The primary objective of this grant is to educate the public about carbon emissions and the energy-saving and job-related benefits of commercial building energy efficiency. investments in Illinois.

The purpose of this study is to design (i) a stripper system where heat is used to strip ammonia (NH{sub 3}) and carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) from a diluted draw solution; and (ii) a condensation or absorption system where the stripped NH{sub 3} and CO{sub 2} are captured in condensed water to form a re-concentrated draw solution. This study supports the Industrial Technologies Program of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and their Industrial Energy Efficiency Grand Challenge award solicitation. Results from this study show that stimulated Oasys draw solutions composed of a complex electrolyte solution associated with the dissolution of NH{sub 3} and CO{sub 2} gas in water can successfully be stripped and fully condensed under standard atmospheric pressure. Stripper bottoms NH{sub 3} concentration can reliably be reduced to < 1 mg/L, even when starting with liquids that have an NH{sub 3} mass fraction exceeding 6% to stimulate diluted draw solution from the forward osmosis membrane component of the process. Concentrated draw solution produced by fully condensing the stripper tops was show to exceed 6 M-C with nitrogen-to-carbon (N:C) molar ratios on the order of two. Reducing the operating pressure of the stripper column serves to …

Effective storage of hydrogen presents one of the most significant technical gaps to successful implementation of the hydrogen economy, particularly for transportation applications. Amine boranes, such as ammonia borane H3NBH3 and ammonia triborane H3NB3H7, have been identified as promising, high-capacity chemical hydrogen storage media containing potentially readily released protic (N-H) and hydridic (B-H) hydrogens. At the outset of our studies, dehydrogenation of ammonia borane had been studied primarily in the solid state, but our DOE sponsored work clearly demonstrated that ionic liquids, base-initiators and/or metal-catalysts can each significantly increase both the rate and extent of hydrogen release from amine boranes under moderate conditions. Our studies also showed that depending upon the activation method, hydrogen release from amine boranes can occur by very different mechanistic steps and yield different types of spent-fuel materials. The fundamental understanding that was developed during this grant of the pathways and controlling factors for each of these hydrogen-release mechanisms is now enabling continuing discovery and optimization of new chemical-hydride based hydrogen storage systems.

This report explains the five-month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and its legislative history. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is authorized by Title II of the Social Security Act and provides income replacement for eligible individuals who are unable to work due to a longterm injury or illness that is expected to last at least one year or result in death.

The Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) will use colemanite bearing concrete neutron absorber panels credited with attenuating neutron flux in the criticality design analyses and shielding operators from radiation. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is tasked with measuring the total density, partial hydrogen density, and partial boron density of the colemanite concrete. SRNL received twelve samples of colemanite concrete for analysis on January 15, 2013. The average total density of each of the samples measured by the ASTM method C 642, the average partial hydrogen density was measured using method ASTM E 1311, and the average partial boron density of each sample was measured according to ASTM C 1301. The lower limits and measured values for the total density, hydrogen partial density, and boron partial density are presented. For all the samples tested, the total density and the hydrogen partial density met or exceeded the specified limit. All of the samples met or exceeded the boron partial density lower bound with the exception of samples G3-M11-2000-H, G3-M11-3000-M, and G5-M1-3000-H which are below the limit of 1.65E-01 g/cm3.

An assessment has been made to evaluate the impact on the DWPF melter off-gas flammability of replacing the current solvent used in the Modular Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction Process Unit (MCU) process with the Next Generation Solvent (NGS-MCU) and blended solvent. The results of this study showed that the concentrations of nonvolatile carbon and hydrogen of the current solvent in the Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) product would both be about 29% higher than their counterparts of the NGS-MCU and blended solvent in the absence of guanidine partitioning. When 6 ppm of guanidine (TiDG) was added to the effluent transfer to DWPF to simulate partitioning for the NGS-MCU and blended solvent cases and the concentration of Isopar{reg_sign} L in the effluent transfer was controlled below 87 ppm, the concentrations of nonvolatile carbon and hydrogen of the NGS-MCU and blended solvent were still about 12% and 4% lower, respectively, than those of the current solvent. It is, therefore, concluded that as long as the volume of MCU effluent transfer to DWPF is limited to 15,000 gallons per Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT)/SME cycle and the concentration of Isopar{reg_sign} L in the effluent transfer is controlled below 87 ppm, using the current solvent …

