Transcript of a public hearing held by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq & Afghanistan held June 18, 2010 in Washington, D.C. This hearing includes testimony from a panel of academics, consultants, and think-tanks on the proper role and oversight of security contractors in Southwest Asia.

The reflective, multilayer based, mask architectures for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography are highly susceptible to surface oxidation and contamination. As a result, EUV masks are expected to undergo cleaning processes in order to maintain the lifetimes necessary for high volume manufacturing. For this study, the impact of repetitive cleaning of EUV masks on imaging performance was evaluated. Two, high quality industry standard, EUV masks are used for this study with one of the masks undergoing repeated cleaning and the other one kept as a reference. Lithographic performance, in terms of process window analysis and line edge roughness, was monitored after every two cleans and compared to the reference mask performance. After 8x clean, minimal degradation is observed. The cleaning cycles will be continued until significant loss imaging fidelity is found.

This an analytical data report for samples received from BP-5 L Well. This report is being prepared for CHPRC.

Engineered remediation strategies for inducing mineral precipitation in the subsurface typically involve the introduction of at least one reactant either by direct injection or by in situ generation. The localization of reactant sources means a wide range of saturation states and ion ratios will be created as reactants are mixed: These conditions together can result in a wide range of precipitation rates, as well as impact which mineral phase precipitates. This is potentially important for the capacity of the precipitates to take up of trace metal contaminants, for their long term stability. Aragonite, for example, is able to sequester a larger amount of Sr than calcite. However, aragonite is less stable under typical groundwater conditions, and so may release sequestered Sr over time as the aragonite transforms to a more stable phase. In addition, previous experimental studies have indicated that other system constituents may influence calcium carbonate precipitation and consequently the Sr uptake potential of a system. For example, dissolved organic carbon (at levels typical of groundwaters) can suppress crystal growth. As a result, the continuous nucleation of small crystals, rather than growth of existing crystals, may be the dominant mode of precipitation. This has the potential for greater uptake …

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute?s (JGI) Production Sequencing group is committed to the generation of high-quality genomic DNA sequence to support the DOE mission areas of renewable energy generation, global carbon management, and environmental characterization and clean-up. Within the JGI?s Production Sequencing group, the Illumina Genome Analyzer pipeline has been established as one of three sequencing platforms, along with Roche/454 and ABI/Sanger. Optimization of the Illumina pipeline has been ongoing with the aim of continual process improvement of the laboratory workflow. These process improvement projects are being led by the JGI?s Process Optimization, Sequencing Technologies, Instrumentation& Engineering, and the New Technology Production groups. Primary focus has been on improving the procedural ergonomics and the technicians? operating environment, reducing manually intensive technician operations with different tools, reducing associated production costs, and improving the overall process and generated sequence quality. The U.S. DOE JGI was established in 1997 in Walnut Creek, CA, to unite the expertise and resources of five national laboratories? Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Pacific Northwest ? along with HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. JGI is operated by the University of California for the U.S. DOE.

The tandem differential mobility analyzer (TDMA) is a single instrument that cycles through a series of complementary measurements of the physical properties of size-resolved submicron particles. In 2008, the TDMA was augmented through the addition of an aerodynamic particle sizer (APS), which extends the upper limit of the measured size distribution into the supermicron range. These two instruments are operated in parallel, but because they are controlled by a common computer and because the size distributions measured by the two are integrated in the produced datastreams, they are described together here. Throughout the day, the TDMA sequentially measures submicron aerosol size distributions and size-resolved hygroscopic growth distributions. More specifically, the instrument is operated as a scanning DMA to measure size distributions and as a TDMA to measure size-resolved hygroscopicity. A typical measurement sequence requires roughly 45 minutes. Each morning additional measurements are made of the relative humidity (RH) dependent hygroscopicity and temperature-dependent volatility of size-resolved particles. When the outside temperature and RH are within acceptable ranges, the hydration state of size-resolved particles is also characterized. The measured aerosol distributions complement the array of aerosol instruments in the Aerosol Observing System (AOS) and provide additional details of the light-scattering and cloud-nucleating …

The nitrogen K-edge Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) spectrum of alpha-crystalline glycine has been calculated for temperatures ranging from 0 K to 450 K. Significant temperature dependent spectral changes are predicted. The calculated room temperature spectrum is in good agreement with experiment. At high temperatures, molecular motions strongly influence the spectrum, as any unique spectrum from an individual instantaneous configuration does not resemble the experimental result or the average calculated spectrum; complex coupled motions in this prototypical molecular crystal underlie the observed spectral changes.

This is an analytical data report for sediments received fro BP 5 K Well. This report is prepared for CHPRC

This report presents the results of laboratory characterization, testing, and analysis for a composite sample (designated 20578) of residual waste collected from single-shell tank C-108 during the waste retrieval process after modified sluicing. These studies were completed to characterize concentration and form of contaminant of interest in the residual waste; assess the leachability of contaminants from the solids; and develop release models for contaminants of interest. Because modified sluicing did not achieve 99% removal of the waste, it is expected that additional retrieval processing will take place. As a result, the sample analyzed here is not expected to represent final retrieval sample.

This report lists the observed mineral phase phases present in the Hanford tanks. This task was accomplished by performing a review of numerous reports using experimental techniques including, but not limited to: x-ray diffraction, polarized light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, and particle size distribution analyses. This report contains tables that can be used as a quick reference to identify the crystal phases present observed in Hanford waste.

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The 2010 Gordon Conference on Correlated Electron Systems will present cutting-edge research on emergent properties arising from strong electronic correlations. The Conference will feature a wide range of topics, such as the role of topology in condensed matter systems, quantum Hall interferometry and non-Abelian statistics, quantum criticality, metal-insulator transition, quantum effects in conductivity, Dirac quasiparticles, and superconductivity in cuprates and pnictides. In addition, we are reserving two sessions for new developments in this field that may arise in the coming year. The Conference will bring together a collection of investigators who are at the forefront of their field, and will provide opportunities for junior scientists and graduate students to present their work in poster format and exchange ideas with leaders in the field. We intend to have talks by established leaders in the field and also by young researchers who have made seminal contributions to various aspects of correlated electron physics, The collegial atmosphere of this Conference, with programmed discussion sessions as well as opportunities for informal gatherings in the afternoons and evenings, provides an avenue for scientists from different disciplines to brainstorm and promotes cross-disciplinary collaborations in the various research areas represented.

The Cellular and Molecular Fungal Biology Conference provides a forum for presentation of the latest advances in fungal research with an emphasis on filamentous fungi. This open-registration scientific meeting brings together the leading scientists from academia, government and industry to discuss current research results and future directions at Holderness School, an outstanding venue for scientific interaction. A key objective of the conference is to foster interaction among scientists working on model fungi such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Neurospora crassa and Aspergillus nidulans and scientists working on a variety of filamentous fungi whose laboratory tractability is often inversely proportional to their medical, industrial or ecological importance. Sessions will be devoted to Systems Biology, Fungi and Cellulosic Biomass, Small RNAs, Population Genomics, Symbioses, Pathogenesis, Membrane Trafficking and Polarity, and Cytoskeleton and Motors. A session will also be devoted to hot topics picked from abstracts. The CMFB conference provides a unique opportunity to examine the breadth of fungal biology in a small meeting format that encourages in-depth discussion among the attendees.

This is an analytical data report for sediments received from BP 5 M Well for geochemical studies. Data will be reported to CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC).

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This report provides brief summaries of four types of tax-advantaged accounts for healthcare and compares them with respect to eligibility, contribution limits, use of funds, and other characteristics for tax year 2010. It includes textual analysis related to changes based on the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148 as amended), as well as participation levels in the accounts.

Report on the strategic plan for the Texas Animal Health Commission describing the organization's planned services, activities, and other goals during fiscal years 2011 through 2015.

Report on the strategic plan for the Texas Commission on the Arts describing the organization's planned services, activities, and other goals during fiscal years 2011 to 2015.

One provision of the 1913 individual income tax that generated a great deal of confusion was the taxation of income from the sale of property (i.e., capital gains income). This initial confusion has led to almost 100 years of legislative debates over capital gains. Beginning in 1922 capital gains were first subject to lower tax rates than ordinary income. This preferential treatment has continued throughout most of the history of the income tax. Proposals dealing with the taxation of capital gains have ranged from the outright elimination of capital gains taxation to the reduction of capital gains tax rates for certain classes of taxpayers to the elimination of the preferential tax treatment. This report discusses the manner in which capital gains are taxed, including rates and revenue figures. It also examines various economic issues regarding such taxes.

This report covers the importance of the democratization of Hong Kong to U.S. foreign policy as well as to Hong Kong itself. It specifically looks at two recent election changes which indicate the Hong Kong government's willingness to press for democratic reforms and also give more power to current government officials over incumbent officials.

This report discusses various points of contention in regards to presidential budgeting authority, specifically that of impoundment and the line item veto. Presidential impoundment actions have sometimes been controversial. The subject of granting the President item veto authority, akin to that exercised by 43 governors, also has elicited considerable debate. With an item veto, the executive can delete specific provisions in a piece of legislation presented for signature, and then proceed to sign the measure into law.

This report examines current political and economic conditions in Honduras as well as issues in Honduran-U.S. relations.

On April 20, 2010, an explosion and fire occurred on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. This resulted in 11 worker fatalities, a massive oil release, and a national response effort in the Gulf of Mexico region by the federal and state governments as well as BP. This report provides an overview of selected issues related to the Deepwater Horizon incident and is not intended to be comprehensive.

This report discusses the Navy's plan to develop and design a class of 12 next-generation ballistic missile submarines, or SSBN(X)s, as replacements for the 14 Ohio class SSBNs currently in operation. The report explores certain related issues for Congress, including the affordability of the project and its potential impact on other Navy shipbuilding programs, alternatives to the program, and which shipyard or shipyards will build the proposed ships.