A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2005-2006, students with disabilities comprised 9 percent of the student population in the United States, and English language learners comprised about 10 percent. Many of these students spend a majority of their time in the general classroom setting in elementary and secondary schools. Most teachers are initially trained through teacher preparation programs at institutions of higher education. GAO was asked to examine (1) the extent to which teacher preparation programs require preparation for general classroom teachers to instruct these student subgroups; (2) the role selected states play in preparing general classroom teachers to instruct these student subgroups; and (3) funding and other assistance provided by the U.S. Department of Education (Education) to help general classroom teachers instruct these student subgroups. To address these issues, GAO conducted a nationally representative survey of teacher preparation programs and interviewed officials from state and local educational agencies in four states and Education."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On April 22, 2009, GAO testified before the subcommittee at a hearing entitled, "Eliminating Waste and Fraud in Medicare and Medicaid." This letter responds to a May 29, 2009, request for responses to questions for the record related to our April 22, 2009, testimony. The questions are as follows: (1) What do you see as the biggest challenge for CMS to provide an estimate for improper payments under Medicare Part D? (2) Has GAO identified any problems with the current process for reviewing and paying Medicare claims that would make the program more vulnerable to fraudulent claims? (3) Is there any reason CMS cannot include penalties in its Medicare Administrative Contractor contracts for paying improper or fraudulent claims that you are aware of?"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hundreds of metric tons of cocaine flow annually from South America toward the United States, threatening the security and well-being of U.S. citizens. Since 2000, the United States has provided about $8 billion to countries in the region to disrupt drug trafficking. Most of this assistance went to Colombia to reduce illicit drug production and improve security. In March 2009, the Department of State reported that Venezuela had become a major transit route for cocaine out of Colombia, with a more than fourfold increase in cocaine flow between 2004 and 2007. We determined (1) what is known about cocaine trafficking through Venezuela, (2) what is known about Venezuelan support for Colombian illegal armed groups, and (3) the status of U.S and Venezuelan counternarcotics cooperation since 2002. To address these objectives, we reviewed U.S. counternarcotics reports, assessments, and other documents regarding illicit drugs transiting Venezuela. We also traveled to Venezuela and Colombia to discuss these matters with U.S. and foreign government officials."

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Hydrogen oxidation on platinum is shown to be a surface catalytic chemical reaction that generates a steady state flux of hot (>1 eV) conduction electrons. These hot electrons are detected as a steady-state chemicurrent across Pt/TiO{sub 2} Schottky diodes whose Pt surface is exposed to hydrogen and oxygen. Kinetic studies establish that the chemicurrent is proportional to turnover frequency for temperatures ranging from 298 to 373 K for P{sub H2} between 1 and 8 Torr and P{sub O2} at 760 Torr. Both chemicurrent and turnover frequency exhibit a first order dependence on P{sub H2}.

In the United States, concentrating solar power (CSP) is one of the most promising renewable energy (RE) technologies for reduction of electric sector greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and for rapid capacity expansion. It is also one of the most price-competitive RE technologies, thanks in large measure to decades of field experience and consistent improvements in design. One of the key design features that makes CSP more attractive than many other RE technologies, like solar photovoltaics and wind, is the potential for including relatively low-cost and efficient thermal energy storage (TES), which can smooth the daily fluctuation of electricity production and extend its duration into the evening peak hours or longer. Because operational environmental burdens are typically small for RE technologies, life cycle assessment (LCA) is recognized as the most appropriate analytical approach for determining their environmental impacts of these technologies, including CSP. An LCA accounts for impacts from all stages in the development, operation, and decommissioning of a CSP plant, including such upstream stages as the extraction of raw materials used in system components, manufacturing of those components, and construction of the plant. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is undertaking an LCA of modern CSP plants, starting with those …

