Water fluxes in unsaturated, fractured rock involve the physical processes occurring at fracture-matrix interfaces within fracture networks. Modeling these water fluxes using a discrete fracture network model is a complicated effort. Existing preprocessors for TOUGH2 are not suitable to generate grids for fracture networks with various orientations and inclinations. There are several 3-D discrete-fracture-network simulators for flow and transport, but most of them do not capture fracture-matrix interaction. We have developed a new 3-D discrete-fracture-network mesh generator, FRACMESH, to provide TOUGH2 with information about the fracture network configuration and fracture-matrix interactions. FRACMESH transforms a discrete fracture network into a 3 dimensional uniform mesh, in which fractures are considered as elements with unique rock material properties and connected to surrounding matrix elements. Using FRACMESH, individual fractures may have uniform or random aperture distributions to consider heterogeneity. Fracture element volumes and interfacial areas are calculated from fracture geometry within individual elements. By using FRACMESH and TOUGH2, fractures with various inclinations and orientations, and fracture-matrix interaction, can be incorporated. In this paper, results of flow and transport simulations in a fractured rock block utilizing FRACMESH are presented.

Marine microbes include representatives from all three kingdoms of life and collectively carry out virtually all forms of metabolisms found on the planet. Because of this metabolic and genetic diversity, these microbes mediate many of the reactions making up global biogeochemical cycles which govern the flow of energy and material in the biosphere. The goal of this conference is to bring together approaches and concepts from studies of microbial evolution, genomics, ecology, and oceanography in order to gain new insights into marine microbes and their biogeochemical functions. The integration of scales, from genes to global cycles, will result in a better understanding of marine microbes and of their contribution to the carbon cycle and other biogeochemical processes.

This article presents cumulative and differential number-count measurements for the recently completed 4 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South survey.

This slide-show discusses weapons dismantlement and disposal, issues related to classified waste and their solutions.

Our ability to simulate physical processes numerically is constrained by our ability to solve the resulting linear systems, prompting substantial research into the development of multiscale iterative methods capable of solving these linear systems with an optimal amount of effort. Overcoming the limitations of geometric multigrid methods to simple geometries and differential equations, algebraic multigrid methods construct the multigrid hierarchy based only on the given matrix. While this allows for efficient black-box solution of the linear systems associated with discretizations of many elliptic differential equations, it also results in a lack of robustness due to assumptions made on the near-null spaces of these matrices. This paper introduces an extension to algebraic multigrid methods that removes the need to make such assumptions by utilizing an adaptive process. The principles which guide the adaptivity are highlighted, as well as their application to algebraic multigrid solution of certain symmetric positive-definite linear systems.

Maintaining the structural integrity of the piping system of Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBRs) is essential to the safe operation of the reactor and steam supply systems. In the safety analysis various transient loads can be imposed on the piping systems, which may pose threats to the integrity of the piping structure. These transient loads can be classified into two categories. The first represents dynamic loads resulting from the hydrodynamic pressure-wave propagation or seismic events. The second represents static or quasi-dynamic loads generated by thermal wave propagation, normal operation transient, or creep phenomena. At Argonne National Laboratory, a multi-dimensional method has been developed for the integrated analysis of piping systems under these transient loading conditions. It utilizes a 2-D implicit finite-difference hydrodynamics in conjunction with a 3-D explicit finite-element structural analysis.

Sandia Laboratories' computational scientists are addressing a very important question: How do we get insight from the human combined with the computer-generated information? The answer inevitably leads to using scientific visualization. Going one technology leap further is teraflop visualization, where the computing model and interactive graphics are an integral whole to provide computing for insight. In order to implement our teraflop visualization architecture, all hardware installed or software coded will be based on open modules and dynamic extensibility principles. We will illustrate these concepts with examples in our three main research areas: (1) authoring content (the computer), (2) enhancing precision and resolution (the human), and (3) adding behaviors (the physics).

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An article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram written by Clara Herrera. The article covers Brandon Lewis and other students in art classes and the logistics behind what courses are available to them.

The Belle and Babar experiments have measured the branching fractions for B{sup +} {yields} {tau}{sup +}{nu} and D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} {mu}{sup +}{nu} decays. From these measurements one can extract the B{sup +} and D{sub s}{sup +} decay constants, which can be compared to lattice QCD calculations. For the D{sub s}{sup +} decay constant, there is currently a 2.1 {sigma} difference between the calculated value and the measured value.

Article on band engineering and magnetic doping of epitaxial graphene on SiC (0001).

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We examine various options for calibration of NIF neutron detectors in the energy region E<14 MeV. These options include: downscatter of D-T fusion neutrons using plastic targets; nuclear reactions at a Tandem Van de Graaf accelerator; and ''white'' neutrons from a pulsed spallation source. As an example of the spallation option, we present some calibration data that was recently obtained with a single crystal CVD diamond detector at the Weapons Neutron Research facility (WNR) at LANL.

Nanostructured uranium oxides have been prepared in ionic liquids as templating agents. Using the ionic liquids as reaction media for inorganic nanomaterials takes advantage of the pre-organized structure of the ionic liquids which in turn controls the morphology of the inorganic nanomaterials. Variation of ionic liquid cation structure was investigated to determine the impact on the uranium oxide morphologies. For two ionic liquid cations, increasing the alkyl chain length increases the aspect ratio of the resulting nanostructured oxides. Understanding the resulting metal oxide morphologies could enhance fuel stability and design.

