A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The viability of the All Volunteer Force depends, in large measure, on the Department of Defense's (DOD) ability to recruit several hundred thousand individuals each year. Since the involvement of U.S. military forces in Iraq in March 2003, several DOD components have been challenged in meeting their recruiting goals. In fiscal year 2005 alone, three of the eight active and reserve components missed their goals. Some recruiters, reportedly, have resorted to overly aggressive tactics, which can adversely affect DOD's ability to recruit and erode public confidence in the recruiting process. GAO was asked to address the extent to which DOD and the services have visibility over recruiter irregularities; what factors may contribute to recruiter irregularities; and what procedures are in place to address them. GAO performed its work primarily at the service recruiting commands and DOD's Military Entrance Processing Command; examined recruiting policies, regulations, and directives; and analyzed service data on recruiter irregularities."

None

A grain boundary engineered copper sample previously characterized by Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) has been selected for nanoindentation tests. Given the fact that grain boundaries have thicknesses in the order of 1 micron or less, it is essential to use nanomechanics to test the properties of individual grain boundaries. The Hysitron nanoindenter was selected over the MTS nanoindenter due to its superior optical capabilities that aid the selection and identification of the areas to be tested. An area of 2mm by 2mm with an average grain size of 50 microns has been selected for the study. Given the EBSD mapping, grains and grain boundaries with similar orientations are tested and the hardness and modulus are compared. These results will give a relationship between the mechanical properties and the engineered grain boundaries. This will provide for the first time a correlation between grain boundary orientation and the mechanical behavior of the sample at the nanoscale.

The visualization of biological molecules and assemblies can provide enormous insight into protein structure-function relationships, as well as practical applications to fields such as microbial forensics. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a powerful tool for imaging soft biomaterials such as cells, spores, and proteins with nanometer resolution. The goal of this work is to understand pathogen architecture and its application to microbial forensics and medicine. Initial work has focused on imaging Bacillus species; both live cells and dormant spores. Experiments have shown AFM capable of visualizing the fine structures of cell wall peptidoglycan and spore coat proteins. Work completed thus far indicates that AFM will be able to resolve some persistent questions in microbiology concerning structure-function relationships at cell surfaces, as well as assist in understanding the formulation and processing of spores used for bio-terrorism. In addition to imaging results, we have developed a robust method for the attachment of cells to surfaces for imaging in liquid.

In 1952, we began laboratory operations in the barracks building of the Naval Air Station with approximately 50 employees. Today, the Chemistry and Materials Science (CMS) Directorate is a major organization at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with more than 500 employees who continue to contribute to our evolving national security mission. For more than half a century, the mission of the Laboratory revolved primarily around nuclear deterrence and associated defense technologies. Today, Livermore supports a broad-based national security mission, and our specialized capabilities increasingly support emerging missions in human health and energy security. In the future, CMS will play a significantly expanded role in science and technology at the intersection of national security, energy and environment, and health. Our world-class workforce will provide the science and technology base for radically innovative materials to our programs and sponsors. Our 2005 Annual Report describes how our successes and breakthroughs follow a path set forward by our strategic plan and four organizing research themes, each with key scientific accomplishments by our staff and collaborators. Organized into two major sections-research themes and dynamic teams, this report focuses on achievements arising from earlier investments that address future challenges. The research presented in this annual …

None

None

On June 1, 2006, public health officials working in surveillance, epidemiological modeling, and information technology communities from the Seattle/Tacoma area and State of Washington met with members of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to discuss the current state of disease surveillance and gaps and needs to improve the current systems. The meeting also included a discussion of PNNL initiatives that might be appropriate to enhance disease surveillance and the current tools being used for disease surveillance. Participants broke out into two groups to identify critical gaps and needs for improving a surveillance system, and discuss the requirements for developing improved surveillance. Each group developed a list of key priorities summarizing the requirements for improved surveillance. The objective of this meeting was to work towards the development of an improved disease surveillance system.

This report describes and documents the erosion that has occurred along the northeast side of Locke Island over the last 10 to 20 years. The principal cause of this erosion is the massive Locke Island landslide complex opposite the Columbia River along the White Bluffs, which constricts the flow of the river and deflects the river's thalweg southward against the island.

The use of high-performance computers to simulate hydrodynamic instabilities has resulted in the generation of massive amounts of data. One aspect of the analysis of this data involves the identification and characterization of coherent structures known as ''bubbles'' and ''spikes''. This can be a challenge as there is no precise definition of these structures, and the large size of the data, as well as its distributed nature, precludes any extensive experimentation with different definitions and analysis algorithms. In this report, we describe the use of image processing techniques to identify and count bubbles and spikes in the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, which occurs when an initially perturbed interface between a heavier fluid and a lighter fluid is allowed to grow under the influence of gravity. We analyze data from two simulations, one a large-eddy simulation with 30 terabytes of analysis data, and the other a direct numerical simulation with 80 terabytes of analysis data. We consider different techniques to first convert the three-dimensional data to two dimensions and then count the structures of interest in the two-dimensional data. Our analysis of the bubble and spike counts over time indicates that there are four distinct regimes in the process of the mixing of …

The report discusses the Clean Air Act (CAA) that issues in legislation that it passed and sent to the President in late July 2005. It also points out Clear Skies/Multi-Pollutant Legislation.

This report discusses the political situation in Afghanistan, more specifically it discusses the recent elections, newly formed constitution and the elected government.

None

None

This report lists the Congressional liaison offices of selected federal agencies.

None

Cuba has remained a hard-line communist state under Fidel Castro for more than 47 years, but Fidel's July 31, 2006, announcement that he was ceding political power to his brother Raúl "for several weeks" in order to recover from surgery could be the beginning of a political transition. Since the early 1960s, U.S. policy toward Cuba has consisted largely of isolating the island nation through comprehensive economic sanctions, which have been significantly tightened by the Bush Administration. Another component of U.S. policy consists of support measures for the Cuban people. There are several schools of thought on how to achieve the objective of bringing democracy and respect for human rights to Cuba: some advocate maximum pressure on Cuba until reforms are enacted; others argue for lifting some U.S. sanctions judged to be hurting the Cuban people; and still others call for a swift normalization of U.S.-Cuban relations.

Management of civilian radioactive waste has posed difficult issues for Congress since the beginning of the nuclear power industry in the 1950s. Federal policy is based on the premise that nuclear waste can be disposed of safely, but proposed storage and disposal facilities have frequently been challenged on safety, health, and environmental grounds. Although civilian radioactive waste encompasses a wide range of materials, most of the current debate focuses on highly radioactive spent fuel from nuclear power plants. This report outlines issues regarding the management and disposal of civilian radioactive waste, as well as past and ongoing related legislation.

This report provides a selection of materials for locating information on foreign countries and international organizations. In the general information section, it presents sources giving an overview of politics, economics, and recent history. A specialized information section cites sources on human rights, immigration, international organizations, military strengths, terrorism, and other topics. Included are titles of some of the most frequently consulted bibliographic sources that are available for use in many libraries. Electronic information on foreign countries is also provided, via the Internet, by agencies of the federal government, international organizations, and related sources. Included is a list of foreign chanceries located in Washington, DC.

The practice of “authorized generics” has recently been the subject of considerable attention by the pharmaceutical industry, regulators, and members of Congress alike. An “authorized generic”–sometimes termed a “branded,” “flanking,” or “pseudo” generic–is a pharmaceutical that is marketed by or on behalf of a brand name drug company, but is sold under a generic name. Although the availability of an additional competitor in the generic drug market would appear to be favorable to consumers, authorized generics have nonetheless proven controversial. Some observers believe that authorized generics potentially discourage independent generic firms both from challenging drug patents and from selling their own products.

None

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) calls for disposal of spent nuclear fuel in a deep geologic repository that is unlikely to be disturbed for thousands of years. Low-level waste sites are a state responsibility under the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980. Pursuant to that act, 10 regional compacts for disposal of low level waste have been approved by Congress. Three commercial low-level waste sites are currently operating, in the states of South Carolina, Utah, and Washington.

This report, which will be updated regularly, examines issues in U.S.-Cuban relations and tracks legislative initiatives on Cuba in the 109th Congress. The 109th Congress will likely continue an active interest in Cuba concerning human rights, debate over economic sanctions (especially on travel), food and agricultural exports to Cuba, terrorism issues, Radio and TV Marti, bilateral anti-drug cooperation, and migration issues.

This report provides a selection of materials for locating information on foreign countries and international organizations. In the general information section, it presents sources giving an overview of politics, economics, and recent history. A specialized information section cites sources on human rights, immigration, international organizations, military strengths, terrorism, and other topics. Included are titles of some of the most frequently consulted bibliographic sources that are available for use in many libraries. Electronic information on foreign countries is also provided, via the Internet, by agencies of the federal government, international organizations, and related sources. Included is a list of foreign chanceries located in Washington, D.C.