A linear array of four small biased electrodes was installed in NSTX in an attempt to control the width of the scrape-off layer (SOL) by creating a strong local poloidal electric field. The set of electrodes were separated poloidally by a 1 cm gap between electrodes and were located slightly below the midplane of NSTX, 1 cm behind the RF antenna and oriented so that each electrode is facing approximately normal to the magnetic field. Each electrode can be independently biased to ±100 volts. Present power supplies limit the current on two electrodes to 30 amps the other two to 10 amps each. The effect of local biasing was measured with a set of Langmuir probes placed between the electrodes and another set extending radially outward from the electrodes, and also by the gas puff imaging diagnostic (GPI) located 1 m away along the magnetic field lines intersecting the electrodes. Two fast cameras were also aimed directly at the electrode array. The hardware and controls of the biasing experiment will be presented and the initial effects on local plasma parameters will be discussed.

We determine the relative branching fractions of semileptonic B decays to charmed final states. The measurement is performed on the recoil from a fully reconstructed B meson in a sample of 362 million B{bar B} pairs collected at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector. A simultaneous fit to a set of discriminating variables is performed on a sample of {bar B} {yields} DX{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}} decays to determine the contributions from the different channels.

FLASH (Free Electron Laser in Hamburg) is a user facility for a high intensity VUV-light source [1]. The radiation wavelength is tunable in the range from about 40 to 13 nm by changing the electron beam energy from 450 to 700 MeV. The accelerator is also a test facility for the European XFEL (X-ray Free Electron Laser) to be built in Hamburg [2] and the project study ILC (International Linear Collider) [3]. The superconducting TESLA technology is tested at this facility, together with other accelerator components.

An effort has been started to measure the short pulse laser absorption and energy partition at relativistic laser intensities up to 10{sup 21} W/cm{sup 2}. Plasma polarization spectroscopy is expected to play an important role in determining fast electron generation and measuring the electron distribution function.

We introduce a numerical model for the simulation of nuclear flames in Type Ia supernovae. This model is based on a low Mach number formulation that analytically removes acoustic wave propagation while retaining the compressibility effects resulting from nuclear burning. The formulation presented here generalizes low Mach number models used in combustion that are based on an ideal gas approximation to the arbitrary equations of state such as those describing the degenerate matter found in stellar material. The low Mach number formulation permits time steps that are controlled by the advective time scales resulting in a substantial improvement in computational efficiency compared to a compressible formulation. We briefly discuss the basic discretization methodology for the low Mach number equations and their implementation in an adaptive projection framework. We present validation computations in which the computational results from the low Mach number model are compared to a compressible code and present an application of the methodology to the Landau-Darrieus instability of a carbon flame.

Laboratory experiments on wave propagation through saturated and partially saturated porous media have often been conducted on porous cylinders that were initially fully saturated and then allowed to dry while continuing to acquire data on the wave behavior. Since it is known that drying typically progresses from the outside to the inside, a sensible physical model of this process is concentric cylinders having different saturation levels--the simplest example being a fully dry outer cylindrical shell together with a fully wet inner cylinder. We use this model to formulate the equations for wave dispersion in porous cylinders for patchy saturation (i.e., drainage) conditions. In addition to multiple modes of propagation obtained numerically from these dispersion relations, we find two distinct analytical expressions for torsional wave modes.

We describe a laser system, built in our laboratory at LLNL, that has near-term, effective applications in exposing and neutralizing improvised explosive devices and landmines. We discuss experiments with this laser, demonstrating excavation capabilities and relevant material interactions. Model results are also described.

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMs) was used to investigate the relative contribution to diesel engine particulate matter (PM) from the ethanol and diesel fractions of blended fuels. Four test fuel blends and a control diesel fuel baseline were investigated. The test fuels were comprised of {sup 14}C depleted diesel fuel mixed with contemporary grain ethanol ({approx}400 the {sup 14}C concentration of diesel). An emulsifier (Span 85) or cosolvent (butyl alcohol) was used to facilitate mixing. The experimental test engine was a 1993 Cummins B5.9 diesel rated at 175 hp at 2500 rpm. Test fuels were run at steady-state conditions of 1600 rpm and 210 ft-lbs, and PM samples were collected on quartz filters following dilution of engine exhaust in a mini-dilution tunnel. AMs analysis of the filter samples showed that the ethanol contributed less to PM relative to its fraction in the fuel blend. For the emulsified blends, 6.4% and 10.3% contributions to PM were observed for 11.5% and 23.0% ethanol fuels, respectively. For the cosolvent blends, even lower contributions were observed (3.8% and 6.3% contributions to PM for 12.5% and 25.0.% ethanol fuels, respectively). The distribution of the oxygen, not just the quantity, was an important factor in reducing PM …

