A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past few years, several food recalls, such as for beef and peanut products, have affected schools. It is especially important that recalls affecting schools be carried out efficiently and effectively because young children have a higher risk of complications from food-borne illnesses. GAO was asked to determine how federal agencies (1) notified states and schools about food recalls, (2) advised states and schools about disposal and reimbursement of recalled food, and (3) ensured that recalls were being carried out effectively. To do this, GAO reviewed and analyzed relevant documents and interviewed federal and state officials, as well as officials from 23 school districts that had experience with at least one of four recent cases involving the safety of food in the school lunch program."

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Weekly newspaper from Port Aransas, Texas on Mustang Island that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

This report looks at ways to overhaul the Social Security system due to a projected lack of system funds, which are estimated to become exhausted in 2041.

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

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

Semi-weekly newspaper from Bastrop, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.

Polyphenylcarbosilane as a novel preceramic polymer for SiC was synthesized from thermal rearrangement of polymethylphenylsilane around 350 C {approx} 430 C. Characterization of synthesized polyphenylcarbosilane was performed with {sup 29}Si, {sup 13}C, {sup 1}H NMR, FT-IR, TG, XRD, and GPC analysis. From FT-IR data, the band at 1035 cm{sup -1} was very strong and assigned to CH{sub 2} bending vibration in Si-CH{sub 2}-Si group, indicating the formation of the polyphenylcarbosilane. The average of the molecular weight (M{sub w}) of the polyphenylcarbosilane synthesized was 2,500 and easily dissolves in an organic solvent. TGA data indicates that polyphenylcarbosilane is thermally stable up to 400 C. However, the rapid weight loss occurs above 400 C due to the pyrolysis of polyphenylcarbosilane, and the diffraction peak of pyrolysis residue at 1200 C corresponds to the {beta}-SiC ceramic. The ceramic yield calculated from TGA is approximately 65%.

Letter from Daniel Graney to Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus Executive Board on August 20, 2009, discussing Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus officer nominations.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

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In 2009, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) evaluated the Touchet Consolidated Facility to determine if it is designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to effectively provide juvenile salmonids with safe passage past the diversion and back to the Touchet River. Completed in 2008, the Touchet Consolidated Facility combined two irrigation diversions with an existing intake for the Touchet Acclimation Facility. The consolidated facility includes a separate fish screen and intake for each user, a pool and chute fishway, and an adult fish trap. The fish screens portions of the facility were evaluated on April 20, 2009, using underwater videography, acoustic Doppler velocimeter measurements, and visual observations while water was diverted to the acclimation facility alone and again as water was diverted to the irrigation system and pond together. The facility is in good condition and is well maintained, although water velocities within the site do not meet the criteria set by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Approach velocities above 0.4 ft/s at the upstream end of the facility and decreases in sweep velocity toward the bypass are likely caused by the proximity of the upstream screen to the spill over stoplogs that control flow at the upstream end of the …

Experiments in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) have shown beneficial effects on the performance of divertor plasmas as a result of applying lithium coatings on the graphite and carbonfiber- composite plasma-facing components. These coatings have mostly been applied by a pair of lithium evaporators mounted at the top of the vacuum vessel which inject collimated streams of lithium vapor towards the lower divertor. In NBI-heated, deuterium H-mode plasmas run immediately after the application of lithium, performance modifications included decreases in the plasma density, particularly in the edge, and inductive flux consumption, and increases in the electron and ion temperatures and the energy confinement time. Reductions in the number and amplitude of ELMs were observed, including complete ELM suppression for periods up to 1.2 s, apparently as a result of altering the stability of the edge. However, in the plasmas where ELMs were suppressed, there was a significant secular increase in the effective ion charge Zeff and the radiated power as a result of increases in the carbon and medium-Z metallic impurities, although not of lithium itself which remained at a very low level in the plasma core, <0.1%. The impurity buildup could be inhibited by repetitively triggering ELMs with …

The relationship between the midplane scrape-off-layer electron temperature profile and the parallel heat flux profile at the divertor in tokamaks is investigated. A model is applied which takes into account anisotropic thermal diffusion, in a rectilinear geometry with constant density. Eigenmode analysis is applied to the simplified problem with constant thermal diffusivities. A self-similar nonlinear solution is found for the more realistic problem with anisotropically temperature-dependent thermal diffusivities. Numerical solutions are developed for both cases, with spatially dependent heat flux emerging from the plasma. For both constant and temperature-dependent thermal diffusivities it is found that, below about one-half of its peak, the heat flux profile shape at the divertor, compared with the midplane temperature profile shape, is robustly described by the simplest two-point model. However the physical processes are not those assumed in the simplest two-point model, nor is the numerical coefficient relating q||div to Tmp χ||mp/L|| as predicted. For realistic parameters the peak in the heat flux, moreover, can be reduced by a factor of two or more from the two-point model scaling which fits the remaining profile. For temperature profiles in the SOL region above the x-point set by marginal stability, the heat flux profile to the divertor …

The Dimensional Measuring Interface Standard (DMIS) is the first data interoperability protocol standard created specifically for dimensional metrology. DMIS applications are multi-facetted. The standard can behave as a coordinate metrology language to execute measurement part programs, or it can be used as a neutral data exchange mechanism for part programs and measurement results. DMIS is full featured and has many successful implementations. It also has a strong reputation as a progressive standard, one that has been responsive to user needs and technology advances. It is maintained and improved upon by a volunteer committee, the DMIS Standards Committee (DSC), under the auspices of the Dimensional Metrology Standards Consortium (DMSC Inc.). DMIS has progressed as its eighth version and its sixth as a national and/or international standard. Some notable advances of DMIS have included: • support for thin-walled (i.e., sheet-metal) measurements • alignment with American and International tolerancing standards • complete suite of measure features • harmonization with complementary standards and specifications • extension of additional sensors and scanning processes • introduction of measurement uncertainty computations • tighter CAD associativity • enhancements for multi-axis scanning • provisioning for functional subsets (application profiles) • progression of conformance class validations • designation of key …

We discuss a possible implementation of high-pressure gas-filled RF (HPRF) cavities in a linear cooling channel for muons and some of the technical issues that must be dealt with. The approach we describe is a hybrid approach that uses high-pressure hydrogen gas to avoid cavity breakdown, along with discrete LiH absorbers to provide the majority of the energy loss. Initial simulations show that the channel performs as well as the original vacuum RF channel while potentially avoiding the degradation in RF gradient associated with the strong magnetic field in the cooling channel.

A review of transuranic radionuclide contamination in sediments and groundwater at the DOE’s Hanford Site was conducted. The review focused primarily on plutonium-239/240 and americium-241; however, other transuranic nuclides were discussed as well, including neptunium-237, plutonium-238, and plutonium-241. The scope of the review included liquid process wastes intentionally disposed to constructed waste disposal facilities such as trenches and cribs, burial grounds, and unplanned releases to the ground surface. The review did not include liquid wastes disposed to tanks or solid wastes disposed to burial grounds. It is estimated that over 11,800 Ci of plutonium-239, 28,700 Ci of americium-241, and 55 Ci of neptunium-237 have been disposed as liquid waste to the near surface environment at the Hanford Site. Despite the very large quantities of transuranic contaminants disposed to the vadose zone at Hanford, only minuscule amounts have entered the groundwater. Currently, no wells onsite exceed the DOE derived concentration guide for plutonium-239/240 (30 pCi/L) or any other transuranic contaminant in filtered samples. The DOE derived concentration guide was exceeded by a small fraction in unfiltered samples from one well (299-E28-23) in recent years (35.4 and 40.4 pCi/L in FY 2006). The primary reason that disposal of these large quantities of …

A long-term study of the turbulent structure of the convective boundary layer (CBL) at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) Climate Research Facility is presented. Doppler velocity measurements from insects occupying the lowest 2 km of the boundary layer during summer months are used to map the vertical velocity component in the CBL. The observations cover four summer periods (2004-08) and are classified into cloudy and clear boundary layer conditions. Profiles of vertical velocity variance, skewness, and mass flux are estimated to study the daytime evolution of the convective boundary layer during these conditions. A conditional sampling method is applied to the original Doppler velocity dataset to extract coherent vertical velocity structures and to examine plume dimension and contribution to the turbulent transport. Overall, the derived turbulent statistics are consistent with previous aircraft and lidar observations. The observations provide unique insight into the daytime evolution of the convective boundary layer and the role of increased cloudiness in the turbulent budget of the subcloud layer. Coherent structures (plumes-thermals) are found to be responsible for more than 80% of the total turbulent transport resolved by the cloud radar system. The extended dataset is suitable …

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Weekly newspaper from Lexington, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) of gender selection for non medical reasons has been considered an unethical procedure by several authors and agencies in the Western society on the basis of disrupting the sex ratio, being discriminatory againsts women and disposal of normal embryos of the non desired gender. In this study, the analysis of a large series of PGD procedures for gender selection from a wide geographical area in the United States, shows that in general there is no deviation in preference towards any specific gender except for a preference of males in some ethnic populations of Chinese, Indian and Middle Eastern origin that represent a small percentage of the US population. In cases where only normal embryos of the non-desired gender are available, 45.5% of the couples elect to cancel the transfer, while 54.5% of them are open to have transferred embryos of the non-desired gender, this fact being strongly linked to cultural and ethnical background of the parents. In addition this study adds some evidence to the proposition that in couples with previous children of a given gender there is no biological predisposition towards producing embryos of that same gender. Based on these facts, it seems that objections …