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Brain, Music, and Non-Poisson Renewal Processes (open access)

Brain, Music, and Non-Poisson Renewal Processes

Article discussing research that shows both music composition and brain function, as revealed by the electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis, are renewal non-Poisson processes living in the nonergodic dominion.
Date: June 21, 2007
Creator: Bianco, Simone; Ignaccolo, Massimiliano; Rider, Mark S.; Ross, Mary J.; Winsor, Phil & Grigolini, Paolo
System: The UNT Digital Library
Compensatory Paracrine Mechanisms That Define The Urothelial Response to Injury in Partial Bladder Outlet Obstruction (open access)

Compensatory Paracrine Mechanisms That Define The Urothelial Response to Injury in Partial Bladder Outlet Obstruction

Diseases and conditions affecting the lower urinary tract are a leading cause of dysfunctional sexual health, incontinence, infection, and kidney failure. The growth, differentiation, and repair of the bladder's epithelial lining are regulated, in part, by fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-7 and -10 via a paracrine cascade originating in the mesenchyme (lamina propria) and targeting the receptor for FGF-7 and -10 within the transitional epithelium (urothelium). The FGF-7 gene is located at the 15q15-q21.1 locus on chromosome 15 and four exons generate a 3.852-kb mRNA. Five duplicated FGF-7 gene sequences that localized to chromosome 9 were predicted not to generate functional protein products, thus validating the use of FGF-7-null mice as an experimental model. Recombinant FGF-7 and -10 induced proliferation of human urothelial cells in vitro and transitional epithelium of wild-type and FGF-7-null mice in vivo.To determine the extent that induction of urothelial cell proliferation during the bladder response to injury is dependent on FGF-7, an animal model of partial bladder outlet obstruction was developed. Unbiased stereology was used to measure the percentage of proliferating urothelial cells between obstructed groups of wild-type and FGF-7-null mice. The stereological analysis indicated that a statistical significant difference did not exist between the two groups, …
Date: June 21, 2007
Creator: Bassuk, James; Lendvay, Thomas S.; Sweet, Robert; Han, Chang-Hee; Soygur, Tarkan; Cheng, Jan-Fang et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Toward a Deeper Understanding of Plutonium (open access)

Toward a Deeper Understanding of Plutonium

Plutonium is a very complex element lying near the middle of the actinide series. On the lower atomic number side of Pu is the element neptunium; its 5f electrons are highly delocalized or itinerant, participating in metallic-like bonding. The electrons in americium, the element to the right of Pu, are localized and do not participant significantly in the bonding. Plutonium is located directly on this rather abrupt transition. In the low-temperature {alpha} phase ground state, the five 5f electrons are mostly delocalized leading to a highly dense monoclinic crystal structure. Increases in temperature take the unalloyed plutonium through a series of five solid-state allotropic phase transformations before melting. One of the high temperature phases, the close-packed face centered cubic {delta} phase, is the least dense of all the phases, including the liquid. Alloying the Pu with Group IIIA elements such as aluminum or gallium retains the {delta} phase in a metastable state at ambient conditions. Ultimately, this metastable {delta} phase will decompose via a eutectoid transformation to {alpha} + Pu{sub 3}Ga. These low solute-containing {delta}-phase Pu alloys are also metastable with respect to low temperature excursions or increases in pressure and will transform to a monoclinic crystal structure at low …
Date: June 21, 2007
Creator: Schwartz, A J & Wolfer, W G
System: The UNT Digital Library
GENERATING THE RIGHT PCB DATA DETERMINATION OF AROCLORS VERSUS PCB CONGENERS (open access)

GENERATING THE RIGHT PCB DATA DETERMINATION OF AROCLORS VERSUS PCB CONGENERS

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a major environmental concern due to their ubiquity and tendency to bio-accumulate. as well as their persistence and toxicity. As the cleanup of waste and contaminated soil progresses at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites, the costs for accurate PCB data are increasing. PCBs are actually a broad name for a group of 209 individual compounds known as congeners. PCBs were originally produced in the United States as specific mixtures of congeners known as Aroclors'. PCBs can be analyzed and quantified either as Aroclor mixtures or as individual congeners. Aroclor analysis, which is the more common analytical method applied to PCBs. has been in use for decades, and in general, most cleanup regulations are based on total PCB concentrations using Aroclor analyses. Congener analysis is relatively new to environmental cleanup and restoration due to both technical issues and associated cost. The benefits of congener analysis are that it allows a more direct analysis of the risk of the PCBs. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified twelve specific congeners as dioxin-like with toxicity ranging from 0.00003 to 0.1 times the standard 2,3,7.8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2.3.7.8-TCDD) toxicity. This paper defines Aroclors and congeners and compares the current application and …
Date: November 21, 2007
Creator: CT, NARQUIS & AL, PRIGNANO
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interpretation of Recent Temperature Trends in California (open access)

Interpretation of Recent Temperature Trends in California

Regional-scale climate change and associated societal impacts result from large-scale (e.g. well-mixed greenhouse gases) and more local (e.g. land-use change) 'forcing' (perturbing) agents. It is essential to understand these forcings and climate responses to them, in order to predict future climate and societal impacts. California is a fine example of the complex effects of multiple climate forcings. The State's natural climate is diverse, highly variable, and strongly influenced by ENSO. Humans are perturbing this complex system through urbanization, irrigation, and emission of multiple types of aerosols and greenhouse gases. Despite better-than-average observational coverage, we are only beginning to understand the manifestations of these forcings in California's temperature record.
Date: September 21, 2007
Creator: Duffy, P B; Bonfils, C & Lobell, D
System: The UNT Digital Library
ELECTRON AVALANCHE MODEL OF DIELECTRIC-VACUUM SURFACE BREAKDOWN (open access)

ELECTRON AVALANCHE MODEL OF DIELECTRIC-VACUUM SURFACE BREAKDOWN

The model assumes that an 'initiating event' results in positive ions on the surface near the anode and reverses the direction of the normal component of electric field so that electrons in vacuum are attracted to the dielectric locally. A sequence of surface electron avalanches progresses in steps from the anode to the cathode. For 200 kV across 1 cm, the spacing of avalanches is predicted to be about 13 microns. The time for avalanches to step from the anode to the cathode is predicted to be about a ns.
Date: February 21, 2007
Creator: Lauer, E J
System: The UNT Digital Library
Charm Spectroscopy at BaBar (open access)

Charm Spectroscopy at BaBar

We present a mini-review on charm spectroscopy at the BABAR experiment. We first report on the c{bar s} meson spectrum, and present precise measurements of the D{sub s1}(2536) meson as well as the properties of the many new states discovered since 2003 (D*{sub s0}(2317), D{sub s1}(2460), D*{sub sJ}(2860), and D{sub sJ}(2700) mesons). We then discuss about charmed baryons observed recently in the BABAR experiment: {Omega}{sub c}{sup 0} and {Omega}*{sub c}{sup 0} css baryons, {Lambda}{sub c}(2940){sup +} udc baryon and the {Xi}{sub c} usc/dsc baryons.
Date: December 21, 2007
Creator: Poireau, Vincent
System: The UNT Digital Library
Unified Model of Dynamic Forced Barrier Crossing in Single Molecules (open access)

Unified Model of Dynamic Forced Barrier Crossing in Single Molecules

Thermally activated barrier crossing in the presence of an increasing load can reveal kinetic rate constants and energy barrier parameters when repeated over a range of loading rates. Here we derive a model of the mean escape force for all relevant loading rates--the complete force spectrum. Two well-known approximations emerge as limiting cases; one of which confirms predictions that single-barrier spectra should converge to a phenomenological description in the slow loading limit.
Date: June 21, 2007
Creator: Friddle, R W
System: The UNT Digital Library
Microscopic Approaches to Nuclear Structure: Configuration Interaction (open access)

