Upper-air meteorological data (soundings) are often analyzed by means of thermodynamic diagrams relating temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure. This report describes the components of a graphical user interface which have been developed to visualize soundings in this manner at any global location and time of interest.

The Biofuels Feedstock Development Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a county-level database on energy crops-the Oak Ridge Energy Crop County-Level database (RECCL). This database encompasses all U.S. counties and provides easy access to energy crop information specific to a state or county. The database contains predictions of energy crop yields and farmgate prices along with county-level data on the acreage of land suitable for energy crop production. This paper describes the database and presents state-level summary statistics on land suitable for energy crop production and average predicted yields and farmgate prices.

The Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers (MnVAP) propose to build an alfalfa processing plant integrated with an advanced power plant system at the Granite Falls, Minnesota Industrial Park to provide 75 MW of base load electric power and a competitively priced source of value added alfalfa based products. This project will utilize air blown fluidized bed gasification technology to process alfalfa stems and another biomass to produce a hot, clean, low heating value gas that will be used in a gas turbine. Exhaust heat from the gas turbine will be used to generate steam to power a steam turbine and provide steam for the processing of the alfalfa leaf into a wide range of products including alfalfa leaf meal, a protein source for livestock. The plant will demonstrate high efficiency and environmentally compatible electric power production, as well as increased economic yield from farm operations in the region. The initial phase of the Minnesota Agripower Project (MAP) will be to perform alfalfa feedstock testing, prepare preliminary designs, and develop detailed plans with estimated costs for project implementation. The second phase of MAP will include detailed engineering, construction, and startup. Full commercial operation will start in 2001.

Contents include articles entitled: GAO concludes most Ward Valley SEIS issues previously addressed; Midwest compact halts facility development; Texas publishes proposal to issue WCS radioactive materials license; Central Compact issues export authorizations over NE`s objection; Nebraska governor to host LLRW summit; California regulators reassured re US ecology facility in WA; Southeast Compact augments funding for North Carolina; State and compact calendar of events; IAEA Director General to UN: reexamine nuclear power; DOI convenes meetings on Ward Valley Title VI complaint; California BLM: Tribes fully represented and consulted; MW, NE, and SW file amici curiae briefs in Ward Valley suit; Court denies state`s motion for protective order; WCS files suit against Envirocare and others; States attack DOE`s claim re lack of authority to store spent fuel; House committee passes Texas legislation; Ward Valley land transfer bill introduced in Senate; Senate committee holds hearing on Ward Valley legislation and related GAO report; NRDC threatens to sue DOE re Envirocare; NRC chair criticizes Deputy Interior Secretary`s use of Ward Valley fact sheet; Utility consortium submits license application for storage on Goshute land to NRC; Envirocare cited for SNM violation; EPA begins audit; and EPA rejects Title VI claim re Texas site.

Experiments to develop high photon energy x-ray sources were carried out on the Nova laser. Ten laser beams delivered approximately 39 kJ of energy in 2 ns into a Be cylinder filled with Xe gas. The conversion efficiency into x-ray {lt} 4 keV was measured to be 5-15%, which is the highest measured in this photon regime for laser-produced plasmas. The temporal dependence of the x-ray emission indicates that the bulk of the emission is emitted in the first half of the 2 ns pulse. A set of diagnostics were fielded to image the volume in emission as well as provide spectra to measure conversion efficiency.

We are developing experiments using the Nova laser to investigate (1) compressible nonlinear hydrodynamic mixing relevant to the first few hours of the supernova (SN) explosion and (2) ejecta-ambient plasma interactions relevant to the early SN remnant phase. The experiments and astrophysical implications are discussed.

Drop loads are usually low probability events that can generate substantial loading to the impacted structures. When the impacted structure contains slender elements, the concern about dynamic buckling must be addressed. The problem of interest here is a structure is also under significant preload, which must be taken into account in the transient analysis. For complex structures, numerical simulations are the only viable option for assessing the transient response to short duration impactive loads. this paper addresses several analysis issues of preloaded structures with slender members subjected to drop loads. A three-dimensional beam element is validated for use in dynamic buckling analysis. the numerical algorithm used to solve the transient response of preloaded structures is discussed. The methodology is applied to an inter-compartment lock that is under significant preloads, and subjected to a drop load.

Some RE{sub 1-x}Sr{sub x}MnO{sub 3} (RE=Nd,Pr) systems with x {approximately} 1/2 exhibit an A-type anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) structure instead of the expectged CE-type magnetic structure. This can be understood as being a consequence of the increase of the band width (W). These A-type magnetic systems also show salient features in their crystal structures. We proposed a two dimensional anisotropy of the transport as well as the magnetic properties for the A-type AFM structure and we show that we have, indeed, observed anisotropic spin wave dispersion relations by inelastic neutron measurements.

