Bi-monthly report on average prices paid for standing timber in Texas, calculated based on reported timber sales.

Monthly publication documenting statistics related to economic information in the Mexico-Texas border areas including types of border crossings, employment, customs revenues, and other related data.

Monthly newsletter documenting statistics related to employment in Texas including nonagricultural job trends, labor force numbers, and other relevant indicators as well as information on related topics.

Magazine discussing natural resources, parks, hunting and fishing, and other information related to the outdoors in Texas.

Preliminary findings of a study conducted by the Texas Comptroller's Office to "determine the total taxable value of all property in each school district" (Government Code Section 403.302), to inform the distribution of state funding for public education.

This document describes the history of the Buchanan Dam in the Colorado River of Texas and the establishment of the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA).

Annual guide listing festivals in the state of Texas that are related to birds or other wildlife, providing descriptions, dates, and contact information.

Annual report of the Nonpoint Source Management Program in Texas describing goals, activities, and accomplishments during fiscal year 2005.

Bimonthly publication of the Texas Veterans Commission discussing specific topics of relevance to veterans in Texas. This pamphlet describes prosthetics and sensory aids available from the VA and their history, importance, current types, and advances in the field.

Monthly travel magazine discussing locations and events in Texas to encourage travel within the state.

This report was written to fulfill the mission of the Good Neighbor Environmental Board, a public advisory committee authorized under Section 6 of the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative Act, 7 USC, Section 5404.

A wide variety of vacua, and their cosmological realization, may provide an explanation for the apparently anthropic choices of some parameters of particle physics and cosmology. If the probability on various parameters is weighted by volume, a flat potential for slow-roll inflation is also naturally understood, since the flatter the potential the larger the volume of the sub-universe. However, such inflationary landscapes have a serious problem, predicting an environment that makes it exponentially hard for observers to exist and giving an exponentially small probability for a moderate universe like ours. A general solution to this problem is proposed, and is illustrated in the context of inflaton decay and leptogenesis, leading to an upper bound on the reheating temperature in our sub-universe. In a particular scenario of chaotic inflation and non-thermal leptogenesis, predictions can be made for the size of CP violating phases, the rate of neutrinoless double beta decay and, in the case of theories with gauge-mediated weak scale supersymmetry, for the fundamental scale of supersymmetry breaking.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) has developed an innovative gasifier concept that uses rocket engine technology to significantly improve gasifier performance, life, and cost compared to current state-of-the-art systems. One key feature of the PWR concept is the use of an ultra-dense phase feed system to provide dry coal to the multi-element injector. This report describes the design of an ultra-dense phase multi-element injector and feed system for use on PWR gasifiers operating at pressures to 1,000 psia. For the design of this injector and feed system, the pulverized coal's Bingham fluid yield stress is approximately 11 Pascals (Pa) with a coefficient of rigidity of 10 centipoise (cp). These values are typical of earlier experimental testing conducted with dried pulverized coal below 18 wt% moisture -- see, e.g., Sprouse and Schuman (1983, 1986). Each individual injector element is designed for a coal flow rate between 3 and 4 tons/hr (0.76 to 1.0 kg/sec) at full flow conditions. Hence, a small 400 to 500 tons/day (4.2 to 5.25 kg/sec) gasifier will require a 6-element injector, a 1,500 tons/day (15.7 kg/sec) gasifier will require an 18-element injector and a 3,000 tons/day (31.5 kg/sec) gasifier will require a 36-element injector. These injectors and …

This document is a compilation of characterization data for compact lot NUCO350-75T-Z. This compact lot was fabricated using particle composite NUCO350-75T, which was a composite of three batches of TRISO-coated 350 m natural uranium oxide/uranium carbide kernels (NUCO). The compacts and coated particles were produced as part of a development effort at ORNL for the Advanced Gas Reactor Fuel Development and Qualification (AGR) program. The kernels were obtained from BWXT and were identified as composite G73B-NU-69300. The BWXT kernel lot G73B-NU-69300 was riffled into sublots for characterization and coating. The ORNL identification for these kernel sublots was NUCO350-## (where ## were a series of integers beginning with 01). NUCO350-75T-Z was produced as part of the ORNL AGR development effort and is not fully representative of a final product. This compact lot was the first run through of the entire ORNL AGR-1 irradiation test fuel production process involving coating, characterization, and compacting of TRISO-coated 350 m NUCO. The results of this exercise were used to fine tune the irradiation test fuel production process and as a basis for the decision to proceed with the production of the baseline fuel for the AGR-1 irradiation test.

The construction of Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams on the Columbia River resulted in the complete extirpation of the anadromous fishery upstream of these structures. Today, this area is totally dependent upon resident fish resources to support local fisheries. The resident fishing is enhanced by an extensive stocking program for target species in the existing fishery, including kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka kennerlyi) and rainbow trout (O. mykiss). The kokanee fishery in Lake Roosevelt has not been meeting the return goals set by fisheries managers despite the stocking program. Investigations of physical and biological factors that could affect the kokanee population found predation and entrainment had a significant impact on the fish population. In 1999 and 2000, walleye (Sander vitreum) consumed between 15% and 9%, respectively, of the hatchery kokanee within 41 days of their release, while results from a study in the late 1990s estimated that entrainment at Grand Coulee Dam could account for up to 30% of the total mortality of the stocked fish. To address the entrainment loss, the Bonneville Power Administration commissioned a study to determine if fish would avoid areas illuminated by strobe lights in the forebay of the third powerplant. This work was conducted by …

This report presents the results of a geologic study conducted on the lower slopes of the Columbia River Valley in south-central Washington. The study was designed to investigate glaciofluvial and fluvial sediments and bedforms that are present in the river valley and formed subsequent to Pleistocene large-scale cataclysmic flooding of the region.

