Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We performed the agreed-upon procedures requested by the Secretary of the Senate related to receipt and disbursement processing and related procedures applicable to the Office of Public Records Revolving Fund's (the Fund's) fiscal years 2003-2005. In summary, the procedures we agreed to perform involved inspecting supporting documentation for Fund-related receipt and disbursement activities processed through the Office of Public Records (OPR) and Senate Disbursing Office (SDO) and reconciliation procedures performed by OPR."

Paper summarizes the literature about geologic CO2 storage potential in South Korea.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Today's hearing focuses on oversight of clinical labs. The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) strengthened quality requirements for labs that perform tests to diagnose or treat disease. About 36,000 labs that perform certain complex tests must be surveyed biennially by a state survey agency, a state CLIA-exempt program, or a private accrediting organization. CMS oversees implementation of CLIA requirements, which includes determining the CLIA equivalency of the inspection requirements used by exempt states and accrediting organizations. GAO was asked to discuss (1) the quality of lab testing and (2) the adequacy of CLIA oversight. To examine these issues, GAO analyzed data on lab performance and reviewed the procedures used by CMS and survey organizations to implement CLIA and oversee lab performance. This testimony is based on the GAO report, Clinical Lab Quality: CMS and Survey Organization Oversight Should Be Strengthened, GAO-06-416 (June 16, 2006)."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress asked GAO to testify at this hearing whose purpose is to examine the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Administration's proposal to reform this federal government program. This proposal would use a single formula and five variables to allocate funds. This hearing is a follow-up to a series of subcommittee hearings that GAO participated in during 2005 on the CDBG program. Based on the principles of formula design that GAO outlined in its 2005 testimony, Congress had requested GAO to undertake a body of work to help the Congress explore alternative formulas to allocate CDBG funds among the nation's diverse communities. This work is underway. In this hearing, GAO addresses its ongoing work on options for improving the targeting of CDBG funding as contributions to these efforts and to determining next steps."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1987, the United States began providing economic aid to the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) through a Compact of Free Association. In 2004, through amended compacts with the FSM and the RMI, the United States committed to provide more than $3.5 billion until 2023. Joint U.S-FSM and U.S.-RMI compact management committees are required, among other things, to monitor progress toward specified development goals and address implementation of policy reforms to stimulate investment. The legislation implementing the amended compacts (P.L. 108-188) requires that GAO periodically report on political, social, and economic conditions in the FSM and the RMI. In compliance with this requirement, GAO examined each country's (1) political and social environment, (2) economic environment, and (3) status of economic policy reforms."

Our objective was to develop new, self-assembling conducting polymer-inorganic nanoparticle nanoarrays (CPIN nanoarrays) comprised of nanoparticles of inorganic Li+ insertion compounds that are “wired” together with oligomeric chains of derivatives of polythiophene. Using these nanoarrays, we developed an understanding of the relationship between structure and electrochemical function for nanostructured materials. Such nanoarrays are expected to have extremely high specific energy and specific power for battery applications due to the unique structural characteristics that derive from the nanoarray. Under this award we developed several synthetic approaches to producing manganese dioxide nanoparticles (NPs). We also developed a layer-by-layer approach for immobilizing these NPs so they could be examined electrochemically. We also developed new synthetic procedures for encapsulating manganese dioxide nanoparticles within spheres of polyethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT), a conducting polymer with excellent charge-discharge stability. These have a unique manganese dioxide core-PEDOT shell structure. We examined the structures of these systems using transmission electron microscopy, various scanning probe microscopies, and electrochemical measurements. Various technical reports have been submitted that describe the work, including conference presentations, publications and patent applications. These reports are available through http://www.osti.gov, the DOE Energy Link System.

The United States has deployed long-range ballistic missiles as a part of its strategic offensive nuclear forces for more than 40 years. In recent years, analysts both inside and outside the government have suggested that the United States deploy conventional warheads on these missiles. This would provide the United States with the ability to strike promptly anywhere in the world, regardless of the presence of overseas bases or nearby naval forces. Many have expressed concerns about the possibility that other nations, such as Russia or China might misinterpret the launch of a conventionally-armed ballistic missile and conclude that they are under attack with nuclear weapons.

This report provides an overview of the Administration’s rationale for the possible deployment of conventional warheads on long-range ballistic missiles. It then reviews the Air Force and Navy efforts to develop these systems. It summarizes congressional reaction to these proposals, then provides a more detailed account of the issues raised by these concepts and programs.

This report provides an overview of the Administration’s rationale for the possible deployment of conventional warheads on long-range ballistic missiles. It then reviews the Air Force and Navy efforts to develop these systems. It summarizes congressional reaction to these proposals, then provides a more detailed account of the issues raised by these concepts and programs.

