Joint resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to proposing a constitutional amendment providing for authorization of the borrowing of money on a short-term basis by a state transportation agency for transportation-related projects, and the issuance of bonds and other public securities secured by the state highway fund.

Joint resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to proposing a constitutional amendment providing that certain benefits in certain public retirement systems may not be reduced or impaired.

Joint resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the Veterans' Land Board to make certain payments on revenue bonds and to use assets in certain funds to provide for veterans homes and a constitutional amendment relating to the use of income and appreciation of the permanent school fund.

Joint resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate relating to proposing a constitutional amendment to allow the legislature to authorize and govern the operation of wineries in this state.

This report presents an overview of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. This is a clash between the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination that is occurring in the Caucasus, creating the longest inter-ethnic dispute in the former Soviet Union. The report includes the background and analysis of history, warfare and peace process in the region. The report discusses the Armenian and Azerbaijani perspective, the role and views of others (Iran, Turkey, Russia), as well as the U.S. policy regarding the conflict.

The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) in cooperation with the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and with funding from the Department of Energy initiated a new lecture series. The purpose of the lecture series is to increase the visibility of women who have made significant contributions in applied or computational mathematics. The AWM-SIAM Sonia Kovalevsky Lecture is presented at the SIAM Annual Meeting which is a national conference. The lecturer is a woman who has made distinguished contributions in applied or computational mathematics. The lecturer is determined by the Selection Committee which consists of two members of AWM and two members of SIAM, appointed by the presidents of these organizations. The committee may solicit nominations from other members of the scientific and engineering community. The lectureship may be awarded to any woman in the scientific or engineering community.

Cuba under Fidel Castro remains a hard-line communist state with a poor record on human rights that has deteriorated significantly since 2003. With the cutoff of assistance from the former Soviet Union, Cuba experienced severe economic deterioration from 1989 to 1993. While there has been some improvement since 1994, as Cuba has implemented limited reforms, the economy remains in poor shape. This report discusses the most recent development in Cuba, including political and economic conditions and the U.S. policy towards Cuba. It also considers the issues in U.S.-Cuban Relations.

High gradients in radio-frequency (RF) driven accelerators require short wavelengths that have the concomitant requirements of small feature size and high tolerances, 1-2 {micro}m for millimeter wavelengths. Precision metal-forming stampling has the promise of meeting those tolerances with high production rates. This STI will evaluate that promise.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States has been providing assistance to Colombia since the early 1970s to help reduce illicit drugs. In 1999, the Colombian government introduced Plan Colombia--program that, among other things, proposed reducing illicit drug activities by 50 percent over 6 years. In fiscal years 2000-03 alone, the United States provided more than $2.5 billion in counternarcotics assistance. Despite this aid, Colombia remains the world's leading producer and distributor of cocaine and a major source of the heroin used in the United States. This testimony discusses the status of U.S. counternarcotics assistance to the Colombian Army and for a U.S.-supported Colombian police aerial eradication program. It also addresses challenges Colombia and the United States face in sustaining these programs."

The present special study proposes an improvement to the current method for selecting aquifer source node locations that is a more realistic representation of actual subsurface conditions. This improved concept for defining aquifer source node locations has been identified through an objective evaluation of several alternatives.

This report provides information about the Background and Issues for Congress on Homeland Security Coast Guard Operations which is a military service and a branch of the armed forces,within the navy upon the declaration of war or when President directs until the president by executive orders it back to DHS

Evidence is presented concerning the effect of surfaces on the segmental motion of PEO-based polymer electrolytes in lithium batteries. For dry systems with no moisture the effect of surfaces of nano-particle fillers is to inhibit the segmental motion and to reduce the lithium ion transport. These effects also occur at the surfaces in composite electrodes that contain considerable quantities of carbon black nano-particles for electronic connection. The problem of reduced polymer mobility is compounded by the generation of salt concentration gradients within the composite electrode. Highly concentrated polymer electrolytes have reduced transport properties due to the increased ionic cross-linking. Combined with the interfacial interactions this leads to the generation of low mobility electrolyte layers within the electrode and to loss of capacity and power capability. It is shown that even with planar lithium metal electrodes the concentration gradients can significantly impact the interfacial impedance. The interfacial impedance of lithium/PEO-LiTFSI cells varies depending upon the time elapsed since current was turned off after polarization. The behavior is consistent with relaxation of the salt concentration gradients and indicates that a portion of the interfacial impedance usually attributed to the SEI layer is due to concentrated salt solutions next to the electrode surfaces …

Triggered, multi-channel, surface discharges or surface flashover switching have been investigated as a low inductance, low pulse rate switch for conducting large currents. This paper discusses the investigation of UV (355 nm) laser triggered, single channel, low inductance, ns closure and sub-ns jitter switches for applications in switching high dielectric constant, compact pulse forming lines into accelerator loads. The experimental arrangement for evaluating the switch performance and for measuring the high field dielectric constant of the pulse forming lines is presented. Experimental results of delay and jitter measurements versus optical energy on the flashover surface and dc electric field charge.

The maximum vacuum insulator surface dielectric strength determines the acceleration electric field gradient possible in a short pulse accelerator. Previous work has indicated that higher electric field strengths along the insulator-vacuum interface might be obtained as the pulse duration is decreased. In this work, a 250 kV, single ns wide impulse source was applied to small diameter, segmented insulators samples in a vacuum to evaluate the multi-layer surface dielectric strength of the sample construction. Resonances in the low inductance test geometry were used to obtain unipolar, pulsed electric fields in excess of 100 MV/m on the insulator surface. The sample construction, experimental arrangement and experimental results are presented for the initial data in this work. Modeling of the multi-layer structure is discussed and methods of improving insulator surface dielectric strength in a vacuum are proposed.

This report discusses the developments in Iranian foreign policy, including their assistance the U.S. in ousting Saddam Hussein, their involvement with terrorist organizations, the developments made with respect to weapons of mass destruction, and human rights concerns. It also details the Bush Administration's efforts to maintain the sanctions put in place by the Clinton Administration, as well as U.S. foreign policymakers division on which approach to take regarding Iran's political regime.

This report discusses the government of Iraq and its active role in stimulating and directing the Iraqi economy.This report identifies issues to be addressed before Iraq can participate normally in the world economy.

Recent biological results for the Juvenile Bypass System at John Jay Lock and Dam have raised concerns about the hydraulic conditions that are created in the tailrace under different project operations. This Memorandum for Record discusses the development and application of a truncated MASS2 model in the John Day tailrace.

Minerals and microbes undergo complex interactions in nature that impact broad aspects of near-surface Earth chemistry. Our primary objective in this project was to gain insight into how microbial species and communities acquire critical but tightly held nutrients residing on or within minerals common in rocks and soils, and to quantitatively study related microbe-mineral interactions including cell adhesion, electron transfer, and siderophore-mineral interaction processes.

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The original scope of this task was to develop mathematical expressions for the apparent solubility, density and heat capacity of concentrated technetium eluate solutions as a function of temperature and concentrations of significant analytes present in the as-received eluate feeds. The task scope was later expanded to develop additional correlations for viscosity and the volume reduction factor that can be achieved at 80 percent of the prescribed evaporation endpoint.

A procedure for unfilling used lithium lenses to has been described in Pbar Note 664. To date, the procedure has been used to disassemble lenses 20, 21, 17, 18, and 16. As a result of this work, some parts of the original procedure were found to be time consuming and ineffective. Modifications to the original procedure have been made to streamline the process and are discussed in this note. The revised procedure is included in this note.

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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has designed and constructed a test stand to improve the voltage regulation in our Flash X-Ray (FXR) accelerator cell. The goal is to create a more mono-energetic electron beam that will create an x-ray source with a smaller spot size. Studying the interaction of the beam and pulse-power system with the accelerator cell will improve the design of high-current accelerators at Livermore and elsewhere. On the test stand, a standard FXR cell is driven by a flexible pulse-power system and the beam current is simulated with a switched center conductor. The test stand is fully instrumented with high-speed digitizers to document the effect of impedance mismatches when the cell is operated under various full-voltage conditions. A time-domain reflectometry technique was also developed to characterize the beam and cell interactions by measuring the impedance of the accelerator and pulse-power component. Computer models are being developed in parallel with the testing program to validate the measurements and evaluate different design changes. Both 3D transient electromagnetic and circuit models are being used.