Polyethylene is one of the most widely used plastics, and over 60 million tons are produced worldwide every year. Polyethylene is obtained by the catalytic polymerization of ethylene in gas and liquid phase reactors. The gas phase processes are more advantageous, and use fluidized-bed reactors for production of polyethylene. Since they operate so close to the melting point of the polymer, agglomeration is an operational concern in all slurry and gas polymerization processes. Electrostatics and hot spot formation are the main factors that contribute to agglomeration in gas-phase processes. Electrostatic charges in gas phase polymerization fluidized bed reactors are known to influence the bed hydrodynamics, particle elutriation, bubble size, bubble shape etc. Accumulation of electrostatic charges in the fluidized-bed can lead to operational issues. In this work a first-principles electrostatic model is developed and coupled with a multi-fluid computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model to understand the effect of electrostatics on the dynamics of a fluidized-bed. The multi-fluid CFD model for gas-particle flow is based on the kinetic theory of granular flows closures. The electrostatic model is developed based on a fixed, size-dependent charge for each type of particle (catalyst, polymer, polymer fines) phase. The combined CFD model is first verified …

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A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "About 1 in 12 (approximately 94,000) servicemembers discharged from military service and Reservists and National Guard members demobilized in fiscal years 2009 through 2011 had a psychiatric or pain medication, and almost half of these servicemembers subsequently received care from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) within 9 months. The percentage of servicemembers discharged or demobilized with psychiatric or pain medications increased slightly across the 3 fiscal years, from about 7 percent in fiscal year 2009 to about 9 percent in fiscal year 2011. The most common psychiatric medications for servicemembers discharged or demobilized from fiscal years 2009 through 2011 included antidepressants, while the most common pain medications included nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, such as prescription-strength ibuprofen, and an opioid--oxycodone acetaminophen. Although not all discharged or demobilized servicemembers receive care from VA, GAO found that almost half of servicemembers with psychiatric or pain medications in fiscal years 2009 through 2011 subsequently received care from VA within 9 months."

A series of experiments was conducted to determine the efficacy of using copper and bronze sheet and screen under high vacuum conditions to capture zinc vapor. The experiments were conducted in a parametric manner using a fixed zinc vaporization temperature (350°C) but varying the filter temperature from ambient to 550°C. Consistent with previous work, metallic zinc was deposited at low temperatures, but the deposit was non‐adherent. At an intermediate temperature range (350‐450°C), the deposit formed an alloy with both copper and bronze materials. At higher temperatures (> 500°C) the zinc did not deposit on the surfaces likely due to its high vapor pressure. Additional testing to optimize the zinc 'getter' chemistry and surface condition is warranted.

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Report that presents a brief description of the five parliamentary methods used to bring proposed legislation to the House floor for consideration. These methods allow for consideration as a privileged matter, under the limited privilege of a special calendar or day, under suspension of the rules, under the terms of a special rule, or by unanimous consent.

Signal transduction pathways are usually activated by external stimuli and are transient. The downstream changes such as transcription of the activated genes are also transient. Real-time detection of promoter activity is useful for understanding changes in gene expression, especially during cell differentiation and in development. A simple and reliable method for viewing gene expression in real time is not yet available. Reporter proteins such as fluorescent proteins and luciferase allow for non-invasive detection of the products of gene expression in living cells. However, current reporter systems do not provide for real-time imaging of promoter activity in living cells. This is because of the long time period after transcription required for fluorescent protein synthesis and maturation. We have developed an RNA reporter system for imaging in real-time to detect changes in promoter activity as they occur. The RNA reporter uses strings of RNA aptamers that constitute IMAGEtags (Intracellular MultiAptamer GEnetic tags), which can be expressed from a promoter of choice. The tobramycin, neomycin and PDC RNA aptamers have been utilized for this system and expressed in yeast from the GAL1 promoter. The IMAGEtag RNA kinetics were quantified by RT-qPCR. In yeast precultured in raffinose containing media the GAL1 promoter responded faster …

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Report concerning the controversy surrounding some states' requirements that voters provide photographic identification before casting a ballot.

Synthetic tin(II)apatite reduces pertechnetate from the mobile +7 to a non-mobile oxidation state and sequesters the technetium, preventing re-oxidization to mobile +7 state under acidic or oxygenated conditions. Previous work indicated technetium reacted Sn(II)apatite can achieve an ANSI leachability index of 12.8 in Cast Stone. An effect by pH is observed on the distribution coefficient, the highest distribution coefficient being l70,900 observed at pH levels of 2.5 to 10.2. The tin apatite was resistant to releasing technetium under test conditions.

