A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the late 1990s, life settlements have offered consumers benefits but also exposed them to risks, giving rise to regulatory concerns. A policy owner with unneeded life insurance can surrender the policy to the insurer for its cash surrender value. Or, the owner may receive more by selling the policy to a third-party investor through a life settlement. These transactions have involved high-dollar-amount policies covering older persons. Despite their potential benefits, life settlements can have unintended consequences for policy owners, such as unexpected tax liabilities. Also, policy owners commonly rely on intermediaries to help them, and some intermediaries may engage in abusive practices. As requested, this report addresses how the life settlement market is organized and regulated, and what challenges policy owners, investors, and others face in connection with life settlements. GAO reviewed and analyzed studies on life settlements and applicable state and federal laws; surveyed insurance regulators and life settlement providers; and interviewed relevant market participants, state and federal regulators, trade associations, and market observers."

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In this two year program, UDC together with Armstrong World Industries, Professor Stephen Forrest (University of Michigan) and Professor Mark Thompson (University of Southern California) planned to develop and deliver high efficiency OLED lighting luminaires as part of an integrated ceiling illumination system that exceed the Department of Energy (DOE) 2010 performance projections. Specifically the UDC team in 2010 delivered two prototype OLED ceiling illumination systems, each consisting of four individual OLED lighting panels on glass integrated into Armstrong's novel TechZone open architecture ceiling systems, at an overall system efficacy of 51 lm/W, a CRI = 85 and a projected lifetime to 70% of initial luminance to exceed 10,000 hours. This accomplishment represents a 50% increase in luminaire efficacy and a factor of two in lifetime over that outlined in the solicitation. In addition, the team has also delivered one 15cm x 15cm lighting panel fabricated on a flexible metal foil substrate, demonstrating the possibility using OLEDs in a range of form factors. During this program, our Team has pursued the commercialization of these OLED based ceiling luminaires, with a goal to launch commercial products within the next three years. We have proven that our team is ideally suited to …

5098-SR-02-0 PROJECT-SPECIFIC TYPE A VERIFICATION FOR THE HIGH FLUX BEAM REACTOR UNDERGROUND UTILITIES REMOVAL PHASE 2 DF WASTE LINE REMOVAL, BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY

Individual raw datastreams from instrumentation at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility fixed and mobile sites are collected and sent to the Data Management Facility (DMF) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for processing in near real-time. Raw and processed data are then sent approximately daily to the ARM Archive, where they are made available to users. For each instrument, we calculate the ratio of the actual number of data records received daily at the Archive to the expected number of data records. The results are tabulated by (1) individual datastream, site, and month for the current year and (2) site and fiscal year (FY) dating back to 1998.

This paper presents the first control algorithm for the inner and outer strike point position for a Spherical Torus (ST) fusion experiment and the performance analysis of the controller. A liquid lithium divertor (LLD) will be installed on NSTX which is believed to provide better pumping than lithium coatings on carbon PFCs. The shape of the plasma dictates the pumping rate of the lithium by channeling the plasma to LLD, where strike point location is the most important shape parameter. Simulations show that the density reduction depends on the proximity of strike point to LLD. Experiments were performed to study the dynamics of the strike point, design a new controller to change the location of the strike point to desired location and stabilize it. The most effective PF coils in changing inner and outer strike points were identified using equilibrium code. The PF coil inputs were changed in a step fashion between various set points and the step response of the strike point position was obtained. From the analysis of the step responses, PID controllers for the strike points were obtained and the controller was tuned experimentally for better performance. The strike controller was extended to include the outer-strike point …

This report provides legislative and policy background concerning U.S. assistance programs in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) does not have an official presence in China. The majority of congressional foreign operations appropriations for the PRC promotes the rule of law, civil society, and political development in the country. These programs constitute a key component of U.S. efforts to promote democratic change in the PRC. Other related U.S. activities include participation in official bilateral dialogues on human rights, public diplomacy programs, and open criticism of PRC policies.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) commitment to assuring the health and safety of its workers includes the conduct of epidemiologic surveillance activities that provide an early warning system for health problems among workers. The Illness and Injury Surveillance Program monitors illnesses and health conditions that result in an absence of workdays, occupational injuries and illnesses, and disabilities and deaths among current workers.

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This report focuses on the potential implications of China's naval modernization for future required U.S. Navy capabilities. The report particularly discusses how potential United States responses to China's military modernization effort -- including its naval modernization effort -- have emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning.

This report focuses on the annual defense authorization process. It includes discussions of pay raises, insurance, social programs, and other personnel policy issues. This report focuses exclusively on the annual defense authorization process. It does not include appropriations, veterans' affairs, tax implications of policy choices or any discussion of separately introduced legislation.

This report discusses Jamaica's social, political, and economic environment, as well as the country's relationship with the U.S.

This report discusses the efforts currently underway to improve coordination and encourage better analysis amongst the various agencies within the U.S. Intelligence Community, especially with regard to the ongoing and prominent issue of international terrorism. In particular, this report addresses the false intelligence regarding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and the current efforts in Iraq and Iran in general.

This report examines the evolution of counterterrorism cooperation between the United States and the European Union (EU), particularly since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It includes a discussion of U.S.-EU cooperation progress and ongoing challenges, as well as perspectives and issues for Congress.

The United States and Russia signed a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement on May 6, 2008. President Bush submitted the agreement to Congress on May 13. The agreement was withdrawn from congressional consideration by President George W. Bush on September 8, 2008, in response to Russia's military actions in Georgia. President Obama transmitted the proposed text of the agreement to Congress on May 10, 2010, along with the required Nuclear Proliferation Assessment (NPAS) and his determination that the agreement promotes U.S. national security. This report discusses key policy issues related to the agreement, including future nuclear energy cooperation with Russia, U.S.-Russian bilateral relations, nonproliferation cooperation, and Russian policies toward Iran.

This report discusses the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) National Broadband Plan (NBP), which mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is a 360-page document composed of 17 chapters containing 208 specific recommendations directed to the FCC, to the Executive Branch (both to individual agencies and to Administration as a whole), to Congress, and to nonfederal and nongovernmental entities. The ARRA specified that the NBP should "seek to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability."