We have made and tested several sliced multilayer structures which can function as transmissive x-ray optical elements (diffraction gratings, zone plates, and phase gratings) at 8 keV. Our automated multilayer sputtering system is optimized to sputter layers of arbitrary thickness for very large total deposits at high deposition rates. Diffraction patterns produced by the multilayer devices closely match theoretical predictions. Such transmissive optics have the potential for wide application in high resolution microscope and spectrometer systems. 13 refs., 10 figs.

It is becoming increasingly important for industry to prevent releases of potentially toxic material to the environment. The Lawrence Livermore Laboratory has developed a system to monitor its sewage effluent on a continuous basis. A representative fraction of the total waste stream leaving the Plant is passed through a detection assembly consisting of an x-ray fluorescence unit which detects high levels of metals, sodium iodide crystal detectors that scan the sewage for the presence of elevated levels of radiation, and an industrial probe for pH monitoring. With the aid of a microprocessor, the data collected is reduced and analyzed to determine whether levels are approaching established environmental limits. Currently, if preset pH or radiation levels are exceeded, a sample of the suspect sewage is automatically collected for further analysis, and an alarm is sent to a station where personnel can be alerted to respond on a 24-hour basis. In the same manner, spectral data from the x-ray fluorescence unit will be routed through the 24-hour alarm system as soon as evaluation of the unit is complete. The design of the system and operational experience is discussed.

Pyrotechnic ignition has been studied in the past by making a limited number of discrete temperature-time observations during ignition. Present-day infrared scanning techniques make it possible to record thermal profiles, during ignition, with high spacial and temporal resolution. Data thus obtained can be used with existing theory to characterize pyrotechnic materials and to develop more precise kinetic models of the ignition process. Ignition has been studied theoretically and experimentally using various thermal methods. It has been shown that the whole process can, ideally, be divided into two stages. In the first stage, the sample pellet behaves like an inert body heated by an external heat source. The second stage is governed by the chemical reaction in the heated volume produced during the first stage. High speed thermographic recording of the temperature distribution in the test sample during laser ignition makes it possible to calculate the heat content at any instant. Thus, one can actually observe laser heating and the onset of self-sustained combustion in the pellet.

Article on protein sequence classification using feature hashing.

Article discussing research that shows both music composition and brain function, as revealed by the electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis, are renewal non-Poisson processes living in the nonergodic dominion.

Article accompanying a poster presentation for the 2014 Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting. This article discusses computational optimization problems in social interaction and empathic social emotion.

Article accompanying a poster presentation for the 2014 Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting. This article discusses optical imaging of prefrontal cortex hemodynamic response in executive function induced by increased cardiovascular activity.

Diseases and conditions affecting the lower urinary tract are a leading cause of dysfunctional sexual health, incontinence, infection, and kidney failure. The growth, differentiation, and repair of the bladder's epithelial lining are regulated, in part, by fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-7 and -10 via a paracrine cascade originating in the mesenchyme (lamina propria) and targeting the receptor for FGF-7 and -10 within the transitional epithelium (urothelium). The FGF-7 gene is located at the 15q15-q21.1 locus on chromosome 15 and four exons generate a 3.852-kb mRNA. Five duplicated FGF-7 gene sequences that localized to chromosome 9 were predicted not to generate functional protein products, thus validating the use of FGF-7-null mice as an experimental model. Recombinant FGF-7 and -10 induced proliferation of human urothelial cells in vitro and transitional epithelium of wild-type and FGF-7-null mice in vivo.To determine the extent that induction of urothelial cell proliferation during the bladder response to injury is dependent on FGF-7, an animal model of partial bladder outlet obstruction was developed. Unbiased stereology was used to measure the percentage of proliferating urothelial cells between obstructed groups of wild-type and FGF-7-null mice. The stereological analysis indicated that a statistical significant difference did not exist between the two groups, …

Exterior complex scaling provides a practical path forfirst-principles studies of atomic and molecular ionizationproblemssince it avoids explicit enforcement of asymptotic boundary conditionsfor 3-body Coulomb breakup. We have used the method of exterior complexscaling, implemented with both the discrete variable representation andB-splines, to obtain the first-order wave function for molecular hydrogencorresponding to a single photon having been absorbed by a correlatedinitial state. These wave functions are used to construct convergedtriple differential cross sections for double photoionization of alignedH2 molecules.

