Iraq's political system is increasingly characterized by peaceful competition and formation of cross-sectarian alliances. However, ethnic and sectarian political and sometimes violent infighting continues, often involving the questionable use of key levers of power and legal institutions. This infighting-and the belief that holding political power may mean the difference between life and death for the various political communities-significantly delayed agreement on a new government that was to be selected following the March 7, 2010, national elections for the Council of Representatives (COR, parliament). With U.S. diplomatic help, on November 10, 2010, major ethnic and sectarian factions agreed on a framework for a new government, breaking the long deadlock. The agreement, under which Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is serving a second term, was implemented when a broad-based cabinet was confirmed on December 21, 2010.

The report discusses issues that may be of interest to Congress-managing, sharing, and coordinating geospatial information-and includes examples of legislation. The report also summarizes a diverse set of recommendations and proposals from different non-governmental organizations for how to improve the coordination and management of geospatial information at the federal and state levels.

The increasing use of text and multimedia messaging has raised several policy issues: distracted driving, SMS spam, the inability of consumers to disable text messaging, text messaging price fixing, carrier blocking of common short code messages, deceptive and misleading common short code programs, protecting children from inappropriate content on wireless devices, "sexting," mobile cyberbullying, privacy of text messages, and using SMS to support law enforcement and emergency response.

This report discusses the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA) and the two types of formal dispute settlement it contains: 1) State-State and 2) investor-State. The report also discusses how the PTPA differs from earlier U.S. Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

This report discusses Special Operations Forces (SOFs), which are elite military units with special training and equipment that can infiltrate hostile territory through land, sea, or air to conduct a variety of operations, many of them classified.

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (referred to as the Stafford Act - 42 U.S.C. 5721 et seq.) authorizes the President to issue "major disaster" or "emergency" declarations before or after catastrophes occur. Emergency declarations trigger aid that protects property, public health, and safety and lessens or averts the threat of an incident becoming a catastrophic event. A major disaster declaration, issued after catastrophes occur, constitutes broader authority for federal agencies to provide supplemental assistance to help state and local governments, families and individuals, and certain nonprofit organizations recover from the incident.

The report discusses issues that may be of interest to Congress-managing, sharing, and coordinating geospatial information-and includes examples of legislation. The report also summarizes a diverse set of recommendations and proposals from different non-governmental organizations for how to improve the coordination and management of geospatial information at the federal and state levels.

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to the composition of the districts for the election of members of the State Board of Education.

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We present the results of a search for extraterrestrial electron antineutrinos ({bar {nu}}{sub e}'s) in the energy range 8.3 MeV < E{sub {bar {nu}}}{sub e} < 30.8 MeV using the KamLAND detector. In an exposure of 4.53 kton-year, we identify 25 candidate events. All of the candidate events can be attributed to background, most importantly neutral current atmospheric neutrino interactions, setting an upper limit on the probability of {sup 8}B solar {nu}{sub e}'s converting into {bar {nu}}{sub e}'s at 5.3 x 10{sup -5} (90% C.L.). The present data also allows us to set more stringent limits on the diffuse supernova neutrino flux and on the annihilation rates for light dark matter particles.

This project covers the following research: (a) Investigations into the structure of the proton and neutron. This is done by investigating the different resonance states of nucleons with beams of tagged, polarized photons, linearly as well as circularly, incident on polarized hydrogen/deuterium targets and measuring the production of {pi}{sup #25;0}, 2{pi}{sup #25;}0, 3{pi}{sup #25;0}, {eta}#17;, {eta}', {omega}, etc. The principal detector is the Crystal Ball multiphoton spectrometer which has an acceptance of nearly 4#25;. It has been moved to the MAMI accelerator facility of the University of Mainz, Germany. We investigate the conversion of electromagnetic energy into mesonic matter and conversely. (b) We investigate the consequences of applying the "standard" symmetries of isospin, G–parity, charge conjugation, C, P, T, and chirality using rare and forbidden decays of light mesons such as the {eta}#17;,{eta}' and {omega}. We also investigate the consequences of these symmetries being slightly broken symmetries. We do this by studying selected meson decays using the Crystal Ball detector. (c) We determine the mass, or more precisely the mass difference of the three light quarks (which are inputs to Quantum Chromodynamics) by measuring the decay rate of specially selected {eta}#17; and {eta}' decay modes, again we use the Crystal …

Recently, we developed a suite of methods for the rational design and fabrication of well-defined nanoparticle architectures, including clusters using bio-encoded nanoscale building blocks and layer-by-layer stepwise assembly on a solid support. In particular, the Nano-Assembly platform using Encoded Solid Supports (NAESS) allows for controlled interactions, purification of side products, modularity of design, and the construction of complex nanoparticle architectures. This approach offers several advantages over the current art of designing nanoparticle clusters, which include the high-yield synthesis of desired architectures, a 'plug-and-play' design allowing for the introduction of a variety of sensing modalities, and ease of scalability in high-throughput and synthesis yield. As a utility proof of concept, we implemented our unique cluster fabrication platform to design gold nanoparticle dimers which are linked via a single-stranded DNA oligonucleotide recognition motif. The design of this motif is such that binding of complementary nucleic acids results in specific, selective and rapid dimer dissociation, which can be monitored by dynamic light scattering (DLS). We demonstrated single level mismatch selectivity using this approach. The limit of detection was determined to be 1011 molecules of synthetic target RNA or DNA within 30 minutes of incubation at 33 C. This detection limit is determined by …

