Presentation prepared for the 2008 National Hydrogen Association Conference that describes the spring 2008 results for DOE's Fuel Cell Vehicle Learning Demonstration.

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This report summarizes results of a literature review, a workshop, and many meetings with demand response and thermostat researchers and implementers. The information obtained from these resources was used to identify key issues of thermostat performance from both energy savings and peak demand perspectives. A research plan was developed to address these issues and activities have already begun to pursue the research agenda.

UTC has taken advantage of the unique water management opportunities inherent in micro-porous bipolar-plates to improve the cold-start performance of its polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC). Diagnostic experiments were used to determine the limiting factors in micro-porous plate PEFC freeze performance and the causes of any performance decay. Alternative cell materials were evaluated for their freeze performance. Freeze-thaw cycling was also performed to determine micro-porous plate PEFC survivability. Data from these experiments has formed the basis for continuing development of advanced materials capable of supporting DOE's cold-start and durability objectives.

Ground-water withdrawal estimates from 1913 through 2003 for the Death Valley regional ground-water flow system are compiled in an electronic database to support a regional, three-dimensional, transient ground-water flow model. This database updates a previously published database that compiled estimates of ground-water withdrawals for 1913–1998. The same methodology is used to construct each database. Primary differences between the 2 databases are an additional 5 years of ground-water withdrawal data, well locations in the updated database are restricted to Death Valley regional ground-water flow system model boundary, and application rates are from 0 to 1.5 feet per year lower than original estimates. The lower application rates result from revised estimates of crop consumptive use, which are based on updated estimates of potential evapotranspiration. In 2003, about 55,700 acre-feet of ground water was pumped in the DVRFS, of which 69 percent was used for irrigation, 13 percent for domestic, and 18 percent for public supply, commercial, and mining activities.

Detecting and identifying weak gaseous plumes using thermal imaging data is complicated by many factors. These include variability due to atmosphere, ground and plume temper- ature, and background clutter. This paper presents an analysis of one formulation of the physics-based radiance model, which describes at-sensor observed radiance. The background emissivity and plume/ground temperatures are isolated, and their effects on net chemical signal are described. This analysis shows that the plume’s physical state, emission or absorption, is directly dependent on the background emissivity. It then describes what conditions on the background emissivity have inhibiting effects on the net chemical signal. These claims are illustrated by analyzing synthetic hyperspectral imaging data with the Adaptive Matched Filter using four chemicals and three distinct background emissivities. Two chemicals (Carbontetrachloride and Tetraflourosilane) in the analysis had a very strong relationship with the background emissivities: they exhibited absorbance over a small range of wavenumbers and the background emissivities showed a consistent ordering at these wavenumbers. Analysis of simulated hyperspectral images containing these chemicals showed complete agreement with the analysis of the physics-based model that described when the background emissivities would have inhibiting effects on gas detection. The other chemicals considered (Ammonia and Tributylphosphate) exhibited very complex …

Here we study the plausibility of a phase oscillators dynamical model for TDMA in wireless communication networks. We show that emerging patterns of phase locking states between oscillators can eventually oscillate in a round-robin schedule, in a similar way to models of pulse coupled oscillators designed to this end. The results open the door for new communication protocols in a continuous interacting networks of wireless communication devices.

The gallium-stabilized Pu-2.0 at. % Ga alloy undergoes a partial or incomplete low-temperature martensitic transformation from the metastable {delta} phase to the gallium-containing, monoclinic {alpha}{prime} phase near -100 C. This transformation has been shown to occur isothermally and it displays anomalous double-C kinetics in a time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagram, where two nose temperatures anchoring an upper- and lower-C describe minima in the time for the initiation of transformation. The underlying mechanisms responsible for the double-C behavior are currently unresolved, although recent experiments suggest that a conditioning treatment--wherein, following an anneal at 375 C, the sample is held at a sub-anneal temperature for a period of time--significantly influences the upper-C of the TTT diagram. As such, elucidating the effects of the conditioning treatment upon the {delta} {yields} {alpha}{prime} transformation can provide valuable insights into the fundamental mechanisms governing the double-C kinetics of the transition. Following a high-temperature anneal, a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) was used to establish an optimal conditioning curve that depicts the amount of {alpha}{prime} formed during the transformation as a function of conditioning temperature for a specified time. With the optimal conditioning curve as a baseline, the DSC was used to explore the circumstances under which the effects of …

In 2005, the Chinese government announced an ambitious goal of reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20% between 2005 and 2010. One of the key initiatives for realizing this goal is the Top-1000 Energy-Consuming Enterprises program. The energy consumption of these 1000 enterprises accounted for 33% of national and 47% of industrial energy usage in 2004. Under the Top-1000 program, 2010 energy consumption targets were determined for each enterprise. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the program design and initial results, given limited information and data, in order to understand the possible implications of its success in terms of energy and carbon dioxide emissions reductions and to recommend future program modifications based on international experience with similar target-setting agreement programs. Even though the Top-1000 Program was designed and implemented rapidly, it appears that--depending upon the GDP growth rate--it could contribute to somewhere between approximately 10% and 25% of the savings required to support China's efforts to meet a 20% reduction in energy use per unit of GDP by 2010.

