Monthly publication documenting statistics related to economic information in the Mexico-Texas border areas including types of border crossings, employment, customs revenues, and other related data.

Monthly newsletter documenting statistics related to employment in Texas including nonagricultural job trends, labor force numbers, and other relevant indicators as well as information on related topics.

Newsletter published by the Texas State Office of Risk Management discussing news, events, and activities of the agency as well as other topics related to risk management for state employees. This issue includes information about workers' compensation, cost of risk data being released, coping with stress, generic drugs, and risk management user groups.

Magazine discussing natural resources, parks, hunting and fishing, and other information related to the outdoors in Texas.

Magazine for Texas Lottery retailers that contains news, retailer spotlights, and a list of lottery winners.

Booklet listing the trails in Texas state parks that are "best" for biking, providing difficulty ratings, brief descriptions, locations, and park contact information for each trail.

On September 15, 2005, the House of Representatives approved H. Res. 437, which created the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina (“the Select Committee”). According to the resolution, the Committee was charged with conducting “a full and complete investigation and study and to report its findings to the House not later than February 15, 2006, regarding— (1) the development, coordination, and execution by local, State, and Federal authorities of emergency response plans and other activities in preparation for Hurricane Katrina; and (2) the local, State, and Federal government response to Hurricane Katrina.” The Committee presents the report narrative and the findings that stem from it to the U.S. House of Representatives and the American people for their consideration. Members of the Select Committee agree unanimously with the report and its findings. Other Members of Congress who participated in the Select Committee’s hearings and investigation but were not official members of the Select Committee, while concurring with a majority of the report’s findings, have presented additional views as well, which we offer herein on their behalf. First and foremost, this report is issued with our continued thoughts and prayers for Katrina’s victims. Their families. …

Monthly newsletter from the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy regarding updates and information pertaining to Texas CPAs.

Newsletter from the University of Texas System Cancer Center, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute discussing cancer care and research to inform physicians of recent developments in the field.

Monthly travel magazine discussing locations and events in Texas to encourage travel within the state.

This report summarizes NOAA's budget request for the 2007 fiscal year.

A report discussing environmental issues such as resource scarcity and energy shortages.

Since FY 2000, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have conducted research to assess the extent of spawning by chum (Oncorhynchus keta) and fall Chinook (O. tshawytscha) salmon in the lower mainstem Columbia River. Their work supports a larger Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) project aimed at characterizing the physical habitat used by mainstem fall Chinook and chum salmon populations. Multiple collaborators in addition to PNNL are involved in the BPA project--counterparts include the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). Data resulting from the individual tasks each agency conducts are providing a sound scientific basis for developing strategies to operate the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) in ways that will effectively protect and enhance the chum and fall Chinook salmon populations--both listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Fall Chinook salmon, thought to originate from Bonneville Hatchery, were first noted to be spawning downstream of Bonneville Dam by biologists from the WDFW in 1993. Known spawning areas include gravel beds on the Washington side of the river near Hamilton Creek and Ives Island. …

A report on the Fifth Annual Nanostructural Genomics meeting, Bar Harbor, USA, 7-10 September 2005.

This data quality objective (DQO) summary report provides the results of the DQO process conducted for waste characterization activities for the 324 and 327 Building hot cells decommission, deactivate, decontaminate, and demolish activities. This DQO summary report addresses the systems and processes related to the hot cells, air locks, vaults, tanks, piping, basins, air plenums, air ducts, filters, an adjacent elements that have high dose rates, high contamination levels, and/or suspect transuranic waste, which will require nonstandard D4 techniques.

In 2004, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) evaluated 25 Phase II fish screen sites in the Yakima River Basin as part of a multi-year project for the Bonneville Power Administration on the effectiveness of fish screening devices. PNNL collected data to determine whether velocities in front of the screens and in the bypasses met the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA Fisheries, formerly the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)) criteria to promote safe and timely fish passage. In addition, PNNL conducted underwater video surveys to evaluate the environmental and operational conditions of the screen sites with respect to fish passage. Based on evaluations in 2004, PNNL concluded that: (1) In general, water velocity conditions at the screen sites met fish passage criteria set by NOAA Fisheries. (2) Conditions at most facilities would be expected to provide for safe juvenile fish passage. (3) Automated cleaning brushes generally functioned properly; chains and other moving parts were typically well-greased and operative. (4) Removal of sediment buildup and accumulated leafy and woody debris could be improved at some sites. (5) Conditions at some facilities indicate that operation and/or maintenance should be modified to improve passage conditions for juvenile fish. For example, Taylor …

In 2005, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) researchers evaluated 25 Phase II fish screen sites in the Yakima and Touchet river basins. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory performs these evaluations for Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to determine whether the fish screening devices meet National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) criteria to promote safe and timely fish passage. Evaluations consist of measuring velocities in front of the screens, using an underwater camera to look at the condition and environment in front of the screens, and noting the general condition and operation of the sites. Results of the evaluations in 2005 include the following: (1) Most approach velocities met the NMFS criterion of less than or equal to 0.4 fps. Less than 13% of all approach measurements exceeded the criterion, and these occurred at 10 of the sites. Flat-plate screens had more problems than drum screens with high approach velocities. (2) Bypass velocities generally were greater than sweep velocities, but sweep velocities often did not increase toward the bypass. The latter condition could slow migration of fish through the facility. (3) Screen and seal materials generally were in good condition. (4) Automated cleaning brushes generally functioned properly; chains and other moving parts were typically …

