A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is in the midst of transforming military capabilities. The transformation relies in part on the Global Information Grid (GIG), which is focused on building a new Internet-like network capability that DOD envisions will enable weapons and other systems and people to share information quickly, allowing warfighters to identify threats more effectively and to respond with greater precision and lethality. DOD plans to spend at least $21 billion through 2010 to build a core GIG capability. GAO was asked (1) to describe the GIG, including the concept, key acquisitions, and implementation and (2) to identify significant challenges facing DOD in implementing the GIG."

In today's hybrid vehicle market the Toyota Prius drive system is currently considered the leader in electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing innovations. It is significant that in today's marketplace Toyota is able to manufacture and sell the vehicle for a profit. This project's objective is to analyze and study the Prius drive system to understand the design and manufacturing mechanisms Toyota utilized to achieved their performance and cost goals. During the course of this research effort ORNL has dissected both the 2003 and 2004 Toyota/Prius drive motors. This study is focused primarily on motor design considerations and an assessment of manufacturing issues.

This report provides information about the Clean Air Act Issues in the 106th Congress. Congress last enacted major amendments to the clear air act in 1990 and EPA is in the midst of implementing numerous provisions of those amendments.

Level densities and radiative strength functions in {sup 171}Yb and {sup 170}Yb nuclei have been measured using the {sup 171}Yb({sup 3}He{sup 3}He{gamma}){sup 171}Yb and {sup 171}Yb({sup 3}He,{alpha}{gamma}){sup 170}Yb reactions. New data on {sup 171}Yb are compared to a previous measurement for {sup 171}Yb from the {sup 172}Yb({sup 3}He,{alpha}{gamma}){sup 171}Yb reaction. Systematics of level densities and radiative strength functions in {sup 170,171,172}Yb are established. The entropy excess in {sup 171}Yb relative to the even-even nuclei {sup 170,172}Yb due to the unpaired neutron quasiparticle is found to be approximately 2k{sub B}. Results for the radiative strength function from the two reactions lead to consistent parameters characterizing the ''pygmy'' resonances. Pygmy resonances in the {sup 170,172}Yb populated by the ({sup 3}He,{alpha}) reaction appear to be split into two components for both of which a complete set of resonance parameters are obtained.

This report presents a profile of the membership of the 108th Congress. Included is information on numbers of Members, party affiliation, average age and length of service, occupations, religious affiliation, military service, female and minority Members, and foreign-born Members.

The report describes provisions of House rules that pertain to hearings, and citations to these rules are included for reference. While House rules generally apply to committees and subcommittees, it is House Rule XI that contains many provisions specific to hearings. House rules set the general framework in which committees hold hearings.

In June 2003, the Department of Energy (DOE) allocated funds in support of the development of A Data Exchange Format for Biological Pathway Databases (BioPAX). The primary objective of the BioPAX initiative (http://www.biopax.org) is the development of a single, consensus-based standard for a data exchange format for biological pathway databases that can be widely adopted in a timely manner as a strategy for the interchange of biological pathway data in the life science community. BioPAX Level 1, Version 1.0, released July 2004, supports metabolic pathway data and is initially supported by the BioCyc and WIT databases. This work was developed during community led workshops that were significantly funded by this grant. Subsequent releases of BioPAX will add support for protein-protein interactions, signal transduction pathways, genetic interactions, and other pathway data types.

Under the DOE Office of Industrial Technologies Forest Products program various plasma technologies were evaluated under project FWP 49885 ''Experimental Assessment of Low-Temperature Plasma Technologies for Treating Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Pulp Mills and Wood Products Plants''. The heterogeneous pulsed corona discharge was chosen as the best non-equilibrium plasma technology for control of the vent emissions from HVLC Brownstock Washers. The technology for removal of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from gas emissions with conditions typical of the exhausts of the paper industry by means of pulsed corona plasma techniques presented in this work. For the compounds of interest in this study (methanol, acetone, dimethyl sulfide and ? -pinene), high removal efficiencies were obtained with power levels competitive with the present technologies for the VOCs removal. Laboratory experiments were made using installation with the average power up to 20 W. Pilot plant prepared for on-site test has average plasma power up to 6.4 kW. The model of the Pilot Plant operation is presented.

