Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During fiscal years 2009 through 2011, four administrations within DOT obligated about $144 billion from the HTF. FHWA obligated the largest share--about 81 percent--of this total, specifically:"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In its fiscal year 2012 report, the Army included information that responded to some of the statutory reporting requirements, but did not include required information on the risks associated with, and mitigation strategies for, any shortfalls in key enabler personnel and equipment and a schedule for meeting personnel and equipment needs. The report included, among other things, an assessment of the status of key enabler personnel and equipment and information on assessments of modular force capabilities. However, the Army did not present the information it included in a way that clearly demonstrated the extent of progress toward meeting modular force requirements. While not explicitly required by law, there were also a number of ways in which the Army could have presented the information to better demonstrate the extent of progress toward meeting modularity requirements. For example, the Army could have provided more explicit comparisons with prior years to demonstrate the trend toward meeting key enabler equipment and personnel requirements, but instead presented limited data for only one year. Army officials agreed that some of the required information was omitted and that some of the information could have been …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 2007-2009 financial crisis has been associated with large economic losses and increased fiscal challenges. Studies estimating the losses of financial crises based on lost output (value of goods and services not produced) suggest losses associated with the recent crisis could range from a few trillion dollars to over $10 trillion. Also associated with the crisis were large declines in employment, household wealth, and other economic indicators. Some studies suggest the crisis could have long-lasting effects: for example, high unemployment, if persistent, could lead to skill erosion and lower future earnings for those affected. Finally, since the crisis began, federal, state, and local governments have faced greater fiscal challenges, in part because of reduced tax revenues from lower economic activity and increased spending to mitigate the impact of the recession."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD officials stated that their policy is to accommodate children with special needs unless those accommodations fundamentally alter the nature of the program. However, DOD does not centrally collect or maintain data on accommodation decisions; instead they are kept at the installation level. Two services--Army and Air Force--have begun or plan to collect specific data at the service level to monitor and track services to children with special needs across their installations by 2013. Further, the services have different definitions of special needs, although officials told us DOD is working on a standard definition. According to OSD officials, each service has established an assessment process to determine how to accommodate children with special needs in DOD's child care programs. This assessment process is the primary means through which parents can address concerns related to finding appropriate child care for their children with special needs, as well as to help identify support and outreach programs for the family. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 created the Office of Special Needs, which is responsible for enhancing and improving support for families of children with special needs. Although …

This report discusses the current moratorium on the conduct of Department of Defense (DOD) public-private competitions under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76 and issues for Congress.

This report discusses the role of Long-term Care Insurance (LCTI) in financing Long-term Care Services and Supports (LTSS) and current trends in the LTCI industry; factors affecting the demand for LTCI, including cost complexity of the product and adequacy of consumer protections; and legislative options available to address these issues.

The current estimates and glass formulation efforts have been conservative in terms of achievable waste loadings. These formulations have been specified to ensure that the glasses are homogenous, contain essentially no crystalline phases, are processable in joule-heated, ceramic-lined melters and meet Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Contract terms. The WTP?s overall mission will require the immobilization of tank waste compositions that are dominated by mixtures of aluminum (Al), chromium (Cr), bismuth (Bi), iron (Fe), phosphorous (P), zirconium (Zr), and sulphur (S) compounds as waste-limiting components. Glass compositions for these waste mixtures have been developed based upon previous experience and current glass property models. Recently, DOE has initiated a testing program to develop and characterize HLW glasses with higher waste loadings and higher throughput efficiencies. Results of this work have demonstrated the feasibility of increases in waste loading from about 25 wt% to 33-50 wt% (based on oxide loading) in the glass depending on the waste stream. In view of the importance of aluminum limited waste streams at Hanford (and also Savannah River), the ability to achieve high waste loadings without adversely impacting melt rates has the potential for enormous cost savings from reductions in canister count and …

A new method for the determination of radiostrontium in seawater samples has been developed at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) that allows rapid preconcentration and separation of strontium and yttrium isotopes in seawater samples for measurement. The new SRNL method employs a novel and effective pre-concentration step that utilizes a blend of calcium phosphate with iron hydroxide to collect both strontium and yttrium rapidly from the seawater matrix with enhanced chemical yields. The pre-concentration steps, in combination with rapid Sr Resin and DGA Resin cartridge separation options using vacuum box technology, allow seawater samples up to 10 liters to be analyzed. The total {sup 89}Sr + {sup 90}Sr activity may be determined by gas flow proportional counting and recounted after ingrowth of {sup 90}Y to differentiate {sup 89}Sr from {sup 90}Sr. Gas flow proportional counting provides a lower method detection limit than liquid scintillation or Cerenkov counting and allows simultaneous counting of samples. Simultaneous counting allows for longer count times and lower method detection limits without handling very large aliquots of seawater. Seawater samples up to 6 liters may be analyzed using Sr Resin for {sup 89}Sr and {sup 90}Sr with a Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA) of 1-10 mBq/L, …

The objective of the project was to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the biological effects of low dose/low dose rate ionizing radiation in organs/tissues of irradiated mice that differ in their susceptibility to ionizing radiation, and in human cells grown under conditions that mimic the natural in vivo environment. The focus was on the effects of sparsely ionizing cesium-137 gamma rays and the role of oxidative metabolism and intercellular communication in these effects. Four Specific Aims were proposed. The integrated outcome of the experiments performed to investigate these aims has been significant towards developing a scientific basis to more accurately estimate human health risks from exposures to low doses ionizing radiation. By understanding the biochemical and molecular changes induced by low dose radiation, several novel markers associated with mitochondrial functions were identified, which has opened new avenues to investigate metabolic processes that may be affected by such exposure. In particular, a sensitive biomarker that is differentially modulated by low and high dose gamma rays was discovered.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) analyzed solvent samples from Modular Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU) in support of continuing operations. A quarterly analysis of the solvent is required to maintain solvent composition within specifications. Analytical results of the analyses of Solvent Hold Tank (SHT) samples MCU-12-488, MCU-12-489, MCU-12-490, MCU-12-491, MCU-12-492 and MCU-12-493 received 24 October 2012 are reported. The results show that the solvent at MCU does not require an Isopar® L addition, but it will require addition of trioctylamine. SRNL also analyzed the SHT sample for {sup 137}Cs content and determined the measured value is within tolerance but is trending upward compared to the {sup 137}Cs measurement made last year.

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The Chariot site is located in the Ogotoruk Valley in the Cape Thompson region of northwest Alaska. This region is about 125 miles north of (inside) the Arctic Circle and is bounded on the southwest by the Chukchi Sea. The closest populated areas are the Inupiat villages of Point Hope, 32 miles northwest of the site, and Kivalina,41 miles to the southeast. The site is accessible from Point Hope by ATV in the summer and by snowmobile in the winter. Project Chariot was part of the Plowshare Program, created in 1957 by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), a predecessor agency of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), to study peaceful uses for atomic energy. Project Chariot began in 1958 when a scientific field team chose Cape Thompson as a potential site to excavate a harbor using a series of nuclear explosions. AEC, with assistance from other agencies, conducted more than40 pretest bioenvironmental studies of the Cape Thompson area between 1959 and 1962; however, the Plowshare Program work at the Project Chariot site was cancelled because of strong public opposition. No nuclear explosions were conducted at the site.

Weekly newspaper from Palacios, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Edna, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Cuero, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Navasota, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

This report provides an overview of political and economic conditions in Mexico followed by assessments of some key issues of congressional interest in Mexico: migration, trade, security, human rights, energy, and water issues. The report summarizes legislative action that has occurred related to these topics and refers to other CRS products and experts that can be consulted for further information.

Weekly newspaper from Brady, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

This paper describes the prediction of disruptions based on diagnostic data in the high-β spherical torus NSTX [M. Ono, et al., Nuclear Fusion 40 , 557 (2000)]. The disruptive threshold values on many signals are examined. In some cases, raw diagnostic data can be used as a signal for disruption prediction. In others, the deviations of the plasma data from simple models provides the signal used to determine the proximity to disruption. However, no single signal and threshold value can form the basis for disruption prediction in NSTX; thresholds that produce an acceptable false positive rate have too large a missed or late warning rate, while combinations that produce an acceptable rate of missed or late warnings have an unacceptable false positive rate. To solve this problem, a novel means of combining multiple threshold tests has been developed. After being properly tuned, this algorithm can produce a false positive rate of 2.8%, with a late warning rate of 3.7% when applied to a database of ~2000 disruptions collected from three run campaigns. Furthermore, many of these false positives are triggered by near-disruptive MHD events that might indeed be disruptive in larger plasmas with more stored energy. However, the algorithm is …

The project fits within the area of renewable energy called photovoltaics (PV), or the generation of electricity directly from sunlight using semiconductor devices. PV has the greatest potential of any renewable energy technology. The vast majority of photovoltaic modules are made on crystalline silicon wafers and these wafers accounts for the largest fraction of the cost of a photovoltaic module. Thus, a method of making high quality, low cost wafers would be extremely beneficial to the PV industry The industry standard technology creates wafers by casting an ingot and then sawing wafers from the ingot. Sawing rendered half of the highly refined silicon feedstock as un-reclaimable dust. Being a brittle material, the sawing is actually a type of grinding operation which is costly both in terms of capital equipment and in terms of consumables costs. The consumables costs associated with the wire sawing technology are particularly burdensome and include the cost of the wire itself (continuously fed, one time use), the abrasive particles, and, waste disposal. The goal of this project was to make wafers directly from molten silicon with no sawing required. The fundamental concept was to create a very low cost (but low quality) wafer of the desired …

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This article compares children's physical activity levels, self-efficacy, and enjoyment when experiencing dance-exergaming and aerobic dance in physical education.