Microscopic Approaches to Nuclear Structure: Configuration Interaction

The configuration interaction (CI) approach to solving the nuclear many-body problem, also known as the interacting shell model, has proven to be powerful tool in understanding the structure of nuclei. The principal criticism of past applications of the shell model is the reliance on empirical tuning to interaction matrix elements. If an accurate description of nuclei far from the valley of stability, where little or no data is available, a more fundamental approach is needed. This starts with recent ab initio approaches with effective interactions in the no-core shell model (NCSM). Using effective-field theory for guidance, fully ab initio descriptions of nuclei up to {sup 16}O with QCD based NN, NNN, and NNNN interactions will be possible within the next five years. An important task is then to determine how to use these NCSM results to develop effective interactions to describe heavier nuclei without the need to resort to an empirical retuning with every model space. Thus, it is likely that more traditional CI applications utilizing direct diagonalization and more fundamental interactions will be applicable to nuclei with perhaps up to one hundred constituents. But, these direct diagonalization CI applications will always be computationally limited due to the rapid increase …
Date: September 21, 2007
Creator: Ormand, W E
System: The UNT Digital Library
Negative Transconductance in Apertured Electron Guns (open access)

Negative Transconductance in Apertured Electron Guns

Passing an electron beam through an aperture can serve to reduce the beam current or change the transverse beam profile. For a sufficiently intense beam, space charge will drive a radial expansion of the beam, which may cause the current passing through the aperture to increase even though the current arriving at the aperture is decreasing. When a gridded electron gun is used, this may be expressed by stating that the transconductance of the apertured gun is negative. Here we explain this effect, and explore some of the key factors governing when it can occur and influencing its strength.
Date: September 21, 2007
Creator: Harris, J R & O'Shea, P G
System: The UNT Digital Library
Object Classification at the Nearby Supernova Factory (open access)

Object Classification at the Nearby Supernova Factory

We present the results of applying new object classification techniques to the supernova search of the Nearby Supernova Factory. In comparison to simple threshold cuts, more sophisticated methods such as boosted decision trees, random forests, and support vector machines provide dramatically better object discrimination: we reduced the number of nonsupernova candidates by a factor of 10 while increasing our supernova identification efficiency. Methods such as these will be crucial for maintaining a reasonable false positive rate in the automated transient alert pipelines of upcoming large optical surveys.
Date: December 21, 2007
Creator: Aragon, Cecilia R.; Bailey, Stephen; Aragon, Cecilia R.; Romano, Raquel; Thomas, Rollin C.; Weaver, B. A. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Quarkonium shadowing in pPb and Pb+Pb collisions (open access)

Quarkonium shadowing in pPb and Pb+Pb collisions

The d+Au data from RHIC, including the pA results from the fixed-target CERN SPS pA data, suggest increased importance of initial-state shadowing and decreasing nuclear absorption with increasing energy. This is not surprising since smaller x is probed at higher energy while absorption due to multiple scattering is predicted to decrease with energy. The CERN SPS data suggest a J/{psi} absorption cross section of about 4 mb without shadowing, and a larger absorption cross section if it is included since the SPS x range is in the antishadowing region. The d+Au RHIC data support smaller absorption, {sigma}{sup J/{psi}}{sub abs} {approx} 0-2 mb. Thus our predictions for J/{psi} and {Upsilon} production in pPb and Pb+Pb interactions at the LHC are shown for initial-state shadowing alone with no absorption or dense matter effects. We note that including absorption would only move the calculated ratios down in proportion to the absorption survival probability since, at LHC energies, any rapidity dependence of absorption is at very large |y|, outside the detector acceptance.
Date: May 21, 2007
Creator: Vogt, R
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chiral perturbation theory with tensor sources (open access)

