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Our recent novel finding, involving a synergistic experiment and first-principles theory, shows that carbon nanostructures can be used as catalysts for hydrogen uptake/release in aluminum based complex metal hydrides (sodium alanate) and also provides an unambiguous understanding of how the catalysts work. Here we show that the same concepts can be applied to boron based complex hydride such as lithium borohydride, LiBH{sub 4}. Taking into account electronegativity and curvature effect a fullerene-LiBH{sub 4} composite demonstrates catalytic properties with not only lowered hydrogen desorption temperatures, but regenerative rehydriding at relatively lower temperature of 350 C. This catalytic effect likely originates from interfering with the charge transfer from Li to the BH4 moiety, resulting in an ionic bond between Li{sup +} and BH{sub 4}{sup -}, and a covalent bond between B and H. Interaction of LiBH{sub 4} with an electronegative substrate such as carbon fullerene affects the ability of Li to donate its charge to BH{sub 4}, consequently weakening the B-H bond and causing hydrogen to desorb at lower temperatures as well as facilitating the absorption of H{sub 2} to reverse the dehydrogenation reaction. Degradation of cycling capacity is observed and is attributed to forming irreversible intermediates or diboranes.

RF cavities are used to re-accelerate muons that have beencooled by absorbers that are in low beta regions of a muon ionizationcooling channel. A superconducting coupling magnet (or magnets) arearound or among the RF cavities of a muon ionization-cooling channel. Thefield from the magnet guides the muons so that they are kept within theiris of the RF cavities that are used to accelerate the muons. Thisreport compares the use of a single short coupling magnet with anextended coupling magnet that has one or more superconducting coils aspart of a muon-cooling channel of the same design as the muon ionizationcooling experiment (MICE). Whether the superconducting magnet is shortand thick or long and this affects the magnet stored energy and the peakfield in the winding. The magnetic field distribution also affects is themuon beam optics in the cooling cell of a muon coolingchannel.

A detailed chemical kinetic mechanism has been developed and used to study the oxidation of cyclohexane at both low and high temperatures. Reaction rate constant rules are developed for the low temperature combustion of cyclohexane. These rules can be used for in chemical kinetic mechanisms for other cycloalkanes. Since cyclohexane produces only one type of cyclohexyl radical, much of the low temperature chemistry of cyclohexane is described in terms of one potential energy diagram showing the reaction of cyclohexyl radical + O{sub 2} through five, six and seven membered ring transition states. The direct elimination of cyclohexene and HO{sub 2} from RO{sub 2} is included in the treatment using a modified rate constant of Cavallotti et al. Published and unpublished data from the Lille rapid compression machine, as well as jet-stirred reactor data are used to validate the mechanism. The effect of heat loss is included in the simulations, an improvement on previous studies on cyclohexane. Calculations indicated that the production of 1,2-epoxycyclohexane observed in the experiments can not be simulated based on the current understanding of low temperature chemistry. Possible 'alternative' H-atom isomerizations leading to different products from the parent O{sub 2}QOOH radical were included in the low temperature …

This article shows an electric field dependent collapse of the poly(N-isopropylacramide) nanospheres and employs the electric field dependence as a means to adjust the photoluminescence process of the quantum dots in a hybrid material.

Thirty five years ago, while in the neutron cross section group led by Robert Howerton at LLNL, the concept of reconstructing a three dimensional spatial distribution from its projections onto two dimensional planes was tackled by some of us using three now well known methods: simple back projection, Fourier projection theorem methods and iterative least squares algebraic reconstruction. The method of iterative least squares reconstruction was implemented on patient data in the early 1970s using photons from radionuclides detected by the Anger Camera. The method useful for computed tomography was modified to include the attenuation of the photons from an unknown source through an unknown attenuation distribution (a problem thought to be intractable until 1974). These methods along with a multitude of other methods developed by my small group of Ronald Huesman, Grant Gullberg, William Greenberg and Stephen Derenzo were prepared as a library with examples in FORTRAN, RECLBL. Those codes were found useful for computed tomography, geophysical problems and plasma confinement research topics in addition to their use in Nuclear Medicine. The codes were used even in the early days of magnetic resonance imaging when back projection of filtered projection data were used before the incorporation of phase encoding …

