for 60 keV or 122 keV photon sources. With krypton additives, instead of Xe, we measure behavior consistent with only the pressure dependent pulses. Neon and TMS were also investigated as additives, and designs for practical detectors were tested.

We present a new approach for shape metamorphism, which is a process of gradually changing a source shape (known) through intermediate shapes (unknown) into a target shape (known). The problem, when represented with implicit scalar function, is under-constrained, and regularization is needed. Using the p-Laplacian equation (PLE), we generalize a series of regularization terms based on the gradient of the implicit function, and we show that the present methods lack additional constraints for a more stable solution. The novelty of our approach is in the deployment of a new regularization term when p --> infinity which leads to the infinite Laplacian equation (ILE). We show that ILE minimizes the supremum of the gradient and prove that it is optimal for metamorphism since intermediate solutions are equally distributed along their normal direction. Applications of the proposed algorithm for 2D and 3D objects are demonstrated.

Complete mitochondrial genomic sequences are reported from 12 members in the four families of the reptile group Amphisbaenia. Analysis of 11,946 aligned nucleotide positions (5,797 informative) produces a robust phylogenetic hypothesis. The family Rhineuridae is basal and Bipedidae is the sister taxon to the Amphisbaenidae plus Trogonophidae. Amphisbaenian reptiles are surprisingly old, predating the breakup of Pangaea 200 million years before present, because successive basal taxa (Rhineuridae and Bipedidae) are situated in tectonic regions of Laurasia and nested taxa (Amphisbaenidae and Trogonophidae) are found in Gondwanan regions. Thorough sampling within the Bipedidae shows that it is not tectonic movement of Baja California away from the Mexican mainland that is primary in isolating Bipes species, but rather that primary vicariance occurred between northern and southern groups. Amphisbaenian families show parallel reduction in number of limbs and Bipes species exhibit parallel reduction in number of digits. A measure is developed for comparing the phylogenetic information content of various genes. A synapomorphic trait defining the Bipedidae is a shift from the typical vertebrate mitochondrial gene arrangement to the derived state of trnE and nad6. In addition, a tandem duplication of trnT and trnP is observed in B. biporus with a pattern of pseudogene …

Unlike the common belief that crack propagation behavior can be predicted successfully by employing fracture criteria based on a constant crack tip opening displacement or angle (CTOD/CTOA), this paper shows that the initially non-constant portion of the CTOD/CTOA plays an essential role in predicting the fracture load for a growing crack. Three- and two-dimensional finite element analyses indicate that a severe underestimate of the experimental load vs. crack extension curve would occur if a constant CTOD/CTOA criterion is used. However, the use of a simplified, bilinear CTOD/CTOA criterion including its non-constant portion will closely duplicate the test data. Furthermore, as a result of using the experimental data from J-integral test with various crack length to specimen width ratios (a/W), it is demonstrated that the CTOD/CTOA is crack tip constraint dependent. The initially higher values of the CTOD/CTOA are in fact a natural consequence of crack growth process which is refl ected by the J-resistance curve and its slope (tearing modulus).

Allozyme variation is examined in eight populations of Trapelus from the Caspian-Aral Basin of the former USSR. Thirty-one loci (15 variable) exhibit remarkably low levels of genetic variation with only a Nei's genetic distance of 0.117 across 2500 km. An isolated population on the European side of the Caspian Sea is found to phenetically cluster inside the Asian populations examined, suggesting that it should not be considered taxonomically distinct.

The Saltstone Special Analysis calculated a limit for 14C based on the atmospheric pathway of 52 pCi/mL using some very conservative assumptions. This was compared to the estimated Low Curie Salt concentration of 0.45 pCi/mL and since the limit was two orders of magnitude greater than the estimated concentration, the decision was made that no further analysis was needed. The 14C concentration in Tank 41 has been found to be much greater than the estimated concentration and to exceed the limit derived in the Special Analysis. A rigorous analysis of the release of 14C via the air pathway that considers the chemical effects of the Saltstone system has shown that the flux of 14C is significantly less than that assumed in the Special Analysis. The net result is an inventory limit for 14C that is significantly higher than that derived in the Special Analysis that will also meet the performance objectives of DOE Order 435.1.

Over the past several years, computational scientists have observed a frustrating trend of stagnating application performance despite dramatic increases in peak performance of high performance computers. In 2002, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and IBM proposed a new process to reverse this situation [1]. This strategy is based on new types of development partnerships with computer vendors based on the concept of science-driven computer system design. This strategy will engage applications scientists well before an architecture is available for commercialization. The process is already producing results, and has further potential for dramatically improving system efficiency. This paper documents the progress to date and the potential for future benefits. An example of this process is discussed, using IBM Power architecture with a computer architecture design that can lead to a sustained performance of 50 to 100 Tflo p/s on a broad spectrum of applications in 2006 for a reasonable cost. This partnership will establish a collaborative approach to modifying computer architecture to enable heretofore unrealized achievements in computer capability-limited fields such as nanoscience, combustion modeling, fusion, climate modeling, and astrophysics.

