Resource Type

States

Language

The United Arab Emirates (UAE): Issues for U.S. Policy (open access)

The United Arab Emirates (UAE): Issues for U.S. Policy

This report discusses the political state of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which under new leadership upon the November 2, 2004 death of its president, Shaykh Zayid bin Sultan al-Nuhayyan, has undergone a smooth transition, but it remains weak militarily and surrounded by several powerful and ambitious neighbors. Political reform has been minimal, but its relatively open economy and borders, particularly in the emirate of Dubai, have caused problems in proliferation, terrorism, and human trafficking. The United States has announced it will open negotiations with UAE on a free trade agreement (FTA).
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
System: The UNT Digital Library
Solid State NMR Measurements for Preliminary Lifetime Assessments in gamma-Irradiated and Thermally Aged Siloxane Elastomers (open access)

Solid State NMR Measurements for Preliminary Lifetime Assessments in gamma-Irradiated and Thermally Aged Siloxane Elastomers

Siloxanes have a wide variety of applications throughout the aerospace industry which take advantage of their exceptional insulating and adhesive properties and general resilience. They also offer a wide range of tailorable engineering properties with changes in composition and filler content. They are, however, subject to degradation in radiatively and thermally harsh environments. We are using solid state nuclear magnetic resonance techniques to investigate changes in network and interfacial structure in siloxane elastomers and their correlations to changes in engineering performance in a series of degraded materials. NMR parameters such as transverse ( T{sub 2}) relaxation times, cross relaxation rates, and residual dipolar coupling constants provide excellent probes of changes crosslink density and motional dynamics of the polymers caused by multi-mechanism degradation. The results of NMR studies on aged siloxanes are being used in conjunction with other mechanical tests to provide insight into component failure and degradation kinetics necessary for preliminary lifetime assessments of these materials as well as into the structure-property relationships of the polymers. NMR and MRI results obtained both from high resolution NMR spectrometers as well as low resolution benchtop NMR screening tools will be presented.
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Chinn, S C; Herberg, J L; Sawvel, A M & Maxwell, R S
System: The UNT Digital Library
Libya (open access)

Libya

This report includes information regarding U.S. relations with Libya as well as other Libyan foreign relations and government.
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Mark, Clyde R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A SEA FLOOR GRAVITY SURVEY OF THE SLEIPNER FIELD TO MONITOR CO2 MIGRATION (open access)

A SEA FLOOR GRAVITY SURVEY OF THE SLEIPNER FIELD TO MONITOR CO2 MIGRATION

Since 1996, excess CO{sub 2} from the Sleipner natural gas field has been sequestered and injected underground into a porous saline aquifer 1000 m below the seafloor. In 2002, we carried out a high precision micro-gravity survey on the seafloor in order to monitor the injected CO{sub 2}. A repeatability of 5 {micro}Gal in the station averages was observed. This is considerably better than pre-survey expectations. These data will serve as the baseline for time-lapse gravity monitoring of the Sleipner CO{sub 2} injection site. A repeat survey has been scheduled for the summer of 2005. This report covers 3/18/04 to 9/19/04. During this time, we participated in several CO{sub 2} sequestration-related meetings and conferences. On March 29, 2004, we participated in the 2004 Carbon Sequestration Project Review Meeting for the Department of Energy in Pittsburgh, PA. During the week of May 2, 2004, we attended and presented at the Third Annual Conference on Carbon Capture and Sequestration in Alexandria, VA. Finally, during the week of August 8, 2004, we took part in the U.S.-Norway, CO{sub 2} Summer School in Santa Fe, NM. Additional modeling was also completed, examining the seismic velocity pushdown estimates from the gravity models and the expected …
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Zumberge, Mark; Nooner, Scott & Eiken, Ola
System: The UNT Digital Library
Use of Electrochemical Noise to Assess Corrosion in Kraft Continuous Digesters (open access)

Use of Electrochemical Noise to Assess Corrosion in Kraft Continuous Digesters

Electrochemical noise (EN) probes were deployed in two continuous kraft digesters at a variety of locations representative of corrosion throughout the vessels. Current and potential noise, the temperature at each probe location, and the value of up to 60 process parameters (flow rates, liquor chemistry, etc.) were monitored continuously during each experiment. The results indicate that changes in furnish composition and process upsets were invariably associated with concurrent substantial changes in EN activity throughout the vessels. Post-test evaluation of the mild steel electrode materials in both vessels confirmed general corrosion of a magnitude consistent with historical trends in the respective vessels as well as values qualitatively (and semi-quantitatively) related to EN current sums for each electrode pair. Stainless steel electrodes representing 309LSi and 312 overlay repairs exhibited zero wastage corrosion--as did the actual overlays--but the EN data indicated periodic redox activity on the stainless steel that varied with time and position within the vessel. Little or no correlation between EN probe activity and other operational variables was observed in either vessel. Additional details for each digester experiment are summarized.
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Pawel, S.J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Closeout Technical Report (open access)

Closeout Technical Report

We are conducting a collaborative research program on two tokamaks, HT-7 and EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, formerly HT-7U), with the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASIPP) located in Hefei, PRC. The work that we planned for this year included conducting transport experiments on HT-7, completing plans for expansion of the HT-7 diagnostic set, and reaching an agreement on how UT-FRC can best participate in experiments on HT-7U. These goals were accomplished as summarized in the next section. Note that the experimental portion of the work is still underway. The experimental campaign for HT-7 began just a few weeks before this report was compiled.
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Gentle, Kenneth W., Dr.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Restoring Sustainable Forests on Appalachian Mined Lands for Wood Products, Renewable Energy, Carbon Sequestration, and Other Ecosystems Services Quarterly Report (open access)

Restoring Sustainable Forests on Appalachian Mined Lands for Wood Products, Renewable Energy, Carbon Sequestration, and Other Ecosystems Services Quarterly Report

The overall purpose of this project is to evaluate the biological and economic feasibility of restoring high-quality forests on mined land, and to measure carbon sequestration and wood production benefits that would be achieved from forest restoration procedures. We are currently estimating the acreage of lands in VA, WV, KY, OH, and PA mined under SMCRA and reclaimed to non-forested post-mining land uses that are not currently under active management, and therefore can be considered as available for carbon sequestration. To determine actual sequestration under different forest management scenarios, a field study was installed as a 3 x 3 factorial in a random complete block design with three replications at each of three locations, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia. The treatments included three forest types (white pine, hybrid poplar, mixed hardwood) and three silvicultural regimes (competition control, competition control plus tillage, competition control plus tillage plus fertilization). Each individual treatment plot is 0.5 acres. Each block of nine plots requires 4.5 acres, and the complete installation at each site requires 13.5 acres. The plots at all three locations have been installed and the plot corners marked with PVC stakes. GPS coordinates of each plot have been collected. Tree survival, height …
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Burger, James A.; Galbraith, J.; Fox, T.; Amacher, G.; Sullivan, J. & Zipper, C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Biomolecular Simulation Using Amber and CHARMM (open access)

Biomolecular Simulation Using Amber and CHARMM

This project supports the development of software using terascale computers to carry out molecular simulations of protein function and macromolecular interactions. We are building on the existing CHARMM and Amber simulation packages, adapting them in novel ways to massively parallel architectures and high-performance CPUs. Three principal avenues being pursued are: (1) Improvements in load-balancing and communication for large-scale particle-mesh Ewald (PME) simulations of solvated biomolecules. (2) Modern techniques for accelerating convergence of sampling of configuration space offer promise for further exploitation of massively parallel architectures. These methods include parallel tempering and ''lambda dynamics'' procedures that connect multiple, synchronized results from PME simulations like those described in part [1]. (3) The implementation of efficient and scalable algorithms that move towards lower-resolution models in ways that can be carefully calibrated against atomic-level solvated simulations.
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Case, David A. & Brooks, Charles L., III
System: The UNT Digital Library
Internet Gambling: Overview of Federal Criminal Law (open access)

Internet Gambling: Overview of Federal Criminal Law

This a brief summary of the federal criminal status implicated by conducting illegal gambling using the Internet. It also discusses some of the constitutional issues associated with prosecuting illegal Internet gambling.
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Doyle, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Israeli-United States Relations (open access)

Israeli-United States Relations

None
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Mark, Clyde R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Party Leaders in the House: Election, Duties, and Responsibilities (open access)

Party Leaders in the House: Election, Duties, and Responsibilities

Each major party in the House has a leadership hierarchy. This report summarizes the election, duties, and responsibilities of the Speaker of the House, the majority and minority leaders, and the whips and whip system.
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Heitshusen, Valerie
System: The UNT Digital Library
Egypt-United States Relations (open access)

Egypt-United States Relations

This report summarizes the focus of U.S.-Egyptian relations in terms of security policy and maintaining the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace-treaty. Moreover, the report suggests the importance of sustaining the relationship to protect U.S. interests, but also the cost of the relationship that is displayed in the $2 billion in economic and military assistance the U.S. provides Egypt with annually.
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Mark, Clyde R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Suspension of the Rules in the House: Principal Features (open access)

Suspension of the Rules in the House: Principal Features

None
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus Reconciliation Detail (open access)

Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus Reconciliation Detail

Reconciliation detail and summary report with an ending balance of $1,261.33 on November 29, 2004.
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library
Internet Gambling: An Abridged Overview of Federal Criminal Law (open access)

Internet Gambling: An Abridged Overview of Federal Criminal Law

None
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Doyle, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Internet Gambling: Overview of Federal Criminal Law (open access)

Internet Gambling: Overview of Federal Criminal Law

This report is a brief summary of the federal criminal status implicated by conducting illegal gambling using the internet. It also discusses some of the constitutional issues associated with prosecuting illegal internet gambling.
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Doyle, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Internet Gambling: A Sketch of Legislative Proposals in the 108th Congress (open access)

Internet Gambling: A Sketch of Legislative Proposals in the 108th Congress

None
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Doyle, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses (open access)

Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses

None
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
System: The UNT Digital Library