This paper examines several multi-model combination techniques: the Simple Multi-model Average (SMA), the Multi-Model Super Ensemble (MMSE), Modified Multi-Model Super Ensemble (M3SE) and the Weighted Average Method (WAM). These model combination techniques were evaluated using the results from the Distributed Model Intercomparison Project (DMIP), an international project sponsored by the National Weather Service (NWS) Office of Hydrologic Development (OHD). All of the multi-model combination results were obtained using uncalibrated DMIP model outputs and were compared against the best uncalibrated as well as the best calibrated individual model results. The purpose of this study is to understand how different combination techniques affect the skill levels of the multi-model predictions. This study revealed that the multi-model predictions obtained from uncalibrated single model predictions are generally better than any single member model predictions, even the best calibrated single model predictions. Furthermore, more sophisticated multi-model combination techniques that incorporated bias correction steps work better than simple multi-model average predictions or multi-model predictions without bias correction.

It has been established that microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) created from polycrystalline silicon thin-films are subject to cyclic fatigue. Prior work by the authors has suggested that although bulk silicon is not susceptible to fatigue failure in ambient air, fatigue in micron-scale silicon is a result of a ''reaction-layer'' process, whereby high stresses induce a thickening of the post-release oxide at stress concentrations such as notches, which subsequently undergoes moisture-assisted cracking. However, there exists some controversy regarding the post-release oxide thickness of the samples used in the prior study. In this Letter, we present data from devices from a more recent fabrication run that confirm our prior observations. Additionally, new data from tests in high vacuum show that these devices do not fatigue when oxidation and moisture are suppressed. Each of these observations lends credence to the '''reaction-layer'' mechanism. Recent advances in the design of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have increased the demand for more reliable microscale structures. Although silicon is an effective and widely used structural material at the microscale, it is very brittle. Consequently, reliability is a limiting factor for commercial and defense applications. Since the surface to volume ratio of these structural films is very large, classical models for …

The authors present a Dalitz-plot analysis of charmless B{sup {+-}} decays to the final state {pi}{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup {-+}} using 210 fb{sup -1} of data recorded by the BABAR experiment at {radical}s = 10.58 GeV. We measure the branching fractions {Beta}(B{sup {+-}} {yields} {pi}{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup {-+}}) = (16.2 {+-} 1.2 {+-} 0.9) x 10{sup -6} and {Beta}(B{sup {+-}} {yields} {rho}{sup 0}(770){pi}{sup {+-}}) = (8.8 {+-} 1.0 {+-} 0.6{sub -0.7}{sup +0.1}) x 10{sup -6}. Measurements of branching fractions for the quasi-two-body decays B{sup {+-}} {yields} {rho}{sup 0}(1450){pi}{sup {+-}}, B{sup {+-}} {yields} f{sub 0}(980){pi}{sup {+-}} and B{sup {+-}} f{sub 2}(1270){pi}{sup {+-}} are also presented. They observe no charge asymmetries for the above modes, and there is no evidence for the decays B{sup {+-}} {yields} {chi}{sub c0}{pi}{sup {+-}}, B{sup {+-}} {yields} f{sub 0}(1370){pi}{sup {+-}} and B{sup {+-}} {yields} {sigma}{pi}{sup {+-}}.

We document the discovery of two generating functions forzeta(2n+2), analogous to earlier work for zeta(2n+1) and zeta(4n+3),initiated by Koecher and pursued further by Borwein, Bradley andothers.

A responsibility of the Laser Safety Officer (LSO) is to perform laser safety audits. The American National Standard Z136.1 Safe use of Lasers references this requirement in several sections: (1) Section 1.3.2 LSO Specific Responsibilities states under Hazard Evaluation, ''The LSO shall be responsible for hazards evaluation of laser work areas''; (2) Section 1.3.2.8, Safety Features Audits, ''The LSO shall ensure that the safety features of the laser installation facilities and laser equipment are audited periodically to assure proper operation''; and (3) Appendix D, under Survey and Inspections, it states, ''the LSO will survey by inspection, as considered necessary, all areas where laser equipment is used''. Therefore, for facilities using Class 3B and or Class 4 lasers, audits for laser safety compliance are expected to be conducted. The composition, frequency and rigueur of that inspection/audit rests in the hands of the LSO. A common practice for institutions is to develop laser audit checklists or survey forms. In many institutions, a sole Laser Safety Officer (LSO) or a number of Deputy LSO's perform these audits. For that matter, there are institutions that request users to perform a self-assessment audit. Many items on the common audit list and the associated findings are …

