A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Recognizing the importance of child support, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 requires that if a parent with child support obligations files for bankruptcy, a bankruptcy trustee must notify the relevant custodial parent and state child support enforcement agency so that they may participate in the case. The act also required GAO to study the feasibility of matching bankruptcy records with child support records to assure that filers with child support obligations are identified. GAO therefore (1) identified the percent of bankruptcy filers with obligations nationwide, (2) examined the potential for routine data matching to facilitate the identification of filers with child support obligations, and (3) studied the feasibility and cost of doing so. GAO interviewed child support enforcement and bankruptcy officials at the federal level and in six states. GAO also conducted a nationwide test data match and reviewed national bankruptcy filings for people with support obligations in Texas for an indication of whether filers are failing to provide this information."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the fourth year of implementation of the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA), major executive branch agencies reported a total improper payment estimate of about $55 billion for fiscal year 2007. This increase from the prior year estimate of $41 billion was primarily attributable to a component of the Medicaid program reporting improper payments for the first time totaling about $13 billion for fiscal year 2007. We view this increased reporting as a positive step to improve transparency over the full magnitude of improper payments across the federal government. As Congress requested, the objective of this report is to provide summary data and preliminary analysis of the improper payment estimates reported by federal executive branch agencies (federal agencies) in their fiscal year 2007 performance and accountability reports (PAR) or annual reports."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During the decades before its dissolution, the Soviet Union produced a cadre of scientists and engineers whose knowledge and expertise could be invaluable to countries or terrorist groups trying to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD). After the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, many of these scientists suffered significant cuts in pay or lost their government-supported work. To address concerns about unemployed or underemployed Soviet-era weapons scientists, the Department of Energy (DOE) established the Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP) program in 1994 to engage former Soviet weapons scientists in nonmilitary work in the short term and create private sector jobs for these scientists in the long term. GAO was asked to assess (1) DOE's reported accomplishments for the IPP program, (2) DOE's exit strategy for the program, and (3) the extent to which the program has experienced annual carryovers of unspent funds and the reasons for any such carryovers. In December 2007, GAO issued a report--Nuclear Nonproliferation: DOE's Program to Assist Weapons Scientists in Russia and Other Countries Needs to Be Reassessed, (GAO-08-189)--that addressed these matters. To carry out its work, GAO, among other things, analyzed DOE policies, …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Millions of people in the United States and Canada depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water, recreation, and economic livelihood. During the 1970s, it became apparent that pollutants discharged into the Great Lakes Basin from point sources, such as industrial and municipal facilities, or from nonpoint sources, such as air emissions from power plants, were harming the Great Lakes. Some of these pollutants, known as bioaccumulative chemicals of concern (BCC), pose risks to fish and other species as well as to the humans and wildlife that consume them. In 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Great Lakes Initiative (GLI). The GLI established water quality criteria to be used by states to establish pollutant discharge limits for some BCCs and other pollutants that are discharged by point sources. The GLI also allows states to include flexible permit implementation procedures (flexibilities) that allow facilities' discharges to exceed GLI criteria. This testimony is based on GAO's July 2005 report, Great Lakes Initiative: EPA Needs to Better Ensure the Complete and Consistent Implementation of Water Quality Standards (GAO-05-829) and updated information from EPA and the Great Lakes states. This …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) spending on goods and services has grown significantly since fiscal year 2000, to well over $314 billion annually. GAO has identified DOD contract management as a high-risk area for more than decade. With awards to contractors large and growing, DOD will continue to be vulnerable to contracting fraud, waste, or misuse of taxpayer dollars, and abuse. Prudence with taxpayer funds, widening deficits, and growing long-range fiscal challenges demand that DOD maximize its return on investment, while providing warfighters with the needed capabilities at the best value for the taxpayer. This statement discusses (1) the implications of DOD's increasing reliance on contractors to fill roles previously held by government employees, (2) the importance of the acquisition workforce in DOD's mission and the need to strengthen its capabilities and accountability, and (3) assumptions about cost savings related to the use of contractors versus federal employees. This statement is based on work GAO has ongoing or has completed over the past several years covering a range of DOD contracting issues."