People with serious cardiac problems have had their life span extended with the development of the prosthetic heart valve. However, the valves operate continuously at approximately 39 million cycles per year and are therefore subject to structural failures either by faulty design or material fatigue. The development of a non-invasive technique using an acoustic contact microphone and sophisticated signal processing techniques has been proposed and demonstrated on limited data sets. In this paper we discuss an extension of the techniques to perform the heart valve tests in an anechoic like. Here the objective is to extract a ''pure'' sound or equivalently the acoustical vibration response of the prosthetic valves in a quiet environment. The goal is to demonstrate that there clearly exist differences between values which have a specific mechanical defect known as single leg separation (SLS) and non-defective valves known as intact (INT). We discuss the signal processing and results of anechoic acoustic measurements on 50 prosthetic valves in the tank. Finally, we show the results of the individual runs for each valve, point out any of the meaningful features that could be used to distinguish the SLS from INT and summarize the experiments.

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We derive the rest-frame K-band luminosity function for galaxies in 32 clusters at 0.6 < z < 1.3 using deep 3.6 {micro}m and 4.5 {micro}m imaging from the Spitzer Space Telescope InfraRed Array Camera (IRAC). The luminosity functions approximate the stellar mass function of the cluster galaxies. Their dependence on redshift indicates that massive cluster galaxies (to the characteristic luminosity M*{sub K}) are fully assembled at least at z {approx} 1.3 and that little significant accretion takes place at later times. The existence of massive, highly evolved galaxies at these epochs is likely to represent a significant challenge to theories of hierarchical structure formation where such objects are formed by the late accretion of spheroidal systems at z < 1.

An optical spectroscopy approach is demonstrated allowing for critical parameters during RF ablation of cardiac tissue to be evaluated in real time. The method is based on incorporating in a typical ablation catheter transmitting and receiving fibers that terminate at the tip of the catheter. By analyzing the spectral characteristics of the NIR diffusely reflected light, information is obtained on such parameters as, catheter-tissue proximity, lesion formation, depth of penetration of the lesion, formation of char during the ablation, formation of coagulum around the ablation site, differentiation of ablated from healthy tissue, and recognition of micro-bubble formation in the tissue.

High β plasmas in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) operate in the overdense regime, allowing the electron Bernstein wave (EBW) to propagate and be strongly absorbed/emitted at the electron cyclotron resonances. As such, EBWs may provide local electron heating and current drive. For these applications, efficient coupling between the EBWs and electromagnetic waves outside the plasma is needed. Thermal EBW emission (EBE) measurements, via oblique B-X-O double mode conversion, have been used to determine the EBW transmission efficiency for a wide range of plasma conditions on NSTX. Initial EBE measurements in H-mode plasmas exhibited strong emission before the L-H transition, but the emission rapidly decayed after the transition. EBE simulations show that collisional damping of the EBW prior to the mode conversion (MC) layer can significantly reduce the measured EBE for Te < 20 eV, explaining the observations. Lithium evaporation was used to reduce EBE collisional damping near the MC layer. As a result, the measured B-X-O transmission efficiency increased from < 10% (no Li) to 60% (with Li), consistent with EBE simulations.

A fully microscopic calculation of inelastic proton scattering off {sup 208}Pb is presented, and compared to experimental scattering data for incident proton energies between 65 and 201 MeV. By constructing the nucleon-nucleus interaction through the folding of nuclear structure information with a reliable nucleon-nucleon effective interaction that has no adjusted parameter, a consistent framework is built, for probing the influence of different descriptions of nuclear structure on nucleon inelastic scattering predictions. The absence of phenomenological normalization in this framework guarantees a unique and unambiguous interpretation of our calculations in terms of quality of the underlying nuclear structure description: a feature that had been reserved, until recently, to the electron probe. This tool is used to investigate the effect of long range correlations embedded in excited states, on calculated inelastic observables, demonstrating the sensitivity of nucleon scattering predictions to details of the nuclear structure.

Three-dimensional stellar modeling has enabled us to identify a deep-mixing mechanism that must operate in all low mass giants. This mixing process is not optional, and is driven by a molecular weight inversion created by the {sup 3}He({sup 3}He,2p){sup 4}He reaction. In this paper we characterize the behavior of this mixing, and study its impact on the envelope abundances. It not only eliminates the problem of {sup 3}He overproduction, reconciling stellar and big bang nucleosynthesis with observations, but solves the discrepancy between observed and calculated CNO isotope ratios in low mass giants, a problem of more than 3 decades standing. This mixing mechanism operates rapidly once the hydrogen burning shell approaches the material homogenized by the surface convection zone. In agreement with observations, Pop I stars between 0.8 and 2.0 M{sub {circle_dot}} develop {sup 12}C/{sup 13}C ratios of 14.5 {+-} 1.5, while Pop II stars process the carbon to ratios of 4.0 {+-} 0.5. In stars less than 1.25 M{sub {circle_dot}}, this mechanism also destroys 90% to 95% of the {sup 3}He produced on the main sequence.

