A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Although Social Security's benefit and contribution provisions are neutral with respect to race, ethnicity, and gender, concerns about the experiences of minority groups under Social Security focus on whether they benefit less than whites, particularly because of the shorter life expectancy of blacks. These concerns are related to the concept of equity, or how benefits compare with taxes. To gain a thorough understanding of the experiences of minority populations under Social Security, GAO was asked to examine (1) what socioeconomic and demographic factors influence Social Security taxes paid and benefits received and (2) how different equity measures compare across racial groups. Because of the current system's projected actuarial deficit, to conduct this study, GAO made its calculations using three policy scenarios, each of which achieves 75-year solvency: a payroll tax increase and a progressive and proportional benefit cut. Further, GAO used three measures of equity: lifetime benefit-to-tax ratios, net lifetime benefits, and real internal rates of return. GAO also examined four birth cohorts: 1931-40, 1941-45, 1946-55, and 1956-64."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a retirement savings and investment plan for federal employees, governed by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (the TSP Board). Recent events relating to the TSP Board's contract to upgrade TSP's record keeping system have raised questions about the management of the TSP. In light of the TSP Board's actions relating to the record keeping system and the recent submission of the TSP Board's legislative proposal that would enhance its independence, Congressional requesters asked us to examine federal oversight of the TSP Board. Specifically, our objectives were to (1) describe the Department of Labor's (DOL) oversight authority, under the Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986 (FERSA) and (2) determine the actions DOL has taken in exercising its authority over TSP."

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

Weekly student newspaper from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas that includes campus and local news along with advertising.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a school district may pay attorneys’ fees to non-prevailing part in litigation (RQ-0002-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Texas Legislature is required to undertake congressional redistricting for the electoral period 2003-2010 (RQ-0017-GA)

None

Astronomical applications of adaptive optics at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has a history that extends from 1984. The program started with the Lick Observatory Adaptive Optics system and has progressed through the years to lever-larger telescopes: Keck, and now the proposed CELT (California Extremely Large Telescope) 30m telescope. LLNL AO continues to be at the forefront of AO development and science.

Thermodynamic states encountered during afterburning of explosion products gases in air were analyzed with the Cheetah code. Results are displayed in the form of Le Chatelier diagrams: the locus of states of specific internal energy versus temperature, for six different condensed explosives charges. Accuracy of the results was confirmed by comparing the fuel and products curves with the heats of detonation and combustion, and species composition as measured in bomb calorimeter experiments. Results were fit with analytic functions u = f ( T ) suitable for specifying the thermodynamic properties required for gas-dynamic models of afterburning in explosions.

Photograph of then World Dance Alliance President Grant Strate welcoming attendees to the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003.

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

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story.

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out on the DNA oligonucleotide GGGAACAACTAG:CTAGTTGTTCCC in its native form and with guanine in the central G19:C6 base pair replaced by 8-oxoguanine (8oxoG). A box of explicit water molecules was used for solvation and Na+ counterions were added to neutralize the system. The direction and magnitude of global bending were assessed by a technique used previously to analyze simulations of DNA containing a thymine dimer. The presence of 8oxoG did not greatly affect the magnitude of DNA bending; however, bending into the major groove was significantly more probable when 8oxoG replaced G19. Crystal structures of glycosylases bound to damaged-DNA substrates consistently show a sharp bend into the major groove at the damage site. We conclude that changes in bending dynamics that assist the formation of this kink are a part of the mechanism by which glycosylases of the base excision repair pathway recognize the presence of 8oxoG in DNA.

Successful development of metallic filters with high temperature oxidation/corrosion resistance for fly ash capture is a key to enabling advanced coal combustion and power generation technologies. Compared to ceramic filters, metallic filters can offer increased resistance to impact and thermal fatigue, greatly improving filter reliability. A beneficial metallic filter structure, composed of a thin-wall (0.5mm) tube with uniform porosity (about 30%), is being developed using a unique spherical powder processing and partial sintering approach, combined with porous sheet rolling and resistance welding. Alloy choices based on modified superalloys, e.g., Ni-16Cr-4.5Al-3Fe (wt.%), are being tested in porous and bulk samples for oxide (typically alumina) scale stability in simulated oxidizing/sulfidizing atmospheres found in PFBC and IGCC systems at temperatures up to 850 C. Recent ''hanging o-ring'' exposure tests in actual combustion systems at a collaborating DOE site (EERC) have been initiated to study the combined corrosive effects from particulate deposits and hot exhaust gases. New studies are exploring the correlation between sintered microstructure, tensile strength, and permeability of porous sheet samples.

This paper presents information and data relative to recent advances in the development at Oak Ridge National Laboratory of porous inorganic membranes for high-temperature hydrogen separation. The Inorganic Membrane Technology Laboratory, which was formerly an organizational element of Bechtel Jacobs Company, LLC, was formally transferred to Oak Ridge National Laboratory on August 1, 2002, as a result of agreements reached between Bechtel Jacobs Company, the management and integration contractor at the East Tennessee Technology Park (formerly the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant or Oak Ridge K-25 Site); UT-Battelle, the management and operating contractor of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Operations Office. Research emphasis during the last year has been directed toward the development of high-permeance (high-flux) and high-separation-factor metal-supported membranes. Performance data for these membranes are presented and are compared with performance data for membranes previously produced under this program and for membranes produced by other researchers. New insights into diffusion mechanisms are included in the discussion. Fifteen products, many of which are the results of research sponsored by the DOE Fossil Energy Advanced Research Materials Program, have been declared unclassified and have been approved for commercial production.

