Electron cyclotron thruster new modeling results preparation for initial experiments

The following topics are discussed: a whistler-based electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) thruster; cross-field coupling in the helicon approximation; wave propagation; wave structure; plasma density; wave absorption; the electron distribution function; isothermal and adiabatic plasma flow; ECRH thruster modeling; a PIC code model; electron temperature; electron energy; and initial experimental tests. The discussion is presented in vugraph form

GHG Mitigation Potential in U.S. Transportation

This study used GAINS Annex I transportation data for the U.S. to quantify carbon dioxide mitigation potential in the on-road transport sector for a range of aggressive fuel-efficient vehicle technology penetration scenarios focusing on 2020 and 2030. A cost-benefit sensitivity analysis was also conducted to determine each penetration scenario's "net extra cost" sensitivity to uncertainties in future fuel prices and technology investment costs. Results showed carbon dioxide reductions from increased vehicle fuel-efficiency of up to 7 percent relative to 2006 U.S. fossil fuel emissions levels, were achievable in 2030 for the technology scenarios analyzed. The net extra costs for the entire on-road vehicle fleet in all scenarios were negative, and cost-benefit sensitivity analysis showed that the on-road fleet is surprisingly robust against uncertain future fuel prices and investment costs. A break-even endpoint analysis revealed the on-road fleet could experience up to a 60 percent increase in investment costs, or up to a 40 percent decrease in fuel prices and still maintain negative or break-even net extra costs in 2020, in other words conclusions and recommendations are very robust

What’s in a Name: The Domestication of Factory Produced Wax Textiles in Cote d’Ivoire

In a frequently evoked passage from Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare asks What\u27s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Yet, as Romeo and Juliet tragically come to learn, human beings make much of names. Indeed, one\u27s name is a significant part of one\u27s social persona; it can describe who we are, it can join us and separate us from others, and it can link us to the past. In a sense, when we are named we are given an identity. Describing the complexities of naming for the Wamakua of Tanzania, J. A. R. Wembah-Rashid states, When the newborn passes the midwife\u27s scrutiny, it is declared human, a baby. This is when it is given its first name . . . Similarly, for those of the Christian faith christening—that is, the giving of a name—at baptism, is part of the ritual of acceptance into the church. For the Wamakua as for Christians and many others the act of naming signifies that a person has been welcomed in, becoming part of a family, a community, a society. In Cote d\u27Ivoire names inspired by daily life, popular wisdom, and contemporary events are given to the motifs of factory printed batik textiles, commonly referred to as wax. This practice is rooted in the treatment of other kinds of luxury textiles in the region. Asante and Ewe artists in Ghana; Baule, Dyula, and Senufo artists in Cote d\u27Ivoire; and Bamana artists in Mali are among the weavers and dyers who have a long history of referring by name to the individual motifs and overall patterns of the cloth they produce. In this paper I will discuss the importance of naming in the context of wax textiles in Cote d\u27Ivoire. I will demonstrate that the naming of motifs constitutes a strategy for making mass-produced cloth meaningful, especially to women, by giving it broad-based cultural relevance. Further, I will show how names are employed in linking new designs with those designs considered classics, authenticating the new designs through historical precedence

MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITY ASSEMBLAGE FROM CANYON FERRY TO GREAT FALLS ALONG THE MISSOURI RIVER

The Missouri River represents a major resource for the state of Montana, both environmentally and economically.  Understanding macroinvertebrate community assemblage provides insight into food web structure, helping to construct a biological foundation from which water quality can be monitored now and in the future.  A comprehensive description of macroinvertebrate assemblage between Canyon Ferry Dam and the mouth of the Sun River near Great Falls also serves as a marker for comparison of biologically similar reaches.  In order to examine macroinvertebrate community structure between these locations, we used samples previously collected by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks for a walleye larval study.  After fish larvae were removed from samples, we sorted the macroinvertebrates as well as casings from debris and daphnia.  Debris and daphnia were dried and weighed to obtain a comparative biomass, and macroinvertebrates were sorted and identified to the lowest taxonomic level (order or family, species dependent).  They were also sorted into functional feeding groups for further analysis of community structure between these locations.  Daphniidae were determined to be predominant in Canyon Ferry, Hauser, and Holter samples, while Ephemerellidae and Baetidae were also very common across all sample locations

