Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Gasoline prices are volatile and have increased greatly over the last several years, before dropping again recently. The national average of regular grade retail gasoline prices increased from about $2.24 the week of January 2, 2006, to a peak of $4.11 the week of July 14, 2008, an increase of almost 84 percent, before dropping to about $2.40 the week of November 3, 2008. High fuel prices have focused attention on conservation. Congress previously used a national speed limit as an approach to conserve fuel when, in 1974, it provided for a national 55 mile per hour (mph) speed limit to reduce gasoline consumption in response to the 1973 Arab oil embargo. The law prohibited federal funding of certain highway projects in any state with a maximum speed limit in excess of 55 mph. In 1987, Congress allowed states to raise the maximum speed limit to 65 mph on rural interstate routes. In 1995, the 55 mph speed limit was repealed. Since then, states have been free to set speed limits without the loss of federal highway funds. Congress expressed interest in obtaining information on using a national …

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 audits 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 are reliable and (2) BPD management maintained effective internal control relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt. Further, GAO tests compliance with a significant provision of law related to the Schedule of Federal Debt (statutory debt limit). 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 primarily reflects how much of the nation's wealth has been absorbed by the federal government to finance prior federal spending in excess of 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 …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The State Reverse File Match Initiative (SRFMI) is one of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) data-sharing strategies to reduce the estimated $345 billion gross federal tax gap. SRFMI matches federal and state taxpayer data to identify noncompliant taxpayers--individuals and businesses who do not file tax returns or do not report all of their income. IRS's document-matching program has proven to be a highly cost-effective way of identifying underreported income, thereby bringing in billions of dollars of tax revenue while boosting voluntary compliance. Based on concerns about whether IRS is fully using data from state and local governments to reduce the tax gap, GAO was asked to assess IRS's plan for evaluating the effectiveness of the SRFMI pilot taxpayer data-sharing program. To address these objectives, GAO consulted social science and evaluation literature, published GAO guidance, and IRS guidance; reviewed and analyzed SRFMI planning and evaluation documents; and interviewed IRS officials about IRS's plans to evaluate SRFMI."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, Congress established a program to reduce airport ground emissions at commercial service airports in areas failing to meet or maintain air quality standards. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administers the Voluntary Airport Low Emissions (VALE) Program and oversees the program's two sources of funding: Airport Improvement Program (AIP) federal grants or Passenger Facility Charges (PFC), which airports can collect from passengers. Participating airports also receive credits for the emission reductions achieved through VALE projects in accordance with the law and guidance. Airports can use these credits to offset emissions resulting from development projects to comply with federal Clean Air Act requirements. GAO was asked to determine (1) how the VALE program has been implemented, including airport participation levels, types of projects, and program expenditures, and (2) the outcomes attributable to the VALE program. To do this, GAO reviewed FAA data on VALE projects for all nine participating airports; visited two of these airports; obtained information from the remaining seven participating airports and four nonparticipating airports; and interviewed officials from FAA, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and airport associations. FAA generally agreed with the report's findings, …

In this final report in the field of theoretical nuclear physics we note important accomplishments.We were confronted with "anomoulous" magnetic moments by the experimetalists and were able to expain them. We found unexpected partial dynamical symmetries--completely unknown before, and were able to a large extent to expain them.The importance of a self consistent shell model was emphasized.

The Kapchinskij-Vladimirskij equations are widely used to study the evolution of the beam envelopes in a periodic system of quadrupole focusing cells. In this paper, we analyze the case of a matched beam. Our model is analogous to that used by Courant and Snyder [E.D. Courant and H.S. Snyder, Ann. Phys. 3, 1 (1958)] in obtaining a first-order approximate solution for a synchrotron. Here, we treat a linear machine and obtain an exact solution. The model uses a full occupancy, piecewise-constant focusing function and neglects space charge. There are solutions in an infinite number of bands as the focus strength is increased. We show that all these bands are stable. Our explicit results for the phase advance {sigma} and the envelope a(z) are exact for all phase advances except multiples of 180{sup o}, where the behavior is singular. We find that the peak envelope size is minimized at {sigma} = 90{sup o}. Actual operation in the higher bands would require very large, very accurate field strengths and would produce significantly larger envelope excursions.

In the protein 4.1R gene, alternative first exons splice differentially to alternative 3' splice sites far downstream in exon 2'/2 (E2'/2). We describe a novel intrasplicing mechanism by which exon 1A (E1A) splices exclusively to the distal E2'/2 acceptor via two nested splicing reactions regulated by novel properties of exon 1B (E1B). E1B behaves as an exon in the first step, using its consensus 5' donor to splice to the proximal E2'/2 acceptor. A long region of downstream intron is excised, juxtaposing E1B with E2'/2 to generate a new composite acceptor containing the E1B branchpoint/pyrimidine tract and E2 distal 3' AG-dinucleotide. Next, the upstream E1A splices over E1B to this distal acceptor, excising the remaining intron plus E1B and E2' to form mature E1A/E2 product. We mapped branch points for both intrasplicing reactions and demonstrated that mutation of the E1B 5' splice site or branchpoint abrogates intrasplicing. In the 4.1R gene, intrasplicing ultimately determines N-terminal protein structure and function. More generally, intrasplicing represents a new mechanism whereby alternative promoters can be coordinated with downstream alternative splicing.

The 600-243 waste site consisted of a bioremediation pad for petroleum-contaminated soils resulting from the 1100 Area Underground Storage Tank (UST) upgrades in 1994. In accordance with this evaluation, the verification sampling results support a reclassification of this site to Interim Closed Out. The results of verification sampling show that residual contaminant concentrations do not preclude any future uses and allow for unrestricted use of shallow zone soils. The results also demonstrate that residual contaminant concentrations are protective of groundwater and the Columbia River.

This report briefly discusses the basic concepts on which climate change bills are based, and compares major provisions of the bills in each of the following categories: climate change research; emissions reduction technologies; U.S. actions pursuant to international emission reduction agreements; adaptation to the effects of climate change; GHG reporting and registration; and GHG emissions reduction programs.

This report discusses the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq., which is a broad nondiscrimination statute that includes a prohibition of discrimination in public transportation.

This report focuses on the creation of the Transatlantic Economic Council; the role of legislatures in the regulatory process; and the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue and its new role as an advisor to transatlantic regulatory efforts.

This report discusses Cellulosic biofuels, which are produced from cellulose derived from renewable biomass. They are thought by many to hold the key to increased benefits from renewable biofuels because they are made from low-cost, diverse, non-food feedstocks, and could also potentially decrease the fossil energy required to produce ethanol, resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Pakistan - a key U.S. ally in global efforts to combat Islamist militancy - is in urgent need of an estimated $4 billion in capital to avoid defaulting on its sovereign debt. The elected government of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani is seeking short-term financial assistance from a number of sources, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China, and an informal group of nations (including the United States) known as the "Friends of Pakistan." The current crisis has placed some strain on U.S.-Pakistan relations.