GdNi is a rare earth intermetallic material that exhibits very interesting magnetic properties. Spontaneous magnetostriction occurs in GdNi at T{sub C}, on the order of 8000ppm strain along the c-axis and only until very recently the mechanism causing this giant magnetostriction was not understood. In order to learn more about the electronic and magnetic structure of GdNi, single crystals are required for anisotropic magnetic property measurements. Single crystal processing is quite challenging for GdNi though since the rare-earth transition-metal composition yields a very reactive intermetallic compound. Many crystal growth methods are pursued in this study including crucible free methods, precipitation growths, and specially developed Bridgman crucibles. A plasma-sprayed Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} W-backed Bridgman crucible was found to be the best means of GdNi single crystal processing. With a source of high-quality single crystals, many magnetization measurements were collected to reveal the magnetic structure of GdNi. Heat capacity and the magnetocaloric effect are also measured on a single crystal sample. The result is a thorough report on high quality single crystal processing and the magnetic properties of GdNi.

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A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Since current technologies for capturing CO{sub 2} to fight global climate change are still too energy intensive, there is a critical need for development of new materials that can capture CO{sub 2} reversibly with acceptable energy costs. Accordingly, solid sorbents have been proposed to be used for CO{sub 2} capture applications through a reversible chemical transformation. By combining thermodynamic database mining with first principles density functional theory and phonon lattice dynamics calculations, a theoretical screening methodology to identify the most promising CO{sub 2} sorbent candidates from the vast array of possible solid materials has been proposed and validated. The calculated thermodynamic properties of different classes of solid materials versus temperature and pressure changes were further used to evaluate the equilibrium properties for the CO{sub 2} adsorption/desorption cycles. According to the requirements imposed by the pre- and post- combustion technologies and based on our calculated thermodynamic properties for the CO{sub 2} capture reactions by the solids of interest, we were able to screen only those solid materials for which lower capture energy costs are expected at the desired pressure and temperature conditions. Only those selected CO{sub 2} sorbent candidates were further considered for experimental validations. The ab initio thermodynamic technique has …

The Hanford Tank Waste Operations Simulator (HTWOS) models the mission to manage, retrieve, treat and vitrify Hanford waste for long-term storage and disposal. HTWOS is a dynamic, flowsheet, mass balance model of waste retrieval and treatment activities. It is used to evaluate the impact of changes on long-term mission planning. The project is to create and evaluate the integrated solubility model (ISM). The ISM is a first step in improving the chemistry basis in HTWOS. On principal the ISM is better than the current HTWOS solubility. ISM solids predictions match the experimental data well, with a few exceptions. ISM predictions are consistent with Stream Analyzer predictions except for chromium. HTWOS is producing more realistic results with the ISM.

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This report provides information about the Broadband Loan and Grant Programs in the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service. The Broadband Loan and Grant Programs are intended to accelerate the deployment services in rural America.

This report consists of the budget sequestration and selected program exemptions and special rules.

The proposed Saltstone Disposal Unit 6 (SDU6) is a larger structure than the SDU4 cells and larger than the disposal units (SDU2, SDU3, and SDU5) currently in use or under construction. The additional capacity provided by SDU6 is desired to reduce life cycle costs and support site accelerated closure goals. The larger size of the planned SDU6 could result in saltstone being placed in thinner lifts as the unit is filled. This study was performed to determine whether thinner layers of saltstone negatively impact the performance of the waste form. A larger number of cold joints could potentially result in increased drying, salt deposition, and surface oxidation. A matrix of samples was prepared to simulate thin pours ranging from 0.5 to 6 inches thick. Each sample was cured for at least 28 days prior to further characterization. Leachability results showed that there is no obvious impact of the number of grout layers on the Leachability Index values for Na and NO{sub 3}. The concentrations of Cr, NO{sub 2}, and C{sub 2}O{sub 4} were below detection limits for all of the leachates. No attempt was made to evaluate the oxidation of these samples since no measureable Cr was leached, although this …

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Public confidence in safety is a prerequisite to the success of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage for any program that intends to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. In that regard, this project addresses the security of CO2 containment by undertaking development of what is called “an open path device” to measure CO2 concentrations near the ground above a CO2 storage area.

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Report regarding the President's annual funding request for the Peace Corps, efforts to reauthorize the Peace Corps, and related issues. Current issues include the extent to which there is available funding for Peace Corps expansion, whether the Peace Corps has the institutional capacity to expand, and whether volunteers are able to function in a safe and secure environment.