This report examines the use of across-the-board spending cuts in omnibus appropriations acts for FY2000-FY2004, assessing the budgetary context leading to the spending cut, recounting the legislative action on the spending cut provision, and reviewing the provision’s design and implementation.

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The Alcator C-Mod has presented a challenge to install high-power ICRF antennas in a tight space. Modifications have been made to the antenna plasma-facing surfaces and the internal current-carrying structure in order to overcome performance limitations. At the present time, the antennas have exceeded 5 MW into plasma with heating phasing, up to 2.7 MW with current-drive phasing, with good efficiency and no deleterious effects

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

We present simple scaling relations of the brightness a Thomson x-ray source on the electron and laser beam parameters in the case of a head (180 degree) interaction geometry. In particular, it is shown that a direct relation exists between the x-ray brightness and the electron beam brightness. These relations are discussed in the context of the PLEIADES Thomson x-ray source, where 10{sup 7} photons per pulse, with photon energies as high as 140 keV, have been produced by colliding a 0.25 nC, picosecond electron bunch with a 500 mJ, 50 fs, 800 nm laser pulse. The estimated peak brightness of the source is about 10{sup 16} photons/s/mm{sup 2}/mrad{sup 2}/0.1%b.w. A comparison of the current performance of the source and the predicted performance using optimized parameters is presented.

On June 9, 2000, President William Clinton issued a proclamation to preserve 195,000 acres of land as a national monument in southeastern Washington State. Named the Hanford Reach Monument, it is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The monument has been preserved by unusual circumstances: for the past 50 years, it has served as the buffer area to one of the U.S. Department of Energy's nuclear reservations. As such, it has been allowed to remain wild, protecting it from human interference and preserving a number of important resources once found in abundance, but now in decline, throughout the Columbia River Basin. At the centerpiece of this monument is the last free flowing, non-tidal stretch of the Columbia River. Called the Hanford Reach, this 51-mile long section of the Columbia River supports one of the most productive spawning grounds for Chinook salmon. In addition to its natural resources, this monument also contains sites of rich and important archaeological and historical significance. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently working with the U.S. Department of Energy, the public, and a number of other interested parties to create a monument management plan, which is expected to be released sometime in …

The Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) Linac driver requires a great variety of high charge state ion beams with up to a magnitude higher intensity than currently achievable for the heaviest masses. The goal of the RIA injector R&D program for VENUS is the reliable production of intense medium charge state ion beams, e.g., 8 puA (particle mu A) of U29+. Therefore, the superconducting ECR ion source VENUS has been designed from the beginning for optimum operation at 28 GHz at high power (10 kW). In addition, a high intensity Low Energy Beam Transport, LEBT, that was developed to analyze and transport these multiply-charged, space charge dominated beams. During the last year VENUS was commissioned at 18 GHz and preparations for 28 GHz operation continued. Tests with various gases and recently metals have been performed with up to 2000 W of 18 GHz RF power. Promising performance has been measured in those preliminary beam tests. For example, 180 p mu A of O6+, 15 p mu A of Ar12+, 7.5 puA of X e20+ and 4puA of Bi24+ were produced in the early commissioning phase, ranking VENUS among the currently highest performance 18 GHz ECR ion sources. In FY04 a 10 …

This report talks about Electricity regulation and transmission issues. It also includes the history of the California Electricity Crisis.

