A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. military assistance programs provided $74 billion in military equipment, services, and training to countries in the Middle East from fiscal years 1991 through 2000. The Foreign Military Sales and Foreign Military Financing programs account for about 96 percent of the value of military items in the U.S. delivered to the region. The U.S. weapon systems delivered include F-16 and F/A-18 fighter aircraft; Apache and Cobra helicopters; M1A1 Tanks; and AMRAAM, ATACMS, and Stinger missiles. Conditions on the use of U.S. military equipment, services, and training delivered to countries in the Middle East, with few exceptions, are limited to standard conditions that the U.S. government places on all transfers of U.S. military items. By law, the U.S. may provide military items to foreign governments only for internal security, legitimate self-defense, participation in collective agreements that are consistent with the United Nations' charter, or civic action."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the Forest Services total costs associated with its timber sales program for fiscal years 1998 and 1999. Serious accounting and financial reporting deficiencies at the Forest Service during fiscal years 1998 and 1999 precluded GAO from making an accurate determination of the total federal costs for the timber sales program. These deficiencies made the Forest Service's cost information totally unreliable."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "A safe and secure civil aviation system is a critical component of the nation's overall security, physical infrastructure, and economic foundation. Billions of dollars and a myriad of programs and policies have been devoted to achieving such a system. Although it is not fully known at this time what actually occurred or what all the weaknesses in the nation's aviation security apparatus are that contributed to the horrendous terrorist acts of Semptember 11, 2001, it is clear that serious weaknesses exist in the nation's aviation security system and that their impact can be far more devastating than previously imagined. There are security concerns with (1) airport access controls, (2) passenger and carry-on baggage screening, and (3) alternatives to current screening practices, including practices in selected other countries. Controls for limiting access to secure areas, including aircraft, have not always worked as intended. In May of 2000, special agents used counterfeit law enforcement badges and credentials to gain access to secure areas at two airports, bypassing security checkpoints and walking unescorted to aircraft departure gates. In June 2000, testing of screeners showed that significant, long-standing weaknesses--measured by the screeners' …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In recent years, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) public transit system has experienced safety and reliability problems, including equipment breakdowns, delays in scheduled service, unprecedented crowding on trains, and accidents and tunnel fires. WMATA is examining ways to ease crowding on the systems rail cars and determining whether and how to expand Metrorail maintenance and repair shop capacity as WMATA acquires nearly 200 new rail cars. WMATA has also undertaken a comprehensive program for infrastructure renewal, and it is now studying improvements or modifications to accommodate the goal of doubling ridership by the year 2025. WMATA's safety program has evolved since the mid-1990s, when a series of accidents and incidents led to several independent reviews citing the need for program improvements. WMATA monitors safety and crime statistics and has several ongoing targeted efforts to reduce safety incidents and deter crime on its transit systems. WMATA has adopted several of the best capital investment practices used by leading public and private sector organizations, but it could benefit by establishing a more formal, disciplined framework for its capital decision-making process. WMATA has used a wide variety of innovative …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Export Enhancement Act of 1992 created the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee to coordinate the delivery of federal export promotion services and to eliminate the areas of overlap and duplication among federal export promotion programs. The Export Enhancement Act of 1999 reiterated that eliminating duplication was a primary objective. In 1993, Congress recommended that three agencies co-locate their staffs at a domestic network of 19 "one-stop shops" called U.S. Export Assistance Centers. These centers were to provide coordinated export training, as well as trade leads, export finance, and counseling to U.S. firms interested in becoming exporters. GAO found that the Department of Commerce did not coordinate closely with the Small Business Administration in introducing its export training program. As a result, Commerce and the SBA provide separate and duplicative training programs for potential small business exporters. Neither Commerce nor SBA systematically collect outcome data for their export training programs. Instead, both agencies track the number of clients trained and Commerce identifies export successes for its clients overall, but not for training participants. Staff at Commerce and SBA do not systematically follow up with training participants to …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Although physicians and other health care providers acknowledge that they can buy drugs for prices lower than Medicare payments, they contend that they need drug payments in excess of their actual costs to compensate for inadequate or nonexistent Medicare payments for administrating the drugs. Physicians are able to obtain Medicare-covered drugs at prices significantly below current Medicare payments, which are set at 95 percent of average wholesale prices (AWP). The prices paid by wholesalers and group purchasing organizations that would be generally available to physicians were considerably less than AWPs used to establish the Medicare payment for these drugs. The difference between these prices and AWP for physician-administered drugs in GAO's sample varied by drug. For most physician-administered drugs, the average discount from AWP ranged from 13 percent to 34 percent; two physician-administered drugs had discounts of 65 percent and 86 percent. Other suppliers are also able to buy drugs at prices that are considerably less than the AWP used to establish the applicable Medicare payment. Pharmacy suppliers were predominant billers for 10 of the high-expenditure and high-volume Medicare-covered drugs GAO analyzed. These suppliers generally provide …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The pricing of Medicare's part B-covered prescription drugs--largely drugs that cannot be administered by patients themselves--has been under scrutiny for years. Most of the part B drugs with the highest Medicare payments and billing volume fall into three categories: those that are billed for by physicians and typically provided in a physician office setting, those that are billed for by pharmacy suppliers and administered through a durable medical equipment (DME) item, and those that are also billed by pharmacy suppliers but are patient-administered and covered explicitly by statute. Studies show that Medicare sometimes pays physicians and other providers significantly more than their actual costs for the drugs. In September 2000, the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA)--now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services--took steps to reduce Medicare's payment for part B-covered drugs by authorizing Medicare carriers, the contractors that pay part B claims, to use prices obtained in the Justice Department investigations of providers' drug acquisition costs. HFCA retracted this authority in November 2000 after providers raised concerns. GAO found that Medicare's method for establishing drug payments is flawed. Medicare pays 95 percent of the average wholesale price …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The United States now faces increasingly diverse threats that put great destructive power into the hands of small states, groups, and individuals. These threats range from cyber attacks on critical infrastructure to terrorist incidents involving weapons of mass destruction or infectious diseases. Efforts to combat this threat will involve federal agencies as well as state and local governments, the private sector, and private citizens. GAO believes that the federal government must address three fundamental needs. First, the government needs clearly defined and effective leadership with a clear vision carry out and implement a homeland security strategy and the ability to marshal the necessary resources to get the job done. Second, a national homeland security strategy should be based on a comprehensive assessment of national threats and risks. Third, the many organizations that will be involved in homeland security must have clearly articulated roles, responsibilities, and accountability mechanisms. Any strategy for homeland security must reduce risk where possible, assess the nation's vulnerabilities, and identify the critical infrastructure most in need of protection. To be comprehensive, the strategy should include steps to use intelligence assets or other means to identify …

