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Rainwater Wildlife Area, Watershed Management Plan, A Columbia Basin Wildlife Mitigation Project, 2002. (open access)

Rainwater Wildlife Area, Watershed Management Plan, A Columbia Basin Wildlife Mitigation Project, 2002.

This Management Plan has been developed by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) to document how the Rainwater Wildlife Area (formerly known as the Rainwater Ranch) will be managed. The plan has been developed under a standardized planning process developed by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) for Columbia River Basin Wildlife Mitigation Projects (See Appendix A and Guiding Policies Section below). The plan outlines the framework for managing the project area, provides an assessment of existing conditions and key resource issues, and presents an array of habitat management and enhancement strategies. The plan culminates into a 5-Year Action Plan that will focus our management actions and prioritize funding during the Fiscal 2001-2005 planning period. This plan is a product of nearly two years of field studies and research, public scoping, and coordination with the Rainwater Advisory Committee. The committee consists of representatives from tribal government, state agencies, local government, public organizations, and members of the public. The plan is organized into several sections with Chapter 1 providing introductory information such as project location, purpose and need, project goals and objectives, common elements and assumptions, coordination efforts and public scoping, and historical information about the project area. Key …
Date: March 1, 2002
Creator: Childs, Allen B.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Computational Neutronics Methods and Transmutation Performance Analyses for Fast Reactors (open access)

Computational Neutronics Methods and Transmutation Performance Analyses for Fast Reactors

The once-through fuel cycle strategy in the United States for the past six decades has resulted in an accumulation of Light Water Reactor (LWR) Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF). This SNF contains considerable amounts of transuranic (TRU) elements that limit the volumetric capacity of the current planned repository strategy. A possible way of maximizing the volumetric utilization of the repository is to separate the TRU from the LWR SNF through a process such as UREX+1a, and convert it into fuel for a fast-spectrum Advanced Burner Reactor (ABR). The key advantage in this scenario is the assumption that recycling of TRU in the ABR (through pyroprocessing or some other approach), along with a low capture-to-fission probability in the fast reactor’s high-energy neutron spectrum, can effectively decrease the decay heat and toxicity of the waste being sent to the repository. The decay heat and toxicity reduction can thus minimize the need for multiple repositories. This report summarizes the work performed by the fuel cycle analysis group at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to establish the specific technical capability for performing fast reactor fuel cycle analysis and its application to a high-priority ABR concept. The high-priority ABR conceptual design selected is a metallic-fueled, 1000 …
Date: March 1, 2007
Creator: Ferrer, R.; Asgari, M.; Bays, S. & Forget, B.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evidence for production of single top quarks (open access)

Evidence for production of single top quarks

We present first evidence for the production of single top quarks in the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron p{bar p} collider. The standard model predicts that the electroweak interaction can produce a top quark together with an antibottom quark or light quark, without the antiparticle top quark partner that is always produced from strong coupling processes. Top quarks were first observed in pair production in 1995, and since then, single top quark production has been searched for in ever larger datasets. In this analysis, we select events from a 0.9 fb{sup -1} dataset that have an electron or muon and missing transverse energy from the decay of a W boson from the top quark decay, and two, three, or four jets, with one or two of the jets identified as originating from a b hadron decay. The selected events are mostly backgrounds such as W+jets and t{bar t} events, which we separate from the expected signals using three multivariate analysis techniques: boosted decision trees, Bayesian neural networks, and matrix element calculations. A binned likelihood fit of the signal cross section plus background to the data from the combination of the results from the three analysis methods gives a cross …
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Abazov, V. M.; Abbott, B.; Abolins, M.; Acharya, B. S.; Adams, M.; Adams, T. et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Greening the U.S. House of Representatives (open access)

