The objective of proposed research is development of catalysts with enhanced slurry phase activity and better selectivity to fuel range products, through a more detailed understanding and systematic studies of the effects of pretreatment procedures and promoters/binders (silica) on catalyst performance.

In part one we report on field calculations along the conductor in the end region of the SSC arc-quad. We have determined that the maximum field in the 2D section is 5.04 tesla located at the pole turn of the inner layer somewhere in the middle of the cable (strand 9)(fields are at 6500 A). At the end'' the maximum field is slightly higher 5.09 tesla located at the overpass (strand 11). The iron contribution was included assuming infinite permeability. In part two we include results of a 3D representation of the magnetic field inside the bore. The complete analysis, for which a brief description has been included here, is described elsewhere. This form for presenting the field is suitable for interfacing with other codes that make use of the 3D field components (particle tracking and stability). 69 figs.

Removal of sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) from the flue gas of coal- burning power plants can be achieved by duct spray drying using calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH){sub 2}) slurries. A primary objective of this research was to discover the aspects of mass transfer into Ca(OH){sub 2} slurries which limit SO{sub 2} absorption. A bench- scale stirred tank reactor with a flat gas/liquid interface was used to simulate SO{sub 2} absorption in a slurry droplet. The absorption rate of SO{sub 2} from gas concentrations of 500 to 5000 ppm was measured at 55{degrees}C in clear solutions and slurries of Ca(OH){sub 2} up to 1.0 M (7 wt percent). Results are reported in terms of the enhancement factor, {O}. This research will allow prediction of conditions where the absorption of SO{sub 2} in Ca(OH){sub 2} slurries can be enhanced by changes to liquid phase constituents (under which SO{sub 2} absorption is controlled by liquid film mass transfer). Experiments in the stirred tank have shown that SO{sub 2} absorption in a 1.0 M Ca(OH){sub 2} slurry was completely dominated by gas film mass transfer with a large excess of Ca(OH){sub 2} but becomes controlled by liquid film resistance at greater than 50 percent Ca(OH){sub …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Transportation's (DOT) proposed policy concerning aviation competition, focusing on: (1) why DOT developed the proposed policy; (2) what process DOT used to develop the proposed policy; and (3) whether the proposed policy addresses the specific problems that led DOT to issue it."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on improper payments in light of the projected future growth of federal expenditures, focusing on the: (1) amounts reported by agencies as improper payments in their fiscal year (FY) 1998 financial statements prepared pursuant to the Chief Financial Officers (FO) Act of 1990; (2) types of federal programs at risk of disbursing improper payments; (3) reported causes of improper payments across the federal government; and (4) extent to which agencies are addressing improper payments in their performance plans under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the District of Columbia (DC) Courts' management of its escrow and other bank accounts, focusing on whether DC Courts: (1) properly reconciled its bank accounts; (2) had adequate controls over fines and fees collected; and (3) had authority to retain amounts deposited into the Crime Victims Fund account."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the apparent discrepancies between the Department of Defense's (DOD) budget allocations and the actual obligations for direct and purchased care, focusing on: (1) the extent to which the Defense Health Program (DHP) obligations have differed from DOD's budget allocations; (2) the reasons for any such differences; and (3) whether congressional oversight of DHP funding changes could be enhanced if DOD provided notification or budget execution data."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed how the Foreign Military Sales program safeguards technology and arms transfers, focusing on the: (1) process for deciding what technology may be transferred as part of a sale through the program; (2) controls for ensuring that technology transfer considerations have been weighed when reviewing requests and agreements; and (3) Department of Defense's (DOD) proposals to improve technology transfer procedures."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) Biennial Financial Management Improvement Plan to determine whether the: (1) concept of operations included the critical elements necessary for producing sustainable financial management improvement over the long term; (2) transition plan provided a strategic-level road map from the current environment to DOD's planned future financial management environment; and (3) implementation of the department's future financial management environment is practical, cost-effective, and feasible."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed issues concerning financial reporting and internal controls related to the Special Fund established by the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA), focusing on: (1) the feasibility of actuarially calculating the unfunded liability of the LHWCA Special Fund; (2) whether controls exist to prevent inappropriate claims from being referred to the Special Fund; (3) whether recipient data are matched against other agencies' databases to reduce the risk of payments being made to ineligible recipients; (4) whether there are equitable distributions of assessments among the insurance carriers/self-insured employers as compared to their claim levels; and (5) the status of changes to the Longshore computer systems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the impact of welfare reform on the Food Stamp Program, focusing on: (1) the number of states that have adopted or are planning to adopt the Simplified Food Stamp Program; (2) the concerns that may be preventing other states from adopting the simplified program; and (3) the impacts that the adoption of the simplified programs may have on households' eligibility and benefits."