This report discusses the Supreme Court's decision in McConnell v. FEC. The court upheld against facial constitutional challenges key portions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), (P.L. 107-155, commonly known as the McCain-Feingold or Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform law).

This report mainly discusses a Chronological List on Commemorative Observances for 2003 and 2004,indicating the proclamation number and its federal registration citation.

The chemical process industries are among the most energy intensive in the US. While much of the energy use cannot be avoided, (e.g., feedstock energy or separations costs), there are tremendous gains to be had through simulation-based optimizations. The heart of any chemical operation is the chemical reactor and it is here that gains can be made either directly (e.g., reduced heat flux) or indirectly (e.g., reduced downstream separations cost due to more efficient reactor design). The objective of this project was to develop an integrated suite of software to facilitate the simulation and optimization of chemical reactors. In the phase of the project supported by this grant, we focused specifically on gas-phase chemical processes such as combustion and pyrolysis.

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Fossil fuels currently provide 85% of the world's energy needs, with the majority coming from coal, due to its low cost, wide availability, and high energy content. The extensive use of coal-fired power assumes that the resulting CO{sub 2} emissions can be vented to the atmosphere. However, exponentially increasing atmospheric CO{sub 2} levels have brought this assumption under critical review. Over the last decade, this discussion has evolved from whether exponentially increasing anthropogenic CO{sub 2} emissions will adversely affect the global environment, to the timing and magnitude of their impact. A variety of sequestration technologies are being explored to mitigate CO{sub 2} emissions. These technologies must be both environmentally benign and economically viable. Mineral carbonation is an attractive candidate technology as it disposes of CO{sub 2} as geologically stable, environmentally benign mineral carbonates, clearly satisfying the first criteria. The primary challenge for mineral carbonation is cost-competitive process development. CO{sub 2} mineral sequestration--the conversion of stationary-source CO{sub 2} emissions into mineral carbonates (e.g., magnesium and calcium carbonate, MgCO{sub 3} and CaCO{sub 3})--has recently emerged as one of the most promising sequestration options, providing permanent CO{sub 2} disposal, rather than storage. In this approach a magnesium-bearing feedstock mineral (typically serpentine or olivine; …

OAK-B135 The project involved a study of a fundamental response of terrestrial vegetation to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, namely, the change in leaf conductance to gas diffusion associated with a change in the aperture of the microscopic pores (stomata) on the surface of leaves.

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A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The strong productivity gains in the U.S. economy have hinged in part on transportation networks working more efficiently. The nation's ports, which handle 95 percent of overseas freight tonnage, are a key link in this network, and efficient intermodal links between ship, rail, and highways are vital to continued productivity gains. GAO was asked to address (1) the challenges to freight mobility, (2) the limitations key stakeholders have encountered in addressing these challenges, and (3) strategies that may aid decision makers in enhancing freight mobility. GAO's work was based on a synthesis of previous studies and a review of conditions at 10 ports and surrounding areas that handle almost two-thirds of all containers moving in and out of the country."

This report briefly reviews the status of climate science, international negotiations, and congressional activity focused specifically on climate change.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) spends more on information technology (IT) annually than any other department or agency, accounting for about half of the $59 billion governmentwide IT budget in fiscal year 2004. It is thus important that consistent, accurate, and complete DOD IT budget information is available to the Congress and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) so that they can make informed decisions among competing demands for funds. Accordingly, GAO reviewed the department's fiscal year 2004 IT budget submission to determine whether it was reliable, including identifying opportunities for future improvement."

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The objective of this project is to quantify the ability of the electrical induced polarization (IP) method to noninvasively monitor the reduction in reactive iron performance that is known to reduce the effectiveness of the permeable reactive barrier (PRB) with time. The primary scientific goals include: (1) fundamental laboratory studies to evaluate the sensitivity of the IP method to: Fe0 total surface area Fe0 surface chemistry physical/chemical changes to the Fe0 surface resulting from oxidation and precipitation (2) monitoring of the electrical tomographic response of the Kansas City PRB over a three-year period and assessment, via correlation with aqueous geochemical data and extracted iron cores, of whether electrical signatures associated with reduced PRB performance are resolvable in field studies (3) optimization of a three-dimensional tomographic imaging algorithm for application to highly conductive, high electrical contrast environments as represented by a PRB IP theory and empirical data resulting from the original development of the method for mineral exploration suggests that the method is highly relevant in the study of reactive iron barriers. Laboratory and field IP studies on mineral deposits illustrate the sensitivity of IP parameters to metal concentration, particle size and metal surface chemistry. IP theory, based on electrical (Warburg) …

We describe the development of the electronics that will be used to read out the Fiber Tracker and Preshower detectors in Run IIb. This electronics is needed for operation at 132ns bunch crossing, and may provide a measurement of the z coordinate of the Fiber Tracker hits when operating at 396ns bunch crossing. Specifically, we describe the design and preliminary tests of the Trip chip, MCM IIa, MCM IIb and MCM IIc. This document also serves as a user manual for the Trip chip and the MCM.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Over 15 million acres in the United States are suspected of being, or known to be, contaminated with military munitions. These sites include ranges on closing military installations, closed ranges on active installations, and formerly used defense sites. Under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program, established in 1986, the Department of Defense (DOD) must identify, assess, and clean up military munitions contamination at these sites. DOD estimates these activities will cost from $8 billion to $35 billion. Because of the magnitude of DOD's cleanup effort, both in terms of cost and affected acreage, as well as the significant public safety, health, and environmental risks that military munitions may pose, The Ranking Minority Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce asked us to evaluate (1) DOD's progress in implementing its program to identify, assess, and clean up military munitions sites and (2) DOD's plans to clean up remaining sites in the future."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO was asked to assess the condition of key equipment items and to determine if the services have adequate plans for sustaining, modernizing, or replacing them. To address these questions, we selected 25 major equipment items, and determined (1) their current condition, (2) whether the services have mapped out a program strategy for these items, (3) whether current and projected funding is consistent with these strategies, and (4) whether these equipment items are capable of fulfilling their wartime missions."

