A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Terrorist attacks and espionage cases have heightened national security concerns and highlighted the need for a timely, high-quality personnel security clearance process. However, GAO's past work found that the Department of Defense (DOD) had a clearance backlog and other problems with its process. GAO was asked to address: (1) What is the size of DOD's security clearance backlog, and how accurately is DOD able to estimate its size? (2) What factors impede DOD's ability to eliminate the backlog and accurately determine its size? (3) What are the potential adverse effects of those impediments to eliminating DOD's backlog and accurately estimating the backlog's size? GAO was also asked to determine the status of the congressionally authorized transfer of Defense Security Service (DSS) investigative functions and personnel to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)."

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 officer, as bailiff and head of courthouse security, is entitled to judicial immunity from a suit for injuries occurring while removing an individual from the courthouse (RQ-0094-GA)

One significant source of annual temperature and precipitation data arises from the regular annual secondary growth rings of trees. Several tropical tree species are observed to form regular growth bands that may or may not form annually. Such growth was observed in one stem disk of the tropical legume Hymenaea courbaril near the area of David, Panama. In comparison to annual reference {Delta}{sup 14}C values from wood and air, the {Delta}{sup 14}C values from the secondary growth rings formed by H. courbaril were determined to be annual in nature in this one stem disk specimen. During this study, H. courbaril was also observed to translocate recently produced photosynthate into older growth rings as sapwood is converted to heartwood. This process alters the overall {Delta}{sup 14}C values of these transitional growth rings as cellulose with a higher {Delta}{sup 14}C content is translocated into growth rings with a relatively lower {Delta}{sup 14}C content. Once the annual nature of these growth rings is established, further stable isotope analyses on H. courbaril material in other studies may help to complete gaps in the understanding of short and of long term global climate patterns.

On August 15, 2002 the Department of Energy (DOE) selected the Center for Computational Sciences (CCS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to deploy a new scalable vector supercomputer architecture for solving important scientific problems in climate, fusion, biology, nanoscale materials and astrophysics. ''This program is one of the first steps in an initiative designed to provide U.S. scientists with the computational power that is essential to 21st century scientific leadership,'' said Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, director of the department's Office of Science The Cray X1 is an attempt to incorporate the best aspects of previous Cray vector systems and massively-parallel-processing (MPP) systems into one design. Like the Cray T90, the X1 has high memory bandwidth, which is key to realizing a high percentage of theoretical peak performance. Like the Cray T3E, the X1 has a high-bandwidth, low-latency, scalable interconnect, and scalable system software. And, like the Cray SV1, the X1 leverages commodity off-the-shelf (CMOS) technology and incorporates non-traditional vector concepts, like vector caches and multi-streaming processors. In FY03, CCS procured a 256-processor Cray X1 to evaluate the processors, memory subsystem, scalability of the architecture, software environment and to predict the expected sustained performance on key DOE applications codes. The …

Land cover characterization might help land managers assess the impacts of management practices and land cover change on attributes linked to the maintenance and/or recovery of soil quality. However, connections between land cover and measures of soil quality are not well established. The objective of this limited investigation was to examine differences in soil carbon and nitrogen among various land cover types at Fort Benning, Georgia. Forty-one sampling sites were classified into five major land cover types: deciduous forest, mixed forest, evergreen forest or plantation, transitional herbaceous vegetation, and barren land. Key measures of soil quality (including mineral soil density, nitrogen availability, soil carbon and nitrogen stocks, as well as properties and chemistry of the O-horizon) were significantly different among the five land covers. In general, barren land had the poorest soil quality. Barren land, created through disturbance by tracked vehicles and/or erosion, had significantly greater soil density and a substantial loss of carbon and nitrogen relative to soils at less disturbed sites. We estimate that recovery of soil carbon under barren land at Fort Benning to current day levels under transitional vegetation or forests would require about 60 years following reestablishment of vegetation. Maps of soil carbon and nitrogen …