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A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to the Department of Defense's (DOD) fiscal year 2006 budget estimates, working capital fund activity groups (depot maintenance, ordnance, and research and development) will have about $6.3 billion of funded work that will be carried over from fiscal year 2006 into fiscal year 2007. The congressional defense committees recognize that these activity groups need some carryover to ensure smooth work flow from one fiscal year to the next. However, the committees have previously raised concern that the amount of carryover may be more than is needed. GAO was asked to determine (1) if the military services' carryover calculations were in compliance with DOD's new carryover policy and (2) if customers were submitting orders to working capital fund activities late in the fiscal year and, if so, the effect this practice has had on carryover."

We develop a theory of static BPS domain walls in stringy landscape and present a large family of BPS walls interpolating between different supersymmetric vacua. Examples include KKLT models, STU models, type IIB multiple flux vacua, and models with several Minkowski and AdS vacua. After the uplifting, some of the vacua become dS, whereas some others remain AdS. The near-BPS walls separating these vacua may be seen as bubble walls in the theory of vacuum decay. As an outcome of our investigation of the BPS walls, we found that the decay rate of dS vacua to a collapsing space with a negative vacuum energy can be quite large. The parts of space that experience a decay to a collapsing space, or to a Minkowski vacuum, never return back to dS space. The channels of irreversible vacuum decay serve as sinks for the probability flow. The existence of such sinks is a distinguishing feature of the landscape. We show that it strongly affects the probability distributions in string cosmology.

We have developed a mixed Vector Finite Element Method (VFEM) for Maxwell's equations with a nonlinear polarization term. The method allows for discretization of complicated geometries with arbitrary order representations of the B and E fields. In this paper we will describe the method and a series of optimizations that significantly reduce the computational cost. Additionally, a series of test simulations will be presented to validate the method. Finally, a nonlinear waveguide mode mixing example is presented and discussed.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Venezuela is the world's eighth-largest oil exporter and among the top 10 countries in total proven oil reserves. Venezuela also supplies about 11 percent of current U.S. imports of crude oil and petroleum products and wholly owns five refineries in the U.S. Consequently, Venezuela is a key player in the future energy security of the United States and the world. The current global oil market is tight and may be more susceptible to short-term supply disruptions and higher and more volatile prices. Recently, tension between Venezuela and the United States has caused concern about the stability of Venezuelan oil supplies. On several occasions, Venezuela's President has threatened to stop exporting oil to the U.S. or to close Venezuela's U.S.-based refineries. In this context, GAO analyzed: (1) how Venezuela's crude oil production and exports of crude oil to the U.S. has changed in recent years, (2) the potential impacts of a reduction in Venezuelan oil exports to the U.S., and (3) the status of U.S. government programs and activities to ensure a reliable supply of oil from Venezuela. Commenting on a draft of the report, the State …

This work is motivated by the growing interest in injectingcarbon dioxide into deep geological formations as a means of avoidingatmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide and consequent global warming.One of the key questions regarding the feasibility of this technology isthe potential rate of leakage out of the primary storage formation. Weseek exact solutions in a model of gas flow driven by a combination ofbuoyancy, viscous and capillary forces. Different combinations of theseforces and characteristic length scales of the processes lead todifferent time scaling and different types of solutions. In the case of athin, tight seal, where the impact of gravity is negligible relative tocapillary and viscous forces, a Ryzhik-type solution implies square-rootof time scaling of plume propagation velocity. In the general case, a gasplume has two stable zones, which can be described by travelling-wavesolutions. The theoretical maximum of the velocity of plume migrationprovides a conservative estimate for the time of vertical migration.Although the top of the plume has low gas saturation, it propagates witha velocity close to the theoretical maximum. The bottom of the plumeflows significantly more slowly at a higher gas saturation. Due to localheterogeneities, the plume can break into parts. Individual plumes alsocan coalesce and from larger plumes. The …

This is the final report of activity under this grant. The polarimeter is built and awaits installation in the HMS in Hall C, now planned for the Spring of 2007. The experiment itself will occur in the second half of 2007. The parameters of the drift chambers have been studied experimentally and found to satisfy our original request.

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Future high-energy accelerators such as the Next Linear Collider (NLC) will accelerate multi-bunch beams of high current and low emittance to obtain high luminosity, which put stringent requirements on the accelerating structures for efficiency and beam stability. While numerical modeling has been quite standard in accelerator R&D, designing the NLC accelerating structure required a new simulation capability because of the geometric complexity and level of accuracy involved. Under the US DOE Advanced Computing initiatives (first the Grand Challenge and now SciDAC), SLAC has developed a suite of electromagnetic codes based on unstructured grids and utilizing high performance computing to provide an advanced tool for modeling structures at accuracies and scales previously not possible. This paper will discuss the code development and computational science research (e.g. domain decomposition, scalable eigensolvers, adaptive mesh refinement) that have enabled the large-scale simulations needed for meeting the computational challenges posed by the NLC as well as projects such as the PEP-II and RIA. Numerical results will be presented to show how high performance computing has made a qualitative improvement in accelerator structure modeling for these accelerators, either at the component level (single cell optimization), or on the scale of an entire structure (beam heating and …

This report discusses efforts to improve the delivery of health and long-term care services for individuals who are dually enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare, which generally includes the elderly and some individuals with disabilities.

