Transmutation prospect of long-lived nuclear waste induced by high-charge electron beam from laser plasma accelerator

Photo-transmutation of long-lived nuclear waste induced by high-charge relativistic electron beam (e-beam) from laser plasma accelerator is demonstrated. Collimated relativistic e-beam with a high charge of approximately 100 nC is produced from high-intensity laser interaction with near-critical-density (NCD) plasma. Such e-beam impinges on a high-Z convertor and then radiates energetic bremsstrahlung photons with flux approaching 10^{11} per laser shot. Taking long-lived radionuclide ^{126}Sn as an example, the resulting transmutation reaction yield is the order of 10^{9} per laser shot, which is two orders of magnitude higher than obtained from previous studies. It is found that at lower densities, tightly focused laser irradiating relatively longer NCD plasmas can effectively enhance the transmutation efficiency. Furthermore, the photo-transmutation is generalized by considering mixed-nuclide waste samples, which suggests that the laser-accelerated high-charge e-beam could be an efficient tool to transmute long-lived nuclear waste.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, it has been submitted to Physics of Plasm

Robust electromagnetically guided endoscopic procedure using enhanced particle swarm optimization for multimodal information fusion

© 2015 American Association of Physicists in Medicine. Purpose: Electromagnetically guided endoscopic procedure, which aims at accurately and robustly localizing the endoscope, involves multimodal sensory information during interventions. However, it still remains challenging in how to integrate these information for precise and stable endoscopic guidance. To tackle such a challenge, this paper proposes a new framework on the basis of an enhanced particle swarm optimization method to effectively fuse these information for accurate and continuous endoscope localization. Methods: The authors use the particle swarm optimization method, which is one of stochastic evolutionary computation algorithms, to effectively fuse the multimodal information including preoperative information (i.e., computed tomography images) as a frame of reference, endoscopic camera videos, and positional sensor measurements (i.e., electromagnetic sensor outputs). Since the evolutionary computation method usually limits its possible premature convergence and evolutionary factors, the authors introduce the current (endoscopic camera and electromagnetic sensors) observation to boost the particle swarm optimization and also adaptively update evolutionary parameters in accordance with spatial constraints and the current observation, resulting in advantageous performance in the enhanced algorithm. Results: The experimental results demonstrate that the authors proposed method provides a more accurate and robust endoscopic guidance framework than state-of-the-art methods. The average guidance accuracy of the authors framework was about 3.0 mm and 5.6° while the previous methods show at least 3.9 mm and 7.0°. The average position and orientation smoothness of their method was 1.0 mm and 1.6°, which is significantly better than the other methods at least with (2.0 mm and 2.6°). Additionally, the average visual quality of the endoscopic guidance was improved to 0.29. Conclusions: A robust electromagnetically guided endoscopy framework was proposed on the basis of an enhanced particle swarm optimization method with using the current observation information and adaptive evolutionary factors. The authors proposed framework greatly reduced the guidance errors from (4.3, 7.8) to (3.0 mm, 5.6°), compared to state-of-the-art methods

Improved three-dimensional color-gradient lattice Boltzmann model for immiscible multiphase flows

In this paper, an improved three-dimensional color-gradient lattice Boltzmann (LB) model is proposed for simulating immiscible multiphase flows. Compared with the previous three-dimensional color-gradient LB models, which suffer from the lack of Galilean invariance and considerable numerical errors in many cases owing to the error terms in the recovered macroscopic equations, the present model eliminates the error terms and therefore improves the numerical accuracy and enhances the Galilean invariance. To validate the proposed model, numerical simulation are performed. First, the test of a moving droplet in a uniform flow field is employed to verify the Galilean invariance of the improved model. Subsequently, numerical simulations are carried out for the layered two-phase flow and three-dimensional Rayleigh-Taylor instability. It is shown that, using the improved model, the numerical accuracy can be significantly improved in comparison with the color-gradient LB model without the improvements. Finally, the capability of the improved color-gradient LB model for simulating dynamic multiphase flows at a relatively large density ratio is demonstrated via the simulation of droplet impact on a solid surface.Comment: 9 Figure

Visualizing urban microclimate and quantifying its impact on building energy use in San Francisco

Weather data at nearby airports are usually used in building energy simulation to estimate energy use in buildings or evaluate building design or retrofit options. However, due to urbanization and geography characteristics, local weather conditions can differ significantly from those at airports. This study presents the visualization of 10-year hourly weather data measured at 27 sites in San Francisco, aiming to provide insights into the urban microclimate and urban heat island effect in San Francisco and how they evolve during the recent decade. The 10-year weather data are used in building energy simulations to investigate its influence on energy use and electrical peak demand, which informs the city's policy making on building energy efficiency and resilience. The visualization feature is implemented in CityBES, an open web-based data and computing platform for urban building energy research

Improved lattice QCD with quarks: the 2 dimensional case

QCD in two dimensions is investigated using the improved fermionic lattice Hamiltonian proposed by Luo, Chen, Xu, and Jiang. We show that the improved theory leads to a significant reduction of the finite lattice spacing errors. The quark condensate and the mass of lightest quark and anti-quark bound state in the strong coupling phase (different from t'Hooft phase) are computed. We find agreement between our results and the analytical ones in the continuum.Comment: LaTeX file (including text + 10 figures

A comparison of modified evolutionary computation algorithms with applications to three-dimensional endoscopic camera motion tracking

© 2017 IEEE. Endoscope 3D motion tracking plays an irreplaceable role for computer-assisted endoscopy systems development. Without such tracking, it is impossible to synchronize pre- and intraoperative images in a reference coordinate frame. Currently available methods are comprised of video-based and electromagnetic tracking. These methods limit to either video image artifacts or inaccurate sensor measurements and dynamic errors. This paper proposes two modified evolutionary computation algorithms: (a) adaptive particle swarm optimization (APSO) and (b) observation-boosted differential evolution (OBDE), to augment current endoscopic camera motion tracking. The experimental results demonstrate that our modified algorithms, which combine endoscopic video images with sensor measurements to estimate endoscope movements, can improve tracking accuracy from 4.8 mm to 2.9 mm. OBDE outperforms APSO for endoscope tracking