Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On December 5, 2006, we testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, at a hearing entitled, "An Assessment of Improper Payments Information Act of 2002." At the end of the hearing, Congress asked us to provide information regarding (1) barriers inhibiting agencies' efforts to prevent and reduce improper payments, (2) legislative reforms needed to facilitate agencies' efforts to prevent improper payments, and (3) suggested language to amend the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA) that would provide more complete disclosure and transparency of agencies' improper payments reporting."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the 1990s, states sued major tobacco companies to obtain reimbursement for health impairments caused by the public's use of tobacco. In 1998, four of the nation's largest tobacco companies signed a Master Settlement Agreement, agreeing to make annual payments to 46 states in perpetuity as reimbursement for past tobacco-related health care costs. Some states have arranged to receive advance proceeds based on the amounts that tobacco companies owe by issuing bonds backed by future payments. This testimony discusses (1) the amounts of tobacco settlement payments that the states received from fiscal years 2000 through 2005, the most recent year for which GAO has actual data, and (2) the states' allocations of these payments. We also include states' projected fiscal year 2006 allocations. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 required GAO to report annually, through fiscal year 2006, on how states used the payments made by tobacco companies. GAO based this testimony on five annual surveys of these 46 states' Master Settlement Agreement payments and how they allocated these payments."

A faculty recital performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall.

A COMPACT GAS PROCESSING DEVICE WAS INVESTIGATED TO INCREASE GAS PRODUCTION FROM REMOTE, PREVIOUSLY UN-ECONOMIC RESOURCES. THE UNIT WAS TESTED ON AIR AND WATER AND WITH NATURAL GAS AND LIQUID. RESULTS ARE REPORTED WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK.

We found monochromatic electron photoemission from large-area self-assembled monolayers of a functionalized diamondoid, [121]tetramantane-6-thiol. Photoelectron spectra of the diamondoid monolayers exhibited a peak at the low-kinetic energy threshold; up to 68percent of all emitted electrons were emitted within this single energy peak. The intensity of the emission peak is indicative of diamondoids being negative electron affinity materials. With an energy distribution width of less than 0.5 electron volts, this source of monochromatic electrons may find application in technologies such as electron microscopy, electron beam lithography, and field-emission flatpanel displays.

An over-dense microwave driven ion source capable of producing deuterium (or hydrogen) beams at 100-200 mA/cm{sup 2} and with atomic fraction > 90% was designed and tested with an electrostatic low energy beam transport section (LEBT). This ion source was incorporated into the design of an Accelerator Driven Neutron Source (ADNS). The other key components in the ADNS include a 6 MeV RFQ accelerator, a beam bending and scanning system, and a deuterium gas target. In this design a 40 mA D{sup +} beam is produced from a 6 mm diameter aperture using a 60 kV extraction voltage. The LEBT section consists of 5 electrodes arranged to form 2 Einzel lenses that focus the beam into the RFQ entrance. To create the ECR condition, 2 induction coils are used to create {approx} 875 Gauss on axis inside the source chamber. To prevent HV breakdown in the LEBT a magnetic field clamp is necessary to minimize the field in this region. Matching of the microwave power from the waveguide to the plasma is done by an autotuner. They observed significant improvement of the beam quality after installing a boron nitride liner inside the ion source. The measured emittance data are compared …

We consider a charged porous material that is saturated bytwo fluid phases that are immiscible and continuous on the scale of arepresentative elementary volume. The wetting phase for the grains iswater and the nonwetting phase is assumed to be an electricallyinsulating viscous fluid. We use a volume-averaging approach to derivethe linear constitutive equations for the electrical current density aswell as the seepage velocities of the wetting and nonwetting phases onthe scale of a representative elementary volume. These macroscopicconstitutive equations are obtained by volume-averaging Ampere's lawtogether with the Nernst Planck equation and the Stokes equations. Thematerial properties entering the macroscopic constitutive equations areexplicitly described as functions of the saturation of the water phase,the electrical formation factor, and parameters that describe thecapillary pressure function, the relative permeability function, and thevariation of electrical conductivity with saturation. New equations arederived for the streaming potential and electro-osmosis couplingcoefficients. A primary drainage and imbibition experiment is simulatednumerically to demonstrate that the relative streaming potential couplingcoefficient depends not only on the water saturation, but also on thematerial properties of the sample, as well as the saturation history. Wealso compare the predicted streaming potential coupling coefficients withexperimental data from four dolomite core samples. Measurements on thesesamples include electrical …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives granting the legislature permission to adjourn for more than three days during the period beginning on Wednesday, February 21, 2007, and ending on Monday, February 26, 2007.

