The objectives of the radiological scoping survey were to collect adequate field data for use in evaluating the radiological condition of Scotia Depot land areas, warehouses, and support buildings.

A central question addressed by the VERTIGO (VERtical Transport In the Global Ocean) study was 'What controls the efficiency of particle export between the surface and subsurface ocean'? Here, we present data from sites at ALOHA (N Central Pacific Gyre) and K2 (NW subarctic Pacific) on phytoplankton processes, and relate them via a simple planktonic foodweb model, to subsurface particle export (150-500 m). Three key factors enable quantification of the surface-subsurface coupling: a sampling design to overcome the temporal lag and spatial displacement between surface and subsurface processes; data on the size-partitioning of Net Primary Production (NPP) and subsequent transformations prior to export; estimates of the ratio of algal- to faecal-mediated vertical export flux. At ALOHA, phytoplankton were characterized by low stocks, NPP, F{sub v}/F{sub m} (N-limited), and were dominated by picoplankton. The HNLC waters at K2 were characterized by both two-fold changes in NPP and floristic shifts (high to low proportion of diatoms) between deployment 1 and 2. Prediction of export exiting the euphotic zone was based on size-partitioning of NPP, a copepod-dominated foodweb and a ratio of 0.2 (ALOHA) and 0.1 (K2) for algal:faecal particle flux. Predicted export was 20-22 mg POC m{sup -2} d{sup -1} at ALOHA …

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

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The STAR Collaboration proposes to construct a state-of-the-art microvertex detector,the Heavy Flavor Tracker (HFT), utilizing active pixel sensors and silicon strip technology. The HFT will significantly extend the physics reach of the STAR experiment for precision measurement of the yields and spectra of particles containing heavy quarks. This will be accomplished through topological identification of D mesons by reconstruction of their displaced decay vertices with a precision of approximately 50 mu m in p+p, d+A, and A+A collisions. The HFT consists of 4 layers of silicon detectors grouped into two sub-systems with different technologies, guaranteeing increasing resolution when tracking from the TPC and the Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) towards the vertex of the collision. The Intermediate Silicon Tracker (IST), consisting of two layers of single-sided strips, is located inside the SSD. Two layers of Silicon Pixel Detector (PIXEL) are inside the IST. The PIXEL detectors have the resolution necessary for a precision measurement of the displaced vertex. The PIXEL detector will use CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APS), an innovative technology never used before in a collider experiment. The APSsensors are only 50 mu m thick and at a distance of only 2.5 cm from the interaction point. This opens up …

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

This report details Mexican Cartels, their ties to gangs, use of financial corruption, and their cells within the United States of America. As well as, the policies that are used to eradicate drug trafficking and violence. Updated February 25, 2008.

This report shows Sketch of 18 U.S.C. 1030 and Related Federal Criminal Laws on cybercrime. The federal computer fraud and abuse statute,outlaws conduct that victimizes computer systems.

This report provides an overview of the federal computer fraud and abuse statute and related federal criminal laws on cybercrime.

This report discusses Background and Policy Options for Screening and Securing Air Cargo of Aviation Security.

This report presents basic background on health insurance that may be useful to legislators considering health insurance reforms.

Modeling the mechanical deformations of porous and fractured rocks requires a stress-strain relationship. Experience with inherently heterogeneous earth materials suggests that different varieties of Hook's law should be applied within regions of the rock having significantly different stress-strain behavior, e.g., such as solid phase and various void geometries. We apply this idea by dividing a rock body conceptually into two distinct parts. The natural strain (volume change divided by rock volume at the current stress state), rather than the engineering strain (volume change divided by the unstressed rock volume), should be used in Hooke's law for accurate modeling of the elastic deformation of that part of the pore volume subject to a relatively large degree of relative deformation (i.e., cracks or fractures). This approach permits the derivation of constitutive relations between stress and a variety of mechanical and/or hydraulic rock properties. We show that the theoretical predictions of this method are generally consistent with empirical expressions (from field data) and also laboratory rock experimental data.

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

We have developed 17 keV to 75 keV 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional high-resolution (< 10 {micro}m) radiography using high-intensity short pulse lasers. High energy K-{alpha} sources are created by fluorescence from hot electrons interacting in the target material after irradiation by lasers with intensity I{sub L} > 10{sup 17} W/cm{sup 2}. We have achieved high resolution point projection 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional radiography using micro-foil and micro-wire targets attached to low-Z substrate materials. The micro-wire size was 10 {micro}m x 10 {micro}m x 300 {micro}m on a 300 {micro}m x 300 {micro}m x 5 {micro}m CH substrate. The radiography performance was demonstrated using the Titan laser at LLNL. We observed that the resolution is dominated by the micro-wire target size and there is very little degradation from the plasma plume, implying that the high energy x-ray photons are generated mostly within the micro-wire volume. We also observe that there are enough K{alpha} photons created with a 300 J, 1-{omega}, 40 ps pulse laser from these small volume targets, and that the signal-to-noise ratio is sufficiently high, for single shot radiography experiments. This unique technique will be used on future high energy density (HED) experiments at the new Omega-EP, ZR and NIF facilities.

