Presentation about ethanol, specifications for E85, and market surveys of fuel quality.

The Standard Model describes with a very good accuracy all interactions of the, so far, known elementary particles. However the Higgs mechanism, which gives rise to the observed mass of these particles, has not yet been confirmed. The Higgs particle has not yet been observed, and the observation or exclusion is an important test of the Standard Model. The Standard Model does not predict the mass of the Higgs particle, however it does impose some limits on the range in which this mass can lie. In direct searches a Higgs with a mass smaller than 114.4 GeV and within 162 GeV and 166 GeV has been excluded at 95% CL at the LEP and the Tevatron colliders. The analysis presented in this thesis is aimed to search for the ZH → μμb$\bar{b}$ events in 3.1 fb^-1 of data collected with the DØ detector in p$\bar{p}$ collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV.

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Covert nuclear attack is one of the foremost threats facing the United States and is a primary focus of the War on Terror. The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is chartered to develop, and improve domestic systems to detect and interdict smuggling for the illicit use of a nuclear explosive device, fissile material or radiologica1 material. The CAARS (Cargo Advanced Automated Radiography System) program is a major part of the DHS effort to enhance US security by harnessing cutting-edge technologies to detect radiological and nuclear threats at points of entry to the United States. DNDO has selected vendors to develop complete radiographic systems. It is crucial that the initial design and testing concepts for the systems be validated and compared prior to the substantial efforts to build and deploy prototypes and subsequent large-scale production. An important aspect of these systems is the scatter which interferes with imaging. Monte Carlo codes, such as MCNP (X-5 Monte Carlo Team, 2005 Revision) allow scatter to be calculatied, but these calculations are very time consuming. It would be useful to have a fast scatter estimation algorithm in a fast ray tracing code. We have been extending the …

Scientific applications and experimental facilities generate massive data sets that need to be transferred to remote collaborating sites for sharing, processing, and long term storage. In order to support increasingly data-intensive science, next generation research networks have been deployed to provide high-speed on-demand data access between collaborating institutions. In this paper, we present a practical model for online data scheduling in which data movement operations are scheduled in advance for end-to-end high performance transfers. In our model, data scheduler interacts with reservation managers and data transfer nodes in order to reserve available bandwidth to guarantee completion of jobs that are accepted and confirmed to satisfy preferred time constraint given by the user. Our methodology improves current systems by allowing researchers and higher level meta-schedulers to use data placement as a service where theycan plan ahead and reserve the scheduler time in advance for their data movement operations. We have implemented our algorithm and examined possible techniques for incorporation into current reservation frameworks. Performance measurements confirm that the proposed algorithm is efficient and scalable.

A low-budget surface slope measuring instrument, the Developmental Long Trace Profiler (DLTP), was recently brought into operation at the Advanced Light Source Optical Metrology Laboratory. The instrument is based on a precisely calibrated autocollimator and a movable pentaprism. The capability of the DLTP to achieve sub-microradian surface slope metrology has been verified via cross-comparison measurements with other high-performance slope measuring instruments when measuring the same high-quality test optics. In the present work, a further improvement of the DLTP is achieved by replacing the existing bulk pentaprism with a specially designed mirror based pentaprism. A mirror based pentaprism offers the possibility to eliminate systematic errors introduced by inhomogeneity of the optical material and fabrication imperfections of a bulk pentaprism. We provide the details of the mirror based pentaprism design and describe an original experimental procedure for precision mutual alignment of the mirrors. The algorithm of the alignment procedure and its efficiency are verified with rigorous ray tracing simulations. Results of measurements of a spherically curved test mirror and a flat test mirror using the original bulk pentaprism are compared with measurements using the new mirror based pentaprism, demonstrating the improved performance.

The Cp{sup ∗}{sub 2} Yb(L) class of compounds, where Cp{sup ∗}=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl = C{sub 5}Me{sub 5} and L is either a 1,4-diazabutadiene or bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine related ligand, have provided excellent analogies to the Kondo state on the nanoscale. Cp{sup ∗}{sub 2} Yb(4,4′-Me{sub 2}-bipy) furthers this analogy by demonstrating a valence transition as the sample is cooled below 200 K. Here, pair-distribution function (PDF) analysis of x-ray powder diffraction data demonstrate that the Cp{sup ∗}{sub 2}Yb(4,4′-Me{sub 2}-bipy) molecule is virtually unchanged through the valence transition. However, the molecule’s stacking arrangement is altered through the valence transition.

Seed storage reserves represent one of the most important sources of renewable fixed carbon and nitrogen found in nature. Seeds are well-adapted for diverting metabolic resources to synthesize storage proteins as well as enzymes and structural proteins needed for their transport and packaging into membrane bound storage protein bodies. Our underlying hypothesis is that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response provides the critical cellular control of metabolic flux required for optimal accumulation of storage reserves in seeds. This highly conserved response is a cellular mechanism to monitor the protein folding environment of the ER and restore homeostasis in the presence of unfolded or misfolded proteins. In seeds, deposition of storage proteins in protein bodies is a highly specialized process that takes place even in the presence of mutant proteins that no longer fold and package properly. The capacity of the ER to deposit these aberrant proteins in protein bodies during a period that extends several weeks provides an excellent model for deconvoluting the ER stress response of plants. We have focused in this project on the means by which the ER senses and responds to functional perturbations and the underlying intracellular communication that occurs among biosynthetic, trafficking and degradative pathways …

The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS&IMF) and Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton (Shipyard) located in Bremerton, WA are committed to a culture of continuous process improvement for all aspects of Shipyard operations, including reducing the releases of hazardous materials and waste in discharges from the Shipyard. Under the Project ENVVEST Final Project Agreement, a cooperative project among PSNS&IMF, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), and local stakeholders (US Navy, EPA and Ecology 2002) has been helping to improve the environmental quality of the Sinclair and Dyes Inlet Watershed (ENVVEST 2006). An ambient monitoring program for sediment, water, and indigenous mussels began in 2009 to assess the status and trend of ecological resources, assess the effectiveness of cleanup and pollution control measures, and determine if discharges from all sources are protective of beneficial uses including aquatic life. This document presents the 2010 chemical residue data and stable isotopes of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) for the regional mussel watch stations located in Sinclair Inlet, Dyes Inlet, Port Orchard Passage, Rich Passage, Agate Passage, Liberty Bay, and Keyport Lagoon. Indigenous bivalves were collected from a small boat and/or from along the shoreline, measured, …

Enterprise and high-performance computing systems are growing extremely large and complex, employing hundreds to hundreds of thousands of processors and software/hardware stacks built by many people across many organizations. As the growing scale of these machines increases the frequency of faults, system complexity makes these faults difficult to detect and to diagnose. Current system management techniques, which focus primarily on efficient data access and query mechanisms, require system administrators to examine the behavior of various system services manually. Growing system complexity is making this manual process unmanageable: administrators require more effective management tools that can detect faults and help to identify their root causes. System administrators need timely notification when a fault is manifested that includes the type of fault, the time period in which it occurred and the processor on which it originated. Statistical modeling approaches can accurately characterize system behavior. However, the complex effects of system faults make these tools difficult to apply effectively. This paper investigates the application of classification and clustering algorithms to fault detection and characterization. We show experimentally that naively applying these methods achieves poor accuracy. Further, we design novel techniques that combine classification algorithms with information on the abnormality of application behavior to …

This document provides an overview of renewable resource potential at Fort Drum, based primarily upon analysis of secondary data sources supplemented with limited on-site evaluations. This effort focuses on grid-connected generation of electricity from renewable energy sources and also on ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling buildings. The effort was funded by the U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) as follow-on to the 2005 Department of Defense (DoD) Renewables Assessment. The site visit to Fort Drum took place on May 4 and 5, 2010.

This report documents testing funded by CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation and performed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in collaboration with Fauske and Associates, LLC (FAI) to determine the behavior of vessel spanning bubbles. The shear strengths of four samples of kaolin/water mixtures obtained by PNNL from FAI were measured and are reported here. The measured shear strengths of these samples were then used to determine how the Rassat correlation fit these new measurements or if a new correlation was needed. These results were then compared with previously reported data.

The partially DOE funded International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) will produce massive amounts of energetic charged alpha particles, which are imperfectly confined by a strong magnetic field. The wall of the experiment is designed to withstand an estimated wall load from these fusion alpha particles, but the accuracy of this estimate needs to be improved to avoid potentially catastrophic surprises when the experiment becomes operational. We have added a more accurate, gyro-dynamic model of particle motion to the existing drift-dynamic model in the DELTA5D simulation software used for the project. We have also added the ability to load a detailed engineering model of the wall and use it in the simulations.

