A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During a May 2003 congressional hearing, questions were raised about the accuracy of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) reported costs for collecting payments from veterans and private health insurers for its Medical Care Collections Fund (MCCF). Congress also had questions about VA's practice of using third-party collections to satisfy veterans' first-party debt. GAO's objectives were to determine: (1) the accuracy of VA's reported cost for collecting first- and third-party payments from veterans and private health insurers, and (2) how VA's practice of satisfying first-party debt with third-party payments affects the collections process."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To support the Global War on Terrorism in fiscal year 2004, the Congress appropriated $65 billion to the Department of Defense (DOD) in an emergency supplemental appropriations act. To assist the Congress in its oversight role, GAO reviewed (1) the adequacy of current funding for fiscal year 2004 war-related activities and (2) actions DOD is undertaking to cover anticipated shortfalls, if any. Based on the body of work GAO has done on the cost of contingency operations, GAO is also making observations on efforts to require greater accountability to the Congress on the use of funds appropriated to DOD for contingency operations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Although the federal government has invested substantially in information technology (IT), its success in managing information resources has varied. Agencies have taken steps to implement modern strategies, systems, and management policies and practices, but they still face significant information and technology management challenges. Recognizing the key role of the chief information officer (CIO) in helping an agency to achieve better results through IT, congressional requesters asked GAO to study the current status of CIOs at major departments and agencies. Among the topics this report describes are (1) CIOs' responsibilities and reporting relationships, and (2) current CIOs' professional backgrounds and the tenures of all of the CIOs since enactment of the Clinger-Cohen Act."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies rely extensively on information technology (IT) to effectively implement major government programs. To help agencies manage their substantial IT investments, the Congress has established a statutory framework of requirements, roles, and responsibilities relating to IT management. GAO was asked to summarize its report, being issued today, on federal chief information officers' (CIO) responsibilities, reporting relationships, and tenure and on the challenges that CIOs face ( Federal Chief Information Officers: Responsibilities, Reporting Relationships, Tenure, and Challenges, GAO-04-823, July 21, 2004) and to offer suggestions for actions that both the Congress and the agencies can take in response to these findings."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Transatlantic airline operations between the United States and European Union (EU) nations are currently governed by bilateral agreements that are specific to the United States and each EU country. Since 1992, the United States has signed so-called "Open Skies" agreements with 15 of the 25 EU countries. A "nationality clause" in each agreement allows only those airlines designated by the signatory countries to participate in their transatlantic markets. In November 2002, the European Court of Justice ruled that existing Open Skies agreements were illegal under EU law, in part because their nationality clauses discriminated against airlines of other EU nations. The United States and the EU have been negotiating revisions to these agreements. Experts agree that removing the nationality clause is central to any new agreement. GAO was asked to report on (1) how prevalent Open Skies agreements are and what their effects on airlines and consumers are, (2) what the key ways that commercial aviation between the United States and the EU could be changed by the Court of Justice decision are, and (3) how the elimination of nationality clause restrictions might affect airlines and …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Allegations of violations of employment discrimination and whistleblower protection laws against federal agencies can end up in federal court, at which point Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys generally take over representation of the agency. Attorneys within Justice's Civil Division and U.S. Attorneys Offices generally handle this type of litigation. The Notifications and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act) requires agencies to repay the Department of the Treasury's Judgment Fund for discrimination and whistleblower protection settlements and judgments paid on their behalf. While the No FEAR Act does not require agencies to reimburse DOJ for costs incurred in defending them in cases covered under the Act, it does require GAO to review how DOJ could ascertain the cost of representing agencies in each case and what the burden of performing this accounting would be. Based on this requirement, our report provides information on (1) the methods DOJ says it could use to account for the personnel and non-personnel costs that it incurs in handling cases covered under No FEAR on a per-case basis and how soon the Department expects it would be …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides health care to veterans through the $27 billion Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical programs. VHA administers and operates VA's medical system, providing care to nearly 5 million patients in 2003. As of September 2003, VHA operated 160 hospitals, 847 outpatient clinics, 134 nursing homes, 42 domiciliaries, and 73 comprehensive home care programs, including facilities in every state, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. VHA is responsible for effective stewardship of the resources provided to it by Congress, which asked GAO to review internal controls in three areas of operation at selected VHA medical centers. GAO conducted a review to assess the effectiveness of control activities over (1) personal property, (2) drugs returned for credit, and (3) part-time physician time and attendance."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In Berlin, Germany, the transition from analog to digital television (DTV), the DTV transition, culminated in the shutoff of analog television signals in August 2003. As GAO previously reported, the December 2006 deadline for the culmination of the DTV transition in the United States seems unlikely to be met. Failure to meet this deadline will delay the return of valuable spectrum for public safety and other commercial purposes. Thus, the rapid completion of the DTV transition in Berlin has sparked interest among policymakers and industry participants in the United States. At the request of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, GAO examined (1) the structure and regulation of the German television market, (2) how the Berlin DTV transition was achieved, and (3) whether there are critical components of how the DTV transition was achieved in Berlin and other areas of Germany that have relevance to the ongoing DTV transition in the United States."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Data sharing can be a valuable tool for federal agencies. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can use data from taxpayers and third parties to better ensure taxpayers meet their obligations. Likewise, Congress has authorized certain agencies access to taxpayer information collected by IRS to better determine eligibility for benefit programs. GAO determined (1) the extent to which the IRS and Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) within the Department of Homeland Security share and verify data and (2) the benefits and challenges, if any, of increasing such activities. GAO also studied IRS's Offshore Voluntary Compliance Initiative (OVCI) to provide information on (1) the characteristics of the taxpayers who came forward under OVCI and (2) how those taxpayers became noncompliant."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the face of growing demand for veterans' health care, GAO and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) have raised concerns about the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) ability to maximize its third-party collections to supplement its medical care appropriation. GAO has testified that inadequate patient intake procedures, insufficient documentation by physicians, a shortage of qualified billing coders, and insufficient automation diminished VA's collections. In turn, the OIG reported that VA missed opportunities to bill, had billing backlogs, and did inadequate follow-up on bills. While VA has made improvements in these areas, GAO was asked to review internal control activities over third-party billings and collections at selected medical centers to assess whether they were designed and implemented effectively."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress has long encouraged the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) to share health resources to promote cost-effective use of health resources and efficient delivery of care. In February 2002, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs described VA and DOD health care resource sharing activities at nine locations. GAO was asked to describe the health resource sharing activities that are occurring at these sites. GAO also examined seven other sites that actively participate in sharing activities. Specifically, GAO is reporting on (1) the types of benefits that have been realized from health resource sharing activities and (2) VA- and DOD-identified obstacles that impede health resource sharing. GAO analyzed agency documents and interviewed officials at DOD and VA to obtain information on the benefits achieved through sharing activities. The nine sites reviewed by the Committee and reexamined by GAO are: 1) Los Angeles, CA; 2) San Diego, CA; 3) North Chicago, IL; 4) Albuquerque, NM; 5) Las Vegas, NV; 6) Fayetteville, NC; 7) Charleston, SC; 8) El Paso, TX; and 9) San Antonio, TX. The seven additional sites GAO examined are: 1) …