This Environmental Assessment addresses the environmental effects of a proposed action and the no action alternative to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ground water standards at the Naturita, Colorado, Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project site. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) completed surface cleanup at the site and encapsulated the tailings in a disposal cell 15 miles northwest near the former town of Uravan, Colorado. Ground water contaminants of potential concern at the Naturita site are uranium and vanadium. Uranium concentrations exceed the maximum concentration limit (MCL) of 0.044 milligram per liter (mg/L). Vanadium has no MCL; however, vanadium concentrations exceed the EPA Region III residential risk-based concentration of 0.33 mg/L (EPA 2002). The proposed compliance strategy for uranium and vanadium at the Naturita site is no further remediation in conjunction with the application of alternate concentration limits. Institutional controls with ground water and surface water monitoring will be implemented for these constituents as part of the compliance strategy. This compliance strategy will be protective of human health and the environment. The proposed monitoring program will begin upon regulatory concurrence with the Ground Water Compliance Action Plan (DOE 2002a). Monitoring will consist of verifying that …

The distribution system of the future is going to be as much of a revolution to the electric energy industry as the wireless telephone has been to consumer communications. An electricity market transformation must occur before the changes can take place, but this evolution is already starting to occur in many parts of the country. In this paper, we discuss a vision for a future distribution system, areas that will be key for technology development, and the advantages of the new electricity market. Present day distribution systems are in a sense, unintelligent. Distribution systems respond to faults, or short circuits, by sensing the very high fault current and then opening circuit breakers to isolate the fault. Some newer automated systems determine fault location and then close other circuit breakers to provide an alternate path for power after the fault so that the number of customers left without power is minimized, but the extent of the reconfiguration is limited. Distribution systems also have some methods to regulate voltage, but there is little real time local response to contingencies such as loss of a transmission line or a generator. In present day distribution systems, there is very little control of load, or …

Computational fluid-dynamics numerical models are developed for joule-heated slurry fed waste glass melters, such as the Defense Waste Processing Facility Melter. An important feature of the analyses is the simulation of the cold cap region with its thermally resistant foamy layer. Using a simplified model which describes the foam void fraction as a function of temperature, based on laboratory sample testing, characteristic features of the cold cap are simulated. Two- and three-dimensional models are presented.

As part of the U.S. National Spent Nuclear Fuel Program, aluminide fuels (UAl{sub x}) are being tested under conditions that might exist in the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Intermittent drip tests at 90 C were completed for up to 183 days on partially declad, unirradiated, low-enriched UAl{sub x} samples. Through 183 days of exposure to modified water from the J-13 well at 90 C, the fuel coupon remained in good mechanical condition. Only a tarnishing of the surface was observed and no spalled products were found in the fuel holder. The mechanism for alteration is consistent with that observed from dry oxidation experiments on UAl{sub x} (for the initial corrosion) and humid UO{sub 2} oxidation (for the subsequent paragenesis). Specifically, solid-state conversion of UAl{sub x} into UO{sub 2} and oxidized Al is followed by further oxidation, dissolution of the uranium, and reprecipitation as uranyl oxyhydroxides. The release rate of uranium varied from 0.23 to 2.9 mg/m{sup 2}/day (avg. = 0.97 mg U/m{sup 2}/day) depending on the specimen and test interval, but was similar in magnitude to that observed in earlier flow-through and drip tests with irradiated UAl{sub x} and UO{sub 2}. Most (mean=87%) of the released uranium sorbed …

Defense Waste Processing Facility melter production data from three waste batches were analyzed using a lumped parameter approach which separates effects of melter feed, heater temperature, and power on melt rate under various modes of operation. A detailed distribution of power inputs and heat consumption pathways, as provided by the lumped parameter model, evaluated possible causes of melt rate reduction and other operational data. Theoretical aspects of the steady state analysis, as well as transient analysis, are presented.The lumped model complements the more detailed multi-dimensional computational models by providing boundary conditions for such models, and is the only practical way of predicting transients.

This project has two primary purposes: (1) Build a small-footprint (SFP) fuel production plant to prove the feasibility of this relatively transportable technology on an intermediate scale (i.e. between laboratory-bench and commercial capacity) and produce as much as 150,000 gallons of hydrogen-saturated Fischer-Tropsch (FT) diesel fuel; and (2) Use the virtually sulfur-free fuel produced to demonstrate (over a period of at least six months) that it can not only be used in existing diesel engines, but that it also can enable significantly increased effectiveness and life of the next-generation exhaust-after-treatment emission control systems that are currently under development and that will be required for future diesel engines. Furthermore, a well-to-wheels economic analysis will be performed to characterize the overall costs and benefits that would be associated with the actual commercial production, distribution and use of such FT diesel fuel made by the process under consideration, from the currently underutilized (or entirely un-used) energy resources targeted, primarily natural gas that is stranded, sub-quality, off-shore, etc. During the first year of the project, which is the subject of this report, there have been two significant areas of progress: (1) Most of the preparatory work required to build the SFP fuel-production plant has …