Using the first principles band-structure method, we studied systematically the stability and electronic structure of CdX (X=S, Se, and Te) semiconductors with the zinc-blende (ZB) and wurtzite (WZ) crystal structures.

Three devices were fabricated from electrodeposited (ED) and electroless-deposited (EL) precursors. Compositions were adjusted with additional In and Ga by physical vapor deposition (PVD) for an ED and an EL device.

Using NMR, the concentrations of molecular hydrogen have been measured directly in hydrogenated amorphous silicon made by the hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) technique.

This paper contains a few representative results of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) survey of Ge surfaces after exposure to arsenic and phosphorous.

The porosity of the nanocrystalline semiconductor affects many aspects of the photoconversion process in dye-sensitzed solar cells, thus distinguishing them mechanistically from conventional photovoltaic and photoelectro-chemical cells. We discuss several examples from our recent work.

The FRAM Isotopics Analysis Code has been used to analyze plutonium spectra taken through very thick shielding. Three plutonium sources with 240Pu content of 6.6%, 9.7%, and 16.3% were measured with lead shielding thicknesses ranging from zero to 25.3 mm, in nominal increments of 1.6mm. Multiple spectra were taken for each sample at each shielding level, and the spectra were analyzed using FRAM V3.2. A new parameter set was developed to analyze spectra from zero to 25 mm lead. We will report on the accuracy capabilities of this parameter set.

Transport and hydrodynamical models used to describe the expansion stage of a heavy-ion collision at the CERN SPS give different dilepton spectrum even if they are tuned to reproduce the observed hadron spectra. To understand the origin of this difference we compare the dilepton emission from transport and hydrodynamical models using similar initial states in both models. We find that the requirement of pion number conservation in a hydrodynamical model does not change the dilepton emission. Also the mass distribution from the transport model indicates faster cooling and longer lifetime of the fireball.

The authors report on design considerations for a new inner vertex detector for the STAR experiment at RHIC. A brief description of the STAR experiment and motivation for a high resolution vertex detector are presented.

Preliminary designs of an intense heavy-ion beam transport experiment to test issues for Heavy Ion Fusion (HIF) are presented. This transport channel will represent a single high current density beam at full driver scale and will evaluate practical issues such as aperture filling factors, electrons, halo, imperfect vacuum, etc., that cannot be fully tested using scaled experiments. Various machine configurations are evaluated in the context of the range of physics and technology issues that can be explored in a manner relevant to a full scale driver. it is anticipated that results from this experiment will allow confident construction of next generation ''Integrated Research Experiments'' leading to a full scale driver for energy production.

I present a critical account of the final-state interaction (FSI) in two-body B decays from viewpoint of the hadron picture. I emphasize that the phase and the magnitude of decay amplitude are related to each other by a dispersion relation. In a model phase of FSI motivated by experiment, I illustrate how much the magnitude of amplitude can deviate from its factorization value by the FSI.

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{beta}-Carotene is a tetraterpenoid distributed widely throughout the plant kingdom. It is a member of a group of pigments referred to as carotenoids that have the distinction of serving as metabolic precursors to vitamin A in humans and many animals [1,2]. We used Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) [3] to determine the metabolic behavior of a physiologic oral dose of {beta}-[{sup 14}C]carotene (200 nanoCuries; 0.57 {micro}mol) in a healthy human subject. Serial blood specimens were collected for 210-d and complete urine and feces were collected for 17 and 10-d, respectively. Balance data indicated that the dose was 42% bioavailable. The absorbed {beta}-carotene was lost slowly via urine in accord with the slow body turnover of {beta}-carotene and vitamin A [4]. HPLC fractionation of plasma taken at early time points (0-24-h) showed the label was distributed between {beta}-carotene and retinyl esters (vitamin A) derived from intestinal metabolism.

