A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the early 1990s, the General Services Administration (GSA) and the federal judiciary (judiciary) have been carrying out a multibillion-dollar courthouse construction initiative. In downtown Los Angeles, California, one of the nation's busiest federal district courts (L.A. Court), the federal judiciary has split its district, magistrate, and bankruptcy judges between two buildings--the Spring Street Courthouse and the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and Courthouse. In 2000 the judiciary requested and GSA proposed building a new courthouse in downtown Los Angeles in order to increase security, efficiency, and space. In response, Congress authorized and appropriated about $400 million for the project. GAO was asked to provide information on the construction of the L.A. courthouse. This report answers: (1) What is the status of the construction of a new federal courthouse in Los Angeles? (2) What effects have any delays in the project had on its costs and court operations? (3) What options are available for the future of the project? GAO reviewed project planning and budget documents, visited the key sites in Los Angeles, and interviewed GSA and judiciary officials. In its comments, the judiciary indicated that …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Social Security Administration (SSA) spends about $1 billion annually to support its information technology (IT) needs. Given the size and significance of the agency's ongoing and future investments in IT, it is crucial that the agency manages these investments wisely. Accordingly, GAO was requested to determine whether SSA's investment management approach is consistent with leading investment management best practices. To accomplish this, GAO used its IT investment management framework and associated methodology, with a focus on the framework's Stages 2 and 3, which are based on the investment management provisions of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1972, Congress enacted the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) to protect the nation's coastlines from growing demands associated with residential, recreational, commercial, and industrial uses. The act encourages coastal states and territories to develop programs to manage and balance economic development and coastal protection. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administers the program and provides financial and technical assistance to participating states. GAO was asked to provide information on (1) NOAA's methodology for awarding CZMA grants to the states, (2) the extent to which NOAA has processes for ensuring that grants are used in a manner that is consistent with the CZMA, and (3) the extent to which NOAA's state program evaluations and performance measurement system enable the agency to assess the effectiveness of the National Coastal Zone Management Program. GAO reviewed relevant laws, regulations, and documents and interviewed NOAA and the 34 state coastal program officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Nonprofit hospitals qualify for federal tax exemption from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) if they meet certain requirements. Since 1969, IRS has not specified that these hospitals have to provide charity care to meet these requirements, so long as they engage in activities that benefit the community. Many of these activities are intended to benefit the approximately 47 million uninsured individuals in the United States who need financial and other help to obtain medical care. Previous studies indicated that nonprofit hospitals may not be defining community benefit in a consistent and transparent manner that would enable policymakers to hold them accountable for providing benefits commensurate with their tax-exempt status. GAO was asked to examine (1) IRS's community benefit standard and the states' requirements, (2) guidelines nonprofit hospitals use to define the components of community benefit, and (3) guidelines nonprofit hospitals use to measure and report the components of community benefit. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed federal and state laws; the standards and guidance from federal agencies and industry groups; and 2006 data from California, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Texas. GAO also interviewed federal and state officials, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Basel II, the new risk-based capital framework based on an international accord, is being adopted by individual countries. It includes standardized and advanced approaches to estimating capital requirements. In the United States, bank regulators have finalized an advanced approaches rule that will be required for some of the largest, most internationally active banks (core banks) and proposed an optional standardized approach rule for non-core banks that will also have the option to remain on existing capital rules. In light of possible competitive effects of the capital rules, GAO was asked to examine (1) the markets in which banks compete, (2) how new capital rules address U.S. banks' competitive concerns, and (3) actions regulators are taking to address competitive and other potential negative effects during implementation. Among other things, GAO analyzed data on bank products and services and the final and proposed capital rules; interviewed U.S. and foreign bank regulators, officials from U.S. and foreign banks; and computed capital requirements under varying capital rules."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of the Interior's (Interior) Minerals Management Service (MMS) collected the equivalent of over $9 billion in oil and gas royalties in fiscal year 2007, more than $5 billion of which it deposited in the U.S. Treasury; it dispersed the remaining approximately $4 billion to other federal, state, and tribal accounts. These royalties--payments made to the federal government for the right to produce oil and gas from federal lands and waters--represent one of the country's largest nontax sources of revenue. The amount of oil and gas royalties MMS collects may increase if the price of energy increases and industry's demand to drill on lands and in waters controlled by the federal government continues to trend upward. Companies that develop and produce oil and gas resources from federal lands and waters do so under leases obtained from and administered by Interior--BLM for onshore leases and MMS's OEMM for offshore leases. Together, BLM and OEMM are responsible for ongoing oversight of oil and gas operations on more than 28,000 producing leases to help ensure that oil and gas companies comply with applicable laws, regulations, and agency policies. Among other …

