Applications for Duty-Free Entry of Scientific Instruments

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Applications for Duty-Free Entry of Scientific Instruments

Pursuant to Section 6(c) of the Educational, Scientific, and

Cultural Materials Importation Act of 1966 (Pub. L. 89-651; 80 Stat.

897; 15 CFR 301), we invite comments on the question of whether

instruments of equivalent scientific value, for the purposes for which

the instruments shown below are intended to be used, are being

manufactured in the United States.

Comments must comply with Subsections 301.5(a) (3) and (4) of the

regulations and be filed within 20 days with the Statutory Import

Programs Staff, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230.

Applications may be examined between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. in room 4211,

U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.,

Washington, DC.

Docket Number: 94-044. Applicant: Carnegie Institution of

Washington, Department of Plant Biology, 290 Panama Street, Stanford,

CA 94305. Instrument: Mass Spectrometer System, Model Delta S.

Manufacturer: Finnigan MAT GmbH, Germany. Intended Use: The instrument

will be used for studies of variations in the abundance of the stable

isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen that occur in association with

biological and physical transformations. These measurements will be

used to understand the mechanisms of isotope fractionation in

biological processes, particularly photosynthesis and respiration. In

addition, the instrument will be used in studies of the natural

variation of isotope ratio and relative abundance gases in the

atmosphere and dissolved in the ocean. Taken together these studies

will address scientific questions concerning the operation of the

biosphere and the interaction of these with the atmosphere and oceans.

Application Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: April 6, 1994.

Docket Number: 94-054. Applicant: University of South Florida,

Department of Marine Science, 140-7th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL

33701. Instrument: Electron Microscope, Model H-7100. Manufacturer:

Hitachi Scientific Instruments, Japan. Intended Use: The instrument

will be used in marine ultrastructural research in the disciplines of

biology, chemistry and geology. Specific research objectives will

include the following:

(1) the enumeration of viruses in seawater and taxonomic studies on

viral isolates,

(2) determination of the significance of viral encapsulated genomes

in the dissolved DNA of the oceans,

(3) examination of the effects of anthropogenic activities on reef

environments as indicated by viral abundances,

(4) a comparison of the variation of fish mitochondrial DNA among

different fish groups,

(5) pinpointing locations and numbers of ion pumps in fish and

crustacean specimens,

(6) examination of algal symbiosis in foraminifera including

documentation of cytological changes associated with shell

bleaching,

(7) studies of the toxicologies in marine mammals to identify heavy

metals in manatee tissue,

(8) characterization of the mineralogy and microtextures of

diagenetic marine minerals to obtain detailed elemental x-ray sample

maps,

(9) characterization of experimentally produced deformation

microstructures and

(10) examination of organic/crystal interfaces during picoplankton

biomineralization.

In addition the instrument will be used in the course Theory and

Techniques of Transmission Electron Microscopy to give students a basic

understanding of its operation. Application Accepted by Commissioner of

Customs: April 19, 1994.

Docket Number: 94-055. Applicant: Virginia Commonwealth University,

Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, MCV Box 980017, Richmond, VA

23298-0024. Instrument: Electron Microscope, Model EM 900.

Manufacturer: Carl Zeiss, Germany. Intended Use: The instrument will be

used for the examination of tissue from Surgical Pathology for

diagnostic purposes. In addition, the instrument will be used for

training Pathology Residents. Application Accepted by Commissioner of

Customs: April 21, 1994.

Docket Number: 94-056. Applicant: Department of the Interior, U.S.

Geological Survey WRD, 450 Main Street, room 525, Hartford, CT 06103.

Instrument: Borehole Radar System. Manufacturer: ABEM AB, Sweden.

Intended Use: The instrument will be used to study bedrock and

unconsolidated overburden conditions in situ, from air- and water-

filled boreholes as small as two and one-half inches in diameter in

order to conduct research into groundwater flow and contaminant

transport in fractured rock. The research objectives include

development of methods to detect and quantify the effects of bedrock

fractures and lithologic changes on groundwater flow and development of

methods to directly detect, quantify, and monitor groundwater

contaminants in order to increase the efficiency of future remediation

efforts to reduce the hazards of contamination to the public.

Application Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: April 21, 1994.

Docket Number: 94-057. Applicant: University of California, Los

Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 990, Los Alamos, NM 87545.

Instrument: Optical Floating Zone System. Manufacturer: Vacuum

Metallurgical Co., Ltd., Japan. Intended Use: The instrument will be

used to grow single crystals of high melting point materials, so that

the fundamental mechanical properties of these single crystals can then

be investigated. Application Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: April

21, 1994.

Pamela Woods,

Acting Director, Statutory Import Programs Staff.

[FR Doc. 94-11591 Filed 5-11-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-F-M