Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We have performed the procedures contained in the enclosure to this report, which we agreed to perform and with which the Department of Transportation (DOT) concurred, solely to assist DOT's office in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with DOT's office, we evaluated fiscal year 2007 activity affecting distributions to the AATF. In performing the agreed-upon procedures, we conducted our work in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate financial audit and attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These standards also provide guidance for performing and reporting the results of agreed-upon procedures. The adequacy of the procedures to meet your objectives is your responsibility, and we make no representation in that respect. The procedures we agreed to perform were related to (1) transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to the AATF, (2) the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) quarterly AATF receipt certifications, (3) the Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service adjustments …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We have performed the procedures contained in the enclosure to this report, which we agreed to perform and with which the Department of Trasnportation (DOT) concurred, solely to assist your office in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with your office, we evaluated fiscal year 2007 activity affecting distributions to the HTF. In performing the agreed-upon procedures, we conducted our work in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate financial audit and attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These standards also provide guidance for performing and reporting the results of agreed-upon procedures. The adequacy of the procedures to meet your objectives is your responsibility, and we make no representation in that respect. The procedures we agreed to perform were related to (1) transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to the HTF, (2) the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) quarterly HTF receipt certifications, (3) the Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service adjustments to the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Manufacturing workers face an uncertain future as manufacturing employment declines--more than 3 million manufacturing jobs have been lost in this country since 2000 because of international trade as well as other factors. The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, administered by the Department of Labor (Labor), is the nation's primary program providing income support, job training, and other benefits for manufacturing workers who lose their jobs as a result of international trade. During the 3-year period from fiscal years 2004 through 2006, Labor certified nearly 4,700 petitions for TAA covering an estimated 400,000 workers. For fiscal year 2006, Congress appropriated about $966 million for TAA, of which about $220 million was for training trade-affected workers. Each year, Labor initially allocates 75 percent of the training funds, or $165 million, to states according to a formula developed by Labor. Labor holds the remaining 25 percent in reserve to distribute to states throughout the year as the need arises because of unexpected layoffs. To minimize year-to-year fluctuations in state funding, Labor uses a "hold harmless" policy that ensures that each state's initial allocation is at least 85 percent of …

We analyze the mean rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) spectrum ofType Ia Supernovae(SNe) and its dispersion using high signal-to-noiseKeck-I/LRIS-B spectroscopyfor a sample of 36 events at intermediateredshift (z=0.5) discoveredby the Canada-France-Hawaii TelescopeSupernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). Weintroduce a new method for removinghost galaxy contamination in our spectra,exploiting the comprehensivephotometric coverage of the SNLS SNe and theirhost galaxies, therebyproviding the first quantitative view of the UV spectralproperties of alarge sample of distant SNe Ia. Although the mean SN Ia spectrumhas notevolved significantly over the past 40 percent of cosmic history,preciseevolutionary constraints are limited by the absence of acomparable sample ofhigh quality local spectra. The mean UV spectrum ofour z 0.5 SNe Ia and itsdispersion is tabulated for use in futureapplications. Within the high-redshiftsample, we discover significant UVspectral variations and exclude dust extinctionas the primary cause byexamining trends with the optical SN color. Although progenitormetallicity may drive some of these trends, the variations we see aremuchlarger than predicted in recent models and do not follow expectedpatterns.An interesting new result is a variation seen in the wavelengthof selected UVfeatures with phase. We also demonstrate systematicdifferences in the SN Iaspectral features with SN lightcurve width inboth the UV and the optical. Weshow that these intrinsic variations couldrepresent …

Safe and permanent storage of carbon dioxide in geologic reservoirs is critical to geologic sequestration. The objective of this study is to quantify the conditions under which a general (simulated) fault network and a specific (field case) fault network will fail and leak carbon dioxide out of a reservoir. Faults present a potential fast-path for CO{sub 2} leakage from reservoirs to the surface. They also represent potential induced seismicity hazards. It is important to have improved quantitative understandings of the processes that trigger activity on faults and the risks they present. Fortunately, the conditions under which leakage along faults is induced can be predicted and quantified given the fault geometry, reservoir pressure, an in-situ stress tensor. We proposed to expand the current capabilities of fault threshold characterization and apply that capability to a site where is CO{sub 2} injection is active or planned. Specifically, we proposed to use a combination of discrete/explicit and continuum/implicit codes to provide constrain the conditions of fault failure. After minor enhancements of LLNL's existing codes (e.g., LDEC), we would create a 3D synthetic model of a common configuration (e.g., a faulted dome). During these steps, we will identify a field site where the necessary information …

The Annual Symposium of the John B. Little Center for Radiation Sciences and Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health seeks to educate radiobiologists and biomedical scientists in related areas on the leading research related to the effects of ionizing radiation and related environmental agents in biological systems. This effort seeks to further the training of individuals in this field, and to foment productive interactions and collaborations among scientists at Harvard and with other institutions. The Symposium attracts world-class scientists as speakers, and a broad cross-section of attendees from academic, government, and industrial research centers, as well as editorial staff from leading scientific publications. In order to maintain this quality, funding to support the travel and local expenses of invited speakers is sought, along with funds to allow use of appropriate conference facilities.

