On the development of a three-dimensional finite-element groundwater flow model of the saturated zone, Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Development of a preliminary three-dimensional model of the saturated zone at Yucca Mountain, the potential location for a high-level nuclear waste repository, is presented. The development of the model advances the technology of interfacing: (1)complex three-dimensional hydrogeologic framework modeling; (2) fully three-dimensional, unstructured, finite-element mesh generation; and (3) groundwater flow, heat, and transport simulation. The three-dimensional hydrogeologic framework model is developed using maps, cross sections, and well data. The framework model data are used to feed an automated mesh generator, designed to discretize irregular three-dimensional solids,a nd to assign materials properties from the hydrogeologic framework model to the tetrahedral elements. The mesh generator facilitated the addition of nodes to the finite-element mesh which correspond to the exact three-dimensional position of the potentiometric surface based on water-levels from wells. A ground water flow and heat simulator is run with the resulting finite- element mesh, within a parameter-estimation program. The application of the parameter-estimation program is designed to provide optimal values of permeability and specified fluxes over the model domain to minimize the residual between observed and simulated water levels

Measurements of Cabibbo Suppressed Hadronic Decay Fractions of Charmed D0 and D+ Mesons

Using data collected with the BESII detector at $e^{+}e^{-}$ storage ring Beijing Electron Positron Collider, the measurements of relative branching fractions for seven Cabibbo suppressed hadronic weak decays $D^0 \to K^- K^+$, $\pi^+ \pi^-$, $K^- K^+ \pi^+ \pi^-$ and $\pi^+ \pi^+ \pi^- \pi^-$, $D^+ \to \bar{K^0} K^+$, $K^- K^+ \pi^+$ and $\pi^- \pi^+ \pi^+$ are presented.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Does localized recharge occur at a discharge area within the ground-water flow system of Yucca Mountain, Nevada?

Studies done in 1984, at a central site on Franklin Lake playa (also known as Alkali Flat, a major discharge area of the ground-water flow system that includes Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the potential site of a high-level nuclear-waste repository) yield limited hydraulic-head and hydrochemical data from a 3-piezometer nest which indicated a slightly downward hydraulic gradient ({minus}0.02) and decreasing concentration of dissolved solids with increasing depth. Hydraulic-head measurements in June, 1989 made at the piezometer nest showed a substantially larger downward gradient ({minus}0.10) and a 0. 83{minus}meter higher water level in the shallowest piezometer (3.29 meters deep), indicating the possibility of localized recharge. during the period of September-November, 1989, a multilevel sampler was used to obtain detailed hydrochemical profiles of the uppermost 1. 5 m of the saturated zone

A Generic Solution for Agile Run-Time Inspection Middleware

Part 8: Run-Time (Re)configuration and InspectionInternational audienceContemporary middleware offers powerful abstractions to construct distributed software systems. However, when inspecting the software at run-time, these abstractions are no longer visible. While inspection, monitoring and management are increasingly important in our always-online world, they are often only possible in terms of the lower-level abstraction of the underlying platform. Due to the complexity of current programming languages and middleware, this low-level information is too complex to handle or understand.This paper presents a run-time inspection system based on dynamic model transformation capabilities that extends run-time entities with higher-level abstract views, in order to enable inspection in terms of the original and most relevant abstractions. Our solution is lightweight in terms of performance overhead and agile in the sense that it can selectively (and on-demand) generate these high-level views.Our prototype implementation has been applied to inspect distributed applications using RMI. In this case study, we inspect the distributed RMI system using our integrated overview over the collection of distributed objects that interact using remote method invocation

Physiologically based synthetic models of hepatic disposition

Current Physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models are inductive. We present an additional, different approach that is based on the synthetic rather than the inductive approach to modeling and simulation. It relies on object-oriented programming A model of the referent system in its experimental context is synthesized by assembling objects that represent components such as molecules, cells, aspects of tissue architecture, catheters, etc. The single pass perfused rat liver has been well described in evaluating hepatic drug pharmacokinetics (PK) and is the system on which we focus. In silico experiments begin with administration of objects representing actual compounds. Data are collected in a manner analogous to that in the referent PK experiments. The synthetic modeling method allows for recognition and representation of discrete event and discrete time processes, as well as heterogeneity in organization, function, and spatial effects. An application is developed for sucrose and antipyrine, administered separately and together PBPK modeling has made extensive progress in characterizing abstracted PK properties but this has also been its limitation. Now, other important questions and possible extensions emerge. How are these PK properties and the observed behaviors generated? The inherent heuristic limitations of traditional models have hindered getting meaningful, detailed answers to such questions. Synthetic models of the type described here are specifically intended to help answer such questions. Analogous to wet-lab experimental models, they retain their applicability even when broken apart into sub-components. Having and applying this new class of models along with traditional PK modeling methods is expected to increase the productivity of pharmaceutical research at all levels that make use of modeling and simulation