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This report discusses the results of the Italian Parliamentary election on March 4, 2018 which ended with no party gaining a majority making a coalition necessary. Populist parties gained a significant number of seats and implications of their rise to power for Italy, the EU, NATO, and the U.S. are discussed.

This month's issue has the following articles: (1) Fifty Years of Stellar Laser Research - Commentary by Edward I. Moses; (2) A Stellar Performance - By combining computational models with test shot data, scientists at the National Ignition Facility have demonstrated that the laser is spot-on for ignition; (3) Extracting More Power from the Wind - Researchers are investigating how atmospheric turbulence affects power production from wind turbines; (4) Date for a Heart Cell - Carbon-14 dating reveals that a significant number of heart muscle cells are regenerated over the course of our lives; and (5) Unique Marriage of Biology and Semiconductors - A new device featuring a layer of fat surrounding a thin silicon wire takes advantage of the communication properties of both biomolecules and semiconductors.

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This report tracks the process by which Congress provides the funding for U.S. assessed contributions to the regular budgets of the United Nations, its agencies, and U.N. peacekeeping operation accounts, as well as for U.S. voluntary contributions to U.N. system programs and funds. It includes information on the President's request and the congressional response, as well as congressional initiatives during this legislative process. Basic information is provided to help the reader understand this process.

CHPRC D&D Projects is adding three filtration system on two 1-ft concrete pads adjacent to the north side of existing KW Basin building. This analysis is prepared to provide qualitative assessment based on the review of design information available for 105KW basin substructure. In the proposed heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) filtration pad designs a 2 ft gap will be maintained between the pads and the north end of the existing 1 05KW -Basin building. Filtration Skids No.2 and No.3 share one pad. It is conservative to evaluate the No.2 and No.3 skid pad for the wall assessment. Figure 1 shows the plan layout of the 105KW basin site and the location of the pads for the filtration system or HVAC skids. Figure 2 shows the cross-section elevation view of the pad. The concrete pad Drawing H-1-91482 directs the replacement of the existing 8-inch concrete pad with two new 1-ft think pads. The existing 8-inch pad is separated from the 105KW basin superstructure by an expansion joint of only half an inch. The concrete pad Drawing H-1-91482 shows the gap between the new proposed pads and the north wall and any overflow pits and sumps is 2-ft. Following analysis …

An archaeological survey report of the proposed site of the Marine Creek Corridor Linear Park Improvements Project in Fort Worth, Texas to determine whether there were any cultural resources in the area.

This report collects statistics from a variety of sources on casualties sustained during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which began on October 7, 2001. OEF actions took place primarily in Afghanistan; however, OEF casualties also includes American casualties in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Yemen.

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A fi rst-principle variational approach to adiabatic collisionless plasma waves is described. The focus is made on one-dimensional electrostatic oscillations, including phase-mixed electron plasma waves (EPW) with trapped particles, such as Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal modes. The well known Whitham's theory is extended by an explicit calculation of the EPW Lagrangian, which is related to the oscillation-center energies of individual particles in a periodic fi eld, and those are found by a quadrature. Some paradigmatic physics of EPW is discussed for illustration purposes. __________________________________________________

This report discusses issues surrounding the funding for development of Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACVs) and Marine Personnel Carriers (MPCs). The Marines are required by law to have the necessary equipment to conduct amphibious operations and land operations.

The objective of the ARM Science Board is to promote the Nation’s scientific enterprise by ensuring that the best quality science is conducted at the DOE’s User Facility known as the ARM Climate Research Facility. The goal of the User Facility is to serve scientific researchers by providing unique data and tools to facilitate scientific applications for improving understanding and prediction of climate science.

