As part of the HST Second Decade Study a subgroup consisting of Claire Max, James Beletic, Donald McCarthy, and Keith Noll has analyzed the expected performance of near-infra-red adaptive optics systems on the new generation of 8-10 meter ground-based telescopes, for comparison with HST. In addition the subgroup has polled the adaptive optics community regarding expected adaptive optics performance over the coming five years. Responses have been received from representatives of most of the major telescopes: Gemini, VLT, Keck, LBT, and the MMT, as well as of several operational 3-4 meter telescope AO systems. The present document outlines the conclusions to date, with emphasis on aspects relevant to the NICMOS cryocooler Independent Science Review. In general the near-infra-red capabilities of the new ground-based adaptive optics systems will be complementary to the capabilities of NICMOS. For example NICMOS will have greater H-band sensitivity, broader wavelength coverage, and higher point-spread-function stability, whereas ground-based adaptive optics instruments will have higher spatial and spectral resolution. Section 2 of this report outlines the operational constraints faced by the first generation of adaptive optics (AO) systems on new 8-10 meter telescopes. Section 3 describes the areas of relative strength of near-infra-red observing from the ground via …

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

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

An official letter acknowledging the receipt of the application for the Marcus Fellow Program in the School of Visual Arts at the University of North Texas (UNT). The letter confirms the successful submission and outlines the next steps in the application process.

A letter from the Administrative Office of the University of North Texas (UNT) providing an update on the application status. The letter informs the applicant that their materials have been received and are currently under review by the Selection Committee. Additionally, it outlines a tentative timeline for the next steps in the application process.

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

The objective of this project is the development of methods for the measurement, prediction and modeling of the liberation characteristics of mineral matter and pyrite from coal, and to implement these findings in viable computer-simulation systems for coal cleaning plants. The central thrust of the project will be based on using the Andrews-Mika diagram as a convenient and experimentally verifiable model for the liberation characteristics of the constituents of coal during comminution. In order to establish the Andrews-Mika diagram, it is necessary to develop efficient techniques for density fractionation and for the measurement of the liberation spectrum in products obtained from the comminution of narrow composition fractions of coal. Dense-liquid techniques are used to produce fractionated samples, and image-analysis techniques, using linear-intercept analysis, are used to measure the liberation spectrum. The prediction of the liberation of mineral matter and pyrite from coal after comminution is based on a linear stochastic model for the description of the mineralogical texture and the random fracture pattern associated with the comminution process. Stereological correction of the distribution of linear grades is required for both the measurement and prediction of the true distribution of volumetric grades in the particle population.

An official letter from the UNT School of Visual Arts Admissions Committee extending heartfelt congratulations to the applicant for successfully securing admission to pursue a Master of Arts in Art Education. The letter highlights the significance of the achievement and provides essential details about the next steps in the enrollment process.

Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) using multiple electrodes installed in boreholes has been shown to be useful for both site characterization and process monitoring. In some cases, however, installing multiple downhole electrodes is too costly (e.g., deep targets) or risky (e.g., contaminated sites). For these cases we have examined the possibility of using the steel casings of existing boreholes as electrodes. The first case we investigated used an array of steel casings as electrodes. This results in very few data and thus requires additional constraints to limit the domain of possible inverse solutions. Simulations indicate that the spatial resolution and sensitivity are understandably low but it is possible to coarsely map the lateral extent of subsurface processes such as steam floods. A hybrid case uses traditional point electrode arrays combined with long-conductor electrodes (steel casings). Although this arrangement provides more data, in many cases it results in poor reconstructions of test targets. Results indicate that this method may hold promise for low resolution imaging where steel casings can be used as electrodes.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) (DOE/EA-1292) to evaluate the proposed treatment of low level mixed waste (LLMW) at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (Site). The purpose of the action is to treat LLMW in order to meet the Land Disposal Restrictions specified by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the waste acceptance criteria of the planned disposal site(s). Approximately 17,000 cubic meters (m{sup 3}) of LLMW are currently stored at the Site. Another 65,000 m{sup 3}of LLMW are likely to be generated by Site closure activities (a total of 82,000 m{sup 3} of LLMW). About 35,000 m{sup 3} can be directly disposed of off-site without treatment, and most of the remaining 47,000 m{sup 3} of LLMW can be treated at off-site treatment, storage, and disposal facilities. However, some LLMW will require treatment on-site, either because it does not meet shipping requirements or because off-site treatment is not available for these particular types of LLMW. Currently, this LLMW is stored at the Site pending the development and implementation of effective treatment processes. The Site needs to treat this LLMW on-site prior to shipment to off-site disposal facilities, in order to meet the DOE …

