A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) manages more than 209,000 inmates, up 45 percent between fiscal years 2000 and 2010. As the prison population grows, so do concerns about correctional officer safety. As requested, GAO examined the (1) equipment that BOP and selected state departments of corrections (DOC) provide to protect officers, and the officers' and other correctional practitioners' opinions of this equipment; (2) extent to which BOP has evaluated the effectiveness of this equipment, and factors correctional equipment experts consider important to the acquisition of new equipment; and (3) institutional factors correctional accrediting experts reported as impacting officer safety, and the extent to which BOP has evaluated the effectiveness of the steps it has taken in response. GAO reviewed BOP policies and procedures; interviewed BOP officials and officers within BOP's six regions, selected based on such factors as the level of facility overcrowding; interviewed officials at 14 of the 15 largest state DOCs; and surveyed 21 individuals selected for their expertise in corrections. The results of the interviews cannot be generalized, but provide insight into issues affecting officer safety."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Spent nuclear fuel--considered very hazardous--is accumulating at commercial reactor sites in 33 states. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to dispose of this waste in a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. In June 2008, DOE submitted a license application for the repository, but in March 2010 moved to withdraw it. However, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or the courts--as a result of lawsuits--could compel DOE to resume the licensing process. This report examines (1) the basis for DOE's decision to terminate the Yucca Mountain program, (2) the termination steps DOE has taken and their effects, (3) the major impacts if the repository were terminated, and (4) the principal lessons learned. GAO reviewed documents and interviewed knowledgeable parties."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hurricane Katrina in 2005 highlighted gaps in the nation's preparedness to respond effectively to catastrophic incidents. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designed the Task Force for Emergency Readiness (TFER) pilot program to advance and integrate state and federal catastrophic planning efforts. TFER, first envisioned by the Department of Defense (DOD), ran from September 2008 to September 2010, and FEMA provided the five participating states--Hawaii, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia--with $350,000 each to develop plans, build relationships with stakeholders, and document lessons learned (i.e., TFER's stated objectives). As requested, GAO evaluated the extent to which (1) FEMA followed sound management practices in designing, administering, and evaluating TFER and (2) the five participating states satisfied TFER's stated objectives. GAO analyzed FEMA guidance, such as the TFER Pilot Information Package, conducted site visits to all five participant states, and met with relevant FEMA and DOD officials, to evaluate FEMA's management of TFER and the states' implementation of it."

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Bi-weekly student newspaper from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

This report provides an annotated list of historical documents and other resources related to several past government shutdowns. The report also includes links to full-text documents when available. There is limited information and guidance related to shutdowns, and it is difficult to predict what might happen in the event of one, but information about past events may help inform future deliberations.

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

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

In 1950 Purcell and Ramsey suggested that the electron might have a CP-violating electric dipole moment (e-EDM) proportional to its spin angular momentum. This possibility initiated an ongoing hunt for the e-EDM that has been spurred on by the recognition of the importance of CP-violation to the formation of a matter-dominated universe[2] as well as a difference in magnitude of the Supersymmetric and Standard Model[4] prediction for its value. The current limit on the e-EDM is 1.6E−27 e·cm as determined in a Ramsey beam resonance study of the Tl atom. The PbF molecule provides a unique opportunity to measure the e-EDM. The molecule’s odd electron, heavy mass, and large internal field combine to give it an intrinsic sensitivity to an e-EDM that is over three orders of magnitude bigger than that of the Tl atom. In addition to this increased intrinsic sensitivity, the ground state of the PbF molecule allows for a "magic" electric field at which the magnetic moment vanishes[7]. All of these advantages create an opportunity to significantly lower the current limit on the e-EDM. These advantages can only be realized if an intense source of ground-state PbF molecules can be created and detected with high efficiency. The …

The goals of this work were: (1) to improve the University of Washington shallow cumulus parameterization, first developed by the PI's group for better simulation of shallow oceanic cumulus convection in the MM5 mesoscale model (Bretherton et al., 2004, Mon. Wea. Rev.); (2) to explore its applicability to deep (precipitating) cumulus convection; and (3) to explore fundamental physical issues related to this cumulus parameterization.