We report the results of a first-principles study of dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to H{sub 2}O. The cross sections were obtained from nuclear dynamics calculations carried out in full dimensionality within the local complex potential model by using the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method. The calculations employ our previously obtained global, complex-valued, potential energy surfaces for the three ({sup 2}B{sub 1}, {sup 2}A{sub 1}, and {sup 2}B{sub 2}) electronic Feshbach resonances involved in this process. These three metastable states of H{sub 2}O{sup -} undergo several degeneracies, and we incorporate both the Renner-Teller coupling between the {sup 2}B{sub 1} and {sup 2}A{sub 1} states, as well as the conical intersection between the {sup 2}A{sub 1} and {sup 2}B{sub 2} states, into our treatment. The nuclear dynamics are inherently multi-dimensional and involve branching between different final product arrangements as well as extensive excitation of the diatomic fragment. Our results successfully mirror the qualitative features of the major fragment channels observed, but are less successful in reproducing the available results for some of the minor channels. We comment on the applicability of the local complex potential model to such a complicated resonant system.

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Plutonium is a very complex element lying near the middle of the actinide series. On the lower atomic number side of Pu is the element neptunium; its 5f electrons are highly delocalized or itinerant, participating in metallic-like bonding. The electrons in americium, the element to the right of Pu, are localized and do not participant significantly in the bonding. Plutonium is located directly on this rather abrupt transition. In the low-temperature {alpha} phase ground state, the five 5f electrons are mostly delocalized leading to a highly dense monoclinic crystal structure. Increases in temperature take the unalloyed plutonium through a series of five solid-state allotropic phase transformations before melting. One of the high temperature phases, the close-packed face centered cubic {delta} phase, is the least dense of all the phases, including the liquid. Alloying the Pu with Group IIIA elements such as aluminum or gallium retains the {delta} phase in a metastable state at ambient conditions. Ultimately, this metastable {delta} phase will decompose via a eutectoid transformation to {alpha} + Pu{sub 3}Ga. These low solute-containing {delta}-phase Pu alloys are also metastable with respect to low temperature excursions or increases in pressure and will transform to a monoclinic crystal structure at low …

The post-meiotic phase of mouse spermatogenesis (spermiogenesis) is very sensitive to the genomic effects of environmental mutagens because as male germ cells form mature sperm they progressively lose the ability to repair DNA damage. We hypothesized that repeated exposures to mutagens during this repair-deficient phase result in the accumulation of heritable genomic damage in mouse sperm that leads to chromosomal aberrations in zygotes after fertilization. We used a combination of single or fractionated exposures to diepoxybutane (DEB), a component of tobacco smoke, to investigate how differential DNA repair efficiencies during the three weeks of spermiogenesis affected the accumulation of DEB-induced heritable damage in early spermatids (21-15 days before fertilization, dbf), late spermatids (14-8 dbf) and sperm (7- 1 dbf). Analysis of chromosomalaberrations in zygotic metaphases using PAINT/DAPI showed that late spermatids and sperm are unable to repair DEB-induced DNA damage as demonstrated by significant increases (P<0.001) in the frequencies of zygotes with chromosomal aberrations. Comparisons between single and fractionated exposures suggested that the DNA repair-deficient window during late spermiogenesis may be less than two weeks in the mouse and that during this repair-deficient window there is accumulation of DNA damage in sperm. Finally, the dose-response study in sperm indicated a …

