We summarize the observations of unusual optical properties of shocked liquid deuterium (D{sub 2}) that led to proposing spectroscopic measurements. The apparatus built for the measurements is briefly described, along with some representative results in a test material. Unfortunately, spectroscopic measurements were not performed in shocked D{sub 2} during the course of the project. Some reasons are noted.

Fission fragments born within the first 7 {micro}m of the surface of U metal can eject a thousand or more atoms per fission event. Existing data in the literature show that the sputtering yield ranges from 10 to 10,000 atoms per fission event near the surface, but nothing definitive is known about the energy of the sputtered clusters. Experimental packages were constructed allowing the neutron irradiation of natural uranium foils to investigate the amount of material removed per fission event and the kinetic energy distribution of the sputtered atoms. Samples were irradiated but were never analyzed after irradiation. Similar experiments were attempted in a non-radioactive environment using accelerator driven ions in place of fission induced fragments. These experiments showed that tracks produced parallel to the surface (and not perpendicular to the surface) are the primary source of the resulting particulate ejecta. Modeling studies were conducted in parallel with the experimental work. Because the reactor irradiation experiments were not analyzed, data on the energy of the resulting particulate ejecta was not obtained. However, some data was found in the literature on self sputtering of {sup 252}Cf that was used to estimate the velocity and hence the energy of the ejected particulates. …

In order to shed light on the intriguing, and not yet fully understood fcc-isostructural {gamma} {yields} {alpha} transition in cerium, we have begun an experimental program aimed at the determination of the pressure evolution of the transverse acoustic (TA) and longitudinal acoustic (LA) phonon dispersions up to and above the transition. {gamma}-Ce Crystals of 60-80 mm diameter and 20 mm thickness were prepared from a large ingot, obtained from Ames Lab, using laser cutting, micro-mechanical and chemical polishing techniques. Three samples with a surface normal approximately oriented along the [110] direction were loaded into diamond anvil cells (DAC), using neon as a pressure transmitting medium. The crystalline quality was checked by rocking curve scans and typical values obtained ranged between one and two degrees. Only a slight degradation in the sample quality was observed when the pressure was increased to reach the {alpha}-phase, and data could be therefore recorded in this phase as well. The spectrometer was operated at 17794 eV in Kirkpatrick-Baez focusing geometry, providing an energy resolution of 3 meV and a focal spot size at the sample position of 30 x 60 mm{sup 2} (horizontal x vertical, FWHM). Eight to ten IXS spectra were typically recorded per …

Annual report of federal funds expended by the state of Texas including financial statements and reports from auditors related to fiscal year 2005.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to an opinion on the Fire Fighters' Pension Commissioner's fiscal year 2005 financial statements, as well as a report on internal controls over financial reporting, compliance, and other matters.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to an opinion on the Permanent School Fund's fiscal year 2005 financial statements, as well as a report on internal controls over financial reporting, compliance, and other matters.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to the total amount of school district bonds guaranteed by the Permanent School Fund's (PSF) Bond Guarantee Program (Program), whether these exceeded the limits established by Section 45.053(a) of the Texas Education Code and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and following up on related issues from the previous year.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to determining whether the state's basic financial statements accurately reflect the balances and activities for the State of Texas for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2005.

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This report summarizes, in chronological order, congressional activity to fund items in the State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) account since 1987. In appropriations legislation, funding for EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) wastewater assistance is contained in the measure providing funds for the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

Work performed as a part of this ER sets the foundation for applications of high brightness light sources to important homeland security and nonproliferation problems. Extensive modeling has been performed with the aim to understand the performance of a class of interrogation systems that exploit nuclear resonance fluorescence to detect specific isotopes, of particular importance for national security and industry.

Using a combination of modeling and experimental work we have developed a new method for purifying water that uses less energy than conventional methods and that can be made selective for removing targeted contaminants. The method uses nanoporous membranes that are permselective for anion or cation transfer. Ion selectivity results from double layer overlap inside the pores such that they dominantly contain ions opposite in charge to the surface charge of the membrane. Membrane charge can be adjusted through functionalization. Experiments confirm membrane permselectivity and overall energy use less than that for conventional electrodialysis. The nanoporous membranes are used in a conventional electrodialysis configuration and can be incorporated in existing electrodialysis systems without modification. The technology merits further development and testing in real systems, and could result in a significant reduction in water treatment costs.

The AAA+ proteins are remarkable macromolecules that are able to self-assemble into nanoscale machines. These protein machines play critical roles in many cellular processes, including the processes that manage a cell's genetic material, but the mechanism at the molecular level has remained elusive. We applied computational molecular modeling, combined with advanced sequence analysis and available biochemical and genetic data, to structurally characterize eukaryotic AAA+ proteins and the protein machines they form. With these models we have examined intermolecular interactions in three-dimensions (3D), including both interactions between the components of the AAA+ complexes and the interactions of these protein machines with their partners. These computational studies have provided new insights into the molecular structure and the mechanism of action for AAA+ protein machines, thereby facilitating a deeper understanding of processes involved in DNA metabolism.

The primary focus this year was to operate the system with two amplifiers populated with and pumped by eight high power diode arrays. The system was operated for extended run periods which enabled average power testing of components, diagnostics, and controls. These tests were highly successful, with a demonstrated energy level of over 55 joules for 4 cumulative hours at a repetition rate of 10 Hz (average power 0.55 kW). In addition, high average power second harmonic generation was demonstrated, achieving 227 W of 523.5 nm light (22.7 J, 10 Hz, 15 ns, 30 minutes) Plans to achieve higher energy levels and average powers are in progress. The dual amplifier system utilizes a 4-pass optical arrangement. The Yb:S-FAP slabs were mounted in aerodynamic aluminum vane structures to allow turbulent helium gas flow across the faces. Diagnostic packages that monitored beam performance were deployed during operation. The laser experiments involved injecting a seed beam from the front end into the system and making four passes through both amplifiers. Beam performance diagnostics monitored the beam on each pass to assess system parameters such as gain and nearfield intensity profiles. This year, an active mirror and wavefront sensor were procured and demonstrated in …

An edge-plasma simulation for tokamak fusion devices is developed that couples 3D turbulence and 2D transport, including detailed sources and sinks, to determine self-consistent steady-state plasma profiles. Relaxed iterative coupling is shown to be effective when edge turbulence is partially suppressed, for example, by shear E x B shear flow as occurs during the favorable H-mode region. Unsuppressed turbulence is found to lead to large, intermittent edge transport events where the coupling procedure can lead to substantial inaccuracies in describing the true time-averaged plasma behavior.

We have demonstrated that it is possible to enhance current radiation detection capability by manipulating the materials at the nano level. Fabrication of three-dimensional (3-D) nanomaterial composite for radiation detection has great potential benefits over current semiconductor- and scintillation-based technologies because of the precise control of material-radiation interaction and modulation of signal output. It is also a significant leap beyond current 2-D nanotechnology. Moreover, since we are building the materials using a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches, this strategy to make radiation detection materials can provide significant improvement to radiation-detection technologies, which are currently based on difficult-to-control bulk crystal growth techniques. We are applying this strategy to tackle two important areas in radiation detection: gamma-rays and neutrons. In gamma-ray detection, our first goal is to employ nanomaterials in the form of quantum-dot-based mixed matrices or nanoporous semiconductors to achieve scintillation output several times over that from NaI(Tl) crystals. In neutron detection, we are constructing a 3-D structure using a doped nanowire ''forest'' supported by a boron matrix and evaluating the detection efficiency of different device geometry with simulation.

The detection of the unconventional delivery of a nuclear weapon or the illicit transport of fissile materials is one of the most crucial, and difficult, challenges facing us today in national security. A wide array of radiation detectors are now being deployed domestically and internationally to address this problem. This initial deployment will be followed by radiation detection systems, composed of intelligent, networked devices intended to supplement the choke-point perimeter systems with more comprehensive broad-area, or regional coverage. Cataloging and fusing the data from these new detection systems will clearly be one of the most significant challenges in radiation-based security systems. We present here our results from our first 6 months of effort on this project. We anticipate the work will continue as part of the Predictive Knowledge System Strategic Initiative.

