Parent map for Martin County, Texas showing the area of one geographic block for which the U.S. Census Bureau collected data. The plotted map scale is 1:18,000.

Parent map for Martin County, Texas showing the area of one geographic block for which the U.S. Census Bureau collected data. The plotted map scale is 1:18,000.

Parent map for Martin County, Texas showing the area of one geographic block for which the U.S. Census Bureau collected data. The plotted map scale is 1:18,000.

Parent map for Martin County, Texas showing the area of one geographic block for which the U.S. Census Bureau collected data. The plotted map scale is 1:18,000.

Parent map for McMullen County, Texas showing the area of one geographic block for which the U.S. Census Bureau collected data. The plotted map scale is 1:32,000.

Parent map for Martin County, Texas showing the area of one geographic block for which the U.S. Census Bureau collected data. The plotted map scale is 1:18,000.

Parent map for Martin County, Texas showing the area of one geographic block for which the U.S. Census Bureau collected data. The plotted map scale is 1:18,000.

Parent map for McMullen County, Texas showing the area of one geographic block for which the U.S. Census Bureau collected data. The plotted map scale is 1:32,000.

Parent map for Martin County, Texas showing the area of one geographic block for which the U.S. Census Bureau collected data. The plotted map scale is 1:18,000.

Parent map for Martin County, Texas showing the area of one geographic block for which the U.S. Census Bureau collected data. The plotted map scale is 1:18,000.

Qualification simulant testing was completed to determine appropriate processing conditions and assumptions for the Sludge Batch 6 (SB6) Shielded Cells demonstration of the DWPF flowsheet using the qualification sample from Tank 51 for SB6 after SRNL washing. It was found that an acid addition window of 105-139% of the DWPF acid equation (100-133% of the Koopman minimum acid equation) gave acceptable Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) and Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) results for nitrite destruction and hydrogen generation. Hydrogen generation occurred continuously after acid addition in three of the four tests. The three runs at 117%, 133%, and 150% stoichiometry (Koopman) were all still producing around 0.1 lb hydrogen/hr at DWPF scale after 42 hours of boiling in the SRAT. The 150% acid run reached 110% of the DWPF SRAT limit of 0.65 lb H{sub 2}/hr, and the 133% acid run reached 75% of the DWPF SME limit of 0.223 lb H{sub 2}/hr. Conversely, nitrous oxide generation was subdued compared to previous sludge batches, staying below 25 lb/hr in all four tests or about a fourth as much as in comparable SB4 testing. Two other processing issues were noted. First, incomplete mercury suspension impacted mercury stripping from the SRAT …

Final Technical Report for DOE grant DE-FG02-04ER15565 Maltose Biochemistry and Transport in Plant Leaves PI Thomas D. Sharkey University of Wisconsin-Madison Starch is a desirable plant product for both food and biofuel. Leaf starch is ideal for use in biofuels because it does not compete with grain starch, which is used for food. Starch is accumulated in plant leaves during the day and broken down at night. If we can manipulate leaf starch breakdown it may be possible to design a plant that provides both grain starch for food and leaf starch for biofuel. The pathway of leaf starch breakdown was not known when this work started. Preliminary evidence had shown that maltose was the primary product of leaf starch breakdown (Weise, Weber & Sharkey, 2004) and that it was metabolized by a disproportionating enzyme called amylomaltase but given the initials DPE2 (Lu & Sharkey, 2004). In this work we showed that only one form of maltose was metabolically active (Weise et al., 2005a) and that maltose was located in two different places when the amylomaltase was knocked out but only inside the chloroplast when the maltose transporter was knocked out (Lu et al., 2006a). This allowed us to estimate …

The purpose of this report is to provide a concise but comprehensive overview of Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility instrumentation status. The report is divided into the following five sections: (1) new instrumentation in the process of being acquired and deployed, (2) field campaigns, (3) existing instrumentation and progress on improvements or upgrades, (4) proposed future instrumentation, and (5) Small Business Innovation Research instrument development.