(C5Me5)2LnOTf where Ln = La, Ce, Sm, Gd, and Yb have been synthesized and these derivatives are good starting materials for the synthesis of (C5Me5)2LnX derivatives. (C5Me5)2Ln(2,2'-bipyridine), where Ln = La, Ce, Sm, and Gd, along with several methylated bipyridine analogues have been synthesized and their magnetic moments have been measured as a function of temperature. In lanthanum, cerium, and gadolinium complexes the bipyridine ligand ligand is unequivocally the radical anion, and the observed magnetic moment is the result of intramolecular coupling of the unpaired electron on the lanthanide fragment with the unpaired electron on the bipyridine along with the intermolecular coupling between radicals. Comparison with the magnetic moments of the known compounds (C5Me5)2Sm(2,2'-bipyridine) and (C5Me5)2Yb(2,2'-bipyridine) leads to an understanding of the role of the Sm(II)/Sm(III) and Yb(II)/Yb(III) couple in the magnetic properties of (C5Me5)2Sm(2,2'-bipyridine) and (C5Me5)2Yb(2,2'-bipyridine). In addition, crystal structures of (C5Me5)2Ln(2,2'-bipyridine) and [(C5Me5)2Ln(2,2'-bipyridine)][BPh4](Ln= Ce and Gd), where the lanthanide is unequivocally in the +3 oxidation state, give the crystallographic characteristics of bipyridine as an anion and as a neutral ligand in the same coordination environment, respectively. Substituted bipyridine ligands coordinated to (C5Me5)2Yb are studied to further understand how the magnetic coupling in (C5Me5)2Yb(2,2'-bipyridine) changes with substitutions. In the …

The goal of this project was to answer the following questions concerning response to a future anthrax release (or suspected release) in a building: 1. Based on past experience, what rules of thumb can be determined concerning: (a) the amount of sampling that may be needed to determine the extent of contamination within a given building; (b) what portions of a building should be sampled; (c) the cost per square foot to decontaminate a given type of building using a given method; (d) the time required to prepare for, and perform, decontamination; (e) the effectiveness of a given decontamination method in a given type of building? 2. Based on past experience, what resources will be spent on evaluating the extent of contamination, performing decontamination, and assessing the effectiveness of the decontamination in abuilding of a given type and size? 3. What are the trade-offs between cost, time, and effectiveness for the various sampling plans, sampling methods, and decontamination methods that have been used in the past?

A new energetic particle-induced Geodesic Acoustic Mode (EGAM) is shown to exist. The mode frequency, mode structure, and mode destabilization are determined non-perturbatively by energetic particle kinetic effects. In particular the EGAM frequency is found to be substantially lower than the standard GAM frequency. The radial mode width is determined by the energetic particle drift orbit width and can be fairly large for high energetic particle pressure and large safety factor. These results are consistent with the recent experimental observation of the beam- driven n=0 mode in DIII-D. The new mode is important since it can degrade energetic particle confinement as shown in the DIII-D experiments. The new mode may also affect the thermal plasma confinement via its interaction with plasma micro-turbulence.

The ocean/atmosphere interface is the major conduit for the entry of atmospheric CO2 into oceanic carbon pools that can lead to sequestration or recycled release. The surface layers of the temperate and tropical oceans are often too oligotrophic to result in significant primary production that might lead to carbon sequestration. However, nutrient-rich river plumes can alter the primary production schemes of oligotrophic ocean basins, resulting in increased phytoplankton biomass and carbon fixation. The ultimate goal of this proposal is to understand these carbon cycling processes in major river plumes from the molecular processes involved in biological DIC uptake to contribution to basin-wide production and potential sequestration. Our research efforts include a field component to answer the questions raised concerning DIC in plumes entering ocean basins and an intensive genomics approach to understanding these processes on the cellular level using genomic fragments obtained from plume biota. This project is actually composed of 3 separate PI-initiated projects, including projects at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Marine Science, the University of Puerto Rico, and The Ohio State University. This report concerns research conducted at The Ohio State University and studies performed in collaboration with USF. In order to understand what …

Stable operation of a cylindrical Hall thruster (CHT) has been achieved using a hot wire cathode, which functions as a controllable electron emission source. It is shown that as the electron emission from the cathode increases with wire heating, the discharge current increases, the plasma plume angle reduces, and the ion energy distribution function shifts toward higher energies. The observed effect of cathode electron emission on thruster parameters extends and clarifies performance improvements previously obtained for the overrun discharge current regime of the same type of thruster, but using a hollow cathode-neutralizer. Once thruster discharge current saturates with wire heating, further filament heating does not affect other discharge parameters. The saturated values of thruster discharge parameters can be further enhanced by optimal placement of the cathode wire with respect to the magnetic field.

Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysis is a potential alternative technology to crack water in specialty applications where a dry gas stream is needed, such as isotope production. One design proposal is to feed the cathode of the electrolyzer with vapor phase water. This feed configuration would allow isotopic water to be isolated on the cathode side of the electrolyzer and the isotope recovery system could be operated in a closed loop. Tests were performed to characterize the difference in the current-voltage behavior between a PEM electrolyzer operated with a cathode water vapor feed and with an anode liquid water feed. The cathode water vapor feed cell had a maximum limiting current density of 100 mA/cm2 at 70 C compared to a current density of 800 mA/cm2 for the anode liquid feed cell at 70 C. The limiting current densities for the cathode water vapor feed cell were approximately 3 times lower than predicted by a water mass transfer model. It is estimated that a cathode water vapor feed electrolyzer system will need to be between 8-14 times larger in active area or number of cells than an anode liquid feed system.

Development of advanced hydrogen separation membranes in support of hydrogen production processes such as coal gasification and as front end gas purifiers for fuel cell based system is paramount to the successful implementation of a national hydrogen economy. Current generation metallic hydrogen separation membranes are based on Pd-alloys. Although the technology has proven successful, at issue is the high cost of palladium. Evaluation of non-noble metal based dense metallic separation membranes is currently receiving national and international attention. The focal point of the reported work was to evaluate two different classes of materials for potential replacement of conventional Pd-alloy purification/diffuser membranes. Crystalline V-Ni-Ti and Amorphous Fe- and Co-based metallic glass alloys have been evaluated using gaseous hydrogen permeation testing techniques.

This report summarizes the results and the assumptions used in an analysis of the potential “lost efficiency opportunities” in the buildings sector. These targets of opportunity are those end-uses, applications, practices, and portions of the buildings market which are not currently being addressed, or addressed fully, by the Building Technologies Program (BTP) due to lack of resources. The lost opportunities, while a significant increase in effort and impact in the buildings sector, still represent only a small portion of the full technical potential for energy efficiency in buildings.

The proposed International Linear Collider (ILC) will use tens of thousands of beam position monitors (BPMs) for precise beam alignment. The signal from each BPM is digitized and processed for feedback control. We proposed the development of an 11-bit (effective) digitizer with 500 MHz bandwidth and 2 G samples/s. The digitizer was somewhat beyond the state-of-the-art. Moreover we planned to design the digitizer chip using the deep-submicron technology with custom transistors that had proven to be very radiation hard (up to at least 60 Mrad). The design mitigated the need for costly shielding and long cables while providing ready access to the electronics for testing and maintenance. In FY06 as we prepared to submit a chip with test circuits and a partial ADC circuit we found that IBM had changed the availability of our chosen IC fabrication process (IBM 6HP SiGe BiCMOS), making it unaffordable for us, at roughly 3 times the previous price. This prompted us to change our design to the IBM 5HPE process with 0.35 µm feature size. We requested funding for FY07 to continue the design work and submit the first prototype chip. Unfortunately, the funding was not continued and we will summarize below the work …

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Bi-weekly student newspaper from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

This report reviews the status of energy efficiency and renewable energy legislation introduced during the 110th Congress. Most action in the second session is focused on the FY2009 budget request and legislation that would extend or modify selected renewable energy and energy efficiency tax incentives.

This report discusses the provisions for sugar imports and the sugar price support program, which was reauthorized with some changes in the 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246, Food, Conservation, and Energy Act). It includes an overview of the sugar program as well as a breakdown of the issues from the 2008 farm bill including the level of sugar price support, controlling the sugar supply to protect sugar prices, sugar for ethanol, ang sugar program cuts. There is also an appendix comparing the 2008 farm bill provisions with previous legislation.

Weekly magazine edition of the daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the members of a discretionary bail bond board may dissolve the board (RQ-0687-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county may grant funds to a school district or charter school (RQ-0689-GA).