The US Commitments to NATO in the Post-Cold War Period - A Case Study on Libya

The recent history of the US commitment to NATO has been dominated by economic pressures, squabbles over NATO’s military performance in Afghanistan, and the apparent American preference for ‘leading from behind’ in Libya. The case study on Libya will be especially important in exploring the Obama administration’s understanding of the purpose of NATO in the context of current economic pressures, domestic US debates about post-War on Terror interventions, and of increasing American preoccupation with Pacific (rather than European) security. In the case of Libya, the US apparently hesitated to unfold military operations against Libyan military targets. It seems to be the first time that the US followed rather than led its European allies to a campaign. The reason why the US was reluctant to intervene in Libya at the very beginning; why it changed its mind to join the operation later; and why it transferred the Libyan mission to NATO and adopted the strategy of ‘leading from behind’, reflected on not only the redefinition of ‘American way of war’, but also the future of NATO

Ultrafiltration evaluation with depleted uranium oxide

Scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Plutonium Facility are using electrodissolution in neutral to alkaline solutions to decontaminate oralloy parts that have surface plutonium contamination. Ultrafiltration of the electrolyte stream removes precipitate so that the electrolyte stream to the decontamination fixture is precipitate free. This report describes small-scale laboratory ultrafiltration experiments that the authors performed to determine conditions necessary for full-scale operation of an ultrafiltration module. Performance was similar to what they observed in the ferric hydroxide system. At 12 psi transmembrane pressure, a shear rate of 12,000 sec{sup {minus}1} was sufficient to sustain membrane permeability. Ultrafiltration of uranium(VI) oxide appears to occur as easily as ultrafiltration of ferric hydroxide. Considering the success reported in this study, the authors plan to add ultrafiltration to the next decontamination system for oralloy parts

Synthetic, structural, spectroscopic and theoretical study of a Mn(III)-Cu(II) dimer containing a Jahn-Teller compressed Mn ion

The heterobimetallic complex [Cu(II)Mn(III)(L)(2)(py)(4)](ClO4)center dot EtOH (1) built using the pro-ligand 2,2'-biphenol (LH2), contains a rare example of a Jahn-Teller compressed Mn(III) centre. Dc magnetic susceptibility measurements on 1 reveal a strong antiferromagnetic exchange between the Cu(II) and Mn(III) ions mediated through the phenolate O-atoms (J = -33.4 cm(-1)), with magnetisation measurements at low temperatures and high fields suggesting significant anisotropy. Simulations of high-field and high frequency powder EPR data suggest a single-ion anisotropy D-Mn(III) = +4.45 cm(-1). DFT calculations also yield an antiferromagnetic exchange for 1, though the magnitude is overestimated (J(DFT) = -71 cm(-1)). Calculations reveal that the antiferromagnetic interaction essentially stems from the Mn(d(x2-y2))-Cu(d(x2-y2)) interaction. The computed single-ion anisotropy and cluster anisotropy also correlates well with experiment. A larger cluster anisotropy for the S = 3/2 state compared to the single-ion anisotropy of Mn(III) is rationalised on the basis of orbital mixing and various contributions that arise due to the spin-orbit interaction

Job applicants as the new customer: Strategies for successful recruiting in Midwest manufacturers

The manufacturing industry is currently facing challenges on several fronts—of the most vital is the recruiting of new employees to fill vacancies. The purpose of this article is to understand current recruiting challenges facing the manufacturing industry and offer strategic solutions to best fulfill employer needs. Face to face interviews and electronic surveys were used to collect the most up-to-date information on recruiting challenges, tools, and resources in a mid-sized town in the Upper Midwest. Main findings focus on the need for varied recruiting strategies at different stages of the recruiting process; what has worked the past that is not working now; and specific resources used by employers that are producing successful results. A tension was found between published best-practices in recruiting for manufacturers and actual, on-the-ground, practical solutions--an important and valuable outcome of this research

The removal of uranium from acidic media using ion exchange and/or extraction chromatography

The separation and purification of uranium from either nitric acid or hydrochloric acid media can be accomplished by using either solvent extraction or ion-exchange. Over the past two years at Los Alamos, emerging programs are focused on recapturing the expertise required to do limited, small-quantity processing of enriched uranium. During this period of time, we have been investigating ion-addition, waste stream polishing is associated with this effort in order to achieve more complete removal of uranium prior to recycle of the acid. Extraction chromatography has been demonstrated to further polish the uranium from both nitric and hydrochloric acid media thus allowing for a more complete recovery of the actinide material and creation of less waste during the processing steps

Constructive duplication Reducing EU reliance on US military assets

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:m02/12370 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Composition and yield of sorghum grain hybrids grown at Bushland and College Station

Last updated: 5/8/201

Composition and yield of sorghum grain hybrids grown at Bushland and College Station

Last updated: 5/8/201

Transpassive electrodissolution of depleted uranium in alkaline electrolytes

To aid in removal of oralloy from the nuclear weapons stockpile, scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Plutonium Facility are decontaminating oralloy parts by electrodissolution in neutral to alkaline electrolytes composed of sodium nitrate and sodium sulfate. To improve the process, electrodissolution experiments were performed with depleted uranium to understand the effects of various operating parameters. Sufficient precipitate was also produced to evaluate the feasibility of using ultrafiltration to separate the uranium oxide precipitates from the electrolyte before it enters the decontamination fixture. In preparation for the experiments, a potential-pH diagram for uranium was constructed from thermodynamic data for fully hydrated species. Electrodissolution in unstirred solutions showed that uranium dissolution forms two layers, an acidic bottom layer rich in uranium and an alkaline upper layer. Under stirred conditions results are consistent with the formation of a yellow precipitate of composition UO{sub 3}{center_dot}2H{sub 2}O, a six electron process. Amperometric experiments showed that current efficiency remained near 100% over a wide range of electrolytes, electrolyte concentrations, pH, and stirring conditions