This report provides an overview of the election contests in Lebanon, Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq, including possible outcomes and implications for U.S. policy. The strategic influence of Iran in the Middle East, the stability of Iraq, and the ongoing war in Afghanistan are at the forefront of U.S. policy and Congressional interest in the region.

This report focuses on the creation of the Transatlantic Economic Council; the role of legislatures in the regulatory process; and the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue and its new role as an advisor to transatlantic regulatory efforts.

This report discusses laws related to the protection of marine mammals when using mid-frequency active sonar including the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). The report discusses each of the laws generally, and then reviews the litigation surrounding the Navy's compliance with these laws in the context of using the sonar for training purposes off California's coast.

This report discusses litigation regarding the use of mid-frequency active sonar training exercises and its effects on marine mammals.

The report offers preliminary recommendations for near-term actions to strengthen the U.S. effort to develop and deploy advanced energy technologies. The report comes as the Obama Administration and the 111th U.S. Congress face enormous challenges and opportunities in tackling the pressing security, economic, and environmental problems posed by the energy sector. Improving the technologies of energy supply and end-use is a prerequisite for surmounting these challenges in a timely and cost-effective way, and this report elaborates on how policy can support develop of these important energy technologies.

The reaction of excess HSiCl{sub 3} with the aforementioned triamines led to the formation of [Si{sub 6}Cl{sub 14}]{sup 2-} containing salts in all instances. The isolated complex salts were characterized using FT-IR and elemental analysis. IR spectra of these compounds showed characteristic Si-H stretching modes around 2100cm{sup -1} due to the hexacoordinate silane cation and Si-Cl active modes near 528cm{sup -1} as a result of the cyclic dianion. Reaction yields and elemental analysis (CHN) of the salts are summarized in a table. The reaction of peralkylated triamines with HSiCl{sub 3} in dry CH{sub 2}Cl{sub 2} gives ionic compounds based upon the tetradecachlorocyclohexasilane dianion. Several substituted triamines(R{sub 2}NC{sub 2}H{sub 4}NR{prime}C{sub 2}H{sub 4}NR{sub 2}where R = R{prime} = Et, {sup n}Pr; R = Et, R{prime}= {sup n}Bu, {sup n}Hexyl, Benzyl) were examined for this reaction and N,N,N{prime},N{prime}-tetraethyl-N{sup {double_prime}}-benzyl-diethylenetriamine produced the best yields of [Si{sub 6}Cl{sub 14}]{sup 2-} salt at 23% based on the amine reagent. This improvement in yield could be attributed to the decreased nucleophilicity of the central amine through increased steric hindrance of the alkyl substituents. The overall consequence of this substituent variation study has revealed new reagents for the synthesis of [Si{sub 6}Cl{sub 14}]{sup 2-} salts and further demonstrated …

This report provides a brief overview of the European Union (EU), an economic and political partnership between 27 sovereign member states. The report describes the formation of the EU, the three main institutions of the EU, and the EU's relationship with the United States.

This report provides information on the Lisbon Treaty and possible U.S.-EU implications that may be of interest to the 112th Congress.

This report provides background on ICC investigations in Africa and gives an overview of cases currently before the Court. The report also examines issues raised by the ICC's actions in Africa, including the ICC's possible role in deterring future abuses and the potential impact of international criminal prosecutions on peace processes, ongoing in many countries on the continent.

The objectives of the confirmatory surveys were to provide independent contractor field data reviews and to generate independent radiological data for use by the NRC in evaluating the adequacy and accuracy of the licensee’s procedures and survey results.

This is a continuing DOE-BES funded project on transition metal and actinide containing species, aimed at the electronic structure and spectroscopy of transition metal and actinide containing species. While a long term connection of these species is to catalysis and environmental management of high-level nuclear wastes, the immediate relevance is directly to other DOE-BES funded experimental projects at DOE-National labs and universities. There are a number of ongoing gas-phase spectroscopic studies of these species at various places, and our computational work has been inspired by these experimental studies and we have also inspired other experimental and theoretical studies. Thus our studies have varied from spectroscopy of diatomic transition metal carbides to large complexes containing transition metals, and actinide complexes that are critical to the environment. In addition, we are continuing to make code enhancements and modernization of ALCHEMY II set of codes and its interface with relativistic configuration interaction (RCI). At present these codes can carry out multi-reference computations that included up to 60 million configurations and multiple states from each such CI expansion. ALCHEMY II codes have been modernized and converted to a variety of platforms such as Windows XP, and Linux. We have revamped the symbolic CI code …

This reports discusses the history and establishment of Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), acquisition of crude oil for the SPR. It talks about the debate over the years regarding when should the SPR be used.

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This report discusses recent developments and funding for the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle program.

This report offers an overview of energy markets, supplies and prices. It also provides figures regarding the energy consumption in United States since 1950s.

