Interaction of a high intensity laser with matter may generate an ionizing radiation hazard. Very limited studies have been made, however, on the laser-induced radiation protection issue. This work reviews available literature on the physics and characteristics of laser-induced X-ray hazards. Important aspects include the laser-to-electron energy conversion efficiency, electron angular distribution, electron energy spectrum and effective temperature, and bremsstrahlung production of X-rays in the target. The possible X-ray dose rates for several femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser systems used at SLAC, including the short pulse laser system for the Matter in Extreme Conditions Instrument (peak power 4 TW and peak intensity 2.4 x 10{sup 18} W/cm{sup 2}) were analysed. A graded approach to mitigate the laser-induced X-ray hazard with a combination of engineered and administrative controls is also proposed.

Using four genomes: Chamydomonas reinhardtii, Agaricus bisporus, Aspergillus carbonarius, and Sporotricum thermophile with EST coverage of 2.9x, 8.9x, 29.5x, and 46.3x respectively, we identified 11 alternative splicing (AS) types that were dominated by intron retention (RI; biased toward short introns) and found 15, 35, 52, and 63percent AS of multiexon genes respectively. Genes with AS were more ancient, and number of AS correlated with number of exons, expression level, and maximum intron length of the gene. Introns with tendency to be retained had either stop codons or length of 3n+1 or 3n+2 presumably triggering nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), but introns retained in major isoforms (0.2-6percent of all introns) were biased toward 3n length and stop codon free. Stopless introns were biased toward phase 0, but 3n introns favored phase 1 that introduced more flexible and hydrophilic amino acids on both ends of introns which would be less disruptive to protein structure. We proposed a model in which minor RI intron could evolve into major RI that could facilitate intron loss through exonization.

The Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) began its environmental investigations at Everest, Kansas, in 2000. The work at Everest is implemented on behalf of the CCC/USDA by Argonne National Laboratory, under the oversight of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). The results of the environmental investigations have been reported in detail (Argonne 2001, 2003, 2006a,b). The lateral extent of the carbon tetrachloride in groundwater over the years of investigation has been interpreted as shown in Figure 1.1 (2001-2002 data), Figure 1.2 (2006 data), Figure 1.3 (2008 data), and Figure 1.4 (2009 data). The pattern of groundwater flow and inferred contaminant migration has consistently been to the north-northwest from the former CCC/USDA facility toward the Nigh property, and then west-southwest from the Nigh property (e.g., Figure 1.5 [2008 data] and Figure 1.6 [2009 data]). Both the monitoring data for carbon tetrachloride and the low groundwater flow rates estimated for the Everest aquifer unit (Argonne 2003, 2006a,b, 2008) indicate slow contaminant migration. On the basis of the accumulated findings, in March 2009 the CCC/USDA developed a plan for annual monitoring of the groundwater and surface water. This current monitoring plan (Appendix A in the report …

This report discusses the current state of Bahrain, which has undergone substantial political reforms since the late 1990s, but which still suffers from tension between the Shiite majority and the Sunni-led government. This report focuses particularly on Bahrain's relationship with the United States and with regional issues.

Using the integral field spectrograph OSIRIS, on the Keck II telescope, broad near-infrared H and K-band spectra of the young exoplanet HR8799b have been obtained. In addition, six new narrow-band photometric measurements have been taken across the H and K bands. These data are combined with previously published photometry for an analysis of the planet's atmospheric properties. Thick photospheric dust cloud opacity is invoked to explain the planet's red near-IR colors and relatively smooth near-IR spectrum. Strong water absorption is detected, indicating a Hydrogen-rich atmosphere. Only weak CH{sub 4} absorption is detected at K band, indicating efficient vertical mixing and a disequilibrium CO/CH{sub 4} ratio at photospheric depths. The H-band spectrum has a distinct triangular shape consistent with low surface gravity. New giant planet atmosphere models are compared to these data with best fitting bulk parameters, T{sub eff} = 1100K {+-} 100 and log(g) = 3.5 {+-} 0.5 (for solar composition). Given the observed luminosity (log L{sub obs}/L{sub {circle_dot}} {approx} -5.1), these values correspond to a radius of 0.75 R{sub Jup{sub 0.12}{sup +0.17}} and mass {approx} 0.72 M{sub Jup{sub -0.6}{sup +2.6}} - strikingly inconsistent with interior/evolution models. Enhanced metallicity (up to {approx} 10 x that of the Sun) along with …

This report provides an overview of actions taken by Congress to provide FY2011 appropriations for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS). It also provides an overview of FY2010 appropriations for agencies and bureaus funded under the CJS bill.

