A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In January 2004, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)--the federal supervisor of federally chartered or "national" banks--issued two final rules referred to jointly as the preemption rules. The "bank activities" rule addressed the applicability of state laws to national banking activities, while the "visitorial powers" rule set forth OCC's view of its authority to inspect, examine, supervise, and regulate national banks and their operating subsidiaries. The rules raised concerns among some state officials and consumer advocates. GAO examined (1) how the rules clarify the applicability of state laws to national banks, (2) how the rules have affected state-level consumer protection efforts, (3) the rules' potential effects on banks' choices of a federal or state charter, and (4) measures that could address states' concerns regarding consumer protection."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The possibility that an adversary may use chemical or biological weapons against U.S. forces makes it important for a weapon system to be able to survive such attacks. In the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005, Congress mandated that the Department of Defense submit a plan to address weapon system chemical and biological survivability by February 28, 2005. This plan was to include developing a centralized database with information about the effects of chemical and biological agents on materials used in weapon systems. DOD did not submit its plan as mandated. GAO was asked to evaluate (1) the extent to which DOD addresses weapon system chemical and biological survivability during the acquisition process, and (2) DOD's internal controls for maintaining a comprehensive database that includes chemical and biological survivability research and test data for weapon system design and development."

A chapter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. government's framework for preventing, detecting, and prosecuting money laundering has been expanding through additional pieces of legislation since the passage of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) in 1970. In recent years, noncompliance with BSA requirements has raised concerns in Congress about the ability of federal banking regulators to oversee compliance at depository institutions and ensure that these institutions have the controls necessary to identify suspicious activity. In light of these concerns, GAO was asked to determine how federal banking regulators examine for BSA compliance and identify and track violations to ensure timely corrective action. GAO also was asked to determine how enforcement actions are taken for violations of the BSA."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) intends to privatize about 87 percent of the military-owned housing in the United States by 2010. As of December 2005, it had awarded 52 projects to privatize over 112,000 family housing units and had plans to award 57 more projects to privatize over 76,000 more units over the next 4 years. The program, begun in 1996, has become DOD's primary means to improve family housing and to meet its housing needs when communities near installations do not have enough suitable, affordable housing. Because of expressed interest related to the oversight responsibilities of several committees, GAO assessed (1) whether opportunities exist to improve DOD's oversight of awarded housing privatization projects, and (2) to what extent projects are meeting occupancy expectations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Deepwater program was designed to produce aircraft and vessels that would function in the Coast Guard's traditional at-sea roles. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, however, the Coast Guard began taking on additional homeland security missions, and so it revised the Deepwater implementation plan to provide assets that could better meet these new responsibilities. While many acknowledge that the Coast Guard's aging assets need replacement or renovation, concerns exist about the approach the Coast Guard adopted in launching the Deepwater program. The subsequent changes in the program's asset mix and delivery schedules only increased these concerns. This report (1) compares the revised Deepwater implementation plans with the original plan in terms of the assets to be replaced or modified, and the time frames and costs for doing so; (2) assesses the degree to which the operational effectiveness model and other analytical methods used by the Coast Guard to develop the revised Deepwater asset mix are sound and appropriate for such a purpose; and (3) assesses the progress made in implementing GAO's prior recommendations regarding program management. GAO is not making any new recommendations …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) maintains affiliations with medical schools, including the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Services Center and University of Colorado Hospital (UCH), to obtain enhanced medical care for veterans. As part of their plans for new medical campuses, both UCH and MUSC proposed jointly constructing and operating new medical facilities with VA in Denver and Charleston, respectively. This report discusses (1) how VA evaluated the joint venture proposals for Denver and Charleston and the status of these proposals, (2) the challenges these proposals pose for VA, and (3) the lessons VA can learn from its experiences in Charleston and Denver for future partnerships."