This dissertation presents measurements of the inclusive production cross sections for W and Z gauge bosons decaying through the electron channel with p{bar p} collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The ratio of these cross sections is then used to extract the W total width. The Standard Model (SM) of electroweak and strong interactions is a collection of theories which together encompass what is currently known about the elementary particles that make up matter and the forces through which they interact. Experimentalists are constantly searching for violations of the Standard Model by making precision measurements of predicted interactions. The decay of the W boson is one such interaction. The rate of its decay is reflected in its width which is predicted to high precision using Standard Model-based calculations. Therefore, a high precision experimental width measurement would be very sensitive to any such violation. In principle the W and Z boson production cross sections could also be good Standard Model tests. However, a precise knowledge of integrated luminosity is required which is unfortunately difficult to obtain at the Tevatron. In fact, the W and Z cross section results can be used to obtain a more precise luminosity measurement. The …

SNL-12 (permitted by the New Mexico State Engineer as C-2954) was drilled to provide geological data and hydrological testing of the Culebra Dolomite Member of the Permian Rustler Formation near the margin of dissolution of halite in the upper part of the Salado south of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). SNL-12 is located in the southeast quarter of section 20, T23S, R31E, in eastern Eddy County, New Mexico. SNL-12 was drilled to a total depth of 905 ft below the ground level. Below surface dune sand and the Berino soil, SNL-12 encountered, in order, the Mescalero caliche, Gatu?a, Dewey Lake, Rustler, and uppermost Salado Formations. Two intervals were cored: (1) from the lower Forty-niner Member through the Magenta Dolomite and into the upper Tamarisk Member; and (2) from the lower Tamarisk Member through the Culebra Dolomite and Los Meda?os Members and into the uppermost Salado Formation. Geophysical logs were acquired from the open hole to total depth, and the drillhole was successfully completed with a screened interval open across the Culebra. At SNL-12, the uppermost Salado cores display displacive halite crystals in clastic-rich units below an amalgamated sulfate at the top of the formation. There is no indication of …

Wheat straw (Triticum aestivum L.) is an abundant source of plant fiber. It is regenerated, in large quantities, every year. At present, this potentially valuable resource is greatly under-exploited. Most of the excess straw biomass (i.e., tonnage above that required for agronomic cropping system sustainability) is managed through expensive chopping/tillage operations and/or burnt in the field following harvest, resulting in air pollution and associated health problems. Potential applications for wheat straw investigated within this project include energy and composites manufacture. Other methods of straw utilization that will potentially benefit from the findings of this research project include housing and building, pulp and paper, thermal insulation, fuels, and chemicals. This project focused on components of the feedstock assembly system for supplying a higher value small grains straw residue for (1) gasification/combustion and (2) straw-thermoplastic composites. This project was an integrated effort to solve the technological, infrastructural, and economic challenges associated with using straw residue for these bioenergy and bioproducts applications. The objective of the research is to contribute to the development of a low-capital distributed harvesting and engineered storage system for upgrading wheat straw to more desirable feedstocks for combustion and for straw-plastic composites. We investigated two processes for upgrading wheat …

SNL-9 (permitted by the State Engineer as C-2950) was drilled to provide geological data and hydrological testing of the Culebra Dolomite Member of the Permian Rustler Formation within a proposed re-entrant of the margin of halite dissolved from the upper part of the Salado near Livingston Ridge. SNL-9 is located in the southeast quarter of section 23, T22S, R30E, in eastern Eddy County, New Mexico. SNL-9 was drilled to a total depth of 845 ft below the ground surface. Below surface dune sand and the Berino soil, SNL-9 encountered, in order, the Mescalero caliche, Gatuna, Dewey Lake, Rustler, and uppermost Salado Formations. Two intervals were cored: 1) from the lower Forty-niner Member through the Magenta Dolomite and into the upper Tamarisk Member; and 2) from the lower Tamarisk Member through the Culebra Dolomite and Los Meda?os Members and into the uppermost Salado Formation. Geophysical logs were acquired from the open hole to total depth, and the drillhole was successfully completed with a screened interval open across the Culebra.