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of River Protection’s Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) is being designed and built to pretreat and then vitrify a large portion of the wastes in Hanford’s 177 underground waste storage tanks. The WTP consists of three primary facilities: pretreatment, low-activity waste (LAW) vitrification, and high-level waste (HLW) vitrification. The pretreatment facility will receive waste feed from the Hanford tank farms and separate it into 1) a high-volume, low-activity liquid stream stripped of most solids and radionuclides and 2) a much smaller volume of HLW slurry containing most of the solids and most of the radioactivity. Many of the vessels in the pretreatment facility will contain pulse jet mixers (PJMs) that will provide some or all of the mixing in the vessels. This technology was selected for use in so-called “black cell” regions of the WTP, where maintenance capability will not be available for the operating life of the WTP. PJM technology was selected for use in these regions because it has no moving mechanical parts that require maintenance. The vessels with the most concentrated slurries will also be mixed with air spargers and/or steady jets in addition to the mixing provided by the PJMs. …

The free standing nanorodes of aluminum and cobalt oxides were grown on electrode and tested as the anodes directly in the half-cell. The average diameter and length of the nanorods are 80 nm and 200 nm respectively. The aligned nanorods demonstrated high initial capacity from 1200-1400 mAh/g at rate of 0.5C. The gradually decrease of initial capacity was observed. The preliminary characterization shows that the changes of the crystalline structure and morphology during cycling may be responsible for the capacity decay.

This report documents the effort to sequester technetium by the use of getters, reductants (tin(II) apatite and ferrous sulfate), sorbents (A530E and A532E ion exchange resins), and cementitious waste form. The pertechnetate form of technetium is highly soluble and mobile in aerobic (oxidizing) environments.

A Saltstone waste form was prepared in the Savannah River National Laboratory from a Tank 50H sample and Z-Area premix material for the first quarter of calendar year 2009 (1QCY09). After the prescribed 28 day cure, samples of the saltstone were collected, and the waste form was shown to meet the South Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (SCHWMR) R.61-79.261.24 and R.61-79.268.48(a) requirements for a nonhazardous waste form with respect to RCRA metals and underlying hazardous constituents. These analyses met all quality assurance specifications of USEPA SW-846.

This report summarizes juvenile coho, spring Chinook, and steelhead salmon migration data collected at a 1.5m diameter cone rotary fish trap on Nason Creek during 2008; providing abundance and freshwater productivity estimates. We used species enumeration at the trap and efficiency trials to describe emigration timing and to estimate the number of emigrants. Trapping began on March 2, 2008 and was suspended on December 11, 2008 when snow and ice accumulation prevented operation. During 2008, 0 brood year (BY) 2006 coho, 1 BY2007 coho, 906 BY2006 spring Chinook, 323 BY2007 fry Chinook, 2,077 BY2007 subyearling Chinook, 169 steelhead smolts, 414 steelhead fry and 2,390 steelhead parr were trapped. Mark-recapture trap efficiency trials were performed over a range of stream discharge stages. A total of 2,639 spring Chinook, 2,154 steelhead and 12 bull trout were implanted with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags. Most PIT tagged fish were used for trap efficiency trials. We were unable to identify a statistically significant relationship between stream discharge and trap efficiency, thus, pooled efficiency estimates specific to species and trap size/position were used to estimate the number of fish emigrating past the trap. We estimate that 5,259 ({+-} 359; 95% CI) BY2006 Chinook, 16,816 ({+-} …

Peat cores were collected in 4 remnant marsh islands and 4 drained, farmed islands throughout the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta of California in order to characterize the peat accretion history of this region. Radiocarbon age determination of marsh macrofossils at both marsh and farmed islands showed that marshes in the central and western Delta started forming between 6030 and 6790 cal yr BP. Age-depth models for three marshes were constructed using cubic smooth spline regression models. The resulting spline fit models were used to estimate peat accretion histories for the marshes. Estimated accretion rates range from 0.03 to 0.49 cm yr{sup -1} for the marsh sites. The highest accretion rates are at Browns Island, a marsh at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. Porosity was examined in the peat core from Franks Wetland, one of the remnant marsh sites. Porosity was greater than 90% and changed little with depth indicating that autocompaction was not an important process in the peat column. The mean contribution of organic matter to soil volume at the marsh sites ranges from 6.15 to 9.25% with little variability. In contrast, the mean contribution of inorganic matter to soil volume ranges from 1.40 …

