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.

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

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

Trends in high-performance computing are making it necessary for long-running applications to tolerate hardware faults. The most commonly used approach is checkpoint and restart(CPR)-the state of the computation is saved periodically on disk, and when a failure occurs, the computation is restarted from the last saved state. At present, it is the responsibility of the programmer to instrument applications for CPR. Our group is investigating the use of compiler technology to instrument codes to make them self-checkpointing and self-restarting, thereby providing an automatic solution to the problem of making long-running scientific applications resilient to hardware faults. Our previous work focused on message-passing programs. In this paper, we describe such a system for shared-memory programs running on symmetric multiprocessors. The system has two components: (i)a pre-compiler for source-to-source modification of applications, and (ii) a runtime system that implements a protocol for coordinating CPR among the threads of the parallel application. For the sake of concreteness, we focus on a non-trivial subset of OpenMP that includes barriers and locks. One of the advantages of this approach is that the ability to tolerate faults becomes embedded within the application itself, so applications become self-checkpointing and self-restarting on any platform. We demonstrate this by …

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

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

The hidden-variable theorems of Bell and followers depend upon an assumption, namely the hidden-variable assumption, that conflicts with the precepts of quantum philosophy. Hence from an orthodox quantum perspective those theorems entail no faster-than-light transfer of information. They merely reinforce the ban on hidden variables. The need for some sort of faster-than-light information transfer can be shown by using counterfactuals instead of hidden variables. Shimony's criticism of that argument fails to take into account the distinction between no-faster-than-light connection in one direction and that same condition in both directions. The argument can be cleanly formulated within the framework of a fixed past, open future interpretation of quantum theory, which neatly accommodates the critical assumptions that the experimenters are free to choose which experiments they will perform. The assumptions are compatible with the Tomonaga-Schwinger formulation of quantum field theory, and hence with orthodox quantum precepts, and with the relativistic requirement that no prediction pertaining to an outcome in one region can depend upon a free choice made in a region spacelike-separated from the first.

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

This analysis report is one of the technical reports containing documentation of the Environmental Radiation Model for Yucca Mountain, Nevada (ERMYN), a biosphere model supporting the total system performance assessment (TSPA) for the license application (LA) for the Yucca Mountain repository. This analysis report describes the development of biosphere dose conversion factors (BDCFs) for the volcanic ash exposure scenario, and the development of dose factors for calculating inhalation dose during volcanic eruption. A graphical representation of the documentation hierarchy for the ERMYN is presented in Figure 1-1. This figure shows the interrelationships among the products (i.e., analysis and model reports) developed for biosphere modeling and provides an understanding of how this analysis report contributes to biosphere modeling. This report is one of two reports that develop biosphere BDCFs, which are input parameters for the TSPA model. The ''Biosphere Model Report'' (BSC 2004 [DIRS 169460]) describes in detail the ERMYN conceptual model and mathematical model. The input parameter reports, shown to the right of the Biosphere Model Report in Figure 1-1, contain detailed descriptions of the model input parameters, their development and the relationship between the parameters and specific features, events and processes (FEPs). This report describes biosphere model calculations and …

ALSTOM Power Inc.'s Power Plant Laboratories (ALSTOM) has teamed with the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE NETL), American Electric Company (AEP) and Parsons Energy and Chemical Group to conduct a comprehensive study evaluating coal fired steam power plants, known as Rankine Cycles, equipped with three different combustion systems: Pulverized Coal (PC), Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB), and Circulating Moving Bed (CMB{trademark}). Five steam cycles utilizing a wide range of steam conditions were used with these combustion systems. The motivation for this study was to establish through engineering analysis, the most cost-effective performance potential available through improvement in the Rankine Cycle steam conditions and combustion systems while at the same time ensuring that the most stringent emission performance based on CURC (Coal Utilization Research Council) 2010 targets are met: > 98% sulfur removal; < 0.05 lbm/MM-Btu NO{sub x}; < 0.01 lbm/MM-Btu Particulate Matter; and > 90% Hg removal. The final report discusses the results of a coal fired steam power plant project, which is comprised of two parts. The main part of the study is the analysis of ten (10) Greenfield steam power plants employing three different coal combustion technologies: Pulverized Coal (PC), Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB), and …

