The epidemiological and economic modeling of poultry diseases requires knowing the size, location, and operational type of each poultry type operation within the US. At the present time, the only national database of poultry operations that is available to the general public is the USDA's 2002 Agricultural Census data, published by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, herein referred to as the 'NASS data'. The NASS data provides census data at the county level on poultry operations for various operation types (i.e., layers, broilers, turkeys, ducks, geese). However, the number of farms and sizes of farms for the various types are not independent since some facilities have more than one type of operation. Furthermore, some data on the number of birds represents the number sold, which does not represent the number of birds present at any given time. In addition, any data tabulated by NASS that could identify numbers of birds or other data reported by an individual respondent is suppressed by NASS and coded with a 'D'. To be useful for epidemiological and economic modeling, the NASS data must be converted into a unique set of facility types (farms having similar operational characteristics). The unique set must not double count …

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These results are from the continuing Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics runs on BG/L. These results are from the Ferrenberg-Swendsen analysis [?] of the combined data from LLNL and NYBlue BG/L runs for 32{sup 3} x 8 runs with the p4rhmc v2.0 QMP-MPI.X (semi-optimized p4 code using qmp over mpi). The jobs include beta values ranging from 3.525 to 3.535 with an alternate analysis extending to 3.540. The NYBlue data sets are from 9k trajectories from Oct 2007, and the LLNL data are from two independent streams of {approx}5k each, taking from the July 2007 runs. The following outputs are produced by the fs-2+1-chiub.c program. All outputs have had checksums produced by addCks.pl and checked by the checkCks.pl perl script after scanning.

The purpose of this annual monitoring report is to evaluate the conditions of and identify trends for groundwater beneath the ERDF and to report leachate results in fulfillment of the requirements specified in the ERDF ROD.

We consider orientifold field theories (i.e. SU(N) Yang-Mills theories with fermions in the two-index symmetric or antisymmetric representations) on R{sub 3} x S{sub 1} where the compact dimension can be either temporal or spatial. These theories are planar equivalent to supersymmetric Yang-Mills. The latter has Z{sub N} center symmetry. The famous Polyakov criterion establishing confinement-deconfinement phase transition as that from Z{sub N} symmetric to Z{sub N} broken phase applies. At the Lagrangian level the orientifold theories have at most a Z{sub 2} center. We discuss how the full Z{sub N} center symmetry dynamically emerges in the orientifold theories in the limit N {yields} {infinity}. In the confining phase the manifestation of this enhancement is the existence of stable k-strings in the large-N limit of the orientifold theories. These strings are identical to those of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories. We argue that critical temperatures (and other features) of the confinement-deconfinement phase transition are the same in the orientifold daughters and their supersymmetric parent up to 1/N corrections. We also discuss the Abelian and non-Abelian confining regimes of four-dimensional QCD-like theories.

The parameter kappa was defined by Anderson and Hough (1984) to describe the high-frequency spectral roll-off of the strong motion seismic spectrum. In the work of Su et al., (1996) the numerical value of kappa estimated for sites near Yucca Mountain was small (~20 ms). The estimate obtained from these events has been applied through a rigorous methodology to develop design earthquake spectra with magnitude over 5.0. Smaller values of kappa lead to higher estimated ground motions in the methodology used by the Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA) for Yucca Mountain. An increase of 10 ms in kappa could result in a substantial decrease in the high frequency level of the predicted ground motions. Any parameter that plays such a critical role deserves close examination. Here, we study kappa and its associated uncertainties. The data set used by Su et al (1996) consisted of 12 M 2.8 to 4.5 earthquakes recorded at temporary stations deployed after the June 1992 Little Skull Mountain earthquake. The kappa elements of that study were revisited by Anderson and Su (MOL.20071203.0134) and substantially confirmed. One weakness of those studies is the limited data used. Few of these stations were on tuff or on Yucca Mountain …

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In the present NEER project we investigated two different types of gel materials with respect to potential applications in environmental remediation, including mixed waste generated from the nuclear fuel cycles. The materials under study were: (1) silica-polymer based aerogel composites into which specific metallic cations diffuse into and remain, and (2) polymer gels made of thermo-sensitive polymer networks, whose functional groups can be ''tailored'' to have a preferred affinity for specific cations, again diffusing into and remaining in the network under a volumetrically, contractive phase-transition. The molecular, diffusion of specific cations, including those of concern in low-level waste streams, into the gel materials studied here indicates that a scaled, engineered system can be designed so that it is passive; that is, minimal (human) intervention and risk would be involved in encapsulating LLW species. In addition, the gel materials hold potential significance in environmental remediation of and recovery of metallic cations identified in respective domains and physico-chemical processes. In brief, silica gels start as aqueous/liquid solutions of base catalyzed silica hydrogels and metal ions (targeted species), such as silver. The metal ions are reduced radiolytically and migrate through the solution to form clusters. Upon post-irradiation processing, aerogel monoliths, extremely lightweight but …

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This report compares only the major provisions in the House-and Senate-passed versions of the 2007 farm bill with each other and with current law.

This report discusses the renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS), under which retail electricity suppliers (electric utilities) must provide a minimum amount of electricity from renewable energy resources or purchase tradable credits that represent an equivalent amount of renewable energy production. The minimum requirement is often set as a percentage share of retail electricity sales.

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This report identifies the names, committee assignments, dates of service, and (for Representatives) districts of the 244 women who have served in Congress.

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This report provides a brief overview of federal law with respect to six selected advertising issues: alcohol advertising, tobacco advertising, the federal trade commission act, advertising by mail, advertising by telephone, and commercial e-mail.

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This report is on China’s 17th Communist Party Congress, 2007: Leadership and Policy Implications.

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This report provides information about the Data Mining and Homeland Security. Data mining has become one of the key features of the homeland security initiatives. Data mining can be a potential means to identify terrorist activities such as money transfer etc.

This report presents historical development and options for change related to Franking Privilege.

The Constitution of the United States makes no specific allowance for any one of the co-equal branches to have access to information held by the others and contains no provision expressly establishing a procedure for, or a right of, public access to government information. Nonetheless, Congress has legislated various public access laws. These include two records access statutes — the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act — and two meetings access statutes — the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Government in the Sunshine Act. This report provides background on the issue of government transparency and examines relevant litigation.

This report provides the results of a random survey of adult Texas residents aged 18 and older to measure the citizen participation rates, the distribution and frequency of play, and the demographic profiles of the past-year lottery players and non-players.