A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Once comprised of local, sole-proprietor ownership, the nation's for-profit institutions now range from small, privately owned schools to publicly traded corporations. Enrollment in such colleges has grown far faster than in traditional higher-education institutions. Moreover, during the 2009-2010 school year, for-profit colleges received almost $32 billion in grants and loans provided to students under federal student aid programs, as authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. Because of interest in the student experience at for-profit colleges, GAO was asked to conduct undercover testing by enrolling in online classes under degree-granting programs. To conduct this testing, GAO selected 15 for-profit colleges using a selection process that included the 5 largest colleges and a random sample and attempted to enroll using fictitious identities. Once enrolled, each fictitious student engaged in behaviors consistent with substandard academic performance. Each fictitious identity enrolled for approximately one term, as defined by the college. The experience of each of GAO's undercover students is unique and cannot be generalized to other students taking courses offered by the for-profit colleges we tested or to other for-profit or nonprofit colleges. …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Enrollment and spending in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans--the private plan alternative to the Medicare fee-for- service (FFS) program--have more than doubled since 2004. MA plans generally receive larger payments from Medicare than what these plans would require to provide the original Medicare FFS benefit package. Plans must use this additional money to reduce cost sharing, reduce premiums, and offer additional benefits. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, enacted in 2010, required that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)--the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers Medicare--make changes in how Medicare pays MA plans. These changes, once fully implemented, are expected to reduce MA enrollment and payments, and lead to less generous benefit packages. GAO was asked to examine trends in MA from 2010 to 2011. This study assesses the extent to which the following changed from 2010 to 2011: (1) MA enrollment, (2) MA premiums and cost-sharing requirements, and (3) the additional benefits offered by MA plans. GAO analyzed data for the most common types of MA plans, accounting for about 71 percent of both the 11.1 million …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To help ensure that millions of Americans who rely on private insurance for health care coverage receive value for their premium dollars, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) established minimum "medical loss ratio" (MLR) standards for insurers. The MLR is a basic financial indicator, traditionally referring to the percentage of insurance premium revenues health insurers spent on their enrollees' medical claims. The MLR definition specified in the PPACA provision-- referred to as the PPACA MLR in this report--differs from the traditional MLR definition. Key differences are that the PPACA MLR allows insurers to include in their expenses spending on activities to improve health care quality and to deduct from their revenues certain tax payments and fees, and these differences will generally increase insurers' MLRs. Beginning in 2011, PPACA required insurers to meet minimum PPACA MLR standards of 85 percent in the large group market and 80 percent in the small group and individual markets or pay rebates to their enrollees. In implementing these MLR requirements, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) includes an adjustment for certain insurers to help address the disproportionate impact of …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The nation is at risk for a catastrophic biological event. The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act directed GAO to report on biosurveillance--to help detect and respond to such events--at multiple jurisdictional levels. In June 2010, GAO recommended that the National Security Staff lead the development of a national biosurveillance strategy, which is now under development. This report focuses on nonfederal jurisdictions, which own many of the resources that support a national capability. It discusses (1) federal support for state and local biosurveillance; (2) state and local challenges; (3) federal support and challenges for tribal and insular areas and (4) federal assessments of nonfederal capabilities. To conduct this work, GAO interviewed select federal-agency, jurisdiction, and association officials and reviewed relevant documents. To collect information on federal efforts and challenges, we also sent standardized questionnaires to seven states and two cities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the nation's largest public power provider, is a self-financing, federal electric utility with annual revenues of about $11 billion. TVA has financed large capital investments mostly by issuing debt and is subject to a $30 billion debt ceiling imposed by the TVA Act. TVA is governed by a 9-member Board. Within an affirmation requirement for the TVA Board, the TVA Act recognizes that TVA's broad missions and objectives include being a national leader in technological innovation, low-cost power, and environmental stewardship. GAO was asked to examine (1) how TVA plans to meet future demand for electricity and how TVA's resource planning and forecasts compare to those from other sources, (2) TVA's efforts to use energy efficiency to meet demand for electricity, and (3) TVA's financial condition and how it affects TVA's ability to meet its operational and financial goals. GAO analyzed data from TVA and third parties, reviewed agency documents, and interviewed federal and state officials and industry stakeholders."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has emphasized the importance of developing language skills and knowledge of foreign cultures to meet current and future needs and is investing millions of dollars to provide language and culture predeployment training to its general purpose forces. DOD has also noted that such training should be viewed as a long-term investment and that training and personnel systems should better account for the knowledge and skills of service members acquired through training to help manage its forces. The committee report accompanying a proposed bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (H.R. 5136) directed GAO to review language and culture training for Army and Marine Corps general purpose forces. For this report, GAO evaluated the extent to which these services (1) captured information in training and personnel systems on the completion of language and culture predeployment training and proficiency gained from training and (2) developed plans to sustain language skills acquired through predeployment training. GAO analyzed service documents and interviewed cognizant officials."

