Modeling done at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in FY2000 predicted improved sensitivity for remote chemical detection by differential absorption lidar (DIAL) if frequency-modulated (FM) lasers were used. This improved sensitivity results from faster averaging away of speckle noise and the recently developed quantum cascade (QC) lasers offer the first practical method for implementing this approach in the molecular fingerprint region of the infrared. To validate this model prediction, a simple laboratory bench FM-DIAL system was designed, assembled, tested, and laboratory-scale experiments were carried out during FY2001. Preliminary results of the FM DIAL experiments confirm the speckle averaging advantages predicted by the models. In addition, experiments were performed to explore the use of hybrid QC - CO2 lasers for achieving sufficient frequency-modulated laser power to enable field experiments at longer ranges (up to one kilometer or so). This approach will allow model validation at realistic ranges much sooner than would be possible if one had to first develop master oscillator - power amplifier systems utilizing only QC devices. Amplification of a QC laser with a CO2 laser was observed in the first hybrid laser experiments, but the low gain and narrow linewidth of the CO2 laser available for these experiments …

Predictions of increasing levels of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) and the specter of global warming have intensified research efforts to identify ways to sequester carbon. A number of novel avenues of research are being considered, including bioprocessing methods to promote and accelerate biosequestration of CO{sub 2} from the environment through the growth of organisms such as coccolithophorids, which are capable of sequestering CO{sub 2} relatively permanently. Calcium and magnesium carbonates are currently the only proven, long-term storage reservoirs for carbon. Whereas organic carbon is readily oxidized and releases CO{sub 2} through microbial decomposition on land and in the sea, carbonates can sequester carbon over geologic time scales. This proposal investigates the use of coccolithophorids--single-celled, marine algae that are the major global producers of calcium carbonate--to sequester CO{sub 2} emissions from power plants. Cultivation of coccolithophorids for calcium carbonate (CaCO{sub 3}) precipitation is environmentally benign and results in a stable product with potential commercial value. Because this method of carbon sequestration does not impact natural ecosystem dynamics, it avoids controversial issues of public acceptability and legality associated with other options such as direct injection of CO{sub 2} into the sea and ocean fertilization. Consequently, cultivation of coccolithophorids could be carried …

The report discussed the following topics: (1) Orthopedic Devices; (2) Hybrid Vector and Method Resulting in Protein Overproduction by Eukaryotic Cells; (3) Surgical Simulator; (4) CBTI (Center for Biomedical Technology Innovation) as an Incubator for Start-up Companies; (5) Voice-activated, computer-assisted surgical robotics; (6) Through transmission ultrasonic 3-D holography for diagnostic imaging; (7) CBTI's Scibermed{trademark} Virtual Institute (SVI); and (8) Laser Oxygenation Tomography.

The Combustion Corridor is a concept in which researchers in combustion and thermal sciences have unimpeded access to large volumes of remote computational results. This will enable remote, collaborative analysis and visualization of state-of-the-art combustion science results. The Engine Research Center (ERC) at the University of Wisconsin - Madison partnered with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, and several other universities to build and test the first stages of a combustion corridor. The ERC served two important functions in this partnership. First, we work extensively with combustion simulations so we were able to provide real world research data sets for testing the Corridor concepts. Second, the ERC was part of an extension of the high bandwidth based DOE National Laboratory connections to universities.