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(open access)

Maritime Security: Observations on Selected Aspects of the SAFE Port Act

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States has a vital national interest in maritime security. The safety and economic security of the United States depend in substantial part upon the secure use of the world's waterways and ports. In an effort to further the progress made through the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act (SAFE Port Act) was passed and became effective in October 2006. This testimony, which is based on past GAO work, synthesizes the results of this work as it pertains to the following: (1) overall port security, (2) facility security at U.S. ports, (3) the international supply chain and cargo container security, and (4) customs revenue collection efforts."

Date: April 26, 2007

Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.

Object Type: Text

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Export Promotion: Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee's Role Remains Limited

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1992, Congress established the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) to provide a unifying interagency framework to coordinate U.S. export promotion activities and to develop a governmentwide strategic plan. TPCC member agencies' activities include providing training, market information, advocacy, trade finance and other services to U.S. companies, especially small- and medium-sized businesses. These U.S. government agencies together have $1.5 billion in budget authority for export promotion programs and activities for fiscal year 2006. Each year, the TPCC submits to Congress a mandated national export strategy, reporting member agencies' activities and trade promotion budget authority and establishing broad priorities. The TPCC secretariat, which has no budget of its own, is housed in the Commerce Department, which chairs the committee. In this testimony, which updates findings from a 2002 report, GAO (1) reports on trends in TPCC member agencies' budget authority; (2) assesses TPCC's coordination of trade promotion and its national export strategies; and (3) discusses small- and medium-sized businesses' participation in trade promotion activities."

Date: April 26, 2006

Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.

Object Type: Text

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Technology Assessment: Protecting Structures and Improving Communications during Wildland Fires

A chapter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1984, wildland fires have burned an average of more than 850 homes each year in the United States and, because more people are moving into fire-prone areas bordering wildlands, the number of homes at risk is likely to grow. The primary responsibility for ensuring that preventive steps are taken to protect homes lies with homeowners and state and local governments, not the federal government. Although losses from wildland fires made up only 2 percent of all insured catastrophic losses from 1983 through 2002, fires can result in billions of dollars in damages. Once a wildland fire starts, various parties can be mobilized to fight it, including federal, state, local, and tribal firefighting agencies and, in some cases, the military. The ability to communicate among all parties--known as interoperability--is essential but, as GAO has reported previously, is hampered because different public safety agencies operate on different radio frequencies or use incompatible communications equipment. GAO was asked to assess, among other issues, (1) measures that can help protect structures from wildland fires, (2) factors affecting use of protective measures, and (3) the role technology plays in improving …

Date: April 26, 2005

Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.

Object Type: Report

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Supporting Congressional Oversight: Budgetary Implications of Selected GAO Work for Fiscal Year 2003

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses the budgetary implications of selected program reforms discussed in GAO work but not yet implemented or enacted. To help congressional budget and appropriations committees identify ways to reduce federal spending or increase revenues, this year's report contains more than 100 examples of budget options organized by budget function. Where possible, budgetary savings estimates provided by the Congressional Budget Office or the Joint Committee on Taxation are presented."

Date: April 26, 2002

Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.

Object Type: Report

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Defense Acquisition: Employing Best Practices Can Shape Better Weapon System Decisions

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed issues the Department of Defense (DOD) faces in its acquisition of weapon systems."

Date: April 26, 2000

Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.

Object Type: Text

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Veterans' Benefits: Despite Recent Improvements, Meeting Claims Processing Goals Will Be Challenging

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will provide $25 billion in compensation and pension benefits in fiscal year 2002 to more than three million veterans, dependents and survivors. For years, the compensation and pension claims process has been subject to long long waits for decision and large claims backlogs. VA's goal for fiscal year 2003 is to complete accurate decisions on rating-related claims in an average of 100 days. To achieve this, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is focusing on increasing production of rating decisions and reducing the inventory of claims to about 250,000. As of the end of March 2002, VBA was completing claims in an average of 224 days and had an inventory of about 412,000 claims. VBA is trying to significantly increase regional offices' rating decision production to reduce the inventory, and, in turn, reduce the time required to complete decisions. VBA expects to increase production by hiring more staff and increasing the proficiency of new staff. Although VBA has recently increased its production and reduced its inventory, meeting its production and inventory reduction and its timeliness goals will be challenging."

Date: April 26, 2002

Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.

Object Type: Text

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Welfare Reform: Challenges in Saving for a Rainy Day

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses states' plans for operating their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs in the event of an economic downturn. GAO found that the data available on the levels and adequacy of states' reserves is insufficient and misleading. Furthermore, most states have done little planning for economic contingencies. Many states cite obstacles to saving money for possible economic downturns. Although TANF funds can be set aside in a budgetary reserve, state officials said that they are concerned that the accumulation of unspent TANF funds might signal that the funds are not needed. Another option for states would be to save their own funds in a general purpose rainy day account, but state officials said that welfare would have to compete with other state priorities when these funds are released from state treasuries. There are now federal contingency mechanisms for states to access additional federal resources in the event of a recession or other emergency--the Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs and the Federal Loan for State Welfare Programs. However, states generally found these programs too complex and restrictive, and would most likely find other ways to …

Date: April 26, 2001

Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.

Object Type: Text

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Privacy Standards: Issues in HHS' Proposed Rule on Confidentiality of Personal Health Information

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) proposed rule on the confidentiality of patient health care information, focusing on: (1) the authoritative basis in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) statute for some of the approaches taken by HHS in the proposed rule; (2) the overall pattern of public responses to the rule among a selected group of 40 organizations representing different constituencies affected by the rule; (3) the views expressed by those organizations with respect to sections of the rule that prompted an especially large volume of comments; and (4) concerns that would require legislative action to address."

Date: April 26, 2000

Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.

Object Type: Text

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Environmental Health Risks: Information on EPA's Draft Reassessment of Dioxins

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Dioxins--chemical compounds that share structural and biological characteristics--have been linked to human illnesses, including cancer. Often the byproducts of combustion and industrial processes, complex mixtures of dioxins enter the food chain and human diet through emissions into the air. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) noted the potential human health risks of dioxins in the 1970s when animal studies showed them to be among the most potent cancer-causing chemicals. EPA derived its estimates of human dietary exposure to dioxins in the United States from (1) chemically analyzed samples of 10 food types, (2) toxicity estimates of levels of individual dioxins in these foods, and (3) estimates of the quantities of these foods consumed by Americans. To develop more reliable national estimates of dietary exposure, EPA incorporated into its analysis some food studies that were nationally representative. Although both EPA and the WHO have assessed the human health risks of dioxins during the last decade, some of their objectives and processes have differed. Nonetheless, the analytical methods used and the conclusions reached have much in common. A major difference in the assessments …

Date: April 26, 2002

Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.

Object Type: Report

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Management Report: Improvements Needed in IRS's Internal Controls and Accounting Procedures

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In November 2003, we issued our report on the results of our audit of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ending September 30, 2003 and 2002, and on the effectiveness of its internal controls as of September 30, 2003. We also reported our conclusions on IRS's compliance with significant provisions of selected laws and regulations and on whether IRS's financial management systems substantially comply with requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996. A separate report on the implementation status of recommendations from our prior IRS financial audits and related financial management reports including this one will be issued shortly. The purpose of this report is to discuss issues identified during our fiscal year 2003 audit regarding internal controls and accounting procedures that could be improved for which we do not presently have any recommendations outstanding. Although not all of these issues were discussed in our fiscal year 2003 audit report, they all warrant management's consideration."

Date: April 26, 2004

Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.

Object Type: Text

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Military Personnel: More DOD Actions Needed to Address Servicemembers' Personal Financial Management Issues

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress and the Department of Defense (DOD) are concerned about the financial conditions of servicemembers and their families, particularly in light of recent deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Serious financial issues can negatively affect unit readiness. According to DOD, servicemembers with severe financial problems risk losing security clearances, incurring administrative or criminal penalties or, in some cases, face discharge. Despite increases in compensation and DOD programs on personal financial management (PFM), studies show that servicemembers, particularly junior enlisted personnel, continue to report financial difficulties. GAO assessed (1) the extent deployment impacts the financial condition of active duty servicemembers and their families, (2) whether DOD has an oversight framework for evaluating military programs designed to assist deployed and non-deployed servicemembers in managing their finances, and (3) the extent junior enlisted servicemembers receive required PFM training."

Date: April 26, 2005

Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.

Object Type: Report

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Surface species formed by the adsorption and dissociation of water molecules on Ru(0001) surface containing a small coverage of carbon atoms studied by scanning tunneling microscopy

The adsorption and dissociation of water on a Ru(0001) surface containing a small amount ({le} 3 %) of carbon impurities was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Various surface species are formed depending on the temperature. These include molecular H{sub 2}O, H{sub 2}O-C complexes, H, O, OH and CH. Clusters of either pure H{sub 2}O or mixed H{sub 2}O-OH species are also formed. Each of these species produces a characteristic contrast in the STM images and can be identified by experiment and by ab initio total energy calculations coupled with STM image simulations. Manipulation of individual species via excitation of vibrational modes with the tunneling electrons has been used as supporting evidence.