The chemical stability, sulfur dioxide transport, ionic conductivity, and electrolyzer performance have been measured for several commercially available and experimental proton exchange membranes (PEMs) for use in a sulfur dioxide depolarized electrolyzer (SDE). The SDE's function is to produce hydrogen by using the Hybrid Sulfur (HyS) Process, a sulfur based electrochemical/thermochemical hybrid cycle. Membrane stability was evaluated using a screening process where each candidate PEM was heated at 80 C in 63.5 wt. % H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} for 24 hours. Following acid exposure, chemical stability for each membrane was evaluated by FTIR using the ATR sampling technique. Membrane SO{sub 2} transport was evaluated using a two-chamber permeation cell. SO{sub 2} was introduced into one chamber whereupon SO{sub 2} transported across the membrane into the other chamber and oxidized to H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} at an anode positioned immediately adjacent to the membrane. The resulting current was used to determine the SO{sub 2} flux and SO{sub 2} transport. Additionally, membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) were prepared from candidate membranes to evaluate ionic conductivity and selectivity (ionic conductivity vs. SO{sub 2} transport) which can serve as a tool for selecting membranes. MEAs were also performance tested in a HyS electrolyzer measuring current density versus …

In this study we develop and apply new methods of data analysis for high resolution wind power and system load time series, to improve our understanding of how to characterize highly variable wind power output and the correlations between wind power and load. These methods are applied to wind and load data from the ERCOT region, and wind power output from the PJM and NYISO areas. We use a wavelet transform to apply mathematically well-defined operations of smoothing and differencing to the time series data. This approach produces a set of time series of the changes in wind power and load (or ?deltas?), over a range of times scales from a few seconds to approximately one hour. A number of statistical measures of these time series are calculated. We present sample distributions, and devise a method for fitting the empirical distribution shape in the tails. We also evaluate the degree of serial correlation, and linear correlation between wind and load. Our examination of the data shows clearly that the deltas do not follow a Gaussian shape; the distribution is exponential near the center and appears to follow a power law for larger fluctuations. Gaussian distributions are frequently used in modeling …

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has been requested to perform analyses on samples of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) decon frit slurry (i.e., supernate samples and sump solid samples). Four 1-L liquid slurry samples were provided to SRNL by Savannah River Remediation (SRR) from the 'front-end' decon activities. Additionally, two 1-L sump solids samples were provided to SRNL for compositional and physical analysis. In this report, the physical and chemical characterization results of the slurry solids and sump solids are reported. Crawford et al. (2010) provide the results of the supernate analysis. The results of the sump solids are reported on a mass basis given the samples were essentially dry upon receipt. The results of the slurry solids were converted to a volume basis given approximately 2.4 grams of slurry solids were obtained from the {approx}4 liters of liquid slurry sample. Although there were slight differences in the analytical results between the sump solids and slurry solids the following general summary statements can be made. Slight differences in the results are also captured for specific analysis. (1) Physical characterization - (a) SEM/EDS analysis suggested that the samples were enriched in Li and Si (B and Na not detectable …

An interconnected electric power system is a complex system that must be operated within a safe frequency range in order to reliably maintain the instantaneous balance between generation and load. This is accomplished by ensuring that adequate resources are available to respond to expected and unexpected imbalances and restoring frequency to its scheduled value in order to ensure uninterrupted electric service to customers. Electrical systems must be flexible enough to reliably operate under a variety of"change" scenarios. System planners and operators must understand how other parts of the system change in response to the initial change, and need tools to manage such changes to ensure reliable operation within the scheduled frequency range. This report presents a systematic approach to identifying metrics that are useful for operating and planning a reliable system with increased amounts of variable renewable generation which builds on existing industry practices for frequency control after unexpected loss of a large amount of generation. The report introduces a set of metrics or tools for measuring the adequacy of frequency response within an interconnection. Based on the concept of the frequency nadir, these metrics take advantage of new information gathering and processing capabilities that system operators are developing for …

In March, a review team consisting of CFOs from other national laboratories, industry, and members of the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) convened for three days to conduct a comprehensive peer review of the OCFO. This was the first time in almost a decade that the financial operations of the Laboratory had been reviewed. The Committee relayed their observations on our strengths, and their very thoughtful recommendations for improvement, which we are actively pursuing. These improvements, when implemented, will benefit the entire Laboratory for many years to come. The complete report is available on the OCFO website (www.lbl.gov/Workplace/CFO). In August, the senior management team of the OCFO participated in a strategic planning retreat. The purpose of the two and a half day exercise was, of course, to update our strategic plan, but instead of spending days developing a written document, we enlisted the expertise of a seasoned journalist who also happens to be a very talented graphic artist. He listened carefully to our ideas and committed them to a visual roadmap. All members of the OCFO, Business Managers, and the Laboratory Leadership Team reviewed this draft roadmap. By having a completely visual strategic plan that is posted …

