The YALINA facility is a zero-power, sub-critical assembly driven by a conventional neutron generator. It was conceived, constructed, and put into operation at the Radiation Physics and Chemistry Problems Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus located in Minsk-Sosny, Belarus. This facility was conceived for the purpose of investigating the static and dynamic neutronics properties of accelerator driven sub-critical systems, and to serve as a neutron source for investigating the properties of nuclear reactions, in particular transmutation reactions involving minor-actinide nuclei. This report provides a detailed description of this facility and documents the progress of research carried out there during a period of approximately a decade since the facility was conceived and built until the end of 2008. During its history of development and operation to date (1997-2008), the YALINA facility has hosted several foreign groups that worked with the resident staff as collaborators. The participation of Argonne National Laboratory in the YALINA research programs commenced in 2005. For obvious reasons, special emphasis is placed in this report on the work at YALINA facility that has involved Argonne's participation. Attention is given here to the experimental program at YALINA facility as well as to analytical investigations aimed at …

This fact sheet tracks the current heads of government in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. It provides the dates of the last and next elections for the head of government and the national independence date for each country.

This report provides background information on P.L. 110-69 and H.R. 5116, includes information about related legislative activity in the 111th Congress, and analyzes four policy issues addressed by these measures: (1) STEM Education, (2) Federal Research Programs and Activities, (3) Broadening Participation, and (4) Funding. It also discusses selected policy concerns identified in the debate about U.S. competitiveness and describes how H.R. 5116 responds to those concerns.

A security study performed by Grant Thornton LLP for the Texas Lottery Commission to evaluate security measures established by management to support the integrity and security of the Texas Lottery's operations, gaming services and instant and on-line ticket productions.

This report examines logistical support contracts for troop support services (also known as service contracts) in Iraq and Afghanistan, primarily administered through a smaller program, the United States Air Force Contract Augmentation Program (AFCAP) and a larger program, the United States Army's Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP). It focuses on contracts involving Department of Defense (DOD) appropriated funds, although some projects involve a blending of funds from other agencies.

A setup to monitor the daylighting performance of different glazing types in Singapore is presented. The glazing is installed in the facade of four dedicated testing chambers in BCAA's Zero Energy Building in Singapore. These test rooms are equipped with sensors that both record illuminances on the work plane, and luminances as seen by occupants. The physical and logical design of the monitoring system is presented. Criteria to assess the daylighting performance are introduced, and initial results of the work in progress are presented.

Enrichment of emulsion PCR product is the most laborious and pipette-intensive step in the 454 Titanium process, posing the biggest obstacle for production-oriented scale up. The Joint Genome Institute has developed a pair of custom-made robots based on the Microlab Star liquid handling deck manufactured by Hamilton to mediate the complexity and ergonomic demands of the 454 enrichment process. The robot includes a custom built centrifuge, magnetic deck positions, as well as heating and cooling elements. At present processing eight emulsion cup samples in a single 2.5 hour run, these robots are capable of processing up to 24 emulsion cup samples. Sample emulsions are broken using the standard 454 breaking process and transferred from a pair of 50ml conical tubes to a single 2ml tube and loaded on the robot. The robot performs the enrichment protocol and produces beads in 2ml tubes ready for counting. The robot follows the Roche 454 enrichment protocol with slight exceptions to the manner in which it resuspends beads via pipette mixing rather than vortexing and a set number of null bead removal washes. The robotic process is broken down in similar discrete steps: First Melt and Neutralization, Enrichment Primer Annealing, Enrichment Bead Incubation, Null …

This report discusses the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) FY2011 appropriations bill, which includes funding for the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Office of the President (EOP), the judiciary, the District of Columbia, and 26 independent agencies, including the Small Business Administration and the United States Postal Service.

The Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998 required federal employees to use travel charge cards to pay for the expenses of official government travel. The dollar volume of travel card transaction has nearly doubled from FY1999 to FY2009. This report discusses card misuse committed by federal employees, and Congress's response, which has included hearings and legislation intended to enhance travel card management and oversight.

The development of Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID)-based magnetometer for two applications, in vivo prepolarized, ultra-low field MRI of humans and dispersive readout of SQUIDs for micro- and nano-scale magnetometery, are the focus of this thesis.