Chiral perturbation theory with tensor sources

We construct the most general chirally-invariant Lagrangian for mesons in the presence of external sources coupled to the tensor current \bar psi sigma_mu nu psi. In order to have only even terms in the chiral expansion, we consider the new source of O(p2). With this choice, we build the even-parity effective Lagrangian up to the p6-order (NLO). While there are only 4 new terms at the p4-order, at p6-order we find 78 terms for n_f=2 and 113 terms for n_f=3. We provide a detailed discussion on the different mechanisms that ensure that our final set of operators is complete and non-redundant. We also examine the odd-parity sector, to conclude that the first operators appear at the p8-order (NNLO).
Date: May 21, 2007
Creator: Cata, Oscar; Cata, Oscar & Mateu, Vicent
System: The UNT Digital Library
Temporal Development of Ion Beam Mean Charge State in PulsedVacuum Arc Ion Sources (open access)

Temporal Development of Ion Beam Mean Charge State in PulsedVacuum Arc Ion Sources

Vacuum arc ion sources, commonly also known as "Mevva" ionsources, are used to generate intense pulsed metal ion beams. It is knownthat the mean charge state of the ion beam lies between 1 and 4,depending on cathode material, arc current, arc pulse duration, presenceor absence of magnetic field at the cathode, as well background gaspressure. A characteristic of the vacuum arc ion beam is a significantdecrease in ion charge state throughout the pulse. This decrease can beobserved up to a few milliseconds, until a "noisy" steady-state value isestablished. Since the extraction voltage is constant, a decrease in theion charge state has a proportional impact on the average ion beamenergy. This paper presents results of detailed investigations of theinfluence of arc parameters on the temporal development of the ion beammean charge state for a wide range of cathode materials. It is shown thatfor fixed pulse duration, the charge state decrease can be reduced bylower arc current, higher pulse repetition rate, and reduction of thedistance between cathode and extraction region. The latter effect may beassociated with charge exchange processes in the dischargeplasma.
Date: June 21, 2007
Creator: Oks, Efim M.; Yushkov, Georgy Yu. & Anders, Andre
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development of an ultra-high resolution diffraction grating for soft x-rays (open access)

Development of an ultra-high resolution diffraction grating for soft x-rays

Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS) is the one of themost powerful methods for investigation of the electronic structure ofmaterials, specifically of excitations in correlated electron systems.However the potential of the RIXS technique has not been fully exploitedbecause conventional grating spectrometers have not been capable ofachieving the extreme resolving powers that RIXS can utilize. State ofthe art spectrometers in the soft x-ray energy range achieve ~;0.25 eVresolution, compared to the energy scales of soft excitations andsuperconducting gap openings down to a few meV. Development ofdiffraction gratings with super high resolving power is necessary tosolve this problem. In this paper we study the possibilities offabrication of gratings of resolving power of up to 106 for the 0.5 1.5KeV energy range. This energy range corresponds to all or most of theuseful dipole transitions for elements of interest in most correlatedelectronic systems, i.e., oxygen K-edge of relevance to all oxides, thetransition metal L2,3 edges, and the M4,5 edges of the rare earths.Various approaches based on different kinds of diffraction gratings suchas deep-etched multilayer gratings, and multilayer coated echelettes arediscussed. We also present simulations of diffraction efficiency for suchgratings, and investigate the necessary fabricationtolerances.
Date: August 21, 2007
Creator: Voronov, Dmitriy L.; Cambie, Rossana; Feshchenko, Ruslan M.; Gullikson, Eric M.; Padmore, Howard A.; Vinogradov, Alexander V. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
High Gradient Induction Accelerator (open access)