In steam reforming reactions (SRRs) of alkanes and alcohols to produce H{sub 2}, noble metals such as platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd) are extensively used as catalyst. These metals are expensive; so, to reduce noble-metal loading, bi-metallic nanocatalysts containing non-noble metals in MCM-41 (Mobil Composition of Material No. 41, a mesoporous material) as a support material with high-surface area were synthesized using one-pot hydrothermal procedure with a surfactant such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a template. Bi-metallic nanocatalysts of Pd-Ni and Pd-Co with varying metal loadings in MCM-41 were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), N{sub 2} adsorption, and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The BET surface area of MCM-41 (~1000 m{sup 2}/g) containing metal nanoparticles decreases with the increase in metal loading. The FTIR studies confirm strong interaction between Si-O-M (M = Pd, Ni, Co) units and successful inclusion of metal into the mesoporous silica matrix. The catalyst activities were examined in steam reforming of methanol (SRM) reactions to produce hydrogen. Reference tests using catalysts containing individual metals (Pd, Ni and Co) were also performed to investigate the effect of the bimetallic system on the catalytic behavior in the SRM reactions. The bimetallic system remarkably improves the hydrogen selectivity, methanol …

Financial statements for the Texas Coastal Water Authority's pension plan including an independent auditor's report, basic statements with explanations, and supplemental notes.

This report is an overview and summary of provisions regarding Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS).

This grant has supported a study of some fundamental problems in current- and flow-driven instabilities in plasmas and their applications in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and astrophysics. It addressed current-driven instabilities and their roles in fast ignition, and flow-driven instabilities and their applications in astrophysics.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The biomedical research organizations of the Department of Defense (DOD) use a coordinated approach to plan combat casualty care research and development, but not all of DOD's nonmedical research organizations share information early in the research process. GAO has previously reported that federal agencies can enhance and sustain collaboration of efforts by using key practices, such as agreeing on roles and responsibilities and establishing the means to operate across organizational boundaries. In 2010, DOD established a planning committee to coordinate the efforts of organizations conducting combat casualty care research. The committee developed a draft charter in 2010 identifying members respective roles and responsibilities. DOD issued the final charter in early January 2013, while GAO was conducting its review. DOD also facilitated operation across organizational boundaries by colocating most of the organizations conducting combat casualty care research. However, DOD organizations that typically do not conduct biomedical research, such as the Army Research Laboratory, are not involved in DOD's efforts to coordinate this research. When these organizations conduct research relevant to combat casualty care they do not always share information with appropriate officials early in the research process, …

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This report discusses the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), a program administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which is statutorily given the authority to contract with qualified carriers offering plans and to prescribe regulations necessary to carry out the statute, among other duties.

This report provides information on current vacancies in the Senate, the constitutional origins of the Senate vacancy clause, the appointment process by which most vacancies are filled, and related contemporary issues.

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The goal of this project was to investigate possible ways of increasing the size of cryogenic Ge detectors. This project identified two possible approaches to increasing the individual cryogenic Ge detector size. The first approach relies on using the existing technology for growing detector-grade (high-purity) germanium crystals of dislocation density 100-7000 cm{sup -2}. The second approach is to consider dislocation-free Ge crystals.

This report provides historical and background information that helps explain how Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) has evolved. It focuses solely on changes made to FEHBP through legislative action.

This report discusses the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which provides economic assistance through a competitive selection process to developing nations that are pursuing political and economic reforms in three areas: ruling justly, investing in people, and fostering economic freedom. It also discusses several concerns related to MCC implementation, including the level of funding to support MCC programs.

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For this needs analysis, a total of 131 DMHg analytical results were collected and reviewed from the Hanford Tank Farms from 2004 to 2007. Sampling data from the Site Wide Industrial Hygiene Database (SWIHO), the Tank waste inventory System (TWINs), and prior sampling campaigns by CH2M Hill Hanford that were not available in the SWIHD database, were aggregated for analysis. Technical literature used by the Savannah River Site (SRS). Bechtel RPP·WTP, and CH2M Hill Hanford from 2003-2007, were also reviewed to identify potential DMHg exposure concerns applicable to the tank farms. After analyzing the adequacy of lhe data, information gaps were identified and recommendations for corrective actions items were developed.

This report discusses Pakistan's nuclear proliferation and security issues. It discusses the steps that could enable Pakistan to undertake both quantitative and qualitative improvements to its nuclear arsenal. Whether and to what extent Pakistan's current expansion of its nuclear weapons-related facilities is a response to the 2008 U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement is unclear.

The objective of this award was to build a scalable and extensible Earth System Model that can be used to study climate change science. That objective has been achieved with the public release of the Community Earth System Model, version 1 (CESM1). In particular, the development of the CESM1 atmospheric chemistry component was substantially funded by this award, as was the development of the significantly improved coupler component. The CESM1 allows new climate change science in areas such as future air quality in very large cities, the effects of recovery of the southern hemisphere ozone hole, and effects of runoff from ice melt in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Results from a whole series of future climate projections using the CESM1 are also freely available via the web from the CMIP5 archive at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Many research papers using these results have now been published, and will form part of the 5th Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is to be published late in 2013.

The objective of the studies was to elucidate the heterogeneous chemistry of tropospheric aerosols. Experiments were designed to measure both specifically needed parameters, and to obtain systematic data required to build a fundamental understanding of the nature of gas-surface physical and chemical interactions