Paleorecords from Minnesota and adjacent areas have often been used to evaluate large-scale climatic processes in the mid-continent of North America. However, most of these records are compromised by chronological flaws, making problematic any comparisons with climatic interpretations based on other records (e.g., GISP2 in Greenland). We report here a high-resolution pollen record with a secure chronology constrained by 26 {sup 14}C dates on terrestrial macrofossils from Steel Lake, central Minnesota. About 11,200 years ago (calibrated yr BP) the late-glacial Picea forest near Steel Lake was succeeded abruptly by Pinus banksiana and/or resinosa. The Pinus forest began to open 9.4 ka cal BP with the expansion of prairie taxa, and a pine parkland or savanna prevailed until about 8 ka cal BP, when Quercus replaced Pinus to become the dominant tree in the prairie areas for 4500 years. The close chronological control permits the correlation of key vegetational changes with those at other reliably dated sites in the eastern Dakotas and in Minnesota, suggesting that the abrupt decline of the spruce forest was time-transgressive from southwest to northeast during 2000 years, and that the development of prairie was time-transgressive in the same direction over 2600 years. Correlation of key pollen …

Bulk damage sites in frequency conversion crystals scatter and/or absorb laser light leading to interference and downstream intensification .We find that laser induced bulk damage sites in DKDP exhibit a 'shell' of structurally and/or chemically modified material surrounding a central core as indicated by SEM and optical micrographs and micro Raman spectral maps. We hypothesize that the modified material has been shock wave densified and estimate the amount of densification and its effect on scattering. A simple model indicates that densification of several percent is likely and that the scattering cross section may be larger than the geometric area of the inner core by an order of magnitude.

The Optical Sciences Laser (OSL) Upgrade facility, described in last year's proceedings, is a kJ-class, large aperture (100cm{sup 2}) laser system that can accommodate prototype optical components for large-scale inertial confinement fusion lasers. High-energy operation of such lasers is often limited by damage to the optical components. Recent experiments on the OSL Upgrade facility using fused silica components at 4 J/cm{sup 2} (351-nm, 3-ns) have created output surface and bulk damage sites that have been correlated to phase objects in the bulk of the material. Optical Path Difference (OPD) measurements of the phase defects indicate the probability of laser-induced damage is strongly dependent on OPD.

The {delta} to {alpha}' phase transformation in Pu-Ga alloys is intriguing for both scientific and technological reasons. On cooling, the ductile fcc d-phase transforms martensitically to the brittle monoclinic {alpha}'-phase at approximately -120 C (depending on composition). This exothermic transformation involves a 20% volume contraction and a significant increase in resistivity. The reversion of {alpha}' to {delta} involves a large temperature hysteresis beginning just above room temperature. In an attempt to better understand the underlying thermodynamics and kinetics responsible for these unusual features, we examined the {delta}/{alpha}' transformations in a 0.6 wt% Pu-Ga alloy using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and resistometry. Both techniques indicate that the martensite start temperature is -120 C and the austenite start temperature is 35 C. The heat of transformation is approximately 3 kJ/mole. During the {alpha}' {yields} {delta} reversion, ''spikes'' and ''steps'' are observed in DSC and resistometry scans, respectively. These spikes and steps are periodic, and their periodicity with respect to temperature does not vary with heating rate. With an appropriate annealing cycle, including a ''rest'' at room temperature, these spikes and steps can be reproduced through many thermal cycles of a single sample.

