indicates that 2|Vub / Vcb/ Vus| = (1-z) with z given by z = 0.19 +(-) 0.14. This fact implies that irrespective of the form of the quark Yukawa matrices, the measured value of the SM CP phase beta is approximately the maximum allowed by the measured absolute values of the CKM elements. This is beta = pi/6 - z/sqrt{3} for gamma = pi/3 + z/sqrt{3}, which implies alpha = pi/2. Alternatively, assuming that beta is exactly maximal and using the experimental measurement, sin(2beta) = 0.726+(-) 0.037, the phase gamma is predicted to be gamma = pi/2 - beta = 66.3 +(-) 1.7. The maximality of beta, if confirmed by the near-future experiments, may give us some clues as to the origin of CP violation.

Using a glancing synchrotron X-ray beam (Advanced Photon Source, Beamline 12BM, Argonne National Laboratory), Debye-Scherrer diffraction patterns from thermally grown oxides on NiAl samples were recorded during oxidation at 1000 or 1100 C in air. The diffraction patterns were analyzed to determine strain and phase changes in the oxide scale as it developed and evolved. Strain was obtained from measurements of the elliptical distortion of the Debye-Scherrer rings, where data from several rings of a single phase were used. Results were obtained from {alpha}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} as well as from the transition alumina, in this case {theta}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, which formed during the early stage. Compressive stress was found in the first-formed transition alumina, but the initial stress in {alpha}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} was tensile, with a magnitude high enough to cause Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} fracture. New {alpha}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} patches nucleated at the scale/alloy interface and spread laterally and upward. This transformation not only puts the alpha alumina in tension, but can also cause the transition alumina to be in tension. After a complete {alpha}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layer formed at the interface, the strain level in {alpha}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} became compressive, reaching a steady state level around -75 MPa at …

The effects of harvest-created canopy gaps in bottomland hardwood forests on arthropod abundance and, hence, the foraging ecology of birds are poorly understood. I predicted that arthropod abundance would be high near edges of group-selection harvest gaps and lower in the surrounding forest, and that male Hooded Warblers (Wilsonia citrina) foraging near gaps would find more prey per unit time than those foraging in the surrounding forest. In fact, arthropod abundance was greater >100 m from a gap edge than at 0-30 m or 30-100 m from an edge, due to their abundance on switchcane (Arundinaria gigantea); arthropods did not differ in abundance among distances from gaps on oaks (Quercus spp.) or red maple (Acer rubrum). Similarly, Hooded Warbler foraging attack rates were not higher near gap edges: when foraging for fledglings, attack rate did not differ among distances from gaps, but when foraging for themselves, attack rates actually were lower 0-30 m from gap edges than 30-100 m or >100 m from a gap edge. Foraging attack rate was positively associated with arthropod abundance. Hooded Warblers apparently encountered fewer prey and presumably foraged less efficiently where arthropods were least abundant, i.e., near gaps. That attack rates among birds foraging …

In the past three years two separate programs were initiated to study the restframe UV properties of Type Ia Supernovae. The low-redshift study was carried out using several ground-based facilities coupled with HST/STIS observations. The high-redshift program is an offshoot of the CFHT Legacy Survey and uses Keck/LRIS to obtain spectra. Here we present the preliminary results from each program and their implications for current cosmology measurements.

We present a novel approach for highly interactive remote delivery of visualization results. Instead of real-time rendering across the internet, our approach, inspired by QuickTime VR's Object Movieconcept, delivers pre-rendered images corresponding to different viewpoints and different time steps to provide the experience of 3D and temporal navigation. We use tiled, multiresolution image streaming to consume minimum bandwidth while providing the maximum resolution that a user can perceive from a given viewpoint. Since image data, a viewpoint and time stamps are the only required inputs, our approach is generally applicable to all visualization and graphics rendering applications capable of generating image files in an ordered fashion. Our design is a form of latency-tolerant remote visualization, where visualization and Rendering time is effectively decoupled from interactive exploration. Our approach trades off increased interactivity, flexible resolution (for individual clients), reduced load and effective reuse of coherent frames between multiple users (from the servers perspective) at the expense of unconstrained exploration. A normal web server is the vehicle for providing on-demand images to the remote client application, which uses client-pull to obtain and cache only those images required to fulfill the interaction needs. This paper presents an architectural description of the system along …