In light water reactors, components made of nickel-base alloys are susceptible to environmentally assisted cracking. This report summarizes the crack growth rate results and related metallography for field and laboratory-procured Alloy 600 and its weld alloys tested in pressurized water reactor (PWR) environments. The report also presents crack growth rate (CGR) results for a shielded-metal-arc weld of Alloy 182 in a simulated PWR environment as a function of temperature between 290 C and 350 C. These data were used to determine the activation energy for crack growth in Alloy 182 welds. The tests were performed by measuring the changes in the stress corrosion CGR as the temperatures were varied during the test. The difference in electrochemical potential between the specimen and the Ni/NiO line was maintained constant at each temperature by adjusting the hydrogen overpressure on the water supply tank. The CGR data as a function of temperature yielded activation energies of 252 kJ/mol for a double-J weld and 189 kJ/mol for a deep-groove weld. These values are in good agreement with the data reported in the literature. The data reported here and those in the literature suggest that the average activation energy for Alloy 182 welds is on the …

Proof-of-principle gas-reservoir MnNiMg electrochromic mirror devices have been investigated. In contrast to conventional electrochromic approaches, hydrogen is stored (at low concentration) in the gas volume between glass panes of the insulated glass units (IGUs). The elimination of a solid state ion storage layer simplifies the layer stack, enhances overall transmission, and reduces cost. The cyclic switching properties were demonstrated and system durability improved with the incorporation a thin Zr barrier layer between the MnNiMg layer and the Pd catalyst. Addition of 9 percent silver to the palladium catalyst further improved system durability. About 100 full cycles have been demonstrated before devices slow considerably. Degradation of device performance appears to be related to Pd catalyst mobility, rather than delamination or metal layer oxidation issues originally presumed likely to present significant challenges.

The candidate division Korarchaeota comprises a group of uncultivated microorganisms that, by their small subunit rRNA phylogeny, may have diverged early from the major archaeal phyla Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota. Here, we report the initial characterization of a member of the Korarchaeota with the proposed name,"Candidatus Korarchaeum cryptofilum," which exhibits an ultrathin filamentous morphology. To investigate possible ancestral relationships between deep-branching Korarchaeota and other phyla, we used whole-genome shotgun sequencing to construct a complete composite korarchaeal genome from enriched cells. The genome was assembled into a single contig 1.59 Mb in length with a G + C content of 49percent. Of the 1,617 predicted protein-coding genes, 1,382 (85percent) could be assigned to a revised set of archaeal Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COGs). The predicted gene functions suggest that the organism relies on a simple mode of peptide fermentation for carbon and energy and lacks the ability to synthesize de novo purines, CoA, and several other cofactors. Phylogenetic analyses based on conserved single genes and concatenated protein sequences positioned the korarchaeote as a deep archaeal lineage with an apparent affinity to the Crenarchaeota. However, the predicted gene content revealed that several conserved cellular systems, such as cell division, DNA replication, and tRNA …

Staphylothermus marinus is an anaerobic, sulfur-reducing peptide fermenter of the archaeal phylum Crenarchaeota. It is the third heterotrophic, obligate sulfur reducing crenarchaeote to be sequenced and provides an opportunity for comparative analysis of the three genomes. The 1.57 Mbp genome of the hyperthermophilic crenarchaeote Staphylothermus marinus has been completely sequenced. The main energy generating pathways likely involve 2-oxoacid:ferredoxin oxidoreductases and ADP-forming acetyl-CoA synthases. S. marinus possesses several enzymes not present in other crenarchaeotes including a sodium ion-translocating decarboxylase likely to be involved in amino acid degradation. S. marinus lacks sulfur-reducing enzymes present in the other two sulfur-reducing crenarchaeotes that have been sequenced - Thermofilum pendens and Hyperthermus butylicus. Instead it has three operons similar to the mbh and mbx operons of Pyrococcus furiosus, which may play a role in sulfur reduction and/or hydrogen production. The two marine organisms, S. marinus and H. butylicus, possess more sodium-dependent transporters than T. pendens and use symporters for potassium uptake while T. pendens uses an ATP-dependent potassium transporter. T. pendens has adapted to a nutrient-rich environment while H. butylicus is adapted to a nutrient-poor environment, and S. marinus lies between these two extremes. The three heterotrophic sulfur-reducing crenarchaeotes have adapted to their habitats, terrestrial …

