A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The accounting profession maintains a voluntary, self-regulatory system through the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) that includes establishing professional standards, monitoring compliance with professional standards, disciplining members for improper acts and substandard performance, and conducting oversight. The Panel of Audit Effectiveness, set up to examine the AICPA's methods, made recommendations to enhance the accounting profession's self-regulatory system. Implementing actions taken or in process have addressed many of the Panel's recommendations. However, the Panel's recommendations did not fully address the limitations of the self-regulatory system identified in its report. Also, some of the Panel's recommendations were either not accepted or are still under study. Additional experience is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken or planned. However, the system is fragmented, uncoordinated, and has a disciplinary function that is widely perceived to be ineffective. The self-regulatory system is unable to protect the confidentiality of investigative information about alleged audit failures or other disciplinary matters concerning members of the profession. The lack of such protective powers hinders the timing of investigations and affects the public's perception of the self-regulatory system's effectiveness. The Panel recognized the …

Once hostilities end in Afghanistan and the Afghan phase of the war on terrorism starts to wind down, reconstruction efforts will begin in earnest. International attention will likely turn to Afghanistan’s short- and medium-term future, raising questions between the United States and its allies about division of labor, burdensharing, and exit strategies. It is anticipated that Congress will examine reconstruction efforts underway, aid priorities, long-term reconstruction proposals, and the implementation role to be played by the United States.

Daily newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

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

Semiweekly newspaper from Boerne, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semiweekly newspaper from Brady, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Molecular, phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA), and substrate utilization (BIOLOG) techniques were used to assess structural and functional differences between microbial communities from a chlorinated-ethene (CE)-contaminated groundwater at a sanitary landfill. The information will be used to evaluate natural attenuation of the associated CE plume. Two groundwater-monitoring wells were tested.

This report discusses the background information and most recent development in U.S.-China relations since mid-1996. Since the early 1990s, U.S.-China relations have followed an uneven course, with modest improvements overshadowed by various recurring difficulties and setbacks. Longstanding bilateral difficulties have included U.S. problems with the PRC’s worsening human rights record, growing tensions over the PRC’s southern military build-up opposite Taiwan and Taiwan’s political status, and continued controversy over allegations of Chinese proliferation of weapons to unstable regimes.

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

This paper examines the radiation profiles and corresponding ionization source profiles of various carbon and main plasma ions in matched helium and deuterium L-mode plasmas in JET. Operation in helium should reduce chemical sputtering of carbon substantially compared with deuterium. The radiation intensities from C{sup 1+}, C{sup 2+} and C{sup 3+} in the helium plasmas showed reduction by factors of 8, 10 and 25 respectively along the inner SOL and divertor leg compared with the deuterium cases. However, the emission in the outer divertor leg was less than a factor of 2 lower in helium. Using photon efficiencies calculated by the UEDGE code for the spectrometer lines of sight, the calculated source rates of C{sup 1+} and C{sup 3+} along the inner SOL and inner divertor were reduced by a factors of 4 and 20 respectively in the helium plasmas. In the outer divertor leg the source rate of C{sup 3+} was reduced by a factor of 10 but the C{sup 1+} source rate did not change in helium. These measurements are consistent with a model that chemical sputtering of carbon dominates the source from the inner wall and inner divertor in deuterium L-mode plasmas while physical sputtering appears to …

An appraisal of the potential performance of different Low Energy Cooling (LEC) systems in nonresidential buildings in California is being conducted using computer simulation. The paper presents results from the first phase of the study, which addressed the systems that can be modeled, with the DOE-2.1E simulation program. The following LEC technologies were simulated as variants of a conventional variable-air-volume system with vapor compression cooling and mixing ventilation in the occupied spaces: Air-side indirect and indirect/direct evaporative pre-cooling. Cool beams. Displacement ventilation. Results are presented for four populous climates, represented by Oakland, Sacramento, Pasadena and San Diego. The greatest energy savings are obtained from a combination of displacement ventilation and air-side indirect/direct evaporative pre-cooling. Cool beam systems have the lowest peak demand but do not reduce energy consumption significantly because the reduction in fan energy is offse t by a reduction in air-side free cooling. Overall, the results indicate significant opportunities for LEC technologies to reduce energy consumption and demand in nonresidential new construction and retrofit.

Invitation for the confirmation exercises for the 2002 class of Ahavath Sholom synagogue, including a list of confirmands.

Daily newspaper from Perry, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

Building energy benchmarking is a useful starting point for commercial building owners and operators to target energy savings opportunities. There are a number of tools and methods for benchmarking energy use. Benchmarking based on regional data can provides more relevant information for California buildings than national tools such as Energy Star. This paper discusses issues related to benchmarking commercial building energy use and the development of Cal-Arch, a building energy benchmarking database for California. Currently Cal-Arch uses existing survey data from California's Commercial End Use Survey (CEUS), a largely underutilized wealth of information collected by California's major utilities. Doe's Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is used by a similar tool, Arch, and by a number of other benchmarking tools. Future versions of Arch/Cal-Arch will utilize additional data sources including modeled data and individual buildings to expand the database.

The chamber walls in inertial fusion energy (IFE) reactors are exposed to harsh conditions following each target implosion. Key issues of the cyclic IFE operation include intense photon and ion deposition, wall thermal and hydrodynamic evolution, wall erosion and fatigue lifetime, and chamber clearing and evacuation to ensure chamber conditions prior to target implosion. Several methods for wall protection have been proposed in the past, each having its own advantages and disadvantages. These methods include bare walls, gas-filled cavities, and liquid walls/jets. We have developed detailed models for reflected laser light, emitted photon, and target debris deposition and interaction with chamber components and implemented them in the comprehensive HEIGHTS software package. The hydrodynamic response of gas-filled cavities and photon radiation transport of the deposited energy has been calculated using new and advanced numerical techniques. Fragmentation models of liquid jets as a result of the deposited energy have also been developed, and the impact on chamber clearing dynamics has been evaluated. The focus of this study is to critically assess the reliability and the dynamic response of chamber walls in various proposed protection methods in IFE systems. Of particular concern is the effect on wall erosion lifetime of various erosion mechanisms, …

The character file formats for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory evaluated atomic relaxation library (EADL), the electron library (EEDL), and the photon library (EPDL) are given in this report.

This paper presents enhanced remote manipulation of tools for D&D tasks by extending teleoperation with teleautonomy and tele-collaboration. This work builds on a reactive, agent-based control architecture, which is well suited to unstructured and unpredictable environments, and cobot control technology, which implements a virtual fixture that can be used to guide the application of tools with passive force-feedback control. Developed methodologies are tested using simulation, and then planned to be implemented using a structured light sensor and cobot hand controller on a dual-arm system to measure the enhanced performance of key tool operations that are tedious and difficult to perform purely by teleoperation. This work significantly leverages some 2000 hours of operational experience gained during the D&D of the CP-5 reactor at ANL using a dual-arm remote manipulator system, as well as DOE's investment in the dual-arm system itself, which will serve as a test bed for the proposed investigations.

Daily newspaper from Chickasha, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the Former Members of Congress for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with general accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the National Academy of Public Administration for fiscal year 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. 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 audit report covering the financial statements of the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum for fiscal year 2000. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with general accounting principles."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the audit report covering the financial statements of the National Tropical Botanical Garden for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions 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 audit report covering the financial statements of the Non Commissioned Officers Association of the United States of America, Incorporated, for fiscal years 2000 and 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance. The audit reports included the auditors' opinions that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with general accounting principles."