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This month's issue has the following 3 articles: (1) Kathy Yelick is the new director for the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); (2) Head of the Class--A cray XT4 named Franklin passes a rigorous test and becomes an official member of the NERSC supercomputing family; and (3) Model Comparisons--Fusion research group published several recent papers examining the results of two types of turbulence simulations and their impact on tokamak designs.

Extraction of dilute metal ions from water was performed near room temperature with a variety of ionic liquids. Distribution coefficients are reported for fourteen metal ions extracted with ionic liquids containing cations 1-octyl-4-methylpyridinium [4MOPYR]{sup +}, 1-methyl-1-octylpyrrolidinium [MOPYRRO]{sup +} or 1-methyl-1-octylpiperidinium [MOPIP]{sup +}, and anions tetrafluoroborate [BF{sub 4}]{sup +}, trifluoromethyl sulfonate [TfO]{sup +} or nonafluorobutyl sulfonate [NfO]{sup +}. Ionic liquids containing octylpyridinium cations are very good for extracting mercury ions. However, other metal ions were not significantly extracted by any of these ionic liquids. Extractions were also performed with four new task-specific ionic liquids. Such liquids containing a disulfide functional group are efficient and selective for mercury and copper, whereas those containing a nitrile functional group are efficient and selective for silver and palladium.

We present a method for computing incompressible viscousflows in three dimensions using block-structured local refinement in bothspace and time. This method uses a projection formulation based on acell-centered approximate projection, combined with the systematic use ofmultilevel elliptic solvers to compute increments in the solutiongenerated at boundaries between refinement levels due to refinement intime. We use an L_0-stable second-order semi-implicit scheme to evaluatethe viscous terms. Results are presentedto demonstrate the accuracy andeffectiveness of this approach.

A part of a new EBIS-based heavy ion preinjector, the low energy beam transport (LEBT) section between the high current EBIS and the RFQ is a challenging design, because it must serve many functions. In addition to the requirement to provide an efficient matching between the EBIS and the RFQ, this line must serve as a fast ''switchyard'', allowing singly charged ions from external sources to be transported into the EBIS trap region, and extracted, highly charged ions to be deflected to off-axis diagnostics (time-of-flight or emittance). The space charge of the 5-10 mA extracted heavy ion beam is a major consideration in the design, and the space charge force varies for different ion beams having Q/m from 1-0.16. The line includes electrostatic lenses, spherical and parallel-plate deflectors, magnetic solenoid, and diagnostics for measuring current, charge state distributions, emittance, and profile. A prototype of this beamline has been built, and results of tests are presented.

Time-synchronized measurements provide rich information for estimating a power-system's electromechanical modal properties via advanced signal processing. This information is becoming critical for the improved operational reliability of interconnected grids. A given mode's properties are described by its frequency, damping, and shape. Modal frequencies and damping are useful indicators of power-system stress, usually declining with increased load or reduced grid capacity. Mode shape provides critical information for operational control actions. This project investigated many advanced techniques for power system identification from measured data focusing on mode frequency and damping ratio estimation. Investigators from the three universities coordinated their effort with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Significant progress was made on developing appropriate techniques for system identification with confidence intervals and testing those techniques on field measured data and through simulation. Experimental data from the western area power system was provided by PNNL and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) for both ambient conditions and for signal injection tests. Three large-scale tests were conducted for the western area in 2005 and 2006. Measured field PMU (Phasor Measurement Unit) data was provided to the three universities. A 19-machine simulation model was enhanced for testing the system identification algorithms. Extensive simulations were run with this model …

The correspondence between theories in anti-de Sitter space and conformal field theories in physical space-time leads to an analytic, semiclassical model for strongly-coupled QCD which has scale invariance at short distances and color confinement at large distances. Light-front holography is a remarkable feature of AdS/CFT: it allows hadronic amplitudes in the AdS fifth dimension to be mapped to frame-independent light-front wavefunctions of hadrons in physical space-time, thus providing a relativistic description of hadrons at the amplitude level. Some novel features of QCD are discussed, including the consequences of confinement for quark and gluon condensates and the behavior of the QCD coupling in the infrared. We suggest that the spatial support of QCD condensates is restricted to the interior of hadrons, since they arise due to the interactions of confined quarks and gluons. Chiral symmetry is thus broken in a limited domain of size 1=m{sub {pi}} in analogy to the limited physical extent of superconductor phases. A new method for computing the hadronization of quark and gluon jets at the amplitude level, an event amplitude generator, is outlined.

