Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) diodes fabricated from 0.52eV lattice-matched InGaAsSb alloys are grown by Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) on GaSb substrates. 4cm{sup 2} multi-chip diode modules with front-surface spectral filters were tested in a vacuum cavity and attained measured efficiency and power density of 19% and 0.58 W/cm{sup 2} respectively at operating at temperatures of T{sub radiator} = 950 C and T{sub diode} = 27 C. Device modeling and minority carrier lifetime measurements of double heterostructure lifetime specimens indicate that diode conversion efficiency is limited predominantly by interface recombination and photon energy loss to the GaSb substrate and back ohmic contact. Recent improvements to the diode include lattice-matched p-type AlGaAsSb passivating layers with interface recombination velocities less than 100 cm/s and new processing techniques enabling thinned substrates and back surface reflectors. Modeling predictions of these improvements to the diode architecture indicate that conversion efficiencies from 27-30% and {approx}0.85 W/cm{sup 2} could be attained under the above operating temperatures.

Recording of the twelfth public hearing held by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States on June 16, 2004 at the NTSB Conference Center in Washington, D.C. The two-day hearing focused on two distinct topics: the 9-11 Plot and the federal government's immediate response to the attacks on September 11, 2001. This section includes the staff statement entitled overview of the enemy in addition to the first panel on Al-Qaeda with testimony from Mary Deborah Doran and Patrick J. Fitzgerald.

Recording of the twelfth public hearing held by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States on June 16, 2004 at the NTSB Conference Center in Washington, D.C. The two-day hearing focused on two distinct topics: the 9-11 Plot and the federal government's immediate response to the attacks on September 11, 2001. This section includes the staff statement entitled outline of the 9/11 plot, in addition to the second panel on the outline of the outline of the 9/11 plot with testimony from Jacqueline Maguire, James N. Fitzgerald, and Adam B. Drucker.

Recording of the twelfth public hearing held by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States on June 17, 2004 at the NTSB Conference Center in Washington, D.C. The two-day hearing focused on two distinct topics: the 9-11 Plot and the federal government's immediate response to the attacks on September 11, 2001. This section includes the staff statement entitled improvising a homeland defense in addition to the panel on military response on 9/11, with testimony from Richard Myers, Charles Joseph Leidig, and Ralph E. Eberhart.

Recording of the twelfth public hearing held by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States on June 17, 2004 at the NTSB Conference Center in Washington, D.C. The two-day hearing focused on two distinct topics: the 9-11 Plot and the federal government's immediate response to the attacks on September 11, 2001. This section concludes the hearing, and includes the panel on FAA response on 9/11, with testimony from Monte Belger, Jeff Griffith, John White, and Benedict Sliney.

Creation of 20-year data set of surface infrared fluxes from satellite measurements. A reliable estimate of the surface downwelling longwave radiation flux (DLF) is a glaring void in available forcing data sets for models of Arctic sea ice and ocean circulation. We have developed a new method to estimate the DLF from a combination of satellite sounder retrievals and brightness temperatures from the TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS), which has flown on NOAA polar-orbiting satellites continuously since late 1979. The overarching goal of this project was to generate a 20-year data set of surface downwelling longwave flux measurements from TOVS data over the Arctic Ocean. Daily gridded fields of DLF were produced with a spatial resolution of (100 km){sup 2} north of 60{sup o}N for 22.5 years rather than only 20. Surface measurements from the field station at Barrow, AK--part of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program --and from the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) were used to validate the satellite-derived fluxes and develop algorithm improvements for conditions that had resulted in systematic errors in early versions of the algorithm. The resulting data set has already been sent to two other investigators for incorporation into their research, and …

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating Larry Forehand of Pasadena on the 30th anniversary of Casa Ole restaurants.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating Weldon Willig on being named Southwest Region National Coach of the Year by Schutt Sports.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring John McDivitt of Houston on the occasion of his retirement from the American Red Cross after 38 years of service.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring James Ellis "Jim" Hall for his motor sports achievements and congratulating him on the opening of the Chaparral Gallery at the Petroleum Museum in Midland.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to designating September 2004 as Luekemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month in Texas.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating the Coyle Middle School Band of Garland on receiving the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Silver Cup award for 2003.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating Dr. Claude Thomas and the First Baptist Church Euless on the occasion of the church's 100th anniversary.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating the Shallowater High School girls' basketball team on winning the 2003-2004 UIL Class 2A State Championship.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating the Shallowater High School boys' basketball team on winning the 2004 UIL Class 2A State Championship.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating Coach Doug Davalos and the Sul Ross State University Lobos men's basketball team on repeating as American Southwest Conference West Division champs, winning the American Southwest Conference title, and advancing to the Sweet 16 in the 2004 NCAA Division III tournament.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to paying tribute to the life of US Army Sgt. William Cody Eckhart of Rocksprings, who died on April 10, 2004, at the age of 25 while serving in Iraq.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to commending the Big Spring Veterans Administration Medical Center for providing quality medical treatment and care to our nation's veterans.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to extending best wishes to the Saint Cecilia Catholic Church in Los Fresnos on the occasion of its 47th anniversary.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to honoring Dr. Richard R. Moore on the occasion of his retirement from Del Mar College in Corpus Christi in August, 2004, after 40 years of service.

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-04-218G, Acquisition/Financial Systems Interface Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (Exposure Draft), December 2003. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) requires that agencies implement and maintain financial management systems that substantially comply with federal financial management system requirements. These requirements are described in detail in the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) guidance and in the Federal Financial Management System Requirements series issued by the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP). JFMIP intends for its requirements series to promote understanding of key financial management systems concepts and requirements, to provide a framework for establishing integrated financial management systems that support program and financial managers, and to describe specific requirements of financial management systems."

A chemical diffusion model was incorporated into the thermal-hydraulics package of the MELCOR Severe Accident code (Reference 1) for analyzing air ingress events for a very high temperature gas-cooled reactor.

The high-density infrared (HDI) transient-liquid coating (TLC) process was successfully developed and demonstrated excellent, enhanced (5 times higher than the current material and process) wear performance for the selected functionally graded material (FGM) coatings under laboratory simulated, in-service conditions. The mating steel component exhibited a wear rate improvement of approximately one and a half (1.5) times. After 8000 cycles of. wear testing, the full-scale component testing demonstrated that the coating integrity was still excellent. Little or no spalling was observed to occur.

The Department of Energy Environmental Management Program is faced with two major issues involving two-phase flow in fractured rock; specifically, transport of dissolved contaminants in the Vadose Zone, and the fate of Dense Nonaqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPLs) below the water table. Conceptual models currently used to address these problems do not correctly include the influence of the fractures, thus leading to erroneous predictions. Recent work has shown that it is crucial to understand the topology, or ''structure'' of the fluid phases (air/water or water/DNAPL) within the subsurface. It has also been shown that even under steady boundary conditions, the influence of fractures can lead to complex and dynamic phase structure that controls system behavior, with or without the presence of a porous rock matrix. Complicated phase structures within the fracture network can facilitate rapid transport, and lead to a sparsely populated and widespread distribution of concentrated contaminants; these qualities are highly difficult to describe with current conceptual models. The focus of our work is to improve predictive modeling through the development of advanced conceptual models for two-phase flow in fractured rock.