A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2006, the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) program paid over $1.8 billion in wage loss compensation to federal employees who were unable to work after being injured on the job. Under the Comptroller General's authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative, GAO examined (1) how effectively the Department of Labor's (Labor) Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) manages the risk of improper FECA compensation payments; (2) what vulnerabilities to improper payments, if any, exist in OWCP's procedures for making FECA wage loss payments; and (3) how well OWCP ensures the recovery of identified FECA overpayments. To address these issues, GAO reviewed OWCP documents, analyzed data obtained from OWCP, reviewed a random and projectable sample of FECA claims files, visited five OWCP district offices, and interviewed OWCP headquarters and district officials."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) was created in 1975 to help insulate the U.S. economy from oil supply disruptions and currently holds about 700 million barrels of crude oil. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to increase the SPR storage capacity from 727 million barrels to 1 billion barrels, which it plans to accomplish by 2018. Since 1999, oil for the SPR has generally been obtained through the royalty-in-kind program, whereby the government receives oil instead of cash for payment of royalties on leases of federal property. The Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) collects the royalty oil and transfers it to DOE, which then trades it for oil suitable for the SPR. As DOE begins to expand the SPR, past experiences can help inform future efforts to fill the reserve in the most cost-effective manner. In that context, GAO's testimony today will focus on: (1) factors GAO recommends DOE consider when filling the SPR, and (2) the cost-effectiveness of using oil received through the royalty-in-kind program to fill the SPR. To address these issues, GAO relied on its 2006 report …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Weather Service (NWS), an agency under the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), provides staff on-site at each of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) en route centers--the facilities that control high-altitude flight outside the airport tower and terminal areas. This group of NWS meteorologists provides air traffic managers with forecasts and briefings on regional conditions such as turbulence and icing. Over the last few years, FAA has been exploring options for enhancing the efficiency of the aviation weather services provided by these NWS meteorologists. In late December 2007, FAA delivered revised requirements and associated performance measures to NWS to improve these services. GAO was asked to summarize key segments of its report being released today, including its assessment of NWS and FAA efforts to ensure the quality of aviation weather services at en route centers, and its recommendations to improve these efforts. In addition, GAO was asked to provide an update on FAA's recent efforts to establish aviation weather requirements and performance measures, and NWS's plans for responding to these requirements. To do so, GAO summarized segments of its report, reviewed FAA's recently …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation (No FEAR) Act of 2002 has, since October 1, 2003, required federal agencies to reimburse the Judgment Fund for payments made to claimants to cover judgments, awards, and settlements in equal employment opportunity (EEO) and whistleblower cases. As we previously reported in 2004, the reimbursement provision of the No FEAR Act was intended to make agencies more accountable for their violations of employment discrimination and whistleblower protection laws brought against the agencies. Similarly, the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (CDA) also has, since March 1, 1979, required agencies to reimburse the Judgment Fund for payments to claimants in cases involving federal contract disputes. The No FEAR Act mandated that we conduct a study of the payments, reimbursements, and effects of the reimbursement provisions of both No FEAR Act and CDA cases. In 1956, Congress established the Judgment Fund, which is a permanent, indefinite appropriation to pay judgments against federal agencies that are not otherwise provided for by other appropriations. In 1961, legislation was enacted allowing the Judgment Fund to pay, among other things, Department of Justice (DOJ) settlements of ongoing …

At the end of the funding period (March 2003) for our program in ferroelectric oxide nanomaterials, we had 3 publications in print, one more had been submitted and two more were in preparation in peer-reviewed journals and invited symposia lectures had been given since starting the project in the Fall of 1999. We hired two postdoctoral fellows, Dr. Ki-Seog Chang and Dr. Wenzhong Wang. We have also trained two graduate students, Ms. Keri Williams and Ms. Bernadette Hernandez, and one undergraduate student (Mr. Michael Scancella).

Aerial image measurement plays a key role in the development of patterned reticles for each generation of lithography. Studying the field transmitted (reflected) from EUV masks provides detailed information about potential disruptions caused by mask defects, and the performance of defect repair strategies, without the complications of photoresist imaging. Furthermore, by measuring the continuously varying intensity distribution instead of a thresholded, binary resist image, aerial image measurement can be used as feedback to improve mask and lithography system modeling methods. Interest in EUV, at-wavelength, aerial image measurement lead to the creation of several research tools worldwide. These tools are used in advanced mask development work, and in the evaluation of the need for commercial at-wavelength inspection tools. They describe performance measurements of two such tools, inspecting the same EUV mask in a series of benchmarking tests that includes brightfield and darkfield patterns. One tool is the SEMATECH Berkeley Actinic Inspection Tool (AIT) operating on a bending magnet beamline at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light Source. The AIT features an EUV Fresnel zoneplate microscope that emulates the numerical aperture of a 0.25-NA stepper, and projects the aerial image directly onto a CCD camera, with 700x magnification. The second tool is …

At approximately 3:41 AM on the morning of April 29, 2007, a tractor-trailer rig carrying 8,600 gallons (32.6 m{sup 3}) of fuel overturned on Interstate 880 in Oakland, CA. The resultant fire weakened the surrounding steel superstructure and caused a 50-yard (45.7 m) long section of the above connecting ramp from Interstate 80 to Interstate 580 to fail in approximately 18 minutes. In this study, we performed a loosely-coupled thermal-structural finite element analysis of the freeway using the LLNL Engineering codes NIKE3D, DYNA3D and TOPAZ3D. First, we applied an implicit structural code to statically initialize the stresses and displacements in the roadway at ambient conditions due to gravity loading. Next, we performed a thermal analysis by approximating the tanker fire as a moving box region of uniform temperature. This approach allowed for feasible calculation of the fire-to-structure radiative view factors and convective heat transport. We used a mass scaling methodology in the thermal analysis to reduce the overall simulation time so an explicit structural analysis could be used, which provided a more computationally efficient simulation of structural failure. Our approach showed structural failure of both spans due to thermal softening under gravity loading at approximately 20 minutes for a fixed …

None

New high-spin levels have been identified in the nucleus {sup 120}Pd from analysis of the coincidence gamma rays observed in the {sup 238}U({alpha}, f{gamma}{gamma}{gamma}) reaction. Recoiling fragments were detected with the Rochester heavy-ion detector array, CHICO, in coincidence with gamma-rays using Gammasphere. An A=110-130 mass-gated {gamma} - {gamma} - {gamma} cube from this experiment was constructed and analyzed for coincident gamma-rays in several nuclei near A=120. New results for neutron-rich {sup 118}Pd and {sup 120}Pd have been obtained. The {sup 120}Pd level scheme was extended to spin of 10{sup +} by building on the new low-energy gamma rays identified in decay studies of {sup 120}Rh. The details of the {sup 118}Pd level scheme derived from this work are compared to previous work. The systematics of the yrast levels in even-even Pd and Cd isotopes are presented and the symmetry of energy levels around N = 68 is discussed. A new 10{sup +} level in {sup 124}Cd has been observed. The population intensity of even-even neutron-rich Cd isotopes is deduced, indicating that nuclides near {sup 120}Cd are preferentially populated following alpha-induced fission of {sup 238}U.

Reductive nitrosylation and complexation of ammonium pertechnetate by acetohydroxamic acid has been achieved in aqueous nitric and perchloric acid solutions. The kinetics of the reaction depend on the relative concentrations of the reaction components and are accelerated at higher temperatures. The reaction does not occur unless conditions are acidic. Analysis of the x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopic data is consistent with a pseudo-octahedral geometry with the linear Tc-N-O bond typical of technetium nitrosyl compounds, and electron spin resonance spectroscopy is consistent with a the d{sup 5} Tc(II) nitrosyl complex. The nitrosyl source is generally AHA, but may be augmented by products of reaction with nitric acid. The resulting low-valency trans-aquonitrosyl(diacetohydroxamic)-technetium(II) complex (1) is highly soluble in water, extremely hydrophilic, and is not extracted by tri-n-butylphosphate in a dodecane diluent. Its extraction properties are not pH-dependent; titration studies indicate a single species from pH 4.5 down to -0.6 (calculated). This molecule is resistant to oxidation by H{sub 2}O{sub 2}, even at high pH, and can undergo substitution to form other technetium nitrosyl complexes. The formation of 1 may strongly impact the fate of technetium in the nuclear fuel cycle.

A novel stochastic fluid model is proposed with a nonideal structure factor consistent with compressibility, and adjustable transport coefficients. This stochastic hard-sphere dynamics (SHSD) algorithm is a modification of the direct simulation Monte Carlo algorithm and has several computational advantages over event-driven hard-sphere molecular dynamics. Surprisingly, SHSD results in an equation of state and a pair correlation function identical to that of a deterministic Hamiltonian system of penetrable spheres interacting with linear core pair potentials. The fluctuating hydrodynamic behavior of the SHSD fluid is verified for the Brownian motion of a nanoparticle suspended in a compressible solvent.

Establishing safe handling limits for explosives in elevated temperature environments is a difficult problem that often requires extensive simulation. The largest influence on predicting thermal cookoff safety lies in the chemical kinetic model used in these simulations, and these kinetic model reaction sequences often contain multiple steps. Several small-scale cookoff experiments, notably Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), One-Dimensional Time-to-Explosion (ODTX), and the Scaled Thermal Explosion (STEX) have been performed on various explosives to aid in cookoff behavior determination. Past work has used a single test from this group to create a cookoff model, which does not guarantee agreement with the other experiments. In this study, we update the kinetic parameters of an existing model for the common explosive 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) using DSC and ODTX experimental data at the same time by minimizing a global Figure of Merit based on hydrodynamic simulated data. We then show that the new kinetic model maintains STEX agreement, reduces DSC agreement, and improves ODTX and TGA agreement when compared to the original model. In addition, we describe a means to use implicit hydrodynamic simulations of DSC experiments to develop a reaction model for TNT melting.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Helen Snapp's itinerary, compiled by David A. Stallman, which includes the contact information for Helen, David, and Brian Moffett, the addresses for a museum and Holiday Inn #68088282. and Delta flight information.

Daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Weekly student newspaper from the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas that includes campus news and commentaries along with advertising.

This report discusses guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on the various human resources (HR) flexibilities available to federal departments and agencies to facilitate management in emergency situations.

As the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted, states have the primary obligation to ensure child welfare. However, Congress provides significant federal funds to help states exercise this responsibility ($7.9 billion appropriated in FY2008). Most of this support is provided for children who are in foster care and who meet specific federal eligibility criteria. This report discusses the federal framework for child welfare policy; reviews the scope of activities, and children and families served, by state child welfare agencies; summarizes several child welfare-related hearings that were held in 2007; describes child welfare and related legislative proposals that have been introduced in the 110th Congress; and reviews child welfare programs for which funding authorization has expired or is set to expire on the last day of FY2008.

This report provides current and historical information on the budget resolution. It provides a list of the budget resolutions adopted and rejected by Congress since implementation of the Budget Act, including the U.S. Statutes-at-Large citations and committee report numbers, and describes their formulation and content. The report provides a table of selected optional components, a list of reconciliation measures, and information on the number of years covered by budget resolutions.

This report provides an overview of the markup procedures on the house rules governing committee. The rules of the house provides general guidance to committees for conducting meetings to markup legislation.

None

This report discusses the constitutional issues that may arise with respect to a federal law that would require disclosures of efforts to stimulate so-called "grassroots" lobbying activities by those entities and persons who are are compensated to engage in such activities.

Some of the most fascinating questions about the limits of nuclear stability are confronted in the heaviest nuclei. How many more new elements can be synthesized? What are the nuclear and chemical properties of these exotic nuclei? Does the 'Island of Stability' exist and can we ever explore the isotopes inhabiting that nuclear region? This paper will focus on the current experimental research on the synthesis and characterization of superheavy nuclei with Z > 112 from the Dubna/Livermore collaboration. Reactions using 48Ca projectiles from the U400 cyclotron and actinide targets ({sup 233,238}U, {sup 237}Np, {sup 242,244}Pu, {sup 243}Am, {sup 245,248}Cm, {sup 249}Cf) have been investigated using the Dubna Gas Filled Recoil Separator in Dubna over the last 8 years. In addition, several experiments have been performed to investigate the chemical properties of some of the observed longer-lived isotopes produced in these reactions. Some comments will be made on nuclear reactions used for the production of the heaviest elements. A summary of the current status of the upper end of the chart of nuclides will be presented.