Today's PCs incorporate multiple CPUs and GPUs and are easily arranged in clusters for high-performance, interactive graphics. We present an approach based on hierarchical, screen-space tiles to parallelizing rendering with level of detail. Adapt tiles, render tiles, and machine tiles are associated with CPUs, GPUs, and PCs, respectively, to efficiently parallelize the workload with good resource utilization. Adaptive tile sizes provide load balancing while our level of detail system allows total and independent management of the load on CPUs and GPUs. We demonstrate our approach on parallel configurations consisting of both single PCs and a cluster of PCs.

For nearly 150 years, the cross section of the heat collection tubes used at the focus of parabolic trough solar concentrators has been circular. This type of tube is obviously simple and easily fabricated, but it is not optimal. It is shown in this article that the optimal shape, assuming a perfect parabolic figure for the concentrating mirror, is instead oblong, and is approximately given by a pair of facing parabolic segments.

Genome sequences for most metazoans are incomplete due tothe presence of repeated DNA in the pericentromeric heterochromatin. Theheterochromatic regions of D. melanogaster contain 20 Mb of sequenceamenable to mapping, sequence assembly and finishing. Here we describethe generation of 15 Mb of finished or improved heterochromatic sequenceusing available clone resources and assembly and mapping methods. We alsoconstructed a BAC-based physical map that spans approximately 13 Mb ofthe pericentromeric heterochromatin, and a cytogenetic map that positionsapproximately 11 Mb of BAC contigs and sequence scaffolds in specificchromosomal locations. The integrated sequence assembly and maps greatlyimprove our understanding of the structure and composition of this poorlyunderstood fraction of a metazoan genome and provide a framework forfunctional analyses.

Devices become increasingly vulnerable to soft errors as their feature sizes shrink. Previously, soft errors primarily caused problems for space and high-atmospheric computing applications. Modern architectures now use features so small at sufficiently low voltages that soft errors are becoming significant even at terrestrial altitudes. The soft error vulnerability of iterative linear algebra methods, which many scientific applications use, is a critical aspect of the overall application vulnerability. These methods are often considered invulnerable to many soft errors because they converge from an imprecise solution to a precise one. However, we show that iterative methods can be vulnerable to soft errors, with a high rate of silent data corruptions. We quantify this vulnerability, with algorithms generating up to 8.5% erroneous results when subjected to a single bit-flip. Further, we show that detecting soft errors in an iterative method depends on its detailed convergence properties and requires more complex mechanisms than simply checking the residual. Finally, we explore inexpensive techniques to tolerate soft errors in these methods.

An automatic data-smoothing algorithm for data from digital oscilloscopes is described. The algorithm adjusts the bandwidth of the filtering as a function of time to provide minimum mean squared error at each time. It produces an estimate of the root-mean-square error as a function of time and does so without any statistical assumptions about the unknown signal. The algorithm is based on least-squares fitting to the data of cubic spline functions.

Recognizing the role that semiconductor suppliers can playin meeting energy-efficiency regulations and voluntary specifications,this paper provides an overview of Chinese policies and implementingbodies; a discussion of current programs, their goals, and effectiveness;and possible steps that can be taken tomeet these energy-efficiencyrequirements while also meeting products' high performance and costgoals.

This study addresses the issue of waste and cover subsidence caused by corrosion of the non-crushable waste containers defined as containers with significant void space that will not be stabilized by dynamic compaction of the Earea Slit Trenches at the Savannah River Site. Concentrations at the hypothetical 100-m well were evaluated for 1,000 years and compared with the base case value for compliance. To generalize the results, a hypothetical, no-decay radionuclide characterized by a Kd (5 ml/g) that would be most problematic was selected. Although the non-crushable containers will not be stabilized by dynamic compaction, these containers will gradually corrode, eventually collapse after placement of the final closure cap and cause the cap to subside resulting in an increase of the infiltration rates. The vadose zone model estimated the contaminant fluxes that were input to the aquifer model for prediction of concentrations at the 100-m well. To study the potential effect of trench subsidence on the well concentrations within the 1000-year time window, two high-impact cases were considered. In the first case, trenches subsided right after dynamic compaction (i.e., at 125 years). In the second case, trenches subsided at 419 years to make the peak concentrations from both the subsided …