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) is a large-volume heavy water Cerenkov detector designed to resolve the solar neutrino problem. SNO observes charged-current interactions with electron neutrinos, neutral-current interactions with all active neutrinos, and elastic-scattering interactions primarily with electron neutrinos with some sensitivity to other flavors. This dissertation presents an analysis of the solar neutrino flux observed in SNO in the second phase of operation, while {approx}2 tonnes of salt (NaCl) were dissolved in the heavy water. The dataset here represents 391 live days of data. Only the events above a visible energy threshold of 5.5 MeV and inside a fiducial volume within 550 cm of the center of the detector are studied. The neutrino flux observed via the charged-current interaction is [1.71 {+-} 0.065(stat.){+-}{sub 0.068}{sup 0.065}(sys.){+-}0.02(theor.)] x 10{sup 6}cm{sup -2}s{sup -1}, via the elastic-scattering interaction is [2.21{+-}0.22(stat.){+-}{sub 0.12}{sup 0.11}(sys.){+-}0.01(theor.)] x 10{sup 6}cm{sup -2}s{sup -1}, and via the neutral-current interaction is [5.05{+-}0.23(stat.){+-}{sub 0.37}{sup 0.31}(sys.){+-}0.06(theor.)] x 10{sup 6}cm{sup -2}s{sup -1}. The electron-only flux seen via the charged-current interaction is more than 7{sigma} below the total active flux seen via the neutral-current interaction, providing strong evidence that neutrinos are undergoing flavor transformation as they travel from the core of the Sun to the …

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We recently showed, in hep-ph/0406101, that warped extra dimensional models with bulk custodial symmetry and few TeV KK masses lead to striking signals at B-factories. In this paper, using a spurion analysis, we systematically study the flavor structure of models that belong to the above class. In particular we find that the profiles of the zero modes, which are similar in all these models, essentially control the underlying flavor structure. This implies that our results are robust and model independent in this class of models. We discuss in detail the origin of the signals in B-physics. We also briefly study other NP signatures that arise in rare K decays (K {yields} {pi}{nu}{nu}), in rare top decays [t {yields} c{gamma}(Z, gluon)] and the possibility of CP asymmetries in D{sup 0} decays to CP eigenstates such as K{sub s}{pi}{sup 0} and others. Finally we demonstrate that with light KK masses, {approx} 3 TeV, the above class of models with anarchic 5D Yukawas has a ''CP problem'' since contributions to the neutron electric dipole moment are roughly 20 times larger than the current experimental bound. Using AdS/CFT correspondence, these extra-dimensional models are dual to a purely 4D strongly coupled conformal Higgs sector thus …

This report describes the current forestry assistance programs funded through the State and Private Forestry (S&PF) branch of the Forest Service. Following a brief overview, the report presents basic information on the programs to assist forestry practices, forest protection, and rural economies — purposes of the programs, types of activities funded, eligibility requirements, and authorized program duration and funding level, with recent program appropriations.

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We have investigated the interaction of water molecules with the polar Si- and C- terminated surfaces of cubic Silicon Carbide by means of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations at finite temperature. Different water coverages were considered, from {1/4} to a complete monolayer. Irrespective of coverage, we find that water dissociates on the silicon terminated surfaces, leading to important changes in both its structural and electronic properties. On the contrary, the carbon terminated surface remains inert when exposed to water. We propose experiments to reveal the ionic and electronic structure of wet Si-terminated surfaces predicted by our calculations, which at full coverage are notably different from those of hydrated Si(001) substrates. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results for SiC surface functionalization.

This volume of the LLE Review, covering January-March 2004, features ''Performance of 1-THz-Bandwidth, 2-D Smoothing by Spectral Dispersion and Polarization Smoothing of High-Power, Solid-State Laser Beams'', by S. P. Regan, J. A. Marozas, R. S. Craxton, J. H. Kelly, W. R. Donaldson, P. A. Jaanimagi, D. Jacobs-Perkins, R. L. Keck, T. J. Kessler, D. D. Meyerhofer, T. C. Sangster, W. Seka, V.A. Smalyuk, S. Skupsky, and J. D. Zuegel (p. 49). Laser-beam smoothing achieved with 1-THz-bandwidth, two-dimensional smoothing by spectral dispersion and polarization smoothing on the 60-beam, 30-kJ, 351-nm OMEGA laser system is reported. These beam-smoothing techniques are directly applicable to direct-drive ignition target designs for the 192-beam, 1.8-MJ, 351-nm National Ignition Facility. Equivalent-target-plane images for constant-intensity laser pulses of varying duration were used to determine the smoothing. The properties of the phase plates, frequency modulators, and birefringent wedges were simulated and found to be in good agreement with the measurements.