Established techniques must be extended down to the ps and sub-ps time domain to directly probe product states of materials under extreme conditions. We used short pulse ({le} 1 ps) x-ray radiation to track changes in the physical properties in tandem with measurements of the atomic and electronic structure of materials undergoing fast laser excitation and shock-related phenomena. The sources included those already available at LLNL, including the picosecond X-ray laser as well as the ALS Femtosecond Phenomena beamline and the SSRL based sub-picosecond photon source (SPPS). These allow the temporal resolution to be improved by 2 orders of magnitude over the current state-of-the-art, which is {approx} 100 ps. Thus, we observed the manifestations of dynamical processes with unprecedented time resolution. Time-resolved x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and x-ray scattering were used to study phase changes in materials with sub-picosecond time resolution. These experiments coupled to multiscale modeling allow us to explore the physics of materials in high laser fields and extreme non-equilibrium states of matter. The ability to characterize the physical and electronic structure of materials under extreme conditions together with state-of-the-art models and computational facilities will catapult LLNL's core competencies into the scientific world arena as well as support its …

P'P' (PKPPKP) are P waves that travel from a hypocenter through the Earth's core, reflect from the free surface and travel back through the core to a recording station on the surface. Here we report the observations of hitherto unobserved near-podal P'P' waves (at epicentral distance < 10{sup o}) and very prominent precursors preceding the main energy by as much as 60 s. We interpret these precursors as a back-scattered energy from previously undocumented horizontally connected small-scale heterogeneity in the upper mantle beneath the oceans in a zone between 150 and 220 km depth beneath the Earth's surface. From these observations, we identify a frequency dependence of attenuation quality factor Q in the lithosphere through forward modeling of the observed amplitude spectra of the main and back-scattered P'P' waves. In addition, we did not find that travel times corresponding to very polar paths through the centermost inner core with respect to the rotation axis of Earth are anomalously advanced, which argues for isotropic or at best --weakly-anisotropic center of Earth in the direction parallel with the rotation axis. More systematic sampling near Earth's center and characterization of anisotropy in Earth's center will be a subject of future research efforts.

At high pressure and temperature, the phase diagram of elemental carbon is poorly known. We present predictions of diamond and BC8 melting lines and their phase boundary in the solid phase, as obtained from first principles calculations. Maxima are found in both melting lines, with a triple point located at {approx} 850 GPa and {approx} 7400 K. Our results show that hot, compressed diamond is a semiconductor which undergoes metalization upon melting. In contrast, in the stability range of BC8, an insulator to metal transition is likely to occur in the solid phase. Close to the diamond/ and BC8/liquid boundaries, molten carbon is a low-coordinated metal retaining some covalent character in its bonding up to extreme pressures. Our results provide constraints on the carbon equation of state, which is of critical importance for devising models of Neptune, Uranus and white dwarf stars, as well as of extra-solar carbon-rich planets.

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Annual financial report of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority of Texas documenting income, expenditures, and other relevant financial information for fiscal year ending August 31, 2005.

In the event of a nuclear or radiological accident or terrorist event, it is important to identify individuals that can benefit from prompt medical care and to reassure those that do not need it. Achieving these goals will maximize the ability to manage the medical consequences of radiation exposure that unfold over a period of hours, days, weeks, years, depending on dose. Medical interventions that reduce near term morbidity and mortality from high but non-lethal exposures require advanced medical support and must be focused on those in need as soon as possible. There are two traditional approaches to radiation dosimetry, physical and biological. Each as currently practiced has strengths and limitations. Physical dosimetry for radiation exposure is routine for selected sites and for individual nuclear workers in certain industries, medical centers and research institutions. No monitoring of individuals in the general population is currently performed. When physical dosimetry is available at the time of an accident/event or soon thereafter, it can provide valuable information in support of accident/event triage. Lack of data for most individuals is a major limitation, as differences in exposure can be significant due to shielding, atmospherics, etc. A smaller issue in terms of number of people …