As the National Hydrogen Economy continues to develop and evolve the need for structural materials that can resist hydrogen assisted degradation will become critical. To date austenitic stainless steel materials have been shown to be mildly susceptible to hydrogen attack which results in lower mechanical and fracture strengths. As a result, hydrogen permeation barrier coatings are typically applied to these steel to retard hydrogen ingress. The focal point of the reported work was to evaluate the potential for intentional alloying of commercial 300-series stainless steels to promote hydrogen permeation resistant oxide scales. Previous research on the Cr- and Fe-oxide scales inherent to 300-series stainless steels has proven to be inconsistent in effecting permeation resistance. The approach undertaken in this research was to add aluminum to the 300-series stainless steels in an attempt to promote a pure Al-oxide or and Al-rich oxide scale. Aloxide had been previously demonstrated to be an effective hydrogen permeation barrier. Results for 304L and 347H alloys doped with Al in concentration from 0.5-3.0 wt% with respect to oxidation kinetic studies, cyclic oxidation and characterization of the oxide scale chemistry are reported herein. Gaseous hydrogen permeation testing of the Al-doped alloys in both the unoxidized and oxidized …

In order to improve the melt rate of high level waste slurry feed being vitrified in the Savannah River Site's (SRS) Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) Melter, a melter glass pump (pump 1) was installed in the DWPF Melter on February 10, 2004. The glass pump increased melt rate by generating a forced convection within the molten glass pool, thereby increasing the heat transfer from the molten glass to the unmolten feed cold cap that is on top of the glass pool. After operating for over four months, the pump was removed on June 22, 2004 due to indications that it had failed. The removed pump exhibited obvious signs of corrosion, had collapsed inward at the glass exit slots at the melt line, and was dog-legged in the same area. This lead to the pump being redesigned to improve its mechanical integrity (increased wall thickness and strength) while maintaining its hydraulic diameter as large as possible. The improved DWPF glass pump (pump 2) was installed on September 15, 2004. The impact of the new design on pump life, along with analysis of the glass pump's impact on melt rate in the DWPF Melter is discussed in this paper.

Many materials and electronics need to be tested for the radiation environment expected at linear colliders (LC) since both accelerator and detectors will be subjected to large fluences of hadrons, leptons and {gamma}'s over the life of the facility [1]. While the linacs will be superconducting, there are still many uses for NdFeB in the damping rings, injection and extraction lines and final focus. Our understanding of the situation for rare earth, permanent magnet materials was presented at PAC03 [2]. Our first measurements of fast neutron, stepped doses at the UC Davis McClellan Nuclear Reactor Center (UCD MNRC) were presented at EPAC04 [3]. We have extended the doses, included other manufacturer's samples, and measured induced radioactivities which are discussed in detail.

We present an analysis of exclusive charmless semileptonic B-meson decays based on 83 million B{bar B} pairs recorded with the BABAR detector at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance. Using isospin symmetry, we measure branching fractions {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{ell}{sup +}{nu}) = (1.38 {+-} 0.10 {+-} 0.16 {+-} 0.08) x 10{sup -4} and {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {rho}{sup -}{ell}{sup +}{nu}) = (2.14 {+-} 0.21 {+-} 0.48 {+-} 0.28) x 10{sup -4}, where the errors are statistical, experimental systematic, and due to form-factor shape uncertainties. We compare the measured distribution in q{sup 2}, the momentum-transfer squared, with theoretical predictions for the form factors from lattice QCD and light-cone sum rules, and extract the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element |V{sub ub}| = (3.82 {+-} 0.14 {+-} 0.22 {+-} 0.11{sub -0.52}{sup +0.88}) x 10{sup -3} from B {yields} {pi}{ell}{nu} where the fourth error reflects the uncertainty of the form-factor normalization.

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In this paper, we use a coupled climate and carbon cycle model to investigate the global climate and carbon cycle changes out to year 2300 that would occur if CO{sub 2} emissions from all the currently estimated fossil fuel resources were released to the atmosphere. By year 2300, the global climate warms by about 8 K and atmospheric CO{sub 2} reaches 1423 ppmv. The warming is higher than anticipated because the sensitivity to radiative forcing increases as the simulation progresses. In our simulation, the rate of emissions peak at over 30 PgC yr{sup -1} early in the 22nd century. Even at year 2300, nearly 50% of cumulative emissions remain in the atmosphere. In our simulations both soils and living biomass are net carbon sinks throughout the simulation. Despite having relatively low climate sensitivity and strong carbon uptake by the land biosphere, our model projections suggest severe long-term consequences for global climate if all the fossil-fuel carbon is ultimately released to the atmosphere.

