This report describes the structure and objectives of the Gulf Security Dialogue; briefly assesses its regional implications; summarizes related proposed arms sales; provides an overview of congressional notification and review procedures; and analyzes recent related activity in the Administration and Congress.

Report detailing issues and legislative concerns regarding immigration during the 110th Congress, with a focus on comprehensive reform.

The ocean and atmosphere are both governed by the same physical laws and models of the two media have many similarities. However, there are critical differences that call for special methods to provide the best simulation. One of the most important difference is that the ocean is nearly opaque to radiation in the visible and infra-red part of the spectrum. For this reason water mass properties in the ocean are conserved along trajectories for long distances and for long periods of time. For this reason isopycnal coordinate models would seem to have a distinct advantage in simulating ocean circulation. In such a model the coordinate surfaces are aligned with the natural paths of near adiabatic, density conserving flow in the main thermocline. The difficulty with this approach is at the upper and lower boundaries of the ocean, which in general do not coincide with density surfaces. For this reason hybrid coordinate models were proposed by Bleck and Boudra (1981) in which Cartesian coordinates were used near the ocean surface and isopycnal coordinates were used in the main thermocline. This feature is now part of the HICOM model (Bleck, 2002).

This paper examines the prospects for Japan pursuing a nuclear weapons capability by assessing the existing technical infrastructure of its extensive civilian nuclear energy program. It explores the range of challenges that Japan would have to overcome to transform its current program into a military program. In addition, a range of legal and political restraints on Japan's development of nuclear weapons, including averse public and elite opinion, restrictive domestic laws and practices, and the negative diplomatic consequences of abandoning its traditional approach is analyzed.

This report discusses the homeland security act of 2002, which contains the following provisions.

This report provides basic information on several agriculture conservation programs, primarily drawn from agency budget presentations and websites, about each program using a consistent format. This information should help respond to basic questions and resolve many common sources of confusion about the purposes of the program, program participation and policy topics.

This report provides basic information on several agriculture conservation programs, primarily drawn from agency budget presentations and websites, about each program using a consistent format. This information should help respond to basic questions and resolve many common sources of confusion about the purposes of the program, program participation and policy topics.

This report is intended to provide a brief summary and analysis of major legislative provisions under consideration in the ongoing Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization process. The report is organized into six major program areas: aviation system finance; airport finance; FAA management and organizational issues; system capacity and safety; environmental issues; and miscellaneous programs and provisions. In several cases, provisions that appear in various unrelated sections of proposed legislation have been rearranged in this report in an effort to group and discuss related items in an issue-driven or programmatic context. Since this report is primarily written as a means of communicating key legislative provisions under consideration in the ongoing FAA reauthorization process, it does not go into detail regarding the specific policy issues behind these legislative proposals.

This report discusses some of the implications of the Sixth Circuit's decision in School District of the City of Pontiac v. Secretary of the United States Department of Education. This includes information regarding the potential practical effect, procedural ramifications, and legal impact of both the original ruling and the recent decision to rehear the case.

This report provides the state high risk pools of health insurance. In general, High risk pools tends to be small and enroll a small percentage of the uninsured. The majority of the high risk pools cap premium between 125% to 200% of market rates.

The missions of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service (FS) are similar, and many issues, programs, and policies affect both agencies. This report focuses on several issues affecting both agencies’ lands that are likely to be of interest to the 110th Congress, including energy resources, hardrock mining, FS roadless areas, wild horses and burros, wilderness, wildfire protection, and others.

