An open question about the dynamical behavior of materials is how phase transition occurs in highly non-equilibrium systems. One important class of study is the excitation of a solid by an ultrafast, intense laser. The preferential heating of electrons by the laser field gives rise to initial states dominated by hot electrons in a cold lattice. Using a femtosecond laser pump-probe approach, we have followed the temporal evolution of the optical properties of such a system. The results show interesting correlation to non-thermal melting and lattice disordering processes. They also reveal a liquid-plasma transition when the lattice energy density reaches a critical value.

The ILC beam dumps are a key part of the accelerator design. At Snowmass 2005, the current status of the beam dump designs was reviewed, and the options for the overall dump layout considered. This paper describes the available dump options for the baseline and the alternatives and considers issues for the dumps that require resolution.

The objective of this research project is two-fold. First, to fundamentally understand friction and relaxation dynamics of polymer chains near surfaces; and second, to develop novel self-lubricated substrates suitable for MEMS devices. During the three-year performance period of this study the PI and his students have shown using theory and experiments that systematic introduction of disorder into tethered lubricant coatings (e.g. by using self-assembled monolayer (SAM) mixtures or SAMs with nonlinear, branched architectures) can be used to significantly reduce the friction coefficient of a surface. They have also developed a simple procedure based on dielectric spectroscopy for quantifying the effect of surface disorder on molecular relaxation in lubricant coatings. Details of research accomplishments in each area of the project are described in the body of the report.

This report examines the evolution of counterterrorism cooperation between the United States and the European Union (EU), particularly since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It includes a discussion of U.S.-EU cooperation progress and ongoing challenges, as well as perspectives and issues for Congress.

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Report which discusses issues related to the North Atlantic Trade Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) including the level of involvement of the entities in using political and military actions to defend against terrorism and proliferation, the types of military forces necessary, the role of the EU in crisis management, the appropriateness of decision-making procedures to respond to emerging threats, and the role of other international institutions.

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This report provides an overview of Islamist extremism in Europe, possible terrorist links, European responses, and implications for the United States. Although the vast majority of Muslims in Europe are not involved in radical activities, Islamist extremists and vocal fringe communities that advocate terrorism exist and reportedly have provided cover for terrorist cells.

The magnetization reversal of uncompensated Fe moments in exchange biased Ni/FeF{sub 2} bilayers was determined using soft x-ray magnetic circular and linear dichroism. The hysteresis loops resulting from the Fe moments are almost identical to those of the ferromagnetic Ni layer. However, a vertical loop shift indicates that some Fe moments are pinned in the antiferromagnetically ordered FeF{sub 2}. The pinned moments are oriented antiparallel to small cooling fields leading to negative exchange bias, but parallel to large cooling fields resulting in positive exchange bias. No indication for the formation of a parallel antiferromagnetic domain wall in the FeF{sub 2} layer upon magnetization reversal in the Ni layer was found.

This project was awarded under U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Program Solicitation DE-PS26-02NT41422 and specifically addresses Technical Topical Area 2-Gasification Technologies. The project team includes Enertechnix, Inc. as the main contractor and ConocoPhillips Company as a technical partner, who also provides access to the SG Solutions Gasification Facility (formerly Wabash River Energy Limited), host for the field-testing portion of the research. Since 1989 the U.S. Department of Energy has supported development of advanced coal gasification technology. The Wabash River and TECO IGCC demonstration projects supported by the DOE have demonstrated the ability of these plants to achieve high levels of energy efficiency and extremely low emissions of hazardous pollutants. However, a continuing challenge for this technology is the tradeoff between high carbon conversion which requires operation with high internal gas temperatures, and limited refractory life which is exacerbated by those high operating temperatures. Attempts to control internal gas temperature so as to operate these gasifiers at the optimum temperature have been hampered by the lack of a reliable technology for measuring internal gas temperatures. Thermocouples have serious survival problems and provide useful temperature information for only a few days or weeks after startup before burning …

