We have systematically studied the thermodynamic stabilities of various phases of the nitrides of the platinum metal elements using density functional theory. We show that for the nitrides of Rh, Pd, Ir and Pt two new crystal structures, in which the metal ions occupy simple tetragonal lattice sites, have lower formation enthalpies at ambient conditions than any previously proposed structures. The region of stability can extend up to 17 GPa for PtN{sub 2}. Furthermore, we show that according to calculations using the local density approximation, these new compounds are also thermodynamically stable at ambient pressure and thus may be the ground state phases for these materials. We further discuss the fact that the local density and generalized gradient approximations predict different values of the absolute formation enthalpies as well different relative stabilities between simple tetragonal and the pyrite or marcasite structures.

A typical optical fabrication process involves a series of basic process steps including: (1) shaping, (2) grinding, (3) polishing, and sometimes (4) sub-aperture tool finishing. With significant innovation and development over the years in both the front end (shaping using CNC machines) and the back end (sup-aperture tool polishing), these processes have become much more deterministic. However, the intermediate stages (full aperture grinding/polishing) in the process, which can be very time consuming, still have much reliance on the optician's insight to get to the desired surface figure. Such processes are not presently very deterministic (i.e. require multiple iterations to get desired figure). The ability to deterministically finish an optical surface using a full aperture grinding/polishing will aid optical glass fabricators to achieve desired figure in a more repeatable, less iterative, and more economical manner. Developing a scientific understanding of the material removal rate is a critical step in accomplishing this. In the present study, the surface figure and material removal rate of a fused silica workpiece is measured as a function of polishing time using Ceria based slurry on a polyurethane pad or pitch lap under a variety of kinematic conditions (motion of the workpiece and lap) and loading configurations. …

In this lecture we presented a methodology to obtain free energies from empirical potentials and applied it to the study of the phase diagram of FeCr. Subsequently, we used Metropolis Monte Carlo to analyze homogeneous and heterogeneous precipitation of the Cr rich solid solution {alpha}{prime}. These examples are part of our work in the area of steels for nuclear applications and can be found in several publications of our group cited as References.

A micromechanical model is developed for grain bridging inmonolithic ceramics. Specifically, bridge formation of a single,non-equiaxed grain spanning adjacent grains is addressed. A cohesive zoneframework enables crack initiation and propagation along grainboundaries. The evolution of the bridge is investigated through avariance in both grain angle and aspect ratio. We propose that thebridging process can be partitioned into five distinct regimes ofresistance: propagate, kink, arrest, stall, and bridge. Although crackpropagation and kinking are well understood, crack arrest and subsequent"stall" have been largely overlooked. Resistance during the stall regimeexposes large volumes of microstructure to stresses well in excess of thegrain boundary strength. Bridging can occur through continued propagationor reinitiation ahead of the stalled crack tip. The driving forcerequired to reinitiate is substantially greater than the driving forcerequired to kink. In addition, the critical driving force to reinitiateis sensitive to grain aspect ratio but relatively insensitive to grainangle. The marked increase in crack resistance occurs prior to bridgeformation and provides an interpretation for the rapidly risingresistance curves which govern the strength of many brittle materials atrealistically small flaw sizes.

If the collisional time scale for Coulomb collisions is comparable to the characteristic time scales for a plasma, then simulation of Coulomb collisions may be important for computation of kinetic plasma dynamics. This can be a computational bottleneck because of the large number of simulated particles and collisions (or phase-space resolution requirements in continuum algorithms), as well as the wide range of collision rates over the velocity distribution function. This paper considers Monte Carlo simulation of Coulomb collisions using the binary collision models of Takizuka & Abe and Nanbu. It presents a hybrid method for accelerating the computation of Coulomb collisions. The hybrid method represents the velocity distribution function as a combination of a thermal component (a Maxwellian distribution) and a kinetic component (a set of discrete particles). Collisions between particles from the thermal component preserve the Maxwellian; collisions between particles from the kinetic component are performed using the method of or Nanbu. Collisions between the kinetic and thermal components are performed by sampling a particle from the thermal component and selecting a particle from the kinetic component. Particles are also transferred between the two components according to thermalization and dethermalization probabilities, which are functions of phase space.

