This report provides current statistical information, profiles the Afghanistan narcotics trade's participants, explores linkages between narcotics, insecurity, and corruption, and reviews U.S. and international policy responses since late 2001. The report also considers ongoing policy debates regarding the counternarcotics role of coalition military forces, poppy eradication, alternative livelihoods, and funding issues for Congress.

This report describes the Characterization of advanced EUV resists using the Berkeley METtool.

Continuous crosswell seismic monitoring of a small-scale CO2injection was accomplished with the development of a noveltubing-deployed piezoelectric borehole source. This piezotube source wasdeployed on the CO2 injection tubing, near the top of the saline aquiferreservoir at 1657-m depth, and allowed acquisition of crosswellrecordings at 15-minute intervals during the multiday injection. Thechange in traveltime recorded at various depths in a nearby observationwell allowed hour-by-hour monitoring of the growing CO2 plume via theinduced seismic velocity change. Traveltime changes of 0.2 to 1.0 ms ( upto 8 percent ) were observed, with no change seen at control sensorsplaced above the reservoir. The traveltime measurements indicate that theCO2 plume reached the top of the reservoir sand before reaching theobservation well, where regular fluid sampling was occuring during theinjection, thus providing information about the in situ buoyancy ofCO2.

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) hosted its third annual Summer Research Institute in Interfacial and Condensed Phase Chemical Physics from May through September 2006. During this period, twenty PNNL scientists hosted twenty-seven scientists from twenty-five different universities. Of the twenty-seven participants, one was a graduating senior; twenty-one were graduate students; one was a postdoctoral fellow; and four were university faculty members.

The objectives of this report are to: (1) Develop detailed chemical kinetic reaction models for components of fuels, including olefins and cycloalkanes used in diesel, spark-ignition and HCCI engines; (2) Develop surrogate mixtures of hydrocarbon components to represent real fuels and lead to efficient reduced combustion models; and (3) Characterize the role of fuel composition on production of emissions from practical automotive engines.

A detailed chemical kinetic mechanism has been developed and used to study the oxidation of cyclohexane at both low and high temperatures. Reaction rate constant rules are developed for the low temperature combustion of cyclohexane. These rules can be used for in chemical kinetic mechanisms for other cycloalkanes. Since cyclohexane produces only one type of cyclohexyl radical, much of the low temperature chemistry of cyclohexane is described in terms of one potential energy diagram showing the reaction of cyclohexyl radical + O{sub 2} through five, six and seven membered ring transition states. The direct elimination of cyclohexene and HO{sub 2} from RO{sub 2} is included in the treatment using a modified rate constant of Cavallotti et al. Published and unpublished data from the Lille rapid compression machine, as well as jet-stirred reactor data are used to validate the mechanism. The effect of heat loss is included in the simulations, an improvement on previous studies on cyclohexane. Calculations indicated that the production of 1,2-epoxycyclohexane observed in the experiments can not be simulated based on the current understanding of low temperature chemistry. Possible 'alternative' H-atom isomerizations leading to different products from the parent O{sub 2}QOOH radical were included in the low temperature …

The purpose of the DOE equipment-only grant was to purchase instrumentation in support of structural biology and genomics core facilities in the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute (ZNI). The ZNI, a new laboratory facility (125,000 GSF) and a center of excellence at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, was opened in 2003. The goal of the ZNI is to recruit upwards of 30 new faculty investigators engaged in interdisciplinary research programs that will add breadth and depth to existing school strengths in neuroscience, epidemiology and genetics. Many of these faculty, and other faculty researchers at the Keck School will access structural biology and genomics facilities developed in the ZNI.

The Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) in the 200 East Area of the Hanford Site is investigating the conversion of several liquid waste streams from evaporator operations into solid cement-based waste forms. The cement/waste mixture will be poured into plastic-lined mold boxes. After solidification the bags will be removed from the molds and sealed for land disposal at the Hanford Site. The RJ Lee Group, Inc. Center for Laboratory Sciences (CLS) at Columbia Basin College (CBC) was requested to develop and test a cementitious solids (CS) formulation to solidify evaporated groundwater brine, identified as UP-1, from Basin 43. Laboratory testing of cement/simulant mixtures is required to demonstrate the viability of cement formulations that reduce the overall cost, minimize bleed water and expansion, and provide suitable strength and cure temperature. Technical support provided mixing, testing, and reporting of values for a defined composite solid waste form. In this task, formulations utilizing Basin 43 simulant at varying wt% solids were explored. The initial mixing consisted of making small ({approx} 300 g) batches and casting into 500-mL Nalgene{reg_sign} jars. The mixes were cured under adiabatic conditions and checked for bleed water and consistency at recorded time intervals over a 1-week period. After the results …

