A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 provided eligible taxpayers up to $400 in advance Child Tax Credit (ACTC) payments. GAO was asked for information on (1) the number, dollar amount, and timeliness of the ACTC payments, (2) the impact on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS') toll-free telephone service, (3) the cost to IRS and the Financial Management Service (FMS) for implementing the advance payment effort, including the impact of these costs on other IRS programs, and (4) the extent to which IRS identified and used evaluations from the 2001 advance refund effort to implement the ACTC payment effort and whether an evaluation of the ACTC payment effort is planned."

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

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Real-time three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of epithelial structures in human mammary gland tissue blocks mapped with selected markers would be an extremely helpful tool for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment planning. Besides its clear clinical application, this tool could also shed a great deal of light on the molecular basis of breast cancer initiation and progression. In this paper we present a framework for real-time segmentation of epithelial structures in two-dimensional (2D) images of sections of normal and neoplastic mammary gland tissue blocks. Complete 3D rendering of the tissue can then be done by surface rendering of the structures detected in consecutive sections of the blocks. Paraffin embedded or frozen tissue blocks are first sliced, and sections are stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin. The sections are then imaged using conventional bright field microscopy and their background is corrected using a phantom image. We then use the Fast-Marching algorithm to roughly extract the contours of the different morphological structures in the images. The result is then refined with the Level-Set method which converges to an accurate (sub-pixel) solution for the segmentation problem. Finally, our system stacks together the 2D results obtained in order to reconstruct a 3D representation of the entire tissue …

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Inorganic membrane reactors offer the possibility of combining reaction and separation in a single operation at high temperatures to overcome the equilibrium limitations experienced in conventional reactor configurations. Such attractive features can be advantageously utilized in a number of potential commercial opportunities, which include dehydrogenation, hydrogenation, oxidative dehydrogenation, oxidation and catalytic decomposition reactions. However, to be cost effective, significant technological advances and improvements will be required to solve several key issues which include: (a) permselective thin solid film, (b) thermal, chemical and mechanical stability of the film at high temperatures, and (c) reactor engineering and module development in relation to the development of effective seals at high temperature and high pressure. In this project, we are working on the development and application of palladium and palladium-silver alloy thin-film composite membranes in membrane reactor-separator configuration for simultaneous production and separation of hydrogen and carbon dioxide at high temperature. From our research on Pd-composite membrane, we have demonstrated that the new membrane has significantly higher hydrogen flux with very high perm-selectivity than any of the membranes commercially available. The steam reforming of methane by equilibrium shift in Pd-composite membrane reactor is being studied to demonstrate the potential application of this new development. …

The overall goal of this project is to develop, implement, and test new Hybrid Monte Carlo-deterministic (or simply Hybrid) methods for the more efficient and more accurate calculation of nuclear engineering criticality problems. These new methods will make use of two (philosophically and practically) very different techniques - the Monte Carlo technique, and the deterministic technique - which have been developed completely independently during the past 50 years. The concept of this proposal is to merge these two approaches and develop fundamentally new computational techniques that enhance the strengths of the individual Monte Carlo and deterministic approaches, while minimizing their weaknesses.

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

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A recently introduced Level-Set-based Cartesian Grid (LSCG) Characteristics-Based Matching (CBM) method is applied for direct numerical simulation of shock-induced dispersal of solid material. The method incorporates the latest advancements in the level set technology and characteristics-based numerical methods for solution of hyperbolic conservation laws and boundary treatment. The LSCG/CBM provides unique capabilities to simulate complex fluid-solid (particulate) multiphase flows under high-speed flow conditions and taking into account particle-particle elastic and viscoelastic collisions. The particular emphasis of the present study is placed on importance of appropriate modeling of particle-particle collisions, which are demonstrated to crucially influence the global behavior of high-speed multiphase particulate flows. The results of computations reveal the richness and complexity of flow structures in compressible disperse systems, due to dynamic formation of shocks and contact discontinuities, which provide an additional long-range interaction mechanism in dispersed high-speed multiphase flows.

The purpose of this project is to develop a robust scientific and technological framework for the design of high-strength and -ductility nanocrystalline materials for applications of technical importance to the Laboratory. The project couples theory and experiments with an emphasis on materials of macroscopic dimensions (mm to cm) that are composed of nanoscale (<100 nm) grains. There are four major tasks: (1) synthesize nanocrystalline materials with grain size in the 5- to 100-nm range; (2) conduct experimental studies to probe mechanisms of mechanical deformation and failure; (3) use large-scale simulation modeling technologies to provide insight to deformation mechanisms that may not be observable experimentally; and (4) check the results obtained from modeling, comparing experimental observations with results obtained from atomistic and dislocation-based simulations. This project supports efforts within the Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) to understand and predict properties of metals such as strength and ductility.

An experimental procedure is reported to perform shear tests on specimens held under moderately high hydrostatic pressures (on the order of 10 GPa). The mechanical behavior of materials subjected to such pressures, varies substantially from that observed at atmospheric pressure or even pressures typically attained during industrial processing. These differences must be incorporated into models such as the Steinberg-Guinan hardening model or discrete dislocation dynamics simulations. The goal of the proposed research is to develop and implement testing procedures that experimentally determine pressure-dependent dislocation mobilities in oriented single crystals of the BCC transition metals. These experiments will provide calibration data for models of materials subjected to extreme pressures and will assist in model validation. This paper reports the development of the experimental procedures. A thin foil of polycrystalline Ta was used to perform the initial experiments under hydrostatic pressures ranging from 2.1 to 4.2 GPa. Both yielding and hardening behavior are observed to be sensitive to the imposed pressure.

