The use of isoconversional, sometimes called model-free, kinetic analysis methods have recently gained favor in the thermal analysis community. Although these methods are very useful and instructive, the conclusion that model fitting is a poor approach is largely due to improper use of the model fitting approach, such as fitting each heating rate separately. The current paper shows the ability of model fitting to correlate reaction data over very wide time-temperature regimes, including simultaneous fitting of isothermal and constant heating rate data. Recently published data on cellulose pyrolysis by Capart et al. (TCA, 2004) with a combination of an autocatalytic primary reaction and an nth-order char pyrolysis reaction is given as one example. Fits for thermal decomposition of Estane, Viton-A, and Kel-F over very wide ranges of heating rates is also presented. The Kel-F required two parallel reactions--one describing a small, early decomposition process, and a second autocatalytic reaction describing the bulk of pyrolysis. Viton-A and Estane also required two parallel reactions for primary pyrolysis, with the first Viton-A reaction also being a minor, early process. In addition, the yield of residue from these two polymers depends on the heating rate. This is an example of a competitive reaction between …

The alignment of high energy laser beams for potential fusion experiments demand high precision and accuracy by the underlying positioning algorithms whether it be for actuator control or monitoring the beam line for potential anomalies. This paper discusses the feasibility of employing on-line optimal position estimators in the form of model-based processors to achieve the desired results. Here we discuss the modeling, development, implementation and processing of model-based processors applied to both simulated and actual beam line data.

Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and opticalmeasurements obtained from InN and In1-xGaxNfilms (0<x<0.54)grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy are presented. Energy gaps measuredbyabsorption, PR, and PL for InN films grown on c-plane Al2O3 were in therange of 0.7 eV. No In or otherinclusions were observed in these films,ruling out the possibility of a strong Mie scattering mechanism. IntheIn1-xGaxN films the relationship between the structural properties andthe optical properties, inparticular the presence or absence of a Stokesshift between absorption and PL, is discussed. TEM studiesshow that highquality layers do not have a Stokes shift. Some films had compositionalordering; thesefilms also showed a shift between absorption edge andluminescence peak.

Over the past 2 years the Tevatron peak luminosity steadily progressed and reached the level of 92e30 cm-2s-1 which exceeds the original Run IIa goal. Over 0.57fb-1 have being delivered to each CDF and D0 experiments since the beginning of the Run II. In parallel to the Collider operation, we have started a project of the luminosity upgrade which should lead to peak luminosities of about 270e30 and total integrated luminosity of 4.4-8.5 fb-1 through FY2009. In this paper we describe the status of the Tevatron Collider complex, essence of the upgrades and novel accelerator technologies to be employed.

Operation of the Tevatron at lower temperatures, for the purpose of allowing higher energies, has resulted in a renewed interest in thermal modeling of the magnet strings. Static heat load and AC loses in the superconducting coils are initially transported through subcooled liquid helium. Heat exchange between the subcooled liquid and a counter flowing two-phase stream transfers the load to the latent heat. Stratification of the two-phase helium stream has resulted in considerably less heat exchange compared to the original design. Spool pieces have virtually no heat transfer to the two-phase resulting in a ''warm'' dipole just downstream. A model of the magnet string thermal behavior has been developed. The model has been used to identify temperature profiles within magnet strings. The temperature profiles are being used in conjunction with initial magnet quench performance data to predict the location of quench limiting magnets within the Tevatron. During thermal cycles of magnet strings, the model is being used to ''shuffle'' magnets within the magnet string in order to better match the magnets quench performance with its actual predicted temperature. The motivation for this analysis is to raise the operating energy of the Tevatron using a minimal number of magnets from the …

