Computational or scientific simulations are increasingly being applied to solve a variety of scientific problems. Domains such as astrophysics, engineering, chemistry, biology, and environmental studies are benefiting from this important capability. Simulations, however, produce enormous amounts of data that need to be analyzed and understood. In this overview paper, we describe scientific simulation data, its characteristics, and the way scientists generate and use the data. We then compare and contrast simulation data to data streams. Finally, we describe our approach to analyzing simulation data, present the AQSim (Ad-hoc Queries for Simulation data) system, and discuss some of the challenges that result from handling this kind of data.

This paper covers selected aspects of the acute and long term health effects excluding acute radiation syndrome and carcinogenesis, resulting from exposure to ionizing radiation. The changes addressed in this paper are those witnessed within an organ or whole body rather than at the molecular or even cellular level. They include acute and late health effects. Some of these effects are threshold effects, meaning that the dose must exceed a certain threshold before one sees these effects. Less than the threshold dose results in no observable organ or whole body effect. The severity of the effects correlate directly with the amount of cell damage or cell death that has occurred. 15 refs., 4 figs., 8 tabs.

Article about a party and book signing celebrating the book "Party Confidential" by Lara Shriftman and Elizabeth Harrison held on November 18, 2006.

Junction formation in CuInSe2 (CIS) has been studied by exposing thin films and single-crystal samples to solutions containing NH4OH and CdSO4. The treated samples were analyzed by secondary ion mass spectrometry to determine the amount and distribution of Cd deposited on the surface of the films. Cadmium is found to react with the surface for all the solution exposure times and temperatures studied. The reaction rapidly approaches the endpoint and remains relatively unchanged for subsequent solution exposure. Cadmium in-diffusion, as measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry, is obscured by topography effects in the thin-film samples and by ion-beam mixing and topography in the single-crystal sample.

This paper discusses wind energy markets, technology & industry status, and U.S. market trends.

A three-dimensional world model is crucial for many robotic tasks. Modeling techniques tend to be either fully manual or autonomous. Manual methods are extremely time consuming but also highly accurate and flexible. Autonomous techniques are fast but inflexible and, with real-world data, often inaccurate. The method presented in this paper combines the two, yielding a highly efficient, flexible, and accurate mapping tool. The segmentation and modeling algorithms that compose the method are specifically designed for industrial environments, and are described in detail. A mapping system based on these algorithms has been designed. It enables a human supervisor to quickly construct a fully defined world model from unfiltered and unsegmented real-world range imagery. Examples of how industrial scenes are modeled with the mapping system are provided.

A brief review of performance-limiting processes in a commercial solar cell fabricated on low-cost substrate is given. Higher efficiencies require effective gettering of precipitated impurities present at the defect clusters, and improved cell and process designs. Overcoming these limitations is expected to lead to 18%-20% cell efficiencies.

This paper presents microscopic characterization of four samples of a ceramic waste form (CWF) developed for disposal of actinide-containing electrorefiner salts. The four samples were prepared to investigate the influence of water content and the Pu:U ratio on CWF microstructure and performance. While the overall phase content is not strongly influenced by either variable, the presence of water in the initial zeolite has a detectable effect on CWF microstructure. It is found to influence the distribution of the major actinide host phase, a (U,Pu)O{sub 2} mixed oxide.

Time-temperature transformation curves have been determined for SRL-165 and SRL-131 waste glasses for all potential waste compositions. SRL-165 glasses, which contain less alkali, exhibit less complex devitrification and higher overall durability than SRL-131 waste glasses. Devitrification was found to have less effect on the durability of waste glasses than changes in composition. Non-uniform dissolution at the glass leached layer interface is observed. However, leached layers formed after 28 days shield the crystal interfaces from further dissolution.

Over the past several years, Congress has directed the Department of Energy (DOE), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to abandon their efforts to assess an array of potential candidate geologic repository sites for the permanent disposal of spent nuclear reactor fuel and high level radioactive waste, to develop generally applicable requirements for licensing geologic repositories, and to develop generally applicable radiation protection standards for geologic repositories, and instead to focus their efforts to determine whether a single site located at Yucca Mountain, Nevada can be developed as a geologic repository which providing reasonable assurance that public health and safety and the environment will be adequately protected. If the Yucca Mountain site is found to be suitable for development as a geologic repository, then at each stage of development DOE will have to provide the NRC with progressively more detailed information regarding repository design and long-term performance. NRC regulations reflect the fact that it will not be until the repository has been operated for a number of years that the NRC will be able to make a final determination as to long-term repository performance. Nevertheless, the NRC will be able to allow DOE to construct …

This paper reviews the current status of experimental results on radiative kaon decays. Several experiments at BNL, CERN and FNAL have recently or will soon complete data collection; as a result, there are several new results.

