A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report examines the progress the District of Columbia has made with its fiscal year 2001 performance accountability report and highlights continuing challenges facing our nation's capital. The District must submit a performance accountability plan with goals for the coming fiscal year and, at the end of the fiscal year, a performance accountability report on the extent to which it achieved these goals. GAO found that the District's Performance Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2001 provided a more complete picture of its performance and made progress in complying with statutory reporting requirements by using a consistent set of goals. This allowed the District to measure and report progress toward the goals in its 2001 performance plan. Specifically, it reported information on the level of performance achieved, the titles of managers and their supervisors responsible for each goal, and described the status of certain court orders. The District has made progress over the last three years in its performance accountability reports and established positive direction for enhancements in court orders, its fiscal year 2003 performance based budgeting pilots, and performance goals and measures."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was, for the second consecutive year, able to prepare financial statements that received an unqualified opinion. However, this achievement once again came through the use of substantial, costly, and time-consuming processes to compensate for serious systems and control deficiencies. IRS continues to make progress in its performance management system by using a strategic planning and budgeting process to reconcile competing priorities and initiatives with available resources. In the area of computer security, IRS corrected or mitigated many of the previously reported weaknesses, including those affecting its electronic filing systems. It also is implementing a computer security program that should help manage its risks in this area. Business Systems Modernization is IRS' ongoing program to leverage information technology and is integral to IRS achieving its customer-focused vision. To date, IRS has made progress in establishing the systems infrastructure, delivering system applications, and developing the management controls and capabilities necessary to effectively acquire and deploy modernized systems."

Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) is a rare autosomal recessive chromosome instability syndrome characterized by microcephaly, growth retardation, immunodeficiency, and cancer predisposition, with cellular features similar to that of ataxia telangiectasia (AT). NBS results from mutations in the mammalian gene Nbs1 that codes for a 95-kDa protein called nibrin, NBS1, or p95. To establish an animal model for NBS, we attempted to generate NBS1 knockout mice. However, NBS1 gene knockouts were lethal at an early embryonic stage. NBS1 homozygous(-/-) blastocyst cells cultured in vitro showed retarded growth and subsequently underwent growth arrest within 5 days of culture. Apoptosis, assayed by TUNEL staining, was observed in NBSI homozygous(-/-) blastocyst cells cultured for four days. NBSI heterozygous(+/-) mice were normal, and exhibited no specific phenotype for at least one year. However, fibroblast cells from NBSI heterozygous(+/-) mice displayed an enhanced frequency of spontaneous transformation to anchorage-independent growth as compared to NBS1 wild-type(+/+) cells. Furthermore, heterozygous(+/-) mice exhibited a high incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma after one year compared to wild-type mice, even though no significant differences in the incidence of other tumors such as lung adenocarcinoma and lymphoma were observed. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that NBS1 heterozygosity and reduced NBSI expression induces …

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the City of Lake Jackson's sales and use tax election proposition allows expenditure of the taxes for an access road to service underdeveloped commercially zoned property (RQ-0454-JC)

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether article III, section 50 of the Texas Constitution prohibits the Texas Commission for the Blind from contracting with the United States government to operate various vending facilities on federal property under the Federal Randolph-Sheppard Act, 20 U.S.C. ch. 6A, if the contract "create[s] financial exposure to the State for a multi-million dollar service agreement with...Federal Departments" (RQ-0455-JC)

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a member of a school district board of trustees may simultaneously hold the office of county treasurer (RQ--458-JC)

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Validity of a school district policy regarding corporal punishment and physical restraint of students.

Low-defect multilayer coatings are required to fabricate mask blanks for Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL). The mask blanks consist of high reflectance E W multilayers on low thermal expansion substrates. A defect density of 0.0025 printable defects/cm{sup 2} for both the mask substrate and the multilayer is required to provide a mask blank yield of 60%. Current low defect multilayer coating technology allows repeated coating-added defect levels of 0.05/cm{sup 2} for defects greater than 90 nm polystyrene latex sphere (PSL) equivalent size for lots of 20 substrates. Extended clean operation of the coating system at levels below 0.08/cm{sup 2} for 3 months of operation has also been achieved. Two substrates with zero added defects in the quality area have been fabricated, providing an existence proof that ultra low defect coatings are possible. Increasing the ion source-to-target distance from 410 to 560 mm to reduce undesired coating of the ion source caused the defect density to increase to 0.2/cm{sup 2}. Deposition and etching diagnostic witness substrates and deposition pinhole cameras showed a much higher level of ion beam spillover (ions missing the sputter target) than expected. Future work will quantify beam spillover, and test designs to reduce spillover, if it is confirmed …