SNL-3 (permitted by the New Mexico State Engineer as C-2949) was drilled to provide geological data and hydrological testing of the Culebra Dolomite Member of the Permian Rustler Formation within a dissolution reentrant north of the WIPP site and well east of Livingston Ridge. SNL-3 is located in the southeast quarter of section 34, T21S, R31E, in eastern Eddy County, New Mexico. SNL-3 was drilled to a total depth of 970 ft below ground level (bgl). Below surface dune sand, SNL-3 encountered, in order, the Mescalero caliche, Gatuna, Dewey Lake, Rustler, and upper Salado Formations. Two intervals were cored: (1) from the lower Forty-niner Member through the Magenta Dolomite and into the upper Tamarisk Member; and (2) from the lower Tamarisk Member through the Culebra Dolomite and Los Meda?os Members and into the uppermost Salado.

SNL-2 was drilled in the northwest quarter of Section 12, T22S, R30E, in eastern Eddy County, New Mexico (Figure 2-1). It is located 574 ft from the north line (fnl) and 859 ft from the west line (fwl) of the section (Figure 2-2). This location places the drillhole east of the Livingston Ridge escarpment among oil wells of the Cabin Lake field. SNL-2 will be used to test hydraulic properties and to monitor ground water levels of the Culebra Dolomite Member of the Permian Rustler Formation. SNL-2 was permitted by the New Mexico State Engineer as C-2948. [Official correspondence regarding permitting and regulatory information must reference this permit number.] In the plan describing the integrated groundwater hydrology program (Sandia National Laboratories, 2003), SNL-2 is also codesignated WTS-1 because the location also satisfies needs for long-term monitoring of water quality and movement in the Culebra Dolomite for RCRA permitting; this program is under the management of Washington TRU Solutions LLC (WTS). In the event that additional wells are established on the SNL-2 drillpad to monitor other hydrological units (e.g., the Magenta Dolomite Member of the Permian Rustler Formation), the current drillhole will likely be referred to as SNL-2C because it is …

SNL-1 (permitted by the New Mexico State Engineer as C-2953) was drilled to provide geological data and hydrological testing of the Culebra Dolomite Member of the Permian Rustler Formation near the margin of dissolution of halite in the upper Permian Salado Formation in the northeast arm of Nash Draw. SNL-1 is located in the northwest quarter of section 16, T21S, R31E, in eastern Eddy County, New Mexico, and it is adjacent to the tailings pile of Mississippi Potash Incorporated (now Intrepid) East mine to test for the presence of shallow zones that might include brine infiltrated from the tailings pile. SNL-1 was drilled to a total depth of 644 ft below ground level (bgl). Below surface wash, SNL-1 encountered, in order, the Mescalero caliche, Dewey Lake, and Rustler Formations.

SNL-5 (permitted by the New Mexico State Engineer as C-3002) was drilled to provide geological data and hydrological testing of the Culebra Dolomite Member of the Permian Rustler Formation in an area north of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site where data are sparse and where a pumping or monitoring well for the northern pumping test is needed. SNL-5 is located in the southeast quarter of section 6, T22S, R31E, in eastern Eddy County, New Mexico. SNL-5 was drilled to a total depth of 687 ft below ground level (bgl), based on driller's measurements. Below the caliche pad, SNL-5 encountered the Mescalero caliche, Gatu?a, Dewey Lake, and Rustler Formations. Two intervals of the Rustler were cored: (1) from the lower Forty-niner Member through the Magenta Dolomite and into the upper Tamarisk Member; and (2) from the lower Tamarisk Member through the Culebra Dolomite and into the upper Los Meda?os Members. Geophysical logs were acquired from the open hole to a depth of ~672 ft. No water was observed to flow into the open drillhole until the Culebra was penetrated. includes horizontal beds and laminae near the base, and the uppermost part shows some inclined bedding. The mudstone unit shows …