High Gradient Induction Accelerator

A new type of compact induction accelerator is under development at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that promises to increase the average accelerating gradient by at least an order of magnitude over that of existing induction machines. The machine is based on the use of high gradient vacuum insulators, advanced dielectric materials and switches and is stimulated by the desire for compact flash x-ray radiography sources. Research describing an extreme variant of this technology aimed at proton therapy for cancer will be described. Progress in applying this technology to several applications will be reviewed.
Date: June 21, 2007
Creator: Caporaso, G. J.; Sampayan, S.; Chen, Y.; Blackfield, D.; Harris, J.; Hawkins, S. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Multiple Synthesis Routes to Transparent Ceramic Lutetium Aluminum Garnet (open access)

Multiple Synthesis Routes to Transparent Ceramic Lutetium Aluminum Garnet

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Date: March 21, 2007
Creator: Kuntz, J. D.; Roberts, J. J.; Hough, M. E. & Cherepy, N. J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A "Snowflake" Divertor and its Properties (open access)

A "Snowflake" Divertor and its Properties

Handling the power and particle exhaust in fusion reactors based on tokamaks is a challenging problem [1,2]. To bring the energy flux to the divertor plates to an acceptable level (< 10 MW/m2), it is desirable to significantly increase poloidal flux expansion in the divertor area. Some recent ideas include that of a so-called X divertor [3] and a 'snowflake' divertor [4]. We use an acronym SF to designate the latter. In this paper we concentrate on the SF divertor. The general idea behind this configuration is that, by a proper selection of divertor (poloidal field) coils, one can make the null point of the second, not of the first order as in the standard divertor. The separatrix in the vicinity of the X point then acquires a characteristic hexapole structure (Fig. 1), reminiscent of a snowflake, whence the name. The fact that the field has a second-order null, leads to a significant increase of the flux expansion. It was noted in Ref. [4] that the SF configuration is topologically unstable: if the current in the divertor coils is somewhat higher than the one that provides the SF configuration, it becomes a single-null X-point configuration. Conversely, if the coil current …
Date: June 21, 2007
Creator: Ryutov, D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development of Irradiation hardening of Unalloyed and ODS molybdenum during neurtron irradiation to low doses at 300C and 600C (open access)

Development of Irradiation hardening of Unalloyed and ODS molybdenum during neurtron irradiation to low doses at 300C and 600C

Unalloyed molybdenum and Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) molybdenum were irradiated at 300 C and 600 C in the high flux isotope reactor (HFIR) to neutron fluences of 0.2, 2.1, and 24.3 x 10{sup 24} n/m{sup 2} (E > 0.1 MeV), producing damage levels of 0.01, 0.1 and 1.3 Mo-dpa. Hardness measurements, electrical resistivity measurements, tensile testing, and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) were used to assess the defect structure. Irradiation hardening was evident even at a damage level of 0.01 dpa resulting in a significant increase in yield stress, decrease in ductility, and elevation of the Ductile-to-Brittle Transition Temperature (DBTT). The observed size and number density of voids and loops as well as the measured irradiation hardening and electrical resistivity were found to increase sub-linearly with fluence over the range of exposure investigated. This supports the idea that the formation of the extended defects that produce irradiation hardening in molybdenum are the result of a nucleation and growth process rather than the formation of sessile defects directly from the displacement damage cascades. The formation of sessile defect clusters in the displacement cascade would be expected to result in a linear fluence dependence for the number density of defects followed by saturation …
Date: November 21, 2007
Creator: Cockeran, B. V. & Smith, R. W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
"Super" Cocktails for Heavy Ion Testing (open access)

"Super" Cocktails for Heavy Ion Testing

The 4.5 MeV/nucleon heavy ion cocktail at the 88-Inch Cyclotron has been expanded by incorporating beams from solid material to fill in the linear energy transfer curve. This supercocktail is available by special request and is useful when only normal incidence between the beam and the device under test is possible or desirable.
Date: July 21, 2007
Creator: Johnson, Michael B; Johnson, Michael B.; McMahan, Margaret A.; Galloway, Michelle; Leitner, Daniela; Morel, James R. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Recent Developments in the Site-Specific Immobilization of Proteins onto Solid Supports (open access)

Recent Developments in the Site-Specific Immobilization of Proteins onto Solid Supports

