The LIPA Superconductor project broke ground on July 4, 2006, was first energized on April 22, 2008 (Earth Day) and was commissioned on June 25, 2008. Since commissioning, up until early March, 2009, there were numerous refrigeration events that impacted steady state operations. This led to the review of the alarms that were being generated and a rewrite of the program logic in order to decrease the hypersensitivity surrounding these alarms. The high temperature superconductor (HTS) cable was energized on March 5, 2009 and ran uninterrupted until a human error during a refrigeration system switchover knocked the cable out of the grid in early February 2010. The HTS cable was in the grid uninterrupted from March 5, 2009 to February 4, 2010. Although there have been refrigeration events (propagated mainly by voltage sags/surges) during this period, the system was able to automatically switch over from the primary to the backup refrigeration system without issue as required during this period. On February 4, 2010, when switching from the backup over to the primary refrigeration system, two rather than one liquid nitrogen pumps were started inadvertently by a human error (communication) causing an overpressure in the cable cooling line. This in turn …

This report briefly summarizes the progress made by ARM postdoctoral fellow, Yanluan Lin, at GFDL during the period from October 2008 to present. Several ARM datasets have been used for GFDL model evaluation, understanding, and improvement. This includes a new ice fall speed parameterization with riming impact and its test in GFDL AM3, evaluation of model cloud and radiation diurnal and seasonal variation using ARM CMBE data, model ice water content evaluation using ARM cirrus data, and coordination of the TWPICE global model intercomparison. The work illustrates the potential and importance of ARM data for GCM evaluation, understanding, and ultimately, improvement of GCM cloud and radiation parameterizations. Future work includes evaluation and improvement of the new dynamicsPDF cloud scheme and aerosol activation in the GFDL model.

We show how to improve the molecular dynamics step of Hybrid Monte Carlo, both by tuning the integrator using Poisson brackets measurements and by the use of force gradient integrators. We present results for moderate lattice sizes.

The overall objectives for this project were to: (1) confirm the high stability and resistance of a PdCu trimetallic alloy to carbon and carbide formation and, in addition, resistance to sulfur, halides, and ammonia; (2) develop a sulfur, halide, and ammonia resistant alloy membrane with a projected hydrogen permeance of 25 m{sup 3}m{sup -2}atm{sup -0.5}h{sup -1} at 400 C and capable of operating at pressures of 12.1 MPa ({approx}120 atm, 1750 psia); and (3) construct and experimentally validate the performance of 0.1 kg/day H{sup 2} PdCu trimetallic alloy membrane separators at feed pressures of 2 MPa (290 psia) in the presence of H{sub 2}S, NH{sub 3}, and HCl. This project successfully increased the technology readiness level of palladium-based metallic membranes for hydrogen separation from coal-biomass gasifier exhaust or similar hydrogen-containing gas streams. The reversible tolerance of palladium-copper (PdCu) alloys was demonstrated for H{sub 2}S concentrations varying from 20 ppmv up to 487 ppmv and NH{sub 3} concentrations up to 9 ppmv. In addition, atomistic modeling validated the resistance of PdCu alloys to carbon formation, irreversible sulfur corrosion, and chlorine attack. The experimental program highlighted two key issues which must be addressed as part of future experimental programs: (1) tube defects …

The HIV/AIDS Information Resources from the National Library of Medicine training is designed specifically for the UNCFSP HBCU Screening, Testing, Outreach, and Prevention (STOP) HIV/AIDS Program project members to provide valuable health information resources from the National Library of Medicine and other reliable sources to increase awareness of the wealth of treatment information and educational materials that are available on the Internet and to improve prevention and treatment education for their clients. These resources will also meet the needs of community-based organizations

The Gordon Research Conference on Multiphoton Processes will be held for the 15th time in 2010. The meeting continues to evolve as it embraces both the rapid technological and intellectual growth in the field as well as the multi-disciplinary expertise of the participants. This time the sessions will focus on: (1) Ultrafast coherent control; (2) Free-electron laser experiments and theory; (3) Generation of harmonics and attosecond pulses; (4) Ultrafast imaging; (5) Applications of very high intensity laser fields; (6) Strong-field processes in molecules and solids; (7) Attosecond science; and (8) Controlling light. The scientific program will blur traditional disciplinary boundaries as the presenters and discussion leaders involve chemists, physicists, and optical engineers, representing both experiment and theory. The broad range of expertise and different perspectives of attendees should provide a stimulating and unique environment for solving problems and developing new ideas in this rapidly evolving field.

