This report was compiled to distribute for Congressional use concerning the top 50 companies in the United States at the time of writing and their economic information.

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.

The following report provides information conducted with the purpose of ascertaining the effect of oxygen on activated charcoal at approximately one atmosphere by measuring the amount of CO2 formed over a known length of time.

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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.

Proposals to amend Appendix A of Part 440 of Weatherization Assistance for Low-Income Persons are described. The proposals establish new specifications for the materials purchased for utilization in the weatherization of dwellings which qualify for assistance under Part 440. These proposed regulations prescribe the minimum requirements which must be met or exceeded by each type of material and the Federal standards to which they must conform. In addition, these regulations include installation requirements for each class of material installed at the request of the enduser. (MCW)

This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai to address corruption within the Afghan government.

This report discusses the issue of U.S. economic assistance to sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the importance of continued assistance in light of U.S. national security and also various U.S.-led efforts to promote reform among African citizens themselves. U.S. assistance finds its way to Africa through a variety of channels, including the USAID-administered DA program, food aid programs, and indirect aid provided through international financial institutions and the United Nations.

This report briefly discusses the United Kingdom's (UK's) "Brexit" vote and what it means for the future of the European Union.

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.

From Introduction: "This paper will treat the problem in the suggested manner, beginning with the development of a suitable boundary condition to represent mathematically a homogeneous boundary which has the same flow characteristics, at a point in the flow sufficiently removed from the boundary as the actual physical boundary of alternate open and closed portions of the wall. Numerical results will be presented for circular tunnels with uniformly distributed around the circumference, for rectangular tunnels with uniformly distributed around the circumference, for rectangular tunnels with uniformly distributed slots in the top and bottom walls, for rectangular tunnels with the slot distribution determined by a transformation from a uniformly slotted circular tunnel, and for a two-dimensional tunnel. The results of this paper are derived on the basis of an incompressible potential flow."

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.

Report presenting a bibliography of about 550 references of the soft X-ray literature since 1950 and through 1960. The emphasis is on the application of soft X-ray spectroscopy to the study of valence band electronic states in metals and alloys. Therefore, the spectral region of 25 to 800 angstroms involving ruled glass grating spectrometers is of principal interest. In addition to soft X-ray data, references on all pertinent aspects of the apparatus and experimental problems are included. Also listed separately are references of value in corroborating soft X-ray data with other results. Subject, author, X-ray band, material, and other indices are included.

This eleventh edition of the Annual Energy Review (AER) presents the Energy Information Administration`s historical energy statistics. For most series, statistics are given for every year from 1949 through 1992. Because coverage spans four decades, the statistics in this report are well-suited to tong-term trend analyses. The AER is comprehensive. It covers all major energy activities, including consumption, production, trade, stocks, and prices, all major energy commodities, including fossil fuels and electricity. The AER also presents statistics on some renewable energy sources. For the most part, fuel-specific data are expressed in physical units such as barrels, cubic feet, and short tons. The integrated summary data in Section 1 are expressed in Btu. The Btu values are calculated using the conversion factors in Appendix A. Statistics expressed in Btu are valuable in that they allow for comparisons among different fuels and for the calculation of in the integrated summary statistics such as US consumption of Energy. The AER emphasizes domestic energy statistics.

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) commitment to assuring the health and safety of its workers includes the conduct of illness and injury surveillance activities that provide an early warning system to detect health problems among workers. The Illness and Injury Surveillance Program monitors illnesses and health conditions that result in an absence, occupational injuries and illnesses, and disabilities and deaths among current workers.

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.