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nip, a Symbiotic Medicago truncatula Mutant that Forms Root Nodules with Aberrant Infection Threads and Plant Defense-Like Response (open access)

nip, a Symbiotic Medicago truncatula Mutant that Forms Root Nodules with Aberrant Infection Threads and Plant Defense-Like Response

Article on nip, a symbiotic Medicago truncatula mutant that forms root nodules with aberrant infection threads and plant defense-like response.
Date: November 2004
Creator: Veereshlingam, Harita; Haynes, Janine G.; Penmetsa, R. Varma; Cook, Douglas R.; Sherrier, D. Janine & Dickstein, Rebecca
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Both Sides of the Border: A Scattering of Texas Folklore (open access)

Both Sides of the Border: A Scattering of Texas Folklore

Collection of Tex-Mex folklore and related essays, including papers presented at Texas Folklore Society meetings. The book is organized into four topical categories: I. Remembering Our Ancestors, II. Texas-Mexican Folklore, III. Miscellaneous Memorabilia, and IV. The Family Saga (Cont'd).
Date: November 15, 2004
Creator: Abernethy, Francis Edward & Untiedt, Kenneth L.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Southwest Retort, Volume 57, Number 3, November 2004 (open access)

Southwest Retort, Volume 57, Number 3, November 2004

This publication of the Dallas-Fort Worth Section of the American Chemical Society includes information about research, prominent scientist, organizational business, and various other stories of interest to the community.
Date: November 2004
Creator: American Chemical Society. Dallas/Fort Worth Section.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Audit: Bureau of the Public Debt's Fiscal Years 2004 and 2003 Schedules of Federal Debt (open access)

Financial Audit: Bureau of the Public Debt's Fiscal Years 2004 and 2003 Schedules of Federal Debt

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO is required to audit the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government. Due to the significance of the federal debt held by the public to the governmentwide financial statements, GAO has also been auditing the Bureau of the Public Debt's (BPD) Schedules of Federal Debt annually. The audit of these schedules is done to determine whether, in all material respects, (1) the schedules prepared are reliable, (2) BPD management maintained effective internal control relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt, and (3) BPD complies with selected provisions of significant laws related to the Schedule of Federal Debt. Federal debt managed by BPD consists of Treasury securities held by the public and by certain federal government accounts, referred to as intragovernmental debt holdings. The level of debt held by the public reflects how much of the nation's wealth has been absorbed by the federal government to finance prior federal spending in excess of total federal revenues. Intragovernmental debt holdings represent balances of Treasury securities held by federal government accounts, primarily federal trust funds such as Social Security, that typically have an obligation to invest their excess …
Date: November 5, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Information on Options for Naval Surface Fire Support (open access)

Information on Options for Naval Surface Fire Support

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Land-, air-, and sea-based components form the "fires triad" that is used to support Marine Corps amphibious assault operations. The sea-based part of the fires triad is referred to as Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS). The retirement of the last Iowa class battleship left a void in the NSFS part of the fires triad. To field a replacement NSFS capability, the Navy developed a two-phased plan in 1994. In the near-term to midterm, it would modify the capability of 5-inch guns on existing destroyers and cruisers, and develop extended-range guided munitions for the modified 5-inch gun. In the far term, it would field a sufficient number of new destroyers fitted with an even-longerrange advanced gun system and ultimately a very-long-range electromagnetic gun or "Rail Gun." However, in 1996, congressional authorizers became concerned that the Navy would not be able to produce a replacement NSFS capability comparable to the battleships until well into the twenty-first century. In that year's Defense Authorization Act, the Congress directed the Secretary of the Navy to restore at least two Iowa class battleships to the naval vessel registry until a capability was developed equal …
Date: November 19, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Veterans Benefits: VA Needs Plan for Assessing Consistency of Decisions (open access)

Veterans Benefits: VA Needs Plan for Assessing Consistency of Decisions

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the past, we have reported concerns about possible inconsistencies in the disability decisions made by the 57 regional offices of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In 2002, we reported that VA did not systematically assess the consistency of decision making for any specific impairments included in veterans' disability claims. We recommended that VA conduct such assessments to help reduce any unacceptable variations that VA might find among regional offices. VA agreed that decision-making consistency is an important goal and concurred in principle with our recommendation. However, VA did not discuss how it would measure consistency. In January 2003, in part because of concerns about consistency, we designated VA's disability program, along with other federal disability programs, as high-risk. In fiscal year 2005, VA estimates it will pay about $25 billion in disability compensation benefits to about 2.7 million disabled veterans. In this context, we determined (1) the actions that VA has taken to assess the consistency of regional office decisions on disability compensation claims and (2) the extent to which VA program data can be used to measure the consistency of decision making among …
Date: November 19, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Airport and Airway Trust Fund Excise Taxes (open access)

Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Airport and Airway Trust Fund Excise Taxes

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We have performed the procedures contained in this report, which we agreed to perform and with which the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Transportation concurred, solely to assist that office in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004, is supported by the underlying records. We evaluated fiscal year 2004 activity affecting distributions to the AATF. The adequacy of the procedures to meet the IG's objectives is the IG's responsibility, and we make no representation in that respect. The procedures we agreed to perform were (1) detailed tests of transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to the AATF, (2) review of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) quarterly AATF certifications, (3) review of the Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service adjustments to the AATF for fiscal year 2004, (4) review of IRS's precertification1 of receipts for the second and third quarters of fiscal year 2004, (5) review of certain procedures of the Department of the Treasury's Office of Tax Analysis' (OTA) estimation procedures affecting excise tax distributions …
Date: November 5, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Air Traffic Control: FAA's Acquisition Management Has Improved, but Policies and Oversight Need Strengthening to Help Ensure Results (open access)

Air Traffic Control: FAA's Acquisition Management Has Improved, but Policies and Oversight Need Strengthening to Help Ensure Results

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) multibillion-dollar effort to modernize the nation's air traffic control (ATC) system has resulted in cost, schedule, and performance shortfalls for over two decades and has been on GAO's list of high-risk federal programs since 1995. According to FAA, performance shortfalls were due, in part, to restrictions imposed by federal acquisition and personnel regulations. In response, Congress granted FAA exemptions in 1995 and directed it to develop a new acquisition management system. In this report, GAO compared FAA's AMS with (1) the FAR and (2) commercial best practices for major acquisitions, and (3) examined FAA's implementation of AMS and its progress in resolving problems with major acquisitions."
Date: November 12, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Audit: IRS's Fiscal Years 2004 and 2003 Financial Statements (open access)

Financial Audit: IRS's Fiscal Years 2004 and 2003 Financial Statements

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because of the significance of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collections to federal receipts and, in turn, to the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government, which GAO is required to audit, and Congress's interest in financial management at IRS, GAO audits IRS's financial statements annually to determine whether (1) the financial statements IRS prepares are reliable, (2) IRS management maintained effective internal controls, and (3) IRS complies with selected provisions of significant laws and regulations and its financial systems comply with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA)."
Date: November 10, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Embassy Construction: Proposed Cost-Sharing Program Could Speed Construction and Reduce Staff Levels, but Some Agencies Have Concerns (open access)

Embassy Construction: Proposed Cost-Sharing Program Could Speed Construction and Reduce Staff Levels, but Some Agencies Have Concerns

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of State is in the early stages of a proposed multibillion dollar program to build secure new embassies and consulates around the world. Under the proposed Capital Security Cost-Sharing Program, all agencies with staff assigned to overseas diplomatic missions would share in construction costs. This report describes (1) the rationale for and development of the program, (2) agency concerns about the program, and (3) the influence of the program on agencies' overseas staff levels."
Date: November 15, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
GAO Performance and Accountability Report Fiscal Year 2004 (open access)

GAO Performance and Accountability Report Fiscal Year 2004

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Presented is GAO's performance and accountability report for fiscal year 2004. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual report informs the Congress and the American people about what we have achieved on their behalf. Importantly, GAO received a clean opinion from independent auditors on our financial statements for the 18th consecutive year. The financial information and the data measuring GAO's performance contained in this report are complete and reliable."
Date: November 15, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Informing Our Nation: Improving How to Understand and Assess the USA's Position and Progress (open access)

Informing Our Nation: Improving How to Understand and Assess the USA's Position and Progress

A chapter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "There has been growing activity and interest in developing a system of key national indicators that would provide an independent, trusted, reliable, widely available, and usable source of information. Such a system would facilitate fact-based assessments of the position and progress of the United States, on both an absolute and relative basis. This interest emerges from the following perspectives. The nation's complex challenges and decisions require more sophisticated information resources than are now available. Large investments have been made in indicators on a variety of topics ranging from health and education to the economy and the environment that could be aggregated and disseminated in ways to better inform the nation. The United States does not have a national system that assembles key information on economic, environmental, and social and cultural issues. Congressional and other leaders recognized that they could benefit from the experiences of others who have already developed and implemented such key indicator systems. GAO was asked to conduct a study on: (1) The state of the practice in these systems in the United States and around the world, (2) Lessons learned and implications for …
Date: November 10, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Audit: Congressional Award Foundation's Fiscal Years 2003 and 2002 Financial Statements (open access)

Financial Audit: Congressional Award Foundation's Fiscal Years 2003 and 2002 Financial Statements

