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: Effect of a final conviction for a felony or misdemeanor crime involving moral turpitude on a notary public's application or commission (RQ-0785-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; Validity of appropriation of a one-time payment to the annuitants of the Teacher Retirement Ssytem and the Employees Retirement System (RQ-0801-GA)

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This report provides background on issues regarding peacekeeping efforts, as well as stabilization and reconstruction operations. It also discusses proposals and tracks related legislative action.

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Isotope effects (IEs) are a powerful tool for examining the reactivity of, and interactions between, molecules. Recently, secondary IEs have been used to probe the nature of noncovalent interactions between guest and host molecules in supramolecular systems. While these studies can provide valuable insight into the specific interactions governing guest recognition and binding properties, IEs on noncovalent interactions are often very small and difficult to measure precisely. The Perrin group has developed an NMR titration method capable of determining ratios of equilibrium constants with remarkable precision. They have used this technique to study small, secondary equilibrium isotope effects (EIEs) on the acidity of carboxylic acids and phenols and on the basicity of amines, measuring differences down to thousandths of a pK{sub a} unit. It occurred to us that this titration method can in principle measure relative equilibrium constants for any process which is fast on the NMR timescale and for which the species under comparison are distinguishable by NMR. Here we report the application of this method to measure very small EIEs on noncovalent host-guest interactions in a supramolecular system.

An updated deterministic version of the Techa River Dosimetry System (TRDS-2009D) has been developed to estimate individual doses from external exposure and intake of radionuclides for residents living on the Techa River contaminated as a result of radioactive releases from the Mayak plutonium facility in 1949–1956. The TRDS-2009D is designed as a flexible system that uses, depending on the input data for an individual, various elements of system databases to provide the dosimetric variables requested by the user. Several phases are included in the computation schedule. The first phase includes calculations with use of a common protocol for all cohort members based on village-average-intake functions and external dose rates; individual data on age, gender and history of residence are included in the first phase. This phase results in dose estimates similar to those obtained with system TRDS-2000 used previously to derive risks of health effects in the Techa River Cohort. The second phase includes refinement of individual internal doses for those persons who have had body-burden measurements or exposure parameters specific to the household where he/she lived on the Techa River. The third phase includes summation of individual doses from environmental exposure and from radiological examinations. The results of TRDS-2009D …

The IAEA Nuclear Data Section convened the 18th meeting of the International Network of Nuclear Structure and Decay Data Evaluators at the IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, 23 to 27 March 2009. This meeting was attended by 22 scientists from 14 Member States, plus IAEA staff, concerned with the compilation, evaluation and dissemination of nuclear structure and decay data. A summary of the meeting, recommendations/conclusions, data centre reports, and various proposals considered, modified and agreed by the participants are contained within this document. The International Network of Nuclear Structure and Decay Data (NSDD) Evaluators holds biennial meetings under the auspices of the IAEA, and consists of evaluation groups and data service centres in several countries. This network has the objective of providing up-to-date nuclear structure and decay data for all known nuclides by evaluating all existing experimental data. Data resulting from this international evaluation collaboration is included in the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) and published in the journals Nuclear Physics A and Nuclear Data Sheets (NDS).

A system for collecting solid, post-explosion debris samples from the NIF chamber and their subsequent radiochemical analysis is currently under development. If the debris that condenses out of the plasma can be collected and analyzed, the number and type of nuclear reactions that occurred in the capsule material can be determined. this has applications both for radiochemical diagnostics of NIF capsule performance as well as radiochemical measurements relevant to basic science and stockpile stewardship. Several design prototypes have been studied and a prioritized list of radiochemical measurements that could be performed on NIF is under development based on interactions with capsule design, fabrication, and WCI design divisions.