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LLM-105 (2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide) is a new molecule which has performance and insensitivity between those of HMX and TATB. Its calculated energy content is about 85% that of HMX and 15% more than that of TATB. It is thermally stable, insensitive to shock, spark and friction and has impact insensitivity level approaching that of TATB. These combined properties make it a realistic high-performance IHE material, attractive for applications that require moderate performance and insensitivity. Several morphologies of LLM-105 and plastic-bonded formulations containing these materials and another binder were prepared and characterized. Their physical properties and detonation spreading characteristics are compared to those of ultrafine TATB. The impact sensitivity (drop hammer results) is sensitive to particle morphologies. Detonation-spreading, spot-size tests on LLM-105 compositions showed higher energy output and superior divergence behavior than is observed for ultrafine TATB. The small-scale safety data, pressing characteristics and results from divergence experiments will be summarized.

We present first principles, computational predictions of a porous, nano-structured semiconductor material that will reversibly store hydrogen for fuel cell applications. The material is competitive with current metal hydride storage materials, but contains only carbon and silicon, reducing both its cost and environmental impact. Additionally, unlike metal hydrides, the core skeleton structure of this material is unaltered when cycling from full hydrogen storage to full hydrogen depletion, removing engineering complications associated with expansion/contraction of the material.

Recently, attention has been drawn towards black carbon aerosols as a likely short-term climate warming mitigation candidate. However the global and regional impacts of the direct, cloud-indirect and semi-direct forcing effects are highly uncertain, due to the complex nature of aerosol evolution and its climate interactions. Black carbon is directly released as particle into the atmosphere, but then interacts with other gases and particles through condensation and coagulation processes leading to further aerosol growth, aging and internal mixing. A detailed aerosol microphysical scheme, MATRIX, embedded within the global GISS modelE includes the above processes that determine the lifecycle and climate impact of aerosols. This study presents a quantitative assessment of the impact of microphysical processes involving black carbon, such as emission size distributions and optical properties on aerosol cloud activation and radiative forcing. Our best estimate for net direct and indirect aerosol radiative forcing change is -0.56 W/m{sup 2} between 1750 and 2000. However, the direct and indirect aerosol effects are very sensitive to the black and organic carbon size distribution and consequential mixing state. The net radiative forcing change can vary between -0.32 to -0.75 W/m{sup 2} depending on these carbonaceous particle properties. Assuming that sulfates, nitrates and secondary …

We examine the effect of the collective force due to coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) in an electron storage ring with small bending radius. In a computation based on time-domain integration of the nonlinear Vlasov equation, we find the threshold current for a longitudinal microwave instability induced by CSR alone. The model accounts for suppression of radiation at long wave lengths due to shielding by the vacuum chamber. In a calculation just above threshold, small ripples in the charge distribution build up over a fraction of a synchrotron period, but then die out to yield a relatively smooth but altered distribution with eventual oscillations in bunch length. The instability evolves from small noise on an initial smooth bunch of r.m.s.length much greater than the shielding cutoff. The paper includes a derivation and extensive analysis of the complete impedance function Z for synchrotron radiation with parallel plate shielding. We find corrections to the lowest approximation to the coherent force which involve ''off-diagonal'' values of Z, that is, fields with phase velocity not equal to the particle velocity.

This article offers comment on "Density, speed of sound, refractive index and derivatives properties of the binary mixture N-Hexane + N-Heptane (or N-Octane or N-Nonane), T=288.15 - 313.15 K."

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Computing has become evermore central to the doing of high energy physics. There are now major second and third generation experiments for which the largest single cost is computing. At the same time the availability of cheap'' computing has made possible experiments which were previously considered infeasible. The result of this trend has been an explosion of computing and computing needs. I will review here the magnitude of the problem, as seen at Fermilab and SLAC, and the present methods for dealing with it. I will then undertake the dangerous assignment of projecting the needs and solutions forthcoming in the next few years at both laboratories. I will concentrate on the offline'' problem; the process of turning terabytes of data tapes into pages of physics journals. 5 refs., 4 figs., 4 tabs.

Medium carbon steel (MCS) is the candidate material for rock bolts to reinforce the borehole liners and emplacement drifts of the proposed Yucca Mountain (YM) high-level nuclear waste repository. Corrosion performance of this structural steel -AISI 1040- was investigated by techniques such as linear polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and laboratory immersion tests in lab simulated concentrated YM ground waters. Corrosion rates of the steel were determined for the temperatures in the range from 25 C to 85 C, for the ionic concentrations of 1 time (1x), 10 times (10x), and hundred times (100x) ground waters. The MCS corroded uniformly at the penetration rates of 35-200 {micro}m/year in the de-aerated YM waters, and 200-1000 {micro}m/year in the aerated waters. Increasing temperatures in the de-aerated waters increased the corrosion rates of the steel. However, increasing ionic concentrations influenced the corrosion rates only slightly. In the aerated 1x and 10x waters, increasing temperatures increased the rates of MCS significantly. Inhibitive precipitates, which formed in the aerated 100x waters at higher temperatures (65 C and up) decreased the corrosion rates to the values that obtained for the de-aerated YM aqueous environments. The steel suffered pitting corrosion in the both de-aerated and aerated hot …

The basic operating characteristics of the Tandem Mirror Experiment, (TMX) at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in the USA have been established. Tandem-mirror plasmas have been produced using neutral-beam-fueled end plugs and a gas-fueled center cell. An axial potential well between the end plugs has been measured. There is direct evidence that this potential well enhances the axial confinement of the center-cell ions. The observed densities and loss currents are consistent with preliminary studies of the particle sources and losses near the magnetic axis. The observed confinement is consistent with theory when plasma fluctuations are low. When the requirement of drift-cyclotron loss-cone mode stability is violated, the plasma fluctuations degrade the center-cell confinement.