A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress and the scientific community are concerned that the Air Force's investment in science and technology may be too low to meet the challenges presented by new and emerging threats. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 requires the Air Force to review its science and technology programs to assess the budgetary resources currently used and those needed to adequately address the challenges and objectives. GAO found that the Air Force complied with the requirements of section 252 of the act. The Air Force established an integrated product team to identify long-term science and technology challenges and a task force to identify short-term objectives. For each challenge or objective that was identified, the Air Force established teams to identify technological capabilities needed to achieve these goals. Each team chose research projects that addressed the criteria specified in the act. The Air Force also complied with the act's process provisions. The Deputy Assistant Director for Science, Technology and Engineering is required to review the teams' results and to identify any science and technology research not currently funded."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress implemented a physician fee schedule and a fee update formula to moderate spending growth relative to specified Medicare spending targets. These spending targets increase annually to reflect higher costs for physician services, the growth in the overall economy, and changes in the number of Medicare beneficiaries. Physician fees are adjusted for changes in the costs of providing services and on actual cumulative spending compared to the cumulative targets. Physician fees are updated to reflect higher costs to provide services. These updates are adjusted up or down on actual spending either falling below or exceeding the targets. In November 2001, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid announced that updating Medicare's fees will decline 5.4 percent from what was paid in 2001, despite an estimated 2.6 percent increase in the cost of physician inputs. This reduction accounts for historical cumulative spending that exceeded the target by $8.9 billion, or 13 percent of estimated 2002 spending. Several factors contributed to the disparity between actual and targeted spending, including the correction of substantial errors in past spending estimates and the revision of targets for prior years. The current update mechanism could …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Identity theft involves "stealing" another person's personal identifying information, such as their Social Security Number (SSN), date of birth, or mother's maiden name, and using it to fraudulently establish credit, run up debt, or take over existing financial accounts. The prevalence and cost of identity theft seem to be increasing. Recently introduced bills seek to prevent identity theft and enforce laws prohibiting identity theft. Since May 1998, various actions--particularly passage of federal and state statutes--have been taken to address identity theft. Precise, statistical measurement of identity theft trends is difficult for several reasons. Federal law enforcement agencies lack information systems to track identity theft cases. Also, identity theft almost always accompanies white-collar or financial crimes, such as bank fraud, credit card or access device fraud, or the use of counterfeit financial instruments. Data sources, such as consumer complaints and hotline allegations, can be used as proxies for gauging the prevalence of identity theft. Law enforcement investigations and prosecutions of identity theft-related crimes, such as bank and credit card fraud, also provide data."

This 2002 Facility Work Plan (FWP) has been prepared as required by Module VII, Permit Condition VII.U.3 of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Hazardous Waste Facility Permit, NM4890139088-TSDF (the Permit) (New Mexico Environment Department [NMED], 1999a), and incorporates comments from the NMED received on December 6, 2000 (NMED, 2000a). This February 2002 FWP describes the programmatic facility-wide approach to future investigations at Solid Waste Management Units (SWMU) and Areas of Concern (AOC) specified in the Permit. The Permittees are evaluating data from previous investigations of the SWMUs and AOCs against the most recent guidance proposed by the NMED. Based on these data, and completion of the August 2001 sampling requested by the NMED, the Permittees expect that no further sampling will be required and that a request for No Further Action (NFA) at the SWMUs and AOCs will be submitted to the NMED. This FWP addresses the current Permit requirements. It uses the results of previous investigations performed at WIPP and expands the investigations as required by the Permit. As an alternative to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Facility Investigation (RFI) specified in Module VII of the Permit, current NMED guidance identifies an Accelerated Corrective Action Approach …

This report contains information on the general structure of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate committee structure, types of committees, and subcommittees.

A multi-beamlet approach to a high current ion injector, whereby a large number of beamlets are accelerated and then merged to form a single beam, offers a number of potential advantages over a monolithic single beam injector. These advantages include a smaller transverse footprint, more control over the shaping and aiming of the beam, and more flexibility in the choice of ion sources. A potential drawback however is a larger emittance. In this paper, we seek to understand the merging of the beamlets and how it determines the emittance. When the constraints imposed by beam propagation physics and practical engineering issues are included, the design is reduced to a few free parameters. We describe the physics design of a multi-beamlet injector, and produce a design for an example set of parameters. Extensive use of 2-D and 3-D particle simulations was made in understanding the injector. Design tolerances and sensitivities are discussed in general and in relation to the example.

