A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To assist the growing number of taxpayers facing foreclosure or mortgage restructuring, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, and its 3-year extension as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, allows taxpayers to generally exclude from taxable income forgiven mortgage debt used to buy, build, or substantially improve a principal residence. Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates originally suggested that the exclusion of forgiven mortgage debt from taxable income may result in about $968 million in federal revenue losses from fiscal year (FY) 2008 through FY 2013 and more recent estimates suggest that the revenue losses could be closer to $1.9 billion. The Department of Treasury estimates suggest that the exclusion may result in federal revenue losses of about $1.4 billion from FY 2008 through FY 2013. Some taxpayers with forgiven mortgage debts may be bankrupt or insolvent; however, others are not and therefore may have the ability to pay taxes on forgiven mortgage debts. The briefing slides summarize our assessment of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) administration of this tax provision. In response to your request, our objectives were to identify …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spent nearly $4 billion on prescriptions for veterans. In general, VA provides drugs on its national formulary. However, all VA medical centers must have a nonformulary drug request process that is overseen by their regional Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN). This report responds to a House Committee on Appropriations report directing GAO to review VA's formulary process and to an additional congressional request. Specifically, GAO reviewed (1) the process VA uses to review drugs for its national formulary, (2) the approaches VISNs and medical centers take to implementing the nonformulary drug request process, (3) the extent to which VA ensures the timely adjudication of nonformulary drug requests, and (4) the mechanisms VA has in place to obtain beneficiary input on the national formulary and make the drug review process transparent. GAO reviewed VA policy guidance and VA's pharmacy-related information technology (IT) initiatives, analyzed 2008 and 2009 drug review data and 2009 nonformulary drug request data, and interviewed VA officials from the national level, each VISN, and a judgmental sample of four medical centers."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1992 Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to implement the Delaware River deepening project, which would deepen the river's shipping channel from 40 to 45 feet. In 2002 GAO reviewed the Corps' economic analysis of the project, concluding that it contained significant limitations. GAO recommended that the Corps prepare a comprehensive economic reanalysis, which the Corps completed in 2004. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which (1) the reanalysis addressed the limitations GAO identified; (2) the reanalysis's benefit projections, as updated, reflect current and anticipated market and industry conditions; and (3) the Corps has accounted for other key issues that could affect the project. GAO reviewed Corps project documentation and interviewed federal officials along with representatives of affected states, firms, and environmental groups."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the results of our review of the expenses paid from the Department of Justice (DOJ) permanent, indefinite appropriation covering the 7- month period ending September 30, 2009. The expenses we reviewed were those paid out of the permanent, indefinite appropriation by DOJ between March 1, 2009, and September 30, 2009, to cover Independent and Special Counsel administrative activities. With the October 2009 repeal of the requirement for a GAO review and report on such expenses, this represents our final report."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) provides health care and mental health care through its TRICARE program. Under TRICARE, beneficiaries may obtain care through TRICARE Prime, an option that includes the use of civilian provider networks and requires enrollment. TRICARE beneficiaries who do not enroll in this option may obtain care from nonnetwork providers through TRICARE Standard, or from network providers through TRICARE Extra. In addition, qualified National Guard and Reserve servicemembers may purchase TRICARE Reserve Select, a plan whose care options are similar to those of TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Extra. We refer to servicemembers who use TRICARE Standard, TRICARE Extra, or TRICARE Reserve Select as nonenrolled beneficiaries. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 directed GAO to analyze the adequacy of DOD's surveys of TRICARE beneficiaries and providers and report what the surveys' results indicate about access to care for nonenrolled beneficiaries. To do so, GAO evaluated the surveys' methodology by interviewing DOD officials and reviewing relevant documentation, including the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) survey standards. GAO also assessed the surveys' results by interviewing DOD officials, obtaining relevant documentation, and analyzing …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On November 16, 2009, we issued our opinion on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) fiscal years 2009 and 2008 financial statements. We also issued our opinion on the effectiveness of SEC's internal controls over financial reporting as of September 30, 2009, and our evaluation of SEC's compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations during fiscal year 2009. The purpose of this report is to present (1) our recommendations related to the significant deficiencies we reported and discussed in our opinion report; (2) less significant internal control issues we identified during our fiscal year 2009 audit of SEC's internal controls and accounting procedures, along with our related recommended corrective actions; (3) the status of the recommendations reported as open in our April 2, 2009, management report (see enclosure I), and (4) the status of the security weaknesses in information systems controls at SEC that we identified in public and "Limited Official Use Only" reports issued in 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009, that were unresolved at the time of our March 16, 2009, information security reports."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2008, VA provided health care to over 281,000 women veterans, a fast growing subgroup of veterans. Women veterans seeking VA health care need access to an array of services and Congress has raised concerns about how well VA is prepared to meet the physical and mental health care needs of women. GAO was asked to examine (1) the on-site availability of health care services at VA facilities for women veterans, (2) the extent to which VA facilities are following VA policies that apply to the delivery of health care to women veterans, and (3) key challenges that VA facilities face in providing health care to women veterans and how VA is addressing these challenges. GAO reviewed applicable laws and VA policies, interviewed officials, and visited a judgmental sample of 9 VA medical centers (VAMC) and 10 community-based outpatient clinics (CBOC) chosen, in part, based on the number of women using services. GAO also visited 10 VA counseling centers (Vet Centers)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not know how many businesses failed to file required returns, nor does it have an estimate of the associated lost tax revenue--the business nonfiling tax gap. Many cases it does investigate are unproductive because the business does not owe the return IRS expects. GAO was asked to assess (1) the data challenges of estimating the business nonfiler tax gap, (2) how recent program changes have affected IRS's capacity to identify and pursue business nonfilers, and (3) additional opportunities for IRS to use third-party data. GAO reviewed IRS's tax gap estimates, nonfiler program processes and procedures, and matched closed nonfiler cases with various other data."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) conducted a mandated 3-year project from March 2005 through March 2008 to demonstrate the use of recovery audit contractors (RAC) in identifying Medicare improper payments and recouping overpayments. CMS implemented a mandated national RAC program, which began in March 2009. GAO was asked to examine specific issues that arose during the demonstration project and CMS's efforts to address them in the national RAC program. This report examines the extent to which CMS (1) developed a process and took corrective actions to address vulnerabilities identified by the RACs that led to improper payments, (2) resolved coordination issues between the RACs and the Medicare claims administration contractors, and (3) established methods to oversee RAC claim review accuracy and provider service during the national program. GAO reviewed CMS documents and interviewed officials from CMS and contractors and provider groups affected by the demonstration project."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter formally transmits the briefing in response to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (Pub. L. No. 111-84), which requires GAO to review Department of Defense (DOD) policies related to year-end spending and the rate of obligations incurred by DOD in the fourth quarter of fiscal years 2006 through 2009, as compared with the obligations incurred in the first three quarters of those fiscal years for both 1-year and multi-year appropriations. GAO is required to report to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives by March 31, 2010."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO and others have shown that successful organizations use strategic workforce planning to help meet present and future mission requirements. Although agency approaches to strategic workforce planning can vary depending on needs and mission, GAO and the Office of Personnel Management have identified six leading principles that workforce planning should address. The Appropriations Committees directed GAO to review workforce planning at the Department of the Interior (Interior), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. GAO examined (1) workforce planning processes used at each agency, (2) the extent to which these processes incorporate the six principles, and (3) how, if at all, the agencies link workforce planning with the annual budget allocation processes. GAO reviewed agencies' workforce plans, strategic plans, and budget documents and interviewed human resources, planning, and budget officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is envisioned as a reconfigurable vessel able to meet three missions: surface warfare, mine countermeasures, and anti-submarine warfare. It consists of the ship (seaframe) and the mission package it carries and deploys. The Navy plans to invest over $25 billion through fiscal year 2035 to acquire LCS. However, recurring cost growth and schedule delays have jeopardized the Navy's ability to deliver promised LCS capabilities. Based on a congressional request, GAO (1) identified technical, design, and construction challenges to completing the first four ships within current cost and schedule estimates, (2) assessed the Navy's progress developing and fielding mission packages, and (3) evaluated the quality of recent Navy cost analyses for seaframes and their effect on program progress. GAO's findings are based on an analysis of government and contractor-generated documents, and discussions with defense officials and key contractors. This product is a public version of a For Official Use Only report, GAO-10-1006SU, also issued in August 2010."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the recent recession, policymakers have emphasized the role exports can play in strengthening the U.S. economy and in creating higher paying jobs. In March 2010 the President signed an Executive Order creating the National Export Initiative (NEI), with a goal of doubling U.S. exports in 5 years. However, since 2004 the workforce of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (CS) has shrunk, calling into question the ability of this key agency to increase its activities to assist U.S. businesses with their exports. In response to a conference committee mandate, GAO reviewed (1) how well CS managed its resources from 2004 to 2009, and (2) the completeness of CS's workforce plans and the quality of its fiscal year 2011 budget request. GAO analyzed data from the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and State; reviewed agency documents; and interviewed agency officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicare covers dialysis for most individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Beginning in January 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is required to use a single payment to pay for dialysis and related services, which include injectable ESRD drugs. Questions have been raised about this new payment system's effects on the access to and quality of dialysis care for certain groups of beneficiaries, such as those who receive above average doses of injectable ESRD drugs. GAO examined (1) Medicare expenditures for injectable ESRD drugs, by demographic characteristics; (2) factors likely to result in above average doses of these drugs; (3) CMS's approach for addressing beneficiary differences in the cost of dialysis care under the new payment system; and (4) CMS's plans to monitor the new payment system's effects. GAO analyzed 2007 data--the most recent available--on Medicare ESRD expenditures and input from 73 nephrology clinicians and researchers collected using a Web-based data collection instrument. GAO also reviewed reports and CMS's proposed rule on the payment system's design and interviewed CMS officials."