For many rocks of high economic interest such as chalk, diatomite, tight gas sands or coal, nanometer scale resolution is needed to resolve the 3D-pore structure, which controls the flow and trapping of fluids in the rocks. Such resolutions cannot be achieved with existing tomographic technologies. A new 3D imaging method, based on serial sectioning and using the Focused Ion Beam (FIB) technology has been developed. FIB allows for the milling of layers as thin as 10 nanometers by using accelerated Ga+ ions to sputter atoms from the sample surface. After each milling step, as a new surface is exposed, a 2D image of this surface is generated. Next, the 2D images are stacked to reconstruct the 3D pore or grain structure. Resolutions as high as 10 nm are achievable using such a technique. A new robust method of pore-scale fluid flow modeling has been developed and applied to sandstone and chalk samples. The method uses direct morphological analysis of the pore space to characterize the petrophysical properties of diverse formations. Not only petrophysical properties (porosity, permeability, relative permeability and capillary pressures) can be computed but also flow processes, such as those encountered in various IOR approaches, can be simulated. …

In this paper, the adaptive optics (AO) system at the W.M. Keck Observatory is characterized. The authors calculate the error budget of the Keck AO system operating in natural guide star mode with a near infrared imaging camera. By modeling the control loops and recording residual centroids, the measurement noise and band-width errors are obtained. The error budget is consistent with the images obtained. Results of sky performance tests are presented: the AO system is shown to deliver images with average Strehl ratios of up to 0.37 at 1.58 {micro}m using a bright guide star and 0.19 for a magnitude 12 star.

Enhancements are described for an approach that unifies edge preserving smoothing with segmentation of time sequences of volumetric images, based on differential edge detection at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Potential applications of these 4-D methods include segmentation of respiratory gated positron emission tomography (PET) transmission images to improve accuracy of attenuation correction for imaging heart and lung lesions, and segmentation of dynamic cardiac single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images to facilitate unbiased estimation of time-activity curves and kinetic parameters for left ventricular volumes of interest. Improved segmentation of lung surfaces in simulated respiratory gated cardiac PET transmission images is achieved with a 4-D edge detection operator composed of edge preserving 1-D operators applied in various spatial and temporal directions. Smoothing along the axis of a 1-D operator is driven by structure separation seen in the scale-space fingerprint, rather than by image contrast. Spurious noise structures are reduced with use of small-scale isotropic smoothing in directions transverse to the 1-D operator axis. Analytic expressions are obtained for directional derivatives of the smoothed, edge preserved image, and the expressions are used to compose a 4-D operator that detects edges as zero-crossings in the second derivative in the direction of the …

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Squamate reptiles serve as model systems for evolutionary studies of a variety of morphological and behavioral traits, and phylogeny is crucial to many generalizations derived from such studies. Specifically, the traditional dichotomy between Iguania and Scleroglossa has been correlated with major evolutionary shifts within Squamata. We present a molecular phylogenetic study of squamates using DNA sequence data from the nuclear genes RAG-1 and c-mos and the mitochondrial ND2 region, sampling all major clades and most major subclades. Monophyly of Iguania, Anguimorpha, and almost all currently recognized squamate families is strongly supported. However, monophyly is rejected for Scleroglossa, Varanoidea, and several other higher taxa, and Iguania is highly nested within Squamata. Limblessness evolved independently in snakes, dibamids, and amphisbaenians, suggesting widespread morphological convergence or parallelism in limbless, burrowing forms. Amphisbaenians are the sister group of lacertids, and snakes are grouped with iguanians and anguimorphs. Dibamids diverged early in squamate evolutionary history. Xantusiidae is the sister taxon of Cordylidae. Studies of functional tongue morphology and feeding mode have found significant differences between Scleroglossa and Iguania, and our finding of a nonmonophyletic Scleroglossa and a highly nested Iguania suggest that similar states evolved separately in Sphenodon and Iguania, and that jaw prehension is …

We present the discovery and monitoring of the optical transient (OT) associated with GRB 020410. The fading OT was found by Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations taken 28 and 65 days after burst at a position consistent with the X-ray afterglow. Subsequent re-examination of early ground based observations revealed that a faint OT was present 6 hours after burst, confirming the source association with GRB 020410. A deep non-detection after one week requires that the OT re-brightened between day 7 and day 28, and further late time HST data taken approximately 100 days after burst imply that it is very red (F{sub nu} proportional to nu-2.7). We compare both the flux and color of the excess with supernova models and show that the data are best explained by the presence of a Type I b/c supernova at a redshift z approx. equal 0.5, which occurred roughly coincident with the day of GRB.