This Final Technical Report summarizes the research and development (R&D) work performed by Stolar Research Corporation (Stolar) under U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Contract Number DE-FC26-04NT15477. This work involved the development of radar navigation and radio data transmission systems for integration with microhole coiled tubing bottom hole assemblies. Under this contract, Stolar designed, fabricated, and laboratory and field tested two advanced technologies of importance to the future growth of the U.S. oil and gas industry: (1) real-time measurement-while-drilling (MWD) for guidance and navigation of coiled tubing drilling in hydrocarbon reservoirs and (2) two-way inductive radio data transmission on coiled tubing for real-time, subsurface-to-surface data transmission. The operating specifications for these technologies are compatible with 3.5-inch boreholes drilled to a true vertical depth (TVD) of 5,000 feet, which is typical of coiled tubing drilling applications. These two technologies (i.e., the Stolar Data Transmission System and Drill String Radar) were developed into pre-commercial prototypes and tested successfully in simulated coiled tubing drilling conditions. Integration of these two technologies provides a real-time geosteering capability with extremely quick response times. Stolar is conducting additional work required to transition the Drill String Radar into a true commercial product. The results of this advanced development work …

During the past two years, the U.S. heavy ion fusion science program has made significant experimental and theoretical progress in simultaneous transverse and longitudinal beam compression, ion-beam-driven warm dense matter targets, high brightness beam transport, advanced theory and numerical simulations, and heavy ion target designs for fusion. First experiments combining radial and longitudinal compression of intense ion beams propagating through background plasma resulted in on-axis beam densities increased by 700X at the focal plane. With further improvements planned in 2007, these results will enable initial ion beam target experiments in warm dense matter to begin next year at LBNL. We are assessing how these new techniques apply to low-cost modular fusion drivers and higher-gain direct-drive targets for inertial fusion energy.

The conceptual design of compact superconducting magnets for the International Linear Collider final focus is presently under development. A primary concern in using superconducting quadrupoles is the potential for inducing additional vibrations from cryogenic operation. We have employed a Laser Doppler Vibrometer system to measure the vibrations in a spare RHIC quadrupole magnet under cryogenic conditions. Some preliminary results of these studies were limited in resolution due to a rather large motion of the laser head as well as the magnet. As a first step towards improving the measurement quality, a new set up was used that reduces the motion of the laser holder. The improved setup is described, and vibration spectra measured at cryogenic temperatures, both with and without helium flow, are presented.

BackgroundIncreasing energy costs and environmental concerns have motivated engineering microbes for the production of ?second generation? biofuels that have better properties than ethanol.Results& ConclusionsSaccharomyces cerevisiae was engineered with an n-butanol biosynthetic pathway, in which isozymes from a number of different organisms (S. cerevisiae, Escherichia coli, Clostridium beijerinckii, and Ralstonia eutropha) were substituted for the Clostridial enzymes and their effect on n-butanol production was compared. By choosing the appropriate isozymes, we were able to improve production of n-butanol ten-fold to 2.5 mg/L. The most productive strains harbored the C. beijerinckii 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase, which uses NADH as a co-factor, rather than the R. eutropha isozyme, which uses NADPH, and the acetoacetyl-CoA transferase from S. cerevisiae or E. coli rather than that from R. eutropha. Surprisingly, expression of the genes encoding the butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase from C. beijerinckii (bcd and etfAB) did not improve butanol production significantly as previously reported in E. coli. Using metabolite analysis, we were able to determine which steps in the n-butanol biosynthetic pathway were the most problematic and ripe for future improvement.

