The authors measure the ratio of cross section times branching fraction, {sigma}{sub {chi}c2}{beta}({chi}{sub c2} {yields} J/{psi}{gamma})/{sigma}{sub {chi}c1}{beta}({chi}{sub c1} {yields} J/{psi}{gamma}), in 1.1 fb{sup -1} of p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. This measurement covers the kinematic range p{sub T} (J/{psi}) > 4.0 GeV/c, |{eta}(J/{psi})| < 1.0, and p{sub T}({gamma}) > 1.0 GeV/c. For events due to prompt processes, they find R{sub p} = 0.395 {+-} 0.016(stat.) {+-} 0.015(sys.). This result represents a significant improvement in precision over previous measurements of prompt {chi}{sub c1,2} hadroproduction.

The authors present a measurement of the mass of the top quark from proton-antiproton collisions recorded at the CDF experiment in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron. They analyze events from the single lepton plus jets final state (t{bar t} {yields} W{sup +}bW{sup -}{bar b} {yields} lvbq{bar q}{bar b}). The top quark mass is extracted using a direct calculation of the probability density that each event corresponds to the t{bar t} final state. The probability is a function of both the mass of the top quark and the energy scale of the calorimeter jets, which is constrained in situ by the hadronic W boson mass. Using 167 events observed in 955 pb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity, they achieve the single most precise measurement of the top quark mass, 170.8 {+-} 2.2(stat.) {+-} 1.4(syst.) GeV/c{sup 2}.

We study the impact of astrophysical processes on the gamma-ray background produced by the annihilation of dark matter particles in cosmological halos, with particular attention to the consequences of the formation of supermassive black holes. In scenarios where these objects form adiabatically from the accretion of matter on small seeds, dark matter is first compressed into very dense 'spikes', then its density progressively decreases due to annihilations and scattering of stellar cusps. With respect to previous analyses, based on non-evolving halos, the predicted annihilation signal is higher and significantly distorted at low energies, reflecting the large contribution to the total flux from unevolved spikes at high redshifts. The peculiar spectral feature arising from the specific redshift distribution of the signal, would discriminate the proposed scenario from more conventional astrophysical explanations. We discuss how this affects the prospects for detection and demonstrate that the gamma-ray background from DM annihilations might be detectable even in absence of a signal from the Galactic center.

Weekly newspaper from Timpson, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

In November 2005, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), ePowerSynergies, Inc. (ePSI), and Resurfice Corporation teamed to develop, produce, and demonstrate the world's first and only fuel cell-powered ice resurfacer. The goals of this project were: {sm_bullet} To educate the public on the readiness, practicality, and safety of fuel cells powered by hydrogen fuel and {sm_bullet} To establish a commercialization pathway in an early-adopter, niche market. The vehicle was developed and produced in a short 3-month span. The vehicle made its world debut at U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan's (D-ND) 2005 Hydrogen Energy Action Summit. Subsequently, the vehicle toured North America appearing at numerous public events and conferences, receiving much attention from international media outlets.

A Workshop on Low Energy Ring (LER) in the LHC tunnel as main injector was convened at CERN on October 11-12, 2006. We present the outline of the LER based on the presentations, and respond to the raised questions and discussions including the post-workshop studies. We also outline the possibility of using the LER accelerator technologies for the fast cycling injector accelerator in the SPS tunnel (SF-SPS). A primary goal for the LER (Low Energy Ring) injector accelerator is to inject 1.5 TeV proton beams into the LHC, instead of the current injection scheme with 0.45 TeV beams from the SPS. At this new energy, the field harmonics [1] of the LHC magnets are sufficiently satisfactory to prevent the luminosity losses expected to appear when applying the transfer of the 0.45 TeV SPS beams. In addition, a feasibility study of batch slip stacking in the LER has been undertaken with a goal of increasing in this way the LHC luminosity by up to a factor of 4. A combined luminosity increase may, therefore, be in the range of an order of magnitude. In the long term, the LER injector accelerator would greatly facilitate the implementation of a machine, which doubles …

