Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the state or its political subdivisions may regulate international border crossings by persons under the age of 18 years, or whether the state may regulate the conduct of persons under the age of 18 years who are at or near an international border (RQ-0407-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Duty of officers who are magistrates under Code of Criminal Procedure article 2.09 to provide warnings to arrestees and whether magistrate duties constitute a judicial function (RQ-0410-GA)

Chemical processes taking place in indoor environments can significantly alter the nature and concentrations of pollutants. Exposure to secondary contaminants generated in these reactions needs to be evaluated in association with many aspects of buildings to minimize their impact on occupant health and well-being. Focusing on indoor ozone chemistry, we describe alternatives for improving indoor air quality by controlling chemical changes related to building materials, ventilation systems, and occupant activities.

The micropulse lidar (MPL) is a ground-based optical remote sensing system designed primarily to determine the altitude of clouds overhead. The physical principle is the same as for radar. Pulses of energy are transmitted into the atmosphere; the energy scattered back to the transceiver is collected and measured as a time-resolved signal. From the time delay between each outgoing transmitted pulse and the backscattered signal, the distance to the scatterer is infered. Besides real-time detection of clouds, post-processing of the lidar return can also characterize the extent and properties of aerosol or other particle-laden regions.

We have been exploring a new technology that is based on using low-frequency seismic attenuation data to monitor changes in fluid saturation conditions in two-fluid phase porous materials. The seismic attenuation mechanism is related to the loss of energy due to the hysteresis of resistance to meniscus movement (changes in surface tension, wettability) when a pore containing two fluids is stressed at very low frequencies (< 10 Hz). This technology has potential applications to monitoring changes in (1) leakage at buried waste sites, (2) contaminant remediation, and (3) flooding during enhanced petroleum recovery. We have concluded a three year field study at the Maricopa Agricultural Center site of the University of Arizona. Three sets of instruments were installed along an East-West line perpendicular to the 50m by 50m inigation site. Each set of instruments consisted of one three component seismometer and one tiltmeter. Microseisms and solid Earth-tides served as strain sources. The former have a power peak at a period of about 6 seconds and the tides have about two cycles per day. Installation of instruments commenced in late summer of 2002. The instruments operated nearly continuously until April 2005. During the fall of 2003 the site was irrigated with …

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The Radiation Effects Sciences (RES) program is responsible for conducting Neutron Gamma Energy Transport (NuGET) code validation. In support of this task, a series of experiments were conducted in the annular core research reactor (ACRR) to investigate the modification of the incident neutron/gamma environment by aluminum (Al6061) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) spheres with 4-in and 7-in-diameter. The experiment series described in this report addresses several NuGET validation concerns. The validation experiment series also addresses the design and execution of proper reactor testing to match the hostile radiation environments and to match the component stresses that arise from the hostile radiation environments. This report summarizes the RES Validation: n/{gamma} Attenuation through Materials, Environments 1A, experiments conducted at the ACRR in FY 2003 using ACRR Experiment Plans 933 and 949.

John Deere and Company (Deere), their partner, UQM Technologies, Inc. (UQM), and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL's) Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center (PEEMRC) recently completed work on the cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) Number ORNL 04-0691 outlined in this report. CRADA 04-0691 addresses two topical issues of interest to Deere: (1) Improved characterization of hydrogen storage and heat-transfer management; and (2) Potential benefits from advanced electric motor traction-drive technologies. This report presents the findings of the collaborative examination of potential operational and cost benefits from using ORNL/PEEMRC dual-mode inverter control (DMIC) to drive permanent magnet (PM) motors in applications of interest to Deere. DMIC was initially developed and patented by ORNL to enable PM motors to be driven to speeds far above base speed where the back-electromotive force (emf) equals the source voltage where it is increasingly difficult to inject current into the motor. DMIC is a modification of conventional phase advance (CPA). DMIC's dual-speed modes are below base speed, where traditional pulse-width modulation (PWM) achieves maximum torque per ampere (amp), and above base speed, where six-step operation achieves maximum power per amp. The modification that enables DMIC adds two anti-parallel thyristors in each of the …

Although battery technology is relatively mature, power sources continue to impose serious limitations for small, portable, mobile, or remote applications. A potentially attractive alternative to batteries is chemical fuel-to-electric conversion. Chemical fuels have volumetric energy densities 4 to 10 times those of batteries. However, realizing this advantage requires efficient chemical fuel-to-electric conversion. Direct electrochemical conversion would be the ideal, but, for most fuels, is generally not within the state-of-the-science. Next best, chemical-to-thermal-to-electric conversion can be attractive if efficiencies can be kept high. This small investigative project was an exploration into the feasibility of a novel hybrid (i.e., thermal-electrochemical) micropower converter of high theoretical performance whose demonstration was thought to be within near-term reach. The system is comprised of a hydrogen concentration electrochemical cell with physically identical hydrogen electrodes as anode and cathode, with each electrode connected to physically identical hydride beds each containing the same low-enthalpy-of-formation metal hydride. In operation, electrical power is generated by a hydrogen concentration differential across the electrochemical cell. This differential is established via coordinated heating and passive cooling of the corresponding hydride source and sink. Heating is provided by the exothermic combustion (i.e., either flame combustion or catalytic combustion) of a chemical fuel. Upon hydride …

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An analog signal pre-processing scheme was developed, in the framework of the Fermilab Main Injector Beam Position Monitor (BPM) Upgrade, to interface BPM pickup signals to the new digital receiver based read-out system. A key component is the 8-channel electronics module, which uses separate frequency selective gain stages to acquire 53 MHz bunched proton, and 2.5 MHz anti-proton signals. Related hardware includes a filter and combiner box to sum pickup electrode signals in the tunnel. A controller module allows local/remote control of gain settings and activation of gain stages, and supplies test signals. Theory of operation, system overview, and some design details are presented, as well as first beam measurements of the prototype hardware.