For each sludge batch that is processed in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) performs confirmation of the applicability of the digestion method to be used by the DWPF lab for elemental analysis of Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) receipt samples and SRAT product process control samples. DWPF SRAT samples are typically dissolved using a room temperature HF-HNO3 acid dissolution (i.e., DWPF Cold Chem Method, see Procedure SW4-15.201) and then analyzed by inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). This report contains the results and comparison of data generated from performing the Aqua Regia (AR), Sodium Peroxide/Hydroxide Fusion (PF) and DWPF Cold Chem (CC) method digestion of Sludge Batch 5 (SB5) SRAT Receipt and SB5 SRAT Product samples. The SB5 SRAT Receipt and SB5 SRAT Product samples were prepared in the SRNL Shielded Cells, and the SRAT Receipt material is representative of the sludge that constitutes the SB5 Batch composition. This is the sludge in Tank 51 that is to be transferred into Tank 40, which will contain the heel of Sludge Batch 4 (SB4), to form the SB5 Blend composition. The results for any one particular element should not be used …

Argonne National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory researchers are analyzing the electrochemical and thermal-fluid behavior of solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) for high temperature steam electrolysis using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques. The major challenges facing commercialization of steam electrolysis technology are related to efficiency, cost, and durability of the SOECs. The goal of this effort is to guide the design and optimization of performance for high temperature electrolysis (HTE) systems. An SOEC module developed by FLUENT Inc. as part of their general CFD code was used for the SOEC analysis by INL. ANL has developed an independent SOEC model that combines the governing electrochemical mechanisms based on first principals to the heat transfer and fluid dynamics in the operation of SOECs. The ANL model was embedded into the commercial STAR-CD CFD software, and is being used for the analysis of SOECs by ANL. The FY06 analysis performed by ANL and reported here covered the influence of electrochemical properties, SOEC component resistances and their contributing factors, SOEC size and inlet flow conditions, and SOEC flow configurations on the efficiency and expected durability of these systems. Some of the important findings from the ANL analysis are: (1) Increasing the inlet mass …

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Research supported by this grant focuses on molecular scale understanding of central issues related to the structure and dynamics of geochemically important fluids, fluid-mineral interfaces, and confined fluids using computational modeling and experimental methods. Molecular scale knowledge about fluid structure and dynamics, how these are affected by mineral surfaces and molecular-scale (nano-) confinement, and how water molecules and dissolved species interact with surfaces is essential to understanding the fundamental chemistry of a wide range of low-temperature geochemical processes, including sorption and geochemical transport. Our principal efforts are devoted to continued development of relevant computational approaches, application of these approaches to important geochemical questions, relevant NMR and other experimental studies, and application of computational modeling methods to understanding the experimental results. The combination of computational modeling and experimental approaches is proving highly effective in addressing otherwise intractable problems. In 2006-2007 we have significantly advanced in new, highly promising research directions along with completion of on-going projects and final publication of work completed in previous years. New computational directions are focusing on modeling proton exchange reactions in aqueous solutions using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD), metadynamics (MTD), and empirical valence bond (EVB) approaches. Proton exchange is critical to understanding the structure, dynamics, …

The LBNL 88-Inch Cyclotron offers broad-spectrum neutrons for single event effects testing. We discuss results from this beamline for neutron soft upsets in Xilinx Virtex-4 and -5 field-programmable-gate-array (FPGA) devices.

Proteins of a serine/arginine-rich (SR) family are part of the spliceosome and are implicated in both constitutive and alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs. With the funding from DOE we have been studying alternative of splicing of genes encoding serine/arginine-rich (SR) proteins and the roles of SR proteins that interact with U1-70K in regulating basic and alternative splicing. Alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs of Arabidopsis serine/arginine-rich proteins and its regulation by hormones and stresses: We analyzed the splicing of all 19 Arabidopsis genes in different tissues, during different seedling stages and in response to various hormonal and stress treatments. Remarkably, about 90 different transcripts are produced from 15 SR genes, thereby increasing the transcriptome complexity of SR genes by about five fold. Using the RNA isolated from polysomes we have shown that most of the splice variants are recruited for translation. Alternative splicing of some SR genes is controlled in a developmental and tissue-specific manner (Palusa et al., 2007). Interestingly, among the various hormones and abiotic stresses tested, temperature stress (cold and heat) and ultraviolet light dramatically altered alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs of several SR genes whereas hormones altered the splicing of only two SR genes (Palusa et al., 2007). Localization and dynamics …

This note summarizes the results of the 'Workshop on Polarization and Beam Energy Measurements at the ILC', held at DESY (Zeuthen) April 9-11 2008. The topics for the workshop included (1) physics requirements, (2) polarized sources and low energy polarimetry, (3) BDS polarimeters, (4) BDS energy spectrometers, and (5) physics-based measurements of beam polarization and beam energy from collider data. Discussions focused on the current ILC baseline program as described in the Reference Design Report (RDR), which includes physics runs at beam energies between 100 and 250 GeV, as well as calibration runs on the Z-pole. Electron polarization of P{sub e{sup -}} {approx}> 80% and positron polarization of P{sub e{sup +}} {approx}> 30% are part of the baseline configuration of the machine. Energy and polarization measurements for ILC options beyond the baseline, including Z-pole running and the 1 TeV energy upgrade, were also discussed.

One fundamental element of scientific inquiry is discoveringrelationships, particularly the interactions between different variablesin observed or simulated phenomena. Building upon our prior work in thefield of Query-Driven Visualization, where visual data analysisprocessing is focused on subsets of large data deemed to be"scientifically interesting," this new work focuses on a novel knowledgediscovery capability suitable for use with petascale class datasets. Itenables visual presentation of the presence or absence of relationships(correlations) between variables in data subsets produced by Query-Drivenmethodologies. This technique holds great potential for enablingknowledge discovery from large and complex datasets currently emergingfrom SciDAC and INCITE projects. It is sufficiently generally to beapplicable to any time of complex, time-varying, multivariate data fromstructured, unstructured or adaptive grids.

Small 4 K coolers are used to cool superconducting magnets.These coolers are usually used with high temperature suerconductor (HTS)leads. In most cases, magnet is shielded with iron or active shieldcoils. Thus the field at the cooler is low. There are instances when thecooler must be in a magnetic field. Gifford McMahon (GM) coolers or pulsetube coolers are commercially available to cool the magnets. This paperwill discuss how the two types of coolers are affected by the straymagnetic field. Strategies for using coolers on magnets that generatestray magnetic fields are discussed.

Using 214 fb{sup -1} of data recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEPII electron-positron collider, they study the decay D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -}e{sup +}{nu}{sub e}. Except for a small S-wave contribution, the events with K{sup +}K{sup -} masses in the range 1.01-1.03 GeV/c{sup 2} correspond to {phi} mesons. For D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} {phi}e{sup +}{nu}{sub e} decays, they measure the relative normalization of the Lorentz invariant form factors at q{sup 2} = 0, r{sub V} = V(0)/A{sub 1}(0) = 1.849 {+-} 0.060 {+-} 0.095, r{sub 2} = A{sub 2}(0)/A{sub 1}(0) = 0.763 {+-} 0.071 {+-} 0.065 and the pole mass of the axial-vector form factors m{sub A} = (2.28{sub -0.18}{sup +0.23} {+-} 0.18) GeV/c{sup 2}. Within the same K{sup +}K{sup -} mass range, they also measure the relative branching fractions {Beta}(D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -}e{sup +}{nu}{sub e})/{Beta}(D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}) - 0.558 {+-} 0.007 {+-} 0.016, from which they obtain the total branching fraction {Beta}(D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} {phi}e{sup +}{nu}{sub e}) = (2.61 {+-} 0.03 {+-} 0.08 {+-} 0.15) x 10{sup -2}. By comparing this value with the predicted decay rate, they extract A{sub 1}(0) = 0.607 {+-} 0.011 {+-} …

A general problem when fitting EXAFS data is determining whether particular parameters are statistically significant. The F-test is an excellent way of determining relevancy in EXAFS because it only relies on the ratio of the fit residual of two possible models, and therefore the data errors approximately cancel. Although this test is widely used in crystallography (there, it is often called a 'Hamilton test') and has been properly applied to EXAFS data in the past, it is very rarely applied in EXAFS analysis. We have implemented a variation of the F-test adapted for EXAFS data analysis in the RSXAP analysis package, and demonstrate its applicability with a few examples, including determining whether a particular scattering shell is warranted, and differentiating between two possible species or two possible structures in a given shell.

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This report summarizes our study of the price elasticity of demand for home appliances, including refrigerators, clothes washers, and dishwashers. In the context of increasingly stringent appliance standards, we are interested in what kind of impact the increased manufacturing costs caused by higher efficiency requirements will have on appliance sales. We begin with a review of existing economics literature describing the impact of economic variables on the sale of durable goods.We then describe the market for home appliances and changes in this market over the past 20 years, performing regression analysis on the shipments of home appliances and relevant economic variables including changes to operating cost and household income. Based on our analysis, we conclude that the demand for home appliances is price inelastic.