Major improvements in models of chemically peculiar stars have been achieved in the past few years. With these new models it has been possible to test quantitatively some of the processes involved in the formation of abundance anomalies and their effect on stellar structure. The models of metallic A (Am) stars have shown that a much deeper mixing has to be present to account for observed abundance anomalies. This has implications on their variability, which these models also reproduce qualitatively. These models also have implications for other chemically inhomogeneous stars such as HgMn B stars which are not known to be variable and {lambda} Booetis stars which can be. The study of the variability of chemically inhomogeneous stars can provide unique information on the dynamic processes occurring in many types of stars in addition to modeling of the evolution of their surface composition.

A Lower Hybrid Current Drive (LHCD) system has been installed on the Alcator C-MOD tokamak at MIT. Twelve klystrons at 4.6 GHz feed a 4x22 waveguide array. This system was designed for maximum flexibility in the launched parallel wave-number spectrum. This flexibility allows tailoring of the lower hybrid deposition under a variety of plasma conditions. Power levels up to 900 kW have been injected into the tokomak. The parallel wave number has been varied over a wide range, n|| ~ 1.6–4. Driven currents have been inferred from magnetic measurements by extrapolating to zero loop voltage and by direct comparison to Fisch-Karney theory, yielding an efficiency of n20IR/P ~ 0.3. Modeling using the CQL3D code supports these efficiencies. Sawtooth oscillations vanish, accompanied with peaking of the electron temperature (Te0 rises from 2.8 to 3.8 keV). Central q is inferred to rise above unity from the collapse of the sawtooth inversion radius, indicating off-axis cd as expected. Measurements of non-thermal x-ray and electron cyclotron emission confirm the presence of a significant fast electron population that varies with phase and plasma density. The x-ray emission is observed to be radialy broader than that predicted by simple ray tracing codes. Possible explanations for this …

Diagnosis and management of dust inventories generated in next-step magnetic fusion devices is necessary for their safe operation. A novel electrostatic dust detector, based on a fine grid of interlocking circuit traces biased to 30 or 50 ν has been developed for the detection of dust particles on remote surfaces in air and vacuum environments. Impinging dust particles create a temporary short circuit and the resulting current pulse is recorded by counting electronics. Up to 90% of the particles are ejected from the grid or vaporized suggesting the device may be useful for controlling dust inventories. We report measurements of the sensitivity of a large area (5x5 cm) detector to microgram quantities of dust particles and review its applications to contemporary tokamaks and ITER.

We present the design and experimental progress on the diamond secondary emitter as an electron source for high average power injectors. The design criteria for average currents up to 1 A and charge up to 20 nC are established. Secondary Electron Yield (SEY) exceeding 200 in transmission mode and 50 in emission mode have been measured. Preliminary results on the design and fabrication of the self contained capsule with primary electron source and secondary electron emitter will also be presented.

Alloy 22 (N06022) is highly resistant to localized corrosion. Alloy 22 may be susceptible to crevice corrosion in pure chloride (Cl{sup -}) solutions under aggressive environmental conditions. The effect of the fluoride (F{sup -}) over the crevice corrosion induced by chloride ions is still not well established. The objective of the present work was to explore the crevice corrosion resistance of this alloy to different mixtures of fluorides and chlorides. Cyclic potentiodynamic polarization (CPP) tests were conducted in deaerated aqueous solutions of pure halide ions and also in different mixtures of chloride and fluoride at 90 C and pH 6. The range of chloride concentration [Cl{sup -}] was 0.001 M {le} [Cl{sup -}] {le} 1 M and the range of molar fluoride to chloride ratio [F{sup -}]/[Cl{sup -}] was 0.1 {le} [F{sup -}]/[Cl{sup -}] {le} 10. Results showed that Alloy 22 was susceptible to crevice corrosion in all the pure chloride solutions but not in the pure fluoride solutions. Fluoride ions showed an inhibitor behavior only in mixtures with a molar ratio [F{sup -}]/[Cl{sup -}] > 2. For mixtures with a molar ratio [F{sup -}]/[Cl{sup -}] of 7 and 10 the inhibition of crevice corrosion was complete.

We present the results of our investigation of lead and niobium as suitable photocathode materials for superconducting RF injectors. Quantum efficiencies (QE) have been measured for a range of incident photon energies and a variety of cathode preparation methods, including various lead plating techniques on a niobium substrate. The effects of operating at ambient and cryogenic temperatures and different vacuum levels on the cathode QE have also been studied.