The processing rate of Savannah River Site (SRS) high-level waste decontamination processes are limited by the flow rate of the solid-liquid separation. The baseline process, using a 0.1 micron cross-flow filter, produces {approx}0.02 gpm/sq. ft. of filtrate under expected operating conditions. Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) demonstrated significantly higher filter flux for actual waste samples using a small-scale rotary filter. With funding from the U. S. Department of Energy Office of Cleanup Technology, SRNL personnel are evaluating and developing the rotary microfilter for radioactive service at SRS. The authors improved the design for the disks and filter unit to make them suitable for high-level radioactive service. They procured two units using the new design, tested them with simulated SRS wastes, and evaluated the operation of the units. Work to date provides the following conclusions and program status: (1) The authors modified the design of the filter disks to remove epoxy and Ryton{reg_sign}. The new design includes welding both stainless steel and ceramic coated stainless steel filter media to a stainless steel support plate. The welded disks were tested in the full-scale unit. They showed good reliability and met filtrate quality requirements. (2) The authors modified the design of the unit, …

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This report presents results of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling study to evaluatethe impacts of a full-length spillwall at The Dalles Dam. The full-length spillwall is being designed and evaluated as a structural means to improve tailrace egress and thus survival of juvenile fish passing through the spillway. During the course of this study, a full-length spillwall at Bays 6/7 and 8/9 were considered. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has proposed extending the spillwall constructed in the stilling basin between spillway Bays 6 and 7 about 590 ft farther downstream. It is believed that the extension of the spillwall will improve egress conditions for downstream juvenile salmonids by moving them more rapidly into the thalweg of the river hence reducing their exposure to predators. A numerical model was created, validated, and applied the The Dalles Dam tailrace. The models were designed to assess impacts to flow, tailrace egress, navigation, and adult salmon passage of a proposed spill wall extension. The more extensive model validation undertaken in this study greatly improved our confidence in the numerical model to represent the flow conditions in The Dalles tailrace. This study used these validated CFD models to simulate the potential impacts …

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The study of aerosol exposure and dosimetry measurements and related quantitation of health effects are important to the understanding of the consequences of air pollution, and are discussed widely in the scientific literature. During the last 10 years the need to correlate aerosol exposure and biological effects has become especially important due to rapid development of a new, revolutionary industry ?-- nanotechnology. Nanoproduct commerce is predicted to top $1 trillion by 2015. Quantitative assessment of aerosol particle behavior in air and in lung deposition, and dosimetry in different parts of the lung, particularly for nanoaerosols, remains poor despite several decades of study. Direct measurements on humans are still needed in order to validate the hollow cast, animal studies, and lung deposition modeling. We discuss here the use of nanoscale radon decay products as an experimental tool in the study of local deposition and lung dosimetry for nanoaerosols. The issue of the safe use of radon progeny in such measurements is discussed based on a comparison of measured exposure in 3 settings: general population, miners, and in a human experiment conducted at the Paul Scherer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland. One of the properties of radon progeny is that they consist partly …

This report provides an overview of the assignment process on the house committees.

Committee assignments often determine the character of a Member's career. They are also important to the party leaders who organize the chamber and shape the composition of the committees. House rules identify some procedures for making committee assignments; Republican Conference and Democratic Caucus rules supplement these House rules and provide more specific criteria for committee assignments. This report describes these procedures and the basic functions of committee assignment in the House of Representatives.

Linage report from January 2008 that details ad revenue from Texas Daily Newspaper Association members.

Linage report from January 2008 that details ad revenue from Texas Daily Newspaper Association members.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress asked us to examine issues regarding changes in obligations for administrative activities--generally conducted in CDC's leadership and management levels--and public health programs--generally conducted in CDC's division level--before and after the organizational restructuring and budget reorganization. GAO examined the following questions: 1. How were obligations distributed between CDC's division level and CDC's leadership and management levels from fiscal years 2003 through 2006? 2. How have obligations and activities at CDC's leadership and management levels--including shared business services in the CDC Office of the Director--changed from fiscal year 2003 through fiscal year 2006? 3. How have obligations and activities at CDC's division level changed from fiscal years 2003 through 2006?The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) mission is to promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. In fiscal year 2005, CDC, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), completed its first major organizational restructuring in more than 25 years, known as the Futures Initiative, as part of its efforts to prioritize its strategies, programs, resources, and needs. In accordance with the conference report accompanying its 2005 appropriation, …