This article discusses the 2003 Congress bipartisan E911 (Enhanced 911) legislation introduced in both chambers. Moreover, the article describes the difference in parallel provisions each bill contains that have significant implications for emergency communication policy. The article defines Enhanced 911 as the capability of identifying the phone number and location of a call to a PSAP (Public Safety Answering Points). This report characterizes the cost to PSAPs of upgrading systems and supporting expanded operations as an obstacle to this legislation.

This report discusses the African cotton initiative, over which disagreement has blocked progress on an agreement on agriculture in the current round of multilateral trade negotiations known as the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). In World Trade Organization (WTO) Negotiations on agriculture, a group of African countries have proposed that all subsidies for cotton be eliminated by the end of four years. The proposal also advocates compensating African cotton producing countries for revenues estimated to be lost due to cotton subsidies.

This report is a guide to the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (P.L. 108-83).

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Over the years, the traveling public, flight attendants, and the medical community have raised questions about how airliner cabin air quality contributes to health effects, such as upper respiratory infections. Interest in cabin air quality grew in 2003 when a small number of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) infections may have occurred on board aircraft serving areas that were experiencing outbreaks of the disease. In 2001, a National Research Council report on airliner cabin air quality and associated health effects recommended that additional research be done on the potential health effects of cabin air. GAO reviewed what is known about the health effects of cabin air, the status of actions recommended in the 2001 National Research Council report, and whether available technologies should be required to improve cabin air quality."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2002, the federal government spent nearly $100 billion on capital investments intended to yield long-term benefits for its own operations. Interested in ensuring that good investment decisions are made, the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Government Efficiency and Financial Management, House Committee on Government Reform, asked GAO to evaluate agency experiences with the capital planning principles embodied in the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Capital Programming Guide and GAO's Executive Guide on leading state, local, and private sector capital investment practices. This report examines selected agencies' implementation of this guidance and OMB's use of long-term capital planning data."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Corporation for National and Community Service (the Corporation) was created to help meet community needs and expand educational opportunity by providing education awards to participants. The Corporation oversees and funds the AmeriCorps program as well as the National Service Trust (the Trust), which pays the education awards. From November 2002 to March 2003 the Corporation suspended AmeriCorps enrollments because there would not have been sufficient funds in the Trust to pay education awards. GAO was asked to determine (1) if all AmeriCorps enrollments were accurately recorded, (2) how the Corporation estimated its funding needs, and (3) if the Corporation made changes to prevent another enrollment suspension and to address requirements established in the Strengthen AmeriCorps Program Act. GAO analyzed laws, reviewed documents, interviewed officials, assessed the reliability of the Trust database, examined the model used to estimate funding needs, and surveyed Americorps grantees."

The goal of this project was to make a first assessment of the major carbon stocks and fluxes and their climatic determinants in a lowland neotropical rain forest, the La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. Our research design was based on the concurrent use of several of the best available approaches, so that data could be cross-validated. A major focus of our effort was to combine meteorological studies of whole-forest carbon exchange (eddy flux), with parallel independent measurements of key components of the forest carbon budget. The eddy flux system operated from February 1998 to February 2001. To obtain field data that could be scaled up to the landscape level, we monitored carbon stocks, net primary productivity components including tree growth and mortality, litterfall, woody debris production, root biomass, and soil respiration in a series of replicated plots stratified across the major environmental gradients of the forest. A second major focus of this project was on the stocks and changes of carbon in the soil. We used isotope studies and intensive monitoring to investigate soil organic stocks and the climate-driven variation of soil respiration down the soil profile, in a set of six 4m deep soil shafts stratified across the …

Neutron-induced fission cross sections on targets of {sup 236,236m,237,238}Np, {sup 237,237m}Pu, and {sup 240,241,242,242m,243,244,244m}Am have been estimated for incident neutron energies of up to 6 MeV, using the ''surrogate'' technique and the ({sup 3}He,df) and ({sup 3}He,tf) reactions on stable targets to measure fission probabilities. In isotopes where low-lying isomeric states are known to exist, the (n,f) cross section on the corresponding isomeric targets has been estimated, using the surrogate technique. For targets of {sup 237}Np, {sup 241}Am, {sup 242m}Am, {sup 243}Am, measurements of the (n,f) cross section exist, and comparison with the surrogate-method results suggests that the (n,f) cross sections estimated by the surrogate technique are reliable to within 10% for incident neutron energies E{sub n}{approx}>2 MeV. Tabulated values of the estimated (n,f) cross sections are given in an appendix.

