A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO audited the statements of financial position of the Capitol Preservation Fund (the Fund) as of September 30, 2005, and 2004, and the related statements of activities and cash flows for the fiscal years then ended."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As requested, GAO provided for audits of the financial statements of the U.S. Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund (the Fund) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2006, and 2005, by contracting with the independent public accounting firm of Clifton Gunderson LLP."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Strategy for Victory in Iraq articulates the desired end-state for U.S. operations in Iraq: a peaceful, united, stable, and secure Iraq, well integrated into the international community, and a full partner in the global war on terrorism. Developing capable Iraqi security forces is a critical component in U.S. efforts to achieve this important goal. Since 2003, the United States has provided $15.4 billion to develop Iraqi military and police forces. DOD has also asked for an additional $5.8 billion in its fiscal year 2007 supplemental request and fiscal year 2008 Global War on Terror budget request to continue U.S. efforts to develop Iraq forces and transition security responsibilities to them. This testimony discusses the (1) results of U.S. efforts to develop Iraqi security forces, and (2) factors that affect the development of effective Iraqi security forces. This testimony is based on GAO's issued reports and ongoing work on U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq. Although we reviewed both classified and unclassified documents, the information in this statement is based only on unclassified documents."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We appreciate the opportunity to assist the Subcommittee in monitoring progress on the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) project. GAO's remarks will focus on (1) the Architect of the Capitol's (AOC) construction progress since the last CVC hearing on February 16, 2007; and (2) the project's expected cost at completion and funding status. Today's remarks are based on our review of schedules and financial reports for the CVC project and related records maintained by AOC and its construction management contractor, Gilbane Building Company; our observations on the progress of work at the CVC construction site; and our discussions with the CVC team (AOC and its major CVC contractors), AOC's Chief Fire Marshal, and representatives from the U.S. Capitol Police. We also reviewed AOC's construction management contractor's periodic schedule assessments, potential change order log, and weekly reports on the progress of interior wall and floor stone installation. In addition, we reviewed the contract modifications made to date. At the last CVC hearing, we reported that our assessment of the project's schedule and expected cost at completion was still somewhat constrained because the CVC team was analyzing the impact on the …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, House Veterans' Affairs Committee, asked GAO to discuss its recent work related to the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) disability claims and appeals processing. GAO has reported and testified on this subject on numerous occasions. GAO's work has addressed VA's efforts to improve the timeliness of decisions on claims and appeals and VA's efforts to reduce backlogs."

Perform radiological surveys of the Molycorp Washington Remediation Project (MWRP) facility in Washington, Pennsylvania

The transition of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) to invasive carcinoma is a key event in breast tumor progression that is poorly understood. Comparative molecular analysis of tumor epithelial cells from in situ and invasive tumors has failed to identify consistent tumor stage-specific differences. However, the myoepithelial cell layer, present only in DCIS, is a key distinguishing and diagnostic feature. To determine the contribution of non-epithelial cells to tumor progression, we analyzed the role of myoepithelial cells and fibroblasts in the progression of in situ carcinomas using a xenograft model of human DCIS. Progression to invasion was promoted by fibroblasts, but inhibited by normal myoepithelial cells. The invasive tumor cells from these progressed lesions formed DCIS rather than invasive cancers when re-injected into naive mice. Molecular profiles of myoepithelial and epithelial cells isolated from primary normal and cancerous human breast tissue samples corroborated findings obtained in the xenograft model. These results provide the proof of principle that breast tumor progression could occur in the absence of additional genetic alterations and that tumor growth and progression could be controlled by replacement of normal myoepithelial inhibitory signals.

A carbon-rich black layer, dating to ~;;12.9 ka, has been previously identified at ~;;50 Clovis-age sites across North America and appears contemporaneous with the abrupt onset of Younger Dryas (YD) cooling. The in situ bones of extinct Pleistocene megafauna, along with Clovis tool assemblages, occur below this black layer but not within or above it. Causes for the extinctions, YD cooling, and termination of Clovis culture have long been controversial. In this paper, we provide evidence for an extraterrestrial (ET) impact event at ~;;12.9 ka, which we hypothesize caused abrupt environmentalchanges that contributed to YD cooling, major ecological reorganization, broad-scale extinctions, and rapid human behavioral shifts at the end of the Clovis Period. Clovis-age sites in North American are overlain by a thin, discrete layer with varying peak abundances of (i) magnetic grains with iridium, (ii) magnetic microspherules, (iii) charcoal, (iv) soot, (v) carbon spherules, (vi) glass-like carbon containing nanodiamonds, and (vii) fullerenes with ET helium, all of which are evidence for an ET impact and associated biomass burning at ~;;12.9 ka. This layer also extends throughout at least 15 Carolina Bays, which are unique, elliptical depressions, oriented to the northwest across the Atlantic Coastal Plain. We propose that one …

In-situ reduction of toxic Cr(V1) to less hazardous Cr(II1)is becoming a popular strategy for remediating contaminated soils.However, the long term stability of reduced Cr remains to be understood,especially given the common presence of MnfIIIJV) oxides that reoxidizeCr(II1). This 4.6 year laboratory study tracked Cr and Mn redoxtransformations in soils contaminated with Cr(V1) which were then treatedwith different amounts of organic carbon (OC). Changes in Cr and Mnoxidation states within soils were directly and nondestructively measuredusing micro X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy. Chromatereduction was roughly lst-order, and the extent of reduction was enhancedwith higher OC additions. However, significant Cr(||1) reoxidationoccurred in soils exposed to the highest Cr(V1) concentrations (2,560 mgkg"'). Transient Cr(II1) reoxidation up to 420 mg kg1 was measured at 1.1years after OC treatment, followed by further reduction. Chromateconcentrations increased by 220 mg kgm1a t the end of the study (4.6years) in one soil. The causal role that Mn oxidation state had inreoxidizing Cr was supported by trends in Mn K-edge energies. Theseresults provide strong evidence for longterm dependence of soil Croxidation states on balances between OC availability and Mn redoxstatus.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives granting the legislature permission to adjourn for more than three days during the period beginning on Wednesday, March 7, 2007, and ending on Monday, March 12, 2007.

