The most frequent complaint of operators in modern computer-based control rooms is that there just are not enough video display units (VDUs). In this paper we examine the basis for this concern and try to understand the technical and historical reasons for this complaint, and its implications for the design of complex human-machine systems, including the number of VDUs in the control room. The overall aim of our work is to develop human factors guidance for the review of computer-based and modernized control rooms in nuclear power plants. As part of these efforts we have conducted literature reviews and studies using both simulators and actual systems in a broad range of industries, including process control, aerospace, medical, and others. Our findings reflect the general complaint of operators across all these industries: there just are not enough VDUs in the control room. We conclude that there are three primary reasons for this complaint. First, as part of a workload management strategy, operators frequently avoid interface management tasks and do not access all the information available, preferring instead to use a fixed set of familiar displays that provide much (but not all) of the information needed. Performance thereby becomes data limited and …

A cross platform component for EPICS Simple Channel Access (SCA) has been developed for the use with Delphi on Windows and Kylix on Linux. An EPICS controls GUI application developed on Windows runs on Linux by simply rebuilding it, and vice versa. This paper describes the technical details of the component.

We simulate lattice QCD at a finite chemical potential {mu}{sub I} for isospin (I{sub 3}) at zero and finite temperatures. At some {mu}{sub I} = {mu}c QCD has a second order transition with mean-field critical exponents to a state where (I{sub 3}) is broken spontaneously by a charged pion condensate. Heating the system with {mu}{sub I} > {mu}{sub c} we find there is some temperature at which this condensate evaporates. This transition appears to be second order and mean-field at lower {mu}{sub I} values, and first order for {mu}{sub I} sufficiently large. We are determining the dependence of the finite temperature crossover T{sub c} on {mu}{sub I} for {mu}{sub I} < {mu}{sub c}. This is expected to be identical to T{sub c}'s dependence on quark-number chemical potential {mu}{sub q} for small {mu}{sub q}.

We positionally match sources observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), and the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (FIRST) survey. Practically all 2MASS sources are matched to an SDSS source within 2 arcsec; {approx} 11% of them are optically resolved galaxies and the rest are dominated by stars. About 1/3 of FIRST sources are matched to an SDSS source within 2 arcsec; {approx} 80% of these are galaxies and the rest are dominated by quasars. Based on these results, we project that by the completion of these surveys the matched samples will include about 10{sup 7} and 10{sup 6} galaxies observed by both SDSS and 2MASS, and about 250,000 galaxies and 50,000 quasars observed by both SDSS and FIRST. Here we present a preliminary analysis of the optical, infrared and radio properties for the extragalactic sources from the matched samples. In particular, we find that the fraction of quasars with stellar colors missed by the SDSS spectroscopic survey is probably not larger than {approx} 10%, and that the optical colors of radio-loud quasars are {approx} 0.05 mag. redder (with 4{sigma} significance) than the colors of radio-quiet quasars.

Accelerator driven transmuters use a buffer region to protect the structural and the cladding materials of the transmuter from the radiation damage caused by the high-energy spallation neutrons, to accommodate the coolant channels of the self cooled targets, and to have an insignificant effect on the neutron utilization for the transmutation process. These functions are contradicting with respect to the buffer thickness. An extension of the target region in the axial direction (the proton beam direction) is also required to act as a neutron multiplier for the forward component of the high-energy spallation neutrons and a reflector to minimize the neutron leakage. The buffer assessment was performed as a function of its thickness with different proton energies for a self-cooled Lead-Bismuth Eutectic and a sodium-cooled tungsten targets. The analyses show that the number of generated neutrons per proton has a low sensitivity to the buffer thickness. However, the number of neutrons reaching the transmuter is significantly reduced as the buffer thickness is increased. The transmuter neutrons dominate the nuclear responses in the structural material outside the target buffer. The length of the axial target extension is determined as a function of the proton beam energy.

An important necessary condition for transverse phase space damping in the optical stochastic cooling with transit-time method is derived. The longitudinal and transverse damping dynamics for the optical stochastic cooling is studied. The authors also obtain an optimal laser focusing condition for laser-beam interaction in the correction undulator. The amplification factor and the output peak power of the laser amplifier are found to differ substantially from earlier publications. The required power is large for hadron colliders at very high energy.

