Catalysis is one of the most valuable contributors to our economy and historically an area where the United States has enjoyed, but is now losing, international leadership. While other countries are stepping up their work in this area, support for advanced catalysis research and development in the U.S. has diminished. Yet, more than ever, innovative and improved catalyst technologies are imperative for new energy production processes to ease our dependence on imported resources, for new energy-efficient and environmentally benign chemical production processes, and for new emission reduction technologies to minimize the environmental impact of an active and growing economy. Addressing growing concerns about the future direction of U.S. catalysis science, experts from the catalysis community met at a workshop to determine and recommend advanced resources needed to address the grand challenges for catalysis research and development. The workshop's primary conclusion: To recapture our position as the leader in catalysis innovation and practice, and promote crucial breakthroughs, the U.S. must establish one or more well-funded and well-equipped National Catalysis Research Institutes competitively selected, centered in the national laboratories and, by charter, networked to other national laboratories, universities, and industry. The Institute(s) will be the center of a national collaboratory that gives …

The stability and NO{sub x} sensing performance of electrochemical cells of the structure Sr-doped LaCrO{sub 3-{delta}} (LSC)/yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)/Pt are being investigated for use in NO{sub x} aftertreatment systems in diesel vehicles. Among the requirements for NO{sub x} sensor materials in these systems are stability and long lifetime (up to ten years) in the exhaust environment. In this study, cell aging effects were explored following extended exposure to a test environment of 10% O{sub 2} at operating temperatures of 600-700 C. The data show that aging results in changes in particle morphology, chemical composition and interfacial structure, Impedance spectroscopy indicated an initial increase in the cell resistance during the early stages of aging, which is correlated to densification of the Pt electrode. Also, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated formation of SrZrO{sub 2} solid state reaction product in the LSC, a process which is of finite duration. Subsequently, the overall cell resistance decreases with aging time due, in part, to roughening of YSZ-LSC interface, which improves interface adherence and enhances charge transfer kinetics at the O{sub 2}/YSZ/LSC triple phase boundary. This study constitutes a first step in the development of a basic understanding of aging phenomena in solid state electrochemical systems with …

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

Almost 4,000 water-level measurements in 216 wells in the Yucca Flat area from 1951 to 2003 were quality assured and analyzed. An interpretative database was developed that describes water-level conditions for each water level measured in Yucca Flat. Multiple attributes were assigned to each water-level measurement in the database to describe the hydrologic conditions at the time of measurement. General quality, temporal variability, regional significance, and hydrologic conditions are attributed for each water-level measurement. The database also includes narratives that discuss the water-level history of each well. Water levels in 34 wells were analyzed for variability and for statistically significant trends. An attempt was made to identify the cause of many of the water-level fluctuations or trends. Potential causes include equilibration following well construction or development, pumping in the monitoring well, withdrawals from a nearby supply well, recharge from precipitation, earthquakes, underground nuclear tests, land subsidence, barometric pressure, and Earth tides. Some of the naturally occurring fluctuations in water levels may result from variations in recharge. The magnitude of the overall water-level change for these fluctuations generally is less than 2 feet. Long-term steady-state hydrographs for most of the wells open to carbonate rock have a very similar pattern. Carbonate-rock …

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

BRAC Early Bird 5 October 2005

The budget report of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2006-2015 (January 25, 2005), included baseline estimates (assuming current policies) for FY2005 through FY2015. Under the baseline assumptions, CBO estimated a FY2006 deficit of $295 billion (2.3% of gross domestic product [GDP]). This is smaller than CBO’s FY2005 baseline deficit estimate ($368 billion, 3.0% of GDP). CBO’s baseline estimates do not include assumptions about possible future legislation that may increase or decrease spending or receipts and therefore change the deficit. The baseline assumptions assume the continuation of current law, including that laws changing the level of future revenues or outlays will go into effect as scheduled. Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the central Gulf Coast and additional damage done by Hurricane Rita has changed the budget outlook for fiscal year (FY) 2006.

Early X-ray afterglows recently detected by Swift frequently show a phase of very shallow flux decay lasting from a few hundred seconds up to {approx} 10{sup 4} s, followed by a steeper, more familiar decay. We suggest that the flat early part of the light curve may be a combination of the decaying tail of the prompt emission and the delayed onset of the afterglow emission observed from viewing angles slightly outside the edge of the jet, as predicted previously. This would imply that a significant fraction of viewers have a very small external shock energy along their line of sight and a very high {gamma}-ray to kinetic energy ratio. The early flat phase in the afterglow light curve implies, according to this or other interpretations, a very large {gamma}-ray efficiency, typically {approx}> 90%, which is very difficult to produce by internal shocks.

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

This report discusses the national security problem of China's role in weapons proliferation and issues related to the U.S. policy response, including legislation, since the mid-1990's.

Weekly student newspaper published in Hurst, Texas and serving the Tarrant County College District that includes school news and information along with advertising.

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

To provide a compact high-brightness heavy-ion beam source for Heavy Ion Fusion (HIF), we have been experimenting with merging multi-beamlets in an injector which uses an RF plasma source. An array of converging beamlets was used to produce a beam with the envelope radius, convergence, and ellipticity matched to an electrostatic quadrupole (ESQ) channel. Experimental results were in good quantitative agreement with simulation and have demonstrated the feasibility of this concept. The size of a driver-scale injector system using this approach will be several times smaller than one designed using traditional single large-aperture beams. The success of this experiment has possible significant economical and technical impacts on the architecture of HIF drivers.

The series of monochalcogenides of actinides NpM, PuM, and AmM (M = S; Se; Te) has been studied with relativistic spin-polarized density functional theory. The electronic and magnetic structure of the compounds has been investigated. It has been shown that the hybridization between 5f-electrons of actinides and p-electrons of S, Se, or Te is practically absent. But there is a transfer of electrons from one element to another. This transfer, apparently, is a cause of a crystal field splitting of the bands, which is superimposed on the spin-orbit splitting. The experimental magnetic properties of the above compounds may be explained in this simple picture, obtained from non-spin-polarized calculations. Accounting for magnetism leads to the excessive spin splitting of the bands and to the disagreement with experimental data. So, present work can be considered as one more evidence, that it is necessary to develop more elaborated theory than DFT for study of magnetism in actinides and their compounds.

The analysis by Coriant of the beta-gamma coincidence data coming from the ARSA systems show a systematic basis towards lower concentrations for all isotopes and a systematic increase in the minimum detectable concentrations. These variations can be directly traced to the method of analysis that is used by the Coriant software compared to the methods that have been developed by the International Noble Gas Experiment collaboration. This report details the differences and suggests solutions where appropriate. The report writers recommend that the algorithm changes be made to the Coriant software to bring up to the international standards.

This report provides a Brief Overview of Recent Practices on Continuing Appropriations Acts. Most of the operations of federal departments and agencies are funded each year through the enactment of 11 regular appropriation acts.

Disregard Restriction of Header and Footer: DON-0033A - Scenario (Not Candidate Recommendation). Contains C5, C6, C7, and C8 data.

Disregard Restriction of Header and Footer: DON-0034 - Scenario (Not Candidate Recommendation). Contains C5, C6, C7, and C8 data.

Disregard Restriction of Header and Footer: DON-0036 - Scenario (Not Candidate Recommendation). Contains C5 data.

Disregard Restriction of Header and Footer: DON-0036B - Scenario (Not Candidate Recommendation). Contains C5, C6, C7, and C8 data.

A major concern in the design of thick-liquid protected inertial fusion reactors of all types is the dynamic response of the shielding liquid to the pulsed explosions. Induced liquid motion can stress and damage solid chamber structures such as the firstwall. In a z-pinch based inertial fusion (Z-IFE) reactor this issue becomes particularly critical due to the relatively large proposed target yields of several GJ. In this paper we summarize an analysis of the liquid response taking into account ablation of target facing surfaces, pocket venting, and neutron isochoric heating. The impact of varying several reactor parameters is also discussed.

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

This report provides a brief overview of federal law with respect to six selected advertising issues: alcohol advertising, tobacco advertising, the federal trade commission act, advertising by mail, advertising by telephone, and commercial e-mail.

On March 9, 2001, representatives of the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) and Argonne National Laboratory met with representatives from a number of federal and Nebraska state agencies (the wetlands agencies; see Table 1.1) to discuss the CCC/USDA's proposed aquifer remediation and wetlands restoration project at Utica, Nebraska. As part of those discussions, Argonne outlined preliminary recommendations for a long-term monitoring program to verify and document (1) the performance of the spray irrigation treatment process for the removal of carbon tetrachloride from extracted groundwater, (2) the geochemical quality of the extracted and treated groundwater delivered to the wetlands, and (3) the hydrogeologic and inorganic geochemical impacts of the groundwater delivery. General activities recommended included the following: (1) Periodic sampling and analysis for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in groundwater extracted at each pumping well and in water discharged from the spray irrigation treatment units. (2) Periodic sampling of groundwater from each pumping well and directly from the sprinkler discharge, for analysis for selected inorganic water quality parameters. The CCC/USDA and Argonne also requested at the March 2001 meeting that the wetlands agencies accept responsibility for developing the ecological and biological monitoring programs needed to meet environmental …