This report describes the progress made during the Early Career Principal Investigator (ECPI) project on Algorithmic Techniques for Large Data Sets. Research was carried out in the areas of dimension reduction, clustering and finding structure in data, aggregating information from different sources and designing efficient methods for similarity search for high dimensional data. A total of nine different research results were obtained and published in leading conferences and journals.

Higher quantum efficiency in near-IR, narrower point spread function and higher readout speed than with conventional sensors have been receiving increased emphasis in the development of CCDs and silicon PIN-CMOS sensors for use in large optical telescopes. Some key aspects in the development of such devices are reviewed.

We present a survey of serendipitous extended X-ray sources and optical cluster candidates from the Chandra Multi-wavelength Project (ChaMP). Our main goal is to make an unbiased comparison of X-ray and optical cluster detection methods. In 130 archival Chandra pointings covering 13 square degrees, we use a wavelet decomposition technique to detect 55 extended sources, of which 6 are nearby single galaxies. Our X-ray cluster catalog reaches a typical flux limit of about {approx} 10{sup -14} erg s{sup -1} cm{sup -2}, with a median cluster core radius of 21''. For 56 of the 130 X-ray fields, we use the ChaMP's deep NOAO/4m MOSAIC g', r', and i' imaging to independently detect cluster candidates using a Voronoi tessellation and percolation (VTP) method. Red-sequence filtering decreases the galaxy fore/background contamination and provides photometric redshifts to z {approx} 0.7. From the overlapping 6.1 square degree X-ray/optical imaging, we find 115 optical clusters (of which 11% are in the X-ray catalog) and 28 X-ray clusters (of which 46% are in the optical VTP catalog). The median redshift of the 13 X-ray/optical clusters is 0.41, and their median X-ray luminosity (0.5-2 keV) is L{sub X} = (2.65 {+-} 0.19) x 10{sup 43} ergs s{sup -1}. …

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A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, increased security requirements and a significant number of active duty and reserve personnel sent overseas to support the war on terror left the Department of Defense (DOD) with fewer military personnel to rely on to protect domestic installations. To correct this shortage, Congress is temporarily allowing DOD to use contract security guards to fulfill roles previously performed by military employees. The U.S. Army has awarded contracts worth nearly $733 million to acquire contract guards at 57 Army installations, an investment far greater than those made by other DOD services so far. The requesters asked GAO to assess how the Army has been managing and overseeing its acquisition of security guard services, particularly with regard to the Army's (1) acquisition strategy, (2) employment screening, (3) training of contract guards, and (4) award fee process. This report also discusses DOD's mandated November 2005 report to Congress on the contract guard program."

This report analyzes data from America's Health Insurance Plans(AHIP), the national association representing health insurers, on the number of enrollers in HSA-qualified HDHPs.

This report provides an overview of Egyptian politics and current issues in U.S.-Egyptian relations. It briefly provides a political history of modern Egypt, an overview of its political institutions, and a discussion of the prospects for democratization in Egypt, U.S.-Egyptian relations are complex and multi-faceted, and this report addresses the following current topics: the Arab-Israeli peace process, Iraq, terrorism, democratization and reform, human rights, trade, and military cooperation.

From FY1989 through FY2006, 33 appropriations, authorization, or farm disaster acts added approximately $55.4 billion in supplemental funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs. The two most recent supplemental appropriations were provided in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf of Mexico and in preparation for a possible U.S. outbreak of avian influenza. Some FY1989, the vast majority of the total supplemental funding has been paid directly to farmers, primarily through two mechanisms: "market loss payments" and crop disaster payments. This report includes the total annual funding additions in the 33 acts providing economic and farm disaster assistance through USDA programs since FY1989.

The proposed acquisition of major operations in six major U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World and of Unocal by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation sparked intense concerns among some Members of Congress and the public and has reignited the debate over what role foreign acquisitions play in U.S. national security. The United States actively promotes internationally the national treatment of foreign firms. Several Members of Congress have introduced various measures during the 2nd Session of the 109th Congress that can be grouped into four major areas: those that deal specifically with the proposed Dubai Ports World acquisition; those that focus more generally on foreign ownership of U.S. ports; those that would amend the CFIUS process; and those that would amend the Exon-Florio process.

This report presents Major policy issues and Status of negotiations related to a Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Mainstream CMOS is now a well-established detector readout technology. We review technology scaling trends and limits, the implementation of analog circuits in digital CMOS processes, and radiation resistance. Emphasis is placed on the growing importance of power dissipation in ultra-scaled technologies.

This report focuses on the legal debate related to global warming, and past and possible litigation. The court cases, decided and pending, address four principal issues, whether the EPA has the authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, from either stationary or mobile sources; whether state regulation of GHG emissions from motor vehicles (limited to California at the moment) preempted by federal law; can the common law of nuisance be used to force cutbacks in GHG emissions; and do the alleged global warming impacts of federal agency actions allow a National Environmental Policy Act challenge?

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

This report surveys key aspects of Indonesia's domestic politics and strategic dynamics in addition to providing general background information on Indonesia.