The ongoing program is designed to advance the carbonate fuel cell technology from full-size proof-of-concept field test to the commercial design. DOE has been funding Direct FuelCell{reg_sign} (DFC{reg_sign}) development at FuelCell Energy, Inc. (FCE) for stationary power plant applications. The program efforts are focused on technology and system optimization for cost reduction leading to commercial design development and prototype system field trials. FCE, Danbury, CT, is a world-recognized leader for the development and commercialization of high efficiency fuel cells that can generate clean electricity at power stations or in distributed locations near the customer, including hospitals, schools, universities, hotels and other commercial and industrial applications. FuelCell Energy has designed three different fuel cell power plant models (DFC300, DFC1500 and DFC3000). FCE's power plants are based on its patented Direct FuelCell technology, where the fuel is directly fed to fuel cell and hydrogen is generated internally. These power plants offer significant advantages compared to existing power generation technologies--higher fuel efficiency, significantly lower emissions, quieter operation, flexible siting and permitting requirements, scalability and potentially lower operating costs. Also, the exhaust heat by-product can be used for cogeneration applications such as high-pressure steam, district heating, and air conditioning. Several FCE sub-megawatt power plants …

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A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Amid heightened awareness that many patients with cancer and other chronic diseases suffer from undertreated pain, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Purdue Pharma's controlled-release pain reliever OxyContin in 1995. Sales grew rapidly, and by 2001 OxyContin had become the most prescribed brandname narcotic medication for treating moderate-to-severe pain. In early 2000, reports began to surface about abuse and diversion for illicit use of OxyContin, which contains the opioid oxycodone. GAO was asked to examine concerns about these issues. Specifically, GAO reviewed (1) how OxyContin was marketed and promoted, (2) what factors contributed to the abuse and diversion of OxyContin, and (3) what actions have been taken to address OxyContin abuse and diversion."

The objective of this research is to increase the knowledge of the fundamental technetium chemistry that is necessary to address challenges to the safe, long-term remediation of high-level waste posed by this element. These challenges may be divided into two categories: unexpected behavior of technetium in high-level waste tanks at the Hanford and Savannah River Sites and the behavior of technetium in waste forms.

The purpose of this report is to document the technological opportunities of integrating power electronics-based inverters into a TEP system, primarily in the 10-kW size range. The proposed enhancement offers potential advantages in weight reduction, improved efficiency, better performance in a wider range of generator operating conditions, greater versatility and adaptability, and adequate reliability. In order to obtain strong assurance of the availability of inverters that meet required performance and reliability levels, a market survey was performed. The survey obtained positive responses from several manufacturers in the motor drive and distributed generation industries. This study also includes technology reviews and assessments relating to circuit topologies, reliability issues, vulnerability to pulses of electromagnetic energy, potential improvements in semiconductor materials, and potential performance improvement through cryogenics.

This report includes information regarding strategic petroleum reserve. Background and analysis, purchases of crude oil, and drawdown of the reserve are among topics discussed in this report.

In this note we describe the first set of tests done with a sample of TriP chips that were mounted on a modified AFE board. The modifications consisted of different firmware and the replacement of one power supply switch. The board used was a standard AFEIc board (red type) on which new MCMs (MCMIIs) were mounted. The new MCMs were designed to support the TriP and emulate the SVX for readout when mounted on an AFEIc board. The TriP and the MCMs are described in Ref. [1]. Two versions of the MCMII were designed and built: one (MCMIIb) supports two TriP chips wirebonded directly to the MCM substrate. The other, (MCMIIc) supports one TriP which can be either wirebonded directly or packaged into a standard TQFP surface mount package. Due to space constraints, this MCM can support only 1 TriP. We tested 6 TriP chips on 3 different MCMIIb (MCMIIb-1, MCMIIb-2 and MCMIIb-3) and 2 other TriPs were tested on MCMIIc, one of them with an unpackaged TriP (MCMIIc-1) and the other with a packaged TriP (MCMIIc-2). A set of 10 programable internal registers control the TriP operation, the description of these registers can be found in [1]. Table 1 …

We continue evaluation of the new electronics developed for the Central Fiber Tracker and Preshower detectors. With the custom TriP chip and MCM II we have measured the position of the hits along the fiber by comparing the time of arrival of the photons at the VLPC with the expected timing relative to the beam. The measured rms resolution at the center of the fibers is 46cm for hits with more than 8 photo-electrons and is dominated by the statistics of photon arrival time. The corresponding resolution near the ends of the fibers (where more photoelectrons are collected) is calculated to be of order 27cm. With a second submission of the TriP chip to add the time-of-flight measuring capability we will effectively double the number of channels in the central fiber tracker. This capability will increase the maximum luminosity at which D0 can do tracking from {approx} 100 {center_dot} 10{sup 30}cm{sup -2}s{sup -1} to {approx} 200 {center_dot} 10{sup 30} cm{sup -2}s{sup -1} (at a bench mark tracking specification). The cost of replacing the electronics is of order $500K and the necessary lead time is 1.5 years.