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Report on immigration with a focus on border security and related legislation, considered by the 109th Congress.

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This report discusses intelligence issues for Congress including coordination among intelligence agencies, terrorism, and Iraq. Updated May 24, 2005.

This report discusses intelligence issues for Congress including terrorism, conflicts between Israel and Palestine, in Iraq, and among the former Yugoslav states, and North Korean missile capabilities. Updated January 24, 2003.

Crenarchaea are ubiquitous and abundant microbial constituents of soils, sediments, lakes and ocean waters, yet relatively little is known about their fundamental evolutionary, ecological, and physiological properties. To better describe the ubiquitous nonthermophilic Crenarchaea, we analyzed the genome sequence of one representative, the uncultivated sponge symbiont, Cenarchaeum symbiosum. C. symbiosum genotypes coinhabiting the same host partitioned into two dominant populations, corresponding to previously described a- and b-type ribosomal RNA variants. Although synthetic, overlapping a- and b-type ribotypes harbored significant genetic variability. A single tiling path comprising the dominant a-type genotype was assembled, and used to explore the biological properties of C. symbiosum and its planktonic relatives. Out of a total of 2,066 predicted open reading frames, 36% were more highly conserved with other Archaea. The remainder partitioned between bacteria (18%), eukaryotes (1.5%) and viruses (0.1%). A total of 525 open reading frames were more highly conserved with sequences derived from marine environmental genomic surveys, most probably representing orthologous genes found in free-living planktonic Crenarchaea. The remaining genes partitioned between functional RNAs (2.4%), and hypotheticals (42%) with limited homology to known functional genes. The latter category likely contains genes specifically involved in mediated archaeal-sponge symbiosis. Phylogenetic analyses placed C. symbiosum as …

An attempt to confirm production of superheavy elements in the reaction of 48Ca beams with actinide targets has been performed using the 238U(48Ca,3n)283112 reaction. Two 48Ca projectile energies were used, that spanned the energy range where the largest cross sections have been reported for this reaction. No spontaneous fission events were observed. No alpha decay chains consistent with either reported or theoretically predicted element 112 decay properties were observed. The cross section limits reached are significantly smaller than the recently reported cross sections.

Physical separation of short-lived isotopes produced inheavy-ion-induced fusion reactions is a powerful and well know method andoften applied in investigations of the heaviest elements, called thetransactinides (Z>=104). By extracting these isotopes from a recoilseparator, they can be made available for transport to setups locatedoutside the heavily shielded irradiation position such as chemistrysetups. This physical preseparation technique overcomes many limitationscurrently faced in the chemical investigation of transactinides. Here wedescribe the basic principle using relatively short-lived isotopes of thelighter group 4 elements zirconium (Zr) and hafnium (Hf) that are used asanalogs of the lightest transactinide element, rutherfordium (Rf, element104). The Zr and Hf isotopes were produced at the LBNL 88-Inch Cyclotronusing a cocktail of 18O and 50Ti beams and the appropriate targets.Subsequently, the isotopes were physically separated in the BerkeleyGas-filled Separator (BGS) and guided to a Recoil Transfer Chamber (RTC)to transfer them to chemistry setups. The magnetic rigidities of thereaction products in low-pressure helium gas were measured and theiridentities determined with gamma-pectroscopy. Using preseparated isotopeshas the advantages of low background and beam plasma free environment forchemistry experiments. The new possibilities that open up for chemicalinvestigations of transactinide elements are descr ibed. The method canreadily be applied to homologous elements within other groups …

Given that fossil fuel fired power plants are among the largest and most concentrated producers of CO{sub 2} emissions, recovery and sequestration of CO{sub 2} from the flue gas of such plants has been identified as one of the primary means for reducing anthropogenic (i.e., man-made) CO{sub 2} emissions. In 2001, ALSTOM Power Inc. (ALSTOM) began a two-phase program to investigate the feasibility of various carbon capture technologies. This program was sponsored under a Cooperative Agreement from the US Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE). The first phase entailed a comprehensive study evaluating the technical feasibility and economics of alternate CO{sub 2} capture technologies applied to Greenfield US coal-fired electric generation power plants. Thirteen cases, representing various levels of technology development, were evaluated. Seven cases represented coal combustion in CFB type equipment. Four cases represented Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) systems. Two cases represented advanced Chemical Looping Combined Cycle systems. Marion, et al. reported the details of this work in 2003. One of the thirteen cases studied utilized an oxygen-fired circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler. In this concept, the fuel is fired with a mixture of oxygen and recirculated flue gas (mainly CO{sub 2}). This combustion process yields …

This Strategic Initiative (SI) will advance nondestructive characterization of mesoscale (millimeter-sized) objects-allowing micrometer resolution over the objects' entire volume. X-ray imaging will be developed that allows object characterization with materials that vary widely in composition, density, and geometry.

