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Equivalence of dipole correction and Coulomb cutoff techniques in supercell calculations (open access)

Equivalence of dipole correction and Coulomb cutoff techniques in supercell calculations

Article on the equivalence of dipole correction and Coulomb cutoff techniques in supercell calculations. In this work, the authors compare the dipole correction and Coulomb cutoff methods under the same conditions in the framework of plane-wave based density-functional theory.
Date: June 3, 2008
Creator: Yu, Liping; Ranjan, Vivek; Lu, W.; Bernholc, Jerry & Buongiorno Nardelli, Marco
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Fiscal Year 2008 Airport and Airway Trust Fund Excise Taxes (open access)

Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Fiscal Year 2008 Airport and Airway Trust Fund Excise Taxes

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has performed the agreed-upon procedures solely to assist the Department of Transportation (DOT) in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with DOT, GAO evaluated fiscal year 2008 activity affecting distributions to the AATF."
Date: November 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicare: Covert Testing Exposes Weaknesses in the Durable Medical Equipment Supplier Screening Process (open access)

Medicare: Covert Testing Exposes Weaknesses in the Durable Medical Equipment Supplier Screening Process

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), schemes to defraud the Medicare program have grown more elaborate in recent years. In particular, HHS has acknowledged Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service's (CMS) oversight of suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) is inadequate to prevent fraud and abuse. Specifically, weaknesses in the DMEPOS enrollment and inspection process have allowed sham companies to fraudulently bill Medicare for unnecessary or nonexistent supplies. From April 2006 through March 2007, CMS estimated that Medicare improperly paid $1 billion for DMEPOS supplies--in part due to fraud by suppliers. Due to the committee's concern about vulnerabilities in the enrollment process, GAO used publicly available guidance to attempt to create DMEPOS suppliers, obtain Medicare billing numbers, and complete electronic test billing. GAO also reported on closed cases provided by the HHS Inspector General (IG) to illustrate the techniques used by criminals to fraudulently bill Medicare. On June 18, 2008, we briefed CMS representatives on the results of our investigation. In response, they acknowledged that our covert tests illustrate gaps in oversight that still require improvement and stated …
Date: July 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Fiscal Year 2008 Highway Trust Fund Excise Taxes (open access)

Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Fiscal Year 2008 Highway Trust Fund Excise Taxes

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We have performed the procedures described in the enclosure to this letter, which we agreed to perform and with which the Department of Transportation concurred, solely to assist the office in ascertaining whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, is supported by the underlying records. As agreed with the office, we evaluated fiscal year 2008 activity affecting distributions to the HTF. We conducted the engagement in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, which incorporate financial audit and attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The procedures we agreed to perform were related to (1) transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to the HTF during fiscal year 2008, (2) the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) quarterly HTF receipt certifications during fiscal year 2008, (3) the Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service adjustments to the HTF during fiscal year 2008, (4) the Department of the Treasury's Office of Tax Analysis's (OTA) process for estimating excise tax amounts to be distributed to the HTF for the fourth quarter …
Date: November 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oil and Gas Leasing: Interior Could Do More to Encourage Diligent Development (open access)

Oil and Gas Leasing: Interior Could Do More to Encourage Diligent Development

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2007, the Department of the Interior (Interior) collected about $10.5 billion in revenues from companies that hold federal oil and gas leases. Interior's Minerals Management Service manages offshore leases, while its Bureau of Land Management manages onshore leases and leases in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. Acquiring a federal lease gives the lessee the rights to explore for and develop the oil and gas resources under the lease. Development entails many tasks, including drilling wells and building pipelines that may lead to oil and gas production. GAO agreed to (1)describe Interior's efforts to encourage development of federal oil and gas leases and compare them to states' and private landowners' efforts, (2)examine trends in leasing and factors that may affect development, and (3) describe development on a sample of leases. GAO reviewed data on about 55,000 leases and spoke to officials at Interior and in eight states with leasing experience, among others."
Date: October 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Postal Service: Mail-Related Recycling Initiatives and Possible Opportunities for Improvement (open access)

