Currently the sales of clothes washers in China consist ofseveral general varieties. Some use more energy (with or withoutincluding hot water energy use) and some use more water. Both energy andwater are in short supply in China. This poses the question - how do youtrade off water versus energy in establishing efficiency standards? Thispaper discusses how China dealt with this situation and how itestablished minimum efficiency standards for clothes washers.

We describe a general, physics-based approach to numericalreconstruction of the geometrical structure and mechanical properties ofnatural sedimentary rock in 3D. Our procedure consists of three mainsteps: sedimentation, compaction, and diagenesis, followed by theverification of rock mechanical properties. The dynamic geologicprocesses of grain sedimentation and compaction are simulated by solvinga dimensionless form of Newton's equations of motion for an ensemble ofgrains. The diagenetic rock transformation is modeled using a cementationalgorithm, which accounts for the effect of rock grain size on therelative rate of cement overgrowth. Our emphasis is on unconsolidatedsand and sandstone. The main input parameters are the grain sizedistribution, the final rock porosity, the type and amount of cement andclay minerals, and grain mechanical properties: the inter-grain frictioncoefficient, the cement strength, and the grain stiffness moduli. We usea simulated 2D Fontainebleau sandstone to obtain the grain mechanicalproperties. This Fontainebleau sandstone is also used to study theinitiation, growth, and coalescence of micro-cracks under increasingvertical stress. The box fractal dimension of the micro-crackdistribution, and its variation with the applied stress areestimated.

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Measurements were completed on the solubility of cupric and cuprous oxides in liquid water and steam at controlled pH conditions from 25 to 400 C (77 to 752 F). The results of this study have been combined with those reported from this laboratory in two previous EPRI reports to provide a complete description of the solubility of these oxides and the speciation of copper dissolved in liquid water and steam as a function of oxidation state, temperature, pH, and in the case of steam, pressure. These constitute the first set of reliable data for cuprous oxide solubility over this range of conditions. For the more intensively studied CuO case, agreement was found between our results and those of previous studies of its solubility in steam, whereas only partial agreement was evident for its solubility in liquid water. For both oxides this disagreement often amounted to orders of magnitude. The solubility of cuprous oxide is somewhat lower than that of CuO at ambient conditions, except as very high pH. However, by 350 C (662 F), Cu{sub 2}O is the more soluble phase. At 100 C (212 F) and above, the logarithm of the solubility of both phases decreases linearly with increasing …

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Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to determining whether the Texas Department of Economic Development (TxED) accurately represented its assets, liabilities, and fund reserve balances in its annual financial report for fiscal year 2003; and whether information in TxED's internal accounting system is accurate and reliable and if it corresponds to the information maintained in the Uniform Statewide Accounting System (USAS).

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to the Department of Transportation's poor management of the Statewide Traffic Analysis and Reporting System (STARS) project and the related contracts, which resulted in delays, cost increases, and questionable functionality.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to potential issues and risks in all phases of contract administration at the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System (TIERS): contractor selection, contract establishment, payment/reimbursement, and contractor oversight.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to state agency, university, and community college district compliance with the Public Funds Investment Act; university and community college district compliance with higher education investment reporting requirements; and the types of investments that state entities and community college districts held as of August 31, 2003.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to granting permission to adjourn from April 27 to May 3, 2004.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to granting permission to adjourn from May 5 to May 11, 2004.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to granting permission to adjourn from April 20 to April 27, 2004.

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether “vessel and outboard motor ownership records” are “customer information” under section 11.030 of the Parks and Wildlife Code (RQ-0132-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Residency requirements for directors of the Texas Mexican Railway Company (RQ-0133-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a corporate applicant is ineligible for a manufacturer’s or distributor’s license if a person holding ten percent or less of the corporation’s stock also holds, or an individual related within the first degree by consanguinity to such individual holds, shares in another licensed bingo entity (RQ-0135-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the exception for continuous employment in the general nepotism statute, Government Code chapter 573, applies to an employment relationship prohibited by section 6.05(f) of the Tax Code (RQ-0138-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Tarrant County Hospital District may expend funds to establish a self-insurance program providing liability coverage for JPS Physician Group, Inc. and its health-care-provider employees (RQ-0139-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Constable’s authority in the county outside of the constable’s own precinct; permissible scope of interlock agreements concerning law enforcement (RQ-0136-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county may lease airport land without engaging in competitive bidding (RQ-0137-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification.

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Validity of a local ordinance that allows a nonconforming sign to be replaced with a new nonconforming sign (RQ-0129-GA).

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a county may pay a justice of the peace amounts over and above the justice's salary for conducting inquests and performing magisterial work (RQ-0141-GA)