Greening the U.S. House of Representatives

The Greening the Capitol initiative was launched in March, 2007 with the threefold goals of making the U.S. House of Representatives: 1) carbon neutral within 18 months, 2) reducing energy use by 50percent in ten years, and 3) becoming a model of sustainable operations. We report on the recommendations to meet these goals, looking at the targets of opportunity at the Capitol Power Plant, the existing buildings, and the overall operations of the complex. Our findings have shown that these goals are achievable, and that through an integrated approach the savings in carbon and energy can be met. Specific examples include the lighting retrofits in the House offices, parking areas, and the Capitol dome; the retrofits to the HVAC systems and controls, including duct sealing, improving the efficiency of the energy and water use in the food service areas; and improved operations of the steam and chilled water distribution system. A key aspect has been better tracking and feedback to the building operators of the actual energy consumption. We report on the technical opportunities presented by these historic and symbolic buildings in becoming models of sustainability.
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Diamond, Rick; Diamond, Rick & Payne, Christopher
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assessment of Crack Detection in Heavy-Walled Cast Stainless Steel Piping Welds Using Advanced Low-Frequency Ultrasonic Methods (open access)

Assessment of Crack Detection in Heavy-Walled Cast Stainless Steel Piping Welds Using Advanced Low-Frequency Ultrasonic Methods

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 …
Date: March 1, 2007
Creator: Anderson, Michael T.; Crawford, Susan L.; Cumblidge, Stephen E.; Denslow, Kayte M.; Diaz, Aaron A. & Doctor, Steven R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
A qualitative assessment of microclimatic perturbations in atunnel (open access)

A qualitative assessment of microclimatic perturbations in atunnel

Understanding microclimate dynamics in tunnels is importantfor designing and maintaining underground facilities. For example, in thegeological disposal of radioactive materials, condensation of vaporshould be minimized as it can accelerate waste package corrosion andradionuclide release. While microclimate dynamics are known to bedominated by the advection of heat and moisture, additional factors mayalso be important, such as the presence of fractures or faults. Wepresent a relatively inexpensive method to assess microclimaticperturbations within a tunnel. By combining standard temperature andrelative humidity sensors with low-cost sensors designed to detectchanges in condensation, we monitored microclimate dynamics along atunnel at the proposed geological repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.We observed significant differences in the pattern of condensation in afaulted zone relative to that of a nonfaulted zone, suggesting that themicroclimate dynamics of excavated cavities in fractured, partiallysaturated rocks can be highly complex.
Date: March 1, 2007
Creator: Salve, R. & Kowalsky, M. B.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Magnetophoretic bead trapping in a high-flowrate biological detection system. (open access)

Magnetophoretic bead trapping in a high-flowrate biological detection system.

This report contains the summary of the 'Magnetophoretic Bead Trapping in a High-Flowrate Biological Detection System' LDRD project 74795. The objective of this project is to develop a novel biodetection system for high-throughput sample analysis. The chief application of this system is in detection of very low concentrations of target molecules from a complex liquid solution containing many different constituents--some of which may interfere with identification of the target molecule. The system is also designed to handle air sampling by using an aerosol system (for instance a WESP - Wet Electro-Static Precipitator, or an impact spray system) to get air sample constituents into the liquid volume. The system described herein automatically takes the raw liquid sample, whether air converted or initially liquid matrix, and mixes in magnetic detector beads that capture the targets of interest and then performs the sample cleanup function, allowing increased sensitivity and eliminating most false positives and false negatives at a downstream detector. The surfaces of the beads can be functionalized in a variety of ways in order to maximize the number of targets to be captured and concentrated. Bacteria and viruses are captured using antibodies to surface proteins on bacterial cell walls or viral particle …
Date: March 1, 2005
Creator: Galambos, Paul C.; Hopkins, Matthew Morgan; Rahimian, Kamayar; Martin, James Ellis; Anderson, G. Ronald; Clem, Paul Gilbert et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Solar America Cities Awards: Solar America Initiative Fact Sheet (open access)

Solar America Cities Awards: Solar America Initiative Fact Sheet

This fact sheet provides an overview of the Solar America Cities activities within the Solar America Initiative and lists the 25 cities that have received financial awards from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Determination of critical length scales for corrosion processes using microelectroanalytical techniques. (open access)

Determination of critical length scales for corrosion processes using microelectroanalytical techniques.