Date: April 26, 2008

Creator: UCB, Dept of Materials Science and Engineering

Object Type: Article

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Cobra-IE Evaluation by Simulation of the NUPEC BWR Full-Size Fine-Mesh Bundle Test (BFBT)

The COBRA-IE computer code is a thermal-hydraulic subchannel analysis program capable of simulating phenomena present in both PWRs and BWRs. As part of ongoing COBRA-IE assessment efforts, the code has been evaluated against experimental data from the NUPEC BWR Full-Size Fine-Mesh Bundle Tests (BFBT). The BFBT experiments utilized an 8 x 8 rod bundle to simulate BWR operating conditions and power profiles, providing an excellent database for investigation of the capabilities of the code. Benchmarks performed included steady-state and transient void distribution, single-phase and two-phase pressure drop, and steady-state and transient critical power measurements. COBRA-IE effectively captured the trends seen in the experimental data with acceptable prediction error. Future sensitivity studies are planned to investigate the effects of enabling and/or modifying optional code models dealing with void drift, turbulent mixing, rewetting, and CHF.

Date: April 26, 2006

Creator: Burns, C. J. and Aumiler, D. L.

Object Type: Article

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Remaining Sites Verification Package for the 1607-F3 Sanitary Sewer System, Waste Site Reclassification Form 2006-047

The 1607-F3 waste site is the former location of the sanitary sewer system that supported the 182-F Pump Station, the 183-F Water Treatment Plant, and the 151-F Substation. The sanitary sewer system included a septic tank, drain field, and associated pipeline, all in use between 1944 and 1965. In accordance with this evaluation, the verification sampling results support a reclassification of this site to Interim Closed Out. The results of verification sampling demonstrated that residual contaminant concentrations do not preclude any future uses and allow for unrestricted use of shallow zone soils. The results also showed that residual contaminant concentrations are protective of groundwater and the Columbia River.

Date: April 26, 2007

Creator: Dittmer, L. M.

Object Type: Report

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Remarkable Strontium B-Site Occupancy in FerroelectricPb(Zr1-xTix)O3 Solid Solutions Doped with Cryolite-Type StrontiumNiobate

New high-performance ferroelectric materials based on Pb(Zr{sub 1-x}Ti{sub x})O{sub 3} (PZT) that are doped with cryolite-type strontium niobate (SNO, Sr{sub 4}(Sr{sub 2-2y/3}Nb{sub 2+2y/3})O{sub 11+y}V{sub 0,1-y} with 0 {le} y {le} 1), hence denoted PZT:SNO, and their microscopic structure are described. The combination of exceptional piezoelectric properties, i.e. a piezoelectric strain constant of d{sub 33} {approx} 760 pm/V, with excellent stability and degradation resistance makes ferroelectric PZT:SNO solid solutions very attractive for use in novel and innovative piezoelectric actuator and transducer applications. Extended X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) analyses of PZT:SNO samples revealed that {approx}10 % of the Sr cations occupy the nominal B-sites of the perovskite-type PZT host lattice. This result was supported by EXAFS analyses of both a canonical SrTiO{sub 3} perovskite and two SNO model and reference compounds. Fit models that do not account for Sr cations on B-sites were ruled out. A clear Sr-Pb peak in Fourier transformed EXAFS data visually confirmed this structural model. The generation of temporary oxygen vacancies and the intricate defect chemistry induced by SNO-doping of PZT are crucial for the exceptional materials properties exhibited by PZT:SNO materials.

Date: April 26, 2007

Creator: Feltz, A.; Schmidt-Winkel, P.; Schossman, M.; Booth, C.H. & Albering, J.

Object Type: Article

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Visualization of Force Fields in Protein StructurePrediction

The force fields used in molecular computational biology are not mathematically defined in such a way that their mathematical representation would facilitate the straightforward application of volume visualization techniques. To visualize energy, it is necessary to define a spatial mapping for these fields. Equipped with such a mapping, we can generate volume renderings of the internal energy states in a molecule. We describe our force field, the spatial mapping that we used for energy, and the visualizations that we produced from this mapping. We provide images and animations that offer insight into the computational behavior of the energy optimization algorithms that we employ.

Date: April 26, 2005

Creator: Crawford, Clark; Kreylos, Oliver; Hamann, Bernd & Crivelli, Silvia

Object Type: Article

System: The UNT Digital Library

(open access)

Resource Assessment of the In-Place and Potentially Recoverable Deep Natural Gas Resource of the Onshore Interior Salt Basins, North Central and Northeastern Gulf of Mexico Semiannual Progress Report: Year 3

The principal research effort for the first half of Year 3 of the project has been resource assessment. Emphasis has been on estimating the total volume of hydrocarbons generated and the potential amount of this resource that is classified as deep (>15,000 ft) gas in the North Louisiana Salt Basin, the Mississippi Interior Salt Basin, the Manila Subbasin and the Conecuh Subbasin. The amount of this resource that has been expelled, migrated and entrapped is also the focus of the first half of Year 3 of this study.

Date: April 26, 2006

Creator: Mancini, Ernest A.; Aharon, Paul; Goddard, Donald A. & Barnaby, Roger

Object Type: Report

System: The UNT Digital Library