Low cost SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processor) systems provide substantial CPU and I/O capacity. These features together with the ease of system integration make them an attractive and cost effective solution for a number of real-time applications in event selection. In ATLAS the authors consider them as intelligent input buffers (active ROB complex), as event flow supervisors or as powerful processing nodes. Measurements of the performance of one off-the-shelf commercial 4-processor PC with two PCI buses, equipped with commercial FPGA based data source cards (microEnable) and running commercial software are presented and mapped on such applications together with a long-term program of work. The SMP systems may be considered as an important building block in future data acquisition systems.

Presentation on biomass and biofuels technology and economics presented at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, May 23, 2007.

The major objectives of the proposed study are to 1) determine the leaching characteristics of Cr(VI) from contaminated sediments collected from 100 area spill sites, 2) elucidate possible Cr(VI) mineral and/or chemical associations that may be responsible for Cr(VI) retention in the Hanford site 100 areas through the use of i) macroscopic solubility studies and ii) microscale characterization of contaminated sediments, and 3) from these data construct a conceptual model of Cr(VI) geochemistry in the Hanford 100 area vadose zone. These objectives are based on locating and obtaining contaminated sediment with depth and at varying Cr(VI) concentrations as we hypothesize that mineral/chemical-Cr(VI) associations should be related to the total Cr concentration and other master geochemical variables (e.g., pH, counter-cation type and concentration, and water content). In addressing these objectives, additional benefits accrued will be (1) a fuller understanding of Cr(VI) entrained in the vadose zone that will that can be utilized in modeling potential Cr(VI) source terms, and 2) accelerating the Columbia River 100 area corridor cleanup by developing remedial action based on a fundamental understanding of Cr(VI) vadose zone geochemistry.

The complexity of environmental pollution, not reported all over the world, increases the demand for novel, highly efficient and cost-effective rehabilitation technologies.

This report focuses on the floor activities of the House during its first formal session in a new Congress, and serves as a guide for participating in or watching these proceedings.

Cathodic arc plasmas are considered fully ionized and theycontain multiply charged ions, yet, gaseous and metal neutrals can bepresent. It is shown that they can cause a significant reduction of theion charge states as measured far from the cathode spots. Several cathodematerials were used to study the evolution the mean ion charge state as afunction of time after arc ignition. The type of cathode material, arccurrent amplitude, intentionally increased background gas, additionalsurfaces placed near the plasma flow, and other factors influence thedegree of charge state reduction because all of these factors influencethe density of neutrals. In all cases, it was found that the mean ioncharge state follows an exponential decay of first order, Q(t) = A *exp(t/tau) + Qss, where A is a parameter describing the importance of thedecay, tau is the characteristic decay time, and Qss is a steady-statevalue approached for continuous arc operation. The extrapolated valuesQ(t-->0) indicate surprisingly high mean charge states as produced atcathode spots and not "skewed" by charge exchange collisions withneutrals.

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The primary activities associated with maintenance of the Subsurface Microbial Culture Collection (SMCC) were designed to ensure that the collection served as a valuable resource to DOE-funded and other scientists, especially DOE-funded scientists associated with the NABIR Program. These activities were carried out throughout the period covered by this report and in-cluded: (1) assistance in the selection of cultures for research, (2) distribution of cultures and/or data on request, (3) incorporation of newly isolated microbial strains, (4) preservation of newly isolated strains, (5) partial characterization of newly isolated strains, (6) development and main-tenance of representative subsets of cultures, (6) screening of SMCC strains for specific charac-teristics, (7) phylogenetic characterization of SMCC strains, (8) development and maintenance of a SMCC website, (9) maintenance of the SMCC databases, (10) archiving of SMCC records, and (11) quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) activities. We describe in the Final Technical Report our accomplishments related to these activities during the period covered by this report.

Over the past few years Hi-Z has been developing a wide range of mW generators and life testing thermoelectric modules for the Department of Energy (DOE) to fulfill requirements by NASA Ames and other agencies. The purpose of this report is to determine the capabilities of a wide range of mW generators for various missions. In the 1st quarterly report the power output of various mW generators was determined via thermal and mechanical modeling. The variable attributes of each generator modeled were: the number of RHUs (1-8), generator outer diameter (1.25-4 in.), and G-load (10, 500, or 2,000). The resultant power output was as high as 180 mW for the largest generator with the lowest Gload. Specifically, we looked at the design of a generator for high G loading that is insulated with Xenon gas and multifoil solid insulation. Because the design of this new generator varied considerably from the previous generator design, it was necessary to show in detail how it is to be assembled, calculate them as of the generator and determine the heat loss from the system. A new method of assembling the RHU was also included as part of the design. As a side issue we …

The scope of the Mercury Laser project encompasses the research, development, and engineering required to build a new generation of diode-pumped solid-state lasers for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). The Mercury Laser will be the first integrated demonstration of laser diodes, crystals, and gas cooling within a scalable laser architecture. This report is intended to summarize the progress accomplished during the first three years of the project. Due to the technological challenges associated with production of 900 nm diode-bars, heatsinks, and high optical-quality Yb:S-FAP crystals, the initial focus of the project was primarily centered on the R&D in these three areas. During the third year of the project, the R&D continued in parallel with the development of computer codes, partial activation of the laser, component testing, and code validation where appropriate.

This Engineering Task Plan (ETP) presents the integrity assessment examination of three DCRTs, seven catch tanks, and two ancillary facilities located in the 200 East and West Areas of the Hanford Site. The integrity assessment examinations, as described in this ETP, will provide the necessary information to enable the independently qualified registered professional engineer (IQRPE) to assess the condition and integrity of these facilities. The plan is consistent with the Double-Shell Tank Waste Transfer Facilities Integrity Assessment Plan.

The major objective of this study was to identify and analyze signal transduction factors that function with the CR4 receptor kinase. We pursued this analysis in Arabidopsis. Analysis of other members of the ACR4 related receptor (CRR) family produced biochemical evidence consistent with some of them functioning in ACR4 signal transduction. Yeast 2-hybrid identified six proteins that interact with the cytoplasmic domain of ACR4, representing putative downstream signal transduction components. The interactions for all 6 proteins were verified by in vitro pull down assays. Five of the interacting proteins were phosphorylated by ACR4. We also identified candidate interactors with the extracellular TNFR domain. We hypothesize this may be the ligand binding domain for ACR4. In one approach, yeast 2-hybrid was again used and five candidate proteins identified. Nine additional candidates were identified in a genome wide scan of Arabidopsis amino acid sequences that threaded onto the TNF structure.

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Nonlinear gyroviscous forces in a collisionless plasma with temperature variations are calculated from the gyrofluid moments of the gyrokinetic Vlasov equation. The low-frequency gyrokinetic ordering and electrostatic perturbations are assumed, and an additional finite Larmor radius (FLR) expansion is performed. This approach leads naturally to an expression for the gyroviscous force in terms of the gyrocenter distribution function, thus including all resonant effects, and represents a systematic FLR expansion in a general form (no assumption of any closure is made). The expression for the gyroviscous force is also calculated in terms of the particle-fluid moments by making the transformation from the gyrocenter to particle coordinates. The calculated expression represents a modification of the Braginskii gyroviscosity for a collisionless plasma with nonuniform temperature. It is compared with previous calculations based on the traditional fluid approach. As a byproduct of the gyroviscosity calculations, we derive a set of nonlinear reduced gyrofluid (and a corresponding set of particle-fluid) moment equations with FLR corrections, which exhibit a generalized form of the ''gyroviscous cancellation.''

Credit unions are financial cooperatives organized by people with a common bond; they are the only depository institutions that are exempt from the federal corporate income tax. As financial cooperatives, credit unions only accept deposits of members and make loans only to members, other credit unions, or credit union organizations. Many Members of Congress advocate a reliance on market forces rather than tax policy to allocate resources. Furthermore, some Members of Congress are interested in additional sources of revenue in order to either reduce the deficit, offset the cost of higher federal outlays, or make up for tax cuts elsewhere. Consequently, the exemption of credit unions from federal income taxes has been questioned.

We compute the effect on a tokamak of applying a nonaxisymmetric magnetic perturbation δΒ. An equilibrium with scalar pressure p yields zero net radial current, and therefore zero torque. Thus, the usual approach, which assumes scalar pressure, is not self-consistent, and masks the close connection which exists between that radial current and the in-surface currents, which provide shielding or amplification of δΒ. Here, we analytically compute the pressure anisoptropy, anisoptropy, pll, p⊥ ≠ p, and from this, both the radial and in-surface currents. The surface-average of the radial current recovers earlier expressions for ripple transport, while the in-surface currents provide an expression for the amount of self-consistent shielding the plasma provides.

Precision near infrared (NIR) measurements are essential for the next generation of ground and space based instruments. The SuperNova Acceleration Probe (SNAP) will measure thousands of type Ia supernovae upto a redshift of 1.7. The highest redshift supernovae provide the most leverage for determining cosmological parameters, in particular the dark energy equation of state and its possible time evolution. Accurate NIR observations are needed to utilize the full potential of the highest redshift supernovae. Technological improvements in NIR detector fabrication have lead to high quantum efficiency, low noise detectors using a HgCdTe diode with a band-gap that is tuned to cutoff at 1:7 1m. The effects of detector quantum efficiency, read noise, and dark current on lightcurve signal to noise, lightcurve parameter errors, and distance modulus ?ts are simulated in the SNAP sim framework. Results show that improving quantum efficiency leads to the largest gains in photometric accuracy for type Ia supernovae. High quantum efficiency in the NIR reduces statistical errors and helps control systematic uncertainties at the levels necessary to achieve the primary SNAP science goals.

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SATB1 is an important regulator of nuclear architecture that anchors specialized DNA sequences onto its cage-like network and recruits chromatin remodeling/modifying factors to control gene transcription. We studied the role of SATB1 in regulating the coordinated expression of Il5, Il4, and Il13 from the 200kb cytokine gene cluster region of mouse chromosome 11 during T-helper 2 (Th2)-cell activation. We show that upon cell activation, SATB1 is rapidly induced to form a unique transcriptionally-active chromatin structure that includes the cytokine gene region. Chromatin is folded into numerous small loops all anchored by SATB1, is histone H3 acetylated at lysine 9/14, and associated with Th2-specific factors, GATA3, STAT6, c-Maf, the chromatin-remodeling enzyme Brg-1, and RNA polymerase II across the 200kb region. Before activation, the chromatin displays some of these features, such as association with GATA3 and STAT6, but these were insufficient for cytokine gene expression. Using RNA interference (RNAi), we show that upon cell activation, SATB1 is not only required for chromatin folding into dense loops, but also for c-Maf induction and subsequently for Il4, Il5, and Il13 transcription. Our results show that SATB1 is an important determinant for chromatin architecture that constitutes a novel higher-order, transcriptionally-active chromatin structure upon Th2-cell activation.

This report provides a summary estimate of military forces reported to have been deployed to and subsequently withdrawn from the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR), popularly called the Persian Gulf region, to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The passage of the Department of Defense authorization and appropriations bills through Congress often does not follow the course laid out in textbooks on legislative procedure. This report is a research aid, which lists the DOD authorization bills ad appropriation bills. This includes all the pertinent information on the passage of these bills through the legislative process: bill numbers, report numbers, dates reported and passed, recorded vote numbers and vote tallies, dates of the passage of the conference reports with their numbers and votes, vetos, substitutions, dates of final passage, and public law numbers.

This report examines the data of the survey on the distribution of household wealth.

This report discusses the relationship between the United States and Japan, including Japanese efforts to support the U.S. in the wake of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks and the two countries' economic ties. This report also discusses the general political atmosphere of Japan.