The Department of Energy has authorized a team of glass formulation and processing experts at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and the Vitreous State Laboratory (VSL) at Catholic University of America to develop a systematic approach to increase high level waste melter throughput (by increasing waste loading with minimal or positive impacts on melt rate). This task is aimed at proof-of-principle testing and the development of tools to improve waste loading and melt rate, which will lead to higher waste throughput. Four specific tasks have been proposed to meet these objectives (for details, see WSRC-STI-2007-00483): (1) Integration and Oversight, (2) Crystal Accumulation Modeling (led by PNNL)/Higher Waste Loading Glasses (led by SRNL), (3) Melt Rate Evaluation and Modeling, and (4) Melter Scale Demonstrations. Task 2, Crystal Accumulation Modeling/Higher Waste Loading Glasses is the focus of this report. The objective of this study is to provide supplemental data to support the possible use of alternative melter technologies and/or implementation of alternative process control models or strategies to target higher waste loadings (WLs) for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF)--ultimately leading to higher waste throughputs and a reduced mission life. The glass selection strategy discussed …

We propose to combine and slightly extend two existing 'Les Houches Accords' to provide a simple generic interface between beyond-the-standard-model parton-level and event-level generators. All relevant information--particle content, quantum numbers of new states, masses, cross sections, parton-level events, etc.--is collected in one single file, which adheres to the Les Houches Event File (LHEF) standard.

Soft x-ray zone plate microscopy has proven to be a valuable imaging technique for nanoscale studies. It complements nano-analytic techniques such as electron and scanning probe microscopies. One of its key features is high spatial resolution. We developed an overlay nanofabrication process which allows zone plates of sub-20 nm zone widths to be fabricated. Zone plates of 15 nm outer zones were successfully realized using this process, and sub-15 nm resolution was achieved with these zone plates. We extend the overlay process to fabricating zone plates of 12 nm outer zones, which is expected to achieve 10 nm resolution. In addition, we have identified a pathway to realizing sub-10 nm resolution, high efficiency zone plates with tilted zones using the overlay process.

Forty one years ago, September 20, 1966, the first beam entered End Station A, passed on through, and was terminated in Beam Dump East. This beam had an energy of 18.4 GeV, a record for the time. Since then, the SLAC ESA has been a mainstay facility for many high-energy physics and test beam experiments involving countless hours of data taking. Heretofore, it was assumed that with the completion and commissioning of the LCLS facility, beams from the main injector would no longer be available to this well equipped experimental facility. Fortunately, it has become clear that a bypass beamline design calling for modest modifications and using existing, soon to be surplus, components will enable continued utilization of this important facility.

We present the results of our measurements of the electron cloud density in the PEP-II low energy ring (LER) by propagating a TE wave into the beam pipe. By connecting a signal generator to a beam position monitor button we can excite a signal above the vacuum chamber cut-off frequency and measure its propagation through the beam pipe with a spectrum analyzer connected to another button about 50 meters away. The measurement can be performed with different beam conditions and also at different settings of the solenoids used to reduce the build up of electrons. The presence of a modulation in the TE wave transmission, synchronous with the beam revolution frequency, which appear to increase in depth when the solenoids are switched off, seem to be directly correlated to the electron cloud density in the region between the two BPM's. In this paper we present and discuss the measurements taken in the Interaction Region 12 straight of the LER during 2006 and the first part of 2007.

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), currently under design, requires accurate alignment between the electron beam and each undulator's magnetic centerline. A beam finder wire (BFW) instrument has been developed to provide beam location information that is used to move the undulators to their appropriate positions. A BFW instrument is mounted at each of the 33 magnets in the undulator section. Beam detection is achieved by electrons impacting two carbon fiber wires and then sensing the downstream radiation. The wires are mounted vertically and horizontally on a wire card similar to that of a traditional wire scanner instrument. The development of the BFW presents several design challenges due to the need for high accuracy of the wires locations and the need for removal of the wires during actual operation of the LCLS (30 microns repeatability is required for the wire locations). In this paper, we present the technical specification, design criteria, mechanical design, and results from prototype tests for the BFW.

A mathematical model of entry-time processes was developed, and a computational method for solving that model was verified. This methodology was demonstrated via application to a succession of increasingly more complex subsystems of nuclear power plants. The effort culminated in the application to main generators that constituted the PhD dissertation of Shuwen (“Eric”) Wang. Dr. Wang is now employed by ABS Consulting, in Anaheim, CA. ABS is a principal provider to the nuclear industry of technical services related to reliability and safety.

