March report of the U.S. Congressional Oversight Panel describing their activities and findings regarding the state of the General Motors Acceptance Corporation during the 2007-2008 financial crisis and the financial assistance received by the firm by the federal government.

3s{sub 1/2} - 3p{sub 3/2} and 3p{sub 1/2} - 3d{sub 3/2} transitions have been studied in potassium-like W{sup 55+} through neon-like W{sup 64}+ ions at the electron-beam ion trap facility in Livermore. The wavelengths of the lines have been measured in high resolution relative to well known reference lines from oxygen and nitrogen ions. Using the high-energy SuperEBIT electron-beam ion trap and an R = 44.3 m grazing-incidence soft x-ray spectrometer, the lines were observed with a cryogenic charge-coupled device camera. The wavelength data for the sodium-like and magnesium-like tungsten lines are compared with theoretical predictions for ions along the isoelectronic sequences.

The effect of pressure on the crystal structure of white phosphorus has been studied up to 22.4 GPa. The ?alpha phase was found to transform into the alpha' phase at 0.87 +- 0.04 GPa with a volume change of 0.1 +- 0.3 cc/mol. A fit of a second order Birch- Murnaghan equation to the data gave Vo = 16.94 ? 0.08 cc/mol and Ko = 6.7 +- 0.5 GPa for the alpha phase and Vo = 16.4 +- 0.1 cc/mol and Ko = 9.1 +- 0.3 GPa for the alpha' phase. The alpha' phase was found to transform to the A17 phase of black phosphorus at 2.68 +- 0.34 GPa and then with increasing pressure to the A7 and then simple cubic phase of black phosphorus. A fit of a second order Birch-Murnaghan equation to our data combined with previous measurements gave Vo = 11.43 +- 0.05 cc/mol and Ko = 34.7 +- 0.5 GPa for the A17 phase, Vo = 9.62 +- 0.01 cc/mol and Ko = 65.0 +- 0.6 GPa for the A7 phase and , Vo = 9.23 +- 0.01 cc/mol and Ko = 72.5 +- 0.3 GPa for the simple cubic phase.

Dome A, the highest plateau in Antarctica, is being developed as a site for an astronomical observatory. The planned telescopes and instrumentation and the unique site characteristics are conducive toward Type Ia supernova surveys for cosmology. A self-contained search and survey over 5 years can yield a spectro-photometric time series of ~;; 1000 z< 0:08 supernovae. These can serve to anchor the Hubble diagram and quantify the relationship between luminosities and heterogeneities within the Type Ia supernova class, reducing systematics. Larger aperture (>=4-m) telescopes are capable of discovering supernovae shortly after explosion out to z ~;; 3. These can be fed to space telescopes, and can isolate systematics and extend the redshift range over which we measure the expansion history of the universe.

The Earth System Grid (ESG) community faces the difficult challenge of managing the distribution of massive data sets to thousands of scientists around the world. To move data replicas efficiently, the ESG has developed a data transfer management tool called the Bulk Data Mover (BDM). We describe the performance results of the current system and plans towards extending the techniques developed so far for the up- coming project, in which the ESG will employ advanced networks to move multi-TB datasets with the ulti- mate goal of helping researchers understand climate change and its potential impacts on world ecology and society.

The exchange bias of epitaxially grown CoO/Fe/Ag(001) was investigated using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and x-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD) techniques. A direct XMLD measurement on the CoO layer during the Fe magnetization reversal shows that the CoO compensated spins are rotatable at thinner thickness and frozen at larger thickness. By a quantitative determination of the rotatable and frozen CoO spins as a function of the CoO film thickness, we find the remarkable result that the exchange bias is well established before frozen spins are detectable in the CoO film. We further show that the rotatable and frozen CoO spins are uniformly distributed in the CoO film.

There is great interest in applying magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation techniques to the designs of electrical high explosive (HE) initiators, for the purpose of better understanding a design's sensitivities, optimizing its performance, and/or predicting its useful lifetime. Two MHD-capable LLNL codes, CALE and ALE3D, are being used to simulate the process of ohmic heating, vaporization, and plasma formation in exploding bridgewires (EBW). Initiation of the HE is simulated using Ignition & Growth reactive flow models. 1-D, 2-D and 3-D models have been constructed and studied. The models provide some intuitive explanation of the initiation process and are useful for evaluating the potential impact of identified aging mechanisms (such as the growth of intermetallic compounds or powder sintering). The end product of this work is a simulation capability for evaluating margin in proposed, modified or aged initiation system designs.

We carried out reactive flow simulations of liquid explosives such as nitromethane using the hydrodynamic code ALE3D coupled with equations of state and reaction kinetics modeled by the thermochemical code Cheetah. The simulation set-up was chosen to mimic cylinder experiments. For pure unconfined nitromethane we find that the failure diameter and detonation velocity dependence on charge diameter are in agreement with available experimental results. Such simulations are likely to be useful for determining detonability and failure behavior for a wide range of experimental conditions and explosive compounds.