A proprietary tritium loading bed developed by Molecular Separations, Inc (MSI) has been shown to selectively load tritiated water as waters of hydration at near ambient temperatures. Tests conducted with a 126 {micro}C{sub 1} tritium/liter water standard mixture showed reductions to 25 {micro}C{sub 1}/L utilizing two, 2-meter long columns in series. Demonstration tests with Hanford Site wastewater samples indicate an approximate tritium concentration reduction from 0.3 {micro}C{sub 1}/L to 0.07 {micro}C{sub 1}/L for a series of two, 2-meter long stationary column beds Further reduction to less than 0.02 {micro}C{sub 1}/L, the current drinking water maximum contaminant level (MCL), is projected with additional bed media in series. Tritium can be removed from the loaded beds with a modest temperature increase and the beds can be reused Results of initial tests are presented and a moving bed process for treating large quantities of wastewaters is proposed. The moving bed separation process appears promising to treat existing large quantities of wastewater at various US Department of Energy (DOE) sites. The enriched tritium stream can be grouted for waste disposition. The separations system has also been shown to reduce tritium concentrations in nuclear reactor cooling water to levels that allow reuse. Energy requirements to …

Radiotraction of six eastern red bats, six seminole bats and twenty-four evening bats to 55, 61, and 65 day roosts during 1996 to 1997 in the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina. For each species, testing was done for differences between used roost trees and randomly located trees. Also tested for differences between habitat characteristics surrounding roost trees and randomly located trees. Eastern Red and Seminole bats generally roosted in canopies of hardwood and pine while clinging to foilage and small branches. Evening bats roosted in cavities or under exfoliating bark in pines and dead snags. Forest management strategies named within the study should be beneficial for providing roosts in the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina.

It is reported that lattice imaging with a 300 kV field emission microscope in combination with numerical reconstruction procedures can be used to reach an interpretable resolution of about 80 pm for the first time. A retrieval of the electron exit wave from focal series allows for the resolution of single atomic columns of the light elements carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen at a projected nearest neighbor spacing down to 85 pm. Lens aberrations are corrected on-line during the experiment and by hardware such that resulting image distortions are below 80 pm. Consequently, the imaging can be aberration-free to this extent. The resolution enhancement results from increased electrical and mechanical stability's of the instrument coupled with a low spherical aberration coefficient of 0.595 + 0.005 mm.

We have evaluated the performance of two three dimensional reconstruction algorithms with data acquired from microPET, a high resolution tomograph dedicated to small animal imaging. The first was a linear filtered-backprojection algorithm (FBP) with reprojection of the missing data and the second was a statistical maximum-aposteriori probability algorithm (MAP). The two algorithms were evaluated in terms of their resolution performance, both in phantoms and in vivo. Sixty independent realizations of a phantom simulating the brain of a baby monkey were acquired, each containing 3 million counts. Each of these realizations was reconstructed independently with both algorithms. The ensemble of the sixty reconstructed realizations was used to estimate the standard deviation as a measure of the noise for each reconstruction algorithm. More detail was recovered in the MAP reconstruction without an increase in noise relative to FBP. Studies in a simple cylindrical compartment phantom demonstrated improved recovery of known activity ratios with MAP. Finally in vivo studies also demonstrated a clear improvement in spatial resolution using the MAP algorithm. The quantitative accuracy of the MAP reconstruction was also evaluated by comparison with autoradiography and direct well counting of tissue samples and was shown to be superior.

The CH2M HILL Hanford Group (CHG) conducts business to achieve the goals of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of River Protection at the Hanford Site. The CHG is organized to manage and perform work to safely store, retrieve, etc.

Photon absorption by a quark in one nucleon followed by its high-momentum transfer interaction with a quark in the other may produce two final-state nucleons with high relative momentum. We sum the relevant quark rescattering diagrams to show that the scattering amplitude depends on a convolution between the large angle p n scattering amplitude, the hard photon-quark interaction vertex, and the low-momentum deuteron wave function. The computed absolute values of the cross section are in reasonable agreement with the data.

A remote radiation mapping system using the Gammacam{trademark} (AIL Systems Inc. Trademark) with real-time response was used in deactivating the B Plant at Hanford to produce digitized images showing actual radiation fields and dose rates. Deployment of this technology has significantly reduced labor requirements, decreased personnel exposure, and increased the accuracy of the measurements. Personnel entries into the high radiation/contamination areas was minimized for a dose savings of 30 Rem (.3 Seivert) and a cost savings of $640K. In addition, the data gathered was utilized along with historical information to estimate the amount of remaining hazardous waste in the process cells. The B Plant facility is a canyon facility containing 40 process cells which were used to separate cesium and strontium from high level waste. The cells and vessels are contaminated with chemicals used in the separation and purification processes. Most of the contaminants have been removed but the residual contamination from spills in the cells and heels in the tanks contribute to the localized high radioactivity. The Gammacam{trademark} system consists of a high density terbium-activated scintillating glass detector coupled with a digitized video camera. Composite images generated by the system are presented in pseudo color over a black and …

