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

Weekly newspaper from Alvin, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The orbital vibrator source (a fluid-coupled shear wave source) has many unique properties that are useful for cross-well, single-well, and borehole-to-surface imaging of both P- (compressional)and S-(shear) wave velocities of reservoir rocks. To this day, however, no standard models for this source have been established, and the mechanism of wave generation and the characteristics of wave field around the source are not well understood yet. In this article, we develop both two and three-dimensional analytical models of the orbital vibrator source, which allow us to examine the source characteristics such as radiation patterns, frequency-dependence of the wave energy, and guided-wave generation. These models are developed in the frequency-wave number domain using the partial wave expansion of the wavefield within and outside the borehole. The results show that the developed models successfully reproduce many characteristics of orbital vibrator source that have been observed in the field, including formation property-dependent vibrator amplitudes, uniform isotropic shear wave radiation pattern, and small tube-wave generation.

Recently, many interesting applications of the barrier RF system in hadron synchrotrons have been realized. A remarkable example of this is the development of longitudinal momentum mining and implementation at the Fermilab Recycler for extraction of low emittance pbars for the Tevatron shots. At Fermilab, we have barrier RF systems in four different rings. In the case of Recycler Ring, all of the rf manipulations are carried out using a barrier RF system. Here, the author reviews various uses of barrier rf systems in particle accelerators including some new schemes for producing intense proton beam and possible new applications.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In a May 18, 2004 letter, the Chairman of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security observed that many management and integration challenges remain at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and to strengthen the departmentwide reforms and transformation underway at DHS the Select Committee is considering options such as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) concept to help address these challenges. This letter describes the roles and responsibilities of an effective COO and presents certain options that could serve to strengthen and streamline management functions in a department as large and diverse as DHS. As agreed, we have summarized our reports on the COO concept, organizational transformation, as well as DHS's management and transformation challenges."

This report discusses the details related to background checks to help ensure the safety of children served through their organizations.

Prospects for legislative initiatives to comprehensively amend the Clean Water Act have stated for some time over whether and exactly how to change the law, and Congress has recently focused legislative attention on narrow bills to extend or modify selected Clean Water Act programs, rather than taking up comprehensive proposals. This report contains information on the issues and actions regarding the Clean Water Act addressed in the 108th Congress.

We present results of near infrared imaging of the disk-galaxy-merger NGC 6240 using adaptive optics on the Keck II Telescope and reprocessed archival data from NICMOS on the Hubble Space Telescope. Both the North and South nuclei of NGC 6240 are clearly elongated, with considerable sub-structure within each nucleus. In K' band there are at least two point-sources within the North nucleus; we tentatively identify the south-western point-source within the North nucleus as the position of one of the two AGNs. Within the South nucleus, the northern subnucleus is more highly reddened. Based upon the nuclear separation measured at 5 GHz, we suggest that the AGN in the South nucleus is still enshrouded in dust at K' band, and is located slightly to the north of the brightest point in K' band. Within the South nucleus there is strong H{sub 2} 1-0 S(1) line emission from the northern sub-nucleus, contrary to the conclusions of previous seeing-limited observations. Narrowband H{sub 2} emission-line images show that a streamer or ribbon of excited molecular hydrogen connects the North and South nuclei. We suggest that this linear feature corresponds to a bridge of gas connecting the two nuclei, as seen in computer simulations of …

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

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Frequency selective surfaces (FSS) effectively filter electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band (1 mm to 100 mm). Interest exists in extending this technology to the near infrared (1 {micro}m to 10 {micro}m) for use as a filter of thermal radiation in thermophotovoltaic (TPV) direct energy conversion. This paper assesses the ability of FSS to meet the strict spectral performance requirements of a TPV system. Inherent parasitic absorption, which is the result of the induced currents in the FSS metallization, is identified as a significant obstacle to achieving high spectral performance.

This report examines the strengths and limitations of deploying UAVs along the borders and related issues for Congress.

The Savannah River Site (SRS) is currently in the process of Deactivation and Decommissioning (D and D) several process areas. These activities are expected to continue over the next several years. This paper addresses the Material Control and Accountability (MC and A) guidelines that have been developed for D and D activities at SRS. The MC and A D and D guidelines developed address topical areas that can impact activities associated with facility closures. Several areas of concern are: material hold-up, hold-up measurements, nuclear material access and surveillance requirements, updating accountability records, transition to lower category MBAs, usage of administrative MBAs, and the termination of safeguards. The goal of the guidelines were to stress the MC and A programmatic requirements identified within the Department of Energy Manual for the Accountability of Nuclear Materials while managing the potential impact on the D and D activities in an identified area.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "On March 31, 2004, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued an exposure document on a proposed Statement, Share-Based Payment, an Amendment of FASB Statements No. 123 and 95, which addresses the accounting for compensation to employees in the form of equity shares, including stock options. GAO recognizes that this is a complex and controversial issue on which reasonable people can and do disagree. In light of the above, there has been a renewed interest for the Congress to legislate accounting rules for stock options. Notwithstanding our and others' views on the merits of various accounting methods for stock options, GAO believes that the principle of independence, both in fact and in appearance, is essential to the credibility of and confidence in any authoritative standard-setting processes. With respect to the role of FASB in this and other areas, we support its efforts, as the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) designated independent private-sector standard-setting body, to identify issues for consideration, prepare exposure documents, conduct outreach efforts and solicit comments on exposure documents, and consider the resulting comments in finalizing and issuing new accounting standards. This time-tested and proven deliberative …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requires agencies to certify the security controls of their information systems and to formally authorize and accept the risk associated with their operation (a process known as accreditation). These processes support requirements of the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA). Further, OMB requires agencies to report the number of systems authorized following certification and accreditation as one of the key FISMA performance measures. In response to the Congressional request, GAO (1) identified existing governmentwide requirements and guidelines for certifying and accrediting information systems, (2) determined the extent to which agencies have reported their systems as certified and accredited, and (3) assessed whether their processes provide consistent, comparable results and adequate information for authorizing officials."

