This report lists those additions and changes by military action and provides the full text of their official citations. The citations were provided by the military awards offices or internet websites of the respective services. A list of these offices and internet links is provided at the end of this report. In some instances, Congress approved legislation to remove statutory time limits in order for the Medal to be awarded.

This report briefly describes the three categories of federal programs for wildfire protection: [1] protection of the federal lands managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (FS), and by the U.S. Department of the Interior, whose wildfire programs are coordinated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); [2] assistance for state and local governments and communities in protecting nonfederal lands; [3] support for fire research, fire facilities, and improvements in forest health. The last section of this report discusses the impact of high and rising wildfire costs.

Due to recent changes in federal law, individuals who declare that they are citizens for Medicaid eligibility purposes must present documentation that proves citizenship and documents personal identity. This report discusses issues related to Medicaid citizenship documentation that have received considerable media and interest group attention, as well as proposed legislation that would affect the requirement.

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This report provides information aobut the Effects on Economic Recovery, Long-Term Growth, and the Stock Market on Dividend Tax Relief.

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This report provides an overview about the Dispute Settlement in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

this report is about us agreements such as North American free trade agreement, world trade organization agreements.

The Nuclear Materials Identification System (NMIS) uses fast neutrons to conduct non-intrusive scans of both fissile and non-fissile materials. By time-tagging the source neutrons, the NMIS processor can measure the time of flight of these neutrons through the target of the scan and into detectors on the opposite side. With a monoenergetic neutron source, such as a DT generator, these time-of-flight measurements can approximately determine the number of neutrons that travel through the target uncollided. By comparing the results of a scan on an empty container and one made on a container with unknown materials inside, the NMIS processor can subtract the container and determine the configuration of materials inside. Using multiple small detectors, and many horizontal and vertical samples, the NMIS system can produce a picture of the object being scanned, known as a neutron radiograph. With this radiograph, it is thought that other characteristics of the scanned material can be inferred. In this thesis, the material being scanned consists of highly enriched uranium trioxide (UO{sub 3}) powder. Using the results of the time-of-flight measurements from two reference scans, a container with an unknown configuration was scanned and the mass of the UO{sub 3} powder inside was estimated. The …

The objectives of the project were (i) to develop the coating process information to achieve good quality coatings on 3 advanced high strength hot rolled steels while retaining target mechanical properties, (ii) to obtain precise knowledge of the behavior of these steels in the various forming operations and (iii) to establish accurate user property data in the coated conditions. Three steel substrates (HSLA, DP, TRIP) with compositions providing yield strengths in the range of 400-620 MPa were selected. Only HSLA steel was found to be suitable for galnaizing and galvannealing in the hot rolled condition.

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EDC37 was tested at LLNL to determine its impact sensitivity in the LLNL's drop hammer system. The results showed that impact sensitivities of the samples were between 86 cm and 156 cm, depending on test methods. EDC37 is a plastic bonded explosive consisting of 90% HMX, 1% nitrocellulose and binder. We recently conducted impact sensitivity testing in our drop hammer system and the results are presented in this report.

This report examines various issues pertaining to foreign students in the United States. Since the Immigration Act of 1924, the United States has expressly permitted foreign students to study in U.S. institutions. Most foreign students are at least 18 years old and are enrolled in higher education programs. Foreign students are generally considered to enrich cultural diversity of the educational experience for U.S. residents as well as enhance the reputation of U.S. universities as world-class institutions. Concerns have arisen in recent years that have caused Congress to take a new look at the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provisions that govern their admission.

This report discusses professional football players' injuries and health conditions that might have long-term consequences for their health.

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The Nanoscale Synthesis and Characterization Laboratory's (NSCL) primary mission is to create and advance interdisciplinary research and development opportunities in nanoscience and technology. The NSCL is delivering on its mission providing Laboratory programs with scientific solutions through the use of nanoscale synthesis and characterization. While this annual report summarizes 2007 activities, we have focused on nanoporous materials, advanced high strength, nanostructured metals, novel 3-dimensional lithography and characterization at the nanoscale for the past 3 years. In these three years we have synthesized the first monolithic nanoporous metal foams with less than 10% relative density; we have produced ultrasmooth nanocrystalline diamond inertial confinement fusion capsules; we have synthesized 3-dimensional graded density structures from full density to 5% relative density using nanolithography; and we have established ultrasmall angle x-ray scattering as a non-destructive tool to determine the structure on the sub 300nm scale. The NSCL also has a mission to recruit and to train personnel for Lab programs. The NSCL continues to attract talented scientists to the Laboratory. Andrew Detor from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sutapa Ghosal from the University of California, Irvine, Xiang Ying Wang from Shanghai Institute of Technology, and Arne Wittstock from University of Bremen joined the NSCL this …

This report discusses the recent development in different programs administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the goal to promote agricultural exports and to provide food aid. These programs include direct export subsidies, export market development, export credit guarantees, and foreign food aid.

