A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Every year, many people diagnosed with diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma require transplants of stem cells from umbilical cord blood or other sources. The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 authorized funding for banking 150,000 new units of high quality and genetically diverse cord blood and directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to contract with cord blood banks to assist in cord blood collection. HHS, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), established the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI) program to support banking of cord blood units and contracted with 13 cord blood banks to bank these units. The 2010 reauthorization required GAO to report on efforts to increase cord blood unit collection for the NCBI. As of May 2011, HRSA had reimbursed banks for over 41,000 units banked for the NCBI. In this report, GAO describes (1) practices identified to increase banking of cord blood units for the NCBI and related challenges and (2) practices cord blood banks are using to lower costs and improve the efficiency of cord blood banking and associated challenges. To do so, GAO reviewed …

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In a May 2011 testimony before this subcommittee (GAO-11-572T), based on a March 2011 report (GAO-11-250), GAO highlighted challenges for the Federal Recovery Coordination Program (FRCP), developed by the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) to assist some of the most severely wounded, ill, and injured servicemembers, veterans, and their families. Specifically, GAO reported on challenges in FRCP enrollment, staffing needs, caseloads, and placement locations. GAO also cited challenges faced by the FRCP when coordinating with other VA and DOD programs, including DOD's Recovery Coordination Program (RCP), which can result in duplication of effort and enrollee confusion. In this statement, GAO examines the status of DOD and VA's efforts to (1) implement GAO's March 2011 recommendations and (2) identify and analyze potential options to functionally integrate the FRCP and RCP. This statement is based on GAO's March 2011 report and updated information obtained in September 2011."

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) faces a number of management and budgetary challenges, which are particularly important as Congress seeks to decrease the cost of government while improving its performance. EPA operates in a highly complex and controversial regulatory arena, and its policies and programs affect virtually all segments of the economy, society, and government. From fiscal years 2000 through 2010, the agency's budget rose in nominal terms from $7.8 billion to $10.4 billion, but has remained relatively flat over this period in real terms. This testimony highlights some of the major management challenges and budgetary issues facing a range of EPA programs and activities today. This testimony focuses on (1) management of EPA's workload, workforce, and real property; (2) coordination with other agencies to more effectively leverage limited resources; and (3) observations on the agency's budget justifications. This testimony is based on prior GAO products and analysis.."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) operates one of the largest health care delivery systems in the nation--providing health care services to more than 5 million veterans each year in over 1,000 facilities. These health care services are delivered by physicians, nurses, and other types of practitioners and range from routine examinations to complex surgical procedures. As in any health care setting, veterans receiving health care services at VA facilities may be at risk of incurring medical injury as a result of substandard care. Recent incidents have heightened concern about the quality of care provided to veterans by VA facilities. For example, in 2010 we reported that one VA facility discovered in 2009 that medical equipment had been improperly cleaned, thus posing safety risks to 2,526 veterans. In the event that an injury occurs as a result of care rendered by a VA practitioner, a veteran alleging medical malpractice may seek compensation by filing a tort claim with one of VA's 22 regional counsel offices. The offices, which operate under VA's Office of General Counsel (OGC), are responsible for initially investigating and, to the extent possible, resolving the …

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "By the end of fiscal year 2011, with a projected net loss of about $10 billion, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) was expected to become insolvent. To mitigate this, Congress temporarily deferred USPS's required $5.5 billion retiree health benefit payment. Over the previous 4 years, USPS experienced a cumulative net loss of just over $20 billion. USPS expects its revenue to decline further as First-Class Mail is projected to decline nearly 7 percent annually through 2020. Consequently, decisions need to be made to determine how USPS should be restructured to put it on a path to financial viability. GAO was asked to summarize (1) long-term trends related to the demand for and use of mail, and (2) options for restructuring USPS's business model to adjust to changing mail trends. This summary is based on GAO's past work, including GAO-11-278 (High-Risk Series: An Update) and GAO-10-455 (USPS: Strategies and Options to Facilitate Progress toward Financial Viability), both of which found that USPS urgently needs to restructure its networks and workforce to achieve and sustain financial viability. In addition, GAO also used data and related studies from USPS. …

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For many years, GAO has reported that weaknesses in information security can lead to serious consequences--such as intrusions by malicious individuals, compromised networks, and the theft of sensitive information including personally identifiable information--and has identified information security as a governmentwide high-risk area. The Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) established information security program, evaluation, and annual reporting requirements for federal agencies. The act requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to oversee and report to Congress on agency information security policies and practices, including agencies' compliance with FISMA. FISMA also requires that GAO periodically report to Congress on (1) the adequacy and effectiveness of agencies' information security policies and practices and (2) agencies' implementation of FISMA requirements. To do this, GAO analyzed information security-related reports and data from 24 major federal agencies, their inspectors general, OMB, and GAO."