A key factor in our ability to produce and predict the stability of metal-based macro- to nano-scale structures and devices is a fundamental understanding of the localized nature of corrosion. Corrosion processes where physical dimensions become critical in the degradation process include localized corrosion initiation in passivated metals, microgalvanic interactions in metal alloys, and localized corrosion in structurally complex materials like nanocrystalline metal films under atmospheric and inundated conditions. This project focuses on two areas of corrosion science where a fundamental understanding of processes occurring at critical dimensions is not currently available. Sandia will study the critical length scales necessary for passive film breakdown in the inundated aluminum (Al) system and the chemical processes and transport in ultra-thin water films relevant to the atmospheric corrosion of nanocrystalline tungsten (W) films. Techniques are required that provide spatial information without significantly perturbing or masking the underlying relationships. Al passive film breakdown is governed by the relationship between area of the film sampled and its defect structure. We will combine low current measurements with microelectrodes to study the size scale required to observe a single initiation event and record electrochemical breakdown events. The resulting quantitative measure of stability will be correlated with metal …
Date: March 1, 2004
Creator: Zavadil, Kevin Robert & Wall, Frederick Douglas
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Analysis of Fracture in Cores from the Tuff Confining Unit beneath Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site (open access)

Analysis of Fracture in Cores from the Tuff Confining Unit beneath Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site

The role fractures play in the movement of groundwater through zeolitic tuffs that form the tuff confining unit (TCU) beneath Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site, is poorly known. This is an important uncertainty, because beneath most of Yucca Flat the TCU lies between the sources of radionuclide contaminants produced by historic underground nuclear testing and the regional carbonate aquifer. To gain a better understanding of the role fractures play in the movement of groundwater and radionuclides through the TCU beneath Yucca Flat, a fracture analysis focusing on hydraulic properties was performed on conventional cores from four vertical exploratory holes in Area 7 of Yucca Flat that fully penetrate the TCU. The results of this study indicate that the TCU is poorly fractured. Fracture density for all fractures is 0.27 fractures per vertical meter of core. For open fractures, or those observed to have some aperture, the density is only 0.06 fractures per vertical meter of core. Open fractures are characterized by apertures ranging from 0.1 to 10 millimeter, and averaging 1.1 millimeter. Aperture typically occurs as small isolated openings along the fracture, accounting for only 10 percent of the fracture volume, the rest being completely healed by secondary minerals. Zeolite …
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Prothro, Lance
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Quality Assurance of ARM Program Climate Research Facility Data (open access)

Quality Assurance of ARM Program Climate Research Facility Data

This report documents key aspects of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ACRF) data quality assurance program as it existed in 2008. The performance of ACRF instruments, sites, and data systems is measured in terms of the availability, usability, and accessibility of the data to a user. First, the data must be available to users; that is, the data must be collected by instrument systems, processed, and delivered to a central repository in a timely manner. Second, the data must be usable; that is, the data must be inspected and deemed of sufficient quality for scientific research purposes, and data users must be able to readily tell where there are known problems in the data. Finally, the data must be accessible; that is, data users must be able to easily find, obtain, and work with the data from the central repository. The processes described in this report include instrument deployment and calibration; instrument and facility maintenance; data collection and processing infrastructure; data stream inspection and assessment; the roles of value-added data processing and field campaigns in specifying data quality and haracterizing the basic measurement; data archival, display, and distribution; data stream reprocessing; and engineering and operations management processes …
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Peppler, R. A.; Kehoe, K. E.; Sonntag, K. L.; Bahrmann, C. P.; Richardson, S. J.; Christensen, S. W. et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Techno-Economic Analysis of Indian Draft Standard Levels for RoomAir Conditioners (open access)

Techno-Economic Analysis of Indian Draft Standard Levels for RoomAir Conditioners

The Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) finalized its first set of efficiency standards and labels for room air conditioners in July of 2006. These regulations followed soon after the publication of levels for frost-free refrigerators in the same year. As in the case of refrigerators, the air conditioner program introduces Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards (MEPS) and comparative labels simultaneously, with levels for one to five stars. Also like the refrigerator program, BEE defined several successive program phases of increasing stringency. In support of BEE's refrigerator program, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) produced an analysis of national impacts of standards in collaboration with the Collaborative Labeling and Standards Program (CLASP). That analysis drew on LBNL's experience with standards programs in the United States, as well as many other countries. Subsequently, as part of the process for setting optimal levels for air conditioner regulations, CLASP commissioned LBNL to provide support to BEE in the form of a techno-economic evaluation of air conditioner efficiency technologies. This report describes the methodology and results of this techno-economic evaluation. The analysis consists of three components: (1) Cost effectiveness to consumers of efficiency technologies relative to current baseline. (2) Impacts on the current market from efficiency …
Date: March 1, 2007
Creator: McNeil, Michael A. & Iyer, Maithili
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tracing Geothermal Fluids (open access)