Working within the context of the Southern States Biobased Alliance (SSBA) and with officials in each state, the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) is identifying bioenergy-related policies and programs within each state to determine their impact on the development, deployment or use of bioenergy. In addition, SSEB will determine which policies have impacted industry's efforts to develop, deploy or use biobased technologies or products. As a result, SSEB will work with the Southern States Biobased Alliance to determine how policy changes might address any negative impacts or enhance positive impacts. In addition to analysis of domestic policies and programs, this project will include the development of a U.S.-Brazil Biodiesel Pilot Project. The purpose of this effort is to promote and facilitate the commercialization of biodiesel and bioenergy production and demand in Brazil.

Technology Management Inc. (TMI), teamed with the Ohio Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, has engineered, constructed, and demonstrated a stationary, low power, multi-module solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) prototype system operating on propane and natural gas. Under Phase I, TMI successfully operated two systems in parallel, in conjunction with a single DC-AC inverter and battery bus, and produced net AC electricity. Phase II testing expanded to include alternative and renewable fuels typically available in rural regions of Ohio. The commercial system is expected to have ultra-low pollution, high efficiency, and low noise. The TMI SOFC uses a solid ceramic electrolyte operating at high temperature (800-1000 C) which electrochemically converts gaseous fuels (hydrogen or mixed gases) and oxygen into electricity. The TMI system design oxidizes fuel primarily via electrochemical reactions and uses no burners (which pollute and consume fuel)--resulting in extremely clean exhaust. The use of proprietary sulfur tolerant materials developed by TMI allows system operation without additional fuel pre-processing or sulfur removal. Further, the combination of high operating temperatures and solid state operation increases the potential for higher reliability and efficiencies compared to other types of fuel cells. Applications for the TMI SOFC system cover a wide range …

This project was initially targeted to the making of coke for blast furnaces by using proprietary technology of Calderon in a phased approach, and Phase I was successfully completed. The project was then re-directed to the making of iron units. In 2000, U.S. Steel teamed up with Calderon for a joint effort which will last 42 months to produce directly reduced iron with the potential of converting it into molten iron or steel consistent with the Roadmap recommendations of 1998 prepared by the Steel Industry in cooperation with the Department of Energy by using iron ore concentrate and coal as raw materials, both materials being appreciably lower in cost than using iron pellets and coke.

This summary report describes data management and visualization activities in the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The report covers the period from approximately October 2003 to June 2004 and describes activities within the Visual Interactive Environment for Weapons Simulation (VIEWS) ASC program element. This report and the references herein are intended to document the completion of the following Level 2 Milestone from the ASC FY04-05 Implementation Plan, due at the end of Quarter 3 in FY04:

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This report describes seismic activity at and near the Hanford Site during the first and second quarters of FY 2004 (October 1, 2003-March 31, 2004).

This report includes information involving major legislative issues regarding military retirement. Key elements and issues, budgeting and costs, and concurrent receipt of military retired pay and VA disability compensation are among topics discussed in this report.

This report discusses the U.S. government involvement in security preparations for the Athens Olympics 2004, the first Summer Games to be held since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

This report is intended to provide an overview of the Adequate Yearly Process (AYP) concept and several related issues, a description of the AYP provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, and an analysis of the implementation of these provisions by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the states. It will be updated when major administrative actions are taken by ED, or substantial new data on state implementation become available.

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The aims of this project were to develop improved methods for computational genome annotation and to apply these methods to improve the annotation of genomic sequence data with a specific focus on human genome sequencing. The project resulted in a substantial body of published work. Notable contributions of this project were the identification of basecalling and lane tracking as error processes in genome sequencing and contributions to improved methods for these steps in genome sequencing. This technology improved the accuracy and throughput of genome sequence analysis. Probabilistic methods for physical map construction were developed. Improved methods for sequence alignment, alternative splicing analysis, promoter identification and NF kappa B response gene prediction were also developed.

This report provides a reverse chronology of recent events involving India and India - U.S relations.

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