This report discusses the rules and practices that govern consideration of spending and other budgetary legislation under each congressional chamber's constitutional authority.

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) of USA and Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology (KIPT) of Ukraine have been collaborating on the conceptual design development of an electron accelerator driven subcritical (ADS) facility, using the KIPT electron accelerator. The neutron source of the subcritical assembly is generated from the interaction of 100 KW electron beam with a natural uranium target. The electron beam has a uniform spatial distribution and electron energy in the range of 100 to 200 MeV. The main functions of the subcritical assembly are the production of medical isotopes and the support of the Ukraine nuclear power industry. Neutron physics experiments and material structure analyses are planned using this facility. With the 100 KW electron beam power, the total thermal power of the facility is {approx}375 kW including the fission power of {approx}260 kW. The burnup of the fissile materials and the buildup of fission products reduce continuously the reactivity during the operation, which reduces the neutron flux level and consequently the facility performance. To preserve the neutron flux level during the operation, fuel assemblies should be added after long operating periods to compensate for the lost reactivity. This process requires accurate prediction of the fuel burnup, the …

Nuclear Criticality Safety Evaluations typically employ room temperature cross sections, material densities, and dimensions. Processes that have been and are in development for conversion of legacy wastes in tanks, e.g., Waste Treatment Project (WTP) at the Hanford Remediation Site and Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site, utilize melters that operate at elevated temperatures, 1500 to 1900 C. The applicability of room temperature data to processes such as these has been questioned. Also questioned was the applicability of room temperature data for the analyses across the Savannah River Site (SRS) where the temperature may be elevated, such as in a postulated fire. This analysis was performed to examine the effect of temperature over the relatively small range encountered in normal and abnormal operations at SRS that does not include DWPF melters. This analysis documented herein is limited to fast systems of fissile metal and oxide cylinders on concrete at temperatures no greater than 640 C, the melting point of plutonium. Because thermal expansion data for various types of structural materials was not readily available, structural materials were not included in the analysis.

CD81 is a tetraspanin family member involved in diverse cellular interactions in the immune and nervous systems and in cell fusion events. However, the mechanism of action of CD81 and of other tetraspanins has not been defined. We reasoned that identifying signaling molecules downstream of CD81 would provide mechanistic clues. We engaged CD81 on the surface of Blymphocytes and identified the induced tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins by mass spectrometry. This analysis showed that the most prominent tyrosine phosphorylated protein was ezrin, an actin binding protein and a member of the ezrin-radixin-moesin family. We also found that CD81 engagement induces spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) and that Syk was involved in tyrosine phosphorylation of ezrin. Ezrin colocalized with CD81 and F-actin upon stimulation and this association was disrupted when Syk activation was blocked. Taken together, these studies suggest a model in which CD81 interfaces between the plasma membrane and the cytoskeleton by activating Syk, mobilizing ezrin, and recruiting F-actin to facilitate cytoskeletal reorganization and cell signaling. This may be a mechanism explaining the pleiotropic effects induced in response to stimulating cells by anti-CD81 antibodies or by the hepatitis C virus, which uses this molecule as its key receptor.

A combined experimental and theoretical study of the manipulation of molecules with laser light is reported. It is shown that the dipole force produced by the electric field of a focused laser may be used to deflect, align, and orient molecules in a collision free environment. The feasibility of applying these techniques to nanolithography is explored, and a scheme for orienting molecules in space is developed.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. transportation sector relies almost exclusively on oil; as a result, it causes about a third of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. Advanced technology vehicles powered by alternative fuels, such as electricity and ethanol, are one way to reduce oil consumption. The federal government set a goal for federal agencies to use plug-in hybrid electric vehicles--vehicles that run on both gasoline and batteries charged by connecting a plug into an electric power source--as they become available at a reasonable cost. This goal is on top of other requirements agencies must meet for conserving energy. In response to a request, GAO examined the (1) potential benefits of plug-ins, (2) factors affecting the availability of plug-ins, and (3) challenges to incorporating plug-ins into the federal fleet. GAO reviewed literature on plug-ins, federal legislation, and agency policies and interviewed federal officials, experts, and industry stakeholders, including auto and battery manufacturers."

This report discusses the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, which created the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This report addresses OIRA's responsibilities, controversies related to OIRA, and possible legislative issues involving OIRA, including increasing or decreasing the office's funding and staffing, and improvements in the transparency of OIRA's review process.

Lending in credit markets requires confidence in the borrowers' ability to repay the debt (principal and interest) in full and on schedule. The current turmoil in U.S. financial markets is the result of a breakdown in that necessary confidence. A number of indicators have pointed to a substantial rise in the cost of credit and a decrease in the flow of credit to the broader economy. Economic policy may be needed to get credit flowing smoothly again and to mitigate the damage incurred by households and non-financial businesses. Three types of policy response exist and are being applied in varying degrees. This report discusses each of these policy responses.

This report is intended for Members and staff assisting grant seekers in districts and states and covers writing proposals for both government and private foundations grants. In preparation for writing a proposal, the report first discusses preliminary information gathering and preparation, developing ideas for the proposal, gathering community support, identifying funding resources, and seeking preliminary review of the proposal and support of relevant administrative officials. The second section of the report covers the actual writing of the proposal. The last section of the report provides a listing of free grants-writing websites.

During the 2008 season, projects completed under BPA project 2000-100-00 included installation of riparian fencing, maintenance of existing riparian fencing, monitoring of at-risk culverts and installation of riparian vegetation along impacted sections of Omak Creek. Redd and snorkel surveys were conducted in Omak Creek to determine steelhead production. Canopy closure surveys were conducted to monitor riparian vegetation recovery after exclusion of cattle since 2000 from a study area commonly known as the Moomaw property. Additional redd and fry surveys were conducted above Mission Falls and in the lower portion of Stapaloop Creek to try and determine whether there has been successful passage at Mission Falls. Monitoring adult steelhead trying to navigate the falls resulted in the discovery of shallow pool depth at an upper pool that is preventing many fish from successfully navigating the entire falls. The Omak Creek Habitat and Passage Project has worked with NRCS to obtain additional funds to implement projects in 2009 that will address passage at Mission Falls, culvert replacement, as well as additional riparian planting. The Omak Creek Technical Advisory Group (TAG) is currently revising the Omak Creek Watershed Assessment. In addition, the group is revising strategy to focus efforts in targeted areas to …

The effects of deposition temperature and in-situ post-deposition annealing on the microstructure of coevaporated Cu(InGa)Se2 thin films and on the performance of the resulting solar cell devices have been characterized. Films were deposited at substrate temperatures of 150°C, 300°C and 400°C. Films were also deposited at these temperatures and then annealed in-situ at 550°C for 10 minutes. In as -deposited films without annealing, additional XRD reflections that may be due to a polytypic modification of the chalcopyrite phase were observed. Films deposited at 150°C were Se-rich. Post-deposition annealing caused microstructural changes in all films and improved the resulting solar cells. Only films deposited at 400°C, however, yielded high-efficiency devices after post-deposition annealing that were equivalent to devices made from films grown at 550°C. Films originally deposited at 300°C yielded devices after post-deposition annealing with VOC close to that of devices made from films grown at 550°C, despite smaller grain size.

This report discusses issues related to peace in the Middle East, including post-Gulf War negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon; U.S. interest in these and continuing negotiations and peacetalks between Middle Eastern countries; and the role of the U.S., the U.N., the European Union, and Russia in Middle Eastern relations.

This report provides an overview of Jordanian politics and current issues in U.S.-Jordanian relations. It provides a brief discussion of Jordan's government and economy and of its cooperation in promoting Arab-Israeli peace and other U.S. policy objectives in the Middle East.

MADmap is a software application used to produce maximum-likelihood images of the sky from time-ordered data which include correlated noise, such as those gathered by Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments. It works efficiently on platforms ranging from small workstations to the most massively parallel supercomputers. Map-making is a critical step in the analysis of all CMB data sets, and the maximum-likelihood approach is the most accurate and widely applicable algorithm; however, it is a computationally challenging task. This challenge will only increase with the next generation of ground-based, balloon-borne and satellite CMB polarization experiments. The faintness of the B-mode signal that these experiments seek to measure requires them to gather enormous data sets. MADmap is already being run on up to O(1011) time samples, O(108) pixels and O(104) cores, with ongoing work to scale to the next generation of data sets and supercomputers. We describe MADmap's algorithm based around a preconditioned conjugate gradient solver, fast Fourier transforms and sparse matrix operations. We highlight MADmap's ability to address problems typically encountered in the analysis of realistic CMB data sets and describe its application to simulations of the Planck and EBEX experiments. The massively parallel and distributed implementation is detailed and scaling …

(Ag,Cu)(In,Ga)Se2 thin films have been deposited by elemental co-evaporation over a wide range of compositions and their optical properties characterized by transmission and reflection measurements and by relative shift analysis of quantum efficiency device measurements. The optical bandgaps were determined by performing linear fits of (αhν)2 vs. hν, and the quantum efficiency bandgaps were determined by relative shift analysis of device curves with fixed Ga/(In+Ga) composition, but varying Ag/(Cu+Ag) composition. The determined experimental optical bandgap ranges of the Ga/(In+Ga) = 0.31, 0.52, and 0.82 groups, with Ag/(Cu+Ag) ranging from 0 to 1, were 1.19-1.45 eV, 1.32-1.56 eV, and 1.52-1.76 eV, respectively. The optical bowing parameter of the different Ga/(In+Ga) groups was also determined.

