A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), regulates the promotion of prescription drugs to ensure that promotional materials are not false and misleading and that they comply with applicable laws and regulations. Among other things, FDA prohibits drug companies from promoting drugs for off-label uses--that is, for a condition or patient population for which the drug has not been approved or in a manner that is inconsistent with information found on the approved drug label. Although doctors may prescribe drugs off label, it is not permissible for drug companies to promote drugs for off-label uses. FDA may take regulatory actions for violations, and may also pursue enforcement action through the Department of Justice (DOJ). GAO was asked for information about the promotion of drugs for off-label uses. GAO reviewed (1) how FDA oversees the promotion of off-label uses of prescription drugs and (2) what actions have been taken to address off-label promotions. GAO examined documentation related to the promotion of drugs for off-label uses and FDA correspondence with drug companies on identified violations and obtained information …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report formally transmits a briefing in response to Senate Report No.110-77, which accompanied the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The Senate Report directed GAO to review the department's efforts to prevent, identify, investigate, and report Antideficiency Act (ADA) violations and disciplinary actions taken when violations occur. On July 22, 2008, we provided our preliminary observations to staff of Congressional committees in response to the mandate. We will be reporting details on the information presented in the briefing in a future report."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has designated the Department of Defense's (DOD) business systems modernization as a high-risk program because, among other things, it has been challenged in implementing key information technology (IT) management controls on its thousands of business systems. The Global Combat Support System-Marine Corps program is one such system. Initiated in 2003, the program is to modernize the Marine Corps logistics systems. The first increment is to cost about $442 million and be deployed in fiscal year 2010. GAO was asked to determine whether the Department of the Navy is effectively implementing IT management controls on this program. To accomplish this, GAO analyzed the program's implementation of several key IT management disciplines, including economic justification, earned value management, risk management, and system quality measurement."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report formally transmits a briefing in response to section 1045 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The Act required GAO to review and report on the adjudication of claims filed as a result of the 2003 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the case of Butterbaugh v. Department of Justice. In that case, the Court decided that federal employees who are members of the military reserves should not have been charged military leave for reserve duty days that occurred outside their civilian work schedule. Under existing federal law, employees are entitled to seek restoration of leave or monetary compensation. On July 8, 16, and 22, 2008, we provided briefings on the status of the adjudication of such claims by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and selected other agencies to cognizant committee staff to satisfy the mandate. Based on the results of our review, we are not making any recommendations for agency action."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are required to accelerate the exchange of health information between the departments and to develop systems or capabilities that allow for full interoperability (generally, the ability of systems to use data that are exchanged) and that are compliant with federal standards. The act also established a joint interagency program office to act as a single point of accountability for the effort, whose function is to implement such systems or capabilities by September 30, 2009. Further, the act required that GAO semi-annually report on the progress made in achieving these goals. For this first report, GAO describes the departments' progress to date in sharing electronic health information, developing electronic health records that comply with federal standards, and setting up the joint interagency program office. To do so, GAO reviewed its past work, analyzed agency documentation, and conducted interviews with agency officials."

Optically-based hydrogen sensors promise to deliver an added level of safety as hydrogen and fuel cell technologies enter the mainstream. More importantly, they offer reduced power consumption and lower cost, which are desirable for mass production applications such as automobiles and consumer appliances. This program addressed two of the major challenges previously identified in porous optrode-based optical hydrogen sensors: sensitivity to moisture (ambient humidity), and interference from the oxygen in air. Polymer coatings to inhibit moisture and oxygen were developed in conjunction with newer and novel hydrogen sensing chemistries. The results showed that it is possible to achieve sensitive hydrogen detection and rapid response with minimal interference from oxygen and humidity. As a result of this work, a new and more exciting avenue of investigation was developed: the elimination of the porous optrode and deposition of the sensor chemistry directly into the polymer film. Initial results have been promising, and open up a wider range of potential applications from extended optical fiber sensing networks, to simple plastic "stickers" for use around the home and office.

Biomass utilization is one solution to our nation’s addiction to oil and fossil fuels. What is needed now is applied fundamental research that will cause economic technology development for the utilization of the diverse biomass resources in the United States. This Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) applied fundamental research project contributes to the development of economical biomass utilization for energy, transportation fuels, and marketable chemicals using biorefinery methods that include thermochemical and fermentation processes. The fundamental and basic applied research supports the broad scientific objectives of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Biomass Program, especially in the area of developing alternative renewable biofuels, sustainable bioenergy, technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental remediation. Its deliverables include 1) identifying and understanding environmental consequences of energy production from biomass, including the impacts on greenhouse gas production, carbon emission abatement, and utilization of waste biomass residues and 2) developing biology-based solutions that address DOE and national needs related to waste cleanup, hydrogen production from renewable biomass, biological and chemical processes for energy and fuel production, and environmental stewardship. This project serves the public purpose of encouraging good environmental stewardship by developing biomass-refining technologies that can dramatically increase domestic energy production to …

Presented in this report are radionuclide concentrations required as part of the program of qualifying Sludge Batch Five (SB5) for processing in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). Part of this SB5 material is currently in Tank 51 being washed and prepared for transfer to Tank 40. The acceptance evaluation needs to be completed prior to the transfer of the material in Tank 51 to Tank 40 to complete the formation of SB5. The sludge slurry in Tank 40 has already been qualified for DWPF and is currently being processed as SB4. The radionuclide concentrations were measured or estimated in the Tank 51 SB5 Qualification Sample prepared at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). This sample was prepared from the three liter sample of Tank 51 sludge slurry taken on March 21, 2008. The sample was delivered to SRNL where it was initially characterized in the Shielded Cells. Under direction of the Liquid Waste Organization it was then modified by five washes, six decants, an addition of Pu/Be from Canyon Tank 16.4, and an addition of NaNO2. This final slurry now has a composition expected to be similar to that of the slurry in Tank 51 after final preparations have been …

