[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 127 (Monday, July 1, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33902-33903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-16617]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


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: 96-058. Applicant: American Museum of Natural 
History, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Central Park West at 
79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192. Instrument: Electron Microprobe, 
Model SX 100. Manufacturer: Cameca, France. Intended Use: The 
instrument will be used for studies of rocks, minerals, meteorites, 
volcanic glasses, experimental glasses, synthetic materials, metals and 
alloys. Experiments conducted will include: (1) Measurement of x-ray 
intensities, (2) backscattered and secondary electron imaging of sample 
and (3) cathodoluminescence emission of samples when bombarded by a ray 
of electrons. In addition, the instrument will be used for educational 
purposes in courses for petrology and mineralogy students. Application 
accepted by Commissioner of Customs: May 24, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-059. Applicant: Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139. Instrument: 
Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometry System, Model SD-10-S. 
Manufacturer: Newport Instruments AG, Switzerland. Intended Use: The 
instrument will be used for measuring deformations of the graphite 
epoxy host structure of a composite actuator developed for studies of 
the reduction of sound that is transmitted through plates and 
cylinders. The speckle pattern produced by the laser is viewed with a 
CCD camera and digitized in real time for analysis by a computer which 
calculates the deformation. Application accepted by Commissioner of 
Customs: May 24, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-060. Applicant: University of Minnesota, 
Department of Biochemistry, 1479 Gortner Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108. 
Instrument: EPR Spectrometer. Manufacturer: Bruker, Germany. Intended 
Use: The instrument will be used to study paramagnetic species in 
photosynthetic proteins; in particular to obtain structural information 
about redox active tryosines and the manganese cluster of photosystem 
II. These species will be oxidized during the enzymatic mechanism, and 
the instrument will be used to verify that this oxidation has occurred 
and to study the kinetics of the oxidation and reduction. Application 
accepted by Commissioner of Customs: May 31, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-061. Applicant: University of Hawaii, Manoa, 
School of Ocean Earth Science & Technology, 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, 
HI 96822. Instrument: Individual Acid Bath Carbonate Device. 
Manufacturer: Finnigan MAT, Germany. Intended Use: The instrument will 
be used to automatically generate carbon dioxide gases from solid 
samples containing carbonate, under vacuum, from individual reaction 
chambers, provide cryogenic distillation of said gases and 
automatically feed said gases into the sample inlet of an existing mass 
spectrometer to measure the stable isotope ratios of carbon and oxygen 
of generated gases. Application accepted by Commissioner of Customs: 
June 3, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-062. Applicant: University of Oklahoma, 660 
Parrington Oval, Norman, OK 73019. Instrument: ESR Spectrometer System. 
Manufacturer: Bruker Instruments, Germany. Intended Use: The instrument 
will be used for a variety of experimental needs including the 
following: (1) Analysis of nitroxide spin-labeled proteins as a measure 
of polypeptide structure, folding and conformational dynamics, (2) 
analysis of allosteric transition metal complexes, electron structures 
of cytochrome P-450 model compounds, (3) characterization of stable 
free radical/cations and anions and paramagnetic metallocenes, (4) 
determination of the distribution of spin density and molecular 
structure of organocobalt radicals, (5) study of spin states and 
oxidation states of both porphyrin and non-porphyrin Fe(II) and Fe(III) 
complexes and (6) photo-ESR, to probe the photogeneration of charges in 
photoconducting polymers. Application accepted by Commissioner of 
Customs: June 5, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-063. Applicant: University of Georgia, Institute 
of Ecology, Athens, GA 30602-2022. Instrument: SIR Mass Spectrometer, 
Model Delta C. Manufacturer: Finnigan Corporation, Germany. Intended 
Use: The instrument will be used for the application of stable isotope 
studies of nitrogen-15 and carbon-13 to ecological research. Specific 
studies will include the following: (1) long term ecological 
consequences of field manipulations on soil organic matter dynamics 
across a spectrum of croplands, old fields and deciduous forest, (2) 
influence of soil arthropods on below-ground processes, (3) microbial-
faunal interactions, (4) forest ecosystem dynamics following 
disturbance in the southern Appalachians and (5) influence of 
microarthropod-microbial interactions on forest floor nitrogen 
dynamics. The instrument will also be used for educational purposes in 
the courses: ECL 863, Nuclear Tracers in Ecology and ECL 900, Problems 
in Ecology.

[[Page 33903]]

Application accepted by Commissioner of Customs: June 6, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-064. Applicant: University of California, Davis, 
Department of Geology, Davis, CA 95616. Instrument: Magnetometer and 
Demagnetizer. Manufacturer: Molspin Instruments, United Kingdom. 
Intended Use: The instruments will be used for the study of the 
magnetic properties of sedimentary rocks retrieved as part of the Cape 
Roberts Drilling Project, a collaboration that will provide information 
about the climatic and tectonic history of the Antarctic continent 
during the past 65 million years. The magnetometer will be used to 
determine the direction of magnetization of rocks and the alternating 
field demagnetizer will be used to determine whether the directions 
measured with the magnetometer are reliable. Application accepted by 
Commissioner of Customs: June 9, 1996.
    Docket Number: 96-065. Applicant: University of Massachusetts, 
Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003. Instrument: Electron Microscope, Model JEM-
3010. Manufacturer: JEOL Ltd., Japan. Intended Use: The instrument will 
be used to investigate the morphology and structure of polymers, 
proteins, ceramics, electronic materials and metals. In addition, the 
instrument will be used for educational purposes in the courses PSE 899 
Ph.D. Dissertation, PSE 699 Master's Thesis, PSE 721 Morphology of 
Polymers and PSE 602 Polymer Characterization Laboratory. Application 
accepted by Commissioner of Customs: June 11, 1996.
Frank W. Creel,
Director, Statutory Import Programs Staff.
[FR Doc. 96-16617 Filed 6-28-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P