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We demonstrate a preparative method which produces highly-monodisperse Pt-nanoparticles of tunable size without the external addition of seed particles. Hexachloroplatinic acid is dosed slowly to an ethylene glycol solution at 120 C and reduced in the presence of a stabilizing polymer poly-N-vinylpyrollidone (PVP). Slow addition of the Pt-salt first will first lead to the formation of nuclei (seeds) which then grow further to produce larger particles of any desired size between 3 and 8nm. The amount of added hexachloroplatinic acid precursor controls the size of the final nanoparticle product. TEM was used to determine size and morphology and to confirm the crystalline nature of the nanoparticles. Good reproducibility of the technique was demonstrated. Above 7nm, the particle shape and morphology changes suddenly indicating a change in the deposition selectivity of the Pt-precursor from (100) towards (111) crystal faces and breaking up of larger particles into smaller entities.

This cleanup verification package documents completion of remedial action for the 118-F-6 Burial Ground located in the 100-FR-2 Operable Unit of the 100-F Area on the Hanford Site. The trenches received waste from the 100-F Experimental Animal Farm, including animal manure, animal carcasses, laboratory waste, plastic, cardboard, metal, and concrete debris as well as a railroad tank car.

Chemical modification of nanocrystal surfaces is fundamentally important to their assembly, their implementation in biology and medicine, and greatly impacts their electrical and optical properties. However, it remains a major challenge owing to a lack of analytical tools to directly determine nanoparticle surface structure. Early nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies of CdSe nanocrystals prepared in tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (1) and tri-n-octylphosphine (2), suggested these coordinating solvents are datively bound to the particle surface. However, assigning the broad NMR resonances of surface-bound ligands is complicated by significant concentrations of phosphorus-containing impurities in commercial sources of 1, and XPS provides only limited information about the nature of the phosphorus containing molecules in the sample. More recent reports have shown the surface ligands of CdSe nanocrystals prepared in technical grade 1, and in the presence of alkylphosphonic acids, include phosphonic and phosphinic acids. These studies do not, however, distinguish whether these ligands are bound datively, as neutral, L-type ligands, or by X-type interaction of an anionic phosphonate/phosphinate moiety with a surface Cd{sup 2+} ion. Answering this question would help clarify why ligand exchange with such particles does not proceed generally as expected based on a L-type ligand model. By …

The Standard Model (SM) is the backbone of elementary particle physics-not only does it provide a consistent framework for studying the interactions of quark and leptons, but it also gives predictions which have been extensively tested experimentally. In these notes, I review the electroweak sector of the Standard Model, discuss the calculation of electroweak radiative corrections to observables, and summarize the status of SM Higgs boson searches. Despite the impressive experimental successes, however, the electroweak theory is not completely satisfactory and the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking is untested. I will discuss the logic behind the oft-repeated statement: 'There must be new physics at the TeV scale'. These lectures reflect my strongly held belief that upcoming results from the LHC will fundamentally change our understanding of electroweak symmetry breaking. In these lectures, I review the status of the electroweak sector of the Standard Model, with an emphasis on the importance of radiative corrections and searches for the Standard Model Higgs boson. A discussion of the special role of the TeV energy scale in electroweak physics is included.

Energy-dependent quenching of excess absorbed light energy (qE) is a vital mechanism for regulating photosynthetic light harvesting in higher plants. All of the physiological characteristics of qE have been positively correlated with charge-transfer between coupled chlorophyll and zeaxanthin molecules in the light-harvesting antenna of photosystem II (PSII). In this work, we present evidence for charge-transfer quenching in all three of the individual minor antenna complexes of PSII (CP29, CP26, and CP24), and we conclude that charge-transfer quenching in CP29 involves a de-localized state of an excitonically coupled chlorophyll dimer. We propose that reversible conformational changes in CP29 can `tune? the electronic coupling between the chlorophylls in this dimer, thereby modulating the energy of the chlorophylls-zeaxanthin charge-transfer state and switching on and off the charge-transfer quenching during qE.

The rate of polymer growth on wires was measured in a wire chamber while the chamber was aged initially with helium-isobutane (80:20) gas, and then with either oxygen, water, or alcohol added to the gas. At the completion of the aging process for each gas mixture, the carbon content on the wires was measured in a SEM/EDX instrument. The same physical wires were used in all the gas mixtures, allowing measurement of polymer build up or polymer depletion by each gas additive. It is found that the rate of polymer growth is not changed by the presence of oxygen, water or alcohol. Conjecture that oxygen reduces breakdown by removing polymer deposits on field wires is negated by these measurements. Instead, it appears that the reduced breakdown is due to lower resistance in the polymer from oxygen ions being transported into the polymer. It is also observed that field wires bombarded by the electrons in the SEM and then placed back into the chamber show an abundance of single electrons being emitted, indicating that electron charge is stored in the polymer layer and that a high electric field is necessary to remove the charge.

Oxidation of Hg0 with any oxidant or converting it to a particle-bound form can facilitate its removal. Two sulfur-chlorine compounds, sulfur dichloride (SCl2) and sulfur monochloride (S2Cl2), were investigated as oxidants for Hg0 by gas phase reaction and by surface-involved reactions in the presence of flyash or activated carbon. The gas phase reaction rate constants between Hg0 and the sulfur/chlorine compounds were determined, and the effects of temperature and the main components in flue gases were studied. The gas phase reaction between Hg0 and SCl2 is shown to be more rapid than the gas phase reaction with chlorine, and the second order rate constant was 9.1(+-0.5) x 10-18 mL-molecules-1cdots-1 at 373oK. Nitric oxide (NO) inhibited the gas phase reaction of Hg0 with sulfur-chlorine compounds. The presence of flyash or powdered activated carbon in flue gas can substantially accelerate the reaction. The predicted Hg0 removal is about 90percent with 5 ppm SCl2 or S2Cl2 and 40 g/m3 of flyash in flue gas. The combination of activated carbon and sulfur-chlorine compounds is an effective alternative. We estimate that co-injection of 3-5 ppm of SCl2 (or S2Cl2) with 2-3 Lb/MMacf of untreated Darco-KB is comparable in efficiency to the injection of 2-3 Lb/MMacf …

Subclassification of ovarian carcinomas can be used to guide treatment and determine prognosis. Germline and somatic mutations, loss of heterozygosity (LOH), and epigenetic events such as promoter hypermethylation can lead to decreased expression of BRCA1/2 in ovarian cancers. The mechanism of BRCA1/2 loss is a potential method of subclassifying high grade serous carcinomas. A consecutive series of 49 ovarian cancers was assessed for mutations status of BRCA1 and BRCA2, LOH at the BRCA1 and BRCA2 loci, methylation of the BRCA1 promoter, BRCA1, BRCA2, PTEN, and PIK3CA transcript levels, PIK3CA gene copy number, and BRCA1, p21, p53, and WT-1 immunohistochemistry. Eighteen (37%) of the ovarian carcinomas had germline or somatic BRCA1 mutations, or epigenetic loss of BRCA1. All of these tumors were high-grade serous or undifferentiated type. None of the endometrioid (n=5), clear cell (n=4), or low grade serous (n=2) carcinomas showed loss of BRCA1, whereas 47% of the 38 high-grade serous or undifferentiated carcinomas had loss of BRCA1. It was possible to distinguish high grade serous carcinomas with BRCA1 mutations from those with epigenetic BRCA1 loss: tumors with BRCA1 mutations typically had decreased PTEN mRNA levels while those with epigenetic loss of BRCA1 had copy number gain of PIK3CA. Overexpression …

Passivation of Ge has been a critical issue for Ge MOS applications in future technology nodes. In this letter, we introduce ozone-oxidation to engineer Ge/insulator interface. Interface states (D{sub it}) values across the bandgap and close to conduction bandedge were extracted using conductance technique at low temperatures. D{sub it} dependency on growth conditions was studied. Minimum D{sub it} of 3 x 10{sup 11} cm{sup -2} V{sup -1} was demonstrated. Physical quality of the interface was investigated through Ge 3d spectra measurements. We found that the interface and D{sub it} is strongly affected by the distribution of oxidation states and quality of the suboxide.

