A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO summarized from available research what is known about adverse drug events (ADE), focusing on the: (1) different types and causes of ADEs; (2) evidence on the overall incidence and cost of ADEs in the United States; and (3) measures that have been proposed to reduce the number and severity of ADEs."

This list provides a sampling of the rapidly proliferating number of agricultural resources available on the Internet. It is not intended to be exhaustive. It is divided into 27 categories.

As part of a long running effort to make the Consumer Price Index (CPI) a better measure of price change, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor has made a number of changes in recent years which have affected actual measures of inflation and hence both federal outlays and receipts. This report summarizes those changes, presents estimates of their effect on measured inflation, and expands what other changes are expected for the CPI.

Nanoindentation studies reveal that the measured elastic properties of materials can be strongly dependent upon their stress-state and defect structure. Using an interfacial force microscope (IFM), the measured elastic response of 100 nm thick Au films was found to be strongly correlated with the films' stress state and thermal history. Indentation elasticity was also found to vary in close proximity to grain boundaries in thin films and near surface steps on single crystal surfaces. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that these results cannot be explained by elasticity due only to bond stretching. Instead, the measured elastic properties appear to be a combination of bond and defect compliance representing a composite modulus. We propose that stress concentration arising from the structure of grains, voids and grain boundaries is the source of an additional compliance which is sensitive to the stress state and thermal history of a material. The elastic properties of thin metallic films appear to reflect the collective elastic response of the grains, voids and grain boundaries. These results demonstrate that nanoindentation can be useful as a highly localized probe of stress-state and defect structures.

Direct fast-neutron detection is the detection of fast neutrons before they are moderated to thermal energy. We have investigated two approaches for using proton-recoil in plastic scintillators to detect fast neutrons and distinguish them from gamma-ray interactions. Both approaches use the difference in travel speed between neutrons and gamma rays as the basis for separating the types of events. In the first method, we examined the pulses generated during scattering in a plastic scintillator to see if they provide a means for distinguishing fast-neutron events from gamma-ray events. The slower speed of neutrons compared to gamma rays results in the production of broader pulses when neutrons scatter several times within a plastic scintillator. In contrast, gamma-ray interactions should produce narrow pulses, even if multiple scattering takes place, because the time between successive scattering is small. Experiments using a fast scintillator confirmed the presence of broader pulses from neutrons than from gamma rays. However, the difference in pulse widths between neutrons and gamma rays using the best commercially available scintillators was not sufficiently large to provide a practical means for distinguishing fast neutrons and gamma rays on a pulse-by-pulse basis. A faster scintillator is needed, and that scintillator might become available …

The inferred internal structure of large icy satellites hinges on the degree to which their rock component has been hydrated: this is due to the low density of hydrated silicates relative to anhydrous silicates. Accordingly, interior models of icy satellites have varied greatly in their estimates of ice thickness due to uncertainties in the density of the underlying rock. Furthermore, as both H{sub 2}O (potentially liquid) and organic materials are likely to be present, icy moons have been postulated to be possible hosts for extraterrestrial life; therefore, the stability of organic material under relevant hydrothermal conditions is an important issue. For example, Ganymede, Titan, and Triton are similar in that high pressure hydrothermal processing of silicates has likely been important in their chemical evolution. With mean densities between 1.8 and 2.1 g/cm{sup 3}, compositional models of these bodies incorporate approximately 50--80% silicate minerals by weight, with ices constituting the remaining mass. Moment of inertia constraints on the internal structure of Ganymede demonstrate that differentiation between rock and ice has occurred: such differentiation has also likely occurred in Titan and Triton. During accretion and differentiation (which could be ongoing), the silicate fraction of their interiors would have interacted with aqueous fluids …

The present Heavy Ion Driver design for HYLIFE-II calls for 96 beams from each side, or a total of 192 beams. The beams are separated from each other, at present, by an angle of 4.25 degrees. This report shows the focus magnet locations and a magnet build that leads to the minimum angle of 4.25 degrees between beams. Beam line and first wall shielding for the oscillating flow version of HYLIFE-II is accomplished by a series of horizontal and vertical jets. Ideally the horizontal jets would not deviate from a straight line but this is not feasible due to the force of gravity. Methods of altering the beam line array pattern to accommodate the curved ''horizontal'' jets are addressed.

