This report analyzes data on the health effects of bicycling in an urban environment through intensive study of ten healthy male subjects bicycling or driving in systematically varied conditions in the streets of Washington, D.C. Evaluation criteria for available technology and instrumentation are included and a methodology is developed for route selection. Specific air pollutants (carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfates, nitrates, and particulates) are measured concurrently with exposure and subsequent changes in health status identified through pulmonary function testing, cardiovascular testing, and blood and symptoms analysis. The report concludes that no major adverse short-term health effects were noted for ten healthy male subjects while bicycling or driving in levels of pollution and thermal stress encountered during the study period. Recommendations for further research are also presented.

This report provides a brief summary the Antarctic Treaty, Outer Space Treaty, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Latin American Nuclear-Free Zone Treaty

WSRC-RP-91-677 studied the structural response of the safety rods under the conditions of brake failure and accidental release. It was concluded that the maximum impact loading to the safety rod is 6020 pounds based on conservative considerations that energy dissipation attributable to fluid resistance and reactor superstructure flexibility. The staffers of the Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board reviewed the results and inquired about the extent of conservatism. By request of the RESTART team, I reassessed the impact force due to these conservative assumptions. This memorandum reports these assessments.

This paper introduces a new method for estimating a dose-response relationship from spatially averaged time series of air pollution and health data. Because time is perceived as a nuisance parameter to be eliminated, least-squares regression and traditional time series methodology (e.g., spectral analysis, Box-Jenkins methods) are rejected in favor of a nonparametric estimation procedure based on observing health effects in times of nearly equal pollution. The method requires estimating the ratio of two density functions and avoids problems of aggregation, linearity, and normality. The procedure seems most useful, at present, as a data analytic and data display device rather than as an inferential tool.

This report describes a screw calciner direct-denitration process for converting plutonium nitrate to plutonium oxide. The information should be used when making comparisons of alternative plutonium nitrate-to-oxide conversion processes or as a basis for further detailed studies. The report contains process flow sheets with a material balance; a process description; and a discussion of the process including history, advantages and disadvantages, and additional research required.

Discussion of laboratory tests to reduce uranium corrosion.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which is overseen by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), has experienced a number of security lapses in controlling classified information stored on its classified computer network. GAO was requested to (1) assess the effectiveness of security controls LANL used to protect information on its classified network, (2) assess whether LANL had fully implemented an information security program to ensure that security controls were effectively established and maintained for its classified network, and (3) identify the expenditures used to operate and support its classified network from fiscal years 2001 through 2008. To carry out this work, GAO examined security policies and procedures and reviewed LANL's access controls for protecting information on its classified network."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assumed responsibility for the immigration enforcement and services programs of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in 2003. The three DHS bureaus with primary responsibility for immigration functions are U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This transfer creates a great opportunity for DHS to address long-standing management and operational problems within INS. The Homeland Security Act requires GAO to review the transfer of immigration functions to DHS. In response, this report assesses the status of (1) communication and coordination of roles and responsibilities, (2) integration of immigration and customs investigators in ICE, and (3) administrative services and systems in CBP, CIS, and ICE."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Between 1994 and 2001, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) provided more than $7.6 billion in grants to state and local communities to hire police officers and promote community policing as an effective strategy to prevent crime. Studies of the impact of the grants on crime have been inconclusive. GAO was asked to evaluate the effect of the COPS program on the decline in crime during the 1990s. GAO developed and analyzed a database containing annual observations on crime, police officers, COPS funds, and other factors related to crime, covering years prior to and during the COPS program, or from 1990 through 2001. GAO analyzed survey data on policing practices that agencies reportedly implemented and reviewed studies of policing practices. GAO assessed: (1) how COPS obligations were distributed and how much was spent; (2) the extent to which COPS expenditures contributed to increases in the number of police officers and declines in crime nationwide; and (3) the extent to which COPS grants during the 1990s were associated with policing practices that crime literature indicates could be effective. In commenting on a draft of this …

This report discusses the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) FY2011 appropriations bill, which includes funding for the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Office of the President (EOP), the judiciary, the District of Columbia, and 26 independent agencies, including the Small Business Administration and the United States Postal Service.

Seclusion and restraint have been used in various situations to deal with violent or noncompliant behavior. Because of congressional interest in the use of seclusion and restraint in schools, including passage of H.R. 4247 and the introduction of S. 2860, 111th Congress, first session, this report focuses on the legal issues concerning the use of these techniques in schools, including their application both to children covered by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and to those not covered by IDEA.

This report provides an overview of Jordanian politics and current issues in U.S.-Jordanian relations. It provides a brief discussion of Jordan's government and economy and of its cooperation in promoting Arab-Israeli peace and other U.S. policy objectives in the Middle East.

This report describes the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy, which holds that the presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in same-sex acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion which are the essence of military capability. Under this policy, but not the law, service members are not to be asked about nor allowed to discuss their "same-sex orientation." This report also describes recent efforts by certain Members of Congress to amending this policy.

This report reviews the evolution of the U.S. biofuels sector and the role that federal policy has played in shaping its development. In addition, it highlights emerging issues that are critical to the biofuels sector and of relevance to Congress.