The title compound C{sub 81}H{sub 88}BF{sub 3}N{sub 6}O{sub 5}SYb{sub 2}, crystallizes as a half-sandwich complex with a bridging inner-sphere trifluoro-methane sulfonate as well as two bridging hydroxide groups. there is uncoordinated 5,5{prime}-dimethyl-2,2{prime}-bipyridine in the crystal structure. The bound bipyridine ligands have N-C-C{prime}-n{prime} torsion angles of 12-13{sup o}. The triply bridged Yb centers are 3.5990(4) Angstroms apart. The Yb-N bonds range from 2.389(6)-2.424(5) Angstroms.

In this paper we present the design of the beam position monitor (BPM) system for the LCLS undulator, which features a high-resolution X-band cavity BPM. Each BPM has a TM{sub 010} monopole reference cavity and a TM{sub 110} dipole cavity designed to operate at a center frequency of 11.384 GHz. The signal processing electronics features a low noise single-stage three-channel heterodyne receiver that has selectable gain and a phase locking local oscillator. We will discuss the system specifications, design, and prototype test results.

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Knowing the mass of the b-quark is essential to the study of the structure and decays of B mesons as well as to future tests of the Higgs mechanism of mass generation. We present recent preliminary measurements of the b-quark mass and related nonperturbative parameters from moments of kinematic distributions in charmed and charmless semileptonic and radiative penguin B decays. Their determination from charmless semileptonic B decays is the first measurement in this mode. The data were collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e{sup +}e{sup -}-collider at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center at a center-of-momentum energy of 10:58 GeV.

Use of grooved vacuum chambers have been suggested as a way to limit electron cloud accumulation in the ILCDR. We report on simulations carried out using an augmented version of POSINST, accounting for e-cloud dynamics in the presence of grooves, and make contact with previous estimates of an effective secondary electron yield for grooved surfaces.

Report on two short courses: [1] Fluid-fluid Equilibria in the Crust: Petrology - Geochemistry - Economic potential. August 16-17, 2007 preceding the Goldschmidt Conference in Cologne, Germany) and [2] Paleoaltimetry: Geochemical And Thermodynamic Approaches. October 26-27, 2007 (preceding the GSA Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado)

We propose two distinct atom interferometer gravitational wave detectors, one terrestrial and another satellite-based, utilizing the core technology of the Stanford 10m atom interferometer presently under construction. The terrestrial experiment can operate with strain sensitivity {approx} 10{sup -19}/{radical}Hz in the 1 Hz-10 Hz band, inaccessible to LIGO, and can detect gravitational waves from solar mass binaries out to megaparsec distances. The satellite experiment probes the same frequency spectrum as LISA with better strain sensitivity {approx} 10{sup -20}/{radical}Hz. Each configuration compares two widely separated atom interferometers run using common lasers. The effect of the gravitational waves on the propagating laser field produces the main effect in this configuration and enables a large enhancement in the gravitational wave signal while significantly suppressing many backgrounds. The use of ballistic atoms (instead of mirrors) as inertial test masses improves systematics coming from vibrations and acceleration noise, and reduces spacecraft control requirements.

This report documents CH2M HILL Hanford Group Inc. (CH2M HILL) 2007 dryer testing results in Richland, WA at the AMEC Nuclear Ltd., GeoMelt Division (AMEC) Horn Rapids Test Site. It provides a discussion of scope and results to qualify the dryer system as a viable unit-operation in the continuing evaluation of the bulk vitrification process. A 10,000 liter (L) dryer/mixer was tested for supplemental treatment of Hanford tank low-activity wastes, drying and mixing a simulated non-radioactive salt solution with glass forming minerals. Testing validated the full scale equipment for producing dried product similar to smaller scale tests, and qualified the dryer system for a subsequent integrated dryer/vitrification test using the same simulant and glass formers. The dryer system is planned for installation at the Hanford tank farms to dry/mix radioactive waste for final treatment evaluation of the supplemental bulk vitrification process.

In an effort to compare beam dynamics and create a ''benchmark'' for Dispersion Free Steering (DFS) a comparison was made between different International Linear Collider (ILC) simulation programs while performing DFS. This study consisted of three parts. Firstly, a simple betatron oscillation was tracked through each code. Secondly, a set of component misalignments and corrector settings generated from one program was read into the others to confirm similar emittance dilution. Thirdly, given the same set of component misalignments, DFS was performed independently in each program and the resulting emittance dilution was compared. Performance was found to agree exceptionally well in all three studies.

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This report discusses environmental services markets in relation to the farm bill (P.L. 110-234, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008), which covers a range of farm and forestry sector services associated with improved water and air quality, increased carbon storage, and habitat protection. It gives an overview of environmental services markets as well as benefits and barriers, how they are affected by Congressional action, and possible considerations.

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