Age is one of the most important risk factors for human malignancies, including breast cancer; in addition, age-at-diagnosis has been shown to be an independent indicator of breast cancer prognosis. However, except for inherited forms of breast cancer, there is little genetic or epigenetic understanding of the biological basis linking aging with sporadic breast cancer incidence and its clinical behavior.

This paper shows that the energy requirements for today's typical efficient window products (i.e. ENERGY STAR{trademark} products) are significant when compared to the needs of Zero Energy Homes (ZEHs). Through the use of whole house energy modeling, typical efficient products are evaluated in five US climates and compared against the requirements for ZEHs. Products which meet these needs are defined as a function of climate. In heating dominated climates, windows with U-factors of 0.10 Btu/hr-ft{sup 2}-F (0.57 W/m{sup 2}-K) will become energy neutral. In mixed heating/cooling climates a low U-factor is not as significant as the ability to modulate from high SHGCs (heating season) to low SHGCs (cooling season).

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A search for charmonium and other new states is performed in a study of exclusive initial-state-radiation production of D{bar D} events from electron-positron annihilations at a center-of-mass energy of 10.58 GeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 384 fb{sup -1} and was recorded by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II storage ring. The D{bar D} mass spectrum shows clear evidence of the {psi}(3770) plus other structures near 3.9, 4.1, and 4.4 GeV/c2. No evidence for Y (4260) {yields} D{bar D} is observed, leading to an upper limit of {Beta}(Y (4260) {yields} D{bar D})/{Beta}(Y (4260) {yields} J/{psi}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}) < 1.0 at 90% confidence level.

Purpose. This study was designed to elucidate the role of amplification at 8q24 in the pathophysiology of ovarian and breast cancer since increased copy number at this locus is one of the most frequent genomic abnormalities in these cancers. Experimental Design. To accomplish this, we assessed the association of amplification at 8q24 with outcome in ovarian cancers using FISH to tissue microarrays and measured responses of ovarian and breast cancer cell lines to specific small interfering RNAs (siRNA) against the oncogene, MYC, and a putative noncoding RNA, PVT1, both of which map to 8q24. Results. Amplification of 8q24 was associated with significantly reduced survival duration. In addition, siRNA-mediated reduction in either PVT1 or MYC expression inhibited proliferation in breast and ovarian cancer cell lines in which they were both amplified and over expressed but not in lines in which they were not amplified/over expressed. Inhibition of PVT1 expression also induced a strong apoptotic response in cell lines in which it was over expressed but not in lines in which it was not amplified/over expressed. Inhibition of MYC, on the other hand, did not induce an apoptotic response in cell lines in which MYC was amplified and over expressed. Conclusions. These …

We discuss the contribution of kiloparsec-scale jets in FR I radio galaxies to the diffuse {gamma}-ray background radiation. The analyzed {gamma}-ray emission comes from inverse-Compton scattering of starlight photon fields by the ultrarelativistic electrons whose synchrotron radiation is detected from such sources at radio, optical and X-ray energies. We find that these objects, under the minimum-power hypothesis (corresponding to a magnetic field of 300 {micro}G in the brightest knots of these jets), can contribute about one percent to the extragalactic {gamma}-ray background measured by EGRET. We point out that this result already indicates that the magnetic fields in kpc-scale jets of low-power radio galaxies are not likely to be smaller than 10 {micro}G on average, as otherwise the extragalactic {gamma}-ray background would be overproduced.

The resistance of Alloy 22 (N06022) to localized corrosion, mainly crevice corrosion, has been extensively investigated in the last few years. The effect of influencing variables such as temperature, applied potential, chloride concentration and nitrate inhibitor concentration have been addressed previously. At this time, it was important to address the effect an oxide film or scale that forms during the high temperature annealing process or solution heat treatment (SHT) and its subsequent water quenching. Electrochemical tests such as cyclic potentiodynamic polarization (CPP) have been carried out to determine the repassivation potential for localized corrosion and to assess the mode of attack on the specimens. Tests have been carried out in parallel using mill annealed (MA) specimens free from oxide on the surface. The comparative testing was carried out in six different electrolyte solutions at temperatures ranging from 60 to 100 C. Results show that the repassivation potential of the specimens containing the black anneal oxide film on the surface was practically the same as the repassivation potential for oxide-free specimens.

