This report discusses legislation (S. 707 and H.R. 1722) designed to foster the development of telework in executive agencies of the federal government.

In recent years, major outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, product recalls, and reports about unsafe food imports have caused some to question the adequacy of the U.S. food safety system. Stakeholders appear to agree that an optimal system should encompass a comprehensive, preventive approach to food safety, focusing on those foods and points in the food system that pose the greatest public health risks, starting at the point of production - that is, on farms and ranches. This report discusses differing opinions on this topic, as well as related legislation.

This report addresses some of the critical matters a House committee chair confronts from the time of the early organization meetings in November to approximately the spring district work-period in March or April. The report is divided into the following sections: Transition, Administrative Matters, Committee Organization, Committee Procedure and the Role of the Chair, Procedural Tools for Committee Chairs, Floor Consideration and the Role of the Chair, and Legislative Issues and Agenda.

In order to protect the U.S. industrial base during periods of adversity and war, Congress passed a set of domestic source restrictions which became known as the Berry Amendment. Specialty metal represented one of fourteen items previously covered under the Berry Amendment. Congress took action in the FY2007 National Defense Authorization Act to move the specialty metal provision from the Berry Amendmgent into a separate section of Title 10. This report examines the specialty metal provision, potential oversight issues for Congress, and options that Congress may choose to consider.

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act) requires agencies to take proactive steps to provide equal opportunity to qualified individuals with disabilities, but their rate of employment with the federal government remains low. GAO was asked to identify barriers to the employment of people with disabilities in the federal workforce and leading practices that could be used to overcome these barriers. On July 20, 2010, GAO convened a forum to identify leading practices that federal agencies could implement within the current legislative context. In preparation for the forum, GAO surveyed a wide range of knowledgeable individuals to identify barriers and leading practices. Forum participants were selected from among respondents (or their representatives) to reflect varying expertise and views concerning the employment of individuals with disabilities. The survey results formed the basis for the initial forum agenda, and were refined by participants to focus on actions they deemed most important. Comments in this report do not necessarily represent the views of any individual participant or the organizations that these participants represent or with which they are affiliated, including GAO."

In 2001 and 2003, Congress enacted major tax cuts (popularly referred to as the "Bush tax cuts"), the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. Congress is currently debating whether to extend some or all of these tax cuts that are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. This report discusses the two main economic arguments against allowing the tax cuts to expire as scheduled, using historical evidence and by examining the current economic environment.

This report examines three labor issues and arguments related to the pending U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (CFTA; H.R. 5724 and S. 2830): violence against trade unionists; impunity (accountability for or punishment of the perpetrators); and worker rights protections for Colombians.

This report analyzes the FY2011 request, recent-year funding trends, and congressional action related to FY2011 State-Foreign Operations legislation.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The mission of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is to safeguard and preserve government records, ensuring continuing access to the essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their government. However, in today's environment of fast-evolving information technology, federal agencies are creating vast and growing volumes of electronic records while continuing to create physical records in large numbers. Accordingly, GAO was asked to assess NARA's effectiveness in overseeing the governmentwide management of records, including commenting on its capacity to identify risk of unlawful destruction of federal records; describe its ability to preserve permanent records; and assess its policies, procedures, and plans supporting key management and oversight capabilities (collaboration, governance, and human capital). To do so, GAO analyzed NARA documentation in these areas, interviewed agency officials, and reviewed prior work."

This report discusses the current political conditions of Kazahkstan, as well as U.S. policy interests regarding Kazahkstan.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Weekly student newspaper from the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas that includes campus news and commentaries along with advertising.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a member of the board trustees of an independent school district may simultaneously serve as mayor of a type A general-law municipality that is located wholly within the geographical boundaries of the school district (RQ-0874-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Authority of a commissioners court to regulate traffic on roads located in an unincorporated area of the county but within the boundaries of a fresh water supply district (RQ-0876-GA)

PV modules must provide mechanical support for the cells, protect the world from the voltages inside, protect the cells, diodes and interconnects from the weather outside, couple as much light as possible into the PV cells and minimize the temperature increase of the cells. The package must continue to serve these functions for at least 25 years as that is the typical module warranty period today. Furthermore the package must do all this for as low a cost as possible since the key to large scale PV growth is a reduction in cost while retaining excellent module reliability and durability. This paper will review current module construction practices for both crystalline silicon and thin film PV with emphasis on explaining why the present designs and materials have been selected. Possible long term issues with today's designs and materials will be discussed. Several proposed solutions to these issues will be presented, highlighting the research efforts that will be necessary in order to verify that they can cost effectively solve the identified issues.

