Studies of the use of high-temperature nuclear heat from an HTGR for hydrogen production

The results of a study which surveyed various methods of hydrogen production using nuclear and fossil energy are presented. A description of these methods is provided, and efficiencies are calculated for each case. The process designs of systems that utilize the heat from a general atomic high temperature gas cooled reactor with a steam methane reformer and feed the reformer with substitute natural gas manufactured from coal, using reforming temperatures, are presented. The capital costs for these systems and the resultant hydrogen production price for these cases are discussed along with a research and development program

Optical shield: measuring viscosity of turbid fluids using optical tweezers

The viscosity of a fluid can be measured by tracking the motion of a suspended micron-sized particle trapped by optical tweezers. However, when the particle density is high, additional particles entering the trap compromise the tracking procedure and degrade the accuracy of the measurement. In this work we introduce an additional Laguerre–Gaussian, i.e. annular, beam surrounding the trap, acting as an optical shield to exclude contaminating particles

ESHHEAT-BONA VACANTIA-RIGHT OF STATE TO CLAIM UNCLAIMED ROYALTY PAYMENTS OF A CORPORATION

The State of Arkansas brought suit against defendant to recover various moneys, rents, royalties, credits, and other personal property, which had been unclaimed, forgotten, abandoned, or otherwise lost by-various persons, and which were allegedly in the possession of defendant. The state, not knowing who the previous owners were, submitted interrogatories to defendant which were designed to discover exactly what was in defendant\u27s possession, and who had been the last known owners thereof. The state based its claim on the statutes and on the common law doctrine of bona vacantia. Defendant\u27s demurrer was sustained. On appeal, held, affirmed. The state has no cause of action under the statutes, and there is no common law right of bona vacantia, because there is no allegation that a definitely named article of personal property was held without any known owner nor that a definitely known person had died or disappeared leaving a chose in action and having no known heirs. The interrogatories were not allowed because they were instituted for the purpose of obtaining information on which to base a subsequent proceeding, which subsequent proceeding would be dependent on the information obtained in the first proceeding. State v. Phillips Petroleum Co., (Ark. 1947) 206 S.W. (2d) 771

Control over phase separation and nucleation using a laser-tweezing potential

Control over the nucleation of new phases is highly desirable but elusive. Even though there is a long history of crystallization engineering by varying physicochemical parameters, controlling which polymorph crystallizes or whether a molecule crystallizes or forms an amorphous precipitate is still a poorly understood practice. Although there are now numerous examples of control using laser-induced nucleation, the absence of physical understanding is preventing progress. Here we show that the proximity of a liquid–liquid critical point or the corresponding binodal line can be used by a laser-tweezing potential to induce concentration gradients. A simple theoretical model shows that the stored electromagnetic energy of the laser beam produces a free-energy potential that forces phase separation or triggers the nucleation of a new phase. Experiments in a liquid mixture using a low-power laser diode confirm the effect. Phase separation and nucleation using a laser-tweezing potential explains the physics behind non-photochemical laser-induced nucleation and suggests new ways of manipulating matter

Power spectrum analysis for optical tweezers. II: Laser wavelength dependence of parasitic filtering, and how to achieve high bandwidth

In a typical optical tweezers detection system, the position of a trapped object is determined from laser light impinging on a quadrant photodiode. When the laser is infrared and the photodiode is of silicon, they can act together as an unintended low-pass filter. This parasicit effect is due to the high transparency of silicon to near-infrared light. A simple model that accounts for this phenomenon is here solved for frequencies up to 100 kHz and for laser wavelengths between 750 and 1064 nm. The solution is applied to experimental data in the same range, and is demonstrated to give this detection system of optical tweezers a bandwidth, accuracy, and precision that are limited only by the data acquisition board's bandwidth and bandpass ripples, here 96.7 kHz and 0.005 dB, respectively. ©2006 American Institute of Physic