Tracing Geothermal Fluids

Geothermal water must be injected back into the reservoir after it has been used for power production. Injection is critical in maximizing the power production and lifetime of the reservoir. To use injectate effectively the direction and velocity of the injected water must be known or inferred. This information can be obtained by using chemical tracers to track the subsurface flow paths of the injected fluid. Tracers are chemical compounds that are added to the water as it is injected back into the reservoir. The hot production water is monitored for the presence of this tracer using the most sensitive analytic methods that are economically feasible. The amount and concentration pattern of the tracer revealed by this monitoring can be used to evaluate how effective the injection strategy is. However, the tracers must have properties that suite the environment that they will be used in. This requires careful consideration and testing of the tracer properties. In previous and parallel investigations we have developed tracers that are suitable from tracing liquid water. In this investigation, we developed tracers that can be used for steam and mixed water/steam environments. This work will improve the efficiency of injection management in geothermal fields, lowering …
Date: March 1, 2004
Creator: Adams, Michael C. & Nash, Greg
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Towards a deeper insight into strongly correlated electron systems- the symbiosis between experiment and theory (open access)

Towards a deeper insight into strongly correlated electron systems- the symbiosis between experiment and theory

None
Date: March 1, 2007
Creator: Fischer, Peter
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
BAE/Orion Hybrid Electric Buses at New York City Transit: A Generational Comparison (Revised) (open access)

BAE/Orion Hybrid Electric Buses at New York City Transit: A Generational Comparison (Revised)

Paper describes the evaluation of hybrid-electric transit buses purchased by New York City Transit (NYCT) in an order group of 200 (Gen II) and compares their performance to those of similar hybrid-electric transit buses purchased by NYCT in an order group of 125 (Gen I).
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Barnitt, R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Summary report on transportation of nuclear fuel materials in Japan : transportation infrastructure, threats identified in open literature, and physical protection regulations. (open access)

Summary report on transportation of nuclear fuel materials in Japan : transportation infrastructure, threats identified in open literature, and physical protection regulations.

This report summarizes the results of three detailed studies of the physical protection systems for the protection of nuclear materials transport in Japan, with an emphasis on the transportation of mixed oxide fuel materials1. The Japanese infrastructure for transporting nuclear fuel materials is addressed in the first section. The second section of this report presents a summary of baseline data from the open literature on the threats of sabotage and theft during the transport of nuclear fuel materials in Japan. The third section summarizes a review of current International Atomic Energy Agency, Japanese and United States guidelines and regulations concerning the physical protection for the transportation of nuclear fuel materials.
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Cochran, John Russell; Ouchi, Yuichiro (Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Japan); Furaus, James Phillip & Marincel, Michelle K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Synthesis Gas Production by Rapid Solar Thermal Gasification of Corn Stover (open access)

Synthesis Gas Production by Rapid Solar Thermal Gasification of Corn Stover

Biomass resources hold great promise as renewable fuel sources for the future, and there exists great interest in thermochemical methods of converting these resources into useful fuels. The novel approach taken by the authors uses concentrated solar energy to efficiently achieve temperatures where conversion and selectivity of gasification are high. Use of solar energy removes the need for a combustion fuel and upgrades the heating value of the biomass products. The syngas product of the gasification can be transformed into a variety of fuels useable with today?s infrastructure. Gasification in an aerosol reactor allows for rapid kinetics, allowing efficient utilization of the incident solar radiation and high solar efficiency.
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Perkins, C. M.; Woodruff, B.; Andrews, L.; Lichty, P.; Lancaster, B.; Weimer, A. W. et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Media's New Role in Emergency Management (open access)

