Design for success software evolution process for the Department of Energy`s standard security system

Computer software must evolve to support changing user needs, advances in computer technology, and continuous quality improvement. Control of the software development and evolution process becomes critical when the software is used in the protection of special nuclear material for the U.S. Government. The software evolution of the Argus security system is outlined as an example of a successful approach to this problem. Argus is a comprehensive, integrated security system incorporating intrusion detection, access control alarm assessment command and control communications, event reporting and archiving. Special issues faced by the Argus team are outlined, and the methodology for software definition delivery and control are described

Summary for policymakers

This Summary for Policymakers presents key findings from the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX). The SREX approaches the topic by assessing the scientific literature on issues that range from the relationship between climate change and extreme weather and climate events ("climate extremes") to the implications of these events for society and sustainable development. The assessment concerns the interaction of climatic, environmental, and human factors that can lead to impacts and disasters, options for managing the risks posed by impacts and disasters, and the important role that non-climatic factors play in determining impacts. The character and severity of impacts from climate extremes depend not only on the extremes themselves but also on exposure and vulnerability. In this report, adverse impacts are considered disasters when they produce widespread damage and cause severe alterations in the normal functioning of communities or societies. Climate extremes, exposure, and vulnerability are influenced by a wide range of factors, including anthropogenic climate change, natural climate variability, and socioeconomic development. Disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change focus on reducing exposure and vulnerability and increasing resilience to the potential adverse impacts of climate extremes, even though risks cannot fully be eliminated. Although mitigation of climate change is not the focus of this report, adaptation and mitigation can complement each other and together can significantly reduce the risks of climate change. This report integrates perspectives from several historically distinct research communities studying climate science, climate impacts, adaptation to climate change, and disaster risk management. Each community brings different viewpoints, vocabularies, approaches, and goals, and all provide important insights into the status of the knowledge base and its gaps. Many of the key assessment findings come from the interfaces among these communities

Low Temperature Neutron Diffraction Study of MnTe

Investigation of transport and magnetic properties of MnTe at low temperatures sInvestigation of transport and magnetic properties of MnTe at low temperatures showed anomalies like negative coefficient of resistance below 100K and a sharp rise in susceptibility at around 83K similar to a ferromagnetic transition. Low temperature powder neutron diffraction experiments were therefore carried out to understand the underlying phenomena responsible for such anomalous behavior. Our study indicates that the rise in susceptibility at low temperatures is due to strengthening of ferromagnetic interaction within the plane over the inter plane antiferromagnetic interactions.Comment: Appearing in J. Magn. Magn. Mate

Transverse instability and its long-term development for solitary waves of the (2+1)-Boussinesq equation

The stability properties of line solitary wave solutions of the (2+1)-dimensional Boussinesq equation with respect to transverse perturbations and their consequences are considered. A geometric condition arising from a multi-symplectic formulation of this equation gives an explicit relation between the parameters for transverse instability when the transverse wavenumber is small. The Evans function is then computed explicitly, giving the eigenvalues for transverse instability for all transverse wavenumbers. To determine the nonlinear and long time implications of transverse instability, numerical simulations are performed using pseudospectral discretization. The numerics confirm the analytic results, and in all cases studied, transverse instability leads to collapse.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.

A lightweight ground penetrating radar

The detection of buried objects, particularly unexploded ordnance (UXO), has gained significant interest in the US in the late 1990s. The desire to remediate the thousands of sites worldwide has become an increasing humanitarian concern. The application of radar to this problem has received renewed attention. Bechtel Nevada, Special Technologies Laboratory (STL) has developed several frequency modulated, continuous wave (FM-CW) ground penetrating radar (GPR) units for the US Department of Energy since 1984. To meet these new technical requirements for high resolution data and UXO detection, STL is moving forward with advances to GPR technology, signal processing, and imaging with the development of an innovative system. The goal is to design and fabricate a lightweight, battery operated unit that does not require surface contact and can be operated by a novice user

Massless Minimally Coupled Fields in De Sitter Space: O(4)-Symmetric States Versus De Sitter Invariant Vacuum

The issue of de Sitter invariance for a massless minimally coupled scalar field is revisited. Formally, it is possible to construct a de Sitter invariant state for this case provided that the zero mode of the field is quantized properly. Here we take the point of view that this state is physically acceptable, in the sense that physical observables can be computed and have a reasonable interpretation. In particular, we use this vacuum to derive a new result: that the squared difference between the field at two points along a geodesic observer's space-time path grows linearly with the observer's proper time for a quantum state that does not break de Sitter invariance. Also, we use the Hadamard formalism to compute the renormalized expectation value of the energy momentum tensor, both in the O(4) invariant states introduced by Allen and Follaci, and in the de Sitter invariant vacuum. We find that the vacuum energy density in the O(4) invariant case is larger than in the de Sitter invariant case.Comment: TUTP-92-1, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Electronic structure, electron-phonon coupling and superconductivity of isotypic noncentrosymmetric crystals Li2_2Pd3_3B and Li2_2Pt3_3B

