This report will examine the legal issues raised by wellness programs, including discussions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) nondiscrimination rules, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), other employment discrimination laws such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as Medicaid and applicable tax code provisions.

This report summarizes the health-related revenue provisions in the Reconciliation Act of 2010, introduced in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 4872.

This report focuses on the first components of a CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) system, the CO2 capture process. This report assesses prospects for improved, lower-cost technologies for each of the three current approaches to CO2 capture.

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This report considers U.S. agricultural imports and predicts that FY2010 will be the second highest on record at 77.5 billion. The report also discusses the farm bill of 2008 in relation to this information. Moreover, the report provides data on the U.S. agricultural exports.

This report covers developments in Liberia, a small, poor West African country.

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This report discusses the current farm price-cost squeeze, how it varies across commodities, and the factors behind the current situation. The report also considers the cyclical nature of agricultural markets, effects on producers, and the government's role in addressing the situation.

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This report gives an overview of Fishery, Aquaculture, and Marine Mammal Issues in the 111th Congress

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This report describes how some taxpayers might be affected and which taxpayer groups might have their income tax under withheld.

This report provides the current conditions and the challenges ahead of Kenya.

Using molecular simulations and a bimodal domain network, the role of water state on Nafion water uptake and water and proton transport is investigated. Although the smaller domains provide moderate transport pathways, their effectiveness remains low due to strong, resistive water molecules/domain surface interactions. The water occupancy of the larger domains yields bulk-like water, and causes the observed transition in the water uptake and significant increases in transport properties.

Our proposal focuses on cloud-radiation processes in a general 3D cloud situation, with particular emphasis on cloud optical depth and effective particle size. We also focus on zenith radiance measurements, both active and passive. The proposal has three main parts. Part One exploits the “solar-background” mode of ARM lidars to allow them to retrieve cloud optical depth not just for thin clouds but for all clouds. This also enables the study of aerosol cloud interactions with a single instrument. Part Two exploits the large number of new wavelengths offered by ARM’s zenith-pointing ShortWave Spectrometer (SWS), especially during CLASIC, to develop better retrievals not only of cloud optical depth but also of cloud particle size. We also propose to take advantage of the SWS’ 1 Hz sampling to study the “twilight zone” around clouds where strong aerosol-cloud interactions are taking place. Part Three involves continuing our cloud optical depth and cloud fraction retrieval research with ARM’s 2NFOV instrument by, first, analyzing its data from the AMF-COPS/CLOWD deployment, and second, making our algorithms part of ARM’s operational data processing.

Ln{sub 2}YbCuQ{sub 5} (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm; Q = S, Se) have been prepared by direct reaction of the elements in Sb{sub 2}Q{sub 3} (Q = S, Se) fluxes at 900 °C. All compounds have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods and they are isotypic. The structure of Ln{sub 2}YbCuQ{sub 5} consists of one-dimensional {sup 1}{sub {infinity}} [YbCuQ{sub 5}]{sup 6-} ribbons extending along the b axis that are connected by larger Ln{sup 3+} ions. Each ribbon is constructed from two single chains of [YbQ{sub 6}] octahedra with one double chain of [CuQ{sub 5}] trigonal bipyramids in the middle. All three chains connect with each other via edge-sharing. There are two crystallographically unique Ln atoms, one octahedral Yb site, and two disordered Cu positions inside of distorted Q{sub 5} trigonal bipyramids. Both Ln atoms are surrounded by eight Q atoms in bicapped trigonal prisms. The magnetic properties of Ln{sub 2}YbCuQ{sub 5} have been characterized using magnetic susceptibility and heat capacity measurements, while their optical properties have been explored using UV-vis-NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Cesub 2}YbCuSe{sub 5}, La{sub 2}YbCuS{sub 5}, Ce{sub 2}YbCuS{sub 5}, and Pr{sub 2}YbCuS{sub 5} are Curie-Weiss paramagnets. La{sub 2}YbCuSe{sub 5} and Nd{sub 2}YbCuS{sub 5} show …

Photoinjectors in advanced high-energy accelerators reduce beam energy spreads and enhance undulator photon fluxes. Photoinjector design is difficult because of the substantial differences in time and spatial scales. This Phase I program explored an innovative technique, the local Taylor polynomial (LTP) formulation, for improving finite difference analysis of photoinjectors. This included improved weighting techniques, systematic formula for high order interpolation and electric field computation, and improved handling of space charge. The Phase I program demonstrated that the approach was powerful, accurate, and efficient. It handles space charge gradients better than currently available technology.

Physics experiments aimed at deducing key parameters for use in a variety of programs critical to the mission of the National Laboratories require actinide targets placed onto various substrates. The target material quantity and the substrate desired depend upon the type of experiment being designed. The physicist(s) responsible for the experimental campaign will consult with the radiochemistry staff as to the feasibility of producing a desired target/substrate combination. In this report they discuss the production of U and Pu targets on very thin C and Ti substrates. The techniques used, plating cells designed for, tips, and limits is discussed.

We are developing new scintillator materials that offer potential for high resolution gamma ray spectroscopy at low cost. Single crystal SrI{sub 2}(Eu) offers {approx}3% resolution at 662 keV, in sizes of {approx}1 in{sup 3}. We have developed ceramics processing technology allowing us to achieve cubic inch scale transparent ceramic scintillators offering gamma spectroscopy performance superior to NaI(Tl). We fabricated a bismuth-loaded plastic scintillator that demonstrates energy resolution of {approx}8% at 662 keV in small sizes. Gamma ray spectroscopy can be used to identify the presence of weak radioactive sources within natural background. The ability to discriminate close-lying spectral lines is strongly dependent upon the energy resolution of the detector. In addition to excellent energy resolution, large volume detectors are needed to acquire sufficient events, for example, to identify a radioactive anomaly moving past a detector. We have employed a 'directed search' methodology for identifying potential scintillator materials candidates, resulting in the discovery of Europium-doped Strontium Iodide, SrI{sub 2}(Eu), Cerium-doped Gadolinium Garnet, GYGAG(Ce), and Bismuth-loaded Polymers. These scintillators possess very low self-radioactivity, offer energy resolution of 3-8% at 662 keV, and have potential to be grown cost-effectively to sizes similar to the most widely deployed gamma spectroscopy scintillator, Thallium-doped Sodium Iodide, …