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents our opinion on the financial statements of the Congressional Award Foundation for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003, and 2002. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Congressional Award Foundation. This report also presents (1) our opinion on the effectiveness of the Foundation's related internal control as of September 30, 2003, and (2) our conclusion on the Foundation's compliance in fiscal year 2003 with selected provisions of laws and regulations we tested. We conducted our audit pursuant to section 8 of the Congressional Award Act, as amended (2 U.S.C. 807), and in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards."
Date: November 15, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agricultural Conservation: USDA Should Improve Its Methods for Estimating Technical Assistance Costs (open access)

Agricultural Conservation: USDA Should Improve Its Methods for Estimating Technical Assistance Costs

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), working with state and local partners, provides landowners with technical assistance for multiple programs to plan and implement conservation measures that protect soil, water, and wildlife. For years, the Congress has been seeking detailed cost information on this assistance as it examined USDA budget requests. In part, because NRCS's financial system was not designed for estimating future budgets, in 1998 NRCS began developing additional cost data and a computer model for estimating future technical assistance costs. GAO was asked to (1) review NRCS's technical assistance cost estimates and (2) identify causes of any differences between the estimates and actual costs ultimately reported by NRCS."
Date: November 30, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Business Systems Modernization: IRS's Fiscal Year 2004 Expenditure Plan (open access)

Business Systems Modernization: IRS's Fiscal Year 2004 Expenditure Plan

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Business Systems Modernization (BSM) program is a multibillion-dollar, high-risk, highly complex effort that involves the development and delivery of a number of modernized information systems that are intended to replace the agency's aging business and tax processing systems. BSM funds are not available until IRS submits an expenditure plan that meets various conditions to congressional appropriations committees for approval. In January and July 2004, the Department of the Treasury submitted IRS's initial and revised fiscal year 2004 plans, respectively. As required by law, GAO reviewed the plans to (1) determine whether the plans satisfied the conditions specified in the law, (2) determine what progress IRS had made in implementing our prior recommendations, and (3) provide any other observations about the plans and IRS's BSM program."
Date: November 17, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Foster Youth: HHS Actions Could Improve Coordination of Services and Monitoring of States' Independent Living Programs (open access)

Foster Youth: HHS Actions Could Improve Coordination of Services and Monitoring of States' Independent Living Programs

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To improve outcomes for youth leaving foster care, Congress passed the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (FCIA), which increased the allocation of federal funds for independent living programs from $70 million to $140 million. This report reviews (1) how states' funding allocations changed to serve youth after FCIA, (2) the extent to which states have expanded services and age groups of foster youth served since the passage of FCIA and what challenges remain, (3) the extent to which states have used other federal and state programs to coordinate the delivery of services to foster youth, and (4) how the states and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have fulfilled the program accountability provisions of the law and assessed the effectiveness of independent living services."
Date: November 18, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
VA Long-Term Care: Oversight of Nursing Home Program Impeded by Data Gaps (open access)

VA Long-Term Care: Oversight of Nursing Home Program Impeded by Data Gaps

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) operates a $2.3 billion nursing home program that provides or pays for veterans' care in three settings: VA nursing homes, community nursing homes, and state veterans' nursing homes. The Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act (Millennium Act) of 1999 and VA policy require that VA provide nursing home care to veterans with a certain eligibility. Congress has expressed a need for additional data to conduct oversight of VA's nursing home program. Specifically, for all VA nursing home settings in fiscal year 2003, GAO was asked to report on (1) VA spending to provide or pay for nursing home care, (2) VA workload provided or paid for, (3) the percentage of nursing home care that is long and short stay, and (4) the percentage of veterans receiving care required by the Millennium Act or VA policy."
Date: November 10, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Multifamily Housing: Implementation of Fiscal Year 2003 Requirements Concerning Housing Choice Voucher Administrative Fees (open access)

Multifamily Housing: Implementation of Fiscal Year 2003 Requirements Concerning Housing Choice Voucher Administrative Fees

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) received $12.9 billion in fiscal year 2003 for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, which helps about 2 million low-income families pay rent for privately owned housing. This amount included $1.1 billion in administrative fee payments to the public housing agencies that administer the program for HUD. In the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution of 2003, Congress included provisions to address a concern that housing agencies may have received more in fees than they needed to run the program. Housing agencies were directed to report to HUD their available reserves as of January 31, 2003. HUD was directed to reduce the fees agencies would receive if these levels were too high and recapture some excess fees. The conference report accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004 directed GAO to review compliance with these provisions. This report discusses (1) the extent to which housing agencies complied with the requirement to report to HUD their available administrative fee reserves as of January 31, 2003; (2) how these reported reserves compared with reserves reported in earlier fiscal years and possible reasons for any declines; …
Date: November 19, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Changes in Global Hawk's Acquisition Strategy Are Needed to Reduce Program Risks (open access)

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Changes in Global Hawk's Acquisition Strategy Are Needed to Reduce Program Risks

