A literature survey has been conducted to collect information on the International R&D activities in the extraction of uranium from seawater for the period from the 1960s till the year of 2010. The reported activities, on both the laboratory scale bench experiments and the large scale marine experiments, were summarized by country/region in this report. Among all countries where such activities have been reported, Japan has carried out the most advanced large scale marine experiments with the amidoxime-based system, and achieved the collection efficiency (1.5 g-U/kg-adsorbent for 30 days soaking in the ocean) that could justify the development of industrial scale marine systems to produce uranium from seawater at the price competitive with those from conventional uranium resources. R&D opportunities are discussed for improving the system performance (selectivity for uranium, loading capacity, chemical stability and mechanical durability in the sorption-elution cycle, and sorption kinetics) and making the collection of uranium from seawater more economically competitive.

This report focuses on potential approaches that Europe might employ to diversify its sources of natural gas supply, Russia's role in Europe's natural gas policies, and key factors that could hinder efforts to develop alternative suppliers of natural gas. The report assesses the potential suppliers of natural gas to Europe and the short- to medium-term hurdles needed to be overcome for those suppliers to be credible, long-term providers of natural gas to Europe. The report looks at North Africa, potentially the most realistic supply alternative in the near-term, but notes that the region will have to resolve its current political, economic, and security instability as well as the internal structural changes to the natural gas industry. Central Asia, which may have the greatest amounts of natural gas, would need to construct lengthy pipelines through multiple countries to move its natural gas to Europe.

Presented at the DOE-Atmospheric System Research Program, Science Team Meeting, 15-19 March 2010, Bethesda, Maryland. The presentation: Pyrgeometer Calibration for DOE-Atmospheric System Research program using NREL Method - was presented by Ibrahim Reda and Tom Stoffel on March 15, 2010 at the 2010 ASR Science Team Meeting. March 15-19, 2010, Bethesda, Maryland.

The use of forward models as an alternative approach to compare models with observations contains advantages and challenges. Radar Doppler spectra simulators are not new; their application in high- resolution models with bin microphysics schemes could help to compare model output with the Doppler spectra recorded from the vertically pointing cloud radars at the ARM Climate Research Facility sites. The input parameters to a Doppler spectra simulator are both microphysical (e.g., particle size, shape, phase, and number concentration) and dynamical (e.g., resolved wind components and sub-grid turbulent kinetic energy). Libraries for spherical and non-spherical particles are then used to compute the backscattering cross-section and fall velocities, while the turbulence is parameterized as a Gaussian function with a prescribed width. The Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) is used to determine the amount of noise added throughout the spectrum, and the spectral smoothing due to spectral averages is included to reproduce the averaging realized by cloud radars on successive returns. Thus, realistic Doppler spectra are obtained, and several parameters that relate to the morphological characteristics of the synthetically generated spectra are computed. Here, the results are compared to the new ARM microARSCL data products in an attempt to validate the simulator. Drizzling data obtained …

Two luminescent terbium(III) complexes have been prepared from chiral ligands containing 2-hydroxyisophthalamide (IAM) antenna chromophores and their non-polarized and circularly-polarized luminescence properties have been studied. These tetradentate ligands, which form 2:1 ligand/Tb{sup III} complexes, utilize diaminocyclohexane (cyLI) and diphenylethylenediamine (dpenLI) backbones, which we reasoned would impart conformational rigidity and result in Tb{sup III} complexes that display both large luminescence quantum yield ({phi}) values and strong circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) activities. Both Tb{sup III} complexes are highly emissive, with {phi} values of 0.32 (dpenLI-Tb) and 0.60 (cyLI-Tb). Luminescence lifetime measurements in H{sub 2}O and D{sub 2}O indicate that while cyLI-Tb exists as a single species in solution, dpenLI-Tb exists as two species: a monohydrate complex with one H{sub 2}O molecule directly bound to the Tb{sup III} ion and a complex with no water molecules in the inner coordination sphere. Both cyLI-Tb and dpenLI-Tb display increased CPL activity compared to previously reported Tb{sup III} complexes made with chiral IAM ligands. The CPL measurements also provide additional confirmation of the presence of a single emissive species in solution in the case of cyLI-Tb, and multiple emissive species in the case of dpenLI-Tb.

Significant errors related to poor time zero estimation, well deviation or mislocation of the transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) stations can render even the most sophisticated modeling and inversion routine useless. Previous examples of methods for the analysis and correction of data errors in geophysical tomography include the works of Maurer and Green (1997), Squires et al. (1992) and Peterson (2001). Here we follow the analysis and techniques of Peterson (2001) for data quality control and error correction. Through our data acquisition and quality control procedures we have very accurate control on the surface locations of wells, the travel distance of both the transmitter and receiver within the boreholes, and the change in apparent zero time. However, we often have poor control on well deviations, either because of economic constraints or the nature of the borehole itself prevented the acquisition of well deviation logs. Also, well deviation logs can sometimes have significant errors. Problems with borehole deviations can be diagnosed prior to inversion of travel-time tomography data sets by plotting the apparent velocity of a straight ray connecting a transmitter (TX) to a receiver (RX) against the take-off angle of the ray. Issues with the time-zero pick or distances between …

Article I, Section 7, clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution is known as the Origination Clause because it provides that "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." The meaning and application of this clause has evolved through practice and precedent since the Constitution was drafted. The Constitution does not provide specific guidelines as to what constitutes a "bill for raising revenue." This report analyzes congressional and court precedents regarding that constitutes such a bill. Second, this report describes the various ways in which the Origination Clause has been enforced. Finally, this report looks at the application of the Origination Clause to other types of legislation.

The observed increase in global mean surface temperature (GMST) over the industrial era is less than 40% of that expected from observed increases in long-lived greenhouse gases together with the best-estimate equilibrium climate sensitivity given by the 2007 Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Possible reasons for this warming discrepancy are systematically examined here. The warming discrepancy is found to be due mainly to some combination of two factors: the IPCC best estimate of climate sensitivity being too high and/or the greenhouse gas forcing being partially offset by forcing by increased concentrations of atmospheric aerosols; the increase in global heat content due to thermal disequilibrium accounts for less than 25% of the discrepancy, and cooling by natural temperature variation can account for only about 15%. Current uncertainty in climate sensitivity is shown to preclude determining the amount of future fossil fuel CO2 emissions that would be compatible with any chosen maximum allowable increase in GMST; even the sign of such allowable future emissions is unconstrained. Resolving this situation by empirical determination of Earth’s climate sensitivity from the historical record over the industrial period or through use of climate models whose accuracy is evaluated by their performance over …

This report provides a preliminary analysis of the President's budget request for FY2012 for the programs administered by the VA. This report is not an exhaustive discussion of VA's budget request for FY2012. A full CRS report on FY2012 VA budget and appropriations issues is planned after initial congressional consideration of appropriations legislation.

The contribution of aerosol absorption on direct radiative forcing is still an active area of research, in part, because aerosol extinction is dominated by light scattering and, in part, because the primary absorbing aerosol of interest, soot, exhibits complex aging behavior that alters its optical properties. The consequences of this can be evidenced by the work of Ramanathan and Carmichael (2008) who suggest that incorporating the atmospheric heating due to brown clouds (plumes containing soot byproducts from automobiles, biomass burning, wood-burning kitchen stoves, and coal-fired power plants) will increase black carbon (BC) radiative forcing from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change best estimate of 0.34 Wm-2 (±0.25 Wm-2) (IPCC 2007) to 0.9 Wm-2. This noteworthy degree of uncertainty is due largely to the interdependence of BC optical properties on particle mixing state and aggregate morphology, each of which changes as the particle ages in the atmosphere and becomes encapsulated within a coating of inorganic and/or organic substances. In July 2008, a laboratory-based measurement campaign, led by Boston College and Aerodyne, was initiated to begin addressing this interdependence. To achieve insights into the interdependence of BC optical properties on particle mixing state and aggregate morphology, measurements of both the optical and …

This report briefly discusses the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act of 1977 (FCPA), which was intended to prevent corporate bribery of foreign officials. Criticisms of the act's operation and scope began almost immediately after its passage and have continued. This report addresses these criticisms.

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HDR has completed a study of the technical, regulatory, and economic feasibility of installing hydrokinetic turbines under the Morrison, Broadway, and Sellwood bridges. The primary objective of installing hydrokinetic turbines is a demonstration of in-stream hydrokinetic technologies for public education and outreach. Due to the low gradient of the Lower Willamette and the effects of the tide, velocities in the area in consideration are simply not high enough to economically support a commercial installation. While the velocities in the river may at times provide enough energy for a commercial turbine to reach capacity, the frequency and duration of high flow events which provide suitable velocities is not sufficient to support a commercial hydrokinetic installation. We have observed that over an 11 year period, daily average velocities in the Lower Willamette exceeded a nominal cut-in speed of 0.75 m/s only 20% of the time, leaving net zero power production for the remaining 80% of days. The Sellwood Bridge site was estimated to have the best hydrokinetic resource, with an estimated average annual production of about 9,000 kWh. The estimated production could range from 2,500 kWh to 15,000 kWh. Based on these energy estimates, the amount of revenue generated through either a …