The concept of chirality is extended to the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) and the {micro} term is forbidden by a gauged U(1){prime} symmetry. R-parity automatically emerges after symmetry breaking, suppressing proton decay and protecting the LSP. Exotics charged under the SM pose a challenge to traditional SU(5) unification, but unification is still implemented in deconstructed GUTs. Because of the multitude of additional states to the MSSM, the Z{prime} has a large width, and the SM background, neglected in previous theoretical studies, becomes important for Z{prime} discovery. As a result, the LHC reach is reduced from 3.2 TeV, for a Z{prime} with SM decays, to 1.5 TeV, when additional decay channels are included. This model also predicts possibly long-lived colored and electroweak exotics.

Alloy 22 (N06022) is highly resistant to localized corrosion. Under aggressive environmental conditions Alloy 22 may be susceptible to crevice corrosion in hot chloride (Cl{sup -}) solutions. The objective of the present work was to explore the environmental and geometrical conditions for crevice corrosion to occur. Electrochemical tests were performed using PCA and prismatic mill annealed Alloy 22 specimens in chloride solutions. Crevice corrosion current density was found to be a function of applied potential. i{sub CREV} values ranged from 40 {micro}A/cm{sup 2} to 20 mA/cm{sup 2}. Such low values of current density explained the absence of pitting corrosion in Alloy 22 at any potential. Decreasing of the effective diffusion distance in a propagating crevice is thought to cause crevice corrosion stifling or repassivation after long anodic polarization. Crevice corrosion breakdown potential is expected to decrease with potential scan rate, approaching repassivation potential for low scan rates. The lowest corrosion potential of Alloy 22 in hydrochloric acid solutions at which active corrosion exists was proposed as the lowest possible repassivation potential for crevice corrosion.

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory conducted a field study to evaluate the deposition of an explosively dispersed radionuclide surrogate (CsCl) on grime and non-grime containing urban surfaces. An additional objective of this study was to evaluate several laboratory surface contamination techniques for the preparation of mock urban surfaces in order to determine the method that most closely mimics surface contamination following an RDD event. The field study was conducted at the LLNL Site 300 Contained Firing Facility (CFF). For our study, we detonated a mock RDD made using C4 and non-radioactive CsCl. Lab prepared concrete samples (3.8 cm x 7.6 cm cylinders) were made using 4 different conditioning regimes to mimic a range of conditions that may be encountered during an RDD event. This sample set included dry, wet, carbonated and non-carbonated cores with and without the application of urban grime. In addition, concreted samples (13 cm x 13 cm x 5 cm) removed from an urban surface were placed inside the CFF chamber. The samples were placed inside the firing chamber at 3 different distances from the mock RDD device. Following the detonation of the mock RDD, the samples were removed from the firing chamber and selected cores …

This ICN updates the groundwater monitoring plan. The list of constituents and the frequency of sampling is updated to reflect current needs and updates the list of wells within the network.

The Fourier transform of the deeply virtual Compton scattering amplitude (DVCS) with respect to the skewness parameter {zeta} = Q{sup 2}/2p {center_dot} q can be used to provide an image of the target hadron in the boost-invariant variable {sigma}, the coordinate conjugate to light-front time {tau} = t + z/c. As an illustration, we construct a consistent covariant model of the DVCS amplitude and its associated generalized parton distributions using the quantum fluctuations of a fermion state at one loop in QED, thus providing a representation of the light-front wavefunctions of a lepton in {sigma} space. A consistent model for hadronic amplitudes can then be obtained by differentiating the light-front wavefunctions with respect to the bound-state mass. The resulting DVCS helicity amplitudes are evaluated as a function of {sigma} and the impact parameter {rvec b}{sub {perpendicular}}, thus providing a light-front ''photograph'' of the target hadron in a frame-independent three-dimensional light-front coordinate space. We find that in the models studied, the Fourier transform of the DVCS amplitudes exhibit diffraction patterns. The results are analogous to the diffractive scattering of a wave in optics where the distribution in {sigma} measures the physical size of the scattering center in a one-dimensional system.

The existence of flux-ratio anomalies between fold and cusp images in galaxy-scale strong-lens systems has led to an interpretation based on the presence of a high mass-fraction of cold-dark-matter (CDM) substructures around galaxies, as predicted by numerical N-body simulations. These substructures can cause large perturbations of the image magnifications, leading to changes in the image flux ratios. The flux-ratio anomaly is particularly evident in the radio-loud quadruple gravitational lens system CLASS B2045+265. In this paper, new high-resolution radio, optical, and infrared imaging of B2045+265 is presented which sheds more light on this anomaly and its possible causes. First, deep Very Long Baseline Array observations show very compact images, possibly with a hint of a jet, but with no evidence for differential scattering or scatter broadening. Hence, the flux-ratio anomaly is unlikely to be caused by refractive scattering in either the Milky Way or the lens galaxy. Second, optical and infrared observations with the Hubble Space Telescope and through Adaptive-Optics imaging with the W. M. Keck Telescope, show a previously undiscovered object--interpreted as a (tidally disrupted) dwarf satellite based on its colors and slight extension--between the main lens galaxy and the three anomalous flux-ratio images. Third, color variations in the early-type …

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The objective of the proposed effort is to use a new approach to develop solution models of complex waste glass systems and spent fuel that are predictive with regard to composition, phase separation, and volatility. The effort will also yield thermodynamic values for waste components that are fundamentally required for corrosion models used to predict the leaching/corrosion behavior for waste glass and spent fuel material. This basic information and understanding of chemical behavior can subsequently be used directly in computational models of leaching and transport in geologic media, in designing and engineering waste forms and barrier systems, and in prediction of chemical interactions.

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.

In the highly technological aerospace world paper is still widely used to document space system integration and test (I&T) operations. E-Logbook is a new technology designed to substitute the most commonly used paper logbooks in space system I&T, such as the connector mate/demate logbook, the flight hardware and flight software component installation logbook, the material mix record logbook and the electronic ground support equipment validation logbook. It also includes new logbook concepts, such as the shift logbook, which optimizes management oversight and the shift hand-over process, and the configuration logbook, which instantly reports on the global I&T state of the space system before major test events or project reviews. The design of E-Logbook focuses not only on a reliable and efficient relational database, but also on an ergonomic human-computer interactive (HCI) system that can help reduce human error and improve I&T management and oversight overall. E-Logbook has been used for the I&T operation of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) Large Area Telescope (LAT) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). More than 41,000 records have been created for the different I&T logbooks, with no data having been corrupted or critically lost. 94% of the operators and 100% of …

A technical safeguards challenge has remained for decades for the IAEA to identify possible diversion of nuclear fuel pins from Light Water Reactor (LWR) spent fuel assemblies. In fact, as modern nuclear power plants are pushed to higher power levels and longer fuel cycles, fuel failures (i.e., ''leakers'') as well as the corresponding fuel assembly repairs (i.e., ''reconstitutions'') are commonplace occurrences within the industry. Fuel vendors have performed hundreds of reconstitutions in the past two decades, thus, an evolved know-how and sophisticated tools exist to disassemble irradiated fuel assemblies and replace damaged pins with dummy stainless steel or other type rods. Various attempts have been made in the past two decades to develop a technology to identify a possible diversion of pin(s) and to determine whether some pins are missing or replaced with dummy or fresh fuel pins. However, to date, there are no safeguards instruments that can detect a possible pin diversion scenario to the requirements of the IAEA. The FORK detector system [1-2] can characterize spent fuel assemblies using operator declared data, but it is not sensitive enough to detect missing pins from spent fuel assemblies. Likewise, an emission computed tomography system [3] has been used to try …

We fit the Doppler profiles of the He-like triplet complexes of O VII and N VI in the X-ray spectrum of the O star {zeta} Pup, using XMM-Newton RGS data collected over {approx} 400 ks of exposure. We find that they cannot be well fit if the resonance and intercombination lines are constrained to have the same profile shape. However, a significantly better fit is achieved with a model incorporating the effects of resonance scattering, which causes the resonance line to become more symmetric than the intercombination line for a given characteristic continuum optical depth {tau}{sub *}. We discuss the plausibility of this hypothesis, as well as its significance for our understanding of Doppler profiles of X-ray emission lines in O stars.

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This report provides information about The 2003 Treaty on Extradition Between the United States and Great Britain where the treaty proved controversially before the senate would give its contest it insisted upon modifications, some quite unusual.