This report provides background on the Congress-European Parliament (EP) relationship and the role of the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue (TLD). It also explores potential future options that could strengthen ties between the two bodies.

Fungi and yeast have been characterized as important components in the bioremediation of organic contaminants in soil and water including polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); however, research into their ability to metabolize these compounds in extreme environments has been limited. In this work forty-three fungi and yeasts were isolated from a PAH-contaminated sludge waste lagoon in Poland. The lagoon was part of a monitored natural attenuation (MNA) study where natural reduction of PAHs and associated toxicity over time in non-disturbed areas of the sludge lagoon indicated MNA activity. The microorganisms were initially isolated on minimal medium containing naphthalene as the sole carbon and energy source. Fungal isolates were then maintained on MEA and identified based on microscopic examination and BIOLOG{reg_sign}. The analysis identified several of the fungal isolates as belonging to the genera Penicillium, Paecilomyces, Aspergillus, and Eupenicillium. Yeasts included Candida parapsilosis and C. fluvialitis. Further microbial characterization revealed that several isolates were capable of rowing on acidified media of pH 4, 3, and 2.5. Over twenty percent of the fungi demonstrated growth as low as pH 2.5. Of the 43 isolates examined, 24 isolates exhibited growth at 5 C. Nine of the fungal isolates exhibiting growth at 5 C were then …

This report discusses the paperwork Reduction Act of 1980. It also discusses Possible legislative issues involving OIRA.

This report discusses the major provisions of the Endangered Species Act, both domestic and international, and also discusses some of the background issues, such as extinction in general, and the effectiveness of the statute.

A high resolution grating spectrometer (HRGS) with 2400 line/mm variable line spacing grating for the 10-50 {angstrom} wavelength range has been designed for laser-produced plasma experiments at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The spectrometer has a large radius of curvature, R=44.3 m, is operated at a 2{sup o} grazing angle and can record high signal-to-noise spectra when used with a low-noise, cooled, charge-coupled device detector. The instrument can be operated with a 10-25 {micro}m wide slit to achieve the best spectral resolving power on laser plasma sources, approaching 2000, or in slitless mode with a small symmetrical emission source. Results will be presented for the spectral response of the spectrometer cross-calibrated at the LLNL Electron Beam Ion Trap facility using the broadband x-ray energy EBIT Calorimeter Spectrometer (ECS).

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This report provides a brief summary of legal issues raised by the choice of forum for trying accused terrorists and a chart comparing selected military commissions rules under the Military Commissions Act, as amended, to the corresponding rules that apply in federal court.

The astrophysical {alpha}{omega} dynamo converting angular momentum to magnetic energy can be interpreted as a self-excited Faraday dynamo together with magnetic relaxation coupling the dynamo poloidal field to the toroidal field produced by dynamo currents. Since both toroidal and poloidal fields are involved, the system can be modeled as helicity creation and transport, in a spheromak plasma configuration in quasi-equilibrium on the time scale of changes in magnetic energy. Neutral beams or plasma gun injection across field lines could create self-excited spheromaks in the laboratory.

This report provides an introduction to the roles that international law and agreements play in the United States. International law is derived from two primary sources--international agreements and customary practice. Under the U.S. legal system, international agreements can be entered into by means of a treaty or an executive agreement. The Constitution allocates primary responsibility for entering into such agreements to the executive branch, but Congress also plays an essential role.

This report discusses the current debate over "net neutrality." While there is no single accepted definition of "net neutrality," most agree that any such definition should include the general principles that owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network, and they should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network.

This report briefly describes the role of various agencies in securing the borders of the United States. These agencies are the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the United States Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

This report discusses the controversial issue of local or regional procurement (LRP) as an alternative to commodity donations as methods of international food aid. Experiences with LRP, such as the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), are evaluated in discussion with current LRP initiatives of the United States.

This report compares farm support in the United States and the European Union, given available quantitative data and information for these two economies.

