A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicaid, jointly funded by the federal government and the states, finances health care for about 56 million low-income people at an estimated total cost of about $298 billion in fiscal year 2004. Congress intended Medicaid to be the payer of last resort: if Medicaid beneficiaries have another source of health care coverage--such as private health insurance or a health plan purchased individually or provided through an employer--that source, to the extent of its liability, should pay before Medicaid does. This concept is referred to as "third-party liability." When such coverage is used, savings accrue to the federal government and the states. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the states, GAO examined (1) the extent to which Medicaid beneficiaries have private health coverage and (2) problems states face in ensuring that Medicaid is the payer of last resort, including the extent to which the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 may help address these problems."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1992, GAO has published long-term fiscal simulations of what might happen to federal deficits and debt levels under varying policy assumptions. GAO developed its long-term model in response to a bipartisan request from Members of Congress who were concerned about the long-term effects of fiscal policy. In 1992 GAO said: "The federal budget is structurally unbalanced. This will do increasing damage to the economy and is unsustainable in the long term. Regardless of the approach chosen, prompt and meaningful action is essential. The longer it is delayed, the more painful it will be." These words are as relevant today as when GAO first published them. GAO updates its simulations three times a year as new estimates become available from the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) Budget and Economic Outlook (January), Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports (early spring), and CBO's Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update (late summer)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2003, the General Services Administration (GSA) awarded three 10-year e-Government Travel Service (eTS) master contracts as part of the e-Gov Travel initiative, managed by the General Services Administration (GSA), which aims to save costs and improve service by providing a common, integrated approach to managing government travel functions. GSA has projected that e-Gov Travel will realize about $473 million in savings across the government between fiscal years 2002 and 2013. As directed by Senate Report 109-109, GAO is reporting on its study of (1) whether GSA has appropriate mechanisms in place to help ensure the use of small business travel agencies in the e-Gov Travel program and (2) the soundness of GSA's estimate of potential savings. GAO evaluated GSA's small business goals and results and assessed GSA's cost-benefit analysis based on criteria developed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In April 2005, GAO recommended that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Kennedy Center) increase oversight of its management of federal funds, better comply with fire code, and conform to project management best practices. GAO was asked to evaluate (1) the progress the Kennedy Center has made in implementing GAO's April 2005 recommendations, (2) the status of federally funded capital projects and the planned spending of federal funds for capital projects as indicated by the Kennedy Center's most recent comprehensive building plan, and (3) the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees' responsibilities for federally funded capital projects and the extent to which the board fulfills these responsibilities. To fulfill these objectives, GAO examined Kennedy Center documents, visited other arts organizations, and interviewed affected parties."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In March 2005, two well-publicized and nearly simultaneous incidents involving the suspicion of anthrax took place in the Washington, D.C., area. The incidents occurred at Department of Defense (DOD) mail facilities at the Pentagon and at a commercial office complex (Skyline Complex). While these incidents were false alarms, DOD and other federal and local agencies responded. The Postal Service suspended operations at two of its facilities and over a thousand DOD and Postal Service employees were given antibiotics as a precaution against their possible exposure to anthrax. This report describes (1) what occurred at the Pentagon and Skyline Complex mail facilities, (2) the problems we identified in detecting and responding to the incidents, (3) the actions taken by DOD that address the problems that occurred, and (4) the extent to which DOD's actions address the problems."

We have previously evaluated the ductility behaviors of U-6Nb and pure Ta. One important observation was that both alloys have very stable necking ductility independent of test conditions. In contrast, uniform ductility varied significantly depending upon strain rates and temperatures. In general, higher strain rate and lower temperature reduce the uniform ductility. Using literature data, we have developed two dynamic ductility models to predict the ductility behaviors of pure-Ta and water-quenched U-6Nb respectively under extreme conditions. In this study we further evaluate the aging effect on U-6Nb and the W-addition effect on Ta. For U-6Nb, the objective is to determine whether or not the ductility degradation by low-temperature aging mostly measured in quasi-static condition can still be observed under dynamic loading (high strain rate) condition. For Ta-W alloys, the focus is to identify the key control parameter so that the optimal condition of high-strength/high-ductility of Ta-10W can be achieved for certain defense-related applications.

A series of detailed historical water-table maps for the 200-West Area of the Hanford Site was made to aid interpretation of contaminant distribution in the upper aquifer. The contaminants are the result of disposal of large volumes of waste to the ground during Hanford Site operations, which began in 1944 and continued into the mid-1990s. Examination of the contaminant plumes that currently exist on site shows that the groundwater beneath the 200-West Area has deviated from its pre-Hanford west-to-east flow direction during the past 50 years. By using historical water-level measurements from wells around the 200-West Area, it was possible to create water-table contour maps that show probable historic flow directions. These maps are more detailed than previously published water-table maps that encompass the entire Hanford Site.

Results of a preliminary safety evaluation of the Advanced Burner Test Reactor (ABTR) pre-conceptual design are reported. The ABTR safety design approach is described. Traditional defense-in-depth design features are supplemented with passive safety performance characteristics that include natural circulation emergency decay heat removal and reactor power reduction by inherent reactivity feedbacks in accidents. ABTR safety performance in design-basis and beyond-design-basis accident sequences is estimated based on analyses. Modeling assumptions and input data for safety analyses are presented. Analysis results for simulation of simultaneous loss of coolant pumping power and normal heat rejection are presented and discussed, both for the case with reactor scram and the case without reactor scram. The analysis results indicate that the ABTR pre-conceptual design is capable of undergoing bounding design-basis and beyond-design-basis accidents without fuel cladding failures. The first line of defense for protection of the public against release of radioactivity in accidents remains intact with significant margin. A comparison and evaluation of general safety design criteria for the ABTR conceptual design phase are presented in an appendix. A second appendix presents SASSYS-1 computer code capabilities and modeling enhancements implemented for ABTR analyses.

