While "competitiveness" has a clear meaning when applied to a baseball team, or a firm or industry, it is of limited usefulness when applied to a country's overall economic performance. Moreover, focussing on competitiveness can lead to questionable economic policies.

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Under the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United States may use the dispute settlement mechanism to resolve certain trade problems with Japan. As compared with the mechanism under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the WTO offers expanded coverage and nearly automatic approval for panel requests and reports.

Americans disagree as to whether or not China poses a serious security concern for U.S. interests in peace and security in Asia and the Pacific. Many point to rising Chinese defense capabilities and assertive rhetoric to warn of Chinese military- backed expansion. Others judge that the main danger comes from China's weakness. They argue that the possibility of an emerging breakdown in government authority in China could prompt regional disorder and refugee flows seriously undermining Asian stability. Still others see the Chinese "threat" as grossly exaggerated. They stress that Beijing leaders are in control of the country and see their interests best served by accommodation to their richer and generally better armed neighbors.

This report provides a legislative history and funding levels for Cuba Broadcasting. It discusses specific concerns some lawmakers have had with Radio and TV Marti over the years, and presents the Panel's recommendations and the USIA Director's response and determinations, as required by the FYI994 appropriations act.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether rule 166c of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and section 52.021(f) of the Government Code conflict (RQ-695)

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the commission court may reduce the salaries the district and county clerk and clerk's deputies recieve and related question (ID# 24862)

Although much has been learned about the structure and function of p53 and the probable sequence of subsequent events that lead to cell cycle arrest, little is known about how DNA damage is detected and the nature of the signal that is generated by DNA damage. Circumstantial evidence suggests that protein kinases may be involved. In vitro, human DNA-PK phosphorylates a variety of nuclear DNA-binding, regulatory proteins including the tumor suppressor protein p53, the single-stranded DNA binding protein RPA, the heat shock protein hsp90, the large tumor antigen (TAg) of simian virus 40, a variety of transcription factors including Fos, Jun, serum response factor (SRF), Myc, Sp1, Oct-1, TFIID, E2F, the estrogen receptor, and the large subunit of RNA polymerase II (reviewed in Anderson, 1993; Jackson et al., 1993). However, for most of these proteins, the sites that are phosphorylated by DNA-PK are not known. To determine if the sites that were phosphorylated in vitro also were phosphorylated in vivo and if DNA-PK recognized a preferred protein sequence, the authors identified the sites phosphorylated by DNA-PK in several substrates by direct protein sequence analysis. Each phosphorylated serine or threonine is followed immediately by glutamine in the polypeptide chain; at no …

Lasers plasma instabilities are an important constraint in x-ray driven inertial confinement fusion. In hohlraums irradiated with 1.06 {mu}m light on the Shiva laser, plasma instabilities were extremely deleterious, driving the program to the use of shorter wavelength light. Excellent coupling has been achieved in hohlraums driven with 0.35 {mu}m light on the Nova laser. Considerable attention is being given to the scaling of this excellent coupling to the larger hohlraums for an ignition target. Various instability control mechanisms such as large plasma wave damping and laser beam incoherence are discussed, as well as scaling experiments to check the instability levels.

The primary objective of this research in the vicinity of the proposed Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository is the detection of episodes of increased runoff and groundwater discharge in this presently arid area. Ancient, inactive spring deposits in nearby valley bottoms (Haynes, 1967; Quade, 1986; Quade and Pratt, 1989), evidence for perennial water in presently dry canyons (Spaulding, 1992), and recent claims for extraordinary increases in precipitation during the last glacial age (Forester, 1994), provide good reason to further investigate both lowland spring-discharge habitats, and upland drainages. The ultimate purpose is to assess the long-term variability of the hydrologic system in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain in response to naturally occurring climatic changes. The data generated in the course of this study are derived from radiocarbon dated packrat (Neotoma) middens. This report presents the results of an initial assessment of the hydrologic stability of the candidate area based on a limited suite of middens from localities that, on geomorphic and hydrologic grounds, could have been close to ancient stream-side or spring environments. Paleoclimatic reconstructions are another means of studying the long-term climatic hydrologic stability of the Candidate Area include, and are also generated from packrat midden data. A different flora …

The APT project office is conducting a preconceptual design study for an accelerator driven concept to produce tritium. The facility will require new technology in many areas, since the scale of this accelerator is significantly larger then any in operation to date. The facility is composed of four subsystems: accelerator, target & blanket, balance of plant, and tritium purification system (TPS). New physics realms will be entered in order for the concept to be feasible; for example, extremely high energy levels of the entering protons that induce (multiplicative) spallation of the neutrons from the high Z target will occur. These are complex and require advance codes (MCNP) to predict the physics interactions and as well as deleterious material effects in the surrounding structures. Other issues include component cooling and complex thermal-hydraulics effects within the blanket and the beam {open_quotes}window.{close_quotes} In order to support a DOE mandated fast ROD schedule, Los Alamos APT staff will be provided with senior, engineering technical support staff with direct APT technology experience and whom are {open_quotes}on site{close_quotes}. This report contains resumes of the staff.

The test unit is a custom photodetector/event timer, PET, built for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, SAO, by Los Alamos which records elapsed time in 10 ps steps. The 1 Kg, 12 cm diameter PET unit uses 10 watts of electrical power and was tested to SAO`s specified flight conditions. The event timer has two inputs -- a reference clock oscillator input and a stop signal. Like a stop watch with split timing capability, the event timer records the instant a stop signal arrives. At that sample instant, the number of elapsed clock cycles are stored and the sample instant position between two reference clock edges is interpolated and stored. Then that stored data can be shifted serially to an external computer. The photodetector part of the PET responds to an optical input and provides the electrical output signal to the event timer specifying the sample instant. This test report discusses the event timer test results. Test equipment is shown for most of the operational tests. The relay rack contains test pursers and clocks. The environmental chamber controls temperature. The computer reads and records the serial data from the PET. Reported testing topics include: Pulse shapes to be used as test …

A model is proposed for the formation and evolution of three- dimensional sedimentary structures such as longshore sand ridges on the continental shelf in water deeper than that of the shoaling region. Owing to the striking similarity between the bar spacing and the length scales in which interactions among the most energetic modes of shallow water waves take place, we argue that these bars are formed slowly by flows in the turbulent boundary layer generated by weakly nonlinear, dispersive waves. Hence the model is based on the interaction between surficial, weakly nonlinear shallow water waves, having weak spanwise spatial dependence, and the bottom topography. While such underwater structures are not the result of a single formative agent, it is argued that the mechanism proposed in this study does contribute significantly to their generation and evolution. Comparisons of this model with oceanographic data must wait for sufficient data to become available. In conjunction with developing the sand ridge model, this study proposes new mathematical equations of interest in their own right.

This paper investigates the stability of the complete sequence of strange-matter stars with nuclear crusts against radial pulsations (acoustical modes). It is found that a broad class of white dwarf- like strange stars is stable against such pulsations. The same holds for the much denser strange stars, which are the strange counter-parts of neutron stars. All stars possessing still higher central densities (e.g., charm stars) turn out to be unstable.

Longshore sand ridges are frequently observed to occur on the continental shelf where the overlying ocean is stratified. This study formulates a model for the formation and evolution of three-dimensional longshore sand ridges on the continental shelf. The model is based on the interaction of interfacial, weakly nonlinear waves in a stratified ocean with the sedimentary bottom topography.

The work falls under DOE`s Clean Coal Technology Program category of `Advanced Coal Cleaning.` The 51-month project will provide the utility industry with a PC software program to evaluate the potential for coal cleaning, blending, and switching options to reduce emissions while producing electricity.

Three core samples from tank C-111, and a field blank, were received by the 222-S laboratories. Cores 58, 59, and the field blank were analyzed in accordance with plans. A hot cell blank was analyzed at the direction of the hot cell chemist. No sample results exceeded the notification limits. Core 60 was not analyzed.

This paper gives an overview of the properties of all possible equilibrium sequences of compact strange-matter stars with nuclear crusts, which range from strange stars to strange dwarfs. In contrast to their non-strange counterparts--neutron stars and white dwarfs--their properties are determined by two (rather than one) parameters, the central star density and the density at the base of the nuclear crust. This leads to stellar strange-matter configurations whose properties are much more complex than those of the conventional sequence. As an example, two generically different categories of stable strange dwarfs are found, which could be the observed white dwarfs. Furthermore the authors find very-low-mass strange stellar objects, with masses as small as those of Jupiter or even lighter planets. Such objects, if abundant enough, should be seen by the presently performed gravitational microlensing searches.

This report documents the configuration of the Chessell Model 4200 Data Logger used in the Rotary Mode Core Sampling (RMCS) Exhauster.

The current focus in large scale scientific computing is upon parallel supercomputers. While still relatively unproven, these machines are being slated for production-oriented, general purpose supercomputing applications. The promise, of course, is to use massively parallel computers to venture further into scientific realisms by performing computations with anywhere from 10{sup 6} to 10{sup 9} grid points thereby, in principle, obtaining a deeper understanding of physical processes. In approaching this brave new world of computing with finite element applications, many technical issues become apparent. This paper attempts to reveal some of the applications-oriented issues which are facing code developers and ultimately the users of engineering and scientific applications on parallel supercomputers, but which seem to be remaining unanswered by vendors, researchers and centralized computing facilities. At risk is the fundamental way in which analysis is performed in a production sense, and the insight into physical problems which results. while at first this treatise may seem to advocate traditional register-to-register vector supercomputers, the goal of this paper is simply an attempt to point out what is missing from the massively parallel computing picture not only for production finite element applications, but also for grand challenge problems. the limiting issues for the use …

Targets for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) experiments at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) utilize an organic (CH) ablator coating prepared by plasma polymerization. Some of these experiments require a mid-Z dopant in the ablator coating to modify the opacity of the shell. Bromine had been used in the past, but the surface finish of brominated CH degrades rapidly with time upon exposure to air. This paper describes the preparation and characterization of plasma polymer layers containing germanium as a dopant at concentrations of between 1.25 and 2.25 atom percent. The coatings are stable in air and have an rms surface roughness of 7--9 nm (modes 10--1,000) which is similar to that obtained with undoped coatings. High levels of dopant result in cracking of the inner mandrel during target assembly. Possible explanations for the observed cracking behavior will be discussed.