Spherulites are spherical clusters of radiating crystals that occur naturally in rhyolitic obsidian. The growth of spherulites requires diffusion and uptake of crystal forming components from the host rhyolite melt or glass, and rejection of non-crystal forming components from the crystallizing region. Water concentration profiles measured by synchrotron-source Fourier transform spectroscopy reveal that water is expelled into the surrounding matrix during spherulite growth, and that it diffuses outward ahead of the advancing crystalline front. We compare these profiles to models of water diffusion in rhyolite to estimate timescales for spherulite growth. Using a diffusion-controlled growth law, we find that spherulites can grow on the order of days to months at temperatures above the glass transition. The diffusion-controlled growth law also accounts for spherulite size distribution, spherulite growth below the glass transition, and why spherulitic glasses are not completely devitrified.

Established in 1951, Camp Desert Rock served as the training ground for America's 'Atomic Army'. For the next six years, U.S. ground troops traveled to the Nevada desert to participate in military maneuvers during atmospheric atomic weapons testing. Nearly 60,000 soldiers received physical and psychological training in atomic warfare. Abandoned when atmospheric testing ended, Camp Desert Rock was dismantled and its buildings moved to other locations. Today, the camp appears as a sterile expanse of desert marked by rock-lined tent platforms, concrete foundations, and trash scatters. Although visually unimposing, the site is rich with the history of America's nuclear testing program.

The Bower Cabin, located in southern Nevada, was built and occupied by B.M. Bower and her family during the early 1920s. Bower, a prominent writer of western novels, had over 90 novels to her credit. She wrote 11 of the stories while living at the cabin and, at times, incorporated the surrounding landscape features, including the cabin site itself, into them. The site was subsequently used by a gang of rustlers and for a mining base camp. Archaeological research has identified the remnants of the main structures at the site as well as the artifact material and nearby mining activities associated with the Bower and later occupations.

This paper bundles 40 contributions by the IceCube collaboration that were submitted to the 30th International Cosmic Ray Conference ICRC 2007. The articles cover studies on cosmic rays and atmospheric neutrinos, searches for non-localized, extraterrestrial {nu}{sub e}, {nu}{sub {mu}} and {nu}{sub {tau}} signals, scans for steady and intermittent neutrino point sources, searches for dark matter candidates, magnetic monopoles and other exotic particles, improvements in analysis techniques, as well as future detector extensions. The IceCube observatory will be finalized in 2011 to form a cubic-kilometer ice-Cherenkov detector at the location of the geographic South Pole. At the present state of construction, IceCube consists of 52 paired IceTop surface tanks and 22 IceCube strings with a total of 1426 Digital Optical Modules deployed at depths up to 2350 m. The observatory also integrates the 19 string AMANDA subdetector, that was completed in 2000 and extends IceCube's reach to lower energies. Before the deployment of IceTop, cosmic air showers were registered with the 30 station SPASE-2 surface array. IceCube's low noise Digital Optical Modules are very reliable, show a uniform response and record waveforms of arriving photons that are resolvable with nanosecond precision over a large dynamic range. Data acquisition, reconstruction and simulation …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Weekly magazine edition of the daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

This report examines Kuwait, which would be pivotal to any U.S. decision to wind down its military involvement in Iraq, has advanced its democratic development since the fall of Saddam Hussein, but it remains concerned about security threats emanating from a still unstable Iraq. In June 2006 parliamentary elections, women voted and ran for the first time, but none won.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

The LCLS project at SLAC requires 40 undulators: 33 in the beam line, 6 spares, and one reference undulator. A new facility was constructed at SLAC for tuning and fiducializing the undulators. The throughput of the facility must be approximately one undulator per week. The undulator tuning has been partially automated. Fiducialization techniques have been devised. The new facility, the tuning techniques, and the fiducialization techniques will be discussed.

We discuss our progress on the self-consistent calculation of the 4D phase space density (PSD) and electromagnetic fields in a Vlasov-Maxwell formulation. We emphasize Coherent Synchrotron Radiation (CSR) from arbitrary curved planar orbits, with shielding from the vacuum chamber, but space charge forces are naturally included. Our focus on the Vlasov equation will provide simulations with lower numerical/statistical noise than standard PIC methods, and will allow the study of issues such as emittance degradation and microbunching due to space charge and CSR in bunch compressors. The fields excited by the bunch are computed in the lab frame from a new double integral formula. The field formula is derived from retarded potentials by changes of variables. It is singularity-free and requires no computation of retarded times. Ultimately, the Vlasov equation will be integrated in beam frame coordinates using our method of local characteristics. As an important intermediate step, we have developed a 'self consistent Monte Carlo algorithm', and a corresponding parallel code. This gives an accurate representation of the source and will help in understanding the PSD support. In addition we have (1) studied carefully a 2D phase space Vlasov analogue and (2) derived an improved expression of the field of …

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is a SASE xray Free-Electron Laser (FEL) project presently under construction at SLAC [1]. The injector section, from drive-laser and RF photocathode gun through first bunch compressor chicane, was installed in fall 2006. Initial system commissioning with an electron beam is taking place during the spring and summer of 2007. The second phase of construction, including second bunch compressor and full linac, will begin later, in the fall of 2007. We report here on experience gained during the first phase of machine commissioning, including RF photocathode gun, linac booster section, S-band and X-band RF systems, first bunch compressor, and the various beam diagnostics.

The SPEAR3 storage ring at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory has been delivering photon beams for three years. We will give an overview of recent and ongoing accelerator physics activities, including 500 mA fills, work toward top-off injection, long-term orbit stability characterization and improvement, fast orbit feedback, new chicane optics, low alpha optics & short bunches, low emittance optics, and MATLAB software. The accelerator physics group has a strong program to characterize and improve SPEAR3 performance

We report the results of searches for several decay modes of the {tau}-lepton with {ge} 7 pions in the final state using 207 x 10{sup 6} {tau}-pairs collected with the BaBar detector. For the decays with 7 charged pions in the final state we find the following 90% CL upper limits: B({tau}{sup -} {yields} 4{pi}{sup -}3{pi}{sup +}({pi}{sup 0}){nu}{sub {tau}}) < 3.0 x 10{sup -7}, B({tau}{sup -} {yields} 4{pi}{sup -}3{pi}{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}) < 4.3 x 10{sup -7} and B({tau}{sup -} {yields}) B({tau}{sup -} {yields} 4{pi}{sup -}3{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}{nu}{sub {tau}}) < 2.5 x 10{sup -7}. We also search for the decay {tau}{sup -} {yields} 3{pi}{sup -}2{pi}{sup +}2{pi}{sup 0}{nu}{sub {tau}} and report a 90% CL upper limit of < 3.4 x 10{sup -6} for its branching fraction. Finally, we search for the exclusive final state {tau}{sup -} {yields} 2{sigma}{pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} and find a 90% CL upper limit for its branching fraction of < 5.4 x 10{sup -7}.

The field emission was measured during the high-power testing of the LCLS photocathode RF gun. A careful study and analysis of the field emission electrons, or dark current is important in assessing the gun's internal surface quality in actual operation, especially those surfaces with high fields. The first indication of a good RF gun design and fabrication is short processing time to the required fields and low electron emission at high fields. The charge per 2 microsecond long RF pulse (the dark charge) was measured as a function of the peak cathode field for the 1.6 cell, 2.856GHz LCLS RF gun. Faraday cup data was taken for cathode peak RF fields up to 120MV/m producing a maximum of 0.6nC/RF pulse for a diamond-turned polycrystalline copper cathode installed in the gun. Digitized images of the dark charge were taken using a 100 micron thick YAG crystal for a range of solenoid fields to determine the location and angular distribution of the field emitters. The FN plots and emitter image analysis will be described in this paper.

The LAT Dark Matter and New Physics Working group has been developing approaches for the indirect astrophysical detection of annihilation of dark matter. Our work has assumed that a significant component of dark matter is a new type of Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP). The annihilation of two WIMPs usually results in the production of many high energy gamma rays (>1 GeV) that can be well measured in the GLAST LAT if present. There is also the possibility to observe {gamma} lines from annihilation into {gamma}{gamma} and or {gamma}Z final states. In popular SUSY theories these line decays occur at the 10{sup -4} to 10{sup -2} branching fraction level. Estimates of LAT sensitivity (at 5{sigma} above background) and upper limits (upper limit at the 95% confidence level) to these WIMP lines will be presented. These sensitivities are given in photons/cm2/sec/sr and so do not depend on the WIMP models. However, they do depend on the diffuse background model. The latter is derived from GALPROP[1] based on EGRET and other data in the EGRET energy range. We use extrapolations, provided by the GALPROP team to the higher energy range of 150 GeV explored in the preliminary line sensitivity study presented here. …

Recently the numerical simulations of the process of reionization of the universe at z > 6 have made a qualitative leap forward, reaching sufficient sizes and dynamic range to determine the characteristic scales of this process. This allowed making the first realistic predictions for a variety of observational signatures. We discuss recent results from large-scale radiative transfer and structure formation simulations on the observability of high-redshift Ly-{alpha} sources. We also briefly discuss the dependence of the characteristic scales and topology of the ionized and neutral patches on the reionization parameters.