A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which is overseen by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), has experienced a number of security lapses in controlling classified information stored on its classified computer network. GAO was requested to (1) assess the effectiveness of security controls LANL used to protect information on its classified network, (2) assess whether LANL had fully implemented an information security program to ensure that security controls were effectively established and maintained for its classified network, and (3) identify the expenditures used to operate and support its classified network from fiscal years 2001 through 2008. To carry out this work, GAO examined security policies and procedures and reviewed LANL's access controls for protecting information on its classified network."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assumed responsibility for the immigration enforcement and services programs of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in 2003. The three DHS bureaus with primary responsibility for immigration functions are U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This transfer creates a great opportunity for DHS to address long-standing management and operational problems within INS. The Homeland Security Act requires GAO to review the transfer of immigration functions to DHS. In response, this report assesses the status of (1) communication and coordination of roles and responsibilities, (2) integration of immigration and customs investigators in ICE, and (3) administrative services and systems in CBP, CIS, and ICE."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Between 1994 and 2001, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) provided more than $7.6 billion in grants to state and local communities to hire police officers and promote community policing as an effective strategy to prevent crime. Studies of the impact of the grants on crime have been inconclusive. GAO was asked to evaluate the effect of the COPS program on the decline in crime during the 1990s. GAO developed and analyzed a database containing annual observations on crime, police officers, COPS funds, and other factors related to crime, covering years prior to and during the COPS program, or from 1990 through 2001. GAO analyzed survey data on policing practices that agencies reportedly implemented and reviewed studies of policing practices. GAO assessed: (1) how COPS obligations were distributed and how much was spent; (2) the extent to which COPS expenditures contributed to increases in the number of police officers and declines in crime nationwide; and (3) the extent to which COPS grants during the 1990s were associated with policing practices that crime literature indicates could be effective. In commenting on a draft of this …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In spring 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and state and local health officials worked together to interdict two individuals with drug-resistant infectious tuberculosis (TB) from crossing U.S. borders and direct them to treatment. Concerns arose that HHS's and DHS's responses to the incidents were delayed and ineffective. GAO was asked to examine (1) the factors that affected HHS's and DHS's responses to the incidents, (2) the extent to which HHS and DHS made changes to response procedures as a result of the incidents, and (3) HHS's and DHS's efforts to assess the effectiveness of changes made as a result of the incidents. GAO reviewed agency documents and interviewed officials about the procedures in place at the time of the incidents and changes made since."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) plans to increase its military presence on Guam from about 15,000 in 2009 to more than 39,000 by 2020 at a cost of more than $13 billion. The growth will create temporary construction jobs and permanent civilian jobs with the military, with contractors, and in the Guam community. GAO was asked to examine the extent to which DOD and the government of Guam have (1) planned for temporary construction labor requirements and the means to meet the requirements for building military infrastructure to support the force in Guam and (2) identified permanent federal and non-federal civilian jobs and shared this information so that Guam can develop its workforce to better compete for job opportunities. To address these objectives, GAO obtained documents and interviewed officials from DOD, the Services, government of Guam offices, and the Guam higher educational community."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Five insular areas of the United States--American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands--benefit from federal health care financing and grant programs that help fund health care services to their over 4 million residents. However, notable differences exist in how the programs are funded or operate in the insular areas, such as statutory limits on federal Medicaid funding to the insular areas that do not apply in the states. To help understand these differences, GAO was asked to identify (1) the key sources of federal health care funding in the insular areas, (2) differences between insular areas and the states in the methods used to allocate these funds, and (3) differences in spending levels per individual between insular areas and the states. In commenting on a draft of this report, American Samoa, CNMI, and Puerto Rico suggested the need for additional information on certain issues, such as implications of statutory limits on federal Medicaid spending and a more comprehensive analysis of local circumstances that affect the availability and costs of health care services."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Exchange programs, which bring over 280,000 foreign visitors to the United States annually, are widely recognized as an effective way to expose citizens of other countries to the American people and culture. Past GAO and the Department of State (State) Office of Inspector General reviews have reported that some exchange visitors have participated in unauthorized activities and cited problems in the management and oversight of the programs. Strong management oversight is needed to ensure that the programs operate as intended and are not abused. This report examines how State manages the Summer Work Travel and the Trainee programs to ensure that only authorized activities are carried out under the programs and identifies potential risks of the programs and the data available to assess these risks."

A chapter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Airspace System (NAS) is a complex network of airports, aircraft, air traffic control (ATC) facilities, employees, and pilots. The aviation industry, which depends on the NAS, contributes about 9 percent to the gross domestic product. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), funded through a tax-financed trust fund and General Fund appropriations, is pursuing a multibillion-dollar modernization program. Persistent cost, schedule, and/or performance shortfalls have kept this program on GAO's list of high-risk programs since 1995. GAO was asked to review the status of NAS modernization. This report addresses NAS status by identifying the challenges that FAA faces in managing (1) infrastructure, (2) human capital, and (3) financial resources."

