This paper presents the results of interviews conducted with 44 business people in 10 states to examine the use of the utility bill as an information mechanism for providing businesses with the relationship between energy consumption and cost. Our results indicate that there are significant barriers to the use of the utility bill as an information tool for energy consumers. Furthermore, we found significant variations among respondents in the information desired from the bill, and differences in decision-making criteria for investments aimed at reducing energy consumption and for those aimed at other forms of waste minimization. These results call into question the applicability of standard market theories in the purchase of energy by most businesses.

We present a new computed tomography method, the low third derivative (LTD) method, that is particularly suited for reconstructing the spatial distribution of gas concentrations from path-integral data for a small number of optical paths. The method finds a spatial distribution of gas concentrations that (1) has path integrals that agree with measured path integrals, and (2) has a low third spatial derivative in each direction, at every point. The trade-off between (1) and (2) is controlled by an adjustable parameter, which can be set based on analysis of the path-integral data. The method produces a set of linear equations, which can be solved with a single matrix multiplication if the constraint that all concentrations must be positive is ignored; the method is therefore extremely rapid. Analysis of experimental data from thousands of concentration distributions shows that the method works nearly as well as Smooth Basis Function Minimization (the best method previously available), yet is 100 times faster.

As part of a project for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Sandia National Laboratories Intelligent Systems and Robotics Center is developing and testing the feasibility of using a cooperative team of robotic sentry vehicles to guard a perimeter, perform a surround task, and travel extended distances. This paper describes the authors most recent activities. In particular, this paper highlights the development of a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) leapfrog capability that allows two or more vehicles to alternate sending DGPS corrections. Using this leapfrog technique, this paper shows that a group of autonomous vehicles can travel 22.68 kilometers with a root mean square positioning error of only 5 meters.

Use of multiple backlighter foils and/or double-sided laser interaction geometry with backlit imaging can result in improved backlighter efficiency. An experimental comparison of backlighter intensity for Ti foils and Ti/Sc combination foils in both the one-sided and double-sided laser-interaction configuration is presented. Spectrally-integrated framing camera images show intensity contributions of front and rear backlighter surfaces for both foil types. Analysis of time-resolved x-ray spectra collected from foil targets show the relative contribution of Ti and Sc 2-1 He-like resonance lines to the total backlighter intensity.

Iron ions provide many valuable plasma diagnostics for cosmic plasmas. The accuracy of these diagnostics, however, often depends on an accurate understanding of the ionization structure of the emitting gas. Dielectronic recombination (DR) is the dominant electron-ion recombination mechanism for most iron ions in cosmic plasmas. Using the heavy-ion storage ring at the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, we have measured the low temperature DR rates for Fe{sup q+} where q = 15, 17, 18, and 19. These rates are important for photoionized gases which form in the media surrounding active galactic nuclei, X-ray binaries, and cataclysmic variables. Our results demonstrate that commonly used theoretical approximations for calculating low temperature DR rates can easily under- or over-estimate the DR rate by a factor of {approx} 2 or more. As essentially all DR rates used for modeling photoionized gases are calculated using these approximations, our results indicate that new DR rates are needed for almost all charge states of cosmically abundant elements. Measurements are underway for other charge states of iron.

Digital instrumentation and control systems have the potential of offering significant benefits over traditional analog systems in Nuclear Power Plant safety systems, but there are also significant difficulties in qualifying digital systems to the satisfaction of regulators. Digital systems differ in fundamental ways from analog systems. New methods for safety qualification, which take these differences into account, would ease the regulatory cost and promote use of digital systems. This paper offers a possible method for assisting in the analysis of digital system software, as one step in an improved qualification process.

We have examined the interaction of deuterium clusters with high intensity, ultrafast laser radiation. Upon irradiation a hot plasma is created with a sufficient temperature to produce nuclear fusion. We have seen that larger clusters produce more fusion neutrons than smaller clusters, consistent with a Coulomb explosion model. Fusion yield is currently limited by propagation effects. Using inter ferometric imaging we have examined the laser propagation and found that the laser energy is absorbed before it penetrates to the center (highest density region) of the gas jet.

