Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate commemorating the 75th anniversary of the discovery of the East Texas Oil Field on October 3, 1930.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate honoring Pope Benedict XVI on his election to the papacy.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate honoring Jim M. Alsup of Midland for his lifelong commitment to philanthropy.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives recognizing Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle for their observance of the National Day of Prayer.

In the 109th Congress, several bills have been introduced, including S. 3, the Protecting America in the War on Terror Act, and S. 975, the Project Bioshield II Act, that would generate additional incentives for the creation of new technologies to counteract potential biological threats. These bills propose reforms to current policies and practices associated with intellectual property, particularly patents, and the marketing of pharmaceuticals and related products. This report includes patents and innovation, the role of patents in pharmaceutical/biomedical R&D, legislative developments and proposals for change.

The bilateral relationship between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China (PRC) is vitally important, touching on a wide range of areas including, among others, economic policy, security, foreign relations, and human rights. This report addresses relevant policy questions in current U.S.-China relations, discusses trends and key legislation in the current Congress, and provides a chronology of developments and high-level exchanges.

It has been suggested that to meet the FreedomCAR objectives for cost, size, weight, efficiency, and reliability higher buss voltages be utilized in HEV and FC automotive applications. The reasoning is that since electric power is equal to the product of voltage and current for a given power a higher voltage and lower current would result in smaller cable and inverter switching components. Consequently, the system can be lighter and smaller. On the other hand, higher voltages are known to require better and thicker electrical insulation that reduce the available slot area for motor windings. One cause of slow insulation breakdown is corona that gradually erodes the insulation and shortens the life expectancy of the motor. This study reports on the results of a study on corona initiating voltages for mush-wound and bobbin-wound stators. A unique testing method is illustrated.

A new code and methodology are introduced for solving the fully general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) equations using time-explicit, finite-volume discretization. The code has options for solving the GRMHD equations using traditional artificial-viscosity (AV) or non-oscillatory central difference (NOCD) methods, or a new extended AV (eAV) scheme using artificial-viscosity together with a dual energy-flux-conserving formulation. The dual energy approach allows for accurate modeling of highly relativistic flows at boost factors well beyond what has been achieved to date by standard artificial viscosity methods. it provides the benefit of Godunov methods in capturing high Lorentz boosted flows but without complicated Riemann solvers, and the advantages of traditional artificial viscosity methods in their speed and flexibility. Additionally, the GRMHD equations are solved on an unstructured grid that supports local adaptive mesh refinement using a fully threated oct-tree (in three dimensions) network to traverse the grid hierarchy across levels and immediate neighbors. A number of tests are presented to demonstrate robustness of the numerical algorithms and adaptive mesh framework over a wide spectrum of problems, boosts, and astrophysical applications, including relativistic shock tubes, shock collisions, magnetosonic shocks, Alfven wave propagation, blast waves, magnetized Bondi flow, and the magneto-rotational instability in Kerr black hole spacetimes.

This report summarizes the results of a research and development (R&D) program to design and optimize an active desiccant-vapor compression hybrid rooftop system. The primary objective was to combine the strengths of both technologies to produce a compact, high-performing, energy-efficient system that could accommodate any percentage of outdoor air and deliver essentially any required combination of temperature and humidity, or sensible heat ratio (SHR). In doing so, such a product would address the significant challenges imposed on the performance capabilities of conventional packaged rooftop equipment by standards 62 and 90.1 of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. The body of work completed as part of this program built upon previous R&D efforts supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and summarized by the Phase 3b report ''Active Desiccant Dehumidification Module Integration with Rooftop Packaged HVAC Units'' (Fischer and Sand 2002), in addition to Fischer, Hallstrom, and Sand 2000; Fischer 2000; and Fischer and Sand 2004. All initial design objectives established for this development program were successfully achieved. The performance flexibility desired was accomplished by a down-sized active desiccant wheel that processes only a portion of the supply airflow, which is pre-conditioned by a novel vapor compression cycle. …

Event shapes have long been used to extract information about hadronic final states and the properties of QCD, such as particle spin and the running coupling. Recently, a family of event shapes, the angularities, has been introduced that depends on a continuous parameter. This additional parameter-dependence further extends the versatility of event shapes. It provides a handle on nonperturbative power corrections, on non-global logarithms, and on the flow of color in the final state.

Resonance-transition alkali-vapor lasers have only recently been demonstrated [1] but are already attracting considerable attention. Alkali-atom-vapor gain media are among the simplest possible systems known, so there is much laboratory data upon which to base performance predictions. Therefore, accurate modeling is possible, as shown by the zero- free-parameter fits [2] to experimental data on alkali-vapor lasers pumped with Ti:sapphire lasers. The practical advantages of two of the alkali systems--Rb and Cs--are enormous, since they are amenable to diode-pumping [3,4]. Even without circulating the gas mixture, these lasers can have adequate cooling built-in owing to the presence of He in their vapor cells. The high predicted (up to 70%) optical-to-optical efficiency of the alkali laser, the superb (potentially 70% or better) wall-plug efficiency of the diode pumps, and the ability to exhaust heat at high temperature (100 C) combine to give a power-scalable architecture that is lightweight. A recent design exercise [5] at LLNL estimated that the system ''weight-to-power ratio'' figure of merit could be on the order of 7 kg/kW, an unprecedented value for a laser of the 100 kW class. Beam quality is expected to be excellent, owing to the small dn/dT value of the gain medium. There is …

The study of the quark transition b {yields} s{bar s}s, which is a pure loop-level (''penguin'') process leading to several B-meson-decay final states, most notably {phi}K, is arguably the hottest topic in B-meson physics today. The reason is the sensitivity of the amplitudes and the CP-violating asymmetries in such processes to physics beyond the Standard Model. By performing these measurements, we improve our understanding of the phenomenon of combined-parity (CP) violation, which is believed to be responsible for the dominance of matter over antimatter in our Universe. Here, we present measurements of branching fractions and charge asymmetries in the decays B{sup +} {yields} {phi}K{sup +} and B{sup 0} {yields} {phi}K{sup 0} in a sample of approximately 89 million B{bar B} pairs collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B-meson Factory at SLAC. We determine {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {phi}K{sup +}) = (10.0{sub -0.8}{sup +0.9} {+-} 0.5) x 10{sup -6} and {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} {phi}K{sup 0}) = (8.4{sub -1.3}{sup +1.5} {+-} 0.5) x 10{sup -6}, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. Additionally, we measure the CP-violating charge asymmetry {Alpha}{sub CP}(B{sup {+-}} {yields} {phi}K{sup {+-}}) = 0.04 {+-} 0.09 {+-} 0.01, with a 90% confidence-level interval …

Multi-pass gas tungsten arc welds of Alloy 22 were subjected to solution annealing durations of 20 minutes, 24 hours, 72 hours and 1 week at temperatures of 1075, 1121, 1200, and 1300 C. The specimens were studied in cross section by secondary electron microscopy to determine the effect of solution annealing on tetrahedrally close packed (TCP) precipitate stability. Electron backscatter diffraction mapping was also performed on all of the specimens to determine the recrystallization behavior of the welds. It was found that complete TCP precipitate dissolution occurs after solution annealing at 1075 C and 1121 C for 24 hours, and at 1200 C and 1300 C for durations of 20 minutes. Regions of most rapid recrystallization were correlated to the regions of lowest solute content and highest residual tensile stresses. Texture analysis indicated that while the columnar dendrites originally present in the weld grew with a <001> orientation in the transverse direction (opposite the heat flow direction), the recrystallized grains adopt a <101> orientation in the transverse direction when recrystallization and TCP phase dissolution occur simultaneously.

Helix structures have been proposed [1] for accelerating low energy ion beams using MV/m fields in order to increase the coupling efficiency of the pulsed power system and to tailor the electromagnetic wave propagation speed with the particle beam speed as the beam gains energy. Calculations presented here show the electromagnetic field as it propagates along the helix structure, field stresses around the helix structure (for voltage breakdown determination), optimizations to the helix and driving pulsed power waveform, and simulations showing test particles interacting with the simulated time varying fields.

This report reviews the status of energy efficiency and renewable energy legislation introduced during the 109th Congress. Action in the second session has focused on appropriations bills; the first session focused on omnibus energy policy bill H.R. 6 and several appropriations bills. this report describes several major pieces of legislation, including the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Transportation Equity Act. For each bill listed in this report, a brief description and a summary of action are given, including references to committee hearings and reports. Also, a selected list of hearings on renewable energy is included.

This report provides Background, Legislation, and Issues on Federal Crime Control. states and locality have the primary responsibility for the prevention and control of domestic crime while the federal government's role is limited.

The electric power system must address two unique requirements: the need to maintain a near real-time balance between generation and load, and the need to adjust generation (or load) to manage power flows through individual transmission facilities. These requirements are not new: vertically integrated utilities have been meeting them for a century as a normal part of conducting business. With restructuring, however, the services needed to meet these requirements, now called ''ancillary services'', are being more clearly defined. Ancillary services are those functions performed by the equipment and people that generate, control, and transmit electricity in support of the basic services of generating capacity, energy supply, and power delivery. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has defined such services as those ''necessary to support the transmission of electric power from seller to purchaser given the obligations of control areas and transmitting utilities within those control areas to maintain reliable operations of the interconnected transmission system''. This statement recognizes the importance of ancillary services for both bulk-power reliability and support of commercial transactions. Balancing generation and load instantaneously and continuously is difficult because loads and generators are constantly fluctuating. Minute-to-minute load variability results from the random turning on and off of …

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) researches and develops distributed generation technology for the Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Distributed Energy Program. This report describes installation and operation of one such distributed generation system, a United Technology Corporation fuel cell located at the National Transportation Research Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. Data collected from June 2003 to June of 2004, provides valuable insight regarding fuel cell-grid compatibility and the cost-benefit of the fuel cell operation. The NTRC fuel cell included a high-heat recovery option so that use of thermal energy improves project economics and improves system efficiency to 59% year round. During the year the fuel cell supplied a total of 834MWh to the NTRC and provided 300MBtu of hot water. Installation of the NTRC fuel cell was funded by the Distributed Energy Program with partial funding from the Department of Defense's Climate Change Fuel Cell Buy Down Program, administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory. On-going operational expenses are funded by ORNL's utility budget and are paid from operational cost savings. Technical information and the benefit-cost of the fuel cell are both evaluated in this report and sister reports.

Congress continues to debate the efficacy and constitutionality of federal regulation of firearms and ammunition. It is a contentious debate, with strong advocates for and against the further federal regulation of firearms.

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's economy and its citizens' quality of life depend on our transportation system. While all government levels have made significant investments in transportation, projections of future passenger and freight travel indicate that considerable investment will be needed to maintain the system. However, this comes amid growing concern about the size of the federal budget deficit and increasing demands on state and local government revenue. As a result, careful decisions will need to be made to ensure that transportation investments maximize the benefits of each dollar invested. The House Appropriations Committee report accompanying the fiscal year 2004 Departments of Transportation and Treasury and Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill, required GAO to review the benefits and costs of various transportation modes. (See GAO-05-172.) As part of this study, GAO convened an expert panel that included some of the leading transportation economists and practitioners from throughout the nation. The panel discussed the benefits and costs of highway and transit investments."

Letter from Representatives Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer, Darlene Hooley, and David Wu concerning Oregon's military installations.

Letter from Senator Wyden, Senator Smith, and Representative Walden concerning the 142nd and 173rd fighter Wings, the Umatilla Chemical Depot, and the National Guard and Reserve facilities.

This report provides a distribution reliability measurement ''toolkit'' that is intended to be an asset to regulators, utilities and power users. The metrics and standards discussed range from simple reliability, to power quality, to the new blend of reliability and power quality analysis that is now developing. This report was sponsored by the Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Inconsistencies presently exist in commonly agreed-upon practices for measuring the reliability of the distribution systems. However, efforts are being made by a number of organizations to develop solutions. In addition, there is growing interest in methods or standards for measuring power quality, and in defining power quality levels that are acceptable to various industries or user groups. The problems and solutions vary widely among geographic areas and among large investor-owned utilities, rural cooperatives, and municipal utilities; but there is still a great degree of commonality. Industry organizations such as the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the American Public Power Association (APPA), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) have made tremendous strides in preparing self-assessment templates, optimization guides, diagnostic techniques, and better definitions of reliability and power …

Miniaturized fluid handling devices have recently attracted considerable interest in many areas of science1. Such microfluidic chips perform a variety of functions, ranging from analysis of biological macromolecules2,3 to catalysis of reactions and sensing in the gas phase4,5. To enable precise fluid handling, accurate knowledge of the flow properties within these devices is important. Due to low Reynolds numbers, laminar flow is usually assumed. However, either by design or unintentionally, the flow characteristic in small channels is often altered, for example by surface interactions, viscous and diffusional effects, or electrical potentials. Therefore, its prediction is not always straight-forward6-8. Currently, most microfluidic flow measurements rely on optical detection of markers9,10, requiring the injection of tracers and transparent devices. Here, we show profiles of microfluidic gas flow in capillaries and chip devices obtained by NMR in the remote detection modality11,12. Through the transient measurement of dispersion13, NMR is well adaptable for non-invasive, yet sensitive determination of the flow field and provides a novel and potentially more powerful tool to profile flow in capillaries and miniaturized flow devices.