The purpose of this report is to provide a more concrete discussion of access to wireline broadband networks. To that end, this report provides a discussion of what broadband networks look like; how both consumers and independent applications providers gain access to these networks; and the parameters available to network providers (such as their choices about network architecture, overall bandwidth capacity, bandwidth reserved for their own use, traffic prioritization, the terms and rates for access to their networks and for their retail services) that can affect end users’ and independent applications providers’ access to those networks.

This report discusses the history and current status of federal student loan programs. Specifically, the report focuses on the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and the William D. Ford Direct Loan (DL). Moreover, the report highlights differences in the two programs such as that the FFEL is financed by private lenders, while the DL is financed by the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers several permanently authorized programs to help farmers recover financially from a natural disaster, including federal crop insurance, the noninsured assistance program (NAP), and emergency disaster loans. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (otherwise known as the 2008 farm bill) includes authorization and funding for crop disaster programs, livestock assistance programs, and a tree assistance program. The new programs are designed to address the ad hoc nature of disaster assistance provided to producers during the last two decades.

Sub-Saharan Africa has been far more severely affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. The United Nations reports that 24.5 million adults and children are infected with the HIV virus in the region, which has about 10% of the world's population but more than 64% of the worldwide total of infected people. This report discusses this issue in detail, including the cause of the African AIDS epidemic, the social and economic consequences, response and treatment, and U.S. policy.

Aerial refueling aircraft are key to air operations. The U.S. tanker fleet is large and effective, but old. Modernizing or replacing the current fleet of tankers presents the Department of Defense (DOD) with difficult choices in terms of desired capabilities, force structure, and budget. How this fleet will be maintained or replaced, and on what schedule, has proven controversial.

This report discusses air pollutants (petroleum, natural gas, and coal), which account for about two-thirds of U.S. electricity generation. These gases include several pollutants that directly pose risks to human health and welfare. The report also discusses the utilities that are subject to an array of environmental regulations.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To address the strain on the aviation system, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed transitioning to the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). To fund this system and to make its costs to users more equitable, the Administration has proposed fundamental changes in the way that FAA is funded. As part of the reauthorization, the Administration proposes major changes in the way that grants through the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) are funded and allocated to the 3,400 airports in the national airport system. In response, GAO was asked for an update on current funding levels for airport development and the sufficiency of those levels to meet planned development costs. This report comprises capital development estimates made by FAA and Airports Council International (ACI), a leading industry association; analyzes how much airports have received for capital development and if sustained, whether it can meet future planned development; and summarizes the effects of proposed changes in funding for airport development. Airport funding and planned development data are drawn from the best available sources and have been assessed for their reliability. The Department of Transportation agreed with the …

This report discusses the economic and political status of Albania in the year 2000, notably focusing on certain important events throughout the 1990s, such as the Kosovo Crisis and the rise to power of the Socialist Party in 1997.

This report discusses the economic and political status of Albania in the year 2000, notably focusing on certain important events throughout the 1990s, such as the Kosovo Crisis and the rise to power of the Socialist Party in 1997.

This report discusses in detail the America COMPETES Act, which is intended to increase the nation's investment in research and development (R&D), and in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This report discusses the funding increases authorized by the act for various relevant institutions, e.g., the National Science Foundation (NSF); the act's education activities intended to enhance the skills of STEM educators; and if Congress will continue to similarly fund the America COMPETES Act in the FY2010 budget.

This report is about American War and military operations casualties in the form of lists and statistics.

In November 2003, the Bush Administration announced that it intended to begin negotiations on a free-trade agreement (FTA) with these nations, which would reduce and eliminate foreign barriers to trade and investment, support democracy, and fight drug activity. This report briefly discusses this announcement, as well as the major issues and concerns relating to negotiation, and the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), the FTA's predecessor.

As was reported in our previous work, accurate, nondisturbing near-anode measurements of the plasma density, electron temperature, and plasma potential performed with biased and emissive probes allowed the first experimental identification of both electron-repelling (negative anode fall) and electron-attracting (positive anode fall) anode sheaths in Hall thrusters. An interesting new phenomenon revealed by the probe measurements is that the anode fall changes from positive to negative upon removal of the dielectric coating, which appears on the anode surface during the course of Hall thruster operation. As reported in the present work, energy dispersion spectroscopy analysis of the chemical composition of the anode dielectric coating indicates that the coating layer consists essentially of an oxide of the anode material (stainless steel). However, it is still unclear how oxygen gets into the thruster channel. Most importantly, possible mechanisms of anode fall formation in a Hall thruster with a clean and a coated anodes are analyzed in this work; practical implication of understanding the general structure of the electron-attracting anode sheath in the case of a coated anode is also discussed.

Borosilicate glass was selected as the baseline technology for immobilization of the Cs/Sr/Ba/Rb (Cs), lanthanide (Ln) and transition metal fission product (TM) waste steams as part of a cost benefit analysis study.[1] Vitrification of the combined waste streams have several advantages, minimization of the number of waste forms, a proven technology, and similarity to waste forms currently accepted for repository disposal. A joint study was undertaken by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) to develop acceptable glasses for the combined Cs + Ln + TM waste streams (Option 1) and Cs + Ln combined waste streams (Option 2) generated by the AFCI UREX+ set of processes. This study is aimed to develop baseline glasses for both combined waste stream options and identify key waste components and their impact on waste loading. The elemental compositions of the four-corners study were used along with the available separations data to determine the effect of burnup, decay, and separations variability on estimated waste stream compositions.[2-5] Two different components/scenarios were identified that could limit waste loading of the combined Cs + LN + TM waste streams, where as the combined Cs + LN waste stream has no single component that …

This report provides an overview of the public health and financial impact of AD, summarizes federal funding for AD research and clinical trials, and discusses our current understanding of AD and promising avenues of AD research. Issues relating to social services for AD patients and support for caregivers are covered in a companion report.

