There exists a need to provide communication through a satellite- based network which allows a user to communicate from a remote site to a fixed site. This discussion provides a comparison, both technical and financial, between the existing ATS3 satellite system and the commercial INMARSAT system. This comparison identified the limitations of each system to provide various types of communication.

During the past year we have completed our characterization of the factors that control the structure of fully oxidized W and Mo on silica and have established that support hydroxyl groups play a central role in dispersing and attaching cations to the support oxide. Work with M{sub 2}(CO){sub 4}Cp{sub 2}(M{sub 2}=MoMo, WW, MoW) system has been very encouraging and continues to support the notion that it may be possible to control the structure of adsorbed catalysts (in this case generate metal dimers) by use of organometallic precursors. Techniques are being developed necessary to employ XPS as a means to characterize the attachment process and the oxidation state of the cations after various thermal and photolytic reduction steps.

Objectives are studies of equilibrium/nonequilibrium properties of asymmetric fluid mixtures through computer simulation (CS), development of predictive theories of mixture equilibrium properties, development and application of selection algorithm methodology for mixture equations of state, and use of theory to develop new engineering design models for fluid mixtures. Kirwood charging method CS of Lennard-Jones mixtures with large size ratios verified the Kirkwood-Buff/Baxter method of calculating chemical potentials. CS of n-butane showed that the rheology is not a function of system size. A modified stepwise regression algorithm was developed and applied to HFC R134a. An analytical expression was developed for conformal solution size correction for mixtures. The extended corresponding states theory (ECST) can be applied to systems having large polarity differences; an accurate representation was developed of bulk phase properties of water-hydrocarbon systems. It was found how to force ECST to reach the correct virial limit.

During the past year we have completed our characterization of the factors that control the structure of fully oxidized W and Mo on silica and have established that support hydroxyl groups play a central role in dispersing and attaching cations to the support oxide. Work with M[sub 2](CO)[sub 4]Cp[sub 2](M[sub 2]=MoMo, WW, MoW) system has been very encouraging and continues to support the notion that it may be possible to control the structure of adsorbed catalysts (in this case generate metal dimers) by use of organometallic precursors. Techniques are being developed necessary to employ XPS as a means to characterize the attachment process and the oxidation state of the cations after various thermal and photolytic reduction steps.

Objectives are studies of equilibrium/nonequilibrium properties of asymmetric fluid mixtures through computer simulation (CS), development of predictive theories of mixture equilibrium properties, development and application of selection algorithm methodology for mixture equations of state, and use of theory to develop new engineering design models for fluid mixtures. Kirwood charging method CS of Lennard-Jones mixtures with large size ratios verified the Kirkwood-Buff/Baxter method of calculating chemical potentials. CS of n-butane showed that the rheology is not a function of system size. A modified stepwise regression algorithm was developed and applied to HFC R134a. An analytical expression was developed for conformal solution size correction for mixtures. The extended corresponding states theory (ECST) can be applied to systems having large polarity differences; an accurate representation was developed of bulk phase properties of water-hydrocarbon systems. It was found how to force ECST to reach the correct virial limit.

For at least 15 years Members of Congress have continued to ask: How many U.S. manufacturing plants have closed? For at least 15 years they have continued to ask: How many U.S. manufacturing plants have relocated abroad, and where have they gone? For at least 15 years the answer has been: For the most part, those questions can't be answered, based on Government data. How many plants are moving to Mexico? What industries and what States are the plants from? How many U.S. workers are losing their jobs as a result? It appears that still, after two legislative attempts to mandate collection of these data, the Government publishes no counts of U.S. plant closings, and almost no information on plant relocations. Options for strengthening the data systems include addressing three main weaknesses: inadequate data program design, a plant closing definition that misses its mark, and publication of partial instead of complete survey results.

There are ten categories of courts (including the local courts of the District of Columbia) to which the President nominates judges. The report provides background and statistics concerning President Bush's judicial nominations in each court category as well as actions taken on those nominations by the United States Senate. Each of the report's ten sections discusses the composition and jurisdiction of the court in question and notes the committee to which nominations to this court were referred when received by the Senate. Also, statistics on judicial nominations received by the Senate during the four years of the Bush Presidency are presented.

Steel jaw leghold traps are used in 47 States in the United States to capture furbearing animals (Florida and Rhode Island have prohibited use except with special permit for nuisance animals, and New Jersey has banned all uses). In addition to use by the fur industry, these traps are employed by State agencies in game management (e.g., to control predators and diseases). The leghold trap issue pits animal welfare groups opposed to the pain and suffering of trapped animals against supporters of the trap who maintain that alternatives are not cost effective and/or efficient.