Pamphlet providing information about newborn hearing screening and developmental markers for older babies. One side is written in English and the reverse side is written in Spanish.

Information Package Specification version 1.1 describes an XML document format called an information package that can be used to store information in information management systems and other information archives. An information package consists of package information, the context required to understand and use that information, package metadata that describes the information, and XML signatures that protect the information. The information package described in this specification was designed to store Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) information and includes the metadata required for that information: a unique package identifier, information marking that conforms to DOE and NNSA requirements, and access control metadata. It is an implementation of the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model archival information package tailored to meet NNSA information storage requirements and designed to be used in the computing environments at the Y-12 National Security Complex and at other NNSA sites.

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This report investigated the uncertainties with the operations of the power system and their contributions to tail events, especially under high penetration of wind. A Bayesian network model is established to quantify the impact of these uncertainties on system imbalance. The framework is presented for a decision support tool, which can help system operators better estimate the need for balancing reserves and prepare for tail events.

This report presents the results of the evaluation of three ultrasonic sensors for detecting critical velocity during slurry transfer between the Hanford tank farms and the WTP.

This final report was compiled from the detailed annual reports that were submitted for efforts in 2008 and 2009, and from individual task reports from 2010. Reports, case studies, and presentations derived from this work are available through the Building America website. The BIRA team is led by ConSol, a leading provider of energy solutions for builders since 1983. In partnership with over fifty builders, developers, architects, manufactures, researchers, utilities, and agencies, research work was performed in California, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii and five (5) climate regions (Hot-Dry, Marine, Hot-Humid, Cold, and Hot/Mixed Dry). In addition to research work, the team provided technical assistance to our partners whose interests span the entire building process. During the three year budget period, the BIRA team performed analyses of several emerging technologies, prototype homes, and high performance communities through detailed computer simulations and extensive field monitoring to meet the required climate joule milestone targets.

I discuss the phase diagram of QCD in the large N_c limit. Quarkyonic Matter is described. The properties of QCD matter as measured in the abundance of produced particles are shown to be consistent with this phase diagram. A possible triple point of Hadronic Mater, Deconfined Matter and Quarkyonic matter is shown to explain various behaviors of ratios of particles abundances seen in CERN fixed target experiments.

This document is the final technical report for Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-04NT41992, 'Pilot Testing of Mercury Oxidation Catalysts for Upstream of Wet FGD Systems,' which was conducted over the time-period January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2010. The objective of this project has been to demonstrate at pilot scale the use of solid catalysts and/or fixed-structure mercury sorbents to promote the removal of total mercury and oxidation of elemental mercury in flue gas from coal combustion, followed by wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) to remove the oxidized mercury at high efficiency. The project was co-funded by the U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE-NETL), EPRI, Great River Energy (GRE), TXU Energy (now called Luminant), Southern Company, Salt River Project (SRP) and Duke Energy. URS Group was the prime contractor. The mercury control process under development uses fixed-structure sorbents and/or catalysts to promote the removal of total mercury and/or oxidation of elemental mercury in the flue gas from coal-fired power plants that have wet lime or limestone FGD systems. Oxidized mercury not adsorbed is removed in the wet FGD absorbers and leaves with the byproducts from the FGD system. The project has tested candidate materials at pilot scale and in a commercial …

This report summarizes work to develop a high flux, high efficiency LED-based downlight at OSRAM SYLVANIA under US Department of Energy contract DE-FC26-08NT01582. A new high power LED and electronic driver were developed for these downlights. The LED achieved 100 lumens per watt efficacy and 1700 lumen flux output at a correlated color temperature of 3500K. The driver had 90% electrical conversion efficiency while maintaining excellent power quality with power factor >0.99, and total harmonic distortion <10%. Two styles of downlights using the LED and driver were shown to exceed the project targets for steady-state luminous efficacy and flux of 70 lumens per watt and 1300 lumens, respectively. Compared to similar existing downlights using compact fluorescent or LED sources, these downlights had much higher efficacy at nearly the same luminous flux.

The project team consisting of Southwest Research Institute{reg_sign} (SwRI{reg_sign}), Georgia Institute of Technology (GT), the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), TDA Research, and IdaTech LLC was focused on developing a robust, poison-tolerant, hydrogen selective free standing membrane to produce clean hydrogen. The project completed on schedule and on budget with SwRI, GT, CSM, TDA and IdaTech all operating independently and concurrently. GT has developed a robust platform for performing extensive DFT calculations for H in bulk palladium (Pd), binary alloys, and ternary alloys of Pd. Binary alloys investigated included Pd96M4 where M = Li, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Te, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Tl, Pb, Bi, Ce, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu. They have also performed a series of calculations on Pd{sub 70}Cu{sub 26}Ag{sub 4}, Pd{sub 70}Cu{sub 26}Au{sub 4}, Pd{sub 70}Cu{sub 26}Ni{sub 4}, Pd{sub 70}Cu{sub 26}Pt{sub 4}, and Pd{sub 70}Cu{sub 26}Y{sub 4}. SwRI deposited and released over 160 foils of binary and ternary Pd alloys. There was considerable work on characterizing and improving the durability of the deposited foils …