Growth sensitivity to drought of co-occurring Pinus Spp. along an elevation gradient in northern Mexico

Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of severe drought, yet little information exists on the impacts of drought on dominant trees of Mexican pine forests, which are among the most biologically diverse forests in the world. We conducted the first comparison of growth sensitivity to drought of two co-occurring Pious species in Mexico to understand whether growth of dominant pines of the Sierra Madre Occidental in northern Mexico is sensitive to drought and temperature variation and to understand how sensitivity differs between tree species and elevations. We sampled and analyzed tree-ring data across a 400-m elevation gradient for the years 1945-2004 for co-occurring Pinus engelmannii and Pious lumholtzii at Basaseachi National Park, Chihuahua, Mexico. We hypothesized that growth sensitivity to drought would be highest at low elevations, annual basal area increment (BAI) would be lowest at low elevations, and winter precipitation would covary positively with BAI at all elevations. Growth sensitivity to drought, as measured by a wet-dry ring-width index ratio (W:D), was significantly higher for both species at low elevations (W:D range 2.2-2.8) than at intermediate and high elevations (W:D range 1.5-1.9). Pious engelmannii had significantly higher W:D (2.2) than P. lumholtzii (1.8). Annual BAI did not differ between elevations or species. Annual ring width index was positively and significantly associated with winter (December April) precipitation. This association was stronger at low elevations than at high elevations. Other seasons of precipitation and other climatic variables were not significantly associated with annual growth. Our results suggest that the increasing frequency and severity of drought predicted for this region in the coming decades will reduce growth of P. engelmannii and P lumholtzii, with greater impacts on low-elevation populations and on P engelmannii

Tectonic Evolution of the Adirondack Mountains and Grenville Orogen Inliers within the USA

