Legislation establishing a Department of Homeland Security includes provisions for an information analysis element within the new department. This report examines the information analysis function and the sharing of information among federal agencies but does not address provisions in the proposed legislation governing the sharing of intelligence with state and local officials.

This report documents the first year's effort towards a 3-year program to develop micropilot ignition systems for existing pipeline compressor engines. In essence, all Phase I goals and objectives were met. We intend to proceed with the Phase II research plan, as set forth by the applicable Research Management Plan. The objective for Phase I was to demonstrate the feasibility of micropilot ignition for large bore, slow speed engines operating at low compression ratios. The primary elements of Micropilot Phase I were to develop a single-cylinder test chamber to study the injection of pilot fuel into a combustion cylinder and to develop, install and test a multi-cylinder micropilot ignition system for a 4-cylinder, natural gas test engine. In all, there were twelve (12) tasks defined and executed to support these two (2) primarily elements in a stepwise fashion. Task-specific approaches and results are documented in this report. Research activities for Micropilot Phase I were conducted with the understanding that the efforts are expected to result in a commercial product to capture and disseminate the efficiency and environmental benefits of this new technology. An extensive state-of-art review was conducted to leverage the existing body of knowledge of micropilot ignition with respect …

Daily newspaper from Sapulpa, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Perry, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Chickasha, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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

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

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Agriculture.

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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a relapsing-remitting disorder of the central nervous system that results in the loss of the myelin sheaths insulating nerve fibers (axons). Strong evidence suggests that MS is an autoimmune disease mediated by T-cell and antibody responses against myelin antigens. Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) is a 26 kD to 28 kD an integral membrane protein of the central nervous system implicated as a target for autoaggressive antibodies in MS. To date, the conformation of MOG in association with the myelin membrane is unknown and the exact nature of the interactions between this protein and disease-inducing immune responses have not been determined. Since membrane associated proteins are typically characterized by decreased correlation times, solution state NMR methodologies are often impracticable. Membrane proteins are also often difficult to crystallize for X-ray diffraction studies, Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop new structure characterization tools for this important class of biomolecules. The research described here overviews the initial stages of our effort to develop an integrated, NMR based approach to structural studies of MOG over the many structural domains it is postulated to posses. The structural knowledge gained about this important MS antigen in its native environment will contribute …

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Simulations of complex scientific phenomena involve the execution of massively parallel computer programs. These simulation programs generate large-scale data sets over the spatiotemporal space. Modeling such massive data sets is an essential step in helping scientists discover new information from their computer simulations. In this paper, we present a simple but effective multivariate clustering algorithm for large-scale scientific simulation data sets. Our algorithm utilizes the cosine similarity measure to cluster the field variables in a data set. Field variables include all variables except the spatial (x, y, z) and temporal (time) variables. The exclusion of the spatial space is important since 'similar' characteristics could be located (spatially) far from each other. To scale our multivariate clustering algorithm for large-scale data sets, we take advantage of the geometrical properties of the cosine similarity measure. This allows us to reduce the modeling time from O(n{sup 2}) to O(n x g(f(u))), where n is the number of data points, f(u) is a function of the user-defined clustering threshold, and g(f(u)) is the number of data points satisfying the threshold f(u). We show that on average g(f(u)) is much less than n. Finally, even though spatial variables do not play a role in building …

The end of the Cold War and its impact on defense spending has created a strong need to reform Department of Defense’s (DOD) acquisition system. With procurement spending down, DOD expects to depend on savings from acquisition reform to help finance future force modernization. Policymakers believe that DOD should use more commercial products because, in many instances, they cost less and their quality is comparable to products built according to DOD military specifications. Many such reform proposals are based on recognition that DOD regulatory barriers and a Cold War acquisition “culture” have inhibited the introduction of commercial products.

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

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

The processes of crystallization and solid deposit formation that led to the shutdown of the 2H evaporator operation at the Savannah River Site (SRS) and that could possibly cause similar problems in the future or in other evaporators need to be better understood. Through experimentation, thermodynamic modeling, and correlation of scaling to historical tank farm operations, progress has been made in developing guidelines as to the concentrations of silicon and aluminum that can be processed by evaporators while avoiding unacceptable levels of scale formation. However, because of limitations of the thermodynamic model and an insufficient amount of operational data at slightly supersaturated concentration levels, uncertainty still exists regarding acceptable feed concentrations. The objective of this effort is to provide information that can be used in defining acceptable levels of silicon and aluminum in evaporator feed solutions. Data collected previously showed that particle formation reactions can be rapid at evaporator temperatures for elevated silicon and aluminum concentrations. However, insufficient data exists to estimate the silicon and aluminum concentrations above which solids will form in the time frame of evaporator processing. The work described in this report was designed to determine the induction period for solutions of decreasing aluminum and silicon concentration …

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This issue brief discusses the Airport Improvement Program and its complement, the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC). After a brief history of federal support for airport construction and improvement, the report describes AIP funding, its source of revenues, funding distribution, the types of projects the program funds, AIP and PFC policy issues, and the allowable use of AIP funds for airport security purposes.

This report discusses India - U.S relations, and its bilateral issues

The effect of chromium additions to the weldability of Fe-Al based overlay claddings are currently being investigated for the corrosion protection of boiler tubes in Low NOx furnaces. The primary objective of this research is to identify weldable (crack-free) Fe-Al-Cr weld overlay coating compositions that provide corrosion resistance over long exposure times. During the current project phase, preliminary corrosion testing was conducted on several ternary Fe-Al-Cr alloys in two types of gaseous corrosion environments. These long-term corrosion tests were used to develop a target weld composition matrix and serve as a base line for future corrosion tests. Preliminary Fe-Al based welds with various aluminum concentrations and one ternary Fe-Al-Cr weld overlay were successfully deposited using a Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) process and cracking susceptibility was evaluated on these coatings.

Monthly student newspaper from St. Philip's College in San Antonio, Texas that includes campus news along with advertising.

This report discusses child support distribution policy. The general rules in effect as of October 1, 2000 are that child support collected during the time a family receives cash welfare belongs to the state; current child support and arrearages (past-due payments) that are owed to a family that is no longer receiving welfare belongs to the family; and child support owed to a family that never received welfare belongs to the family.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall.