Jade Visions is the first biography of one of the twentieth century’s most influential jazz musicians, bassist Scott LaFaro. Best known for his landmark recordings with Bill Evans, LaFaro played bass a mere seven years before his life and career were tragically cut short by an automobile accident when he was only 25 years old. Told by his sister, this book uniquely combines family history with insight into LaFaro’s music by well-known jazz experts and musicians Gene Lees, Don Thompson, Jeff Campbell, Phil Palombi, Chuck Ralston, Barrie Kolstein, and Robert Wooley. Those interested in Bill Evans, the history of jazz, and the lives of working musicians of the time will appreciate this exploration of LaFaro’s life and music as well as the feeling they’ve been invited into the family circle as an intimate. “Fernandez’ insightful comments about her brother offer far more than jazz scholars have ever known about this significant and somewhat enigmatic figure in the history of jazz. All in all, a very complete portrait.”—Bill Milkowski, author of Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A debate is underway about how the United States should tax foreign-source, corporate income. Currently, the United States allows domestic corporations to defer tax on the earnings of their foreign subsidiaries and also gives credits for foreign taxes paid, while most other developed countries exempt the active earnings of their multinational corporations' foreign subsidiaries from domestic tax. The debate has focused on economic issues with little attention to tax administration. GAO was asked to describe for a group of study countries with exemption systems: (1) the rules for exempting foreign-source income, and (2) the compliance risk and taxpayer compliance burden, such as recordkeeping, of the rules. The study countries, selected to provide a range of exemption systems, are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. For these countries GAO reviewed documents; interviewed government officials, academic experts, and business representatives; and compared tax policies, compliance activities and taxpayer reporting requirements."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Imported food makes up a substantial and growing portion of the U.S. food supply. To ensure imported food safety, federal agencies must focus their resources on high risk foods and coordinate efforts. In this context, GAO was asked to (1) assess how Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are addressing challenges in overseeing the safety of imported food; (2) assess how FDA leverages resources by working with other entities, such as state and foreign governments; and (3) determine how FDA is using its Predictive Risk-Based Evaluation for Dynamic Import Compliance Targeting (PREDICT) system to oversee imported food safety. GAO analyzed CBP, FDA, and FSIS procedures, reports, and regulations and interviewed agency officials and key stakeholders."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2009, we issued our opinions on the calendar year 2008 financial statements of the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) and the FSLIC Resolution Fund (FRF). We also issued our opinion on the effectiveness of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) internal control over financial reporting (including safeguarding assets) as of December 31, 2008, and our evaluation of FDIC's compliance with provisions of selected laws and regulations for the two funds for the year ended December 31, 2008. The purpose of this report is to present issues identified during our audit of the 2008 financial statements regarding certain internal controls and accounting procedures and to recommend actions to address these issues."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has long been challenged in effectively implementing key acquisition management controls on its thousands of business system investments. For this and other reasons, GAO has designated DOD's business systems modernization efforts as high-risk since 1995. One major business system investment is the Navy's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Initiated in 2003, it is to standardize the Navy's business processes, such as acquisition and financial management. It is being delivered in increments, the first of which is to cost about $2.4 billion over its 20-year useful life and be fully deployed by fiscal year 2013. To date, the program has experienced about $570 million in cost overruns and a 2-year schedule delay. GAO was asked to determine whether (1) system testing is being effectively managed, (2) system changes are being effectively controlled, and (3) independent verification and validation (IV&V) activities are being effectively managed. To do this, GAO analyzed relevant program documentation, traced random samples of test defects and change requests, and interviewed cognizant officials."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) invested more than $6 billion in 2009 on large-scale, information technology (IT) systems to help it achieve mission outcomes and transform departmentwide operations. For DHS to effectively leverage these systems as mission enablers and transformation tools, it needs to employ a number of institutional acquisition and IT management controls and capabilities, such as using an operational and technological blueprint to guide and constrain system investments (enterprise architecture) and following institutional policies, practices, and structures for acquiring and investing in these systems. Other institutional controls and capabilities include employing rigorous and disciplined system life cycle management processes and having capable acquisition and IT management workforces. As GAO has reported, it is critical for the department to implement these controls and capabilities on each of its system acquisition programs. GAO has issued a series of reports on DHS institutional controls for acquiring and managing IT systems, and its implementation of these controls on large-scale systems. GAO was asked to testify on how far the department has come on both of these fronts, including its implementation of GAO's recommendations. To do this, GAO drew from …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Due to concerns about long standing delays in the security clearance process, Congress mandated reforms in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), which requires, among other things, that the executive branch report annually to Congress. Since 2005, the Department of Defense's (DOD) clearance program has been on GAO's high-risk list due to delays and incomplete documentation. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) conducts much of the government's clearance investigations. In 2007, the Director of National Intelligence and DOD established a Joint Reform Team to coordinate governmentwide improvement efforts for the process. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) oversees these efforts. Based on two recent GAO reports, this statement addresses (1) progress in reducing delays at DOD, (2) opportunities for improving executive branch reports to Congress and (3) the extent to which joint reform efforts reflect key factors for reform. GAO independently analyzed DOD clearances granted in fiscal year 2008, assessed the executive branch's 2006-2009 reports to Congress, and compared three joint reform reports to key transformation practices. GAO previously recommended that OMB improve the transparency in executive branch reporting and establish a strategic …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Bi-weekly student newspaper from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas that includes campus news and local news of interest to students along with advertising.

This report discusses the free trade agreement (FTA) that the United States and Panama signed on June 28, 2007. While Panama's government ratified the FTA in July 2007, Congress has not yet implemented ratification legislation.

