The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Simmons. Simmons joined the Navy in July 1943 and received basic training in San Diego. He received electro-hydraulics training and was assigned to the USS Davis (DD-395) as a gunner’s mate, his battle station in the lower forward handling room, sending up five-inch shells. He participated in the invasion of Normandy, providing support to troops landing on Omaha Beach. After escorting the USS Texas (BB-35) back to England and attempting a return trip with supplies, the Davis hit a mine and was sent to Scotland for repairs. Simmons returned to the States, where he was diagnosed with asthma and given a medical discharge. He claims to have not suffered any psychological impacts from witnessing drownings at Normandy, but his wife recalls that Simmons would become so nervous watching news reels that they would often leave the theater early together.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Fred Hargesheimer. Hargesheimer joined the Army Air Forces in March of 1941. He completed flight training in March of 1942 and served as a pilot aboard an F-5, a modified P-38. He was assigned to the 8th Photo Squadron, 5th Air Force. He traveled to Australia and New Guinea. His plane had three cameras used for mapping at 20,000 feet, covering a 40-mile-wide strip. He provides some details of the cameras and techniques used in mapping. On his 49th, and final, photo reconnaissance mission in June of 1943 Hargesheimer’s plane was shot down by the Japanese over Papua New Guinea. He parachuted to safety and survived in the jungle for 31 days. He was rescued, and hidden from the Japanese, by the Nakanai tribe in the village of Eaea. In February of 1944 he was rescued by the submarine USS Gato (SS-212). He was discharged in 1946. Hargesheimer later became a philanthropist, helping the village that hid him from the Japanese.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Lois Kerimis. Kerimis graduated from Rawlins College in Winter Park, Florida in 1938, at 21 years old, with a Bachelors in Foreign Languages. She and her family were moved by the YMCA to Honolulu, where she taught at the Punahou Academy and her father was the Activities Director of the Army and Navy YMCA. She shares experiences of their life living and touring the island before the war, where her family fed and cared for homesick enlisted men and officers. They were living in Honolulu when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred 7 December 1941. She provides vivid details of this day, including witnessing a bomb dropping in the empty lot across from her home and lights out in the evening. Because Kerimis was fluent in four languages, including German, she was drafted by the Naval Intelligence on 8 December 1941. She served as a civilian employee, working with a Dictaphone interpreting phone calls in German between the Japanese and Germans. Kerimis left Hawaii in 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with George Scholes. Scholes joined the U.S. Navy’s V-12 program in 1943, graduating with the rank of ensign from the Midshipman's School at Northwestern University in Chicago. Scholes trained in ordnance at the Washington Naval Gun Factory and Jacksonville Naval Air Station. He was assigned to the Aviation Construction Ordinance Repair Navy unit, ACORN-52, in Guam. The unit occupied the Japanese Naval Base at Truk Atoll, in the Pacific. They built an airstrip and repaired an airplane base once belonging to the Japanese. He served in the Navy for three years and was discharged in June of 1946.

Email correspondence between multiple recipients on June 1, 2008 discussing Williamson County Stonewall Democrats.

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) conducted an evaluation of alternative technologies for remediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated coal seam, including impacted soils and groundwater in Garrison, North Dakota. Geotechnical characteristics of the impacted fractured coal seam provide for rapid off-site contaminant transport, with the currently identified impacted zone covering an area of about 40 acres. Regardless of the exposure mechanism (free, dissolved, or vapor phase), results of laboratory tests confirmed secondary release of gasoline-based compounds from contaminated coal to water reaching concentrations documented from the impacted areas. Coal laboratory tests confirmed low risks associated with spontaneous ignition of gasoline-contaminated coal. High contaminant recovery efficiency for the vacuum-enhanced recovery pilot tests conducted at three selected locations confirmed its feasibility for full-scale remediation. A total of 3500 gallons (13.3 m{sup 3}) of contaminated groundwater and over 430,000 ft{sup 3} (12,200 m{sup 3}) of soil vapor were extracted during vacuum-enhanced recovery testing conducted July 17-24, 2007, resulting in the removal of about 1330 lb (603 kg) of hydrocarbons, an equivalent of about 213 gallons of product. The summary of project activities is as follows: (1) Groundwater and vapor monitoring for existing wells, including domestic wells, conducted on a monthly basis from December 12, …