In this paper, two-dimensional (2D) simulation of interdigitated back contact silicon heterojunction (IBC-SHJ) solar cells is presented using Sentaurus Device, a software package of Synopsys TCAD. A model is established incorporating a distribution of trap states of amorphous-silicon material and thermionic emission across the amorphous-silicon / crystalline-silicon heterointerface. The 2D nature of IBC-SHJ device is evaluated and current density-voltage (J-V) curves are generated. Optimization of IBC-SHJ solar cells is then discussed through simulation. It is shown that the open circuit voltage (VOC) and short circuit current density (JSC) of IBC-SHJ solar cells increase with decreasing front surface recombination velocity. The JSC improves further with the increase of relative coverage of p-type emitter contacts, which is explained by the simulated and measured position dependent laser beam induced current (LBIC) line scan. The S-shaped J-V curves with low fill factor (FF) observed in experiments are also simulated, and three methods to improve FF by modifying the intrinsic a-Si buffer layer are suggested: (i) decreased thickness, (ii) increased conductivity, and (iii) reduced band gap. With all these optimizations, an efficiency of 26% for IBC-SHJ solar cells is potentially achievable.

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The objective of this report is to document the initial investigation into the possible research issues related to the development of NRF-based national security applications. The report discusses several potential applications ranging from measuring uranium enrichment in UF6 canisters to characterization of gas samples. While these applications are varied, there are only a few research issues that need to be addressed to understand the limitation of NRF in solving these problems. These research issues range from source and detector development to measuring small samples. The next effort is to determine how best to answer the research issues, followed by a prioritization of those questions to ensure that the most important are addressed. These issues will be addressed through either analytical calculations, computer simulations, analysis of previous data or collection of new measurements. It will also be beneficial to conduct a thorough examination of a couple of the more promising applications in order to develop concrete examples of how NRF may be applied in specific situations. The goals are to develop an understanding of whether the application of NRF is limited by technology or physics in addressing national security applications, to gain a motivation to explore those possible applications, and to …

This report discusses the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and legal challenges to it. It reviews legal principles applied to determine the validity of a marriage contracted in another state and surveys the various approaches employed by states to address same-sex marriage. It also examines previous congressional resolutions proposing a constitutional amendment and limiting federal courts' jurisdiction to hear or determine any question pertaining to the interpretation of DOMA.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ability to effectively implement its mission of protecting public health and the environment relies largely on the integrity and transparency of (1) its assessments of the potential human health effects of exposure to chemicals and (2) its federal advisory committees, which are to provide independent, expert reviews of EPA's scientific work, among other functions. EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program is critical in developing the agency's scientific positions on the potential health effects of exposure to toxic chemicals. These positions, used as a basis for environmental risk management decisions by EPA and others, are maintained in IRIS' database of more than 540 chemical assessments. Since 2001, GAO has issued a number of reports addressing the importance of integrity and transparency to EPA's chemical assessments and to EPA's federal advisory committees. GAO work on EPA's advisory committees has focused on its Science Advisory Board--1 of 24 EPA federal advisory committees--which convenes panels to review many of the agency's scientific assessments and proposals. This testimony highlights scientific integrity and transparency issues GAO has reported on and relevant EPA reform efforts regarding (1) the IRIS …

June report of the U.S. Congressional Oversight Panel describing their activities and findings regarding the stress testing of banks by federal banking regulators to examine the ability of banks to continue operations in a weaker than expected economic environment.

This report will examine the history of six-day mail delivery and analyze potential effects of reducing USPS delivery from six to five days. It will then examine legislative options for the 111th Congress.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Through its Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) operates one of the largest integrated health care systems in the country. In 1999, GAO reported that better management of VA's large inventory of aged capital assets could result in savings that could be used to enhance health care services for veterans. In response, VA initiated a process known as Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES). Through CARES, VA sought to determine the future resources needed to provide health care to our nation's veterans. This testimony describes (1) how CARES contributes to VHA's capital planning process, (2) the extent to which VA has implemented CARES decisions, and (3) the types of legal authorities that VA has to manage its real property and the extent to which VA has used these authorities. The testimony is based on GAO's body of work on VA's management of its capital assets, including GAO's 2007 report on VA's implementation of CARES (GAO-07-408)."

This report discusses the VH-71 program, which is intended to provide 23 new presidential helicopters to replace the current fleet of 19 aging presidential helicopters.