Soils contain the largest inventory of organic carbon on the Earth's surface. Therefore, it is important to understand how soil organic carbon (SOC) is distributed in soils. This study directly measured SOC distributions within soil microaggregates and its associations with major soil elements from three soil groups (Phaeozem, Cambisol, and Ultisol), using scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy at a spatial resolution of 30 nm. Unlike previous studies, small intact soil microaggregates were examined directly in order to avoid preparatory procedures that might alter C speciation. We found that SOC exists as distinct particles (tens to hundreds of nm) and as ubiquitous thin coatings on clay minerals and iron-oxides coatings. The distinct SOC particles have higher fractions of aromatic C than the coatings. NEXAFS spectra of the C coatings within individual microaggregates were relatively similar. In the Phaeozem soil, the pervasive spectral features were those of phenolic and carboxylic C, while in the Cambisol soil the most common spectral feature was the carboxyl peak. The Ultisol soil displayed a diffuse distribution of aromatic, phenolic, and carboxylic C peaks over all surfaces. In general, a wide range of C functional groups coexist within individual …

A major concern for large tokamaks like ITER is the presence of edge localized modes (ELMs) that repeatedly send large bursts of particles and heat into the divertor plates. Operation with resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP) at the boundary of DIII=D has suppressed ELMs for values of q95 {approx} 3.7. At the target plate, the conditions during ELM suppressed operation for both high and low collisionality are observed by a set of radially distributed Langmuir probes. At high collisionality (n*{approx}1), the target plate particle flux and temperature drops by > 30% during ELM suppression. At low collisionality (n*{approx}0.1), the core density, target plate density, and target plate particle flux drop but the plate electron temperature increases after the ELMs are suppressed. The ELM-suppressed target plate heat flux is nearly the same as the heat flux between ELMs but the (5X higher) transient heat flux peaks due to ELMs are eliminated.

A numerical field line integration code is used to study the structure of divertor footprints produced by small non-axisymmetric magnetic perturbation in the DIII-D tokamak. The numerical modeling results are compared to experimental infrared camera data which show a splitting of the divertor target plate heat flux into several distinct peaks when an n=3 magnetic perturbation from the DIII-D I-coil is applied. The heat flux splitting consistently appears when the n=3 perturbation is applied and disappears when the perturbation is removed. The magnitude of the splitting implied by the numerical modeling is a factor of 3 smaller than the splitting seen in the experimental data. These results suggest that the plasma response to the edge resonant applied n=3 magnetic perturbation produces an amplification of the vacuum magnetic footprint structure on the divertor target plates. These results may have significant implications for the ITER divertor design.

The beta-delayed gamma-ray spectra from the fission of {sup 235}U, {sup 238}U, and {sup 239}Pu by thermal and near-14-MeV neutrons have been measured for delay times ranging from 1 minute to 14 hours. Spectra at all delay times contain sets of prominent gamma-ray lines with intensity ratios that identify the fissile material and distinguish between fission induced by low-energy or high-energy neutrons.

In order to identify regulators of nuclear organization, Drosophila mutants in the Su(var)3-9 histone H3K9 methyltransferase, RNAi pathway components, and other regulators of heterochromatin-mediated gene silencing were examined for altered nucleoli and positioning of repeated DNAs. Animals lacking components of the H3K9 methylation and RNAi pathways contained disorganized nucleoli, ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and satellite DNAs. The levels of H3K9 dimethylation (H3K9me2) in chromatin associated with repeated DNAs decreased dramatically in Su(var)3-9 and dcr-2 (dicer-2) mutant tissues compared to wild type. We also observed a substantial increase in extrachromosomal repeated DNAs in mutant tissues. The disorganized nucleolus phenotype depends on the presence of Ligase 4 (Lig4), and ecc DNA formation is not induced by removal of cohesin. We conclude that H3K9 methylation of rDNA and satellites, maintained by Su(var)3-9, HP1, and the RNAi pathway, is necessary for the structural stability of repeated DNAs, which is mediated through suppression of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). These results suggest a mechanism for how local chromatin structure can regulate genome stability, and the organization of chromosomal elements and nuclear organelles.

Operons are a major feature of all prokaryotic genomes, buthow and why operon structures vary is not well understood. To elucidatethe life-cycle of operons, we compared gene order between Escherichiacoli K12 and its relatives and identified the recently formed anddestroyed operons in E. coli. This allowed us to determine how operonsform, how they become closely spaced, and how they die. Our findingssuggest that operon evolution may be driven by selection on geneexpression patterns. First, both operon creation and operon destructionlead to large changes in gene expression patterns. For example, theremoval of lysA and ruvA from ancestral operons that contained essentialgenes allowed their expression to respond to lysine levels and DNAdamage, respectively. Second, some operons have undergone acceleratedevolution, with multiple new genes being added during a brief period.Third, although genes within operons are usually closely spaced becauseof a neutral bias toward deletion and because of selection against largeoverlaps, genes in highly expressed operons tend to be widely spacedbecause of regulatory fine-tuning by intervening sequences. Althoughoperon evolution may be adaptive, it need not be optimal: new operonsoften comprise functionally unrelated genes that were already inproximity before the operon formed.

