A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is responsible for keeping terrorists and other dangerous people from entering the country while also facilitating the cross-border movement of millions of travelers. CBP carries out this responsibility at 326 air, sea, and land ports of entry. In response to a congressional request, GAO examined CBP traveler inspection efforts, the progress made and the challenges that remain in staffing and training at ports of entry, and the progress CBP has made in developing strategic plans and performance measures for its traveler inspection program. This is a public version of a For Official Use Only report GAO issued on October 5, 2007. To conduct its work, GAO reviewed and analyzed CBP data and documents related to inspections, staffing, and training, interviewed managers and officers, observed inspections at eight major air and land ports of entry, and tested inspection controls at eight small land ports of entry. Information the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deemed sensitive has been redacted."

The author begins with a brief review of the goals of the EMMA experiment. He then describe two stages of EMMA commissioning. The first stage is simply to get the beam to circulate a full turn in the ring, and is done only once during the course of the experiment. The second stage will be repeated several times, at least once for each lattice configuration, and involves two parts: setting the required values for the machine parameters, and determining the tunes and time of flight as a function of energy.

I develop a formulation for Hamiltonian dynamics in an accelerator with magnets whose edges follow a spiral. I demonstrate using this Hamiltonian that a spiral FFAG can be made perfectly 'scaling'. I examine the effect of tilting an RF cavity with respect a radial line from the center of the machine, potentially with a different angle than the spiral of the magnets.

A study of the laser-plasma interaction processes in multiple-ion species plasmas has been performed in plasmas that are created to emulate the plasma conditions in indirect drive inertial confinement fusion targets. Gas-filled hohlraums with densities of xe22/cc are heated to Te=3keV and backscattered laser light is measured by a suite of absolutely calibrated backscatter diagnostics. Ion Landau damping is increased by adding hydrogen to the CO2/CF4 gas fill. We find that the backscatter from stimulated Brillouin scattering is reduced is monotonically reduced with increasing damping, demonstrating that Landau damping is the controlling damping mechanism in ICF relevant high-electron temperature plasmas. The reduction in backscatter is accompanied by a comparable increase in both transmission of a probe beam and an increased hohlraum radiation temperature, showing that multiple-ion species plasmas improve the overall hohlraum energetics/performance. Comparison of the experimental data to linear gain calculations as well as detailed full-scale 3D laser-plasma interaction simulations show quantitative agreement. Our findings confirm the importance of Landau damping in controlling backscatter from high-electron temperature hohlraum plasmas and have lead to the inclusion of multi-ion species plasmas in the hohlraum point design for upcoming ignition campaigns at the National Ignition Facility.

After reviewing the principle of operation of acceleration with the method of Harmonic Number Jump (HNJ) in a Fixed-Field Alternating-Gradient (FFAG) accelerator for protons and heavy ions, we report in this talk the results of computer simulations performed to assess the capability and the limits of the method in a variety of practical situations. Though the study is not yet completed, and there still remain other cases to be investigated, nonetheless the tracking results so far obtained are very encouraging, and confirm the validity of the method.

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The STAR Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) was built by a collaboration of Nantes, Strasbourg and Warsaw collaborators. It is a beautiful detector; it can provide 500 mu m scale pointing resolution at the vertex when working in combination with the TPC. It was first used in Run 4, when half the SSD was installed in an engineering run. The full detector was installed for Run 5 (the Cu-Cu run) and the operation and performance of the detector was very successful. However, in preparation for Run 6, two noisy ladders (out of 20) were replaced and this required that the SSD be removed from the STAR detector. The re-installation of the SSD was not fully successful and so for the next two Runs, 6 and 7, the SSD suffered a cooling system failure that allowed a large fraction of the ladders to overheat and become noisy, or fail. (The cause of the SSD cooling failure was rather trivial but the SSD could not be removed betweens Runs 6 and 7 due to the inability of the STAR detector to roll along its tracks at that time.)

