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Prostate cancer (PC) is the second leading cause of male U.S. cancer deaths, with African-Americans having the highest rate of PC mortality worldwide, as well as more abnormal results from screening tests that correlate with current or eventual PC. A 3-year prospective clinic-based study is studying the performance of current (PSA and DRE) vs. (% free PSA) clinical biomarkers of PC risk in 400 African-American men 50 to 70 years of age who undergo PC screening in Oakland, CA (East Bay San Francisco area), as well as possible association of PC screening results for these men with their dietary exposures to the cancer-causing heterocyclic amine, 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) that forms when meat is cooked. This study expands an ongoing NIH-funded study (by the same research team) to add a new %-free-PSA test, results of which will be compared with PSA/DRE results and PhIP exposures estimated by dietary interviews. For 392 men studied under the NIH protocol, an odds ratio (95% CL) of 32 (3.2, 720) for highly elevated PSA ({ge}20 ng/mL) was observed in the highest 15% vs. the lower 50% of estimated daily PhIP intakes. Approximately 100 additional men have completed participation in the expanded NIH/DOD-supported study. This study will …

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This report provides information about The Role of State and Local Law Enforcement on Enforcing Immigration Law.

In the United States, the general rule, which derives from common law, is that each side in a legal proceeding pays for its own attorney. There are many exceptions, however, in which federal courts, and occasionally federal agencies, may order the losing party to pay the attorneys’ fees of the prevailing party. The major common law exception authorizes federal courts (not agencies) to order a losing party that acts in bad faith to pay the prevailing party’s fees. This report discusses the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), which makes the United States liable for attorneys’ fees of up to $125 per hour in many court cases and administrative proceedings that it loses (and some that it wins) and fails to prove that its position was substantially justified.

This report supports the effort for development of small scale fabrication of UCO (a mixture of UO{sub 2} and UC{sub 2}) fuel kernels for the generation IV high temperature gas reactor program. In particular, it is focused on optimization of dispersion conditions of carbon black in the broths from which carbon-containing (UO{sub 2} {center_dot} H{sub 2}O + C) gel spheres are prepared by internal gelation. The broth results from mixing a hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) and urea solution with an acid-deficient uranyl nitrate (ADUN) solution. Carbon black, which is previously added to one or other of the components, must stay dispersed during gelation. The report provides a detailed description of characterization efforts and results, aimed at identification and testing carbon black and surfactant combinations that would produce stable dispersions, with carbon particle sizes below 1 {micro}m, in aqueous HMTA/urea and ADUN solutions. A battery of characterization methods was used to identify the properties affecting the water dispersability of carbon blacks, such as surface area, aggregate morphology, volatile content, and, most importantly, surface chemistry. The report introduces the basic principles for each physical or chemical method of carbon black characterization, lists the results obtained, and underlines cross-correlations between methods. Particular attention is given …