A study of the impact of neptunium on the coulometric assay of plutonium in dilute sulfuric acid was performed. Weight aliquots of plutonium standard solutions were spiked with purified neptunium solution to evaluate plutonium measurement performance for aliquots with Pu:Np ratios of 50:1, 30:1, 20:1, 15:1, and 10:1. Weight aliquots of the pure plutonium standard solution were measured as controls. Routine plutonium instrument control standards were also measured. The presence of neptunium in plutonium aliquots significantly increases the random uncertainty associated with the plutonium coulometric measurement performed in accordance with ISO12183:2005.7 However, the presence of neptunium does not appear to degrade electrode performance and conditioning as aliquots of pure plutonium that were interspersed during the measurement of the mixed Pu:Np aliquots continued to achieve the historical short-term random uncertainty for the method. Lack of adequate control of the neptunium oxidation state is suspected to be the primary cause of the elevated measurement uncertainty and will be pursued in a future study.

Monodisperse rhodium (Rh) and platinum (Pt) nanoparticles as small as {approx}1 nm were synthesized within a fourth generation polyaminoamide (PAMAM) dendrimer, a hyperbranched polymer, in aqueous solution and immobilized by depositing onto a high-surface-area SBA-15 mesoporous support. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that the as-synthesized Rh and Pt nanoparticles were mostly oxidized. Catalytic activity of the SBA-15 supported Rh and Pt nanoparticles was studied with ethylene hydrogenation at 273 and 293 K in 10 torr of ethylene and 100 torr of H{sub 2} after reduction (76 torr of H{sub 2} mixed with 690 torr of He) at different temperatures. Catalysts were active without removing the dendrimer capping but reached their highest activity after hydrogen reduction at a moderate temperature (423 K). When treated at a higher temperature (473, 573, and 673 K) in hydrogen, catalytic activity decreased. By using the same treatment that led to maximum ethylene hydrogenation activity, catalytic activity was also evaluated for pyrrole hydrogenation.

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This report first describes the current select committees on intelligence and then the former Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, often cited as a model for a counterpart on intelligence. The study also sets forth proposed characteristics for a joint committee on intelligence, differences among these, and their pros and cons. The report, to be updated as events dictate, examines other actions and alternatives affecting congressional oversight in the field.

This report discusses the current political and social climate of Iraq, specifically in regards to the influence of the U.S. military presence over recent years. This report addresses planned and possible future efforts under the Obama Administration, including the scheduled gradual troops withdrawal. This report also discusses the continued tensions between various Iraqi sociocultural groups.

This report examines the scope of and response to the disaster, as well as its links to Burma's political situation and U.S. policy.

This paper deals with the growth and characterization of ferromagnetic cobalt doped TiO{sub 2} thin films deposited by liquid precursor metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using a new combination of the source materials Co(TMHD){sub 3}, tetrahydrofuran (THF), and titanium isopropoxide (TIP). An array of experiments reveals the intrinsic ferromagnetic nature of the grown films, and suggests that the magnetism is not generated by oxygen vacancies.

As interest in troop level deployments continues, there remains an increase of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. This report provides official Department of Defense (DOD) statistical information on U.S. forces now serving in Afghanistan with comparisons to earlier force levels. It also provides brief official information on the military units extended or schedule for the next rotation of duty into Afghanistan.

This report discusses the bill that prescribes the parameters of offers that may be made by the debtor in negotiations as well as the requirements that must be met before a court can approve rejection. The bill also provides an absolute right of all employees to strike if their collective bargaining agreements (CBA), is modified or rejected.

X-ray streak cameras (XSC) have been known to be one of the fastest detectors forultrafast X-ray science. A number of applications in material science, biochemistry, accelerator physics, require sub-picosecond resolution to study new phenomena. Inthis paper, we report on a new method which can potentially improve the temporal resolution of a streak camera down to 100 femtoseconds. This method uses a time-dependent acceleration field to lengthen the photoelectron bunch, significantlyimproving the time resolution as well as reducing the time dispersion caused byinitial energy spread and the effects fromthe space charge forces. A computer simulation of an XSC using this method shows significant improvement in the resolution.

This report responds to congressional inquiries concerning the nature, history, and contemporary application of the process for awarding Gold Medals, and includes a historical examination and chronological list of these awards. It is intended to assist Members of Congress and staff in their consideration of future Gold Medal proposals, and will be updated as Gold Medals are approved.

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.