This paper describes the iterative process of grouping and performance assessment that has led to the current grouping of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) spent nuclear fuel (SNF). The unique sensitivity analyses that form the basis for incorporating DOE fuel into the total system performance assessment (TSPA) base case model are described. In addition, the chemistry that results from dissolution of DOE fuel and high level waste (HLW) glass in a failed co-disposal package, and the effects of disposal of selected DOE SNF in high integrity cans are presented.

Rapid Solidification Process (RSP) ToolingTM is a spray forming technology tailored for producing molds and dies. The approach combines rapid solidification processing and net-shape materials processing in a single step. The ability of the sprayed deposit to capture features of the tool pattern eliminates costly machining operations in conventional mold making and reduces turnaround time. Moreover, rapid solidification suppresses carbide precipitation and growth, allowing many ferritic tool steels to be artificially aged, an alternative to conventional heat treatment that offers unique benefits. Material properties and microstructure transformation during heat treatment of spray-formed H13 tool steel are described.

On July 28, 1998 a devastating accident occurred at the Test Reactor Area of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The accident cost a man his life and caused injury to others. In addition to the significant human loss, Lockheed Martin (LMITCO) experienced economic losses that reached millions of dollars. LMITCO eventually lost the managing and operating contract of a premier Department of Energy Laboratory. Just as with the INEEL, companies throughout industry today must face an ever increasingly complex world of government alphabet soup of regulations—OSHA, CAA, TSCA, FIFRA, ADA, and more. For businesses, non-compliance can quickly evaporate profits. For humans, mistakes can seriously affect health, and some work areas are so complicated that a single event could cost human life. Finally, adherence to the regulations can protect the community and the environment. Compliance with regulations is essential and multifaceted. Regulations require interpretation into company policy. Policies must be implemented as standard work practices. The workforce must be trained to follow the procedures. Management must coordinate flow down of requirements and policy for standardized work planning processes and consistent compliance with regulations. Implementing controls to ensure absolute compliance can be a very costly and cumbersome effort, thus, …

Much of the clean or slightly contaminated concrete from Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) activities could be re-used. Currently, there is no standardized approach, or protocol, for managing the disposition of such materials. Namely, all potential disposition options for concrete, including authorized release for re-use, are generally not fully evaluated in D&D projects, so large quantities have been unduly disposed of as low-level radioactive waste. As a result, costs of D&D have become prohibitively high, hindering expedient cleanup of surplus facilities. The ability to evaluate and implement the option of authorized release of concrete from demolition would result in significant cost savings, while maintaining protection of environmental health and safety, across the Department of Energy (DOE) complex. The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), Argonne National Laboratory East (ANL-E), and Vanderbilt University have teamed to develop a protocol for the authorized release of concrete, based on the existing DOE guidance of Order 5400.5, that applies across the DOE complex. The protocol will provide a streamlined method for assessing risks and costs, and reaching optimal disposal options, including re-use of the concrete within the DOE system.

An alternative to the conventional see-saw mechanism is proposed to explain the origin of small neutrino masses in supersymmetric theories. The masses and couplings of the right-handed neutrino field are suppressed by supersymmetry breaking, in a way similar to the suppression of the Higgs doublet mass, $\mu$. New mechanisms for light Majorana, Dirac and sterile neutrinos arise, depending on the degree of suppression. Superpartner phenomenology is greatly altered by the presence of weak scale right-handed sneutrinos, which may have a coupling to a Higgs boson and a left-handed sneutrino. The sneutrino spectrum and couplings are quite unlike the conventional case - the lightest sneutrino can be the dark matter and predictions are given for event rates at upcoming halo dark matter direct detection experiments. Higgs decays and search strategies are changed. Copious Higgs production at hadron colliders can result from cascade decays of squarks and gluinos.