Policymakers are encouraging the development of standardized and consistent methods to quantify the electric load impacts of demand response programs. For load impacts, an essential part of the analysis is the estimation of the baseline load profile. In this paper, we present a statistical evaluation of the performance of several different models used to calculate baselines for commercial buildings participating in a demand response program in California. In our approach, we use the model to estimate baseline loads for a large set of proxy event days for which the actual load data are also available. Measures of the accuracy and bias of different models, the importance of weather effects, and the effect of applying morning adjustment factors (which use data from the day of the event to adjust the estimated baseline) are presented. Our results suggest that (1) the accuracy of baseline load models can be improved substantially by applying a morning adjustment, (2) the characterization of building loads by variability and weather sensitivity is a useful indicator of which types of baseline models will perform well, and (3) models that incorporate temperature either improve the accuracy of the model fit or do not change it.

The synthesis, X-ray structure, solution stability, and photophysical properties of several trivalent lanthanide complexes of Yb(III) and Nd(III) using both tetradentate and octadentate ligand design strategies and incorporating the 1-methyl-3-hydroxy-pyridin-2-one (Me-3,2-HOPO) chelate group are reported. Both the Yb(III) and Nd(III) complexes have emission bands in the Near Infra-Red (NIR) region, and this luminescence is retained in aqueous solution ({Phi}{sub tot}{sup Yb} {approx} 0.09-0.22%). Furthermore, the complexes demonstrate very high stability (pYb {approx} 18.8-21.9) in aqueous solution, making them good candidates for further development as probes for NIR imaging. Analysis of the low temperature (77 K) photophysical measurements for a model Gd(III) complex were used to gain an insight into the electronic structure, and were found to agree well with corresponding TD-DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-311G{sup ++}(d,p) level of theory for a simplified model monovalent sodium complex.

Sulfite dehydrogenases (SDHs) catalyze the oxidation and detoxification of sulfite to sulfate, a reaction critical to all forms of life. Sulfite-oxidizing enzymes contain three conserved active site amino acids (Arg-55, His-57, and Tyr-236) that are crucial for catalytic competency. Here we have studied the kinetic and structural effects of two novel and one previously reported substitution (R55M, H57A, Y236F) in these residues on SDH catalysis. Both Arg-55 and His-57 were found to have key roles in substrate binding. An R55M substitution increased Km(sulfite)(app) by 2-3 orders of magnitude, whereas His-57 was required for maintaining a high substrate affinity at low pH when the imidazole ring is fully protonated. This effect may be mediated by interactions of His-57 with Arg-55 that stabilize the position of the Arg-55 side chain or, alternatively, may reflect changes in the protonation state of sulfite. Unlike what is seen for SDHWT and SDHY236F, the catalytic turnover rates of SDHR55M and SDHH57A are relatively insensitive to pH (~;;60 and 200 s-1, respectively). On the structural level, striking kinetic effects appeared to correlate with disorder (in SDHH57A and SDHY236F) or absence of Arg-55 (SDHR55M), suggesting that Arg-55 and the hydrogen bonding interactions it engages in are crucial for …

The DOE Complex is packaging plutonium-bearing materials for storage and eventual disposition or disposal. The materials are handled according to the DOE-STD-3013 which outlines general requirements for stabilization, packaging and long-term storage. The storage vessels for the plutonium-bearing materials are termed 3013 containers. Stress corrosion cracking has been identified as a potential container degradation mode and this work determined that the residual stresses in the containers are sufficient to support such cracking. Sections of the 3013 outer, inner, and convenience containers, in both the as-fabricated condition and the closure welded condition, were evaluated per ASTM standard G-36. The standard requires exposure to a boiling magnesium chloride solution, which is an aggressive testing solution. Tests in a less aggressive 40% calcium chloride solution were also conducted. These tests were used to reveal the relative stress corrosion cracking susceptibility of the as fabricated 3013 containers. Significant cracking was observed in all containers in areas near welds and transitions in the container diameter. Stress corrosion cracks developed in both the lid and the body of gas tungsten arc welded and laser closure welded containers. The development of stress corrosion cracks in the as-fabricated and in the closure welded container samples demonstrates that the …