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A detailed simulation-based model of the June 2011 National Ignition Campaign (NIC) cryogenic DT experiments is presented. The model is based on integrated hohlraum-capsule simulations that utilize the best available models for the hohlraum wall, ablator, and DT equations of state and opacities. The calculated radiation drive was adjusted by changing the input laser power to match the experimentally measured shock speeds, shock merger times, peak implosion velocity, and bangtime. The crossbeam energy transfer model was tuned to match the measured time-dependent symmetry. Mid-mode mix was included by directly modeling the ablator and ice surface perturbations up to mode 60. Simulated experimental values were extracted from the simulation and compared against the experiment. The model adjustments brought much of the simulated data into closer agreement with the experiment, with the notable exception of the measured yields, which were 15-45% of the calculated yields.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) conducted a final quantitative analysis to assess whether buildings constructed according to the requirements of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Standard 90.1-2010 (ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010, Standard 90.1-2010, or 2010 edition) would result in energy savings compared with buildings constructed to ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007(ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007, Standard 90.1-2007, or 2007 edition). The final analysis considered each of the 109 addenda to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 that were included in ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010. All 109 addenda processed by ASHRAE in the creation of Standard 90.1-2010 from Standard 90.1-2007 were reviewed by DOE, and their combined impact on a suite of 16 building prototype models in 15 ASHRAE climate zones was considered. Most addenda were deemed to have little quantifiable impact on building efficiency for the purpose of DOE's final determination. However, out of the 109 addenda, 34 were preliminarily determined to have a measureable and quantifiable impact. A suite of 240 computer energy simulations for building prototypes complying with ASHRAE 90.1-2007 was developed. These prototypes were then modified in accordance with these 34 addenda to create a second suite of corresponding building …

In this project we have established guidelines for the design on organic chromophores suitable for producing high triplet yields via singlet fission. We have proven their utility by identifying a chromophore of a structural class that had never been examined for singlet fission before, 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran, and demonstrating in two independent ways that a thin layer of this material produces a triplet yield of 200% within experimental error. We have also designed a second chromophore of a very different type, again of a structural class that had not been examined for singlet fission before, and found that in a thin layer it produces a 70% triplet yield. Finally, we have enhanced the theoretical understanding of the quantum mechanical nature of the singlet fission process.

This is the final progress report for the FastOS (Phase 2) (FastOS-2) project with Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Oregon (UO). The project started at UO on July 1, 2008 and ran until April 30, 2010, at which time a six-month no-cost extension began. The FastOS-2 work at UO delivered excellent results in all research work areas: * scalable parallel monitoring * kernel-level performance measurement * parallel I/0 system measurement * large-scale and hybrid application performance measurement * onlne scalable performance data reduction and analysis * binary instrumentation

A current issue with the LHC collimation system is single-diffractive, off-energy protons from the primary collimators that pass completely through the secondary collimation system and are absorbed immediately downbeam in the cold magnets of the dispersion suppressor section. Simulations suggest that the high impact rate could result in quenching of these magnets. We have studied replacing the 60 cm primary graphite collimators, which remove halo mainly by inelastic strong interactions, with 5.25 mm tungsten, which remove halo mainly by multiple coulomb scattering and thereby reduce the rate of single-diffractive interactions that cause losses in the dispersion suppressor.

