A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established a program--the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT)--to collect, maintain, and share information, including biometric identifiers, on selected foreign nationals entering and exiting the United States. US-VISIT uses these identifiers (digital fingerscans and photographs) to screen persons against watch lists and to verify that a visitor is the person who was issued a visa or other travel document. Visitors are also to confirm their departure by having their visas or passports scanned and undergoing fingerscanning at selected air and sea ports of entry (POE). GAO has made many recommendations to improve the program, all of which DHS has agreed to implement. GAO was asked to report on DHS's progress in responding to 18 of these recommendations."

This report discusses a focus group that was part of the Web-at-Risk project. The report includes the following three sections: (a) the methodology used to conduct the focus groups and analyze the data, (b) the detailed results of the analysis organized into phases of the collection development process, and (c) a discussion of the key findings.

We describe an efficient implementation and present aperformance study of an algebraic multilevel sub-structuring (AMLS)method for sparse eigenvalue problems. We assess the time and memoryrequirements associated with the key steps of the algorithm, and compareitwith the shift-and-invert Lanczos algorithm in computational cost. Oureigenvalue problems come from two very different application areas: theaccelerator cavity design and the normal mode vibrational analysis of thepolyethylene particles. We show that the AMLS method, when implementedcarefully, is very competitive with the traditional method in broadapplication areas, especially when large numbers of eigenvalues aresought.

We present a novel LOD (level-of-detail) algorithm to accelerate ray tracing of massive models. Our approach computes drastic simplifications of the model and the LODs are well integrated with the kd-tree data structure. We introduce a simple and efficient LOD metric to bound the error for primary and secondary rays. The LOD representation has small runtime overhead and our algorithm can be combined with ray coherence techniques and cache-coherent layouts to improve the performance. In practice, the use of LODs can alleviate aliasing artifacts and improve memory coherence. We implement our algorithm on both 32bit and 64bit machines and able to achieve up to 2.20 times improvement in frame rate of rendering models consisting of tens or hundreds of millions of triangles with little loss in image quality.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

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

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 an individual or company may set up a plat copying machine in a county clerk's office or in another area of the county courthouse (RQ-0379-GA).

Students raise their hands during a class at Crockett Elementary in Grand Prairie, Texas. Delisse Hardy is the English instructor of a dual instruction class, whereby half of the instruction is in English and the other half in Spanish without separating the students according to language ability.

Nancy Jimenez, a Spanish instructor of a dual class instruction at Crockett Elementary in Grand Prairie, Texas, directs her attention to her third grade students. According to Jimenez this program has a high pedagogical value, but there is also the danger that the students will forget what they have learned after finishing elementary because there is no continuation of dual class instruction.

Delisse Hardy, a teacher at Crockett Elementary in Grand Prairie, Texas, conducts a third grade class. Hardy is the English instructor of a dual instruction class, whereby half of the instruction is in English and the other half in Spanish without separating the students according to language ability.

This report addresses the the Americans with Disabilities Act and Emergency Preparedness and Response.

This report discusses two programs that exclusively attempt to reduce teenage pregnancy. The Adolescent Family Life (AFL) demonstration program was enacted in 1981 as Title XX of the Public Health Service Act, and the Abstinence Education program was enacted in 1996 as part of the welfare reform legislation.

We have investigated fiber-based lasers that mode-lock via three nonlinear mechanisms: pulse evolution, bend loss, and tunneling. Experiments with nonlinear pulse evolution proved especially promising; we report here a fiber laser that produces 25 nJ, sub-200 fs pulses, an energy that is 60% higher than previous reports. Experiments with nonlinear bend loss were inconclusive; though bend-loss data show that the effect exits, we were not able to use the phenomenon to lock a laser. New models suggest that nonlinear tunneling could provide an alternate path.

Interest in the use of alternative fuels and combustion regimes is increasing as the price of petroleum climbs. The inherently higher efficiency of Diesel engines has led to increased adoption of Diesels in Europe, capturing approximately 40% of the new passenger car market. Unfortunately, lower CO{sub 2} emissions are countered with higher nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions, and higher noise. Noise and PM have traditionally been the obstacles toward consumer acceptance of Diesel passenger cars in North America, while NOx (a key component in photochemical smog) has been more of an engineering challenge. Diesels are lean burning (combustion with excess oxygen) and reducing NOx to N2 in an oxygen rich environment is difficult. Adding oxygenated compounds to the fuel helps reduce PM emissions, but relying on fuel alone to reduce PM is unrealistic. Keeping peak combustion temperature below 1700 K prevents NOx formation. Altering the combustion regime to burn at temperatures below the NOx threshold and accept a wide variety of fuels seems like a promising alternative for future engines. Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) is a possible solution. Fuel and air are well mixed prior to intake into a cylinder (homogeneous charge) and ignition occurs by …

Careful site characterization is critical for successfulgeologic sequestration of CO2, especially for sequestration inbrine-bearing formations that have not been previously used for otherpurposes. Traditional site characterization techniques such asgeophysical imaging, well logging, core analyses, interference welltesting, and tracer testing are all valuable. However, the injection andmonitoring of CO2 itself provides a wealth of additional information.Rather than considering a rigid chronology in which CO2 sequestrationoccurs only after site characterization is complete, we recommend thatCO2 injection and monitoring be an integral part of thesite-characterization process. The advantages of this approach arenumerous. The obvious benefit of CO2 injection is to provide informationon multi-phase flow properties, which cannot be obtained from traditionalsitecharacterization techniques that examine single-phase conditions.Additionally, the low density and viscosity of CO2 compared to brinecauses the two components to flow through the subsurface differently,potentially revealing distinct features of the geology. Finally, tounderstand sequestered CO2 behavior in the subsurface, there is nosubstitute for studying the movement of CO2 directly. Making CO2injection part of site characterization has practical benefits as well.The infrastructure for surface handling of CO2 (compression, heating,local storage) can be developed, the CO2 injection process can bedebugged, and monitoring techniques can be field-tested. Prior to actualsequestration, small amounts of CO2 may be …