U.S. Postal Service: Mail-Related Recycling Initiatives and Possible Opportunities for Improvement

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2006, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) discarded about 317,000 tons of undeliverable-as-addressed advertising mail. Such mail can be disposed of using incineration, landfills or through other methods. USPS recently committed to minimizing the agency's impact on every aspect of the environment. Recycling undeliverable advertising mail can help USPS achieve this commitment, while generating revenue and reducing its costs and financial pressures. In response to the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, this report addresses (1) recent mail-related recycling accomplishments (initiatives) undertaken by USPS, the mailing industry, and others and (2) additional recycling opportunities that USPS could choose to engage in, or influence mailers to undertake. To conduct this study, GAO analyzed relevant data and documents, visited USPS and other facilities, and interviewed about 40 stakeholders."
Date: June 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Highway Safety: Foresight Issues Challenge DOT's Efforts to Assess and Respond to New Technology-Based Trends (open access)

Highway Safety: Foresight Issues Challenge DOT's Efforts to Assess and Respond to New Technology-Based Trends

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Fatalities on U.S. roads now total over 40,000 each year. Future reductions may require the Department of Transportation (DOT) to address new trends such as evolving crash-avoidance technologies and rapidly changing electronic devices that may distract drivers who use them on the road. (See figure.) GAO was asked to examine how DOT is addressing fast-moving trends such as these. This report examines how DOT is (1) deciding on responses to the crash avoidance and electronic distractions trends--given available evidence and uncertainties; (2) developing new evidence on these trends' safety impacts; and (3) communicating with the Congress about these and other trends and related issues. To conduct this study, GAO analyzed DOT reports, peer-reviewed literature, and other documents; interviewed DOT officials and staff; and interviewed over 30 experts."
Date: October 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Travel System: Validity of Travel Payments Statistical Sampling in Question (open access)

Defense Travel System: Validity of Travel Payments Statistical Sampling in Question

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In response to a congressional mandate to assess the reasons why the Department of Defense (DOD) is not fully in compliance with the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA) related to DOD travel expenditures, GAO issued two reports in 2007. In May 2007, we issued an initial report that provided an overview of DOD's IPIA reporting for fiscal years 2003 through 2006 and a discussion of the reasons reported by the DOD Office of Inspector General why the department was not in compliance with IPIA for fiscal year 2006. In December 2007, we issued our final report on our assessment of the completeness and accuracy of DOD's fiscal year 2006 IPIA disclosures related to travel expenditures, as well as DOD's planned efforts to improve and refine its processes for estimating and reporting on travel improper payments. The purpose of this letter is to bring to Congress's attention and action a matter that we discovered while preparing our final report. This letter is based on work performed during our assessment of the completeness and accuracy of DOD's fiscal year 2006 IPIA disclosures related to travel expenditures and DOD's …
Date: March 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Border Security: Despite Progress, Weaknesses in Traveler Inspections Exist at Our Nation's Ports of Entry (open access)

Border Security: Despite Progress, Weaknesses in Traveler Inspections Exist at Our Nation's Ports of Entry

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is responsible for keeping terrorists and other dangerous people from entering the country while also facilitating the cross-border movement of millions of travelers. CBP carries out this responsibility at 326 air, sea, and land ports of entry. In response to a congressional request, GAO examined CBP traveler inspection efforts, the progress made, and the challenges that remain in staffing and training at ports of entry, and the progress CBP has made in developing strategic plans and performance measures for its traveler inspection program. To conduct its work, GAO reviewed and analyzed CBP data and documents related to inspections, staffing, and training, interviewed managers and officers, observed inspections at eight major air and land ports of entry, and tested inspection controls at eight small land ports of entry. GAO's testimony is based on a report GAO issued November 5, 2007."
Date: January 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oil and Gas Royalties: The Federal System for Collecting Oil and Gas Revenues Needs Comprehensive Reassessment (open access)

