For reporting year 2006, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL or the Laboratory) submitted Form R reports for lead as required under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Section 313. No other EPCRA Section 313 chemicals were used in 2006 above the reportable thresholds. This document was prepared to provide a description of the evaluation of EPCRA Section 313 chemical use and threshold determinations for LANL for calendar year 2006, as well as to provide background information about data included on the Form R reports. Section 313 of EPCRA specifically requires facilities to submit a Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Report (Form R) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state agencies if the owners and operators manufacture, process, or otherwise use any of the listed toxic chemicals above listed threshold quantities. EPA compiles this data in the Toxic Release Inventory database. Form R reports for each chemical over threshold quantities must be submitted on or before July 1 each year and must cover activities that occurred at the facility during the previous year. In 1999, EPA promulgated a final rule on persistent bioaccumulative toxics (PBTs). This rule added several chemicals to the EPCRA Section 313 list of toxic …

Though many enzymes can promote chemical reactions by tuning substrate properties purely through the electrostatic environment of a docking cavity, this strategy has proven challenging to mimic in synthetic host-guest systems. Here we report a highly-charged, water soluble, metal-ligand assembly with a hydrophobic interior cavity that thermodynamically stabilizes protonated substrates and consequently catalyzes the normally acidic hydrolysis of orthoformates in basic solution, with rate accelerations of up to 890-fold. The catalysis reaction obeys Michaelis-Menten kinetics, exhibits competitive inhibition, and the substrate scope displays size selectivity consistent with the constrained binding environment of the molecular host. Synthetic chemists have long endeavored to design host molecules capable of selectively binding slow-reacting substrates and catalyzing their chemical reactions. While synthetic catalysts are often site-specific and require certain properties of the substrate to insure catalysis, enzymes are often able to modify basic properties of the bound substrate such as pK{sub a} in order to enhance reactivity. Two common motifs used by nature to activate otherwise unreactive compounds are the precise arrangement of hydrogen-bonding networks and electrostatic interactions between the substrate and adjacent residues of the protein. Precise arrangement of hydrogen bonding networks near the active sites of proteins can lead to well-tuned pK{sub a}-matching, …

A significant amount of progress has been achieved in the development of the novel vacuum distillation method described in the proposal. The process for the purification of Te was fully developed and characterized in a series of trials. The purification effect was confirmed with GDMS sample analysis and indicates the process yields very high purity Te metal. Results of this initial process study have been submitted for publication in the Proceedings of the SPIE and will be presented on August 28, 2007 at the SPIE Optics and Photonics 2007 conference in San Diego, CA. Concurrent to the development of the Te process, processes for the purification of Cd, Zn, and Mn have also progressed. The development of the processes for Cd and Zn are nearly complete, while the development of the process for Mn is still in its infancy. It is expected that a full characterization of the Cd process will be completed within the next quarter, followed by Zn. Parallel to those characterization studies, efforts will be made to further develop the Mn purification process. Zone melting work for Te and Cd has also been efforted as per the project work schedule. Initial trials have been completed and the …

Sayers and Kachanov (1991) defined crack-influence parameters that are shown to be directly related to Thomsen (1986) weak-anisotropy seismic parameters for fractured reservoirs when the crack/fracture density is small enough. These results are then applied to the problem of seismic wave propagation in polar (i.e., non-isotropic) reservoirs having HTI seismic wave symmetry due to the presence of aligned vertical fractures and resulting in azimuthal seismic wave symmetry at the earth's surface. The approach presented suggests one method of inverting for fracture density from wave-speed data. It is also observed that the angular location {theta}{sub ex} of the extreme value (peak or trough) of the quasi-SV-wave speed for VTI occurs at an angle determined approximately by the formula tan{sup 2} {theta}{sub ex} {approx_equal} tan {theta}{sub m} = [(c{sub 33} - c{sub 44})/(c{sub 11}-c{sub 44})]{sup 1/2}, where {theta}{sub m} is an angle determined directly (as shown) from the c{sub ij} elastic stiffnesses, whenever these are known from either quasi-static or seismic wave measurements. Alternatively, {theta}{sub ex} is given in terms of the Thomsen seismic anisotropy parameters by tan {theta}{sub ex} {approx_equal} ([v{sub p}{sup 2}(0)-v{sub s}{sup 2}(0)]/[(1 + 2{epsilon})v{sub p}{sup 2}(0)-v{sub s}{sup 2}(0)]){sup 1/4}, where {epsilon} = (c{sub 11}-c{sub 33})/2c{sub 33}, v{sub p}{sup …

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides broad nondiscrimination protection for individuals with disabilities in employment, public services, public accommodations and services operated by private entities, transportation, and telecommunications. Enacted in 1990, the ADA is a civil rights statute that has as its purpose “to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities.” It has been the subject of numerous lower court decisions, and the Supreme Court has decided 20 ADA cases, most recently United States v. Georgia. This report examines the Supreme Court decisions on the ADA.