An overview of W and Z production in high energy hadron collisions is given. W and Z cross section and asymmetry measurements from CDF and D0 are described, with particular emphasis on recent results. The current status of precision W mass and width measurements is reported. The fundamental physics parameters that can be extracted from these measurements are described, and the relevance of W and Z production studies for the LHC is pointed out.

The summary of this report is that amorphous InZnO (a-IZO) is a very versatile TCO with: (1) low process temperatures ({approx} 100 C); (2) easy to make by sputtering; (3) excellent optical and electronic properties; (4) very smooth etchable films; and (5) remarkable thermal processing stability.

The CDF Run II silicon micro-strip detector is an essential part of the heavy flavor tagging and forward tracking capabilities of the experiment. Since the commissioning period ended in 2002, about 85% of the 730 k readout channels have been consistently provided good data. A summary of the recent improvements in the DAQ system as well as experience of maintaining and operating such a large, complex detector are presented.

California electric utilities have been exploring the use of dynamic critical peak pricing (CPP) and other demand response programs to help reduce peaks in customer electric loads. CPP is a new electricity tariff design to promote demand response. This paper begins with a brief review of terminology regarding energy management and demand response, followed by a discussion of DR control strategies and a preliminary overview of a forthcoming guide on DR strategies. The final section discusses experience to date with these strategies, followed by a discussion of the peak electric demand savings from the 2005 Automated CPP program. An important concept identified in the automated DR field tests is that automated DR will be most successful if the building commissioning industry improves the operational effectiveness of building controls. Critical peak pricing and even real time pricing are important trends in electricity pricing that will require new functional tests for building commissioning.

Results in QCD physics at the Tevatron from the D0 and CDF collaborations are presented, including results in jet production, photon production, W/Z bosons plus jets, and heavy-flavor jets. The importance of these topics in tuning Monte-Carlo simulations, constraining the parton distribution functions, and measuring cross sections of QCD processes which contribute significant backgrounds to searches for new and important physics is discussed.

The authors present results of a search for anomalous production of events containing a charged lepton ({ell}, either e or {mu}) and a photon ({gamma}), both with high transverse momentum, accompanied by additional signatures, X, including missing transverse energy (E{sub T}) and additional leptons and photons. We use the same kinematic selection criteria as in a previous CDF search, but with a substantially larger data set, 305 pb{sup -1}, a p{bar p} collision energy of 1.96 TeV, and the upgraded CDF II detector. We find 42 {ell}{gamma}E{sub T} events versus a standard model expectation of 37.3 {+-} 5.4 events. The level of excess observed in Run I, 16 events with an expectation of 7.6 {+-} 0.7 events (corresponding to a 2.7{sigma} effect), is not supported by the new data. In the signature of {ell}{ell}{gamma} + X we observe 31 events versus an expectation of 23.0 {+-} 2.7 events. In this sample we find no events with an extra photon or E{sub T} and so find no events like the one ee{gamma}{gamma}E{sub T} event observed in Run I.

Presented at the 2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion on May 8, 2006 by Dr. Dan E. Arvizu, Director, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

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The front-end software developed for the Main Injector (MI) BPM upgrade is described. The software is responsible for controlling a VME crate, equipped with a Motorola PowerPC board running the VxWorks operating system, a custom made timing board and up to 10 commercial digitizer boards. The complete MI BPM system is composed of 7 independent units, each collecting data from 19 to 38 BPM pickups. The MI BPM system uses several components already employed on the successful upgrade of another Fermilab machine, the Tevatron. The front-end software framework developed for the Tevatron BPM upgrade is the base for building the MI front-end software. The framework is implemented in C++ as a generic component library (GBPM) that provides an event-driven data acquisition environment. Functionality of GBPM is extended to meet MI BPM requirements, such as the ability to handle and manage data from multiple cycles; perform readout of the digitizer boards without disrupting or missing subsequent cycles; transition between closed orbit and turn-by-turn modes within a cycle, using different filter and timing configurations; and allow the definition of new cycles during normal operation.

This thesis presents the search for neutral Minimal Supersymmetric extension of Standard Model (MSSM) Higgs bosons decaying to tau pairs where one of the taus decays leptonically, and the other one hadronically. CDF Run II data with L{sub int} = 310 pb{sup -1} are used. There is no evidence of MSSM Higgs existence, which results in the upper limits on {sigma}(p{bar p} {yields} {phi}) x BR({phi} {yields} {tau}{tau}) in m{sub A} range between 115 and 250 GeV. These limits exclude some area in tan {beta} vs m{sub A} parameter space.

The conclusions are: (1) Texture control is possible in cerium oxide by epitaxial growth or adjusting the substrate angle; (2) Biaxial (111) texture emerges with inclined angle depositions on glass; and (3) Biaxial (200) texture emerges by epitaxial growth on YSZ.

The Advanced Graphite Capsule (AGC) irradiation test program supports the acquisition of irradiated graphite performance data to assist in the selection of the technology to be used for the VHTR. Six irradiations are planned to investigate compressive creep in graphite subjected to a neutron field and obtain irradiated mechanical properties of vibrationally molded, extruded, and iso-molded graphites for comparison. The experiments will be conducted at three temperatures: 600, 900, and 1200°C. At each temperature, two different capsules will be irradiated to different fluence levels, the first from 0.5 to 4 dpa and the second from 4 to 7 dpa. AGC-1 is the first of the six capsules designed for ATR and will focus on the prismatic fluence range.