Twin Roll Casting (TRC) is a process by which thin strip is produced directly from molten metal. This process has many advantages over traditional Direct Chill (DC) casting where metal is cast into large slabs or ingots and subsequently hot and cold rolled into strips. While the DC casting involves large capital investment and energy consumption, TRC produces strip with thickness in the range of 10 mm to 2.5 mm in one operation without hot rolling, with less cost, energy usage and equipment requirements. In TRC AA3105, high solidification and post-solidification cooling rates lead to high manganese supersaturation throughout the as-cast strip and very fine constituent particles near strip surface. After 90% cold rolling, the TRC material shows sluggish recrystallization kinetics and a very coarse grain structure, due to concurrent forming dispersoids and/or fine constituent particles. These particles interfere with the nucleation process by preventing migration of the boundaries associated with potential nuclei, resulting in fewer recrystallization nuclei and slower nucleation rate. In addition, the fine particles can impede grain growth by exerting a pinning pressure on moving boundaries. The current study investigated the microstructure evolution in TRC AA3105 during different thermo-mechanical treatments. A systematic study of the effects of …

Three independent methods (XUV spectroscopy, imaging at 68 eV and 256 eV) have been used to measure planar target rear surface plasma temperature due to heating by hot electrons. The hot electrons are produced by ultra-intense laser plasma interactions using the 150 J, 0.5 ps Titan laser. Soft x-ray spectroscopy in the 50-400 eV region and imaging at the 68 eV and 256 eV photon energies were used to determine the rear surface temperature of planar CD targets. Temperatures were found to be in the 60-150 eV range, with good agreement between the three diagnostics.

A set of ballpark parameters for laser, plasma, and accelerator technologies that define for electron energies reaching as high as TeV are identified. These ballpark parameters are carved out from the fundamental scaling laws that govern laser acceleration, theoretically suggested and experimentally explored over a wide range in the recent years. In the density regime on the order of 10{sup 16} cm{sup -3}, the appropriate laser technology, we find, matches well with that of a highly efficient high fluence LD driven Yb ceramic laser. Further, the collective acceleration technique applies to compactify the beam stoppage stage by adopting the beam-plasma wave deceleration, which contributes to significantly enhance the stopping power and energy recovery capability of the beam. Thus we find the confluence of the needed laser acceleration parameters dictated by these scaling laws and the emerging laser technology. This may herald a new technology in the ultrahigh energy frontier.

{beta}1 integrin signaling has been shown to mediate cellular resistance to apoptosis after exposure to ionizing radiation (IR). Other signaling molecules that increase resistance include Akt, which promotes cell survival downstream of {beta}1 integrin signaling. We showed previously that {beta}1 integrin inhibitory antibodies, AIIB2, enhance apoptosis and decrease growth in human breast cancer cells in 3 dimensional laminin-rich extracellular matrix (3D lrECM) cultures and in vivo. Here we asked whether AIIB2 could synergize with IR to modify Akt-mediated IR resistance. We used 3D lrECM cultures to test the optimal combination of AIIB2 with IR treatment of two breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and HMT3522-T4-2, as well as T4-2 myr-Akt breast cancer colonies or HMT3522-S-1, which form normal organotypic structures in 3D lrECM. Colonies were assayed for apoptosis and {beta}1 integrin/Akt signaling pathways were evaluated using western blot. In addition, mice bearing MCF-7 xenografts were used to validate the findings in 3D lrECM. We report that AIIB2 increased apoptosis optimally post-IR by down regulating Akt in breast cancer colonies in 3D lrECM. In vivo, addition of AIIB2 after IR significantly enhanced tumor growth inhibition and apoptosis compared to either treatment alone. Remarkably, the degree of tumor growth inhibition using AIIB2 plus …

A detailed chemical kinetic model is used to explore the flammability and detonability of hydrogen mixtures. In the case of flammability, a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism for hydrogen is coupled to the CHEMKIN Premix code to compute premixed, laminar flame speeds. The detailed chemical kinetic model reproduces flame speeds in the literature over a range of equivalence ratios, pressures and reactant temperatures. A series of calculation were performed to assess the key parameters determining the flammability of hydrogen mixtures. Increased reactant temperature was found to greatly increase the flame speed and the flammability of the mixture. The effect of added diluents was assessed. Addition of water and carbon dioxide were found to reduce the flame speed and thus the flammability of a hydrogen mixture approximately equally well and much more than the addition of nitrogen. The detailed chemical kinetic model was used to explore the detonability of hydrogen mixtures. A Zeldovich-von Neumann-Doring (ZND) detonation model coupled with detailed chemical kinetics was used to model the detonation. The effectiveness on different diluents was assessed in reducing the detonability of a hydrogen mixture. Carbon dioxide was found to be most effective in reducing the detonability followed by water and nitrogen. The chemical …