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 standard felony judgement from should contain the name and address of a crime victim (RQ-0167-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 article XVI, section 67(a)(2) of the Texas Constitution would preclude retired City of Houston employees from receiving benefits from both the existing pension system and a separate retirement system that the City is contemplating establishing under section 810.001 of the Government Code (RQ-1072-GA)

This report explores the growth of DE into a significant component of the modern post secondary education landscape and then examines a number of issues involved in the debate surrounding HEA reauthorization.

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In this paper we discuss the experimental signatures of the new form of nuclear matter--the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) in particle production at RHIC. We show that predictions for particle production in p(d)A and AA collisions derived from these properties are in agreement with data collected at RHIC.

We report on 2D near-field imaging experiments of the 11.9-nm Sn X-ray laser that were performed with a set of novel Mo/Y multilayer mirrors having reflectivities of up to {approx}45% at normal and at 45 incidence. Second-moment analysis of the X-ray laser emission was used to determine values of the X-ray beam propagation factor M{sup 2} for a range of irradiation parameters. The results reveal a reduction of M{sup 2} with increasing prepulse amplitude. The spatial size of the output is a factor of {approx}2 smaller than previously measured for the 14.7-nm Pd X-ray laser, while the distance of the X-ray emission with respect to the target surface remains roughly the same.

Stray electrons can arise in positive-ion accelerators for heavy ion fusion or other applications as a result of ionization of ambient gas or gas released from walls due to halo-ion impact, or as a result of secondary- electron emission. We summarize the distinguishing features of electron cloud issues in heavy-ion-fusion accelerators and a plan for developing a self-consistent simulation capability for heavy-ion beams and electron clouds. We also present results from several ingredients in this capability: (1) We calculate the electron cloud produced by electron desorption from computed beam-ion loss, which illustrates the importance of retaining ion reflection at the walls. (2) We simulate of the effect of specified electron cloud distributions on ion beam dynamics. We consider here electron distributions with axially varying density, centroid location, or radial shape, and examine both random and sinusoidally varying perturbations. We find that amplitude variations are most effective in spoiling ion beam quality, though for sinusoidal variations which match the natural ion beam centroid oscillation or breathing mode frequencies, the centroid and shape perturbations can also have significant impact. We identify an instability associated with a resonance between the beam-envelope ''breathing'' mode and the electron perturbation. We estimate its growth rate, which …

We report results from studies of spin dynamics in the NLC Main Damping. Our studies have been based on spin tracking particles through the lattice under a range of conditions. We find that there are a number of spin resonances close to the nominal operating energy of 1.98 GeV; however, the effects of the resonances are weak, and the widths are narrow. We do not expect that any significant depolarization of the beam will occur during the store time.

During this quarter, work was focused on testing layered composite membranes under varying feed stream flow rates at high pressure. By optimizing conditions, H{sub 2} permeation rates as high as 423 mL {center_dot} min{sup -1} {center_dot} cm{sup -2} at 440 C were measured. Membrane stability was investigated by comparison to composite alloy membranes. Permeation of alloyed membranes showed a strong dependence on the alloying element. Impedance analysis was used to investigate bulk and grain boundary conductivity in cermets. Thin film cermet deposition procedures were developed, hydrogen dissociation catalysts were evaluated, and hydrogen separation unit scale-up issues were addressed.

David Bourget has raised some conceptual and technical objections to my development of von Neumann's treatment of the Copenhagen idea that the purely physical process described by the Schroedinger equation must be supplemented by a psychophysical process called the choice of the experiment by Bohr and Process 1 by von Neumann. I answer here each of Bourget's objections.

The boreal winter Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) remains very weak and irregular in structure in the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Atmosphere Model version 2 (CAM2) as in its direct predecessor, the Community Climate Model version 3 (CCM3). The standard version of CAM2 uses the deep convective scheme of Zhang and McFarlane (1995), as in CCM3, with the closure dependent on convective available potential energy (CAPE). Here, sensitivity tests using several versions of the Tiedtke (1989) convective scheme are conducted. Typically, the Tiedtke convection scheme gives an improved mean state, intraseasonal variability, space-time power spectra, and eastward propagation compared to the standard version of the model. Coherent eastward propagation of MJO related precipitation is also much improved, particularly over the Indian-western Pacific Oceans. Sensitivity experiments show that enhanced downdrafts in the Tiedtke scheme reduces the amplitude of the MJO but to a lesser extent than when this scheme is closed on CAPE to represent deep convections. A composite life cycle of the model MJO indicates that over the Indian Ocean wind induced surface heat exchange functions, while over the western/central Pacific Ocean aspects of frictional moisture convergence are evident in the maintenance and eastward propagation of the oscillation.

Sulfate and sulfate salts are not very soluble in borosilicate waste glass. When sulfate is present in excess it can form water soluble secondary phases and/or a molten salt layer (gall) on the melt pool surface which is purported to cause steam explosions in slurry fed melters. Therefore, sulfate can impact glass durability while formation of a molten salt layer on the melt pool can impact processing. Sulfate solubility has been shown to be compositionally dependent in various studies, (e.g. , B2O3, Li2O, CaO, MgO, Na2O, and Fe2O3 were shown to increase sulfate solubility while Al2O3 and SiO2 decreased sulfate solubility). This compositional dependency is shown to be related to the calculated melt viscosity at various temperatures and hence the melt polymerization.

The first of two main goals of this project has been to develop and implement a correction procedure that maximizes the accuracy of relative humidity (RH) measurements from ARM (Vaisala) radiosondes, and to evaluate the correction algorithm using a dataset of simultaneous measurements from Vaisala radiosones and the reference-quality NOAA/CMDL cryogenic hygrometer. The second main goal has been to determine how comparison of radiosonde RH measurements to reference-quality RH measurements obtained routinely in the ventilated ''mailbox'' at the SGP launch site can be used to characterize and improve the accuracy of ARM radiosonde measurements. This project is important to a broad variety of ARM research areas, including initializing numerical models and evaluating model results, improving the accuracy of radiative transfer calculations and parameterizations, evaluating water vapor retrievals from ground-based or satellite instruments, and developing water vapor and cloud parameterizations. Tobin et al. (2003) showed that in order to achieve a target accuracy of 1 W/m2 in the downwelling and outgoing longwave flux, the water vapor profile must be known with an absolute accuracy of 2% in the total-column integrated water vapor, and 10% in the upper troposphere (UT).

This report traces the constitutional origins and development of the office of President pro tempore of the Senate, reviews its current role and authority, and provides information on Senators who have held this office -- and the more recently-created subsidiary offices -- over the past two centuries.

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We introduce TLHaar, an n-bit to n-bit reversible transform similar to the S-transform. TLHaar uses lookup tables that approximate the S-transform, but reorder the coefficients so they fit into n bits. TLHaar is suited for lossless compression in fixed-width channels, such as digital video channels and graphics hardware frame buffers. Tests indicate that when the incoming image data has lines or hard edges TLHaar coefficients compress better than S-transform coefficients. For other types of image data TLHaar coefficients compress up to 2.5% worse than those of the S-transform, depending on the data and the compression method used.

In this paper we describe our approach to build a pipeline simulator for the future Large-scale Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). The simulated pipeline will be used to research and evaluate software architectures that are efficient and flexible. It will also be used to define the real-time software and hardware requirements needed to support the anticipated LSST data rates. The LSST data pipeline requirements are still being defined, however, previous surveys can provide a good source for data requirements. Our approach is to use the SuperMacho data pipeline as a prototyping tool to identify a framework for building Modular Data-Centric Pipeline (MDCP) architectures. The prototyping is done in a hierarchical fashion to help capture and define the general data attributes (schema) first. We then model other necessary components based on science and performance requirements. We use identified schemas or data attributes as a way to define a data model for LSST.

