Newsletter of the Texas Bureau of Disease Control and Epidemiology discussing the news, activities, and events of the organization and other information related to health in Texas.

We present new results in axiomatic group theory obtained by using automated deduction programs. The results include single axioms, some with the identity and others without, for groups of exponents 3, 4, 5 and 7, and a general form for single axioms for groups of odd exponent. The results were obtained by using the programs in three separate ways: as a symbolic calculator, to search for proofs,and to search for couterexamples. We also touch on relations between logic programming and automated reasoning.

We present new results in axiomatic group theory obtained by using automated deduction programs. The results include single axioms, some with the identity and others without, for groups of exponents 3, 4, 5 and 7, and a general form for single axioms for groups of odd exponent. The results were obtained by using the programs in three separate ways: as a symbolic calculator, to search for proofs,and to search for couterexamples. We also touch on relations between logic programming and automated reasoning.

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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.

This report presents details about waste management practices that are being developed using remote sensing techniques to characterize DOE waste sites. Once the sites and problems have been located and characterized and an achievable restoration and remediation program have been established, efforts to reclaim the environment will begin. Special problems to be considered are: concentrated waste forms in tanks and pits; soil and ground water contamination; ground safety hazards for workers; and requirement for long-term monitoring.

This report presents details about waste management practices that are being developed using remote sensing techniques to characterize DOE waste sites. Once sites and problems have been located and an achievable restoration and remediation program have been established, efforts to reclaim the environment will begin. Special problems to be considered are: concentrated wastes in tanks and pits; soil and ground water contamination; ground safety hazards for workers; and requirements for long-term monitoring.

This report discusses research on computer architecture for image processing, data analysis, and computer graphs. (LSP).

This report discusses research on computer architecture for image processing, data analysis, and computer graphs. (LSP).

In designing the SCD barrel and endcap calorimeters, the inter-module connecting forces must be known in order to determine the required size and number of connecting links between modules, and in order to understand how individual modules will be affected by these forces when assembled to form a full barrel and endcap. The connecting forces were found by analyzing three-dimensional Finite Element Models of both the barrel and endcap. This paper is divided into two parts, the first part will describe in detail the results of the barrel analysis and the second part will describe the results obtained from the endcap analysis. A similar approach was used in constructing the models for both analysis.

In designing the SCD barrel and endcap calorimeters, the inter-module connecting forces must be known in order to determine the required size and number of connecting links between modules, and in order to understand how individual modules will be affected by these forces when assembled to form a full barrel and endcap. The connecting forces were found by analyzing three-dimensional Finite Element Models of both the barrel and endcap. This paper is divided into two parts, the first part will describe in detail the results of the barrel analysis and the second part will describe the results obtained from the endcap analysis. A similar approach was used in constructing the models for both analysis.

The performance of liquid centrifugation for nuclear waste partitioning is examined for the Accelerator Transmutation of Waste Program currently under study at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Centrifugation might have application for the separation of the LiF-BeF{sub 2} salt from heavier radioactive materials fission product and actinides in the separation of fission product from actinides, in the isotope separation of fission-product cesium before transmutation of the {sup 137}Cs and {sup 135}Cs, and in the removal of spallation product from the liquid lead target. It is found that useful chemical separations should be possible using existing materials for the centrifuge construction for all four cases with the actinide fraction in fission product perhaps as low as 1 part in 10{sup 7} and the fraction of {sup 137}CS in {sup 133}Cs being as low as a few parts in 10{sup 5}. A centrifuge cascade has the advantage that it can be assembled and operated as a completely closed system without a waste stream except that associated with maintenance or replacement of centrifuge components.

The performance of liquid centrifugation for nuclear waste partitioning is examined for the Accelerator Transmutation of Waste Program currently under study at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Centrifugation might have application for the separation of the LiF-BeF{sub 2} salt from heavier radioactive materials fission product and actinides in the separation of fission product from actinides, in the isotope separation of fission-product cesium before transmutation of the {sup 137}Cs and {sup 135}Cs, and in the removal of spallation product from the liquid lead target. It is found that useful chemical separations should be possible using existing materials for the centrifuge construction for all four cases with the actinide fraction in fission product perhaps as low as 1 part in 10{sup 7} and the fraction of {sup 137}CS in {sup 133}Cs being as low as a few parts in 10{sup 5}. A centrifuge cascade has the advantage that it can be assembled and operated as a completely closed system without a waste stream except that associated with maintenance or replacement of centrifuge components.