Control software and wireless sensors designed for closed-loop, monitoring and control of IT equipment's inlet air temperatures in datacenters were evaluated and tested while other datacenter cooling best practices were implemented. The controls software and hardware along with each best practice were installed sequentially and evaluated using a measurement and verification procedure between each measure. The results show that the overall project eliminates 475,239 kWh per year, which is 21.3percent of the baseline energy consumption of the data center. The total project, including the best practices will save $42,772 per year and cost $134,057 yielding a simple payback of 3.1 years. However, the control system alone eliminates 59.6percent of the baseline energy used to move air in the datacenter and 13.6percent of the baseline cooling energy, which is 15.2percent of the baseline energy consumption (see Project Approach, Task 1, below, for additional information) while keeping temperatures substantially within the limits recommended by ASHRAE. Savings attributed to the control system are $30,564 per year with a cost $56,824 for a simple payback of 1.9 years.

This project was developed to conduct research to improve the efficacy of captive broodstock programs and advance hatchery reform throughout the Columbia River Basin. The project has three objectives: (1) maintain adaptive life history characteristics in Chinook salmon, (2) improve imprinting in juvenile sockeye salmon, and (3) match wild phenotypes in Chinook and sockeye salmon reared in hatcheries. A summary of the results are as follows: Objective 1: The ratio of jack to adult male Chinook salmon were varied in experimental breeding populations to test the hypothesis that reproductive success of the two male phenotypes would vary with their relative frequency in the population. Adult Chinook salmon males nearly always obtained primary access to nesting females and were first to enter the nest at the time of spawning. Jack male spawning occurred primarily by establishing satellite positions downstream of the courting pair, and 'sneaking' into the nest at the time of spawning. Male dominance hierarchies were fairly stable and strongly correlated with the order of nest entry at the time of spawning. Observed participation in spawning events and adult-to-fry reproductive success of jack and adult males was consistent with a negative frequency-dependent selection model. Overall, jack males sired an average …

This report discusses the efforts currently underway to improve coordination and encourage better analysis amongst the various agencies within the U.S. Intelligence Community, especially with regard to the ongoing and prominent issue of international terrorism. In particular, this report addresses the false intelligence regarding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and the current efforts in Iraq and Iran in general.

Opium poppy cultivation and drug trafficking have eroded Afghanistan's fragile political and economic order over the last 30 years. This report provides current statistical information, profiles the narcotics trade's participants, explores linkages between narcotics, insecurity, and corruption, and reviews U.S. and international policy responses since late 2001. The report also considers ongoing policy debates regarding the counternarcotics role of coalition military forces, poppy eradication, alternative livelihoods, and funding issues for Congress.

This report presents an overview of Qatar's history and recent economic and political developments. The report discusses U.S. relations with Qatar, U.S. military cooperation and foreign assistance, political reform and elections, as well as human rights and social issues.

This report discusses legislation related to the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement Act (H.R. 1886), the Afghanistan-Pakistan Security and Prosperity Enhancement Act (H.R. 1318), and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 (H.R. 2410). It also discusses the Afghanistan and Pakistan Reconstruction Opportunity Zones Act (S. 496). The report also discusses how this legislation represents a political and symbolic importance for U.S. relationships with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This project monitored the daily passage of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, steelhead trout O. mykiss, and sockeye salmon smolts O. nerka during the 2002 spring out-migration at migrant traps on the Snake River and Salmon River. In 2002 fish management agencies released significant numbers of hatchery Chinook salmon and steelhead trout above Lower Granite Dam that were not marked with a fin clip or coded-wire tag. Generally, these fish were distinguishable from wild fish by the occurrence of fin erosion. Total annual hatchery Chinook salmon catch at the Snake River trap was 11.4 times greater in 2002 than in 2001. The wild Chinook catch was 15.5 times greater than the previous year. Hatchery steelhead trout catch was 2.9 times greater than in 2001. Wild steelhead trout catch was 2.8 times greater than the previous year. The Snake River trap collected 3,996 age-0 Chinook salmon of unknown rearing. During 2002, the Snake River trap captured 69 hatchery and 235 wild/natural sockeye salmon and 114 hatchery coho salmon O. kisutch. Differences in trap catch between years are due to fluctuations not only in smolt production, but also differences in trap efficiency and duration of trap operation associated with flow. The significant increase …

This project monitored the daily passage of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, steelhead trout O. mykiss, and sockeye salmon O. nerka smolts during the 2003 spring out-migration at migrant traps on the Snake River and Salmon River. In 2003 fish management agencies released significant numbers of hatchery Chinook salmon and steelhead trout above Lower Granite Dam that were not marked with a fin clip or coded-wire tag. Generally, these fish were distinguishable from wild fish by the occurrence of fin erosion. Total annual hatchery Chinook salmon catch at the Snake River trap was 2.1 times less in 2003 than in 2002. The wild Chinook catch was 1.1 times less than the previous year. Hatchery steelhead trout catch was 1.7 times less than in 2002. Wild steelhead trout catch was 2.1 times less than the previous year. The Snake River trap collected 579 age-0 Chinook salmon of unknown rearing. During 2003, the Snake River trap captured five hatchery and 13 wild/natural sockeye salmon and 36 coho salmon O. kisutch of unknown rearing. Differences in trap catch between years are due to fluctuations not only in smolt production, but also differences in trap efficiency and duration of trap operation associated with flow. The …