The Alignment Engineering Group (AEG) makes use of GPS technology for fulfilling part of its above ground surveying tasks at SLAC since early 2002. A base station (SLAC M40) has been set up at a central location of the SLAC campus serving both as master station for real-time kinematic (RTK) operations and as datum point for local GPS campaigns. The Leica RS500 system is running continuously and the GPS data are collected both externally (logging PC) and internally (receiver flashcard). The external logging is facilitated by a serial to Ethernet converter and an Ethernet connection at the station. Internal logging (ring buffer) is done for data security purposes. The weatherproof boxes for the instrumentation are excellent shelters against rain and wind, but do heat up considerably in sun light. Whereas the GPS receiver showed no problems, the Pacific Crest PDL 35 radio shut down several times due to overheating disrupting the RTK operations. In order to prevent heat-induced shutdowns, a protection against direct sun exposure (shading) and a constant air circulation system (ventilation) were installed. As no further shutdowns have occurred so far, it appears that the two measures successfully mended the heat problem.

Seven large power supplies (LGPS) with output ratings from 72kW to 270kW power PEP-II quad magnets in the electron-positron collider region. These supplies have posed serious maintenance and reliability problems since they were installed in 1997, resulting in loss of accelerator availability. A redesign/rebuild program was undertaken by the SLAC Power Conversion Department. During the 2004 summer shutdown all the control circuits in these supplies were redesigned and replaced. A new PWM control board, programmable logic controller, and touch panel have been installed to improve LGPS reliability, and to make troubleshooting easier. In this paper we present the details of this rebuilding program and results.

This paper presents an evaluation of robotics and remote handling technologies that have the potential to increase the efficiency of handling waste packages at the proposed Yucca Mountain High-Level Nuclear Waste Repository. It is expected that increased efficiency will reduce the cost of operations. The goal of this work was to identify technologies for consideration as potential projects that the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Office of Science and Technology International Programs, could support in the near future, and to assess their ''payback'' value. The evaluation took into account the robotics and remote handling capabilities planned for incorporation into the current baseline design for the repository, for both surface and subsurface operations. The evaluation, completed at the end of fiscal year 2004, identified where significant advantages in operating efficiencies could accrue by implementing any given robotics technology or approach, and included a road map for a multiyear R&D program for improvements to remote handling technology that support operating enhancements.

Nucleation-growth kinetic expressions are derived for thermal decomposition of HMX from a variety of types of data, including mass loss for isothermal and constant rate heating in an open pan, and heat flow for isothermal and constant rate heating in open and closed pans. Conditions are identified in which thermal runaway is small to nonexistent, which typically means temperatures less than 255 C and heating rates less than 1 C/min. Activation energies are typically in the 140 to 165 kJ/mol regime for open pan experiments and about 150-165 kJ/mol for sealed-pan experiments. The reaction clearly displays more than one process, and most likely three processes, which are most clearly evident in open pan experiments. The reaction is accelerated for closed pan experiments, and one global reaction fits the data fairly well. Our A-E values lie in the middle of the values given in a compensation-law plot by Brill et al. (1994). Comparison with additional open and closed low temperature pyrolysis experiments support an activation energy of 165 kJ/mol at 10% conversion.

Members of the protein 4.1 family of adapter proteins are expressed in a broad panel of tissues including various epithelia where they likely play an important role in maintenance of cell architecture and polarity and in control of cell proliferation. We have recently characterized the structure and distribution of three members of the protein 4.1 family, 4.1B, 4.1R and 4.1N, in mouse kidney. We describe here binding partners for renal 4.1 proteins, identified through the screening of a rat kidney yeast two-hybrid system cDNA library. The identification of putative protein 4.1-based complexes enables us to envision potential functions for 4.1 proteins in kidney: organization of signaling complexes, response to osmotic stress, protein trafficking, and control of cell proliferation. We discuss the relevance of these protein 4.1-based interactions in kidney physio-pathology in the context of their previously identified functions in other cells and tissues. Specifically, we will focus on renal 4.1 protein interactions with beta amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP), 14-3-3 proteins, and the cell swelling-activated chloride channel pICln. We also discuss the functional relevance of another member of the protein 4.1 superfamily, ezrin, in kidney physiopathology.