Caustic environments are present in several industries, from nuclear power generation to the fabrication of alkalis and alumina. The most common material of construction is carbon steel but its application is limited to a maximum temperature of approximately 80 C. The use of Nickel (Ni) alloys is recommended at higher temperatures. Commercially pure Ni is the most resistant material for caustic applications both from the general corrosion and the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) perspectives. Nickel rich alloys also offer a good performance. The most important alloying elements are Ni and chromium (Cr). Molybdenum (Mo) is not a beneficial alloying element and it dissolves preferentially from the alloy in presence of caustic environments. Austenitic stainless steels such as type 304 and 316 seem less resistant to caustic conditions than even plain carbon steel. Experimental evidence shows that the most likely mechanism for SCC is anodic dissolution.

In this paper, we investigated the effects of substrate creep on the fatigue behavior of a model dental multilayer structure, in which a top glass layer was bonded to a polycarbonate substrate through a dental adhesive. The top glass layers were ground using 120 grit or 600 grit sand papers before bonding to create different sub-surface crack sizes and morphologies. The multilayer structures were tested under cyclic Hertzian contact loading to study crack growth and obtain fatigue life curves. The experiment results showed that the fatigue lives of the multilayer structures were impaired by increasing crack sizes in the sub-surfaces. They were also significantly reduced by the substrate creep when tested at relatively low load levels i.e. P{sub m} < 60 N (Pm is the maximum magnitude of cyclic load). But at relatively high load levels i.e. P{sub m} > 65 N, slow crack growth (SCG) was the major failure mechanisms. A modeling study was then carried out to explore the possible failure mechanisms over a range of load levels. It is found that fatigue life at relatively low load levels can be better estimated by considering the substrate creep effect (SCE).

The report describes the present design of the ILC Main Linac lattice. The topics covered include basic element layout, optical functions, and issues centered around the linac following of the Earth's curvature.

The far scrape-off layer (SOL) radial transport and plasma-wall contact is mediated by intermittent and ELM-driven transport. Experiments to characterize the intermittent transport and ELMs have been performed in both DIII-D and NSTX under similar conditions. Both intermittent transport and ELMs are comprised of filaments of hot, dense plasma (n{sub e} {approx} 1 x 10{sup 13} cm{sup -3}, T{sub e} {approx} 400 eV) originating at the edge, transport both particles and heat into the SOL by convection, increasing wall interaction and causing sputtering and impurity release. Both intermittent filaments and ELMs leave the pedestal region at speeds of {approx}0.5-3 km/s, losing heat and particles by parallel transport as they travel through the SOL. The intermittency shows many similarities in NSTX and DIII-D, featuring similar size (2-5 cm), large convective radial velocity, ''holes'' inside and peaks outside the LCFS which quickly decay and slow down with radius. Whereas in DIII-D the intermittency decays in both intensity and frequency in H-mode, it chiefly decays in frequency in NSTX. In the low collisionality (v* = {pi}R{sub q{sub 95}}/{lambda}C) (v* {approx} 0.1, N{sub G} {approx} 0.3) case, the ELMs impact the walls quite directly and account for {approx}90% of the wall particle flux, decreasing …

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 umerical 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 two different microscopes apable of diffraction-limited resolution: the first microscope is coupled to a synchrotron source and utilizes a single point detector, whereas the second microscope has a standard blackbody source and uses a focal planetarray (FPA) detector.

Li and 3IP NMR experiments were conducted on a series of single- or two-phase samples in the LiFePCvFePCM system with different overall lithium contents, and containing the two end-members and/or two metastable solid solution hases, Lio.6FeP04 or Lio.34FeP04. These experiments were carried out at different temperatures in order to search for vacancy/charge ordering and ion/electron mobility in the metastable phases. Evidence for Li+-Fe2+ interactions was bserved for both Lio.6FeP04 and Lio.34FePC>4. The strength of this interaction leads to the formation of LiFePCvlike clusters in the latter, as shown by the room temperature data. Different motional processes are proposed to exist as the temperature is increased and various scenarios are discussed. While concerted lithium-electron hopping and/or correlations explains the data below 125C, evidence for some uncorrelated motion is found at higher temperatures, together with the onset of phase mixing.