A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because it is important that the Department of Defense (DOD) adheres to disciplined information technology (IT) acquisition processes to successfully modernize its business systems, GAO was asked to determine whether the Naval Tactical Command Support System (NTCSS) is being managed according to important aspects of DOD's acquisition policies and guidance, as well as other relevant acquisition management best practices. NTCSS was started in 1995 to help Navy personnel effectively manage ship, submarine, and aircraft support activities. To date, about $1 billion has been spent to partially deploy NTCSS to about one-half its intended ashore and afloat sites."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and the Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP), the government guarantees and makes consolidation loans to help borrowers manage their student loan debt. By combining loans into one and extending repayment, monthly repayments are reduced. Unlike other student loans, consolidation loans carry a fixed interest rate. Recently, trends in interest rates and consolidation loan volume have increased overall federal costs, leading Congress to consider cost reduction proposals. Under the Federal Credit Reform Act, the government calculates, for budgetary purposes, the net cost, or "subsidy cost," of extending or guaranteeing credit over the life of loans. Agencies generally reestimate, subsidy costs annually to include actual results and adjust future program estimates. GAO was asked to provide information on the budgetary effects of making consolidation loans exclusively through FDLP. We developed information to answer the following questions: (1) What would be the estimated budgetary effect of providing consolidation loans exclusively through FDLP in fiscal year 2006? (2) To what extent and for what reasons might this estimated budgetary effect change as subsidy costs are reestimated in future years? (3) How might …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Demographic changes pose serious challenges for employers, the economy, and older Americans. As the baby boomers near traditional retirement ages, the loss of experienced workers could have adverse effects on productivity and economic growth. Also, many older Americans face less-secure retirements due to rising health care costs, pension coverage changes, and fiscal pressures on the nation's retirement programs. Due to the growing importance of workers aged 55 or older, GAO examined: (1) areas of the labor market affected by the aging of the workforce; (2) factors that influence the timing of retirement; and (3) what employers are doing to hire and retain older workers."

Contains notes and research (TECH 10) Various States by David Epstein of the NAVY Team.

Executive Correspondence from Rumu Sarkar, General Counsel, 2005 BRAC Commission, to the Honorable Tim Murphy concerning his letter of October 19, 2005. The correspondence is regarding the clarification of the Commission's actions with respect to the number of C-130's to be located at the 911th Airlift Wing, Pittsburgh International Airport (IAP) Air Reserve Station (ARS).

Executive Correspondence from Anthony J. Principi, Chairman, 2005 BRAC Commission, to the Honorable Carl Levin to thank members of the Senate Armed Services Committee staff.

Contains notes and research (Naval Surface Warfare Center) NWS Seal Beach, CA by David Epstein of NAVY Team. Part 2 of 2.

Executive Correspondence from Rumu Sarkar, General Counsel, 2005 BRAC Commission, to the Honorable Melissa A. Hart concerning her letter of October 19, 2005, seeking clarification of the Commission's actions with respect to the number of C-130's to be located at the 911th Airlift Wing, Pittsburgh International Airport (IAP) Air Reserve Station (ARS).

Executive Correspondence from Rumu Sarkar, General Counsel, 2005 BRAC Commission, to the Honorable Arlen Spector concerning his letter of October 19, 2005. The correspondence is regarding the clarification of the Commission's actions with respect to the number of C-130's to be located at the 911th Airlift Wing, Pittsburgh International Airport (IAP) Air Reserve Station (ARS).

Executive Correspondence from Rumu Sarkar, General Counsel, 2005 BRAC Commission, to the Honorable Rick Santorum concerning his letter of October 19, 2005. The correspondence is regarding the clarification of the Commission's actions with respect to the number of C-130's to be located at the 911th Airlift Wing, Pittsburgh International Airport (IAP) Air Reserve Station (ARS).

Community Correspondence from Mildred Moots concerning Naval Air Station Oceana, VA.

Contains notes and research (Naval Surface Warfare Center) Port Hueneme, CA by David Epstein of the NAVY Team.

Contains notes and research (General) SPAWARS S.D., CA by David Epstein of the NAVY Team.

Contains notes and research (General) NWS Yorktown, VA by David Epstein of the NAVY Team.

Contains notes and research (TECH 9, 15, 19) Various States by David Epstein of the NAVY Team.

Contains notes and research (Tech 9, #2of2) Various States by David Epstein of the NAVY Team.

Contains notes and research (TECH 9, #1of2)Various States by David Epstein of the NAVY Team.

Contains notes and research (TECH 9 #2 of 2) Various States by David Epstein of the NAVY Team.

Contains notes and research (Naval Surface Warfare Center) NWS Seal Beach, CA by David Epstein of the NAVY Team. Part 1 of 2

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This paper discusses the features of an annotation language that we believe to be essential for optimizing user-defined abstractions. These features should capture semantics of function, data, and object-oriented abstractions, express abstraction equivalence (e.g., a class represents an array abstraction), and permit extension of traditional compiler optimizations to user-defined abstractions. Our future work will include developing a comprehensive annotation language for describing the semantics of general object-oriented abstractions, as well as automatically verifying and inferring the annotated semantics.

Wide-band reflectrometry and ellipsometry have been used to determine the optical properties n and k of freshly polished uranium and of the epitaxial oxide layer, and also the rate of oxide growth in air. Results for uranium metal as well as for epitaxial oxide are compared with single wavelength ellipsometry literature values.

A tool holder was designed to facilitate the machining of precision meso-scale components with complex three-dimensional shapes with sub-{micro}m accuracy on a four-axis lathe. A four-axis lathe incorporates a rotary table that allows the cutting tool to swivel with respect to the workpiece to enable the machining of complex workpiece forms, and accurately machining complex meso-scale parts often requires that the cutting tool be aligned precisely along the axis of rotation of the rotary table. The tool holder designed in this study has greatly simplified the process of setting the tool in the correct location with sub-{micro}m precision. The tool holder adjusts the tool position using flexures that were designed using finite element analyses. Two flexures adjust the lateral position of the tool to align the center of the nose of the tool with the axis of rotation of the B-axis, and another flexure adjusts the height of the tool. The flexures are driven by manual micrometer adjusters, each of which provides a minimum increment of motion of 20 nm. This tool holder has simplified the process of setting a tool with sub-{micro}m accuracy, and it has significantly reduced the time required to set a tool.

The neutron resonance parameters of {sup 238}U were obtained from a SAMMY analysis of high-resolution neutron transmission measurements and high-resolution capture cross section measurements performed at the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator (ORELA) in the years 1970-1990, and from more recent transmission and capture cross section measurements performed at the Geel Linear Accelerator (GELINA). Compared with previous evaluations, the energy range for this resonance analysis was extended from 10 to 20 keV, taking advantage of the high resolution of the most recent ORELA transmission measurements. The experimental database and the method of analysis are described in this report. The neutron transmissions and the capture cross sections calculated with the resonance parameters are compared with the experimental data. A description is given of the statistical properties of the resonance parameters and of the recommended values of the average parameters. The new evaluation results in a slight decrease of the effective capture resonance integral and improves the prediction of integral thermal benchmarks by 70 pcm to 200 pcm.