A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Coast Guard's Deepwater program, the largest acquisition program in its history, involves modernizing or replacing ships, aircraft, and communications equipment. The Coast Guard awarded the Deepwater contract to Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) in June 2002. The Coast Guard estimates the program will cost $17 billion over a 30-year period. ICGS is a system integrator, with responsibility for identifying and delivering an integrated system of assets to meet the Coast Guard's missions. GAO was asked to assess whether the Coast Guard is effectively managing the Deepwater program and overseeing the contractor and to assess the implications of using the Deepwater contracting model on opportunities for competition."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO contracted with Clifton Gunderson LLP to audit the financial statements of the Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund for fiscal years 2003 and 2002. Clifton Gunderson LLP found that (1) the financial statements were presented fairly, in all material respects, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles; (2) the Fund maintained effective internal control over financial reporting (including safeguarding assets) and compliance with laws and regulations; and (3) there was no reportable noncompliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations it tested."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies rely extensively on computerized information systems and electronic data to carry out their missions. The security of these systems and date is essential to preventing data tampering, disruptions in critical operations, fraud, and inappropriate disclosure of sensitive information. Congress and the executive branch have taken actions to address this challenge, such as enacting and implementing the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). FISMA and other federal guidance discuss the need for specific technical controls to secure information systems. In order to meet the requirements of FISMA to effectively implement these technical controls, it is critical that federal agencies consider whether they have adequately implemented available cybersecurity technologies. GAO was asked by the Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform and its Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census to identify commercially available, state-of-the-practice cybersecurity technologies that federal agencies can use to defend their computer systems against cyber attacks."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) pose a growing threat to U.S. national security interests as accurate, inexpensive delivery systems for conventional, chemical, and biological weapons. GAO assessed (1) the tools the U.S. and foreign governments use to address proliferation risks posed by the sale of these items and (2) efforts to verify the end use of exported cruise missiles, UAVs, and related technology."

Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine environmental variables that affect the affinities and persistence of the nerve agent O-ethyl S-(2-diisopropylaminoethyl) methylphosphonothiolate (VX) at dilute concentrations in environmental matrices. Quantitative analyses of VX and its degradation products were performed using LC-MS. Batch hydrolysis experiments demonstrated an increasing hydrolysis rate as pH increased, as shown in previous studies, but also indicated that dissolved aqueous constituents can cause significant differences in the absolute hydrolysis rate. Adsorption isotherms from batch aqueous experiments revealed that VX has a high affinity for hydrophobic organics, a moderate affinity for montmorillonite clay, and a very low affinity for an iron-oxyhydroxide soil mineral, goethite. The adsorption on goethite was increased with the presence of dissolved organic matter in solution. VX degraded rapidly when dried onto goethite, when an inner-sphere complex was forced. No enhanced degradation occurred with goethite in small amounts water. These results suggest that aqueous conditions have important controls on VX adsorption and degradation in the environment and a more mechanistic understanding of these controls is needed in order to enable accurate predictions of its long-term fate and persistence.

A fundamental challenge in applying texture features to statistical object modeling is recognizing differently oriented spatial patterns. Rows of moored boats in remote sensed images of harbors should be consistently labeled regardless of the orientation of the harbors, or of the boats within the harbors. This is not straightforward to do, however, when using anisotropic texture features to characterize the spatial patterns. We here propose an elegant solution, termed normalized texture motifs, that uses a parametric statistical model to characterize the patterns regardless of their orientation. The models are learned in an unsupervised fashion from arbitrarily orientated training samples. The proposed approach is general enough to be used with a large category of orientation-selective texture features.

We have observed that the residual vectors at the end of each restart cycle of restarted GMRES often alternate direction in a cyclic fashion, thereby slowing convergence. We present a new technique for accelerating the convergence of restarted GMRES by disrupting this alternating pattern. The new algorithm resembles a full conjugate gradient method with polynomial preconditioning, and its implementation requires minimal changes to the standard restarted GMRES algorithm.

This report discusses US military operations in Iraq. Iraq's chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons programs, together with Iraqi long-range missile development and support for al-Queda terrorism, were the primary justifications put forward for military action.

