A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In its role as the nation's tax collector, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a demanding responsibility in collecting taxes, processing tax returns, and enforcing the nation's tax laws. Since GAO's first audit of IRS's financial statements in fiscal year 1992, a number of weaknesses in IRS's financial management operations have been identified. In related reports, GAO has recommended corrective action to address those weaknesses. Each year as part of the annual audit of IRS's financial statements, GAO not only makes recommendations to address any new weaknesses identified but also follows up on the open weaknesses GAO identified in previous years' audits. The purpose of this report is to assist IRS management in tracking the status of audit recommendations and actions needed to address them."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged in southern China in November 2002 and spread rapidly along international air routes in early 2003. Asian countries had the most cases (7,782) and deaths (729). SARS challenged Asian health care systems, disrupted Asian economies, and tested the effectiveness of the International Health Regulations. GAO was asked to examine the roles of the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. government, and Asian governments (China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) in responding to SARS; the estimated economic impact of SARS in Asia; and efforts to update the International Health Regulations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation (No FEAR) Act, which took effect October 1, 2003, requires agencies to repay discrimination settlements and judgments paid on their behalf. The No FEAR Act is similar to the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) of 1978, which holds agencies accountable for payment in contract disputes. Under both laws, federal agencies must reimburse the Judgment Fund, which is administered by the Treasury Department. Before the No FEAR Act, agencies did not have to repay the fund. The No FEAR Act requires GAO to review the financial impact on Treasury of administering that law and CDA. Based on this requirement, this report provides information on (1) Treasury's estimates of its costs to process discrimination claim payments and CDA payments in fiscal year 2003 and its costs to process and seek reimbursement for claim payments under lawsuits covered by the No FEAR Act beginning in fiscal year 2004, (2) differences in claims processing and reimbursement efforts under CDA and the No FEAR Act, and (3) the extent of federal agency compliance with CDA's reimbursement requirements and Treasury's view of how effective its …

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In the first year of this project, we have established our experimental and theoretical methodologies for studies of the catalytic decarboxylation process. We have developed both glass and stainless steel micro batch type reactors for the fast screening of various catalysts with reaction substrates of model carboxylic acid compounds and crude oil samples. We also developed novel product analysis methods such as GC analyses for organic acids and gaseous products; and TAN measurements for crude oil. Our research revealed the effectiveness of several solid catalysts such as NA-Cat-1 and NA-Cat-2 for the catalytic decarboxylation of model compounds; and NA-Cat-5{approx}NA-Cat-9 for the acid removal from crude oil. Our theoretical calculations propose a three-step concerted oxidative decarboxylation mechanism for the NA-Cat-1 catalyst.

This is the fourteenth Quarterly Technical Report for DOE Cooperative Agreement No: DE-FC26-00NT41047. The goal of the project is to develop and demonstrate a Virtual Engineering-based framework for simulating the performance of Advanced Power Systems. Within the last quarter, good progress has been made on all aspects of the project. Software development efforts have focused primarily on completing a prototype detachable user interface for the framework and on integrating Carnegie Mellon Universities IECM model core with the computational engine. In addition to this work, progress has been made on several other development and modeling tasks for the program. These include: (1) improvements to the infrastructure code of the computational engine, (2) enhancements to the model interfacing specifications, (3) additional development to increase the robustness of all framework components, (4) enhanced coupling of the computational and visualization engine components, (5) a series of detailed simulations studying the effects of gasifier inlet conditions on the heat flux to the gasifier injector, and (6) detailed plans for implementing models for mercury capture for both warm and cold gas cleanup have been created.

The purpose of this collaborative project was to develop a standard practice for obtaining and archiving quantitative steel transformation kinetic data and thermal strain data. Two families of dilatometric equipment were employed to develop this standard practice for testing bar product steels. These include high-speed quenching and deformation dilatometers and Gleeble{reg_sign} thermomechanical simulation instruments. Standard measurement, data interpretation and data reporting methods were developed and defined by the cross-industry QMST Consortium members consisting of steel-manufacturers, forgers, heat-treaters, modelers, automotive and heavy vehicle OEMs along with team expert technologists from the National Labs and academia. The team designed phase transformation experiments on two selected steel grades to validate the standard practices--a medium carbon grade SAE 1050 and an alloy steel SAE 8620. A final standard practice document was developed based on the two dilatometry methods, and was submitted to and approved by ASTM (available as A1033-04). The standard practice specifies a method for measuring austenite transformation under no elastic stress or plastic deformation. These methods will be an enabler for the development and electronic archiving of a quantitative database for process modeling using computer simulation software, and will greatly assist endusers in developing accurate process and product simulations during the thermo-mechanical …

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD) identifies and rationalizes the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office's selection of a recommended corrective action alternative appropriate to facilitate the closure of Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 516: Septic Systems and Discharge Points, Nevada Test Site (NTS), Nevada, under the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order. Located in Areas 3, 6, and 22 on the NTS, CAU 516 includes six Corrective Action Sites (CASs) consisting of two septic systems, a sump and piping, a clean-out box and piping, dry wells, and a vehicle decontamination area. Corrective action investigation activities were performed from July 22 through August 14, 2003, with supplemental sampling conducted in late 2003 and early 2004. The potential exposure pathways for any contaminants of concern (COCs) identified during the development of the DQOs at CAU 516 gave rise to the following objectives: (1) prevent or mitigate exposure to media containing COCs at concentrations exceeding PALs as defined in the corrective action investigation plan; and (2) prevent the spread of COCs beyond each CAS. The following alternatives have been developed for consideration at CAU 516: Alternative 1 - No Further Action; Alternative 2 - Clean Closure; and Alternative …

This report provides an overview of the international developments of the insurance regulation.

The attacks of September 11, 2001, have increased interest in the authority under statute to detain noncitizens (aliens) in the United States. Under the law there is broad authority to detain aliens while awaiting a determination of whether the noncitizen should be removed from the United States. The law also mandates that certain categories of aliens are subject to mandatory detention (i.e., the aliens must be detained).

This report mainly discusses about Implementation Phase on Homeland Security of Department Organization and Management .overseeing the implementation of the legislation mandating the new department of homeland security and possible refining it.

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