This report provides results from the second year of this three-year project to develop dilution measurement technology for characterizing PM2.5 (particles with aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5 micrometers) and precursor emissions from stationary combustion sources used in oil, gas and power generation operation. Detailed emission rate and chemical speciation tests results for a gas turbine, a process heater, and a commercial oil/gas fired boiler are presented. Tests were performed using a research dilution sampling apparatus and traditional EPA methods. A series of pilot tests were conducted to identify the constraints to reduce the size of current research dilution sampler for future stack emission tests. Based on the test results, a bench prototype compact dilution sampler developed and characterized in GE EER in August 2002.

Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets are highly desirable for use in the insertion devices of synchrotron radiation sources due to their high remanence, or residual magnetic induction, and intrinsic coercivity. However, the radiation environment within high-energy electron storage rings necessitates the determination of the degree of radiation sensitivity as well as the mechanisms of radiation-induced demagnetization. A 0.5% change in the residual induction due to radiation damage cannot be tolerated in these devices. Sample Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets were irradiated at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) with bending magnet x-rays up to an absorbed dose of approximately 280 Mrad (1 Mrad = 10 kGy). Sample magnets were also irradiated with 60 Co {gamma}-rays up to an absorbed dose of 700 Mrad at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) standard gamma irradiation facility. Changes in the residual induction were found to be within the experimental uncertainties for both the x-ray and {gamma}-ray irradiations. Sample Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets were then irradiated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) Californium User Facility for Neutron Science with fast neutrons up to a total fast fluence of 1.61 x 10{sup 14} n/cm{sup 2} and with thermal neutrons up to a total thermal fluence of 2.94 x 10{sup …

We discuss the experimental and theoretical uncertainties on precision electroweak observables and their relationship to the indirect constraints on the Higgs boson mass, MH, in the Standard Model (SM). The critical experimental measurements (M{sub W}, sin{sup 2}{theta}{sub eff}, m{sub t},...) are evaluated in terms of their present uncertainties and their prospects for improved precision at future colliders, and their contribution to the constraints on MH. In addition, the current uncertainties of the theoretical predictions for M{sub W} and sin{sup 2} {theta}{sub eff} due to missing higher order corrections are estimated and expectations and necessary theoretical improvements for future colliders are explored. The constraints from rare B decays are also discussed. Analysis of the present experimental and theoretical precisions yield a current upper bound on M{sub H} of {approx} 200 GeV. Including anticipated improvements corresponding to the prospective situation at future colliders (Tevatron Run II, LHC, LC/GigaZ), we find a relative precision of about 25% to 8% (or better) is achievable in the indirect determination of M{sub H}.

An analysis has been carried out of natural circulation thermal hydraulics in both the primary and intermediate circuits of the Encapsulated Nuclear Heat Source (ENHS). It is established that natural circulation enhanced by gas injection into the primary coolant above the core, or the intermediate coolant above the heat exchange zone, is effective in transporting the nominal core power to the steam generators without the attainment of excessive system temperatures. Uncertainties in thermophysical properties and wall friction have a relatively small effect upon the calculated best estimate primary and intermediate coolant system temperature rises.

Achieving agreement between measured and calculated neutron activation data resulting from Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bomb detonations has been a major problem since the early 1980's. This has been particularly true for the materials that are activated by thermal and epithermal neutrons. Since thermal and epithermal neutrons are not transported very far from the weapon, the local shielding environment around the measurement location can be very important. A set of calculations incorporating an average density local-environment material (mush) has been made to demonstrate that the local environment plays an important role in the calculation-measurement agreement process. The optimum solution would be to include the local environment in all thermal neutron response calculations.

Prior studies of evaporation and sputter deposition show that the grain size of pure beryllium can be dramatically refined through the incorporation of metal impurities. Recently, the addition of boron at a concentration greater than 11% is shown to serve as a glassy phase former in sputter deposited beryllium. Presently, thermally induced crystallization of the beryllium-boron metallic glass is reported. The samples are characterized during an in-situ anneal treatment with bright field imaging and electron diffraction using transmission electron microscopy. A nanocrystalline structure evolves from the annealed amorphous phase and the crystallization temperature is affected by the boron concentration.