Inelastic neutron scattering measurements across the TSDW satellites of chromium were performed at {Delta}E=5,20meV, both under zero field and 5T magnetic field. Analysis concerning the transverse magnetic excitations (T{sub 1},T{sub 2}) and the longitudinal magnetic excitations (L) indicates that T{sub 1} and L are equally intense while T{sub 2} dominates and becomes more so at higher energies.

We report on results of an experimental study of the Richtmyer- Meshkov instability. The growth of the mixing region in the nonlinear regime is measured for a set of cases in which the amplitude and wavelength of the initial perturbation are varied systematically. The experiments are conducted on the Nova laser facility, and use a Nova hohlraum as a driver source to launch a high-Mach-number shock into a miniature shock tube attached to the hohlraum. The shock tube contains brominated plastic and low-density carbon foam as the two working fluids, with a micro-machined, triangular sawtooth interface between them serving as the initial perturbation. The sawtooth perturbation waveform is dominated by a single mode, and the perturbation amplitudes are chosen to expedite transition into the nonlinear phase of the instability. The shock, upon crossing the perturbation at the interface, instigates the Richtmyer- Meshkov instability. The resulting growth of the mixing region is diagnosed radiographically. Quantitative measurements of the temporal growth of the width of the mixing region are made for six different combinations of amplitude and wavelength, building upon previous results which employed a single amplitude/wavelength combination. Data from both experiment and supporting simulations suggest that the nonlinear growth of the …

Magazine for the state agency serving the needs of Texas veterans and their families in matters pertaining to veterans' benefits, rights, education, and employment.

Bimonthly magazine containing news and information that pertains to Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers. "The magazine's goals are to help organizations function professionally as EMS providers, to educate individuals so they can perform lifesaving prehospital skills under stressful conditions, and to help the public get into the EMS system when they need it" (p. 4).

Quarterly update providing information on environmental regulations for small businesses and local governments in Texas.

Publication with news and organization information regarding persons with developmental disabilities.

Quarterly newsletter of the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners discussing news and updates related to the Board's activities, changes to licensing and regulations, and other information of interest to nurses.

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

An open iris-loaded waveguide structure is considered for laser acceleration of highly relativistic particle in vacuum. Complete characterization of eigenmodes are given in analytical form for the structure. In particular acceleration performance of the dominant TM mode is evaluated in detail. Transparent scaling laws are derived, and through which significant advantages over other vacuum laser acceleration schemes are demonstrated. The entire parameter space is searched and it is found that below the laser damage threshold of the structure an acceleration gradient around 1 GV/m can be obtained over a phase slippage length of 10s of cm with TWs laser in the wavelength range from 1 to 10 {micro}m.

The (e,e'p) reaction on {sup 4}He nuclei was studied in kinematics designed to emphasize effects of nuclear short-range correlations. The measured cross sections display a peak in the kinematical regions where two-nucleon processes are expected to dominate. Theoretical models incorporating short-range correlation effects agree reasonably with the data.

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCIL4), Title III, Section 313 [also known as the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (SARA)], as modified by Executive Order 12856, requires all federal facilities to submit an annual Toxic Chemical Release Inventory report every July for the preceding calendar year. Owners and operators of manufacturing, processing, or production facilities are required to report their toxic chemical releases to all environmental mediums (air, water, soil, etc.). At Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), nitric acid was the only toxic chemical used in 1997 that met the reportable threshold limit of 10,000 lb. Form R is the only documentation required by the Environmental Protection Agency, and it is included in the appendix of this report. This report, as requested by DOE, is provided for documentation purposes. In addition, a detailed description of the evaluation and reporting process for chemicals and processes at LANL has been included.

Newsletter published by the Texas Department of Transportation for TxDOT employees including information about the organization, projects throughout the state, and other topics related to transportation in Texas.

Quarterly newsletter from the University of Texas System Cancer Center, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute discussing cancer care and research to inform physicians of recent developments in the field.

Newsletter of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority discussing news and updates related to the organization's meetings and activities, changes to regulations, and other relevant information.

Monthly report documenting contracts for road construction and maintentance in Texas, organized by county and district. It includes information about each project including contractor, dates, costs, and other relevant data.

The development of small scale multiterawatt and now pentawatt lasers is described. The intent was to develop a laser capable of producing pentawatt pulses in order to examine the fast ignitor concept for inertial confinement fusion. This application requires high pulse energy in addition to the short pulse duration. The essential idea is to pre-implode a deuterium-tritium capsule to an isochoric condition.