Incidents of liner corrosion in nuclear power containment structures have been recorded. These incidents and concerns of other possible liner corrosion in containment have prompted an interest in determining g the capacity of a degraded containment. Finite element analyses of a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) reinforced concrete containment with liner corrosion were conducted using the A13AQUS finite element code with the ANACAP-U nonlinear concrete constitutive model. The effect of liner corrosion on containment capacity was investigated. A loss of coolant accident was simulated by applying pressure and temperature changes to the structure without corrosion to determine baseline failure limits, followed by multiple analyses of the containment with corrosion at different locations and varying degrees of liner degradation. The corrosion locations were chosen at the base of the containment wall, near the equipment hatch, and at the midheight of the containment wall. Using a strain-based failure criterion the different scenarios were evaluated to prioritize their effect on containment capacity

The design of integrated controls for a complex system like a wind turbine relies on a system model in an explicit format, e.g., state-space format. Current wind turbine codes focus on turbine simulation and not on system characterization, which is desired for controls design as well as applications like operating turbine model analysis, optimal design, and aeroelastic stability analysis. This paper reviews structural modeling that comprises three major steps: formation of component equations, assembly into system equations, and linearization.

At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, we tested a very flexible wind turbine. This machine, the Cannon Wind Eagle turbine, exhibited an ability to significantly reduce the rotor flap-wise bending moments through a unique combination of a flexible rotor and hub design. In parallel to this testing effort, we developed analytical models of this machine using our simulation codes. The goal of this work was to validate the analytical models of this machine by comparing analytical predictions to measured results from the real machine. We first describe briefly the simulation codes used in this study. We then describe the wind turbine we analyzed. We then describe analytical model validation progress for this flexible rotor and show preliminary validation results. Finally, we make conclusions and state our plans for future studies.

The motivation to develop thin film technologies dates back to the inception of photovoltaics. It is an idea based on achieving truly low-cost photovoltaics appropriate for mass production and energy significant markets. The key to the idea is the use of pennies worth of active materials. Since sunlight carries relatively little energy in comparison with combustion-based energy sources, photovoltaic (PV) modules must be cheap to produce energy that can be competitive. Thin films are presumed to be the answer to that low-cost requirement. But how cheap do they have to be? The following is an oversimplified analysis that allows some insight into this question.

The main objective of the Gordon Research Conference on Applied and Environmental Microbiology was to present and discuss new, fundamental research findings on microorganisms, their activities in the environment, their ecosystem-level effects, and their environmental or commercial applications. To accomplish this goal, knowledge of microbial diversity, interactions and population dynamics was required. The genomic basis of microbial processes, the cycling of naturally occurring and hazardous substances, and methodologies to assess the functional relationships of microorganisms in their habitats were essential for understanding the ecological consequences of microbial activities and the formulation of generalizing principles. In the last decade, molecular technology has revealed that microbial diversity is far more extensive than the limited view obtained from culturing procedures. Great advances in environmental microbiology have resulted from the development and application of molecular approaches to ecology and molecular evolution. A further surprise resulting from the application of these new tools is the blurring of the distinction between pathogenic traits versus those considered non-pathogenic. This year's conference addressed the issues of biodiversity, its development, and the impact of stress on gene selection and expression. In addition microbial metabolic versatility with toxins such as heavy metals, antibiotics, and organic pollutants were discussed. The nine …

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This article tests if it is possible to piggyback more than one antisense deoxyoligonucleotide (dO) with one vivo morpholino (VMO). The authors previously developed a piggyback knockdown method that was used to knockdown genes in adult zebrafish. In this article, the authors develop a method to knockdown three genes at one time, and by increasing the concentration of VMO by twofold, could knockdown six genes simultaneously. These multiple gene knockdowns will not only increase the efficiency of the method in whole genome-wide knockdowns but will also be useful to study multifactorial disorders.