High current-density Nb{sub 3}Sn strands made by internal-tin routes are not stable against flux jumps at low fields. Since flux jumps release heat, they can initiate quenching if thermal conductivity to the liquid helium is poor. To make matters worse, tin is a potent contaminant of copper, and reaction of strands to maximize performance leads to the loss of thermal conductivity. We discuss how the root of a solution of this problem lies in optimizing two parameters, RRR and J{sub c}, instead of J{sub c} alone. An important workaround for magnet designers is controlling the balance between performance and stability by reducing the temperature or time of the final heat treatment step. This provides ample J{sub c} while also keeping RRR high. Under these conditions, the instability current density threshold J{sub s} is higher than J{sub c}. Additional factors are also available to improve the management of instabilities, including new strand designs with smaller subelements or divided subelements.

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The primary goal of this visit was to perform a joint assessment of the Renewable Energy and Water Desalination Center's (REWDC) program in radioactive waste management. The visit represented the fourth technical and scientific interaction with Libya under the DOE/NNSA Sister Laboratory Arrangement. Specific topics addressed during the visit focused on Action Sheet P-05-5, ''Radioactive Waste Management''. The Team, comprised of Mo Bissani (Team Lead), Robert Fischer, Scott Kidd, and Jim Merrigan, consulted with REWDC management and staff. The team collected information, discussed particulars of the technical collaboration and toured the Tajura facility. The tour included the waste treatment facility, waste storage/disposal facility, research reactor facility, hot cells and analytical labs. The assessment team conducted the first phase of Task A for Action Sheet 5, which involved a joint assessment of the Radioactive Waste Management Program. The assessment included review of the facilities dedicated to the management of radioactive waste at the Tourja site, the waste management practices, proposed projects for the facility and potential impacts on waste generation and management.

Understanding fluid distribution and movement in the subsurface is critical for a variety of subsurface applications, such as remediation of environmental contaminants, sequestration of nuclear waste and CO2, intrusion of saline water into fresh water aquifers, and the production of oil and gas. It is well recognized that characterizing the properties that control fluids in the subsurface with the accuracy and spatial coverage needed to parameterize flow and transport models is challenging using conventional borehole data alone. Integration of conventional borehole data with more spatially extensive geophysical data (obtained from the surface, between boreholes, and from surface to boreholes) shows promise for providing quantitative information about subsurface properties and processes. Typically, estimation of subsurface properties involves a two-step procedure in which geophysical data are first inverted and then integrated with direct measurements and petrophysical relationship information to estimate hydrological parameters. However, errors inherent to geophysical data acquisition and inversion approaches and errors associated with petrophysical relationships can decrease the value of geophysical data in the estimation procedure. In this paper, we illustrate using two examples how joint inversion approaches, or simultaneous inversion of geophysical and hydrological data, offer great potential for overcoming some of these limitations.

This 7th quarterly Technical Progress Report for the Lignite Fuel Enhancement Project summarizes activities from January 1st through March 31st of 2006. It also summarizes the subsequent purchasing activity, dryer/process construction, and testing. The Design Team began conferencing again as construction completed and the testing program began. Primary focus this quarter was construction/installation completion. Phase 1 extension recommendation, and subsequent new project estimate, Forms 424 and 4600 were accepted by DOE headquarters. DOE will complete the application and amended contract. All major mechanical equipment was run, checked out, and tested this quarter. All water, air, and coal flow loops were run and tested. The system was run on January 30th, shut down to adjust equipment timing in the control system on the 31st, and run to 75 ton//hour on February 1st. It ran for seven to eight hours per day until March 20th when ''pairs'' testing ( 24 hour running) began. ''Pairs'' involves comparative testing of unit performance with seven ''wet'' pulverizers versus six ''wet'' and one ''dry''. During the interim, more operators were brought up to speed on system operation and control was shifted to the main Unit No.2 Control Room. The system is run now from the Unit …

We present a set of new characteristic frequencies associated with accretion disks around compact objects. These frequencies arise from persistent rotating patterns in the disk that are finite in radial extent and driven purely by the gravity of the central body. Their existence depends on general relativistic corrections to orbital motion and, if observed, could be used to probe the strong gravity region around a black hole. We also discuss a possible connection to the puzzle of quasi-periodic oscillations.

The overall objective of this project is the continued development, installation, and testing of continuous water sampling and analysis technologies for application to on-site monitoring of groundwater treatment systems and remediation sites. In a previous project, an on-line analytical system (OLAS) for multistream water sampling was installed at the Fort Ord Operable Unit 2 Groundwater Treatment System, with the objective of developing a simplified analytical method for detection of Compounds of Concern at that plant, and continuous sampling of up to twelve locations in the treatment system, from raw influent waters to treated effluent. Earlier implementations of the water sampling and processing system (Analytical Sampling and Analysis Platform, A A+RT, Milpitas, CA) depended on off-line integrators that produced paper plots of chromatograms, and sent summary tables to a host computer for archiving. We developed a basic LabVIEW (National Instruments, Inc., Austin, TX) based gas chromatography control and data acquisition system that was the foundation for further development and integration with the ASAP system. Advantages of this integration include electronic archiving of all raw chromatographic data, and a flexible programming environment to support development of improved ASAP operation and automated reporting. The initial goals of integrating the preexisting LabVIEW chromatography control …

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This paper presents a review of racetrack coil magnet designs and technologies for high field magnets that can be used in LHC upgrade. The designs presented here allow both ''Wind & React'' and ''React & Wind'' technologies as they are based on flat racetrack coils with large bend radii. Test results of the BNL 10.3 T ''React & Wind'' common coil magnet are also presented. A possible use of High Temperature Superconductors (HTS) in future high field accelerator magnets is examined.

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