Specific and sensitive ligand-based protein detection assays that employ antibodies or small molecules such as peptides, aptamers, or other small molecules require that the corresponding surface region of the protein be accessible and that there be minimal cross-reactivity with non-target proteins. To reduce the time and cost of laboratory screening efforts for diagnostic reagents, we developed new methods for evaluating and selecting protein surface regions for ligand targeting. We devised combined structure- and sequence-based methods for identifying 3D epitopes and binding pockets on the surface of the A chain of ricin that are conserved with respect to a set of ricin A chains and unique with respect to other proteins. We (1) used structure alignment software to detect structural deviations and extracted from this analysis the residue-residue correspondence, (2) devised a method to compare corresponding residues across sets of ricin structures and structures of closely related proteins, (3) devised a sequence-based approach to determine residue infrequency in local sequence context, and (4) modified a pocket-finding algorithm to identify surface crevices in close proximity to residues determined to be conserved/unique based on our structure- and sequence-based methods. In applying this combined informatics approach to ricin A we identified a conserved/unique pocket …

We construct and analyze a u-band selected galaxy sample from the SDSS Southern Survey, which covers 275 deg{sup 2}. The sample includes 43223 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the range 0.005 < z < 0.3 and with 14.5 < u < 20.5. The S/N in the u-band Petrosian aperture is improved by coadding multiple epochs of imaging data and by including sky-subtraction corrections. Luminosity functions for the near-UV {sup 0.1}u band ({lambda} {approx} 322 {+-} 26 nm) are determined in redshift slices of width 0.02, which show a highly significant evolution in M* of -0.8 {+-} 0.1 mag between z = 0 and 0.3; with M* - 5 log h{sub 70} = -18.84 {+-} 0.05 (AB mag), log {phi}* = -2.06 {+-} 0.03 (h{sub 70}{sup 3} Mpc{sup -3}) and log {rho}{sub L} = 19.11 {+-} 0.02 (h{sub 70} W Hz{sup -1}Mpc{sup -3}) at z = 0.1. The faint-end slope determined for z < 0.06 is given by {alpha} = -1.05 {+-} 0.08. This is in agreement with recent determinations from GALEX at shorter wavelengths. Comparing our z < 0.3 luminosity density measurements with 0.2 < z < 1.2 from COMBO-17, we find that the 280-nm density evolves as {rho}{sub L} …

This report summarizes the science and technology research and development efforts in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Engineering Directorate for FY2004, and exemplifies Engineering's more than 50-year history of developing the technologies needed to support the Laboratory's missions. Engineering has been a partner in every major program and project at the Laboratory throughout its existence and has prepared for this role with a skilled workforce and the technical resources developed through venues like the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program (LDRD). This accomplishment is well summarized by Engineering's mission: ''Enable program success today and ensure the Laboratory's vitality tomorrow''. Engineering's investment in technologies is carried out through two programs, the ''Tech Base'' program and the LDRD program. LDRD is the vehicle for creating those technologies and competencies that are cutting edge. These require a significant level of research or contain some unknown that needs to be fully understood. Tech Base is used to apply technologies to a Laboratory need. The term commonly used for Tech Base projects is ''reduction to practice''. Therefore, the LDRD report covered here has a strong research emphasis. Areas that are presented all fall into those needed to accomplish our mission. For FY2004, Engineering's LDRD projects were …

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Chemically prepared zinc oxide powders are fabricated for the production of high aspect ratio varistor components. Colloidal processing in water was performed to reduce agglomerates to primary particles, form a high solids loading slurry, and prevent dopant migration. The milled and dispersed powder exhibited a viscoelastic to elastic behavioral transition at a volume loading of 43-46%. The origin of this transition was studied using acoustic spectroscopy, zeta potential measurements and oscillatory rheology. The phenomenon occurs due to a volume fraction solids dependent reduction in the zeta potential of the solid phase. It is postulated to result from divalent ion binding within the polyelectrolyte dispersant chain, and was mitigated using a polyethylene glycol plasticizing additive. Chemically prepared zinc oxide powders were processed for the production of high aspect ratio varistor components. Near net shape casting methods including slip casting and agarose gelcasting were evaluated for effectiveness in achieving a uniform green microstructure achieving density values near the theoretical maximum during sintering. The structure of the green parts was examined by mercury porisimetry. Agarose gelcasting produced green parts with low solids loading values and did not achieve high fired density. Isopressing the agarose cast parts after drying raised the fired density to …

A screen for the systematic identification of cis-regulatory elements within large (>100 kb) genomic domains containing Hox genes was performed by using the basal chordate Ciona intestinalis. Randomly generated DNA fragments from bacterial artificial chromosomes containing two clusters of Hox genes were inserted into a vector upstream of a minimal promoter and lacZ reporter gene. A total of 222 resultant fusion genes were separately electroporated into fertilized eggs, and their regulatory activities were monitored in larvae. In sum, 21 separable cis-regulatory elements were found. These include eight Hox linked domains that drive expression in nested anterior-posterior domains of ectodermally derived tissues. In addition to vertebrate-like CNS regulation, the discovery of cis-regulatory domains that drive epidermal transcription suggests that C. intestinalis has arthropod-like Hox patterning in the epidermis.

This report is on Asian Pacific American Political Participation and Representation in Elective Office.

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This thesis illustrates a complete study of the doubly and singly Cabibbo suppressed decays D{sup +} and D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} K{sup +} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}. Data for this analysis have been collected by the fixed-target high-energy photoproduction experiment FOCUS at Fermilab. The authors have selected the D{sup +} and D{sub s}{sup +} samples with cuts to obtain a sufficiently high statistics, a good signal to noise ratio and, at the same time, eliminate possible contaminations from the more copious and favored decays. The D{sup +} yield consists of 189 {+-} 24 events, with a signal to noise ratio {approx} 1; the D{sub s}{sup +} yield is 567 {+-} 31 and the signal to noise ratio is {approx} 2.5. The authors have measured {Lambda}(D{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +})/{Lambda}(D{sup +} {yields} K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup +}) = 0.0065 {+-} 0.0008 {+-} 0.004 and {Lambda}(D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +})/{Lambda}(D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}) = 0.127 {+-} 0.007 {+-} 0.014, improving the previous determinations of a factor of 2 and 5, respectively. The author has also performed a Dalitz plot analysis for both decays. The amplitude analysis for D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +} …

This report summarizes the extent of the disaster and relief effort.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Mobility is critical to the nation's economy. Projections of future passenger and freight travel suggest that increased levels of investment may be needed to maintain the current levels of mobility provided by the nation's highway and transit systems. However, calls for greater investment in transportation come amid growing concerns about fiscal imbalances at all levels of the government. As a result, careful decisions will need to be made to ensure that transportation investments maximize the benefits of each federal dollar invested. In this report GAO identifies (1) the categories of benefits and costs that can be attributed to new highway and transit investments and the challenges in measuring them; (2) how state, local, and regional decision makers consider the benefits and costs of new highway and transit investments when comparing alternatives; (3) the extent to which investments meet their projected outcomes; and (4) options to improve the information available to decision makers. To address these objectives, we convened an expert panel, surveyed state departments of transportation and transit agencies, and conducted site visits to five metropolitan areas that had both a capacity-adding highway project and transit …

Biweekly, comprehensive compilation of decisions, reports, public notices, and other documents of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

In this project, an advanced computational software tool was developed for the design of low emission combustion systems required for Vision 21 clean energy plants. Vision 21 combustion systems, such as combustors for gas turbines, combustors for indirect fired cycles, furnaces and sequestrian-ready combustion systems, will require innovative low emission designs and low development costs if Vision 21 goals are to be realized. The simulation tool will greatly reduce the number of experimental tests; this is especially desirable for gas turbine combustor design since the cost of the high pressure testing is extremely costly. In addition, the software will stimulate new ideas, will provide the capability of assessing and adapting low-emission combustors to alternate fuels, and will greatly reduce the development time cycle of combustion systems. The revolutionary combustion simulation software is able to accurately simulate the highly transient nature of gaseous-fueled (e.g. natural gas, low BTU syngas, hydrogen, biogas etc.) turbulent combustion and assess innovative concepts needed for Vision 21 plants. In addition, the software is capable of analyzing liquid-fueled combustion systems since that capability was developed under a concurrent Air Force Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. The complex physics of the reacting flow field are captured using …

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Biweekly, comprehensive compilation of decisions, reports, public notices, and other documents of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.