We have been developing a high throughput 454 library construction process at the Joint Genome Institute to meet the needs of de novo sequencing a large number of microbial and eukaryote genomes, EST, and metagenome projects. We have been focusing efforts in three areas: (1) modifying the current process to allow the construction of 454 standard libraries on a 96-well format; (2) developing a robotic platform to perform the 454 library construction; and (3) designing molecular barcodes to allow pooling and sorting of many different samples. In the development of a high throughput process to scale up the number of libraries by adapting the process to a 96-well plate format, the key process change involves the replacement of gel electrophoresis for size selection with Solid Phase Reversible Immobilization (SPRI) beads. Although the standard deviation of the insert sizes increases, the overall quality sequence and distribution of the reads in the genome has not changed. The manual process of constructing 454 shotgun libraries on 96-well plates is a time-consuming, labor-intensive, and ergonomically hazardous process; we have been experimenting to program a BioMek robot to perform the library construction. This will not only enable library construction to be completed in a single …

We propose undertaking a demonstration experiment on suppressing spontaneous undulator radiation from an electron beam at BNL's Accelerator Test Facility (ATF). We describe the method, the proposed layout, and a possible schedule. There are several advantages in strongly suppressing shot noise in the electron beam, and the corresponding spontaneous radiation. The self-amplified spontaneous (SASE) emission originating from shot noise in the electron beam is the main source of noise in high-gain FEL amplifiers. It may negatively affect several HG FEL applications ranging from single- to multi-stage HGHG FELs. SASE saturation also imposes a fundamental hard limit on the gain of an FEL amplifier in a coherent electron-cooling scheme. A novel active method for suppressing shot noise in relativistic electron beams by many orders-of-magnitude was recently proposed. While theoretically such strong suppression appears feasible, the performance and applicability of this novel method must be evaluated experimentally. Several practical questions about the proposed noise suppressor, such as 3D effects and/or sensitivity to the e-beam parameters also require experimental clarification. To do this, we propose here a proof-of-principle experiment using elements of the VISA FEL at BNL's Accelerator Test Facility.

Magnetization reversal in patterned ferromagnetic nanowires usually occurs via domain wall (DW) nucleation and propagation from one end (or both ends) of the wire which can be significantly reduced by a large, magnetically soft pad on one of the wire ends. These 'nucleation pads' reverse at lower fields than an isolated nanowire and introduce a DW to the wire from the wire end attached to the pad. Once a critical 'injection' field is reached, the DW sweeps through the wire, reversing its magnetization. Nucleation pads are frequently used as part of nanowire devices and experimental structures. Magnetic-field-driven shift register memory can include an injection pad to write data while those attached to nanowire spiral turn sensors act as both a source and sink of domain walls. Both of these devices use two-dimensional wire circuits and therefore require the use of orthogonal in-plane magnetic fields to drive domain walls through wires of different orientations. These bi-axial fields can significantly alter the fields at which DW injection occurs and control the number of different injection modes. We have used magnetic transmission soft X-ray microscopy (M-TXM) [6] providing 25nm spatial resolution to image the evolution of magnetization configurations in patterned 24nm thick Ni{sub …

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was tasked by Bechtel National Inc. (BNI) on the River Protection Project, Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (RPP-WTP) project to conduct testing to demonstrate the performance of the WTP Pretreatment Facility (PTF) leaching and ultrafiltration processes at an engineering-scale. In addition to the demonstration, the testing was to address specific technical issues identified in Issue Response Plan for Implementation of External Flowsheet Review Team (EFRT) Recommendations - M12, Undemonstrated Leaching Processes.( ) Testing was conducted in a 1/4.5-scale mock-up of the PTF ultrafiltration system, the Pretreatment Engineering Platform (PEP). Parallel laboratory testing was conducted in various PNNL laboratories to allow direct comparison of process performance at an engineering-scale and a laboratory-scale. This report presents and discusses the results of those tests.

