This report discusses bundling and public policy issues for Congress. The federal Universal Service Fund - the federal subsidy program that assures affordable telephone rates for high-cost (rural) and low-income telephone customers as well as for schools, libraries, and rural health facilities - is supported by an assessment on interstate telecommunications revenues only. But it is difficult to identify the portion of revenues generated by a bundled service offering attributable to the interstate telecommunications portion of that bundle.

This report begins with a comprehensive presentation of current economic conditions focusing on income growth, unemployment, and inflation. The posture of monetary and fiscal policy is surveyed as are the forecasts of economic activity. It concludes with data on the factors important for economic growth.

This issue brief discusses the increasing attention being paid to alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles, the proponents of which point to their potential to improve urban air quality, decrease dependence on foreign oil, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The brief also discusses the major barriers currently preventing widespread use of such technologies, and discusses these technologies in the particular contexts of the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes and the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The Conservation Security Program (CSP), a new program enacted in section 2001 of the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) and administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, creates a three-tiered system rewarding increased levels of conservation on agricultural operations with increased payments. Payments include a base payment for acreage enrolled, a payment for new or existing conservation practices, and an “enhancement” payment for conservation exceeding minimum program standards.

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."

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.

The purpose of this Model Report is to document the Seepage Calibration Model (SCM). The SCM is developed (1) to establish the conceptual basis for the Seepage Model for Performance Assessment (SMPA), and (2) to derive seepage-relevant, model-related parameters and their distributions for use in the SMPA and seepage abstraction in support of the Total System Performance Assessment for License Application (TSPA-LA). The SCM is intended to be used only within this Model Report for the estimation of seepage-relevant parameters through calibration of the model against seepage-rate data from liquid-release tests performed in several niches along the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) Main Drift and in the Cross Drift. The SCM does not predict seepage into waste emplacement drifts under thermal or ambient conditions. Seepage predictions for waste emplacement drifts under ambient conditions will be performed with the SMPA (see upcoming REV 02 of CRWMS M&O 2000 [153314]), which inherits the conceptual basis and model-related parameters from the SCM. Seepage during the thermal period is examined separately in the Thermal Hydrologic (TH) Seepage Model (see BSC 2003 [161530]). The scope of this work is (1) to evaluate seepage rates measured during liquid-release experiments performed in several niches in the Exploratory Studies …

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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.

This article discusses the new goals set for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and asks important questions to congress. Updated February 17, 2004.

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.

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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 …

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 …

We have developed new techniques based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) to image, and to quantify the strength of, specific receptor sites on the membrane of a living cell. AFM has developed rapidly during the past decade, providing nanometer scale resolution in the imaging of biological materials ranging in size from single molecules to intact cells. By monitoring the cantilever deflection during approach-retraction cycles (i.e. force-volume curves), the unbinding forces have been determined for various ligand-receptor pairs. It is now possible to use a single receptor molecule bound to the tip of an AFM cantilever to map the locations of ligands bound on solid surfaces, opening the door for new ''recognition mapping'' methods. The goal of our project was to develop recognition mapping for living cells and cell membranes, a major step forward.