Recent investigations in geochronology and tectonics provide important new insights into the evolution of the Grenville Orogen in North America. Here, we summarize results of this research in the USA and focus upon ca. 1.4–0.98 Ga occurrences extending from the Adirondack Mountains to the southern Appalachians and Texas. Recent geochronology (mainly by U/Pb SHRIMP) establishes that these widely separated regions experienced similar tectonomagmatic events, i.e., the Elzevirian (ca. 1.25–1.22 Ga), Shawinigan (ca. 1.2–1.14 Ga), and Grenvillian (ca. 1.09–0.98 Ga) orogenies and associated plate interactions. Notwithstanding these commonalities, Nd model ages and Pb isotopic mapping has revealed important differences that are best explained by the existence of contrasting compositions of deep crustal reservoirs beneath the Adirondacks and the southern Appalachians. The isotopic compositions for the Adirondacks lie on the same Pb–Pb array as those for the Grenville Province, the Granite-Rhyolite Province and the Grenvillian inliers of Texas suggesting that they all developed on Laurentian crust. On the other hand, data from the southern Appalachians are similar to those of the Sunsas Terrane in Brazil and suggest that Amazonian crust with these Pb–Pb characteristics was thrust onto eastern Laurentia during its Grenvillian collision with Amazonia and subsequently transferred to the latter during the late Neoproterozoic breakup of the supercontinent, Rodinia, and the formation of the Iapetus Ocean. The ca. 1.3–1.0 Ga Grenville Orogen is also exposed in the Llano Uplift of Texas and in small inliers in west Texas and northeast Mexico. The Llano Uplift contains evidence for a major collision with a southern continent at ca. 1.15–1.12 Ga (Kalahari Craton?), magmatic arcs, and back-arc and foreland basins, all of which are reviewed.     The Grenvillian Orogeny is considered to be the culminating tectonic event that terminated approximately 500 m.y. of continental margin growth along southeastern Laurentia by accretion, continental margin arc magmatism, and metamorphism. Accordingly, we briefly review the tectonic and magmatic histories of these Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic pre-Grenvillian orogens, i.e., Penokean, Yavapai, and Mazatzal as well as the Granite-Rhyolite Province and discuss their ~5000 km transcontinental span.SOMMAIREDes recherches récentes en géochronologie et en tectonique révèlent d’importants faits nouveaux sur l’évolution de l’orogénie de Grenville en Amérique du Nord.  Nous présentons ici un sommaire des résultats de cet effort de recherche aux USA en mettant l’accent sur les indices datés entre env. 1,4 et 0,98 Ga, à partir des monts Adirondack jusqu’au sud des Appalaches et au Texas.  Des données géochronologiques récentes (par microsonde SHRIMP principalement) indiquent que les roches de ces régions très éloignées les unes des autres ont subies l’effet d’épisodes tectonomagmatiques similaires, par exemple, aux orogenèses de l’Elzévirien (env. 1.25–1.22 Ga), de Shawinigan (env. 1.2–1.14 Ga), et du Grenvillien (env. 1.09–0.98 Ga), ainsi que des interactions des plaques associées.  Malgré ces points communs, la chronologie Nd et la cartographie isotopique Pb a révélé des différences importantes qui s’expliquent plus aisément par des compositions contrastées des réservoirs profonds de croûte sous les Adirondacks et le sud des Appalaches.  Les compositions isotopiques des Adirondacks sont de la même gamme Pb-Pb que ceux de la Province de Grenville, de la Province Granite-rhyolite et des boutonnières grenvilliennes du Texas, suggérant qu'ils se sont tous développées sur la croûte des Laurentides.  Par ailleurs, les données des Appalaches du sud sont semblables à celles du terrane de Sunsas au Brésil, ce qui incite à penser que la croûte amazonienne, avec de telles caractéristiques Pb-Pb, a été poussée sur la portion est de Laurentia lors de sa collision grenvillienne avec l’Amazonie puis laissée à cette dernière au cours de la rupture du supercontinent Rodinia vers la fin du Néoprotérozoïque, avec la formation de l'océan Iapetus.  L’orogène de Grenville (1,3 à 1,0 Ga env.) est également exposé dans le soulèvement de Llano au Texas et dans de petites boutonnières dans l'ouest du Texas et le nord du Mexique.  Le soulèvement de Llano montre des indices d'une collision majeure avec un continent au sud, entre env. 1,15 et 1,12 Ga (craton de Kalahari?), des zones d’arcs magmatiques, d'arrière-arc et de bassin d'avant-pays, chacun étant présenté ci-dessous.    L'orogenèse de Grenville est considéré comme l'événement tectonique culminant qui marqué la fin d’une période d’environ 500 ma d’accroissement de la marge continentale le long de la bordure sud-est de la Laurentie, par accrétion, magmatisme d’arc de marge continentale, et métamorphisme.  C’est pourquoi, nous passons brièvement en revue l'histoire tectonique et magmatique de ces orogènes pré-grenvilliennes paléoprotérozoïques et mésoprotérozoïques, pénokéenne, de Yavapai, et de Mazatzal ainsi que la Province de Granite-rhyolite, et discutons de son étendue sur env. 5 000 km.

DOE-EPRI On-Line Monitoring Implementation Guidelines

Industry and EPRI experience at several plants has shown on-line monitoring to be very effective in identifying out-of-calibration instrument channels or indications of equipment-degradation problems. The EPRI implementation project for on-line monitoring has demonstrated the feasability of on-line monitoring at several participating nuclear plants. The results have been very enouraging, and substantial progress is anticipated in the coming years

Orbit transfer rocket engine integrated control and health monitoring system technology readiness assessment

The objectives of this task were to: (1) estimate the technology readiness of an integrated control and health monitoring (ICHM) system for the Aerojet 7500 lbF Orbit Transfer Vehicle engine preliminary design assuming space based operations; and (2) estimate the remaining cost to advance this technology to a NASA defined 'readiness level 6' by 1996 wherein the technology has been demonstrated with a system validation model in a simulated environment. The work was accomplished through the conduct of four subtasks. In subtask 1 the minimally required functions for the control and monitoring system was specified. The elements required to perform these functions were specified in Subtask 2. In Subtask 3, the technology readiness level of each element was assessed. Finally, in Subtask 4, the development cost and schedule requirements were estimated for bringing each element to 'readiness level 6'