Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma 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.

Cyclotides are an emerging family of naturally occurring circular mini-proteins ({approx}30-40 amino acids) characterized by six conserved Cys residues (forming 3 disulfide bridges) that create a topologically unique structure designated as a cyclic cysteine knot (CCK). The cysteine knot motif, which is embedded within the macrocylic backbone, is described as two disulfide bridges that form a ring that is penetrated by the third disulfide bridge. The cyclic backbone and CCK motif together confer cyclotides with a remarkable stability and resistance to proteolytic, chemical, and thermal degradation. Further, cyclotides are functionally diverse and display a wide range of functions including uterotonic activity, trypsin inhibition, cytotoxicity, neurotensin binding, anti-HIV, antimicrobial, and insecticidal activity. Together, these characteristics make cyclotides attractive candidates for both drug design and agricultural applications, both in their native forms and as molecular scaffolds for the incorporation of novel bioactivities. [1] The ability to manipulate production of cyclotides within biological systems is critical for mutagenesis studies, production of grafted products, and the mass production of cyclotides with novel activities. My adviser's hope is to achieve this capability by employing recombinant DNA expression techniques to generate large combinatorial libraries of cyclotides. The advantage in creating a biosynthetic library (containing {approx}10{sup 6}-10{sup …

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

The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container. Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 …

In the literature, conflicting conclusions are reported concerning the charge state dependence of cathodic arc ion energy and velocity distributions. It appears that data from electrostatic energy analyzers indicate charge state dependence of ion energy, whereas time-of-flight methods support charge state independence of ion velocity. Here we present charge-state-resolved ion energy distributions and calculate the corresponding ion velocity distributions in aluminum vacuum arc plasma. We show that the conflicting conclusions reported in the literature for the two different characterization techniques may originate from the commonly employed data interpretation of energy and velocity, in which peak values and average values are not carefully distinguished.

More than 1,200 water-level measurements from 1957 to 2005 in the Rainier Mesa area of the Nevada Test Site were quality assured and analyzed. Water levels were measured from 50 discrete intervals within 18 boreholes and from 4 tunnel sites. An interpretive database was constructed that describes water-level conditions for each water level measured in the Rainier Mesa area. Multiple attributes were assigned to each water-level measurement in the database to describe the hydrologic conditions at the time of measurement. General quality, temporal variability, regional significance, and hydrologic conditions are attributed for each water-level measurement. The database also includes hydrograph narratives that describe the water-level history of each well.

The Checklist for Facility Response, Restoration, and Recovery presented in this document is principally focused on the Consequence Management Phase of a biothreat agent (i.e., Bacillus anthracis) release at a large facility, such as an airport or subway. Information in this document conforms to the National Response Plan (NRP) (DHS 2004) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS 2004). Under these two guidance documents, the personnel responsible for managing biological response and recovery efforts--that is, the decision-makers--are members of an Incident Command (IC), which is likely to transition to a Unified Command (UC) in the event of a biological warfare agent attack. A UC is used when more than one agency has incident jurisdiction or when incidents cross political jurisdictions. The location for primary, tactical-level command and management is referred to as the Incident Command Post (ICP), as described in the NRP. Thus, regardless of whether an IC or an UC is used, the responsible entities are located at an ICP. Agencies work together through designated members of the UC to establish their designated Incident Commanders at a single ICP and to establish a common set of objectives and strategies and a single Incident Action Plan. Initially during the Crisis …

The conditions under which optical materials are susceptible to laser-induced damage is a topic which has been the subject of considerable study. Laser parameters such as wavelength and temporal pulse duration have been studied extensively. Until this work the effect of temporal pulse shape has not been considered. We present here data from a simple single-parameter model and a supporting experiment which predicts that a Flat-In-Time-pulse will produce damage at approximately 80% of the fluence of a Gaussian pulse of the same FWHM duration.

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

With financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Layman Energy Associates, Inc. (LEA) has completed a program of geothermal exploration at the Truckhaven area in Imperial County, California. The exploratory work conducted by LEA included the following activities: compilation of public domain resource data (wells, seismic data, geologic maps); detailed field geologic mapping at the project site; acquisition and interpretation of remote sensing imagery such as aerial and satellite photographs; acquisition, quality control and interpretation of gravity data; and acquisition, quality control and interpretation of resistivity data using state of the art magnetotelluric (MT) methods. The results of this exploratory program have allowed LEA to develop a structural and hydrologic interpretation of the Truckhaven geothermal resource which can be used to guide subsequent exploratory drilling and resource development. Of primary significance, is the identification of an 8 kilometer-long, WNW-trending zone of low resistivity associated with geothermal activity in nearby wells. The long axis of this low resistivity zone is inferred to mark a zone of faulting which likely provides the primary control on the distribution of geothermal resources in the Truckhaven area. Abundant cross-faults cutting the main WNW-trending zone in its western half may indicate elevated fracture permeability …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

The possibility of producing hot dense matter has important applications for the understanding of transport processes in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) [1] and laboratory astrophysics experiments [2]. While the success of ICF requires the correct solution of a complex interaction between laser coupling, equation-of-state, and particle transport problems, the possibility of experimentally recreating conditions found during the ignition phase in a simplified geometry is extremely appealing. In this paper we will show that hot dense plasma conditions found during ICF ignition experiments can be reproduced by illuminating a tamped foil with a high intensity laser. We will show that temperatures on the order of kiloelectronvolts at solid densities can be achieved under controlled conditions during the experiment. Hydrodynamic tamping by surface coatings allows to reach higher density regimes by enabling the diagnosis of matter that has not yet begun to decompress, thus opening the possibility of directly investigating strongly coupled systems [3]. Our experimental diagnostics is based on K-shell spectroscopy coupled to x-ray imaging techniques. Such techniques have recently become prevalent in the diagnosis of hot dense matter [4]. By looking at the presence, and relative strengths, of lines associated with different ionization states, spectroscopy provides considerable insight into plasma …

This Hazardous Waste Management Act/Resource Conservation and Recovery Act closure plan for the Radioactive Solid and Liquid Waste Storage Tank System located in the adjacent to the Sludge Tank Control House (CPP-648), Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, Idaho National Laboratory, was developed to meet the interim status closure requirements for a tank system. The system to be closed includes a tank and associated ancillary equipment that were determined to have managed hazardous waste. The CPP-648 Radioactive Solid and Liquid Waste Storage Tank System will be "cleaned closed" in accordance with the requirements of the Hazardous Waste Management Act/Resource Conservation and Recovery Act as implemented by the Idaho Administrative Procedures Act and 40 Code of Federal Regulations 265. This closure plan presents the closure performance standards and methods of acheiving those standards for the CPP-648 Radioactive Solid and Liquid Waste Storage Tank System.

Fate of benzene ethylbenzene toluene xylenes (BTEX) compounds through biodegradation was investigated using two different bacteria, Ralstonia picketti (BP-20) and Alcaligenes piechaudii (CZOR L-1B). These bacteria were isolated from extremely polluted petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soils. PCR and Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) were used to identify the isolates. Biodegradation was measured using each organism individually and in combination. Both bacteria were shown to degrade each of the BTEX compounds. Alcaligenes piechaudii biodegraded BTEXs more efficiently while mixed with BP-20 and individually. Biosurfactant production was observed by culture techniques. In addition 3-hydroxy fatty acids, important in biosurfactant production, was observed by FAME analysis. In the all experiments toluene and m+p- xylenes were better growth substrates for both bacteria than the other BTEX compounds. In addition, the test results indicate that the bacteria could contribute to bioremediation of aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX) pollution increase biodegradation through the action by biosurfactants.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Reports in recent years have indicated that increasing numbers of migrants attempting to enter the United States illegally die while crossing the southwest border. The Border Patrol implemented the Border Safety Initiative (BSI) in 1998 with the intention of reducing injuries and preventing deaths among migrants that attempt to cross the border illegally. GAO assessed: (1) Trends in the numbers, locations, causes, and characteristics of border-crossing deaths. (2) Differences among the Border Patrol sectors in implementing the BSI methodology. (3) The extent to which existing data allow for an evaluation of the effectiveness of the BSI and other efforts to prevent border-crossing deaths."

The Internet touches almost every aspect of modern life. The extend to which use of the Internet continues to grow, however, may be affected by a number of technology policy issues being debated in Congress. First is the availability of high speed -- or "broadband" -- Internet access. Next are a range of issues that reflect challenges faced by those who do use the Internet, such as security, privacy, unsolicited commercial electronic mail ("spam"), protecting children from unsuitable material, and computer security, including the vulnerability of the national infrastructure. Other issues include the governance of the Internet's domain name system. The evolving role of the Internet in the political economy of the United States also continues to attract congressional attention.

The continued growth of the Internet for personal, government, and business purposes may be affected by a number of technology policy issues being debated by Congress. Among them are access to and regulation of broadband (high-speed) Internet services, computer and Internet security, Internet privacy, the impact of “spam,” concerns about what children may encounter (such as pornography) when using the Internet, management of the Internet Domain Name System, and government information technology management. This report provides overviews of those issues, plus appendices providing a list of pending legislation, a list of acronyms, a discussion of legislation passed in earlier Congresses, and a list of other CRS reports that provide more detail on these and related topics.

The continued growth of the Internet for personal, government, and business purposes may be affected by a number of technology policy issues being debated by Congress. Among them are access to and regulation of broadband (high-speed) Internet services, computer and Internet security, Internet privacy, the impact of “spam,” concerns about what children may encounter (such as pornography) when using the Internet, management of the Internet Domain Name System, and government information technology management. This report provides overviews of those issues, plus appendices providing a list of pending legislation, a list of acronyms, a discussion of legislation passed in earlier Congresses, and a list of other CRS reports that provide more detail on these and related topics.

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This contribution reports on the first measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A{sub LL} for the inclusive production of jets in polarized proton-proton collisions at {radical}s = 200 GeV. The data were collected with STAR at RHIC in the years 2003 and 2004, and correspond to a sampled integrated luminosity of 0.3 pb{sup -1} with beam polarizations up to 45%. The results on A{sub LL} cover jet transverse momenta 5 < p{sub T} < 17 GeV/c and agree with perturbative QCD evaluations based on deep-inelastic scattering parametrizations for the gluon polarization in the proton. The results disfavor large positive gluon polarization in the polarized proton.

Letter from Jim Bruseth to Mr. Moore discussing the meeting that was held in Austin, Texas to determine the possibility of human graves being near the Central State Prison Farm.