The North Aleutian Basin Planning Area of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is a large geographic area with significant natural resources. The Basin includes most of the southeastern part of the Bering Sea Outer Continental Shelf, including all of Bristol Bay. The area supports important habitat for a wide variety of species and globally significant habitat for birds and marine mammals, including several federally listed species. Villages and communities of the Alaska Peninsula and other areas bordering or near the Basin rely on its natural resources (especially commercial and subsistence fishing) for much of their sustenance and livelihood. The offshore area of the North Aleutian Basin is considered to have important hydrocarbon reserves, especially natural gas. In 2006, the MMS released a draft proposed program, 'Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, 2007-2012' and an accompanying draft programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS). The draft proposed program identified two lease sales proposed in the North Aleutian Basin in 2010 and 2012, subject to restrictions. The area proposed for leasing in the Basin was restricted to the Sale 92 Area in the southwestern portion. Additional EISs will be needed to evaluate the potential effects of specific lease actions, exploration activities, and …

This report summarizes highlights of new scientific research and assessments released in 2007 related to global warming.

This paper presents an overview of algorithms for directing messages through networks of varying topology. These are commonly referred to as routing algorithms in the literature that is presented. In addition to providing background on networking terminology and router basics, the paper explains the issues of deadlock and livelock as they apply to routing. After this, there is a discussion of routing algorithms for both store-and-forward and wormhole-switched networks. The paper covers both algorithms that do and do not adapt to conditions in the network. Techniques targeting structured as well as irregular topologies are discussed. Following this, strategies for routing in the presence of faulty nodes and links in the network are described.

The ChemCam instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) will include a laser-induced breakdown spectrometer (LIBS) to quantify major and minor elemental compositions. The traditional analytical chemistry approach to calibration curves for these data regresses a single diagnostic peak area against concentration for each element. This approach contrasts with a new multivariate method in which elemental concentrations are predicted by step-wise multiple regression analysis based on areas of a specific set of diagnostic peaks for each element. The method is tested on LIBS data from igneous and metamorphosed rocks. Between 4 and 13 partial regression coefficients are needed to describe each elemental abundance accurately (i.e., with a regression line of R{sup 2} > 0.9995 for the relationship between predicted and measured elemental concentration) for all major and minor elements studied. Validation plots suggest that the method is limited at present by the small data set, and will work best for prediction of concentration when a wide variety of compositions and rock types has been analyzed.

Quarterly publication of the Church and Synagogue Library Association, containing news and events related to the organization and its members, reviews of books and other materials, and stories of interest to the management of congregational libraries.

Although elements of the information and intelligence fusion function were conducted prior to 9/11, often at state police criminal intelligence bureaus, the events of 9/11 provided the primary catalyst for the formal establishment of more than 40 state, local, and regional fusion centers across the country. This report contains information on potential risks of fusion centers, the evolution of the concept of fusion centers, characteristics of state and regional fusion centers, challenges and potential options as relating to fusion centers for Congress, and related information.

Depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF{sub 6}) is stored in over 62,000 containment cylinders at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) in Paducah, Kentucky, and at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) in Portsmouth, Ohio. Over 4,800 of the cylinders at Portsmouth were recently moved there from the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The cylinders range in age up to 56 years and come in various models, but most are 48-inch diameter 'thin-wall'(312.5 mil) and 'thick-wall' (625 mil) cylinders and 30-inch diameter '30A' (including '30B') cylinders with 1/2-inch (500 mil) walls. Most of the cylinders are carbon steel, and they are subject to corrosion. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) manages the cylinders to maintain them and the DUF{sub 6} they contain. Cylinder management requirements are specified in the System Requirements Document (LMES 1997a), and the activities to fulfill them are specified in the System Engineering Management Plan (LMES 1997b). This report documents activities that address DUF{sub 6} cylinder management requirements involving measuring and forecasting cylinder wall thicknesses. As part of these activities, ultrasonic thickness (UT) measurements are made on samples of cylinders. For each sampled cylinder, multiple measurements are made in an attempt to find, approximately, …

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The report opens with a discussion of how to analyze the impact of immigrants on the pay and job opportunities of native-born workers. It then uses this framework to examine and interpret the empirical literature on the subject. The report concludes with a discussion of policy implications.