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.

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This report provides background information on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) nuclear program, reviews developments to date, analyzes proposed nuclear cooperation with the United States, and discusses relevant legislative proposals and options.

Poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) capped platinum and rhodium nanoparticles (7-12 nm) have been studied with UV-VIS, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The absorption bands in the region 190-900 nm are shown to be sensitive to the electronic structure of surface Rh and Pt atoms as well as to the aggregation of the nanoparticles. In-situ FTIR-DRIFT spectroscopy of the thermal decay of PVP stabilized Rh and Pt nanoparticles in H{sub 2} and O{sub 2} atmospheres in temperatures ranging from 30 C-350 C reveal that decomposition of PVP above 200 C, PVP transforms into a 'polyamidpolyene' - like material that is in turn converted into a thin layer of amorphous carbon above 300 C. Adsorbed carbon monoxide was used as a probing molecule to monitor changes of electronic structure of surface Rh and Pt atoms and accessible surface area. The behavior of surface Rh and Pt atoms with ligated CO and amide groups of pyrrolidones resemble that of surface coordination compounds.

This summary booklet summarizes the "Hanford Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2008." The Hanford Site environmental report, published annually since 1958, includes information and summary data that provide an overview of activities at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site. The Hanford Site environmental report provides an overview of activities at the site; demonstrates the status of the site’s compliance with applicable federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations, executive orders, and DOE policies and directives; and summarizes environmental data that characterize Hanford Site environmental management performance. The report also highlights significant environmental and public protection programs and efforts. Some historical and early 2009 information is included where appropriate.

The National Compact Stellarator Experiment's (NCSX) modular coils presented a number of engineering and manufacturing challenges due to their complex shapes, requirements for high dimensional accuracy and high current density requirements due to space constraints. Being the first of their kind, these coils required the implementation of many new manufacturing and measuring techniques and procedures. This was the first time that these manufacturing techniques and methods were applied in the production of coils at the laboratory. This resulted in a steep learning curve for the first several coils. Through the effective use of procedures, tooling modifications, involvement and ownership by the manufacturing workforce, and an emphasis on safety, the assembly team was able to reduce the manufacturing times and improve upon the manufacturing methods. This paper will discuss the learning curve and steps that were taken to improve the manufacturing efficiency and reduce the manufacturing times for the modular coils without forfeiting quality.

The deposition of films under normal and off-normal angle of incidence has been investigated to show the relevance of non-sticking of and self-sputtering by energetic ions, leading to the formation of neutral atoms. The flow of energetic ions was obtained using a filtered cathodic arc system in high vacuum and therefore the ion flux had a broad energy distribution of typically 50-100 eV per ion. The range of materials included Cu, Ag, Au, Ti, and Ni. Consistent with molecular dynamics simulations published in the literature, the experiments show, for all materials, that the combined effects of non-sticking and self-sputtering are very significant, especially for large off-normal angles. Modest heating and intentional introduction of oxygen background affect the results.

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This project has aimed at the rational design of catalysts for direct epoxidation of olefins. This chemistry remains one of the most challenging problems in heterogeneous catalysis. Although the epoxidation of ethylene by silver catalysts to form ethylene oxide (EO) has been practiced for decades, little progress has been made in expanding this technology to other products and processes. We have made significant advances through the combination of surface science experiments, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, and catalytic reactor experiments, toward understanding the mechanism of this reaction on silver catalysts, and to the rational improvement of selectivity. The key has been our demonstration of surface oxametallacycle intermediates as the species that control reaction selectivity. This discovery permits the influence of catalyst promoters on selectivity to be probed, and new catalyst formulations to be developed. It also guides the development of new chemistry with potential for direct epoxidation of more complex olefins. During the award period we have focused on 1. the formation and reaction selectivity of complex olefin epoxides on silver surfaces, and 2. the influence of co-adsorbed oxygen atoms on the reactions of surface oxametallacycles on silver, and 3. the computational prediction, synthesis, characterization and experimental evaluation of bimetallic …

The Hanford Site environmental report is prepared annually for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in accordance with regulatory requirements. The report provides an overview of activities at the Hanford Site; demonstrates the status of the site’s compliance with applicable federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations, executive orders, and DOE policies and directives; and summarizes environmental data that characterize Hanford Site environmental management performance. The report also highlights significant environmental and public protection programs and efforts. Some historical and early 2009 information is included where appropriate.

This study was initiated to provide empirical data and analyses on the dam passage timing, travel rate, survival, and life history variation of fall Chinook salmon that are produced in the Clearwater River. The area of interest for this study focuses on the lower four miles of the Clearwater River and its confluence with the Snake River because this is an area where many fish delay their seaward migration. The goal of the project is to increase our understanding of the environmental and biological factors that affect juvenile life history of fall Chinook salmon in the Clearwater River. The following summaries are provided for each of the individual chapters in this report.

Near-facility environmental monitoring is defined as monitoring near facilities that have the potential to discharge or have discharged, stored, or disposed of radioactive or hazardous materials. Monitoring locations are associated with nuclear facilities such as the Plutonium Finishing Plant, Canister Storage Building, and the K Basins; inactive nuclear facilities such as N Reactor and the Plutonium-Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Facility; and waste storage or disposal facilities such as burial grounds, cribs, ditches, ponds, tank farms, and trenches. Much of the monitoring consists of collecting and analyzing environmental samples and methodically surveying areas near facilities. The program is also designed to evaluate acquired analytical data, determine the effectiveness of facility effluent monitoring and controls, assess the adequacy of containment at waste disposal units, and detect and monitor unusual conditions.