News release about the conversion of the Monroe Shops building into the new headquarters for the DART Police department.

In this letter we report the first clear experimental observation of density gradient stabilization of electron temperature gradient driven turbulence in a fusion plasma. It is observed that longer wavelength modes, k⊥ρs ≤10, are most stabilized by density gradient, and the stabilization is accompanied by about a factor of two decrease in the plasma effective thermal diffusivity.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

A new tool, DUK, is developed to perform matching task. Matching is to find whether a query sequence partially or totally matches given reference sequences or not. Matching is similar to alignment. Indeed many traditional analysis tasks like contaminant removal use alignment tools. But for matching, there is no need to know which bases of a query sequence matches which position of a reference sequence, it only need know whether there exists a match or not. This subtle difference can make matching task much faster than alignment. DUK is accurate, versatile, fast, and has efficient memory usage. It uses Kmer hashing method to index reference sequences and Poisson model to calculate p-value. DUK is carefully implemented in C++ in object oriented design. The resulted classes can also be used to develop other tools quickly. DUK have been widely used in JGI for a wide range of applications such as contaminant removal, organelle genome separation, and assembly refinement. Many real applications and simulated dataset demonstrate its power.

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This report covers key budgetary issues involving the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, which provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Energy (DOE), and a number of independent agencies.

This report provides background information on recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemaking to help address dissenting concerns from critics and the EPA. It examines 43 major or controversial regulatory actions taken by or under development at EPA since January 2009. The report also discusses factors that affect the timeframe in which regulations take effect.

Daily newspaper from Chickasha, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii.

This report discusses the the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980. It also discusses possible legislative issues involving OIRA.

The objective of this project was to complete the specifications and drawings for a variable speed kitchen exhaust system and the boiler heating system which when implemented will improve the heating efficiency of the building. The design work was focused in two key areas: kitchen ventilation and heating for the Ernie Turner Center building (ETC). RSA completed design work and issued a set of 100% drawings. RSA also worked with a cost estimator to put together a detailed cost estimate for the project. The design components are summarized.

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall.

Manual library construction is a limiting factor in Illumina sequencing. Constructing libraries by hand is costly, time-consuming, low-throughput, and ergonomically hazardous, and constructing multiple libraries introduces risk of library failure due to pipetting errors. The ability to construct multiple libraries simultaneously in automated fashion represents significant cost and time savings. Here we present a strategy to construct up to 96 unamplified indexed libraries using Illumina TruSeq reagents and a Biomek FX robotic platform. We also present data to indicate that this library construction method has little or no risk of cross-contamination between samples.

This report discusses the scope of the international drug control problem, current measures in place. It includes sections that discuss: the global scope of the problem, strategic guidance, overall U.S. drug control funding, U.S. assistance for international counternarcotics programs, policy issues, and conclusions.

Proceedings of the House of Representatives of Texas for the 82nd day of the regular session of the 82nd Legislature documenting legislation, reports, discussions, votes, and points-of-order.

This report describes the Keystone XL pipeline proposal and the process required for federal approval. It summarizes key arguments for and against the pipeline put forth by the pipeline's developers, federal agencies, environmental groups, and other stakeholders. The report discusses potential consistency challenges faced by the State Department in reviewing the pipeline application given its recent prior approvals of similar pipeline projects. Finally, the report reviews the constitutional basis for the State Department's authority to issue a Presidential Permit, and opponents' possible challenges to this authority.

The current point design for the LIFE laser leverages decades of solid-state laser development in order to achieve the performance and attributes required for inertial fusion energy. This document provides a brief comparison of the LIFE laser point design to other state-of-the-art solid-state lasers. Table I compares the attributes of the current LIFE laser point design to other systems. the state-of-the-art for single-shot performance at fusion-relevant beamline energies is exemplified by performance observed on the National Ignition Facility. The state-of-the-art for high average power is exemplified by the Northrup Grumman JHPSSL laser. Several items in Table I deal with the laser efficiency; a more detailed discussion of efficiency can be found in reference 5. The electrical-to-optical efficiency of the LIFE design exceeds that of reference 4 due to the availability of higher efficiency laser diode pumps (70% vs. {approx}50% used in reference 4). LIFE diode pumps are discussed in greater detail in reference 6. The 'beam steering' state of the art is represented by the deflection device that will be used in the LIFE laser, not a laser system. Inspection of Table I shows that most LIFE laser attributes have already been experimentally demonstrated. The two cases where the LIFE …

Student newspaper of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma that includes national, local, and campus news along with advertising.