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This report describes how Learning-by-Doing (LBD) is implemented endogenously in the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) for generating plants. LBD is experiential learning that correlates to a generating technology's capacity growth. The annual amount of Learning-by-Doing affects the annual overnight cost reduction. Currently, there is no straightforward way to integrate and make sense of all the diffuse information related to the endogenous learning calculation in NEMS. This paper organizes the relevant information from the NEMS documentation, source code, input files, and output files, in order to make the model's logic more accessible. The end results are shown in three ways: in a simple spreadsheet containing all the parameters related to endogenous learning; by an algorithm that traces how the parameters lead to cost reductions; and by examples showing how AEO 2004 forecasts the reduction of overnight costs for generating technologies over time.

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This report compares H.R. 1085, as reported to the House, and S. 610, as passed by the Senate, with current law. Both bills would provide enhanced flexibilities for human resources management at NASA by creating a new Chapter 98 on NASA in Title 5 of the United States Code.

Two-dimensional full-wave time-dependent simulations in full plasma geometry are presented which show that conventional reflectometry (without a lens) can be used to synthetically image density fluctuations in fusion plasmas under conditions where the parallel correlation length greatly exceeds the poloidal correlation length of the turbulence. The advantage of synthetic imaging is that the image can be produced without the need for a large lens of high optical quality, and each frequency that is launched can be independently imaged. A particularly simple arrangement, consisting of a single receiver located at the midpoint of a microwave beam propagating along the plasma midplane is shown to suffice for imaging purposes. However, as the ratio of the parallel to poloidal correlation length decreases, a poloidal array of receivers needs to be used to synthesize the image with high accuracy. Simulations using DIII-D relevant parameters show the similarity of synthetic and optical imaging in present-day experiments.

(B204)The fundamental motivation for our work is that supernovae are not well understood. Recent observations have clarified the depth of our ignorance, by producing observed phenomena that current theory and computer simulations cannot reproduce. Such theories and simulations involve, however, a number of physical mechanisms that have never been studied in isolation. We perform experiments, in compressible hydrodynamics and radiation hydrodynamics, relevant to supernovae and supernova remnants. These experiments produce phenomena in the laboratory that are believed, based on simulations, to be important to astrophysics but that have not been directly observed in either the laboratory or in an astrophysical system. During the period of this grant, we have focused on the scaling of an astrophysically relevant, radiative-precursor shock, on preliminary studies of collapsing radiative shocks, and on the multimode behavior and the three-dimensional, deeply nonlinear evolution of the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability at a decelerating, embedded interface. These experiments required strong compression and decompression, strong shocks (Mach {approx}10 or greater), flexible geometries, and very smooth laser beams, which means that the 60-beam Omega laser is the only facility capable of carrying out this program.

This report explores in broad terms the relationship between the production of intelligence and the making of policy as reflected in the period prior to the war against Iraq in March 2003 and the implications for Congress.

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This project explored a new concept for high-pressure xenon ionization chambers by replacing the Frisch grid with coplanar grid electrodes similar to those used in wide bandgap semiconductor gamma-ray spectrometers. This work is the first attempt to apply the coplanar grid anode design in a gas ionization chamber in order to achieve to improved energy resolution. Three prototype detectors, two cylindrical and one parallel plate configurations, were built and tested. While the detectors did not demonstrate energy resolutions as good as other high pressure xenon gamma-ray spectrometers, the results demonstrated that the concept of single polarity charge sending using coplanar grid electrodes will work in a gas detector.

This goal of this project was to perform feasibility experiments and measurements of the fundamental interactions between hydrogen and single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) at high pressures. High-pressure is an adjustable experimental parameter for tuning interaction strengths, thereby elucidating and providing insights into the fundamental nature of the H{sub 2}/SWNT system. We have developed and utilized systems and methodologies to make x-ray scattering, optical spectroscopic and electrical transport measurements. These activities have been productive in demonstrating capabilities and measuring properties of SWNTs under high-pressure conditions. We have also developed strong cooperative and complementary relationships with academic research colleagues at Stanford University. Building on these results and relationships, we hope to continue and expand our research as co-investigators in a joint Harvard-LLNL-Stanford proposal to the DOE ''Grand Challenge'' for Basic and Applied Research in Hydrogen Storage (Solicitation No. DE-PS36-03GO93013). Hydrogen storage is an active research topic with important basic science implications and a crucial enabling technology for advanced energy systems. Measurements of the H{sub 2} storage capacity indicate that it may achieve or exceed the storage capacity level (6.5 wt-%) mandated by the DOE hydrogen plan for fielding a hydrogen-fueled vehicle. The H{sub 2}/SWNT system has been the subject of intensive …

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We are currently investigating the use of magnetic particles--polymeric-based spheres containing dispersed magnetic nanocrystalline phases--for the precise delivery of drugs via the human vasculature. According to this review, meticulously prepared magnetic drug targeting holds promise as a safe and effective method of delivering drugs to specific organ, tissue or cellular targets. We have critically examined the wide range of approaches in the design and implementation of magnetic-particle-based drug delivery systems to date, including magnetic particle preparation, drug encapsulation, biostability, biocompatibility, toxicity, magnetic field designs, and clinical trials. However, we strongly believe that there are several limitations with past developments that need to be addressed to enable significant strides in the field. First, particle size has to be carefully chosen. Micrometer-sized magnetic particles are better attracted over a distance than nanometer sized magnetic particles by a constant magnetic field gradient, and particle sizes up to 1 {micro}m show a much better accumulation with no apparent side effects in small animal models, since the smallest blood vessels have an inner diameter of 5-7 {micro}m. Nanometer-sized particles <70 nm will accumulate in organ fenestrations despite an effective surface stabilizer. To be suitable for future human applications, our experimental approach synthesizes the magnetic drug …

The goal of this Strategic Initiative in Applied Computational Biology has been to apply LLNL's expertise in computational simulation to forge a new laboratory core competency in biological simulation. By every measure, this SI has been very successful in this goal. Based on a strong publication record and large number of conference presentations and invited talks, we have built a recognized niche for LLNL in the burgeoning field of computational biology. Further, many of the projects that were previously part of this LDRD are now externally funded based on the research results and expertise developed under this SI. We have created successful collaborations with a number of outside research groups including several joint projects with the new UC Davis/LLNL Comprehensive Cancer Center. In addition to these scientific collaborations, the staff developed on this SI is involved in computational biology program development and advisory roles with other DOE laboratories and DOE Headquarters. Moreover, a number of capabilities and expertise created by this SI are finding use in LLNL programmatic applications. Finally, and most importantly, this SI project has brought to LLNL the human talent on who will be the ensuring the further success of computational biology at this laboratory.

One of the key missions of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is to ensure an abundant and affordable energy supply for the nation. As part of the process of producing oil and natural gas, operators also must manage large quantities of water that are found in the same underground formations. The quantity of this water, known as produced water, generated each year is so large that it represents a significant component in the cost of producing oil and gas. Produced water is water trapped in underground formations that is brought to the surface along with oil or gas. It is by far the largest volume byproduct or waste stream associated with oil and gas production. Management of produced water presents challenges and costs to operators. This white paper is intended to provide basic information on many aspects of produced water, including its constituents, how much of it is generated, how it is managed and regulated in different settings, and the cost of its management.

This report summarizes the major provisions of the reauthorized 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program. It includes sections on fundings, national reservations, formula grants to states, competitive local grants, history, program effectiveness, and relevant legislation in the 107th Congress.