Protein microarrays in which proteins are immobilized to a solid surface are ideal reagents for high-throughput experiments that require very small amounts of analyte. Such protein microarrays ('protein chips') can be used very efficiently to analyze all kind of protein interactions en masse. Although a variety of methods are available for attaching proteins on solid surfaces. Most of them rely on non-specific adsorption methods or on the reaction of chemical groups within proteins (mainly, amino and carboxylic acid groups) with complementary reactive groups. In both cases the protein is attached to the surface in random orientations. The use of recombinant affinity tags addresses the orientation issue, however in most of the cases the interaction of the tags are reversible (e.g., glutathione S-transferase, maltose binding protein and poly-His) and, hence, are not stable over the course of subsequent assays or require large mediator proteins (e.g., biotin-avidin and antigen antibody). The key for the covalent attachment of a protein to a solid support with a total control over the orientation is to introduce two unique and mutually reactive groups on both the protein and the surface. The reaction between these two groups should be highly selective thus behaving like a molecular 'Velcro'.

Monocrystalline copper samples with orientations of [001] and [221] were shocked at pressures ranging from 20 GPa to 60 GPa using two techniques: direct drive lasers and explosively driven flyer plates. The pulse duration for these techniques differed substantially: 2 ns for the laser experiments and 1.1-1.4 {micro}s for the flyer-plate experiments. The residual microstructures were dependent on orientation, pressure, and shocking method. The much shorter pulse duration in laser shock yielded recovery microstructures with no or limited dislocation motion. For the flyer-plate experiments, the longer pulse duration allow shock-generated defects to reorganize into lower energy configurations. Calculations show that the post shock cooling occurs in a time scale of 0.2 s for laser shock and 1000 s for plate-impact shock, propitiating recovery and recrystallization conditions for the latter. At the higher pressure level extensive recrystallization was observed in the plate-impact samples, while it was absent in laser shock. An effect that is proposed to contribute significantly to the formation of recrystallized regions is the existence of micro-shearbands, which increase the local temperature.

FLYCHK is a straightforward, rapid tool to provide ionization and population distributions of plasmas in zero dimension with accuracy sufficient for most initial estimates and in many cases applicable for more sophisticated analysis. FLYCHK solves rate equations for level population distributions by considering collisional and radiative atomic processes. The code is designed to be straightforward to use and yet is general enough to apply for most laboratory plasmas. Further, it can be applied for low-to-high Z ions and in either steady-state or time-dependent situations. Plasmas with arbitrary electron energy distributions, single or multiple electron temperatures can be studied as well as radiation-driven plasmas. To achieve this versatility and accuracy in a code that provides rapid response we employ schematic atomic structures, scaled hydrogenic cross-sections and read-in tables. It also employs the jj configuration averaged atomic states and oscillator strengths calculated using the Dirac-Hartree-Slater model for spectrum synthesis. Numerous experimental and calculational comparisons performed in recent years show that FLYCHK provides meaningful estimates of ionization distributions, well within a charge state for most laboratory applications.

Two-dimensional simulations with the BZOHAR [B.I. Cohen, B.F. Lasinski, A.B. Langdon, and E.A. Williams, Phys. Plasmas 4, 956 (1997)] hybrid code (kinetic particle ions and Boltzmann fluid electrons) have been used to investigate the saturation of stimulated Brillouin backscatter (SBBS) instability including the effects of ion-ion collisions and inhomogeneity. Ion-ion collisions tend to increase ion-wave dissipation, which decreases the gain exponent for stimulated Brillouin backscattering; and the peak Brillouin backscatter reflectivities tend to decrease with increasing collisionality in the simulations. Two types of Langevin-operator, ion-ion collision models were implemented in the simulations. In both models used the collisions are functions of the local ion temperature and density, but the collisions have no velocity dependence in the first model. In the second model, the collisions are also functions of the energy of the ion that is being scattered so as to represent a Fokker-Planck collision operator. Collisions decorrelate the ions from the acoustic waves in SBS, which disrupts ion trapping in the acoustic wave. Nevertheless, ion trapping leading to a hot ion tail and two-dimensional physics that allows the SBS ion waves to nonlinearly scatter remain robust saturation mechanisms for SBBS in a high-gain limit over a range of ion collisionality. …

The NLC Test Accelerator (NLCTA) at SLAC was built to address various beam dynamics issues for the Next Linear Collider. An S-Band RF gun is being installed together with a large-angle extraction line at 60 MeV followed by a matching section, buncher and final focus for the laser acceleration experiment, E163. The laser-electron interaction area is followed by a broad range, high resolution spectrometer (HES) for electron bunch analysis. Another spectrometer at 6 MeV will be used for analysis of bunch charges up to 1 nC. Emittance compensating solenoids and the low energy spectrometer (LES) will be used to tune for best operating point and match to the linac. Optical symmetries in the design of the 25.5{sup o} extraction line provide 1:1 phase space transfer without use of sextupoles for a large, 6D phase space volume and range of input conditions. Design techniques, tolerances, tuning sensitivities and orthogonal knobs are discussed.

The first hohlraum experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) using the first four laser beams have activated the indirect drive experimental capabilities and tested radiation temperature limits imposed by hohlraum plasma filling. Vacuum hohlraums have been irradiated with laser powers up to 6 TW, 1 ns to 9 ns long square pulses and energies of up to 17 kJ to activate several diagnostics, to study the hohlraum radiation temperature scaling with the laser power and hohlraum size, and to make contact with hohlraum experiments performed at the NOVA and Omega laser facilities. Furthermore, for a variety of hohlraum sizes and pulse lengths, the measured x-ray flux shows signatures of plasma filling that coincide with hard x-ray emission from plasma streaming out of the hohlraum. These observations agree with hydrodynamic simulations and with analytical modeling that includes hydrodynamic and coronal radiative losses. The modeling predicts radiation temperature limits on full NIF (1.8 MJ) that are significantly greater than required for ignition hohlraums.

Recently the first hohlraum experiments have been performed at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in support of indirect drive Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) designs. The effects of laser beam smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD) and polarization smoothing (PS) on the beam propagation in long scale gas-filled pipes has been studied at plasma scales as found in indirect drive gas filled ignition hohlraum designs. The long scale gas-filled target experiments have shown propagation over 7 mm of dense plasma without filamentation and beam break up when using full laser smoothing. Vacuum hohlraums have been irradiated with laser powers up to 6 TW, 1-9 ns pulse lengths and energies up to 17 kJ to activate several diagnostics, to study the hohlraum radiation temperature scaling with the laser power and hohlraum size, and to make contact with hohlraum experiments performed at the NOVA and Omega laser facilities. Subsequently, novel long laser pulse hohlraum experiments have tested models of hohlraum plasma filling and long pulse hohlraum radiation production. The validity of the plasma filling assessment in analytical models and in LASNEX calculations has been proven for the first time. The comparison of these results with modeling will be discussed.

The Report is Gordon Research Conferences Laser Interaction with materials.

The Next and Global Linear Collider (NLC/GLC) designs require precision alignment of the beam in the accelerator structures to reduce short range wakefields. The moderately damped and detuned structures themselves provide suitable higher order mode (HOM) signals to measure this alignment. The modes in the lowest dipole band, whose frequencies range from 14-16 GHz, provide the strongest signals. To determine the position resolution they provide, an NLC/GLC prototype structure that was installed in the ASSET facility of the SLAC Linac was instrumented to downmix and digitize these signals. The beam position within the structure was determined by simultaneously measuring the signals at three frequencies (14.3, 15, 15.7 GHz) corresponding to modes localized at the beginning, the middle and the end of the 60 cm long structure. A resolution of 1 micron was achieved even with 28 dB signal attenuation, which is better than the 5 micron resolution required for the NLC/GLC.

During the past five years, there has been a concerted program at SLAC and KEK to develop accelerator structures that meet the high gradient (65 MV/m) performance requirements for the Next Linear Collider (NLC) and Global Linear Collider (GLC) initiatives. The design that resulted is a 60-cm-long, traveling-wave structure with low group velocity and 150 degree per cell phase advance. It has an average iris size that produces an acceptable short-range wakefield, and dipole mode damping and detuning that adequately suppresses the long-range wakefield. More than eight such structures have operated at a 60 Hz repetition rate over 1000 hours at 65 MV/m with 400 ns long pulses, and have reached breakdown rate levels below the limit for the linear collider. Moreover, the structures are robust in that the rates continue to decrease over time, and if the structures are briefly exposed to air, the rates recover to their low levels within a few days. This paper presents a summary of the results from this program, which effectively ended last August with the selection of ''cold'' technology for an International Linear Collider (ILC).

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Encyclopedia article in the 'International Encyclopedia of Economic Sociology' discussing health care, globalization and health, and the effect of the economy on the structure of the health care system.

Background studies during the design, construction, commissioning, operation and improvement of BaBar and PEP-II have been greatly influenced by results from a program referred to as LPTURTLE (Lost Particle TURTLE) which was originally conceived for the purpose of studying gas background for SLC. This venerable program is still in use today. We describe its use, capabilities and improvements and refer to current results now being applied to BaBar.