The Senate has censured nine Senators for various misconduct, including conduct not a violation of any law or specific written Senate ethics rule, when such conduct is found contrary to "acceptable norms of ethical conduct in the Senate," contrary to "accepted morals" and "senatorial ethics," when found to "derogate from the public trust expected of a Senator," and/or found to be "reprehensible" conduct which brings the Senate into "dishonor and disrepute." Conduct resulting in Senate "censure" has included violating orders of secrecy of documents; fighting in the Senate ("censure"); allowing a lobbyist with interests in particular legislation to be on official staff with access to the secret considerations of the legislation by committee ("condemn"); non-cooperation and abuse of investigating committees of the Senate ("condemn"); financial irregularities concerning political contributions ("censure"), office expenses and contributions ("denounce"), and excessive honoraria, official reimbursements and gifts ("denounce").

Dynamic mechanical analysis has been used to characterize the effects of tritium gas (initially 1 atm. pressure, ambient temperature) exposure over times up to 2.3 years on several thermoplastics-ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and Vespel{reg_sign} polyimide, and on several formulations of elastomers based on ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM). Tritium exposure stiffened the elastic modulus of UHMW-PE up to about 1 year and then softened it, and reduced the viscous response monotonically with time. PTFE initially stiffened, however the samples became too weak to handle after nine months exposure. The dynamic properties of Vespel{reg_sign} were not affected. The glass transition temperature of the EPDM formulations increased approximately 4 C. following three months tritium exposure.

A CLIC designed 18 cells, low group velocity (2.4% to 1.0% c), X-band (11.4 GHz) accelerator structure (denoted T18) was designed at CERN, its cells were built at KEK, and it was assembled and tested at SLAC. An interesting feature of this structure is that the gradient in the last cell is about 50% higher than that in the first cell. This structure has been RF conditioned at SLAC NLCTA for about 1400 hours where it incurred about 2200 breakdowns. This paper presents the characteristics of these breakdowns, including (1) the breakdown rate dependence on gradient, pulse width and conditioning time, (2) the breakdown distribution along the structure, (3) relation between breakdown and pulsed heating dependence study and (4) electric field decay time for breakdown changing over the whole conditioning time. Overall, this structure performed very well, having a final breakdown rate of less than 1e-6/pulse/m at 106 MV/m with 230 ns pulse width.

A 5-cell, normal-conducting, 1.3 GHz, standing-wave (SW) cavity was built as a prototype capture accelerator for the ILC positron source. Although the ILC uses predominantly superconducting cavities, the capture cavity location in both a high radiation environment and a solenoidal magnetic field requires it to be normal conducting. With the relatively high duty ILC beam pulses (1 msec at 5 Hz) and the high gradient required for efficient positron capture (15 MV/m), achieving adequate cavity cooling to prevent significant detuning is challenging. This paper presents the operational performance of this cavity including the processing history, characteristics of the breakdown events and the acceleration gradient witnessed by a single bunch at different injection times for different rf pulse lengths.

Starting from the Hamiltonian equation of motion in QCD we find a single variable light-front equation for QCD which determines the eigenspectrum and the light-front wavefunctions of hadrons for general spin and orbital angular momentum. This light-front wave equation is equivalent to the equations of motion which describe the propagation of spin-J modes on anti-de Sitter (AdS) space.

Hamiltonian light-front quantum field theory constitutes a framework for the non-perturbative solution of invariant masses and correlated parton amplitudes of self-bound systems. By choosing light-front gauge and adopting a basis function representation, we obtain a large, sparse, Hamiltonian-matrix for mass eigenstates of gauge theories that is solvable by adapting the ab initio no-core methods of nuclear many-body theory. Full covariance is recovered in the continuum limit, the infinite matrix limit. We outline our approach and discuss the computational challenges.

Alstom Power Inc. has conducted a DOE/NETL-sponsored program (under DOE Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC26-04NT42306) to demonstrate Mer-Cure{trademark}, one of Alstom's mercury control technologies for coal-fired boilers. Mer-Cure{trademark} utilizes a small amount of Mer-Clean{trademark} sorbent that is injected into the flue gas stream for oxidation and adsorption of gaseous mercury. Mer-Clean{trademark} sorbents are carbon-based and prepared with chemical additives that promote oxidation and capture of mercury. Mer-Cure{trademark} is unique in that the sorbent is injected into an environment where the mercury capture kinetics is accelerated. This full-scale demonstration program was comprised of three seven-week long test campaigns at three host sites including PacifiCorp's 240-MW{sub e} Dave Johnston Unit No.3 burning a Powder River Basin (PRB) coal, Basin Electric's 220-MW{sub e} Leland Olds Unit No.1 burning a North Dakota lignite, and Reliant Energy's 170-MW{sub e} Portland Unit No.1 burning an Eastern bituminous coal. All three boilers are equipped with electrostatic precipitators. The goals for this Round 2 program, established by DOE/NETL under the original solicitation, were to reduce the uncontrolled mercury emissions by 50 to 70% at a cost 25 to 50% lower than the previous target of $60,000/lb mercury removed. The results for all three host sites indicated that Mer-Cure{trademark} technology …

The proposed overarching goal for this project was the following: Data integration, simulation and visualization will facilitate metabolic and regulatory network prediction, exploration, and formulation of hypotheses. We stated three specific aims to achieve the overarching goal of this project: (1) Integration of multiple levels of information such as mRNA and protein levels, predicted protein-protein interactions/associations and gene function will enable construction of models describing environmental response and dynamic behavior. (2) Flexible tools for network inference will accelerate our understanding of biological systems. (3) Flexible exploration and queries of model hypotheses will provide focus and reveal novel dependencies. The underlying philosophy of these proposed aims is that an iterative cycle of experiments, experimental design, and verification will lead to a comprehensive and predictive model that will shed light on systems level mechanisms involved in responses elicited by living systems upon sensing a change in their environment. In the previous years report we demonstrated considerable progress in development of data standards, regulatory network inference and data visualization and exploration. We are pleased to report that several manuscripts describing these procedures have been published in top international peer reviewed journals including Genome Biology, PNAS, and Cell. The abstracts of these manuscripts are …