Oil and Gas Royalties: The Federal System for Collecting Oil and Gas Revenues Needs Comprehensive Reassessment

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2007, domestic and foreign companies received over $75 billion from the sale of oil and gas produced from federal lands and waters, according to the Department of the Interior (Interior), and these companies paid the federal government about $9 billion in royalties for this oil and gas production. The government also collects other revenues in rents, taxes, and other fees, and the sum of all revenues received is referred to as the "government take." The terms and conditions under which the government collects these revenues are referred to as the "oil and gas fiscal system." This report (1) evaluates government take and the attractiveness for investors of the federal oil and gas fiscal system, (2) evaluates how the absence of flexibility in this system has led to large foregone revenues from oil and gas production on federal lands and waters, and (3) assesses what Interior has done to monitor the performance and appropriateness of the federal oil and gas fiscal system. To address these issues, we reviewed expert studies and interviewed government and industry officials."
Date: September 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Acquisitions: Better Weapon Program Outcomes Require Discipline, Accountability, and Fundamental Changes in the Acquisition Environment (open access)

Defense Acquisitions: Better Weapon Program Outcomes Require Discipline, Accountability, and Fundamental Changes in the Acquisition Environment

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1990, GAO has designated the Department of Defense's (DOD) management of major weapon system acquisitions a high risk area. DOD has taken some action to improve acquisition outcomes, but its weapon programs continue to take longer, cost more, and deliver fewer capabilities than originally planned. These persistent problems--coupled with current operational demands--have impelled DOD to work outside of its traditional acquisition process to acquire equipment that meet urgent warfighter needs. Poor outcomes in DOD's weapon system programs reverberate across the entire federal government. Over the next 5 years, DOD plans to invest about $900 billion to develop and procure weapon systems--the highest level of investment in two decades. Every dollar wasted on acquiring weapon systems is less money available for other priorities. This testimony describes DOD's current weapon system investment portfolio, the problems that contribute to cost and schedule increases, and the potential impacts of recent legislative initiatives and DOD actions aimed at improving outcomes. It also provides some observations about what is needed for DOD to achieve lasting reform. The testimony is drawn from GAO's body of work on DOD's acquisition, requirements, and funding processes, as …
Date: June 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicaid Financing: Long-standing Concerns about Inappropriate State Arrangements Support Need for Improved Federal Oversight (open access)

Medicaid Financing: Long-standing Concerns about Inappropriate State Arrangements Support Need for Improved Federal Oversight

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicaid, a joint federal-state program, financed the health care for about 59 million low-income people in fiscal year 2006. States have considerable flexibility in deciding what medical services and individuals to cover and the amount to pay providers, and the federal government reimburses a portion of states' expenditures according to a formula established by law. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the federal agency responsible for overseeing Medicaid. Growing pressures on federal and state budgets have increased tensions between the federal government and states regarding this program, including concerns about whether states were appropriately financing their share of the program. GAO's testimony describes findings from prior work conducted from 1994 through March 2007 on (1) certain inappropriate state Medicaid financing arrangements and their implications for Medicaid's fiscal integrity and (2) outcomes and transparency of a CMS oversight initiative begun in 2003 to end such inappropriate arrangements."
Date: April 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
NASA: Ares I and Orion Project Risks and Key Indicators to Measure Progress (open access)

NASA: Ares I and Orion Project Risks and Key Indicators to Measure Progress

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is in the midst of two new development efforts as part of the Constellation Program--the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle and the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. These projects are critical to the success of the overall program, which will return humans to spaceflight after Space Shuttle retirement in 2010. To reduce the gap in human spaceflight, NASA plans to launch Ares I and Orion in 2015--5 years after the Shuttle's retirement. GAO has issued a number of reports and testimonies that touch on various aspects of NASA's Constellation Program, particularly the development efforts underway for the Orion and Ares I projects. These reports and testimonies have questioned the affordability and overall acquisition strategy for each project. NASA has revised the Orion acquisition strategy and delayed the Ares I preliminary design review based on GAO's recommendations in these reports. In addition, GAO continues to monitor these projects on an ongoing basis at the request of members of Congress. Based on this work, GAO was asked to testify on the types of challenges that NASA faces in developing the Ares I and Orion …
Date: April 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nuclear Material: Several Potential Options for Dealing with DOE's Depleted Uranium Tails Could Benefit the Government (open access)