Social Media's New Role in Emergency Management

As technology continues to evolve, emergency management organizations must adapt to new ways of responding to the media and public. This paper examines a brief overview of social media's new role in emergency management. This includes definitions of social media, the benefits of utilizing social media, examples of social media being used and finally a discussion of how agencies, such as Department of Energy national laboratories, can begin including social media in their emergency management plans.
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Huffman, Ethan & Prentice, Sara
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Search for Standard Model Higgs Boson Production in Association with a W Boson at CDF (open access)

Search for Standard Model Higgs Boson Production in Association with a W Boson at CDF

We present a search for standard model Higgs boson production in association with a W boson in proton-antiproton collisions (p{bar p} {yields} W{sup {+-}}H {yields} {ell}{nu}b{bar b}) at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The search employs data collected with the CDF II detector which correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 1 fb{sup -1}. We select events consistent with a signature of a single lepton (e{sup {+-}}/{mu}{sup {+-}}), missing transverse energy, and two jets. Jets corresponding to bottom quarks are identified with a secondary vertex tagging method and a neural network filter technique. The observed number of events and the dijet mass distributions are consistent with the standard model background expectations, and we set 95% confidence level upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio ranging from 3.9 to 1.3 pb for Higgs boson masses from 110 to 150 GeV/c{sup 2}, respectively.
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Aaltonen, T.; Phys., /Helsinki Inst. of; Adelman, J.; /Chicago U., EFI; Akimoto, T.; U., /Tsukuba et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Spent fuel sabotage test program, characterization of aerosol dispersal : interim final report. (open access)

Spent fuel sabotage test program, characterization of aerosol dispersal : interim final report.

This multinational, multi-phase spent fuel sabotage test program is quantifying the aerosol particles produced when the products of a high energy density device (HEDD) interact with and explosively particulate test rodlets that contain pellets of either surrogate materials or actual spent fuel. This program provides source-term data that are relevant to plausible sabotage scenarios in relation to spent fuel transport and storage casks and associated risk assessments. We present details and significant results obtained from this program from 2001 through 2007. Measured aerosol results include: respirable fractions produced; amounts, nuclide content, and produced particle size distributions and morphology; measurements of volatile fission product species enhanced sorption--enrichment factors onto respirable particles; and, status on determination of the spent fuel ratio, SFR, needed for scaling studies. Emphasis is provided on recent Phase 3 tests using depleted uranium oxide pellets plus non-radioactive fission product dopants in surrogate spent fuel test rodlets, plus the latest surrogate cerium oxide results and aerosol laboratory supporting calibration work. The DUO{sub 2}, CeO{sub 2}, plus fission product dopant aerosol particle results are compared with available historical data. We also provide a status review on continuing preparations for the final Phase 4 in this program, tests using individual short …
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Gregson, Michael Warren; Brockmann, John E.; Loiseau, Olivier (Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire, France); Klennert, Lindsay A.; Nolte, Oliver (Fraunhofer Institut fur Toxikologie und Experimentelle Medizin, Germany); Molecke, Martin Alan et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fossil and Contemporary Fine Carbon Fractions at 12 Rural and Urban Sites in the United States (open access)

Fossil and Contemporary Fine Carbon Fractions at 12 Rural and Urban Sites in the United States

Fine particulate matter collected at two urban, four near-urban, and six remote sites throughout the United States were analyzed for total carbon (TC) and radiocarbon ({sup 14}C). Samples were collected at most sites for both a summer and winter season. The radiocarbon was used to partition the TC into fossil and contemporary fractions. On average, contemporary carbon composed about half of the carbon at the urban, {approx}70-97% at near-urban, and 82-100% at remote sites. At Phoenix, Arizona, and Seattle, Washington, one monitor was located within the urban center and one outside to assess the urban excess over background concentrations. During the summer the urban and rural sites had similar contemporary carbon concentrations. However, during the winter the urban sites had more than twice the contemporary carbon measured at the neighboring sites, indicating anthropogenic contributions to the contemporary carbon. The urban fossil carbon was 4-20 times larger than the neighboring rural sites for both seasons. Organic (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) from TOR analysis were available. These and the radiocarbon data were used to estimate characteristic fossil and contemporary EC/TC ratios for the winter and summer seasons. These ratios were applied to carbon data from the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual …
Date: March 1, 2007
Creator: Schichtel, B; Malm, W; Bench, G; Fallon, S; McDade, C & Chow, J
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
High-Resolution UV Relay Lens for Particle Size Distribution Measurements Using Holography (open access)

