This report provides a brief overview of the European Union (EU), an economic and political partnership between 27 sovereign member states. The report describes the formation of the EU, the three main institutions of the EU, and the EU's relationship with the United States.

This report focuses on U.N. reform efforts and priorities from the perspective of several key actors, including the U.S. government, the U.N. Secretary-General, selected groups of member states, and a cross-section of groups tasked with addressing U.N. reform. It also examines congressional actions related to U.N. reform, as well as future policy considerations.

Transcript of a public hearing held by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq & Afghanistan held January 24, 2011.This hearing includes testimony from governmental agencies and contractors on recurring problems Afghan construction projects.

Here is a review of the current way we handle source photons in Implicit Monte Carlo (IMC). A source photon is created with a randomly sampled position x{sub p} in the zone, a direction {Omega}{sub p}, a frequency v{sub p} sampled from the appropriate distribution, and a time t{sub p} uniformly sampled from [t{sup n}, t{sup n+1}]. The source photons each have an energy E{sub p}. The sum of E{sub p} over all of the photons equals the energy of the source for that time step. In the case of thermal emission in a zone with Volume V, they would have {Sigma}{sub p=1}{sup N} E{sub p} = {sigma} {sub p}acT{sup 4}V{Delta}t, where N is the number of thermal source photons for that time step, and {sigma}{sub p} is the Planck mean opacity. Census photons do not differ from source photons in any way, except that they all start the time step with t{sub p} = t{sup n}. Then they advance each photon until it reaches the end of the time step. When they are done with all of the photons, they update the matter temperature using the difference between the emitted and absorbed energy, and proceed to the next time …

This report provides a legislative and executive-branch history of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. It then discusses a variety of studies about the design and utility of such advisory bodies. The report then offers possible design elements for an advisory body, and then analyzes possible modifications to the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

In an effort to develop and optimize chemical cleaning methods for the removal of sludge heels from High Level Waste tanks, solubility tests have been conducted using nonradioactive, pure metal phases. The metal phases studied included the aluminum phase gibbsite and the iron phases hematite, maghemite, goethite, lepidocrocite, magnetite, and wustite. Many of these mineral phases have been identified in radioactive, High Level Waste sludge at the Savannah River and Hanford Sites. Acids evaluated for dissolution included oxalic, nitric, and sulfuric acids and a variety of other complexing organic acids. The results of the solubility tests indicate that mixtures of oxalic acid with either nitric or sulfuric acid are the most effective cleaning solutions for the dissolution of the primary metal phases in sludge waste. Based on the results, optimized conditions for hematite dissolution in oxalic acid were selected using nitric or sulfuric acid as a supplemental proton source. Electrochemical corrosion studies were also conducted (reported separately; Wiersma, 2010) with oxalic/mineral acid mixtures to evaluate the effects of these solutions on waste tank integrity. The following specific conclusions can be drawn from the test results: (1) Oxalic acid was shown to be superior to all of the other organic acids …

This report details the history of the three federal transfer taxes, tracing their development from their 18th-century roots to the present.

This report presents, verbatim, the United States "Flag Code" as found in Title 4 of the United States Code and the section of Title 36 which designates the Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem and provides instructions on how to display the flag during its rendition. The report also addresses several of the frequently asked questions concerning the flag.

This report discusses the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) and related legislation, such as the Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010, which clarifies certain SCRA protections.

A faculty and guest artist recital performed at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall.

Student newspaper of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma that includes national, local, and campus news along with advertising.

This report is part of the planning process for the demolition of the 234-5Z, 236-Z, 242-Z, and 291-Z-1 structures at the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) facilities on the Hanford Site. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) supports the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) demolition planning effort by making engineering estimates of potential releases for various potential demolition alternatives. This report documents an analysis considering open-air demolition using standard techniques. It does not document any decisions about the decommissioning approaches; it is expected that this report will be revisited as demolition plans are finalized.

The Small Column Ion Exchange (SCIX) process is being developed to remove cesium, strontium, and actinides from Savannah River Site (SRS) Liquid Waste using an existing waste tank (i.e., Tank 41H) to house the process. Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is conducting pilot-scale mixing tests to determine the pump requirements for suspending monosodium titanate (MST), crystalline silicotitanate (CST), and simulated sludge. The purpose of this pilot scale testing is for the pumps to suspend the MST particles so that MST can be removed from the tank. The pilot-scale tank is a 1/10.85 linear scaled model of Tank 41H. The tank diameter, tank liquid level, pump nozzle diameter, pump elevation, and cooling coil diameter are all 1/10.85 of their dimensions in Tank 41H. The pump locations correspond to the proposed locations in Tank 41H by the SCIX program (Risers B5 and B2 for two pump configurations and Risers B5, B3, and B1 for three pump configurations).