Kootenai River white sturgeon have been declining for at least 50 years and extinction of the wild population is now imminent (Paragamian et al. 2005). Only 630 adults were estimated to remain in 2002 from a population ten times that size just 20 years ago. Significant recruitment of young sturgeon has not been observed since the early 1970s and consistent annual recruitment has not been seen since the 1950s. The remaining wild population consists of a cohort of large, old fish that is declining by about 9% per year as fish die naturally and are not replaced. At this rate, the wild population will disappear around the year 2040. Numbers have already reached critical low levels where genetic and demographic risks are acute. The Kootenai River White Sturgeon Recovery Team was convened in 1994, provided a draft Recovery Plan in 1996 and the first complete Recovery Plan for Kootenai River white sturgeon in 1999 (USFWS 1996, 1999). The Plan outlined a four part strategy for recovery, including: (1) measures to restore natural recruitment, (2) use of conservation aquaculture to prevent extinction, (3) monitoring survival and recovery, and (4) updating and revising recovery plan criteria and objectives as new information becomes …

The Ecological Monitoring and Compliance program (EMAC), funded through the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO), monitors the ecosystem of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and ensures compliance with laws and regulations pertaining to NTS biota. This report summarizes the program's activities conducted by National Security Technologies LLC (NSTec) during the Calendar Year 2006. Program activities included: (a) biological surveys at proposed construction sites, (b) desert tortoise compliance, (c) ecosystem mapping and data management, (d) sensitive plant species monitoring, (e) sensitive and protected/regulated animal monitoring, (f) habitat monitoring, (g) habitat restoration monitoring, and (h) monitoring of the Nonproliferation Test and Evaluation Complex (NPTEC). Sensitive and protected/regulated species of the NTS include 44 plants, 1 mollusk, 2 reptiles, over 250 birds, and 26 mammals protected, managed, or considered sensitive as per state or federal regulations and natural resource agencies and organizations. The threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is the only species on the NTS protected under the Endangered Species Act. Biological surveys for the presence of sensitive and protected/regulated species and important biological resources on which they depend were conducted for 34 projects. A total of 342.1 hectares (ha) (845.37 acres [ac]) was surveyed for …

The Ecological Monitoring and Compliance program (EMAC), funded through the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO), monitors the ecosystem of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and ensures compliance with laws and regulations pertaining to NTS biota. This report summarizes the program's activities conducted by National Security Technologies LLC (NSTec) during the Calendar Year 2006. Program activities included: (a) biological surveys at proposed construction sites, (b) desert tortoise compliance, (c) ecosystem mapping and data management, (d) sensitive plant species monitoring, (e) sensitive and protected/regulated animal monitoring, (f) habitat monitoring, (g) habitat restoration monitoring, and (h) monitoring of the Nonproliferation Test and Evaluation Complex (NPTEC). Sensitive and protected/regulated species of the NTS include 44 plants, 1 mollusk, 2 reptiles, over 250 birds, and 26 mammals protected, managed, or considered sensitive as per state or federal regulations and natural resource agencies and organizations. The threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is the only species on the NTS protected under the Endangered Species Act. Biological surveys for the presence of sensitive and protected/regulated species and important biological resources on which they depend were conducted for 34 projects. A total of 342.1 hectares (ha) (845.37 acres [ac]) was surveyed for …

Studies conducted at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, have focused on assessing the effectiveness and reliability of novel approaches to nondestructive examination (NDE) for inspecting coarse-grained, cast stainless steel reactor components. The primary objective of this work is to provide information to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the effectiveness and reliability of advanced NDE methods as related to the inservice inspection of safety-related components in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). This report provides progress, recent developments, and results from an assessment of low frequency ultrasonic testing (UT) for detection of inside surface-breaking cracks in cast stainless steel reactor piping weldments as applied from the outside surface of the components. Vintage centrifugally cast stainless steel piping segments were examined to assess the capability of low-frequency UT to adequately penetrate challenging microstructures and determine acoustic propagation limitations or conditions that may interfere with reliable flaw detection. In addition, welded specimens containing mechanical and thermal fatigue cracks were examined. The specimens were fabricated using vintage centrifugally cast and statically cast stainless steel materials, which are typical of configurations installed in PWR primary coolant circuits. Ultrasonic studies on the vintage centrifugally cast stainless steel piping segments were conducted with a 400-kHz …

