We have conducted three tests of a new pulsed power device called the Full Function Test (FFT). These tests represented the culmination of an effort to establish a high energy pulsed power capability based on high explosive pulsed power (HEPP) technology. This involved an extensive computational modeling, engineering, fabrication, and fielding effort. The experiments were highly successful and a new US record for magnetic energy was obtained.

The ultimate purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a Li-Ca mixture for direct reduction of actinide oxides to actinide metals at temperatures below 1500 C. For such a process to be successful, the products of the reduction reaction, actinide metals, Li{sub 2}O, and CaO, must all be liquid at the reaction temperature so the resulting actinide metal can coalesce and be recovered as a monolith. Since the established melting temperature of Li{sub 2}O is in the range 1427-1700 C and the melting temperature of CaO is 2654 C, the Li{sub 2}O-CaO (lithium oxidecalcium oxide) pseudo-binary system was investigated in an attempt to identify the presence of low-melting eutectic compositions. The results of our investigation indicate that there is no evidence of ternary Li-Ca-O phases or solutions melting below 1200 C. In the 1200-1500 C range utilizing MgO crucibles, there is some evidence for the formation of a ternary phase; however, it was not possible to determine the phase composition. The results of experiments performed with ZrO{sub 2} crucibles in the same temperature range did not show the formation of the possible ternary phase seen in the earlier experiment involving MgO crucibles, so it was not possible …

We present the results of a search for occultation events by objects at distances between 100 and 1000 AU in lightcurves from the Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS). We searched for consecutive, shallow flux reductions in the stellar lightcurves obtained by our survey between 7 February 2005 and 31 December 2006 with a total of {approx} 4.5 x 10{sup 9} three-telescope simultaneous photometric measurements. No events were detected, allowing us to set upper limits on the number density as a function of size and distance of objects in Sedna-like orbits, using simple models.

Sub-scale coils are being manufactured and tested at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in order to develop wind-and-react Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub x} (Bi-2212) magnet technology for future graded accelerator magnet use. Previous Bi-2212 coils showed significant leakage of the conductors core constituents to the environment, which can occur during the partial melt reaction around 890 C in pure oxygen. The main origin of the observed leakage is intrinsic leakage of the wires, and the issue is therefore being addressed at the wire manufacturing level. We report on further compatibility studies, and the performance of new sub-scale coils that were manufactured using improved conductors. These coils exhibit significantly reduced leakage, and carry currents that are about 70% of the witness wire critical current (I{sub c}). The coils demonstrate, for the first time, the feasibility of round wire Bi-2212 conductors for accelerator magnet technology use. Successful high temperature superconductor coil technology will enable the manufacture of graded accelerator magnets that can surpass the, already closely approached, intrinsic magnetic field limitations of Nb-based superconducting magnets.

Knowledge of the three-dimensional strain state induced in the superconducting filaments due to loads on Rutherford cables is essential to analyze the performance of Nb{sub 3}Sn magnets. Due to the large range of length scales involved, we develop a hierarchical computational scheme that includes models at both the cable and strand levels. At the Rutherford cable level, where the strands are treated as a homogeneous medium, a three-dimensional computational model is developed to determine the deformed shape of the cable that can subsequently be used to determine the strain state under specified loading conditions, which may be of thermal, magnetic, and mechanical origins. The results can then be transferred to the model at the strand/macro-filament level for rod restack process (RRP) strands, where the geometric details of the strand are included. This hierarchical scheme can be used to estimate the three-dimensional strain state in the conductor as well as to determine the effective properties of the strands and cables from the properties of individual components. Examples of the modeling results obtained for the orthotropic mechanical properties of the Rutherford cables are presented.

National Synchrotron Light Source II, being constructed at Brookhaven, is a 3-GeV, 500 mA, 3rd generation synchrotron radiation facility with ultra low emittance electron beams. The storage ring vacuum system has a circumference of 792 m and consists of over 250 vacuum chambers with a simulated average operating pressure of less than 1 x 10{sup -9} mbar. A summary of the update design of the vacuum system including girder supports of the chambers, gauges, vacuum pumps, bellows, beam position monitors and simulation of the average pressure will be shown. A brief description of the techniques and procedures for cleaning and mounting the chambers are given.

We characterized GaSb single crystals containing different dopants (Al, Cd and Te), grown by the Czochralski method, by x-ray topography and high angular resolution x-ray diffraction. Lang topography revealed dislocations parallel and perpendicular to the crystal's surface. Double-crystal GaSb 333 x-ray topography shows dislocations and vertical stripes than can be associated with circular growth bands. We compared our high-angular resolution x-ray diffraction measurements (rocking curves) with the findings predicted by the dynamical theory of x-ray diffraction. These measurements show that our GaSb single crystals have a relative variation in the lattice parameter ({Delta}d/d) on the order of 10{sup -5}. This means that they can be used as electronic devices (detectors, for example) and as x-ray monochromators.