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Conservation Security Program (CSP)--called for in the 2002 farm bill and administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)--provides financial assistance to producers to reward past conservation actions and to encourage further conservation stewardship. CSP payments may be made for structural or land management practices, such as strip cropping to reduce erosion. CSP has raised concerns among some stakeholders because CSP cost estimates generally have increased since the 2002 farm bill's enactment. For example, the Congressional Budget Office's estimate increased from $2 billion in 2002 to $8.9 billion in 2004. GAO determined (1) why CSP cost estimates generally increased; (2) what authority USDA has to control costs and what cost control measures exist; and (3) what measures exist to prevent duplication between CSP and other USDA conservation programs and what duplication, if any, has occurred."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Annual appropriations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Section 8 programs--a key federal tool for subsidizing rents of low-income households--have increased sharply in recent years, raising concerns about their cost. Section 8 pays the difference between a unit's rent and the household's payment (generally 30 percent of adjusted income). Section 8 includes a voucher program administered by public housing agencies (PHA) that allows eligible households to use vouchers to rent units in the private market and a project-based program administered by property owners who receive subsidies to rent specific units to eligible households. In both programs, contracts between HUD and the administrators specify the duration and amount of the subsidy. GAO assessed Section 8 trends from fiscal years 1998 through 2004 and examined (1) annual budget authority and outlays for each program; (2) factors that have affected outlays; and (3) the estimated impact of factors, such as market rents, on the average rental subsidy per voucher household."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, the Medicare Modernization Act required the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish payment rates for a set of new pharmaceutical products--drugs and radiopharmaceuticals--provided to beneficiaries in a hospital outpatient setting. These products were classified for payment purposes as specified covered outpatient drugs (SCOD). The legislation directed CMS to set 2006 Medicare payment rates for SCODs equal to hospitals' average acquisition costs and included requirements for GAO. As directed, GAO surveyed hospitals and issued two reports, providing information to use in setting 2006 SCOD rates. To address other requirements in the law, this report analyzes SCOD price variation across hospitals, advises CMS on future surveys it might undertake, and examines both lessons from the GAO survey and future challenges facing CMS."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Insurance carriers, employers, and individuals are showing increasing interest in consumer-directed health plans (CDHP). CDHPs typically combine a high-deductible health plan with a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) or health savings account (HSA). HRAs and HSAs are tax-advantaged accounts used to pay enrollees' health care expenses, and unused balances may accrue for future use, potentially giving enrollees an incentive to purchase health care more prudently. The plans also provide decision-support tools to help enrollees become more actively involved in making health care purchasing decisions. Because CDHPs are relatively new, there is interest in the extent of enrollment and in other aspects of the plans. GAO was asked to review the prevalence of CDHPs, how the associated accounts are funded and used, and the factors that may contribute to the growth or limit the appeal of these plans. GAO examined survey data on CDHP enrollment and interviewed or obtained data from employers, insurance carriers, individuals, financial institutions, and other CDHP experts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Continued high levels of unauthorized immigrant workers in the United States have fostered concerns about whether they should be eligible for Social Security benefits. Until recently, the Social Security Administration (SSA) allowed noncitizens to collect benefits, regardless of their work authorization status, provided that they met certain legal presence requirements. However, in March 2004, Congress passed the Social Security Protection Act, which under Section 211, requires that noncitizens assigned a Social Security number (SSN) after 2003 have work authorization from current or past qualifying work to collect benefits. This report describes (1) the steps SSA has taken to implement Section 211 and how effective SSA's policies and procedures are in preventing improper benefit decisions, and (2) how Section 211 has affected the payment of benefits to unauthorized workers."

