A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) goal is to receive 80 percent of all major types of tax returns electronically by 2012. Legislation passed in November 2009 supports the 80 percent goal for individual income tax returns by requiring tax return preparers who file more than 10 individual returns per year to file them electronically, or e-file. In 2009, IRS electronically processed nearly 95.5 million individual tax returns, or roughly two-thirds of all individual tax returns filed. IRS estimated that it saved $3.10 for each e-filed return that it did not have to process on paper. If the remaining paper returns had been e-filed, IRS could have saved about $148 million in processing costs for 2009 alone. In addition to reducing costs, e-filing provides higher accuracy rates, improved convenience, and faster processing and refunds for taxpayers. Furthermore, IRS officials said that having increased information available electronically could improve the effectiveness of IRS's compliance programs and bring in additional enforcement revenue. Congress asked us to review IRS's implementation of the e-file mandate. In response to this request, this report assesses IRS's initial implementation of the mandate. It also …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal and state governments have raised excise taxes on tobacco products to discourage tobacco use and increase revenues. Cross-border and illicit trade in tobacco products can undermine these policy objectives by avoiding excise taxes and increasing the availability of these products to consumers at lower cost. On June 22, 2009, Congress passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Pub. L. No. 111-31), which directed GAO to report on cross-border and illicit trade in tobacco products. Crossborder trade is defined in the Act as trade across a U.S. border, state, territory, or Indian country. Illicit trade is defined in the Act as any practice or conduct prohibited by law which relates to or facilitates the production, shipment, receipt, possession, distribution, sale, or purchase of tobacco products. This report is the first of two GAO products that will respond to this mandate. This report examines (1) incentives that are important for understanding cross-border and illicit trade in tobacco products; and (2) different schemes used to generate profits from cross-border and illicit trade in tobacco products. GAO interviewed government officials, industry representatives, and other subject matter experts. …

The U.S. merchandise trade deficit is a part of the overall U.S. balance of payments, a summary statement of all economic transactions between the residents of the United States and the rest of the world, during a given period of time. Some Members of Congress and other observers have grown concerned over the magnitude of the U.S. merchandise trade deficit and the associated increase in U.S. dollar-denominated assets owned by foreigners. This report provides an overview of the U.S. balance of payments, an explanation of the broader role of capital flows in the U.S. economy, an explanation of how the country finances its trade deficit or a trade surplus, and the implications for Congress and the country of the large inflows of capital from abroad.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has, to date, opened cases exclusively in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Statute of the ICC, also known as the Rome Statute, entered into force on July 1, 2002, and established a permanent, independent Court to investigate and bring to justice individuals who commit war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. As of October 2010, 114 countries-including 31 African countries, the largest regional block-were parties to the Statute. The United States is not a party. This report provides background on current ICC cases and examines issues raised by the ICC's actions in Africa.

This report discusses how the total debt of the federal government can increase, an historical overview of debt limits, and how the current economic slowdown has led to higher deficits and thereby a series of debt limit increases, as well as legislation related to these increases.

Granting Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status requires a change in law because Russia is prohibited from receiving unconditional and permanent NTR under Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974. This provision includes the so-called Jackson-Vanik amendment. Extension of PNTR has implications for Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). This report examines this legislative issue in the context of Russian accession to the WTO and U.S.-Russian economic ties.

This report discusses commercial ties between the United States and the 27-member European Union. These ties are substantial, growing, and mutually beneficial, but differences in regulatory approaches limit an even more integrated marketplace from developing. This report is intended to serve as an introduction and primer on this complicated, broad, and often highly technical set of issues.

Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) are international institutions that provide financial assistance, typically in the form of loans and grants, to developing countries in order to promote economic and social development. This report provides an overview of the MDBs and highlights major current issues for Congress. The first section discusses the history of the MDBs, their operations, major donor contributions, and their organization. The second section discusses issues of particular interest to Congress, including the effectiveness of the MDBs; congressional legislation authorizing and appropriating U.S. contributions to the MDBs; congressional oversight of the MDBs; and U.S. commercial interests in the MDBs.

The Savannah River Site (SRS) is preparing Tank 5F for closure. The first step in preparing the tank for closure is mechanical sludge removal. Following mechanical sludge removal, SRS performed chemical cleaning with oxalic acid to remove the sludge heel. Personnel are currently assessing the effectiveness of the chemical cleaning. SRS personnel collected liquid samples during chemical cleaning and submitted them to Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) for analysis. Following chemical cleaning, they collected a solid sample (also known as 'process sample') and submitted it to SRNL for analysis. The authors analyzed these samples to assess the effectiveness of the chemical cleaning process. The conclusions from this work are: (1) With the exception of iron, the dissolution of sludge components from Tank 5F agreed with results from the actual waste demonstration performed in 2007. The fraction of iron removed from Tank 5F by chemical cleaning was significantly less than the fraction removed in the SRNL demonstrations. The likely cause of this difference is the high pH following the first oxalic acid strike. (2) Most of the sludge mass remaining in the tank is iron and nickel. (3) The remaining sludge contains approximately 26 kg of barium, 37 kg of chromium, …

An algorithm for determining satellite track endpoints with sub-pixel resolution in spaced-based images is presented. The algorithm allows for significant curvature in the imaged track due to rotation of the spacecraft capturing the image. The motivation behind the subpixel endpoint determination is first presented, followed by a description of the methodology used. Results from running the algorithm on real ground-based and simulated spaced-based images are shown to highlight its effectiveness.

