Federal spending is divided into three broad categories: discretionary spending, mandatory spending, and net interest. Federal spending has outrun federal revenues for the last 10 fiscal years. In the long term, projections suggest that if current policies remain unchanged, the United States faces a major fiscal imbalance, largely due to rising health care costs and impending Baby Boomer retirements. Because discretionary spending is a smaller proportion of total federal outlays compared to mandatory spending, some budget experts contend that any significant reductions in federal spending must include cuts in entitlement spending. Other budget and social policy experts contend that cuts in entitlement spending could compromise their goals: the economic security of the elderly and the poor.

The objective of this work was to develop and evaluate a series of methods and validate their capability to measure differences in oxidized versus reduced saltstone. Validated methods were then applied to samples cured under field conditions to simulate Performance Assessment (PA) needs for the Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF). Four analytical approaches were evaluated using laboratory-cured saltstone samples. These methods were X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), chemical redox indicators, and thin-section leaching methods. XAS and thin-section leaching methods were validated as viable methods for studying oxidation movement in saltstone. Each method used samples that were spiked with chromium (Cr) as a tracer for oxidation of the saltstone. The two methods were subsequently applied to field-cured samples containing chromium to characterize the oxidation state of chromium as a function of distance from the exposed air/cementitious material surface.

The intention of this study is to demonstrate and evaluate the scientific and economic feasibility of using special solvents to improve the thermal stability of Pt-catalyst in the Shilov system, such that a high reaction temperature could be achieved. The higher conversion rate (near 100%) of methyl chloride from partial oxidation of methane under the high temperature ({approx} 200 C) without significant Pt0 precipitation has been achieved. High concentration of the Cl- ion has been identified as the key for the stabilization of the Pt-catalysts. H/D exchange measurements indicated that the over oxidation will occur at the elevated temperature, developments of the effective product separation processes will be necessary in order to rationalize the industry-visible CH4 to CH3Cl conversion.

This report provides an overview of the parties and candidates competing in the Mexican federal elections, with a focus on the presidential contest, followed by a discussion of key issues in the campaign that could have implications for U.S.-Mexican relations.

The authors demonstrate the stabilization of a magnetic ground state in epitaxial NiMn{sub 2}O{sub 4} (NMO) thin films not observed in their bulk counterpart. Bulk NMO exhibits a magnetic transition from a paramagnetic phase to a collinear ferrimagnetic moment configuration below 110 K and to a canted moment configuration below 70 K. By contrast, as-grown NMO films exhibit a single magnetic transition at 60 K and annealed films exhibit the magnetic behavior found in bulk. Cation inversion and epitaxial strain are ruled out as possible causes for the new magnetic ground state in the as-grown films. However, a decrease in the octahedral Mn{sup 4+}:Mn{sup 3+} concentration is observed and likely disrupts the double exchange that produces the magnetic state at intermediate temperatures. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism and bulk magnetometry indicate a canted ferrimagnetic state in all samples at low T. Together these results suggest that the collinear ferrimagnetic state observed in bulk NMO at intermediate temperatures is suppressed in the as grown NMO thin films due to a decrease in octahedral Mn{sup 4+}, while the canted moment ferrimagnetic ordering is preserved below 60 K.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "CMS developed and implemented the Five-Star System largely during an 8-month period in 2008 with input from long-term care stakeholders, CMS’s Five-Star System contractor, and members of a technical expert panel—a panel composed of nine individuals that CMS identified as experts in long-term care research. CMS made numerous methodological decisions during the development of the Five-Star System, including three key methodological decisions. GAO defines key methodological decisions as those that at least six technical expert panel members—of the nine that GAO contacted—recalled as eliciting the most intense review and discussion during the development of the Five-Star System. One key methodological decision was how to combine the component ratings to create an overall rating. The other two key methodological decisions pertained to how to create ratings that account for variation in the type of care provided across nursing homes."