The maximum power achieved in a wide variety of high-power devices, including electron and ion diodes, z pinches, and microwave generators, is presently limited by anode-cathode gap breakdown. A frequently-discussed hypothesis for this effect is ionization of fast neutral atoms injected throughout the anode-cathode gap during the power pulse. The authors describe a newly-developed diagnostic tool that provides the first direct test of this hypothesis. Time-resolved vacuum-ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy is used to directly probe fast neutral atoms with 1 mm spatial resolution in the 10 mm anode-cathode gap of the SABRE 5 MV, 1 TW applied-B ion diode. Absorption spectra collected during Ar RF glow discharges and with CO{sub 2} gas fills confirm the reliability of the diagnostic technique. Throughout the 50--100 ns ion diode pulses no measurable neutral absorption is seen, setting upper limits of 0.12--1.5 x 10{sup 14} cm{sup {minus}3} for ground state fast neutral atom densities of H, C, N, O, F. The absence of molecular absorption bands also sets upper limits of 0.16--1.2 x 10{sup 15} cm{sup {minus}3} for common simple molecules. These limits are low enough to rule out ionization throughout the gap as a breakdown mechanism. This technique can now be applied to quantify …

Three unirradiated EBR-II blanket fuel samples containing depleted uranium metal were corrosion tested in simulated J-13 well water at 90 C. The corrosion rate of the blanket uranium metal was then determined relative to H{sub 2} formation. Corrosion of one of the samples was interrupted prior to complete oxidation of the uranium metal and the solid corrosion product was analyzed for UO{sub 2} and UH{sub 3}.

As a result of discussions within the HEP community, we have written a C++ package which can be used to maintain a table of particle properties, including decay mode information. The classes allow for multiple tables and accept input from a number of standard sources.

Compared to conventional particle accelerators, plasmas can sustain accelerating fields that are thousands of times higher. To exploit this ability, massively parallel SciDAC particle simulations provide physical insight into the development of next-generation accelerators that use laser-driven plasma waves. These plasma-based accelerators offer a path to more compact, ultra-fast particle and radiation sources for probing the subatomic world, for studying new materials and new technologies, and for medical applications.

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Electrometallurgical treatment (EMT) was developed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to ready sodium-bonded spent nuclear fuel for geological disposal. A demonstration of this technology was successfully completed in August 1999. EMT was used to condition irradiated EBR-II driver and blanket fuel at ANL-West. The results of this demonstration, including the production of radioactive high-level waste forms, are presented.

The article proposes a scheme to break a catch-22 loop in an optical-figure/wavefont measurement. For instance, to measure the tilt-independent optical-figure of a nominal optical flat at cryogenic temperatures, it requires a cryogenic dewar-window system for a Fizeau interferometer outside the dewar to see through. The issue is: how to calibrate in situ the window system using the yet-to-be-calibrated nominal optical flat, and vice versa, in only one cryogenic cooldown? The proposition includes: (a) interferometric phase-map measurements with the test piece slightly offset in different transverse directions, and (b) for synthesizing the 2-dimensional WDF, an unconventional numerical scheme starting with 1-dimensional bi-direction integration. The numerical scheme helps minimize the non-uniformity in integrated noise-power distribution that results from integrating data, and thus the associated uncorrelated random noise, from raw phase-maps. The numerical scheme represents a new concept specifically for integrating noise-carrying experimental data.

This paper discusses a search for electroweak production of single top quarks in the electron+jets and muon+jets decay channels. The measurements use {approx} 90 pb{sup {minus}1} of data from Run 1 of the Fermilab Tevatron collider, collected at 1.8 TeV with the DO detector. We use events that include a tagging muon, implying the presence of a b jet, to set an upper limit at the 95% confidence level on the cross section for the s-channel process p{bar p} {r_arrow} tb + X of 39 pb. The upper limit for the t-channel process p{bar p} {r_arrow} tqb + X is 58 pb.

We present details of a search for electroweak production of single top quarks in the electron+jets and muon+jets decay channels. The measurements use {approx} 90 pb{sup {minus}1} of data from Run 1 of the Fermilab Tevatron collider, collected at 1.8 TeV with the DO detector. We use events that include a tagging muon, implying the presence of a b jet, to set an upper limit at the 95% confidence level on the cross section for the s-channel process p{bar p} {r_arrow} tb + X of 39 pb. The upper limit for the t-channel process p{bar p} {r_arrow} tqb + X is 58 pb.