The changes in tissue architecture that accompany the development of breast cancer have been the focus of investigations aimed at developing new cancer therapeutics. As we learn more about the normal mammary gland, we have begun to understand the complex signaling pathways underlying the dramatic shifts in the structure and function of breast tissue. Integrin-, growth factor-, and steroid hormone-signaling pathways all play an important part in maintaining tissue architecture; disruption of the delicate balance of signaling results in dramatic changes in the way cells interact with each other and with the extracellular matrix, leading to breast cancer. The extracellular matrix itself plays a central role in coordinating these signaling processes. In this review, we consider the interrelationships between the extracellular matrix, integrins, growth factors, and steroid hormones in mammary gland development and function.

None

Neutronics analysis has been performed to assess the shielding requirements for the insulators and final focusing magnets in a modified HYLIFE-II target chamber that utilizes pre-formed plasma channels for heavy ion beam transport. Using 65 cm thick Flibe jet assemblies provides adequate shielding for the electrical insulator units. Additional shielding is needed in front of the final focusing superconducting quadrupole magnets. A shield with a thickness varying between 45 and 90 cm needs to be provided in front of the quadrupole unit. The final laser mirrors located along the channel axis are in the direct line-of-sight of source neutrons. Neutronics calculations were performed to determine the constraints on the placement of these mirrors to be lifetime components.

The numerical investigation of airflow and chemical transport characteristics for a general class of buildings involves identifying values for model parameters, such as e.ective leakage areas and temperatures, for which a fair amount of uncertainty exists. A Monte Carlo simulation, with parameter values drawn from likely distributions using Latin Hypercube sampling, helps to account for these uncertainties by generating a corresponding distribution of simulated results. However, conducting large numbers of model runs can challenge a simulation program, not only by increasing the need for fast algorithms, but also by proposing specific combinations of parameter values that may define difficult numerical problems. The paper describes several numerical approaches to improving the speed and reliability of the COMIS multizone airflow simulation program. Selecting a broad class of algorithms based on the mathematical properties of the airflow systems (symmetry and positive-definiteness), it evaluates new solution methods for possible inclusion in the COMIS code. In addition, it discusses further changes that will likely appear in future releases of the program.

Using the three-dimensional wave propagation code, F3D[Berger et al., Phys. Fluids B 5,2243 (1993), Berger et al., Phys. Plasmas 5,4337(1998)], and the massively parallel version pF3D, [Still et al. Phys. Plasmas 7 (2000)], we have computed the transmitted and reflected light for laser and plasma conditions in experiments that simulated ignition hohlraum conditions. The frequency spectrum and the wavenumber spectrum of the transmitted light are calculated and used to identify the relative contributions of stimulated forward Brillouin and self-focusing in hydrocarbon-filled balloons, commonly called gasbags. The effect of beam smoothing, smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD) and polarization smoothing (PS), on the stimulated Brillouin backscatter (SBS) from Scale-1 NOVA hohlraums was simulated with the use nonlinear saturation models that limit the amplitude of the driven acoustic waves. Other experiments on CO{sub 2} gasbags simultaneously measure at a range of intensities the SBS reflectivity and the Thomson scatter from the SBS-driven acoustic waves that provide a more detailed test of the modeling. These calculations also predict that the backscattered light will be very nonuniform in the nearfield (the focusing system optics) which is important for specifying the backscatter intensities be tolerated by the National Ignition Facility laser system.

The authors present results from a Monte Carlo investigation of a simple bilayer model with geometrically frustrated interactions similar to those found in the mixed layer pnictide oxides (Sr{sub 2}Mn{sub 3}Pn{sub 2}O{sub 2}, Pn = As, Sb). The model is composed of two inequivalent square lattices with nearest-neighbor intra- and interlayer interactions. They find a ground state composed of two independent Neel ordered layers when the interlayer exchange is an order of magnitude weaker than the intralayer exchange, as suggested by experiment. Evidence for local orthogonal order between the layers is found, but it occurs in regions of parameter space which are not experimentally realized. Qualitatively similar results were observed in models with a larger number of layers. They conclude that frustration caused by nearest-neighbor interactions in the mixed layer pnictide oxides is not sufficient to explain the long-range orthogonal order that is observed experimentally.