Closing report for project DOE-FG02-03ER15436. The project studied obligate autotrophy in the ammonia oxidizing bacterium Nitrosomonas europaea. Nitrosomonas europaea can obtain all of its energy and reductant for growth from the oxidation of ammonia to nitrite and is, therefore, classified as a chemolithotroph. This bacterium is also an autotroph, which can derive all cellular carbon from carbon dioxide. N. europaea seems incapable of growth with other carbon or energy sources. This restricted capability is surprising given that ammonia is a poor energy source. The main goal of the project was to examine the basis of autotrophy in N. europaea or, thought of another way, to determine the barriers to heterotrophy. The approach was enabled by the N. europaea genome sequence, stimulating new ways of thinking about this physiological paradox—an insistence on a single, albeit poor, energy source. Objective 1 was to examine the expression and regulation of the genes coding for alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, determine if the enzyme’s activity is present, and determine whether alteration of the expression levels influences autotrophic growth. Although Nitrosomonas europaea lacks measurable alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activity, the genome sequence revealed the presence of the genes encoding the enzyme. A knockout mutation was created in the sucA gene …

In the past quarter, significant progress has been made in optimize the deposition and release characteristics of ultrathin (less than 4 micron) membranes from rigid silicon substrates. Specifically, we have conducted a series of statistically designed experiments to examine the effects of plasma cleaning and compliant layer deposition conditions on the stress, release and pinhole density of membranes deposited on 4 inch and 6 inch round substrates. With this information we have progressed to the deposition and release of ultra-thin membranes from 12-inch diameter (113 sq. in.) rigid substrates, achieving a key milestone for large-area membrane fabrication. Idatech received and is beginning preparations to test the Pd alloy membranes fabricated at SwRI the previous quarter. They are currently evaluating alternate gasketing methods and support materials that will allow for effective sealing and mounting of such thin membranes. David Edlund has also recently left Idatech and Bill Pledger (Chief Engineer) has replaced him as the primary technical point of contact. At Idetech's request a small number of additional 16 sq. in, samples were provided in a 2 in. by 8 in. geometry for use in a new module design currently under development. Recent work at the Colorado School of Mines has …

We report orientation-specific, surface-sensitive structural characterization of colloidal CdSe nanorods with extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy and ab-initio density functional theory calculations. Our measurements of crystallographically-aligned CdSe nanorods show that they have reconstructed Cd-rich surfaces. They exhibit orientation-dependent changes in interatomic distances which are qualitatively reproduced by our calculations. These calculations reveal that the measured interatomic distance anisotropy originates from the nanorod surface.

The present NLL prediction for the decay rate of the rare inclusive process {bar B} {yields} X{sub s}{gamma} has a large uncertainty due to the charm mass renormalization scheme ambiguity. We estimate that this uncertainty will be reduced by a factor of 2 at the NNLL level. This is a strong motivation for the on-going NNLL calculation, which will thus significantly increase the sensitivity of the observable {bar B} {yields} X{sub s}{gamma} to possible new degrees of freedom beyond the SM. We also give a brief status report of the NNLL calculation.

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We present a study of the decay B{sup -} {yields} D{sub (CP)}{sup 0} K{sup -} and its charge conjugate, where D{sub (CP)}{sup 0} is reconstructed in CP-even, CP-odd, and non-CP flavor eigenstates, based on a sample of 232 million {Upsilon}(4S) {yields} B{bar B} decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} storage ring. We measure the partial-rate charge asymmetries AC{sub CP{+-}} and the ratios R{sub CP{+-}} of the B {yields} D{sup 0} K decay branching fractions as measured in CP{+-} and non-CP D{sup 0} decays: A{sub CP+} = 0.35 {+-} 0.13(stat) {+-} 0.04(syst), A{sub CP-} = -0.06 {+-} 0.13(stat) {+-} 0.04(syst), R{sub CP+} = 0.90 {+-} 0.12(stat) {+-} 0.04(syst), R{sub CP-} = 0.86 {+-} 0.10(stat) {+-} 0.05(syst).

The authors have searched for the decays B{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup +}a{sub 0}{sup -}, B{sup 0} {yields} D*{sub s}{sup +} a{sub 0}{sup -}, B{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup +}a{sub 2}{sup -} and B{sup 0} {yields} D*{sub s}{sup +} a{sub 2}{sup -} in a sample of about 230 million {Upsilon}(4S) {yields} B{bar B} decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B Factory at SLAC. They find no evidence for these decays and set upper limits at 90% C.L. on the branching fractions: {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup +} a{sub 0}{sup -}) < 1.9 x 10{sup -5}, {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} D*{sub s}{sup +} a{sub 0}{sup -}) < 3.6 x 10{sup -5}, {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup +} a{sub 2}{sup -}) < 1.9 x 10{sup -4}, and {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} D*{sub s}{sup +} a{sub 2}{sup -}) < 2.0 x 10{sup -4}.