COUP-TFII is a central nuclear hormone receptor that tightly regulates the expression of numerous target lipid metabolism genes in vertebrates. However, it remains unclear how COUP-TFII itself is transcriptionally controlled since studies with its promoter and upstream region fail to recapitulate the genes liver expression. In an attempt to identify liver enhancers in the vicinity of COUP-TFII, we employed a comparative genomic approach. Initial comparisons between humans and mice of the 3,470kb gene poor region surrounding COUP-TFII revealed 2,023 conserved non-coding elements. To prioritize a subset of these elements for functional studies, we performed further genomic comparisons with the orthologous pufferfish (Fugu rubripes) locus and uncovered two anciently conserved non-coding sequences (CNS) upstream of COUP-TFII (CNS-62kb and CNS-66kb). Testing these two elements using reporter constructs in liver (HepG2) cells revealed that CNS-66kb, but not CNS-62kb, yielded robust in vitro enhancer activity. In addition, an in vivo reporter assay using naked DNA transfer with CNS-66kb linked to luciferase displayed strong reproducible liver expression in adult mice, further supporting its role as a liver enhancer. Together, these studies further support the utility of comparative genomics to uncover gene regulatory sequences based on evolutionary conservation and provide the substrates to better understand the …

We present a block-structured adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) method for computing solutions to Poisson's equation in two and three dimensions. It is based on a conservative, finite-volume formulation of the classical Mehrstellen methods. This is combined with finite volume AMR discretizations to obtain a method that is fourth-order accurate in solution error, and with easily verifiable solvability conditions for Neumann and periodic boundary conditions.

The Leak Path Factor (LPF) for a nonreactor nuclear facility is a critical component for the evaluation of the source term used to evaluate the on-site and off-site consequences when an accident produces aerosols containing radioactive powders that propagate through the facility and finally to the outside environment. The Leak Path Factor is defined as the fraction of the airborne radioactive particulate material that is in the respirable size range within the building that escapes via available pathways to the outside environment. This paper presents a methodology to evaluate the LPF for various accident conditions (e.g., seismic event, fire) that could take place in a nonreactor nuclear facility using MELCOR computer code. The methodology presented could enable analysts to efficiently model facilities to assess the magnitude of the LPF by evaluating its various components.

We review the physics of nuclear matter at high energy density and the experimental search for the Quark-Gluon Plasma at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The data obtained in the first three years of the RHIC physics program provide several lines of evidence that a novel state of matter has been created in the most violent, head-on collisions of Au nuclei at {radical}s = 200 GeV. Jet quenching and global measurements show that the initial energy density of the strongly interacting medium generated in the collision is about two orders of magnitude larger than that of cold nuclear matter, well above the critical density for the deconfinement phase transition predicted by lattice QCD. The observed collective flow patterns imply that the system thermalizes early in its evolution, with the dynamics of its expansion consistent with ideal hydrodynamic flow based on a Quark-Gluon Plasma equation of state.

Nuclear-optical converters (NOC) are fission chambers based upon fission fragment energy conversion to optical radiation in gas luminescent media. The All-Russia Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (VNIIEF) has demonstrated that it is possible to construct nuclear-optical converters with characteristics appropriate for a wide-range of measuring applications including neutron detection in nuclear power plants. These detectors may be used a number of different modes: pulse count, luminescent (equivalent to current mode in ionization detectors), and lasing (essentially a neutron switch). NOCs offer a number of potential advantages over ionization detectors. The detectors require no power supply. Signals are transmitted via light-pipe or fiber optics rather than insulated electrical cable. The detectors are less sensitive to gamma radiation. NOC can produce large signals, obviating the need for pre-amplifiers near the detector. It is possible to construct a single detector which measures flux at many discrete points and at the same time provides total flux along a line containing these discrete points. This paper describes the construction and testing of NOC at VNIIEF; the range of characteristics thought to be reasonably attainable with nuclear-optical converters, and possible applications to nuclear power plant instrumentation.

We present results from an investigation into the stability of underground structures in response to explosive loading. Field tests indicate that structural response can be dominated by the effect of preexisting fractures and faults in the rock mass. Consequently, accurate models of underground structures must take into account plastic deformations across fractures and not simply within the intact portions of the rock mass. The distinct element method (DEM) is naturally suited to simulating such systems because it can explicitly accommodate the blocky nature of natural rock masses. We will discuss details specific to our implementation of the DEM and summarize recent results.

