The GNEMRE Dendro Tool provides a previously unrealized analysis capability in the field of nuclear explosion monitoring. Dendro Tool allows analysts to quickly and easily determine the similarity between seismic events using the waveform time-series for each of the events to compute cross-correlation values. Events can then be categorized into clusters of similar events. This analysis technique can be used to characterize historical archives of seismic events in order to determine many of the unique sources that are present. In addition, the source of any new events can be quickly identified simply by comparing the new event to the historical set.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The abuse of anabolic steroids by teenagers--that is, their use without a prescription--is a health concern. Anabolic steroids are synthetic forms of the hormone testosterone that can be taken orally, injected, or rubbed on the skin. Although a 2006 survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that less than 3 percent of 12th graders had abused anabolic steroids, it also found that about 40 percent of 12th graders described anabolic steroids as "fairly easy" or "very easy" to get. The abuse of anabolic steroids can cause serious health effects and behavioral changes in teenagers. GAO was asked to examine federally funded efforts to address the abuse of anabolic steroids among teenagers and to review available research on this issue. This report describes (1) federally funded efforts that address teenage abuse of anabolic steroids, (2) available research on teenage abuse of anabolic steroids, and (3) gaps or areas in need of improvement that federal officials and other experts identify in research that addresses teenage anabolic steroid abuse. To do this work, GAO reviewed federal agency materials and published studies identified through a literature …

Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 224 is located in Areas 02, 03, 05, 06, 11, and 23 of the Nevada Test Site, which is situated approximately 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. CAU 224 is listed in the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) of 1996 as Decon Pad and Septic Systems and is comprised of the following nine Corrective Action Sites (CASs): CAS 02-04-01, Septic Tank (Buried); CAS 03-05-01, Leachfield; CAS 05-04-01, Septic Tanks (4)/Discharge Area; CAS 06-03-01, Sewage Lagoons (3); CAS 06-05-01, Leachfield; CAS 06-17-04, Decon Pad and Wastewater Catch; CAS 06-23-01, Decon Pad Discharge Piping; CAS 11-04-01, Sewage Lagoon; and CAS 23-05-02, Leachfield. The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP)-approved corrective action alternative for CASs 02-04-01, 03-05-01, 06-03-01, 11-04-01, and 23-05-02 is no further action. As a best management practice, the septic tanks and distribution box were removed from CASs 02-04-01 and 11-04-01 and disposed of as hydrocarbon waste. The NDEP-approved correction action alternative for CASs 05-04-01, 06-05-01, 06-17-04, and 06-23-01 is clean closure. Closure activities for these CASs included removing and disposing of radiologically and pesticide-impacted soil and debris. CAU 224 was closed in accordance with the NDEP-approved CAU 224 Corrective Action Plan (CAP). The …

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This booklet will equip your group to survey your watershed and make a record of its history and geography, land and water uses, and potential and actual pollution sources.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Archive Server (DAS) provides public access to data files produced by the SDSS data reduction pipeline. This article discusses challenges in public distribution of data of this volume and complexity, and how the project addressed them. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)1 is an astronomical survey of covering roughly one quarter of the night sky. It contains images of this area, a catalog of almost 300 million objects detected in those images, and spectra of more than a million of these objects. The catalog of objects includes a variety of data on each object. These data include not only basic information but also fit parameters for a variety of models, classifications by sophisticated object classification algorithms, statistical parameters, and more. If the survey contains the spectrum of an object, the catalog includes a variety of other parameters derived from its spectrum. Data processing and catalog generation, described more completely in the SDSS Early Data Release2 paper, consists of several stages: collection of imaging data, processing of imaging data, selection of spectroscopic targets from catalogs generated from the imaging data, collection of spectroscopic data, processing of spectroscopic data, and loading of processed data into …

This report provides a brief history of federal Indian education programs, a discussion of data on students served by these programs, an overview of the programs and their funding, a discussion of the application to BIE schools of key provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, and brief discussions of selected issues in Indian education.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The decennial census is a constitutionally-mandated activity that produces critical data used to apportion congressional seats, redraw congressional districts, and allocate billions of dollars in federal assistance. This testimony discusses (1) the various measures of population used to allocate federal grant funds (2) how the accuracy of the population count and measurement of accuracy have evolved and the U.S. Census Bureau's (Bureau) plan for coverage measurement in 2010; and (3) the potential impact that differences in population estimates can have on the allocation of grant funds. This testimony is based primarily on GAO's issued work in which it evaluated the sensitivity of grant formulas to population estimates."

