The Hybrid Unit uses an advanced fluidic design to move very small reagent samples through many unit operations to complete complex molecular biology experiments. The primary use of this machine is to analyze a small liquid sample for the highly specific presence of select agents known to be used in bio-warfare. The Hybrid Unit is coupled with a Luminex bead detection unit for the multiplexing of many assays in one tube. Because of this, multiple controls can be included in each run to avoid false positives. The built-in flow through PCR unit amplifies specific DNA signatures and increases sensitivity, thereby limiting exposure of handlers to highly concentrated (and potentially hazardous, spore containing) sample volumes. The reproducible precision of the Hybrid Unit also gives confidence when a signal is given that detects an agent in a given sample.

The 8,768 acre Rainwater Wildlife Area was acquired in September 1998 by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) through an agreement with Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to partially offset habitat losses associated with construction of the John Day and McNary hydroelectric facilities on the mainstem Columbia River. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) were used to determine the number of habitat units credited to BPA for acquired lands. Upland and riparian forest, upland and riparian shrub, and grassland rover types are evaluated in this study. Targeted wildlife species include downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens), black-capped chickadee (Parus atricopillus), blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus), great blue heron (Ardea herodias), yellow warbler (Dendroica petechia), mink (Mustela vison), and Western meadowlark (Sturnella neglects). Habitat surveys were conducted in 1998 and 1999 in accordance with published HEP protocols and included 65,300, 594m{sup 2} plots, and 112 one-tenth-acre plots. Between 153.3 and 7,187.46 acres were evaluated for each target wildlife mitigation species. Derived habitat suitability indices were multiplied by corresponding cover-type acreages to determine the number of habitat units for each species. The total baseline habitat units credited to BPA for the Rainwater Wildlife Area and its seven target species …

This project was awarded under U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Program Solicitation DE-PS26-02NT41422 and specifically addresses Program Area of Interest: No.5--Environmental and Water Resources. The project team includes the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) as the contractor and the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) and Frontier Geosciences as subcontractors. Wisconsin Energies and its Pleasant Prairie Power Plant acted as host for the field-testing portion of the research. The project is aimed at clarifying the role, rates, and end results of chemical transformations that may occur to mercury that has been emitted from elevated stacks of coal-fired electric power plants. Mercury emitted from power plants emerges in either its elemental, divalent, or particulate-bound form. Deposition of the divalent form is more likely to occur closer to the source than that of the other two forms, due to its solubility in water. Thus, if chemical transformations occur in the stack emissions plume, measurements in the stack may mischaracterize the fate of the material. Initial field and pilot plant measurements have shown significant and rapid chemical reduction of divalent to elemental mercury may occur in these plumes. Mercury models currently assume that the …

A novel high-heat transfer low NO(sub x) natural gas combustion system. The objectives of this program are to research, develop, test, and commercialize a novel high-heat transfer low-NO{sub x} natural gas combustion system for oxygen-, oxygen-enriched air, and air-fired furnaces. This technology will improve the process efficiency (productivity and product quality) and the energy efficiency of high-temperature industrial furnaces by at least 20%. GTI's high-heat transfer burner has applications in high-temperature air, oxygen-enriched air, and oxygen furnaces used in the glass, metals, cement, and other industries. Development work in this program is focused on using this burner to improve the energy efficiency and productivity of glass melting furnaces that are major industrial energy consumers. The following specific project objectives are defined to provide a means of achieving the overall project objectives. (1) Identify topics to be covered, problems requiring attention, equipment to be used in the program, and test plans to be followed in Phase II and Phase III. (2) Use existing codes to develop models of gas combustion and soot nucleation and growth as well as a thermodynamic and parametric description of furnace heat transfer issues. (3) Conduct a parametric study to confirm the increase in process and energy …

This report documents work performed in the fifth quarter of the project entitled: ''Technologies to Enhance Operation of the Existing Natural Gas Compression Infrastructure''. The project objective is to develop and substantiate methods for operating integral engine/compressors in gas pipeline service, which reduce fuel consumption, increase capacity, and enhance mechanical integrity. The report describes the following work: completion of analysis of data from first visit to second site; preparation for follow-up testing.