ENERGY STAR(R) is a voluntary labeling program designed toidentify and promote energy-efficient products, buildings and practices.Operated jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and theU.S. Department of Energy (DOE), ENERGY STAR labels exist for more thanthirty products, spanning office equipment, residential heating andcooling equipment, commercial and residential lighting, home electronics,and major appliances. This report presents savings estimates for a subsetof ENERGY STAR labeled products. We present estimates of the energy,dollar and carbon savings achieved by the program in the year 2003, whatwe expect in 2004, and provide savings forecasts for two marketpenetration scenarios for the periods 2004 to 2010 and 2004 to 2020. Thetarget market penetration forecast represents our best estimate of futureENERGY STAR savings. It is based on realistic market penetration goalsfor each of the products. We also provide a forecast under the assumptionof 100 percent market penetration; that is, we assume that all purchasersbuy ENERGY STAR-compliant products instead of standard efficiencyproducts throughout the analysis period.

Using a large sample of quasar spectra from the SDSS, we examine the composite spectral trends of quasars as functions of both redshift and luminosity, independently of one another. Aside from the well known Baldwin effect (BE)--the decrease of line equivalent width with luminosity--the average spectral properties are remarkably similar. Host galaxy contamination and the BE are the primary causes for apparent changes in the average spectral slope of the quasars. The BE is detected for most emission lines, including the Balmer lines, but with several exceptions including NV1240A. Emission line shifts of several lines are associated with the BE. The BE is mainly a function of luminosity, but also partly a function of redshift in that line equivalent widths become stronger with redshift. Some of the complex iron features change with redshift, particularly near the small blue bump region.

The 2003 Moriond Workshop on Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories covered a very rich, diverse array of recent results concerning neutrinos, astrophysics and cosmology, searches for new particles, Higgs physics, precision low-energy measurements, quark flavor physics, CP violation, and electroweak interactions. In this summary, we recapitulate some of the highlights. We update many of the results reported at the Workshop to include newer findings reported during Summer, 2003. In this report, We recount some of the highlights of the 2003 Moriond Workshop on Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories.

The authors present the most recent high p{sub T} results from the CDF experiment using p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV produced at the Tevatron Collider at Fermilab. They summarize results in electroweak physics, top physics and searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. Many measurements of important signals like W boson, Z boson, and the top quark have been reestablished. Taking advantage of the increase in energy and detector upgrades, these measurements already begin to be competitive with previous results.

A new test stand for testing LHC interaction region (IR) quadrupole magnets at the Fermilab Magnet Test Facility has been designed and operated. The test stand uses a double bath system with a lambda plate to provide the magnet with a stagnant bath of pressurized He II at 1.9 K and 0.13 MPa. A cryostated magnet 0.91 m in diameter and up to 13 m in length can be accommodated. This paper describes the system design and operation. Issues related to both 4.5 K and 1.9 K operations and magnet quenching are highlighted. An overview of the data acquisition and cryogenics controls systems is also included.

A new regional-scale map of the water table configuration beneath the Savannah River Site and its surrounding area has been developed. This map is an update to the regional watertable map presented in1998. While similar methods were used to develop the updated coverages, increased accuracy was achieved due to several factors, including: (a) more data (new wells and additional measurements), (b) use of median versus mean water levels for water table contour development, (c) culling erroneous values from the data records, and (d) eliminating wells discovered to not reflect natural conditions.

There is a trade-off between how much effort should go into the tuning of insertion devices to reduce their rms phase errors and the actual benefits achieved in spectral quality when the real APS beam emittance and beam energy spread are taken into account. In the magnetic measurement laboratory, the measured magnetic fields are analyzed in terms of the rms phase error and the angular flux density, which is calculated from the measured fields for an ideal electron beam, i.e., a zero-emittance beam. In this study, we go beyond the case of an ideal beam to study the effect of the APS beam emittance and beam energy spread on the angular flux density and the pinhole flux (for a typical pinhole size that covers most of the central cone of the radiation) for real-field insertion devices to get an estimate of how low an rms phase error is reasonable to attain. The results presented here are directly applicable to the APS ''canted'' undulators of type A (planar permanent-magnet hybrid insertion devices 2.1 m long and 3.3 cm period length) but also to the standard undulators A (which have a similar design with the same period length but are 0.3 m …

The addition of the two Forward TPCs to the STAR detector allows one to measure anisotropic flow at forward pseudorapidities. This made possible the first measurement of directed flow at collision energies of {radical}s{sub NN} = 200 GeV. PHOBOS' results on elliptic flow at forward rapidities were confirmed, and the sign of v{sub 2} was determined to be positive for the first time at RHIC energies. The higher harmonic, v{sub 4}, is consistent with the recently suggested v{sub 2}2 scaling behavior.