Understanding the effects of cold nuclear matter on J/psi production is a key requirement in order to interpret the J/psi suppression reported in heavy-ion collisions. Based on a Glauber model, the J/psi-nucleon inelastic cross section is determined from a statistical analysis of J/psi world data on nuclear targets. The global fit of all data gives sigmaJ/psiN = 3.4 +/- 0.2 mb, significantly smaller than previous estimates, yet the chi2 of the fit is pretty large, chi2/ndf = 1.5. A similar value, sigmaJ/psiN = 3.5 +/- 0.2 +/- 1.7 mb, is obtained when the De Florian-Sassot modifications of the nuclear parton densities are included in the analysis, although we emphasize that the present uncertainties on gluon (anti)shadowing do not allow for a precise determination of sigmaJ/psiN. Finally, the possible energy dependence of the J/psi-nucleon inelastic cross section is investigated within this framework. No significant energy dependence of the J/psi-N interaction is observed.

We search for a light scalar particle produced in single-photon decays of the {Upsilon}(3S) resonance through the process {Upsilon}(3S) {yields} {gamma} + A{sup 0}, A{sup 0} {yields} invisible. Such an object appears in Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model, where a light CP-odd Higgs boson naturally couples strongly to b-quarks. If, in addition, there exists a light, stable neutralino, decays of A{sup 0} could be preferentially to an invisible final state. We search for events with a single high-energy photon and a large missing mass, consistent with a 2-body decay of {Upsilon}(3S). We find no evidence for such processes in a sample of 122 x 10{sup 6} {Upsilon}(3S) decays collected by the BABAR collaboration at the PEP-II B-factory, and set 90% C.L. upper limits on the branching fraction {Beta}({Upsilon}(3S) {yields} {gamma}A{sup 0}) x {Beta}(A{sup 0} {yields} invisible) at (0.7-31) x 10{sup -6} in the mass range m{sub A{sup 0}} {le} 7.8 GeV. The results are preliminary.

We present the first evidence for B semileptonic decays into the charmed baryon {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} based on 420 fb{sup -1} of data collected at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} storage rings. Events are tagged by fully reconstructing one of the B mesons in a hadronic decay mode. We measure the relative branching fraction {Beta}({bar B} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} X{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}})/{Beta}({bar B} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +}/{bar {Lambda}}{sub c}{sup -}X) = (3.2 {+-} 0.9{sub stat.} {+-} 0.9{sub syst.})%. The significance of the signal including the systematic uncertainty is 4.9 standard deviations.

We report a measurement of the branching fractions of {bar B} {yields} D** {ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}} decays based on 417 fb{sup -1} of data collected at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} storage rings. Events are selected by fully reconstructing one of the B mesons in a hadronic decay mode. A fit to the invariant mass differences m(D{sup (*)})-m(D{sup (*)}) is performed to extract the signal yields of the different D** states. We observe the {bar B} {yields} D**{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}} decay modes corresponding to the four D** states predicted by Heavy Quark Symmetry with a significance greater than six standard deviations including systematic uncertainties.

