The military generally provides support to law enforcement and immigration authorities along the southern border. Reported escalations in violence and illegal immigration, however, have prompted some lawmakers to reevaluate the extent and type of military support that occurs in the border region. President Bush has reportedly announced an interest in sending National Guard troops to support the Border Patrol. Addressing domestic laws and activities with the military, however, might run afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits use of the armed forces to perform the tasks of civilian law enforcement unless explicitly authorized. There are alternative legal authorities for deploying the National Guard, and the precise scope of permitted activities and funds may vary with the authority exercised. This report will be updated as warranted.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For decades, the Department of Defense (DOD) has not been successful in repeated attempts to modernize its timeworn business systems and operations. In 1995, we first designated DOD's business systems modernization as "high risk," and we continue to designate it as such today. As our research on successful public and private sector organizations has shown, attempting a large-scale systems modernization program in a large organization such as DOD without, among other things, a well-defined enterprise architecture and the associated investment management controls for implementing it often results in systems that are duplicative, stovepiped, non-integrated, and unnecessarily costly to manage, maintain, and operate. In May 2001, we made recommendations to the Secretary of Defense that provided the means for effectively developing and implementing an enterprise architecture and limiting systems investments until the department had a well-defined architecture and a corporate approach to investment control and decision making. In July 2001, the department initiated a business management modernization program to, among other things, develop a business enterprise architecture and establish the investment controls needed to effectively implement it. This effort was begun as part of the Secretary of …

This report gives an overview of China's economic development, China's trade patterns, foreign investments in China and implications for the United States

We have performed preliminary computer-based, transient, magnetostatic calculations of the eddy-current power loss in rotating titanium-alloy and aluminum wheels and wheel rims in the predominantly axially-directed, steady magnetic fields of two small, solenoidal coils. These calculations have been undertaken to assess the eddy-current power loss in various possible International Linear Collider (ILC) positron target wheels. They have also been done to validate the simulation code module against known results published in the literature. The commercially available software package used in these calculations is the Maxwell 3D, Version 10, Transient Module from the Ansoft Corporation.

The Mitigation Action Plan (MAP) for the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory requires that samples of biotic and abiotic media be collected after operations began to determine if there are any human health or environmental impacts. The DARHT facility is the Laboratory's principal explosive test facility. To this end, samples of soil and sediment, vegetation, bees, and birds were collected around the facility in 2005 and analyzed for concentrations of {sup 3}H, {sup 137}Cs, {sup 90}Sr, {sup 238}Pu, {sup 239,240}Pu, {sup 241}Am, {sup 234}U, {sup 235}U, {sup 238}U, Ag, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, and Tl. Bird populations have also been monitored. Contaminant results, which represent up to six sample years since the start of operations, were compared with (1) baseline statistical reference levels (BSRLs) established over a four-year preoperational period before DARHT facility operations, (2) screening levels (SLs), and (3) regulatory standards. Most radionuclides and trace elements were below BSRLs and those few samples that contained radionuclides and trace elements above BSRLs were below SLs. Concentrations of radionuclides and nonradionuclides in biotic and abiotic media around the DARHT facility do not pose a significant human health hazard. …

Community Climate System Model (CCSM) is currently a multi-executable system based on the Multi-Program Multi-Data (MPMD) mechanism. Each component is compiled into a separate executable. MPMD is normally cumbersome in usage and vendor support is sometimes limited or completely unavailable, such as on BlueGene/L. Also smaller groups and institutions would like to run CCSM locally, rather than relying on large computer centers. So, single-executable CCSM is under request. We are developing a multi-executable and single-executable coexisting version of CCSM. In single-executable, each component is organized as a subroutine, which is called from a master program. Different components run simultaneously. This is accomplished by redesigning the top level CCSM structures using the Multi-Program Handshaking (MPH) library.

Anomalous first-wall heating has been observed far from the divertor strike point during QH-mode in DIII-D, with measured heat flux comparable to that at the outer strike point. The data are consistent with deuterium ions of approximately the pedestal energy carrying the anomalous heat flux. Although an instability has not been identified that is correlated with the anomalous heat flux, two classes of behavior have been observed: one in which the anomalous heat flux depends linearly on core {beta}, and another class with no {beta}-dependence. The anomalous heat flux depends strongly on the injected beam energy of the non-tangentially-injected neutral beams but not that of the tangential beams.