Policy makers and program designers in the U.S. and abroad are deeply concerned with the question of how to scale up energy efficiency to a level that is commensurate both to the scale of the energy and climate challenges we face, and to the potential for energy savings that has been touted for decades. When policy makers ask what energy efficiency can do, the answers usually revolve around the technical and economic potential of energy efficiency - they rarely hone in on the element of energy demand that matters most for changing energy usage in existing homes: the consumer. A growing literature is concerned with the behavioral underpinnings of energy consumption. We examine a narrower, related subject: How can millions of Americans be persuaded to divert valued time and resources into upgrading their homes to eliminate energy waste, avoid high utility bills, and spur the economy? With hundreds of millions of public dollars flowing into incentives, workforce training, and other initiatives to support comprehensive home energy improvements, it makes sense to review the history of these programs and begin gleaning best practices for encouraging comprehensive home energy improvements. Looking across 30 years of energy efficiency programs that targeted the residential …

A semi-empirical method that allows us to predict intensity of generated field emission in superconducting RF cavities is described. Spatial, angular and energy distributions of the generated radiation are calculated with the FISHPACT code. The Monte Carlo code MARS15 is used for modeling the radiation transport in matter. A comparison with dose rate measurements performed in the Fermilab Vertical Test Facility for ILC-type cavities with accelerating gradients up to 35 MV/m is presented as well.

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The 2010 Gordon Conference on Solid State Studies in Ceramics will present forefront research on ceramic materials in energy conversion, storage, and environmental sustainability. Oxide materials in advanced Li-ion batteries will be featured, including first principles computational methods, new experimental methods, novel synthesis, and the design of batteries that exploit nanoscale cathode materials. Several speakers address advances in oxides for solar applications, including photo-catalysts for solar hydrogen production and dye sensitized solar cells, along with thin film photovoltaics. Fast ionic conducting ceramics in electrochemical energy conversion and storage will be addressed for fuel cells and electrochemical storage. New concepts for electrochemical capacitor materials will be addressed, as will thermoelectric, geopolymers, and ceramics in nuclear energy. The Conference will bring together investigators at the forefront of their field as well as junior scientists in a collegial atmosphere, with programmed discussion sessions and informal gatherings in the afternoons and evenings. Poster presentations provide opportunities for junior scientists and graduate students to present their work and exchange ideas with leaders in the field. This Conference provides an avenue for scientists from different disciplines to explore new ideas and promotes cross-disciplinary collaborations in the various research areas represented.

Data was taken with the NASA ER-2 aircraft with the Cloud Radar System and other instruments in conjunction with the DOE ARM CLASIC field campaign. The flights were near the SGP site in north Central Oklahoma and targeted small developing convection. The CRS is a 94 GHz nadir pointing Doppler radar. Also on board the ER-2 was the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL). Seven science flights were conducted but the weather conditions did not cooperate in that there was neither developing convection, or there was heavy rain.

Core promoters are critical regions for gene regulation in higher eukaryotes. However, the boundaries of promoter regions, the relative rates of initiation at the transcription start sites (TSSs) distributed within them, and the functional significance of promoter architecture remain poorly understood. We produced a high-resolution map of promoters active in the Drosophila melanogaster embryo by integrating data from three independent and complementary methods: 21 million cap analysis of gene expression (CAGE) tags, 1.2 million RNA ligase mediated rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RLMRACE) reads, and 50,000 cap-trapped expressed sequence tags (ESTs). We defined 12,454 promoters of 8037 genes. Our analysis indicates that, due to non-promoter-associated RNA background signal, previous studies have likely overestimated the number of promoter-associated CAGE clusters by fivefold. We show that TSS distributions form a complex continuum of shapes, and that promoters active in the embryo and adult have highly similar shapes in 95% of cases. This suggests that these distributions are generally determined by static elements such as local DNA sequence and are not modulated by dynamic signals such as histone modifications. Transcription factor binding motifs are differentially enriched as a function of promoter shape, and peaked promoter shape is correlated with both temporal and spatial …