An outgassing study was conducted on five packing materials, comprising two experiments. These materials comprised 277-4 borated concrete, Borobond4 concrete, polyethylene bags, silica-filled silicone rubber seals, and silicone foam padding. The purpose was measure the volume of gases which diffuse from packaging materials when sealed in containers. Two heating profiles were used to study the offgassing quantities in a set of accelerated aging tests. It was determined that the concretes contain a large quantity of water. The plastic materials hold much less moisture, with the silicone materials even consuming water, possibly due to the presence of silica filler. Polyethylene tends to degrade as the temperature is elevated and the foam stiffens.

The overall goal of the project was to test the concept of using a twin-screw extruder to conduct autohydrolysis pretreatment of wheat straw in countercurrent fashion, demonstrate in situ solid/liquid separation, and produce a low-lignin cellulose product using ethanol as an extractant. The resultant solid product is suitable for sugar production through enzymatic hydrolysis and for pulp applications. Pilot-scale equipment was used to successfully demonstrate the process both for sugar and pulp applications.

In 1999, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) designed and installed a series of engineered plantings consisting of a vegetative cover system and approximately 800 hybrid poplars and willows rooting at various predetermined depths. The plants were installed using various methods including Applied Natural Science's TreeWell{reg_sign} system. The goal of the installation was to protect downgradient surface and groundwater by hydraulic control of the contaminated plume by intercepting the contaminated groundwater with the tree roots, removing moisture from the upgradient soil area, reducing water infiltration, preventing soil erosion, degrading and/or transpiring the residual volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and removing tritium from the subsoil and groundwater. This report presents the results of the monitoring activities conducted by Argonne's Energy Systems Division (ES) in the growing season of 2005. Monitoring of the planted trees began soon after the trees were installed in 1999 and has been conducted every summer since then. As the trees grew and consolidated their growth into the contaminated soil and groundwater, their exposure to the contaminants was progressively shown through tissue sampling. However, as trees grow larger, some of the findings obtained in the early years when trees were much smaller may not hold true now and need to be …

Ultra supercritical (USC) power plants offer the promise of higher efficiencies and lower emissions. Current goals of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Power Systems Initiatives include coal generation at 60% efficiency, which would require steam temperatures of up to 760°C. This research examines the steamside oxidation of alloys for use in USC systems, with emphasis placed on applications in high- and intermediate-pressure turbines.

We report Raman and infrared absorption spectroscopy alongwith X-ray diffraction for brucite-type beta-Cd(OH)2 to 28 GPa at 300 K.The OH-stretching modes soften with pressure and disappear at 21 GPa withtheir widths increasing rapidly above 5 GPa, consistent with a gradualdisordering of the H sublattice at 5 20 GPa similar to that previouslyobserved for Co(OH)2.Asymmetry in the peak shapes of the OH-stretchingmodes suggests the existence of diverse disordered sitesfor H atoms inCd(OH)2 under pressure. Above 15 GPa, the A1g(T) lattice mode showsnon-linear behavior and softens to 21 GPa, at which pressure significantchanges are observed: new Raman modes appear, two Raman-active latticemodes and the OH-stretching modes of the low-pressure phase disappears,and the positions of some X-ray diffraction lines change abruptly withthe appearance of weak new diffraction features. These observationssuggest that amorphization of the H sublattice is accompanied by acrystalline-to-crystalline transition at 21 GPa in Cd(OH)2, which has notbeen previously observed in the brucite-type hydroxides. The Ramanspectra of the high-pressure phase of Cd(OH)2 is similar to those of thehigh-pressure phase of single-crystal Ca(OH)2 of which structure has beententatively assigned to the Sr(OH)2 type.

Comparative genome analysis is critical for the effectiveexploration of a rapidly growing number of complete and draft sequencesfor microbial genomes. The Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) system(img.jgi.doe.gov) has been developed as a community resource thatprovides support for comparative analysis of microbial genomes in anintegrated context. IMG allows users to navigate the multidimensionalmicrobial genome data space and focus their analysis on a subset ofgenes, genomes, and functions of interest. IMG provides graphicalviewers, summaries and occurrence profile tools for comparing genes,pathways and functions (terms) across specific genomes. Genes can befurther examined using gene neighborhoods and compared with sequencealignment tools.

The purpose of this study is to design, fabricate and optimize microfluidic mixers to investigate the kinetics of protein secondary structure formation with Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism (SRCD) spectroscopy. The mixers are designed to rapidly initiate protein folding reaction through the dilution of denaturant. The devices are fabricated out of fused silica, so that they are transparent in the UV. We present characterization of mixing in the fabricated devices, as well as the initial SRCD data on proteins inside the mixers.

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