This report describes the development of a Wavelet Vector Quantization (WVQ) image compression algorithm for fingerprint raster files. The pertinent work was performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This document describes a previously-sent package of C-language source code, referred to as LAFPC, that performs the WVQ fingerprint compression and decompression tasks. The particulars of the WVQ algorithm and the associated design procedure are detailed elsewhere; the purpose of this document is to report the results of the design algorithm for the fingerprint application and to delineate the implementation issues that are incorporated in LAFPC. Special attention is paid to the computation of the wavelet transform, the fast search algorithm used for the VQ encoding, and the entropy coding procedure used in the transmission of the source symbols.

The Low-NO{sub x} Cell{trademark} Burner operates on the principle of staged combustion. The lower burner of each two-nozzle cell is modified to accommodate all the fuel input previously handled by two nozzles. Secondary air, less than theoretically required for complete combustion, is introduced to the lower burner. The remainder of secondary air is directed to the upper port'' of each cell to complete the combustion process. B W/EPRI have thoroughly tested the LNCB{trademark} at two pilot scales (6 million Btu per hour and 100 million Btu per hour), and tested a single full-scale burner in a utility boiler. Combustion tests at two scales have confirmed NO{sub x} reduction with the low-NO{sub x} cell on the order of 50% relative to the standard cell burner at optimum operating conditions. The technology is now ready for full unit, full-scale demonstration.

The Low-NO{sub x} Cell{trademark} Burner operates on the principle of staged combustion. The lower burner of each two-nozzle cell is modified to accommodate all the fuel input previously handled by two nozzles. Secondary air, less than theoretically required for complete combustion, is introduced to the lower burner. The remainder of secondary air is directed to the upper ``port`` of each cell to complete the combustion process. B&W/EPRI have thoroughly tested the LNCB{trademark} at two pilot scales (6 million Btu per hour and 100 million Btu per hour), and tested a single full-scale burner in a utility boiler. Combustion tests at two scales have confirmed NO{sub x} reduction with the low-NO{sub x} cell on the order of 50% relative to the standard cell burner at optimum operating conditions. The technology is now ready for full unit, full-scale demonstration.

Object-Oriented Technology (OOT), although not a new paradigm, has recently been prominently featured in the trade press and even general business publications. Indeed, the promises of object technology are alluring: the ability to handle complex design and engineering information through the full manufacturing production life cycle or to manipulate multimedia information, and the ability to improve programmer productivity in creating and maintaining high quality software. Groups at a number of the DOE facilities have been exploring the use of object technology for engineering, business, and other applications. In this white paper, the technology is explored thoroughly and compared with previous means of developing software and storing databases of information. Several specific projects within the DOE Complex are described, and the state of the commercial marketplace is indicated.

Object-Oriented Technology (OOT), although not a new paradigm, has recently been prominently featured in the trade press and even general business publications. Indeed, the promises of object technology are alluring: the ability to handle complex design and engineering information through the full manufacturing production life cycle or to manipulate multimedia information, and the ability to improve programmer productivity in creating and maintaining high quality software. Groups at a number of the DOE facilities have been exploring the use of object technology for engineering, business, and other applications. In this white paper, the technology is explored thoroughly and compared with previous means of developing software and storing databases of information. Several specific projects within the DOE Complex are described, and the state of the commercial marketplace is indicated.

