A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) A-76 study process, focusing on efforts by DOD to: (1) improve performance work statements, including encouraging the use of standard templates; and (2) implement other efforts to improve the competitive sourcing process, as well as gather and disseminate lessons learned that could benefit the competitive sourcing program DOD-wide."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the transition of female felony offenders from the District of Columbia (D.C.) Department of Corrections to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), focusing on the: (1) status of the transition; and (2) types of parenting, educational, and job-training programs BOP offers to D.C. female offenders in BOP facilities."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed issues related to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) financial situation, focusing on: (1) the Fund's situation regarding quota resources that IMF obtains from its member countries and that is used for most of its financial assistance; (2) the level of resources that the Fund has reported as actually available for lending; and (3) other resources that the Fund potentially has available for conducting its operations, such as resources obtained through borrowing and the Fund's gold holdings."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed: (1) the budget structure and current budgetary control regime; (2) the budget outlook, discretionary caps, and enforcement situation as the United States enters an era of projected unified budget surpluses; (3) potential implications of guaranteeing minimum spending levels on the discretionary side of the budget; and (4) the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) side of the equation: (a) permanent appropriations; (b) mandatory trust funds; and (c) mandatory special funds."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the results of its work on the anthrax vaccine, focusing on: (1) the extent to which data support the need for six initial shots and an annual booster of the anthrax vaccine; (2) the relative merits and weaknesses of a passive surveillance system in determining adverse events; (3) the available data on differences in adverse reaction rates between men and women receiving the anthrax vaccine; and (4) the disadvantages of the vaccine and the status of federal efforts to develop an improved anthrax vaccine."

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county auditor may require a county attorney to submit documentation for expenses incurred from the hot check fund (RQ-0014)

Weekly newspaper from Wylie, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.

Semiweekly newspaper from Seminole, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The vulnerability analysis methodology developed for fixed nuclear material sites has proven to be extremely effective in assessing associated transportation issues. The basic methods and techniques used are directly applicable to conducting a transportation vulnerability analysis. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate that the same physical protection elements (detection, delay, and response) are present, although the response force plays a dominant role in preventing the theft or sabotage of material. Transportation systems are continuously exposed to the general public whereas the fixed site location by its very nature restricts general public access.

To date, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Material Protection, Control, and Accountancy (MPC and A) program has assisted in the implementation of operational site-wide MPC and A systems at several nuclear facilities in Russia. Eleven sites from the civilian sector have completed the site-wide installations and two have completed sub-site installations. By the end of 1999, several additional sites will have completed site-wide and sub-site system installations through DOE assistance. the effort at the completed sites has focused primarily on the design, integration, and installation of upgraded MPC and A systems. In most cases, little work has been performed to ensure that the installed systems will be sustained. Because of concerns that the installed systems would not be operated in the future, DOE established a sustainability pilot program involving the 11 sites. The purpose of DOE's MPC and A Sustainability Program is to ensure that MPC and A upgrades installed at sites in Russia are effective and will continue to operate over the long term. The program mission is to work with sites where rapid upgrades have been completed to cultivate enduring and consistent MPC and A practices. The program attempts to assist the Russian sites to develop MPC and …

The authors have synthesized and characterized two novel Sr compounds: [Sr({mu}-ONc){sub 2}(HONc){sub 4}]{sub 2} (1, ONc = O{sub 2}CCH{sub 2}CMe{sub 3}), and Sr{sub 5}({mu}{sub 4}-O)({mu}{sub 3}-ONep){sub 4}({mu}-ONep){sub 4}(HONep)(solv){sub 4} [ONep = OCH{sub 2}CMe{sub 3}, solv = tetrahydrofuran (THF), 2a; 1-methyl-imidazole (MeIm), (2b)], that demonstrate increased solubility in comparison to the commercially available Sr precursors. The two metal centers of 1 share 4 unidentate bridging {mu}-ONc ligands and complete their octahedral geometry through the coordination of 4 monodentate terminal HONc ligands. The structure arrangement of the central core of 2a and b are identical, wherein 4 octahedral Sr atoms are arranged in a square geometry around a {mu}{sub 4}-O ligand. An additional 7-coordinated Sr atom sits directly atop the {mu}{sub 4}-O to form a square base pyramidal arrangement of the Sr atoms but the apical Sr-O distance is too long to be considered a bond. In solution, compound 1 is disrupted forming a monomer but 2a and b retain their structures.

One highly desirable characteristic of electrostatically driven microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is that they consume very little power. The corresponding drawback is that the force they produce may be inadequate for many applications. It has previously been demonstrated that gear reduction units or microtransmissions can substantially increase the torque generated by microengines. Operating speed, however, is also reduced by the transmission gear ratio. Some applications require both high speed and high force. If this output is only required for a limited period of time, then energy could be stored in a mechanical system and rapidly released upon demand. We have designed, fabricated, and demonstrated a high-density energy storage/rapid release system that accomplishes this task. Built using a 5-level surface micromachining technology, the assembly closely resembles a medieval crossbow. Energy releases on the order of tens of nanojoules have already been demonstrated, and significantly higher energy systems are under development.

A novel solution method has been developed to solve the linear Boltzmann equation on an unstructured triangular mesh. Instead of tackling the first-order form of the equation, this approach is based on the even/odd-parity form in conjunction with the conventional mdtigroup discrete-ordinates approximation. The finite element method is used to treat the spatial dependence. The solution method is unique in that the space-direction dependence is solved simultaneously, eliminating the need for the conventional inner iterations, and the method is well suited for massively parallel computers.