TAUWER is a proposed astroparticle experiment to detect ultrahigh energy TAU neutrinos, using detector towers arrayed on a mountainside looking down into a valley. This test is to study the possibility of replacing Hamamatsu miniature PMTs with SiPMs for readout by determining the response of scintillation detectors with SiPM readout to low energy electrons, 2 GeV or lower, as the beam will provide. The detector itself is a compact package shown in the picture on the cover. it was used in a parasitic test beam run on December 15, 2010, to compare the relative timing of the signals from three counters for MIPs. The only change for this new run is the insertion of 1.5 cm of Pb in front of counter 2 or counter 3 during most of the running. The experiment takes some electron data without Pb for calibration purposes. The apparatus will be mounted on the moving table in MT6.2B.

This report shows in tabular form how much the Administration has requested and how much Congress has appropriated for U.S. payments to the multilateral development banks (MDBs) since 2000. It also provides a brief description of the MDBs and the ways they fund their operations.

Proceedings of the House of Representatives of Texas for the seventh day of the regular session of the 82nd Legislature documenting legislation, reports, discussions, votes, and points-of-order.

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the highlights of GAO's fiscal year 2010 Performance and Accountability Report. The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the Congress, exists to support the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help the Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. To fulfill its mission, GAO organizes and manages its resources to support four broad strategic goals. These include helping to address challenges to the well-being and financial security of the American people, responding to changing security threats and global interdependence, and transforming the federal government to address national challenges. Strategic goal 4 is an internal goal focused on enhancing GAO's value through improving its efficiency, effectiveness, and quality, and institutional stewardship and resource management. GAO maintains a workforce of highly trained professionals across a breadth of academic and scientific disciplines. About three-quarters of the approximately 3,200 employees are …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In addition to providing health care to veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) funds research that focuses on health conditions veterans may experience. According to VA, experts estimate that up to 20 percent of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and demand for PTSD treatment is increasing. Because of the importance of research in improving the services that veterans receive, GAO was asked to report on VA's funding of PTSD research, and its processes for funding PTSD research proposals, reviewing and incorporating research outcomes into clinical practice guidelines (CPG)--tools that offer clinicians recommendations for clinical services but do not require clinicians to provide one service over another--and determining which PTSD services are required to be made available at VA facilities. To do this work, GAO obtained and summarized VA data on the funding of PTSD research from its medical and prosthetic research appropriation through its intramural research program. GAO also reviewed relevant VA documents, such as those for developing CPGs and those related to VA's 2008 Uniform Mental Health Services in VA Medical Centers and Clinics handbook …

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii.

A logo for the Multicultural Center, held by UNT Special Collections. The word "Center" is under the word "Multicultural" with nine dots of different colors separating the words. On the left and right of this are two large expanding angel wings in a black outline.

This report discusses the appeal process for veterans who are denied veteran's affairs claims. It ends with discussion of legislation considered in the 111th Congress to modify the process.

This report reviews the ongoing programs that will affect the expected size and shape of the U.S. strategic nuclear force structure. It begins with an overview of this force structure during the Cold War, and summarizes the reductions and changes that have occurred since 1991. It then offers details about each category of delivery vehicle, focusing on their current deployments and ongoing and planned modernization programs. The report concludes with a discussion of issues related to decisions about the future size and shape of the U.S. strategic nuclear force.

Daily newspaper from Chickasha, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Supported catalysts are widely used in industry and can be optimized by tuning the composition and interface of the metal nanoparticles and oxide supports. Rational design of metal-metal oxide interfaces in nanostructured catalysts is critical to achieve better reaction activities and selectivities. We introduce here a new class of nanocrystal tandem catalysts that have multiple metal-metal oxide interfaces for the catalysis of sequential reactions. We utilized a nanocrystal bilayer structure formed by assembling platinum and cerium oxide nanocube monolayers of less than 10 nm on a silica substrate. The two distinct metal-metal oxide interfaces, CeO2-Pt and Pt-SiO2, can be used to catalyse two distinct sequential reactions. The CeO2-Pt interface catalysed methanol decomposition to produce CO and H2, which were subsequently used for ethylene hydroformylation catalysed by the nearby Pt-SiO2 interface. Consequently, propanal was produced selectively from methanol and ethylene on the nanocrystal bilayer tandem catalyst. This new concept of nanocrystal tandem catalysis represents a powerful approach towards designing high-performance, multifunctional nanostructured catalysts