Basic laser safety training at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is provided through a multiple module web-based course. The web-based course presents a wide and detailed review of laser safety topics including: biological effects, laser protective eyewear, fiber optic laser use, control measures, and more. It opens with a re-enactment of a laser accident. While supportive of this web-based course and actively involved in its development, the NIF Directorate has developed a classroom presentation adjunct to the course for laser users working in NIF. This author considers the LLNL web-based laser safety course to be one of, if not the best, such course available. Still, experience has shown that a ''lessons learned program'' is a great re-enforcer of laser safety. What-is-more, the laser lessons learned class provides important ''face-to-face'' interactions and discussion. The object of the ''laser lessons learned course'' is not to repeat the web course but present laser related lessons learned to the staff. In this author's opinion, lessons learned is the strongest safety re-enforcement one can present to the laser user community. For example, it can show how a practice that might be common to laser users can lead to a dramatic injury and a programmatic long-term …

A 3 GeV Synchrotron Radiation Source is being built in Melbourne, Australia. Commissioning is foreseen in 2006. The Storage ring has a circumference of 216 m and has a 14 fold DBA structure. For the storage ring the following magnets will be installed: 28 dipoles with a field of 1.3 T, and a gradient of 3.35 T/m; 56 quadrupoles with a gradient of 18 T/m and 28 with a gradient of 10 T/m; 56 sextupoles with a strength of B'' = 350 T/m and 42 with 150 T/m. The sextupoles are equipped with additional coils for horizontal and vertical steering and for a skew quadrupole. The pole profile was determined by scaling the pole profile of the SPEAR magnets [1] to the aperture of the ASP magnets. The magnets are to be supplied by Buckley Systems Ltd in Auckland, New Zealand.

We report on experimental results from the December 2003/January 2004 data run of the Feedback On Nanosecond Timescales (FONT) experiment at the Next Linear Collider Test Accelerator at SLAC. We built a second-generation prototype intra-train beam-based feedback system incorporating beam position monitors, fast analogue signal processors, a feedback circuit, fast-risetime amplifiers and stripline kickers. We applied a novel real-time charge-normalization scheme to account for beam current variations along the train. We used the system to correct the position of the 170-nanosecond-long bunchtrain at NLCTA. We achieved a latency of 53 nanoseconds, representing a significant improvement on FONT1 (2002), and providing a demonstration of intra-train feedback for the Linear Collider.

We discuss the motivation, theory, and formulation of the ab initio No-Core Shell Model (NCSM). In this method the effective Hamiltonians are derived microscopically from realistic nucleon-nucleon (NN) and theoretical three-nucleon (NNN) potentials, as a function of the finite harmonic-oscillator (HO) basis space. We present converged results for the A = 3 and 4 nucleon systems, which are in agreement with results obtained by other exact methods, followed by results for p-shell nuclei. Binding energies, rms radii, excitation spectra, and electromagnetic properties are discussed.The favorable comparison with available data is a consequence of the underlying NN and NNN interactions rather than a phenomenological fit.

None

A large number of partial {gamma}-ray cross sections produced in neutron-induced reactions with neutrons in the energy range 1 < E{sub n}(MeV) < 200 have been measured over the past eight years. Partial {gamma}-ray cross sections are measured as a function of incident neutron energy using the time-of-flight technique. Reaction channel cross sections were deduced from these measurements with the aid of nuclear modeling. Enabling facilities are the intense 'white' source of neutrons at the LANSCE/WNR 60R 20-meter flight path, and the precision {gamma}-ray spectrometry of the Compton-suppressed Ge detector array GEANIE. The first focus of the measurements was on the {sup 239}Pu(n,2n) cross section, followed by a series of other experiments on nuclei throughout the periodic table, with an emphasis on neutron-fluence activation detectors (or 'RadChem detectors'). Representative measurements will be presented, along with the techniques. Experiments in progress and future plans are mentioned.

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) free electron laser employs an RF photocathode gun that yields a 1nC bunch a few picoseconds long, which must be further compressed to yield the high current required for Self Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE) gain. The electron beam from the RF photocathode gun is quite sensitive to microbunching instabilities such as coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) in the compressor chicanes and longitudinal space charge (LSC) in the linac. These effects can be Landau damped by adding energy spread to the electron bunch prior to compression. They propose to do this by co-propagating an infrared laser beam with the electron bunch in an undulator in the LCLS injector beamline. The undulator is placed in a four bend magnet chicane to allow the Ir laser beam to propagate colinearly with the e-beam while it oscillates in the undulator. The IR laser beam is derived from the photocathode gun drive laser, so the two beams are synchronized. Simulations presented elsewhere in these proceedings show that the laser interaction damps the microbunching instabilities to a very great extent. This paper is a description of the design of the laser heater.

A model of random polycrystals of porous laminates is introduced to provide a means for studying geomechanical properties of double-porosity reservoirs. Calculations on the resulting earth reservoir model can proceed semi-analytically for studies of either the poroelastic or transport coefficients. Rigorous bounds of the Hashin-Shtrikman type provide estimates of overall bulk and shear moduli, and thereby also provide rigorous error estimates for geomechanical constants obtained from up-scaling based on a self-consistent effective medium method. The influence of hidden (or presumed unknown) microstructure on the final results can then be evaluated quantitatively. Detailed descriptions of the use of the model and some numerical examples showing typical results for the double-porosity poroelastic coefficients of a heterogeneous reservoir are presented.

The growth of titanium oxide nanoparticles on reconstructed Au(111) surfaces was investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Ti was deposited by physical vapor deposition at 300 K. Regular arrays of titanium nanoparticles form by preferential nucleation of Ti at the elbow sites of the herringbone reconstruction. Titanium oxide clusters were synthesized by subsequent exposure to O{sub 2} at 300 K. Two- and three-dimensional titanium oxide nanocrystallites form during annealing in the temperature range from 600 to 900 K. At the same time, the Au(111) surface assumes a serrated, <110> oriented step-edge morphology, suggesting step-edge pinning by titanium oxide nanoparticles. The oxidation state of these titanium oxide nanoparticles varies with annealing temperature. Specifically, annealing to 900 K results in the formation of stoichiometric TiO{sub 2} nanocrystals as judged by the observed XPS binding energies. Nano-dispersed TiO{sub 2} on Au(111) is an ideal system to test the various models explaining the enhanced catalytic reactivity of supported Au nanoparticles.

None

In Asia and North America research and development on a linear collider detector has followed complementary paths to that in Europe. Among the developments in the US has been the conception of a detector built around silicon tracking, which relies heavily on a pixel (CCD) vertex detector, and employs a silicon tungsten calorimeter. Since this detector is quite different from the TESLA detector, we describe it here, along with some of the sub-system specific R&D in these regions.

Molecular dynamics simulations of nanocrystalline (nc) copper under shock loading show an unexpected ultra-high strength behind the shock front. The strength at high pressure can be up to twice the value at low pressure, for all grain sizes studied here (5-50 nm grains, with up to {approx}4 10{sup 8} atoms). Partial and perfect dislocations, twinning, and debris from dislocation interactions are found behind the shock front. Results are interpreted in terms of the pressure dependence of both deformation mechanisms active at these grain sizes, namely dislocation plasticity and grain boundary sliding. These simulations, together with new shock experiments on nc nickel, raise the possibility of achieving ultra-hard materials during and after shock loading.

Using resonant magnetic perturbations with toroidal mode number n = 3, we have produced H-mode discharges without edge localized modes (ELMs) which run with constant density and radiated power for periods up to about 2550 ms (17 energy confinement times). These ELM suppression results are achieved at pedestal collisionalities close to those desired for next step burning plasma experiments such as ITER and provide a means of eliminating the rapid erosion of divertor components in such machines which could be caused by giant ELMs. The ELM suppression is due to an enhancement in the edge particle transport which reduces the edge pressure gradient and pedestal current density below the threshold for peeling-ballooning modes. These n = 3 magnetic perturbations provide a means of active control of edge plasma transport.

Within the scope of the Accelerator Driven System (ADS) concept for nuclear waste management applications, the burnup uncertainty estimates due to uncertainty in the activation cross sections (XSs) are important regarding both the safety and the efficiency of the waste burning process. We have applied both sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo methodology to actinides burnup calculations in a lead-bismuth cooled subcritical ADS. The sensitivity analysis is used to identify the reaction XSs and the dominant chains that contribute most significantly to the uncertainty. The Monte Carlo methodology gives the burnup uncertainty estimates due to the synergetic/global effect of the complete set of XS uncertainties. These uncertainty estimates are valuable to assess the need of any experimental or systematic reevaluation of some uncertainty XSs for ADS.