Project Title: Comparison of Characterization Methods for Anisotropy and Microstructure of TRISO Particle Layers This INERI was created to support a comparative study between the newly developed two modulator generalized ellipsometry microscope (2-MGEM) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the more traditional optical polarimeter (RAPAX) at the Commissariat l' nergie Atomique (CEA). These two systems are used to measure the anisotropy of the pyrocarbon layers in tri-isotropic (TRISO) coated particle fuel, which is an important parameter related to fuel performance. Although this project was only just started in June 2007, good progress has already been made. A kickoff meeting was held at ORNL on July 30-31, 2007 to present early progress and discuss details of the proposed work plan. This meeting was of great benefit to the participants, offering an opportunity to overcome the language barrier and more thoroughly communicate project relevant information. Each technical lead gave a presentation explaining the analysis techniques used in his task and presented data on early measurements of the German reference fuels. Plans were finalized regarding what work needed to be done and how to proceed with the comparative study. Possibilities for the inclusion of other coated particle samples, in addition to …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the early 1990s, growth in the use of the Internet has revolutionized the way that our nation communicates and conducts business. While the Internet originated as a U.S. government-sponsored research project, the vast majority of its infrastructure is currently owned and operated by the private sector. Federal policy recognizes the need to prepare for debilitating Internet disruptions and tasks the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with developing an integrated public/private plan for Internet recovery. GAO was asked to summarize its report on plans for recovering the Internet in case of a major disruption (GAO-06-672) and to provide an update on DHS's efforts to implement that report's recommendations. The report (1) identifies examples of major disruptions to the Internet, (2) identifies the primary laws and regulations governing recovery of the Internet in the event of a major disruption, (3) evaluates DHS plans for facilitating recovery from Internet disruptions, and (4) assesses challenges to such efforts."

This report describes the cultural resource monitoring activities of the Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Cultural Resource Management (CRM) Office during fiscal year 2007 (FY 2007). In FY 2007, 40 localities were revisited: two locations of heightened Shoshone-Bannock tribal sensitivity, four caves, three butte/craters, twelve prehistoric archaeological sites, two historic stage stations, nine historic homesteads, a portion of Goodale’s Cutoff of the Oregon Trail, a portion of historic trail T-16, one World War II dump, four buildings from the World War II period, and Experimental Breeder Reactor –I, a modern scientific facility and National Historic Landmark. Several INL project areas were also monitored in FY 2007. This included direct observation of ground disturbing activities within the Power Burst Facility (PBF, now designated as the Critical Infrastructure Test Range Complex – CITRC), backfilling operations associated with backhoe trenches along the Big Lost River, and geophysical surveys designed to pinpoint subsurface unexploded ordnance in the vicinity of the Naval Ordnance Disposal Area. Surprise checks were also made to three ongoing INL projects to ensure compliance with INL CRM Office recommendations to avoid impacts to cultural resources. Although some impacts were documented, no significant adverse effects that would threaten the National Register eligibility of …

Newsletter dedicated to traveling in Texas, including information about news, locations, and events of interest to visitors as well as statistics and summaries of travel in the state.

Organizations with increasingly diverse workforces and customer populations face challenges in reaping diversity's benefits while managing its potentially disruptive effects. This article defines workplace diversity and identifies best practices supporting planned and positive diversity management. It explores how academic libraries can apply diversity management best practices and provides a reading list for leaders and human resource managers wishing to optimize their organization's approach to diversity.

The focus of this article is on how one group of researchersthe DOE SciDAC Visualization and Analytics Center for EnablingTechnologies (VACET) is tackling the daunting task of enabling knowledgediscovery through visualization and analytics on some of the world slargest and most complex datasets and on some of the world's largestcomputational platforms. As a Center for Enabling Technology, VACET smission is the creation of usable, production-quality visualization andknowledge discovery software infrastructure that runs on large, parallelcomputer systems at DOE's Open Computing facilities and that providessolutions to challenging visual data exploration and knowledge discoveryneeds of modern science, particularly the DOE sciencecommunity.

This report explains the electronic rulemaking in the federal government.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Between 2001 and 2004, an average of more than 1.5 million people annually filed for personal bankruptcy protection. In April 2005, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (Reform Act) was enacted, in part, to address certain factors viewed as contributing to an escalation in bankruptcy filings. Described as representing the most comprehensive set of reforms in more than 25 years, the Reform Act, among other things, requires those filers with the ability to pay some of their debts from future earnings to enter into repayment plans under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code instead of liquidating their assets under Chapter 7 and granting the debtor a discharge from eligible debts. Individuals usually file for bankruptcy under one of two chapters of the Bankruptcy Code. Under Chapter 13, filers submit a repayment plan to the court agreeing to pay part or all of their debts over time, usually 3 to 5 years. Under Chapter 7, the filer's eligible assets are reduced to cash and distributed to creditors in accordance with distribution priorities and procedures set out in the Bankruptcy Code. A large majority of cases filed under …

Freshwater demands are steadily increasing throughout the United States. As its population increases, more water is needed for domestic use (drinking, cooking, cleaning, etc.) and to supply power and food. In arid parts of the country, existing freshwater supplies are not able to meet the increasing demands for water. New water users are often forced to look to alternative sources of water to meet their needs. Over the past few years, utilities in many locations, including parts of the country not traditionally water-poor (e.g., Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and North Carolina) have needed to reevaluate the availability of water to meet their cooling needs. This trend will only become more extreme with time. Other trends are likely to increase pressure on freshwater supplies, too. For example, as populations increase, they will require more food. This in turn will likely increase demands for water by the agricultural sector. Another example is the recent increased interest in producing biofuels. Additional water will be required to grow more crops to serve as the raw materials for biofuels and to process the raw materials into biofuels. This report provides information about an opportunity to reuse an abundant water source -- treated municipal wastewater, …

Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 166, Storage Yards and Contaminated Materials, is listed in the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) of 1996 (FFACO, 1996). CAU 166 consists of seven Corrective Action Sites (CASs) located in Areas 2, 3, 5, and 18 of the Nevada Test Site (NTS), which is located approximately 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada (Figure 1). CAU 166 consists of the following CASs: (1) CAS 02-42-01, Cond. Release Storage Yd - North; (2) CAS 02-42-02, Cond. Release Storage Yd - South; (3) CAS 02-99-10, D-38 Storage Area; (4) CAS 03-42-01, Conditional Release Storage Yard; (5) CAS 05-19-02, Contaminated Soil and Drum; (6) CAS 18-01-01, Aboveground Storage Tank; and (7) CAS 18-99-03, Wax Piles/Oil Stain. Details of the site history and site characterization results for CAU 166 are provided in the approved Corrective Action Investigation Plan (CAIP) (U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office [NNSA/NSO], 2006) and in the approved Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD) (NNSA/NSO, 2007).

Nuclear forensics has become increasingly important in the fight against illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials. The illicit trafficking of nuclear materials is, of course, an international problem; nuclear materials may be mined and milled in one country, manufactured in a second country, diverted at a third location, and detected at a fourth. There have been a number of articles in public policy journals in the past year that call for greater interaction between the U. S. and the rest of the world on the topic of nuclear forensics. Some believe that such international cooperation would help provide a more certain capability to identify the source of the nuclear material used in a terrorist event. An improved international nuclear forensics capability would also be important as part of the IAEA verification toolkit, particularly linked to increased access provided by the additional protocol. A recent study has found that, although international progress has been made in securing weapons-usable HEU and Pu, the effort is still insufficient. They found that nuclear material, located in 40 countries, could be obtained by terrorists and criminals and used for a crude nuclear weapon. Through 2006, the IAEA Illicit Trafficking Database had recorded a …

This report describes the Regulatory and Policy Issues of Broadband over Powerlines.

This report describes the seismicity and earthquake monitoring activities within the Yucca Mountain region during fiscal year 2004 (FY2004 - October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004) based on operation of the Southern Great Basin Digital Seismic Network (SGBDSN). Network practices and earthquake monitoring conducted at the Nevada Seismological Laboratory (NSL) under DOE directives for prior fiscal years are covered in similar yearly reports (see references). Real-time systems, including regional data telemetry and data management at NSL, provide for the automatic determination of earthquake locations and magnitudes and notification of important earthquakes in the region to UNR staff and DOE management. All waveform and meta-data, including automatic locations, phase arrival information, and analyst reviewed information, are managed through a relational database system allowing quick and reliable evaluation and analysis of ongoing earthquake activity near Yucca Mountain. This network, which contains weak-motion and strong-motion instrumentation, addresses the seismic hazard of the Yucca Mountain area by providing accurate earthquake magnitudes for earthquake recurrence estimates, spatial hypocentral control to very low magnitudes for identifying and assessing active faults and verifying tectonic models, true ground motions over the complete range of expected earthquake amplitudes for developing predictive models, and earthquake source information for characterizing …

The 110th Congress is likely to oversee implementation and funding of the Endangered Species Act (ESA; P.L. 93-205, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1543) and to consider proposals to amend the act. This report will identify and discuss oversight issues and legislation introduced in the 110th Congress to address specific concerns related to how ESA is implemented and how endangered species are managed.

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Biological tissues are uniquely structured materials with technologically appealing properties. Soft tissues such as skin, are constructed from a composite of strong fibrils and fluid-like matrix components. This was the first coordinated experimental/modeling project at Sandia or in the open literature to consider the mechanics of micromechanically-based anisotropy and viscoelasticity of soft biological tissues. We have exploited and applied Sandia's expertise in experimentation and mechanics modeling to better elucidate the behavior of collagen fibril-reinforced soft tissues. The purpose of this project was to provide a detailed understanding of the deformation of ocular tissues, specifically the highly structured skin-like tissue in the cornea. This discovery improved our knowledge of soft/complex materials testing and modeling. It also provided insight into the way that cornea tissue is bio-engineered such that under physiologically-relevant conditions it has a unique set of properties which enhance functionality. These results also provide insight into how non-physiologic loading conditions, such as corrective surgeries, may push the cornea outside of its natural design window, resulting in unexpected non-linear responses. Furthermore, this project created a clearer understanding of the mechanics of soft tissues that could lead to bio-inspired materials, such as highly supple and impact resistant body armor, and improve our …