Each facility is tasked with maintaining personnel radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). A continued effort is required to meet this goal by developing and implementing improvements to technical work documents (TWDs) and work performance. A review of selected TWDs from most facilities shows there is a need to incorporate more radiological control requirements into the TWD. The Radioactive Work Permit (RWP) provides a mechanism to place some of the requirements but does not provide all the information needed by the worker as he/she is accomplishing the steps of the TWD. Requiring the engineers, planners and procedure writers to put the radiological control requirements in the work steps would be very easy if all personnel had a strong background in radiological work planning and radiological controls. Unfortunately, many of these personnel do not have the background necessary to include these requirements without assistance by the Radiological Control organization at each facility. In addition, there seems to be confusion as to what should be and what should not be included in the TWD.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is redesigning its Computer-Based Training (CBT) program for radiological workers. The redesign represents a major effort to produce a single, highly interactive and flexible CBT program that will meet the training needs of a wide range of radiological workers--from researchers and x-ray operators to individuals working in tritium, uranium, plutonium, and accelerator facilities. The new CBT program addresses the broad diversity of backgrounds found at a national laboratory. When a training audience is homogeneous in terms of education level and type of work performed, it is difficult to duplicate the effectiveness of a flexible, technically competent instructor who can tailor a course to the express needs and concerns of a course's participants. Unfortunately, such homogeneity is rare. At LLNL, they have a diverse workforce engaged in a wide range of radiological activities, from the fairly common to the quite exotic. As a result, the Laboratory must offer a wide variety of radiological worker courses. These include a general contamination-control course in addition to radioactive-material-handling courses for both low-level laboratory (i.e., bench-top) activities as well as high-level work in tritium, uranium, and plutonium facilities. They also offer training courses for employees who work with radiation-generating devices--x-ray, …

Grain boundary network engineering is an emerging field that encompasses the concept that modifications to conventional thermomechanical processing can result in improved properties through the disruption of the random grain boundary network. Various researchers have reported a correlation between the grain boundary character distribution (defined as the fractions of special and random grain boundaries) and dramatic improvements in properties such as corrosion and stress corrosion cracking, creep, etc. While much early work in the field emphasized property improvements, the opportunity now exists to elucidate the underlying materials science of grain boundary network engineering. Recent investigations at LLNL have coupled automated electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to elucidate these fundamental mechanisms. This investigation provides evidence that grain boundary network engineering and the formation of annealing twins disrupt the connectivity of the random grain boundary network and is likely responsible for the experimentally observed improvement in properties. This work illustrates that coupling of automated EBSD with other microstructural probes such as TEM and AFM provides data of greater value than any single technique in isolation. The coupled techniques have been applied to aid in understanding the underlying mechanisms of grain boundary network engineering …

Astrophysics has traditionally been pursued at astronomical observatories and on theorists' computers. Observations record images from space, and theoretical models are developed to explain the observations. A component often missing has been the ability to test theories and models in an experimental setting where the initial and final states are well characterized. Intense lasers are now being used to recreate aspects of astrophysical phenomena in the laboratory, allowing the creation of experimental testbeds where theory and modeling can be quantitatively tested against data. We describe here several areas of astrophysics--supernovae, supernova remnants, gamma-ray bursts, and giant planets--where laser experiments are under development to test our understanding of these phenomena.

In this paper, we compare the effectiveness of three preconditioning strategies in simulations of variably saturated flow. Using Richards' equation as our model, we solve the nonlinear system using a Newton-Krylov method. Since Krylov solvers can stagnate, resulting in slow convergence, we investigate different strategies of preconditioning the Jacobian system. Our work uses a multigrid method to solve the preconditioning systems, with three different approximations to the Jacobian matrix. One approximation lags the nonlinearities, the second results from discarding selected off-diagonal contributions, and the third matrix considered is the full Jacobian. Results indicate that although the Jacobian is more accurate, its usage as a preconditioning matrix should be limited, as it requires much more storage than the simpler approximations. Also, simply lagging the nonlinearities gives a preconditioning matrix that is almost as effective as the full Jacobian but much easier to compute.