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As one of the largest and most complex organizations in the world, the Department of Defense (DOD) faces many challenges in resolving its long-standing financial and related business operations and system problems. DOD is in the process of implementing modern multifunction enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to replace many of its outdated legacy systems. The ERPs are intended to perform business-related tasks such as general ledger accounting and supply chain management. Modernizing DOD's business systems is a critical part of transforming the department's business operations, addressing high-risk areas, and providing more-accurate and reliable financial information to Congress on DOD's operations. The Panel requested that GAO provide its perspective on DOD's ERP implementation efforts and the impact implementation problems could have on DOD's efforts to improve financial management and be audit ready by fiscal year 2017. This statement is based on GAO's prior work, reports issued by the Department of Defense Inspector General (DOD IG), and GAO's ongoing oversight of selected DOD ERP efforts. Over the years, GAO has made numerous recommendations to improve the department's financial management operations."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act directed GAO to conduct a one-time audit of the emergency loan programs and other assistance authorized by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve Board) during the recent financial crisis. This testimony summarizes the results of GAO's July 2011 report (GAO-11-696) examining the emergency actions taken by the Federal Reserve Board from December 1, 2007, through July 21, 2010. For these actions, where relevant, this statement addresses (1) accounting and financial reporting internal controls; (2) the use, selection, and payment of vendors; (3) management of conflicts of interest; (4) policies in place to secure loan repayment; and (5) the treatment of program participants. To meet these objectives, GAO reviewed program documentation, analyzed program data, and interviewed officials from the Federal Reserve Board and Reserve Banks (Federal Reserve System)."

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Cloud computing, an emerging form of computing where users have access to scalable, on-demand capabilities that are provided through Internet-based technologies, has the potential to provide information technology services more quickly and at a lower cost, but also to introduce information security risks. Accordingly, GAO was asked to testify on the security implications of cloud computing. This testimony describes (1) the information security implications of using cloud computing services in the federal government; (2) GAO's previous reporting on federal efforts and guidance to address cloud computing information security; and (3) GAO recommendations and subsequent actions taken by federal agencies to address federal cloud computing security issues. In preparing this statement, GAO summarized its May 2010 report on cloud computing security and assessed agency actions to implement its recommendations."

A publication issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the wake of increased product recalls in 2007-2008, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). Among other things, CPSIA requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to establish a database on the safety of consumer products that is publicly available, searchable, and accessible through the CPSC Web site. In response, CPSC launched SaferProducts.gov in March 2011. The Department of Defense and Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011 requires GAO to report on the data collected by CPSC in its safety information database. This report examines (1) the information required for submitting a report of harm to SaferProducts.gov, (2) the information used to identify the product and to allow CPSC to review manufacturer claims of material inaccuracy in a report of harm, and (3) the length of time CPSC takes to review a manufacturer's claim that a report contains materially inaccurate information. To do this work, GAO analyzed agency data, regulations, and CPSC program documentation and interviewed CPSC staff and various industry and consumer representatives."

This publication is part of a series of UNDP-sponsored studies that present methods, tools and good practices to map corruption risks, develop strategies and sustain partnerships to address challenges and tackle corruption in the education, health and water sectors. They complement UNDP’s MDG Acceleration Framework (MAF), which has been endorsed by the UN Development Group and enables governments and development partners, within established national processes, to identify and systematically prioritize the bottlenecks to progress toward achieving the MDGs, and then devise strategies to overcome them. The studies bring together UNDP’s efforts to support countries to develop frameworks to accelerate their efforts to meet the MDGs as well as successfully meet the commitments of the UN Convention against corruption.

This report presents findings from a review of the service activities of informal private water vendors in Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s capital is a rapidly growing city, and around 70% of the population lacks proper housing and lives in informal settlements. Large parts of the city remain unserved by the water utility and many of those who have access to the piped network suffer from intermittent supply. As a result, small-scale private water vendors provide an essential service for many, in particular low-income households in the city.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a public housing authority is required to reimburse a political subdivision that furnishes improvements, services, or facilities for a housing project (RQ-0966-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a prosecutor must obtain the approval of the presiding judge before advancing funds for travel expenses to a nonresident witness (RQ-0969-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Medicaid and Public Assistance Fraud Oversight Task Force is an “advisory committee” within the meaning of chapter 2110 of the Government Code (RQ-0971-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a local board of realtors is a “nonprofit community business organization” for purposes of section 11.231 of the Tax Code (RQ-0970-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Compensation of statutory county court judges in Galveston County (RQ-0973-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Board Regents of the University of North Texas System may invest funds under its control that are held and managed by its component system (RQ-0974-GA)

Many others in the fusion energy and advanced scientific computing communities participated in the development of this plan. The core planning team is grateful for their important contributions. This summary is meant as a quick overview the Fusion Simulation Program's (FSP's) purpose and intentions. There are several additional documents referenced within this one and all are supplemental or flow down from this Program Plan. The overall science goal of the DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) Fusion Simulation Program (FSP) is to develop predictive simulation capability for magnetically confined fusion plasmas at an unprecedented level of integration and fidelity. This will directly support and enable effective U.S. participation in International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) research and the overall mission of delivering practical fusion energy. The FSP will address a rich set of scientific issues together with experimental programs, producing validated integrated physics results. This is very well aligned with the mission of the ITER Organization to coordinate with its members the integrated modeling and control of fusion plasmas, including benchmarking and validation activities. [1]. Initial FSP research will focus on two critical Integrated Science Application (ISA) areas: ISA1, the plasma edge; and ISA2, whole device modeling (WDM) including disruption …

Minutes of the Texas Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (TXSSAR) Board of Managers meeting covering the general session, held October 30, 2011 at the Hilton Galveston on the Seawall, in Galveston, Texas. It includes information about the committees and business covered by the attending members.

An archival research report involving shipwrecks in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Summary describing the work completed at Earth-Searth, Inc. for Shipwreck Research in the New Orleans Notarial Archives. It includes background information on the project funding and sponsorship, goals, methodology, and findings.

A certificate recognizing the Dallas Way's submitted paperwork.

Minutes for the October 31st meeting of the Dallas Way including members of attendance and topics discussed.