The YALINA facility is a zero-power, sub-critical assembly driven by a conventional neutron generator. It was conceived, constructed, and put into operation at the Radiation Physics and Chemistry Problems Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus located in Minsk-Sosny, Belarus. This facility was conceived for the purpose of investigating the static and dynamic neutronics properties of accelerator driven sub-critical systems, and to serve as a neutron source for investigating the properties of nuclear reactions, in particular transmutation reactions involving minor-actinide nuclei. This report provides a detailed description of this facility and documents the progress of research carried out there during a period of approximately a decade since the facility was conceived and built until the end of 2008. During its history of development and operation to date (1997-2008), the YALINA facility has hosted several foreign groups that worked with the resident staff as collaborators. The participation of Argonne National Laboratory in the YALINA research programs commenced in 2005. For obvious reasons, special emphasis is placed in this report on the work at YALINA facility that has involved Argonne's participation. Attention is given here to the experimental program at YALINA facility as well as to analytical investigations aimed at …

Quantum phase is not a direct observable and is usually determined by interferometric methods. We present a method to map complete electron wave functions, including internal quantum phase information, from measured single-state probability densities. We harness the mathematical discovery of drum-like manifolds bearing different shapes but identical resonances, and construct quantum isospectral nanostructures possessing matching electronic structure but divergent physical structure. Quantum measurement (scanning tunneling microscopy) of these 'quantum drums' [degenerate two-dimensional electron states on the Cu(111) surface confined by individually positioned CO molecules] reveals that isospectrality provides an extra topological degree of freedom enabling robust quantum state transplantation and phase extraction.

This report provides a summary of experiments that were performed by Fauske & Associates on the stability of vessel-spanning bubbles. The report by Fauske & Associates, An Experimental Study of the Stability of Vessel-Spanning Bubbles in Cylindrical, Annular, Obround and Conical Containers, is included in Appendix A. Results from the experiments confirm that the gravity yield parameter, Y{sub G}, correctly includes container size and can be applied to full-scale containers to predict the possibility of the formation of a stable vessel spanning bubble. The results also indicate that a vessel spanning bubble will likely form inside the STSC for KE, KW, and Settler sludges if the shear strengths of these sludges exceed 1820, 2080, and 2120 Pa, respectively. A passive mechanism installed in the STSC is effective at disrupting a rising sludge plug and preventing the sludge from plugging the vent filter or being forced out of the container. The Sludge Treatment Project for Engineered Container and Settler Sludge (EC/ST) Disposition Subproject is being conducted in two phases. Phase 1 of the EC/ST Disposition Subproject will retrieve the radioactive sludge currently stored in the K West (KW) Basin into Sludge Transport and Storage Containers (STSCs) and transport the STSCs to …

During the month of September 2008, grout core samples were collected from the Saltstone Disposal Facility, Vault 4, cell E. This grout was placed during processing campaigns in December 2007 from Deliquification, Dissolution and Adjustment Batch 2 salt solution. The 4QCY07 Waste Acceptance Criteria sample collected on 11/16/07 represents the salt solution in the core samples. Core samples were retrieved to initiate the historical database of properties of emplaced Saltstone and to demonstrate the correlation between field collected and laboratory prepared samples. Three samples were collected from three different locations. Samples were collected using a two-inch diameter concrete coring bit. In April 2009, the core samples were removed from the evacuated sample container, inspected, transferred to PVC containers, and backfilled with nitrogen. Samples furthest from the wall were the most intact cylindrically shaped cored samples. The shade of the core samples darkened as the depth of coring increased. Based on the visual inspection, sample 3-3 was selected for all subsequent analysis. The density and porosity of the Vault 4 core sample, 1.90 g/cm{sup 3} and 59.90% respectively, were comparable to values achieved for laboratory prepared samples. X-ray diffraction analysis identified phases consistent with the expectations for hydrated Saltstone. Microscopic analysis …

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We address quantum invisibility in the context of electronics in nanoscale quantum structures. In analogy with metamaterials, we use the freedom of design that quantum corrals provide and show that quantum mechanical objects can be hidden inside the corral, with respect to inelastic electron scattering spectroscopy in combination with scanning tunneling microscopy, and we propose a design strategy. A simple illustration of the invisibility is given in terms of an elliptic quantum corral containing a molecule, with a local vibrational mode, at one of the foci. Our work has implications to quantum information technology and presents new tools for nonlocal quantum detection and distinguishing between different molecules.