The role of grain boundary constraint in strain localization and concomitant constitutive response was examined by performing a series of uniaxial compression tests on a tantalum bicrystal. Tantalum single crystals were diffusion bonded to form a (011) 90 twist boundary that was compressed along the common [011] direction. The plastic deformation resulted in the creation of deformation bands away from the highly constraining grain boundary, resembling those bands known from single crystal plastic deformation. Near the grain boundary, such deformation band formation could not be detected. Instead a distinctive pattern of crystal lattice rotation was observed that filled a rather large volume (several millimeters in size) around the bicrystal grain boundary. The internal deformation band structure as well as the crystal lattice rotation pattern near the bicrystal grain boundary were characterized and found to give greater rates of work hardening in the neighborhood of the grain boundary.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Smart cards--plastic devices about the size of a credit card--use integrated circuit chips to store and process data, much like a computer. Among other uses, these devices can provide security for physical assets and information by helping to verify the identity of people accessing buildings and computer systems. They can also support functions such as tracking immunization records or storing cash value for electronic purchases. Government adoption of smart card technology is being facilitated by the General Services Administration (GSA), which has implemented a governmentwide Smart Card Access Common ID contract, which federal agencies can use to procure smart card products and services. GAO was asked to update information that it reported in January 2003 on the progress made by the federal government in promoting smart card technology. Specific objectives were to (1) determine the current status of smart card projects identified in GAO's last review, (2) identify and determine the status of projects initiated since the last review, and (3) identify integrated agencywide smart card projects currently under way. To accomplish these objectives, GAO surveyed the 24 major federal agencies. In commenting on a draft …

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

This is a report on the backgroud an public policy issues with the fuel, Ethanol.

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

The physical vapor deposition methods of evaporation and sputtering are used to prepare foils of the body-centered-cubic metals, vanadium and tantalum. A two-fold increase in the micro-hardness is measured as the grain size decreases to the sub-micron scale. The micro-hardness of vanadium increases to 2.7 GPa and for tantalum to 2.9 GPa.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Lives of first responders and those whom they are trying to assist can be lost when first responders cannot communicate effectively as needed. This testimony addresses issues of determining the status of interoperable wireless communications across the nation, the potential roles that federal, state, and local governments can play in improving these communications, and the need to structure grant programs so that they better support public sector efforts to improve these communications."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "American Indians and Alaska Natives generally face worse economic conditions than the rest of the U.S. population. The Economic Development Administration (EDA) within the Department of Commerce provides grants to distressed communities, including to American Indian tribes and Alaska Native entities, to generate employment and stimulate economic growth. Because data on how these EDA grants helped tribes was not publicly available, GAO analyzed all EDA grants made to Indian tribes from 1993-2002 and determined what economic development resulted. Tribes also enter into self-governance and other contracting arrangements with two federal agencies--the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Indian Health Service--to assume the management of individual services, including law enforcement, education, social services, and road maintenance. GAO also analyzed the relationship between changes in tribes' economic profile and the extent to which they had self-governance or contracting arrangements to perform their own services. BIA and EDA provided comments on a draft of this report. BIA generally agreed with GAO's conclusions. EDA took issue with GAO's characterization of the relative success of EDA grant programs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Although the U.S. government provides broad protection for intellectual property, intellectual property protection in parts of the world is inadequate. As a result, U.S. goods are subject to piracy and counterfeiting in many countries. A number of U.S. agencies are engaged in efforts to improve protection of U.S. intellectual property abroad. This report describes U.S agencies' efforts, the mechanisms used to coordinate these efforts, and the impact of these efforts and the challenges they face."

This report outlines the provisions of the Conventions as they apply to prisoners of war and to civilians, and the minimum level of protection offered by Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. There follows an analysis of key terms that set the standards for the treatment of prisoners that are especially relevant to interrogation, including torture, coercion, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, with reference to some historical war crimes cases and cases involving the treatment of persons suspected of engaging in terrorism. Finally, the report discusses and analyzes some of the various interrogation techniques approved or considered for use during interrogations of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Lithium manganese oxides substituted with nickel or cobalt were characterized electrochemically in lithium cell configurations. The compounds studied were either single-phase layered structures with either primarily O2 or O3 stacking arrangements, or O2/O3 intergrowths, prepared from P2, P3 and P2/P3 sodium-containing precursors, respectively. The stacking arrangements are extremely sensitive to the Na/T. M. (T. M. = transition metal) ratios and the level of substitution. Phase diagrams showing the stability regions of the various arrangements for the Na-Ni-Mn-O system are presented. A possible correlation between vacancies and electrochemical performance is suggested. For high levels of substitution with Ni, fewer defects are possible for materials containing more O3 component and higher discharge capacities can be achieved, but spinel conversion upon cycling also occurs more rapidly as the O3 content increases. Intergrowths show intermediate behavior and represent a potential route towards designing stable, high capacity electrodes.

The structural and electrochemical characterization of layered Li{sub x}Al{sub y}Mn{sub 1-y}O{sub 2} compounds prepared from sodium-containing precursors is described. A quaternary phase diagram showing composition ranges for pure P2 and P3 structures and P2/P3 intergrowths obtained in the Na-Al-Mn-O system is presented. Upon ion exchange, these compounds change to O2, O3 or O2/O3 stacking arrangements, respectively. The oxygen array in O3 and spinel structures is similar, and most of the O3 structures convert to spinel rapidly upon electrochemical cycling in lithium cells. This process is delayed somewhat by increased Al substitution, but not completely inhibited. More effective suppression of the phase transformation is observed in O2/O3 intergrowth electrodes. Additionally, the capacity retention upon cycling and the rate behavior of cells containing intergrowth electrodes is superior to those with pure O2 structures.