Charities and other entities seeking tax attempt status as organizations must apply to the Internal Revenue Service. This report provides an overview of the application process.

The data model for event reconstruction (EDM) in the Inner Detector of the ATLAS experiment is presented. Different data classes represent evolving stages in the reconstruction data flow, and specific derived classes exist for the sub-detectors. The Inner Detector EDM also extends the data model for common tracking in ATLAS and is integrated into the modular design of the ATLAS high-level trigger and off-line software.

{sup 137}Cs released during 1954-1974 from nuclear production reactors on the Savannah River Site, a US Department of Energy nuclear materials production site in South Carolina, contaminated a portion of the Savannah River floodplain known as Creek Plantation. {sup 137}Cs activity concentrations have been measured in Creek Plantation since 1974 making it possible to calculate effective half-lives for {sup 137}Cs in soil and vegetation and assess the spatial distribution of contaminants on the floodplain. Activity concentrations in soil and vegetation were higher near the center of the floodplain than near the edges as a result of frequent inundation coupled with the presence of low areas that trapped contaminated sediments. {sup 137}Cs activity was highest near the soil surface, but depth related differences diminished with time as a likely result of downward diffusion or leaching. Activity concentrations in vegetation were significantly related to concentrations in soil. The plant to soil concentration ratio (dry weight) averaged 0.49 and exhibited a slight but significant tendency to decrease with time. The effective half-lives for {sup 137}Cs in shallow (0-7.6 cm) soil and in vegetation were 14.9 (95% CI = 12.5-17.3) years and 11.6 (95% CI = 9.1-14.1) years, respectively, and rates of {sup 137}Cs …

This paper presents the process used by the Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management (EM) Program to collect and prioritize DOE soil and groundwater site science and technology needs, develop and document strategic plans within the EM Engineering and Technology Roadmap, and establish specific program and project initiatives for inclusion in the EM Multi-Year Program Plan. The paper also presents brief summaries of the goals and objectives for the established soil and groundwater initiatives.

This report provides an overview of Egyptian politics and current issues in U.S. - Egyptian relations. It briefly provides a political history of modern Egypt, an overview of its political institutions, and a discussion of the prospects for democratization in Egypt.

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Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is currently implementing recommendations from the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round, which is the fifth round undertaken by DOD since 1988. The 2005 round is, by GAO's assessment, the biggest, most complex, and costliest BRAC round ever, in part because, unlike previous rounds, the Secretary of Defense viewed the 2005 round as an opportunity not only to achieve savings but also to assist in transforming the department. GAO's testimony addresses (1) GAO's role in the BRAC process, and (2) how DOD's current cost and savings estimates to implement the 2005 recommendations compare to the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission's (the Commission) cost and savings estimates. This testimony is based primarily on the report GAO issued yesterday (GAO-08-159) on the overall changes to DOD's cost and savings estimates for the 2005 BRAC round. To analyze these changes, GAO compared the Commission's estimates in its 2005 report to DOD's estimates in its fiscal year 2008 BRAC budget submission. This testimony is also based on several reports GAO has issued on the implementation of selected recommendations, and GAO's prior work assessing the …