The present Heavy Ion Driver design for HYLIFE-II calls for 96 beams from each side, or a total of 192 beams. The beams are separated from each other, at present, by an angle of 4.25 degrees. This report shows the focus magnet locations and a magnet build that leads to the minimum angle of 4.25 degrees between beams. Beam line and first wall shielding for the oscillating flow version of HYLIFE-II is accomplished by a series of horizontal and vertical jets. Ideally the horizontal jets would not deviate from a straight line but this is not feasible due to the force of gravity. Methods of altering the beam line array pattern to accommodate the curved ''horizontal'' jets are addressed.

In this report the results of experiments of water injection in fractured porous media comprising a number of water-wet matrix blocks are reported for the first time. The blocks experience an advancing fracture-water level (FWL). Immersion-type experiments are performed for comparison; the dominant recovery mechanism changed from co-current to counter-current imbibition when the boundary conditions changed from advancing FWL to immersion-type. Single block experiments of co-current and counter-current imbibition was performed and co-current imbibition leads to more efficient recovery was found.

In this study, the authors investigated the effects of various source gases (methane, ethane, ethylene, and acetylene) on the friction and wear performance of diamondlike carbon (DLC) films prepared in a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system. Films were deposited on AISI H13 steel substrates and tested in a pin-on-disk machine against DLC-coated M50 balls in dry nitrogen. They found a close correlation between friction coefficient and source gas composition. Specifically, films grown in source gases with higher hydrogen-to-carbon ratios exhibited lower friction coefficients and higher wear resistance than films grown in source gases with lower hydrogen-to-carbon (H/C) ratios. The lowest friction coefficient (0.014) was achieved with a film derived from methane with an WC ratio of 4, whereas the coefficient of films derived from acetylene (H/C = 1) was of 0.15. Similar correlations were observed for wear rates. Specifically, films derived from gases with lower H/C values were worn out and the substrate material was exposed, whereas films from methane and ethane remained intact and wore at rates that were nearly two orders of magnitude lower than films obtained from acetylene.

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Al{sub 2}Cu thin films ({approx} 382 nm) are fabricated by melting and resolidifying Al/Cu bilayers in the presence of a {micro} 3 nm Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} passivating layer. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) measures a 1.0 eV shift of the Cu2p{sub 3/2} peak and a 1.6 eV shift of the valence band relative to metallic Cu upon Al{sub 2}Cu formation. Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM) and Electron Back-Scattered Diffraction (EBSD) show that the Al{sub 2}Cu film is composed of 30-70 {micro}m wide and 10-25 mm long cellular grains with (110) orientation. The atomic composition of the film as estimated by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) is 67 {+-} 2% Al and 33 {+-} 2% Cu. XPS scans of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/Al{sub 2}Cu taken before and after air exposure indicate that the upper Al{sub 2}Cu layers undergo further oxidation to Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} even in the presence of {approx} 5 nm Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. The majority of Cu produced from oxidation is believed to migrate below the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layers, based upon the lack of evidence for metallic Cu in the XPS scans. In contrast to Al/Cu passivated with Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, melting/resolidifying the Al/Cu bilayer without Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} results in phase-segregated …