Mitigation threshold guidelines for the Hanford Site are based on habitat requirements of the sage sparrow (Amphispiza belli) and only apply to areas with a mature sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) overstory and a native understory. The sage sparrow habitat requirements are based on literature values and are not specific to the Hanford Site. To refine these guidelines for the Site, a multi-year study was undertaken to quantify habitat characteristics of sage sparrow territories. These characteristics were then used to develop a habitat suitability index (HSI) model which can be used to estimate the habitat value of specific locations on the Site.

Significant numbers of viable ancient microorganisms are known to be present within the permafrost. They have been isolated in both polar regions from the cores up to 400 m deep and ground temperatures of -27 C. The age of the cells corresponds to the longevity of the permanently frozen state of the soils, with the oldest cells dating back to {approx}3 million years in the Arctic, and {approx}5 million years in the Antarctic. They are the only life forms known to have retained viability over geological time. Thawing of the permafrost renews their physiological activity and exposes ancient life to modern ecosystems. Thus, the permafrost represents a stable and unique physicochemical complex, which maintains life incomparably longer than any other known habitats. If we take into account the depth of the permafrost layers, it is easy to conclude that they contain a total microbial biomass many times higher than that of the soil cover. This great mass of viable matter is peculiar to permafrost only.

This paper describes a novel approach to the parameter anddata handling issues commonly found in experimental scientific computingand scripting in general. The approach is based on the familiarcombination of scripting language and user interface, but using alanguage expressly designed for user interaction and convenience. The L3language combines programming facilities of procedural and functionallanguages with the persistence and need-based evaluation of data flowlanguages. It is implemented in Python, has access to all Pythonlibraries, and retains almost complete source code compatibility to allowsimple movement of code between the languages. The worksheet interfaceuses metadata produced by L3 to provide selection of values through thescriptit self and allow users to dynamically evolve scripts withoutre-running the prior versions. Scripts can be edited via text editors ormanipulated as structures on a drawing canvas. Computed values are validscripts and can be used further in other scripts via simplecopy-and-paste operations. The implementation is freely available underan open-source license.

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This report explains the authorized generic pharmaceuticals effects on innovation.

The motor vehicle industry in the U.S. spends about $3.6 billion on energy annually. In this report, we focus on auto assembly plants. In the U.S., over 70 assembly plants currently produce 13 million cars and trucks each year. In assembly plants, energy expenditures is a relatively small cost factor in the total production process. Still, as manufacturers face an increasingly competitive environment, energy efficiency improvements can provide a means to reduce costs without negatively affecting the yield or the quality of the product. In addition, reducing energy costs reduces the unpredictability associated with variable energy prices in today?s marketplace, which could negatively affect predictable earnings, an important element for publicly-traded companies such as those in the motor vehicle industry. In this report, we first present a summary of the motor vehicle assembly process and energy use. This is followed by a discussion of energy efficiency opportunities available for assembly plants. Where available, we provide specific primary energy savings for each energy efficiency measure based on case studies, as well as references to technical literature. If available, we have listed costs and typical payback periods. We include experiences of assembly plants worldwide with energy efficiency measures reviewed in the report. …

This report is designed to assist Members of the 110th Congress as they consider the costs and benefits of the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). It examines the provisions KORUS FTA in the context of the overall U.S.-South Korean economic relationship, U.S. objectives, and South Korean objectives.