Semiweekly newspaper from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas that includes local, national, and campus news along with advertising.

We report infrared (IR) spectroscopic measurements of carbon monoxide (CO) at high pressures. Although CO is one of the simplest heteronuclear diatomic molecules, it displays surprisingly complex behavior at high pressures and has been the subject of several studies [1-5]. IR spectroscopic studies of high pressures phases of CO provide data complementing results from previous studies and elucidating the nature of these phases. Though a well-known and widely utilized diagnostic of molecular systems, IR spectroscopy presents several experimental challenges to high pressure diamond anvil cell research. We present measurements of the IR absorption bands of CO at high pressures and experimentally illustrate the crucial importance of accurate normalization of IR spectra specially within regions of strong absorptions in diamond.

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story.

Weekly student newspaper from San Antonio College in San Antonio, Texas that includes campus news along with advertising.

Student newspaper of Harper Independent School District in Harper, Texas that includes school news and information along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Sulphur Springs, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The objectives of this report are: to demonstrate complete CSSX process flowsheet (proof of concept)--decontamination factor {ge} 40,000, and concentration factor {approx}15; Scientific and technical issues evaluated--stage efficiency, temperature control, hydraulic performance, long time (multi-day) operation, short-term shutdown, effect of solids, and recovery from Cs moving through strip section.

A precision measurement of the anomalous g value, a{sub {mu}}=(g-2)/2, for the positive muon has been made using high intensity protons available at the Brookhaven AGS. The result based on the 1999 data a{sub {mu}}=11659202(14)(6) x 10{sup 10} (1.3ppm) is in good agreement with previous measurements and has an error one third that of the combined previous data. The current theoretical value from the standard model is a{sub {mu}} (SM)=11659159.6(6.7) x 10{sup 10} (0.57 ppm) and differ by over 2.5 standard deviation with experiment. Issues with reducing systematic errors and enhancing the injection and storage efficiencies are discussed.

The concept for the Oak Ridge Multiple Attribute System (ORMAS) is a Nuclear Materials Identification System (NMIS) time-dependent coincidence processor that incorporates gamma ray spectrometry and utilizes a small, lightweight, portable DT neutron (14.1 MeV) generator (1 x 10{sup 8} n/s), proton recoil scintillation detectors, and a gamma ray detector (HPGe). ORMAS is based on detecting fission neutrons and gamma rays from inherent source fission, fission induced by the external DT source, gamma ray detection of natural emissions of uranium and Pu, and induced gamma ray emission by the interaction of the 14.1 MeV neutrons from the DT source. This system is uniquely suited for detection of shielded highly enriched uranium (HEU), plutonium and other special nuclear materials, and detection of high explosives (HE), chemical agents, and in some cases, drugs. It could easily be adjusted to utilize a trusted processor that incorporates information barrier and authentication techniques using open software and then be useful in some international applications for materials whose characteristics may be classified. Since it is based entirely on commercially available components, the entire system, including the NMIS data acquisition boards, can be built with commercial off the shelf components (COTS). ORMAS incorporates the PINS technology of …

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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.

Spatial and temporal coherence is a fundamental property of laser beams. This peculiar quality is a problem for laser fusion because it induces spatial non uniformities of the laser intensity in the focal spot and it generates coherent coupling between the electromagnetic laser wave and the plasma waves. In the past many years, it has been shown that laser beam smoothing using different techniques (random phase plate, smoothing by spectral dispersion, polarization smoothing, ...) can reduce parametric and hydrodynamic instabilities which are detrimental processes to Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). More recently, it has been predicted theoretically and numerically that the laser beam coherence properties can be modified by the propagation of the laser beam through an underdense plasma. Recent experiments with the six-beam LULI laser facility demonstrate the effectiveness of this process through different diagnostics, give insight on its origin, and show some of its consequences on parametric instabilities.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Dell City, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC 5 television station in Fort Worth, Texas, covering a news story.