Cold Crucible Induction Melter (CCIM) Technology is being considered as a possible next generation melter for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). Initial and baseline demonstrations that vitrified a Sludge Batch 4 (SB4) simulant at a waste loading of 50 weight percent (versus about 38 weight percent in the current DWPF Melter) were performed by the Nuclear Engineering and Technology Institute (NETEC) in South Korea via a subcontract from the Washington Savannah River Company (WSRC). This higher waste loading was achieved by using a CCIM which can run at higher glass processing temperatures (1250 C and higher) than the current DWPF Melter (1150 C). Higher waste loadings would result in less canisters being filled and faster waste throughput at the DWPF. The main demonstration objectives were to determine the maximum melt rate/waste throughput for the NETEC CCIM with a Sludge Batch 4 simulant as well as determine the viability of this technology for use in the DWPF.

This report provides a brief overview of the climate change issue as well as other Clean Air Act issues of interest in the 110th Congress.

Congress in 2006 agreed to temporarily consolidate separate counterintelligence (CI) offices at the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Security Administration (NNSA) into a single CI office under DOE control. This report analyzes both consolidations — the first authorized by Congress at Department of Energy (DOE) request; the second initiated by DOE — and examines the impact of each on the effectiveness of the Department's CI program.

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 rule of the Department of Family and Protective Services conflicts with section 42.041(a), Human Resources Code, which requires a license to operate a child-care facility (RQ-0670-GA)

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This report is a brief Overview of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, enacted as Title V of P.L. 110-252 that provides enhanced educational benefits for veterans and service members.

The three-dimensional reconstruction of macromolecules from two-dimensional single-particle electron images requires determination and correction of the contrast transfer function (CTF) and envelope function. A computational algorithm based on constrained non-linear optimization is developed to estimate the essential parameters in the CTF and envelope function model simultaneously and automatically. The application of this estimation method is demonstrated with focal series images of amorphous carbon film as well as images of ice-embedded icosahedral virus particles suspended across holes.

A scintillating crystal's surface reflectance has to be well understood in order to accurately predict and optimize the crystal?s light collection through Monte Carlo simulations. In this paper, we measure the inner surface reflectance properties for BGO. The measurements include BGO crystals with a mechanically polished surface, rough-cut surface, and chemically etched surface, and with various reflectors attached, both air- coupled and with coupling compound. The measurements are performed with a laser aimed at the center of a hemispherical shaped BGO crystal. The hemispherical shape eliminates any non-perpendicular angles for light entering and exiting the crystal. The reflected light is collected with an array of photodiodes. The laser can be set at an arbitrary angle, and the photodiode array is rotated to fully cover 2? of solid angle. The current produced in the photodiodes is readout with a digital multimeter connected through a multiplexer. The two rows of photodiodes achieve 5-degree by 4-degree resolution, and the current measurement has a dynamic range of 10^5:1. The acquired data was not described by the commonly assumed linear combination of specular and diffuse (Lambertian) distributions, except for a very few surfaces. Surface roughness proved to be the most important parameter when choosing crystal …

The change of surface adhesion after fluorination of Al and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} surfaces using XeF{sub 2} was investigated with atomic force microscopy. The chemical interaction between XeF{sub 2} and Al and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} surfaces was studied by in situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Fresh Al and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} surfaces were obtained by etching top silicon layers of Si/Al and Si/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} with XeF{sub 2}. The surface adhesion and chemical composition were measured as a function of time after the exposure to air or annealing (at 200 C under vauum). The correlation between the adhesion force increase and presence of AlF{sub 3} on the surface was revealed.

This report analyzes the temporary consolidations of the separate counterintelligence (CI) offices at the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Security Administration (NSA) into a single CI office under DOE control — the first authorized by Congress at Department of Energy request; the second initiated by DOE — and examines the impact of each on the effectiveness of the Department's CI program.

This report discusses the current political and economic conditions in Russia, focusing on the impact of Vladimir Putin's leadership and the leadership of his successor/protégé , Dmitriy Medvedev, both of which have steered Russia away from progress toward democratization. The report also discusses the state of the economy since the Soviet collapse in 1999, how the recent global economic downturn has affected Russia, the state of Russia's military, and the current relationship between Russia and the United States.

This report reviews the current legislative mandates for key security strategic documents, assesses the recent history of execution, describes strategic documents in related fields for comparison, presents a series of considerations that may be useful in assessing current requirements and execution, and notes several major proposals for change.

This report presents an overview of the large and diverse sector of water infrastructure systems, describes security-related actions by the government and private sector since September 11, and discusses additional policy issues and responses, including congressional interest.

This report provides background on the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), the process used to establish the standards, the factors leading to the reduction in lead emissions, and the proposed changes to the lead standard, as well as information regarding the potential effects of any revision.

This report shows that the near elderly are significantly more likely than other non-aged adults to be in fair or poor health, and to have had a heart attach or stroke.

Congress has comprehensively dealt with the legal effect of World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements and dispute settlement results in the United States in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), P.L. 103-465, which provides that domestic law prevails over conflicting provisions of WTO agreements and prohibits private remedies based on alleged violations of these agreements. This report analyzes the URAA in detail and outlines various WTO decisions and their effect on U.S. trade law and policy.