BILLS AND NOTES-PERSONAL LIABILITY OF AGENT WHO SIGNS NOTE WHICH PRINCIPAL HAS NO LEGAL POWER TO EXECUTE

Defendant gave a note, signed by him in his representative capacity as village president, to plaintiff in payment for services rendered to the village. Defendant signed after he was authorized to do so by a resolution of the village board of trustees. The facts showed that the parties understood the village to be the primary obligor on the note. Actually, the village had no legal power to make such notes and could not have been indebted by them. Plaintiff sued defendant as an individual and won a verdict in the trial court. On appeal, held, reversed. Defendant having signed in a representative capacity was not personally bound, inasmuch as he was given permission by the board of trustees, and because the plaintiff was charged with notice of the village\u27s lack of capacity. Greenlee v. Beaver, (Ill. 1948) 79 N.E. ( 2d) 822

Exact solutions of closed string theory

We review explicitly known exact $D=4$ solutions with Minkowski signature in closed bosonic string theory. Classical string solutions with space-time interpretation are represented by conformal sigma models. Two large (intersecting) classes of solutions are described by gauged WZW models and `chiral null models' (models with conserved chiral null current). The latter class includes plane-wave type backgrounds (admitting a covariantly constant null Killing vector) and backgrounds with two null Killing vectors (e.g., fundamental string solution). $D>4$ chiral null models describe some exact $D=4$ solutions with electromagnetic fields, for example, extreme electric black holes, charged fundamental strings and their generalisations. In addition, there exists a class of conformal models representing axially symmetric stationary magnetic flux tube backgrounds (including, in particular, the dilatonic Melvin solution). In contrast to spherically symmetric chiral null models for which the corresponding conformal field theory is not known explicitly, the magnetic flux tube models (together with some non-semisimple WZW models) are among the first examples of solvable unitary conformal string models with non-trivial $D=4$ curved space-time interpretation. For these models one is able to express the quantum hamiltonian in terms of free fields and to find explicitly the physical spectrum and string partition function.Comment: 50 pages, harvma

Biological measurement beyond the quantum limit

Quantum noise places a fundamental limit on the per photon sensitivity attainable in optical measurements. This limit is of particular importance in biological measurements, where the optical power must be constrained to avoid damage to the specimen. By using non-classically correlated light, we demonstrated that the quantum limit can be surpassed in biological measurements. Quantum enhanced microrheology was performed within yeast cells by tracking naturally occurring lipid granules with sensitivity 2.4 dB beyond the quantum noise limit. The viscoelastic properties of the cytoplasm could thereby be determined with a 64% improved measurement rate. This demonstration paves the way to apply quantum resources broadly in a biological context

Commensurate Scale Relations in Quantum Chromodynamics

We use the BLM method to show that perturbatively-calculable observables in QCD can be related to each other without renormalization scale or scheme ambiguity. We define and study the commensurate scale relations. We show that the commensurate scales satisfy the renormalization group transitivity rule which ensures that predictions in PQCD are independent of the choice of an intermediate renormalization scheme. We generalize the BLM procedure to higher order. The application of this procedure to relate known physical observables in QCD gives surprisingly simple results. In particular, the annihilation ratio $R_{e^+e^-}$ and the Bjorken sum rule for polarized electroproduction are related through simple coefficients, which reinforces the idea of a hidden symmetry between these two observables.Comment: 35 pages (RevTeX), one PostScript figure included at the end. SLAC-PUB-6481, UMD Preprint #94-13

QUASI-CONTRACTS -- TAXATION -- RESCISSION OF GIFT FOR FAILURE TO ACHIEVE DONOR\u27S PURPOSE OF MINIMIZING FEDERAL INCOME TAXES

In 1937, plaintiff made a gift of stock in a closed corporation to his wife, the defendant. For two years defendant received cash dividends on the stock transferred to her and paid income taxes thereon. Late in 1938 the corporation was dissolved; the assets were distributed to the shareholders, and a partnership was formed. Defendant continued to report the income received by her from the partnership. In 1946, the Tax Court sustained the contention of the commissioner of internal revenue that the entire income from this partnership was taxable to plaintiff under the doctrine of Commissioner v. Tower. Plaintiff sought rescission of his gift, claiming that the gratuitous transfer had been induced by a. mistaken assumption as to tax consequences. The evidence showed that the prime purpose of the gift was to build up defendant\u27s estate and that the intent to reduce income taxes was only an incidental motive. Relief was denied by the trial court. On appeal, held, affirmed. Since the chief purpose in making the gift was not defeated, plaintiff was not entitled to equitable relief. Lowry v. Kavanagh, 322 Mich. 532, 34 N.W. (2d) 60 (1948)