For simulating the strong-strong beam-beam effect, using Particle-In-Cell codes has become one of the methods of choice. While the two-dimensional problem is readily treatable using PC-class machines, the three-dimensional problem, i.e., a problem encompassing hourglass and phase-averaging effects, requires the use of parallel processors. In this paper, we introduce a strong-strong code NIMZOVICH, which was specifically designed for parallel processors and which is optimally used for many bunches and parasitic crossings. We describe the parallelization scheme and give some benchmarking results.

An aberration monitoring technique based on lateral shifts of two-wave interference patterns in centrally obscured optical systems is presented, and simulations are used to evaluate the performance of such a technique. The technique is being explored as a convenient means for monitoring the aberration level in the 0.3-NA Micro Exposure Tool (MET) optic over time. A binary mask was designed for observing phase differences across the MET optic on cut-lines at 0, 45, 90 and 135 degrees across the pupil. The mask consists of 5 line-and space patterns in a dark field that measure the side-to-side phase difference across the pupil at 7 equally spaced radial points extending from 35% to 95% of the pupil radius. For near on-axis illumination the blockage of the zero-order creates a two-wave, interferometric pattern at the wafer with half of the period expected under normal imaging conditions. The optical path difference between the two orders produces an image shift of one full period of the (frequency doubled) interference pattern per 360 degrees of side-to-side path difference. Shifts on the order of 5 to 20 nm are expected and are measured using a reference target of an array of 5 medium sized dots. Aerial image …

Chemically amplified resists depend upon the post-exposure bake (PEB) process to drive the deprotection reactions (in positive resists) that lead to proper resist development. For this reason they often exhibit critical dimension (CD) sensitivity to PEB temperature variation. In this work the effects of variation in different aspects of the PEB step on post-develop CD are studied for two extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photoresists. The spatial and temporal temperature uniformity of the PEB plate is measured using a wireless sensor wafer. Programmed variations in the bake plate temperature set point are then used to measure the CD sensitivity to steady state temperature variation. In addition, the initial temperature ramp time is modified using a thin sheet of polyimide film between the wafer and the bake plate. This allows for measurement of the CD sensitivity to transient temperature variation. Finally, the bake time is adjusted to measure the CD sensitivity to this parameter.

Although extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography offers the possibility of very high-resolution patterning, the projection optics must be of extremely high quality in order to meet this potential. One key metric of the projection optic quality is the contrast transfer function (CTF), which is a measure of the aerial image contrast as a function of pitch. A static microfield exposure tool based on the 0.3-NA MET optic and operating at a wavelength of 13.5 nm has been installed at the Advanced Light Source, a synchrotron facility at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This tool provides a platform for a wide variety of research into EUV lithography. In this work we present resist-based measurements of the contrast transfer function for the MET optic. These measurements are based upon line/space patterns printed in several different EUV photoresists. The experimental results are compared with the CTF in aerial-image simulations using the aberrations measured in the projection optic using interferometry. In addition, the CTF measurements are conducted for both bright-field and dark-field mask patterns. Finally, the orientation dependence of the CTF is measured in order to evaluate the effect of non-rotationally symmetric lens aberrations. These measurements provide valuable information in interpreting the results of other …

The highly consistent gene order and axial colinear expression patterns found in vertebrate hox gene clusters are less well conserved across the rest of bilaterians. We report the first deuterostome instance of an intact hox cluster with a unique gene order where the paralog groups are not expressed in a sequential manner. The finished sequence from BAC clones from the genome of the sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, reveals a gene order wherein the anterior genes (Hox1, Hox2 and Hox3) lie nearest the posterior genes in the cluster such that the most 3 gene is Hox5. (The gene order is : 5-Hox1, 2, 3, 11/13c, 11/13b, 11/13a, 9/10, 8, 7, 6, 5 - 3). The finished sequence result is corroborated by restriction mapping evidence and BAC-end scaffold analyses. Comparisons with a putative ancestral deuterostome Hox gene cluster suggest that the rearrangements leading to the sea urchin gene order were many and complex.