Optimality principles have been widely used in many areas. Based on an optimality principle that any flow field will tend toward a minimum in the energy dissipation rate, this work shows that there exists a unified form of conductivity relationship for three different flow systems: landscapes, unsaturated soils and plant leaves. The conductivity, the ratio of water flux to energy gradient, is a power function of water flux although the power value is system dependent. This relationship indicates that to minimize energy dissipation rate for a whole system, water flow has a small resistance (or a large conductivity) at a location of large water flux. Empirical evidence supports validity of the relationship for landscape and unsaturated soils (under gravity dominated conditions). Numerical simulation results also show that the relationship can capture the key features of hydraulic structure for a plant leaf, although more studies are needed to further confirm its validity. Especially, it is of interest that according to this relationship, hydraulic conductivity for gravity-dominated unsaturated flow, unlike that defined in the classic theories, depends on not only capillary pressure (or saturation), but also the water flux. Use of the optimality principle allows for determining useful results that are applicable …

Global, heat flux-driven ITG gyrokinetic simulations which manifest the formation of macroscopic, mean toroidal flow profiles with peak thermal Mach number 0.05, are reported. Both a particle-in-cell (XGC1p) and a semi-Lagrangian (GYSELA) approach are utilized without a priori assumptions of scale-separation between turbulence and mean fields. Flux-driven ITG simulations with different edge flow boundary conditions show in both approaches the development of net unidirectional intrinsic rotation in the co-current direction. Intrinsic torque is shown to scale approximately linearly with the inverse scale length of the ion temperature gradient. External momentum input is shown to effectively cancel the intrinsic rotation profile, thus confirming the existence of a local residual stress and intrinsic torque. Fluctuation intensity, intrinsic torque and mean flow are demonstrated to develop inwards from the boundary. The measured correlations between residual stress and two fluctuation spectrum symmetry breakers, namely E x B shear and intensity gradient, are similar. Avalanches of (positive) heat flux, which propagate either outwards or inwards, are correlated with avalanches of (negative) parallel momentum flux, so that outward transport of heat and inward transport of parallel momentum are correlated and mediated by avalanches. The probability distribution functions of the outward heat flux and the inward momentum …

Progress is highlighted in these areas: 1. Model of magnetic reconnection induced by three-dimensional Kelvin Helmholtz (KH) modes at the magnetospheric flank boundary; 2. Quantitative evaluation of mass transport from the magnetosheath onto closed geomagnetic field for northward IMF; 3. Comparison of mass transfer by cusp reconnection and Flank Kelvin Helmholtz modes; 4. Entropy constraint and plasma transport in the magnetotail - a new mechanism for current sheet thinning; 5. Test particle model for mass transport onto closed geomagnetic field for northward IMF; 6. Influence of density asymmetry and magnetic shear on (a) the linear and nonlinear growth of 3D Kelvin Helmholtz (KH) modes, and (b) three-dimensional KH mediated mass transport; 7. Examination of entropy and plasma transport in the magnetotail; 8. Entropy change and plasma transport by KH mediated reconnection - mixing and heating of plasma; 9. Entropy and plasma transport in the magnetotail - tail reconnection; and, 10. Wave coupling at the magnetospheric boundary and generation of kinetic Alfven waves.

This report was produced to provide a systematic review of the state-of-knowledge of plutonium and americium geochemistry at the Hanford Site. The report integrates existing knowledge of the subsurface migration behavior of plutonium and americium at the Hanford Site with available information in the scientific literature regarding the geochemistry of plutonium and americium in systems that are environmentally relevant to the Hanford Site. As a part of the report, key research needs are identified and prioritized, with the ultimate goal of developing a science-based capability to quantitatively assess risk at sites contaminated with plutonium and americium at the Hanford Site and the impact of remediation technologies and closure strategies.

In this note, preliminary analysis on linac ocsillation data in FACET linac LI05-09 plus LI11-19 is presented. Several quadrupoles are identified to possibly have different strength, compared with their designed strength in the MAD optics model. The beam energy loss due to longitudinal wake fields in the S-band linac is also analytically calculated, also by LITRACK numerical simulations.

This report analyzes the legal issues associated with the President's asserted exercise of his Recess Appointments Clause power on January 4, 2012. The report begins with a general legal overview of the Recess Appointment Clause. This is followed by an analysis of two legal principles, standing and the political question doctrine, which may impede a reviewing court from reaching the merits of a potential legal challenge to the appointments.

