This report mainly focuses on Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests in Central Asia after the collapse of soviet union in 1991.

The first part of this report briefly reviews the judicial evolution of race-based affirmative action, particularly in relation to public education. The report then reviews major rulings involving challenges to the use of race-conscious admissions and hiring practices by public educational institutions, and concludes with a discussion of the implications for the future development of affirmative action law.

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Congressional Research Service (CRS) report entailing information about data options for the English Language Acquisition State Grants Formula (Title III-A) in regards to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Topics include, additional LEP data considerations, census data, a description of allocations etc..

Report detailing immigration and work visas for persons with STEM degrees, including background, legal pathway, foreign student statistics, and more.

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Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the Grid-Scale Rampable Intermittent Dispatchable Storage (GRIDS) program including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet discusses a more efficient flow battery as part of the "Transformative Electrochemical Flow Storage System (TEFSS)" project.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Containment Program performed a review of nuclear test-related data for the Norbo underground nuclear test in U8c to assist in evaluating this legacy site as a test bed for application technologies for use in On-Site Inspections (OSI) under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. This request is similar to one made for the Salut site in U8c (Pawloski, 2012b). Review of the Norbo site is complicated because the test first exhibited subsurface collapse, which was not unusual, but it then collapsed to the surface over one year later, which was unusual. Of particular interest is the stability of the ground surface above the Norbo detonation point. Proposed methods for on-site verification include radiological signatures, artifacts from nuclear testing activities, and imaging to identify alteration to the subsurface hydrogeology due to the nuclear detonation. Aviva Sussman from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has also proposed work at this site. Both proposals require physical access at or near the ground surface of specific underground nuclear test locations at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site (NNSS), formerly the Nevada Test Site (NTS), and focus on possible activities such as visual observation, multispectral measurements, and shallow and deep geophysical …

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The magnetic domain structure in single crystals of a Heusler shape memory compound near the composition Fe{sub 2}MnGa was observed during phase transition by photoelectron emission microscopy at Beamline 11.0.1.1 of the Advanced Light Source. The behavior is comparable with recent observations of an adaptive martensite phase in prototype Ni{sub 2}MnGa, although the pinning in the recent work is an epitaxial interface and in this work the e#11;ective pinning plane is a boundary between martensitic variants that transform in a self-accommodating way from the single crystal austenite phase present at high temperatures. Temperature dependent observations of the twinning structure give information as to the coupling behavior between the magnetism and the structural evolution.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the 12 projects that are a part of the Innovative Materials and Processes for Grid-Scale Rampable Intermittent Dispatchable Storage (GRIDS) program including project goals, innovation needs, and potential impacts.

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SRNL analyzed the Decontamination Salt Solution (DSS) coalescer from MCU by several analytical methods. This unit was removed from service in May 2010. The results of these analyses indicate that there is very little evidence of fouling via excessive solids, either from the leaching studies or X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis.

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This program is focused on the experimental determination of the effects of key hydrogen side impurities on the performance of PEM fuel cells. Experimental data has been leveraged to create mathematical models that predict the performance of PEM fuel cells that are exposed to specific impurity streams. These models are validated through laboratory experimentation and utilized to develop novel technologies for mitigating the effects of contamination on fuel cell performance. Results are publicly disseminated through papers, conference presentations, and other means.

The Magnetic Centrifugal Mass Filter concept represents a variation on the plasma centrifuge, with applications that are particularly promising for high-throughput separation of ions with large mass differences. A number of considerations, however, constrain the parameter space in which this device operates best. The rotation speed, magnetic field intensity and ion temperature are constrained by the ion confinement requirements. Collisions must also be large enough to eject ions, but small enough not to eject them too quickly. The existence of favorable regimes meeting these constraints is demonstrated by a single-particle orbit code. As an example of interest, it is shown that separation factors of about 2:3 are achievable in a single pass when separating Aluminum from Strontium ions

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Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the Grid-Scale Rampable Intermittent Dispatchable Storage (GRIDS) program including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet discusses advanced flywheel composite rotors as part of the "Low-Cost, High-Energy Density Flywheel Storage Grid Demonstration" project.

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The Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) will use Colemanite bearing concrete neutron absorber panels credited with attenuating neutron flux in the criticality design analyses and shielding operators from radiation. The Savannah River National Laboratory is tasked with measuring the total density, partial hydrogen density, and partial boron density of the colemanite concrete. Samples 8.1.2, 8.2.2, 8.3.2, and 8.4.2 were received on 8/1/2012 and analyzed after curing for 28 days. The average total density measured by the ASTM method C 642 was 2.09 g/cm{sup 3}, within the lower bound of 1.88 g/cm{sup 3}. The average partial hydrogen density was 7.48E-02 g/cm{sup 3} as measured using method ASTM E 1311 and met the lower bound of 6.04E-02 g/cm{sup 3}. The average measured partial boron density was 1.71E-01 g/cm{sup 3} which met the lower bound of 1.65E-01 g/cm{sup 3} measured by the ASTM C 1301 method.