Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-02-69G, Strategies to Manage Improper Payments: Learning From Public and Private Sector Organizations, October 2001. This executive guide is intended to identify effective practices and provide case illustrations and other information for federal agencies' consideration when developing strategies and planning and implementing actions to manage improper payments in their programs."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "For fiscal year 2002, Congress has before it two separate budget requests for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)--the traditional request prepared by the administration and a separate request prepared by the IRS Oversight Board. There are some significant differences between the two requests. The administration is requesting about $9.4 billion while the Board is requesting an additional $300 million. This correspondence addresses several questions related to (1) the differences between the two requests, (2) IRS' hiring plans for its Staffing Tax Administration for Balance and Equity initiative, (3) the productivity of IRS staff, and (4) business systems modernization."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO published a functional requirements document that provided high level functional requirements for benefits systems that will provide the capability for financial managers, program managers and others to control and account for federal benefit programs as defined in governmentwide and agency specific statutes, regulations, guidelines, and need assessments."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1999, nearly 10 million retired people aged 55 or older relied on employer-sponsored health insurance as either their primary source of coverage or as a supplement to their Medicare coverage. Some of these persons are concerned about the continued availability of employer-sponsored coverage. Premium increases and forecasts for a potential economic slowdown could further erode employer-sponsored benefits. In the long term, these factors, coupled with the potential for Medicare reforms and the rising number of aging baby boomers, may produce even more uncertainty and cost pressures for employers. Consequently, as an increasing number of retirees lack employer-based coverage, those in poorer health may have difficulty finding affordable alternative health coverage."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the status of agencies' efforts to establish effective internal control over federal medical stockpiles that can be used to treat civilian and military victims in the event of a chemical or biological attack. In earlier reports, GAO recommended that federal agencies strengthen their management of these medical stockpiles. GAO found that these agencies have made significant progress toward implementing its recommendations. Management at each of the responsible agencies has given priority to and placed emphasis on strengthening internal control over stockpiles. As a result, inventory discrepancy rates and accountability have been reduced."

A portion of missionary Stephen Lloyd Smith's unpublished autobiography, "In God's Hands," depicting the experience of his family as civilian internees of the Japanese in the Philippines during World War II.

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 the value of property subject to a tax increment financing agreement under Local Government Code chapter 374 may be deducted from a school district’s total taxable value, and related questions (RQ-0303-JC)

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 a registered professional land surveyor may provide a competitive bid to the primary contractor of a contract with a governmental entity (RQ-0321-JC)

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 a contractual requirement that a superintendent of schools attend executive sessions of meetings of her board of trustees violates the Open Meetings Act(RQ-0327-JC).

In an effort to increase automobile fuel efficiency as well as decrease the output of harmful greenhouse gases, the automotive industry has recently shown increased interest in cast light metals such as magnesium alloys in an effort to increase weight savings. Currently several magnesium alloys such as AZ91 and AM60B are being used in structural applications for automobiles. However, these magnesium alloys are not as well characterized as other commonly used structural metals such as aluminum. This dissertation presents a methodology to nondestructively quantify damage accumulation due to void behavior in three dimensions in die-cast magnesium AM60B tensile bars as a function of mechanical load. Computed tomography data was acquired after tensile bars were loaded up to and including failure, and analyzed to characterize void behavior as it relates to damage accumulation. Signal and image processing techniques were used along with a cluster labeling routine to nondestructively quantify damage parameters in three dimensions. Void analyses were performed including void volume distribution characterization, nearest neighbor distance calculations, shape parameters, and volumetric renderings of voids in the alloy. The processed CT data was used to generate input files for use in finite element simulations, both two- and three-dimensional. The void analyses revealed …

Statistical analysis gives a paradigm for detection and tracking of weak-signature sources that are moving among a network of detectors. The detector platforms compute and exchange information with near-neighbors in the form of Bayesian probabilities for possible sources. This can shown to be an optimal scheme for the use of detector information and communication resources. Here, we apply that paradigm to the detection and discrimination of radiation sources using multi-channel gamma-ray spectra. We present algorithms for the reduction of detector data to probability estimates and the fusion of estimates among multiple detectors. A primary result is the development of a goodness-of-fit metric, similar to {chi}{sup 2}, for template matching that is statistically valid for spectral channels with low expected counts. Discrimination of a target source from other false sources and detection of imprecisely known spectra are the main applications considered. We use simulated NaI spectral data to demonstrate the Bayesian algorithm compare it to other techniques. Results of simulations of a network of spectrometers are presented, showing its capability to distinguish intended targets from nuisance sources.

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The second out of a series of three fact sheets describing the role of electricity markets and market design in integrating solar generation.

