A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does various compliance checks to ensure the accuracy of information reported on taxpayers' returns. In recent years, the audit rate--the proportion of tax returns that IRS audits each year--has drawn attention because of a long-term decline in audit rates and the differences in audit rates for lower and higher income individuals. This report (1) describes the changes in audit rates for individual income tax returns overall and for categories, such as major sources (i.e., nonbusiness versus business) and levels of income for fiscal years 1996 through 2000; (2) discusses IRS' reasons and related data explaining the changes in audit rates; and (3) describes what is known about the effects of changes in the audit rates on tax compliance. In comparing fiscal years 1996 and 2000, GAO found that the overall tax audit rate of individuals declined about 70 percent. These rates declined regardless of the individual taxpayer's income level. IRS cited the following three reasons for the decline in audit rates for fiscal years 1996 to 2000: (1) the number of IRS auditors for individual returns declined by more than half …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Gasoline prices in West Coast states are frequently among the highest in the nation and these states tend to see longer periods of high prices compared with other parts of the country, the West Coast gasoline market is characterized by a tight balance between supply and demand, and isolation from other U.S. gasoline markets. Both of these situations cause rapid price increases in reaction to supply disruptions. GAO's comparisons of gasoline prices in California, Oregon, and Washington found that individual markets in the three states are closely linked and are essentially part of a single market for gasoline on the West Coast. Gasoline prices for cities in these states generally followed similar patterns with respect to price increases and decreases. As a result, any event that a significantly changed prices in one state could affect gasoline prices in other West Coast states. Although California, Oregon, and Washington are essentially part of the same West Coast market, each state has attributes that tend to increase its respective gasoline prices. Moreover, within any given state, local market conditions may cause prices to vary considerably. GAO's analysis found that lifting the …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO discussed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) fiscal year 2002 budget request. Because HUD's 2002 budget request was released only two weeks before this testimony, GAO could only offer a general discussion of the budget's policy policy implications and program trade-offs. GAO found that, in recent years, HUD has had significant unexpended balances, making it difficult for Congress to assess the Department's need for new appropriations. Without accurate and timely information on the nature, the amount, and the availability of HUD's unexpended balances, decision-makers cannot fully and fairly evaluate HUD's funding needs. HUD has begun several short-term efforts to identify, quantify, and recapture some unexpended balances and has, in fact, recaptured about $3 billion each year between fiscal years 1998 and 2000. In spite of these efforts, HUD has not yet integrated the processes needed to routinely and accurately account for unexpended balances into its ongoing financial, program, and budget management. As a result, HUD lacks the information it needs to (1) determine with certainty how much of the unexpended balances should be recaptured and (2) clearly factor these funds into its budget requests."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To better protect the nation's critical computer-dependent infrastructures from computer-based attacks and disruption, the President issued Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) 63 in 1998. The directive established the National Infrastructure Protection Center as a national focal point for gathering information on threats and facilitating the federal government's response to computer-based incidents. This report evaluates the center's progress in (1) developing national capabilities for analyzing cyber threat and vulnerability data and issuing warnings, (2) enhancing its capabilities for responding to cyber attacks, and (3) developing outreach and information-sharing initiatives with government and private-sector entities. GAO found that although the center has taken some steps to develop analysis and warning capabilities, the strategic capabilities described in PDD 63 have not been achieved. The center has provided important support to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigations of computer crimes by coordinating investigations and providing technical assistance. The center has also developed crisis management procedures and drafted an emergency law enforcement sector plan, which is now being reviewed by sector members. The center's information-sharing relationships are still evolving and will probably have limited effectiveness until reporting procedures and thresholds are defined …

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) requested and received $195 million for Hepatitis C screening and treatment in fiscal year 2000. VA's budget documentation showed that it had spent $100 million on Hepatitis C screening and treatment, leaving a difference of $95 million between its estimated and actual expenditures. However, GAO's review revealed that the difference was actually much larger--$145 million. VA's documentation showed that only $50 million was used for budgeted activities and $50 million was used for an activity not included in its original budget--treatment of conditions related to Hepatitis C. It appears that VA is unable to develop a budget estimate that can reliably forecast its Hepatitis C funding needs at this time. However, VA's Veterans Health Administration (VHA) appears to be taking reasonable steps to improve future budget estimates and thereby minimize the potential for large differences. Such steps include developing a Hepatitis C patient registry that could provide the critical data needed to improve budgetary estimates. However, this registry could take as long as 15 months to become operational, which suggests that it may not provide budgetary data in time …

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, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a school district trustee may serve as a volunteer teacher in the same district (RQ-0318-JC)

