Report summarizes results of second phase of development of Vairex air compressor/expander for automotive fuel cell power systems. Project included optimizing key system performance parameters, as well as reducing number of components and the project cost, size and weight of the air system. Objectives were attained. Advanced prototypes are in commercial test environments.

Interest in methods to provide drugs at lower cost, particularly for the elderly, has rekindled discussion over the role the federal government plays in facilitating the creation of new pharmaceuticals for the marketplace. This report explores the issue of whether or not the substantial federal investment in health-related research and development (R&D) entitles the public to commensurate consideration in prices charged for any resulting drugs. It is intended to provide the reader with an understanding of the rationale for government support of R&D and subsequent efforts to facilitate private sector commercialization of new technologies generated from such work. Concerns surrounding innovation in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology are discussed within the broader context of the federal role in facilitating technological progress.

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A novel steam electrolyzer has been developed. In conventional electrolyzers, oxygen produced from electrolysis is usually released in the air stream. In their novel design, natural gas is used to replace air in order to reduce the chemical potential difference across the electrolyzer, thus minimizing the electrical consumption. The oxygen from the electrolysis is consumed in either a total oxidation or a partial oxidation reaction with natural gas. Experiments performed on single cells shown a voltage reduction as much as 1 V when compared to conventional electrolyzers. Using thin film materials and high performance cathode and anode, electrolysis could be done at temperatures as low as 700 C with electrolytic current as high as 1 A/cm{sup 2} at a voltage of 0.5 V only. The 700 C operating temperature is favorable to the total oxidation of natural gas while minimizing the need for steam that is otherwise necessary to avoid carbon deposition. A novel tubular electrolyzer stack has been developed. The system was designed to produce hydrogen at high pressures, taking advantage of the simplicity and high efficiency of the electrochemical compressors. A complete fabrication process was developed for making electrolyzer tubes with thin film coatings. A 100 W stack …

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), with a current annual budget of $4.3 billion, is the primary agency charged with enforcing the nation's immigration law. Regulating immigration can be viewed as having two basic components: stemming illegal immigration (enforcement) and facilitating legal immigration (service). The Administration is moving forward to restructure the agency internally by separating the agency's enforcement and service functions, but maintains that the immigration function must be managed by a single executive who can integrate immigration policy, standards, and operations. There is no statutory requirement that the Administration gain Congress's formal approval of its plan to restructure INS. Congress, however, could choose to mandate legislatively that INS be dismantled or restructured differently.

There were basically three theoretical projects supported by this grant: (1) Use of confined quark models to study low energy hadronic processes; (2) Production of strangeness by Electromagnetic Probes; and (3) Diffractive dissociative production of vector mesons by virtual photons on nucleons. Each of them is summarized in the paper.

The Pool Water Treatment and Cooling System is located in the Waste Handling Building (WHB), and is comprised of various process subsystems designed to support waste handling operations. This system maintains the pool water temperature within an acceptable range, maintains water quality standards that support remote underwater operations and prevent corrosion, detects leakage from the pool liner, provides the capability to remove debris from the pool, controls the pool water level, and helps limit radiological exposure to personnel. The pool structure and liner, pool lighting, and the fuel staging racks in the pool are not within the scope of the Pool Water Treatment and Cooling System. Pool water temperature control is accomplished by circulating the pool water through heat exchangers. Adequate circulation and mixing of the pool water is provided to prevent localized thermal hotspots in the pool. Treatment of the pool water is accomplished by a water treatment system that circulates the pool water through filters, and ion exchange units. These water treatment units remove radioactive and non-radioactive particulate and dissolved solids from the water, thereby providing the water clarity needed to conduct waste handling operations. The system also controls pool water chemistry to prevent advanced corrosion of the …

In the Antiquities Act, Congress authorized the President to create National Monuments. Recently, there has been discussion of a possible monument designation involving the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Several issues surround that possibility, including the potential size of such a monument and whether provisions of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act might preclude the designation. In addition, that Act provides for the termination of certain large withdrawals in Alaska unless they are approved by an Act of Congress within one year of notice of the withdrawal.