The principal objective of this project is to develop materials technology for use in ultrasupercritical (USC) plant boilers capable of operating with 760 C (1400 F), and up to 5500 psi with emphasis upon 35 MPa (5000 psi) steam. In the 21st century, the world faces the critical challenge of providing abundant, cheap electricity to meet the needs of a growing global population while at the same time preserving environmental values. Most studies of this issue conclude that a robust portfolio of generation technologies and fuels should be developed to assure that the United States will have adequate electricity supplies in a variety of possible future scenarios. The use of coal for electricity generation poses a unique set of challenges. On the one hand, coal is plentiful and available at low cost in much of the world, notably in the U.S., China, and India. Countries with large coal reserves will want to develop them to foster economic growth and energy security. On the other hand, traditional methods of coal combustion emit pollutants and CO{sub 2} at high levels relative to other generation options. Maintaining coal as a generation option in the 21st century will require methods for addressing these environmental …

Roof bolting is the most popular method for underground openings in the mining industry, especially in the bedded deposits such as coal, potash, salt etc. In fact, all U.S. underground coal mine entries are roof-bolted as required by law. However, roof falls still occur frequently in the roof bolted entries. The two possible reasons are: the lack of knowledge of and technology to detect the roof geological conditions in advance of mining, and lack of roof bolting design criteria for modern roof bolting systems. This research is to develop a method for predicting the roof geology and stability condition in real time during roof bolting operation. Based on such information, roof bolting design criteria for modern roof bolting systems will be developed for implementation in real time. More laboratory tests have been performed in this quarter. The analysis performed on the testing data showed: (1) abnormal rotational accelerations can be used as the indicator of the rock interfaces, and (2) the sharp drops of drilling thrust and torque agree well with the locations of fractures.

The ''Snowmass Points and Slopes'' (SPS) are a set of benchmark points and parameter lines in the MSSM parameter space corresponding to different scenarios in the search for Supersymmetry at present and future experiments. This set of benchmarks was agreed upon at the 2001 ''Snowmass Workshop on the Future of Particle Physics'' as a consensus based on different existing proposals.

The Higgs boson search has shifted from LEP2 to the Tevatron and will subsequently move to the LHC. Due to the different initial states, the Higgs production and decay channels relevant for Higgs boson searches were different at LEP2 to what they are at hadron colliders. They suggest new benchmark scenarios for the MSSM Higgs boson search at hadron colliders that exemplify the phenomenology of different parts of the MSSM parameter space. Besides the m{sub h}{sup max} scenario and the no-mixing scenario used in the LEP2 Higgs boson searches, they propose two new scenarios. In one the main production channel at the LHC, gg {yields} h, is suppressed. In the other, important Higgs decay channels at the Tevatron and at the LCH, h {yields} b{bar b} and h {yields} {tau}{sup +}{tau}{sup -}, are suppressed. All scenarios evade the LEP2 constraints for nearly the whole M{sub A}-tan {beta}-plane.

Indoor exposure to particles of outdoor origin constitutes an important exposure pathway. We conducted an intensive set of indoor particle measurements in an unoccupied house under differing operating conditions. Real-time measurements were conducted both indoors and outdoors, including PM2.5 nitrate, sulfate, and carbon. Because the time-scale of the fluctuations in outdoor particle concentrations and meteorological conditions are often similar to the time constant for building air exchange, a steady state concentration may never be reached. The time-series experimental data were used to determine the effect of changes in air exchange rate and indoor/outdoor temperature and relative humidity differences on indoor particle concentrations. A multivariate regression was performed to investigate the difference between measured indoor concentrations and results from a simple time-dependent physical model. Environmental conditions had a significant effect on indoor concentrations of all three PM2.5 species, but did not explain all of the model variation.

Additional experimental evidence of rotary resonance effects for multiple-quantum coherence conversion in a spin-5/2 system is presented. Two dimensional plots of the relative efficiency of MQ excitation and conversion are given as a function of radio frequency (rf) amplitude and pulse width. Data are presented for the excitation of five-quantum coherence (5QC), as well as for 5QC to three-quantum coherence (3QC) conversion, 5QC to 1QC (the central transition coherence) conversion, and 3QC to 1QC conversion. A two-fold increase in the signal-to-noise ratio is achieved by substituting low amplitude rf pulses in place of hard rf pulses for 5QC excitation and 5QC to 3QC conversion in a mixed multiple-quantum MAS (MMQMAS) experiment. The anisotropic line shape for the low amplitude rf pulse version of the MMQMAS experiment was observed to be distorted from the MAS line shape. The cause and implications of the distortion are discussed.

