Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Financial Management Service's (FMS) internal controls over federal disbursements."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Every tax filing season, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) must quickly and accurately process Americans' tax returns, issue refunds, and answer taxpayers' questions. The 2009 filing season, when 2008 tax returns are filed, was especially challenging because of stimulus-related tax law changes and IRS's expanded assistance to financially distressed taxpayers, such as adding flexibility for taxpayers to settle a tax liability for less than the full amount owed. Because of the magnitude and importance of the 2009 filing season, GAO was asked to (1) assess IRS's performance in processing individual income tax returns and providing taxpayer assistance, (2) describe taxpayer use of refund anticipation loans (RAL) and refund anticipation checks (RAC), and (3) identify what IRS knows about the number of taxpayers using its expanded assistance to financially distressed taxpayers. GAO analyzed performance data from IRS, compared the performance to prior years and selected goals, and interviewed IRS officials and external stakeholders."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2009, we issued our opinion on the fiscal year 2009 financial statements of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Our report also included our opinion on the effectiveness of FHFA's internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2009, and our evaluation of FHFA's compliance with provisions of selected laws and regulations for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) created FHFA and gave it responsibility for, among other things, the supervision and oversight of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and the 12 federal home loan banks. Specifically, FHFA was assigned responsibility for ensuring that the regulated entities operate in a fiscally safe and sound manner, including maintenance of adequate capital and internal controls, in carrying out their housing and community development finance mission. HERA requires FHFA to annually prepare financial statements, and requires GAO to audit these statements. HERA established FHFA as an independent agency on July 30, 2008. HERA also abolished, effective within 1 year of the act's enactment, the Office of Federal Housing …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "All U.S. nuclear power plant sites have had some groundwater contamination from radioactive leaks, and some of these leaks came from underground piping systems. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulates nuclear power plants to protect public health and the environment from radiation hazards. GAO was asked to (1) determine experts' opinions on the impacts, if any, of underground piping system leaks on public health and the environment; (2) assess NRC requirements of licensees for inspecting these systems and monitoring and reporting on leaks; (3) identify actions the nuclear power industry, licensees, and NRC have taken in response to leaks; and (4) identify additional NRC requirements, if any, that key stakeholders think could help prevent, detect, and disclose leaks. GAO convened expert discussion groups through the National Academy of Sciences and asked experts to review three case studies, analyzed documents, visited seven plant sites and two NRC regional offices, and interviewed stakeholders."

This report discusses the law enforcement task forces and intelligence information sharing centers. The report focuses on those task forces and information sharing efforts that respond to federal counterdrug and counterterrorism priorities in the Southwest border region.

This report provides: (1) a general background of Ex-Im Bank; (2) a discussion of the international context of the Bank; (3) analysis of key issues that Congress may consider in a reauthorization debate; and (4) the congressional outlook on Ex-Im Bank.

This report provides an overview of Canada's political scene, economic conditions, security and foreign policy, and environmental initiatives, focusing particularly on issues that may be relevant to U.S. policymakers. This country survey is followed by several summaries of current bilateral issues in the political, international security, trade, and environmental arenas. The questions following each summary are designed as potential inquiries to Canadian officials to promote thought and discussion among policymakers.

This report provides an overview of U.S. assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean. It examines historical and recent trends in aid to the region as well as the Obama Administration's FY2015 request for State Department and U.S Agency for International Development (USAID)-administered assistance. It also tracks congressional action on foreign aid appropriations for Latin America and the Caribbean in FY2015, and raises questions Congress may consider as it appropriates funding for the region.

This report discusses the relationship between the United States and Japan, including Japanese efforts to support the U.S. in the wake of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks and the two countries' economic ties, especially with regards to the recent economic downturn. This report also discusses the general political atmosphere of Japan, including the recent and ongoing political turmoil in Tokyo.

This report analyzes Brazil's political, economic, and social conditions, and how those conditions affect its role in the region and its relationship with the United States.

This report discusses the U.S.-China economic relationship and China's rapid expansion as a global economic market, both with respect to the current global economic crisis. It also examines major U.S.-China trade issues and related legislation.