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Effects of oceanographic conditions, as well as effects of release-timing and release-size, on first ocean-year survival of subyearling fall chinook salmon were investigated by analyzing CWT release and recovery data from Oregon and Washington coastal hatcheries. Age-class strength was estimated using a multinomial probability likelihood which estimated first-year survival as a proportional hazards regression against ocean and release covariates. Weight-at-release and release-month were found to significantly effect first year survival (p < 0.05) and ocean effects were therefore estimated after adjusting for weight-at-release. Negative survival trend was modeled for sea surface temperature (SST) during 11 months of the year over the study period (1970-1992). Statistically significant negative survival trends (p < 0.05) were found for SST during April, June, November and December. Strong pairwise correlations (r > 0.6) between SST in April/June, April/November and April/December suggest the significant relationships were due to one underlying process. At higher latitudes (45{sup o} and 48{sup o}N), summer upwelling (June-August) showed positive survival trend with survival and fall (September-November) downwelling showed positive trend with survival, indicating early fall transition improved survival. At 45{sup o} and 48{sup o}, during spring, alternating survival trends with upwelling were observed between March and May, with negative trend occurring …

Using the pre-2000 reach survival probabilities reported in the 2000 FCRPS Biological Opinion (BO) for three selected stocks: yearling and sub-yearling chinook and steelhead, power curves were constructed for each of the two statistical hypothesis tests suggested in the BO. These power calculation results were interpreted in terms of the ability of the statistical tests to correctly identify the true states of recovery (i.e., fail or succeed in fulfilling RPA expectations). The proposed one-sided tests have a moderate to low probability of correctly assessing the true status of the recovery by the years 2005 and 2008. The relatively poor odds of making the correct decision with the BO proposed Tests 1 and 2 suggest alternative decision rules need to be investigated and developed for assessing RPA compliance. Therefore, we propose to immediately examine alternative decision rules that might maximize the likelihood of correct decisions while minimizing the prospect of incorrect decisions. The Bayesian analysis will incorporate scientific/biological knowledge/expertise.

This report investigates the feasibility of using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools to investigate hydrodynamic flow fields surrounding the tailrace zone below large hydraulic structures. Previous and ongoing studies using CFD tools to simulate gradually varied flow with multiple constituents and forebay/intake hydrodynamics have shown that CFD tools can provide valuable information for hydraulic and biological evaluation of fish passage near hydraulic structures. These studies however are incapable of simulating the rapidly varying flow fields that involving breakup of the free-surface, such as those through and below high flow outfalls and spillways. Although the use of CFD tools for these types of flow are still an active area of research, initial applications discussed in this report show that these tools are capable of simulating the primary features of these highly transient flow fields.

This report describes tests conducted at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River in the spring of 2000 using three-dimensional acoustic telemetry and computational fluid dynamics hydraulic modeling to observe the response of outmigrating juvenile steelhead and yearling chinook to a prototype surface collector installed at the Powerhouse. The study described in this report was one of several conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prepare a decision document on which of two bypass methods: surface flow bypass or extended-length submersible bar screens to use to help smolts pass around Bonneville dams without going through the turbines.

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Bimonthly newsletter from DOE's Office of Industrial Technologies to promote the use of energy-efficient industrial systems.

This report documents experiments and analyses that have been done at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) to measure the steam chemical reactivity of two types of carbon fiber composites, NS31 and NB31, proposed for use at the divertor strike points in an ITER-like tokamak. These materials are 3D CFCs constituted by a NOVOLTEX preform and densified by pyrocarbon infiltration and heat treatment. NS31 differs from NB31 in that the final infiltration was done with liquid silicon to reduce the porosity and enhance the thermal conductivity of the CFC. Our approach in this work was twofold: (1) physical characterization measurements of the specimens and (2) measurements of the chemical reactivity of specimens exposed to steam.

Many analysts identify carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and separation as a major roadblock in efforts to cost effectively mitigate greenhouse gas emissions via sequestration. An assessment 4 conducted by the International Energy Agency (IEA) Greenhouse Gas Research and Development Programme cited separation costs from $35 to $264 per tonne of CO2 avoided for a conventional coal fired power plant utilizing existing capture technologies. Because these costs equate to a greater than 40% increase in current power generation rates, it appears obvious that a significant improvement in CO2 separation technology is required if a negative impact on the world economy is to be avoided.

The Value Methodology (VM) study brings together a multidisciplinary team of people who own the problem and have the expertise to identify and solve it. With the varied backgrounds and experiences the team brings to the study, come different perspectives on the problem and the requirements of the project. A requirements analysis step can be added to the Information and Function Analysis Phases of a VM study to validate whether the functions being performed are required, either regulatory or customer prescribed. This paper will provide insight to the level of rigor applied to a requirements analysis step and give some examples of tools and techniques utilized to ease the management of the requirements and functions those requirements support for highly complex problems.