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This report examines the characteristics and consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean and Central America and the response to the epidemic in the region.

Al-SBA-15 mesoporous catalysts with strong Broensted acid sites and Al stabilized in a totally tetrahedral coordination was synthesized from the addition of hydrothermally aged zeolite Y precursor to SBA-15 synthesis mixture under mildly acidic condition of pH 5.5. The materials possessed surface areas between 690 and 850 m{sup 2}/g, pore sizes ranging from 5.6 to 7.5 nm and pore volumes up 1.03 cm{sup 3}, which were comparable to parent SBA-15 synthesized under similar conditions. Up to 2 wt. % Al was present in the most aluminated sample that was investigated, and the Al remained stable in totally tetrahedral coordination, even after calcination at 550 C. The Al-SBA-15 mesoporous catalyst showed significant catalytic activity for cumene dealkylation, and activity increased as the amount of zeolite precursor added to the SBA-15 mixture was increased. The catalyst's activity was not affected by the aging time of the precursor for up to the 24 hr aging time investigated. This method of introducing Al and maintaining it in a total tetrahedral coordination is very effective, in comparison to other direct and post synthesis alumination methods reported. The catalytic performance of the zeolite Y/SBA-15 composite materials will be compared with that of pure SBA-15. The catalysts …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Title III, section 366 of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003, required the Secretary of Defense to develop a comprehensive plan for the sustainment of training ranges using existing authorities available to the Secretaries of Defense and the military departments to address training constraints caused by limitations on the use of military lands, marine areas, and airspace available both in the United States and overseas. Section 366 also required the Secretary to submit to Congress a report containing the comprehensive training range sustainment plan, the results of an assessment and evaluation of current and future training range requirements, and any recommendations that the Secretary may have for legislative or regulatory changes to address training constraints. It also directed the Secretary of Defense to develop and maintain an inventory of training ranges for each of the armed forces, which identifies all training capacities, capabilities, and constraints at each training range. The Department of Defense (DOD) was to submit both the report and the training range inventory to Congress at the same time the President submitted the budget for fiscal year 2004 and to provide …

The Nopal I mine in Pena Blanca, Chihuahua, Mexico, contains a uranium ore deposit within fractured tuff. Previous mining activities exposed a level ground surface 8 m above an excavated mining adit. In this paper, we report results of ongoing research to understand and model percolation through the fractured tuff and seepage into a mined adit both of which are important processes for the performance of the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Travel of water plumes was modeled using one-dimensional numerical and analytical approaches. Most of the hydrologic properly estimates were calculated from mean fracture apertures and fracture density. Based on the modeling results, we presented constraints for the arrival time and temporal pattern of seepage at the adit.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The recent information security breach at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in which personal data on millions of veterans were compromised, has highlighted the importance of the department's security weaknesses, as well as the ability of federal agencies to protect personal information. Robust federal security programs are critically important to properly protect this information and the privacy of individuals. GAO was asked to testify on VA's information security program, ways that agencies can prevent improper disclosures of personal information, and issues concerning notifications of privacy breaches. In preparing this testimony, GAO drew on its previous reports and testimonies, as well as on expert opinion provided in congressional testimony and other sources."

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Photograph of Jody's Fountain at the UNT Library Mall. The McConnell Memorial Tower and Administration Building can also be seen in the background of the photograph. Students are walking in front of the Administration Building, but the area surrounding the fountain is empty. UNT banners are hanging from light posts on either side of the Library Mall.

We present here the first self-consistent kinetic based model for long time-scale energy release in detonation waves in the non-ideal explosive LX-17. Non-ideal, insensitive carbon rich explosives, such as those based on TATB, are believed to have significant late-time slow release in energy. One proposed source of this energy is diffusion-limited growth of carbon clusters. In this paper we consider the late-time energy release problem in detonation waves using the thermochemical code CHEETAH linked to a multidimensional ALE hydrodynamics model. The linked CHEETAH-ALE model dimensional treats slowly reacting chemical species using kinetic rate laws, with chemical equilibrium assumed for species coupled via fast time-scale reactions. In the model presented here we include separate rate equations for the transformation of the un-reacted explosive to product gases and for the growth of a small particulate form of condensed graphite to a large particulate form. The small particulate graphite is assumed to be in chemical equilibrium with the gaseous species allowing for coupling between the instantaneous thermodynamic state and the production of graphite clusters. For the explosive burn rate a pressure dependent rate law was used. Low pressure freezing of the gas species mass fractions was also included to account for regions where …

Letter from Jean McCreery to the WASP membership concerning the nominations for the 2006-2008 Board of Directors. She explains that the current board members have been asked to serve another term. Enclosed with the letter are brief biographies of the candidates for each position.