The goal of this research project was to create and develop fuel cell membranes having high proton conductivity at high temperatures and high chemical and mechanical durability. Poly(1,3-cyclohexadiene) (PCHD) is of interest as an alternative polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) material due to its ring-like structure which is expected to impart superior mechanical and thermal properties, and due to the fact that PCHD can readily be incorporated into a range of homopolymer and copolymer structures. PCHD can be aromatized, sulfonated, or fluorinated, allowing for tuning of key performance structure and properties. These factors include good proton transport, hydrophilicity, permeability (including fuel gas impermeability), good mechanical properties, morphology, thermal stability, crystallinity, and cost. The basic building block, 1,3-cyclohexadiene, is a hydrocarbon monomer that could be inexpensively produced on a commercial scale (pricing typical of other hydrocarbon monomers). Optimal material properties will result in novel low cost PEM membranes engineered for high conductivity at elevated temperatures and low relative humidities, as well as good performance and durability. The primary objectives of this project were: (1) To design, synthesize and characterize new non-Nafion PEM materials that conduct protons at low (25-50%) RH and at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 120 C; and (2) …

The 183-D Water Filtration Facility is located in the 100-D Area of the Hanford Site, north of Richland, Washington. It was used to provide filtered water for cooling the 105-D Reactor and supplying fire-protection and drinking water for all facilities in the 100-D Area. The facility has been inactive since the 1980s and is now scheduled for demolition. Therefore, an evaluation was conducted to determine if any part of the facility was being used as roosting habitat by bats.

We present the first x-ray Thomson scattering measurements of temperature and density from spherically imploding matter. The shape of the Compton downscattered spectrum provides a first-principles measurement of the electron velocity distribution function, dependent on T{sub e} and the Fermi temperature T{sub F} {approx} n{sub e}{sup 2/3}. In flight compressions of Be and CH targets reach 6-13 times solid density, with T{sub e}/T{sub F} {approx} 0.4-0.7, resulting in minimum adiabats of {approx}1.6-2. These measurements are consistent with low-entropy implosions and predictions by simulations using radiation-hydrodynamic modeling.

We designed and optimized a target that directs a CO{sub 2} pulse onto a Ti surface where a Cs{sup +} sputtering beam ionizes the CO{sub 2} to generate C{sup -}. These targets will be used for the direct ionization of CO{sub 2} pulses to enable the measurement of carbon isotope ratios in real time. The design was based on the results of Comsol{trademark} simulations of the target configurations.

Uranyl complexes of a bis(methylterephthalamide) ligand (LH{sub 4}) have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystallography. The structure is an unexpected [Me{sub 4}N]{sub 8}[L(UO{sub 2})]{sub 4} tetramer, formed via coordination of the two MeTAM units of L to two uranyl moieties. Addition of KOH to the tetramer gave the corresponding monomeric uranyl methoxide species [Me{sub 4}N]K{sub 2}[LUO{sub 2}(OMe)].

The Transportable Xenon Laboratory Operations Manual is a guide to set up and shut down TXL, a fully contained laboratory made up of instruments to identify and measure concentrations of the radioactive isotopes of xenon by taking air samples and analyzing them. The TXL is housed in a standard-sized shipping container. TXL can be shipped to and function in any country in the world.

The Department of Energy conducted the Cloud-Land Surface Interaction Campaign (CLASIC) in Poncha City Oklahoma, in June 2007. The purpose of the experiment was to study the influence of different surface conditions on properties of small cumulus clouds. The Oklahoma site provided climatologically arid surface in the western part of the state, and lush green conditions in the eastern part. The summer of 2007, however, was exceptionally wet, with flooded fields and rivers flowing over their banks. This had seriously adverse effect on the experiment. CIRPAS participated in this with its instrumented Twin Otter aircraft, flight crew and scientist. The CIRPAS instruments measured temperature, dewpoint temperature, pressure, winds, aerosol particle concentrations, aerosol size distribution, cloud droplet concentration, cloud droplet size spectra, total scatter coefficients and absorption coefficients at three different wavelengths. Additionally, CIRPAS provided measurements of aircraft location, velocity and attitude. CIRPAS reduced all the data to engineering units, quality assured the data, and submitted a coherent data set to the project’s archive. The Twin Otter flew 15 sorties from the airport in Ponca City, and characterized meteorological, aerosol and cloud conditions as well as the temperature of the underlying surface in a wide variety of conditions. Conditions ranged from …