Some useful information has been obtained regarding the potential use of the echelle spectrometer system for Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) monitoring applications, despite the AOTF-computer operational problems during the Sandia site-test. Currently, the use of the echelle spectrometer with the LIBS system is not suitable for trace-level analyte detection. This is due, in part, to the lower light throughput of the echelle spectrometer system compared to the SpectraPro-275. The low duty cycle of the LIBS system, which results from the use of a low-repetition-rate (but low-cost and portable) laser, also limits the detection sensitivity achievable using a high-resolution spectrometer. At high analyte concentrations, the echelle spectrometer is able to resolve spectral interferences including the Cd-As line pair at 228.8-nm and other LIBS emission features not resolved using the SpectraPro-275. A definite positive result obtained is the determination that at the high resolution of the echelle spectrometer, time-gating of the CCD detector is not necessary to discriminate analyte spectral signals from the LIBS background emission. The cost of the gated CCD and associated electronics is a significant portion of the cost of the Sandia LIBS system. Incorporation of a low-cost version of the echelle spectrometer for process monitoring applications not requiring …

Permanent Magnet Motors with either sinusoidal back emf (permanent magnet synchronous motor [PMSM]) or trapezoidal back emf (brushless dc motor [BDCM]) do not have the ability to alter the air gap flux density (field weakening). Since the back emf increases with speed, the system must be designed to operate with the voltage obtained at its highest speed. Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center (PEEMRC) has developed a dual mode inverter controller (DMIC) that overcomes this disadvantage. This report summarizes the results of tests to verify its operation. The standard PEEMRC 75 kW hard-switched inverter was modified to implement the field weakening procedure (silicon controlled rectifier enabled phase advance). A 49.5 hp motor rated at 2800 rpm was derated to a base of 400 rpm and 7.5 hp. The load developed by a Kahn Industries hydraulic dynamometer, was measured with a MCRT9-02TS Himmelstein and Company torque meter. At the base conditions a current of 212 amperes produced the 7.5 hp. Tests were run at 400, 1215, and 2424 rpm. In each run, the current was no greater than 214 amperes. The horsepower obtained in the three runs were 7.5, 9.3, and 8.12. These results verified …

Studies were performed of the Au/SiC interface, as well as the interfaces between SiC and several Au alloys. A contact angle of 133{+-}1{sup o} for pure Au on SiC was obtained after equilibration at 800 C. Au containing 3at%Sn was studied, and wetting was improved as evidenced by a decrease in contact angle from 133{sup o} for pure Au to 117{sup o} for the Au-Sn alloy. Sn segregation was observed at the surface of Au. Measurements were also performed on Au-Ge alloys. It was found that the contact angle is decreased to 115{sup o} and 107{sup o} at Ge concentrations of 1 and 2 at%, respectively. Studies of Au containing a low concentration of Si ({approx}0.5 at%) were conducted and showed a decrease in contact angle from 133{sup o} to 107{sup o}. The equilibrium crystal shape of Au was determined. Results showed that the presence of C at the Au surface has a measurable effect on the anisotropy of surface energy. Finally, the wetting of graphite by Pb(Ni) alloys was investigated. The results showed that contact angles of 100{sup o} and 80{sup o} coexist in the vicinity of the limit of solubility of Ni in Pb ({approx}0.17%Pb), without intermediate contact …

Diabetes is a disease that affects over 16 million people in the USA at a cost of 100 billion dollars annually. The ability to regulate insulin delivery in people with Type 1 diabetes is imperative as is the need to manage glucose levels in all people with this disease. Our current method for monitoring glucose is a (FDA approved) minimally invasive enzymatic sensor that can measure glucose levels in vivo for three days. We are focused on developing a noninvasive implantable glucose sensor that will be interrogated by an external device. The material must be robust, easy to process, biocompatible and resistant to biofouling. In this Presentation we will discuss the development of a new polymeric matrix that can recognize physiological levels of glucose in vitro using fluorescent spectroscopy.

This report presents the results of an outcrop gamma-ray survey of six selected measured sections included in the original report. The primary objective of this second study is to provide a baseline to correlate from the outcrop and reservoir model into Mesaverde strata in the San Juan Basin subsurface. Outcrop logs were generated using a GAD-6 gamma-ray spectrometer that simultaneously recorded total counts, potassium, uranium, and thorium data.

The formation of dibaryons with strangeness are discussed for the interior of neutron stars and for central relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We derive limits for the properties of H-dibaryons from pulsar data. Signals for the formation of possible bound states with hyperons at BNL's Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) are investigated by studying their weak decay patterns and production rates.

This report provides background information and a brief history of nutrition labeling information on the labeling issue of fresh meats proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on January 18, 2001.