This Strategic Initiative (SI) will advance nondestructive characterization of mesoscale (millimeter-sized) objects--allowing micrometer resolution over the objects' entire volume. X-ray imaging will be developed that allows object characterization with materials that vary widely in composition, density, and geometry.

In the manufacture of ceramic components, near-net-shape parts are commonly formed by uniaxially pressing granulated powders in rigid dies. Density gradients that are introduced into a powder compact during press-forming often increase the cost of manufacturing, and can degrade the performance and reliability of the finished part. Finite element method (FEM) modeling can be used to predict powder compaction response, and can provide insight into the causes of density gradients in green powder compacts; however, accurate numerical simulations require accurate material properties and realistic constitutive laws. To support an effort to implement an advanced cap plasticity model within the finite element framework to realistically simulate powder compaction, the authors have undertaken a project to directly measure as many of the requisite powder properties for modeling as possible. A soil mechanics approach has been refined and used to measure the pressure dependent properties of ceramic powders up to 68.9 MPa (10,000 psi). Due to the large strains associated with compacting low bulk density ceramic powders, a two-stage process was developed to accurately determine the pressure-density relationship of a ceramic powder in hydrostatic compression, and the properties of that same powder compact under deviatoric loading at the same specific pressures. Using this …

Over the last ten years, a team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory created fieldable instruments that performed identification/quantification via bioassays. These instruments have been based on molecular surface-recognition assays, such as immunoassays, and on nucleic-acid-based assays, such as the polymerase chain reaction. In 1996, we participated in the Joint Field Trials 3, employing both immunoassays as well as the polymerase chair reaction. In 1998, we participated in the Joint Field Trials 4, using only the real-time polymerase chain reaction, as implemented on a 10-chamber instrument. Our hand-held, real-time PCR instrument, known as HANAA has been commercialized as the Bioseeq{reg_sign}, by Smiths Detection. More recently, teams from LLNL have built and fielded an autonomous pathogen detection system (APDS).

Neither LLNL nor any other organization has the capability to perform deterministic fabrication of mm-sized objects with arbitrary, {micro}m-sized, 3-dimensional features with 20-nm-scale accuracy and smoothness. This is particularly true for materials such as high explosives and low-density aerogels. For deterministic fabrication of high energy-density physics (HEDP) targets, it will be necessary both to fabricate features in a wide variety of materials as well as to understand and simulate the fabrication process. We continue to investigate, both in experiment and in modeling, the ablation/surface-modification processes that occur with the use of laser pulses that are near the ablation threshold fluence. During the first two years, we studied ablation of metals, and we used sub-ps laser pulses, because pulses shorter than the electron-phonon relaxation time offered the most precise control of the energy that can be deposited into a metal surface. The use of sub-ps laser pulses also allowed a decoupling of the energy-deposition process from the ensuing movement/ablation of the atoms from the solid, which simplified the modeling. We investigated the ablation of material from copper, gold, and nickel substrates. We combined the power of the 1-D hydrocode ''HYADES'' with the state-of-the-art, 3-D molecular dynamics simulations ''MDCASK'' in our studies. …

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This report discusses the "oil-for-food" program (OFFP) as the centerpiece of a long-standing U.N. Security Council effort to alleviate human suffering in Iraq while maintaining key elements of the 1991 Gulf war-related sanctions regime. The program, in operation from December 1996 until March 2003, is detailed.

This report discusses the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) responsibility for inspecting most meat, poultry, and processed egg products for safety, wholesomeness, and proper labeling while detailing the results of congressional action in reducing the presence of pathogens and food-borne illness in facilities and food products.

Report discussing the effects on sanctions imposed on Iran by the U.S. The report also highlights major concerns surrounding Iran's human rights practices, strict limits on democracy, and connections to Islamic extremist groups who openly oppose the U.S.-led Middle East peace process.