The local atomic environment and vibrational properties of atoms in monoclinic pure {alpha}-plutonium as well as orthorhombic pure {alpha}-uranium and its low-temperature charge-density-wave (CDW) modulation are examined by extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS). Pu L{sub III}-edge and U L{sub III}-edge EXAFS data measured at low temperatures verify the crystal structures of {alpha}-U and {alpha}-Pu samples previously determined by x-ray diffraction and neutron scattering. Debye-Waller factors from temperature-dependent EXAFS measurements are fit with a correlated Debye model. The observed Pu-Pu bond correlated Debye temperature of {theta}{sub cD}({alpha}-Pu) = 162 {+-} 5 K for the pure {alpha}-Pu phase agrees with our previous measurement of the correlated Debye temperature of the gallium-containing {alpha}'-Pu phase in a mixed phase 1.9 at% Ga-doped {alpha}'-Pu/{delta}-Pu alloy. The temperature dependence of the U-U nearest neighbor Debye-Waller factor exhibits a sharp discontinuity in slope near T{sub CDW} = 43 K, the transition temperature at which the charge-density wave (CDW) in {alpha}-U condenses from a soft phonon mode along the (100) direction. Our measurement of the CDW using EXAFS is the first observation of the structure of the CDW in polycrystalline {alpha}-U. The different temperature dependence of the Debye-Waller factor for T < T{sub CDW} can be …

The local atomic environment and vibrational properties of atoms in monoclinic pure {alpha}-plutonium as well as orthorhombic pure a-uranium and its low-temperature charge-density-wave (CDW) modulation are examined by extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS). Pu L{sub III}-edge and U L{sub III}-edge EXAFS data measured at low temperatures verify the crystal structures of {alpha}-U and {alpha}-Pu samples previously determined by x-ray diffraction and neutron scattering. Debye-Waller factors from temperature-dependent EXAFS measurements are fit with a correlated Debye model. The observed Pu-Pu bond correlated Debye temperature of {theta}{sub cD}({alpha}-Pu) = 162 {+-} 5 K for the pure {alpha}-Pu phase agrees with our previous measurement of the correlated Debye temperature of the gallium-containing {alpha}{prime}-Pu phase in a mixed phase 1.9 at% Ga-doped {alpha}{prime}-Pu/{delta}-Pu alloy. The temperature dependence of the U-U nearest neighbor Debye-Waller factor exhibits a sharp discontinuity in slope near T{sub CDW} = 43 K, the transition temperature at which the charge-density wave (CDW) in {alpha}-U condenses from a soft phonon mode along the (100) direction. Our measurement of the CDW using EXAFS is the first observation of the structure of the CDW in polycrystalline {alpha}-U. The different temperature dependence of the Debye-Waller factor for T < T{sub CDW} can be …

An apparatus for remote delivery and manipulation of a miniature tool adjacent a work piece in a restricted space, includes a tool camer, a camage for manipulating the tool carrier relative to the work piece, a first actuator for operating the carnage, and an optional remote secondary operating actuator for operating the first actuator.

Video footage from the NBC 5 television station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story. This story aired at 4 P.M.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1998, about 100 million Americans were covered in private pension plans with assets totaling about $4 trillion. The retirement security of plan participants can be affected by how certain issues are voted on during company stockholders meetings. Fiduciaries, having responsibility for voting on such issues on behalf of some plan participants (proxy voting), are to act solely in the interest of participants. Recent corporate scandals reveal that fiduciaries can be faced with conflicts of interest that could lead them to breach this duty. Because of the potential adverse effects such a breach may have on retirement plan assets, we were asked to describe (1) conflicts of interest in the proxy voting system, (2) actions taken to manage them, and (3) DOL's enforcement of proxy voting requirements."

Daily newspaper from Perry, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.