This project was a continuation of previous work under DOE CCPP funding in which we developed a twin approach of non-homogeneous hidden Markov models (NHMMs) and coupled ocean-atmosphere (O-A) intermediate-complexity models (ICMs) to identify the potentially predictable modes of climate variability, and to investigate their impacts on the regional-scale. We have developed a family of latent-variable NHMMs to simulate historical records of daily rainfall, and used them to downscale seasonal predictions. We have also developed empirical mode reduction (EMR) models for gaining insight into the underlying dynamics in observational data and general circulation model (GCM) simulations. Using coupled O-A ICMs, we have identified a new mechanism of interdecadal climate variability, involving the midlatitude oceans’ mesoscale eddy field and nonlinear, persistent atmospheric response to the oceanic anomalies. A related decadal mode is also identified, associated with the oceans’ thermohaline circulation. The goal of the continuation was to build on these ICM results and NHMM/EMR model developments and software to strengthen two key pillars of support for the development and application of climate models for climate change projections on time scales of decades to centuries, namely: (a) dynamical and theoretical understanding of decadal-to-interdecadal oscillations and their predictability; and (b) an interface from …

Get a GRiP (Gravitational Risk Procedure) on risk by using an approach inspired by the physics of gravitational forces between body masses! In April 2010, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Special Events staff (Protective Security Advisors [PSAs]) expressed concern about how to calculate risk given measures of consequence, vulnerability, and threat. The PSAs believed that it is not 'right' to assign zero risk, as a multiplicative formula would imply, to cases in which the threat is reported to be extremely small, and perhaps could even be assigned a value of zero, but for which consequences and vulnerability are potentially high. They needed a different way to aggregate the components into an overall measure of risk. To address these concerns, GRiP was proposed and developed. The inspiration for GRiP is Sir Isaac Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation: the attractive force between two bodies is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the squares of the distance between them. The total force on one body is the sum of the forces from 'other bodies' that influence that body. In the case of risk, the 'other bodies' are the components of risk (R): consequence, vulnerability, and threat (which …

RDX was provided by Indian Head and was dried at 60 C for 16 hours, cooled and kept in a desiccator before use. Please note that the impact testing was done on both pellets and loose powder which resulted in different data. The impact sensitivity on pressed pellets was 34 cm that is greater than that on loose powder, as expected. The impact test data on the loose powder was similar to what Indian Head and LANL got. Remarkable consistent results were observed for test results of loose powder RDX. The average impact sensitivyt (DH{sub 50}) was 21.8 cm and the average friction sensitivity (F{sub 50}) for loose powder was 24.9 kg, respectively. DSC charts showed that peak temperatures and onset temperatures for all 3 runs of RDX samples were almost identical. All electrostatic spark sensitivity was 0/10 at 1.0 J with a 510-ohm resistor in the discharge circuit.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

This report is one of four reports written to provide background information regarding immobilization technologies remaining under consideration for supplemental immobilization of Hanford's low-activity waste. This paper provides the reader a general understanding of fluidized bed steam reforming and its possible application to treat and immobilize Hanford low-activity waste.

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This report discusses the history of Sudan's civil unrest and the subsequent crisis in Darfur, as well as United Nations and United States aid and peacekeeping efforts, and current related policy under the Obama Administration.

Funeral program for Paul Edward Johnson, born January 29, 1925 and died March 27, 2011. The funeral was held Friday, April 8, 2011 at Second Baptist Church, officiated by Rev. Dr. Robert L. Jemerson, Pastor. Funeral arrangements were made through Sutton-Sutton Mortuary and he was buried in Fort Sam Houston National cemetery near San Antonio, Texas.

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

Cast stone technology is being evaluated for potential application in the treatment and immobilization of Hanford low-activity waste. The purpose of this document is to provide background information on cast stone technology. The information provided in the report is mainly based on a pre-conceptual design completed in 2003.

Test results from the NIF show excellent progress toward achieving ignition. Experiments designed to verify coupling of the laser energy to the fusion target have shown that the efficiency meets that needed for ignition. Several tests with the cryogenic targets needed for ignition have been performed, and world-record neutron output produced. The National Ignition Campaign is on schedule to meet its 2012 ignition milestone, with the next phase in the campaign due to start later this month. It has been a busy and very productive year. The NIF is in full 24/7 operations and has progressed markedly in the path toward ignition. The long-standing goal of the National Ignition Campaign to demonstrate ignition by the end of FY 2012 is on track. The LIFE plant design has matured considerably, and a delivery plan established based on close interactions with vendors. National-level reviews of fusion are underway, and are due to present initial findings later this year. A value proposition has been drafted for review. The LIFE project is ready to move into the delivery phase.

This report provides statistics on the current numbers and roles of African American Members of Congress as well as historical data on African American Members of Congress.

This report discusses the current debate over "net neutrality." While there is no single accepted definition of "net neutrality," most agree that any such definition should include the general principles that owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network, and they should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network.