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has tasked MSE Technology Applications, Inc. (MSE) with evaluating the long-term stability of various commercially available sorbent materials to solidify two organic surrogate wastestreams (both volatile and nonvolatile), a volatile organic surrogate with a residual aqueous phase, an aqueous surrogate, and an aqueous surrogate with a residual organic phase. The Savannah River Site (SRS) Legacy and F-Canyon plutonium/uranium extraction (PUREX) process waste surrogates constituted the volatile organic surrogates, and various oils constituted the nonvolatile organic surrogates. The aqueous surrogates included a rainwater surrogate and an aqueous organic surrogate. MSE also evaluated the PUREX surrogate with a residual aqueous component with and without aqueous type sorbent materials. Solidification of the various surrogate wastestreams listed above was performed from 2004 to 2006 at the MSE Test Facility located in Butte, Montana. This paper summarizes the comparison of the initial liquid release test (LRT) values with LRT results obtained during subsequent sampling events in an attempt to understand and define the long-term stability characteristics for the solidified wastestreams.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) tasked MSE Technology Applications, Inc. (MSE) with evaluating grouts that include gamma radiation shielding materials to solidify surrogates of liquid aqueous radioactive wastes from across the DOE Complex. The Savannah River Site (SRS) identified a High Activity Waste (HAW) that will be treated and solidified at the Waste Solidification Building (WSB) for surrogate grout testing. The HAW, which is produced at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF), is an acidic aqueous wastestream generated by the alkaline treatment process and the aqueous purification process. The HAW surrogate was solidified using Portland cement with and without the inclusion of different gamma radiation shielding materials to determine the shielding material that is the most effective to attenuate gamma radiation for this application.

Reductions in the size of the U. S. nuclear weapons arsenal resulted in the need to store large quantities of plutonium-bearing metals and oxides for prolonged periods of time. To assure that the excess plutonium from the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites was stored in a safe and environmentally friendly manner the plutonium-bearing materials are stabilized and packaged according to well developed criteria published as a DOE Standard. The packaged materials are stored in secure facilities and regular surveillance activities are conducted to assure continuing package integrity. The stabilization, packaging, storage and surveillance requirements were developed through extensive science and engineering activities including those related to: plutonium-environment interactions and container pressurization, corrosion and stress corrosion cracking, plutonium-container material interactions, loss of sealing capability and changes in heat transfer characteristics. This paper summarizes some of those activities and outlines ongoing science and engineering programs that assure continued safe and secure storage of the plutonium-bearing metals and oxides.

The 3013 containers are designed in accordance with the DOE-STD-3013-2004 and are qualified to store plutonium (Pu) bearing materials for 50 years. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) certified Model 9975 shipping package is used to transport the 3013 containers to the K-Area Material Storage (KAMS) facility at the Savannah River Site (SRS) and to store the containers until the plutonium can be properly dispositioned. Detailed thermal analyses to support the storage in the KAMS facility are given in References 2, 3, and 4. The analyses in this paper serve to provide non-accident condition, non-bounding, specific 3013 container temperatures for use in the surveillance activities. This paper presents a methodology where critical component temperatures are estimated using numerical methods over a range of package and storage parameters. The analyses include factors such as ambient storage temperature and the content weight, density, heat generation rate, and fill height, that may impact the thermal response of the packages. Statistical methods are used to develop algebraic equations for ease of computations to cover the factor space. All computations were performed in BTU-FT-Hr-{sup o}F units.

The mission of the 9975 package, originally designed only for transportation of radioactive materials, has been broadened to include storage at the Savannah River Site. Two components of this package, namely the containment vessel O-rings and fiberboard overpack, require continued integrity assessment under the storage conditions. The performance of the components over time is being evaluated using accelerated-aging studies. Compression stress relaxation (CSR) and leak testing are being used to measure the performance of O-rings. The performance of the fiberboard is being evaluated using compression strength, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity and other physical properties. Models developed from the data collected provide an initial prediction of service life for the two components, and support the conclusion that normal service conditions will not degrade the performance of the package beyond specified functional requirements for the first assessment interval. Increased confidence in this conclusion is derived from field surveillance data and destructive evaluation of packages removed from storage.