We provide a systematic treatment of possible corrections to the inflaton potential for D-brane inflation in the warped deformed conifold. We consider the D3-brane potential in the presence of the most general possible corrections to the throat geometry sourced by coupling to the bulk of a compact Calabi-Yau space. This corresponds to the potential on the Coulomb branch of the dual gauge theory, in the presence of arbitrary perturbations of the Lagrangian. The leading contributions arise from perturbations by the most relevant operators that do not destroy the throat geometry. We find a generic contribution from a non-chiral operator of dimension {Delta} = 2 associated with a global symmetry current, resulting in a negative contribution to the inflaton mass-squared. If the Calabi-Yau preserves certain discrete symmetries, this is the dominant correction to the inflaton potential, and fine-tuning of the inflaton mass is possible. In the absence of such discrete symmetries, the dominant contribution comes from a chiral operator with {Delta} = 3/2, corresponding to a {phi}{sup 3/2} term in the inflaton potential. The resulting inflationary models are phenomenologically identical to the inflection point scenarios arising from specific D7-brane embeddings, but occur under far more general circumstances. Our strategy extends immediately …

Welcome to Berkeley Lab. You are joining or are already a part of a laboratory with a sterling tradition of scientific achievement, including eleven Nobel Laureates and thirteen National Medal of Science winners. No matter what job you do, you make Berkeley Lab the outstanding organization that it is. Without your hard work and dedication, we could not achieve all that we have. We value you and thank you for choosing to be part of our community. This Employee Handbook is designed to help you navigate the Lab. With over 3,000 employees, an additional 3,000 guests visiting from countries around the world, a 200-acre campus and many policies and procedures, learning all the ins and outs may seem overwhelming, especially if you're a new employee. However, even if you have been here for a while, this Handbook should be a useful reference tool. It is meant to serve as a guide, highlighting and summarizing what you need to know and informing you where you can go for more detailed information. The general information provided in this Handbook serves only as a brief description of many of the Lab's policies. Policies, procedures and information are found in the Lab's Regulations and …

The research proposed will investigate two projects that involve studies of the chemistry and biology of protein/protein and protein/carbohydrate interactions involved in host/pathogen interactions. Specifically, the projects involve (i) the interactions between fungal endopolygalacturonases and plant polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins and (ii) the interactions between fungal endoxylanases and plant arabinoxylans. During pathogenesis fungi secrete families of endoglycanases that fragment the cell wall polysaccharides of the plant host. The result of endoglycanase action on cell wall polysaccharides can include weakening of the wall, penetration of host cells by the pathogen, solubilization of carbohydrate nutrients, and formation of oligosaccharins (oligosaccharides with regulatory function) that can stimulate plant defenses. We have made significant advances during the last funding period to support the hypothesis that the outcome of attempted pathogenesis can be influenced by protein/protein and protein/carbohydrate interactions in the extracellular matrices of the host and pathogen. We plan to expand on those successes by further exploring the mechanism of action of the endoglycanases and their plant-derived inhibitors, the expression of the various members of the endoglycanase families at various stages of infection and their role in the release of oligosaccharins and in pathogenicity, as well as the role played by the polysaccharide substrates in both …

While the primary product of scientific visualization is images and movies, its primary objective is really scientific insight. Too often, the focus of visualization research is on the product, not the mission. This paper presents two case studies, both that appear in previous publications, that focus on using visualization technology to produce insight. The first applies"Query-Driven Visualization" concepts to laser wakefield simulation data to help identify and analyze the process of beam formation. The second uses topological analysis to provide a quantitative basis for (i) understanding the mixing process in hydrodynamic simulations, and (ii) performing comparative analysis of data from two different types of simulations that model hydrodynamic instability.

Image smoothing is a fundamental operation in computer vision and image processing. This work has two main thrusts: (1) implementation of a bilateral filter suitable for use in smoothing, or denoising, 3D volumetric data; (2) implementation of the 3D bilateral filter in three different parallelization models, along with parallel performance studies on two modern HPC architectures. Our bilateral filter formulation is based upon the work of Tomasi [11], but extended to 3D for use on volumetric data. Our three parallel implementations use POSIX threads, the Message Passing Interface (MPI), and Unified Parallel C (UPC), a Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) language. Our parallel performance studies, which were conducted on a Cray XT4 supercomputer and aquad-socket, quad-core Opteron workstation, show our algorithm to have near-perfect scalability up to 120 processors. Parallel algorithms, such as the one we present here, will have an increasingly important role for use in production visual analysis systems as the underlying computational platforms transition from single- to multi-core architectures in the future.

The 300 Area was selected as a location for an IFC because it offers excellent opportunities for field research on the influence of mass-transfer processes on uranium in the vadose zone and groundwater. The 300 Area was the location of nuclear fuel fabrication facilities and has more than 100 waste sites. Two of these waste sites, the North and South Process Ponds received large volumes of process waste from 1943 to 1975 and are thought to represent a significant source of the groundwater uranium plume in the 300 Area. Geophysical surveys and other characterization efforts have led to selection of the South Process Pond for the IFC.

The local coupling of two photons to the fundamental quark currents of a hadron gives an energy-independent contribution to the Compton amplitude proportional to the charge squared of the struck quark, a contribution which has no analog in hadron scattering reactions. We show that this local contribution has a real phase and is universal, giving the same contribution for real or virtual Compton scattering for any photon virtuality and skewness at fixed momentum transfer squared t. The t-dependence of this J = 0 fixed Regge pole is parameterized by a yet unmeasured even charge-conjugation form factor of the target nucleon. The t = 0 limit gives an important constraint on the dependence of the nucleon mass on the quark mass through the Weisberger relation. We discuss how this 1=x form factor can be extracted from high energy deeply virtual Compton scattering and examine predictions given by models of the H generalized parton distribution.

Presentation covers new content available on the Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicle Data Center regarding diesel vehicles, diesel exhaust fluid, and selective catalytic reduction technologies.

A variety of analyses were conducted on selected sediment samples collected from two wells (299 W15-46 and 299-W15-48) drilled near the 216-Z-9 Trench to elucidate the form and potential for Pu and Am to be mobilized under present conditions and those that could be expected in future remediation scenarios. Analyses included moisture content, determination of the less than sand size fraction (silt plus clay), carbon analysis, SEM/EDS analysis, microwave-assisted acid digestions for total element analysis, and extraction tests using Hanford groundwater as the leachate. Results of the extraction tests were used as input to conduct equilibrium geochemical modeling of the solutions with Geochemist’s Workbench®. Geochemical modeling results for Pu were evaluated in terms of recent conclusions regarding the solubility and redox reactions of Pu by Neck et al. (2007a, 2007b). It was found that the highest concentrations of Pu and Am were associated with sediments of low silt/clay content and occur above silt/clay rich layers within the sediment profile. It was also found that the Pu and Am were relatively enriched in the silt/clay portion of these samples. The fact that the highest concentrations of Pu and Am occurred in sediments with low silt/clay contents suggests that waste solutions had …

Paper number 1 addresses the fact that the procedure used in the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment for identifying the presence of clouds over snow/ice surfaces is known to have shortcomings, and this is corroborated through use of surface insolation measurements at the South Pole as an independent means of identifying clouds. These surface insolation measurements are then used to validate the more detailed cloud identification scheme used in the follow-up Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), and this validation is extended to the polar night through use of CERES measurements of the outgoing longwave radiation. General circulation models (GCMs) are highly sophisticated computer tools for modeling climate change, and they incorporate a large number of physical processes and variables. One of the most important challenges is to properly account for water vapor (clouds and humidity) in climate warming. In this Perspective, Cess discusses results reported in the same issue by Soden et al. in which water vapor feedback effects are tested by studying moistening trends in the upper troposphere. Satellite observations of atmospheric water vapor are found to agree well with moisture predictions generated by one of the key GCMs, showing that these feedback effects are being properly …