This paper describes and demonstrates the use of the coupledTOUGH-FLAC simulator for geomechanical shear-slip (failure) analysis inmultiphase fluid-flow reservoir-engineering applications. Two approachesfor analyzing shear-slip are described, one using continuum stress-strainanalysis and another using discrete fault analysis. The use of shear-slipanalysis in TOUGH-FLAC is demonstrated on application examples related toCO2 sequestration and geothermal energy extraction. In the case of CO2sequestration, the shear-slip analysis is used to evaluate maximumsustainable CO2-injection pressure under increasing reservoir pressure,whereas in the case of geothermal energy extraction, the shear-slipanalysis is used to study induced seismicity during steam productionunder decreasing reservoir pressure and temperature.

As one of the measures to achieve the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions agreed to in the"Kyoto Protocol," an institutional scheme for determining energy efficiency standards for energy-consuming appliances, called the"Top-Runner Approach," was developed by the Japanese government. Its goal is to strengthen the legal underpinnings of various energy conservation measures. Particularly in Japan's residential sector, where energy demand has grown vigorously so far, this efficiency standard is expected to play a key role in mitigating both energy demand growth and the associated CO2 emissions. This paper presents an outlook of Japan's residential energy demand, developed by a stochastic econometric model for the purpose of analyzing the impacts of the Japan's energy efficiency standards, as well as the future stochastic behavior of income growth, demography, energy prices, and climate on the future energy demand growth to 2030. In this analysis, we attempt to explicitly take into consideration more than 30 kinds of electricity uses, heating, cooling and hot water appliances in order to comprehensively capture the progress of energy efficiency in residential energy end-use equipment. Since electricity demand, is projected to exhibit astonishing growth in Japan's residential sector due to universal increasing ownership of electric and other appliances, it is …

Non-enzymatic glycation of tissue proteins has important implications in the development of complications of diabetes mellitus. While electron transfer dissociation (ETD) has been shown to outperform collision-induced dissociation (CID) in sequencing glycated peptides by tandem mass spectrometry, ETD instrumentation is not yet available in all laboratories. In this study, we evaluated different advanced CID techniques (i.e., neutral-loss triggered MS3 and multi-stage activation) during LC-MSn analyses of Amadori-modified peptides enriched from human serum glycated in vitro. During neutral-loss triggered MS3 experiments, MS3 scans triggered by neutral-losses of 3 H2O or 3 H2O + HCHO produced similar results in terms of glycated peptide identifications. However, neutral losses of 3 H2O resulted in significantly more glycated peptide identifications during multi-stage activation experiments. Overall, the multi-stage activation approach produced more glycated peptide identifications, while the neutral-loss triggered MS3 approach resulted in much higher specificity. Both techniques offer a viable alternative to ETD for identifying glycated peptides when that method is unavailable.

The deployment of small (<1-2 MW) clusters of generators,heat and electrical storage, efficiency investments, and combined heatand power (CHP) applications (particularly involving heat activatedcooling) in commercial buildings promises significant benefits but posesmany technical and financial challenges, both in system choice and itsoperation; if successful, such systems may be precursors to widespreadmicrogrid deployment. The presented optimization approach to choosingsuch systems and their operating schedules uses Berkeley Lab'sDistributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model [DER-CAM], extendedto incorporate electrical storage options. DER-CAM chooses annual energybill minimizing systems in a fully technology-neutral manner. Anillustrative example for a San Francisco hotel is reported. The chosensystem includes two engines and an absorption chiller, providing anestimated 11 percent cost savings and 10 percent carbon emissionreductions, under idealized circumstances.

Since the initial measurements of the electron charge a century ago, experimenters have faced the persistent question as to whether elementary particles exist that have charges that are fractional multiples of the electron charge. I concisely review the results of the last 50 years of searching for fractional charge particles with no confirmed positive results. I discuss the question of whether more searching is worthwhile?