Failure analysis (FA) tools have been applied to analyze failing polysilicon microengines. These devices were stressed to failure under accelerated conditions in both oxidizing and non-oxidizing environments. The dominant failure mechanism of these microengines was identified as wear of rubbing surfaces. This often results in either seized microengines or microengines with broken pin joints. Analysis of these failed polysilicon devices found that wear debris was produced in both oxidizing and non-oxidizing environments. By varying the relative percent humidity (%RH), they observed an increase in the amount of wear debris with decreasing humidity. Plan view imaging using scanning electron microscopy revealed build-up of wear debris on the surface of microengines. Focused ion beam (FIB) cross sections revealed the location and build-up of wear debris on the surface of microengines. Focused ion beam (FIB) cross sections revealed the location and build-up of wear debris within the microengine. Seized regions were also observed in the pin joint area using FIB processing. By using transmission electron microscopy in conjunction with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), they were able to identify wear debris produced in low (1.8% RH), medium and high (39% RH) humidities.

This article reports the experimental characterization of a z-pinch driven-vacuum hohlraum. The authors have measured soft x-ray fluxes of 5 x 10{sup 12} W/cm{sup 2} radiating from the walls of hohlraums which are 2.4--2.5 cm in diameter by 1 cm tall. The x-ray source used to drive these hohlraums was a z-pinch consisting of a 300 wire tungsten array driven by a 2 MA, 100 ns current pulse. In this hohlraum geometry, the z-pinch x-ray source can produce energies in excess of 800 kJ and powers in excess of 100 TW to drive these hohlraums. The x-rays released in these hohlraums represent greater than a factor of 25 in energy and more than a factor of three in x-ray power over previous laboratory-driven hohlraums.

This report identifies the responsibilities and requirements, applicable to the 241-AN-B Valve Pit Upgrades portion of Project W-314, for Acceptance for Beneficial Use in accordance with HNF-IP-0842, Vol IV, Sec 3.12. At project turnover, the end user accepts the affected Structures, Systems, and Components (SSCs) for beneficial use. This checklist is used to help the end user ensure that all documentation, training, and testing requirements are met prior to turnover. This checklist specifically identifies those items related to the upgrading of the 241-AN-B valve pit. The upgrades include: the installation of jumper/valve manifolds with position sensors, replacement pit leak detection systems, construction of replacement cover blocks, and electrical upgrades to support the instrumentation upgrades.

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the strategies and operations of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the 1990s, focusing on: (1) what major enforcement strategies, programs, initiatives, and approaches DEA has implemented in the 1990s to carry out its mission, including its efforts to: (a) target and investigate national and international drug traffickers; and (b) help state and local law enforcement agencies combat drug offenders and drug-related violence in their communities; (2) whether DEA's goals and objectives, programs and initiatives, and performance measures are consistent with the National Drug Control Strategy; and (3) how DEA determined its fiscal year 1998 staffing needs and allocated the additional staff."

Earlier electrolyte segregation tests of Li/Na carbonate used chemical analysis such as inductively coupled plasma/atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP/AES) of matrix strips wetted with carbonate and exposed to 5- to 20-V potential gradients. A segregation factor was correlated to the Li/Na carbonate composition. While fairly substantial segregation occurs at the eutectic composition of 52% Li, it is minimal at 60% to 75% Li. Such lithium-rich Li/Na carbonates may not be practical because the melting points are too high (i.e., liquidus point is 625 C). By adding calcium and barium to the lithium/sodium carbonates, we were able to lower the melting point and maintain nonsegregating behavior. This work is directed at examining the long-term stability of the quaternary Li/Na/Ba/Ca electrolytes. Electrolyte optimization work evaluates Li/Na ratio and Ba/Ca level to improve cell performance at 320 mA/cm{sup 2} and reduce temperature sensitivity. A number of cells with quaternary Li/Na/Ba/Ca electrolytes ranging from 3 to 5% Ba/Ca have operated well with stable, long-term performance. Congruent melting carbonate is important for commercial development. The best so far is 3.5% Ba/Ca/Na/Li (3.5 mol%/3.5 mol% Ba/Ca) carbonate (m.p. 440 C). Performance at 160 mA/cm{sup 2} is increased up to 150mV as compared with the baseline cell containing …

The paper reports data on the kinetics of anodic oxide films growth on silicon in aqueous solutions of phosphoric acids as well as a study of the morphology of the oxides grown in a special regime of the oscillating anodic potential. X-ray reflectivity measurements were performed on the samples of anodic oxides using an intense synchrotron radiation source. They have a multilayer structure as revealed by theoretical fitting of the reflectivity data. The oscillations of the anodic potential are explained in terms of synchronized oxidation/dissolution reactions at the silicon surface and accumulation of mechanic stress in the oxide film.

We have fabricated diamond anvils specially designed for use in ultra-high pressure electrical transport experiments. These anvils, which we refer to as ''designer anvils'', feature thin-film metal microprobes which are encased in a layer of high-quality, epitaxial, chemically vapor deposited (CVD) diamond. The synthetic diamond film ensures that the microprobes are survivable to Mbar pressures, and also serves to electrically insulate the microprobes from the high-pressure gasket. High-pressure resistivity experiments were performed on KI and FeO to pressures of approximately 1.8 and 1.7 Mbars, respectively. Future possible applications of designer anvils are also discussed. [electrical conductivity, synthetic diamond, band overlap, metallization, designer anvils]

Synchrotron x-ray-scattering technique studies of copper and silicon electrochemical interfaces are reported. These two examples illustrate the application of synchrotron x-ray techniques for oxidation, passivation, and dissolution of metals and semiconductors.

Newspaper from Rose State College in Midwest City, Oklahoma that includes national, local, and campus news along with advertising.

Semiweekly newspaper from Levelland, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.