Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO examined Navy inventory management activities to determine whether any unauthorized activity codes had been used to requisition new and excess property. GAO found that as of June 2000, the Navy maintained 2,002 activity codes identified as unauthorized to requisition government property. However, during the last five years, 663 of these codes were used to requisition more than $2 billion in new and excess government property. In addition, there were no safeguards in the Defense Automatic Addressing System Center or the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service to prevent these activity codes from being used. This has created a condition in which government property is vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses the use of intellectual property generated at the Department of Energy's (DOE) laboratories to satisfy defense contractors' offset requirements. GAO found that DOE's laboratory offset requirements have been limited. GAO's discussions with DOE and laboratory management contractors uncovered only 14 instances in which the laboratories' intellectual property were involved in offset projects. GAO also found that management contractors have the right to intellectual property that they produce at DOE laboratories."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States and other countries are in the midst of the worst financial crisis in more than 75 years. While much of the attention of policymakers understandably has been focused on taking short-term steps to address the immediate nature of the crisis, these events have served to strikingly demonstrate that the current U.S. financial regulatory system is in need of significant reform. To help policymakers better understand existing problems with the financial regulatory system and craft and evaluate reform proposals, this report (1) describes the origins of the current financial regulatory system, (2) describes various market developments and changes that have created challenges for the current system, and (3) presents an evaluation framework that can be used by Congress and others to shape potential regulatory reform efforts. To do this work, GAO synthesized existing GAO work and other studies and met with dozens of representatives of financial regulatory agencies, industry associations, consumer advocacy organizations, and others. Twenty-nine regulators, industry associations, and consumer groups also reviewed a draft of this report and provided valuable input that was incorporated as appropriate. In general, reviewers commented that the …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Pressure on state and local governments to deliver highway projects and services, and limits on the ability of state departments of transportation (state DOT) to increase staff levels have led those departments to contract out a variety of highway activities to the private sector. As requested, this report addresses (1) recent trends in the contracting of state highway activities, (2) factors that influence state highway departments' contracting decisions, (3) how state highway departments ensure the protection of the public interest when work is contracted out, and (4) the Federal Highway Administrations' (FHWA) role in ensuring that states protect the public interest. To complete this work, GAO reviewed federal guidelines, state auditor reports, and other relevant literature; conducted a 50-state survey; and interviewed officials from 10 selected state highway departments, industry officials, and FHWA officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) relies extensively on computerized systems to carry out its demanding responsibilities to collect taxes (about $2.7 trillion in fiscal year 2007), process tax returns, and enforce the nation's tax laws. Effective information security controls are essential to ensuring that financial and taxpayer information is adequately protected from inadvertent or deliberate misuse, fraudulent use, improper disclosure, or destruction. As part of its audit of IRS's fiscal years 2007 and 2006 financial statements, GAO assessed (1) IRS's actions to correct previously reported information security weaknesses and (2) whether controls were effective in ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of financial and sensitive taxpayer information. To do this, GAO examined IRS information security policies and procedures, guidance, security plans, reports, and other documents; tested controls over key financial applications at three IRS data centers; and interviewed key security representatives and management officials."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In a letter to us, Congress noted the differing coca estimates for Colombia. In subsequent discussions, we agreed to determine the (1) purposes of the Crime and Narcotics Center's (CNC) coca cultivation estimate and the Department of State's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the Office of Aviation's coca eradication estimate in Colombia and (2) status of actions to implement the Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) study's recommendations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, the U.S. Army spends about $3 billion on depot-level maintenance and repair work for weapons systems and other equipment. However, because its data gathering and reporting processes have been limited, the Army historically has been unable to fully identify how much depotlevel maintenance takes place outside its five public depots. As a result, it has not been able to determine with precision how well it was meeting statutory requirements to limit contracted depot-level maintenance work to 50 percent of the program budget. In the House report on the Fiscal Year 2001 Defense Authorization Act, Congress directed the Army to report on the proliferation of depot-level maintenance work at nondepot facilities and asked GAO to review that report. GAO examined the extent to which (1) the Army's report identifies the amount of depot-level maintenance work done outside public depots; (2) the Army can account for its depot-level maintenance workload, as required by statute; and (3) the corrective actions in the report are likely to address the proliferation issue and enhance the Army's reporting."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO examined the military's inventory management activities to determine if activity codes identified as unauthorized to requisition had been used to buy property for the Air Force. GAO found that as of June 2000, the Air Force maintained 4,239 activity codes identified as unauthorized to requisition government property. However, during the last five years, 193 of these codes were inappropriately used to requisition nearly $23 million in new and excess government property. In addition, safeguards established to prevent unauthorized activity codes from being used to requisition government property failed. This situation has created a condition in which government property is vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As of June 2000, the General Services Administration (GSA) maintained 52 activity codes identified as unauthorized to requisition government property. During the last five years, four of these codes were inappropriately used to requisition about $3,000 in new and excess government property. Although this amount represents a small percentage of total GSA requisitions made during the five-year period, existing safeguards are inadequate to prevent the use of unauthorized activity codes to requisition government property. GSA is now tracing the various items."

Memorandums from the Department Defense regarding an analysis of ranges by the Education and Training Joint Cross-Service Group. Issues of classification are brought up, but the first memorandum notes that the Air Force has no classified ranges, only classified activities on those ranges.

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, Title XVI of the Social Security Act, was enacted in 1972 and implemented in 1974 to assure a minimum cash income to all aged, blind, or disabled persons. SSI is provided to eligible aged or disabled individuals or couples who have limited income and resources.

Under the terms of the Federal Employees' Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-509), pay for civilian federal employees is adjusted each year to keep the salaries of federal workers competitive with comparable occupations in the private sector. The annual increases in federal employee pay are based on changes in the cash compensation paid to workers in the private sector, as measured by the ECI. Under certain circumstances, the President may limit the annual increase in federal pay by executive order. Federal law also requires Social Security benefits and the pensions paid to retired federal employees to be adjusted each year. The COLAs for both Social Security and civil service pensions are based on the rate of inflation as measured by the CPI.

Identifying the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter in the recently-discovered ferrooxypnictide family of superconductors, RFeAsO{sub 1-x}F{sub y}, where R is a rare earth, is a high priority. Many of the proposed order parameters have internal {pi} phase shifts, like the d-wave order found in the cuprates, which would result in direction-dependent phase shifts in tunneling. In dense polycrystalline samples, these phase shifts in turn would result in spontaneous orbital currents and magnetization in the superconducting state. We perform scanning SQUID microscopy on a dense polycrystalline sample of NdFeAsO{sub 0.94}F{sub 0.06} with T{sub c} = 48K and find no such spontaneous currents, ruling out many of the proposed order parameters.

The authors report a measurement of the branching fractions for {bar B} {yields} D{sup (*)}{pi}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}} decays based on 341.1 fb{sup -1} of data collected at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} storage rings. Events are tagged by fully reconstructing one of the B mesons in a hadronic decay mode. The obtain {Beta}(B{sup -} {yields} D{sup 0}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}}) = (2.33 {+-} 0.09{sub stat.} {+-} 0.09{sub syst.})%, {Beta}(B{sup -} {yields} D*{sup 0}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}}) = 5.83 {+-} 0.15{sub stat.} {+-} 0.30{sub syst.}%, {Beta}({bar B}{sup 0} {yields} D{sup +}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}}) = (2.21 {+-} 0.11{sub stat.} {+-} 0.12{sub syst.})% {Beta}({bar B}{sup 0} {yields} D*{sup +}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}}) = 5.49 {+-} 0.16{sub stat.} {+-} 0.25{sub syst.}%, {Beta}(B{sup -} {yields} D{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}}) = (0.42 {+-} 0.06{sub stat.} {+-} 0.03{sub syst.})%, {Beta}(B{sup -} {yields} D*{sup +} {pi}{sup -}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}}) = (0.59 {+-} 0.05{sub stat.} {+-} 0.04{sub syst.})%, {Beta}({bar B}{sup 0} {yields} D{sup 0}{pi}{sup +}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}}) = (0.43 {+-} 0.08{sub stat.} {+-} 0.03{sub syst.})% and {Beta}({bar B}{sup 0} {yields} D*{sup 0} {pi}{sup +}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}{sub {ell}}) = (0.48 {+-} 0.08{sub stat.} {+-} 0.04{sub syst.})%.