The purpose of the project is to conduct research at an Integrated Field-Scale Research Challenge Site in the Hanford Site 300 Area, CERCLA OU 300-FF-5 (Figure 1), to investigate multi-scale mass transfer processes associated with a subsurface uranium plume impacting both the vadose zone and groundwater. The project will investigate a series of science questions posed for research related to the effect of spatial heterogeneities, the importance of scale, coupled interactions between biogeochemical, hydrologic, and mass transfer processes, and measurements/approaches needed to characterize a mass-transfer dominated system. The research will be conducted by evaluating three (3) different hypotheses focused on multi-scale mass transfer processes in the vadose zone and groundwater, their influence on field-scale U(VI) biogeochemistry and transport, and their implications to natural systems and remediation. The project also includes goals to 1) provide relevant materials and field experimental opportunities for other ERSD researchers and 2) generate a lasting, accessible, and high-quality field experimental database that can be used by the scientific community for testing and validation of new conceptual and numerical models of subsurface reactive transport.

This report provides information about the Intellectual Property and Innovation Issues on Follow-On Biologics. Biologics which are sometimes referred as biotechnology have begun to play an increasingly important role in the U.S health care.

Excited states were studied and absolute partial {gamma}-ray cross sections were measured using the ({eta}, {eta}'{gamma}) reaction in {sup 191}Ir, {sup 193}Ir and {sup 197}Au. A Compton-suppressed germanium-detector array (GEANIE) for {gamma}-ray spectroscopy and the broad-spectrum pulsed neutron source of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center's WNR facility were used for the measurement. The energy of the incident neutrons was determined using the time-of-flight technique. Absolute partial {gamma}-ray cross sections were measured up to incident neutron energy of 20 MeV for several transitions feeding directly the 1 1/2- isomers and ground states in {sup 191}Ir, {sup 193}Ir and {sup 197}Au. The feeding of the 1 1/2- isomers, which originate from the odd proton occupying the h{sub 1 1/2} orbital, was found for the three targets to be very similar and increasing relative to the feeding of the corresponding ground state with increasing neutron energy up to E{sub n} {approx} 10 MeV. Above this neutron energy the opening of the (n, 2{sub n}) reaction channel strongly affects the population of the isomers and leads to a decrease of their relative population compared to the population of the ground states. The experimental results are compared with theoretical predictions from the GNASH reaction …

It is widely recognized that increasing demands for water in Southern California are being affected by actions to reduce and redirect the amount of water imported from the Colorado River. In the Imperial Valley region, for example, import reductions will not only affect agricultural users but also could produce significant collateral impacts on the level and quality of water in the Salton Sea, its regional ecology, or even the long term air quality in the greater basin. The notion of using groundwater in the Imperial Valley as an additional source for agricultural or domestic needs, energy production, or Salton Sea restoration efforts, so as to offset reductions in imported water, is not a new concept. Even though it has been discussed recently (e.g., LLNL, 2002), the idea goes back, in part, to several studies performed by the US Department of Interior and other agencies that have indicated that there may be substantial, usable amounts of groundwater in some portions of the Imperial Valley. It has been estimated, for example, that between 1.1 and 3 billion acre-feet (AF) of groundwater lie within the extended, deep basin underlying the valley and Salton Sea region, even though much of it may be unrecoverable …

Monthly newspaper from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that includes news and information about the Churches of Christ along with advertising.

This data package discusses the geochemistry of vadose zone sediments beneath the single-shell tank (SST) farms at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Hanford Site. The purpose of the report is to provide a review of the most recent and relevant geochemical information available for the vadose zone beneath the SST farms and the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF).

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) performance testing and estimation is facilitated by observing the system response to known target scene elements. Trihedral corner reflectors and other canonical targets play an important role because their Radar Cross Section (RCS) can be calculated analytically. However, reflector orientation and the proximity of the ground and mounting structures can significantly impact the accuracy and precision with which measurements can be made. These issues are examined in this report.

Magazine discussing natural resources, parks, hunting and fishing, and other information related to the outdoors in Texas.