Section 1207 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2006 provides authority for the Department of Defense (DOD) to transfer to the State Department up to $100 million per fiscal year in defense articles, services, training or other support for reconstruction, stabilization, and security activities in foreign countries. The 111th Congress must decide whether to extend Section 1207, which expires on September 30, 2009. This report discusses what issues Congress must take into consideration when making this decision.

This report discusses the economy of China and how it is has been affected by the recent economic downturn. China has recently enjoyed one of the world's fastest-growing economies and has been a major contributor to world economic growth, but several Chinese industries have been hard by the crisis, and millions of workers have been laid off. This report explores this issue in brief, including what actions the Chinese government is taking to combat the problem, as well as what actions China may take to assist in stabilizing the U.S. economy.

This report discusses the state of the Kurdish-inhabited region of northern Iraq, which has been fairly peaceful since the fall of Saddam Hussein; however, the region is also home to friction with Christian and other minorities, with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other Arab leaders of Iraq, and with neighboring Turkey and Iran. The report also addresses other general political issues and tensions in the Kurdish region, and how said tensions might affect and be affected by the projected U.S. drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq between now and August 2010.

The 111th Congress in coming months might take up free trade agreements (FTAs) signed by the Bush Administration with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea under trade promotion authority, or fast-track rules, designed to expedite congressional consideration of these agreements. Accordingly, agriculture as covered in each pending trade agreement is examined in this report in the order that Congress likely will take up these agreements, based upon statements made to date by Obama Administration officials and Members of Congress.

An all-inorganic photocatalytic unit consisting of a binuclear TiOCr charge-transfer chromophore coupled to an Ir oxide nanocluster has been assembled on the pore surface of mesoporous silica AlMCM-41. In situ FT-Raman and EPR spectroscopy of an aqueous suspension of the resulting IrxOy-TiCr-AlMCM-41 powder reveal the formation of superoxide species when exciting the Ti(IV)OCr(III) --> Ti(III)OCr(IV) metal-to-metal charge-transfer chromophore with visible light. Use of H218O confirms that the superoxide species originates from oxidation of water. Photolysis in the absence of persulfate acceptor leads to accumulation of Ti(III) instead. The results are explained by photocatalytic oxidation of water at Ir oxide nanoclusters followed by trapping of the evolving O2 by transient Ti(III) centers to yield superoxide. Given the flexibility to select donor metals with appropriate redox potential, photocatalytic units consisting of a binuclear charge-transfer chromophore coupled to a water oxidation catalyst shown here constitute a step towards thermodynamically efficient visible light water oxidation units.

The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) in cooperation with the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and with funding from the Department of Energy initiated a new lecture series. The purpose of the lecture series is to increase the visibility of women who have made significant contributions in applied or computational mathematics. The AWM-SIAM Sonia Kovalevsky Lecture is presented at the SIAM Annual Meeting which is a national conference. The lecturer is a woman who has made distinguished contributions in applied or computational mathematics. The lecturer is determined by the Selection Committee which consists of two members of AWM and two members of SIAM, appointed by the presidents of these organizations. The committee may solicit nominations from other members of the scientific and engineering community. The lectureship may be awarded to any woman in the scientific or engineering community.

Three sets of ten time histories each were developed to represent the ground motions for each of the three return periods. All of the time histories are provided as pairs of fault-normal and fault-parallel components. The ground motion time histories are provided in two forms: unmodified, and spectrally modified to match the probabilistic response spectra. The unmodified time histories can be scaled to match the probabilistic response spectra at a specified period, such as the first mode period of the structure being analyzed, while leaving the shape of the response spectrum unmodified. This approach preserves the particular characteristics of the individual time history, together with the peaks and troughs of its response spectrum. These individual characteristics are modified in the spectrally matched time histories, resulting in a suite of ten time histories (for a given return period) that all have the same response spectrum for a given component (fault normal or fault parallel) that follows the smooth shape of the probabilistic response spectrum.