This report will briefly discuss existing disaster-related tax provisions and their application to the recent Depewater Horizon oil rig explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The report then provides an analysis of the tax treatment of the BP payments to the individuals and businesses impacted by the oil spill as well as various policy options for providing tax relief to oil spill victims, highlighting the circumstantial differences between previous natural disasters and the current oil spill. The report concludes with a brief summary of current legislative efforts.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In spring 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and state and local health officials worked together to interdict two individuals with drug-resistant infectious tuberculosis (TB) from crossing U.S. borders and direct them to treatment. Concerns arose that HHS's and DHS's responses to the incidents were delayed and ineffective. GAO was asked to examine (1) the factors that affected HHS's and DHS's responses to the incidents, (2) the extent to which HHS and DHS made changes to response procedures as a result of the incidents, and (3) HHS's and DHS's efforts to assess the effectiveness of changes made as a result of the incidents. GAO reviewed agency documents and interviewed officials about the procedures in place at the time of the incidents and changes made since."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) plans to increase its military presence on Guam from about 15,000 in 2009 to more than 39,000 by 2020 at a cost of more than $13 billion. The growth will create temporary construction jobs and permanent civilian jobs with the military, with contractors, and in the Guam community. GAO was asked to examine the extent to which DOD and the government of Guam have (1) planned for temporary construction labor requirements and the means to meet the requirements for building military infrastructure to support the force in Guam and (2) identified permanent federal and non-federal civilian jobs and shared this information so that Guam can develop its workforce to better compete for job opportunities. To address these objectives, GAO obtained documents and interviewed officials from DOD, the Services, government of Guam offices, and the Guam higher educational community."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Five insular areas of the United States--American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands--benefit from federal health care financing and grant programs that help fund health care services to their over 4 million residents. However, notable differences exist in how the programs are funded or operate in the insular areas, such as statutory limits on federal Medicaid funding to the insular areas that do not apply in the states. To help understand these differences, GAO was asked to identify (1) the key sources of federal health care funding in the insular areas, (2) differences between insular areas and the states in the methods used to allocate these funds, and (3) differences in spending levels per individual between insular areas and the states. In commenting on a draft of this report, American Samoa, CNMI, and Puerto Rico suggested the need for additional information on certain issues, such as implications of statutory limits on federal Medicaid spending and a more comprehensive analysis of local circumstances that affect the availability and costs of health care services."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Exchange programs, which bring over 280,000 foreign visitors to the United States annually, are widely recognized as an effective way to expose citizens of other countries to the American people and culture. Past GAO and the Department of State (State) Office of Inspector General reviews have reported that some exchange visitors have participated in unauthorized activities and cited problems in the management and oversight of the programs. Strong management oversight is needed to ensure that the programs operate as intended and are not abused. This report examines how State manages the Summer Work Travel and the Trainee programs to ensure that only authorized activities are carried out under the programs and identifies potential risks of the programs and the data available to assess these risks."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the extent to which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee evaluation system can support the new mission statement during the period IRS will need to revamp its performance management system, focusing on: (1) determining the relative emphasis on revenue production, efficiency, and customer service in enforcement employees' annual written evaluations; (2) identifying features of the evaluation process that might be used to greater advantage to reinforce the importance of customer service; and (3) describing IRS initiatives to promote customer service, including those to encourage enforcement employees to be taxpayer oriented."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO compared the cost of the Department of Defense's (DOD) high-quality child development program with the cost of comparable care in the civilian market, focusing on: (1) identifying the objectives of the military child development program and describing how it operates; (2) determining the full cost of operating DOD's U.S. child development centers and the cost per child-hour for center-based care; and (3) comparing the cost per child in DOD's child development centers with the full cost of comparable quality child care in the civilian market."

A chapter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Airspace System (NAS) is a complex network of airports, aircraft, air traffic control (ATC) facilities, employees, and pilots. The aviation industry, which depends on the NAS, contributes about 9 percent to the gross domestic product. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), funded through a tax-financed trust fund and General Fund appropriations, is pursuing a multibillion-dollar modernization program. Persistent cost, schedule, and/or performance shortfalls have kept this program on GAO's list of high-risk programs since 1995. GAO was asked to review the status of NAS modernization. This report addresses NAS status by identifying the challenges that FAA faces in managing (1) infrastructure, (2) human capital, and (3) financial resources."

The design and performance of a solar hot water system for can washing at the Campbell Soup Plant in Sacramento, California, are presented. The collector field is located on the roof of the finished products warehouse of the Campbell Soup Sacramento plant. Water is supplied from a 3.8 cm (1/sup 1///sub 2/ in.) supply line which is located directly below an existing roof access hatch. A supply pipe will be brought up through that hatch. The water flow will then be split into two manifold lines which supply the dual rows of flat plate collectors. The preheated water from the flat plates is then passed into six sets of parallel connected concentrators. Each set consist of eight 1.83 x 3.05 m (6 x 10 foot) modules connected in series. The water from these units is gathered in a 3.8 cm (1/sup 1///sub 2/ in.) insulated pipe which transports it to the storage tank. This pipe will be attached to an existing pipe run until it reaches the can washing building. From there the pipe will follow the can washing building around to the storage tank. The storage tank is a 75,200 1 (20,000 gal) steel tank which is coated internally …

To address the challenges facing the U.S. intelligence community in the 21st century, congressional and executive branch initiatives have sought to improve coordination among the different agencies and to encourage better analysis. This report discusses these challenges and efforts the current and previous Administrations and Congresses have taken and are taking to address them. The report includes criticism of the intelligence community's efforts regarding Iraq, Iran, and other areas. Improved analysis remains a key goal in these discussions.