This report contains top-level requirements for the various areas of radiological protection for workers. Detailed quotations of the requirements for applicable regulatory documents can be found in the accompanying Implementation Guide. For the purposes of demonstrating compliance with these requirements, per Engineering Standard 01064, shall consider / shall evaluate indicates that the designer must examine the requirement for the design and either incorporate or provide a technical justification as to why the requirement is not incorporated. The Transuranic Vent and Purge process is not a project, but is considered a process change. This process has been performed successfully by Solid Waste on lower activity TRU drums. This summary report applies a graded approach and describes how the Transuranic Vent and Purge process meets each of the applicable radiological design criteria and requirements specified in Manual WSRC-TM-95-1, Engineering Standard Number 01064.

Our goal is to simplify and streamline the process of using remotely located visual data analysis software tools. This discussion presents an example of an easy-to-use interface that mediates access to and use of diverse and powerful visual data analysis resources. The interface is presented via a standard web browser, which is ubiquitous and a part of every researchers work environment. Through the web interface, a few mouse clicks are all that is needed to take advantage of powerful, remotely located software resources. The VisPortal project is the software that provides diverse services to remotely located users through their web browser. Using standard Globus-grid middleware and off-the-shelf web automation, the VisPortal hides the underlying complexity of resource selection and distributed application management. The portal automates complex workflows that would otherwise require a substantial amount of manual effort on the part of the researcher. With a few mouse clicks, a researcher can quickly perform complex tasks like creating MPEG movies, scheduling file transfers, launching components of a distributed application, and accessing specialized resources.

This quarterly report covers the period from October 1st, 2003 through December 31st, 2003. It covers: technical development, permitting status, engineering status, construction status, operations summary and marketing support activities for this period.

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Support for Supercomputer Computations Research Institute infrastructure and the DQS/JQS project.

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The overall objective of this project is the three phase development of an Early Entrance Coproduction Plant (EECP) which uses petroleum coke to produce at least one product from at least two of the following three categories: (1) electric power (or heat), (2) fuels, and (3) chemicals using ChevronTexaco's proprietary gasification technology. The objective of Phase I is to determine the feasibility and define the concept for the EECP located at a specific site; develop a Research, Development, and Testing (RD&T) Plan to mitigate technical risks and barriers; and prepare a Preliminary Project Financing Plan. The objective of Phase II is to implement the work as outlined in the Phase I RD&T Plan to enhance the development and commercial acceptance of coproduction technology. The objective of Phase III is to develop an engineering design package and a financing and testing plan for an EECP located at a specific site. The project's intended result is to provide the necessary technical, economic, and environmental information needed by industry to move the EECP forward to detailed design, construction, and operation. The partners in this project are Texaco Energy Systems LLC or TES (a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco), General Electric (GE), Praxair, and Kellogg Brown …

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The overall program objective is to develop and evaluate environmentally benign agents or products that are effective in the prevention, inhibition, and mitigation of microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in the internal surfaces of metallic natural gas pipelines. The goal is to develop one or more environmentally benign (a.k.a. ''green'') products that can be applied to maintain the structure and dependability of the natural gas infrastructure. The technical approach for this quarter included the fractionation of extracts prepared from several varieties of pepper plants, and using several solvents, by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A preliminary determination of antimicrobial activities of the new extracts and fractions using a growth inhibition assay, and evaluation of the extracts ability to inhibit biofilm formation was also performed. The analysis of multiple extracts of pepper plants and fractions of extracts of pepper plants obtained by HPLC illustrated that these extracts and fractions are extremely complex mixtures of chemicals. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to identify the chemical constituents of these extracts and fractions to the greatest degree possible. Analysis of the chemical composition of various extracts of pepper plants has illustrated the complexity of the chemical mixtures present, and while additional work will be performed …

Conducting a successful tracer test requires adhering to a set of steps. The steps include identifying appropriate and achievable test goals, identifying tracers with the appropriate properties, and implementing the test as designed. When these steps are taken correctly, a host of tracer test analysis methods are available to the practitioner. This report discusses the individual steps required for a successful tracer test and presents methods for analysis. The report is an overview of tracer technology; the Suggested Reading section offers references to the specifics of test design and interpretation.