Weekly newspaper from Mannford, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

This report discusses monetary policy, which can also be defined in terms of the directives, policies, statements, and actions of the Federal Reserve, particularly those from its Board of Governors that have an effect on aggregate demand or national spending.

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) consisting of alkanethiols and similar sulfur-containing molecules on noble metal substrates are extensively used and explored for various chemical and biological surface-functionalization in the scientific community. SAMs consisting of thiol- or disulfide-containing molecules adsorbed on gold are commonly used due to their ease of preparation and stability. However, the gold-thiolate bond is easily and rapidly oxidized under ambient conditions, adversely affecting SAM quality and structure. Here, the oxidation of dodecanethiol on gold is explored for various 12-hour exposures to ambient laboratory air and light. SAM samples are freshly prepared, air-exposed, and stored in small, capped vials. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals nearly complete oxidation of the thiolate in air-exposed samples, and a decrease in carbon signal on the surface. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS) at the Carbon K-edge shows a loss of upright orientational order upon air-exposure. Alternatively, the oxidation of the thiolate is minor when SAMs are stored in limited-air-containing small 15 ml vials. Thus, care must be taken to avoid SAM degradation by ensuring alkanethiolates on gold have sufficient durability for each intended environment and application.

In this final technical report, UTSI summarizes work completed under DOE Contract No. DE-AC22-95PC95231. This work began on the contract effective date, September 15, 1995 and is continuing on a very small basis to complete the groundwater remediation as of this date. The work scope required UTSI to continue to maintain the DOE Coal Fired Flow Facility and keep it in readiness for anticipated testing. This effort was terminated in September 1998 by DOE stop-work letter. Work continued on reporting, environmental restoration and on the High Temperature Superconductivity work that was underway. The work included preparing reports on the MHD POC tests that had been completed just prior to this contract initiation under an earlier contract with DOE Chicago. These four reports are summarized herein. This report summarizes the environmental restoration work performed under the contract, including groundwater monitoring and remediation, removal of wastes from the facility, removal of asbestos from the cooling tower and actions in compliance with the license to discharge water into Woods Reservoir. This report covers work in support of the DOE High Temperature Superconductivity program including: (1) Assistance to DOE in preparing a development plan; (2) Cooperation with industry, national laboratories and other universities to …