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The Livermore Computational Nuclear Physics group is charged with producing updated neutron incident cross section evaluations for all the actinides in the coming year, concentrating on neutron induced fission, neutron capture and (n,2n) cross sections. We attack this daunting task either by adopting other recent evaluations or by performing our own. Owing to the large number of nuclei involved, we seek to automate this process as much as possible. For this purpose, we have developed a series of computer codes: x41, an interface to the EXFOR database, fete, a code that translates ENDF/B formatted evaluations into a computationally convenient form, and da{_}fit, a fitting code that takes all relevant EXFOR data for a reaction or set of reactions and performs a generalized least square fit to them, subject to various constraints and other prior information.

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The MICE coupling solenoids surround the RF cavities that are used to increase the longitudinal momentum of the muon beam that is being cooled within MICE. The coupling solenoids will have a warm-bore diameter of 1394 mm. This is the warm bore that is around the 200 MHz RF cavities. The coupling solenoid is a single superconducting coil fabricated from a copper matrix Nb-Ti conductor originally designed for MRI magnets. A single coupling magnet is designed so that it can be cooled with a single 1.5 W (at 4.2 K) cooler. The MICE cooling channel has two of these solenoids, which will be hooked together in series, for a magnet circuit with a total stored-energy of the order of 12.8 MJ. Quench protection for the coupling coils is discussed. This report also presents the mechanical and thermal design parameters for this magnet, including the results of finite element calculations of mechanical forces and heat flow in the magnet cold mass.

In this paper, we consider an inexact Newton method applied to a second order nonlinear problem with higher order nonlinearities. We provide conditions under which the method has a mesh-independent rate of convergence. To do this, we are required to first, set up the problem on a scale of Hilbert spaces and second, to devise a special iterative technique which converges in a higher than first order Sobolev norm. We show that the linear (Jacobian) system solved in Newton's method can be replaced with one iterative step provided that the initial nonlinear iterate is accurate enough. The closeness criteria can be taken independent of the mesh size. Finally, the results of numerical experiments are given to support the theory.

Relatively little is known about the genetic basis for the unique physiology of metal-reducing genera in the delta subgroup of the proteobacteria. The recent availability of complete finished or draft-quality genome sequences for seven representatives allowed us to investigate the genetic and regulatory factors in a number of key pathways involved in the biosynthesis of building blocks and cofactors, metal-ion homeostasis, stress response, and energy metabolism using a combination of regulatory sequence detection and analysis of genomic context. In the genomes of delta-proteobacteria, we identified candidate binding sites for four regulators of known specificity (BirA, CooA, HrcA,sigma-32), four types of metabolite-binding riboswitches (RFN-, THI-,B12-elements and S-box), and new binding sites for the FUR, ModE, NikR,PerR, and ZUR transcription factors, as well as for the previously uncharacterized factors HcpR and LysX. After reconstruction of the corresponding metabolic pathways and regulatory interactions, we identified possible functions for a large number of previously uncharacterized genes covering a wide range of cellular functions. Phylogenetically diverse delta-proteobacteria appear to have homologous regulatory components. This study for the first time demonstrates the adaptability of the comparative genomic approach to de novo reconstruction of a regulatory network in a poorly studied taxonomic group of bacteria. Recent efforts …

Recently, a number of important scientific and engineering problems have been successfully studied and solved by means of computational modeling and simulation. Many of these computational models and simulations benefited from the use of available software tools and libraries to achieve high performance and portability. In this article, we present a reference matrix of the performance of robust, reliable and widely used tools mapped to scientific and engineering applications that use them. We aim at regularly maintaining and disseminating this matrix to the computational science community. This matrix will contain information on state-of-the-art computational tools, their applications and their use.