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a major environmental concern due to their ubiquity and tendency to bio-accumulate. as well as their persistence and toxicity. As the cleanup of waste and contaminated soil progresses at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites, the costs for accurate PCB data are increasing. PCBs are actually a broad name for a group of 209 individual compounds known as congeners. PCBs were originally produced in the United States as specific mixtures of congeners known as Aroclors'. PCBs can be analyzed and quantified either as Aroclor mixtures or as individual congeners. Aroclor analysis, which is the more common analytical method applied to PCBs. has been in use for decades, and in general, most cleanup regulations are based on total PCB concentrations using Aroclor analyses. Congener analysis is relatively new to environmental cleanup and restoration due to both technical issues and associated cost. The benefits of congener analysis are that it allows a more direct analysis of the risk of the PCBs. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified twelve specific congeners as dioxin-like with toxicity ranging from 0.00003 to 0.1 times the standard 2,3,7.8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2.3.7.8-TCDD) toxicity. This paper defines Aroclors and congeners and compares the current application and …

Lithium coatings on the graphite plasma facing components (PFCs) in NSTX are being investigated as a tool for density profile control and reducing the recycling of hydrogen isotopes. Repeated lithium pellet injection into Center Stack Limited and Lower Single Null Ohmic Helium Discharges were used to coat graphite surfaces that had been pre-conditioned with Ohmic Helium Discharges of the same shape to reduce their contribution to hydrogen isotope recycling. The following deuterium NBI reference discharges exhibited a reduction in density by a factor of about 3 for limited and 2 for diverted plasmas respectively, and peaked density profiles. Recently, a lithium evaporator has been used to apply thin coatings on conditioned and unconditioned PFCs. Effects on the plasma density and the impurities were obtained by pre-conditioning the PFCs with ohmic helium discharges, and performing the first deuterium NBI discharge as soon as possible after applying the lithium coating.

Regional-scale climate change and associated societal impacts result from large-scale (e.g. well-mixed greenhouse gases) and more local (e.g. land-use change) 'forcing' (perturbing) agents. It is essential to understand these forcings and climate responses to them, in order to predict future climate and societal impacts. California is a fine example of the complex effects of multiple climate forcings. The State's natural climate is diverse, highly variable, and strongly influenced by ENSO. Humans are perturbing this complex system through urbanization, irrigation, and emission of multiple types of aerosols and greenhouse gases. Despite better-than-average observational coverage, we are only beginning to understand the manifestations of these forcings in California's temperature record.

The model assumes that an 'initiating event' results in positive ions on the surface near the anode and reverses the direction of the normal component of electric field so that electrons in vacuum are attracted to the dielectric locally. A sequence of surface electron avalanches progresses in steps from the anode to the cathode. For 200 kV across 1 cm, the spacing of avalanches is predicted to be about 13 microns. The time for avalanches to step from the anode to the cathode is predicted to be about a ns.

We present a mini-review on charm spectroscopy at the BABAR experiment. We first report on the c{bar s} meson spectrum, and present precise measurements of the D{sub s1}(2536) meson as well as the properties of the many new states discovered since 2003 (D*{sub s0}(2317), D{sub s1}(2460), D*{sub sJ}(2860), and D{sub sJ}(2700) mesons). We then discuss about charmed baryons observed recently in the BABAR experiment: {Omega}{sub c}{sup 0} and {Omega}*{sub c}{sup 0} css baryons, {Lambda}{sub c}(2940){sup +} udc baryon and the {Xi}{sub c} usc/dsc baryons.

Several approaches have been developed to establish a relation between the soil-moisture retention curve and readily available soil properties. Those relationships are referred to as pedotransfer functions. Described in this paper are the rationale, approach, and corroboration for use of a nonparametric pedotransfer function for the estimation of soil hydraulic-parameter values at the yucca Mountain area in Nevada for simulations of net infiltration. This approach, shown to be applicable for use at Yucca Mountain, is also applicable for use at the Hanford Site where the underlying data were collected.

