A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 2002, the United States experienced one of the worst wildland fire seasons in the past 50 years--almost 7 million acres burned. These fires included the largest and costliest fire in Oregon in the past century--the Biscuit Fire. Following a lightning storm, five fires were discovered in the Siskiyou National Forest over a 3- day period beginning July 13. These fires eventually burned together to form the Biscuit Fire, which burned nearly 500,000 acres in southern Oregon and Northern California and cost over $150 million to extinguish. GAO evaluated (1) whether policies and procedures were in place for acquiring needed firefighting resources during the initial days of the Biscuit Fire, and the extent to which these policies and procedures were followed when the fire was first identified; (2) what resource management issues, if any, affected the ability of personnel to fight the fire; and (3) what differences, if any, existed in key certification standards for personnel among federal and state agencies and whether these differences affected efforts to respond to the fire. In commenting on a draft of this report, the Forest Service stated that the …

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a district may honor the current employment contract of a superintendent's relative whose original hiring violated chapter 573 of the Government Code (RQ-0175-GA)

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A vacuum arc ion source was modified allowing us to collections from arc plasma streaming through an anode mesh. The mesh had ageometric transmittance of 60 percent, which was taken into account as acorrection factor. The ion current from twenty-two cathode materials wasmeasured at an arc current of 100 A. The ion current normalized by thearc current was found to depend on the cathode material, with valuesinthe range from 5 percent to 11 percent. The normalized ion current isgenerally greater for light elements than for heavy elements. The ionerosion rates were determined fromvalues of ion currentand ion chargestates, which were previously measured in the same experimental system.The ion erosion rates range from 12-94 mu g/C.

It is well-documented that energy and energy systems have a central role in social and economic development and human welfare at all scales, from household and community to regional and national (41). Among its various welfare effects, energy is closely linked with people s health. Some of the effects of energy on health and welfare are direct. With abundant energy, more food or more frequent meals can be prepared; food can be refrigerated, increasing the types of food items that are consumed and reducing food contamination; water pumps can provide more water and eliminate the need for water storage leading to contamination or increased exposure to disease vectors such as mosquitoes or snails; water can be disinfected by boiling or using other technologies such as radiation. Other effects of energy on public health are mediated through more proximal determinants of health and disease. Abundant energy can lead to increased irrigation, agricultural productivity, and access to food and nutrition; access to energy can also increase small-scale income generation such as processing of agricultural commodities (e.g., producing refined oil from oil seeds, roasting coffee, drying and preserving fruits and meats) and production of crafts; ability to control lighting and heating allows education …

Phase-contrast imaging in the high-resolution electron microscope produces images with peaks at atom positions by extracting the spatial distribution of the relative phase from the electron wave. Usually, the electron wave is imaged by direct interference of diffracted beams at optimum focus. Instead, the One-Angstrom Microscope uses focal-series reconstruction software to derive the relative electron phase from a series of images taken over a range of focus, with peaks that correspond to the atom positions at a resolution that extends to the microscope information limit. Tests using a silicon specimen tilted into [112] orientation show that the O Angstrom M has achieved a world-record resolution of 0.78 Angstrom.

H-Canyon has a ''gap'' in dissolver operations during the last three months of FY03. One group of material to be processed during the gap is pre-existing scrub alloy material. There are 14 cans of material containing approximately 3.8 kilograms of plutonium. Of the 14 cans, it was anticipated that four cans contain salts, two cans contain anode heel materials, and eight cans contain scrub alloy buttons. H-Canyon desires to process the materials using a flowsheet similar to the SS and C (sand, slag and crucible) dissolution flowsheet used in F-Canyon. The materials will be loaded into carbon steel cans and then placed into aluminum metal charging bundles. Samples were sent to Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) for characterization and flowsheet testing -- four MSE salts, two anode heels, and seven scrub alloy buttons. SRTC dissolved and characterized each of the samples. Two of them, originally thought to be MSE salts, were found to be graphite mold materials and were unsuitable for processing in H-Canyon. Characterization studies confirmed that the identification of the remaining items as MSE salts, scrub alloy buttons, and anode heel materials was correct. The MSE salts and anode heels solids are comprised primarily of plutonium, potassium, sodium …

The two broad categories of deposited weld metal repair and fiber-reinforced composite liner repair technologies were reviewed for potential application for internal repair of gas transmission pipelines. Both are used to some extent for other applications and could be further developed for internal, local, structural repair of gas transmission pipelines. Preliminary test programs were developed for both deposited weld metal repair and for fiber-reinforced composite liner repair. Evaluation trials have been conducted using a modified fiber-reinforced composite liner provided by RolaTube and pipe sections without liners. All pipe section specimens failed in areas of simulated damage. Pipe sections containing fiber-reinforced composite liners failed at pressures marginally greater than the pipe sections without liners. The next step is to evaluate a liner material with a modulus of elasticity approximately 95% of the modulus of elasticity for steel. Preliminary welding parameters were developed for deposited weld metal repair in preparation of the receipt of Pacific Gas & Electric's internal pipeline welding repair system (that was designed specifically for 559 mm (22 in.) diameter pipe) and the receipt of 559 mm (22 in.) pipe sections from Panhandle Eastern. The next steps are to transfer welding parameters to the PG&E system and to pressure …

In 2002, radium 226 and 228 measurements elevated above the 5 pCi/L groundwater protection standard (GWPS) and gross alpha measurements above the 15 pCi/L GWPS were noticed in several groundwater monitoring wells at the SRS Sanitary Landfill. An additional four quarters of confirmatory measurements for Ra in the SLF groundwater were taken during 2003 as directed by the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control. Elevated radium concentrations in groundwater of the Aiken County area are a common occurrence. Price and Michel (1990) compiled radium concentrations in drinking water wells of this area and showed several instances of the concentrations exceeding the regulatory limit. Ra226 is an alpha emitter and contributes much of the natural alpha radioactivity found in uncontaminated groundwater. Thus, the elevated radium concentrations are usually accompanied by elevated gross alpha concentrations. Appendix A2 indicates that this is the case at the SLF where Ra226 accounts for almost all elevated gross alpha.

