This report discusses the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) program, which provides three different types of benefits to public safety officers and their survivors: a death, a disability, and an education benefit.

This report discusses GATT Article XIX and the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, Paragraph 16 of China's WTO Accession Protocol, Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 421 Investigation.

The terrestrial biosphere plays a major role in the regulation of atmospheric composition, and hence climate, through multiple interlinked biogeochemical cycles (BGC). Ice-core and other palaeoenvironmental records show a fast response of vegetation cover and exchanges with the atmosphere to past climate change, although the phasing of these responses reflects spatial patterning and complex interactions between individual biospheric feedbacks. Modern observations show a similar responsiveness of terrestrial biogeochemical cycles to anthropogenically-forced climate changes and air pollution, with equally complex feedbacks. For future conditions, although carbon cycle-climate interactions have been a major focus, other BGC feedbacks could be as important in modulating climate changes. The additional radiative forcing from terrestrial BGC feedbacks other than those conventionally attributed to the carbon cycle is in the range of 0.6 to 1.6 Wm{sup -2}; all taken together we estimate a possible maximum of around 3 Wm{sup -2} towards the end of the 21st century. There are large uncertainties associated with these estimates but, given that the majority of BGC feedbacks result in a positive forcing because of the fundamental link between metabolic stimulation and increasing temperature, improved quantification of these feedbacks and their incorporation in earth system models is necessary in order to develop …

Starting from the radiation transport equation for homogeneous, refractive lossy media, we derive the corresponding time-dependent multifrequency diffusion equations. Zeroth and first moments of the transport equation couple the energy density, flux and pressure tensor. The system is closed by neglecting the temporal derivative of the flux and replacing the pressure tensor by its diagonal analogue. The system is coupled to a diffusion equation for the matter temperature. We are interested in modeling annealing of silica (SiO{sub 2}). We derive boundary conditions at a planar air-silica interface taking account of reflectivities. The spectral dimension is discretized into a finite number of intervals leading to a system of multigroup diffusion equations. Three simulations are presented. One models cooling of a silica slab, initially at 2500 K, for 10 s. The other two are 1D and 2D simulations of irradiating silica with a CO{sub 2} laser, {lambda} = 10.59 {micro}m. In 2D, we anneal a disk (radius = 0.4, thickness = 0.4 cm) with a laser, Gaussian profile (r{sub 0} = 0.5 mm for 1/e decay).

The objective of our theoretical research under this grant over the past 3 years was to develop new understanding in a range of topics in the physics of dust-plasma interactions, with application to space and the laboratory. We conducted studies related to the physical properties of dust, waves and instabilities in both weakly coupled and strongly coupled dusty plasmas, and innovative possible applications. A major consideration in our choice of topics was to compare theory with experiments or observations, and to motivate new experiments, which we believe is important for developing this relatively new field. Our research is summarized, with reference to our list of journal publications.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Bioinformatics group has recently taken on a role in DTRA's Transformation Medical Technologies Initiative (TMTI). The high-level goal of TMTI is to accelerate the development of broad-spectrum countermeasures. To achieve those goals, TMTI has a near term need to conduct analyses of genomic shift and drift trends of emerging pathogens, with a focused eye on select agent pathogens, as well as antibiotic and virulence markers. Most emerging human pathogens are zoonotic viruses with a genome composed of RNA. The high mutation rate of the replication enzymes of RNA viruses contributes to sequence drift and provides one mechanism for these viruses to adapt to diverse hosts (interspecies transmission events) and cause new human and zoonotic diseases. Additionally, new viral pathogens frequently emerge due to genetic shift (recombination and segment reassortment) which allows for dramatic genotypic and phenotypic changes to occur rapidly. Bacterial pathogens also evolve via genetic drift and shift, although sequence drift generally occurs at a much slower rate for bacteria as compared to RNA viruses. However, genetic shift such as lateral gene transfer and inter- and intragenomic recombination enables bacteria to rapidly acquire new mechanisms of survival and antibiotic resistance. New technologies such …

Range fires on the Hanford Site can have a long lasting effect on native plant communities. Wind erosion following removal of protective vegetation from fragile soils compound the damaging effect of fires. Dust storms caused by erosion create health and safety hazards to personnel, and damage facilities and equipment. The Integrated Biological Control Program (IBC) revegetates burned areas to control erosion and consequent dust. Use of native, perennial vegetation in revegetation moves the resulting plant community away from fire-prone annual weeds, and toward the native shrub-steppe that is much less likely to burn in the future. Over the past 10 years, IBC has revegetated major fire areas with good success. IBC staff is monitoring the success of these efforts, and using lessons learned to improve future efforts.