Gauthreaux, Sidney, A., and Steven J. Wagner. 2005. Breeding bird populations and habitat associations within the Savannah River Site (SRS). Final Report. USDA Forest Service, Savannah River, Aiken, SC. 48 pp. Abstract: During the 1970's and 1980's a dramatic decline occurred in the populations of Neotropical migratory birds, species that breed in North America and winter south of the border in Central and South America and in the Caribbean. In 1991 an international initiative was mounted by U. S. governmental land management agencies, nongovernmental conservation agencies, and the academic and lay ornithological communities to understand the decline of Neotropical migratory birds in the Americas. In cooperation with the USDA Forest Service - Savannah River (FS - SR) we began 1992 a project directed to monitoring population densities of breeding birds using the Breeding Bird Census (BBC) methodology in selected habitats within the Savannah River Site SRS. In addition we related point count data on the occurrence of breeding Neotropical migrants and other bird species to the habitat data gathered by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the USDA Forest Service and data on habitat treatments within forest stands.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) submitted its fourth expenditure plan to Congress in March 2001. In the plan, IRS requested $128 million from its systems modernization appropriations account. This report (1) determines whether the plan satisfied the conditions specified in the acts, (2) determines IRS' progress in implementing modernization management controls and capabilities, and (3) provides other observations about the plan and IRS' Business Systems Modernization program. GAO found that IRS' March 2001 expenditure plan satisfies the conditions specified in the appropriations acts. IRS continues to make important progress in implementing modernization management controls and capabilities but has yet to implement a sufficiently defined version of the enterprise architecture to guide and constrain projects or employ rigorous configuration management practices. Acquiring modernized systems before having the requisite management capacity in place increases the risk of cost, schedule, and performance shortfalls."

A critical component of the State Water Resource Control Board's Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program is to assess the major threats to groundwater resources that supply drinking water to Californians (Belitz et al., 2004). Nitrate is the most pervasive and intractable contaminant in California groundwater and is the focus of special studies under the GAMA program. This report presents results of a study of nitrate contamination in the aquifer beneath the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy, CA, in the Llagas Subbasin of Santa Clara County, where high nitrate levels affect several hundred private domestic wells. The main objectives of the study are: (1) to identify the main source(s) of nitrate that issue a flux to the shallow regional aquifer (2) to determine whether denitrification plays a role in the fate of nitrate in the subbasin and (3) to assess the impact that a nitrate management plan implemented by the local water agency has had on the flux of nitrate to the regional aquifer. Analyses of 56 well water samples for major anions and cations, nitrogen and oxygen isotopes of nitrate, dissolved excess nitrogen, tritium and groundwater age, and trace organic compounds, show that synthetic fertilizer is the …

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States recognized the independence of all the former Central Asian republics, supported their admission into Western organizations, and elicited Turkish support to counter Iranian influence in the region. The Administration's diverse goals in Central Asia reflect the different characteristics of these states. U.S. interests in Kazakhstan include securing and eliminating Soviet-era nuclear and biological weapons materials and facilities. In Tajikistan, U.S. aid focuses on economic reconstruction. U.S. energy firms have invested in oil and natural gas development in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. This report outlines the above, as well as several ongoing debates regarding general relations between the U.S. and Central Asia.

This report provides an overview of U.S. policy concerns and relations with countries in central Asia. The report discusses issues such as Fostering Pro-Western Orientations, Obstacles to Peace and Independence, Democratization and Human Rights, Security and Arms Control, Trade and Investment, and provides an Aid Overview.

This report provides an overview of U.S. policy concerns and relations with countries in central Asia. The report discusses issues such as Fostering Pro-Western Orientations, Obstacles to Peace and Independence, Democratization and Human Rights, Security and Arms Control, Trade and Investment, and provides an Aid Overview.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the Congress enacted welfare reform legislation in 1996, child care assistance has served as a key support for work efforts among low-income families. Researchers have found that reliable, high-quality child care is critical to sustaining parents' ability to work, while safeguarding their children's health and intellectual development. States have flexibility in determining which low-income families are provided child care subsidies funded by the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and related state resources. States must balance the funds available for subsidies with the number of families who want subsidized child care. In doing so, states may find it necessary to change child care policies that affect program access or the amount of subsidy that eligible families receive. As Congress considers reauthorizing CCDF and TANF, we updated our previous report "Child Care: Recent State Policy Changes Affecting the Availability of Assistance for Low-Income Families" by providing current information on (1) the choices states have made for providing child care assistance to (a) TANF families, (b) families transitioning off TANF, and (c) other lowincome families; (2) the extent to which states …

This report describes federal child care initiative during World War II, and briefly traces the evolution of federal child care policy from the postwar period until today.

This report begins with a short history of the legislation and other factors that led to the creation of the current CFSR and then briefly describes how a CFSR is conducted and what “substantial conformity” with federal child welfare policy means in the context of this review. Much has been made of the fact that no state was found to be in substantial conformity with all aspects of federal policy reviewed during the initial (FY2001-FY2004) round of the CFSRs. This report seeks to better understand that fact by looking closely at state performance on each of the performance indicators that determined compliance.