The Western Renewable Energy Zone (WREZ) initiative brings together a diverse set of voices to develop data, tools, and a unique forum for coordinating transmission expansion in the Western Interconnection. In this paper we use a new tool developed in the WREZ initiative to evaluate possible renewable resource selection and transmission expansion decisions. We evaluate these decisions under a number of alternative future scenarios centered on meeting 33percent of the annual load in the Western Interconnection with new renewable resources located within WREZ-identified resource hubs. Our analysis finds that wind energy is the largest source of renewable energy procured to meet the 33percent RE target across nearly all scenarios analyzed (38-65percent). Solar energy is almost always the second largest source (14-41percent). We find several load zones where wind energy is the least cost resource under a wide range of sensitivity scenarios. Load zones in the Southwest, on the other hand, are found to switch between wind and solar, and therefore to vary transmission expansion decisions, depending on uncertainties and policies that affect the relative economics of each renewable option. Further, we find that even with total transmission expenditures of $17-34 billion these costs still represent just 10-19percent of the total …

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The focus of this project was an overall process improvement through the enhancement of the co-product streams. The enhancement of the process operations and co-products will increase both ethanol production and the value of other process outputs and reduces the amount of waste byproducts. This leads to a more economical and environmentally sound alternative to landfill disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW). These enhancements can greatly increase the commercial potential for the production of ethanol from MSW by the Masada CES OxyNol process. Both technological and economical issues were considered for steps throughout the conversion process. The research efforts of this project are varied but synergistic. The project investigated many of the operations involved in the Masada process with the overall goal of process improvements. The general goal of the testing was to improve co-product quality, improve conversions efficiencies, minimize process losses, increase energy efficiency, and mitigate process and commercialization risks. The project was divided into 16 subtasks as described in general terms below. All these tasks are interrelated but not necessarily interdependent.

The sudden release of toxic contaminants that reach indoor spaces can be hazardous to building occupants. For an acutely toxic contaminant, the speed of the emergency response strongly influences the consequences to occupants. The design of a real time sensor system is made challenging both by the urgency and complex nature of the event, and by the imperfect sensors and models available to describe it. In this research, we use Bayesian modeling to combine information from multiple types of sensors to improve the characterization of a release. We discuss conceptual and algorithmic considerations for selecting and fusing information from disparate sensors. To explore system performance, we use both real tracer gas data from experiments in a three story building, along with synthetic data, including information from door position sensors. The added information from door position sensors is found to be useful for many scenarios, but not always. We discuss the physical conditions and design factors that affect these results, such as the influence of the door positions on contaminant transport. We highlight potential benefits of multisensor data fusion, challenges in realizing those benefits, and opportunities for further improvement.

Spun-cast films of polystyrene (PS) blended with polylactide (PLA) were visualized and characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and synchrotron-based X-ray photoemission electron microscopy (X-PEEM). The composition of the two polymers in these systems was determined by quantitative chemical analysis of near-edge X-ray absorption signals recorded with X-PEEM. The surface morphology depends on the ratio of the two components, the total polymer concentration, and the temperature of vacuum annealing. For most of the blends examined, PS is the continuous phase with PLA existing in discrete domains or segregated to the air?polymer interface. Phase segregation was improved with further annealing. A phase inversion occurred when films of a 40:60 PS:PLA blend (0.7 wt percent loading) were annealed above the glass transition temperature (Tg) of PLA.