Crystals of slightly soluble materials should be subject of relatively weak attachment/detachment fluctuations on their faces so that steps on that faces have low kink density. These steps are parallel to the most close packed lattice rows and form polygons on a crystal surface. The process responsible for implementation of the classical Gibbs-Thomson law (GTL) for the polygonal step (in two dimensions, 2D) is kink exchange between the step corners. For the 3D crystallites, this mechanism includes step exchange. If these mechanisms do not operate because of slow fluctuations the GTL is not applicable. Physics of these processes and conditions for the GTL applicability are discussed on a simple qualitative level.

The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container. Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Weekly magazine edition of the daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story.

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This report discusses the law governing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs whose purpose is to give consumers confidence in the legitimacy of products sold as organic, and permit legal action against those who use the term fraudulently.

This report is on Border Security: Fences Along the U.S. International Border.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

The City of Anaheim Public Utilities Department (Anaheim) has been providing electric service to Anaheim residents and businesses for over a century. As a city in a high-growth region, identifying sources of reliable energy to meet demand is a constant requirement. Additionally, as more power generation is needed, locating generating stations locally is a difficult proposition and must consider environmental and community impacts. Anaheim believes benefits can be achieved by implementing new distributed generation technologies to supplement central plants, helping keep pace with growing demand for power. If the power is clean, then it can be delivered with minimal environmental impact. Anaheim started investigating fuel cell technology in 2000 and decided a field demonstration of a fuel cell power plant would help determine how the technology can best serve Anaheim. As a result, Anaheim completed the project under this grant as a way to gain installation and operating experience about fuel cells and fuel cell capabilities. Anaheim also hopes to help others learn more about fuel cells by providing information about this project to the public. Currently, Anaheim has hosted a number of requested tours at the project site, and information about the project can be found on Anaheim Public …

In an effort to promote clean energy projects and aid in the commercialization of new fuel cell technologies, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) initiated a Fuel Cell Demonstration Program in 1999 with six month deployments of Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) non-commercial Beta model systems at partnering sites throughout Long Island. These projects facilitated significant developments in the technology, providing operating experience that allowed the manufacturer to produce fuel cells that were half the size of the Beta units and suitable for outdoor installations. In 2001, LIPA embarked on a large-scale effort to identify and develop measures that could improve the reliability and performance of future fuel cell technologies for electric utility applications and the concept to establish a fuel cell farm (Farm) of 75 units was developed. By the end of October of 2001, 75 Lorax 2.0 fuel cells had been installed at the West Babylon substation on Long Island, making it the first fuel cell demonstration of its kind and size anywhere in the world at the time. Designed to help LIPA study the feasibility of using fuel cells to operate in parallel with LIPA's electric grid system, the Farm operated 120 fuel cells over its lifetime of …

Investigations on the behavior of the radioactive element technetium frequently use a stable isotope of rhenium as an analogue. This is justified by citing the elements similar radii and major oxidation states of +7 and +4. However, at least one study [1] has shown this analogy to be imperfect. Therefore, one goal of our study is to compare the adsorption behavior of perrhenate and pertechnetate (the major forms of Re and Tc in natural waters) on a number of different mineral surfaces. Quantum mechanical calculations were performed on the adsorption of these two anions on a series of iron oxides and sulfides. With these calculations, we gain insight into any differences between the anions adsorption behavior, including geometry, adsorption energies, and electronic structure such as density of states and orbital shapes and energies at the adsorption site. Differences between interactions on terraces and step edges, the effects of co-adsorbates such as Na{sup +} or H{sup +}, and possible reduction mechanisms are also explored. The influence of water was calculated using homogeneous dielectric fluids and explicit water molecules. As a complement to the calculations, batch sorption tests are in progress involving ReO{sub 4}{sup -}/TcO{sub 4}{sup -} solution in contact with Fe …

This report provides physical and radiochemical characterization results from examinations and laboratory analyses performed on ~0.55-inch diameter rod pieces found in the 105 K West (KW) Basin that were suspected to be from nuclear reactor fuel. The characterization results will be used to establish the technical basis for adding this material to the contents of one of the final Multi-Canister Overpacks (MCOs) that will be loaded out of the KW Basin in late FY2006 or at a later time depending on project priorities. Fifteen fuel rod pieces were found during the clean out of the KW Basin. Based on lack of specific credentials, documentation, or obvious serial numbers, none of the items could be positively identified nor could their sources or compositions be described. Item weights and dimensions measured in the KW Basin indicated densities consistent with the suspect fuel rods containing uranium dioxide (UO2), uranium metal, or being empty. Extensive review of the Hanford Site technical literature led to the postulation that these pieces likely were irradiated test fuel prepared to support of the development of the Hanford “New Production Reactor,” later called N Reactor. To obtain definitive data on the composition of the suspect fuel, 4 representative fuel …

A method is presented showing that a 5-level cascade multilevel inverter for a three-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor drive can be implemented using only a single DC link to supply a standard 3-leg inverter along with three full H-bridges supplied by capacitors. It is shown that the capacitor voltages can be regulated while achieving an output voltage waveform that is 20% greater than that obtained using the standard 3-leg inverter alone. Finally conditions are given in terms of the power factor and modulation index that determine when the capacitor voltage can regulated.