Waste tanks must be rendered clean enough to satisfy very rigorous tank closure requirements. During bulk waste removal, most of the radioactive sludge and salt waste is removed from the waste tank. The waste residue on the tank walls and interior components and the waste heel at the bottom of the tank must be removed prior to tank closure to render the tank clean enough to meet the regulatory requirement for tank closure. Oxalic acid has been used within the DOE complex to clean residual materials from carbon steel tanks with varying degrees of success. Oxalic acid cleaning will be implemented at both the Savannah River Site and Hanford to clean tanks and serves as the core cleaning technology in the process known as Enhanced Chemical Cleaning. Enhanced Chemical Cleaning also employs a process that decomposes the spent oxalic acid solutions. The oxalic acid cleaning campaigns that have been performed at the two sites dating back to the 1980's are compared. The differences in the waste characteristics, oxalic acid concentrations, flushing, available infrastructure and execution of the campaigns are discussed along with the impact on the effectiveness of the process. The lessons learned from these campaigns that are being incorporated …

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) collected visible, SWIR, MWIR and LWIR imagery of the Midland (Michigan) Cogeneration Ventures Plant from aircraft during the winter of 2008-2009. RIT also made ground-based measurements of lake water and ice temperatures, ice thickness and atmospheric variables. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) used the data collected by RIT and a 3-D hydrodynamic code to simulate the Midland cooling lake. The hydrodynamic code was able to reproduce the time distribution of ice coverage on the lake during the entire winter. The simulations and data show that the amount of ice coverage is almost linearly proportional to the rate at which heat is injected into the lake (Q). Very rapid melting of ice occurs when strong winds accelerate the movement of warm water underneath the ice. A snow layer on top of the ice acts as an insulator and decreases the rate of heat loss from the water below the ice to the atmosphere above. The simulated ice cover on the lake was not highly sensitive to the thickness of the snow layer. The simplicity of the relationship between ice cover and Q and the weak responses of ice cover to snow depth over the …

We present elastic properties, theoretical and experimental, of Pu metal and Pu-Ga ({delta}) alloys together with ab initio equilibrium equation-of-state for these systems. For the theoretical treatment we employ density-functional theory in conjunction with spin-orbit coupling and orbital polarization for the metal and coherent-potential approximation for the alloys. Pu and Pu-Ga alloys are also investigated experimentally using resonant ultrasound spectroscopy. We show that orbital correlations become more important proceeding from {alpha} {yields} {beta} {yields} {gamma} plutonium, thus suggesting increasing f-electron correlation (localization). For the {delta}-Pu-Ga alloys we find a softening with larger Ga content, i.e., atomic volume, bulk modulus, and elastic constants, suggest a weakened chemical bonding with addition of Ga. Our measurements confirm qualitatively the theory but uncertainties remain when comparing the model with experiments.

We study the dihadron azimuthal correlation produced nearly back-to-back in unpolarized hadron collisions, arising from the product of two Collins fragmentation functions. Using the latest Collins fragmentation functions extracted from the global analysis of available experimental data, we make predictions for the azimuthalcorrelation of two-pion production in pp collisions at RHIC energies. We find that the correlation is sizable in the mid-rapidity region for moderate jet transverse momentum.

It is an important question whether the final/initial state gluonic interactions which lead to naive-time-reversal-odd single-spin asymmetries and diffraction at leading twist can be associated in a definite way with the light-front wave function hadronic eigensolutions of QCD. We use light-front time-ordered perturbation theory to obtain augmented light-front wave functions which contain an imaginary phase which depends on the choice of advanced or retarded boundary condition for the gauge potential in light-cone gauge. We apply this formalism to the wave functions of the valence Fock states of nucleons and pions, and show how this illuminates the factorization properties of naive-time-reversal-odd transverse momentum dependent observables which arise from rescattering. In particular, one calculates the identical leading-twist Sivers function from the overlap of augmented light-front wavefunctions that one obtains from explicit calculations of the single-spin asymmetry in semi-inclusive deep inelastic lepton-polarized nucleon scattering where the required phases come from the final-state rescattering of the struck quark with the nucleon spectators.