The DOE Weatherization Training Grant assisted Native American trainees in developing weatherization competencies, creating employment opportunities for Bishop Paiute tribal members in a growing field. The trainees completed all the necessary training and certification requirements and delivered high-quality weatherization services on the Bishop Paiute Reservation. Six tribal members received all three certifications for weatherization; four of the trainees are currently employed. The public benefit includes (1) development of marketable skills by low-income Native individuals, (2) employment for low-income Native individuals in a growing industry, and (3) economic development opportunities that were previously not available to these individuals or the Tribe.

This is a report regarding the November 2010 Lisbon Summit, wherein alliance heads of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization approved a plan to integrate existing NATO members ballistic missile defense capabilities into their overall defense posture. This report looks at advantages, challenges, and current Congressional legislation regarding the Obama Administration's Phased Adaptive Approach, which would be regional ballistic missile defense capability in Europe.

This report reviews Argentina's financial crisis, the bond exchanges of 2005 and 2010, ongoing litigation, prospects for a final solution, related U.S. legislation, and broader policy issues. These include lessons on the effectiveness and cost of Argentina's default strategy, the ability to force sovereigns to meet their debt obligations, and ways to avoid future defaults like Argentina's.

This report reviews unilateral preference programs for the Caribbean, discusses how they have been affected by Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the region, and considers trade policy options for dealing with countries still relying on trade preferences and that may be considering whether to negotiate an FTA with the United States.

This report presents highlights of the research conducted on NERSC computers in a variety of scientific disciplines during the years 2008-2009. It also reports on changes and upgrades to NERSC's systems and services as well as activities of NERSC staff.

This report documents field activity associated with the collection, preparation, and shipment of fish samples. The purpose of the report is to describe the sampling locations, identify samples collected, and describe any modifications and additions made to the sampling and analysis plan.

This report provides a discussion on the major issues and concerns of the global supply chain for rare earth elements, their major end uses, and legislative and other policy proposals that Congress may consider to improve the U.S. rare earth position.

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This report discusses federal employees with permanent appointments that may be eligible for retirement and disability benefits under either the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS).

This report discusses the foreign direct investment in the United States, which declined sharply after 2000 when a record $300 billion was invested in U.S. businesses and real estate.

The United States is the largest investor abroad and the largest recipient of direct investment in the world. This report discusses pertinent issues regarding foreign investments and their effects on the U.S.'s economy.

The international investment position of the United States is an annual measure of the assets Americans own abroad and the assets foreigners own in the United States. The net position, or the difference between the two, sometimes is referred to as a measure of U.S. international indebtedness. This report looks at international investing patterns and impacts, and ends with considerations on this topic for Congress.

To accurately predict the light collection from a scintillating crystal through Monte Carlo simulations, it is crucial to know the angular distribution from the surface reflectance. Current Monte Carlo codes allow the user to set the optical reflectance to a linear combination of backscatter spike, specular spike, specular lobe, and Lambertian reflections. However, not all light distributions can be expressed in this way. In addition, the user seldom has the detailed knowledge about the surfaces that is required for accurate modeling. We have previously measured the angular distributions within BGO crystals and now incorporate these data as look-up-tables (LUTs) into modified Geant4 and GATE Monte Carlo codes. The modified codes allow the user to specify the surface treatment (ground, etched, or polished), the attached reflector (Lumirror(R), Teflon(R), ESR film, Tyvek(R), or TiO paint), and the bonding type (air-coupled or glued). Each LUT consists of measured angular distributions with 4o by 5o resolution in theta and phi, respectively, for incidence angles from 0? to 90? degrees, in 1o-steps. We compared the new codes to the original codes by running simulations with a 3 x 10 x 30 mm3 BGO crystal coupled to a PMT. The simulations were then compared to measurements. …

Implicit algorithms are essential for predicting the slow growth and saturation of global instabilities in today’s magnetically confined fusion plasma experiments. Present day algorithms for obtaining implicit solutions to the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations for highly magnetized plasma have their roots in algorithms used in the 1960s and 1970s. However, today’s computers and modern linear and non‐linear solver techniques make practical much more comprehensive implicit algorithms than were previously possible. Combining these advanced implicit algorithms with highly accurate spatial representations of the vector fields describing the plasma flow and magnetic fields and with improved methods of calculating anisotropic thermal conduction now makes possible simulations of fusion experiments using realistic values of plasma parameters and actual configuration geometry.