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Validity of a rider to the current appropriation to the Texas Department on Aging which requires the department, under certain circumstances, to use the service standards, systems, billing, audit procedures, and provider bases used by the Department of Human Services (RQ-288)

This report discusses the recovery from the February 9, 1991 small scale explosion in a custom processing dissolver at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant. Custom processing is a small scale dissolution facility which processes nuclear material in an economical fashion. The material dissolved in this facility was uranium metal, uranium oxides, and uranium/fissium alloy in nitric acid. The paper explained the release of fission material, and the decontamination and recovery of the fuel material. The safety and protection procedures were also discussed. Also described was the chemical analysis which was used to speculate the most probable cause of the explosion. (MB)

Sodium tetraphenylborata (NaTPB) is a specialty chemical required for the In Tank Precipitation Process (ITP). It precipitates cesium, aiding in the decontamination of high level radioactive waste solutions. Long term stability of aqueous alkaline solutions of NATPB has been investigated. The focus of the investigation is on the relative stabilities of NATPB solutions exposed to varying temperatures and copper concentrations over an extended period of time. Additionally, vendor-supplied samples, incubated at 40{degree}C, were stored for more than a year without decomposing. Collected data demonstrates that in the absence of elevated copper concentrations, NATPB solutions will remain stable for periods of 1 to 2 years (at a minimum) at maximum expected operating conditions (<40{degree}C). Additionally, biuret, (H{sub 2}NCO){sub 2}NH, was tested as an additive to prevent copper-induced decomposition without success.

Sodium tetraphenylborata (NaTPB) is a specialty chemical required for the In Tank Precipitation Process (ITP). It precipitates cesium, aiding in the decontamination of high level radioactive waste solutions. Long term stability of aqueous alkaline solutions of NATPB has been investigated. The focus of the investigation is on the relative stabilities of NATPB solutions exposed to varying temperatures and copper concentrations over an extended period of time. Additionally, vendor-supplied samples, incubated at 40[degree]C, were stored for more than a year without decomposing. Collected data demonstrates that in the absence of elevated copper concentrations, NATPB solutions will remain stable for periods of 1 to 2 years (at a minimum) at maximum expected operating conditions (<40[degree]C). Additionally, biuret, (H[sub 2]NCO)[sub 2]NH, was tested as an additive to prevent copper-induced decomposition without success.

On grounds of a semibosonized Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model, which has SU(3){sub R}{circle times}SU(3){sub L}-symmetry in the chiral limit, mass splittings for spin 1/2 and spin 3/2 baryons are studied in the presence of an explicit chiral symmetry breaking strange quark mass. To this aim these strangeness carrying baryons are understood as SU(3)-rotational excitations of an SU(2)-embedded soliton solution. Therefore, within the framework of collective quantization, the fermion determinant with the strange quark mass is expanded up to the second order in the flavor rotation velocity and up to the first order in this quark mass. Besides the strange and non-strange moments of inertia, which have some counterparts within the Skyrme model, some so-called anomalous moments of inertia are obtained. These call be related to the imaginary part of the effective Euclidian action and contain among others the anomalous baryon current. This is shown in a gradient expansion up to the first non-vanishing order. Together with the {Sigma}-commutator these are the solitonic ingredients of the collective hamiltonian, which is then diagonalized by means of strict perturbation theory in the strange quark mass and by the Yabu-Audo method. Both methods yield very good results for the masses of the spin 1/2 and 3/2 …

On grounds of a semibosonized Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model, which has SU(3){sub R}{circle_times}SU(3){sub L}-symmetry in the chiral limit, mass splittings for spin 1/2 and spin 3/2 baryons are studied in the presence of an explicit chiral symmetry breaking strange quark mass. To this aim these strangeness carrying baryons are understood as SU(3)-rotational excitations of an SU(2)-embedded soliton solution. Therefore, within the framework of collective quantization, the fermion determinant with the strange quark mass is expanded up to the second order in the flavor rotation velocity and up to the first order in this quark mass. Besides the strange and non-strange moments of inertia, which have some counterparts within the Skyrme model, some so-called anomalous moments of inertia are obtained. These call be related to the imaginary part of the effective Euclidian action and contain among others the anomalous baryon current. This is shown in a gradient expansion up to the first non-vanishing order. Together with the {Sigma}-commutator these are the solitonic ingredients of the collective hamiltonian, which is then diagonalized by means of strict perturbation theory in the strange quark mass and by the Yabu-Audo method. Both methods yield very good results for the masses of the spin 1/2 and 3/2 baryons. …

This report is on the then newly formed Tajikistan Republic. Information on the geographics, demographics, history, political leaders and institutions, and foreign relations of Tajikistan.