We review the current status of flavor-changing neutral currents in the charm sector. We focus on the standard-model predictions and identify the main sources of theoretical uncertainties in both D{sup 0} - {bar D}{sup 0} mixing and rare charm decays. The potential of these observables for constraining short-distance physics in the standard model and its extensions is compromised by the presence of large nonperturbative effects. We examine the possible discovery windows in which short-distance physics can be tested and study the effects of various extensions of the standard model. The current experimental situation and future prospects are reviewed.

The Savannah River Site (SRS) will disperse or dissolve precipitated metal oxides as part of radioactive waste tank closure operations. Previously SRS used oxalic acid to accomplish this task. To better understand the conditions of oxalic acid cleaning of the carbon steel waste tanks, laboratory simulations of the process were conducted to determine the corrosion rate of carbon steel and the generation of gases such as hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Open circuit potential measurements, linear polarization measurements, and coupon immersion tests were performed in-situ to determine the corrosion behavior of carbon steel during the demonstration. Vapor samples were analyzed continuously to determine the constituents of the phase. The combined results from these measurements indicated that in aerated environments, such as the tank, that the corrosion rates are manageable for short contact times and will facilitate prediction and control of the hydrogen generation rate during operations.

The Savannah River Site (SRS) will disperse or dissolve precipitated metal oxides as part of radioactive waste tank closure operations. Previously SRS has utilized oxalic acid to accomplish this task. Since the waste tanks are constructed of carbon steel, a significant amount of corrosion may occur. Although the total amount of corrosion may be insignificant for a short contact time, a significant amount of hydrogen may be generated due to the corrosion reaction. Linear polarization resistance and anodic/cathodic polarization tests were performed to investigate the corrosion behavior during the process. The effect of process variables such as temperature, agitation, aeration, sample orientation, light as well as surface finish on the corrosion behavior were evaluated. The results of the tests provided insight into the corrosion mechanism for the iron-oxalic acid system.

We have applied our simulation code "POSINST" to evaluatethe contribution to the growth rate of the electron-cloud instability inproton storage rings. Recent simulation results for the main features ofthe electron cloud in the storage ring of the Spallation Neutron Source(SNS) at Oak Ridge, and updated results for the Proton Storage Ring (PSR)at Los Alamos are presented in this paper. A key ingredient in our modelis a detailed description of the secondary emitted-electron energyspectrum. A refined model for the secondary emission process includingthe so-called true secondary, rediffused and backscattered electrons hasrecently been included in the electron-cloud code.

In this paper defects formed in p-doped GaN:Mg grown with Ga polarity will be discussed. The atomic structure of these characteristic defects (Mg-rich hexagonal pyramids and truncated pyramids) in bulk and thin GaN:Mg films grown with Ga polarity was determined at atomic resolution by direct reconstruction of the scattered electron wave in a transmission electron microscope. Small cavities were present inside the defects. The inside walls of the cavities were covered by GaN which grew with reverse polarity compared to the matrix. It was proposed that lateral overgrowth of the cavities restores matrix polarity on the defect base. Exchange of Ga and N sublattices within the defect compared to the matrix lead to a 0.6 {+-} 0.2 {angstrom} displacement between the Ga sublattices of these two areas. A [1{und 1}00]/3 shift with change from AB stacking in the matrix to BC within the entire pyramid is observed

The determination of the polarized gluon distribution is a central goal of the RHIC spin program. Recent achievements in polarization and luminosity of the proton beams in RHIC, has enabled the RHIC experiments to acquire substantial amounts of high quality data with polarized proton beams at 200 and 62.4 GeV center of mass energy, allowing a first glimpse of the polarized gluon distribution at RHIC. Short test operation at 500 GeV center of mass energy has also been successful, indicating absence of any fundamental roadblocks for measurements of polarized quark and anti-quark distributions planned at that energy in a couple of years. With this background, it has now become high time to consider how all these data sets may be employed most effectively to determine the polarized parton distributions in the nucleon, in general, and the polarized gluon distribution, in particular. A global analysis of the polarized DIS data from the past and present fixed target experiments jointly with the present and anticipated RHIC Spin data is needed.

Experiments are described in which a 1mJ, 1ps, 1200 nm seed laser beam is amplified by interaction with an intersecting 350 J, 1ns, 1054 nm pump beam in a low density (1 x 10{sup 19}/cm{sup 3}) plasma. The transmission of the seed beam is observed to be enhanced by > {approx} 25 x when the plasma is near the resonant density for stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), compared to measured transmissions at wavelengths just below the resonant value. The amplification is observed to increase rapidly with increases in both pump intensity and plasma density.

We observe relativistic modifications to the Thomson scattering spectrum in a traditionally classical regime: v{sub osc}/c = eE{sub 0}/cm{omega}{sub 0} << 1 and T{sub e} < 1 keV. The modifications result from scattering off electron-plasma fluctuations with relativistic phase velocities. Normalized phase velocities v/c between 0.03 and 0.12 have been achieved in a N{sub 2} gas-jet plasma by varying the plasma density from 3 x 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3} to 7 x 10{sup 19} cm{sup -3} and electron temperature between 85 eV and 700 eV. For these conditions, the complete temporally resolved Thomson scattering spectrum including the electron and ion features has been measured. A fully relativistic treatment of the Thomson scattering form factor has been developed and shows excellent agreement with the experimental data.

Currently proposed energy recovery linac and high average power free electron laser projects require electron beam sources that can generate up to {approx} 1 nC bunch charges with less than 1 mmmrad normalized emittance at high repetition rates (greater than {approx} 1 MHz). Proposed sources are based around either high voltage DC or microwave RF guns, each with its particular set of technological limits and system complications. We propose an approach for a gun fully based on mature RF and mechanical technology that greatly diminishes many of such complications. The concepts for such a source as well as the present RF and mechanical design are described. Simulations that demonstrate the beam quality preservation and transport capability of an injector scheme based on such a gun are also presented.

Young plants of Stackhousia tryonii Bailey were exposed to 34 mM Ni kg-1 in the form of NiSO4- 6H2O solution and grown under controlled glasshouse conditions for a period of 20 days. Fresh leaf, stem and root samples were analysed in vivo by micro x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Ni-K edge.Both x-ray absorption near edge structure and extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectra were analysed, and theresulting spectra were compared with spectra obtained from nine biologically important Ni-containing model compounds. The results revealed that themajority of leaf, stem and root Ni in the hyperaccumulator was chelated by citrate.Our results also suggest that in leavesNi is complexed by phosphate and histidine, and in stems and roots, phytate and histidine. The XAS results provide an important physiological insightinto transport, detoxification and storage of Ni in S. tryonii plants.

The accuracy in the measurement of the masses of sleptons and heavy Higgs bosons in cMSSM scenarios, compatible with the WMAP result on cold dark matter, has been re-analysed in view of the requirements for predicting this density to a few percent level from SUSY measurements at the linear collider.

In glass processing situations involving glass crystallization, various crystalline forms nucleate, grow, and dissolve, typically in a nonuniform temperature field of molten glass subjected to convection. Nuclear waste glasses are remarkable examples of multicomponent vitrified mixtures involving partial crystallization. In the glass melter, crystals form and dissolve during batch-to-glass conversion, melter processing, and product cooling. Crystals often agglomerate and sink, and they may settle at the melter bottom. Within the body of cooling glass, multiple phases crystallize in a non-uniform time-dependent temperature field. Self-organizing periodic distribution (the Liesegnang effect) is common. Various crystallization phenomena that occur in glass making are reviewed.

Electron-positron jets with MeV temperature are thought to be present in a wide variety of astrophysical phenomena such as active galaxies, quasars, gamma ray bursts and black holes. They have now been created in the laboratory in a controlled fashion by irradiating a gold target with an intense picosecond duration laser pulse. About 10{sup 11} MeV positrons are emitted from the rear surface of the target in a 15 to 22-degree cone for a duration comparable to the laser pulse. These positron jets are quasi-monoenergetic (E/{delta}E {approx} 5) with peak energies controllable from 3-19 MeV. They have temperatures from 1-4 MeV in the beam frame in both the longitudinal and transverse directions. Positron production has been studied extensively in recent decades at low energies (sub-MeV) in areas related to surface science, positron emission tomography, basic antimatter science such as antihydrogen experiments, Bose-Einstein condensed positronium, and basic plasma physics. However, the experimental tools to produce very high temperature positrons and high-flux positron jets needed to simulate astrophysical positron conditions have so far been absent. The MeV temperature jets of positrons and electrons produced in our experiments offer a first step to evaluate the physics models used to explain some of the …

