Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) oversight and management of its major projects. As you know, in 1990, GAO designated NASA's contract management as high risk in view of persistent cost growth and schedule slippage in the majority of its major projects. Since that time, GAO's high-risk work has focused on identifying a number of causal factors, including antiquated financial management systems, poor cost estimating, and undefinitized contracts. Because cost growth and schedule delays persist, this area - now titled acquisition management because of the scope of issues that need to be resolved - remains high risk. To its credit, NASA has recently made a concerted effort to improve its acquisition management. In 2007, NASA developed a comprehensive plan to address systemic weaknesses related to how it manages its acquisitions. The plan specifically seeks to strengthen program/project management, increase accuracy in cost estimating, facilitate monitoring of contractor cost performance, improve agency wide business processes, and improve financial management. While we applaud these efforts our recent work has shown that NASA needs to pay more attention to effective project management. It needs to adopt best …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Decennial Census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and provides vital data that are used, among other things, to reapportion and redistrict congressional seats. In March 2008, GAO designated the 2010 Decennial Census a high-risk area, citing a number of long-standing and emerging challenges, including weaknesses in the Census Bureau's (Bureau) management of its information technology (IT) systems and operations. In conducting the 2010 census, the Bureau is relying on both the acquisition of new IT systems and the enhancement of existing systems. Thoroughly testing these systems before their actual use is critical to the success of the census. GAO was asked to determine the status of and plans for testing key decennial systems. To do this, GAO analyzed testing documentation, interviewed Bureau officials and contractors, and compared the Bureau's efforts with recognized best practices."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Decennial Census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and provides vital data that are used, among other things, to reapportion and redistrict congressional seats and allocate federal financial assistance. In March 2008, GAO designated the 2010 Decennial Census a high-risk area, citing a number of long-standing and emerging challenges, including weaknesses in the U.S. Census Bureau's (Bureau) management of its information technology (IT) systems and operations. In conducting the 2010 census, the Bureau is relying on both the acquisition of new IT systems and the enhancement of existing systems. Thoroughly testing these systems before their actual use is critical to the success of the census. GAO was asked to testify on its report, being released today, on the status and plans of testing of key 2010 decennial IT systems."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1995, the Department of Defense (DOD) began an effort to implement a standard departmentwide travel system--the Defense Travel System (DTS). As part of its ongoing monitoring, GAO's April 2008 testimony before this subcommittee highlighted challenges confronted by the department in its implementation efforts. GAO's testimony today is based on its current follow-up work conducted at the request of this subcommittee, as well as the Subcommittee on Readiness. GAO's testimony today focuses on the actions DOD has taken to (1) implement previous GAO recommendations regarding implementation of DTS and related travel policies, (2) phase out legacy travel systems and their associated costs, and (3) implement electronic travel voucher processing. To address these objectives, GAO (1) analyzed specific documentation, such as test documentation, travel policies, and budget data, and (2) interviewed appropriate DOD travel personnel."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The decennial census is a constitutionally-mandated activity that produces data used to apportion congressional seats, redraw congressional districts, and allocate billions of dollars in federal assistance. In March 2008, GAO designated the 2010 Census a high-risk area in part because of problems with the performance of handheld computers used to collect data. The U.S. Census Bureau has since strengthened its risk management efforts and made other improvements; however, the Bureau curtailed a dress rehearsal scheduled for 2008 and was unable to test key operations under census-like conditions. This testimony discusses the Bureau's readiness for 2010 and covers: (1) the importance of reliable cost estimates; (2) building a complete and accurate address list; (3) following up on missing and conflicting responses to ensure accuracy; (4) targeting outreach to undercounted populations; and (5) designing, testing, and implementing technology for the census. The testimony is based on previously issued and ongoing GAO work."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The decennial census is a constitutionally-mandated activity that produces data used to apportion congressional seats, redraw congressional districts, and allocate billions of dollars in federal assistance. In March 2008, GAO designated the 2010 Census a high-risk area in part because of problems with the performance of handheld computers used to collect data. The U.S. Census Bureau has since strengthened its risk management efforts and made other improvements; however, the Bureau curtailed a dress rehearsal scheduled for 2008 and was unable to test key operations under census-like conditions. This testimony discusses the Bureau's readiness for 2010 and covers: (1) importance of reliable cost estimates; (2) building a complete and accurate address list; (3) following up on missing and conflicting responses to ensure accuracy; (4) targeting outreach to undercounted populations; and (5) designing, testing, and implementing technology for the census. The testimony is based on previously issued and ongoing GAO work."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Carbon offsets--reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from an activity in one place to compensate for emissions elsewhere--can reduce the cost of regulatory programs to limit emissions because the cost of creating an offset may be less than the cost of requiring entities to make the reductions themselves. To be credible, however, an offset must be additional--it must reduce emissions below the quantity emitted in a business-as-usual scenario--among other criteria. In the U.S., there are no federal requirements to limit emissions and offsets may be purchased in a voluntary market. Outside the U.S., offsets may be purchased on compliance markets to meet requirements to reduce emissions. The Congress is considering adopting a market-based cap-and-trade program to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Such a program would create a price on emissions based on the supply and demand for allowances to emit. Under such a program, regulated entities could potentially substitute offsets for on-site emissions reductions, thereby lowering their compliance costs. Today's testimony summarizes GAO's prior work examining (1) the challenges in ensuring the quality of carbon offsets in the voluntary market, (2) the effects of and lessons learned from the Clean …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Decennial Census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and provides vital data that are used, among other things, to reapportion and redistrict congressional seats and allocate federal financial assistance. In March 2008, GAO designated the 2010 Decennial Census a high-risk area, citing a number of long-standing and emerging challenges, including weaknesses in the U.S. Census Bureau's (Bureau) management of its information technology (IT) systems and operations. In conducting the 2010 census, the Bureau is relying on both the acquisition of new IT systems and the enhancement of existing systems. Thoroughly testing these systems before their actual use is critical to the success of the census. GAO was asked to testify on its report, being released today, on the status and plans of testing of key 2010 decennial IT systems."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. financial system is more prone to systemic risk today because (1) the current U.S. financial regulatory system is not designed to adequately oversee today's large and interconnected financial institutions, (2) not all financial activities and institutions fall under the direct purview of financial regulators, and (3) market innovations have led to the creation of new and sometimes complex products that were not envisioned as the current regulatory system developed. Credit default swaps (CDS) are one of the products that have assumed a key role in financial markets. My statement will discuss (1) the extent to which U.S. financial regulators and the UK regulator oversee CDS, (2) risks and challenges that CDS present to the stability of financial markets and institutions and similar concerns that other products may pose, and (3) the recent steps that financial regulators and the industry have taken to address risks pose by CDS and similar efforts that may be warranted for other financial products. GAO reviewed research studies and congressional testimonies. We interviewed financial regulators and a variety of financial market participants. In January 2009, GAO designated the financial regulatory system as …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A key mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy through its Technical Cooperation (TC) program, which provides equipment, training, fellowships, and other services to its member states. The United States provides approximately 25 percent of the TC program's annual budget. This report addresses the (1) extent to which the United States and IAEA have policies limiting member states' participation in the TC program on the basis of nuclear proliferation and related concerns; (2) extent to which the United States and IAEA evaluate and monitor TC projects for proliferation concerns; and (3) any limitations and challenges in IAEA's management of the TC program. To address these issues, GAO interviewed relevant officials at the Departments of State (State) and Energy (DOE) and IAEA; analyzed IAEA, DOE, and national laboratory data; and assessed State and IAEA policies toward the TC program."

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to recognizing First Baptist Church in Blanco on the occasion of its 150th anniversary.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to recognizing February 17, 2009, as Kidney Day at the State Capitol.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to recognizing Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary Memorial Service in honor of the crew of the USS Frank E. Evans.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to recognizing February 26, 2009, as TIPRO Day at the State Capitol.

An attempt to confirm the reported direct one-proton and two-proton decays of the (21+) isomer at 6.7(5) MeV in 94Ag has been made. The 0.39(4) s half-life of the isomer permitted use of a helium-jet system to transport reaction products from the 40Ca + natNi reaction at 197 MeV to a low-background area; 24 gas Delta E-(Si) E detector telescopes were used to identify emitted protons down to 0.4 MeV. No evidence was obtained for two-proton radioactivity with a summed energy of 1.9(1) MeV and a branching ratio of 0.5(3)percent. Two groups of one-proton radioactivity from this isomer had also been reported; our data confirm the lower energy group at 0.79(3) MeV with its branching ratio of 1.9(5)percent.

The optical properties of aerosol particles are the controlling factors in determining direct aerosol radiative forcing. These optical properties depend on the chemical composition and size distribution of the aerosol particles, which can change due to various processes during the particles’ lifetime in the atmosphere. Over the course of this project we have studied how cloud processing of atmospheric aerosol changes the aerosol optical properties. A counterflow virtual impactor was used to separate cloud drops from interstitial aerosol and parallel aerosol systems were used to measure the optical properties of the interstitial and cloud-scavenged aerosol. Specifically, aerosol light scattering, back-scattering and absorption were measured and used to derive radiatively significant parameters such as aerosol single scattering albedo and backscatter fraction for cloud-scavenged and interstitial aerosol. This data allows us to demonstrate that the radiative properties of cloud-processed aerosol can be quite different than pre-cloud aerosol. These differences can be used to improve the parameterization of aerosol forcing in climate models.