This Technical Progress Report describes progress made on the twenty nine subprojects awarded in the second year of Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-02NT41607: Crosscutting Technology Development at the Center for Advanced Separation Technologies. This work is summarized in the body of the main report: the individual sub-project Technical Progress Reports are attached as Appendices.

The University of Georgia, in collaboration with GE Global Research, has investigated the relevant quenching mechanism of phosphor coatings used in white light devices based on UV LEDs. The final goal of the project was the design and fabrication of a high-efficacy white light UV-LED device through improved geometry and optimized phosphor coatings. At the end of the research period, which was extended to seamlessly carry over the research to a follow-up program, we have demonstrated a two-fold improvement in the conversion efficiency of a white light LED device, where the increase efficacy is due to both improved phosphor quantum efficiency and lamp geometry. Working prototypes have been displayed at DOE sponsored meetings and during the final presentation at the DOE Headquarters in Washington, DC. During the first phase of the project, a fundamental understanding of quenching processes in UV-LEDs was obtained, and the relationships that describe the performance of the phosphor as a function of photon flux, temperature, and phosphor composition were established. In the second phase of the project, these findings were then implemented to design the improved UV-LED lamp. In addition, our research provides a road map for the design of efficient white light LEDs, which will …

We determined the composite thermal conductivity (ktheta) ofa porous methanehydrate sample (composedof hydrate, water, and methan egas) as a function of density using iTOUGH2. X-ray computed tomography(CT) was used to visualize and quantify the density changes that occurredduring hydrate formation from granular ice. The composite thermalconductivity was estimated and validated by minimizing the differencesbetween the observed and the predicted thermal response using historymatching. The estimated density-dependent composite thermal conductivityranged between 0.25 and 0.58 W/m/K.

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.

A numerical field line integration code is used to study the structure of divertor footprints produced by small non-axisymmetric magnetic perturbation in the DIII-D tokamak. The numerical modeling results are compared to experimental infrared camera data which show a splitting of the divertor target plate heat flux into several distinct peaks when an n=3 magnetic perturbation from the DIII-D I-coil is applied. The heat flux splitting consistently appears when the n=3 perturbation is applied and disappears when the perturbation is removed. The magnitude of the splitting implied by the numerical modeling is a factor of 3 smaller than the splitting seen in the experimental data. These results suggest that the plasma response to the edge resonant applied n=3 magnetic perturbation produces an amplification of the vacuum magnetic footprint structure on the divertor target plates. These results may have significant implications for the ITER divertor design.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents our opinion on the financial statements of the Congressional Award Foundation for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2005, and 2004. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Congressional Award Foundation. This report also presents (1) our opinion on the effectiveness of the Foundation's related internal control as of September 30, 2005, and (2) our conclusion on the Foundation's compliance in fiscal year 2005 with selected provisions of laws and regulations we tested. We conducted our audit pursuant to section 107 of the Congressional Award Act, as amended (2 U.S.C. 807), and in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards. This report also includes our determination required under section 104(c)(2)(A) of the Act (2 U.S.C. 804(c)(2)(A)) relating to the Foundation's financial operations."

We have developed fully depleted, back-illuminated CCDs thatbuild upon earlier research and development efforts directed towardstechnology development of silicon-strip detectors used inhigh-energy-physics experiments. The CCDs are fabricated on the same typeof high-resistivity, float-zone-refined silicon that is used for stripdetectors. The use of high-resistivity substrates allows for thickdepletion regions, on the order of 200-300 um, with corresponding highdetection efficiency for near-infrared andsoft x-ray photons. We comparethe fully depleted CCD to thep-i-n diode upon which it is based, anddescribe the use of fully depleted CCDs in astronomical and x-ray imagingapplications.

The status of groundwater level monitoring at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 2005 is provided in this report. The Groundwater Level Monitoring Project was instituted in 2005 to provide a framework for the collection and processing of quality controlled groundwater level data. This report summarizes groundwater level data for 137 monitoring wells, including 41 regional aquifer wells, 22 intermediate wells, and 74 alluvial wells. Pressure transducers were installed in 118 monitoring wells for continuous monitoring of groundwater levels. Time-series hydrographs of groundwater level data are presented along with pertinent construction and location information for each well.

This report discusses the ongoing debate over the efficacy and constitutionality of federal regulation of firearms and ammunition. The report provides background information and analysis over the pros and cons of the debate and gun related statistics.

There are several indications that an opaque partonic medium is created in energetic Au+Au collisions ({radical}s{sub NN} {approx} GeV/nucleon) at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). At the extreme densities of {approx} 10-100 times normal nuclear density reached even heavy-flavor hadrons are affected significantly. Heavy-quark observables are presented from the parton transport model MPC, focusing on the nuclear suppression pattern, azimuthal anisotropy (''elliptic flow''), and azimuthal correlations. Comparison with Au + Au data at top RHIC energy {radical}s{sub NN} = 200 GeV indicates significant heavy quark rescattering, corresponding roughly five times higher opacities than estimates based on leading-order perturbative QCD. We propose measurements of charm-anticharm, e.g., D-meson azimuthal correlations as a sensitive, independent probe to corroborate these findings.

The reshocked single-mode Richtmyer-Meshkov instability is simulated in two spatial dimensions using the fifth- and ninth-order weighted essentially non-oscillatory shock-capturing method with uniform spatial resolution of 256 points per initial perturbation wavelength. The initial conditions and computational domain are modeled after the single-mode, Mach 1.21 air(acetone)/SF{sub 6} shock tube experiment of Collins and Jacobs [J. Fluid Mech. 464, 113 (2002)]. The simulation densities are shown to be in very good agreement with the corrected experimental planar laser-induced fluorescence images at selected times before reshock of the evolving interface. Analytical, semianalytical and phenomenological linear and nonlinear, impulsive, perturbation and potential flow models for single-mode Richtmyer-Meshkov unstable perturbation growth are summarized. The simulation amplitudes are shown to be in very good agreement with the experimental data and with the predictions of linear amplitude growth models for small times and with those of nonlinear amplitude growth models at later times up to the time at which the driver-based expansion in the experiment (but not present in the simulations or models) expands the layer before reshock. The qualitative and quantitative differences between the fifth- and ninth-order simulation results are discussed. Using a local and global quantitative metric, the prediction of the Zhang and Sohn …

We describe charge-coupled device (CCD) developmentactivities at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).Back-illuminated CCDs fabricated on 200-300 mu m thick, fully depleted,high-resistivity silicon substrates are produced in partnership with acommercial CCD foundry.The CCDs are fully depleted by the application ofa substrate bias voltage. Spatial resolution considerations requireoperation of thick, fully depleted CCDs at high substrate bias voltages.We have developed CCDs that are compatible with substrate bias voltagesof at least 200V. This improves spatial resolution for a given thickness,and allows for full depletion of thicker CCDs than previously considered.We have demonstrated full depletion of 650-675 mu m thick CCDs, withpotential applications in direct x-ray detection. In this work we discussthe issues related to high-voltage operation of fully depleted CCDs, aswell as experimental results on high-voltage-compatible CCDs.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hurricane Katrina was one of the largest natural disasters in U.S. history. Despite a large deployment of resources at all levels, many have regarded the federal response as inadequate. GAO has a body of ongoing work that covers the federal government's preparedness and response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Due to widespread congressional interest, this review was performed under the Comptroller General's authority. It examined (1) the extent to which pre-Katrina plans and training exercises reflected the military assistance that might be required during a catastrophic, domestic, natural disaster, (2) the military support provided in response to Katrina and factors that affected that response, and (3) the actions the military is taking to address lessons learned from Katrina and to prepare for the next catastrophe."

This report provides an overview of the issues and legislation of the immigration policy for intracompany transfers (L Visa). Concerns are growing that the visa category that allows executives and managers of multinational corporations to work temporarily in the United States is misused.

This report discusses immigration policy and expedited removal, an immigration enforcement strategy originally conceived to operate at the borders and ports of entry, recently has been expanded in certain border regions.

The classical 'turbulence problem' is narrowed down and redefined for scientific and engineering applications. From an application perspective, accurate computation of large-scale transport of the turbulent flows is needed. In this paper, a scaling analysis that allows for the large-scales of very high Reynolds number turbulent flows - to be handled by the available supercomputers is proposed. Current understanding of turbulence interactions of incompressible turbulence, which forms the foundation of our argument, is reviewed. Furthermore, the data redundancy in the inertial range is demonstrated. Two distinctive interactions, namely, the distance and near-grid interactions, are inspected for large-scale simulations. The distant interactions in the subgrid scales in an inertial range can be effectively modelled by an eddy damping. The near-grid interactions must be carefully incorporated.

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