Analyzing Enron Data: Bitmap Indexing Outperforms MySQL Queries bySeveral Orders of Magnitude (open access)

Analyzing Enron Data: Bitmap Indexing Outperforms MySQL Queries bySeveral Orders of Magnitude

FastBit is an efficient, compressed bitmap indexing technology that was developed in our group. In this report we evaluate the performance of MySQL and FastBit for analyzing the email traffic of the Enron dataset. The first finding shows that materializing the join results of several tables significantly improves the query performance. The second finding shows that FastBit outperforms MySQL by several orders of magnitude.
Date: January 28, 2006
Creator: Stockinger, Kurt; Rotem, Doron; Shoshani, Arie & Wu, Kesheng
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agriculture-Based Renewable Energy Production (open access)

Agriculture-Based Renewable Energy Production

Since the late 1970s, U.S. policy makers at both the federal and state levels have enacted a variety of incentives, regulations, and programs to encourage the production and use of agriculture-based renewable energy. Motivations cited for these legislative initiatives include energy security concerns, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and raising domestic demand for U.S.-produced farm products. This report provides background information on farm-based energy production and how this fits into the national energy-use picture. It briefly reviews the primary agriculture-based renewable energy types and issues of concern associated with their production, particularly their economic and energy efficiencies and long-run supply. Finally, this report examines the major legislation related to farm-based energy production and use.
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Schnepf, Randy
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Application of Time-Lapse Seismic Monitoring for the Control and Optimization of CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery Operations (open access)

Application of Time-Lapse Seismic Monitoring for the Control and Optimization of CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery Operations

The ''Application of Time-Lapse Seismic Monitoring for the Control and Optimization of CO{sub 2} Enhanced Oil Recovery Operations'' project is investigating the potential for monitoring CO{sub 2} floods in carbonate reservoirs through the use of standard p-wave seismic data. This project will involve the use of 4D seismic (time lapse seismic) to try to observe the movement of the injected CO{sub 2} through the reservoir. The differences between certain seismic attributes, such as amplitude, will be used to detect and map the movement of CO{sub 2} within the reservoir. This technique has recently been shown to be effective in CO{sub 2} monitoring in EOR projects such as Weyborne. The project is being conducted in the Charlton 30/31 field in northern Michigan Basin which is a Silurian pinnacle reef that has completed its primary production. This field is now undergoing enhanced oil recovery using CO{sub 2}. The CO{sub 2} flood was initiated the end of 2005 when the injection of small amounts of CO{sub 2} begin in the A1 Carbonate. This injection was conducted for 2 months before being temporarily halted in order for pressure measurements to be conducted. The determination of the reservoir's porosity distribution is proving to be a …
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Toelle, Brian E.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Basin Analysis and Petroleum System Characterization and Modeling, Interior Salt Basins, Central and Eastern Gulf of Mexico (open access)

Basin Analysis and Petroleum System Characterization and Modeling, Interior Salt Basins, Central and Eastern Gulf of Mexico

The principal research effort for Year 3 of the project is basin modeling and petroleum system identification, comparative basin evaluation and resource assessment. In the first six (6) months of Year 3, the research focus is on basin modeling and petroleum system identification and the remainder of the year the emphasis is on the comparative basin evaluation and resource assessment. No major problems have been encountered to date, and the project is on schedule. The principal objectives of the project are to develop through basin analysis and modeling the concept that petroleum systems acting in a basin can be identified through basin modeling and to demonstrate that the information and analysis resulting from characterizing and modeling of these petroleum systems in the North Louisiana Salt Basin and the Mississippi Interior Salt Basin can be used in providing a more reliable and advanced approach for targeting stratigraphic traps and specific reservoir facies within a geologic system and in providing a refined assessment of undiscovered and underdeveloped reservoirs and associated oil and gas resources.
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Mancini, Ernest A.; Aharon, Paul; Goddard, Donald A. & Barnaby, Roger
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Concept for lightweight spaced-based deposition technology (open access)