Natural gas transmission companies mark the right-of-way areas where pipelines are buried with warning signs to prevent accidental third-party damage. Nevertheless, pipelines are sometimes damaged by third-party construction equipment. A single incident can be devastating, causing death and millions of dollars of property loss. This damage would be prevented if potentially hazardous construction equipment could be detected, identified, and an alert given before the pipeline was damaged. The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is developing a system to solve this problem by using an optical fiber as a distributed sensor and interrogating the fiber with a custom optical time domain reflectometer. Key issues are the ability to detect encroachment and the ability to discriminate among potentially hazardous and benign encroachments. The work continues on improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the technique. We are now able to detect weights sitting on the Hergalite fiber of as low as 0.2 pound. Detection of load fluctuations with frequencies greater than 1 Hertz is also possible. We have also purchased a brighter diode laser for use with the multimode fibers that should improve our sensitivity by a factor of ten.

The fabrication and electrochemical performance of co-fired,LSM-SYSZ [i.e., La0.65Sr0.30MnO3 (LSM) - (Sc2O3)0.1(Y2O3)0.01(ZrO2)0.89] supported thin-film cells were examined using humidified hydrogen as a fuel. Co-firing of bi-layers and tri-layers was successful at 1250 C by optimizing the amount of carbon pore formers. A power density of a factor of 2.5 higher than that recently reported for the same type of cell at 800 C [3] was obtained for a cell with cobalt infiltration into the supporting cathode: the peak power densities were 455, 389, 285, 202, 141mW/cm2 at 800, 750, 700, 650, 600 C, respectively, and in most cases power densities at 0.7V exceeded more than 90 percent of the peak output. Increasing the cathode porosity from 43 to 53 percent improved peak power densities by as much as 1.3, shifting the diffusion limitation to high current densities. Cobalt infiltration into the support improved those by as much as a factor of 2 due to a significant reduction in non-ohmic resistance. These results demonstrate that cobalt catalyst-infiltrated LSM can be effective and low-cost supporting electrodes for reduced temperature, thin film SOFCs.

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

This document is a summary of the larger report, PNNL-14548. It describes the groundwater monitoring results for FY 2003 at the Hanford Site in southeast Washington State. The Hanford Site, a facility in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons complex, encompasses {approx}1,517 square kilometers northwest of the city of Richland along the Columbia River in southeast Washington State. The federal government acquired the site in 1943, and until the 1980s it was dedicated primarily to the production of plutonium for national defense and the management of resulting waste. In 1995, all unrestricted discharge of radioactive liquid waste to the ground was discontinued. Today, DOE's mission on the Hanford Site is to restore the Columbia River corridor and transition the central portion of the site toward its long-term waste management role. DOE has monitored groundwater on the Hanford Site since the 1940s to help determine what chemical and radiological contaminants have made their way into the groundwater. As regulatory requirements for monitoring increased in the 1980s, there began to be some overlap between various programs. DOE established the Groundwater Performance Assessment Project (groundwater project) in 1996 to ensure protection of the public and the environment while improving the efficiency …

This report presents the results of groundwater and vadose zone monitoring and remediation for fiscal year 2003 (October 2002 through September 2003) on the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site, Washington. The most extensive contaminant plumes in groundwater are tritium, iodine-129, and nitrate, which all had multiple sources and are very mobile in groundwater. The largest portions of these plumes are migrating from the central Hanford Site to the southeast, toward the Columbia River. Concentrations of tritium, nitrate, and some other contaminants continued to exceed drinking water standards in groundwater discharging to the river in some locations. However, contaminant concentrations in river water remained low and were far below standards. Carbon tetrachloride and associated organic constituents form a relatively large plume beneath the central part of the Hanford Site. Hexavalent chromium is present in smaller plumes beneath the reactor areas along the river and beneath the central part of the site. Strontium-90 exceeds standards beneath all but one of the reactor areas, and technetium-99 and uranium are present in the 200 Areas. Uranium exceeds standards in the 300 Area in the south part of the Hanford Site. Minor contaminant plumes with concentrations greater than standards include carbon-14, cesium-137, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, cyanide, …

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Concert performed at UNT College of Music Concert Hall on April 12, 2004 at 8:00 pm.

List of subset organizations of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus, with welcome to the Stonewall Democrats of Tarrant County.

Printout of the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio homepage, with information on meetings.

Information on the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas, a subset organization of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus.

Contact information for Stonewall Austin co-chair Stan Main.

Email from Rick Walker to Bayless about the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus board of directors meeting to be held in Austin.

A photograph of students lined up and holding certificates of appreciation given to them on behalf of the organizations they are a part of. They are (L-R) the Zeta Eta chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, the Epsilon Mu chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the Rho Delta chapter of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, and Models of Style Exposed. Two of the young women are wearing the windbreakers for their sorority.

A photograph of Chris Thomas holding an award he received from the UNT Multicultural Center. It is to recognize him as the "Most Supportive Staff Member" in his department. Uyen Tran is standing beside him.

A photograph of Cheylon Brown and a woman standing together at a UNT Multicultural Center event. They are holding an award that was given to the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority for "Outstanding Diversity Initiative".