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Long-term cap rock integrity represents the single most important constraint on the long-term isolation performance of natural and engineered geologic CO{sub 2} storage sites. CO{sub 2} influx that forms natural accumulations and CO{sub 2} injection for EOR/sequestration or saline-aquifer disposal both lead to concomitant geochemical alteration and geomechanical deformation of the cap rock, enhancing or degrading its seal integrity depending on the relative effectiveness of these interdependent processes. This evolution of cap-rock permeability can be assessed through reactive transport modeling, an advanced computational method based on mathematical models of the coupled physical and chemical processes catalyzed by the influx event. Using our reactive transport simulator (NUFT), supporting geochemical databases and software (SUPCRT92), and distinct-element geomechanical model (LDEC), we have shown that influx-triggered mineral dissolution/precipitation reactions within typical shale cap rocks continuously reduce microfrac apertures, while pressure and effective-stress evolution first rapidly increase then slowly constrict them. For a given shale composition, the extent of geochemical enhancement is nearly independent of key reservoir properties (permeability and lateral continuity) that distinguish saline aquifer and EOR/sequestration settings and CO{sub 2} influx parameters (rate, focality, and duration) that distinguish engineered disposal sites and natural accumulations, because these characteristics and parameters have negligible impact on …

The ultimate fate of CO{sub 2} injected into saline aquifers for environmental isolation is governed by three interdependent yet conceptually distinct processes: CO{sub 2} migration as a buoyant immiscible fluid phase, direct chemical interaction of this rising plume with ambient saline waters, and its indirect chemical interaction with aquifer and cap-rock minerals through the aqueous wetting phase. Each process is directly linked to a corresponding trapping mechanism: immiscible plume migration to hydrodynamic trapping, plume-water interaction to solubility trapping, and plume-mineral interaction to mineral trapping. In this study, reactive transport modeling of CO{sub 2} storage in a shale-capped sandstone aquifer at Sleipner has elucidated and established key parametric dependencies of these fundamental processes, the associated trapping mechanisms, and sequestration partitioning among them during consecutive 10-year prograde (active-injection) and retrograde (post-injection) regimes. Intra-aquifer permeability structure controls the path of immiscible CO{sub 2} migration, thereby establishing the spatial framework of plume-aquifer interaction and the potential effectiveness of solubility and mineral trapping. Inter-bedded thin shales--which occur at Sleipner--retard vertical and promote lateral plume migration, thereby significantly expanding this framework and enhancing this potential. Actual efficacy of these trapping mechanisms is determined by compositional characteristics of the aquifer and cap rock: the degree of solubility …

We consider the two-dimensional Maxwell's equations in domains external to perfectly conducting objects of complex shape. The equations are discretized using a node-centered finite-difference scheme on a Cartesian grid and the boundary condition are discretized to second order accuracy employing an embedded technique which does not suffer from a ''small-cell'' time-step restriction in the explicit time-integration method. The computational domain is truncated by a perfectly matched layer (PML). We derive estimates for both the error due to reflections at the outer boundary of the PML, and due to discretizing the continuous PML equations. Using these estimates, we show how the parameters of the PML can be chosen to make the discrete solution of the PML equations converge to the solution of Maxwell's equations on the unbounded domain, as the grid size goes to zero. Several numerical examples are given.

This report summarizes data on the organic vapors in the single-shell, high-level radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford Site. The report was originally issued in 2000 and has been revised with new information including recent work on the determination of the organic compounds in 17 additional SUMMATM canisters from the single-shell tanks.

We propose statistical models of uncertainty and error in numerical solutions. To represent errors efficiently in shock physics simulations we propose a composition law. The law allows us to estimate errors in the solutions of composite problems in terms of the errors from simpler ones as discussed in a previous paper. In this paper, we conduct a detailed analysis of the errors. One of our goals is to understand the relative magnitude of the input uncertainty vs. the errors created within the numerical solution. In more detail, we wish to understand the contribution of each wave interaction to the errors observed at the end of the simulation.