ENERGY STAR is a voluntary energy efficiency-labeling program operated jointly by the United States Department of Energy and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Since the program inception in 1992, ENERGY STAR has become a leading international brand for energy efficient products. ENERGY STAR's central role in the development of regional, national, and international energy programs necessitates an open process whereby its program achievements to date as well as projected future savings are shared with committed stakeholders. Through 2006, US EPA?S ENERGY STAR labeled products saved 4.8 EJ of primary energy and avoided 82 Tg C equivalent. We project that US EPA?S ENERGY STAR labeled products will save 12.8 EJ and avoid 203 Tg C equivalent over the period 2007-2015. A sensitivity analysis examining two key inputs (carbon factor and ENERGY STAR unit sales) bounds the best estimate of carbon avoided between 54 Tg C and 107 Tg C (1993 to 2006) and between 132 Tg C and 278 Tg C (2007 to 2015).

This document summarizes the performance of the groundwater and surface water restoration systems installed by the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) at the former CCC/USDA grain storage facility in Murdock, Nebraska, during the second full year of system operation, from January 1 through December 31, 2007. Performance in June 2005 through December 2006 was reported previously (Argonne 2007). In the Murdock project, several innovative technologies are being used to remove carbon tetrachloride contamination from a shallow aquifer underlying the town, as well as from water naturally discharged to the surface at the headwaters of a small creek (a tributary to Pawnee Creek) north of the town (Figure 1.1). The restoration activities at Murdock are being conducted by the CCC/USDA as a non-time-critical removal action under the regulatory authority and supervision of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region VII. Argonne National Laboratory assisted the CCC/USDA by providing technical oversight for the restoration effort and facilities during this review period. Included in this report are the results of all sampling and monitoring activities performed in accord with the EPA-approved Monitoring Plan for this site (Argonne 2006), as well as additional investigative activities conducted during the review …

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Evidence is presented concerning the effect of surfaces on the segmental motion of PEO-based polymer electrolytes in lithium batteries. For dry systems with no moisture the effect of surfaces of nano-particle fillers is to inhibit the segmental motion and to reduce the lithium ion transport. These effects also occur at the surfaces in composite electrodes that contain considerable quantities of carbon black nano-particles for electronic connection. The problem of reduced polymer mobility is compounded by the generation of salt concentration gradients within the composite electrode. Highly concentrated polymer electrolytes have reduced transport properties due to the increased ionic cross-linking. Combined with the interfacial interactions this leads to the generation of low mobility electrolyte layers within the electrode and to loss of capacity and power capability. It is shown that even with planar lithium metal electrodes the concentration gradients can significantly impact the interfacial impedance. The interfacial impedance of lithium/PEO-LiTFSI cells varies depending upon the time elapsed since current was turned off after polarization. The behavior is consistent with relaxation of the salt concentration gradients and indicates that a portion of the interfacial impedance usually attributed to the SEI layer is due to concentrated salt solutions next to the electrode surfaces …

The compound (bpy)2MnIII(mu-O)2MnIV(bpy)2, a structural model relevant for the photosynthetic water oxidation complex, was coupled to single CrVI charge-transfer chromophores in the channels of the nanoporous oxide AlMCM-41. Mn K-edge EXAFS spectroscopy confirmed that the di-mu-oxo dinuclear Mn core of the complex is unaffected when loaded into the nanoscale pores. Observation of the 16-line EPR signal characteristic of MnIII(mu-O)2MnIV demonstrates that the majority of the loaded complexes retained their nascent oxidation state in the presence or absence of CrVI centers. The FT-Raman spectrum upon visible light excitation of the CrVI-OII --> CrV-OI ligand-to-metal charge-transfer reveals electron transfer from MnIII(mu-O)2MnIV (Mn-O stretch at 700 cm-1) to CrVI, resulting in the formation of CrV and MnIV(mu-O)2MnIV (Mn-O stretch at 645 cm-1). All initial and final states are directly observed by FT-Raman or EPR spectroscopy, and the assignments corroborated by X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements. The endoergic charge separation products (DELTA Eo = -0.6 V) remain after several minutes, which points to spatial separation of CrV and MnIV(mu-O)2MnIV as a consequence of hole (OI) hopping as a major contributing mechanism. This is the first observation of visible light-induced oxidation of a potential water oxidation complex by a metal charge-transfer pump in a nanoporous environment. …

Newsletter of the Texas Air Control Board including information about the Board as well as news, events, and other relevant information related to air quality in Texas.