This report analyzes each of the areas that has changed as a result of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) actions and Court decisions. The various positions in the debate also are summarized.

The Nation's health, wealth, and security rely on the production and distribution of certain goods and services. The array of physical assets, functions, and systems across which these goods and services move are called critical infrastructures. This report discusses in more detail the evolution of a national critical infrastructure policy and the institutional structures established to implement it. The report highlights five issues of Congressional concern: identifying critical assets; assessing vulnerabilities and risks; allocating resources; information sharing; and, regulation.

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This report provides an analysis of litigation regarding school financing, including an overview of the legal issues involved in such litigation and a description of the leading school finance cases at both the federal and state level.

The possibility of neutron and neutrino detection using water Cerenkov detectors doped with gadolinium holds the promise of constructing very large high-efficiency detectors with wide-ranging application in basic science and national security. This study addressed two major concerns about the feasibility of such detectors: (1) the transparency of the doped water to the ultraviolet Cerenkov light, and (2) the effect of the doped water on detector materials. We report on the construction of a 19-meter water transparency measuring instrument and associated materials test tank. The first sensitive measurement of the transparency of doped water at 337nm has been made using this instrument (> 35 meters). This transparency is sufficient to proceed to the next stage of building a prototype detector. Materials testing is not yet complete, as materials must be soaked for a year or more to assess the effects. We have measured a 30% decrease in the attenuation length of 337 nm laser light after the addition of GdCl3 to pure water. The capability to measure at other wavelengths exists, and this will be done over the next few months by William Coleman, a student from LSU who will use this experiment as the topic for his Ph.D. thesis. …

We present evidence for D{sup 0}-{bar D}{sup 0} mixing in D{sup 0} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup -} decays from 384 fb{sup -1} of e{sup +}e{sup -} colliding-beam data recorded near {radical}s = 10.6GeV with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II storage rings at SLAC. We find the mixing parameters x{prime}{sup 2} = [-0.22 {+-} 0.30 (stat.) {+-} 0.21 (syst.)] x 10{sup -3} and y{prime} = [9.7 {+-} 4.4(stat.) {+-} 3.1(syst.)] x 10{sup -3}, and a correlation between them of -0.94. This result is inconsistent with the no-mixing hypothesis with a significance of 3.9 standard deviations. We measure R{sub D}, the ratio of doubly Cabibbo-suppressed to Cabibbo-favored decay rates, to be [0.303 {+-} 0.016 (stat.) {+-} 0.010 (syst.)]%. We find no evidence for CP violation.

The objectives of this project include: (1) to construct a minature tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) using a gas-electron-multiplier (GEM) foil, and (2) to conduct neutron and gamma-ray dose measurements with the detector embedded in a phantom

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. and international experts raised concerns that unsecured radiological sources posed a significant security threat to the United States and the international community. If certain types of these sources were obtained by terrorists, they could be used to produce a radiological dispersion device, or dirty bomb. In response, the Department of Energy (DOE) established the International Radiological Threat Reduction Program to identify, recover, and secure vulnerable, high-risk radiological sources. GAO was asked to (1) assess DOE's progress in securing sources in foreign countries, (2) identify DOE's current and planned program costs, and (3) determine the extent to which DOE has coordinated its efforts with other federal agencies and with international organizations, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In January 2007, GAO issued a report--Nuclear Nonproliferation: DOE's International Radiological Threat Reduction Program Needs to Focus Future Efforts on Securing the Highest Priority Radiological Sources, (GAO-07-282)--that addressed these matters. To carry out its work, GAO reviewed DOE policies, plans and budgets; observed installed physical security upgrades; and interviewed senior DOE, Department of State (State), and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) officials."

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The report documents recent changes in wetland acres. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its most recent periodic survey of changes in wetland acreage nationwide in March 2006. Covering 1998 to 2004, it concluded that during this time period there was a small net gain in overall wetland acres for the first time that this survey has been conducted. Others caution, however, that much of this gain was in ponds, rather than natural wetlands.

The Hadean Earth is often viewed as an inhospitable and, perhaps, unlikely setting for the rise of primordial life. However, carbonaceous materials supplied by accreting meteorites and sources of chemical energy similar to those fueling life around modern deep-sea volcanic vents would have been present in abundance. More questionable are two other essential ingredients for life - liquid water and clement temperatures. Did the Hadean Earth possess a hydrosphere and temperate climate compatible with the initiation of biologic activity? If so, the popular model of an excessively hot planetary surface characterized by a basaltic crust, devoid of continental material is invalid. Similarly, establishment of an Hadean hydrosphere prior to the cessation of heavy asteroid bombardment may mean that primitive life could have evolved and then been extinguished, only to rise again. The most effective means of determining the environmental conditions on this young planet is through geochemical analysis of samples retrieved from the Early Earth. While rocks older than 4 billion years (4 Ga) have not been found, individual zircon grains, the detritus of rocks long since eroded away, have been identified with ages as old as 4.4 Ga - only {approx}160 million years younger than the Earth itself. If …