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Issue advocacy communications have become increasingly popular over the federal election cycles. Often these advertisements could be interpreted to favor or disfavor certain candidates, while also serving to inform the public about a policy issue. However, unlike communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, the Supreme Court has ruled that issue ads are constitutionally protected First Amendment speech and cannot be regulated.

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This report discusses treaty on biodiversity, issues, history and current status.

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This report is on the Persian Gulf War: Defense-Policy Implications for Congress.

The Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) is a permanent, independent, bipartisan intergovernmental agency established by Public Law 86-380 in 1959. As it was established, ACIR's mission is:To strengthen the American federal system and improve the ability of federal, state, and local governments to work together cooperatively, efficiently, and effectively.

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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.

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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.

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a hospital district is authorized to execute a contract to hedge against interest rate fluctuations.

Letter opinion issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Jim Mattox, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification.

Letter opinion issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county commissioner may serve as a trustee of a school district (RQ-129)

Letter opinion issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Ticketing of unauthorized vehicle parked on private property in a “disabled” designated parking space (ID# 15819)

A pulsed-flow leaching test is being conducted using three EBR-II blanket fuel segments. These samples are immersed in simulated J-13 well water. The samples are kept at a constant temperature of 90 C. Leachate is exchanged weekly and analyzed for various nuclides which are of interest from a mobility and longevity point of view. Our primary interest is in the longer-lived species such as {sup 99}Tc, {sup 237}Np, and {sup 241}Am. In addition, the behavior of U, Pu, {sup 90}Sr, and {sup 137}Cs are being analyzed. During the course of this experiment, an interesting observation has been made involving one of the samples which could indicate the possible rapid ''anoxic'' oxidation of uranium metal to UO{sub 2}.

The objective of this report is to describe results obtained during the second year of funding that will lead to the development of an artificial neural network (A.N.N) fault diagnostic system for the real-time classification of operational transients at nuclear power plants. The ultimate goal of this three-year project is to design, build, and test a prototype diagnostic adviser for use in the control room or technical support center at Duane Arnold Energy Center (DAEC); such a prototype could be integrated into the plant process computer or safety-parameter display system. The adviser could then warn and inform plant operators and engineers of plant component failures in a timely manner. This report describes the work accomplished in the second of three scheduled years for the project. Included herein is a summary of the second year`s results as well as descriptions of each of the major topics undertaken by the researchers. Also included are reprints of the articles written under this funding as well as those that were published during the funded period.

I present results from a next-to-leading order event generator of purely gluonic jet production. This calculation is the first step in the construction of a full next-to-leading order calculation of three jet production at hadron colliders. Several jet algorithms commonly used in experiments are implemented and their numerical stability is investigated. A numerical instability is found in the iterative cone algorithm which makes it inappropriate for use in fixed order calculations beyond leading order.

At present, there are three seriously considered options for the disposition of excess weapons plutonium: (i) incorporation, partial burn-up and direct disposal of MOX-fuel; (ii) vitrification with defense waste and disposal as glass ``logs``; (iii) deep borehole disposal (National Academy of Sciences Report, 1994). The first two options provide a safeguard due to the high activity of fission products in the irradiated fuel and the defense waste. The latter option has only been examined in a preliminary manner, and the exact form of the plutonium has not been identified. In this paper, we review the potential for the immobilization of plutonium in highly durable crystalline ceramics apatite, pyrochlore, monazite and zircon. Based on available data, we propose zircon as the preferred crystalline ceramic for the permanent disposition of excess weapons plutonium.

The authors investigate the cosmological constraints on exotic stable matter states which arise in realistic free fermionic superstring models. These states appear in the superstring models due to a ``Wilson-line`` breaking of the unifying non-Abelian gauge symmetry. In the models that they consider the unifying SO(10) gauge symmetry is broken at the string level to SO(6) x SO(4), SU(5) x U(1) or SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1). The exotic matter states are classified according to the patterns of the SO(10) symmetry breaking. In SO(6) x XO(4) and SU(5) x U(1) type models one obtains fractionally charged states with Q{sub e.m.} = {+-}1/2. In SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1) type models one also obtains states with the regular charges under the Standard Model gauge group but with ``fractional`` charges under the U(1){sub z{prime}} symmetry. These states include down-like color triplets and electroweak doublets, as well as states which are Standard Model singlets. By analyzing the renormalizable and nonrenormalizable terms of the superpotential in a specific superstring model, the authors show that these exotic states can be stable. They investigate the cosmological constraints on the masses and relic density of the exotic states. They propose that, while the abundance and the masses …

Oats (Avena sativa L. lodi) tolerant of rhizosphere infestation by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci when challenged by the pathogen experience tissue-specific alterations of ammonia assimilatory capabilities. Altered ammonia assimilatory potentials between root and leaf tissue result from selective inactivation of glutamine synthetase (GS) by the toxin Tabtoxinine-B-lactam (TBL). Root GS is sensitive and leaf GSs are resistant to TBL inactivation. With prolonged challenge by the pathogen root GS activity decreases but leaf GS specific activity increase. Higher leaf GS activity is due to decreased rates of degradation rather than increased GS synthesis. Higher leaf GS activity and elevated levels of GS polypeptide appear to result from a limited interaction between GS and TBL leading to the accumulation of a less active but more stable GS holoenzyme. Tolerant challenged oats besides surviving rhizosphere infestation, experience enhanced growth. A strong correlation exists between leaf GS activity and whole plant fresh weight, suggesting that tissue-specific changes in ammonia assimilatory capability provides the plant a more efficient mechanism for uptake and utilization of nitrogen.

As the host of the Olympic Village for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Georgia Tech has experienced a surge in construction activities over the last three years. Over 1.3 million square feet of new buildings have been constructed on the Georgia Tech campus. This growth has placed a strain on the Georgia Tech community and challenged the facilities support staff charged with planning and organizing utility services. In concert with Olympic construction, utility planners have worked to ensure long term benefits for Georgia Tech facilities while meeting the short term requirements of the Olympic Games. The concentration of building construction in the northwest quadrant of the campus allowed planners to construct a satellite chilled water plant to serve the needs of this area and provide the opportunity to integrate this section of the campus with the main campus chilled water system. This assessment and master plan, funded in part by the US Department of Energy, has evaluated the chilled water infrastructure at Georgia Tech, identified ongoing problems and made recommendations for long term chilled water infrastructure development and efficiency improvements. The Georgia Tech office of Facilities and RDA Engineering, Inc. have worked together to assemble relevant information and prepare the recommendations …

The new camera FXI was investigated. Spatial resolution, or its Fourier transform, the modulation transfer function (MTF), is critical for quantitative interpretation of recent hydrodynamic instability data taken on the Nova laser. We have taken data corresponding to backlit straight edges, pinholes, and grids, both on the bench and {ital in}{ital situ} on Nova. For both the pinhole and edge data, the MTF at all wavelengths of interest can be deduced from a single image. Grids are of more limited usefulness, giving the MTF value only at the spatial period of the grid. These different techniques for characterizing the MTF of gated x-ray pinhole cameras are discussed, with results specific to the FXI presented.

This document is the analytical laboratory report for tank 241-AN-103 [Hydrogen Watch Listed] push mode core segments collected between September 13, 1996 and September 23, 1996. The segments were subsampled and analyzed in accordance with the Tank 241-AN-103 Push Mode Core Sampling and Analysis Plan (TSAP), the Safety Screening Data Quality Objective (DQO) and the Flammable Gas Data Quality Objective (DQO). The analytical results are included in the data summary table. The raw data are included in this document. None of the samples submitted for Total Alpha Activity (AT), Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and Plutonium analyses exceeded notification limits as stated in the TSAP. One sample submitted for Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analysis exceeded the notification limit of 480 Joules/g (dry weight basis) as stated in the Safety Screening DQO. Appropriate notifications were made. Statistical evaluation of results by calculating the 95% upper confidence limit is not performed by the 222-S Laboratory and is not considered in this report. Appearance and Sample Handling Attachment 1 is a cross reference to relate the tank farm identification numbers to the 222-S Laboratory LabCore/LIMS sample numbers. The subsamples generated in the laboratory for analyses are identified in these diagrams with their sources shown. …

A 500 cubic foot per minute (CFM) portable exhauster system was fabricated for use on 241-A-101 [a Hydrogen Watch List tank] during saltwell pumping activities. An operational test was performed on this unit during 9/20/96 through 1O/14/96 in the 241-A Tank Farm. This operational test was done in accordance with OTP-060-001 Rev 0 (See Appendix A of this report). The test was performed with exceptions.