At the 0.08 BAC level of alcohol, braking, steering, lane changing, and judgment are degraded and the driving performance of virtually all drivers is substantially impaired. During the debate on reauthorization of the federal surface transportation programs, an amendment that would require each state either to enact a 0.08 BAC law or face the loss of a portion of its Federal Highway Trust Fund monies passed the Senate and will likely be considered in the House. This proposal raises questions about the effectiveness and impacts of a 0.08 BAC law, the rights of states versus the federal government, and alternative ways to encourage the states to adopt stronger impaired driving countermeasures.

This report gives an overview of forest health.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is studying a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for a permanent underground repository for highly radioactive spent fuel from nuclear reactors, but delays have pushed back the facility’s opening date to 2010 at the earliest. In the meantime, spent fuel is accumulating at U.S. nuclear plant sites at the rate of about 2,000 metric tons per year. Major options for managing those growing quantities of nuclear spent fuel include continued storage at reactors, construction of a DOE interim storage site near Yucca Mountain, and licensing of private storage facilities. Arguments for development of a federal interim storage facility include DOE legal obligations, long-term costs, and public controversy over new on-site storage facilities. Opposition to centralized storage centers on the potential risks of a large-scale nuclear waste transportation campaign.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification;Whether member of upper Colorado River Authority Board who moves to another area of the state may continue to serve on the board(RQ 989).

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification;Whether a county judge may delegate authority to hear applications for liquor licenses to a district clerk or a county commissioner(RQ-961).

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification;Whether a public hearing is required to replace an assistant county auditor.(ID# 39596).

Since the first demonstration of the laser in the 1960`s, lasers have found numerous applications in analytical chemistry. In this work, two different applications are described, namely, DNA sequencing with capillary gel electrophoresis and single cell analysis with mass spectrometry. Two projects are described in which high-speed DNA separations with capillary gel electrophoresis were demonstrated. In the third project, flow cytometry and mass spectrometry were coupled via a laser vaporization/ionization interface and individual mammalian cells were analyzed. First, DNA Sanger fragments were separated by capillary gel electrophoresis. A separation speed of 20 basepairs per minute was demonstrated with a mixed poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) sieving solution. In addition, a new capillary wall treatment protocol was developed in which bare (or uncoated) capillaries can be used in DNA sequencing. Second, a temperature programming scheme was used to separate DNA Sanger fragments. Third, flow cytometry and mass spectrometry were coupled with a laser vaporization/ionization interface.

The research in this thesis explores the separation capabilities of a new technique termed electrochemically-modulated liquid chromatography (EMLC). The thesis begins with a general introduction section which provides a literature review of this technique as well as a brief background discussion of the two research projects in each of the next two chapters. The two papers which follow investigate the application of EMLC to the separation of a mixture of aromatic amino acids and of a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The last section presents general conclusions and summarizes the thesis. References are compiled in the reference section of each chapter. The two papers have been removed for separate processing.

A capillary array electrophoresis system was chosen to perform DNA sequencing because of several advantages such as rapid heat dissipation, multiplexing capabilities, gel matrix filling simplicity, and the mature nature of the associated manufacturing technologies. There are two major concerns for the multiple capillary systems. One concern is inter-capillary cross-talk, and the other concern is excitation and detection efficiency. Cross-talk is eliminated through proper optical coupling, good focusing and immersing capillary array into index matching fluid. A side-entry excitation scheme with orthogonal detection was established for large capillary array. Two 100 capillary array formats were used for DNA sequencing. One format is cylindrical capillary with 150 {micro}m o.d., 75 {micro}m i.d and the other format is square capillary with 300 {micro}m out edge and 75 {micro}m inner edge. This project is focused on the development of excitation and detection of DNA as well as performing DNA sequencing. The DNA injection schemes are discussed for the cases of single and bundled capillaries. An individual sampling device was designed. The base-calling was performed for a capillary from the capillary array with the accuracy of 98%.

The mixed potential integral equation (MPIE) formulation is convenient for problems involving layered media because potential quantities involve low order singularities, in comparison to field quantities. For nonperiodic problems, the associated Green`s potentials involve spectral integrals of the Sommerfeld type, in the periodic case, discrete sums over sampled values of the same spectra are required. When source and observation points are in the same or in adjacent layers, the convergence of both representations is enhanced by isolating the direct and quasi-static image contributions associated with the nearby layers. In the periodic case, the convergence of direct and image contributions may be rapidly accelerated by means of the Ewadd method.

We are investigating a novel insulator concept which involves the use of alternating layers of conductors and insulators with periods less than 1 mm. These structures perform many times better (about 1.5 to 4 times higher breakdown electric field) than conventional insulators in long pulse, short pulse, and alternating polarity applications. We present our ongoing studies investigating the degradation of the breakdown electric field resulting from surface roughness, the effect of gas pressure, and the performance of the insulator structure under bi-polar stress. Further, we present our initial modeling studies.