A major thrust in bioenergy research is to develop innovative methods for deconstructing plant cell wall polymers, such as cellulose and lignin, into simple monomers that can be biologically converted to ethanol and other fuels. Current techniques for monitoring a broad array of cell wall materials and specific degradation products are expensive and time consuming. To monitor various polymers and assay their breakdown products, molecular probes for detecting specific carbohydrates and lignins are urgently needed. These new probes would extend the limited biochemical techniques available, and enable realtime imaging of ultrastructural changes in plant cells. Furthermore, degradation of plant biomass could be greatly accelerated by the development of catalysts that can hydrolyze key cell wall polysaccharides and lignin. The objective of this project was to develop cheap and efficient DNA reagents (aptamers) used to detect and quantify polysaccharides, lignin, and relevant products of their breakdown. A practical goal of the research was to develop electrochemical aptamer biosensors, which could be integrated into microfluidic devices and used for high-throughput screening of enzymes or biological systems that degrade biomass. Several important model plant cell wall polymers and compounds were targeted for specific binding and purification of aptamers, which were then tested by …

Measuring NEET and NEEC is relevant for probing stellar cross-sections and testing atomic models in hot plasmas. Using NEEC and NEET we can excite nuclear levels in laboratory plasmas: (1) NIF: Measure effect of excited nuclear levels on (n,{gamma}) cross-sections, 60% and never been measured; (2) Omega, Test cross-sections for creating these excited levels via NEEC and NEET. Will allow us to test models that estimate resonance overlap of atomic states with the nucleus: (1) Average Atom model (AA) (CEA&LLNL), single average wave-function potential; (2) Super Transition Array (STA) model (LLNL), More realistic individual configuration potentials NEET experimental data is scarce and not in a plasma environment, NEEC has not yet been observed.

Concerns have been raised about our recent study describing a bacterium that can grow using arsenic (As) instead of phosphorus (P). Our data suggested that As could act as a substitute for P in major biomolecules in this organism. Although the issues raised are of investigative interest, we contend that they do not invalidate our conclusions. We argue that while no single line of evidence we presented was sufficient to support our interpretation of the data, taken as an entire dataset we find no plausible alternative to our conclusions. Here we reply to the critiques and provide additional arguments supporting the assessment of the data we reported.

The RADCHEM diagnostic consists of the collection of both gaseous and solid debris samples following a NIF shot. Small amounts of detector elements are doped into the inner-most layer of the ablator shell, which then undergo nuclear activations with neutrons and/or charged particles that are produced during the fusion process. Reaction products are collected and their radioactive decays are counted in order to determine the number and type of activations that occurred. Simulations have shown that these data can then be correlated to several capsule parameters, including fuel rhoR ({rho}R), implosion asymmetry, and fuel-ablator mix. In this document we present a brief summary of the simulations that have been performed, and evalute the ability of RADCHEM to assess capsule performance. A longer, follow-on document, which will include more details on the specific simulations and experimental techniques that have been considered for RADCHEM, is currently being written.

Sixteen glass compositions were selected to study the potential impacts of the kinetics of nepheline formation in high-level nuclear waste (HLW) glass. The chosen compositions encompassed a relatively large nepheline discriminator (ND) range, 0.40-0.66, and included a relatively broad range, and amount of, constituents including high aluminum and high boron concentrations. All glasses were fabricated in the laboratory and subsequently exposed to six different cooling treatments. The cooling treatments consisted of three 'stepped' profiles and their corresponding 'smooth' profiles. Included in the cooling treatment was the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) canister centerline cooling (CCC) profile in addition to a 'faster' and a 'slower' total cooling line. After quenching and heat treating, x-ray diffraction confirmed the type and amount of any resultant crystallization. The target compositions were shown to be consistent with the measured compositions. Two quenched glasses and several treated glasses exhibited minor amounts of spinel and spinel-like phases. Nepheline was not observed in any of the quenched glasses but was observed in many of the treated glasses. The amount of nepheline ranged from approximately 2wt% to 30wt% for samples cooled over shorter times and longer times respectively. Differences were observed in the amount of nepheline crystallization after smooth …

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Niowave, Inc., and Boeing have recently demonstrated operation of the first superconducting RF electron gun based on a quarter wave resonator structure. In preliminary tests, this gun has produced 10 ps long bunches with charge in excess of 78 pC, and with beam energy up to 396 keV. Initial testing occurred at Niowave's Lansing, MI facility, but the gun and diagnostic beam line are planned for installation in California in the near future. The design of the diagnostic beam line is conducive to the addition of a Cerenkov radiator without interfering with other beam line operations. Design and simulations of a Cerenkov radiator, consisting of a dielectric lined waveguide will be presented. The dispersion relation for the structure is determined and the beam interaction is studied using numerical simulations. The characteristics of the microwave radiation produced in both the short and long bunch regimes will be presented.

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