The multi-barrier 3013 container used to package plutonium-bearing materials is robust and thereby highly resistant to identified degradation modes that might cause failure. The only viable degradation mechanisms identified by a panel of technical experts were pressurization within and corrosion of the containers. Evaluations of the container materials and the fabrication processes and resulting residual stresses suggest that the multi-layered containers will mitigate the potential for degradation of the outer container and prevent the release of the container contents to the environment. Additionally, the ongoing surveillance programs and laboratory studies should detect any incipient degradation of containers in the 3013 storage inventory before an outer container is compromised.

We present the Multi-Array Galactic Plane Imaging Survey (MAGPIS), which maps portions of the first Galactic quadrant with an angular resolution, sensitivity and dynamic range that surpasses existing radio images of the Milky Way by more than an order of magnitude. The source detection threshold at 20 cm is in the range 1-2 mJy over the 85% of the survey region (5{sup o} < l < 32{sup o}, |b| < 0.8{sup o}) not covered by bright extended emission; the angular resolution is {approx} 6''. We catalog over 3000 discrete sources (diameters mostly < 30'') and present an atlas of {approx} 400 diffuse emission regions. New and archival data at 90 cm for the whole survey area are also presented. Comparison of our catalogs and images with the MSX mid-infrared data allow us to provide preliminary discrimination between thermal and non-thermal sources. We identify 49 high-probability supernova remnant candidates, increasing by a factor of seven the number of known remnants with diameters smaller than 50 in the survey region; several are pulsar wind nebula candidates and/or very small diameter remnants (D < 45''). We report the tentative identification of several hundred H II regions based on a comparison with the mid-IR …

The deformation behavior of rapidly-grown tetragonal KD{sub 2x} H{sub 1(1-x)} PO{sub 4} (KDP and DKDP) single crystals, with a deuteration degree x of 0.0, 0.3, and 0.6, is studied by nanoindentation with a 1 {micro}m radius spherical indenter. Within experimental error, the deformation behavior is found to be independent of deuterium content and different for (001) and (100) surfaces. Multiple discontinuities (so called ''pop-in'' events) in force-displacement curves are observed during indentation loading, but not during unloading. Slip is identified as the major mode of plastic deformation in DKDP, and pop-in events are attributed to the initiation of slip.

We have combined a sample of 44 984 quasars, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 3, with the FIRST radio survey. Using a novel technique where the optical quasar position is matched to the complete radio environment within 450'', we are able to characterize the radio morphological make-up of what is essentially an optically selected quasar sample, regardless of whether the quasar (nucleus) itself has been detected in the radio. About 10% of the quasar population have radio cores brighter than 0.75 mJy at 1.4 GHz, and 1.7% have double lobed FR2-like radio morphologies. About 75% of the FR2 sources have a radio core (> 0.75mJy). A significant fraction ({approx}40%) of the FR2 quasars are bent by more than 10 degrees, indicating either interactions of the radio plasma with the ICM or IGM. We found no evidence for correlations with redshift among our FR2 quasars: radio lobe flux densities and radio source diameters of the quasars have similar distributions at low (mean 0.77) and high (mean 2.09) redshifts. Using a smaller high reliability FR2 sample of 422 quasars and two comparison samples of radio-quiet and non-FR2 radio-loud quasars, matched in their redshift distributions, we constructed composite …

One of the proposed options to increase the LHC luminosity is the replacement of the existing inner triplets at the Interaction Regions with new low-beta larger aperture quadrupoles operating at the same gradient. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is carrying out preliminary studies of a large-bore Nb{sub 3}Sn quadrupole. The mechanical design presents a support structure based on the use of keys and bladders without self-supporting collars. This technology has been proven effective in several successful common coil Nb{sub 3}Sn dipoles built at LBNL, and it is for the first time applied to a cos(2{var_theta}) design. In this paper we present a detailed analysis of the quadrupole mechanical behavior, demonstrating the possibility of delivering, through this method, well-controlled coil precompression during assembly, cool-down and excitation. The study has been performed with the finite element program ANSYS.