Electronic structure of recently discovered isotypic ternary borides Li$_2$Pd$_3$B and Li$_2$Pt$_3$B, with noncentrosymmetric crystal structures, is studied with a view to understanding their superconducting properties. Estimates of the Fermi-surface averaged electron-phonon matrix element and Hopfield parameter are obtained in the rigid ion approximation of Gaspari and Gyorffy [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 28} (1972) 801]. The contribution of the lithium atoms to the electron-phonon coupling is found to be negligible, while both boron and palladium atoms contribute equally strongly to the Hopfield parameter. There is a significant transfer of charge from lithium, almost the entire valence charge, to the B-Pd(Pt) complex. The electronic structure and superconducting properties of Li$_2$Pd$_3$B, thus, can be understood from the viewpoint of the compound being composed of a connected array of B-Pd tetrahedra decoupled from the backbone of Li atoms, which are connected by relatively short bonds. Our results suggest that conventional s-wave electron-phonon interaction without explicit consideration of SO coupling can explain qualitatively the observed $T_c$ in Li$_2$Pd$_3$B. However, such an approach is likely to fail to describe superconductivity in Li$_2$Pt$_3$B.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures An erroneous statement following Eq. 6 in version 1 has been deleted. A statement regarding the possible inadequacy of Eq. 6 has been added following Eq. 6. At two places in the discussion Refs. 37,39 has been changed to 37-39, as it should b

Effects of Diabetes and Insulin on α-amylase Messenger RNA Levels in Rat Parotid Glands

Previous studies have shown that amylase levels are reduced significantly in the pancreas and parotid gland of diabetic rats and that insulin reverses this effect and increases the secretory protein levels. In the pancreas, these changes in amylase protein levels are accompanied by parallel changes in amylase mRNA levels. In the present study, the effects of diabetes and subsequent insulin treatments on contents (per cell) of amylase protein and its mRNA in parotid glands were compared in rats rendered diabetic with an injection of a beta-cell toxin, streptozotocin (STZ). Both amylase protein and its mRNA contents were reduced significantly in diabetic rats, compared with control rats, and this reduction was reversed following insulin injections of diabetic rats. In insulin-injected diabetic rats, amylase protein contents increased before a detectable increase in amylase mRNA levels was seen. The mRNA contents of a non-secretory protein, actin, did not change during diabetogenesis or subsequent insulin treatments. The reductions in parotid contents of amylase and its mRNA in diabetic rats and the reversal of these changes by insulin are similar to those changes that occur in the pancreas under the same conditions. However, the magnitude of these changes in parotid glands was much smaller than in the pancreas, and the effect of insulin on amylase mRNA synthesis was not as immediate as in the latter gland.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67977/2/10.1177_00220345900690081001.pd

Effects of a nanoscopic filler on the structure and dynamics of a simulated polymer melt and the relationship to ultra-thin films

We perform molecular dynamics simulations of an idealized polymer melt surrounding a nanoscopic filler particle to probe the effects of a filler on the local melt structure and dynamics. We show that the glass transition temperature $T_g$ of the melt can be shifted to either higher or lower temperatures by appropriately tuning the interactions between polymer and filler. A gradual change of the polymer dynamics approaching the filler surface causes the change in the glass transition. We also find that while the bulk structure of the polymers changes little, the polymers close to the surface tend to be elongated and flattened, independent of the type of interaction we study. Consequently, the dynamics appear strongly influenced by the interactions, while the melt structure is only altered by the geometric constraints imposed by the presence of the filler. Our findings show a strong similarity to those obtained for ultra-thin polymer films (thickness $\lesssim 100$ nm) suggesting that both ultra-thin films and filled-polymer systems might be understood in the same context

Reduced insulin signaling maintains electrical transmission in a neural circuit in aging flies

Lowered insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling (IIS) can extend healthy lifespan in worms, flies, and mice, but it can also have adverse effects (the “insulin paradox”). Chronic, moderately lowered IIS rescues age-related decline in neurotransmission through the Drosophila giant fiber system (GFS), a simple escape response neuronal circuit, by increasing targeting of the gap junctional protein innexin shaking-B to gap junctions (GJs). Endosomal recycling of GJs was also stimulated in cultured human cells when IIS was reduced. Furthermore, increasing the activity of the recycling small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) Rab4 or Rab11 was sufficient to maintain GJs upon elevated IIS in cultured human cells and in flies, and to rescue age-related loss of GJs and of GFS function. Lowered IIS thus elevates endosomal recycling of GJs in neurons and other cell types, pointing to a cellular mechanism for therapeutic intervention into aging-related neuronal disorders