There are several ways in which triple stars can evolve in somewhat unusual ways. They discuss two situations where Case A Roche-lobe overflow, followed by a merger, can produce anomalous wide binaries such as {gamma} Per; and Kozai cycles in triples with non-parallel orbits, which can produce merged rapidly-rotating stars like AB Dor, and which can also lead to the delayed ejection of one component of a multiple, as may have been observed in T Tau in 1998.

A compact source of monoenergetic X-rays, generated via Compton backscattering, has been developed in a collaboration between U.C Davis and SLAC. The source consists of a 5.5 cell X-band photoinjector, a 1.05 m long high gradient accelerator structure and an interaction chamber where a high power (TW), short pulse (sub-ps) infrared laser beam is brought into a nearly head-on collision with a high quality focused electron beam. Successful completion of this project will result in the capability of generating a monoenergetic X-ray beam, continuously tunable from 20 - 85 keV. We have completed a series of measurements leading up to the generation of monoenergetic X-rays. Measurements of essential electron beam parameters and the techniques used in establishing electron/photon collisions will be presented. We discuss the design of an improved interaction chamber, future electro-optic experiments using this chamber and plans for expanding the overall program to the generation of Terahertz radiation.

Large amounts of CO2 would need to be injected underground to achieve a significant reduction of atmospheric emissions. The large areal extent expected for CO2 plumes makes it likely that caprock imperfections will be encountered, such as fault zones or fractures, which may allow some CO2 to escape from the primary storage reservoir. Leakage of CO2 could also occur along wellbores. Concerns with escape of CO2 from a primary geologic storage reservoir include (1) acidification of groundwater resources, (2) asphyxiation hazard when leaking CO2 is discharged at the land surface, (3) increase in atmospheric concentrations of CO2, and (4) damage from a high-energy, eruptive discharge (if such discharge is physically possible). In order to gain public acceptance for geologic storage as a viable technology for reducing atmospheric emissions of CO2, it is necessary to address these issues and demonstrate that CO2 can be injected and stored safely in geologic formations.

This paper presents a literature survey of the occurrences of radionuclide plumes in saturated, fractured rocks. Three sites, Idaho National laboratory, Hanford, and Oak Ridge are discussed in detail. Results of a modeling study are also presented showing that the length to width ratio of a plume starting within the repository footprint at the Yucca Mountain Project site, decreases from about 20:1 for the base case to about 4:1 for a higher value of transverse dispersivity, indicating enhanced lateral spreading of the plume. Due to the definition of regulatory requirements, this lateral spreading does not directly impact breakthrough curves at the 18 km compliance boundary, however it increases the potential that a plume will encounter reducing conditions, thus significantly retarding the transport of sorbing radionuclides.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory operated two Class II surface impoundments that stored wastewater that was discharged from a number of buildings located on the Site 300 Facility (Site 300). The wastewater was the by-product of explosives processing. Reduction in the volume of water discharged from these buildings over the past several years significantly reduced the wastewater storage needs. In addition, the impoundments were constructed in 1984, and the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane liners were nearing the end of their service life. The purpose of this project was to clean close the surface impoundments and provide new wastewater storage using above ground storage tanks at six locations. The tanks were installed and put into service prior to closure of the impoundments. This Clean Closure Report (Closure Report) complies with State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Section 21400 of the California Code of Regulations Title 27 (27 CCR section 21400). As required by these regulations and guidance, this Closure Report provides the following information: (1) a brief site description; (2) the regulatory requirements relevant to clean closure of the impoundments; (3) the closure procedures; and (4) the findings and documentation of clean closure.

Planetary objects have preserved various amounts of oxygen issued from isotopically different oxygen reservoirs reflecting their origin and physico-chemical history. An {sup 16}O-rich component is preserved in refractory inclusions (CAIs) whereas meteorites matrices are enriched in an {sup 16}O-poor component. The origin of these components is still unclear. The most recent models are based on isotope selective photodissociation of CO in a {sup 16}O-rich nebula/presolr cloud resulting in a {sup 16}O-poor gas in the outer part of the nebula. However because most meteorite components are thought to be formed in the inner 3AU of the solar nebula, the precise isotopic composition of outer solar system components is yet unknown. In that respect, the oxygen isotopic composition of cometary dust is a key to understand the origin of the solar system. The Stardust mission will bring back to the Earth dust samples from comet Wild2, a short period comet from the Jupiter family. A precise determination of the oxygen isotope composition of Wild2 dust grains is essential to decipher the oxygen reservoirs of the outer solar system. However, Stardust samples may be extremely fragmented upon impact in the collector. In addition, interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the stratosphere are likely …

The Floret test has been developed as a screening test to study the performance of a small amount of HE. Numerical simulations have been performed recently using CTH. The objective of this study is to perform numerical simulations in order to better understand the shock waves interactions, involved in the dent formation. Different 3D wedge configurations have been tested using the Ignition and Growth reactive flow model for the HE receptor with Ls-Dyna.

Student newspaper of Harper Independent School District in Harper, Texas that includes school news and information along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.