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Research on cellular function and regulation would be greatly advanced by new instrumentation using methods to alter cellular processes with spatial discrimination on the nanometer-scale. We present a novel technique for targeting submicrometer sized organelles or other biologically important regions in living cells using femtosecond laser pulses. By tightly focusing these pulses beneath the cell membrane, we can vaporize cellular material inside the cell through nonlinear optical processes. This technique enables non-invasive manipulation of the physical structure of a cell with sub-micrometer resolution. We propose to study the role mitochondria play in cell proliferation and apoptosis. Our technique provides a unique tool for the study of cell biology.

We have performed experiments at the COMET and Calisto short pulse laser facilities to make the first comprehensive measurements of the laser absorption and energy partition in solid targets heated with an ultrashort laser pulse focused to relativistic laser intensities (>10 10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2}). The measurements show an exceedingly high absorption for P polarized laser-target interactions above 10{sup 19} W/cm{sup 2}. Additionally, the hot electron population is observed to markedly increase at the same intensity range. An investigation of the relaxation process was initiated u using time sing time-resolved K{sub {alpha}} spectroscopy. Measurements of the time time-resolved K{sub {alpha}} radiation suggest a 10-20 ps relativistic electron relaxation time. However modeling difficulties of these data are apparent and a more detailed investigation on this subject matter is warranted.

This month's issue has the following articles: (1) Shaking the Foundations of Solar-System Science--Commentary by William H. Goldstein; (2) Stardust Results Challenge Astronomical Convention--The first samples retrieved from a comet are a treasure trove of surprises to Laboratory researchers; (3) Fire in the Hole--Underground coal gasification may help to meet future energy supply challenges with a production process from the past; (4) Big Physics in Small Spaces--A newly developed computer model successfully simulates particle-laden fluids flowing through complex microfluidic systems; (5) A New Block on the Periodic Table--Livermore and Russian scientists add a new block to the periodic table with the creation of element 118; and (6) A Search for Patterns and Connections--Throughout his career, Edward Teller searched for mathematical solutions to explain the physical world.

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Two processes were chosen in the 1980's at the Savannah River Site (SRS) to decontaminate the soluble High Level Waste (HLW). The In Tank Precipitation (ITP) process (1,2) was developed at SRS for the removal of radioactive cesium and actinides from the soluble HLW. Sodium tetraphenylborate was added to the waste to precipitate cesium and monosodium titanate (MST) was added to adsorb actinides, primarily uranium and plutonium. Two products of this process were a low activity waste stream and a concentrated organic stream containing cesium tetraphenylborate and actinides adsorbed on monosodium titanate (MST). A copper catalyzed acid hydrolysis process was built to process (3, 4) the Tank 48H cesium tetraphenylborate waste in the SRS's Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). Operation of the DWPF would have resulted in the production of benzene for incineration in SRS's Consolidated Incineration Facility. This process was abandoned together with the ITP process in 1998 due to high benzene in ITP caused by decomposition of excess sodium tetraphenylborate. Processing in ITP resulted in the production of approximately 1.0 million liters of HLW. SRS has chosen a solvent extraction process combined with adsorption of the actinides to decontaminate the soluble HLW stream (5). However, the waste in …

This project characterizes typical two-phase stratified flow conditions in advanced water reactor horizontal pipe sections, following activation of passive cooling systems. It provides (1) a means to educate nuclear engineering students regarding the importance of two-phase stratified flow in passive cooling systems to the safety of advanced reactor systems and (2) describes the experimental apparatus and process to measure key parameters essential to consider when designing passive emergency core cooling flow paths that may encounter this flow regime. Based on data collected, the state of analysis capabilities can be determined regarding stratified flow in advanced reactor systems and the best paths forward can be identified to ensure that the nuclear industry can properly characterize two-phase stratified flow in passive emergency core cooling systems.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony summarizes GAO's February 2007 report on SBInet, one element of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Secure Border Initiative (SBI). SBInet is responsible for developing a comprehensive border protection system. By legislative mandate, GAO reviewed SBInet's fiscal year 2007 expenditure plan. This testimony focuses on (1) the extent that the plan provided explicit and measurable commitments relative to schedule and costs, (2) how DHS is following federal acquisition regulations and management best practices, and (3) concurrency in SBInet's schedule. GAO assessed the plan against federal guidelines and industry standards and interviewed program officials."

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Funeral program for Mrs. Brenda J. Walker-Grimes, born February 16, 1949 and died February 21, 2007. The funeral was held February 27, 2007 at West End Baptist Church, officiated by Rev. A. B. Devers I. The funeral arrangements were made through Lewis Funeral Home and she was buried in Meadowlawn Memorial Park in San Antonio, Texas.

This report provides information about the U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances on Cuba. Restrictions on travel to Cuba have been a key and often contentious component in The U.S.