The nature of plasma equilibrium in a magnetic field with stochastic regions is examined. It is shown that the magnetic differential equation that determines the equilibrium Pfirsch-Schluter currents can be cast in a form similar to various nonlinear equations for a turbulent plasma, allowing application of the mathematical methods of statistical turbulence theory. An analytically tractable model, previously studied in the context of resonance-broadening theory, is applied with particular attention paid to the periodicity constraints required in toroidal configurations. It is shown that even a very weak radial diffusion of the magnetic field lines can have a significant effect on the equilibrium in the neighborhood of the rational surfaces, strongly modifying the near-resonant Pfirsch-Schluter currents. Implications for the numerical calculation of 3D equilibria are discussed

A Saltstone waste form was prepared in the Savannah River National Laboratory from a Tank 50H sample and Z-Area premix material for the second quarter of calendar year 2008 (2QCY08). After the prescribed 28 day cure, samples of the saltstone were collected, and the waste form was shown to meet the South Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (SCHWMR) R.61-79.261.24 and R.61-79.268.48(a) requirements for a nonhazardous waste form with respect to RCRA metals and underlying hazardous constituents. These analyses met all quality assurance specifications of USEPA SW-846. The Saltstone Production Facility (SPF) receives waste from Tank 50H for treatment. In the second quarter of the 2008 calendar year (2QCY08), Tank 50 accepted transfers of approximately 21 kgal from the Effluent Treatment Project (ETP) waste, approximately 3 kgal from Tank 710--the H-Canyon General Purpose Evaporator, and approximately 23 kgal form the Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU) Decontaminated Salt Solution Hold Tank (DSS-HT). The Saltstone Grout Sampling plan provides the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) with the chemical and physical characterization strategy for the salt solution which is to be disposed of in the Z-Area Solid Waste Landfill (ISWLF). During operation, samples were collected from Tank 50H …

Aerial images for isolated defects and the interactions of defects with features are compared between the Actinic Inspection Tool (AIT) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the fast EUV simulation program RADICAL. Comparisons between AIT images from August 2007 and RADICAL simulations are used to extract aberrations. At this time astigmatism was the dominant aberration with a value of 0.55 waves RMS. Significant improvements in the imaging performance of the AIT were made between August 2007 and December 2008. A good match will be shown between the most recent AIT images and RADICAL simulations without aberrations. These comparisons will demonstrate that a large defect, in this case 7nm tall on the surface, is still printable even if it is centered under the absorber line. These comparisons also suggest that the minimum defect size is between 1.5nm and 0.8nm surface height because a 1.5nm defect was printable but a 0.8nm was not. Finally, the image of a buried defect near an absorber line through focus will demonstrate an inversion in the effect of the defect from a protrusion of the dark line into the space to a protrusion of the space into the line.

Geologic carbon sequestration is the injection of anthropogenic CO{sub 2} into deep geologic formations where the CO{sub 2} is intended to remain indefinitely. If successfully implemented, geologic carbon sequestration will have little or no impact on terrestrial ecosystems aside from the mitigation of climate change. However, failure of a geologic carbon sequestration site, such as large-scale leakage of CO{sub 2} into a potable groundwater aquifer, could cause impacts that would require costly remediation measures. Governments are attempting to develop regulations for permitting geologic carbon sequestration sites to ensure their safety and effectiveness. At present, these regulations focus largely on decreasing the probability of failure. In this paper we propose that regulations for the siting of early geologic carbon sequestration projects should emphasize limiting the consequences of failure because consequences are easier to quantify than failure probability.

Eaton has developed an advanced energy management solution that has been deployed to several Industries of the Future (IoF) sites. This demonstrated energy savings and reduced unscheduled downtime through an improved means for performing predictive diagnostics and energy efficiency estimation. Eaton has developed a suite of online, continuous, and inferential algorithms that utilize motor current signature analysis (MCSA) and motor power signature analysis (MPSA) techniques to detect and predict the health condition and energy usage condition of motors and their connect loads. Eaton has also developed a hardware and software platform that provided a means to develop and test these advanced algorithms in the field. Results from lab validation and field trials have demonstrated that the developed advanced algorithms are able to detect motor and load inefficiency and performance degradation. Eaton investigated the performance of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) within various industrial facilities to understand concerns about topology and environmental conditions that have precluded broad adoption by the industry to date. A Wireless Link Assessment System (WLAS), was used to validate wireless performance under a variety of conditions. Results demonstrated that wireless networks can provide adequate performance in most facilities when properly specified and deployed. Customers from various IoF expressed …