This report provides general background on U.S. policy regarding the international trade in small arms and light weapons (SA/LW). It outlines major questions associated with the international trade in these items, and reviews United States efforts to assist in controlling the illicit transfers of these items. This report will be revised as developments warrant.

Shock initiation experiments were performed on the plastic bonded explosive (PBX) LX-04 (85% HMX, 15% Viton binder) using single and multiple low amplitude shocks to obtain pressure history data for use in Ignition and Growth reactive flow modeling parameterization. A 100 mm diameter propellant driven gas gun was utilized to initiate the LX-04 explosive charges containing manganin piezoresistive pressure gauge packages placed between explosive discs. In the single shock experiments, the run distances to detonation at three shock pressures showed agreement with previously published data above 3 GPa. Even longer run distances to detonation were measured using 80 mm long by 145 mm diameter LX-04 charges impacted by low velocity projectiles from a 155 mm diameter gun. The minimum shock pressure required to cause low levels of exothermic reaction were determined for these large LX-04 charge dimensions. Multiple shocks were generated as double shocks by using a flyer plate with two materials and as reflected shocks by placing a high impedance material at the rear of the explosive charge. In both cases, the first shock pressure was not high enough to cause detonation of LX-04, and the second shock pressure, which would have been sufficient to cause detonation if generated …

Protein microarrays in which proteins are immobilized to a solid surface are ideal reagents for high-throughput experiments that require very small amounts of analyte. Such protein microarrays (''protein chips'') can be used very efficiently to analyze all kind of protein interactions en masse. Although a variety of methods are available for attaching proteins on solid surfaces. Most of them rely on non-specific adsorption methods or on the reaction of chemical groups within proteins (mainly, amino and carboxylic acid groups) with complementary reactive groups. In both cases the protein is attached to the surface in random orientations. The use of recombinant affinity tags addresses the orientation issue, however in most of the cases the interaction of the tags are reversible (e.g., glutathione S-transferase, maltose binding protein and poly-His) and, hence, are not stable over the course of subsequent assays or require large mediator proteins (e.g., biotin-avidin and antigen antibody). The key for the covalent attachment of a protein to a solid support with a total control over the orientation is to introduce two unique and mutually reactive groups on both the protein and the surface. The reaction between these two groups should be highly selective thus behaving like a molecular ''velcro''.

The authors report the first observation of e{sup +}e{sup -} annihilations into states of positive C-parity, namely {rho}{sup 0}{rho}{sup 0} and {phi}{rho}{sup 0}. The two states are observed in the {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} and K{sup +}K{sup -} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} final states, respectively, in a data sample of 225 fb{sup -1} collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} storage rings at energies near {radical}s = 10.58 GeV. The distributions of cos {theta}*, where {theta}* is the center-of-mass polar angle of the {phi} meson or the forward {rho}{sup 0} meson, suggest production by two-virtual-photon annihilation. They measure cross sections within the range |cos {theta}*| < 0.8 of {sigma}(e{sup +}e{sup -} {yields} {rho}{sup 0} {rho}{sup 0}) = 20.7 {+-} 0.7(stat) {+-} 2.7(syst) fb and {sigma}(e{sup +}e{sup -} {yields} {phi}{rho}{sup 0}) = 5.7 {+-} 0.5(stat) {+-} 0.8(syst) fb.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "General recognition exists of a need to continue to develop a governmentwide framework for human capital reform to enhance performance, ensure accountability and position the nation for the future. Potential governmentwide human capital reform and likely requirements that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) assist, guide, and ultimately certify agencies' readiness to implement reforms, raise important questions about OPM's capacity to successfully fulfill its central role. This testimony addresses management challenges that could affect OPM's ability to lead governmentwide human capital reform efforts. To assess these challenges, GAO analyzed OPM's 2002 and 2004 Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS) results, data from its 2005 follow-up focus group discussions, OPM's May 2006 action plans to address employee concerns, and OPM's associate directors' fiscal year 2006 executive performance contracts. GAO also conducted interviews with OPM senior officials and Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) and human resource directors from CHCO Council agencies. In commenting on a draft of this statement, the OPM Director said that OPM has addressed many of the challenges highlighted from the 2004 FHCS and achieved many meaningful and important results. GAO agrees and believes OPM should continue to …