The objective of this work is to improve the process for CO{sub 2} capture by alkanolamine absorption/stripping by developing an alternative solvent, aqueous K{sub 2}CO{sub 3} promoted by piperazine. The final campaign of the pilot plant was completed in February 2006 with 5m K{sup +}/2.5m PZ and 6.4m K{sup +}/1.6m PZ using Flexipac AQ Style 20. The new cross-exchanger reduced the approach temperature to less than 9 C. Stripper modeling has demonstrated that a configuration with a ''Flashing Feed'' requires 6% less work that a simple stripper. The oxidative degradation of piperazine proceeds more slowly than that of monoethanolamine and produces ethylenediamine and other products. Uninhibited 5 m KHCO{sub 3}/2.5 m PZ corrodes 5 to 6 times faster that 30% MEA with 0.2 mol CO{sub 2}/mol MEA.

Epidemiologic evidence indicates that exposure to heterocyclic amines (HAs) in the diet is an important risk factor for the development of colon cancer. Well-done cooked meats contain significant levels of HAs which have been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals. To better understand the mechanisms of HA bioactivation in humans, the most mass abundant HA, 2-amino-l-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP), was used to assess the relationship between PhIP metabolism and DNA adduct formation. Ten human volunteers were administered a dietary relevant dose of [{sup 14}C]PhIP 48-72 h prior to surgery to remove colon tumors. Urine was collected for 24 h after dosing for metabolite analysis, and DNA was extracted from colon tissue and analyzed by accelerator mass spectrometry for DNA adducts. All ten subjects were phenotyped for CYP1A2, NAT2, and SULT1A1 enzyme activity. Twelve PhIP metabolites were detected in the urine samples. The most abundant metabolite in all volunteers was N-hydroxy-PhIP-N{sup 2}-glucuronide. Metabolite levels varied significantly between the volunteers. Interindividual differences in colon DNA adducts levels were observed between each individual. The data showed that individuals with a rapid CYP1A2 phenotype and high levels of urinary N-hydroxy-PhIP-N{sup 2}-glucuronide, had the lowest level of colon PhIP-DNA adducts. This suggests that glucuronidation plays a …

In a series of papers, Nicastro et al. have claimed the detection of z > 0 O VII absorption features in the spectrum of Mrk 421 obtained with the Chandra Low Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (LETGS). We evaluate those claims in the context of a high quality spectrum of the same source obtained with the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) on XMM-Newton. The data comprise over 955 ksec of usable exposure time and more than 2.6 x 10{sup 4} counts per 50 m{angstrom} at 21.6 {angstrom}. We concentrate on the spectrally clean region (21.3 < {lambda} < 22.5 {angstrom}) where sharp features due to the astrophysically abundant O VII may reveal an intervening, warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM). In spite of the fact that the sensitivity of the RGS data is higher than that of the original LETGS data presented by Nicastro et al., we do not confirm detection of any of the intervening systems claimed to date. Rather, we detect only three unsurprising, astrophysically expected features down to the log (N{sub i}) {approx} 14.6 (3{sigma}) sensitivity level. Each of the two purported WHIM features is rejected with a statistical confidence that exceeds that reported for its initial detection. While we can …

Recently the first detections of highly ionized gas associated with two Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM) filaments have been reported. The evidence is based on X-ray absorption lines due to O VII and other ions observed by Chandra towards the bright blazar Mrk 421. We investigate the robustness of this detection by a re-analysis of the original Chandra LETGS spectra, the analysis of a large set of XMM-Newton RGS spectra of Mrk 421, and additional Chandra observations. We address the reliability of individual spectral features belonging to the absorption components, and assess the significance of the detection of these components. We also use Monte Carlo simulations of spectra. We confirm the apparent strength of several features in the Chandra spectra, but demonstrate that they are statistically not significant. This decreased significance is due to the number of redshift trials that are made and that are not taken into account in the original discovery paper. Therefore these features must be attributed to statistical fluctuations. This is confirmed by the RGS spectra, which have a higher signal to noise ratio than the Chandra spectra, but do not show features at the same wavelengths. Finally, we show that the possible association with a Ly{alpha} …