Experimental results are reported from two measurementtechniques (semiconductor switching and electro-optic sampling) thatallow temporal characterization of electron bunches produced by alaser-driven plasma-based accelerator. As femtosecond electron bunchesexit the plasma-vacuum interface, coherent transition radiation (at THzfrequencies) is emitted. Measuring the properties of this radiationallows characterization of the electron bunches. Theoretical work on theemission mechanism is represented, including a model that calculates theTHz waveform from a given bunch profile. It is found that the spectrum ofthe THz pulse is coherent up to the 200 mu m thick crystal (ZnTe)detection limit of 4 THz, which corresponds to the production of sub-50fs (root-mean-square) electron bunch structure. The measurementsdemonstrate both the shot-to-shot stability of bunch parameters that arecritical to THz emission (such as total charge and bunch length), as wellas femtosecond synchrotron between bunch, THz pulse, and laserbeam.

Mo/Si multilayer coatings reflecting at 131 {angstrom} were deposited successfully on the AIA primary and secondary flight mirrors and on two coating witness Si wafers, on November 16, 2005, at LLNL. All coatings were characterized by means of EUV reflectance measurements at beamline 6.3.2 of the Advanced Light Source (ALS) synchrotron at LBNL, and were found to be well within specifications.

What is the best description that we can construct of athermodynamic system that is not in equilibrium, given only one, or afew, extra parameters over and above those needed for a description ofthe same system at equilibrium? Here, we argue the most appropriateadditional parameter is the non-equilibrium entropy of the system, andthat we should not attempt to estimate the probability distribution ofthe system, but rather the metaprobability (or hyperensemble) that thesystem is described by a particular probability distribution. The resultis an entropic distribution with two parameters, one a non-equilibriumtemperature, and the other a measure of distance from equilibrium. Thisdispersion parameter smoothly interpolates between certainty of acanonical distribution at equilibrium and great uncertainty as to theprobability distribution as we move away from equilibrium. We deducethat, in general, large, rare fluctuations become far more common as wemove away from equilibrium.

As military operations in urban environments become more numerous, the ability of combat units to communicate, jam enemy communications, or employ RF weapons within this environment must be evaluated. To perform this evaluation in a mission level model requires a capability to evaluate the contributions of both terrain and man-made structures (interior and exterior) to RF propagation. The present study is an analysis of the adequacy of a mission level model (EADSIM) to perform these RF propagation calculations in an urban environment. Three basic environments must be assessed. The first environment consists entirely of terrain, with no man-made features impacting propagation values. The second environment includes terrain, but also includes the contribution of solid structures with abrupt edges, which may obstruct/influence LOS paths. The third environment includes not only terrain and structures, but also contains structures with interior features which must be evaluated to determine the propagation levels within and around these structures. EADSIM was used as the model for evaluation in view of its suite of propagation tools which can be used for analysis of RF propagation between transmitters and receivers including terrain. To assess EADSIM's capability to perform in these environments, flat terrain maps with an obstruction were …

The AIA secondary flight mirror, previously coated at Columbia University with Mg/SiC for the 303.8 {angstrom} channel and Mo/Y for the 93.9 {angstrom} channel was characterized by means of EUV reflectance measurements at beamline 6.3.2 of the Advanced Light Source (ALS) synchrotron at LBNL on January 10, 2006. Paul Boerner (LMSAL) also participated in these measurements.

The identification of enhancers with predicted specificitiesin vertebrate genomes remains a significant challenge that is hampered bya lack of experimentally validated training sets. In this study, weleveraged extreme evolutionary sequence conservation as a filter toidentify putative gene regulatory elements and characterized the in vivoenhancer activity of human-fish conserved and ultraconserved1 noncodingelements on human chromosome 16 as well as such elements from elsewherein the genome. We initially tested 165 of these extremely conservedsequences in a transgenic mouse enhancer assay and observed that 48percent (79/165) functioned reproducibly as tissue-specific enhancers ofgene expression at embryonic day 11.5. While driving expression in abroad range of anatomical structures in the embryo, the majority of the79 enhancers drove expression in various regions of the developingnervous system. Studying a set of DNA elements that specifically droveforebrain expression, we identified DNA signatures specifically enrichedin these elements and used these parameters to rank all ~;3,400human-fugu conserved noncoding elements in the human genome. The testingof the top predictions in transgenic mice resulted in a three-foldenrichment for sequences with forebrain enhancer activity. These datadramatically expand the catalogue of in vivo-characterized human geneenhancers and illustrate the future utility of such training sets for avariety of iological applications including decoding the regulatoryvocabulary of …

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