The condensation polymerization reaction of 4,4'-oxydianiline (ODA) with pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) to form poly(amic acid) and the subsequent imidization reaction to form polyimide were investigated for films prepared using vapor deposition polymerization techniques. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermal analysis, and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) of films at different temperatures indicate that additional solid-state polymerization occurs prior to imidization reactions. Experiments reveal that, upon vapor deposition, poly(amic acid) oligomers form that have a number-average molecular weight of about 1500 Daltons. Between 100 - 130 C these chains undergo additional condensation reaction to form slightly higher molecular weight oligomers. Calorimetry measurements show that this reaction is exothermic ({Delta}H {approx} -30 J/g) with an activation energy of about 120 kJ/mol. Experimental reaction enthalpies are compared to results from ab initio molecular modeling calculations to estimate the number of amide groups formed. At higher temperatures (150 - 300 C) imidization of amide linkages occurs as an endothermic reaction ({Delta}H {approx} +120 J/g) with an activation energy of about 130 kJ/mol. Solid-state kinetics were found to depend on reaction conversion as well as the processing conditions used to deposit films.

Transverse instabilities have been observed in the antiproton beam stored in the Fermilab Recycler Ring, resulting in a sudden increase in the transverse emittances and a small beam loss. The instabilities appear to occur a few hours after a change in the ramping pattern of the Main Injector which shares the same tunnel. The phenomena have been studied by inducing similar instabilities. However, the mechanism is still unknown. A possible explanation is that the ions trapped in the beam reach such an intensity that collective coupled transverse oscillation occurs. However, there is no direct evidence of the trapped ions at this moment.

The unusual properties and beneficial characteristics of iron phosphate glasses, as viewed from the standpoint of alternative glasses for vitrifying nuclear and hazardous wastes (which contain components that make them poorly suited for vitrification in borosilicate glass), have been investigated by the University of Missouri-Rolla with support from the Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP), DOE [DEFG07- 96ER45618]. During the past year, the corrosion resistance of Inconel 690 and 693 coupons submerged in an iron phosphate melt at 1050 C for up to 155 days has been investigated to determine whether iron phosphate glasses could be melted in a Joule Heated Melter (JHM) equipped with such electrodes in the same manner as now being used to melt borosilicate glass. Substituting iron phosphate glasses for borosilicate glasses could significantly reduce the time and cost for clean up due to the higher waste loading possible in iron phosphate glass. The iron phosphate melt, which contained 30 wt% of the Hanford Low Activity Waste (LAW), did not corrode the Inconel 690 to any greater extent than what has been reported for Inconel 690 electrodes in the borosilicate melt in the JHM at the Defense Waste Processing Facility. Furthermore, Inconel 693 appeared to be an …

Jets have been studied by the CDF Collaboration [1] as a means of searching for new particles and interactions, testing a variety of perturbative QCD predictions, and providing input for the global parton distribution function (PDF) fits. Unless otherwise indicated below, the jets were reconstructed using a cone algorithm [2] with cone radius R = 0.7 from data taken at the Fermilab Tevatron collider in Run 2, 2001-2003, with {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. Central jets, in the pseudorapidity range relative to fixed detector coordinates 0.1 < |{eta}| < 0.7, are used.

As it relates to neutron transport calculations, in an earlier report I defined scaling laws relating reactivity or criticality to the mass, density and dimensions of geometrically simple systems. Here I generalize these scaling laws to any geometry. These are well known relationships that allow the variation of critical mass versus density and/or dimensions to be written in a simple analytical form. With these relationships anyone can quickly estimate the critical mass corresponding to any given density, using nothing more complicated than a hand calculator. In addition I point out that these scaling laws can be used to easily predict the sensitivity of a system's K-eff to variations in density and/or dimensions. These relationships have appeared extensively in the literature for over 50 years, but seem to be periodically forgotten. As such, this report is not intended to present any new information, but rather it is intended merely to refresh our memories. The main idea is that you do not have to perform neutron transport calculations every time a parameter of a system is changed; instead you can use simple scaling laws to determine what will change. Here is a quick summary of results.

The tritium surface distribution on graphite tiles used in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) bumper limiter and exposed to TFTR deuterium-tritium (D-T) discharges from 1993 to 1997 was measured by the Tritium Imaging Plate Technique (TIPT). The TFTR bumper limiter shows both re-/co-deposition and erosion. The tritium images for all tiles measured are strongly correlated with erosion and deposition patterns, and long-term tritium retention was found in the re-/co-depositions and flakes. The CFC tiles located at erosion dominated areas clearly showed their woven structure in their tritium images owing to different erosion yields between fibers and matrix. Significantly high tritium retention was observed on all sides of the erosion tiles, indicating carbon transport via repetition of local erosion/deposition cycles.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Recent U.S. combat operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq benefited from new Department of Defense (DOD) strategies and technologies, such as improvements in force networks and increased use of precision weapons, designed to address changes in the security environment resulting from the continuing terrorist threat and the advent of the information age. Based on the authority of the Comptroller General, GAO reviewed these conflicts, with a focus on bombing operations, to gain insight into the changes being implemented by DOD. This report focuses on (1) assessing the impact on operational effectiveness of improvements in force networks and in the use of precision weapons and (2) identifying key barriers to continued progress."