The radiation hydrodynamics code Hydra is used to quantify the sensitivity of different NIF ignition point designs to several 3D effects. Each of the 48 NIF quads is included in the calculations and is allowed to have different power. With this model they studied the effect on imploded core symmetry of discrete laser spots (as opposed to idealized azimuthally-averaged rings) and random variations in laser power.

This report provides a historical perspective on contemporary federalism issues in surface transportation policy that are likely to be addressed by Congress during the 111th Congress, including possible devolution of programmatic responsibility to states and proposals to change state maintenance-of-effort requirements and state cost matching requirements.

This report first provides a brief federal legislative history of identity theft laws. It analyzes the current trends in identity theft, including prevalent identity theft-related crimes, the federal agencies involved in combating identity theft, and the trends in identity theft complaints and prosecutions. The report also discusses the relationship between data breaches and identity theft as well as possible effects of the FTC's Identity Theft Red Flags Rule, effective June 1, 2010.

This report discusses the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which provides broad nondiscrimination protection for individuals with disabilities in employment, public services, and public accommodations and services operated by private entities. Although the ADA does not include provisions specifically discussing its application to disasters, its nondiscrimination provisions are applicable to emergency preparedness and responses to disasters.

This report provides a primer on the confluence of transnational terrorist and criminal groups and related activities abroad. It evaluates possible motivations and disincentives for cooperation between terrorist and criminal organizations, variations in the scope of crime-terrorism links, and the types of criminal activities--fundraising, material and logistics support, and exploitation of corruption and gaps in the rule of law--used by terrorist organizations to sustain operations.

This report discusses the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which was created by Title I of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322). The mission of the COPS program is to advance community policing in all jurisdictions across the United States. Several bills introduced in the 111th Congress would either modify the COPS program, reauthorize appropriations for the program, or both.

Single transverse-spin asymmetry in high energy hadronic reaction has been greatly investigated from both experiment and theory sides in the last few years. In this talk, I will summarize some recent theoretical developments, which, in my opinion, help to unvail the mysterious of the single spin asymmetry.

This paper describes a new approach to environmental decision support for salinity management in the San Joaquin Basin of California that focuses on web-based data sharing using YSI Econet technology and continuous data quality management using a novel software tool, Aquarius.

Soliant Energy is a venture-capital-backed startup focused on bringing advanced concentrating solar panels to market. Our fundamental innovation is that we are the first company to develop a racking solar concentrator specifically for commercial rooftop applications, resulting in the lowest LCOE for rooftop electricity generation. Today, the commercial rooftop segment is the largest and fastest-growing market in the solar industry. Our concentrating panels can make a major contribution to the SAI's objectives: reducing the cost of solar electricity and rapidly deploying capacity. Our commercialization focus was re-shaped in 2009, shifting from an emphasis solely on panel efficiency to LCOE. Since the inception of the SAI program, LCOE has become the de facto standard for comparing commercial photovoltaic systems. While estimation and prediction models still differ, the emergence of performance-based incentive (PBI) and feed-in tariff (FIT) systems, as well as power purchase agreement (PPA) financing structures make LCOE the natural metric for photovoltaic systems. Soliant Energy has designed and demonstrated lower-cost, higher-power solar panels that consists of 6 (500X) PV module assemblies utilizing multi-junction cells and an integrated two-axis tracker. In addition, we have designed and demonstrated a prototype 1000X panel assembly with 8. Cost reductions relative to conventional flat panel …

This report provides information about the Latest Action and Brief Overview of Recent Practices on Continuing Resolutions.

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.

This report provides background information on the nuclear negotiations over North Korea's nuclear weapons program that began in the early 1990s under the Clinton Administration. It also provides information on other concerns that the U.S. has with North Korea, and discusses U.S. engagement activities with North Korea.