Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Navy improved the reporting of its general fund inventory on its fiscal year 1999 financial statement. The Navy properly accounted for equipment and supplies that were not reported in the prior year's statement, which included inventories held by contractors and the Coast Guard. Improvements in the Navy's financial reporting, however, are still needed. GAO found many errors and omissions that continue to affect the accuracy of the Navy's financial reporting. This report summarizes the issues that the Navy needs to address as it compiles its fiscal year 2000 financial information."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, Incorporated, for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Navy Club of the United States of America for fiscal year 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Daughters of the American Revolution for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the National Ski Patrol System for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the National Tropical Botanical Garden's for 1998 and 1997. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Disabled American Veterans' for 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Reserve Officers Association's for fiscal year 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the National Safety Council for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the National Federation of Music Clubs for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Paralyzed Veterans of America's for fiscal years 1999 and 1998. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Naval Sea Cadet Corps for 1998 and 1997. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Members of Congress periodically have expressed interest in converting the federal budget process from an annual to a biennial cycle. Congress believes that the time spent on these activities has come at the expense of congressional oversight and authorization responsibilities. To better understand states' experiences with the biennial budget cycle, GAO studied three states: Arizona, Ohio, and Connecticut. GAO found that the states' reasons for changing their budget cycles varied. For example, Arizona adopted a biennial cycle to increase legislative oversight and reduce time spent on the budget. Connecticut adopted it as part of a fiscal reform effort. To execute a biennial budget successfully, the states' experiences suggest that the legislative and executive branches must agree on how the off-year budget process will work. Different approaches to managing the off-year budget have been developed by states, including establishing formal guidelines for off-year budget changes and relying on leadership control. Efforts to increase legislative oversight in the off-year by converting to a biennial budget process may be difficult. Ohio and Connecticut officials said they that have not increased legislative oversight in the off-year, and Arizona officials said …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As the steward of taxpayer dollars, the federal government is accountable for how its agencies and grantees spend funds. It is also responsible for safeguardingagainst improper payments, which include payments that should not have been madeor were made for incorrect amounts irrespective of whether the agency had effective controls in place. Reported estimates of improper payments total billions ofdollars annually. With billions of dollars at risk, agencies need to vigilantly safeguard those resources entrusted to them and assign a high priority to reducing fraud, waste, and abuse. In their fiscal year 1999 financial statement, 12federal agencies reported improper payments totalling $20.7 billion. A first step for some agencies will be to assess programs at risk and develope ways to identify, estimate, and report the nature and extent of improper payments annually. Without this fundamental knowledge, agencies will not be fully informed about the magnitude, trends, and types of payment errors occurring within their programs. Furthermore, most agencies will not be able to make informed cost-benefit decisions about strengthening their internal controls to minimize future improper payments or effectively develop goals and strategies to reduce them. In …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Public health experts have raised concerns about the ability of the nation's public health system to detect and respond to emerging infectious disease threats, such as pandemic influenza. Although vaccines are considered the first line of defense to prevent or reduce influenza-related illness and death, GAO found that they may be unavailable, in short supply, or ineffective for some portions of the population during the first wave of a pandemic. Federal and state influenza pandemic plans are in various stages of completion and do not completely or consistently address key issues surrounding the purchase, distribution, and administration of vaccines and antiviral drugs. Inconsistencies in state and federal policies could contribute to public confusion and weaken the effectiveness of the public health response."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Women's Army Corps Veterans' Association for fiscal year 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether under section 312.206(a) of the Tax Code a county commissioners court is authorized to enter into a tax abatement agreement only with the owner of taxable real property, and related questions (RQ-0212-JC)

The authors have completed a set of gamma-ray pulse height benchmark experiments using a high purity germanium detector to measure absolute counting rate spectra from {sup 60}Co, {sup 137}Cs and {sup 57}Co isotopic sources. The detector was carefully shielded and collimated so that the geometry of the system was completely known. The measured absolute pulse height spectrum counting rates as a function of detector position relative to the source are compared to energy deposit spectra calculated using the Monte Carlo radiation transport code COG. They present here a small subset of our results. The agreement between the calculated and measured spectra and known sources of discrepancies will be discussed.

C1 chemistry refers to the conversion of simple carbon-containing materials that contain one carbon atom per molecule into valuable products. The feedstocks for C1 chemistry include natural gas, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methanol and synthesis gas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen). Synthesis gas, or syngas, is produced primarily by the reaction of natural gas, which is principally methane, with steam. It can also be produced by gasification of coal, petroleum coke, or biomass. The availability of syngas from coal gasification is expected to increase significantly in the future because of increasing development of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation. Because of the abundance of remote natural gas, the advent of IGCC, and environmental advantages, C1 chemistry is expected to become a major area of interest for the transportation fuel and chemical industries in the relatively near future. The CFFLS will therefore perform a valuable national service by providing science and engineering graduates that are trained in this important area. Syngas is the source of most hydrogen. Approximately 10 trillion standard cubic feet (SCF) of hydrogen are manufactured annually in the world. Most of this hydrogen is currently used for the production of ammonia and in a variety …

The purpose of this analysis is to identify and analyze concepts for the acquisition of data in support of the Performance Confirmation (PC) program at the potential subsurface nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The scope and primary objectives of this analysis are to: (1) Review the criteria for design as presented in the Performance Confirmation Data Acquisition/Monitoring System Description Document, by way of the Input Transmittal, Performance Confirmation Input Criteria (CRWMS M&O 1999c). (2) Identify and describe existing and potential new trends in data acquisition system software and hardware that would support the PC plan. The data acquisition software and hardware will support the field instruments and equipment that will be installed for the observation and perimeter drift borehole monitoring, and in-situ monitoring within the emplacement drifts. The exhaust air monitoring requirements will be supported by a data communication network interface with the ventilation monitoring system database. (3) Identify the concepts and features that a data acquisition system should have in order to support the PC process and its activities. (4) Based on PC monitoring needs and available technologies, further develop concepts of a potential data acquisition system network in support of the PC program and the Site Recommendation …

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.

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Uranium occurs naturally at trace levels in the major rock-forming minerals (quartz, feldspars, micas) in volcanic and plutonic rocks and is concentrated in accessory minerals (zircon, sphene, apatite). It may attain concentrations as high as 1000 ppm in the accessory minerals. Radiometric age determinations on zircon and sphene have shown that uranium migration from these minerals is generally negligible over prolonged periods of geologic time. Zircon grains separated from highly weathered igneous rocks have been found to retain most of their uranium. In contrast, the uranium fixed onto mineral grain boundaries or present in less-resistant minerals such as biotite or hornblende can be readily leached by groundwater. The ubiquitous presence of uranium in a rock makes it an ideal ''natural analogue'' for understanding the mobility of uranium at a potential site for nuclear fuel waste disposal and one that is easily overlooked in the search for suitable analogues for a disposal site. Several of the intermediate radionuclides in the decay series of the two long-lived isotopes of uranium ({sup 238}U and {sup 235}U) have half-lives greater than one year and are, therefore, of geological interest. In a sealed rock mass with no water-rock interactions, all intermediate radionuclides attain radioactive equilibrium …