Current interest expressed by industry in HTGR plants, particularly modular plants with power up to about 600 MW(e) per unit, has prompted NRC to task PNNL with assessing the currently available literature related to codes and standards applicable to HTGR plants, the operating history of past and present HTGR plants, and with evaluating the proposed designs of RPV and associated piping for future plants. Considering these topics in the order they are arranged in the text, first the operational histories of five shut-down and two currently operating HTGR plants are reviewed, leading the authors to conclude that while small, simple prototype HTGR plants operated reliably, some of the larger plants, particularly Fort St. Vrain, had poor availability. Safety and radiological performance of these plants has been considerably better than LWR plants. Petroleum processing plants provide some applicable experience with materials similar to those proposed for HTGR piping and vessels. At least one currently operating plant - HTR-10 - has performed and documented a leak before break analysis that appears to be applicable to proposed future US HTGR designs. Current codes and standards cover some HTGR materials, but not all materials are covered to the high temperatures envisioned for HTGR use. …

The technical analyses in support of U.S. energy conservation standards for residential appliances and commercial equipment have typically assumed that manufacturing costs and retail prices remain constant during the projected 30-year analysis period. There is, however, considerable evidence that this assumption does not reflect real market prices. Costs and prices generally fall in relation to cumulative production, a phenomenon known as experience and modeled by a fairly robust empirical experience curve. Using price data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and shipment data obtained as part of the standards analysis process, we present U.S. experience curves for room air conditioners, clothes dryers, central air conditioners, furnaces, and refrigerators and freezers. These allow us to develop more representative appliance price projections than the assumption-based approach of constant prices. These experience curves were incorporated into recent energy conservation standards for these products. The impact on the national modeling can be significant, often increasing the net present value of potential standard levels in the analysis. In some cases a previously cost-negative potential standard level demonstrates a benefit when incorporating experience. These results imply that past energy conservation standards analyses may have undervalued the economic benefits of potential standard levels.

Thermal energy storage (TES) is an integral part of a concentrated solar power (CSP) system. It enables plant operators to generate electricity beyond on sun hours and supply power to the grid to meet peak demand. Current CSP sensible heat storage systems employ molten salts as both the heat transfer fluid and the heat storage media. These systems have an upper operating temperature limit of around 400 C. Future TES systems are expected to operate at temperatures between 600 C to 1000 C for higher thermal efficiencies which should result in lower electricity cost. To meet future operating temperature and electricity cost requirements, a TES concept utilizing thermochemical cycles (TCs) based on multivalent solid oxides was proposed. The system employs a pair of reduction and oxidation (REDOX) reactions to store and release heat. In the storage step, hot air from the solar receiver is used to reduce the oxidation state of an oxide cation, e.g. Fe3+ to Fe2+. Heat energy is thus stored as chemical bonds and the oxide is charged. To discharge the stored energy, the reduced oxide is re-oxidized in air and heat is released. Air is used as both the heat transfer fluid and reactant and no …

The objective of this project was to exploit a variety of semiconductor nanostructures, specifically semiconductor quantum wells, quantum dots, and nanowires, to achieve high power conversion efficiency in photovoltaic devices. In a thin-film device geometry, the objectives were to design, fabricate, and characterize quantum-well and quantum-dot solar cells in which scattering from metallic and/or dielectric nanostructures was employed to direct incident photons into lateral, optically confined paths within a thin (~1-3um or less) device structure. Fundamental issues concerning nonequilibrium carrier escape from quantum-confined structures, removal of thin-film devices from an epitaxial growth substrate, and coherent light trapping in thin-film photovoltaic devices were investigated. In a nanowire device geometry, the initial objectives were to engineer vertical nanowire arrays to optimize optical confinement within the nanowires, and to extend this approach to core-shell heterostructures to achieve broadspectrum absorption while maintaining high opencircuit voltages. Subsequent work extended this approach to include fabrication of nanowire photovoltaic structures on low-cost substrates.