Future insertion quadrupoles with large apertures and high gradients will be required for the Phase II luminosity upgrade (10{sup 35} cm{sup -2}s{sup -1}) of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Although improved designs, based on NbTi, are being considered as an intermediate step for the Phase I upgrade, the Nb{sub 3}Sn conductor is presently the best option that meets the ultimate performance goals for both operating field and temperature margin. As part of the development of Nb{sub 3}Sn magnet technology, the LHC Accelerator Research Program (LARP) developed and tested several 1-meter long, 90-mm aperture Nb{sub 3}Sn quadrupoles. The first two series of magnet used OST MJR 54/61 (TQ01 series) and OST RRP 54/61 (TQ02 series) strands. The third series (TQ03) used OST RRP 108/127 conductor. The larger number of sub-elements and the consequent reduction of the effective filament size, together with an increased fraction of copper and a lower Jc were expected to improve the conductor stability. The new coils were tested in the TQS03 series using a shell structure assembled with keys and bladders. The objective of the first test (TQS03a) was to evaluate the performances of the 108/127 conductor and, in particular, its behaviour at 1.9 K, while the …

While considerable work has been done to understand AC losses in power cables made of first generation (1G) high temperature superconductor (HTS) wires, use of second generation (2G) HTS wires brings in some new considerations. The high critical current density of the HTS layer 2G wire reduces the surface superconductor hysteretic losses. Instead, gap and polygonal losses, flux transfer losses in imbalanced two layer cables and ferromagnetic losses for wires with NiW substrates constitute the principal contributions. Current imbalance and losses associated with the magnetic substrate can be minimized by orienting the substrates of the inner winding inward and the outer winding outward.

Standard commercial infrared microscopes operating in reflection mode use a mirror to direct the reflected light from the sample to the detector. This mirror blocks about half of the incident light, however, and thus degrades the spatial resolution by reducing the numerical aperture of the objective. Here, we replace the mirror with a 50% beamsplitter to allow full illumination of the objective and retain a way to direct the reflected light to the detector. The improved spatial resolution is demonstrated using a microscope coupled to a synchrotron source.

The interfaces of conjugated polyelectrolyte (CPE)/poly[2-methoxy-5-(2{prime}-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV) bilayers cast from differential solvents are shown by resonant soft X-ray reflectivity (RSoXR) to be very smooth and sharp. The chemical interdiffusion due to casting is limited to less than 0.6 nm, and the interface created is thus nearly 'molecularly' sharp. These results demonstrate for the first time and with high precision that the nonpolar MEH-PPV layer is not much disturbed by casting the CPE layer from a polar solvent. A baseline is established for understanding the role of interfacial structure in determining the performance of CPE-based polymer light-emitting diodes. More broadly, we anticipate further applications of RSoXR as an important tool in achieving a deeper understanding of other multilayer organic optoelectronic devices, including multilayer photovoltaic devices.

Introduction - Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequency (ICRF) waves are candidates for heating (ICRH), current drive, and possible flow drive in ITER and future tokamaks. There are considerable challenges developing the technology of ICRF systems and the tools for assessing effects on plasma performance. These tools are important both for guiding present experiments and for indicating efforts for future research. This paper addresses some of the tools for simulating ICRH. The TORIC ICRF full-wave code [1] solves the kinetic wave equation in 2D axisymmetric equilibria. TORIC solves Maxwell's Equations for a fixed wave frequency with a linear plasma response in a mixed spectral-finite element basis. The antenna is modelled as a sheet current. A kinetic model for the plasma dielectric response is derived using an Eikonal ansatz.

Nuclear proliferation risks from fusion associated with access to weapon-usable material can be divided into three main categories: 1) clandestine production of fissile material in an undeclared facility, 2) covert production of such material in a declared and safeguarded facility, and 3) use of a declared facility in a breakout scenario, in which a state begins production of fissile material without concealing the effort. In this paper we address each of these categories of risk from fusion. For each case, we find that the proliferation risk from fusion systems can be much lower than the equivalent risk from fission systems, if commercial fusion systems are designed to accommodate appropriate safeguards.

Top-off operations is a quasi-continuous injection mode that increases the flux and brightness of a synchrotron source and improves thermal stability of optical components by maintaining a constant current in the storage ring. Although the increased and constant flux is advantageous for FTIR measurements, the frequent injections (about one every 30 seconds in the ALS case) introduce artifacts into the spectrum by creating spikes in the interferogram data. These spikes are caused by brief beam motion during the injection event. Here, we describe our efforts to minimize the effects of top-off generated interferogram spikes on several FTIR spectrometers. They include using a fast feedback mirror system to correct for beam motion and a gating signal to inhibit interferogram collection during a top-off injection.

In multi physics computations, where a compressible fluid is coupled with a linearly elastic solid, it is standard to enforce continuity of the normal velocities and of the normal stresses at the interface between the fluid and the solid. In a numerical scheme, there are many ways that the velocity- and stress-continuity can be enforced in the discrete approximation. This paper performs a normal mode analysis to investigate the stability of different numerical interface conditions for a model problem approximated by upwind type of finite difference schemes. The analysis shows that depending on the ratio of densities between the solid and the fluid, some numerical interface conditions are stable up to the maximal CFL-limit, while other numerical interface conditions suffer from a severe reduction of the stable CFL-limit. The paper also presents a new interface condition, obtained as a simplified charcteristic boundary condition, that is proved to not suffer from any reduction of the stable CFL-limit. Numerical experiments in one space dimension show that the new interface condition is stable also for computations with the non-linear Euler equations of compressible fluid flow coupled with a linearly elastic solid.