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Spent uranium oxide nuclear fuel hosts a variety of trace chemical constituents, many of which must be sequestered from the biosphere during fuel storage and disposal. In this paper we present synchrotron x-ray absorption spectroscopy and microscopy findings that illuminate the resultant local chemistry of neptunium and plutonium within spent uranium oxide nuclear fuel before and after corrosive alteration in an air-saturated aqueous environment. We find the plutonium and neptunium in unaltered spent fuel to have a +4 oxidation state and an environment consistent with solid-solution in the UO{sub 2} matrix. During corrosion in an air-saturated aqueous environment, the uranium matrix is converted to uranyl U(VI)O{sub 2}{sup 2+} mineral assemblage that is depleted in plutonium and neptunium relative to the parent fuel. At the corrosion front interface between intact fuel and the uranyl-mineral corrosion layer, we find evidence of a thin ({approx}20 micrometer) layer that is enriched in plutonium and neptunium within a predominantly U{sup 4+} environment. Available data for the standard reduction potentials for NpO{sup 2+}/Np{sup 4+} and UO{sub 2}{sup 2+}/U{sup 4+} couples indicate that Np(IV) may not be effectively oxidized to Np(V) at the corrosion potentials of uranium dioxide spent nuclear fuel in air-saturated aqueous solutions. Neptunium is …

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The Navy's proposed FY2007 budget requests $739 million in advance procurement funding for CVN-78, the first ship in the CVN-21 class of aircraft carriers, and $45 million in advance procurement funding for the aircraft carrier CVN-79, the second ship in the class. The House version of the FY2007 defense appropriations bill (H.R. 5631) recommends approving this request.

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The Navy's proposed FY2007 budget requests $2,568 million in partial procurement funding for the first two DDG-1000 destroyers. The House version of the FY2007 defense appropriations bill (H.R. 5631) recommends approving this requested funding to instead fully fund the procurement of one DDG-1000. For a longer discussion of the DDG-1000 and CG(X), see CRS Report FL32109, Navy DDG-1000 (DD(X)), CG(X), and LCS Ship Acquisition Programs: Oversight Issues and Options for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.

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Some observers have proposed procuring Navy ships using incremental funding or advance appropriations rather than the traditional full funding approach that has been used to procure most Navy ships. Supporters believe these alternative funding approaches could increase stability in Navy shipbuilding plans and perhaps increase the number of Navy ships that could be built for a given total amount of ship-procurement funding. The issue for the 109th Congress is whether to maintain or change current practices for funding Navy ship procurement. Congress's decision could be significant because the full funding policy relates to Congress's power of the purse and its responsibility for conducting oversight of defense programs.

Some observers have proposed procuring Navy ships using incremental funding or advance appropriations rather than the traditional full funding approach that has been used to procure most Navy ships. Supporters believe these alternative funding approaches could increase stability in Navy shipbuilding plans and perhaps increase the number of Navy ships that could be built for a given total amount of ship procurement funding. The issue for the 109th Congress is whether to maintain or change current practices for funding Navy ship procurement. Congress’s decision could be significant because the full funding policy relates to Congress’s power of the purse and its responsibility for conducting oversight of defense programs.

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The FY2006 budget completed the funding required in the Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy (SCN) account for the Navy's program to refuel and convert four Trident ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) into cruise-missile-carrying and special operations forces (SOF) support submarines (SSGNs). The first two converted SSGNs reentered service in 2006; the other two are scheduled to reenter service by late 2007. The total estimated cost of the four-boat conversion program is about $4.0 billion.

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New isotope, 264Sg, was identified using the38U(30Si,xn)268-xSg reaction and excitation functions for 262-264Sg weremeasured. 264Sg decays by spontaneous fission with a half life of 37+27/-11 ms. The spontaneous fission branch for 0.9-s 263Sg was measuredfor the first time and found to be (13+-8) percent. 262Sg decays byspontaneous fission with a 15 +5/-3 ms half-life. Spontaneous fissionpartial half-life systematics are evaluated for even-even Sg isotopesfrom 258Sg through 266Sg, spanning the transition region between theN=152, Z=100 and N=162, Z=108 deformed shells.