Nuclear Material: Several Potential Options for Dealing with DOE's Depleted Uranium Tails Could Benefit the Government

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the 1940s, the Department of Energy (DOE) has been processing natural uranium into enriched uranium, which has a higher concentration of the isotope uranium-235 that can be used in nuclear weapons or reactors. This has resulted in over 700,000 metric tons of leftover depleted uranium, also known as "tails," that have varying residual concentrations uranium-235. The tails are stored at DOE's uranium enrichment plants in Portsmouth, Ohio and Paducah, Kentucky. Although the tails have historically been considered a waste product and an environmental liability, recently an about tenfold increase in uranium prices may give DOE options to use some of the tails in ways that could provide revenue to the government. GAO's testimony is based on its March 31, 2008, report entitled Nuclear Material: DOE Has Several Potential Options for Dealing with Depleted Uranium Tails, Each of Which Could Benefit the Government (GAO-08-606R). The testimony focuses on (1) DOE's potential options for its tails and (2) the potential value of DOE's tails and factors that affect the value. It also contains an analysis of DOE's legal authority to carry out the potential options. In its report, GAO …
Date: April 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Human Capital: Diversity in the Federal SES and Senior Levels of the U.S. Postal Service and Processes for Selecting New Executives (open access)

Human Capital: Diversity in the Federal SES and Senior Levels of the U.S. Postal Service and Processes for Selecting New Executives

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A diverse Senior Executive Service (SES), which generally represents the most experienced segment of the federal workforce, can be an organizational strength by bringing a wider variety of perspectives and approaches to policy development and decision making. In January 2003, GAO provided data on the diversity of career SES members as of October 2000 (GAO-03-34). In March 2000, GAO reported similar data for the Postal Career Executive Service (PCES) as of September 1999 (GAO/GGD-00-76). In its 2003 report, GAO also projected what the profile of the SES would be in October 2007 if appointment and separation trends did not change. In response to a request for updated information on diversity in the SES and the senior ranks of the U.S. Postal Service, GAO is providing data on race, ethnicity, and gender obtained from the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Central Personnel Data File and the Postal Service for (1) career SES positions as of the end of fiscal year 2007 and the SES developmental pool (i.e., GS-15 and GS-14 positions) as well as a comparison of actual fiscal year 2007 data to projections for fiscal year 2007 that …
Date: April 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
A History of Federal Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Taxes (open access)

A History of Federal Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Taxes

Three primary categories of legislation pertaining to transfer taxes have been introduced in the 110th Congress. As noted above, the repeal of the estate and generation-skipping taxes is not permanent. One category would make the repeal permanent. (See, H.R. 411 and H.R. 2380). Another category would accelerate the repeal of these transfer taxes. (See, H.R. 25, H.R. 1040, H.R. 1586, H.R. 4042, S. 1025, S. 1040, and S. 1081). The third would reinstate these taxes at lower rates and/or in a manner more considerate of family-owned business. (See, H.R. 1928, H.R. 3170, H.R. 3475, H.R. 4172, H.R. 4235, H.R. 4242, and S. 1994). In this report, the history of the federal transfer taxes has been divided into four parts: (1) the federal death and gift taxes used between 1789 and 1915; (2) the development, from 1916 through 1975, of the modern estate and gift taxes; (3) the creation and refinement of a unified estate and gift tax system, supplemented by a generation-skipping transfer tax; and (4) the phaseout and repeal of the estate and generation-skipping taxes, with the gift tax being retained as a device to protect the integrity of the income tax.
Date: January 3, 2008
Creator: Luckey, John R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
How to Calculate Colourful Cross Sections Efficiently (open access)