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The conceptual and predictive models documented in this Engineered Barrier System: Physical and Chemical Environment Model report describe the evolution of the physical and chemical conditions within the waste emplacement drifts of the repository. The modeling approaches and model output data will be used in the total system performance assessment (TSPA-LA) to assess the performance of the engineered barrier system and the waste form. These models evaluate the range of potential water compositions within the emplacement drifts, resulting from the interaction of introduced materials and minerals in dust with water seeping into the drifts and with aqueous solutions forming by deliquescence of dust (as influenced by atmospheric conditions), and from thermal-hydrological-chemical (THC) processes in the drift. These models also consider the uncertainty and variability in water chemistry inside the drift and the compositions of introduced materials within the drift. This report develops and documents a set of process- and abstraction-level models that constitute the engineered barrier system: physical and chemical environment model. Where possible, these models use information directly from other process model reports as input, which promotes integration among process models used for total system performance assessment. Specific tasks and activities of modeling the physical and chemical environment are …

The purpose of this Model Report is to document the development of the Mountain-Scale Thermal-Hydrological (TH), Thermal-Hydrological-Chemical (THC), and Thermal-Hydrological-Mechanical (THM) Models and evaluate the effects of coupled TH/THC/THM processes on mountain-scale UZ flow at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This Model Report was planned in ''Technical Work Plan (TWP) for: Performance Assessment Unsaturated Zone'' (BSC 2002 [160819], Section 1.12.7), and was developed in accordance with AP-SIII.10Q, Models. In this Model Report, any reference to ''repository'' means the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, and any reference to ''drifts'' means the emplacement drifts at the repository horizon. This Model Report provides the necessary framework to test conceptual hypotheses for analyzing mountain-scale hydrological/chemical/mechanical changes and predict flow behavior in response to heat release by radioactive decay from the nuclear waste repository at the Yucca Mountain site. The mountain-scale coupled TH/THC/THM processes models numerically simulate the impact of nuclear waste heat release on the natural hydrogeological system, including a representation of heat-driven processes occurring in the far field. The TH simulations provide predictions for thermally affected liquid saturation, gas- and liquid-phase fluxes, and water and rock temperature (together called the flow fields). The main focus of the TH Model is to predict the changes …

Development of the ground-water flow model for the Death Valley Regional Groundwater Flow System (DVRFS) required integration of numerous supporting hydrogeologic investigations. The results from recharge, discharge, hydraulic properties, water level, pumping, model boundaries, and geologic studies were integrated to develop the required conceptual and 3-D framework models, and the flow model itself. To support the complex modeling process and the needs of the multidisciplinary DVRFS team, a hardware and software system called GeoPro (Geoscience Knowledge Integration Protocol) was developed. A primary function of GeoPro is to manage the large volume of disparate data compiled for the 100,000-square-kilometer area of southern Nevada and California. The data are primarily from previous investigations and regional flow models developed for the Nevada Test Site and Yucca Mountain projects. GeoPro utilizes relational database technology (Microsoft SQL Server{trademark}) to store and manage these tabular point data, groundwater flow model ASCII data, 3-D hydrogeologic framework data, 2-D and 2.5-D GIS data, and text documents. Data management consists of versioning, tracking, and reporting data changes as multiple users access the centralized database. GeoPro also supports the modeling process by automating the routine data transformations required to integrate project software. This automation is also crucial to streamlining pre- …

Self-organized superlattices are observed in GaInAsSb epilayers grown nominally lattice matched to vicinal GaSb substrates. The natural superlattice (NSL) is detected at the onset of growth; is continuous over the lateral extent of over several microns; and persists vertically throughout several microns of the epilayer. Furthermore, the NSL is inclined by an additional 4{sup o} with respect to the vicinal (001) GaSb substrate. The tilted NSL intersects the surface of the epilayer, and the NSL period is geometrically correlated with surface undulations. While the principle driving force for this type of phase separation arises from solution thermodyamics, the mechanism for the self-organized microstructure is related to local strains associated with surface undulations. By using a substrate with surface undulations, the tilted NSL can be induced in layers with alloy compositions that normally do not exhibit this self-organized microstructure under typical growth conditions. These results underscore the complex interactions between compositional modulations and morphological perturbations.