The order parameter of the recently-discovered ferric arsenide family of superconductors remains uncertain. Some early experiments on polycrystalline samples suggested line nodes in the order parameter, however later experiments on single crystals have strongly supported fully-gapped superconductivity. An absence of nodes does not rule out unconventional order: {pi} phase shifts between the separate Fermi sheets and time-reversal symmetry-breaking components in the order parameter remain possibilities. One test for unconventional order is scanning magnetic microscopy on well-coupled polycrystalline samples: d- or p-wave order would result in orbital frustration, leading to spontaneous currents and magnetization in the superconducting state. We have performed scanning SQUID microscopy on SmFeAsO{sub 0.85} and NdFeAsO{sub 0.94}F{sub 0.06}, and in neither material do we find spontaneous orbital currents, ruling out p- or d-wave order.

Several new and updated BABAR measurements of sin 2{beta} are presented, together with the latest constraints on the Unitarity Triangle angles {alpha} and {gamma}. The higher statistics now available allow more sophisticated analysis techniques, such as time-dependent Dalitz plot fitting. Combined world-average results place tight constraints on the Unitarity Triangle. There is good agreement among the measurements and with the unitarity of the CKM matrix. This represents an impressive verification of the Standard Model description of the quark-flavor sector and of CP violation.

Large-scale water injection at The Geysers, California, hasgenerated substantial benefits in terms of sustaining reservoir pressuresand production rates, as well as improving steam composition by reducingthe content of non-condensible gases (NCGs). Two effects have beenrecognized and discussed in the literature as contributing to improvedsteam composition, (1) boiling of injectate provides a source of "clean"steam to production wells, and (2) pressurization effects induced byboiling of injected water reduce upflow of native steam with large NCGconcentrations from depth. In this paper we focus on a possibleadditional effect that could reduce NCGs in produced steam by dissolutionin a condensed aqueous phase.Boiling of injectate causes pressurizationeffects that will fairly rapidly migrate outward, away from the injectionpoint. Pressure increases will cause an increase in the saturation ofcondensed phase due to vapor adsorption on mineral surfaces, andcapillary condensation in small pores. NCGs will dissolve in theadditional condensed phase which, depending upon their solubility, mayreduce NCG concentrations in residual steam.We have analyzed thepartitioning of HCl between vapor and aqueous phases, and have performednumerical simulations of injection into superheated vapor zones. Oursimulations provide evidence that dissolution in the condensed phase canindeed reduce NCG concentrations in produced steam.

None

The Heavy Duty Truck Engine Program at Cummins embodied three significant development phases. All phases of work strove to demonstrate a high level of diesel engine efficiency in the face of increasingly stringent emission requirements. Concurrently, aftertreatment system development and refinement was pursued in support of these efficiency demonstrations. The program's first phase focused on the demonstration in-vehicle of a high level of heavy duty diesel engine efficiency (45% Brake Thermal Efficiency) at a typical cruise condition while achieving composite emissions results which met the 2004 U.S. EPA legislated standards. With a combination of engine combustion calibration tuning and the development and application of Urea-based SCR and particulate aftertreatment, these demonstrations were successfully performed by Q4 of 2002. The second phase of the program directed efforts towards an in-vehicle demonstration of an engine system capable of meeting 2007 U.S. EPA legislated emissions requirements while achieving 45% Brake Thermal Efficiency at cruise conditions. Through further combustion optimization, the refinement of Cummins Cooled EGR architecture, the application of a high pressure common rail fuel system and the incorporation of optimized engine parasitics, Cummins Inc. successfully demonstrated these deliverables in Q2 of 2004. The program's final phase set a stretch goal of demonstrating …

Over the past few years, our group has gained expertise at developing low-temperature solution-based synthetic pathways to complex nanoscale solids, with particular emphasis on nanocrystalline intermetallic compounds. Our synthetic capabilities are providing tools to reproducibly generate intermetallic nanostructures with simultaneous control over crystal structure, composition, and morphology. This DOE-funded project aims to expand these capabilities to intermetallic superconductors. This could represent an important addition to the tools that are available for the synthesis and processing of intermetallic superconductors, which traditionally utilize high-temperature, high-pressure, thin film, or gas-phase vacuum deposition methods. Our current knowledge of intermetallic superconductors suggests that significant enhancements could result from the inherent benefits of low-temperature solution synthesis, e.g. metastable phase formation, control over nanoscale morphology to facilitate size-dependent property studies, robust and inexpensive processability, low-temperature annealing and consolidation, and impurity incorporation (for doping, stoichiometry control, flux pinning, and improving the critical fields). Our focus is on understanding the superconducting properties as a function of synthetic route, crystal structure, crystallite size, and morphology, and developing the synthetic tools necessary to accomplish this. This research program can currently be divided into two classes of superconducting materials: intermetallics (transition metal/post transition metal) and metal carbides/borides. Both involve the development and …

Stoneley guided waves in a fluid-filled fracture generally have larger amplitudes than other waves, and therefore, their properties need to be incorporated in more realistic models. In this study, a fracture is modeled as an infinite layer of viscous fluid bounded by two elastic half-spaces with identical parameters. For small fracture thickness, I obtain a simple dispersion equation for wave-propagation velocity. This velocity is much smaller than the velocity of a fluid wave in a Biot-type solution, in which fracture walls are assumed to be rigid. At seismic prospecting frequencies and realistic fracture thicknesses, the Stoneley guided wave has wavelengths on the order of several meters and an attenuation Q factor exceeding 10, which indicates the possibility of resonance excitation in fluid-bearing rocks. The velocity and attenuation of Stoneley guided waves are distinctly different at low frequencies for water and oil. The predominant role of fractures in fluid flow at field scales is supported by permeability data showing an increase of several orders of magnitude when compared to values obtained at laboratory scales. These data suggest that Stoneley guided waves should be taken into account in theories describing seismic wave propagation in fluid-saturated rocks.

These proceedings are based on lectures given at the Helmholtz International Summer School Heavy Quark Physics at the Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Dubna, Russia, during August 2008. I review the current status of CP violation in B meson decays from the B factories. These results can be used, along with measurements of the sides of the Unitarity Triangle, to test the CKM mechanism. In addition I discuss experimental studies of B decays to final states with 'spin-one' particles.

Composite Analyses (CA's) are required per DOE Order 435.1 [1], in order to provide a reasonable expectation that DOE low-level waste (LLW) disposal, high-level waste tank closure, and transuranic (TRU) waste disposal in combination with Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) actions, will not result in the need for future remedial actions in order to ensure radiological protection of the public and environment. This Order requires that an accounting of all sources of DOE man-made radionuclides and DOE enhanced natural radionuclides that are projected to remain on the site after all DOE site operations have ceased. This CA updates the previous CA that was developed in 1997. As part of this CA, an inventory of expected radionuclide residuals was conducted, exposure pathways were screened and a model was developed such that a dose to the MOP at the selected points of exposure might be evaluated.

The authors present a measurement of D{sup 0}-{bar D}{sup 0} mixing parameters using the ratios of lifetimes extracted from a sample of D{sup 0} mesons produced through the process D*{sup +} {yields} D{sup 0}{pi}{sup +}, that decay to K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}, I{sup -}K{sup +}, or {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}. the Cabibbo-suppressed modes K{sup -}K{sup +} and {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +} are compared to the Cabibbo-favored mode K{sup -}{pi}{sup +} to obtain a measurement of ycp, which in the limit of CP conservation corresponds to the mixing parameter y. The analysis is based on a data sample of 384 fb{sup -1} collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e{sup +}e{sup -} collider. They obtain ycp = [1.24 {+-} 0.39(stat) {+-} 0.13(syst)]%, which is evidence of D{sup 0}-{bar D}{sup 0} mixing at the 3{sigma} level, and {Delta}Y = [-0.26 {+-} 0.36(stat) {+-} 0.08(syst)]%, where {Delta}Y constrains possible CP violation. Combining this result with a previous BABAR measurement of ycp obtained from a separate sample of D{sup 0} {yields} K{sup -}K{sup +} events, they obtain ycp = [1.03 {+-} 0.33(stat) {+-} 0.19(syst)]%.