Field sampling was conducted by the Energy & Environmental Research Center at two Lafarge North America cement kiln locations in Canada. Emissions including SO{sub x}, NO{sub x}, and particulate were measured and reported at various locations throughout the kilns. At each site data were collected on two kilns during field sampling. However, only Kiln 1 at the Ravena site was utilized for modeling efforts. Experimental work was then conducted to estimate the effectiveness of various NO{sub x} control techniques on limiting both NO{sub x} and SO{sub x} emissions in cement kiln exhaust. Theory-based models were constructed to estimate both NO{sub x} and SO{sub x} emissions from cement kilns. These models were then applied to estimating the impact of various NO{sub x} control strategies on kiln exhaust emissions. The sulfur model constructed as part of this work was successful at predicting SO{sub 2} emissions and sulfur capture in the Alpena kiln. This model is designed to run as a postprocessing step that uses the output of a NO{sub x} model as input. With an accurate NO{sub x} model, the sulfur model may prove to be a valuable tool in estimating the impact of kiln modifications on sulfur emissions. The NO{sub x} …

Email from Jimmy Rocha regarding the election of officers in Williamson County.

A printed email that lays out and explains all of the upcoming events that the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas have planned.

Research on the effects of wetland restoration on reptiles and amphibians is becoming more common, but almost all of these studies have observed the colonization of recently disturbed habitats that were completely dry at the time of restoration. In a similar manner, investigations herpetofaunal responses to forest management have focused on clearcuts, and less intensive stand manipulations are not as well studied. To evaluate community and population responses of reptiles and amphibians to hydrology restoration and canopy removal in the interior of previously degraded Carolina bays, I monitored herpetofauna in the uplands adjacent to six historically degraded Carolina bays at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina for four years after restoration. To evaluate the effects of forest thinning on upland herpetofauna, forests were thinned in the margins of three of these bays. I used repeated measures ANOVA to compare species richness and diversity and the abundance of selected species and guilds between these bays and with those at three reference bays that were not historically drained and three control bays that remained degraded. I also used Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) to look for community-level patterns based treatments.

The availability of the complete DNA sequence of the bacterial genome of Nitrosomonas europaea offered the opportunity for unprecedented and detailed investigations of function. We studied the function of genes involved in carbohydrate and Fe metabolism. N. europaea has genes for the synthesis and degradation of glycogen and sucrose but cannot grow on substrates other than ammonia and CO2. Granules of glycogen were detected in whole cells by electron microscopy and quantified in cell-free extracts by enzymatic methods. The cellular glycogen and sucrose content varied depending on the composition of the growth medium and cellular growth stage. N. europaea also depends heavily on iron for metabolism of ammonia, is particularly interesting since it lacks genes for siderophore production, and has genes with only low similarity to known iron reductases, yet grows relatively well in medium containing low Fe. By comparing the transcriptomes of cells grown in iron-replete medium versus iron-limited medium, 247 genes were identified as differentially expressed. Mutant strains deficient in genes for sucrose, glycogen and iron metabolism were created and are being used to further our understanding of ammonia oxidizing bacteria.

