This report outlines the key provisions of the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) program, discusses the initial impact of the program and some of the concerns raised by Senators. It also summarizes similar programs in other countries.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The U.S. Department of Energy has launched the commercial building initiative (CBI) in pursuit of its research goal of achieving zero-net-energy commercial buildings (ZNEB), i.e. ones that produce as much energy as they use. Its objective is to make these buildings marketable by 2025 such that they minimize their energy use through cutting-edge, energy-efficiency technologies and meet their remaining energy needs through on-site renewable energy generation. This paper examines how such buildings may be implemented within the context of a cost- or CO2-minimizing microgrid that is able to adopt and operate various technologies: photovoltaic modules (PV) and other on-site generation, heat exchangers, solar thermal collectors, absorption chillers, and passive/demand-response technologies. A mixed-integer linear program (MILP) that has a multi-criteria objective function is used. The objective is minimization of a weighted average of the building's annual energy costs and CO2 emissions. The MILP's constraints ensure energy balance and capacity limits. In addition, constraining the building's energy consumed to equal its energy exports enables us to explore how energy sales and demand-response measures may enable compliance with the ZNEB objective. Using a commercial test site in northernCalifornia with existing tariff rates and technology data, we find that a ZNEB requires ample PV …

The objective of the study was to evaluate rainfall and water table elevation data in search of a correlation that could be used to understand and predict water elevation changes. This information will be useful in placing screen zones for future monitoring wells and operations of groundwater treatment units. Fifteen wells in the General Separations Area (GSA) at Savannah River Site were evaluated from 1986 through 2001. The study revealed that the water table does respond to rainfall with minimal delay. (Water level information was available monthly, which restricted the ability to evaluate a shorter delay period.) Water elevations were found to be related to the cumulative sum (Q-Delta Sum) of the difference between the average rainfall for a specific month and the actual rainfall for that month, calculated from an arbitrary starting point. Water table elevations could also be correlated between wells, but using the right well for correlation was very important. The strongest correlation utilized a quadratic equation that takes into account the rainfall in a specific area and the rainfall from an adjacent area that contributes through a horizontal flow. Specific values vary from well to well as a result of geometry and underground variations. R2's for …

The first half of this report looks at the background of U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba over the last 40 years. The second half of this report looks at several initiatives from the 111th Congress that would ease U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba.

News release about a DART women's career workshop.

A collective scattering system has measured electron gyro-scale fluctuations in National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) H-mode plasmas to investigate electron temperature gradient (ETG) turbulence. Observations and results pertaining to fluctuation measurements in ETGstable regimes, the toroidal field scaling of fluctuation amplitudes, the relation between between fluctuation amplitudes and transport quantities, and fluctuation magnitudes and k-spectra are presented. Collectively, the measurements provide insight and guidance for understanding ETG turbulence and anomalous electron thermal transport.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "When employers improperly classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees, those workers do not receive protections and benefits to which they are entitled, and the employers may fail to pay some taxes they would otherwise be required to pay. The Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are to ensure that employers comply with several labor and tax laws related to worker classification. GAO was asked to examine the extent of misclassification; actions DOL and IRS have taken to address misclassification, including the extent to which they collaborate with each other, states, and other agencies; and options that could help address misclassification. To meet its objectives, GAO reviewed DOL, IRS, and other studies on misclassification and DOL and IRS policies and activities related to classification; interviewed officials from these agencies as well as other stakeholders; analyzed data from DOL investigations involving misclassification; and surveyed states."

Recording of the Monday evening performance of the opera "Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (All Women Do, or The School of Lovers)" at the UNT College of Music Lyric Theater, as part of the summer workshop.

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

An assessment of the gas-phase energetics of neutral and singly and doubly charged cationic actinide monoxides and dioxides of thorium, protactinium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium, americium, and curium is presented. A consistent set of metal-oxygen bond dissociation enthalpies, ionization energies, and enthalpies of formation, including new or revised values, is proposed, mainly based on recent experimental data and on correlations with the electronic energetics of the atoms or cations and with condensed-phase thermochemistry.

Using the nonlinear gyrokinetic code package GENE/GIST, we study the turbulent transport in a broad family of stellarator designs, to understand the geometry-dependence of the microturbulence. By using a set of flux tubes on a given flux surface, we construct a picture of the 2D structure of the microturbulence over that surface, and relate this to relevant geometric quantities, such as the curvature, local shear, and effective potential in the Schrodinger-like equation governing linear drift modes.

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This report addresses causes, prevalence, and consequences of violence against women. It provides examples of completed and ongoing U.S. activities that address VAW directly or include anti-VAW components. It outlines possible policy considerations for the 111th Congress, including the scope and effectiveness of U.S. programs; further integrating anti-VAW programs into U.S. assistance and foreign policy mechanisms; and strengthening U.S. government coordination of anti-VAW activities.

This report discusses the background and policy issues related to Internet domain names.