We describe measurements of spin dynamics in the two-dimensional electron gas in GaAs/GaAlAs quantum wells. Optical techniques, including transient spin-grating spectroscopy, are used to probe the relaxation rates of spin polarization waves in the wavevector range from zero to 6 x 10{sup 4} cm{sup -1}. We find that the spin polarization lifetime is maximal at nonzero wavevector, in contrast with expectation based on ordinary spin diffusion, but in quantitative agreement with recent theories that treat diffusion in the presence of spin-orbit coupling.

The ultimate miniaturization of electronic devices will likely require local and coherent control of single electronic wavefunctions. Wavefunctions exist within both physical real space and an abstract state space with a simple geometric interpretation: this state space - or Hilbert space - is spanned by mutually orthogonal state vectors corresponding to the quantized degrees of freedom of the real-space system. Measurement of superpositions is akin to accessing the direction of a vector in Hilbert space, determining an angle of rotation equivalent to quantum phase. Here we show that an individual atom inside a designed quantum corral1 can control this angle, producing arbitrary coherent superpositions of spatial quantum states. Using scanning tunnelling microscopy and nanostructures assembled atom-by-atom we demonstrate how single spins and quantum mirages can be harnessed to image the superposition of two electronic states. We also present a straightforward method to determine the atom path enacting phase rotations between any desired state vectors. A single atom thus becomes a real-space handle for an abstract Hilbert space, providing a simple technique for coherent quantum state manipulation at the spatial limit of condensed matter.

Multilayer dielectric (MLD) diffraction gratings for Petawatt-class laser systems possess unique laser damage characteristics. Details of the shape of the grating lines and the concentration of absorbing impurities on the surface of the grating structures both have strong effects on laser damage threshold. It is known that electric field enhancement in the solid material comprising the grating lines varies directly with the linewidth and inversely with the line height for equivalent diffraction efficiency. Here, they present an overview of laser damage characteristics of MLD gratings, and describe a process for post-processing ion-beam etched grating lines using very dilute buffered hydrofluoric acid solutions. This process acts simultaneously to reduce grating linewidth and remove surface contaminants, thereby improving laser damage thresholds through two pathways.

This program was devoted to significantly extending the limits of hydrogen storage technology for practical transportation applications. To meet the hydrogen capacity goals set forth by the DOE, solid-state materials consisting of light elements were developed. Many light element compounds are known that have high capacities. However, most of these materials are thermodynamically too stable, and they release and store hydrogen much too slowly for practical use. In this project we developed new light element chemical systems that have high hydrogen capacities while also having suitable thermodynamic properties. In addition, we developed methods for increasing the rates of hydrogen exchange in these new materials. The program has significantly advanced (1) the application of combined hydride systems for tuning thermodynamic properties and (2) the use of nanoengineering for improving hydrogen exchange. For example, we found that our strategy for thermodynamic tuning allows both entropy and enthalpy to be favorably adjusted. In addition, we demonstrated that using porous supports as scaffolds to confine hydride materials to nanoscale dimensions could improve rates of hydrogen exchange by > 50x. Although a hydrogen storage material meeting the requirements for commercial development was not achieved, this program has provided foundation and direction for future efforts. More …

The focus of the CEHMM award was alternative energy research and education. The objective of the CEHMM algae to biodiesel project was to determine the viability and feasibility of using algae as a feedstock for commercial biodiesel production. The project investigated the propagation, harvesting and extraction of oil from a salt/brine water algae in open raceway ponds.