The 2010 Census: Count Question Resolution Program (open access)

The 2010 Census: Count Question Resolution Program

This report describes the ways Congress members may challenge the 2010 census results. The report also outlines the amount of funding that is dispersed based on census data, and thus the motivation for members of Congress to do this. Moreover, the report lists the requirements for filing a challenge to the amount of funding assigned.
Date: December 7, 2012
Creator: Williams, Jennifer D.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Biennial Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature: State Library and Archives Commission (open access)

Biennial Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature: State Library and Archives Commission

Biennial report of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission describing the organization's goals and activities during fiscal years 2011-2012.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Texas Public Libraries: Economic Benefits and Return on Investment (open access)

Texas Public Libraries: Economic Benefits and Return on Investment

A study report on the economic benefits of libraries in Texas with case studies of various libraries throughout the state.
Date: December 2012
Creator: University of Texas at Austin. Bureau of Business Research.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tank 241-AY-102 Leak Assessment Supporting Documentation: Miscellaneous Reports, Letters, Memoranda, And Data (open access)

Tank 241-AY-102 Leak Assessment Supporting Documentation: Miscellaneous Reports, Letters, Memoranda, And Data

This report contains reference materials cited in RPP-ASMT -53793, Tank 241-AY-102 Leak Assessment Report, that were obtained from the National Archives Federal Records Repository in Seattle, Washington, or from other sources including the Hanford Site's Integrated Data Management System database (IDMS).
Date: December 20, 2012
Creator: Engeman, J. K.; Girardot, C. L.; Harlow, D. G. & Rosenkrance, C. L.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interim Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature: Senate Committee on Open Government (open access)

Interim Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature: Senate Committee on Open Government

Report from the Texas Senate Committee on Open Government describing the group's goals, activities, accomplishments, and other information, for review by the 83rd Texas Legislature.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Texas. Legislature. Senate.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework (open access)

The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework

This report provides an overview of the relationship between executive and legislative authority over national security information, and summarizes the current laws that form the legal framework protecting classified information, including current executive orders and some agency regulations pertaining to the handling of unauthorized disclosures of classified information by government officers and employees. The report also summarizes criminal laws that pertain specifically to the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, as well as civil and administrative penalties. Finally, the report describes some recent developments in executive branch security policies and legislation currently before Congress (S. 3454).
Date: December 17, 2012
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Kuwait: Security, Reform, and U.S. Policy (open access)

Kuwait: Security, Reform, and U.S. Policy

This report looks at Kuwait's relationships with its neighbors in the Persian Gulf, and its own political system which has been in turmoil since 2006.
Date: December 6, 2012
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Best Practices for TxDOT on Handling Wildfires (open access)

Best Practices for TxDOT on Handling Wildfires

This report describes the duties of TxDOT employees in fighting wildfires, TxDOT's past experiences with wildfires, and best practice guidelines.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Nash, Phillip T.; Senadheera, Sanjaya; Beierle, Micah & Kumfer, Wesley
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Teacher Quality Issues in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (open access)

Teacher Quality Issues in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

None
Date: December 10, 2012
Creator: Kuenzi, Jeffrey J.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
IDENTIFICATION, PRODUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NOVEL LIGNASE PROTEINS FROM TERMITES FOR DEPOLYMERIZATION OF LIGNOCELLULOSE (open access)

IDENTIFICATION, PRODUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NOVEL LIGNASE PROTEINS FROM TERMITES FOR DEPOLYMERIZATION OF LIGNOCELLULOSE

Wood is a potential source for biofuels such as ethanol if it can be digested into sugars and fermented by yeast. Biomass derived from wood is a challenging substrate for ethanol production since it is made of lignin and cellulose which cannot be broken down easily into fermentable sugars. Some insects, and termites in particular, are specialized at using enzymes in their guts to digest wood into sugars. If termite gut enzymes could be made abundantly by a recombinant protein expression vector system, they could be applied to an industrial process to make biofuels from wood. In this study, a large cDNA library of relevant termite genes was made using termites fed a normal diet, or a diet with added lignin. A subtracted library yielded genes that were overexpressed in the presence of lignin. Termite gut enzyme genes were identified and cloned into recombinant insect viruses called baculoviruses. Using our PERLXpress system for protein expression, these termite gene recombinant baculoviruses were prepared and used to infect insect larvae, which then expressed abundant recombinant termite enzymes. Many of these expressed enzymes were prepared to very high purity, and the activities were studied in conjunction with collaborators at Purdue University. Recombinant termite …
Date: December 6, 2012
Creator: Slack, Jeffrey M.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute Report of Current Research: 2012 (open access)

Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute Report of Current Research: 2012

Annual report of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute discussing the institute's personnel and finances as well as compiled papers summarizing in-progress and completed research, with biographical information about authors and in-press publications.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Environmental Effects of Sediment Transport Alteration and Impacts on Protected Species: Edgartown Tidal Energy Project (open access)

Environmental Effects of Sediment Transport Alteration and Impacts on Protected Species: Edgartown Tidal Energy Project

The Islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are separated from the Massachusetts mainland by Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds; water between the two islands flows through Muskeget Channel. The towns of Edgartown (on Martha’s Vineyard) and Nantucket recognize that they are vulnerable to power supply interruptions due to their position at the end of the power grid, and due to sea level rise and other consequences of climate change. The tidal energy flowing through Muskeget Channel has been identified by the Electric Power Research Institute as the strongest tidal resource in Massachusetts waters. The Town of Edgartown proposes to develop an initial 5 MW (nameplate) tidal energy project in Muskeget Channel. The project will consist of 14 tidal turbines with 13 providing electricity to Edgartown and one operated by the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth for research and development. Each turbine will be 90 feet long and 50 feet high. The electricity will be brought to shore by a submarine cable buried 8 feet below the seabed surface which will landfall in Edgartown either on Chappaquiddack or at Katama. Muskeget Channel is located between Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Its depth ranges between 40 and 160 feet in the deepest portion. It …
Date: December 29, 2012
Creator: Barrett, Stephen B.; Schlezinger, David; Cowles, Geoff; Hughes, Patricia; Samimy; Roland, I. et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interim Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature: Senate Committee on Administration (open access)

Interim Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature: Senate Committee on Administration

Report from the Texas Senate Committee on Administration describing the group's goals, activities, accomplishments, and other information, for review by the 83rd Texas Legislature.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Texas. Legislature. Senate. Committee on Administration.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Children's Mental Health: Concerns Remain about Appropriate Services for Children in Medicaid and Foster Care (open access)

Children's Mental Health: Concerns Remain about Appropriate Services for Children in Medicaid and Foster Care

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "An annual average of 6.2 percent of noninstitutionalized children in Medicaid nationwide and 4.8 percent of privately insured children took one or more psychotropic medications, according to GAO's analysis of 2007-2009 data from the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). MEPS data also showed that children in Medicaid took antipsychotic medications (a type of psychotropic medication that can help some children but has a risk of serious side effects) at a relatively low rate--1.3 percent of children--but that the rate for children in Medicaid was over twice the rate for privately insured children, which was 0.5 percent. In addition, MEPS data showed that most children whose emotions or behavior, as reported by their parent or guardian, indicated a potential need for a mental health service did not receive any services within the same year. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and many states have initiatives under way to help ensure that children receive appropriate mental health treatments. However, CMS's ability to monitor children's receipt of mental health services is limited because CMS does not collect information from states …
Date: December 10, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Climate Change Indicators in the United States, 2012 (open access)

Climate Change Indicators in the United States, 2012

This report presents twenty six indicators to help readers better understand observed trends related to the causes and effects of climate change. This document updates a report published by the EPA in 2010.
Date: December 2012
Creator: United States. Environmental Protection Agency.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
INL Seismic Monitoring Annual Report: January 1, 2011 - December 31, 2011 (open access)

INL Seismic Monitoring Annual Report: January 1, 2011 - December 31, 2011

During 2011, the Idaho National Laboratory Seismic Monitoring Program evaluated 21,928 independent triggers that included earthquakes from around the world, the western United States, and local region of the Snake River Plain. Seismologists located 2,063 earthquakes and man-made blasts within and near the 161-km (or 100-mile) radius of the Idaho National Laboratory. Of these events, 16 were small-to-moderate size earthquakes ranging in magnitude (M) from 3.0 to 4.4. Within the 161-km radius, the majority of 941 earthquakes (M < 4.4) occurred in the active regions of the Basin and Range Province with only six microearthquakes occurring in the Snake River Plain. In the northern and southeastern Basin and Range, eight earthquake swarms occurred and included over 325 events. Five of the Snake River Plain earthquakes were located within and near the northern and southern ends of the Great Rift volcanic rift zone. All have anomalously deep focal depths (16 to 38 km) and waveforms indicative of fluid movement at mid- and lower-crustal levels and are a continuation of activity observed at Craters of the Moon National Monument since 2007. Since 1972, the Idaho National Laboratory has recorded 55 small-magnitude microearthquakes (M = 2.2) within the eastern Snake River Plain and …
Date: December 1, 2012
Creator: Payne, S. J.; Hodges, J. M.; Berg, R. G. & Bruhn, D. F.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Biotic Processes Regulating the Carbon Balance of Desert Ecosystems - Final Report (open access)

Biotic Processes Regulating the Carbon Balance of Desert Ecosystems - Final Report

Our results from the 10-year elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentration study at the Nevada Desert FACE (Free-air CO{sub 2} Enrichment) Facility (NDFF) indicate that the Mojave Desert is a dynamic ecosystem with the capacity to respond quickly to environmental changes. The Mojave Desert ecosystem is accumulating carbon (C), and over the 10-year experiment, C accumulation was significantly greater under elevated [CO{sub 2}] than under ambient, despite great fluctuations in C inputs from year to year and even apparent reversals in which [CO{sub 2}] treatment had greater C accumulations.
Date: December 13, 2012
Creator: Nowak, Robert S; Smith, Stanley D; Evans, Dave; Ogle, Kiona & Fenstermaker, Lynn
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
James Webb Space Telescope: Actions Needed to Improve Cost Estimate and Oversight of Test and Integration (open access)

James Webb Space Telescope: Actions Needed to Improve Cost Estimate and Oversight of Test and Integration

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has provided significantly more time and money to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) than previously planned and expressed high confidence in the project's new baselines. Its current cost estimate reflects some features of best practices for developing reliable and credible estimates. For example, the estimate substantially meets one of four cost characteristics--comprehensive--that GAO looks for in a reliable cost estimate, in part because all life cycle costs were included. The estimate, however, only partially met the other three characteristics--well documented, accurate, and credible--which detracts from its reliability. For example, the estimate's accuracy, and therefore the confidence level assigned to the estimate, was lessened by the summary schedule used for the joint cost and schedule risk analysis because it did not provide enough detail to determine how risks were applied to critical project activities. The estimate's credibility was also lessened because officials did not perform a sensitivity analysis that would have identified key drivers of costs, such as workforce size. Program officials believe that it would have been difficult to fully address all best practice characteristics. GAO believes there …
Date: December 3, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Texas Parks & Wildlife, Volume 70, Number 10, December 2012 (open access)

Texas Parks & Wildlife, Volume 70, Number 10, December 2012

Monthly magazine discussing natural resources, parks, hunting and fishing, and other information related to the outdoors in Texas.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Texas. Parks and Wildlife Department.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History
DOE 2011 Occupational Radiation Exposure report, _Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Health, Safety and Security. December 2012 (open access)

DOE 2011 Occupational Radiation Exposure report, _Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Health, Safety and Security. December 2012

This report discusses radiation protection and dose reporting requirements, presents the 2011 occupational radiation dose data along with trends over the past 5 years, and provides instructions to submit successful as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) projects.
Date: December 12, 2012
Creator: Derek Hagemeyer, Yolanda McCormick
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Annual Report on Classified Employee Turnover for Fiscal Year 2012 (open access)

An Annual Report on Classified Employee Turnover for Fiscal Year 2012

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to the classified state employee turnover rate for Fiscal Year 2012. This report provides and analyzes information on employee turnover and summarizes exit survey data, which includes the reasons that employees left state employment.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Texas. Office of the State Auditor.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
Iraq: Politics, Governance, and Human Rights (open access)

Iraq: Politics, Governance, and Human Rights

None
Date: December 13, 2012
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Climate Change Indicators in the United States, 2012: Technical Documentation (open access)

Climate Change Indicators in the United States, 2012: Technical Documentation

This report contains key indicators related to the causes and effects of climate change. The data has been contributed by over 40 partnering government agencies, academic institutions, and others. Key indicators include greenhouse gases, weather and climate, oceans, snow and ice, health and society, and ecosystems.
Date: December 2012
Creator: United States. Environmental Protection Agency.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evaluation of the Impact of EISA Federal Project Investments (open access)

Evaluation of the Impact of EISA Federal Project Investments

The DOE's Federal Energy Management Program has been charged by Office of Management and Budget to conduct an evaluation on actual and verifiable energy savings and carbon emissions reductions from federal energy management investments made across the Federal government as a result of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. This study presents the findings from that evaluation.
Date: December 31, 2012
Creator: Judd, Kathleen S.; Wendel, Emily M.; Morris, Scott L.; Williamson, Jennifer L.; Halverson, Mark A.; Livingston, Olga V. et al.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library