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At the request of the University Materials Council, a national workshop was convened to examine 'Gender Equity Issues in Materials Science and Engineering.' The workshop considered causes of the historic underrepresentation of women in materials science and engineering (MSE), with a goal of developing strategies to increase the gender diversity of the discipline in universities and national laboratories. Specific workshop objectives were to examine efforts to level the playing field, understand implicit biases, develop methods to minimize bias in all aspects of training and employment, and create the means to implement a broadly inclusive, family-friendly work environment in MSE departments. Held May 18-20, 2008, at the Conference Center at the University of Maryland, the workshop included heads and chairs of university MSE departments and representatives of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the Department of Energy (DOE-BES), and the national laboratories. The following recommendations are made based on the outcomes of the discussions at the workshop. Many or all of these apply equally well to universities and national laboratories and should be considered in context of industrial environments as well. First, there should be a follow-up process by which the University Materials Council (UMC) …

This Final Report describes how the Kokes Awards program was carried out for the 2007 meeting with regard to selection of students and disbursement of funds received from DOE and other sources. The objective of the Richard J. Kokes Travel Award program of the American Catalysis Society is to encourage graduate students to attend and participate meaningfully in the biennial North American Catalysis Society Meeting.

.China has formulated and implemented its national climate change programme, and adopted a series of policies and measures in this regard. China addresses climate change in the context of implementing sustainable development strategy, combined with its accelerated steps to build a resource-conserving and environmental-friendly society and an innovation-oriented country.

Climate change is already with us. Scientific evidence shows that past emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) are already affecting the Earth’s climate.Without further policies to combat climate change, the OECD projects GHG emissions will grow by about 52% by 2050.This Policy Brief highlights the OECD’s work on the likely impact of various courses of action to mitigate climate change, and the costs of inaction.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Gugger Homestead, in Helotes, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Sorenson-Stair Building, in Rockport, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, and photographs.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Hicks-Gregg House, in Brownsville, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Lockhart Vocational High School, in Lockhart, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, and photographs.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Gilmer-Cage-Cohn House, in Houston, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is simultaneously implementing a number of force realignments that contribute to personnel growth at military installations throughout the United States. DOD plans to execute over 800 actions from the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round, which entail relocating over 123,000 personnel. Concurrent with its BRAC 2005 actions, DOD is also implementing or planning to implement other extensive worldwide transformation initiatives, which include relocating about 50,000 soldiers primarily from Europe and Korea to the United States; transforming the Army's force structure from an organization based on divisions to more rapidly deployable, brigade-based units (known as Army modularity); and increasing its active duty end strength by 92,000, all of which will affect DOD's facilities infrastructure. These force realignments will result in dramatic growth at some DOD installations across the United States. Based on data provided by the services, the DOD Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) had identified, as of January 2008, 20 locations where expected growth as a result of force realignments in fiscal years 2006 through 2012 will adversely affect surrounding communities. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 mandated that …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On November 16, 2007, we issued our report on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) fiscal years 2007 and 2006 financial statements and on SEC's internal control as of September 30, 2007. We also reported on the results of our tests of SEC's compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations during fiscal year 2007. The purpose of this report is to present areas of SEC's internal controls identified during our fiscal year 2007 audit that could be improved. This report contains 14 recommendations to SEC to improve these internal controls and procedures. These recommendations are in addition to those we already provided to SEC as a result of our prior audits of SEC's financial statements."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Electricity is central to the national economy and the daily lives of many Americans, powering homes, businesses, and industries. Today, an extensive system consisting of more than 150,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines works to provide reliable electricity service and transport electricity from power plants to consumers. Federal and state entities share responsibility for regulating the electricity system. On the federal level, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulates interstate transmission of electricity and wholesale rates, among other regulatory activities. State public utility commissions are generally responsible for regulating retail electricity sales and, in some cases, planning for new power plants and transmission lines. However, as studies have shown, growth in electricity demand has strained the nation's transmission system, resulting in less flexibility to respond to system problems and an increased risk of potential blackouts. These issues have led some to suggest that new lines or other investments in the transmission system may be required to increase capacity and accommodate growing electricity demand. Several companies have recently introduced proposals to build new high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission lines. Some of these proposed lines would follow active transportation rights of …