A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past two and a half decades, the Department of Defense (DOD) has invested heavily to acquire a cruise missile capable of attacking ground targets stealthily, reliably, and affordably. After abandoning an earlier, more expensive missile and a joint service effort, the Air Force began producing the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) in 2001. After that, the program (1) encountered many flight test failures, (2) decided to develop an extended range version, and (3) recognized significant cost growth. The production decision for the JASSM-ER is planned for November 2010. Also, the Secretary of Defense has recently announced a major initiative to restore affordability and productivity in defense spending. This initiative is expected to, among other things, identify savings by conducting needed programs more efficiently. As DOD faces the initial production decision on JASSM-ER, GAO was asked to assess (1) most recent test results, correction of causes of previous flight test failures, and efforts to improve JASSM's reliability; and (2) JASSM cost changes, efforts to control costs, and additional cost risks for the program."

This report describes the FY2011 appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Administration requested a net appropriation of $45.0 billion in budget authority for FY2011. This amounts to a $1.1 billion, or a 2.4% increase from the $43.9 billion enacted for FY2010. Total budget authority requested by the Administration for DHS for FY2011 amounts to $52.6 billion as compared to $51.7 billion enacted for FY2010.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Intellectual property (IP) plays a significant role in the U.S. economy. Enforcing IP laws involves many U.S. agencies, making coordination essential. Under the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (PRO-IP Act), Congress required the U.S. Attorney General, through the Department of Justice (DOJ), to devote additional resources and undertake other specific IP efforts. The PRO-IP Act also created the position of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) to enhance interagency coordination. The act mandates that GAO provide Congress with a report on the efforts of DOJ and the IPEC. This status report addresses DOJ and Office of the IPEC's efforts to implement the act. The report also compares the 2010 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement to the content called for in the PRO-IP Act. GAO examined relevant documents, interviewed agency staff and officials, and compared agency actions and the 2010 strategic plan with the PRO-IP Act."

This report briefly explores the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e), which requires imposition of a minimum 15-year term of imprisonment for recidivists convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). Section 924(e) applies only to those defendants who have three prior state or federal convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses. The report includes descriptions of constitutional challenges to the application of section 924(e), which have been generally unsuccessful.

This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai, to address corruption within the Afghan government. The report also includes discussion of election fraud and corruption in Afghanistan.

This report provides background on the conflict over interpretation and implementation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Clean Water Act. A brief discussion of the two laws is followed by a review of the major litigation of interest. EPA's efforts to clarify its policy in this area and the November 2006 rule and the 2009 federal court ruling are discussed, as well as possible options for EPA and Congress to further address the FIFRA-CWA issues. In June, EPA proposed a draft general CWA permit that it intends to finalize by April 2011 in response to the court ruling.

Plans are underway to use small column ion exchange (SCIX) units installed in high-level waste tanks to remove Cs-137 from highly alkaline salt solutions at Savannah River Site. The ion exchange material slated for the SCIX project is engineered or granular crystalline silicotitanate (CST). Information on the maximum loading of radionuclides on CST is needed by Savannah River Remediation for safety evaluations. A literature review has been conducted that culminated in the estimation of the maximum loading of all but one of the radionuclides of interest (Cs-137, Sr-90, Ba-137m, Pu-238, Pu-239, Pu-240, Pu-241, Am-241, and Cm-244). No data was found for Cm-244.

In this progress report, we describe the preliminary experiments conducted with three fish and one invertebrate species to determine the effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields. During fiscal year 2010, experiments were conducted with coho salmon (Onchrohychus kisutch), California halibut (Paralicthys californicus), Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus), and Dungeness crab (Cancer magister). The work described supports Task 2.1.3: Effects on Aquatic Organisms, Subtask 2.1.3.1: Electromagnetic Fields.

We experimentally demonstrate low-power-consumption vortex-core switching in magnetic nanodisks using tailored rotating magnetic fields produced with orthogonal and unipolar Gaussian-pulse currents. The optimal width of the orthogonal pulses and their time delay are found, from analytical and micromagnetic numerical calculations, to be determined only by the angular eigenfrequency {omega}{sub D} for a given vortex-state disk of polarization p, such that {sigma}=1/{omega}{sub D} and {Delta}t={pi}/2 p/{omega}{sub D} . The estimated optimal pulse parameters are in good agreement with the experimental results. This work lays a foundation for energy-efficient information recording in vortex-core cross-point architecture.

High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) is pulsed sputtering where the peak power exceeds the time-averaged power by typically two orders of magnitude. The peak power density, averaged over the target area, can reach or exceed 107 W/m2, leading to plasma conditions that make ionization of the sputtered atoms very likely. A brief review of HIPIMS operation is given in a tutorial manner, illustrated by some original data related to the self-sputtering of niobium in argon and krypton. Emphasis is put on the current-voltage-time relationships near the threshold of self-sputtering runaway. The great variety of current pulse shapes delivers clues on the very strong gas rarefaction, self-sputtering runaway conditions, and the stopping of runaway due to the evolution of atom ionization and ion return probabilities as the gas plasma is replaced by metal plasma. The discussions are completed by considering instabilities and the special case of ?gasless? self-sputtering.

This document catalogs the characteristics of current and potential future DC products and power systems.

A method for approximately solving magnetic differential equations is described. The approach is to include a small diffusion term to the equation, which regularizes the linear operator to be inverted. The extra term allows a "source-correction" term to be defned, which is generally required in order to satisfy the solvability conditions. The approach is described in the context of computing the pressure and parallel currents in the iterative approach for computing magnetohydrodynamic equilibria. __________________________________________________

This report summarizes a preliminary special analysis of the Savannah River Depleted Uranium Trioxide waste stream (SVRSURANIUM03, Revision 2). The analysis is considered preliminary because a final waste profile has not been submitted for review. The special analysis is performed to determine the acceptability of the waste stream for shallow land burial at the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS) at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The Savannah River Depleted Uranium Trioxide waste stream requires a special analysis because the waste stream’s sum of fractions exceeds one. The 99Tc activity concentration is 98 percent of the NNSS Waste Acceptance Criteria and the largest single contributor to the sum of fractions.

The United States (U.S.) currently utilizes a once-through fuel cycle where used nuclear fuel (UNF) is stored on-site in either wet pools or in dry storage systems with ultimate disposal in a deep mined geologic repository envisioned. Within the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE), the Fuel Cycle Research and Development Program (FCR&D) develops options to the current commercial fuel cycle management strategy to enable the safe, secure, economic, and sustainable expansion of nuclear energy while minimizing proliferation risks by conducting research and development of advanced fuel cycles, including modified open and closed cycles. The safe management and disposition of used nuclear fuel and/or nuclear waste is a fundamental aspect of any nuclear fuel cycle. Yet, the routine disposal of used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste remains problematic. Advanced fuel cycles will generate different quantities and forms of waste than the current LWR fleet. This study analyzes the quantities and characteristics of potential waste forms including differing waste matrices, as a function of a variety of potential fuel cycle alternatives including: (1) Commercial UNF generated by uranium fuel light water reactors (LWR). Four once through fuel cycles analyzed in this study differ by varying the assumed expansion/contraction …

This report explains the American with Disabilities Act that provides nondiscrimination protection in employment, public services, public accomodations, and services operated by private entities, transportation, and telecommunications for individuals with disabilities.

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii.