This report contains a summary of 401(k) plans, including the different plan types, enrollment practices, IRS rulings, and policy issues.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Health savings accounts (HSA) and the high-deductible health insurance plans that are eligible to be coupled with them are a new type of consumer-directed health plan attracting interest among employers and consumers. Employers and plan enrollees may contribute to tax-advantaged HSAs, and enrollees can use the accounts to pay for health care expenses. Because HSAs and HSA-eligible plans are new, there is interest in the experiences of plan enrollees, as well as in comparing the plan features and enrollee characteristics with those of traditional plans, such as preferred provider organization (PPO) plans. GAO reviewed (1) the financial features of HSA-eligible plans in comparison with those of traditional plans, (2) the characteristics of HSA-eligible plan enrollees in comparison with those of traditional plan enrollees, (3) HSA funding and use, and (4) enrollees' experiences with HSA-eligible plans. GAO analyzed data regarding HSA-eligible and traditional plans and enrollees from national employer health benefits surveys, three selected employers, and a national broker of health insurance. GAO compared Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data for tax filers reporting HSA contributions with corresponding data for all tax filers under 65 years old. GAO …

This report provides information about the Recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and Related Issues for Detection of Explosives on Airline Passengers. The key issue for congress is balancing various costs of mandating passenger explosives trace detection.

Present the results of an extensive computational investigation of flow through structured fibrous media.

This report describes results of the research project on "Improving Demographic Components of Integrated Assessment Models: The Effect of Changes in Population Composition by Household Characteristics". The overall objective of this project was to improve projections of energy demand and associated greenhouse gas emissions by taking into account demographic factors currently not incorporated in Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) of global climate change. We proposed to examine the potential magnitude of effects on energy demand of changes in the composition of populations by household characteristics for three countries: the U.S., China, and Indonesia. For each country, we planned to analyze household energy use survey data to estimate relationships between household characteristics and energy use; develop a new set of detailed household projections for each country; and combine these analyses to produce new projections of energy demand illustrating the potential importance of consideration of households.

This report examines international terrorist actions, threats, U.S. policies and responses. It reviews the nation’s use of tools at its disposal to combat terrorism, from diplomacy, international cooperation, and constructive engagement to physical security enhancement, economic sanctions, covert action, and military force.

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The Scientific and Technical Information (STI) submitted includes the final report and a collection of abstracts for the Ninth Boron in the Americas Conference which was held May 19-22, 2004, in San Marcos, Texas. The topics covered in the abstracts include: Application in Medicine, Application in Organic Synthesis and Catalysis, Boranes and Carboranes, Materials and Polymers, Metallaboranes and Metallacarboranes, Organoboron Compounds, Synthesis and Catalysis, and Theoretical Studies. Attendees represented researchers from government, industry, and academia.

The Urban Dispersion Program is a multi-year project, funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to better understand the flow and dispersion of airborne contaminants through and around the deep street canyons of New York City. The first tracer and meteorological field study was a limited study conducted during March 2005 near the Madison Square Garden in midtown Manhattan. Six safe, inert, gaseous perfluorocarbon tracers were released simultaneously at five street-level locations during two experimental days. In addition to collecting tracer data, meteorological data were also collected. Brookhaven National Laboratory conducted the bulk of the tracer and meteorological field efforts with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Stevens Institute of Technology assisting by measuring the vertical profile of winds. The Environmental Protection Agency worked with Brookhaven National Laboratory in accomplishing the personal exposure component of the study. This report presents some results from this analysis. In general, different release locations showed vastly different plume footprints for tracer materials, and the situation was made very complex with upwind and/or crosswind transport of tracer near street-level for the different release locations. Overall wind speeds and directions upwind and over the city were generally constant throughout each of the two experimental periods.