STREAM II is an aqueous transport model developed by the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) for use in the Savannah River Site (SRS) emergency response program. The transport model of the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP) is used by STREAM II to perform contaminant transport calculations. WASP5 is a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water quality analysis program that simulates contaminant transport and fate through surface water. A recent version of the code (STREAM II-V4) predicts peak concentration and peak concentration arrival time at downstream locations for releases from the SRS facilities to the Savannah River. The input flows for STREAM II-V4 are derived from the historical flow records measured by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The stream flow for STREAM II-V4 is fixed and the flow only varies with the month in which the releases are taking place. Therefore, the effects of flow surge due to a severe storm are not accounted for by STREAM IIV4. STREAM II-V5 is an upgraded version which accounts for the effects of a storm event. The revised model finds the proper stream inlet flow based on the total rainfall and rainfall duration as input by the user. STREAM II-V5 then adjusts …

Stoichiometric titanium dioxide (TiO{sub 2}) is one of the most widely studied transitionmetal oxides because of its many potential applications in photoelectrochemical systems, such as dye-sensitized TiO{sub 2} electrodes for photovoltaic solar cells, and water-splitting catalysts for hydrogen generation, and in environmental purification for creating or degrading specific compounds. However, TiO{sub 2} has a wide bandgap and high electrical resistivity, which limits its use as an electrode. A set of non-stoichiometric titanium oxides called the Magneli phases, having a general formula of Ti{sub n}O{sub 2n-1} with n between 4 and 10, exhibits lower bandgaps and resistivities, with the highest electrical conductivities reported for Ti{sub 4}O{sub 7}. These phases have been formulated under different conditions, but in all reported cases the resulting oxides have minimum grain sizes on the order of micrometers, regardless of the size of the starting titanium compounds. In this method, nanoparticles of TiO{sub 2} or hydrogen titanates are first coated with carbon using either wet or dry chemistry methods. During this process the size and shape of the nanoparticles are 'locked in.' Subsequently the carbon-coated nanoparticles are heated. This results in the transformation of the original TiO{sub 2} or hydrogen titanates to Magneli phases without coarsening, so …

Each year over a million gallons of water are used to scrub hydrogen fluoride (HP) vapors from waste off-gas streams. Use of other potential scrubber solutions such as potassium hydroxide (KOH), aluminum nitrate nonahydrate (ANN), and monobasic aluminum nitrate (monoban) would result in significant volume reductions. A laboratory study was initiated to (1) demonstrate the effectiveness of these scrubber solutions to sorb HF, (2) determine if unexpected reactions occurred at flowsheet conditions, and (3) determine the consequences of deviation from flowsheet conditions. Caustic or aluminum scrubber solutions remove hydrogen fluoride from off-gas streams. Solids which appear with aluminum could be avoided by heating the scrubber solution.

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The report is categorized into three categories: (I) Religious Law and Its Application in U.S. Courts, (II) First Amendments Issues Related to Prohibition on Religious Laws in Courts and (III) Selected Proposed Prohibitions on Application of Religious Law.

This report provides the background and issues for Congress on U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF).

Thermoelectric materials can be made into coolers (TECs) that use electricity to develop a temperature difference, cooling something, or generators (TEGs) that convert heat directly to electricity. One application of TEGs is to place them in a waste heat stream to recuperate some of the power being lost and putting it to use more profitably. To be effective thermoelectrics, however, materials must have both high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity, a combination rarely found in nature. Materials selection and processing has led to the development of several systems with a figure of merit, ZT, of nearly unity. By using non-equilibrium techniques, we have fabricated higher efficiency thermoelectric materials. The process involves creating an amorphous material through melt spinning and then sintering it with either spark plasma or a hot press for as little as two minutes. This results in a 100% dense material with an extremely fine grain structure. The grain boundaries appear to retard phonons resulting in a reduced thermal conductivity while the electrons move through the material relatively unchecked. The techniques used are low-cost and scaleable to support industrial manufacturing.

The small Black Sea-bordering country of Georgia gained its independence at the end of 1991with the dissolution of the former Soviet Union. In early 2009, the United States and Georgia signed a Strategic Partnership Charter, which pledged U.S. support for democratization, economic development, and security reforms in Georgia. The Obama Administration has pledged continued U.S. support to uphold Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The United States has been Georgia's largest bilateral aid donor, budgeting cumulative aid of $2.7 billion in FY1992-FY2008 (all agencies and programs). Estimated aid to Georgia in FY2010 was about $171.6 million, and planned spending for FY2011 is about $90 million. The Administration has requested $87.6 million for foreign assistance for Georgia for FY2012.

Proceedings of the House of Representatives of Texas for the seventy-ninth day of the Regular session of the 82nd Legislature documenting legislation, reports, discussions, votes, and points-of-order.

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.

The gross federal debt, which represents the federal government's total outstanding debt, consists of two types of debt: (1) debt held by the public and (2) debt held in government accounts, also known as intragovernmental debt. Federal government borrowing increases for two primary reasons: (1) budget deficits and (2) investments of any federal government account surpluses in Treasury securities, as required by law. Nearly all of this debt is subject to the statutory limit. The federal debt limit currently stands at $14,294 billion.