Laboratory experiments were conducted at gas turbine and atmospheric conditions (0.101 < P{sub 0} < 0.810 MPa, 298 < T{sub 0} < 580K, 18 < U{sub 0} < 60 m/s) to characterize the overall behaviors and emissions of the turbulent premixed flames produced by a low-swirl injector (LSI) for gas turbines. The objective was to investigate the effects of hydrogen on the combustion processes for the adaptation to gas turbines in an IGCC power plant. The experiments at high pressures and temperatures showed that the LSI can operate with 100% H{sub 2} at up to {phi} = 0.5 and has a slightly higher flashback tolerance than an idealized high-swirl design. With increasing H{sub 2} fuel concentration, the lifted LSI flame begins to shift closer to the exit and eventually attaches to the nozzle rim and assumes a different shape at 100% H{sub 2}. The STP experiments show the same phenomena. The analysis of velocity data from PIV shows that the stabilization mechanism of the LSI remains unchanged up to 60% H{sub 2}. The change in the flame position with increasing H{sub 2} concentration is attributed to the increase in the turbulent flame speed. The NO{sub x} emissions show a log …

A dual-axis, synchroscan streak camera was used to measure longitudinal bunch profiles in three storage rings at SLAC: the PEP-II low- and high-energy rings, and SPEAR3. At high currents, both PEP rings exhibit a transient synchronous-phase shift along the bunch train due to RF-cavity beam loading. Bunch length and profile asymmetry were measured along the train for a range of beam currents. To avoid the noise inherent in a dual-axis sweep, we accumulated single-axis synchroscan images while applying a 50-ns gate to the microchannel plate. To improve the extinction ratio, an upstream mirror pivoting at 1 kHz was synchronized with the 2kHz MCP gate to deflect light from other bunches off the photocathode. Bunch length was also measured on the HER as a function of beam energy. For SPEAR3 we measured bunch length as a function of single-bunch current for several lattices: achromatic, low-emittance and low momentum compaction. In the first two cases, resistive and reactive impedance components can be extracted from the longitudinal bunch profiles. In the low-alpha configurations, we observed natural bunch lengths approaching the camera resolution, requiring special care to remove instrumental effects, and saw evidence of periodic bursting.

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) used an array of {sup 3}He proportional counters to measure the rate of neutral-current interactions in heavy water and precisely determined the total active ({nu}{sub x}) {sup 8}B solar neutrino flux. This technique is independent of previous methods employed by SNO. The total flux is found to be 5.54{sub -0.31}{sup +0.33}(stat){sub -0.34}{sup +0.36}(syst) x 10{sup 6} cm{sup -2}s{sup -1}, in agreement with previous measurements and standard solar models. A global analysis of solar and reactor neutrino results yields {Delta}m{sup 2} = 7.94{sub -0.26}{sup +0.42} x 10{sup -5} eV{sup 2} and {theta} = 33.8{sub -1.3}{sup +1.4} degrees. The uncertainty on the mixing angle has been reduced from SNO's previous results.

Using a sample of 383 million B{bar B} events collected by the BABAR experiment, they measure sums of seven exclusive final states B {yields} X{sub d(s)}{gamma}, where X{sub d}(X{sub s}) is a non-strange (strange) charmless hadronic system in the mass range 0.6-1.8 GeV/c{sup 2}. After correcting for unmeasured decay modes in this mass range, they obtain a branching fraction for b {yields} d{gamma} of (7.2 {+-} 2.7(stat.) {+-} 2.3(syst.)) x 10{sup -6}. Taking the ratio of X{sub d} to X{sub s} they find {Lambda}(b {yields} d{gamma})/{Lambda}(b {yields} s{gamma}) = 0.033 {+-} 0.013(stat.) {+-} 0.009(syst.), from which they determine |V{sub td}/V{sub ts}| = 0.177 {+-} 0.043.

The beta-cells used in the beta-gamma detector have taken time to develop and to standardize the assembly of them. In making the assembly routine it is important to have step by step assembly instructions as well as a list of potential problems and their solutions. This document attempts to accomplish these goals.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (DOE-OE) National SCADA Test Bed (NSTB) Program is providing valuable inputs into the electric industry by performing topical research and development (R&D) to secure next generation and legacy control systems. In addition, the program conducts vulnerability and risk analysis, develops tools, and performs industry liaison, outreach and awareness activities. These activities will enhance the secure and reliable delivery of energy for the United States. This report will describe metrics that could be utilized to provide feedback to help enhance the effectiveness of the NSTB Program.