Initial- and final-state rescattering, neglected in the parton model, have a profound effect in QCD hard-scattering reactions, predicting single-spin asymmetries, diffractive deep inelastic scattering, diffractive hard hadronic reactions, the breakdown of the Lam Tung relation in Drell-Yan reactions, and nuclear shadowing and non-universal antishadowing--leading-twist physics not incorporated in the light-front wavefunctions of the target computed in isolation. I also discuss the use of diffraction to materialize the Fock states of a hadronic projectile and test QCD color transparency, and anomalous heavy quark effects. The presence of direct higher-twist processes where a proton is produced in the hard subprocess can explain the large proton-to-pion ratio seen in high centrality heavy ion collisions. I emphasize the importance of distinguishing between static observables such as the probability distributions computed from the square of the light-front wavefunctions versus dynamical observables which include the effects of rescattering.

The western red-tailed skink (Eumeces gilberti rubricaudatus) is a sensitive species that is on the Nevada Natural Heritage Program’s “Animal and Plant At-Risk Tracking List.” Information about this species is lacking, especially for southern Nevada. A pilot project was initiated in 2006 on portions of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) to (1) develop techniques for determining western red-tailed skink distribution, (2) determine if skinks are still present at historic locations, (3) evaluate habitat use by trapping in a variety of habitats, and (4) collect tissue samples for genetic analysis. Skink capture success was compared in trap arrays with and without drift fences. A total of 9 western red-tailed skinks were captured in 6,092 trap days (0.1%, 1 skink/677 trap days). No skinks were captured in trap arrays with drift fences, which suggests that funnel traps set near rocks or vegetation without drift fences is a viable technique for capturing skinks. This greatly reduces the effort and cost to capture skinks. Skinks were captured at one of the three historic locations. Captures occurred in a variety of habitats including springs, ephemeral washes, and dry rocky areas. Genetic analysis revealed that NTS skinks are part of the Inyo clade, and are most …

In support of the mission for the Office of Science and the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER), Spectrum Publishers proposes an editorial project to inform and educate minority undergraduate students in the sciences, minority medical students and minority medical residents of the opportunities and challenges available to them as they complete their training. This editorial project will take the form of a 32-page insert in the Journal for Minority Medical Students. The subject matter will be determined by BER based on mission requirements. The material will be compiled, assembled, edited, revised, designed, printed and distributed as a total package with a vast majority of the work performed by our staff. Our objective is to provide the special report without added (and burdensome) work to the BER staff. The 32-page report will be distributed to our readership of 10,000 future scientists and physicians. In addition, we will prepare the insert so that it can also be used by BER as a stand-alone piece and outreach tool. After publication, we will solicit feedback from our readers through our unique Campus Rep Program of students strategically located on campuses across the nation who will provide valuable editorial feedback. This innovative program …

On August 8, 2005, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) increased the Section 48 investment tax credit (ITC) for commercial photovoltaic (PV) systems from 10% to 30% of the project's 'tax credit basis' (i.e., the dollar amount to which the ITC applies), and also created in Section 25D of the Internal Revenue Code a new 30% ITC (capped at $2,000) for residential solar systems. Both changes went into effect on January 1, 2006, for an initial period of two years, and in late 2006 both credits were extended 'as is' for an additional year (through 2008). In early 2006, Berkeley Lab published an LBNL/CESA case study that examined the financial impact of EPAct 2005's solar tax credits on PV system owners, in light of the $2,000 cap on the residential credit, as well as the fact that most PV systems in the U.S. also receive cash incentives from state-, local-, or utility-administered PV programs, and that these cash incentives may reduce the value of federal tax credits in certain situations. That case study was subsequently revised in February 2007 to reflect new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance. The findings of that case study, which are briefly recapped in …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Bi-weekly student newspaper from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Newspaper clipping of photographs from events across South Florida, honoring U.S. veterans, including WASP member Helen Wyatt Snapp. On the back of the clipping is an article about a Latin American activist and obituary listings.

Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

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

Weekly student newspaper from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas that includes campus and local news along with advertising.

Weekly student newspaper from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas that includes campus and local news along with advertising.

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Advertising linage report that details ad revenue from the San Angelo Standard-Times, a Texas Daily Newspaper Association member, for October 2008.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

We present an experimental study of the infrared conductivity, transmission, and reflection of a gated bilayer graphene and their theoretical analysis within the Slonczewski-Weiss-McClure (SWMc) model. The infrared response is shown to be governed by the interplay of the interband and the intraband transitions among the four bands of the bilayer. The position of the main conductivity peak at thecharge-neutrality point is determined by the interlayer tunneling frequency. The shift of this peak as a function of the gate voltage gives information about less known parameters of the SWMc model such as those responsible for the electron-hole and sublattice asymmetries. These parameter values are shown to be consistent with recent electronic structure calculations for the bilayer graphene and the SWMc parameters commonly used for the bulk graphite.

This project funds two Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) fish habitat biologists to develop, secure funding for, and implement on-the-ground fish habitat improvement projects in the lower Clearwater River drainage and the upper Salmon River drainage. This report summarizes project activity during the first year of funding. The Clearwater Region fish habitat biologist began work on January 28, 2008 and the Salmon Region habitat biologist began on February 11, 2008.