We present new precision measurements of the {Psi}(2S) total and partial widths from excitation curves obtained in antiproton-proton annihilations by Fermilab experiment E835 at the Antiproton Accumulator in the year 2000. A new technique of complementary scans was developed to study narrow resonances with stochastically cooled antiproton beams. It relies on precise revolution-frequency and orbit-length measurements, while making the analysis of the excitation curve almost independent of machine lattice parameters. For the {Psi}(2S) meson, by studying the processes {bar p}p {yields} e{sup +}e{sup -} and {bar p}p {yields} J/{Psi} + X {yields} e{sup +}e{sup -} + X, we measure the width {Gamma} = 290 {+-} 25(sta) {+-} 4(sys) keV and the combination of partial widths {Gamma}{sub e{sup +}e{sup -}}{Gamma}{sub {bar p}p}/{Gamma} = 579 {+-} 38(sta) {+-} 36(sys) meV, which represent the most precise measurements to date.

We describe a coherent strategy and set of tools for reconstructing the fundamental theory of the TeV scale from LHC data. We show that On-Shell Effective Theories (OSETs) effectively characterize hadron collider data in terms of masses, production cross sections, and decay modes of candidate new particles. An OSET description of the data strongly constrains the underlying new physics, and sharply motivates the construction of its Lagrangian. Simulating OSETs allows efficient analysis of new-physics signals, especially when they arise from complicated production and decay topologies. To this end, we present MARMOSET, a Monte Carlo tool for simulating the OSET version of essentially any new-physics model. MARMOSET enables rapid testing of theoretical hypotheses suggested by both data and model-building intuition, which together chart a path to the underlying theory. We illustrate this process by working through a number of data challenges, where the most important features of TeV-scale physics are reconstructed with as little as 5 fb{sup -1} of simulated LHC signals.

Since FY 2000, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have conducted research to assess the extent of spawning by chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) and fall Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) in the lower mainstem Columbia River. Their work supports a larger project funded by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) aimed at characterizing the physical habitat used by mainstem fall Chinook and chum salmon populations. Multiple collaborators in addition to PNNL are involved in the BPA project--counterparts include the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). Data resulting from the individual tasks each agency conducts are providing a sound scientific basis for developing strategies to operate the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) in ways that will effectively protect and enhance the chum and tule fall Chinook salmon populations--both listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Fall Chinook salmon, thought to originate from Bonneville Hatchery, were first noted to be spawning downstream of Bonneville Dam by WDFW biologists in 1993. Known spawning areas include gravel beds on the Washington side of the river near Hamilton …

The urgency for addressing repository impacts has grown in the past few years as a result of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) accumulation from commercial nuclear power plants. One obvious path that has been explored by many is to eliminate the transuranic (TRU) inventory from the SNF thus reducing the need for additional long term repository storage sites. One strategy for achieving this is to burn the separated TRU elements in the currently operating U.S. Light Water Reactor (LWR) fleet. Many studies have explored the viability of this strategy by loading a percentage of LWR cores with TRU in the form of either Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuels or Inert Matrix Fuels (IMF). A task was undertaken at INL to establish specific technical capabilities to perform neutronics analyses in order to further assess several key issues related to the viability of thermal recycling. The initial computational study reported here is focused on direct thermal recycling of IMF fuels in a heterogeneous Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) bundle design containing Plutonium, Neptunium, Americium, and Curium (IMF-PuNpAmCm) in a multi-pass strategy using legacy 5 year cooled LWR SNF. In addition to this initial high-priority analysis, three other alternate analyses with different TRU vectors in IMF …

Monthly periodical from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma published by and for members of the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association that includes news and information along with advertising.