Since 1970, approximately 38,000 suspect-transuranic and transuranic waste containers have been placed in retrievable storage on the Hanford Site in the 200 Areas burial grounds. Hanford's Waste Retrieval Project is retrieving these buried containers and processing them for safe storage and disposition. Container retrieval activities require an air emissions permit to account for potential emissions of radionuclides. The air permit covers the excavation activities as well as activities associated with assaying containers and installing filters in the retrieved transuranic containers lacking proper venting devices. Fluor Hanford, Inc. is required to track radioactive emissions resulting from the retrieval activities. Air, soil, and debris media contribute to the emissions and enabling assumptions allow for calculation of emissions. Each of these activities is limited to an allowed annual emission (per calendar year) and .contributes to the overall total emissions allowed for waste retrieval operations. Tracking these emissions is required to ensure a permit exceedance does not occur. A tracking tool was developed to calculate potential emissions in real time sense. Logic evaluations are established within the tracking system to compare real time data against license limits to ensure values are not exceeded for either an individual activity or the total limit. Data input …

Recent studies have shown that two widely-used mechanismsfor single-transverse-spin asymmetries based on either twist-threecontributions or on transverse-momentum-dependent (Sivers) partondistributions become identical in a kinematical regime of overlap. Thiswas demonstrated for the so-called soft-gluon-pole and hard-polecontributions to the asymmetry associated with a particular quark-gluoncorrelation function in the nucleon. In this paper, using semi-inclusivedeep inelastic scattering as an example, we extend the study to thecontributions by soft-fermion poles and by another independenttwist-three correlation function. We find that these additional termsorganize themselves in such a way as to maintain the mutual consistencyof the two mechanisms for single-spin asymmetries.

We propose a new way of using geometric transitions to study metastable vacua in string theory and certain confining gauge theories. The gauge theories in question are N=2 supersymmetric theories deformed to N=1 by superpotential terms. We first geometrically engineer supersymmetry-breaking vacua by wrapping D5 branes on rigid 2-cycles in noncompact Calabi-Yau geometries, such that the central charges of the branes are misaligned. In a limit of slightly misaligned charges, this has a gauge theory description, where supersymmetry is broken by Fayet-Iliopoulos D-terms. Geometric transitions relate these configurations to dual Calabi-Yaus with fluxes, where H_RR, H_NS and dJ are all nonvanishing. We argue that the dual geometry can be effectively used to study the resulting non-supersymmetric, confining vacua

In 2005 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) began a study to investigate the response of hatchery and run-of-the-river (ROR) juvenile Chinook salmon to the effects of rapid decompression during passage through mainstem Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) Kaplan turbines. In laboratory studies conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for USACE since 2005, juvenile fish have been exposed to rapid decompression in a barometric pressure chamber. An initial study considered the response of juvenile Chinook salmon bearing radio transmitters to rapid decompression resulting from exposure to a pressure time history simulating the worst case condition that might be experienced during passage through an operating turbine. The study in 2005 found that acclimation depth was a very important treatment factor that greatly influenced the significantly higher incidence of injury and mortality of rapidly decompressed Chinook salmon bearing radio telemetry devices. In 2006 we initiated a statistical investigation using data in hand into derivation of a new end-point measure for assessment of the physiological response of juvenile Chinook salmon to rapid decompression. Our goal was a measure that would more fully utilize both mortality and injury data while providing a better assessment of the most likely survival outcome for …

Mortgage debt cancellation can occur when lenders restructure loans, reducing principal balances, or sell properties, either in advance, or as a result, of foreclosure proceedings. If a lender forgiver or cancels such debt, current tax law treats it as cancellation of debt (COD) income subject to tax. There are exceptions for taxpayers may exclude canceled mortgage debt income under existing law.

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This report provides a general analysis and overview of current foreclosure issues addressed in the bills cited above. It begins with a description of the behavior of aggregate foreclosure rates. The behaviors of foreclosure rates are placed in the context of activity in the housing and mortgage market to illustrate any relationships. The foreclosure process is then explained, first from the point of view of a traditional financial lending institution, and then from the viewpoint of securitization when loans are sold in secondary markets. Finally, this report collects information from other studies to obtain an estimate of the average foreclosure costs. A brief discussion of the effect uniform foreclosure legislation may have on costs follows.

This report analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of proposals to limit portfolio size.

This report discusses the nature of extenders, as temporary provisions and as tax benefits. Descriptions of the extenders are included.

Nozzle geomtry, pilot injection and post injection effects were studied.

