A device is described for indicating and preventing damage to voltage cells such as galvanic cells and fuel cells connected in series by detecting sequential voltages and comparing these voltages to adjacent voltage cells. The device is implemented by using operational amplifiers and switching circuitry is provided by transistors. The device can be utilized in battery powered electric vehicles to prevent galvanic cell damage and also in series connected fuel cells to prevent fuel cell damage.

The report examines the current debate in the United States over proposals for increased U.S. military sales to China. The study first examines the background of U.S.-China security ties since the Nixon Administration, and then sets forth the parameters of the current debate by noting a number of issues concerning U.S. military transfers to China on which all sides generally agree. It shows that Americans familiar with the issue tend to identify with different groups of opinion or "schools of thought" on the question of U.S. military transfers to China, and provides a detailed pro-con analysis of the issue. It concludes by noting cross pressures that are likely to greet U.S. policy makers as they grapple with this issue in the months ahead and offers an assessment of four policy options of possible use by U.S. policymakers.

In a novel application of the multiwire proportional counter we have imaged a collimated neutron beam. Although preliminary, the results are of sufficient import to be described here because of the potential wide application of the multiwire proportional counter to Laboratory problems. The counter was operated with a counting gas pressure of 20 Torr; the counting gas was pure C/sub 4/H/sub 10/. The radiator was a /sup 235/U foil. Under these conditions, the counter is (1) relatively insensitive to charged particles (other than fission fragments), (2) insensitive to ..gamma..-radiation, and (3) has an efficiency for the detection of fission fragments independent of incident neutron energy over a wide range of neutron energies.

Topics discussed include thrashing in an RSX11M system - what to do; using solid state disk emulators as the swapping device - performance improvement, performance measurement techniques; capacity planning; bis buffering; and DECNET-11M optimization - performance that can be expected for real environments.