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Little Higgs models have been introduced to resolve the fine-tuning problems associated with the stability of the electroweak scale and the constraints imposed by the precision electroweak analysis of experiments testing the Standard Model of particle physics. Flavor physics provides a sensitive probe of the new physics contained in these models at next-to-leading order.

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Evaluated spectroscopic data and level schemes from radioactive decay and nuclear reaction studies are presented for all nuclei with mass number A=213. This evaluation for A=213 supersedes the earlier one by Y. A. Akovali (1992Ak01), published in Nuclear Data Sheets 66, 237 (1992).

Different carbon sources are used, or are being considered, as feedstock for gasifiers; including natural gas, coal, petroleum coke, and biomass. Biomass has been used with limited success because of issues such as ash impurity interactions with the refractory liner, which will be discussed in this paper.

This report describes the investigations and milestones of the Nano-Scale Optical and Electrical Probes of Materials and Processes Junior/Senior LDRD. The goal of this LDRD was to improve our understanding of radiative and non-radiative mechanisms at the nanometer scale with the aim of increasing LED and solar cell efficiencies. These non-radiative mechanisms were investigated using a unique combination of optical and scanning-probe microscopy methods for surface, materials, and device evaluation. For this research we utilized our new near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) system to aid in understanding of defect-related emission issues for GaN-based materials. We observed micrometer-scale variations in photoluminescence (PL) intensity for GaN films grown on Cantilever Epitaxy pattern substrates, with lower PL intensity observed in regions with higher dislocation densities. By adding electrical probes to the NSOM system, the photocurrent and surface morphology could be measured concurrently. Using this capability we observed reduced emission in InGaN MQW LEDs near hillock-shaped material defects. In spatially- and spectrally-resolved PL studies, the emission intensity and measured wavelength varied across the wafer, suggesting the possibility of indium segregation within the InGaN quantum wells. Blue-shifting of the InGaN MQW wavelength due to thinning of quantum wells was also observed on top of large-scale …

This study is best characterized as new technology development for implementing new sensors to investigate the optical characteristics of a rapidly expanding debris cloud resulting from hypervelocity impact regimes of 7 to 11 km/s. Our gas guns constitute a unique test bed that match operational conditions relevant to hypervelocity impact encountered in space engagements. We have demonstrated the use of (1) terahertz sensors, (2) silicon diodes for visible regimes, (3) germanium and InGaAs sensors for the near infrared regimes, and (4) the Sandia lightning detectors which are similar to the silicon diodes described in 2. The combination and complementary use of all these techniques has the strong potential of ''thermally'' characterizing the time dependent behavior of the radiating debris cloud. Complementary spectroscopic measurements provide temperature estimates of the impact generated debris by fitting its spectrum to a blackbody radiation function. This debris is time-dependent as its transport/expansion behavior is changing with time. The rapid expansion behavior of the debris cools the cloud rapidly, changing its thermal/temperature characteristics with time. A variety of sensors that span over a wide spectrum, varying from visible regime to THz frequencies, now gives us the potential to cover the impact over a broader temporal regime …

This guide describes the R&A process, Common Look and Feel requirements, and preparation and publishing procedures for communication products at Sandia National Laboratories. Samples of forms and examples of published communications products are provided. This guide takes advantage of the wealth of material now available on the Web as a resource. Therefore, it is best viewed as an electronic document. If some of the illustrations are too small to view comfortably, you can enlarge them on the screen as needed. The most significant changes since Version 1 involve the introduction of the electronic Review and Approval application at the Sandia/California (CA) and Sandia/New Mexico (NM) sites. Authors are advised to check the most current material on the application Web site before initiating the R&A process. The format of this document is considerably different than that expected of a SAND Report. It was selected to permit the large number of illustrations and examples to be placed closer to the text that references them. In the case of forms, covers, and other items that are included as examples, a link to the Web is provided so that you can access the items and download them for use.