We have studied the nuclear-coupled thermal-hydraulic stability of boiling water reactors (BWRs) using a model that includes: space-time modal neutron kinetics based on spatial w-modes; single- and two-phase flow in parallel boiling channels; fuel rod heat conduction dynamics; and a simple model of the recirculation loop. The BR model is represented by a set of time-dependent nonlinear ordinary differential equations, and is studied as a dynamical system using the modern bifurcation theory and nonlinear dynamical systems analysis. We first determine the stability boundary (SB) - or Hopf bifurcation set- in the most relevant parameter plane, the inlet-subcooling-number/external-pressure-drop plane, for a fixed control rod induced external reactivity equal to the 100% rod line value; then we transform the SB to the practical power-flow map used by BWR operating engineers and regulatory agencies. Using this SB, we show that the normal operating point at 100% power is very stable, that stability of points on the 100% rod line decreases as the flow rate is reduced, and that operating points in the low-flow/high-power region are least stable. We also determine the SB that results when the modal kinetics is replaced by simple point reactor kinetics, and we thereby show that the first harmonic …

Carbon-doped GaN was grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy using carbon tetrachloride vapor as the dopant source. For moderate doping mainly acceptors were formed, yielding semi-insulating GaN. However at higher concentrations p-type conductivity was not observed, and heavily doped films (>5 x 10{sup 20} cm{sup -3}) were actually n-type rather than semi-insulating. Photoluminescence measurements showed two broad luminescence bands centered at 2.2 and 2.9 eV. The intensity of both bands increased with carbon content, but the 2.2 eV band dominated in n-type samples. Intense, narrow ({approx}6 meV) donor-bound exciton peaks were observed in the semi-insulating samples.

In this talk the authors investigate the dark matter prospects for supersymmetric models with non-universal gaugino masses. They motivate the use of non-universal gaugino masses from several directions, including problems, with the current favorite scenario, the cMSSM. They then display new corridors of parameter space that allow an acceptable dark matter relic density once gaugino mass universality is relaxed. They finish with a specific string-derived model that allows this universality relaxation and then use the dark matter constraint to make specific statements about the hidden sector of the model.

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

Semi-monthly newspaper from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

We have evaluated a collimator-less gamma-ray imaging system, which is based on thin layers of double-sided strip HPGe detectors. The position of individual gamma-ray interactions will be deduced by the strip addresses and the Ge layers which fired. Therefore, high bandwidth pulse processing is not required as in thick Ge detectors. While the drawback of such a device is the increased number of electronics channels to be read out and processed, there are several advantages, which are particularly important for remote applications: the operational voltage can be greatly reduced to fully deplete the detector and no high bandwidth signal processing electronics is required to determine positions. Only a charge sensitive preamplifier, a slow pulse shaping amplifier, and a fast discriminator are required on a per channel basis in order to determine photon energy and interaction position in three dimensions. Therefore, the power consumption and circuit board real estate can be minimized. More importantly, since the high bandwidth signal shapes are not used to determine the depth position, lower energy signals can be processed. The processing of these lower energy signals increases the efficiency for the recovery of small angle scattering. Currently, we are studying systems consisting of up to ten …

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has identified high-performance computing as a critical competency necessary to meet the goals of LLNL's scientific and engineering programs. Leadership in scientific computing demands the availability of a stable, powerful, well-balanced computational infrastructure, and it requires research directed at advanced architectures, enabling numerical methods and computer science. To encourage all programs to benefit from the huge investment being made by the Advanced Simulation and Computing Program (ASCI) at LLNL, and to provide a mechanism to facilitate multi-programmatic leveraging of resources and access to high-performance equipment by researchers, M&IC was created. The Livermore Computing (LC) Center, a part of the Computations Directorate Integrated Computing and Communications (ICC) Department can be viewed as composed of two facilities, one open and one secure. This acquisition is focused on the M&IC resources in the Open Computing Facility (OCF). For the M&IC program, recent efforts and expenditures have focused on enhancing capacity and stabilizing the TeraCluster 2000 (TC2K) resource. Capacity is a measure of the ability to process a varied workload from many scientists simultaneously. Capability represents the ability to deliver a very large system to run scientific calculations at large scale. In this procurement action, we intend to significantly …

This report discusses the issues for Congress related to fruits & vegetables. The contents include federal activities, programs, farm bill issues, & trade issues.

PNNL estimated the FY2002 energy, environmental, and financial benefits (i.e., metrics) of the technologies and practices in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs (BTS). BTS uses the estimates of benefits as part of its annual budget request. This report includes an overview of the analytical approaches used to estimate energy savings for the FY2002 appropriated budget for BTS. The report also includes descriptions of key assumptions and the methodology that is used to calculate energy savings estimates for each BTS program.

PNNL estimated the FY2003 energy, environmental, and financial benefits (i.e., metrics) of the technologies and practices in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs (BTS). BTS uses the estimates of benefits as part of its annual budget request. This report includes an overview of the analytical approaches used to estimate energy savings for the FY2003 appropriated budget for BTS. The report also includes descriptions of key assumptions and the methodology that is used to calculate energy savings estimates for each BTS program.