In September 2005, the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) initiated periodic sampling of groundwater in the vicinity of a grain storage facility formerly operated by the CCC/USDA at Morrill, Kansas. The sampling at Morrill is being performed on behalf of the CCC/USDA by Argonne National Laboratory, in accord with a monitoring program approved by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), to monitor levels of carbon tetrachloride contamination identified in the groundwater at this site (Argonne 2004, 2005a). Under the KDHE-approved Monitoring Plan (Argonne 2005b), the groundwater is being sampled twice yearly for a recommended period of two years. The samples are analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as well as for selected geochemical parameters to aid in the evaluation of possible natural contaminant degradation (reductive dechlorination) processes in the subsurface environment. The sampling is presently conducted in a network of 12 monitoring wells and 3 private wells (Argonne 2006a; Figure 1.1), at locations approved by the KDHE.

The results of the 2006 investigation of contaminant sources at Navarre, Kansas, clearly demonstrate the following: {sm_bullet} Sources of carbon tetrachloride contamination were found on the Navarre Co-op property. These sources are the locations of the highest concentrations of carbon tetrachloride found in soil and groundwater at Navarre. The ongoing groundwater contamination at Navarre originates from these sources. {sm_bullet} The sources on the Co-op property are in locations where the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) never conducted grain storage operations. {sm_bullet} No definitive sources of carbon tetrachloride were identified on the portion of the current Co-op property formerly used by the CCC/USDA. {sm_bullet} The source areas on the Co-op property are consistent with the locations of the most intense Co-op operations, both historically and at present. The Co-op historically stored carbon tetrachloride for retail sale and used it as a grain fumigant in these locations. {sm_bullet} The distribution patterns of other contaminants (tetrachloroethene and nitrate) originating from sources on the Co-op property mimic the carbon tetrachloride plume. These other contaminants are not associated with CCC/USDA operations. {sm_bullet} The distribution of carbon tetrachloride at the Co-op source areas, particularly the absence of contamination in soils at …

This report looks at the distinct population segments (DPSs) process as it is applied to the gray wolf. It also reviews experimental populations of wolves under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and their protections.

In 1997, low levels of carbon tetrachloride (below the maximum contaminant level [MCL] of 5 {micro}g/L) were detected in groundwater at Inman, Kansas, by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). The 1997 KDHE sampling was conducted under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) private well sampling program. The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), a USDA agency, operated a grain storage facility in Inman from 1954 to 1965. Carbon tetrachloride is the contaminant of primary concern at sites associated with former CCC/USDA grain storage operations. Inman is located in southwest McPherson County, approximately 10 mi southwest of the city of McPherson (Figure 1.1). To determine whether the former CCC/USDA facility at Inman is a potential contaminant source and its possible relationship to the contamination in groundwater, the CCC/USDA has agreed to conduct an investigation at Inman, in accordance with the Intergovernmental Agreement between the KDHE and the Farm Service Agency of the USDA. For this work plan, Argonne compiled historical data related to the previous investigations and grain storage operations at Inman. Through a review of documents acquired from all available sources, other potential contaminant source areas (in addition to the former CCC/USDA facility) have been identified as (1) the …

This report provides access to names and contact information for CRS experts on policy concerns relating to Pakistan's internal stability and the U.S. response.

In the first phase of the REML project, major assets were acquired for a manufacturing line for follow-on installation, capability studies and optimization. That activity has been documented in the DE-FC36-99ID13819 final report. In this the second phase of the REML project, most of the major assets have been installed in a manufacturing line arrangement featuring a green cell, a thermal treatment cell and a finishing cell. Most of the secondary and support assets have been acquired and installed. Assets have been integrated with a commercial, machine-tending gantry robot in the thermal treatment cell and with a low-mass, high-speed gantry robot in the finish cell. Capabilities for masterless gauging of product’s dimensional and form characteristics were advanced. Trial production runs across the entire REML line have been undertaken. Discrete event simulation modeling has aided in line balancing and reduction of flow time. Energy, productivity and cost, and environmental comparisons to baselines have been made. Energy The REML line in its current state of development has been measured to be about 22% (338,000 kVA-hrs) less energy intensive than the baseline conventional low volume line assuming equivalent annual production volume of approximately 51,000 races. The reduction in energy consumption is largely attributable …