This document was created as an annual report detailing the accomplishments of the Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Program (ISEMP) in the Upper Columbia Basin in fiscal year 2008. The report consists of sub-chapters that reflect the various components of the program. Chapter 1 presents a report on programmatic coordination and accomplishments, and Chapters 2 through 4 provide a review of how ISEMP has progressed during the 2008 fiscal year in each of the pilot project subbasins: the John Day (Chapter 2), Wenatchee/Entiat (Chapter 3) and Salmon River (Chapter 4). Chapter 5 presents a report on the data management accomplishments in 2008.

The Heavy Ion Fusion Science Virtual National Laboratory(a collaboration of LBNL, LLNL, and PPPL) is using intense ion beams to heat thin foils to the"warm dense matter" regime at<~;; 1 eV, and is developing capabilities for studying target physics relevant to ion-driven inertial fusion energy. The need for rapid target heating led to the development of plasma-neutralized pulse compression, with current amplification factors exceeding 50 now routine on the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment (NDCX). Construction of an improved platform, NDCX-II, has begun at LBNL with planned completion in 2012. Using refurbished induction cells from the Advanced Test Accelerator at LLNL, NDCX-II will compress a ~;;500 ns pulse of Li+ ions to ~;;1 ns while accelerating it to 3-4 MeV over ~;;15 m. Strong space charge forces are incorporated into the machine design at a fundamental level. We are using analysis, an interactive 1D PIC code (ASP) with optimizing capabilities and centroid tracking, and multi-dimensional Warpcode PIC simulations, to develop the NDCX-II accelerator. This paper describes the computational models employed, and the resulting physics design for the accelerator.

We present an efficient pipeline enabling high-throughput analysis of protein structure in solution with small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Our SAXS pipeline combines automated sample handling of microliter volumes, temperature and anaerobic control, rapid data collection and data analysis, and couples structural analysis with automated archiving. We subjected 50 representative proteins, mostly from Pyrococcus furiosus, to this pipeline and found that 30 were multimeric structures in solution. SAXS analysis allowed us to distinguish aggregated and unfolded proteins, define global structural parameters and oligomeric states for most samples, identify shapes and similar structures for 25 unknown structures, and determine envelopes for 41 proteins. We believe that high-throughput SAXS is an enabling technology that may change the way that structural genomics research is done.

This report begins by discussing the structure of agency travel card programs, and then discusses weaknesses in agency controls that have contributed to waste, fraud, and abuse. It then examines travel card legislation introduced or enacted in the 111th Congress, and concludes with observations on the information available to Congress for oversight of agency travel card programs.

This report reviews the history of Gang of Four notification process and compares this procedure with that of the "Gang of Eight" notification procedure.

This report provides an overview of major legal issues likely to arise as a result of executive and legislative action to close the Guantanamo detention facility. It discusses legal issues related to the transfer of Guantanamo detainees, the continued detention of such persons in the United States, and the possible removal of persons brought into the country. It also discusses selected constitutional issues that may arise in the criminal prosecution of detainees, emphasizing the procedural and substantive protections that are utilized in different adjudicatory forums.

This report examines the Unified Agenda's issue and discusses options that Congress or the President can use to improve transparency and participation via the Unified Agenda or other means. The report also discusses Obama Administration's open government initiative, the rulemaking process, and the potential value of comments prior to the publication of a proposed rule.

The report discusses the budget reconciliation process that operates as an adjunct to the budget resolution process. The chief purpose of the reconciliation process is to enhance congress's ability to change current law in order to bring revenue, spending, and debt-limit levels in conformity with the policies expresses in the budget resolution.

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