Effect of extrusion temperatures on the microstructural development of a powder metallurgy (PM) Ti-47Al-2Cr-1Nb-1Ta (at. %) alloy has been investigated. Microstructure of the PM alloy extruded at 1150 C consists of a fine-grained ({gamma} + {alpha}{sub 2}) two-phase structure in association with coarse grains of metastable B2 (ordered bcc) phase. In addition, fine {omega} (ordered hexagonal) particles are also found within some B2 grains. The PM alloy containing the metastable B2 grains displays a low-temperature superplastic behavior, in which a tensile elongation of 310% is obtained at 800 C under a strain rate of 2 x 10{sup -5} s{sup -1}. It is suggested that the decomposition of metastable B2 phase and microstructural evolution during the deformation play a crucial role in the low-temperature superplasticity of the PM TiAl alloy. A refined fully-lamellar (FL) microstructure with alternating {gamma} and {alpha}{sub 2} lamellae is developed within the PM alloy extruded at 1400 C. The creep resistance of the refined FL-TiAl alloy is found to be superior to those of the TiAl alloys fabricated by conventional processing techniques. Creep mechanisms for the PM alloy with a refined FL microstructure are critically discussed according to TEM examination of deformation substructure.

The calibration facilities will be dynamic and will change to meet the needs of experiments. Small sources, such as the Manson Source should be available to everyone at any time. Carrying out experiments at Omega is providing ample opportunity for practice in pre-shot preparation. Hopefully, the needs that are demonstrated in these experiments will assure the development of (or keep in service) facilities at each of the laboratories that will be essential for in-house preparation for experiments at NIF.

The phase stability of C-22 alloy (UNS No. N06022) gas tungsten arc welds was studied by aging samples at 427, 482, 538, 593, 649, 704, and 760 C for times up to 40,000 hours. The tensile properties and the Charpy impact toughness of these samples were measured in the as-welded condition as well as after aging. The corrosion resistance was measured using standard immersion tests in acidic ferric sulfate (ASTM G 28 A) and 2.5% hydrochloric acid solutions at the boiling point. The microstructures of weld samples were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). One weld sample (aged 40,000 hours at 427 C) was examined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The structure of the unaged welds was dendritic with tetrahedrally close-packed (TCP) phase particles in the interdendritic regions. Long-range order was seen in the weld aged at 427 C for 40,000 hours and was assumed to also occur in other welds aged below approximately 600 C. At temperatures above about 600 C, TCP phase nucleation and growth of existing particles occurred. This precipitation occurred near the original particles presumably in regions of the highest molybdenum (Mo) segregation. Lower temperatures had little or no effect on the morphology of TCP phases. …

Beam halo particles following the extreme trajectories near the physical aperture limit radiate Smith-Purcell radiation when moving over a diffraction grating. This grating can be used as a pick-up and a kicker for optical stochastic cooling of the halo particles. In this application cooling would have the effect of slowing down the halo particle diffusion onto the aperture. Cooling efficiency would quickly diminish with the distance from the aperture and would only affect the halo particles. A preliminary analysis of this system is considered.

Technical Issues for the interim dry storage of N Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) are discussed. Characterization data from fuel, to support resolution of these issues, are reviewed and new results for the oxidation of fuel in a moist atmosphere and the drying of whole fuel elements are presented. Characterization of associated K basin sludge is also discussed in light of a newly adopted disposal pathway.

Many cancers, including prostate, breast and lung express parathyroid hormone related protein (PTHrP). Despite the common tumor overexpression of PTHrP, serum levels of PTHrP are not commonly elevated in affected patients. They postulate that the reasons for the discrepancy between tissue and serum measurements of PTHrP are the inadequate sensitivity and specificity of current PTHrP serum assays. To improve the clinical value of PTHrP serum assays for the cancer patient, they are developing a new generation of novel and ultrasensitive PTHrP serum immunoassays based on immunoaffinity purification, nanospray liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS).