The objectives of this program were: (a) to develop and demonstrate a new polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system that operates up to 160 C temperatures and at ambient pressures for stationary power applications, and (b) to determine if the GTI-molded composite graphite bipolar separator plate could provide long term operational stability at 160 C or higher. There are many reasons that fuel cell research has been receiving much attention. Fuel cells represent environmentally friendly and efficient sources of electrical power generation that could use a variety of fuel sources. The Gas Technology Institute (GTI), formerly Institute of Gas Technology (IGT), is focused on distributed energy stationary power generation systems. Currently the preferred method for hydrogen production for stationary power systems is conversion of natural gas, which has a vast distribution system in place. However, in the conversion of natural gas into a hydrogen-rich fuel, traces of carbon monoxide are produced. Carbon monoxide present in the fuel gas will in time cumulatively poison, or passivate the active platinum catalysts used in the anodes of PEMFC's operating at temperatures of 60 to 80 C. Various fuel processors have incorporated systems to reduce the carbon monoxide to levels below 10 ppm, …

Policymakers rely on transportation statistics, including data on personal travel behavior, to formulate strategic transportation policies and to improve the safety and efficiency of the U.S. transportation system. Data on personal travel trends are needed to examine the reliability, efficiency, capacity, and flexibility of the Nation's transportation system to meet current demands and accommodate future demands; to assess the feasibility and efficiency of alternative congestion-alleviating technologies (e.g., high-speed rail, magnetically levitated trains, intelligent vehicle and highway systems); to evaluate the merits of alternative transportation investment programs; and to assess the energy-use and air-quality impacts of various policies. To address these data needs, the Department of Transportation (DOT) initiated an effort in 1969 to collect detailed data on personal travel. The 1969 survey was the first Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS). The survey was conducted again in 1977, 1983, 1990, and 1995. The 1995 survey was cosponsored by four DOT agencies: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The primary objective of the survey was to collect trip-based data on the nature and characteristics of personal travel. Commercial and institutional travel were not part of the survey.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In September 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau told Congress that it had at least $305 million in budget savings out of its $4.5 billion fiscal year 2000 no-year appropriations for the 2000 decennial census. Of the $4.5 billion appropriated to the U.S. Census Bureau in fiscal year 2000, lower-than-expected expenditures and obligations resulted in available balances of at least $415 million. A lower-than-expected support staff workload reduced salary and benefit costs by about $348 million. Enumerator workload is largely determined by the initial mail response rate for returned census questionnaires. The initial mail response of 64 percent meant that Census enumerators did not have to visit more than three million American households. However, the available balances from the higher mail response rate and the lower support staff workload were partially offset by about $100 million of higher salary and benefit costs for enumerators, including a higher workload for unanticipated recounts. According to Bureau data, enumerator productivity did not significantly affect budget variances for the 2000 decennial census. The Bureau reported the national average time to visit a household and complete a census questionnaire was about the …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As part of its Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (ACE), the U.S. Census Bureau interviewed people across the country to develop an estimate of the number of persons missed, counted more than once, or otherwise improperly counted in the 2000 census. In conducting the interviews, which took place in person or over the phone, Census faced several challenges, including (1) completing the operation on schedule, (2) ensuring data quality, (3) overcoming unexpected computer problems, (4) obtaining a quality address list, and (5) keeping the interviews independent of census follow-up operations to ensure unbiased estimates of census errors. The Bureau completed the interviews largely ahead of schedule. On the basis of the results of its quality assurance program, the Bureau assumes that about one-tenth of one percent of all cases nationally would have failed the program because they were believed to have been falsified. Early on, the Bureau dealt with an unexpected problem with its automated work management system, which allows supervisors to selectively reassign work among interviewers. According to the Bureau officials, the Bureau addressed the underlying programming error within two weeks, and the operations proceeded on …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The estimated $6.5 billion full-cycle cost of the 2000 decennial census is nearly double that of the 1990 census. When the full-cycle cost is divided by the number of American households, the cost per housing unit of the 2000 census was $56 compared to $32 per housing unit for the 1990 census. The primary reasons for the cost increases include the following: (1) in the 1990 census, field data collection cost was $16 per housing unit, while in the 2000 census it was $32 per housing unit; (2) in the 1990 census, technology costs were $5 per housing unit compared to $8 per housing unit for the 2000 census; and (3) the data content and products activity cost $3 per housing unit in 1990 and $5 per housing unit in 2000."

Investigation of behavior of actinides in alkaline media containing AL(III) showed that no aluminate complexes of actinides in oxidation states (IIII-VIII) were formed in alkaline solutions. At alkaline precipitation IPH (10-14) of actinides in presence of AL(III) formation of aluminate compounds is not observed. However, in precipitates contained actinides (IIV)<(VI), and to a lesser degree actinides (III), some interference of components takes place that is reflected in change of solid phase properties in comparison with pure components or their mechanical mixture. The interference decreases with rise of precipitation PH and at PH 14 is exhibited very feebly. In the case of NP(VII) the individual compound with AL(III) is obtained, however it is not aluminate of neptunium(VII), but neptunate of aluminium(III) similar to neptunates of other metals obtained earlier.

We present our approach to enabling approximate ad hoc queries on terabyte-scale mesh data generated from large scientific simulations through the extension and integration of database, statistical, and data mining techniques. There are several significant barriers to overcome in achieving this objective. First, large-scale simulation data is already at the multi-terabyte scale and growing quickly, thus rendering traditional forms of interactive data exploration and query processing untenable. Second, a priori knowledge of user queries is not available, making it impossible to tune special-purpose solutions. Third, the data has spatial and temporal aspects, as well as arbitrarily high dimensionality, which exacerbates the task of finding compact, accurate, and easy-to-compute data models. Our approach is to preprocess the mesh data to generate highly compressed, lossy models that are used in lieu of the original data to answer users' queries. This approach leads to interesting challenges. The model (equivalently, the content-oriented metadata) being generated must be smaller than the original data by at least an order of magnitude. Second, the metadata representation must contain enough information to support a broad class of queries. Finally, the accuracy and speed of the queries must be within the tolerances required by users. In this paper we …

The Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) provides a coherent, technically defensible process for establishing that exposed surfaces satisfy site cleanup requirements. Unfortunately, many sites have complications that challenge a direct application of MARSSIM. Example complications include Record of Decision (ROD) requirements that are not MARSSIM-friendly, the potential for subsurface contamination, and incomplete characterization information. These types of complications are typically the rule, rather than the exception, for sites undergoing radiologically-driven remediation and closure. One such site is the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) Linde site in Tonawanda, New York. Cleanup of the site is currently underway. The Linde site presented a number of challenges to designing and implementing a closure strategy consistent with MARSSIM. This paper discusses some of the closure issues confronted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District at the Linde site, and describes how MARSSIM protocols were adapted to address these issues.

Palm Harbor Homes (PHH), one of the nations largest producers of manufactured homes, and Building Americas Industrialized Housing Partnership have teamed together to develop air-distribution and duct-sealing strategies that reduce energy use and increase comfort.

A new concept in particulate control, called an advanced hybrid particulate collector (AHPC), is being developed under funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. The AHPC combines the best features of electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) and baghouses in an entirely novel manner. The AHPC concept combines fabric filtration and electrostatic precipitation in the same housing, providing major synergism between the two methods, both in the particulate collection step and in transfer of dust to the hopper. The AHPC provides ultrahigh collection efficiency, overcoming the problem of excessive fine-particle emissions with conventional ESPs, and solves the problem of reentrainment and re-collection of dust in conventional baghouses. Phase I of the development effort consisted of design, construction, and testing of a 5.7-m{sup 3}/min (200-acfm) working AHPC model. Results from both 8-hr parametric tests and 100-hr proof-of-concept tests with two different coals demonstrated excellent operability and greater than 99.99% fine-particle collection efficiency. Since all of the developmental goals of Phase I were met, the approach was scaled up in Phase II to a size of 255 m{sup 3}/min (9000 acfm) (equivalent in size to 2.5 MW) and was installed on a slipstream at the Big Stone Power Plant. For Phase II, the AHPC at …

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The United States and its allies are helping Afghanistan emerge from more than 22 years of warfare, although substantial risk to Afghan stability remains. Before the U.S. military campaign against the orthodox Islamist Taliban movement began on October 7, 2001, Afghanistan had been mired in conflict since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The defeat of the Taliban has enabled the United States and its coalition partners to send forces throughout Afghanistan to search for Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters and leaders that remain at large, including Osama bin Laden. As the war against remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban elements winds down, the United States is shifting its military focus toward stabilizing the interim government, including training a new Afghan national army, and supporting the international security force (ISAF) that is helping the new government provide security.