The biocatalytic, regioselective hydroxylation of 2-hydroxybiphenyl to the corresponding catechol was accomplished utilizing the monooxygenase 2-hydroxybiphenyl 3-monooxygenase (HbpA). The necessary natural nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD{sup +}) co-factor for this biocatalytic process was replaced by a biomimetic co-factor, N-benzylnicotinamide bromide, 1a. The interaction between the flavin (FAD) containing HbpA enzyme and the corresponding biomimetic NADH compound, N-benzyl-1,4-dihdronicotinamide, 1b, for hydride transfers, was shown to readily occur. The in situ recycling of the reduced NADH biomimic 1b from 1a was accomplished with [Cp*Rh(bpy)H](Cl); however, productive coupling of this regeneration reaction to the enzymatic hydroxylation reaction was not totally successful, due to a deactivation process concerning the HbpA enzyme peripheral groups; i.e., -SH or -NH{sub 2} possibly reacting with the precatalyst, [Cp*Rh(bpy)(H{sub 2}O)](Cl){sub 2}, and thus inhibiting the co-factor regeneration process. The deactivation mechanism was studied, and a promising strategy of derivatizing these peripheral -SH or -NH{sub 2} groups with a polymer containing epoxide was successful in circumventing the undesired interaction between HbpA and the precatalyst. This latter strategy allowed tandem co-factor regeneration using 1a or 2a, [Cp*Rh(bpy)(H2O)](Cl){sub 2}, and formate ion, in conjunction with the polymer bound, FAD containing HbpA enzyme to provide the catechol product.

FermiQCD is a C++ library for fast development of parallel lattice QCD applications. The expression FermiQCD Collaboration is used as a collective name to indicate both the users of the software and its contributors. One of the main differences between FermiQCD and libraries developed by other collaborations is that it follows an object oriented design as opposed to a procedural design. FermiQCD should not be identified exclusively with the implementation of the algorithms but, rather, with the strict specifications that define its Application Program Interface. One should think of FermiQCD as a language on its own (a superset of the C++ language), designed to describe Lattice QCD algorithms. The objects of the language include complex numbers (mdp-complex), matrices (mdp-matrix), lattices (mdp-lattice), fields (gauge-field, fermi-field, staggered-field), propagators (fermi-propagator) and actions. Algorithms written in terms of these objects are automatically parallel.

The STAR Forward TPCs (FTPCs) extend the STAR acceptance for charged particles into the region 2.5 < |eta| < 4.0. We see the first signal of directed flow (v{sub 1}) at RHIC energies. While v{sub 1} is consistent with zero in the central rapidity region it rises up to 2 percent at pseudorapidities of +-4. With this signal we can verify that elliptic flow (v{sub 2}) is in-plane. The measurement of v{sub 2} in the FTPCs confirms the falloff by a factor of about 2 compared to mid-rapidity previously seen by PHOBOS [1]. In addition we look for higher harmonics (v{sub n}, n>2) where in the case of v{sub 4} a signal is seen in the STAR TPC. With the available statistics for the FTPCs we give an upper limit for these harmonics, since the results agree with zero within the errors. However, the falloff of v{sub 4} from mid-rapidity to forward-rapidities appears to be faster than for v{sub 2}.[1] B.B. Back. Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 222301 (2002)

We report on a search for gravitational wave bursts using data from the first science run of the LIGO detectors. Our search focuses on bursts with durations ranging from 4 ms to 100 ms, and with significant power in the LIGO sensitivity band of 150 to 3000 Hz. We bound the rate for such detected bursts at less than 1.6 events per day at 90% confidence level. This result is interpreted in terms of the detection efficiency for ad hoc waveforms (Gaussians and sine-Gaussians) as a function of their root-sum-square strain h{sub rss}; typical sensitivities lie in the range h{sub rss} {approx} 10{sup -19} - 10{sup -17} strain/{radical}Hz, depending on waveform. We discuss improvements in the search method that will be applied to future science data from LIGO and other gravitational wave detectors.

To increase our knowledge of gaseous species in geothermal systems by fluid inclusion analysis in order to facilitate the use of gas analysis in geothermal exploration. The knowledge of gained by this program can be applied to geothermal exploration, which may expand geothermal production. Knowledge of the gas contents in reservoir fluids can be applied to fluid inclusion gas analysis of drill chip cuttings in a similar fashion as used in the petroleum industry. Thus the results of this project may lower exploration costs both in the initial phase and lower drill hole completion costs. Commercial costs for fluid inclusion analysis done on at 20 feet intervals on chip samples for 10,000 ft oil wells is about $6,000, and the turn around time is a few weeks.

An article written by David D. Kirkpatrick for the New York Times about President George W. Bush's recent move against gay marriage and the responses from several gay and lesbian Republicans who still wish to support him. Another partial article is included in the clippings titled "Reports of Rape in Pacific Spur Air Force Steps".

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

Daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.