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) revised actuarial model for veterans' compensation benefits, focusing on whether: (1) VA's revised actuarial model complies with Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) No. 5; and (2) future liability estimates can be improved."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Customs Service's efforts to address its year 2000 computing problem, focusing on whether Customs has established effective management structures and processes for managing and reporting on key aspects of its Year 2000 program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the use of pesticides in schools, focusing on: (1) what federal requirements govern the use of pesticides in schools; (2) what information exists on the use of pesticides in schools; (3) what data exist on the incidences of short- and long-term illnesses linked to the exposure to pesticides in schools, and to the extent data are available, what does this data show; and (4) what actions are the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states taking, where appropriate, to reduce the use of pesticides in schools, and what are the results of their efforts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the effectiveness of the Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety (OMCHS) in improving the safety of large trucks, focusing on: (1) recent trends in the number of crashes involving large trucks; (2) the factors the contribute to such crashes; and (3) OMCHS' activities to improve truck safety."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the actions taken by the Department of the Treasury to manage the marketable debt held by the public during the recent period of unified budget surpluses."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) progress in eliminating asset management control weaknesses, focusing on: (1) the implementation of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act's mandate to remove revenue officers from the asset sale function; and (2) other internal control weaknesses identified in GAO's 1992 testimony."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) efforts to process discrimination complaints, focusing on: (1) the timeliness of USDA's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) processing and closing of program and employment discrimination complaints; and (2) the reasons for delays in the processes."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the effectiveness of the Air Force Supply Management Activity Group in meeting its military customers needs, focusing on the: (1) extent and impact of military customers not receiving aircraft spare parts when needed; and (2) reasons why parts were not always available when needed."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Small Business Administration's (SBA), the Department of Education's, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD), the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA), and the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) abilities to reasonably estimate the cost of their loan programs, focusing on: (1) whether they used practices identified by the Credit Reform Task Force as being effective in making these estimates; and (2) the status of the agencies' efforts to ensure that computer systems used to estimate the cost of credit programs are year 2000 compliant."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) plans to develop a pilot program to use commercial sources to improve the collection of DOD claims under aircraft engine warranties, focusing on the: (1) benefits obtained by some private sector users of aircraft engine warranty services; and (2) efforts DOD has made the evaluate the feasibility of establishing a pilot program."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) the efforts that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the other federal agencies with major cleanup responsibilities have made to set priorities for spending limited cleanup funds at the hazardous waste sites posing the highest risks to human health and the environment; (2) EPA's actions to recover its expenditures for cleanups from the parties that are legally liable for the contamination; and (3) EPA's efforts to better control contractors' cleanup costs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the federal government's management of chemical and biological medical supplies, focusing on the: (1) accuracy and currency of the inventory tracking systems for federal medical stockpiles that would be used to treat the civilian population following a chemical or biological terrorist attack; and (2) internal controls in place to manage the stockpiles."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO investigated the reports that the blood samples of some ill Gulf War-era veterans contained antibodies for squalene, a component of adjuvant formulations used in some experimental vaccines but not in any licensed vaccines, focusing on whether: (1) the Department of Defense (DOD) or the National Institutes of Health (NIH) performed or sponsored research using squalene; (2) DOD considered using adjuvant formulations in vaccines administered to Gulf War-era veterans; and (3) any research has detected the presence of squalene in ill Gulf War-era veterans."