A sampling method for spin systems is presented. The spin lattice is written as the union of a nested sequence of sublattices, all but the last with conditionally independent spins, which are sampled in succession using their marginals. The marginals are computed concurrently by a fast algorithm; errors in the evaluation of the marginals are offset by weights. There are no Markov chains and each sample is independent of the previous ones; the cost of a sample is proportional to the number of spins (but the number of samples needed for good statistics may grow with array size). The examples include the Edwards-Anderson spin glass in three dimensions.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To address concerns about unemployed or underemployed Soviet-era weapons scientists in Russia and other countries, the Department of Energy (DOE) established the Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP) program in 1994 to engage former Soviet weapons scientists in nonmilitary work in the short term and create private sector jobs for these scientists in the long term. GAO assessed (1) DOE's reported accomplishments for the IPP program, (2) DOE's exit strategy for the program, and (3) the extent to which the program has experienced annual carryovers of unspent funds and the reasons for any such carryovers. To address these issues, GAO analyzed DOE policies, plans, and budgets and interviewed key program officials and representatives from 22 Russian and Ukrainian institutes."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Smithsonian Institution (Smithsonian) is the world's largest museum complex. Its funding comes from its own private trust fund assets and federal appropriations, with the majority of funds for facilities coming from federal appropriations. In 2005, GAO reported that the Smithsonian's current funding would not be sufficient to cover its estimated $2.3 billion in facilities projects through 2013 and recommended that the Smithsonian Board of Regents, its governing body, develop and implement a funding plan. Recently, problems related to a lack of adequate oversight of executive compensation and other issues have raised concerns about governance at the Smithsonian. This testimony discusses GAO's recently issued work on the Smithsonian's real property management efforts and its efforts to develop and implement strategies to fund its facilities projects. In addition, it describes preliminary results of GAO's ongoing work on the Smithsonian's governance challenges. The work for this testimony is based on GAO's September 2007 report, Smithsonian Institution: Funding Challenges Affect Facilities' Conditions and Security, Endangering Collections, which included recommendations. For ongoing governance work, GAO reviewed Smithsonian documents and interviewed Smithsonian officials, academics, and representatives of nonprofit associations."

Synchronization processes in populations of locally interacting elements are in the focus of intense research in physical, biological, chemical, technological and social systems. The many efforts devoted to understand synchronization phenomena in natural systems take now advantage of the recent theory of complex networks. In this review, we report the advances in the comprehension of synchronization phenomena when oscillating elements are constrained to interact in a complex network topology. We also overview the new emergent features coming out from the interplay between the structure and the function of the underlying pattern of connections. Extensive numerical work as well as analytical approaches to the problem are presented. Finally, we review several applications of synchronization in complex networks to different disciplines: biological systems and neuroscience, engineering and computer science, and economy and social sciences.

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This report describes a treaty signed by the United States and Australia on Defense Trade Cooperation in September 2007 that would facilitate defense trade and cooperation between the two nations. On the strategic level, the treaty would further develop ties between two very close allies who have fought together in most of America's conflicts, including most recently in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

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Using electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and many-electron atomic spectral calculations, we examine the O{sub 4,5} (5d {yields} 5f) edge structure of the ground-state {alpha} phase of Th, U, Np, Pu, Am, and Cm metal. Results show that the dipole-allowed transitions are contained within the giant resonance and that the small pre-peak in the actinide 5d {yields} 5f transition should not be labeled the O{sub 5} peak, but rather the {Delta}S=1 peak. Lastly, we present for the first time the O{sub 4,5} EELS spectra for Np, Am, and Cm metal.

Flows containing steady or nearly steady strong shocks in parts of the flow field, and unsteady turbulence with shocklets on other parts of the flow field are difficult to capture accurately and efficiently employing the same numerical scheme even under the multiblock grid or adaptive grid refinement framework. On one hand, sixth-order or higher shock-capturing methods are appropriate for unsteady turbulence with shocklets. On the other hand, lower order shock-capturing methods are more effective for strong steady shocks in terms of convergence. In order to minimize the shortcomings of low order and high order shock-capturing schemes for the subject flows, a multi-block overlapping grid with different orders of accuracy on different blocks is proposed. Test cases to illustrate the performance of the new solver are included.

The path towards realizing peta-scale computing isincreasingly dependent on building supercomputers with unprecedentednumbers of processors. To prevent the interconnect from dominating theoverall cost of these ultra-scale systems, there is a critical need forhigh-performance network solutions whose costs scale linearly with systemsize. This work makes several unique contributions towards attaining thatgoal. First, we conduct one of the broadest studies to date of high-endapplication communication requirements, whose computational methodsinclude: finite-difference, lattice-bolzmann, particle in cell, sparselinear algebra, particle mesh ewald, and FFT-based solvers. Toefficiently collect this data, we use the IPM (Integrated PerformanceMonitoring) profiling layer to gather detailed messaging statistics withminimal impact to code performance. Using the derived communicationcharacterizations, we next present fit-trees interconnects, a novelapproach for designing network infrastructure at a fraction of thecomponent cost of traditional fat-tree solutions. Finally, we propose theHybrid Flexibly Assignable Switch Topology (HFAST) infrastructure, whichuses both passive (circuit) and active (packet) commodity switchcomponents to dynamically reconfigure interconnects to suit thetopological requirements of scientific applications. Overall ourexploration leads to a promising directions for practically addressingthe interconnect requirements of future peta-scale systems.