This is a Phase I report on a project to significantly enhance existing subsurface simulation software using leadership-class computing resources, allowing researchers to solve problems with greater speed and accuracy. Subsurface computer simulation is used for monitoring the behavior of contaminants around nuclear waste disposal and storage areas, groundwater flow, environmental remediation, carbon sequestration, methane hydrate production, and geothermal energy reservoir analysis. The Phase I project was a collaborative effort between Thunderhead Engineering (project lead and developers of a commercial pre- and post-processor for the TOUGH2 simulator) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (developers of the TOUGH2 simulator for subsurface flow). The Phase I project successfully identified the technical approaches to be implemented in Phase II.

The Physical Sciences Directorate applies frontier physics and technology to grand challenges in national security. Our highly integrated and multidisciplinary research program involves collaborations throughout Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Energy, and with academic and industrial partners. The Directorate has a budget of approximately $150 million, and a staff of approximately 350 employees. Our scientists provide expertise in condensed matter and high-pressure physics, plasma physics, high-energy-density science, fusion energy science and technology, nuclear and particle physics, accelerator physics, radiation detection, optical science, biotechnology, and astrophysics. This document highlights the outstanding research and development activities in the Physical Sciences Directorate that made news in 2007. It also summarizes the awards and recognition received by members of the Directorate in 2007.

The recent Nevada Earthquake (M=6) produced an extraordinary set of crustal guided waves. In this study, we examine the three-component data at all the USArray stations in terms of how well existing models perform in predicting the various phases, Rayleigh waves, Love waves, and Pnl waves. To establish the source parameters, we applied the Cut and Paste Code up to distance of 5° for an average local crustal model which produced a normal mechanism (strike=35°,dip=41°,rake=-85°) at a depth of 9 km and Mw=5.9. Assuming this mechanism, we generated synthetics at all distances for a number of 1D and 3D models. The Pnl observations fit the synthetics for the simple models well both in timing (VPn=7.9km/s) and waveform fits out to a distance of about 5°. Beyond this distance a great deal of complexity can be seen to the northwest apparently caused by shallow subducted slab material. These paths require considerable crustal thinning and higher P-velocities. Small delays and advances outline the various tectonic province to the south, Colorado Plateau, etc. with velocities compatible with that reported on by Song et al.(1996). Five-second Rayleigh waves (Airy Phase) can be observed throughout the whole array and show a great deal of variation …

We present a detailed analysis of the impact of resonance parameter uncertainties on covariances for neutron capture and fission cross sections in the resolved resonance region. Our analysis uses the uncertainties available in the recently published Atlas of Neutron Resonances employing the Multi-Level Breit-Wigner formalism. We consider uncertainties on resonance energies along with those on neutron-, radiative-, and fission-widths and examine their impact on cross section uncertainties and correlations. We also study the effect of the resonance parameter correlations deduced from capture and fission kernels and illustrate our approach on several practical examples. We show that uncertainties of neutron-, radiative- and fission-widths are important, while the uncertainties of resonance energies can be effectively neglected. We conclude that the correlations between neutron and radiative (fission) widths should be taken into account. The multi-group cross section uncertainties can be properly generated from both the resonance parameter covariance format MF32 and the cross section covariance format MF33, though the use of MF32 is more straightforward and hence preferable.

Electron beam cooling is examined as an option to reduce momentum of gold ions exiting the EBIS LINAC before injection into the booster. Electron beam parameters are based on experimental data (obtained at BNL) of electron beams extracted from a plasma cathode. Preliminary calculations indicate that single pass cooling is feasible; momentum spread can be reduced by more than an order of magnitude in less than one meter.

The "Minor Actinide Doppler Coefficient Measurement Assessment" was a Department of Energy (DOE) U-NERI funded project intended to assess the viability of using either the FLATTOP or the COMET critical assembly to measure high temperature Doppler coefficients. The goal of the project was to calculate using the MCNP5 code the gram amounts of Np-237, Pu-238, Pu-239, Pu-241, AM-241, AM-242m, Am-243, and CM-244 needed to produce a 1E-5 in reactivity for a change in operating temperature 800C to 1000C. After determining the viability of using the assemblies and calculating the amounts of each actinide an experiment will be designed to verify the calculated results. The calculations and any doncuted experiments are designed to support the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative in conducting safety analysis of advanced fast reactor or acceoerator-driven transmutation systems with fuel containing high minor actinide content.