We recently conducted damaged experiments on three explosives (mechanical damage on LX-04 and thermal experiments on HPP and PBXN-9) and characterized the effect of damage on some material properties. The MTS equipment was used to apply compressive cycling to LX-04 pressed parts and the results showed that older LX-04 parts became mechanically weaker than newer parts. After repeated compressive cycling for over 20,000 times, older LX-04 parts failed but newer LX-04 parts survived. Thermal insults were applied to PBXN-9 and HPP at 180 C and 200 C, respectively in unconfined conditions for several hours. The thermally-damaged HPP sample suffered 12.0% weight losses and a volume expansion of 20% was observed. Porosity of the damaged HPP increased to 25% after thermal exposure, which led to higher gas permeability. Burn rates of damaged PBXN-9 were 2 orders of magnitude higher than those of pristine samples but burn rates of damaged HPP were only slightly higher than those of pristine HPP. Small-scale safety tests (impact, friction, and spark) showed no significant sensitization when the damaged samples were tested at room temperature. Gas permeation measurements showed that gas permeability in damaged materials was several orders of magnitude higher than that in pristine materials. In-situ …

If inflation occurred with a reheat temperature > T{sub PQ}, axions from the decay of global axion strings and domain walls would make an important contribution to the cosmological energy density, comparable to that from vacuum misalignment. Several groups have numerically studied the evolution of axion strings and walls in the past, however substantial uncertainties remain in their contribution to the present density {Omega}{sub a,string+wall} {approx} 1-100 (f{sub a}/10{sup 12} GeV){sup 7/6}, where f{sub a} is the axion decay constant. I will describe the numerical methods used in our simulations and show results for several string and wall configurations.

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Five actual Savannah River Site tank waste samples and three chemically-modified samples were tested to determine solubility limits for uranium and plutonium over a one year time period. Observed final uranium concentrations ranged from 7 mg U/L to 4.5 g U/L. Final plutonium concentrations ranged from 4 {micro}g Pu/L to 12 mg Pu/L. Actinide carbonate complexation is believed to result in the dramatic solubility increases observed for one sample over long time periods. Clarkeite, NaUO{sub 2}(O)OH {center_dot} H{sub 2}O, was found to be the dominant uranium solid phase in equilibrium with the waste supernate in most cases.

The project management task under the project was completed and related to the development of a plan for the implementation of the project and is thus not relevant to final report. For this reason it is not included.

This report's review of the legislative developments in visa policy over the past 20 years and analysis of the statistical trends in visa issuances and denials provide a nuanced study of U.S. visa policy and the grounds for exclusion.

This report provides basic firearms-related statistics, an overview of federal firearms law, and a summary of legislative action in the 111th Congress. The report concludes with salient issues that have generated significant congressional interest, including the 1994-2004 LCAFD ban.

This report discusses how deficit finance can help governments manage their economies and how large and persistent deficits can lead to severe economic problems.

This report summarizes the FY2011 budget request for research & development (R&D) funding, including comparisons to R&D funding requests in the FY2010 budget. Congress will play a central role in defining the nation's R&D priorities, especially with respect to two overarching issues: the extent to which the Federal R&D investment can grow in the context of increased pressure on discretionary spending and how available funding will be prioritized and allocated. This report breaks down in detail the various aspects of the President's FY2011 R&D funding request.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Substance use disorders (SUD), such as alcohol abuse and drug addiction, are serious health conditions that affect many Americans, including a substantial number of veterans. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), about 420,000 of the over 5 million veterans receiving health care from VA had SUD diagnoses in fiscal year 2009. Both older veterans and veterans of the current military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are at risk for SUDs, as veterans may use drugs or alcohol to help cope with the effects of stressful events experienced during deployment or with difficulties they encounter in readjusting from wartime military service to civilian life. The identification and treatment of veterans with SUDs is important, as SUDs can have harmful effects on veterans' physical, psychological, and social well-being if left untreated. VA provides SUD services in a range of settings, including inpatient SUD programs that provide acute in-hospital care, which may include detoxification services; residential rehabilitation treatment programs, which provide intensive treatment and rehabilitation services with supported housing; intensive outpatient programs, which provide at least 3 hours of treatment services 3 days per week; and standard outpatient programs, …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2003, the Future Combat System (FCS) program has been the centerpiece of the Army's efforts to transition to a lighter, more agile, and more capable combat force. In 2009, however, concerns over the program's performance led to the Secretary of Defense's decision to significantly restructure and ultimately cancel the acquisition program. As a result, the Army is outlining a new approach to ground force modernization. This statement outlines the Army's preliminary post-FCS actions and identifies the challenges DOD and the Army must address as they proceed. This testimony is based on GAO's report on the Army's Ground Force Modernization effort scheduled for release March 15, 2010. It emphasizes the December 2009 decision to begin low-rate initial production for Increment 1 of the Brigade Combat Team Modernization."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The majority of large-scale acquisition programs in the Department of Defense's (DOD) space portfolio have experienced problems during the past two decades that have driven up costs by billions of dollars, stretched schedules by years, and increased technical risks. To address the cost increases, DOD altered its acquisitions by reducing the number of satellites it intended to buy, reducing the capabilities of the satellites, or terminating major space systems acquisitions. Moreover, along with the cost increases, many space acquisitions are experiencing significant schedule delays--as much as 8 years--resulting in potential capability gaps in areas such as missile warning, military communications, and weather monitoring. This testimony focuses on (1) the status of space acquisitions, (2) causal factors of acquisition problems, and (3) efforts underway to improve acquisitions. In preparing this testimony, GAO relied on its body of work, including GAO reports on best practices, assessments of individual space programs, common problems affecting space system acquisitions, and the DOD's acquisition policies. We have made numerous recommendations to the DOD in the past on matters relating to overall best practices as well as on individual space program acquisitions. DOD often concurred …

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.