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We show that accretion disks around Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) could account for the enormous power in observed ultra high energy cosmic rays {approx}10{sup 20} eV (UHEs). In our model, cosmic rays are produced by quasi-steady acceleration of ions in magnetic structures previously proposed to explain jets around Active Galactic Nuclei with supermassive black holes. Steady acceleration requires that an AGN accretion disk act as a dynamo, which we show to follow from a modified Standard Model in which the magnetic torque of the dynamo replaces viscosity as the dominant mechanism accounting for angular momentum conservation during accretion. A black hole of mass M{sub BH} produces a steady dynamo voltage V {proportional_to} {radical}M{sub BH} giving V {approx} 10{sup 20} volts for M{sub BH} {approx} 10{sup 8} solar masses. The voltage V reappears as an inductive electric field at the advancing nose of a dynamo-driven jet, where plasma instability inherent in collisionless runaway acceleration allows ions to be steadily accelerated to energies {approx} V, finally ejected as cosmic rays. Transient events can produce much higher energies. The predicted disk radiation is similar to the Standard Model. Unique predictions concern the remarkable collimation of jets and emissions from the jet/radiolobe structure. Given …

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This report discusses the concept of executive privilege and whether the communications of a president-elect are protected by executive privilege.

This report provides background on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), discusses the categories of records FOIA exempts from public release, and analyzes statistics on FOIA administration. The report also provides background on several legal and policy issues related to FOIA, including the release of controversial records, the growth in use of certain FOIA exemptions, and the adoption of new technologies to improve FOIA administration. The report concludes with an examination of potential FOIA-related policy options for Congress.

The pressure dependent deflagration rates of LLM-105, DAAF and TATB based formulations were measured in the LLNL high pressure strand burner. The role of binder amount, explosive type, and thermal damage and their effects on the deflagration rate will be discussed. One DAAF formulation, two different formulations of LLM-105, and four formulations of TATB were studied; results indicate that binder amount and type play a minor role in the deflagration behavior. This is in sharp contrast to the HMX based formulations which strongly depend on binder amount and type. The effect of preheating these samples was considerably more dramatic. In the case of LLM-105, preheating the sample appears to have little effect on the deflagration rate. In contrast, preheating DAAF and TATB formulations causes the deflagration rate to accelerate. The thermal and mechanical properties of these formulations will be discussed in the context of their pressure and temperature dependent deflagration rates.

A heuristic model for the plasma scrape-off width balances magnetic drifts against parallel loss at c{sub s} /2, resulting in a SOL width ~ {rho}{sub p}. T{sub sep} is calculated from Spitzer–Härm parallel thermal conduction. This results in a prediction for the power scrape-off width in quantitative agreement both in magnitude and scaling with recent experimental data. To achieve the ~ c{sub s} /2 flow assumed in this model and measured experimentally sets requirements on the ratio of upstream to total SOL particle sources, relative to the square-root of the ratio of target to upstream temperature. The Pfisch-Schlüter model for equilibrium flows has been modified to allow near-sonic flows, appropriate for gradient scale lengths of order {rho}{sub p}, resulting in a new quadrupole radial flow pattern. The strong parallel flows and plasma charging implied by this model suggest a mechanism for H-mode transition, consistent with many observations

The F-Area Tank Farm (FTF) Performance Assessment (PA) utilizes waste speciation in the waste release model used in the FTF fate and transport modeling. The waste release modeling associated with the residual plutonium in Tank 18 has been identified as a primary contributor to the Tank 18 dose uncertainty. In order to reduce the uncertainty related to plutonium in Tank 18, a better understanding of the plutonium speciation in the Tank 18 waste (including the oxidation state and stoichiometry) is desired. Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) utilized Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) to analyze Tank 18 samples to provide information on the speciation of plutonium in the waste material. XRD analysis of the Tank 18 samples did not identify any plutonium mineral phases in the samples. These indicates the crystalline mineral phases of plutonium are below the detection limits of the XRD method or that the plutonium phase(s) lack long range order and are present as amorphous or microcrystalline solids. SEM analysis of the Tank 18 samples did locate particles containing plutonium. The plutonium was found as small particles, usually <1 {micro}m but ranging up to several micrometers in diameter, associated with particles of an iron matrix …

This report is a descriptive account on the Actual Waste Testing With a Single Disk Spintek Rotary Microfilter

This report explains the role of the thrift savings plan on the federal employees' retirement system.

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