Environmental impacts from electron accelerator operations at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, which is located near populated areas, are illustrated by using examples of three different accelerator facilities: the low power (a few watts) SSRL, the high power (a few kilowatts) PEP-II, and the 50-kW SLC. Three types of major impacts are discussed: (1) off-site doses from skyshine radiation, mainly neutrons, (2) off-site doses from radioactive air emission, mainly {sup 13}N, and (3) radioactivities, mainly {sup 3}H, produced in the groundwater. It was found that, from SSRL operation, the skyshine radiation result in a MEI (Maximum Exposed Individual) of 0.3 {mu}Sv/y while a conservative calculation using CAP88 showed a MEI of 0.36 {mu}Sv/y from radioactive air releases. The calculated MEI doses due to future PEP-II operation are 30 {mu}Sv/y from skyshine radiation and 2 {mu}Sv/y from air releases. The population doses due to radioactive air emission are 0.5 person-mSv from SSRL and 12 person-mSv from PEP-II. Because of the stronger decrease of skyshine dose as the distance increases, the population dose from skyshine radiation are smaller than that from air release. The third environmental impact, tritium activity produced in the groundwater, was also demonstrated to be acceptable from both the …

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

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A 'proof-of-principle' Nb{sub 3}Sn superconducting dual-bore dipole magnet was built from racetrack coils, as a first step in a program to develop an economical, 15 Tesla, accelerator-quality magnet. The mechanical design and magnet fabrication procedures are discussed. No training was required to achieve temperature-dependent plateau currents, despite several thermal cycles that involved partial magnet disassembly and substantial pre-load variations. Subsequent magnets are expected to approach 15 Tesla with substantially improved conductor.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the outcome of the 1996 World Food Summit, focusing on factors that could affect progress toward meeting world food security goals."

It is commonly thought that small couplings in a low-energy theory, such as those needed for the fermion mass hierarchy or proton stability, must originate from symmetries in a high-energy theory. We show that this expectation is violated in theories where the Standard Model fields are confined to a thick wall in extra dimensions, with the fermions ''stuck'' at different points in the wall. Couplings between them are then suppressed due to the exponentially small overlaps of their wave functions. This provides a framework for understanding both the fermion mass hierarchy and proton stability without imposing symmetries, but rather in terms of higher dimensional geography. A model independent prediction of this scenario is non-universal couplings of the Standard Model fermions to the ''Kaluza-Klein'' excitations of the gauge fields. This allows a measurement of the fermion locations in the extra dimensions at the LHC or NLC if the wall thickness is close to the TeV scale.

Improvements have been made in the performance of the ETA-II accelerator that allow a nominal 2 kA, 6 MeV beam to be focused to a spot size less that 1 mm in diameter. The improvements include reducing the energy sweep to less than +/- 0.5 & over 40 ns of the pulse using a real time energy diagnostic and improving the magnetic tune of the accelerator to reduce the emittance to 8 cm-mrad. Finally, an automated tuning system (MAESTRO) was run to minimize the time dependent centroid motion (corkscrew) by adjusting the steering dipoles over the focusing solenoids. The corkscrew motion was reduced to less than +/- 0.5 mm at the output of the accelerator.

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a US Department of Energy (DOE) facility for the permanent disposal of transuranic waste from defense activities. In 1996, the DOE submitted the Title 40 CFR Part 191 Compliance Certification Application for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (CCA) to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The CCA included a probabilistic performance assessment (PA) conducted by Sandia National Laboratories to establish compliance with the quantitative release limits defined in 40 CFR 191.13. An experimental program to collect data relevant to the actinide source term began around 1989, which eventually supported the 1996 CCA PA actinide source term model. The actinide source term provided an estimate of mobile dissolved and colloidal Pu, Am, U, Th, and Np concentrations in their stable oxidation states, and accounted for effects of uncertainty in the chemistry of brines in waste disposal areas. The experimental program and the actinide source term included in the CCA PA underwent EPA review lasting more than 1 year. Experiments were initially conducted to develop data relevant to the wide range of potential future conditions in waste disposal areas. Interim, preliminary performance assessments and actinide source term models provided insight allowing refinement of experiments and …

B-roll video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story about a discussion by the board about pensions for firefighters.

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story about an accident in Six Flags resulting in injuries.

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story about firefighter and volunteer instructor, Bill Crews.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO addressed congressional concerns regarding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), focusing on: (1) the management challenges facing the Department of Commerce in its administration of NOAA; (2) whether GAO reviewed the latest available studies of NOAA's fleet and modernization efforts or NOAA's fisheries research acquisition plan; (3) whether GAO examined the cost efficiency or effectiveness of NOAA's ships or compared the costs of NOAA's ships with those of private or other available ships; (4) whether GAO reviewed NOAA's fisheries research ship replacement plans; (5) why replacing the NOAA fleet is entwined with the issue of the NOAA Corps; and (6) whether GAO reviewed NOAA's downsizing of the NOAA Corps."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on how states implement the federal requirement that establishes a process for nursing home complaint investigations, focusing on the: (1) effectiveness of state complaint investigation practices as a component of the system to ensure sustained compliance with federal nursing home quality-of-care standards; and (2) Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) role in establishing standards and conducting oversight of states' complaint investigation practices and in using information about the results of complaint investigations to ensure compliance with nursing home standards."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the effectiveness of complaint and enforcement practices to protect nursing home residents, and to ensure that homes participating in Medicare and Medicaid comply with federal standards, focusing on the: (1) effectiveness of states' complaint practices in protecting residents; (2) Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) role in establishing standards and conducting oversight of states' complaint practices and in using information about the results of complaint investigations to ensure compliance with nursing home standards; and (3) assessment of HCFA's use of sanction authority for homes that failed to maintain compliance with these standards."