The running costs of data centers are dominated by the need to dissipate heat generated by thousands of server machines. Higher temperatures are undesirable as they lead to premature silicon wear-out; in fact, mean time to failure has been shown to decrease exponentially with temperature (Black's law). Although other server components also generate heat, microprocessors still dominate in most server configurations and are also the most vulnerable to wearout as the feature sizes shrink. Even as processor complexity and technology scaling have increased the average energy density inside a processor to maximally tolerable levels, modern microprocessors make extensive use of hardware structures such as the load-store queue and other CAM-based units, and the peak temperatures on chip can be much worse than even the average temperature of the chip. In recent studies, it has been shown that hot-spots inside a processor can generate {approx} 800W/cm{sup 2} heat flux whereas the average heat flux is only 10-50W/cm{sup 2}, and due to this disparity in heat generation, the temperature in hot spots may be up to 30 C more than average chip temperature. The key problem processor hot-spots create is that in order to prevent some critical hardware structures from wearing out …

The Saltstone Production Facility (SPF) receives waste from Tank 50H for treatment. In the second quarter of the 2010 calendar year (2QCY10), Tank 50H accepted transfers of approximately 19 kgal from the Effluent Treatment Project (ETP), approximately 5 kgal from Tank 710 - the H-Canyon General Purpose Evaporator, approximately 42 kgal from the HCanyon Super Kukla campaign, and approximately 73 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). 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). Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) was asked to prepare saltstone from samples of Tank 50H obtained April 4, 2010 during 2QCY10 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&W TSG-RACL) …

Two Corning monoliths and a non-carbon-based material have been identified as potential additives for mercury capture in syngas at temperatures above 400°F and pressure of 600 psig. A new Corning monolith formulation, GR-F1-2189, described as an active sample appeared to be the best monolith tested to date. The Corning SR Liquid monolith concept continues to be a strong candidate for mercury capture. Both monolith types allowed mercury reduction to below 5-μg/m{sup 3} (~5 ppb), a current U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) goal for trace metal control. Preparation methods for formulating the SR Liquid monolith impacted the ability of the monolith to capture mercury. The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC)-prepared Noncarbon Sorbents 1 and 2 appeared to offer potential for sustained and significant reduction of mercury concentration in the simulated fuel gas. The Noncarbon Sorbent 1 allowed sustained mercury reduction to below 5-μg/m{sup 3} (~5 ppb). The non-carbon-based sorbent appeared to offer the potential for regeneration, that is, desorption of mercury by temperature swing (using nitrogen and steam at temperatures above where adsorption takes place). A Corning cordierite monolith treated with a Group IB metal offered limited potential as a mercury sorbent. However, a Corning carbon-based monolith containing prereduced metallic …

Daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state, and campus news along with advertising.

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

This report summarizes states laws concerning non-relative adoption by homosexual individuals and couples.

This article's study endeavors to determine if p53 is responsible for cisplatin sensitization by NSC109268. Results have implications for sensitivity of ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin independent of p53.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Hubert Douglas Crotts. Crotts joined the Marine Corps in July 1941. He was trained as a tanker, but realized he was claustrophobic. Crotts became a ground guide for the tanks and helped direct their fire from outside of the vehicle. He was sent to the Pacific as a part of the 2nd Marine Division. Crotts landed at Tarawa and tells of the difficulties that the tanks faced. He was awarded a Navy Cross by Admiral Nimitz. Crotts met Admiral Nimitz earlier on the island after the battle. He had a short conversation in which Nimitz asked several questions about the battle. Later, Crotts landed with his unit on Saipan where he was wounded while directing tanks. He was evacuated to a hospital and underwent several operations for his wound. Crotts left the service soon after the war ended.