Concept for lightweight spaced-based deposition technology

In this contribution we will describe a technology path to very high quality coatings fabricated in the vacuum of space. To accomplish the ambitious goals set out in NASA's Lunar-Mars proposal, advanced thin-film deposition technology will be required. The ability to deposit thin-film coatings in the vacuum of lunar-space could be extremely valuable for executing this new space mission. Developing lightweight space-based deposition technology (goal:<300 g, including power supply) will enable the future fabrication and repair of flexible large-area space antennae and fixed telescope mirrors for lunar-station observatories. Filtered Cathodic Arc (FCA) is a proven terrestrial energetic thin-film deposition technology that does not need any processing gas but is well suited for ultra-high vacuum operation. Recently, miniaturized cathodic arcs have already been developed and considered for space propulsion. It is proposed to combine miniaturized pulsed FCA technology and robotics to create a robust, enabling space-based deposition system for the fabrication, improvement, and repair of thin films, especially of silver and aluminum, on telescope mirrors and eventually on large area flexible substrates. Using miniature power supplies with inductive storage, the typical low-voltage supply systems used in space are adequate. It is shown that high-value, small area coatings are within the reach …
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Fulton, Michael & Anders, Andre
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Data Security: Protecting the Privacy of Phone Records (open access)

Data Security: Protecting the Privacy of Phone Records

This report discusses recent legislative and regulatory efforts to protect the privacy of customer telephone records, and efforts to prevent the unauthorized use, disclosure, or sale of such records by data brokers. In addition, it provides a brief overview of the confidentiality protections for customer information established by the Communications Act of 1934.
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Stevens, Gina Marie & Rainson, Tara Alexandra
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Waste Processing Facility Recycle Stream Evaporation (open access)

Defense Waste Processing Facility Recycle Stream Evaporation

None
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Stone, Michael
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): FY2006 Budget (open access)

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): FY2006 Budget

None
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: McCarty, Maggie; Perl, Libby; Foote, Bruce E. & Boyd, Eugene
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Direct space-charge effects on the ILC damping rings: Task ForceReport (open access)

Direct space-charge effects on the ILC damping rings: Task ForceReport

In 2005 a global effort was initiated to conduct studies for a baseline recommendation for the various components of the International Linear Collider (ILC). Work for the damping rings was subdivided in a number of tasks. This Report contains the contribution to this effort by the Authors as Coordinators of the Task Force on space charge. (A slightly reduced version of this document can also be found as part of the ''Configuration Studies and Recommendations for the ILC Damping Rings'', Edts. A. Wolski, et al., LBNL-59449.) The studies documented in this Report were carried out for several of the reference lattices considered for the baseline recommendation. Space charge effects were found to be quite noticeable in the lattices with the longest circumference. Although it does not appear that they could prevent operation of any machine having such lattices they do favor a choice of a ring design with shorter ({approx}6km) circumference at 5 GeV.
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Venturini, Marco & Oide, Katsunobu
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Hurricane Katrina Relief (open access)

Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Hurricane Katrina Relief

None
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Bea, Keith
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Enhanced Control of PWR Primary Coolant Water Chemistry Using Selective Separation Systems for Recovery and Recycle of Enriched Boric Acid (open access)

Enhanced Control of PWR Primary Coolant Water Chemistry Using Selective Separation Systems for Recovery and Recycle of Enriched Boric Acid

The objective of this project is to develop systems that will allow for increased nuclear energy production through the use of enriched fuels. The developed systems will allow for the efficient and selective recover of selected isotopes that are additives to power water reactors' primary coolant chemistry for suppression of corrosion attack on reactor materials.
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Czerwinski, Ken; Yeamans, Charels; Olander, Don; Raymond, Kenneth; Schroeder, Norman; Robison, Thomas et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Estimating Parametric, Model Form, and Solution Contributions Using Integral Validation Uncertainty Quantification (open access)

Estimating Parametric, Model Form, and Solution Contributions Using Integral Validation Uncertainty Quantification

One of the final steps in building a numerical model of a physical, mechanical, thermal, or chemical process, is to assess its accuracy as well as its sensitivity to input parameters and modeling technique. In this work, we demonstrate one simple process to take a top-down or integral view of the model, one which can implicitly reflect any couplings between parameters, to assess the importance of each aspect of modeling technique. We illustrate with an example of a comparison of a finite element model with data for violent reaction of explosives in accident scenarios. We show the relative importance of each of the main parametric inputs, and the contributions of model form and grid convergence. These can be directly related to the importance factors for the system being analyzed as a whole, and help determine which factors need more attention in future analyses and tests.
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Logan, R W; Nitta, C K & Chidester, S K
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evaluation of Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Facilities with SCR and FGD Systems (open access)

Evaluation of Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Facilities with SCR and FGD Systems

None
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Withum, J. A. & Locke, J. E.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evaluation of Ultra Clean Fuels from Natural Gas (open access)

Evaluation of Ultra Clean Fuels from Natural Gas

ConocoPhillips, in conjunction with Nexant Inc., Penn State University, and Cummins Engine Co., joined with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in a cooperative agreement to perform a comprehensive study of new ultra clean fuels (UCFs) produced from remote sources of natural gas. The project study consists of three primary tasks: an environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a Market Study, and a series of Engine Tests to evaluate the potential markets for Ultra Clean Fuels. The overall objective of DOE's Ultra Clean Transportation Fuels Initiative is to develop and deploy technologies that will produce ultra-clean burning transportation fuels for the 21st century from both petroleum and non-petroleum resources. These fuels will: (1) Enable vehicles to comply with future emission requirements; (2) Be compatible with the existing liquid fuels infrastructure; (3) Enable vehicle efficiencies to be significantly increased, with concomitantly reduced CO{sub 2} emissions; (4) Be obtainable from a fossil resource, alone or in combination with other hydrocarbon materials such as refinery wastes, municipal wastes, biomass, and coal; and (5) Be competitive with current petroleum fuels. The objectives of the ConocoPhillips Ultra Clean Fuels Project are to perform a comprehensive life cycle analysis and to conduct …
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Abbott, Robert; Casey, Edward; Esen, Etop; Smith, Douglas; Burke, Bruce; Nguyen, Binh et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Bureau of Investigation: Weak Controls over Trilogy Project Led to Payment of Questionable Contractor Costs and Missing Assets (open access)

Federal Bureau of Investigation: Weak Controls over Trilogy Project Led to Payment of Questionable Contractor Costs and Missing Assets

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Trilogy project--initiated in 2001--is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) largest information technology (IT) upgrade to date. While ultimately successful in providing updated IT infrastructure and systems, Trilogy was not a success with regard to upgrading FBI's investigative applications. Further, the project was plagued with missed milestones and escalating costs, which eventually totaled nearly $537 million. In light of these events, Congress asked GAO to determine whether (1) internal controls provided reasonable assurance that improper payment of unallowable contractor costs would not be made or would be detected in the normal course of business, (2) payments to contractors were properly supported as a valid use of government funds, and (3) FBI maintained proper accountability for assets purchased with Trilogy project funds."
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Program Performance Review: Program Assessment and Results Act and Other Developments (open access)

Federal Program Performance Review: Program Assessment and Results Act and Other Developments

This report provides program assessment and results act and other developments regarding Federal program performance review.
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: McMurtry, Virginia
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Final Monitoring Plan for Site Restoration at Murdock, Nebraska. (open access)

Final Monitoring Plan for Site Restoration at Murdock, Nebraska.

In early 2005, Argonne National Laboratory conducted an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA; Argonne 2005b) to address carbon tetrachloride contamination identified in groundwater and surface water at Murdock, Nebraska, approximately 22 mi east-northeast of Lincoln (Figure 1.1). The EE/CA study was performed for the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA), as the technical basis for a proposed removal action for the Murdock site. The EE/CA was conducted in compliance with an Administrative Order on Consent issued for Murdock by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 1991). Three removal action alternatives were examined through the use of site-specific data and predictive simulations of groundwater flow and contaminant transport performed with calibrated numerical models. The alternatives were evaluated individually and compared against performance criteria established under the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). On the basis of these evaluations, an alternative employing phytoremediation in conjunction with seasonal groundwater extraction and treatment by spray irrigation was recommended by the CCC/USDA to permanently reduce the carbon tetrachloride contaminant levels in groundwater and surface water at the site. The proposed alternative is being implemented in cooperation with the EPA. Under …
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: LaFreniere, L. M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Final Technical Report for DOE Award DE-FG07-00ID13890 (open access)

Final Technical Report for DOE Award DE-FG07-00ID13890

The ITRC is a state-led national coalition dedicated to developing tools and strategies to overcome barriers and enable the deployment of beneficial new environmental technologies. ITRC works in partnership with federal agencies, industry, academia, and public and tribal stakeholders to develop these tools and strategies and means of disseminating the tools to state environmental regulators, and technology users
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Titus, Timothy R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Geochemical Data Package for Performance Assessment Calculations Related to the Savannah River Site (open access)

Geochemical Data Package for Performance Assessment Calculations Related to the Savannah River Site

The Savannah River Site disposes of certain types of radioactive waste within subsurface-engineered facilities. One of the tools used to establish the capacity of a given site to safely store radioactive waste (i.e., that a site does not exceed its Waste Acceptance Criteria) is the Performance Assessment (PA). The objective of this document is to provide the geochemical values for the PA calculations. This work is being conducted as part of the on-going maintenance program that permits the PA to periodically update existing calculations when new data becomes available. Because application of values without full understanding of their original purpose may lead to misuse, this document also provides the geochemical conceptual model, approach used for selecting the values, the justification for selecting data, and the assumptions made to assure that the conceptual and numerical geochemical models are reasonably conservative (i.e., reflect conditions that will tend to predict the maximum risk to the hypothetical recipient). The geochemical parameters describe transport processes for 38 elements (>90 radioisotopes) potentially occurring within eight disposal units (Slit Trenches, Engineered Trenches, Low Activity Waste (LAW) Vault, Intermediate Level (ILV) Vaults, TRU-Pad-1, Naval Reactor Waste Pads, Components-in-Grout Trenches, and Saltstone Facility). This work builds upon well-documented work …
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Kaplan, D
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hanford Site Groundwater Monitoring for Fiscal Year 2005 (open access)

Hanford Site Groundwater Monitoring for Fiscal Year 2005

This report is one of the major products and deliverables of the Groundwater Remediation and Closure Assessment Projects detailed work plan for FY 2006, and reflects the requirements of The Groundwater Performance Assessment Project Quality Assurance Plan (PNNL-15014). This report presents the results of groundwater and vadose zone monitoring and remediation for fiscal year 2005 on the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site, Washington. The most extensive contaminant plumes in groundwater are tritium, iodine-129, and nitrate, which all had multiple sources and are very mobile in groundwater. The largest portions of these plumes are migrating from the central Hanford Site to the southeast, toward the Columbia River. Carbon tetrachloride and associated organic constituents form a relatively large plume beneath the west-central part of the Hanford Site. Hexavalent chromium is present in plumes beneath the reactor areas along the river and beneath the central part of the site. Strontium-90 exceeds standards beneath all but one of the reactor areas. Technetium-99 and uranium plumes exceeding standards are present in the 200 Areas. A uranium plume underlies the 300 Area. Minor contaminant plumes with concentrations greater than standards include carbon-14, cesium-137, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, cyanide, fluoride, plutonium, and trichloroethene. Monitoring for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, …
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Hartman, Mary J.; Morasch, Launa F. & Webber, William D.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Health Professions Education Programs (open access)