A. ABSTRACT The importance of lateral gene transfer (LGT) in the evolution of microbial species has become increasingly evident with each completed microbial genome sequence. Most significantly, the genome of Thermotoga maritima MSB8, a hyperthermophilic bacterium isolated by Karl Stetter and workers from Vulcano Italy in 1986, and sequenced at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Rockville Maryland in 1999, revealed extensive LGT between % . this bacterium and members of the archaeal domain (in particular Archaeoglobus fulgidus, and Pyracoccus frcriosus species). Based on whole genome comparisons, it was estimated that 24% of the genetic information in this organism was acquired by genetic exchange with archaeal species, Independent analyses including periodicity analysis of the T. maritimu genomic DNA sequence, phylogenetic reconstruction based on genes that appear archaeal-like, and codon and amino acid usage, have provided additional evidence for LGT between T. maritima and the archaea. More recently, DiRuggiero and workers have identified a very recent LGT event between two genera of hyperthermophilic archaea, where a nearly identical DNA fragment of 16 kb in length flanked by insertion sequence (IS) elements, exists. Undoubtedly, additional examples of LGT will be identified as more microbial genomes are completed. For the present moment …

In this project we developed further a twin approach to the study of regional-scale climate variability and change. The two approaches involved probabilistic network (PN) models (sometimes called dynamic Bayesian networks) and intermediate-complexity coupled ocean-atmosphere models (ICMs). We thus made progress in identifying the predictable modes of climate variability and investigating their impacts on the regional scale. In previous work sponsored by DOE’s Climate Change Prediction Program (CCPP), we had developed a family of PNs (similar to Hidden Markov Models) to simulate historical records of daily rainfall, and used them to downscale seasonal predictions of general circulation models (GCMs). Using an idealized atmospheric model, we had established a novel mechanism through which ocean-induced sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies might influence large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns on interannual and longer time scales; similar patterns were found in a hybrid coupled ocean–atmosphere–sea-ice model. In this continuation project, we built on these ICM results and PN model development to address prediction of rainfall and temperature statistics at the local scale, associated with global climate variability and change, and to investigate the impact of the latter on coupled ocean–atmosphere modes. Our main project results consist of extensive further development of the hidden Markov models for rainfall …

This report does not constitute a blueprint for every office involved in grants and projects activity, nor does it present in-depth information about all aspects of staff activity in this area.

The authors calculate properties of A = 6 system using the accurate charge-dependent nucleon-nucleon (NN) potential at fourth order of chiral perturbation theory. By application of the ab initio no-core shell model (NCSM) and a variational calculation in the harmonic oscillator basis with basis size up to 16 {h_bar}{Omega} they obtain the {sup 6}Li binding energy of 28.5(5) MeV and a converged excitation spectrum. Also, they calculate properties of {sup 10}B using the same NN potential in a basis space of up to 8 {h_bar}{Omega}. The results are consistent with results obtained by standard accurate NN potentials and demonstrate a deficiency of Hamiltonians consisting of only two-body terms. At this order of chiral perturbation theory three-body terms appear. It is expected that inclusion of such terms in the Hamiltonian will improve agreement with experiment.

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This report discusses the Obama's administration that proposed creating a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) to focus exclusively on consumer protection. The agency would focus primarily on banking services; institutions and firms regulated by the SEC and CFTC.

This is a report on Automatic Enrollment in section 401(k) plans.

The overall objective of this collaborative project is to integrate an existing general equilibrium energy-economic growth model with a biogeochemical cycles and biophysical models in order to more fully explore the potential contribution of land use-related activities to future emissions scenarios. Land cover and land use change activities, including deforestation, afforestation, and agriculture management, are important source of not only CO2, but also non-CO2 GHGs. Therefore, contribution of land-use emissions to total emissions of GHGs is important, and consequently their future trends are relevant to the estimation of climate change and its mitigation. This final report covers the full project period of the award, beginning May 2006, which includes a sub-contract to Brown University later transferred to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) when Co-PI Brian O'Neill changed institutional affiliations.

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This report documents the results of a project undertaken to develop an ultra-high-accuracy measurement capability, which is necessary to address a rising trend toward miniaturized mechanical products exhibiting dramatically reduced product tolerances. A significant improvement in measurement capability is therefore required to insure that a 4:1 ratio can be maintained between product tolerances and measurement uncertainty.

This report is the final update on ARM research conducted at DRI through May of 2006. A relatively minor amount of work was done after May, and last month (November), two journal papers partially funded by this project were published. The other investigator on this project, Dr. Bob d'Entremont, will be submitting his report in February 2007 when his no-cost extension expires. The main developments for this period, which concludes most of the DRI research on this project, are as follows: (1) Further development of a retrieval method for cirrus cloud ice particle effective diameter (De) and ice water path (IWP) using terrestrial radiances measured from satellites; (2) Revision and publication of the journal article 'Testing and Comparing the Modified Anomalous Diffraction Approximation'; and (3) Revision and publication of our radar retrieval method for IWC and snowfall rate.