The photoluminescence of CdSe/CdS core/shell quantum dots, nanorods, and tetrapods is investigated as a function of applied hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic pressure. The optoelectronic properties of all three nanocrystal morphologies are affected by strain. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the unique morphology of a tetrapod is highly sensitive to non-isotropic stress environments. Seeded tetrapods can thereby serve as an optical strain gauge, capable of measuring forces on the order of nanonewtons. We anticipate that a nanocrystal strain gauge with optical readout will be useful for applications ranging from sensitive optomechanical devices to investigations of biomechanical processes.

The BARD1 N-terminal RING domain binds BRCA1 while the BARD1 C-terminal ankyrin and tandem BRCT repeat domains bind CstF-50 to modulate mRNA processing and RNAP II stability in response to DNA damage. Here we characterize the BARD1 structural biochemistry responsible for CstF- 50 binding. The crystal structure of the BARD1 BRCT domain uncovers a degenerate phosphopeptide binding pocket lacking the key arginine required for phosphopeptide interactions in other BRCT proteins.Small angle X-ray scattering together with limited proteolysis results indicates that ankyrin and BRCT domains are linked by a flexible tether and do not adopt a fixed orientation relative to one another. Protein pull-down experiments utilizing a series of purified BARD1 deletion mutants indicate that interactions between the CstF-50 WD-40 domain and BARD1 involve the ankyrin-BRCT linker but do not require ankyrin or BRCT domains. The structural plasticity imparted by the ANK-BRCT linker helps to explain the regulated assembly of different protein BARD1 complexes with distinct functions in DNA damage signaling including BARD1-dependent induction of apoptosis plus p53 stabilization and interactions. BARD1 architecture and plasticity imparted by the ANK-BRCT linker are suitable to allow the BARD1 C-terminus to act as a hub with multiple binding sites to integrate diverse DNA damage …

The shape dependence of the catalytic reduction of NO by CO on Rhodium nanopolyhedra and nanocubes was studied from 230-270 C. The nanocubes are found to exhibit higher turnover frequency and lower activation energy than the nanopolyhedra. These trends are compared to previous studies on Rh single crystals.

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Washington is called the 'Evergreen State' and it evokes images like this of lush forests, lakes and mountains. However, such images apply primarily to the half of the state west of the Cascade Mountains, where we are today. Eastern Washington state is quite a different matter and I want to draw your attention to a portion of Eastern Washington that is the focus ofmy presentation to you this morning. This image was taken on a part of the Department of Energy's Hanford Site, a 586-square mile government reservation, the second largest DOE facility in the nation . Here you can see where I am talking about, roughly 220 miles southeast of Seattle and about the same distance northeast of Portland.

Article accompanying a poster presentation for the 2009 Computational Neuroscience Meeting. This article discusses a theoretical analysis of an alternative CUSUM statistic called CUSUM-slope for detecting signals from background noise in a low signal-to-noise environment.

Article accompanying a poster presentation for the 2009 Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting. This article discusses a theoretical model of emotion processing for optimizing the cost function of discrepancy errors between wants and gets.

The purpose of this report is to evaluate the hemodynamic effects of renal vein inflow and filter position on unoccluded and partially occluded IVC filters using three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics. Three-dimensional models of the TrapEase and Gunther Celect IVC filters, spherical thrombi, and an IVC with renal veins were constructed. Hemodynamics of steady-state flow was examined for unoccluded and partially occluded TrapEase and Gunther Celect IVC filters in varying proximity to the renal veins. Flow past the unoccluded filters demonstrated minimal disruption. Natural regions of stagnant/recirculating flow in the IVC are observed superior to the bilateral renal vein inflows, and high flow velocities and elevated shear stresses are observed in the vicinity of renal inflow. Spherical thrombi induce stagnant and/or recirculating flow downstream of the thrombus. Placement of the TrapEase filter in the suprarenal vein position resulted in a large area of low shear stress/stagnant flow within the filter just downstream of thrombus trapped in the upstream trapping position. Filter position with respect to renal vein inflow influences the hemodynamics of filter trapping. Placement of the TrapEase filter in a suprarenal location may be thrombogenic with redundant areas of stagnant/recirculating flow and low shear stress along the caval wall due …

In order to reduce the precious metal loading without sacrificing activity and stability, a new method for the preparation of bimetallic catalysts is proposed. Currently, Pt-alloy particles, with 2 to 3 nm in diameter, are loaded on high surface area carbon supports. Of the Pt loaded, only the surface atoms interact with the reactants. In order to increase the Pt utilization per metal particle the new process for catalyst preparation will incorporate a non-noble transition metal core coated with a skin layer of Pt deposited on high surface area carbon. The effect of reducing agent strength during synthesis was also explored. It was determined that the Co addition has a higher impact on catalyst when used with NaBH4 as reducing agent as compared to NaCOOH.