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It is well-known that the diversity of life appears to fluctuate during the course the Phanerozoic, the eon during which hard shells and skeletons left abundant fossils (0-542 Ma). Using Sepkoski's compendium of the first and last stratigraphic appearances of 36380 marine genera, we report a strong 62 {+-} 3 Myr cycle, which is particularly strong in the shorter-lived genera. The five great extinctions enumerated by Raup and Sepkoski may be an aspect of this cycle. Because of the high statistical significance, we also consider contributing environmental factors and possible causes.

We conducted reversed deliquescence experiments in saturated NaCl-NaNO{sub 3}-H{sub 2}O, KNO{sub 3}-NaNO{sub 3}-H{sub 2}O, and NaCl-KNO{sub 3}-H{sub 2}O systems from 90 to 120 C as a function of relative humidity and solution composition. NaCl, NaNO{sub 3}, and KNO{sub 3} represent members of dust salt assemblages that are likely to deliquesce and form concentrated brines on high-level radioactive waste package surfaces in a repository environment at Yucca Mountain, NV, USA. Discrepancy between model prediction and experimental code can be as high as 8% for relative humidity and 50% for dissolved ion concentration. The discrepancy is attributed primarily to the use of 25 C models for Cl-NO{sub 3} and K-NO{sub 3} ion interactions in the current Yucca Mountain Project high-temperature Pitzer model to describe the non-ideal behavior of these highly concentrated solutions.

We have detected CO(4-3) in the z=3.8 radio galaxy 4C 41.17 with the IRAM Interferometer. The CO is in two massive (M{sub dyn} {approx}&gt; 2.5 x 10{sup 11} M{sub {circle_dot}}) systems separated by 1.8 (13 kpc), and by 400 km s{sup -1} in velocity, which coincide with two different dark lanes in a deep Ly{alpha} image. One CO component coincides with the cm-radio core of the radio galaxy, and its redshift is close to that of the He II {lambda} 1640 AGN line. The second CO component is near the base of a cone-shaped region southwest of the nucleus, which resembles the emission-line cones seen in nearby AGN and starburst galaxies. The characteristics of the CO sources and their mm/submm dust continuum are similar to those found in ultraluminous IR galaxies and in some high-z radio galaxies and quasars. The fact that 4C 41.17 contains two CO systems is further evidence for the role of mergers in the evolution of galaxies at high redshift.

Metallic interconnects in solid oxide fuel cells are exposed to a dual environment: fuel on one side (i.e. H₂ gas) and oxidizer on the other side (i.e. air). It has been observed that the oxidation behavior of thin stainless steel sheet in air is changed by the presence of H₂ on the other side of the sheet. The resulting dual environment scales are flaky and more friable than the single environment scales. The H₂ disrupts the scale on the air-side. A model to explain some of the effects of a dual environment is presented where hydrogen diffusing through the stainless steel sheet reacts with oxygen diffusing through the scale to form water vapor, which has sufficient vapor pressure to mechanically disrupt the scale. Experiments on preoxidized 316L stainless steel tubing exposed to air/air, H₂/air, and H₂/Ar environments are reported in support of the model.

Chromium is used as an alloy addition in stainless steels and nickel-chromium alloys to form protective chromium oxide scales. Chromium oxide undergoes reactive evaporation in high temperature exposures in the presence of oxygen and/or water vapor. The deposition of gaseous chromium species onto solid oxide fuel cell electrodes can reduce the efficiency of the fuel cell. Manganese additions to the alloy can reduce the activity of chromium in the oxide, either from solid solution replacement of chromium with manganese (at low levels of manganese) or from the formation of manganese-chromium spinels (at high levels of manganese). This reduction in chromium activity leads to a predicted reduction in chromium evaporation by as much as a factor of 35 at 800 C and 55 at 700 C. The results of evaporation loss measurements on nickel-chromium-manganese alloys are compared with the predicted reduction. Quantifying the effects of manganese additions on chromium evaporation should aid alloy development of metallic interconnects and balance-of-plant alloys.