A geologic sequestration pilot in the Thornton gas field in Northern California, USA involves injection of up to 4000 tons of CO{sub 2} into a stacked gas and saline formation reservoir. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is leading the pilot test in collaboration with Rosetta Resources, Inc. and Calpine Corporation under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy and California Energy Commission's WESTCARB, Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership. The goals of the pilot include: (1) Demonstrate the feasibility of CO{sub 2} storage in saline formations representative of major geologic sinks in California; (2) Test the feasibility of Enhanced Gas Recovery associated with the early stages of a CO{sub 2} storage project in a depleting gas field; (3) Obtain site-specific information to improve capacity estimation, risk assessment, and performance prediction; (4) Demonstrate and test methods for monitoring CO{sub 2} storage in saline formations and storage/enhanced recovery projects in gas fields; and (5) Gain experience with regulatory permitting and public outreach associated with CO{sub 2} storage in California. Test design is currently underway and field work begins in August 2006.

LLNL is actively engaged in the development of a variety of advanced technologies for use in detecting potential threats in sea-going cargo containers, particularly the presence of hidden special nuclear materials (SNM). One such project is the so-called ''Nuclear Car Wash'' (NCW), which uses a high-energy neutron probe to scan the container. High-energy, {beta}-delayed {gamma}-rays emitted during the decay of short-lived, neutron-induced fission products are then taken as a signature of fissionable material. There are a number of different threat decision metrics that one could imagine using in conjunction with an inspection system such as the NCW; however, the most straightforward approach might be to simply compare the total number of counts that our detector records during some suitably chosen time interval to the average background signal that one would expect from a ''clean'' container during the same interval. The purpose of this report is to describe the basic statistical properties of a decision metric of this sort and outline the procedures for using it in experimental practice.

The authors have conducted a systematic study of the dominant x-ray line emission from Fe XVII. These studies include relative line intensities in the optically thin limit, intensities in the presence of radiation from satellite lines from lower charge states of iron, and the absolute excitation cross sections of some of the strongest lines. These measurements were conducted at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory electron beam ion trap facility using crystal spectrometers and a NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center microcalorimeter array.

Energy savings assessment of coal mine

TOUGH2 models of geologic storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) in brine-bearing formations use characteristic curves to represent the interactions of non-wetting-phase CO2 and wetting-phase brine. When a problem includes both injection of CO2 (a drainage process) and its subsequent post-injection evolution (a combination of drainage and wetting), hysteretic characteristic curves are required to correctly capture the behavior of the CO2 plume. In the hysteretic formulation, capillary pressure and relative permeability depend not only on the current grid-block saturation, but also on the history of the saturation in the grid block. For a problem that involves only drainage or only wetting, a nonhysteretic formulation, in which capillary pressure and relative permeability depend only on the current value of the grid-block saturation, is adequate. For the hysteretic formulation to be robust computationally, care must be taken to ensure the differentiability of the characteristic curves both within and beyond the turning-point saturations where transitions between branches of the curves occur. Two example problems involving geologic CO2 storage are simulated using non-hysteretic and hysteretic models, to illustrate the applicability and limitations of non-hysteretic methods: the first considers leakage of CO2 from the storage formation to the ground surface, while the second examines the role …

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This report describes a compact, high current density, pulsed ion source, based on electrodeless, inductively driven gas breakdown, developed to meet the requirements on normalized emittance, current density, uniformity and pulse duration for an ion injector in a heavy-ion fusion driver. The plasma source produces >10 μs pulse of Argon plasma with ion current densities >100 mA/cm2 at 30 cm from the source and with strongly axially directed ion energy of about 80 eV, and sub-eV transverse temperature. The source has good reproducibility and spatial uniformity. Control of the current density during the pulse has been demonstrated with a novel modulator coil method which allows attenuation of the ion current density without significantly affecting the beam quality. This project was carried out in two phases. Phase 1 used source configurations adapted from light ion sources to demonstrate the feasibility of the concept. In Phase 2 the performance of the source was enhanced and quantified in greater detail, a modulator for controlling the pulse shape was developed, and experiments were conducted with the ions accelerated to >40 kV.

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