High-Resolution UV Relay Lens for Particle Size Distribution Measurements Using Holography

Shock waves passing through a metal sample can produce ejecta particulates at a metal-vacuum interface. Holography records particle size distributions by using a highpower, short-pulse laser to freeze particle motion. The sizes of the ejecta particles are recorded using an in-line Fraunhofer holography technique. Because the holographic plate would be destroyed in this energetic environment, a high-resolution lens has been designed to relay the interference fringes to a safe environment. Particle sizes within a 12-mm-diameter, 5-mm-thick volume are recorded on holographic film. To achieve resolution down to 0.5 microns, ultraviolet (UV) light (in this case supplied by a tripled Nd:YAG laser) is needed. The design and assembly of a nine-element lens that achieves >2000 lp/mm resolution and operates at f/0.85 will be described. To set up this lens system, a doublet lens is temporarily attached that enables operation with 532-nm (green) light and 1100 lp/mm resolution. Thus, the setup and alignment is performed with green light, but the dynamic recording is done with UV light. During setup, the 532-nm beam provides enough focus shift to accommodate the placement of a resolution pattern outside the ejecta volume; this resolution pattern does not interfere with the calibrated wires and pegs surrounding the …
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Malone, Robert M.; Frogget, Brent C.; Kaufman, Morris I.; Tibbits, Aric; Capelle, Gene A.; Grover, Mike et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Neutrino induced events in the MINOS detectors (open access)

Neutrino induced events in the MINOS detectors

The MINOS experiment is designed to study neutrino oscillations. It uses an accelerator generated beam of neutrinos and two detectors, the smaller at a distance of 1km and the larger at 735 km. By comparing the spectrum and flavour composition of the beam at the two detectors precise determinations of the oscillation parameters are possible. This thesis concentrates on the analysis of data from the larger Far Detector. By studying the spectrum of neutral current events it is possible to look for evidence of non-interacting 'sterile' neutrinos. The thesis describes how events are selected for this analysis, and a method for discriminating between charged current and neutral current events. The systematic uncertainties resulting from these cuts are evaluated. Several techniques for using Near Detector data to eliminate systematic uncertainties in the predicted Far Detector spectrum are compared. An oscillation analysis, based on the first year of MINOS data, uses the selected events to make a measurement of f{sub s}, the fraction of unseen neutrinos that are sterile. The measured value is f{sub s} = 0.07{sup +0.32} at 68%C.L., and is consistent with the standard three-neutrino picture, which has no sterile neutrino.
Date: March 1, 2008
Creator: Litchfield, Reuben Phillip
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Microsystem strategies for sample preparation in biological detection. (open access)

Microsystem strategies for sample preparation in biological detection.

The objective of this LDRD was to develop microdevice strategies for dealing with samples to be examined in biological detection systems. This includes three sub-components: namely, microdevice fabrication, sample delivery to the microdevice, and sample processing within the microdevice. The first component of this work focused on utilizing Sandia's surface micromachining technology to fabricate small volume (nanoliter) fluidic systems for processing small quantities of biological samples. The next component was to develop interfaces for the surface-micromachined silicon devices. We partnered with Micronics, a commercial company, to produce fluidic manifolds for sample delivery to our silicon devices. Pressure testing was completed to examine the strength of the bond between the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer and the silicon chip. We are also pursuing several other methods, both in house and external, to develop polymer-based fluidic manifolds for packaging silicon-based microfluidic devices. The second component, sample processing, is divided into two sub-tasks: cell collection and cell lysis. Cell collection was achieved using dielectrophoresis, which employs AC fields to collect cells at energized microelectrodes, while rejecting non-cellular particles. Both live and dead Staph. aureus bacteria have been collected using RF frequency dielectrophoresis. Bacteria have been separated from polystyrene microspheres using frequency-shifting dielectrophoresis. Computational modeling was …
Date: March 1, 2005
Creator: James, Conrad D.; Galambos, Paul C.; Bennett, Dawn Jonita (University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD); Manginell, Monica; Okandan, Murat; Acrivos, Andreas (The City College of New York, NY) et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library