Previous research into the alkali-metal-gallium systems has revealed a large variety of networked gallium deltahedra. The clusters are analogues to borane clusters and follow the same electronic requirements of 2n+2 skeletal electrons for closo-deltahedra. This work has focused on compounds that do not follow the typical electron counting rules. The first isolated gallium cluster was found in Cs{sub 8}Ga{sub 11}. The geometry of the Ga{sub 11}{sup 7{minus}} unit is not deltahedral but can be described as a penta-capped trigonal prism. The reduction of the charge from a closo-Ga{sub 11}{sup 13{minus}} to Ga{sub 11}{sup 7{minus}} is believed to be the driving force of the distortion. The compound is paramagnetic because of an extra electron but incorporation of a halide atom into the structure captures the unpaired electron and forms a diamagnetic compound. A second isolated cluster has been found in Na{sub 10}Ga{sub 10}Ni where the tetra-capped trigonal prismatic gallium is centered by nickel. Stabilization of the cluster occurs through Ni-Ga bonding. A simple two-dimensional network occurs in the binary K{sub 2}Ga{sub 3} Octahedra are connected through four waist atoms to form a layered structure with the potassium atoms sitting between the layers. Na{sub 30.5}Ga{sub 60{minus}x}Ag{sub x} is nonstoichiometric and needs only …

Solid and liquid radioactive waste continues to be stored in 149 single-shell tanks at the Hanford Site. To date, 119 tanks have had most of the pumpable liquid removed by interim stabilization. Thirty tanks remain to be stabilized. One of these tanks (C-106) will be stabilized by retrieval of the tank contents. The remaining 29 tanks will be interim stabilized by saltwell pumping. In the summer of 1997, the US Department of Energy (DOE) placed a moratorium on the startup of additional saltwell pumping systems because of funding constraints and proposed modifications to the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Tri-Party Agreement) milestones to the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology). In a letter dated February 10, 1998, Final Determination Pursuant to Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Tri-Party Agreement) in the Matter of the Disapproval of the DOE`s Change Control Form M-41-97-01 (Fitzsimmons 1998), Ecology disapproved the DOE Change Control Form M-41-97-01. In response, Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. (FDH) directed Lockheed Martin Hanford Corporation (LNMC) to initiate development of a project plan in a letter dated February 25, 1998, Direction for Development of an Aggressive Single-Shell Tank (SST) Interim Stabilization Completion Project Plan in Support of Hanford …

The Department of Energy Isotope Production and Distribution Program mission is to serve the national need for a reliable supply of isotope products and services for medicine, industry and research. The program produces and sells hundreds of stable and radioactive isotopes that are widely utilized by domestic and international customers. Isotopes are produced only where there is no U.S. private sector capability or other production capacity is insufficient to meet U.S. needs. The Department encourages private sector investment in new isotope production ventures and will sell or lease its existing facilities and inventories for commercial purposes. The Isotope Program reports to the Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology. The Isotope Program operates under a revolving fund established by the Fiscal Year (FY) 1990 Energy and Water Appropriations Act and maintains financial viability by earning revenues from the sale of isotopes and services and through annual appropriations. The FY 1995 Energy and Water Appropriations Act modified predecessor acts to allow prices charged for Isotope Program products and services to be based on production costs, market value, the needs of the research community, and other factors. Although the Isotope Program functions as a business, prices set for small-volume, …

This paper presents the results of a study to evaluate the effects of soil-structure interaction (SSI) on the ambient vibration response of the switchyard/target area (S/TA) buildings at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) presently under construction at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, California. This laser facility houses optical and other special equipment whose alignment stability is sensitive to vibrations caused by ambient vibrations or other vibrating sources. In evaluating the deformations and displacements of the S/TA structures, the contribution of the SSI to the overall system flexibility can be very significant. The present study examines the results of fixed-base and SSI analyses of these massive stiff structures to develop an understanding of the potential contribution of SSI to the overall system displacements and deformations. A simple procedure using a set of factors is recommended for scaling the results of fixed-base analyses to approximately account for SSI effects.

Induced charges on a four-button beam position monitor (BPM) system attached on a beam chamber of narrow rectangular cross sections are calculated as a 2-D electrostatic problem of image charges. The calculation shows that for a narrow chamber of width/height (2w/2h) {much_gt} 1, over 90% of the induced charges are distributed within a distance of 2h from the charged beam position in the direction of the chamber width. Therefore, a four-button system with a button diameter of (2--2.5)h and no button offset from the beam position is the most efficient configuration. The four-button BPMs used for 8-mm and 5-mm chambers in the APS have relatively low sensitivities because the button locations are outside the range where the induced charge densities are low and the button diameters are less than 2h. Using derived formulae, button sensitivities and beam position coefficients are calculated for the buttons of the most efficient case and of the 8-mm and 5-mm chambers. The formulae may be used to validate the method of computer modeling for BPM buttons on a beam chamber of an arbitrary cross section.

This report addresses a controlled design assumptions document.

This report gives an overview of forest health.

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This report examines the population or family planning activities financed by the international financial institutions (IFIs), based on a survey of their activities.

A sample of solids was obtained from tank 104 of 219S via a peristaltic pump equipped with a stainless steel tube and Norprenel tubing (Phthalate free). The sample obtained in a glass jar with Teflon 2 lid, was analyzed for PCBs as Aroclor mixtures. A soxhlet extraction procedure was used to extract the Aroclors from the sample. Analysis was performed using dual column confirmation gas chromatography/electron capture detection (GC/ECD). The extraction method closely follows SW-846 method 3540C and the analysis follows SW-846 method.