This report discusses the Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina, which was established in March 1994 in an attempt to bring peace to the region.

None

This report outlines the chronology of the political status of Puerto Rico. In 1952, Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory since 1898, became a commonwealth. Since then at least three significantly different political status options have been offered by the three major political parties in Puerto Rico. On March 4, 1998, the House passed H.R. 856, a bill to address the political status of Puerto Rico, by a vote of 209-208. On June 23, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing on issues raised by separate sovereignty and independence.

Workers in indoor environments often complain of symptoms, such as eye and nose irritation, headache, and fatigue, which improve away from work. Exposures causing such complaints, sometimes referred to as sick building syndrome, generally have not been identified. Evidence suggests these worker symptoms are related to chemical, microbiological, physical, and psychosocial exposures not well characterized by current methods. Most research in this area has involved cross-sectional studies, which are limited in their abilities to show causal connections. Experimental studies have also been conducted which, by changing one factor at a time to isolate its effects, can demonstrate benefits of an environmental intervention even before exposures or mechanisms are understood. This study was prompted by evidence that particulate contaminants may be related to acute occupant symptoms and discomfort. The objective was to assess, with a double-blind, double crossover intervention design, whether improved removal of small airborne particles by enhanced central filtration would reduce symptoms and discomfort.

There are approximately 600,000 paint spray workers in the United States applying paints and coatings with some type of sprayer. Approximately 5% of these spray workers are in the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). These spray workers apply paints or other coatings to products such as bridges, houses, automobiles, wood and metal furniture, and other consumer and industrial products. The materials being sprayed include exterior and interior paints, lacquers, primers, shellacs, stains and varnishes. Our experimental findings indicate that the Airjacket does not significantly reduce the exposure of spray workers to paint fumes during HVLP spraying. The difference between ideal and actual spray paint procedures influence the mechanisms driving spray workers exposures to paint fumes and influence the viability of the Airjacket technology. In the ideal procedure, for which the Airjacket was conceived, the spray worker's exposure to paint fumes is due largely to the formation of a recirculating eddy between the spray worker and the object painted. The Airjacket ejects air to diminish and ventilate this eddy. In actual practice, exposures may result largely from directing paint upstream and from the bounce-back of the air/paint jet of the object being painted. The Airjacket, would not be expected …

High field dipole and quadrupole magnet designs with racetrack coils are investigated. The design option is particularly attractive for a muon collider dipole magnet using the Nb{sub 3}Sn superconductor. A conceptual design of {approx} 15 T single aperture dipole magnet is presented where the coils maintain a simple 2-d structure through the ends. The use of racetrack coils in quadrupole magnets is also discussed. It appears that the racetrack coils are less attractive for high gradient quadrupole magnets.

The purpose of this Notice of Construction (NOC) is to provide a rewritten NOC for obtaining regulatory approval for changes to the previous Canister Storage Building (CSB) NOCs (WDOH, 1996 and EPA, 1996) as were approved by the Washington State Department of Health (WDOH, 1996a) and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, 1996a). These changes are because of a revised sealing configuration of the multi-canister overpacks (MCOS) that are used to store the SNF. A flow schematic of the SNF Project is provided in Figure 1-1. A separate notification of startup will be provided apart from this NOC.

Waste Management Federal Services of Hanford Inc. manages and operates the Hanford Site 200 Area radioactive solid waste storage and disposal facilities for the US Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office under contract DE-AC06-87RL10930. These facilities include storage areas and disposal sites for radioactive solid waste. This document summarizes the amount of radioactive materials that have been buried and stored in the 200 Area radioactive solid waste storage and disposal facilities from startup in 1944 through calendar year 1997. This report does not include backlog waste, solid radioactive wastes in storage or disposed of in other areas, or facilities such as the underground tank farms. Unless packaged within the scope of WHC-EP-0063, Hanford Site Solid Waste Acceptance Cafeteria, liquid waste data are not included in this document.

A major function of the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) is to characterize waste in support of waste management and disposal activities at the Hanford Site. Analytical data from sampling and analysis and other available information about a tank are compiled and maintained in a tank characterization report (TCR). This report and its appendices serve as the TCR for single-shell tank 241-T-112. The objectives of this report are (1) to use characterization data in response to technical issues associated with tank 241-T-112 waste and (2) to provide a standard characterization of this waste in terms of a best-basis inventory estimate. Section 2.0 summarizes the response to technical issues, Section 3.0 shows the best-basis inventory estimate, Section 4.0 makes recommendations about the safety status of the tank and additional sampling needs. The appendices contain supporting data and information. This report supports the requirements of the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Ecology et al. 1997), Milestone M-44-15b, change request M-44-97-03, to ``issue characterization deliverables consistent with the Waste Information Requirements Documents developed for 1998.``

This report documents radionuclide air emission from the Hanford Site in 1997, and the resulting effective dose equivalent to the maximally exposed member of the public, referred to as the MEI. The report has been prepared in accordance with reporting requirements in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Protection of the Environment, Part 61, National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, Subpart H, National Emission Standards for Emissions of Radionuclides Other than Radon from Department of Energy Facilities. This report has also been prepared in accordance with the reporting requirements of the Washington Administrative Code Chapter 246-247, Radiation Protection-Air Emissions. The effective dose equivalent to the MEI from the Hanford Site`s 1997 point source emissions was 1.2 E-03 mrem (1.2 E-05 mSv), which is well below the 40 CFR 61 Subpart H regulatory limit of 10 mrem/yr. Radon and thoron emissions, exempted from 40 CFR 61 Subpart H, resulted in an effective dose equivalent to the MEI of 2.5 E-03 mrem (2.5 E-05 mSv). The effective dose equivalent to the MEI attributable to diffuse and fugitive emissions was 2.2 E-02 mrem (2.2 E-04 mSv). The total effective dose equivalent from all of the Hanford Site`s air emissions was 2.6 …

The US Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (RL) uses this Hanford Site Environmental Management Specification (Specification) to document top-level mission requirements and planning assumptions for the prime contractors involved in Hanford Site cleanup and infrastructure activities under the responsibility of the US Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management. This Specification describes at a top level the activities, facilities, and infrastructure necessary to accomplish the cleanup of the Hanford Site and assigns this scope to Site contractors and their respective projects. This Specification also references the key National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), and safety documentation necessary to accurately describe the cleanup at a summary level. The information contained in this document reflects RL`s application of values, priorities, and critical success factors expressed by those involved with and affected by the Hanford Site project. The prime contractors and their projects develop complete baselines and work plans to implement this Specification. These lower-level documents and the data that support them, together with this Specification, represent the full set of requirements applicable to the contractors and their projects. Figure 1-1 shows the relationship of this Specification to the other basic …

This is the final report for the polychlorinated biphenyls analysis of Tank-103 (TK-103) in the 219-S Facility at 222-S Laboratory. Twenty 1-liter bottles (Sample numbers S98SO00074 through S98SO00093) were received from TK-103 during two sampling events, on May 5 and May 7, 1998. The samples were centrifuged to separate the solids and liquids. The centrifuged sludge was analyzed for PCBs as Aroclor mixtures. The results are discussed on page 6. The sample breakdown diagram (Page 114) provides a cross-reference of sample identification of the bulk samples to the laboratory identification number for the solids. The request for sample analysis (RSA) form is provided as Page 117. The raw data is presented on Page 43. Sample Description, Handling, and Preparation Twenty samples were received in the laboratory in 1-Liter bottles. The first 8 samples were received on May 5, 1998. There were insufficient solids to perform the requested PCB analysis and 12 additional samples were collected and received on May 7, 1998. Breakdown and sub sampling was performed on May 8, 1998. Sample number S98SO00084 was lost due to a broken bottle. Nineteen samples were centrifuged and the solids were collected in 8 centrifuge cones. After the last sample was processed, …

None

The (e,e'p) reaction was studies on targets of C, Fe, and Au at momentum transfers squared Q{sup 2} of 0.6, 1.3, 1.8 and 3.3 GeV{sup 2} in a region of kinematics dominated by quasifree electron-proton scattering. Missing energy and missing momentum distributions are reasonably well described by plane wave impulse approximation calculations with Q{sup 2} and A dependent corrections that measure the attenuation of the final state protons.

The purpose of this technical brief is to provide an overview of the results of an assessment of a technique for saving energy in refrigerated walk-in coolers, and to evaluate the potential for this technology in Federal facilities. The focus of this study was on a single manufacturer of the technology, Nevada Energy Control Systems, Inc. (Necsi); no other vendors for this technology could be found. Previous studies were inconclusive about the overall efficacy of this technique due to uncertainties in a number of areas. [1] Previous evaluations also lacked the benefit of the results from recent manufacturer sponsored tests and did not address some fundamental issues about the overall efficacy of this technology that are critical to understanding its potential. The primary objective of this assessment was to determine if the previous studies combined with recent vendor sponsored test results substantiate the manufacturer's claims that this is a cost effective energy saving technique with significant potential in Federal facilities. Secondary objectives included evaluation of intangible benefits such as equipment life and reliability issues, and humidity and airflow effects on product.

Anisotropic properties of sheet materials can be determined by measuring the propagation of Lamb waves in different directions. Electromagnetic acoustic transduction and laser ultrasonic methods provide noncontacting approaches that are often desired for application to industrial and processing environments. This paper describes a laser imaging approach utilizing the adaptive property of photorefractive materials to produce a real-time measurement of the antisymmetric Lamb wave mode in all directions simultaneously. Continuous excitation is employed enabling the data to be recorded and displayed by a CCD camera. Analysis of the image produces a direct quantitative determination of the phase velocity in all directions showing plate anisotropy in the plane. Many optical techniques for measuring ultrasonic motion at surfaces have been developed for use in applications such as vibration measurement and laser ultrasonics. Most of these methods have similar sensitivities and are based on time domain processing using homodyne, Fabry-Perot [1], and, more recently, photorefractive interferometry [2]. Generally, the methods described above do not allow measurement at more than one surface point simultaneously, requiring multiple beam movements and scanning in order to produce images of surface ultrasonic motion over a large area. Electronic speckle interferometry, including shearography, does provide images directly of vibrations over …

Samples have been obtained from (a) soil highly contaminated with Cr (tannery site) and (b) soils contaminated with petroleum, Cr, and Pb (Seymour, IN). Microcosm experiments with the tannery site soil indicated that microbial biomass (assayed as phospholipid-phosphate) and activity (assayed as carbon dioxide evolution) were primarily determined by organic carbon availability, but not total Cr concentration. The toxicity of metals to the indigenous microbial populations of the Seymour soils was determined by measuring microbial activity (incorporation of tritiated leucine into protein) of cells extracted from soil particles in solutions of increasing metal concentration. Although total Cr concentration varied 100-fold in these soils, the inhibition constant for Cr toxicity varied < 3-fold. Of additional interest in one soil was the dose-response function; the response suggests the soil contains a complex mixture of microbes with different Cr resistance levels. Cr and Pb resistant bacteria have been isolated from these soil samples. In Arthrobacter sp. Cr15, Cr resistance was spontaneously lost at a frequency of ca. 0.5% after growth for 20 generations in non-selective medium. The wild-type contained a 60 kb plasmid. In two Cr sensitive strains, restriction fragment analysis has shown that 15 kb of the plasmid have been lost. Matings …

The significant accomplishments of this program included (1) identification of the geopressured-geothermal onshore fairways in Louisiana and Texas, (2) determination that high brine flow rates of 20,000--40,000 barrels a day can be obtained for long periods of time, (3) brine, after gas extraction can be successfully reinjected into shallow aquifers without affecting the surface waters or the fresh water aquifers, (4) no observable subsidence or microseismic activity was induced due to the subsurface injection of brine, and no detrimental environmental effects attributable to geopressured--geothermal well testing were noticed, (5) sanding can be controlled by reducing flow rates, (6) corrosion controlled with inhibitors, (7) scaling controlled by phosphonate scale inhibitors, (8) demonstrated that production of gas from saturated brine under pressure was viable and (9) a hybrid power system can be successfully used for conversion of the thermal and chemical energy contained in the geopressured-geothermal resource for generation of electricity. The U. S. Department of Energy's geopressured-geothermal research program in the Gulf Coast achieved many significant findings and disproved and clarified many historical perceptions that had previously limited industry's interest in developing this resource. Though in today's economic market it may not be commercially profitable to exploit this resource, the rapid …

Tumor cell invasion relies on cell migration and extracellular matrix proteolysis. We investigated the contribution of different integrins to the invasive activity of mouse mammary carcinoma cells. Antibodies against integrin subunits {alpha}6 and {beta}1, but not against {alpha}1 and {alpha}2, inhibited cell locomotion on a reconstituted basement membrane in two-dimensional cell migration assays, whereas antibodies against {beta}1, but not against a6 or {alpha}2, interfered with cell adhesion to basement membrane constituents. Blocking antibodies against {alpha}1 integrins impaired only cell adhesion to type IV collagen. Antibodies against {alpha}1, {alpha}2, {alpha}6, and {beta}1, but not {alpha}5, integrin subunits reduced invasion of a reconstituted basement membrane. Integrins {alpha}1 and {alpha}2, which contributed only marginally to motility and adhesion, regulated proteinase production. Antibodies against {alpha}1 and {alpha}2, but not {alpha}6 and {beta}1, integrin subunits inhibited both transcription and protein expression of the matrix metalloproteinase stromelysin-1. Inhibition of tumor cell invasion by antibodies against {alpha}1 and {alpha}2 was reversed by addition of recombinant stromelysin-1. In contrast, stromelysin-1 could not rescue invasion inhibited by anti-{alpha}6 antibodies. Our data indicate that {alpha}1 and {alpha}2 integrins confer invasive behavior by regulating stromelysin-1 expression, whereas {alpha}6 integrins regulate cell motility. These results provide new insights into the specific functions …

Newsletter dedicated to traveling in Texas, including information about news, locations, and events of interest to visitors as well as statistics and summaries of travel in the state.

The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC), located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, since the late 1970�s has been involved in assessing consequences from nuclear and other hazardous material releases into the atmosphere. ARAC�s primary role has been emergency response. However, after the emergency phase, there is still a significant role for dispersion modeling. This work usually involves refining the source term and, hence, the dose to the populations affected as additional information becomes available in the form of source term estimates�release rates, mix of material, and release geometry�and any measurements from passage of the plume and deposition on the ground. Many of the ARAC responses have been documented elsewhere. 1 Some of the more notable radiological releases that ARAC has participated in the post-emergency phase have been the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear power plant (NPP) accident outside Harrisburg, PA, the 1986 Chernobyl NPP accident in the Ukraine, and the 1996 Japan Tokai nuclear processing plant explosion. ARAC has also done post-emergency phase analyses for the 1978 Russian satellite COSMOS 954 reentry and subsequent partial burn up of its on board nuclear reactor depositing radioactive materials on the ground in Canada, the 1986 uranium hexafluoride spill in Gore, OK, …

During the last 15 years, a number of solvent extraction/recovery processes have been developed for the removal of the transuranic elements, {sup 90}Sr and {sup 137}Cs from acidic high-level liquid waste. These processes are based on the use of a variety of both acidic and neutral extractants. This chapter will present an overview and analysis of the various extractants and flowsheets developed to treat acidic high-level liquid waste streams. The advantages and disadvantages of each extractant along with comparisons of the individual systems are discussed.

This volume contains abstracts of the papers presented at the Sixth International Conference on Precipitation: Predictability of Rainfall at the various scales, held at the Mauna Lani Bay and Bungalows, Hawaii, June 29 - July 1, 1998. The main goal of the conference was to bring together meteorologists, hydrologists, mathematicians, physicists, statisticians, and all others who are interested in fundamental principles governing the physical processes of precipitation. The results of the previous conferences have been published in issues of the Journal of Geophysical Research and Journal of Applied Meteorology. A similar format is planned for papers of this conference.

The overall objective of this program was to develop regenerable sorbents for use in the temperature range of 343 to 538 C (650 to 1000 F) to remove hydrogen sulfide (H{sub 2}S) from coal-derived fuel gases in a fluidized-bed reactor. The goal was to develop sorbents that are capable of reducing the H{sub 2}S level in the fuel gas to less than 20 ppmv in the specified temperature range and pressures in the range of 1 to 20 atmospheres, with chemical characteristics that permit cyclic regeneration over many cycles without a drastic loss of activity, as well as physical characteristics that are compatible with the fluidized bed application.