Results are presented from experiments relating to magnetic field generation and current amplification in the SSPX spheromak. The SSPX spheromak plasma is driven by DC coaxial helicity injection using a 2MJ capacitor bank. Peak toroidal plasma currents of up to 0.7MA and peak edge poloidal fields of 0.3T are produced; lower current discharges can be sustained up to 3.5msec. When edge magnetic fluctuations are reduced below 1% by driving the plasma near threshold, it is possible to produce plasmas with Te > 150eV, <{beta}{sub e}>-4% and core {chi}{sub e} {approx} 30m{sup 2}/s. Helicity balance for these plasmas suggests that sheath dissipation can be significant, pointing to the importance of maximizing the voltage on the coaxial injector. For most operational modes we find a stiff relationship between peak spheromak field and injector current, and little correlation with plasma temperature, which suggests that other processes than ohmic dissipation may limit field amplification. However, slowing spheromak buildup by limiting the initial current pulse increases the ratio of toroidal current to injected current and points to new operating regimes with more favorable current amplification.

In preparation for ignition on the National Ignition Facility, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Inertial Confinement Fusion Program, working in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory, Commissariat a lEnergie Atomique (CEA), and Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester, has performed a broad range of experiments on the Nova and Omega lasers to test the fundamentals of the NIF target designs. These studies have refined our understanding of the important target physics, and have led to many of the specifications for the NIF laser and the cryogenic ignition targets. Our recent work has been focused in the areas of hohlraum energetics, symmetry, shock physics, and target design optimization & fabrication.

The physical processes that govern the gun-voltage and give rise to field generation by helicity injection are surveyed in the Sustained Spheromak Physics experiment (SSPX) using internal magnetic field probes and particular attention to the gun-voltage. SSPX is a gun-driven spheromak, similar in many respects to CTX, although differing substantially by virtue of a programmable vacuum field configuration. Device parameters are: diameter = 1m, I{sub tor}-400kA, T{sub e}{approx}120eV, t{sub pulse}{approx}3ms. SSPX is now in its third year of operation and has demonstrated reasonable confinement (core {chi}{sub e}{approx}30m{sup 2}/s), and evidence for a beta limit (<{beta}{sub e}>{sub vol}{approx}4%), suggesting that the route to high temperature is to increase the spheromak field-strength (or current amplification, A{sub I} = I{sub torr}/I{sub inj}). Some progress has been made to increase A{sub I} in SSPX (A{sub I} = 2.2), although the highest A{sub I} observed in a spheromak of 3 has yet to be beaten. We briefly review helicity injection as the paradigm for spheromak field generation. SSPX results show that the processes that give efficient injection of helicity are inductive, and that these processes rapidly terminate when the current path ceases to change. The inductive processes are subsequently replaced by ones that resistively dissipate …

A major difficulty with wavefront slope sensors is their insensitivity to certain phase aberration patterns, the classic example being the waffle pattern in the Fried sampling geometry. As the number of degrees of freedom in AO systems grows larger, the possibility of troublesome waffle-like behavior over localized portions of the aperture is becoming evident. Reconstructor matrices have associated with them, either explicitly or implicitly, an orthogonal mode space over which they operate, called the singular mode space. If not properly preconditioned, the reconstructor's mode set can consist almost entirely of modes that each have some localized waffle-like behavior. In this paper we analyze the behavior of least-squares reconstructors with regard to their mode spaces. We introduce a new technique that is successful in producing a mode space that segregates the waffle-like behavior into a few ''high order'' modes, which can then be projected out of the reconstructor matrix. This technique can be adapted so as to remove any specific modes that are undesirable in the final reconstructor (such as piston, tip, and tilt for example) as well as suppress (the more nebulously defined) localized waffle behavior.

A main objective of adaptive optics is to maximize closed-loop Strehl, or, equivalently, minimize the statistical mean-square wavefront residual. Most currently implemented AO wavefront reconstructors and closed-loop control laws do not take into account either the correlation of the Kolmogorov wavefronts over time or the modified statistics of the residual wavefront in closed loop. There have been a number of attempts in the past to generate ''predictive'' controllers, which utilize wind speed and Cn2 profiles and incorporate one or two previous time steps. We present here a general framework for a dynamic controller/reconstructor design where the goal is to maximize mean closed-loop Strehl ratio over time using all previous data and exploiting the spatial-temporal statistics of the Kolmogorov turbulence and measurement noise.