Report that provides information about federal and private sector efforts to promote and support global Internet freedom, a description of Internet freedom legislation from the 112th Congress, and suggestions for further reading on this topic. Two appendixes describe censorship and circumvention technologies.

This report reviews those legal issues. First, it suggests that legislation related to cross-border facility permitting is unlikely to raise significant constitutional questions, despite the fact that such permits have traditionally been handled by the executive branch alone pursuant to its constitutional "foreign affairs" authority. Next, it observes generally that state oversight of pipeline siting decisions does not appear to violate existing federal law or the Constitution. Finally, the report suggests that State Department's implementation of the existing authority to issue presidential permits appears to allow for judicial review of its National Environmental Policy Act determinations.

Report that describes the general nature of the biofuels RFS and its implementation, outlines some of the emerging issues related to the sustainability of the continued growth in U.S. biofuels production needed to fulfill the expanding RFS mandate, and the emergence of potential unintended consequences of this rapid expansion.

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SECAD is a project that developed a GUI for running integrated fusion simulations as implemented in FACETS and SWIM SciDAC projects. Using the GUI users can submit simulations locally and remotely and visualize the simulation results.

The Office of the Second Line of Defense (SLD) Megaports project team for Argentina will conduct operational testing and evaluation (OT&E) at Exolgan Container Terminal at the Port of Dock Sud from July 16-20, 2012; and at the Port of Buenos Aires from September 3-7, 2012. SLD is installing radiation detection equipment to screen export, import, and transshipment containers at these locations. The purpose of OT&E is to validate and baseline an operable system that meets the SLD mission and to ensure the system continues to perform as expected in an operational environment with Argentina Customs effectively adjudicating alarms.

As part of the effort to increase the number of ions per bunch in RHIC, a new scheme for RF capture of EBIS ions in Booster at injection has been developed. The scheme was proposed by M. Blaskiewicz and J.M. Brennan. It employs a barrier bucket to hold a half turn of beam in place during capture into two adjacent harmonic 4 buckets. After acceleration, this allows for 8 transfers of 2 bunches from Booster into 16 buckets on the AGS injection porch. During the Fall of 2011 the necessary hardware was developed and implemented by the RF and Controls groups. The scheme is presently being commissioned by K.L. Zeno with Au32+ ions from EBIS. In this note we carry out simulations of the RF capture. These are meant to serve as benchmarks for what can be achieved in practice. They also allow for an estimate of the longitudinal emittance of the bunches on the AGS injection porch.

This report analyzes the FY2013 request and congressional action related to FY2013 State-Foreign Operations legislation. The 112th Congress is considering FY2013 international affairs funding within the context of the Budget Control Act that established discretionary spending limits for FY2012-FY2021 and contains automatic budget reductions (sequestration) on discretionary spending to begin on January 2, 2013.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

In order to comply with the Waste Acceptance Specifications in Sludge Batch 6 (Macrobatch 7), Savannah River National Laboratory personnel performed characterization analyses on the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) pour stream glass sample collected while filling canister S03472. This report summarizes results of the characterization, which indicate that the DWPF produced glass that is significantly more durable than the Environmental Assessment glass. Results and further details are documented in 'Analysis of DWPF Sludge Batch 6 (Macrobatch 7) Pour Stream Glass Samples,' SRNL-STI-2011-00555.

This summary report presents analytical results, radiological survey data, and other data/information for disposition planning of the five tanks located west of the Old Salvage Yard (OSY) at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Field personnel from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) and URS?CH2M Oak Ridge LLC completed data collection in May 2012 per the project-specific plan (PSP) (ORAU 2012). Deviations from the PSP are addressed in the body of this report. Characterization activities included three data collection modes: visual inspection, radiological survey, and volumetric sampling/analysis. This report includes the final validated dataset and updates associated with the Tank 2 residues originally thought to be a biological bloom (e.g., slime mold) but ultimately identified as iron sulfate crystals.

Report submitted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality containing background information on the commission, and summaries of requests for appropriations and expenditures for the fiscal years 2014 and 2015 with supporting documentation.