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This report discusses the Domain Name System (DNS), which is the distributed set of databases residing in computers around the world that contain address numbers mapped to corresponding domain names, making it possible to send and receive messages and to access information from computers anywhere on the Internet.

This report describes the various components of the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including (1) what authorities have shaped it over the years; (2) how FEMA determines the amount of the appropriation requested to Congress (pertaining to the DRF); and (3) how emergency supplemental appropriations are requested. In addition to the DRF, information is provided on funds appropriated in supplemental appropriations legislation to agencies other than the Department of Homeland Security. Aspects of debate concerning how disaster relief is budgeted are also highlighted and examined, and alternative budgetary options are summarized.

Several federal programs support child care, education, or related services, primarily for low-income working families. In addition, the tax code includes provisions specifically targeted to assist families with child care expenses. This report includes an update on FY2010 funding developments and the status of FY2009 appropriations in the early childhood care and education arena. This report also provides a six-year funding history and brief descriptions of the various related programs and tax provisions.

Measurements were made of the motion of the filamentary structures in a plasma ball using high speed cameras and other optical detectors. These filaments traverse the ball radially at ~106 cm/sec at the driving frequency of ~26 kHz, and drift upward through the ball at ~1 cm/sec. Varying the applied high voltage and frequency caused the number, length, and diameter of the filaments to change. A custom plasma ball was constructed to observe the effects of varying gas pressure and species on the filament structures.

This report discusses possible paths toward the modernization of the 911 infrastructure. Efforts to splice newer, digital technologies onto the aging infrastructure have created points of failure where a call can be dropped or misdirected, sometimes with tragic consequences.

This report discusses the European Union's (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is a cornerstone of the EU's efforts to meet its obligation under the Kyoto Protocol. It covers more than 10,000 energy intensive facilities across the 27 EU Member countries.

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This report describes how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) deal with the issue of currency manipulation. It also discusses apparent discrepancies in their charters and ways those differences might be addressed.

Good progress has been made on both bacterial and viral sequencing by the TMTI centers. While access to appropriate samples is a limiting factor to throughput, excellent progress has been made with respect to getting agreements in place with key sources of relevant materials. Sharing of sequenced genomes funded by TMTI has been extremely limited to date. The April 2010 exercise should force a resolution to this, but additional managerial pressures may be needed to ensure that rapid sharing of TMTI-funded sequencing occurs, regardless of collaborator constraints concerning ultimate publication(s). Policies to permit TMTI-internal rapid sharing of sequenced genomes should be written into all TMTI agreements with collaborators now being negotiated. TMTI needs to establish a Web-based system for tracking samples destined for sequencing. This includes metadata on sample origins and contributor, information on sample shipment/receipt, prioritization by TMTI, assignment to one or more sequencing centers (including possible TMTI-sponsored sequencing at a contributor site), and status history of the sample sequencing effort. While this system could be a component of the AFRL system, it is not part of any current development effort. Policy and standardized procedures are needed to ensure appropriate verification of all TMTI samples prior to the investment …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Many federal contractors establish offshore subsidiaries to take advantage of labor and market conditions. GAO has found that they also use offshore subsidiaries to reduce their U.S. tax burdens. In 2008, Congress passed the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax (HEART) Act which resulted in contractor offshore subsidiaries paying certain payroll taxes for U.S. personnel working abroad. Fiscal year 2009's National Defense Authorization Act required GAO to report on the rationales, implications, and costs and benefits of defense contractors' use of offshore subsidiaries. We (1) assessed trends and purposes for contractors' offshore subsidiaries; (2) identified how contractors use subsidiaries to support defense contracts; (3) assessed DOD's oversight of contractors' use of offshore subsidiaries. To conduct our work, we reviewed data for the 29 U.S. publicly traded contractors with at least $1 billion in DOD spending in fiscal year 2008, reviewed several illustrative contracts selected based on categories of DOD services most often performed overseas, reviewed audit documents, and interviewed DOD officials about oversight."