The objectives of this program were to: (1) Develop a reliable, cost-effective, and production-friendly technique to apply the power-enhancing layer at the interface of the air electrode and electrolyte of the Siemens SOFC; (2) Design, build, install, and operate in the field two 5 kWe SOFC systems fabricated with the state-of-the-art cylindrical, tubular cell and bundle technology and incorporating advanced module design features. Siemens successfully demonstrated, first in a number of single cell tests and subsequently in a 48-cell bundle test, a significant power enhancement by employing a power-enhancing composite interlayer at the interface between the air electrode and electrolyte. While successful from a cell power enhancement perspective, the interlayer application process was not suitable for mass manufacturing. The application process was of inconsistent quality, labor intensive, and did not have an acceptable yield. This program evaluated the technical feasibility of four interlayer application techniques. The candidate techniques were selected based on their potential to achieve the technical requirements of the interlayer, to minimize costs (both labor and material), and suitably for large-scale manufacturing. Preliminary screening, utilizing lessons learned in manufacturing tubular cells, narrowed the candidate processes to two, ink-roller coating (IRC) and dip coating (DC). Prototype fixtures were successfully …

Stir bar sorptive extraction was applied to aqueous and solid samples for the extraction and analysis of organic compounds from the Hanford chemicals of potential concern list, as identified in the vapor data quality objectives. The 222-S Laboratory analyzed these compounds from vapor samples on thermal desorption tubes as part of the Hanford Site industrial hygiene vapor sampling effort.

Cast nickel-based superalloys are used for blades in land-based, energy conversion and powerplant applications, as well as in aircraft gas turbines operating at temperatures up to 1100 C, where creep is one of the life-limiting factors. Creep of superalloy single crystals has been extensively studied over the last several decades. Surprisingly, only recently has work focused specifically on the dislocation mechanisms that govern high temperature and low stress creep. Nevertheless, the perpetual goal of better engine efficiency demands that the creep mechanisms operative in this regime be fully understood in order to develop alloys and microstructures with improved high temperature capability. At present, the micro-mechanisms controlling creep before and after rafting (the microstructure evolution typical of high temperature creep) has occurred have yet to be identified and modeled, particularly for [001] oriented single crystals. This crystal orientation is most interesting technologically since it exhibits the highest creep strength. The major goal of the program entitled ''Mechanisms of High Temperature/Low Stress Creep of Ni-Based Superalloy Single Crystals'' (DOE Grant DE-FG02-04ER46137) has been to elucidate these creep mechanisms in cast nickel-based superalloys. We have utilized a combination of detailed microstructure and dislocation substructure analysis combined with the development of a novel phase-field …

We have successfully built and operated a source deployment system for the KamLAND detector. This system was used to position radioactive sources throughout the delicate 1-kton liquid scintillator volume, while meeting stringent material cleanliness, material compatibility, and safety requirements. The calibration data obtained with this device were used to fully characterize detector position and energy reconstruction biases. As a result, the uncertainty in the size of the detector fiducial volume was reduced by a factor of two. Prior to calibration with this system, the fiducial volume was the largest source of systematic uncertainty in measuring the number of antineutrinos detected by KamLAND. This paper describes the design, operation and performance of this unique calibration system.

This research program was designed to model and simulate phase transformations in systems containing diffusion barriers. The modeling work included mass flow, phase formation, and microstructural evolution in interdiffusing systems. Simulation work was done by developing Cahn-Hilliard and phase field equations governing both the temporal and spatial evolution of the composition and deformation fields and other important phase variables.

Farm Energy envisaged a phased demonstration program, in which a pilot-scale straw gasifier will be installed on a farm. The synthesis gas product will be used to initially (i) generate electricity in a 300 kW diesel generator, and subsequently (ii) used as a feedstock to produce ethanol or mixed alcohols. They were seeking straw gasification and alcohol synthesis technologies that may be implemented on farm-scale. The consortium, along with the USDA ARS station in Corvallis, OR, expressed interest in the dual-bed gasification concept promoted by WRI and Taylor Energy, LLC. This process operated at atmospheric pressure and employed a solids-circulation type oxidation/reduction cycle significantly different from traditional fluidized-bed or up-draft type gasification reactors. The objectives of this project were to perform bench-scale testing to determine technical feasibility of gasifier concept, to characterize the syngas product, and to determine the optimal operating conditions and configuration. We used the bench-scale test data to complete a preliminary design and cost estimate for a 1-2 ton per hour pilot-scale unit that is also appropriate for on-farm scale applications. The gasifier configuration with the 0.375-inch stainless steel balls recirculating media worked consistently and for periods up to six hours of grass feed. The other principle …

Two planarization techniques for high aspect ratio three dimensional pillar structured P-I-N diodes have been developed in order to enable a continuous coating of metal on the top of the structures. The first technique allows for coating of structures with topography through the use of a planarizing photoresist followed by RIE etch back to expose the tops of the pillar structure. The second technique also utilizes photoresist, but instead allows for planarization of a structure in which the pillars are filled and coated with a conformal coating by matching the etch rate of the photoresist to the underlying layers. These techniques enable deposition using either sputtering or electron beam evaporation of metal films to allow for electrical contact to the tops of the underlying pillar structure. These processes have potential applications for many devices comprised of 3-D high aspect ratio structures. Two separate processes have been developed in order to ensure a uniform surface for deposition of an electrode on the {sup 10}Boron filled P-I-N pillar structured diodes. Each uses S1518 photoresist in order to achieve a relatively uniform surface despite the non-uniformity of the underlying detector. Both processes allow for metallization of the final structure and provide good electrical …

This report offers background information on Ukraine's current political and economic situation. The report covers the country's "intensified dialogue" with NATO regarding membership and also discusses U.S. policy, U.S. aid to Ukraine, the congressional response, and related legislation.