We examine a double trace deformation of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory which, for large N and large volume, is equivalent to unmodified Yang-Mills theory up to O(1/N{sup 2}) corrections. In contrast to the unmodified theory, large N volume independence is valid in the deformed theory down to arbitrarily small volumes. The double trace deformation prevents the spontaneous breaking of center symmetry which would otherwise disrupt large N volume independence in small volumes. For small values of N, if the theory is formulated on R{sup 3} x S{sup 1} with a sufficiently small compactification size L, then an analytic treatment of the non-perturbative dynamics of the deformed theory is possible. In this regime, we show that the deformed Yang-Mills theory has a mass gap and exhibits linear confinement. Increasing the circumference L or number of colors N decreases the separation of scales on which the analytic treatment relies. However, there are no order parameters which distinguish the small and large radius regimes. Consequently, for small N the deformed theory provides a novel example of a locally four-dimensional pure gauge theory in which one has analytic control over confinement, while for large N it provides a simple fully reduced model for Yang-Mills theory. …

The Bio-Aerosol Mass Spectrometry (BAMS) instrument analyzes single aerosol particles using a dual-polarity time-of-flight mass spectrometer recording simultaneously spectra of thirty to a hundred thousand points on each polarity. We describe here a real-time pattern recognition algorithm developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that has been implemented on a nine Digital Signal Processor (DSP) system from Signatec Incorporated. The algorithm first preprocesses independently the raw time-of-flight data through an adaptive baseline removal routine. The next step consists of a polarity dependent calibration to a mass-to-charge representation, reducing the data to about five hundred to a thousand channels per polarity. The last step is the identification step using a pattern recognition algorithm based on a library of known particle signatures including threat agents and background particles. The identification step includes integrating the two polarities for a final identification determination using a score-based rule tree. This algorithm, operating on multiple channels per-polarity and multiple polarities, is well suited for parallel real-time processing. It has been implemented on the PMP8A from Signatec Incorporated, which is a computer based board that can interface directly to the two one-Giga-Sample digitizers (PDA1000 from Signatec Incorporated) used to record the two polarities of time-of-flight data. By using …

Thermally activated barrier crossing in the presence of an increasing load can reveal kinetic rate constants and energy barrier parameters when repeated over a range of loading rates. Here we derive a model of the mean escape force for all relevant loading rates--the complete force spectrum. Two well-known approximations emerge as limiting cases; one of which confirms predictions that single-barrier spectra should converge to a phenomenological description in the slow loading limit.

The dispersion of pollutants from the ground by turbulent winds is difficult to model in general. However, for flat homogeneous terrain and steady wind conditions, if the wind profile is modeled with a power-law dependence on height, the advection-dispersion equation has an exact solution. In this paper the analytical solution is compared to a numerical simulation of the coupled air-ground system for a leaking underground gas storage, with a power-law velocity profile that was fit to the logarithmic velocity profile used in the simulation. The two methods produced similar results far from the boundaries, but the boundary conditions had a strong effect; the simulation imposed boundary conditions at the edge of a finite domain while the analytic solution imposes them at infinity. The reverse seepage from air to ground was shown in the simulation to be very small, and the sharp contrast between time scales suggests that air and ground can be modeled separately, with gas emissions from the ground model used as inputs to the air model.

To date, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy has been successful in identifying energy scales of the many-body interactions in correlated materials, focused on binding energies of up to a few hundred meV below the Fermi energy. Here, at higher energy scale, we present improved experimental data from four families of high-T{sub c} superconductors over a wide doping range that reveal a hierarchy of many-body interaction scales focused on: the low energy anomaly ('kink') of 0.03-0.09eV, a high energy anomaly of 0.3-0.5eV, and an anomalous enhancement of the width of the LDA-based CuO{sub 2} band extending to energies of {approx} 2 eV. Besides their universal behavior over the families, we find that all of these three dispersion anomalies also show clear doping dependence over the doping range presented.