How to Calculate Colourful Cross Sections Efficiently

Different methods for the calculation of cross sections with many QCD particles are compared. To this end, CSW vertex rules, Berends-Giele recursion and Feynman-diagram based techniques are implemented as well as various methods for the treatment of colours and phase space integration. We find that typically there is only a small window of jet multiplicities, where the CSW technique has efficiencies comparable or better than both of the other two methods.
Date: September 3, 2008
Creator: Gleisberg, Tanju; Hoeche, Stefan & Krauss, Frank
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
SRAT CHEMISTRY AND ACID CONSUMPTION DURING SIMULATED DWPF MELTER FEED PREPARATION (open access)

SRAT CHEMISTRY AND ACID CONSUMPTION DURING SIMULATED DWPF MELTER FEED PREPARATION

Due to higher than expected hydrogen generation during the Tank 51-Sludge Batch 4 (SB4) qualification run, DWPF engineering requested the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) to expand the ongoing catalytic hydrogen generation program. The work presented in this Technical Report was identified as part of SRNL/Liquid Waste Organization (LWO) meetings to define potential causes of catalytic hydrogen generation as well as from an external technical review panel commissioned to evaluate SRNL hydrogen related data and programs. New scope included improving the understanding of SRAT/SME process chemistry, particularly as it related to acid consumption and hydrogen generation. The expanded hydrogen program scope was covered under the technical task request (TTR): HLW-DWPF-TTR-2007-0016. A task technical and quality assurance plan (TT&QAP) was issued to cover focus areas raised in meetings with LWO plus a portion of the recommendations made by the review panel. A supporting analytical study plan was issued. It was also noted in the review of catalytic hydrogen generation that control of the DWPF acid stoichiometry was an important element in controlling hydrogen generation. A separate TTR was issued to investigate ways of improving the determination of the acid requirement during processing: HLWDWPF-TTR-0015. A separate TT&QAP was prepared for this task …
Date: December 3, 2008
Creator: Koopman, D; David Best, D & Bradley Pickenheim, B
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Application of a pilot control banding tool for risk level assessment and control of nanoparticle exposures (open access)

Application of a pilot control banding tool for risk level assessment and control of nanoparticle exposures

Control Banding (CB) strategies offer simplified solutions for controlling worker exposures to constituents that are found in the workplace in the absence of firm toxicological and exposure data. These strategies may be particularly useful in nanotechnology applications, considering the overwhelming level of uncertainty over what nanomaterials and nanotechnologies present as potential work-related health risks, what about these materials might lead to adverse toxicological activity, how risk related to these might be assessed, and how to manage these issues in the absence of this information. This study introduces a pilot CB tool or 'CB Nanotool' that was developed specifically for characterizing the health aspects of working with engineered nanoparticles and determining the level of risk and associated controls for five ongoing nanotechnology-related operations being conducted at two Department of Energy (DOE) research laboratories. Based on the application of the CB Nanotool, four of the five operations evaluated in this study were found to have implemented controls consistent with what was recommended by the CB Nanotool, with one operation even exceeding the required controls for that activity. The one remaining operation was determined to require an upgrade in controls. By developing this dynamic CB Nanotool within the realm of the scientific information …
Date: March 3, 2008
Creator: Paik, S Y; Zalk, D M & Swuste, P
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comix, a New Matrix Element Generator (open access)

Comix, a New Matrix Element Generator

We present a new tree-level matrix element generator, based on the color dressed Berends-Giele recursive relations. We discuss two new algorithms for phase space integration, dedicated to be used with large multiplicities and color sampling.
Date: September 3, 2008
Creator: Gleisberg, Tanju & Hoche, Stefan
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cfd Modeling Analysis of Mechanical Draft Cooling Tower (open access)

