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A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Family Court, established by the D.C. Family Court Act of 2001, was created in part to transition the former Family Division of the D.C. Superior Court into a court solely dedicated to matters concerning children and families. The act required the transfer of abuse and neglect cases by October 2003 and the implementation of case management practices to expedite their resolution in accordance with timeframes established by the Adoptions and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA); a plan for space, equipment, and other needs; and that the Superior Court integrate its computer systems with those of other D.C. agencies. The act also reformed court practices and established procedures intended to improve interactions between the court and social service agencies in the District. One such agency, the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), is responsible for protecting children at risk of abuse and neglect and ensuring that services are provided for them and their families. Both social service agencies and the courts play an important role in addressing child welfare issues. Representative Tom Davis, Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, asked GAO to assess the Family …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The government produces billions of coins and currency notes each year. Coins are made by the U.S. Mint and issued by the Treasury Department. Currency notes are made by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and issued by the Federal Reserve System (Fed). The Fed buys coins from the Mint at face value but pays the Bureau only the costs of printing currency. Coins on the books of the Fed are assets that are issued by the Mint, and notes are liabilities of the Federal Reserve Banks. In recent years congressional hearings have highlighted the confusion over differences in the budgetary and accounting treatment of coins and currency. In addition, the Treasury Inspector General and others have reported problems with Mint and Bureau operations. GAO was asked to review (1) how the costs and earnings from coins and currency are budgeted and accounted for and (2) whether any operational problems at the Mint and Bureau need further action."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The nation faces a complex challenge in addressing recent trends in children's health and eating habits. To address these trends, in 2001, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity among all Americans, especially children. In this statement, schools were identified as one of the key settings for public health strategies to address these issues. The National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs provide millions of children with nutritious meals each school day. The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers these programs at the federal level, and FNS subsidizes the meals served through these programs in local schools as long as the meals meet certain nutritional guidelines. In the last decade, these nutritional guidelines were amended to require schools to serve meals that adhere to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which limit total and saturated fat and provide specific minimum levels of vitamins and nutrients. Despite these efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals offered through the school meal programs, other foods not provided through these programs are often available to …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In testimony in October 2002 and in a report issued in April 2003 we raised concerns about the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) accountability for computers and computer-related equipment bought with government purchase cards. Our review identified a large volume of computers and computer-related purchases for which HUD did not have adequate supporting documentation. In addition, HUD acknowledged that items bought with purchase cards were not being consistently entered in its asset management system thereby increasing its vulnerability to loss or theft. Given these findings, and the approximately $59 million HUD reported it has spent on computers and computer-related equipment and services over the last 3 fiscal years, Congress asked of us to further assess HUD's accountability for these vulnerable assets. Specifically, it was requested that we determine whether HUD had established an effective system of internal control for maintaining accountability over its computer equipment. Our review covered HUD's systems and controls in place during fiscal years 2001, 2002, and 2003."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, insurance coverage for terrorism largely disappeared. Congress passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) in 2002 to help commercial property-casualty policyholders obtain terrorism insurance and give the insurance industry time to develop mechanisms to provide such insurance after the act expires on December 31, 2005. Under TRIA, the Department of Treasury caps insurer liability and would process claims and reimburse insurers for a large share of losses from terrorist acts that Treasury certified as meeting certain criteria. As Treasury and industry participants have operated under TRIA for more than a year, GAO was asked to describe (1) their progress in implementing the act and (2) changes in the terrorism insurance market under TRIA."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has treated ballistic missile defense as a priority since the mid-1980s and has invested tens of billions of dollars to research and develop such capabilities. In 2002 two key events transformed DOD's approach in this area: (1) the Secretary of Defense consolidated existing missile defense elements into a single acquisition program and placed them under the management of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and (2) the President directed MDA to begin fielding an initial configuration, or block, of missile defense capabilities in 2004. MDA estimates it will need $53 billion between fiscal years 2004 and 2009 to continue the development, fielding, and evolution of ballistic missile defenses. To fulfill a congressional mandate, GAO assessed the extent to which MDA achieved program goals in fiscal year 2003. While conducting this review, GAO also observed shortcomings in how MDA defines its goals."

The potential energy surface corresponding the complex resonance energy of the 2B1 Feshbach resonance state of the water anion is constructed in its full dimensionality. Complex Kohn variational scattering calculations are used to compute the resonance width, while large-scale Configuration Interaction calculations are used to compute the resonance energy. Near the equilibrium geometry, an accompanying ground state potential surface is constructed from Configuration Interaction calculations that treat correlation at a level similar to that used in the calculations on the anion.

The ATLAS Collaboration at CERN is preparing for the data taking and analysis at the LHC that will start in 2007. Therefore, a series of Data Challenges was started in 2002 whose goals are the validation of the Computing Model, of the complete software suite, of the data model, and to ensure the correctness of the technical choices to be made. A major feature of the first Data Challenge was the preparation and the deployment of the software required for the production of large event samples as a worldwide-distributed activity. It should be noted that it was not an option to ''run everything at CERN'' even if we had wanted to; the resources were not available at CERN to carry out the production on a reasonable time-scale. The great challenge of organizing and then carrying out this large-scale production at a significant number of sites around the world had the refore to be faced. However, the benefits of this are manifold: apart from realizing the required computing resources, this exercise created worldwide momentum for ATLAS computing as a whole. This report describes in detail the main steps carried out in DC1 and what has been learned from them as a …

In the favored progenitor scenario, Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) arise from a white dwarf accreting material from a non-degenerate companion star. Soon after the white dwarf explodes, the ejected supernova material engulfs the companion star; two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations by Marietta et al. (2001) show that, in the interaction, the companion star carves out a conical hole of opening angle 30-40 degrees in the supernova ejecta. In this paper we use multi-dimensional Monte Carlo radiative transfer calculations to explore the observable consequences of an ejecta-hole asymmetry. We calculate the variation of the spectrum, luminosity, and polarization with viewing angle for the aspherical supernova near maximum light. We find that the supernova looks normal from almost all viewing angles except when one looks almost directly down the hole. In the latter case, one sees into the deeper, hotter layers of ejecta. The supernova is relatively brighter and has a peculiar spectrum characterized by more highly ionized species, weaker absorption features, and lower absorption velocities. The spectrum viewed down the hole is comparable to the class of SN 1991T-like supernovae. We consider how the ejecta-hole asymmetry may explain the current spectropolarimetric observations of SNe Ia, and suggest a few observational signatures of …

Efforts at Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation (SWPC) have been focused on development of hot gas filter systems as an enabling technology for advanced coal and biomass-based gas turbine power generation applications. SWPC has been actively involved in the development of advanced filter materials and component configuration, has participated in numerous surveillance programs characterizing the material properties and microstructure of field tested filter elements, and has undertaken extended, accelerated filter life testing programs. This report summarizes the results of SWPC's filter component assessment efforts, identifying the performance and stability of porous monolithic, fiber reinforced, and filament wound ceramic hot gas candle filters, potentially for {ge}3 years of viable pressurized fluidized-bed combustion (PFBC) service operating life.

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Proliferation of electron microscopes with field emission guns, imaging filters and hardware spherical aberration correctors (giving higher spatial and energy resolution) has resulted in the need to construct special laboratories. As resolutions improve, transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) and scanning transmission electron microscopes (STEMs) become more sensitive to ambient conditions. State-of-the-art electron microscopes require state-of-the-art environments, and this means careful design and implementation of microscope sites, from the microscope room to the building that surrounds it. Laboratories have been constructed to house high-sensitive instruments with resolutions ranging down to sub-Angstrom levels; we present the various design philosophies used for some of these laboratories and our experiences with them. Four facilities are described: the National Center for Electron Microscopy OAM Laboratory at LBNL; the FEGTEM Facility at the University of Sheffield; the Center for Integrative Molecular Biosciences at TSRI; and the Advanced Microscopy Laboratory at ORNL.

The long-term objective of this research is to develop a system for measuring and identifying a wide rang of volatile organic hydrocarbons, including organochlorides, at ppb levels in-situ in the subsurface (''at-dept'') using a fiber-optic REMPI probe. In this renewal proposal we would also like to expand the range of analytes to include contaminated soil and certain metal pollutants such as Hg and Pb. And, to do this in a ruggedized system that is compatible with existing fiber-optic sensors, Raman and fluorescence probes and image guides. The specific focus of much of the proposed work is to identify and optimize those experimental parameters which effect the in-situ determination of organic molecules using resonance-enhanced multi-photon ionization (REMPI). To accomplish this goal we will systematically investigate the dependence of REMPI on laser wavelength, power and other experimental parameters for a variety of high-priority groundwater and vadose zone contaminants to determine optimal measurement conditions. Emphasis will be placed on visible or fiber-optic compatible wavelengths of excitation so that the high transmission of fiberoptics can be fully utilized. A fiber-optic REMPI system is being designed that is suitable for integration into an existing cone penetrometer system being delivered by LLNL. Fiber-optic probe designs that …

This report summarizes the accomplishments toward project goals during the first six months of the project to assess the properties and performance of coal based products. These products are in the gasoline, diesel and fuel oil range and result from coal based jet fuel production from an Air Force funded program. Specific areas of progress include generation of coal based material that has been fractionated into the desired refinery cuts, acquisition and installation of a research gasoline engine, and modification of diesel engines for use in evaluating diesel produced in the project. The desulfurization of sulfur containing components of coal and petroleum is being studied so that effective conversion of blended coal and petroleum streams can be efficiently converted to useful refinery products. Equipment is now in place to begin fuel oil evaluations to assess the quality of coal based fuel oil. Coal samples have procured and are being assessed for cleaning prior to use in coking studies.

The Control System for the Advanced Light Source uses in-house designed IndustryPack (IP) I/O Modules in compact PCI (cPCI) chassis to control instrumentation. Each module consists of digital I/O ports and 16-bit analog I/O interfaced to instrumentation via a cPCI rear I/O card. During the past few years of installed operation, several factors have prompted investigation into the design of a new IP I/O Module. The ADC channels have significant offset drift over periods of days of initial installed operation. An in-situ calibration procedure was developed to address this problem, but it lacks speed and is inconvenient to perform. Digital I/O port limitations have led to increasing amounts of wasted I/O. Fast orbit feedback requires faster ADC sampling and better filtering than the current IP module offers. This paper discusses the issues related to the current IP I/O Module and the design of a new Double-size IP I/O Module.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Ohio Coal Development Office (OCDO) have recently initiated a project aimed at identifying, evaluating, and qualifying the materials needed for the construction of the critical components of coal-fired boilers capable of operating at much higher efficiencies than current generation of supercritical plants. This increased efficiency is expected to be achieved principally through the use of ultrasupercritical steam conditions (USC). The project goal initially was to assess/develop materials technology that will enable achieving turbine throttle steam conditions of 760 C (1400 F)/35 MPa (5000 psi), although this goal for the main steam temperature had to be revised down to 732 C (1350 F), based on a preliminary assessment of material capabilities. The project is intended to build further upon the alloy development and evaluation programs that have been carried out in Europe and Japan. Those programs have identified ferritic steels capable of meeting the strength requirements of USC plants up to approximately 620 C (1150 F) and nickel-based alloys suitable up to 700 C (1300 F). In this project, the maximum temperature capabilities of these and other available high-temperature alloys are being assessed to provide a basis for materials selection and application under …

The Savannah River Technical Center (SRTC) has been active in teaming with academic and industrial partners to advance hydrogen technology. A primary focus of SRTC's R and D has been hydrogen storage using metal and complex hydrides. SRTC and its Hydrogen Technology Laboratory (HyTech) have been very successful in leveraging their defense infrastructure, capabilities and investments to help solve this country's energy problems. Many of HyTech's programs support dual-use applications. HyTech has participated in projects to convert public transit and utility vehicles for operation on hydrogen fuel. Two major projects include the H2Fuel Bus and an Industrial Fuel Cell Vehicle (IFCV) also known as the GATORTM. Both of these projects were funded by DOE and cost shared by industry.

Gas storage is a critical element in the natural gas industry. Producers, transmission and distribution companies, marketers, and end users all benefit directly from the load balancing function of storage. The unbundling process has fundamentally changed the way storage is used and valued. As an unbundled service, the value of storage is being recovered at rates that reflect its value. Moreover, the marketplace has differentiated between various types of storage services, and has increasingly rewarded flexibility, safety, and reliability. The size of the natural gas market has increased and is projected to continue to increase towards 30 trillion cubic feet (TCF) over the next 10 to 15 years. Much of this increase is projected to come from electric generation, particularly peaking units. Gas storage, particularly the flexible services that are most suited to electric loads, is critical in meeting the needs of these new markets. In order to address the gas storage needs of the natural gas industry, an industry-driven consortium was created--the Gas Storage Technology Consortium (GSTC). The objective of the GSTC is to provide a means to accomplish industry-driven research and development designed to enhance operational flexibility and deliverability of the Nation's gas storage system, and provide a …

This report will introduce a newcomer to the Washington, DC, metropolitan area to sources of general interest, neighborhoods, housing, and public transportation.

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Small-scale experimental work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has confirmed that a direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) containing a molten carbonate electrolyte completely reacts solid elemental carbon with atmospheric oxygen contained in ambient air at a temperature of 650-800 C. The efficiency of conversion of the chemical energy in the fuel to DC electricity is 75-80% and is a result of zero entropy change for this reaction and the fixed chemical potentials of C and CO{sub 2}. This is about twice as efficient as other forms power production processes that utilize solid fuels such as petroleum coke or coal. These range from 30-40% for coal fired conventional subcritical or supercritical boilers to 38-42% for IGCC plants. A wide range of carbon-rich solids including activated carbons derived from natural gas, petroleum coke, raw coal, and deeply de-ashed coal have been evaluated with similar conversion results. The rate of electricity production has been shown to correlate with disorder in the carbon structure. This report provides a preliminary independent assessment of the economic potential of DCFC for competitive power generation. This assessment was conducted as part of a Director's Research Committee Review of DCFC held at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) on …

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) contracted with the Packaging Review Group (PRG) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to conduct a single, 30-ft shallow-angle drop test on the Combustion Engineering ABB-2901 drum-type shipping package. The purpose of the test was to determine if bolted-ring drum closures could fail during shallow-angle drops. The PRG at LLNL planned the test, and Defense Technologies Engineering Division (DTED) personnel from LLNL's Site-300 Test Group executed the plan. The test was conducted in November 2001 using the drop-tower facility at LLNL's Site 300. Two representatives from Westinghouse Electric Company in Columbia, South Carolina (WEC-SC); two USNRC staff members; and three PRG members from LLNL witnessed the preliminary test runs and the final test. The single test clearly demonstrated the vulnerability of the bolted-ring drum closure to shallow-angle drops-the test package's drum closure was easily and totally separated from the drum package. The results of the preliminary test runs and the 30-ft shallow-angle drop test offer valuable qualitative understandings of the shallow-angle impact.