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is redesigning its Computer-Based Training (CBT) program for radiological workers. The redesign represents a major effort to produce a single, highly interactive and flexible CBT program that will meet the training needs of a wide range of radiological workers--from researchers and x-ray operators to individuals working in tritium, uranium, plutonium, and accelerator facilities. The new CBT program addresses the broad diversity of backgrounds found at a national laboratory. When a training audience is homogeneous in terms of education level and type of work performed, it is difficult to duplicate the effectiveness of a flexible, technically competent instructor who can tailor a course to the express needs and concerns of a course's participants. Unfortunately, such homogeneity is rare. At LLNL, they have a diverse workforce engaged in a wide range of radiological activities, from the fairly common to the quite exotic. As a result, the Laboratory must offer a wide variety of radiological worker courses. These include a general contamination-control course in addition to radioactive-material-handling courses for both low-level laboratory (i.e., bench-top) activities as well as high-level work in tritium, uranium, and plutonium facilities. They also offer training courses for employees who work with radiation-generating devices--x-ray, …

Numerical measurements and analytical studies are performed on a stochastic model with features relevant to plasma confinement. Although the model lacks crucial features of self-organized criticality (SOC) and its transport can be computed by standard techniques, it nevertheless exhibits intermittency and algebraic time correlations. This suggests that SOC need not be the explanation for observed long-time tails in experimental fluctuation data. Arguments based on the renormalized spectral balance equation, and simulation of a standard nonlinear paradigm, predict a range of Hurst exponents in reasonable agreement with the observations without invoking submarginal dynamics.

The recent discovery of materials that have anomalous magneto-resistive properties has generated renewed commercial interest in metal-based fast memory storage as an alternative to the currently used semiconductor-based devices. One particularly promising ternary alloy, fabricated at LLNL, appeared to have exceptional field response. This proposal extended the investigation of this class of materials by examining the scaling properties of test structures made from this material that could definitively verify the preliminary observations of high field sensitivity. Although the expected scaling was observed, technical issues, such as excessive oxidation, prevented a definitive assessment of the effect. Despite the difficulties encountered, several test structures demonstrated superior performance in a ''spin-valve'' configuration that might have applications for very high density recording heads.

The analysis of many complex multiphase fluid flow systems is based on a scale decoupling procedure. At the macroscale continuum models are used to perform large-scale simulations. At the mesoscale statistical homogenization theory is used to derive continuum models based on representative volume elements (RVEs). At the microscale small-scale features, such as interfacial properties, are analyzed to be incorporated into mesoscale simulations. In this research mesoscopic simulations of hard particles suspended in a Newtonian fluid undergoing nonlinear shear flow are performed using a boundary element method. To obtain an RVE at higher concentrations, several hundred particles are included in the simulations, putting considerable demands on the computational resources both in terms of CPU and memory. Parallel computing provides a viable platform to study these large multiphase systems. The implementation of a portable, parallel computer code based on the boundary element method using a block-block data distribution is discussed in this paper. The code employs updated direct-solver technologies that make use of dual-processor compute nodes.

The authors have investigated the structural and electrical characteristics of (Ba{sub x}Sr{sub 1{minus}x})Ti{sub 1+y}O{sub 3+z} (BST) thin films. The BST thin films were deposited at 650 C on platinized silicon with good thickness and composition uniformity using a large area, vertical liquid-delivery metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system. The (Ba+Sr)/Ti ratio of the BST films was varied from 0.96 to 1.05 at a fixed Ba/Sr ratio of 70/30, as determined using x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). Patterned Pt top electrodes were deposited onto the BST films at 350 C through a shadow mask using electron beam evaporation. Annealing the entire capacitor structure in air at 700 C after deposition of top electrodes resulted in a substantial reduction of the dielectric loss. Useful dielectric tunability as high as 2.3:1 was measured.

The failure of thermosetting polymer adhesives is an important problem which particularly lacks understanding from the molecular viewpoint. While linear elastic fracture mechanics works well for such polymers far from the crack tip, the method breaks down near the crack tip where large plastic deformation occurs and the molecular details become important [1]. Results of molecular dynamics simulations of highly crosslinked polymer networks bonded to a solid surface are presented here. Epoxies are used as the guide for modeling. The focus of the simulations is the network connectivity and the interfacial strength. In a random network, the bond stress is expected to vary, and the most stressed bonds will break first [2]. Crack initiation should occur where a cluster of highly constrained bonds exists. There is no reason to expect crack initiation to occur at the interface. The results to be presented show that the solid surface limits the interfacial bonding resulting in stressed interfacial bonds and interfacial fracture. The bonds in highly-crosslinked random networks do not become stressed as expected. The sequence of molecular structural deformations that lead to failure has been determined and found to be strongly dependent upon the network connectivity. The structure of these networks and …