Zenergy Power has successfully designed, built, tested, and installed in the US electrical grid a saturable reactor Fault Current Limiter. Beginning in 2007, first as SC Power Systems and from 2008 as Zenergy Power, Inc., ZP used DOE matching grant and ARRA funds to help refine the design of the saturated reactor fault current limiter. ZP ultimately perfected the design of the saturated reactor FCL to the point that ZP could reliably design a suitable FCL for most utility applications. Beginning with a very basic FCL design using 1G HTS for a coil housed in a LN2 cryostat for the DC bias magnet, the technology progressed to a commercial system that was offered for sale internationally. Substantial progress was made in two areas. First, the cryogenics cooling system progressed from a sub-cooled liquid nitrogen container housing the HTS coils to cryostats utilizing dry conduction cooling and reaching temperatures down to less than 20 degrees K. Large, round cryostats with “warm bore” diameters of 1.7 meters enabled the design of large tanks to hold the AC components. Second, the design of the AC part of the FCL was refined from a six legged “spider” design to a more compact and lighter …

This Addendum establishes a new family of content envelopes consisting of small quantities of radioactive materials. These content envelopes and specific packing configurations are shown to be subcritical. However, the dose rates of some payloads must be measured and shown to comply with applicable radiation limits. Authorization for shipment of the content envelop requires acceptance of this Addendum by the DOE-HQ certifying official as a supplement to the 9977 SARP Revision 2 and DOE-HQ�s subsequent revision of the CoC Revision 10 (which is based on SARP Addendum 2 and SARP Addendum 4) to authorize the additional content envelope. The Small Gram Quantity Content Envelopes and packing configurations will be incorporated in the next revision of the 9977 SARP.

Minutes for the October 31st meeting of the Dallas Way including members of attendance and topics discussed.

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

Geothermal Academy: A Pathway for Confirmation of Ground-Source Heat Pumps in the United States. In 2008, Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued a report on geothermal heats pumps (GHPs) focused on the market status, barriers to adoption, and actions to overcome these barriers (Hughes 2008). Of the barriers raised in this report, of the most pressing is the lack of performance and energy usage data for GHPs. Further, an associated barrier is a lack of a fair comparison of the energy usage of conventional heating and cooling systems for the same building. Because of these barriers, we are not able to say how much energy is used by well-designed GHP systems on a long-term basis, nor are we able to say how better their energy usage is compared to conventional systems. The need for a fair comparison with conventional systems is particularly relevant as modern versions of conventional air conditioners, gas furnaces, and boilers have also incorporated energy saving technologies. As a first step to address this barrier, the Geothermal Academy has developed a framework for data collection. This framework has already been applied to several geothermal installations in Colorado (Nakagawa etal. 2010). The framework classifies data into different categories based …

A final qualitative analysis of all addenda to American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Standard 90.1-2007 (Standard 90.1-2007 or 2007 edition) that were included in ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2010 (Standard 90.1-2010 or 2010 edition) was conducted. All 109 addenda processed by ASHRAE in the creation of Standard 90.1-2010 from Standard 90.1-2007 were evaluated by DOE for their impact on energy efficiency. DOE determined whether each addendum would have a positive, neutral, or negative impact on overall building efficiency.

The RACORO aerosol data (cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), condensation nuclei (CN) and aerosol size distributions) need further processing to be useful for model evaluation (e.g., GCM droplet nucleation parameterizations) and other investigations. These tasks include: (1) Identification and flagging of 'splash' contaminated Twin Otter aerosol data. (2) Calculation of actual supersaturation (SS) values in the two CCN columns flown on the Twin Otter. (3) Interpolation of CCN spectra from SGP and Twin Otter to 0.2% SS. (4) Process data for spatial variability studies. (5) Provide calculated light scattering from measured aerosol size distributions. Below we first briefly describe the measurements and then describe the results of several data processing tasks that which have been completed, paving the way for the scientific analyses for which the campaign was designed. The end result of this research will be several aerosol data sets which can be used to achieve some of the goals of the RACORO mission including the enhanced understanding of cloud-aerosol interactions and improved cloud simulations in climate models.