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 part 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 15 CFR 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, D.C. 20230.

Applications may be examined between 8:30 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. in Room

4211, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue,

N.W., Washington, D.C.

Docket Number: 96-001. Applicant: University of California, Davis,

174 Physics/Geology Bldg., Davis, CA 95616-8605. Instrument: Water Gas

Phase Equilibration System. Manufacturer: Finnigan MAT, Germany.

Intended Use: The instrument will be used to analyze the stable oxygen

and hydrogen isotopic composition (180/160 and D(euterium) /

H) of water samples derived from seawater samples collected during

experimental research and ground water samples from hydrographic

studies. The experiments will involve studies of the physiological and

environmental parameters responsible for stable isotope variability in

the calcium carbonate shells of fossil organisms via the study of

living representatives in the laboratory and field. In addition, the

instrument will be used in the course Geology 227, Stable Isotope

Biochemistry introducing graduate students to different applications of

stable isotope geochemistry in the research environment. Application

Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: January 3, 1996.

Docket Number: 96-002. Applicant: DHHS/Food and Drug

Administration, National Center for Toxicological Research, Division of

Chemistry, 3900 NCTR Road, Jefferson, AR 72079. Instrument: ICP Mass

Spectrometer, Model PlasmaQuad XR. Manufacturer: Fisons Instruments,

United Kingdom. Intended Use: The instrument will be used for studies

of food, food ingredients, animal diets, animal tissues and water to

determine the quantitation of the levels of trace elements of interest

in these samples. The instrument will also be used for speciation

studies for toxicologically important elements such as As, Cr, and Mn

among others. Application Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: January

4, 1996.

Docket Number: 96-003. Applicant: Mount Holyoke College, 50 College

Street, South Hadley, MA 01075. Instrument: Electron Microscope, Model

CM100. Manufacturer: Philips, The Netherlands. Intended Use: The

instrument will be used in a wide variety of research projects in the

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biological sciences which include but are not limited to: (a)

assessment of which structural components of the nucleus remain after

progressive dismantling of nuclear components by high salt, nuclease,

and detergent treatment in research designed to probe nuclear matrix

structure and function in plant cells and (b) characterization of

cellular defects in various Drosophila mutants which figure prominently

in molecular biology. In addition, the instrument will be used for

educational purposes in several biology courses. Application Accepted

by Commissioner of Customs: January 4, 1996.

Docket Number: 96-004. Applicant: University of California at

Berkeley, 485 Hearst Mining Bldg., Berkeley, CA 94720. Instrument:

Mass/Energy Spectrometer. Manufacturer: Hiden Analytical Ltd., United

Kingdom. Intended Use: The instrument will be used for determining the

mass, energy and flux of ions, neutrals and radicals generated by an

activated nitrogen source. It will also be used for trace impurity

measurements. Application Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: January

11, 1996.

Docket Number: 96-005. Applicant: Scripps Research Institute, 10666

North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037. Instrument: Electron

Microscope, Model CM120. Manufacturer: Philips, The Netherlands.

Intended Use: The instrument will be used for studies of the structure

of tobacco, alfalfa, and cucumber mosaic viruses, muscle proteins,

nuclear pore complexes, microtubules, CHIP28 water channels,

acetylcholine receptors, gap junctions, rotavirus and reovirus, and

rice yellow mottle virus. The goals of the investigations are in

general to understand the structural basis for how the subcellular

organelles and supramolecular assemblies function and to elucidate the

role that they play in the life of the cell. In addition, the

instrument will be used to provide training in use of the electron

microscope as a research tool. Application Accepted by Commissioner of

Customs: February 6, 1996.

Docket Number: 96-007. Applicant: U.S. Department of Commerce,

NOAA/ERL/CMDL, R/E/CGI, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303. Instrument:

Stable Isotope Mass Spectrometer, Model OPTIMA. Manufacturer: Fisons

Instruments, United Kingdom. Intended Use: The instrument will be used

to measure the stable isotope ratios of CO2 from flask samples of

atmospheric air sampled weekly from about 50 sites worldwide and

analyzed for the mixing ratios of methane, carbon monoxide and other

gases. The instrument will also be used to measure the stable isotope

ratios of CO2 from standard and reference materials as required to

maintain the integrity and calibration of the data base of atmospheric

measurements. Application Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: February

6, 1996.

Docket Number: 96-008. Applicant: University of California, Los

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

Instrument: Mass Spectrometer, Model Plasma Trace 2. Manufacturer:

Fisons Instruments, United Kingdom. Intended Use: The instrument will

be used for studies of soils, high purity silicon chips, waters and low

level waste streams to determine trace analytes in a given sample.

Application Accepted by Commissioner of Customs: February 7, 1996.

Frank W. Creel

Director, Statutory Import Programs Staff

[FR Doc. 96-4754 Filed 2-29-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-F