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

The onset of plastic deformation during nanoindentation is studied, focusing upon the effects of temperature variation. By performing indentations on pure (100)-oriented platinum at room temperature, 100 and 200 C, we demonstrate that higher temperatures promote the discretization of plasticity into sharp bursts of activity. Additionally, the transition from elastic to plastic deformation occurs at progressively lower stress levels as temperature is increased. These results are in line with expectations for stress-biased, thermally-activated deformation processes such as the nucleation of dislocations or the abrupt release of dislocation entanglements.

The ENDF/B data library has recently been updated and is now freely available through the National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC), Brookhaven National Laboratory. This most recent library is identified as ENDF/B-VI, Release 8. Release 8 completely supersedes all preceding releases. Release 8 will be the last release of ENDF/B-VI; the next release of ENDF/B data will be for the new ENDF/B-VII library. As distributed the ENDF/B-VI, Release 8 data includes cross sections represented in the form of a combination of resonance parameters and/or tabulated energy dependent cross sections, nominally at 0 Kelvin temperature. For use in applications this library has been processed into the form of temperature dependent cross sections at eight neutron reactor like temperatures, between 0 and 2100 Kelvin, in steps of 300 Kelvin. It has also been processed to five astrophysics like temperatures, 1, 10, 100 eV, 1 and 10 keV. For reference purposes, 300 Kelvin is approximately 1/40 eV, so that 1 eV is approximately 12,000 Kelvin. At each temperature the cross sections are tabulated and linearly interpolable in energy. All results are in the computer independent ENDF/B-VI character format [1], which allows the data to be easily transported between computers. In its processed form this …

High explosive reactions can be caused by three general energy deposition processes: impact ignition by frictional and/or shear heating; bulk thermal heating; and shock compression. The violence of the subsequent reaction varies from benign slow combustion to catastrophic detonation of the entire charge. The degree of violence depends on many variables, including the rate of energy delivery, the physical and chemical properties of the explosive, and the strength of the confinement surrounding the explosive charge. The current state of experimental and computer modeling research on the violence of impact, thermal, and shock-induced reactions is reviewed.

Protein arrays are emerging as a practical format in which to study proteins in high-throughput using many of the same techniques as that of the DNA microarray. The key advantage to array-based methods for protein study is the potential for parallel analysis of thousands of samples in an automated, high-throughput fashion. Building protein arrays capable of this analysis capacity requires a robust expression and purification system capable of generating hundreds to thousands of purified recombinant proteins. We have developed a method to utilize LLNL-I.M.A.G.E. cDNAs to generate recombinant protein libraries using a baculovirus-insect cell expression system. We have used this strategy to produce proteins for analysis of protein/DNA and protein/protein interactions using protein microarrays in order to understand the complex interactions of proteins involved in homologous recombination and DNA repair. Using protein array techniques, a novel interaction between the DNA repair protein, Rad51B, and histones has been identified.

A scientific demonstration of a Cs laser is described in which the measured slope efficiency is as high as 0.59 W/W using a Ti:Sapphire laser as a surrogate diode-pump. In addition to presenting experimental data, a laser energetics model that accurately predicts laser performance is described and used to model a power-scaled, diode-pumped system.

Researchers at LLNL have developed a 3-stage process that converts pyrophoric depleted uranium metal turnings to a solidified final product that can be transported to and buried at a permitted land disposal site. The three process stages are: (1) pretreatment; (2) dissolution; and (3) solidification. Each stage was developed following extensive experimentation. This report presents the results of their experimental studies.

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

Weekly newspaper from Alvin, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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

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

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

This report first explains the connection made over the past several years between farm labor and immigration policies. It next examines the composition of the seasonal agricultural labor force and presents the arguments of grower and farmworker advocates concerning its adequacy relative to employer demand. The report closes with an analysis of the trends in employment, unemployment, time worked and wages of authorized and unauthorized farmworkers to determine whether they are consistent with the existence of a nationwide shortage of domestically available farmworkers.