The 2009 FFRDC survey collected the total number of postdocs employed by FFRDCs in the United States—categorized by source of support, citizenship, sex, and field of research—as of October 1, 2009. The universe for the 2009 GSS-FFRDC survey was the Master Government List of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers. The 2009 survey also contacted the NIH’s Intramural Research Program because it employs the largest number of postdocs in the federal government. The FFRDC survey collected data via a web instrument. Topics included the type of support the postdocs received (federal and nonfederal), their sex, citizenship, race/ethnicity, and field of research.

This presentation summarizes biological systems for hydrogen photoproduction.

Our previously developed finite-element/ discrete variable representation in prolate spheroidal coordinates is extended to two-electron systems with a study of double ionization of H$_2$ with fixed-nuclei. Particular attention is paid to the development of fast and accurate methods for treating the electron-electron interaction. The use of exterior complex scaling in the implementation offers a simple way of enforcing Coulomb boundary conditions for the electronic double continuum. While the angular distributions calculated in this study are found to be completely consistent with our earlier treatments that employed single-center expansions in spherical coordinates, we find that the magnitude of the integrated cross sections are sensitive to small changes in the initial-state wave function. The present formulation offers significant advantages with respect to convergence and efficiency and opens the way to calculations on more complicated diatomic targets.

The 2010 Conference on the Cell and Molecular Biology of Chlamydomonas was held June 6-10 near Boston, MA, and attracted a record 273 participants, 146 from US labs, 10 from Canada, and the remainder from 18 other countries. The single-celled algal protist Chlamydomonas is a key research organism for many investigators, including those who study photosynthesis, cell motility, adaptation to environmental stresses, the evolution of multicellularity, and the production of biofuels. Chlamydomonas researchers gather every two years at a research conference to exchange methods, develop collaborative efforts, disseminate recent findings, and plan large-scale studies to improve the usefulness of this unique research organism. This conference provides the only opportunity for Chlamydomonas scientists who work on different research problems to meet face to face, and greatly speeds progress in their respective fields. An important function of these Chlamydomonas conferences is to promote and showcase the work of younger scientists, and to attract new investigators into the Chlamydomonas community. DOE award SC0004085 was used to offset the travel and registration costs for 18 young investigators, 9 of whom were women, including one African American. Most of these scientists would not have been able to attend the conference without DOE support. A total …

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The electron energy dependence of a scintillating screen (Lanex Fast) was studied with sub-nanosecond electron beams ranging from 106 MeV to 1522 MeV at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Advanced Light Source (ALS) synchrotron booster accelerator. The sensitivity of the Lanex Fast decreased by 1percent per 100 MeV increase of the energy. The linear response of the screen against the charge was verified with charge density and intensity up to 160 pC/mm2 and 0.4 pC/ps/mm2, respectively. For electron beams from the laser plasma accelerator, a comprehensive study of charge diagnostics has been performed using a Lanex screen, an integrating current transformer, and an activation based measurement. The charge measured by each diagnostic was found to be within +/-10 percent.

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A guide of actions that should be immediately taken and notifications that must be made in the event Shell Offshore, Inc. experiences an oil spill.

High pressure systems are important, for example, to understand the interiors of giant planets (Jupiter and Saturn), for experiments at NIF (the National Ignition Facility at Livermore) related to inertially confined fusion and for other interests of DOE. In this project, we are developing innovative simulation methods (Quantum Monte Carlo methods) to allow more accurate calculation of properties of systems under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. These methods can use the power of current day supercomputers made of very many processors, starting from the basic equations of physics to model quantum phenomena important at the microscopic scale. During the grant period, we have settled two important questions of the physics of hydrogen and helium under extreme conditions. We have found the pressures and temperatures when hydrogen and helium mix together; this is important to understand the difference of the interiors of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Secondly, we have shown that there exists a sharp transition as a function of pressure between molecular and atomic liquid hydrogen at temperatures below 2000K. This prediction can be confirmed with high pressure experiments.

This report discusses phase two of the SCience ICe EXercise (SCICEX) Science Plan.

Introduction to the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium, a collaboration between 17 national laboratory, university, and industry partners that is conducting cutting-edge research to develop infrastructure-compatible, sustainable, biomass-based hydrocarbon fuels.

This document is of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act consolidating the amendments made by title X of the Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.