This report contains a summary of activities of Gnomon, Inc. and five subcontractors that have taken place during the second six months (July 1, 2003-December 31, 2003) under the DOE-NETL cooperative agreement: ''Adaptive Management and Planning Models for Cultural Resources in Oil & Gas Fields in New Mexico and Wyoming'', DE-FC26-02NT15445. Although Gnomon and all five subcontractors completed tasks during these six months, most of the technical experimental work was conducted by the subcontractor, SRI Foundation (SRIF). SRIF created a sensitivity model for the Loco Hills area of southeastern New Mexico that rates areas as having a very good chance, a good chance, or a very poor chance of containing cultural resource sites. SRIF suggested that the results of the sensitivity model might influence possible changes in cultural resource management (CRM) practices in the Loco Hills area of southeastern New Mexico.

This closure report documents that the closure activities performed at Corrective Action Unit 358: Areas 18, 19, 20 Cellars/Mud Pits, were in accordance with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection approved Streamlined Approach for Environmental Restoration Plan for Corrective Action Unit 358.

OAK-B135 Commercial fusion power systems must operate near the limits of the engineering systems and plasma parameters. Achieving these objectives will require real time feedback control of the plasma. This paper describes plasma control systems being used in the national DIII-D advanced tokamak research program.

This report is the latest in a continuing series that highlights the recent technical accomplishments associated with the work being performed within the Materials and Process Sciences Center. Our research and development activities primarily address the materials-engineering needs of Sandia's Nuclear-Weapons (NW) program. In addition, we have significant efforts that support programs managed by the other laboratory business units. Our wide range of activities occurs within six thematic areas: Materials Aging and Reliability, Scientifically Engineered Materials, Materials Processing, Materials Characterization, Materials for Microsystems, and Materials Modeling and Simulation. We believe these highlights collectively demonstrate the importance that a strong materials-science base has on the ultimate success of the NW program and the overall DOE technology portfolio.

This study involved the collection of juvenile fall Chinook salmon and Columbia River water samples to assess whether fall Chinook salmon population are exposed to chromium that upwells into the river from contaminated groundwater.

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This document introduces the use of Trilinos, version 3.1. Trilinos has been written to support, in a rigorous manner, the solver needs of the engineering and scientific applications at Sandia National Laboratories. Aim of this manuscript is to present the basic features of some of the Trilinos packages. The presented material includes the definition of distributed matrices and vectors with Epetra, the iterative solution of linear system with AztecOO, incomplete factorizations with IFPACK, multilevel methods with ML, direct solution of linear system with Amesos, and iterative solution of nonlinear systems with NOX. With the help of several examples, some of the most important classes and methods are detailed to the inexperienced user. For the most majority, each example is largely commented throughout the text. Other comments can be found in the source of each example. This document is a companion to the Trilinos User's Guide and Trilinos Development Guides. Also, the documentation included in each of the Trilinos' packages is of fundamental importance.

The overall objective of this project is the three phase development of an Early Entrance Coproduction Plant (EECP) which uses petroleum coke to produce at least one product from at least two of the following three categories: (1) electric power (or heat), (2) fuels, and (3) chemicals using ChevronTexaco's proprietary gasification technology. The objective of Phase I is to determine the feasibility and define the concept for the EECP located at a specific site; develop a Research, Development, and Testing (RD&T) Plan to mitigate technical risks and barriers; and prepare a Preliminary Project Financing Plan. The objective of Phase II is to implement the work as outlined in the Phase I RD&T Plan to enhance the development and commercial acceptance of coproduction technology. The objective of Phase III is to develop an engineering design package and a financing and testing plan for an EECP located at a specific site. The project's intended result is to provide the necessary technical, economic, and environmental information needed by industry to move the EECP forward to detailed design, construction, and operation. The partners in this project are Texaco Energy Systems LLC or TES (a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco), General Electric (GE), Praxair, and Kellogg Brown …

This report documents the third year of a four-year study to assess the efficacy of a prototype strobe light system to elicit a negative phototactic response in kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and rainbow trout (O. mykiss) in the forebay to the third powerplant at Grand Coulee Dam. This work was conducted for the Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in conjunction with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Colville Confederated Tribes).