The interactions between two plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 and Paenibacillus brasilensis PB177, two arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (Glomus mosseae and G. intraradices) and one pathogenic fungus (Microdochium nivale) were investigated on winter wheat (Triticum aestivum cultivar Tarso) in a greenhouse trial. PB177, but not SBW25, had strong inhibitory effects on M. nivale in dual culture plate assays. The results from the greenhouse experiment show very specific interactions; e.g. the two AM fungi react differently when interacting with the same bacteria on plants. G. intraradices (single inoculation or together with SBW25) increased plant dry weight on M. nivale infested plants, suggesting that the pathogenic fungus is counteracted by G. intraradices, but PB177 inhibited this positive effect. This is an example of two completely different reactions between the same AM fungus and two species of bacteria, previously known to enhance plant growth and inhibit pathogens. When searching for plant growth promoting microorganisms it is therefore important to test for the most suitable combination of plant, bacteria and fungi in order to get satisfactory plant growth benefits.

Electromagnetic induction data parameterized in time dependent object intrinsic polarizabilities allow discrimination of unexploded ordnance (UXO) from false targets (scrap metal). Data from a cart-mounted system designed for discrimination of UXO with 20 mm to 155 mm diameters are used. Discrimination of UXO from irregular scrap metal is based on the principal dipole polarizabilities of a target. A near-intact UXO displays a single major polarizability coincident with the long axis of the object and two equal smaller transverse polarizabilities, whereas metal scraps have distinct polarizability signatures that rarely mimic those of elongated symmetric bodies. Based on a training data set of known targets, object identification was made by estimating the probability that an object is a single UXO. Our test survey took place on a military base where both 4.2-inch mortar shells and scrap metal were present. The results show that we detected and discriminated correctly all 4.2-inch mortars, and in that process we added 7%, and 17%, respectively, of dry holes (digging scrap) to the total number of excavations in two different survey modes. We also demonstrated a mode of operation that might be more cost effective than the current practice.

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN has a substantial collaborative Education and Outreach project. This article describes its activities and how it promotes physics to students around the world. With the extraordinary possibility to make groundbreaking discoveries, the ATLAS Experiment [1] at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN can play an important role in promoting contemporary physics at school. For many years ATLAS has had a substantial collaborative Education and Outreach (E&amp;O) project in which physicists from various parts of the world take part. When the experiment begins in 2007, students from around the world will be analyzing data using cutting-edge technology. The unprecedented collision energies of the Large Hadron Collider allow ATLAS to decode the 'events' that unfold after the head-on collisions of protons (Fig. 1). The scientific results from these events will reveal much about the basic nature of matter, energy, space, and time. Students and others will be excited as they try to find events that may be signs for dark matter, extra dimensions of space, mini-black holes, string theory, and other fundamental discoveries. Science education and outreach and the promotion of awareness and appreciation of physics research have become important tasks for …

Rock containing a compliant, fluid-filled fracture can be viewed as one case of heterogeneous poroelastic media. When this fracture is subjected to seismic waves, a strong contrast in the elastic stiffness between the fracture itself and the background can result in enhanced grain-scale local fluid flow. Because this flow--relaxing the pressure building up within the fracture--can increase the dynamic compliance of the fracture and change energy dissipation (attenuation), the scattering of seismic waves can be enhanced. Previously, for a flat, infinite fracture, we derived poroelastic seismic boundary conditions that describe the relationship between a finite jump in the stress and displacement across a fracture, expressed as a function of the stress and displacement at the boundaries. In this paper, we use these boundary conditions to determine frequency-dependent seismic wave transmission and reflection coefficients. Fluid-filled fractures with a range of mechanical and hydraulic properties are examined. From parametric studies, we found that the hydraulic permeability of a fracture fully saturated with water has little impact on seismic wave scattering. In contrast, the seismic response of a partially water-saturated fracture and a heterogeneous fracture filled with compliant liquid (e.g., supercritical CO{sub 2}) depended on the fracture permeability.

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An over-dense microwave driven ion source capable ofproducing deuterium (or hydrogen) beams at 100-200 mA/cm2 and with atomicfraction>90 percent was designed and tested with an electrostaticlow energy beam transport section (LEBT). This ion source wasincorporatedinto the design of an Accelerator Driven Neutron Source(ADNS). The other key components in the ADNS include a 6 MeV RFQaccelerator, a beam bending and scanning system, and a deuterium gastarget. In this design a 40 mA D+ beam is produced from a 6 mm diameteraperture using a 60 kV extraction voltage. The LEBT section consists of 5electrodes arranged to form 2 Einzel lenses that focus the beam into theRFQ entrance. To create the ECR condition, 2 induction coils are used tocreate ~; 875 Gauss on axis inside the source chamber. To prevent HVbreakdown in the LEBT a magnetic field clamp is necessary to minimize thefield in this region. Matching of the microwave power from the waveguideto the plasma is done by an autotuner. We observed significantimprovement of the beam quality after installing a boron nitride linerinside the ion source. The measured emittance data are compared withPBGUNS simulations.