This paper presents a theoretical framework for understanding plasma turbulence in astrophysical plasmas. It is motivated by observations of electromagnetic and density fluctuations in the solar wind, interstellar medium and galaxy clusters, as well as by models of particle heating in accretion disks. All of these plasmas and many others have turbulentmotions at weakly collisional and collisionless scales. The paper focuses on turbulence in a strong mean magnetic field. The key assumptions are that the turbulent fluctuations are small compared to the mean field, spatially anisotropic with respect to it and that their frequency is low compared to the ion cyclotron frequency. The turbulence is assumed to be forced at some system-specific outer scale. The energy injected at this scale has to be dissipated into heat, which ultimately cannot be accomplished without collisions. A kinetic cascade develops that brings the energy to collisional scales both in space and velocity. The nature of the kinetic cascade in various scale ranges depends on the physics of plasma fluctuations that exist there. There are four special scales that separate physically distinct regimes: the electron and ion gyroscales, the mean free path and the electron diffusion scale. In each of the scale ranges separated …

With increased application of MOX fuels and longer burnup times for conventional fuels, higher concentrations of the transplutonium actinides Am and Cm (and even heavier species like Bk and Cf) will be produced. The half-lives of the Am isotopes are significantly longer than those of the most important long-lived, high specific activity lanthanides or the most common Cm, Bk and Cf isotopes, thus the greatest concern as regards long-term radiotoxicity. With the removal and transmutation of Am isotopes, radiation levels of high level wastes are reduced to near uranium mineral levels within less than 1000 years as opposed to the time-fram if they remain in the wastes.

Final report for the Columbia Non-neutral Torus. This details the results from the design, construction and initial operation of the Columbia Non-neutral Torus.

In searching for high gravimetric and volumetric density hydrogen storage systems, it is inevitable that higher energy density materials will be used. In order to make safe and commercially acceptable condensed phase hydrogen storage systems, it is important to understand quantitatively the risks involved in using and handling these materials and to develop appropriate mitigation strategies to handle potential material exposure events. A crucial aspect of the development of risk identification and mitigation strategies is the development of rigorous environmental reactivity testing standards and procedures. This will allow for the identification of potential risks and implementation of risk mitigation strategies. Modified testing procedures for shipping air and/or water sensitive materials, as codified by the United Nations, have been used to evaluate two potential hydrogen storage materials, 2LiBH{sub 4} {center_dot} MgH{sub 2} and NH{sub 3}BH{sub 3}. The modified U.N. procedures include identification of self-reactive substances, pyrophoric substances, and gas-emitting substances with water contact. The results of these tests for air and water contact sensitivity will be compared to the pure material components where appropriate (e.g. LiBH{sub 4} and MgH{sub 2}). The water contact tests are divided into two scenarios dependent on the hydride to water mole ratio and heat transport characteristics. …

In 2008, the National Marine Fisheries Service completed the sixteenth year of a study to estimate survival and travel time of juvenile salmonids Oncorhynchus spp. passing through dams and reservoirs on the Snake and Columbia Rivers. All estimates were derived from detections of fish tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. We PIT tagged and released a total of 18,565 hatchery steelhead O. mykiss, 15,991 wild steelhead, and 9,714 wild yearling Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha at Lower Granite Dam in the Snake River. In addition, we utilized fish PIT tagged by other agencies at traps and hatcheries upstream from the hydropower system and at sites within the hydropower system in both the Snake and Columbia Rivers. These included 122,061 yearling Chinook salmon tagged at Lower Granite Dam for evaluation of latent mortality related to passage through Snake River dams. PIT-tagged smolts were detected at interrogation facilities at Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, Ice Harbor, McNary, John Day, and Bonneville Dams and in the PIT-tag detector trawl operated in the Columbia River estuary. Survival estimates were calculated using a statistical model for tag-recapture data from single release groups (the single-release model). Primary research objectives in 2008 were to: (1) estimate …