The purpose of the study was to collect and analyze existing data on the Michigan Basin for fracture patterns on scales ranging form thin section to basin. The data acquisition phase has been successfully concluded with the compilation of several large digital databases containing nearly all the existing information on formation tops, lithology and hydrocarbon production over the entire Michigan Basin. These databases represent the cumulative result of over 80 years of drilling and exploration.

This report discusses the issue of U.S. economic assistance to sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the importance of continued assistance in light of U.S. national security and also various U.S.-led efforts to promote reform amongst African citizens themselves. U.S. assistance finds its way to Africa through a variety of channels, including the USAID-administered DA program, food aid programs, and indirect aid provided through international financial institutions and the United Nations.

This report describes the results of research and development in the area of communication among disparate species of software agents. The two primary elements of the work are the formation of ontologies for use by software agents and the means by which software agents are instructed to carry out complex tasks that require interaction with other agents. This work was grounded in the areas of commercial transport and cybersecurity.

This report considers the issue of new "fast track" or trade promotion authority (APA) legislation in the 107th Congress. Moreover, the report summarizes the agricultural debates on the issue.

New “fast track,” or trade promotion, authority (TPA) cleared the 107th Congress for the President’s expected signature in August 2002. Such authority enables the Administration to submit negotiated foreign trade agreements to Congress for consideration under expedited procedures. Many agricultural and food industry interests were among the export-oriented enterprises that supported TPA, arguing that foreign trading partners would not seriously negotiate with an Administration that lacked it. However, some farm groups argued that fast track ultimately will lead to new agreements that have adverse effects on U.S. producers, at least of some commodities.

Sub-Saharan Africa has been far more severely affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. The United Nations reports that 25.3 million adults and children are infected with the HIV virus in the region, which has about 10% of the world's population but more than 70% of the worldwide total of infected people. This report discusses this issue in detail, including the cause of the African AIDS epidemic, the social and economic consequences, response and treatment, and U.S. policy.

This report describes the results generated during phase 1 of this project. During this phase, the main tools that are used to compute the thermal neutron scattering kernels for graphite, beryllium, beryllium oxide, zirconium hydride, light water, polyethylene were implemented and tested. This includes a modified NJOY/LEAPR code system, the GASKET code, and the ab initio condensed matter codes VASP and PHONON. Thermal neutron scattering kernels were generated for graphite, beryllium, beryllium oxide. In the case of graphite, new phonon spectra were examined. The first is a spectrum based on experiments performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the early seventies, and the second is generated using the ab initio methods. In the case of beryllium, and beryllium oxide, a synthetic approach for generating the phonon spectra was implemented. In addition, significant progress was made on an experiment to benchmark the graphite scattering kernels was made. The simulations of this experiment show that differences on the order of a few percent, in Pu-239 detector responses, can be expected due to the use of different scattering kernels. (B204) NOT A FINAL REPORT

New methods are developed to construct exact difference equations from which numerical solutions of both initial value problems and two-point boundary value problems involving first and second order ordinary differential equations can be computed. These methods are based upon the transformation theory of differential equations and require the identification of symmetry properties of the differential equations. The concept of the divergence-invariance of a variational principle is also applied to the construction of difference equations. It is shown how first and second order ordinary differential equations that admit groups of point transformations can be integrated numerically by constructing any number of exact difference equations.

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 Defense Appropriations Subcommittees. It summarizes the current legislative status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related legislative activity. The report lists the key CRS staff relevant to the issues covered and related CRS products.

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 Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittees.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, consolidated, 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 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittees.

One of the least controversial provisions of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (P.L. 94-163) established corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for new passenger cars. This report presents a brief background and analysis regarding the price of crude oil that brought into sharp focus the fuel inefficiency of U.S. automobiles. The report also discusses the previous issues and the most recent developments regarding CAFE.

Geant4 is a tool kit developed by a collaboration of physicists and computer professionals in the high energy physics field for simulation of the passage of particles through matter. The motivation for the development of the Beam Tools is to extend the Geant4 applications to accelerator physics. The Beam Tools are a set of C++ classes designed to facilitate the simulation of accelerator elements: r.f. cavities, magnets, absorbers, etc. These elements are constructed from Geant4 solid volumes like boxes, tubes, trapezoids, or spheers. There are many computer programs for beam physics simulations, but Geant4 is ideal to model a beam through a material or to integrate a beam line with a complex detector. There are many such examples in the current international High Energy Physics programs. For instance, an essential part of the R&D associated with the Neutrino Source/Muon Collider accelerator is the ionization cooling channel, which is a section of the system aimed to reduce the size of the muon beam in phase space. The ionization cooling technique uses a combination of linacs and light absorbers to reduce the transverse momentum and size of the beam, while keeping the longitudinal momentum constant. The MuCool/MICE (muon cooling) experiments need accurate …

