Although it is well known that the rate of sintering is governed by deceleratory kinetics, it is often difficult to fit power-law and nth-order reaction models over broad time-temperature ranges. This work shows that a phenomenological model combining a reaction order with an activation energy distribution can correlate surface area as a function of sintering time and temperature over a greater range of those variables. Qualitatively, the activation energy distribution accounts the dependence of free energy on particle size and material defects, while the reaction order accounts for geometric factors such as a distribution of diffusion lengths. The model is demonstrated for sintering of hydroxyapatite using data of Bailliez and Nzihou (Chem. Eng. J. 98 (2004), 141-152).

The 9975 shipping package incorporates a cane fiberboard overpack for thermal insulation and impact resistance. Mechanical properties (tensile and compressive behavior) have been measured on cane fiberboard and a similar wood-based product following short-term conditioning in several temperature/humidity environments. Both products show similar trends, and vary in behavior with material orientation, temperature and humidity. A memory effect is also seen in that original strength values are only partially recovered following exposure to a degrading environment and return to ambient conditions.

Ion charge state distributions of cathodic vacuum arcs have been investigated using a modified time-of-flight method. Experiments have been done in double gate and burst gate mode, allowing us to study both systematic and stochastic changes of ion charge state distributions with a time resolution down to 100 ns. In the double gate method, two ion charge spectra are recorded with a well-defined time between measurements. The elements Mg, Bi, and Cu were selected for tests, representing metals of very different properties. For all elements it was found that large stochastic changes occur even at the limit of resolution. This is in agreement with fast changing arc properties observed elsewhere. Correlation of results for short times between measurements was found but it is argued that this is due to velocity mixing rather than due to cathode processes. The burst mode of time-of-flight measurements revealed the systematic time evolution of ion charge states within a single arc discharge, as opposed to previous measurements that relied on data averaged over many pulses. The technique shows the decay of the mean ion charge state as well as the level of material-dependent fluctuations.

The Common Component Architecture (CCA) provides a means for software developers to manage the complexity of large-scale scientific simulations and to move toward a plug-and-play environment for high-performance computing. In the scientific computing context, component models also promote collaboration using independently developed software, thereby allowing particular individuals or groups to focus on the aspects of greatest interest to them. The CCA supports parallel and distributed computing as well as local high-performance connections between components in a language-independent manner. The design places minimal requirements on components and thus facilitates the integration of existing code into the CCA environment. The CCA model imposes minimal overhead to minimize the impact on application performance. The focus on high performance distinguishes the CCA from most other component models. The CCA is being applied within an increasing range of disciplines, including combustion research, global climate simulation, and computational chemistry.

We propose an electroweak model which is compatible with the UV insensitive anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking. The model is an extension of the NMSSM by adding vector-like matter fields which can drive the soft scalar masses of the singlet Higgs field negative and the successful electroweak symmetry breaking is achieved. Viable parameter regions are found to preserve perturbativity of all the coupling constants up to the Planck scale. With this success, the model becomes a perfect candidate of physics beyond the standard model without the FCNC and CP problem. The cosmology is also quite interesting. The lightest neutralino is the wino which is a perfect cold dark matter candidate assuming the non-thermal production from the gravitino decay. There is no gravitino problem because it decays before the BBN era, and thus the thermal leptogenesis works. The cosmological domain wall problem inherent in the NMSSM is absent since the Z_3 symmetry is broken by the QCD instanton effect in the presence of the vector-like quarks. We also briefly comment on a possible solution to the strong CP problem a la the Nelson-Barr mechanism.

Higher-order basis functions have been constructed for surface-based differential forms that are used in engineering simulations. These surface-based forms have been designed to complement the volume-based forms present in EMSolve[1], a finite element code. The basis functions are constructed on a reference element and transformed, as necessary, for each element in space. Lagrange polynomials are used to create the basis functions. This approach is a necessary step in creating a hybrid finite-element/integral-equation time-domain code for electromagnetic analysis.

We investigate the diffraction properties of sectioned multilayers in Laue (transmission) geometry, at hard x-ray energies (9.5 and 19.5 keV). Two samples are studied, a 200 period W/Si multilayer of 29 nm d-spacing, and a 2020 period Mo/Si multilayer of 7 nm d-spacing, with cross-section depths ranging from 2 to 17 {micro}m. Rocking curves across the Bragg reflections exhibit well-defined interference fringes originating from the depth of the sample. Efficiencies as high as 70% were obtained. This exceeds the theoretical limit for standard zone plates operating in the multi-beam regime, demonstrating that all of the intensity can be directed into a single diffraction order in small-period structures.