This project involved the synthesis of nanowire ã-MnO2 and characterization as cathode material for high-power lithium-ion batteries for EV and HEV applications. The nanowire synthesis involved the edge site decoration nanowire synthesis developed by Dr. Reginald Penner at UC Irvine (a key collaborator in this project). Figure 1 is an SEM image showing ã-MnO2 nanowires electrodeposited on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) electrodes. This technique is unique to other nanowire template synthesis techniques in that it produces long (>500 um) nanowires which could reduce or eliminate the need for conductive additives due to intertwining of fibers. Nanowire cathode for lithium-ion batteries with surface areas 100 times greater than conventional materials can enable higher power batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The synthesis of the ã-MnO2 nanowires was successfully achieved. However, it was not found possible to co-intercalate lithium directly in the nanowire synthesis. Based on input from proposal reviewers, the scope of the project was altered to attempt the conversion into spinel LiMn2O4 nanowire cathode material by solid state reaction of the ã-MnO2 nanowires with LiNO3 at elevated temperatures. Attempts to perform the conversion on the graphite template were unsuccessful due to degradation of the graphite …

This is a multiyear experimental research program that focuses on improving relevant material properties of high-critical-temperature (Tc) superconductors and developing fabrication methods that can be transferred to industry for production of commercial conductors. The development of teaming relationships through agreements with industrial partners is a key element of the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) program.

The porous stainless steel substrate commercially available from Pall offers great potential for large-scale membrane based high temperature gas separations. Our proposed project involves the deposition of the M&P carbon molecular sieve-based hydrogen membrane on AccuSep substrate as a membrane to reactor water-gas-shift reaction. However, the AccuSep substrate was originally designed for liquid phase applications . During the 1st half, this commercial substrate has been modified and improved with regard to its surface topography and end seals. The substrate is now suitable for the deposition of the CMS membrane for hydrogen separation according to the characterization we preformed. In addition, 40{angstrom} Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} membrane layers have been deposited on the improved AccuSep substrate successfully. The SEM, EDX and pore size distribution analysis indicate that the 40{angstrom} membrane is extremely thin, and defect free with a narrow pore size distribution around 40{angstrom} primarily. As the above results suggest, we have made significant progress in preparing a high quality nominal 40{angstrom} (actually 50{angstrom}) layer on the Pall substrate. During the 2nd half of Year 1, we will (1) continue this development work with a focus on eliminating the high pore size peak and (2) begin the CMS layer deposition on the …

The software library hypre provides high performance preconditioners and solvers for the solution of large, sparse linear systems on massively parallel computers as well as conceptual interfaces that allow users to access the library in the way they naturally think about their problems. These interfaces include a stencil-based structured interface (Struct); a semi-structured interface (semiStruct), which is appropriate for applications that are mostly structured, e.g. block structured grids, composite grids in structured adaptive mesh refinement applications, and overset grids; a finite element interface (FEI) for unstructured problems, as well as a conventional linear-algebraic interface (IJ). It is extremely important to provide an efficient, scalable implementation of these interfaces in order to support the scalable solvers of the library, especially when using tens of thousands of processors. This paper describes the data structures, parallel implementation and resulting performance of the IJ, Struct and semiStruct interfaces. It investigates their scalability, presents successes as well as pitfalls of some of the approaches and suggests ways of dealing with them.

Recent glass formulation activities have focused on developing alternative frit compositions for use with specific sludge batches to maximize melt rate and/or waste throughput. The general trend has been to increase the total alkali content in the glass through the use of a high alkali based frit, a less washed sludge, or a combination of the two. As a result, predictions of durability have become a limiting factor in defining the projected operating windows for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) for certain systems. An additional issue for these high alkali glasses has been the effect of REDuction/OXidation (REDOX) on the durability of the glass. Recent analyses have indicated that the application of the durability model's value without consideration of the overall glass composition may lead to a more significant shift (larger magnitude) than needed. Therefore, activation of the REDOX term in the Product Composition Control System (PCCS) may have a significant impact on the predicted operational windows based on model predictions, but may not represent the realistic impact on the measured durability. In this report, two specific issues are addressed. First, a review of the data used to develop PCCS (in particular the durability model) showed the potential for …

Interview with Dr. Gerard Roland Vela, UNT Professor Emeritus of Microbiology. The interview includes Vela's personal experiences about childhood and education, serving in World War II-era U.S. Navy, having a fellowship at Harvard University, and joining the North Texas faculty in 1965. Additionally, Vela discusses his family history, his love of chemistry, genetics, and microbiology, the growing pains involved with transitioning North Texas into a research university, the construction of a research program, his relationship with students, and his service on the Denton City Council. Photographs are included throughout the interview.

Weekly newspaper from Holliday, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.