Generating the sequence of the human genome represents a colossal achievement for science and mankind. The technical use for the human genome project information holds great promise to cure disease, prevent bioterror threats, as well as to learn about human origins. Yet converting the sequence data into biological meaningful information has not been immediately obvious, and we are still in the preliminary stages of understanding how the genome is organized, what are the functional building blocks and how do these sequences mediate complex biological processes. The overarching goal of this program was to develop novel methods and high throughput strategies for determining the functions of ''anonymous'' human genes that are evolutionarily deeply conserved in other vertebrates. We coupled analytical tool development and computational predictions regarding gene function with novel high throughput experimental strategies and tested biological predictions in the laboratory. The tools required for comparative genomic data-mining are fundamentally the same whether they are applied to scientific studies of related microbes or the search for functions of novel human genes. For this reason the tools, conceptual framework and the coupled informatics-experimental biology paradigm we developed in this LDRD has many potential scientific applications relevant to LLNL multidisciplinary research in bio-defense, …

The 222-S Laboratory contains 155 active fume hoods that are used to support analytical work with radioactive and/or toxic materials. The performance of a fume hood was brought into question after employees detected odors in the work area while mixing chemicals within the subject fume hood. Following the event, testing of the fume hood was conducted to assess the performance of the fume hood. Based on observations from the testing, it was deemed appropriate to conduct performance evaluations of other fume hoods within the laboratory.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Commerce's U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) seeks updated information on the addresses and maps of housing units from state, local, and tribal governments through the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program. This testimony discusses (1) the status of the LUCA program, and (2) the Bureau's response to prior issues raised by GAO as well as new challenges related to the program. The testimony is based on a GAO report issued on June 14, 2007. GAO reviewed LUCA program documents, met with and surveyed participants in the LUCA Dress Rehearsal, and interviewed Bureau officials and local officials."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For the 2010 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) faces the daunting challenge of cost-effectively counting a population that is growing steadily larger, more diverse, increasingly difficult to find, and more reluctant to participate in the decennial census. Managing its human capital, maintaining community partnerships, and developing advertising strategies to increase response rates for the decennial census are several ways that the Bureau can complete the 2010 Census accurately and within budget. This testimony, based primarily on past GAO work, provides information on (1) diversity in the Bureau's workforce, (2) plans for partnering with others in an effort to build public awareness of the census; and (3) certain requirements for ensuring contracting opportunities for small businesses."

Recent experiments were carried out on the Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) towards the demonstration of a soft x-ray laser Thomson scattering diagnostic for a laser-produced exploding foil. The Thomson probe utilized the Ne-like zinc x-ray laser which was double-passed to deliver {approx}1 mJ of focused energy at 21.2 nm wavelength and lasting {approx}100 ps. The plasma under study was heated single-sided using a Gaussian 300-ps pulse of 438-nm light (3{omega} of the PALS iodine laser) at laser irradiances of 10{sup 13}-10{sup 14} W cm{sup -2}. Electron densities of 10{sup 20}-10{sup 22} cm{sup -3} and electron temperatures from 200 to 500 eV were probed at 0.5 or 1 ns after the peak of the heating pulse during the foil plasma expansion. A flat-field 1200 line mm{sup -1} variable-spaced grating spectrometer with a cooled charge-coupled device readout viewed the plasma in the forward direction at 30{sup o} with respect to the x-ray laser probe. We show results from plasmas generated from {approx}1 {micro}m thick targets of Al and polypropylene (C{sub 3}H{sub 6}). Numerical simulations of the Thomson scattering cross-sections will be presented. These simulations show electron peaks in addition to a narrow ion feature due to collective (incoherent) Thomson scattering. The …

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Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to designating March 13, 2007, as Mount Pleasant/Titus County Day at the State Capitol.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring the winners of the Faithful Fathering Initiative in Texas' 2006 Chick-Fil-A Dads Becoming Heroes Essay Contest.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring the Hondo High School football team on its outstanding 2006 season.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring J. O. Barrera for his many years of service as Duval County Veterans Service Officer.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to honoring Tuerff-Davis EnviroMedia, Inc., of Austin on the 10th anniversary of its founding.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to designating April 2007 as Child Safety Month in Texas.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to in memory of Charles A. Hinton of Mount Pleasant.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to in memory of Bishop Rhymes H. Moncure, Jr., of Dallas.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating the Chilton Pirates for winning the 2006 Class A Division II state football championship.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to commending Larry Carroll of Midland on his 30 years of service with Permian Basin Community Centers for Mental Health and Mental Retardation.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to commending Special Olympics Texas and welcoming its athletes to the Capitol.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to congratulating Beverly Marie Pevehouse of Midland on her receipt of the Hope Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the testing of certain inmates for HIV or AIDS.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives declaring March 7, 2007, Texas Southern University Day at the State Capitol.

he superconducting gap--an energy scale tied to the superconducting phenomena--opens on the Fermi surface at the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) in conventional BCS superconductors. In underdoped high-Tc superconducting copper oxides, a pseudogap (whose relation to the superconducting gap remains a mystery) develops well above Tc (refs 1, 2). Whether the pseudogap is a distinct phenomenon or the incoherent continuation of the superconducting gap above Tc is one of the central questions in high-Tc research3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Although some experimental evidence suggests that the two gaps are distinct9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, this issue is still under intense debate. A crucial piece of evidence to firmly establish this two-gap picture is still missing: a direct and unambiguous observation of a single-particle gap tied to the superconducting transition as function of temperature. Here we report the discovery of such an energy gap in underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta in the momentum space region overlooked in previous measurements. Near the diagonal of Cu?O bond direction (nodal direction), we found a gap that opens at Tc and has a canonical (BCS-like) temperature dependence accompanied by the appearance of the so-called Bogoliubov quasi-particles, a classical signature of superconductivity. This is …

This report summarizes the history of the military relationship between the U.S. and the Philippines. The report connects this to the terrorist actions of Abu Sayyaf and his relationship to Al Qaeda specifically. Finally, the report discusses the military pressure the Philippine government has put on Abu Sayyaf and the challenges these operations face.

This Action Memorandum documents the selected alternative for decommissioning of the Engineering Test Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory under the Idaho Cleanup Project. Since the missions of the Engineering Test Reactor Complex have been completed, an engineering evaluation/cost analysis that evaluated alternatives to accomplish the decommissioning of the Engineering Test Reactor Complex was prepared and released for public comment. The scope of this Action Memorandum is to encompass the final end state of the Complex and disposal of the Engineering Test Reactor vessel. The selected removal action includes removing and disposing of the vessel at the Idaho CERCLA Disposal Facility and demolishing the reactor building to ground surface.

A discrete-time Markov process can be compactly modeled as a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN)--a graphical model with nodes representing random variables and directed edges indicating causality between variables. Each node has a probability distribution, conditional on the variables represented by the parent nodes. A DBN's graphical structure encodes fixed conditional dependencies between variables. But in real-world systems, conditional dependencies between variables may be unknown a priori or may vary over time. Model errors can result if the DBN fails to capture all possible interactions between variables. Thus, we explore the representational framework of adaptive DBNs, whose structure and parameters can change from one time step to the next: a distribution's parameters and its set of conditional variables are dynamic. This work builds on recent work in nonparametric Bayesian modeling, such as hierarchical Dirichlet processes, infinite-state hidden Markov networks and structured priors for Bayes net learning. In this paper, we will explain the motivation for our interest in adaptive DBNs, show how popular nonparametric methods are combined to formulate the foundations for adaptive DBNs, and present preliminary results.