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Global Hawk offers significant military capabilities to capture and quickly transmit high-quality images of targets and terrain, day or night, and in adverse weather--without risk to an onboard pilot. Global Hawk first flew in the late 1990s as a demonstrator and supported recent combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2001, the Air Force began an acquisition program to develop and produce improved Global Hawks. In 2002, the Department of Defense (DOD) restructured and accelerated the program to include a new, larger and more capable air vehicle. GAO was asked to review the program and discuss (1) the restructuring's effect on the Air Force's ability to deliver new capabilities to the warfighter and (2) whether its current business case and management approach is knowledge-based and can help forestall future risks."
Date: November 5, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Military Personnel: DOD Needs to Strengthen the Annual Review and Certification of Military Personnel Obligations (open access)

Military Personnel: DOD Needs to Strengthen the Annual Review and Certification of Military Personnel Obligations

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, Congress appropriates billions of dollars to pay and support U.S. military personnel at home and overseas. In fiscal year 2003, military personnel (MILPERS) appropriations amounted to more than $109 billion. Once the funds are appropriated, the military services are responsible for ensuring that the funds are properly obligated and disbursed. Their end-of-the-fiscal-year review is critical to the next year's budget formulation process because the services use the obligations for the most recent fiscal year completed as a point of reference in developing their new budgets, and Congress uses this information as a point of comparison in its review of the new budget requests. In our prior work for the House and Senate appropriation and authorization committees, reviewing the services' budget justifications, we found that although the services were conducting annual reviews and certifications, the services did not review transactions by matching obligations to individual disbursements in all of the years that disbursements can occur, as required by the Department of Defense (DOD) Financial Management Regulation. We also found that the services disbursed some obligations for purposes other than those reported in their budget submission, but their …
Date: November 29, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
VA and DOD Health Care: Efforts to Coordinate a Single Physical Exam Process for Servicemembers Leaving the Military (open access)

VA and DOD Health Care: Efforts to Coordinate a Single Physical Exam Process for Servicemembers Leaving the Military

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Servicemembers who leave the military and file disability claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) may be subject to potentially duplicative physical exams in order to meet requirements of both the Department of Defense's (DOD) military services and VA. To streamline the process for these servicemembers, the military services and VA have attempted to coordinate their physical exam requirements by developing a single separation exam program. In 1998, VA and DOD signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) instructing local units to establish single separation exam programs. This report examines (1) VA's and the military services' efforts to establish single separation exam programs, and (2) the challenges to establishing single separation exam programs. To obtain this information, GAO interviewed VA and military service officials about establishing the program; evaluated existing programs at selected military installations; and visited selected installations that did not have programs."
Date: November 12, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Highway Safety: Improved Monitoring and Oversight of Traffic Safety Data Program Are Needed (open access)

Highway Safety: Improved Monitoring and Oversight of Traffic Safety Data Program Are Needed

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Auto crashes kill or injure millions of people each year. Information about where and why such crashes occur is important in reducing this toll, both for identifying particular hazards and for planning safety efforts at the state and federal levels. Differences in the quality of state traffic data from state to state, however, affect the usability of data for these purposes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) administers a grant program to help states improve the safety data systems that collect and analyze crash data from police and sheriff's offices and other agencies, and the Congress is considering whether to reauthorize and expand the program. The Senate Appropriations Committee directed GAO to study state systems and the grant program. Accordingly, GAO examined (1) the quality of state crash information, (2) the activities states undertook to improve their traffic records systems and any progress made, and (3) NHTSA's oversight of the grant program."
Date: November 4, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Highway Trust Fund Excise Taxes (open access)

Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Highway Trust Fund Excise Taxes

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We assisted the Department of Transportation (DOT) in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with DOT, we evaluated fiscal year 2004 activity affecting distributions to the HTF. In performing the agreed-upon procedures, we conducted our work in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate financial audit and attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These standards also provide guidance for performing and reporting the results of agreed-upon procedures."
Date: November 5, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nursing Home Deaths: Arkansas Coroner Referrals Confirm Weaknesses in State and Federal Oversight of Quality of Care (open access)

Nursing Home Deaths: Arkansas Coroner Referrals Confirm Weaknesses in State and Federal Oversight of Quality of Care

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO was asked to assess the effectiveness of nursing home oversight by considering the effect of a unique Arkansas law that requires county coroners to investigate all nursing home deaths. Coroners refer cases of suspected neglect to the state survey agency and law enforcement entities such as the state Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracts with survey agencies in every state to periodically inspect nursing homes and investigate allegations of poor care or neglect. MFCUs are charged with investigating and prosecuting resident neglect. GAO examined (1) the results of Arkansas coroner investigations, (2) the state survey agency's experience in investigating coroner referrals, and (3) whether weaknesses in state and federal nursing home oversight identified in prior GAO reports were evident in the survey agency's investigation of coroner referrals."
Date: November 12, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library