An early warning system to counter bioterrorism, the Autonomous Pathogen Detection System (APDS) continuously monitors the environment for the presence of biological pathogens (e.g., anthrax) and once detected, it sounds an alarm much like a smoke detector warns of a fire. Long before September 11, 2001, this system was being developed to protect domestic venues and events including performing arts centers, mass transit systems, major sporting and entertainment events, and other high profile situations in which the public is at risk of becoming a target of bioterrorist attacks. Customizing off-the-shelf components and developing new components, a multidisciplinary team developed APDS, a stand-alone system for rapid, continuous monitoring of multiple airborne biological threat agents in the environment. The completely automated APDS samples the air, prepares fluid samples in-line, and performs two orthogonal tests: immunoassay and nucleic acid detection. When compared to competing technologies, APDS is unprecedented in terms of flexibility and system performance.

This report provides an overview of the dispute resolution procedures under the Railway Labor Act, including the President's authority to appoint an Emergency Board; and discusses Congress' authority to intervene in railway and airline strikes.

This report provides information about the Grants Work in a Congressional Office. An internal grant manual is a valuable tool for grants staff to develop. It can also outline office proceedings and policies.

The objective of this proposed research is to improve and expand the detection and analysis capabilities of the automated, concrete evaluation (ACE) system. MoDOT and Honeywell jointly developed this system. The focus of this proposed research will be on the following: Coordination of concrete imaging efforts with other states, Validation and testing of the ACE system on a broad range of concrete samples, and Identification and development of software and hardware enhancements. These enhancements will meet the needs of diverse users in the field of concrete materials, construction, and research.

Temperature dependent extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra were measured for a 3.3 at. % Ga stabilized Pu alloy over the range T= 20 - 300 K. EXAFS data were acquired at both the Ga K-edge and the Pu L{sub III} edge. Curve-fits were performed to the first shell interactions to obtain pair-distance distribution widths, {sigma}, as a function of temperature. The temperature dependence of {sigma}(T) was accurately modeled using a correlated-Debye model for the lattice vibrational properties, suggesting Debye-like behavior in this material. Using this formalism, we obtain pair-specific correlated-Debye temperatures, {Theta}{sub cD}, of 110.7 {+-} 1.7 K and 202.6 {+-} 3.7 K, for the Pu-Pu and Ga-Pu pairs, respectively. The result for the Pu-{Theta}{sub cD} value compares well with previous vibrational studies on {delta}-Pu. In addition, our results represent the first unambiguous determination of Ga-specific vibrational properties in Pu-Ga alloys, i.e, {Theta}{sub cD} for the Ga-Pu pair. Because the Debye temperature can be related to a measure of the lattice stiffness, these results indicate the Ga-Pu bonds are significantly stronger than the Pu-Pu bonds. This effect has important implications for lattice stabilization mechanisms in these alloys.

Authenticated Diffie-Hellman key exchange allows two principals communicating over a public network, and each holding public-private keys, to agree on a shared secret value. In this paper we study the natural extension of this cryptographic problem to a group of principals. We begin from existing formal security models and refine them to incorporate major missing details (e.g., strong-corruption and concurrent sessions). Within this model we define the execution of a protocol for authenticated dynamic group Diffie-Hellman and show that it is provably secure under the decisional Diffie-Hellman assumption. Our security result holds in the standard model and thus provides better security guarantees than previously published results in the random oracle model.

This is one report in the series of reports that discuss the campaign finance practices and related issues. Concerns over financing federal elections have become a seemingly perennial aspect of our political system, centered on the enduring issues of high campaign costs and reliance on interest groups for needed campaign funds. The report talks about the today’s paramount issues such as perceived loopholes in current law and the longstanding issues: overall costs, funding sources, and competition.

Members of Congress often get requests from constituents for information and help in obtaining funds for projects. Many state and local governments, nonprofit social service and community action organizations, private research groups, small businesses, and individuals approach congressional offices to find out about funding, both from the federal government and from the private sector. The success rate in obtaining federal assistance is not high, given the competition for federal funds. A grants staff’s effectiveness often depends on both an understanding of the grants process and on the relations it establishes with agency and other contacts. The following report does not constitute a blueprint for every office involved in grants and projects activity, nor does it present in-depth information about all aspects of staff activity in this area. The discussion is aimed at describing some basics about the grants process and some of the approaches and techniques used by congressional offices in dealing with this type of constituent service.

There are three main types of committees—standing, select, and joint. Most committees form subcommittees to share specific tasks within the jurisdiction of the full committee.

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This report discusses the Andean Regional Initiative (ARI), implemented by the Bush Administration in 2001 to provide economic and counter-narcotics assistance for Colombia and regional neighbors. The report discusses the goals of the ARI, as well as related appropriations.

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