Newspaper from Rose State College in Midwest City, Oklahoma that includes national, local, and campus news along with advertising.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In a prior report we suggested that the consolidation of certain offices of inspectors general (IG) could strengthen the independence, efficiency, and effectiveness of the IGs in the federal government. Based on the potential for benefits and the similarities in their basic missions, we identified the Amtrak Office of Inspector General and the Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Inspector General as among those Congress might consider for consolidation. We reported that by consolidating the office of the Amtrak IG with the larger DOT IG office, the resulting office would have a larger budget and more staff with which to achieve its mission. Potential benefits include an increased ability to improve the allocation of human and financial resources and to attract and retain an adequate and skilled workforce. We concluded that consolidation of smaller IG offices, if implemented properly with specific plans to mitigate potential weaknesses, is a means of achieving economies of scale and greater independence and of providing critical mass and range of skills, particularly given the ever increasing need for technical staff with specialized skills. This report responds to a Congressional request that, building on …

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

The state of South Dakota is considering adopting a commercial building energy standard. This report evaluates the potential costs and benefits to South Dakota residents from requiring compliance with the most recent edition of the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1-2001 Energy Standard for Buildings except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. These standards were developed in an effort to set minimum requirements for the energy efficient design and construction of new commercial buildings. The quantitative benefits and costs of adopting a commercial building energy code are modeled by comparing the characteristics of assumed current building practices with the most recent edition of the ASHRAE Standard, 90.1-2001. Both qualitative and quantitative benefits and costs are assessed in this analysis. Energy and economic impacts are estimated using results from a detailed building simulation tool (Building Loads Analysis and System Thermodynamics [BLAST] model) combined with a Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) approach to assess corresponding economic costs and benefits.

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This report discusses about political, economic, and security challenges facing Azerbaijan.

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

Annual guide published as a newspaper supplement by the Dallas Voice newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes health and fitness information of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community along with advertising.

Semiweekly newspaper from Boerne, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semiweekly newspaper from Brady, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

There is a likelihood of large reserves of crude oil and natural gas in the Caspian Sea region, and a consequent large increase in oil and natural gas production from that area. Because diversity of energy sources is a consideration in Congressional deliberations on energy policy, this prospect could play a role in such discussions. However, there are notable obstacles to increases in Caspian Sea region production of oil and gas that may slow development.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government assumes insurance risk for a wide range of activities that are funded through numerous federal budget accounts and administered by a variety of federal organizations. For some activities, such as those funded through the National Flood Insurance account, the federal government assumes the entire insurance risk. The federal government also assumes part of the risk for insurance activities that are administered by state and local governments--for example, those funded through the Unemployment Trust Fund or that are partly underwritten by private insurers, such as those funded through the Special Workers' Compensation Expenses account. These insurance risks, whether fully or partially assumed by the federal government, are in lines of insurance that private insurers also recognize: health, life, disability, and property/casualty insurance. The federal government has generally assumed insurance risks for at least two reasons. First, the government may step in when insurance is not widely available because private insurers cannot collectively absorb or affordably price the insurance risk. For example, when private insurers were unable to offer affordable terrorism insurance in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the federal government created a terrorism insurance program. …

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

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

The KDP crystals present in the final optics assembly at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) are used for conversion of infrared laser light beam into ultraviolet. The conversion is highest for a certain incident angle, the alignment of which is determined from the position of the back reflection beam, which exhibits a distinct characteristics shape. When a phase plate device is introduced before the final assembly to increase the uniformity of the beam, the back reflection pattern changes drastically. The algorithm which is best for tracking the special shaped beam is no longer suitable to track the phase modified beam. The work presented here discusses our detection schemes for both the situations. In particular, we demonstrate how the algorithm senses the modified beam using a newly proposed criterion of ''correlation peak pedestal area'' and execute an alternate algorithm in real time without operator intervention. This new algorithm continuously tracks the beam pattern to guarantee reliable and repeatable sensing. Results from simulation and real world implementation of the algorithm at the NIF facility are presented.

At least 50 documented incidents in more than 20 countries around the world, many involving arrest or detention of North Korean diplomats, link North Korea to drug trafficking. Such events, in the context of credible, but unproven, allegations of large scale state sponsorship of drug production and trafficking, raise important issues for the United States and its allies in combating international drug trafficking. The challenge to policy makers is how to pursue an effective counter drug policy and comply with U.S. law which may require cutting off aid to North Korea while pursuing other high-priority U.S. foreign policy objectives including (1) limiting possession and production of weapons of mass destruction; (2) limiting ballistic missile production and export; (3) curbing terrorism, counterfeiting, and international crime; and (4) addressing humanitarian needs.

Electrochemical machining (ECM) with concentrated sodium chlorate electrolyte was used to rapidly cut a circular groove (13 cm diameter, 0.2 cm wide) through a 0.15 cm thick sheet of steel--thus opening a 5-inch porthole in as little as 10 minutes. The most favorable operating conditions were: T = 22 C; chlorate concentration 600 g NaClO{sub 3}/liter-solution; electric power of 100 A at 10 V; and flow of 0.5 l/s at a pressure drop of 10 kPa (1.5 psi). The porthole may be removed entirely by electrochemical means, or the electrochemical dissolution may continue until only thin membrane remains that is subsequently cut with a utility knife. An array of thermocouples was used to track temperature in the flowing solution and in the trough being machined; the maximum increase in temperature in the trough was 5 C over that of the flowing electrolyte which increased in temperature by 19 C because of power dissipation. ECM is shown feasible for rapid perforation of plates of ferrous and non-ferrous metals using portable equipment and commercial batteries. The technique can be extended to cut perforations of arbitrary shape through non-planar surfaces using a deformable ring cathode. Analysis of the power requirements for electrolyte flow …

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

This report discusses the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA, and the Working Family Tax Relief Act of 2004 (WFTRA). Since all of the tax reductions provisions of all three of these acts expire at some point in the future, Congress faces the issue of whether to extend and/or make the reductions permanent. Extending these tax reductions, however, is likely to significantly reduce federal revenues in the future.

This report provides an overview of the Task Force and of its progress to date in gaining broad international support for its Recommendations.

Soils from many industrial sites in southeastern USA arecontaminated with As because of the application of herbicide containingAs2O3. Among those contaminated sites, two industrial sites, FW and BH,which are currently active and of most serious environmental concerns,were selected to characterize the occurrence of As in the contaminatedsoils and to evaluate its environmental leachability. The soils are bothsandy loams with varying mineralogical and organic matter contents.Microwave-assisted acid digestion (EPA method 3051) of the contaminatedsoils indicated As levels of up to 325 mg/kg and 900 mg/kg (dry weightbasis) for FW and BH soils, respectively. However, bulk X-ray powderdiffraction (XRD) analysis failed to find any detectable As-bearingphases in either of the studied soil samples. Most of the soil As wasobserved by scanning electron microscopy, coupled with energy dispersiveX-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), to be disseminated on the surfaces offine-grained soil particles in close association with Al and Fe. A fewAs-bearing particles were detected in BH soil using electron microprobeanalysis (EMPA). Synchrotron micro-XRD and X-ray absorption near-edgestructure (XANES) analyses indicated that these As-rich particles werepossibly phaunouxite, a mineral similar to calcium arsenate, which couldhave been formed by natural weathering after the application of As2O3.However, the scarcity of those particles eliminated them from playing anyimportant role in …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.