Immobilization of proteins onto surfaces is of great importance in numerous applications, including protein analysis, drug screening, and medical diagnostics, among others. The success of all these technologies relies on the immobilization technique employed to attach a protein to the corresponding surface. Non-specific physical adsorption or chemical cross-linking with appropriate surfaces results in the immobilization of the protein in random orientations. Site-specific covalent attachment, on the other hand, leads to molecules being arranged in a definite, orderly fashion and allows the use of spacers and linkers to help minimize steric hindrances between the protein and the surface. The present work reviews the latest chemical and biochemical developments for the site-specific covalent attachment of proteins onto solid supports.
Date: February 21, 2007
Creator: Camarero, J A
System: The UNT Digital Library
Limitations and Failures of the Layzer Model (open access)

Limitations and Failures of the Layzer Model

We report several limitations and failure modes of the recently expanded Layzer model for hydrodynamic instabilities. The failures occur for large initial amplitudes, for stable accelerations, and for spikes in two-fluid systems.
Date: December 21, 2007
Creator: Mikaelian, K O
System: The UNT Digital Library
Design, Construction, Alignment, and Calibration of a Compact Velocimetry Experiment (open access)

Design, Construction, Alignment, and Calibration of a Compact Velocimetry Experiment

A velocimetry experiment has been designed to measure shock properties for small cylindrical metal targets (8-mm-diameter by 2-mm thick). A target is accelerated by high explosives, caught, and retrieved for later inspection. The target is expected to move at a velocity of 0.1 to 3 km/sec. The complete experiment canister is approximately 105 mm in diameter and 380 mm long. Optical velocimetry diagnostics include the Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector (VISAR) and Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV). The packaging of the velocity diagnostics is not allowed to interfere with the catchment or an X-ray imaging diagnostic. A single optical relay, using commercial lenses, collects Doppler-shifted light for both VISAR and PDV. The use of fiber optics allows measurement of point velocities on the target surface during accelerations occurring over 15 mm of travel. The VISAR operates at 532 nm and has separate illumination fibers requiring alignment. The PDV diagnostic operates at 1550 nm, but is aligned and focused at 670 nm. The VISAR and PDV diagnostics are complementary measurements and they image spots in close proximity on the target surface. Because the optical relay uses commercial glass, the axial positions of the optical fibers for PDV and VISAR are offset …
Date: September 21, 2007
Creator: Kaufman, Morris I.; Malone, Robert M.; Frogget, Brent C.; Esquibel, David L.; Romero, Vincent T.; Lare, Gregory A. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The IceCube Data Acquisition Software: Lessons Learned during Distributed, Collaborative, Multi-Disciplined Software Development. (open access)

The IceCube Data Acquisition Software: Lessons Learned during Distributed, Collaborative, Multi-Disciplined Software Development.

In this experiential paper we report on lessons learned during the development ofthe data acquisition software for the IceCube project - specifically, how to effectively address the unique challenges presented by a distributed, collaborative, multi-institutional, multi-disciplined project such as this. While development progress in software projects is often described solely in terms of technical issues, our experience indicates that non- and quasi-technical interactions play a substantial role in the effectiveness of large software development efforts. These include: selection and management of multiple software development methodologies, the effective useof various collaborative communication tools, project management structure and roles, and the impact and apparent importance of these elements when viewed through the differing perspectives of hardware, software, scientific and project office roles. Even in areas clearly technical in nature, success is still influenced by non-technical issues that can escape close attention. In particular we describe our experiences on software requirements specification, development methodologies and communication tools. We make observations on what tools and techniques have and have not been effective in this geographically disperse (including the South Pole) collaboration and offer suggestions on how similarly structured future projects may build upon our experiences.
Date: September 21, 2007
Creator: Beattie, Keith S.; Beattie, Keith; Day, Christopher; Glowacki, Dave; Hanson, Kael; Jacobsen, John et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library