This month's issue has the following articles: (1) Without Fanfare, Technicians Safely Keep the Laboratory Humming--Commentary by Bruce T. Goodwin; (2) These People Make Things Happen--Technicians at Lawrence Livermore, comprising more than 20 percent of the workforce, are essential to research efforts. March 2006; (3) The Shocking Truth about Detonations and Metals--The multichannel x-ray system Hydra records the changes in metals undergoing a high-explosives shock, revealing phenomena not predicted by material models; (4) Floating into Thin Air--High-flying balloon gathers images from x-ray sources that are out of this world; and (5) Carbon Goes Full Cycle in the Amazon--Recent measurements indicate that the Amazon River basin returns carbon to the atmosphere in only 5 years.

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This paper presents results of a study of the behavior of technetium-99 (Tc-99) during high level waste (HLW) processing operations at Savannah River Site (SRS). Its behavior during HLW processing is important to understand because Tc-99 can fractionate in the waste and appear in both the sludge and the salt tanks at SRS. It can also be soluble in groundwaters and thus is an important radionuclide that may dictate how much waste has to be removed from a tank to prepare it for permanent closure. The HLW processing steps considered in this study are: (1) The initial caustic neutralization of the acidic waste streams generated in the SRS canyons to prepare the waste for storage in the mild steel tanks in the SRS Tank Farm. Waste that is insoluble in caustic precipitates while soluble elements remain in the supernates. At SRS insoluble components are segregated into sludge tanks and soluble components into the salt tanks. (2) The operations in the SRS Tank Farm that wash the sludge in preparation for immobilization for permanent disposal. (3) The sludge immobilization process in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) that solidifies the solids into a stable borosilicate glass. The data in this study …

A reflection mode fiber optic oxygen sensor that can operate at high temperatures for power plant applications is being developed. The sensor is based on the {sup 3}O{sub 2} quenching of the red emission from hexanuclear molybdenum chloride clusters. Previously we described a particle-in-binder approach to immobilizing the potassium salt of a molybdenum cluster, K{sub 2}Mo{sub 6}Cl{sub 14}, at the tips of optical fibers. Compared to previous methods, the particle-in-binder approach affords fibers with greatly improved mechanical properties. We have extensively characterized two fiber sensors at high temperature. We obtain quenching ratios between pure nitrogen and 21% oxygen as high as 3.9 x at 70 C. For the first sensor at 60 C we obtained a {+-} 1% variation in the quenching ratio over 6 cycles of measurement, and monitored the device performance over 23 days. We were able to operate the second sensor continuously for 14 hours at 70 C, and the sensor quenching ratio was stable to 5% over that time period. These are promising results for a high temperature fiber optical oxygen sensor based on molybdenum chloride clusters.

Vadose zone lithology, hydrological characterization of interbed sediments, and hydrological data from subsurface monitoring of Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center wastewater infiltration are presented. Three-dimensional subsurface lithology of the vadose zone beneath the Vadose Zone Research Park is represented in a 2 dimensional (2 D) diagram showing interpolated lithology between monitoring wells. Laboratory-measured values for saturated hydraulic conductivity and porosity are given for three major interbeds, denoted as the B BC interbed (20 to 35 m bls), the C D interbed (40 to 45 m bls), and the DE 1 2 interbed (55 to 65 m bls), along with an overall physical description of the sediments and geologic depositional environments. Pre-operational pore water pressure conditions are presented to show the presence and location of perched water zones before pond discharge at the New Percolation Ponds. Subsurface infiltration conditions during initial high-volume discharge are presented to show water arrival times and arrival sequences. Steady-state conditions are then presented to show formation and locations of perched water zones and recharge sources after several months of discharge to the New Percolation Ponds.

We describe the results of our investigation on supporting ad-hoc and continuous queries over data streams. The major problem we address here is how to identify and utilize metadata for smart caching and to support queries over streaming and archived or historical data.

This is a report by the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, specifically about the controversies for the 109th Congress.