Although U.S. intelligence agencies have not identified any terrorist acts targeting agricultural production (i.e., agroterrorism) in the United States to date, the events of September 11, 2001 have awakened the nation to their possibility. Some experts estimate that a single agroterrorist attack using a highly contagious livestock disease could cost between $10 billion and $30 billion to the U.S. economy. This report examines the potential threats to America’s agriculture from a deliberate biological attack, describes the current defense structure and capabilities available to respond to agroterrorism, and analyzes current congressional proposals to address the threat of biological weapons to U.S. agriculture.

Sub-Saharan Africa has been far more severely affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. The United Nations reports that 25.3 million adults and children are infected with the HIV virus in the region, which has about 10% of the world's population but more than 70% of the worldwide total of infected people. This report discusses this issue in detail, including the cause of the African AIDS epidemic, the social and economic consequences, response and treatment, and U.S. policy.

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The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been engaged in the design, construction and testing of four superconducting dipoles (Superbends) that are installed in three arcs of the Advanced Light Source (ALS), with the fourth magnet as a spare. This represents a major upgrade to the ALS providing an enhanced flux and brightness at photon energies above 10 keV. In preparation for installation, an extensive set of tests and measurements have been conducted to characterize the magnetic and cryogenic performance of the Superbends and to fiducialize them for accurate placement in the ALS storage ring. The magnets are currently installed, and the storage ring is undergoing final commissioning. This paper will present the results of magnetic and cryogenic testing.

The overall objectives of this program are to investigate potential technologies for the conversion of synthesis gas to oxygenated and hydrocarbon fuels and industrial chemicals, and to demonstrate the most promising technologies at DOE's LaPorte, Texas, Slurry Phase Alternative Fuels Development Unit (AFDU). The program will involve a continuation of the work performed under the Alternative Fuels from Coal-Derived Synthesis Gas Program and will draw upon information and technologies generated in parallel current and future DOE-funded contracts.

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reflects the results of a collaborative effort between GAO and representatives of the Secretary of Education. As required by the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, GAO formed a study group to identify and evaluate a means of establishing a market mechanism for the delivery of student loans. This study group consisted of representatives of the Department of the Treasury, Office of Management and Budget, Congressional Budget Office, entities making Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans and other entities in the financial services community, and other participants in the student loan market. The group met as a whole four times before the public release of a draft of this report, and various group members corresponded with GAO and Education between group meetings as well. The mandate called for the evaluation of at least three different market mechanisms relative to 13 criteria. In consultation with the study group, GAO selected five general models for further evaluation--adjustments to the current system and four additional market mechanism models. Adjustments to the current system, in which information would be collected from current market transactions for use in determining …

This report addresses the Statutory Language and Recent Issues of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

This report summarizes the major provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and also discusses selected recent issues, including ten ADA Supreme Court cases.

The purpose of this Analysis/Model Report (AMR) is to describe the methods used to determine hydrologic properties based on the available field data from the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This is in accordance with the AMR Development Plan (DP) for U0090 Analysis of Hydrologic Properties Data (CRWMS M and O 1999c). Fracture and matrix properties are developed by compiling and analyzing available survey data from the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF), Cross Drift of Enhanced Characterization of Repository Block (ECRB), and/or boreholes; air injection testing data from surface boreholes and from boreholes in ESF; in-situ measurements of water potential; and data from laboratory testing of core samples.

This report discusses the Andean Regional Initiative (ARI), implemented by the Bush Administration in 2001 to provide economic and counter-narcotics assistance for Colombia and regional neighbors. The report discusses the goals of the ARI, as well as related appropriations.

This report discusses the Andean Regional Initiative (ARI), implemented by the Bush Administration in 2001 to provide economic and counter-narcotics assistance for Colombia and regional neighbors. The report discusses the goals of the ARI, as well as related appropriations.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to the full-time classified state employee turnover rate for Fiscal Year 2001. This report provides information on employee turnover for use in evaluating and analyzing trends in state employment and in addressing the causes of state employee turnover.