Some two months after Albania held parliamentary elections, a new government was sworn in on September 11, 2005. Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha, whose controversial term as President of Albania ended in 1997 amidst violent civil unrest, returned to power as the new Prime Minister and leads a center-right coalition government. Along with other states in the western Balkan region, Albania seeks membership in NATO and the European Union, but its accession prospects are not certain.

Studies of the reactivity of radionuclides (Cs, Sr, I) in STWL with model clays and natural sediments were conducted by coupling macroscopic sorption-desorption experiments with spectroscopic and microscopic investigations over a wide range of reaction times. Three experimental systems were studied: (1) model clay minerals, (2) products of homogeneous precipitation from STWL, and (3) representative Hanford sediments, with (1) and (3) reacted with STWL from 1 h to 369 d. The clay minerals included illite, vermiculite, smectite and kaolinite, which constitute a sequence of micaceous weathering products with variable reactivity toward Cs+, Sr2+ and I-. Coarse and fine sediments collected from the Hanford formation (HC and HF, respectively) and Ringold Silt (RS) were studied in batch experiments and Warden silt loam was used in batch and column experiments. Solutions were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Solid products (referred to here as ''secondary phases'' relative to the initial reactant minerals) were analyzed for time-dependent changes in mineralogy and modes of contaminant bonding by a variety of methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), including extended X-ray absorption …

The bid by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to acquire the U.S. energy company Unocal for $18.5 billion raised many issues with U.S. policymakers. This report provides an overview and analysis of the CNOOC bid, U.S. interests, implications for U.S. energy security, U.S. investment in the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China’s) oil industry, the process for reviewing the security and other implications of foreign investment in the United States, Congressional activity, and a listing of unresolved issues.

This report presents Human Resources Management flexibilities in emergency situations regarding Federal Employees.

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This report gives information related to Gasoline prices and also discusses Policies and Proposals.

This report discusses losses and national disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina that made landfall on the Gulf of Mexico coast with high velocity winds, storm surge, heavy rain, flooding, coastal erosion, hail, and tornadoes.

This report discusses the following: Medicaid’s rules on eligibility, benefits, and financing in the context of current questions and issues raised by Hurricane Katrina. Recent state actions in response to Medicaid issues raised by the hurricane. Federal Medicaid waiver authority, including information on current activity in this area and the New York Disaster Relief Medicaid waiver granted in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Current federal legislation related to Medicaid and Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Most criticality safety calculations are performed using Monte Carlo techniques because of Monte Carlo's ability to handle complex three-dimensional geometries. For Monte Carlo calculations, the more histories sampled, the lower the standard deviation of the resulting estimates. The common intuition is, therefore, that the more histories, the better; as a result, analysts tend to run Monte Carlo analyses as long as possible (or at least to a minimum acceptable uncertainty). For Monte Carlo criticality safety analyses, however, the optimization situation is complicated by the fact that procedures usually require that an extra margin of safety be added because of the statistical uncertainty of the Monte Carlo calculations. This additional safety margin affects the impact of the choice of the calculational standard deviation, both on production and on safety. This paper shows that, under the assumptions of normally distributed benchmarking calculational errors and exact compliance with the upper subcritical limit (USL), the standard deviation that optimizes production is zero, but there is a non-zero value of the calculational standard deviation that minimizes the risk of inadvertently labeling a supercritical configuration as subcritical. Furthermore, this value is shown to be a simple function of the typical benchmarking step outcomes--the bias, the standard …

A significant work program was implemented from 2002 to 2004 in the East Binger Unit (''EBU'') miscible nitrogen injection project in an effort to reduce gas cycling and economically increase ultimate oil recovery. This work included the drilling of new wells, both horizontal and vertical, as well as pattern realignment through producer-to-injector conversions. Monitoring of overall performance of the pilot area continues. Response to the various projects continues to be very favorable. Injection into the pilot area, though limited at times by problems in the Air Separation Unit of the Nitrogen Management Facility, and has increased 70% over levels prior to the project. Meanwhile, gas production and nitrogen content of produced gas have both decreased. Nitrogen recycle within the pilot area is now only about 32%, far below the 72% recycle prior to initiation of the project. Poor areal sweep efficiency appears to be the primary cause of nitrogen cycling. Four vertical and three horizontal wells have been drilled in the pilot area throughout the project, and most have had initial produced gas oil ratios and gas nitrogen contents significantly below the field averages. Additional vertical well drilling is planned due to the success of wells drilled to date.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Industrial loan corporations (ILC) emerged in the early 1900s as small niche lenders that provided consumer credit to low and moderate income workers who were generally unable to obtain consumer loans from commercial banks. Since then, some ILCs have grown significantly in size, and some have expressed concern that ILCs may have expanded beyond the original scope and purpose intended by Congress. Others have questioned whether the current regulatory structure for overseeing ILCs is adequate. This report (1) discusses the growth and permissible activities of ILCs and other insured depository institutions, (2) compares the supervisory authority of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) with consolidated supervisors, and (3) describes ILC parents' ability to mix banking and commerce."

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, damage to the financial infrastructure appears to be largely confined to small depository institutions. Directives stemming from the 9/11 attacks require most banking and securities firms to maintain off-site redundancy for significant personnel and daily data backups. The damaged area is sufficiently wide, however, and the possibility of long-term loan delinquency sufficiently high, that greater harm may yet surface. To date, most depository institutions are functioning to some degree and, despite concerns over large

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Ink-jet printing has been demonstrated as an adaptable technology for printing YBCO filaments using a Metal Organic (MO) YBCO precursor. The technology was demonstrated using AMSC's proprietary metal organic TFA-based YBCO precursor and a commercial piezoelectric print-head on RABiTS templates. Filaments with a width of 100 um and spacing of 200 um were successfully printed, decomposed and processed to YBCO. Critical currents of {approx} 200 A/cm-w were achieved in a series of filaments with a 2 mm width. The single nozzle laboratory printer used in the Phase 1 program is capable of printing {approx} 100 um wide single filaments at a rate of 8-10 cm/sec. The electrical stabilization of filaments with a Ag ink was also evaluated using ink-jet printing. The overall objective of the Phase 1 Project was the evaluation and demonstration of inkjet-printing for depositing YBCO filaments on textured templates (RABiTS, IBAD, ISD, etc. substrates) with properties appropriate for low loss ac conductors. Goals of the Phase 1 program included development of an appropriate precursor ink, demonstration of the printing process, processing and characterization of printed YBCO filaments and evaluation of the process for further development.

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The objective of this project was to accumulate and establish a database of construction materials, coatings, refractory liners, and transitional materials that are appropriate for the hardware and scale-up facilities for atmospheric biomass and coal gasification processes. Cost, fabricability, survivability, contamination, modes of corrosion, failure modes, operational temperatures, strength, and compatibility are all areas of materials science for which relevant data would be appropriate. The goal will be an established expertise of materials for the fossil energy area within WRI. This would be an effort to narrow down the overwhelming array of materials information sources to the relevant set which provides current and accurate data for materials selection for fossil fuels processing plant. A significant amount of reference material on materials has been located, examined and compiled. The report that describes these resources is well under way. The reference material is in many forms including texts, periodicals, websites, software and expert systems. The most important part of the labor is to refine the vast array of available resources to information appropriate in content, size and reliability for the tasks conducted by WRI and its clients within the energy field. A significant has been made to collate and capture the best …

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We have utilized the response of Arabidopsis seedlings to the plant hormone ethylene to identify new genes involved in the regulation of ethylene biosynthesis, perception, signal transduction and differential cell growth. In building a genetic framework for the action of these genes, we have developed a molecular model that has facilitated our understanding of the molecular requirements of ethylene for cell elongation processes. The ethylene response pathway in Arabidopsis appears to be primarily linear and is defined by the genes: ETR1, ETR2, ERS1, ERS2, EIN4, CTR1, EIN2, EIN3, EIN5, EIN6, and EIN. Downstream branches identified by the HLS1, EIR1, and AUX1 genes involve interactions with other hormonal (auxin) signals in the process of differential cell elongation in the hypocotyl hook. Cloning and characterization of HLS1 (and three HLL genes) and ETO1 (and ETOL genes) in my laboratory has been supported under this award. HLS1 is required for differential elongation of cells in the hypocotyl and may act in the establishment of hormone gradients. Also during the previous period, we have identified and characterized a gene that genetically acts upstream of the ethylene receptors. ETO1 encodes negative regulators of ethylene biosynthesis.

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This report discusses the availability and format of three types of parliamentary reference materials: official sources such as the House Rules and Manual and the published precedents; publications of committees and offices of the House; and documents prepared by House party and leadership organizations. It also reviews some principles of House parliamentary procedure that are important to consider when using information from parliamentary reference sources.

This report includes information regarding issues of U.S. Military involvement with peacekeeping and stability operations. Bush Administration policy, apportioning responsibilities, and the military readiness debate are among topics discussed in this report.

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