In-situ Time Resolved X-Ray Diffraction (TRXRD) experiments were performed during stationary gas tungsten arc (GTA) welding of AISI 1045 C-Mn steel. These synchrotron-based experiments tracked, in real time, phase transformations in the heat-affected zone of the weld under rapid heating and cooling conditions. The diffraction patterns were recorded at 100 ms intervals, and were later analyzed using diffraction peak profile analysis to determine the relative fraction of ferrite ({alpha}) and austenite ({gamma}) phases in each diffraction pattern. Lattice parameters and diffraction peak widths were also measured throughout the heating and cooling cycle of the weld, providing additional information about the phases that were formed. The experimental results were coupled with a thermofluid weld model to calculate the weld temperatures, allowing time-temperature transformation kinetics of the {alpha} {yields} {gamma} phase transformation to be evaluated. During heating, complete austenitization was observed in the heat affected zone of the weld and the kinetics of the {alpha} {yields} {gamma} phase transformation were modeled using a Johnson-Mehl-Avrami (JMA) approach. The results from the 1045 steel weld were compared to those of a 1005 low carbon steel from a previous study. Differences in austenitization rates of the two steels were attributed to differences in the base …

This report provides a short discussion of selected environmental provisions involving limits on the use of MTBE; a renewable fuel mandate for gasoline; stricter regulation of underground storage tanks; Clean Water Act requirements for oil and gas exploration; incentives and R&D funding for alternative fuels and vehicles; energy efficiency and conservation incentives; hydroelectric relicensing; ozone compliance deadlines; use of mining wastes; and hydraulic fracturing.

The two year LDRD-ER-089 project Electromagnetic Imaging of CO{sub 2} Sequestration at an Enhanced-Oil-Recovery Site used a dual track approach to imaging and interpreting the effectiveness and migration of CO2 injection at an enhanced oil recovery site. Both field data and laboratory data were used together to aid in the interpretation and understanding of CO{sub 2} flow in a heavily fracture enhanced oil recovery site. In particular, project highlights include; {lg_bullet} The development of a low-noise digital field system to measure the EM induction response to CO{sub 2} in a variety of field conditions. Central to this system is a low-noise induction receiver antenna that can measure the low-energy response of the CO{sub 2}. This system has consistently measured a shallow pseudo-miscible CO{sub 2} flood at source frequencies between 2.0 kHz and 10 kHz. In addition, the existing and added oil and brine in the formation have also been characterized. {lg_bullet} Comparisons of cross-well images with induction logs acquired before drilling suggest the EM induction resolution for CO2 imaging is equivalent with applications to waterflood imaging completed at LLNL. {lg_bullet} The development and use of laboratory equipment to conduct fluid and gas time-lapsed injection studies of core samples using fluids …

Concert presented at the UNT College of Music Winspear Performance Hall.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Felix “George” Appleton. Appleton was born in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, 21 July 1924. He enlisted in the US Navy in 1943 and following boot camp, entered the hospital corps school. Later he went aboard USS LST-523 and sailed in convoy to England and witnessed submarine attacks and a number of ships being lost. He tells of participating in Operation Overlord with Omaha Beach being USS LST-523’s objective. He describes the carnage he witnessed both in the water and on the beach. After off-loading supplies, the ship was designated a hospital ship and he describes the various combat injuries he treated. The ship made numerous trips between England and the Normandy beaches until the ship struck a mine and sank. Numerous fatalities occurred among the doctors and medical staff. He was treated for minor wounds and ultimately returned to the United States on HMS Queen Elizabeth. He was assigned to the Lambert Naval Air Station at St. Louis, Missouri until his discharge in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Horner. Horner finished high school and immediately joined the Navy in 1944. After training, he was assigned as a Yeoman at Honolulu before joining the crew of USS Nashville (CL-43) in October, 1944. He was in the Philippines when the war ended.

Performance requirements and testing protocols are needed to ensure that equipment used by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is reliable. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), through the US Support Program, tested equipment to validate performance requirements protocols used by the IAEA for the subject equipment categories. Performance protocol validation tests were performed in the Environmental Effects Laboratory in the categories for battery, DC power supply, and uninterruptible power supply (UPS). Specific test results for each piece of equipment used in the validation process are included in this report.

At this morning's fill-tube surrogate working group meeting we tentatively decided on a single bump on a shell for the single March shot. This memo shows the calculations needed as background to fabricate such a bump by depositing an appropriate sized drop of polystyrene solution (i.e. the glue) to a shell as discussed in this mornings meeting. While writing this I had another idea for fabricating a bump, which I quickly outlined at the end of this memo. I am distributing this calculation primarily so that group members can quickly check the calculations and ideas and if without error to provide a framework for initial fabrication efforts.

Photograph of the "In High Places" statue by Gerald Balciar in front of the Hurley Administration Building. The statue consists of an eagle soaring to the left of the camera. The bottom portion of the statue is out of frame. McConnell Memorial Tower can be seen in the background of the photograph, covered by a row of trees.

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