Information or data fusion of data from different sources are ubiquitous in many applications, from epidemiology, medical, biological, political, and intelligence to military applications. Data fusion involves integration of spectral, imaging, text, and many other sensor data. For example, in epidemiology, information is often obtained based on many studies conducted by different researchers at different regions with different protocols. In the medical field, the diagnosis of a disease is often based on imaging (MRI, X-Ray, CT), clinical examination, and lab results. In the biological field, information is obtained based on studies conducted on many different species. In military field, information is obtained based on data from radar sensors, text messages, chemical biological sensor, acoustic sensor, optical warning and many other sources. Many methodologies are used in the data integration process, from classical, Bayesian, to evidence based expert systems. The implementation of the data integration ranges from pure software design to a mixture of software and hardware. In this review we summarize the methodologies and implementations of data fusion process, and illustrate in more detail the methodologies involved in three examples. We propose a unified multi-stage and multi-path mapping approach to the data fusion process, and point out future prospects and …

The BC Cribs and Trenches, part of the 200 TW 1 OU waste sites, received about 30 Mgal of scavenged tank waste, with possibly the largest inventory of 99Tc ever disposed to the soil at Hanford and site remediation is being accelerated. The purpose of this work was to develop a conceptual model for contaminant fate and transport at the 216-B-26 Trench site to support identification and development and evaluation of remediation alternatives. Large concentrations of 99Tc high above the water table implicated stratigraphy in the control of the downward migration. The current conceptual model accounts for small-scale stratigraphy; site-specific changes soil properties; tilted layers; and lateral spreading. It assumes the layers are spatially continuous causing water and solutes to move laterally across the boundary if conditions permit. Water influx at the surface is assumed to be steady. Model parameters were generated with pedotransfer functions; these were coupled high resolution neutron moisture logs that provided information on the underlying heterogeneity on a scale of 3 inches. Two approaches were used to evaluate the impact of remedial options on transport. In the first, a 1-D convolution solution to the convective-dispersive equation was used, assuming steady flow. This model was used to …

Conventional annular Hall thrusters become inefficient when scaled to low power. Cylindrical Hall thrusters, which have lower surface-to-volume ratio, are more promising for scaling down. They presently exhibit performance comparable with conventional annular Hall thrusters. The present paper gives a review of the experimental and numerical investigations of electron crossfield transport in the 2.6 cm miniaturized cylindrical Hall thruster (100 W power level). We show that, in order to explain the discharge current observed for the typical operating conditions, the electron anomalous collision frequency {nu}{sub b} has to be on the order of the Bohm value, {nu}{sub B} {approx} {omega}{sub c}/16. The contribution of electron-wall collisions to cross-field transport is found to be insignificant. The optimal regimes of thruster operation at low background pressure (below 10{sup -5} Torr) in the vacuum tank appear to be different from those at higher pressure ({approx} 10{sup -4} Torr).

The primary goals of this research effort are to develop, evaluate, and demonstrate a very practical HVAC system for classrooms that consistently provides classrooms (CRs) with the quantity of ventilation in current minimum standards, while saving energy, and reducing HVAC-related noise levels. This research is motivated by the public benefits of energy efficiency, evidence that many CRs are under-ventilated, and public concerns about indoor environmental quality in CRs. This document provides a summary of the detailed plans developed for the field study that will take place in 2005 to evaluate the energy and IAQ performance of a new classroom HVAC technology. The field study will include measurements of HVAC energy use, ventilation rates, and IEQ conditions in 10 classrooms with the new HVAC technology and in six control classrooms with a standard HVAC system. Energy use and many IEQ parameters will be monitored continuously, while other IEQ measurements will be will be performed seasonally. Continuously monitored data will be remotely accessed via a LonWorks network. Instrument calibration plans that vary with the type of instrumentation used are established. Statistical tests will be employed to compare energy use and IEQ conditions with the new and standard HVAC systems. Strengths of this …

The Wabash River Integrated Methanol and Power Production from Clean Coal Technologies (IMPPCCT) project is evaluating integrated electrical power generation and methanol production through clean coal technologies. The project is conducted by a multi-industry team lead by Gasification Engineering Corporation (GEC), and supported by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Methanex Corporation, and Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation. Three project phases are planned for execution over a three year period, including: (1) Feasibility study and conceptual design for an integrated demonstration facility, and for fence-line commercial plants operated at Dow Chemical or Dow Corning chemical plant locations; (2) Research, development, and testing to define any technology gaps or critical design and integration issues; and (3) Engineering design and financing plan to install an integrated commercial demonstration facility at the existing Wabash River Energy Limited (WREL) plant in West Terre Haute, Indiana. This report describes management planning, work breakdown structure development, and feasibility study activities by the IMPPCCT consortium in support of the first project phase. Project planning activities have been completed, and a project timeline and task list has been generated. Requirements for an economic model to evaluate the West Terre Haute implementation and for other …