An overview of the use of classical mechanical molecular simulations of porphyrins, hydroporphyrins, and heme proteins is given. The topics cover molecular mechanics calculations of structures and conformer energies of porphyrins, energies of barriers for interconversion between stable conformers, molecular dynamics of porphyrins and heme proteins, and normal-coordinate structural analysis of experimental and calculated porphyrin structures. Molecular mechanics and dynamics are currently a fertile area of research on porphyrins. In the future, other computational methods such as Monte Carlo simulations, which have yet to be applied to porphyrins, will come into use and open new avenues of research into molecular simulations of porphyrins.

The purpose of this standard (ANSI 13.62)--''Training and Qualification of Health and Safety Technicians''--is to provide a means for the development of technicians with necessary skills in industrial hygiene, industrial safety, radiological safety, fire protection, and other health and safety areas specific to a given work site and its hazards. These individuals should be qualified to handle their roles and responsibilities competently in a variety of safety areas. The standard presented here is intended for individuals who develop, revise, implement, manage, or provide oversight of training for health and safety technicians. The standard is not intended to address the training or qualification of safety professionals (i.e., industrial hygienists and health physicists).

We report the growth and characterization of quaternary AlGaInN. A combination of photoluminescence (PL), high-resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD), and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) characterizations enables us to explore the contours of constant PL peak energy and lattice parameter as functions of the quaternary compositions. The observation of room temperature PL emission at 351nm (with 20% Al and 5% In) renders initial evidence that the quaternary could be used to provide confinement for GaInN (and possibly GaN). AlGaInN/GrdnN MQW heterostructures have been grown; both XRD and PL measurements suggest the possibility of incorporating this quaternary into optoelectronic devices.

The interfacial force microscope (IFM) was used to indent and image defect free Au(111) surfaces, providing atomic-scale observations of the onset of pileup and the excursion of material above the initial surface plane. Images and load-displacement measurements demonstrate that elastic accommodation of an indenter is followed by two stages of plasticity. The initial stage is identified by slight deviations of the load-displacement relationship from the predicted elastic response. Images acquired after indentations showing only this first stage indicate that these slight load relaxation events result in residual indentations 0.5 to 4 nm deep with no evidence of pileup or surface orientation dependence. The second stage of plasticity is marked by a series of dramatic load relaxation events and residual indentations tens of nanometers deep. Images acquired following this second stage document 0.25 nm pileup terraces which reflect the crystallography of the surface as well as the indenter geometry. Attempts to plastically displace the indenter 4-10 nanometers deep into the Au(111) surface were unsuccessful, demonstrating that the transition from stage I to stage H plasticity is associated with overcoming some sort of barrier. Stage I is consistent with previously reported models of dislocation nucleation. The dramatic load relaxations of stage II …

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Algorithms developed to enable the use of atomistic molecular simulation methods with parallel computers are reviewed. Methods appropriate for bonded as well as non-bonded (and charged) interactions are included. While strategies for obtaining parallel molecular simulations have been developed for the full variety of atomistic simulation methods, molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo have received the most attention. Three main types of parallel molecular dynamics simulations have been developed, the replicated data decomposition, the spatial decomposition, and the force decomposition. For Monte Carlo simulations, parallel algorithms have been developed which can be divided into two categories, those which require a modified Markov chain and those which do not. Parallel algorithms developed for other simulation methods such as Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo, grand canonical molecular dynamics, and Monte Carlo methods for protein structure determination are also reviewed and issues such as how to measure parallel efficiency, especially in the case of parallel Monte Carlo algorithms with modified Markov chains are discussed.