There is growing need for rapid, accurate, and inexpensive methods to measure, and verify soil organic carbon (SOC) change for national greenhouse gas accounting and the development of a soil carbon trading market. Laboratory based soil characterization typically requires significant soil processing, which is time and resource intensive. This severely limits application for large-region soil characterization. Thus, development of rapid and accurate methods for characterizing soils are needed to map soil properties for precision agriculture applications, improve regional and global soil carbon (C) stock and flux estimates and efficiently map sub-surface metal contamination, among others. The greatest gains for efficient soil characterization will come from collecting soil data in situ, thus minimizing soil sample transportation, processing, and lab-based measurement costs. Visible and near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (VisNIR) and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) are two complementary, yet fundamentally different spectroscopic techniques that have the potential to meet this need. These sensors have the potential to be mounted on a soil penetrometer and deployed for rapid soil profile characterization at field and landscape scales. Details of sensor interaction, efficient data management, and appropriate statistical analysis techniques for model calibrations are first needed. In situ or on-the-go VisNIR spectroscopy has been proposed as …

As part of the federal government’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the U.S. DOE Office of Science allocated funds for the capital upgrade of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility to improve and expand observational capabilities related to cloud and aerosol properties. The ARM Facility was established as a national user facility for the global scientific community to conduct a wide range of interdisciplinary science. Part of the ARRA-funded expansion of the ARM Facility includes four new Aerosol Observing Systems (AOS) to be designed, instrumented, and mentored by BNL. The enclosures will be customized SeaTainers. These new platforms ([AMF2]: ARM Mobile Facility-2; [TWP-D]: Tropical Western Pacific at Darwin; and [MAOS-A]/[MAOS-C]: Mobile Aerosol Observing System-Aerosol/-Chemistry) will provide a laboratory environment for fielding instruments to collect data on aerosol life cycle, microphysics, and optical/physical properties. The extensive instrument suite includes both established methods and initial deployments of new techniques to add breadth and depth to the AOS data sets. The platforms are designed: (1) to have all instruments pre-installed before deployment, allowing a higher measurement duty cycle; (2) with a standardized configuration improving the robustness of data inter-comparability; (3) to provide remote access capability for instrument mentors; and …

Uranium is a pollutant of concern to both human and ecosystem health. Uranium's redox state often dictates its partitioning between the aqueous- and solid-phases, and thus controls its dissolved concentration and, coupled with groundwater flow, its migration within the environment. In anaerobic environments, the more oxidized and mobile form of uranium (UO{sub 2}{sup 2+} and associated species) may be reduced, directly or indirectly, by microorganisms to U(IV) with subsequent precipitation of UO{sub 2}. However, various factors within soils and sediments may limit biological reduction of U(VI), inclusive of alterations in U(VI) speciation and competitive electron acceptors. Here we elucidate the impact of U(VI) speciation on the extent and rate of reduction with specific emphasis on speciation changes induced by dissolved Ca, and we examine the impact of Fe(III) (hydr)oxides (ferrihydrite, goethite and hematite) varying in free energies of formation on U reduction. The amount of uranium removed from solution during 100 h of incubation with S. putrefaciens was 77% with no Ca or ferrihydrite present but only 24% (with ferrihydrite) and 14% (no ferrihydrite) were removed for systems with 0.8 mM Ca. Imparting an important criterion on uranium reduction, goethite and hematite decrease the dissolved concentration of calcium through adsorption …

This report is divided into three major sections analyzing Cuba's political and economic environment, U.S. policy, and selected issues in U.S.-Cuban relations. While legislative initiatives are noted throughout the report, a final section of the report provides a listing of bills and resolutions introduced in the 114th Congress.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Authority of a magistrate to award ownership or title of a motor vehicle under chapter 47, Code of Criminal Procedure, or other law (RQ-0811-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a Type A general-law municipality may impose and enforce a nonpoint source pollution ordinance in its extraterritorial jurisdiction pursuant to section 26.177 of the Water Code (RQ-0822-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether an arrested person may waive the requirement that he or she be taken before a magistrate and admonished in accordance with article 15.17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (RQ-1 085-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a sheriff must submit an office policy manual to the county commissioners court for approval (RQ-1087-GA).

Proceedings of the House of Representatives of Texas for the 35th day of the regular session of the 82nd Legislature documenting legislation, reports, discussions, votes, and points-of-order.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.