This report discusses local and regional procurement (LRP) of food aid, which refers to the purchase of commodities for emergency food aid by donors in countries with food needs or in another country within the region. LRP is used extensively by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and has been proposed as a cost-effective, time-saving tool that the United States could use to meet emergency food needs.

Overview of Research Goals and Accomplishments for the Period 07/01/06 – 06/30/07: Our overall research goal is to transform the rapidly emerging synthetic chemistry involving alkyl-alkyl cross-couplings into more of a mechanism-based field so that that new, rationally-designed catalysts can be performed under energy efficient conditions. Our specific objectives for the previous year were 1) to obtain a proper electronic description of an active catalyst for alkyl-alkyl cross-coupling reactions and 2) to determine the effect of ligand structure on the rate, scope, selectivity, and functional group compatibility of C(sp3)-C(sp3) cross-coupling catalysis. We have completed both of these initial objectives and established a firm base for further studies. The specific significant achievements of the current grant period include: 1) we have performed magnetic and computational studies on (terpyridine)NiMe, an active catalyst for alkyl-alkyl cross couplings, and have discovered that the unpaired electron resides heavily on the terpyridine ligand and that the proper electronic description of this nickel complex is a Ni(II)-methyl cation bound to a reduced terpyridine ligand; 2) we have for the first time shown that alkyl halide reduction by terpyridyl nickel catalysts is substantially ligand based; 3) we have shown by isotopic labeling studies that the active catalyst (terpyridine)NiMe …

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted neutron measurements at Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP). The measurements were performed to evaluate the performance of the Hanford Standard Dosimeter (HSD) and the 8816 TLD component of the Hanford Combination Neutron Dosimeter (HCND) in the neutron fields responsible for worker neutron exposures. For this study, TEPC detectors and multisphere spectrometers were used to measure neutron dose equivalent rate, and multispheres were used to measure average neutron energy. Water-filled phantoms holding Hanford dosimeters were positioned at each measurement location. The phantoms were positioned in the same location where a multisphere measurement was taken and TEPCs were also positioned there. Plant survey meters were also used to measure neutron dose rates at all locations. Three measurement locations were chose near the HC-9B glovebox in room 228A of Building 234-5. The multisphere spectrometers measured average neutron energies in the range of 337 to 555 keV at these locations. Personal dose equivalent, Hp(10)n, as measured by the multisphere and TEPC, ranged from 2.7 to 9.7 mrem/h in the three locations. Effective dose assuming a rotational geometry (EROT) was substantially lower than Hp(10), ranging from 1.3 to 3.6 mrem/h. These values were lower than the reported values …

This report provides basic information about U.S. and Russian nonstrategic nuclear weapons. It begins with a brief discussion of the differences between strategic and nonstrategic nuclear weapons. It then provides some historical background. It concludes with a review of policy options, or "solutions" for the preceding problems, that might be explored by Congress, the United States, Russia, and other nations.

The Saltstone Production Facility (SPF) receives waste from Tank 50H for treatment. In the fourth quarter of the 2008 calendar year (4QCY08), Tank 50 accepted transfers of approximately 15 kgal from the Effluent Treatment Project (ETP) waste, approximately 12 kgal from Tank 710-the H-Canyon General Purpose Evaporator, approximately 5 kgal from the H-Canyon Super Kukla campaign, and approximately 34 kgal from the Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU) Decontaminated Salt Solution Hold Tank (DSS-HT). The Saltstone Grout Sampling plan provides the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) with the chemical and physical characterization strategy for the salt solution which is to be disposed of in the Z-Area Solid Waste Landfill (ISWLF).1 During operation, samples were collected from Tank 50H and grout samples prepared to determine the non-hazardous nature of the grout to meet the requirements of the South Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (SCHWMR) R.61-79.261.24(b) and R.61-79.268.48(a). SRNL was asked to prepare saltstone from a sample of Tank 50H obtained October 29, 2008 during 4QCY08 to determine the non-hazardous nature of the grout. The samples were cured and shipped to Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Group-Radioisotope and Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (B&WTSG-RACL) to perform the Toxic Characteristic …

Daily newspaper from Sweetwater, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

This article examines the relationship of the qualification requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act to the goal of reducing the academic achievement gap.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Academy), a component of the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD), is one of five U.S. service academies. The Academy is affiliated with 14 non-appropriated fund instrumentalities (NAFI) and two foundations. GAO was asked to determine whether there (1) were any potentially improper or questionable sources and uses of funds by the Academy, including transactions with its affiliated organizations; (2) was an effective control environment with key controls in place over the Academy's sources and uses of funds; and (3) were any actions taken, under way, or planned to improve controls and accountability. GAO analyzed selected transactions from fiscal years 2006, 2007, and 2008 to identify improper or questionable sources and uses of funds and reviewed documents and interviewed cognizant officials to assess the Academy's internal controls, and identify corrective actions to improve controls."