Health Professions Education Programs

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For fiscal years 1999 through 2005, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), spent about $2.7 billion to fund the more than 40 health professions education programs authorized under title VII and title VIII of the Public Health Service Act. These programs include those providing grants to institutions, direct assistance to students, and funding for health workforce analyses. Title VII includes programs related to the education of providers, such as primary care physicians. Title VIII includes programs related to nursing education. Most of these programs were last reauthorized in 1998. GAO reviewed changes in funding and in the number of these programs since 1998, HRSA's goals and assessment of the programs, and HRSA's national health professions workforce projections. GAO reviewed relevant laws and agency documents and data, and interviewed HRSA officials and representatives of health professions education associations."
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
HIV/AIDS: Changes Needed to Improve the Distribution of Ryan White CARE Act and Housing Funds (open access)

HIV/AIDS: Changes Needed to Improve the Distribution of Ryan White CARE Act and Housing Funds

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Among federal efforts to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic are the CARE Act of 1990 and the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program (HOPWA) administered by the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD), respectively. Both use formulas based upon a grantee's number of AIDS cases, rather than HIV and AIDS cases, to distribute funds to metropolitan areas, states, and territories. HIV cases must be incorporated with AIDS cases in CARE Act formulas not later than fiscal year 2007. GAO was asked to examine (1) how CARE Act and HOPWA funds are allocated among types of services, (2) the extent of funding distribution differences among CARE Act and HOPWA grantees, and how funding formula provisions contribute to these differences, and (3) what distribution differences could result from incorporating HIV case counts in CARE Act and HOPWA funding formulas."
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program: Program and Risk Management Could Be Enhanced (open access)

Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program: Program and Risk Management Could Be Enhanced

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under its Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures nearly $5 billion in mortgage loans for the renovation or construction of hospitals that would otherwise have difficulty accessing capital. In response to a requirement in the 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Conference Report, GAO examined (1) the design and management of the program, as compared with private insurance, (2) the nature and management of the relationship between HUD and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in implementing the program, (3) the financial implications of the program to the General Insurance/Special Risk Insurance (GI/SRI) fund, including risk posed by program and market trends, and (4) how HUD estimates the annual credit subsidy for the program, including the factors and assumptions used."
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
IMPACTS OF REDUCING CONDITIONS IN THE SATURATED ZONE AT YUCCA MOUNTAIN (open access)

IMPACTS OF REDUCING CONDITIONS IN THE SATURATED ZONE AT YUCCA MOUNTAIN

Variations in groundwater redox chemistry in the saturated zone near Yucca Mountain could have significant repository to the accessible environment. This study examines geochemical data relevant to the distribution of redox impacts on processes associated with the potential transport of redox-sensitive radionuclides from the proposed conditions in the saturated zone, the relationships between redox state and solubility and sorption coefficients for technetium and neptunium, and sensitivity in transport model simulations. Results indicate evidence for a zone of reducing conditions in the volcanic rocks of the saturated zone located to the east and south of the repository and along the inferred flow paths from the repository. A working hypothesis is that these reducing conditions are related to the presence of minor pyrite in the matrix of some volcanic units. Chemical equilibrium modeling of technetium solubility using EQ3/6 software codes is used to estimate the value of solubility limits as a function of Eh. Surface complexation modeling with the EQ3 code is used to estimate neptunium sorption coefficient values as a function of Eh. A general analytical approach, one-dimensional reactive transport modeling, and the three-dimensional saturated zone site-scale transport model using the FEHM software code are used to evaluate the impacts of …
Date: February 28, 2006
Creator: Arnold, B.W.; Meijer, A.; Kalinina, E.; Robinson, B.; Kelkar, S.; Jove-Colon, C. et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library