Cfd Modeling Analysis of Mechanical Draft Cooling Tower

Industrial processes use mechanical draft cooling towers (MDCT's) to dissipate waste heat by transferring heat from water to air via evaporative cooling, which causes air humidification. The Savannah River Site (SRS) has a MDCT consisting of four independent compartments called cells. Each cell has its own fan to help maximize heat transfer between ambient air and circulated water. The primary objective of the work is to conduct a parametric study for cooling tower performance under different fan speeds and ambient air conditions. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) developed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to achieve the objective. The model uses three-dimensional steady-state momentum, continuity equations, air-vapor species balance equation, and two-equation turbulence as the basic governing equations. It was assumed that vapor phase is always transported by the continuous air phase with no slip velocity. In this case, water droplet component was considered as discrete phase for the interfacial heat and mass transfer via Lagrangian approach. Thus, the air-vapor mixture model with discrete water droplet phase is used for the analysis. A series of the modeling calculations was performed to investigate the impact of ambient and operating conditions on the thermal performance of the cooling tower when fans …
Date: March 3, 2008
Creator: Lee, S.; Alfred Garrett, A.; James02 Bollinger, J. & Larry Koffman, L.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development and Testing of a Life Cycle Model and a Parameterization of Thin Mid-level Stratiform Clouds (open access)

Development and Testing of a Life Cycle Model and a Parameterization of Thin Mid-level Stratiform Clouds

We used a cloud-resolving model (a detailed computer model of cloud systems) to evaluate and improve the representation of clouds in global atmospheric models used for numerical weather prediction and climate modeling. We also used observations of the atmospheric state, including clouds, made at DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program's Climate Research Facility located in the Southern Great Plains (Kansas and Oklahoma) during Intensive Observation Periods to evaluate our detailed computer model as well as a single-column version of a global atmospheric model used for numerical weather prediction (the Global Forecast System of the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction). This so-called Single-Column Modeling approach has proved to be a very effective method for testing the representation of clouds in global atmospheric models. The method relies on detailed observations of the atmospheric state, including clouds, in an atmospheric column comparable in size to a grid column used in a global atmospheric model. The required observations are made by a combination of in situ and remote sensing instruments. One of the greatest problems facing mankind at the present is climate change. Part of the problem is our limited ability to predict the regional patterns of climate change. In order to increase …
Date: March 3, 2008
Creator: Krueger, Steven K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Spatial Variability of Reactive Mineral and Radionuclide Kd Distributions in the Tuff Confining Unit: Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site (open access)

Spatial Variability of Reactive Mineral and Radionuclide Kd Distributions in the Tuff Confining Unit: Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site

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Date: March 3, 2008
Creator: Carle, S F; Zavarin, M & Pawloski, G A
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tracking Multiple Topics for Finding Interesting Articles (open access)

Tracking Multiple Topics for Finding Interesting Articles

We introduce multiple topic tracking (MTT) for iScore to better recommend news articles for users with multiple interests and to address changes in user interests over time. As an extension of the basic Rocchio algorithm, traditional topic detection and tracking, and single-pass clustering, MTT maintains multiple interest profiles to identify interesting articles for a specific user given user-feedback. Focusing on only interesting topics enables iScore to discard useless profiles to address changes in user interests and to achieve a balance between resource consumption and classification accuracy. iScore is able to achieve higher quality results than traditional methods such as the Rocchio algorithm. We identify several operating parameters that work well for MTT. Using the same parameters, we show that MTT alone yields high quality results for recommending interesting articles from several corpora. The inclusion of MTT improves iScore's performance by 25% in recommending news articles from the Yahoo! News RSS feeds and the TREC11 adaptive filter article collection. And through a small user study, we show that iScore can still perform well when only provided with little user feedback.
Date: January 3, 2008
Creator: Pon, R K; Cardenas, A F; Buttler, D J & Critchlow, T J
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library