This report discusses the budget for fiscal year 2003. It debates issues such as budget action, receipts surpluses or deficits, and the economy

Design and Fabrication of the Waste Package for the Yucca Mountain Waste Package represents a formidable challenge of the total knowledge that exists today concerning the properties of a wide variety of materials systems. During the past few years considerable successes have been achieved by employing the techniques of the new ''Computational Thermodynamics'' CT[1 ] to address some of the most critical problems of phase stability with substantial success. In particular, phase stability in Alloy C22 which is a complex 10 component alloy in order to define the temperature dependence of the solidification, welding, heat treatment and transformation kinetics of the condensed liquid, fcc. Sigma, P-Phase and Ni{sub 2}Cr phases are very well described when the modern CT software and databases are applied. The present report provides a description of current progress in the application of this technique to define and detail the corrosion behavior of C-22 by using the Thermo-Calc software and data bases to apply the classic methods devised in the last century by Marcell Pourbaix[2] to C-22 in Simulated J-13 well waters (SAW) simulated acidic waters, SCW, simulated concentrated water and (BSW).The advantages of such a development is that it could provide substantial insight into methods for …

This procedure provides instructions for performing inner containment vessel (ICV) and outer containment vessel (OCV) maintenance and periodic leakage rate testing on the following packaging seals and corresponding seal surfaces using a nondestructive helium (He) leak test. In addition, this procedure provides instructions for performing ICV and OCV structural pressure tests.

The Chemical Technology Division (CMT) is one of eight engineering research divisions within Argonne National Laboratory, one of the U.S. government's oldest and largest research laboratories. The University of Chicago oversees the laboratory on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Argonne's mission is to conduct basic scientific research, to operate national scientific facilities, to enhance the nation's energy resources, and to develop better ways to manage environmental problems. Argonne has the further responsibility of strengthening the nation's technology base by developing innovative technology and transferring it to industry. CMT is a diverse early-stage engineering organization, specializing in the treatment of spent nuclear fuel, development of advanced electrochemical power sources, and management of both high- and low-level nuclear wastes. Although this work is often indistinguishable from basic research, our efforts are directed toward the practical devices and processes that are covered by Argonne's mission. Additionally, the Division operates the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory and Environment, Safety, and Health Analytical Chemistry services, which provide a broad range of analytical services to Argonne and other organizations. The Division is multidisciplinary. Its people have formal training as ceramists; physicists; material scientists; electrical, mechanical, chemical, and nuclear engineers; and chemists. They have experience working …

This report includes recent developments in federal child care programs and tax provisions. The report discusses several federal programs that support child care or related services, primarily for low-income working families. In addition, the tax code includes provisions specifically targeted to assist families with child care expenses. The report presents the legislative activity in the 107th Congress in regard to child care legislature and provisions.

This report provides information about the Child Nutrition and Women, Infant and children (WIC) Legislation in the 106th and 107th Congresses.

China has sought over the past several years to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the international agency that administers multilateral trade rules. China’s WTO membership (as well as that of Taiwan’s) was formally approved at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. On December 11, 2001, China officially became a WTO member. WTO membership will require China to significantly liberalize its trade and investment regimes, which could produce significant new commercial opportunities for U.S. businesses. A main concern for Congress is to ensure that China fully complies with its WTO commitments.

In the 107th Congress, the most prominent air quality issue has been whether state and federal regulations designed to protect air quality are having a negative impact on energy production, and, if so, whether legislation should be enacted to reform such regulations. The early discussion focused primarily on California, but with the release of the Administration’s energy policy recommendations in May 2001 and subsequent congressional action, attention shifted to issues more national in scope.

Key water quality issues that may face the 107th Congress include: actions to implement existing provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA), whether additional steps are necessary to achieve overall goals of the Act, and the appropriate federal role in guiding and paying for clean water activities. Legislative prospects for comprehensively amending the Act have for some time stalled over whether and exactly how to change the law. If clean water issues receive attention in the 107th Congress, consideration of specific issues will depend in part on the CWA policy agenda of the new Bush Administration and on priorities of the key committees that have major jurisdiction over the Act.

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The Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1982 (which applied to FY1983 budget issues) suspended previously existing permanent law pertaining to cost-of-living adjustments(COLAs) for federal civilian and military retirees, and changed the COLA calculation formulas to postpone and/or reduce future COLAs for military retirees during 1983-1985 (FY1984-FY1986).This report examines executive and congressional COLA-related initiatives associated with each of the fiscal year budgeting processes from calendar year 1982 (FY1983) through calendar year 2000 (FY2001).