A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Secretary of Defense announced a new business transformation program in 2001 with the intent of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of Department of Defense business operations. Concerned that the previous administration's Defense Reform Initiatives (DRI) could not be successful without many years of sustained effort, the Senate Committee on Armed Services issued a September 2001 report directing GAO to assess which DRI initiatives have been carried forward. In completing this assessment, GAO also examined the management structure and types of initiatives contained in the new business transformation program. Also at the request of the Committee, more detailed information on the status of the logistics reform and electronic business/electronic commerce initiatives is provided in the GAO report. GAO interviewed officials involved with the former DRI initiatives, as well as officials operating at all levels of the new business transformation program. In commenting on a draft of this report, DOD concurred with GAO's findings."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) overseas schools educate more than 70,000 children of military service members and DOD civilian employees throughout the world. In order to ensure the continued success of this school system, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 directed GAO to assess whether the DOD overseas teachers' compensation package is adequate to recruit and retain qualified teachers. The act also required GAO to determine whether any revisions to the law governing DOD overseas teachers' salaries were advisable."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Some grocery supermarket companies have been charging food product manufacturers "slotting fees" to place products in stores and have involved large product manufacturers in making decisions about what products to sell. These practices have raised concerns about anticompetitive behavior and may be adversely affecting small businesses. GAO was asked (1) if the Defense Commissary Agency is using these practices in managing military commissaries; (2) what proportion of products sold by commissaries are produced by small businesses; and (3) if small businesses face barriers in selling products through commissaries and how opportunities for small business could be improved."

Magnetized plasma can be used as an accelerating structure capable of supporting large amplitude longitudinal fields which are externally driven by a high-frequency microwave source. Such structures can be used at very high frequencies (hundreds of gigahertz), placing them in the intermediate region between conventional (metallic) accelerators, and laser-driven plasma accelerators. They review two magnetic field configurations with respect to the direction of the particle beam propagation: (1) parallel magnetic field plus a helical undulator, and (2) perpendicular magnetic field. In the first configuration, plasma exhibits electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) at the cyclotron frequency if the plasma frequency is equal to the electron cyclotron frequency. The second configuration corresponds to the inverse Cherenkov effect in magnetized plasma. In both cases, the group velocity of the accelerating plasma wave can be made very small, so that the incident electromagnetic wave is strongly compressed, resulting in the high accelerating gradient.

The Corrective Action Investigation Plan contains the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Operations Office's approach to collect the data necessary to evaluate corrective action alternatives appropriate for the closure of Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 204 under the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order. Corrective Action Unit 204 is located on the Nevada Test Site approximately 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. This CAU is comprised of six Corrective Action Sites (CASs) which include: 01-34-01, Underground Instrument House Bunker; 02-34-01, Instrument Bunker; 03-34-01, Underground Bunker; 05-18-02, Chemical Explosives Storage; 05-33-01, Kay Blockhouse; 05-99-02, Explosive Storage Bunker. Based on site history, process knowledge, and previous field efforts, contaminants of potential concern for Corrective Action Unit 204 collectively include radionuclides, beryllium, high explosives, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls, total petroleum hydrocarbons, silver, warfarin, and zinc phosphide. The primary question for the investigation is: ''Are existing data sufficient to evaluate appropriate corrective actions?'' To address this question, resolution of two decision statements is required. Decision I is to ''Define the nature of contamination'' by identifying any contamination above preliminary action levels (PALs); Decision II is to ''Determine the extent of contamination identified above PALs. If PALs are not exceeded, the investigation …

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High power radio-frequency systems, as typically used in fusion research devices, utilize vacuum tubes. Evaluation of vacuum tube performance involves data taken from tube operating curves. The acquisition of data from such graphical sources is a tedious process. A simple modeling method is presented that will provide values of tube currents for a given set of element voltages. These models may be used as subroutines in iterative solutions of amplifier operating conditions for a specific loading impedance.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate solidification/stabilization as an alternative treatment technology for the organic phase of the SRS spent PUREX waste using simulated waste, and to evaluate waste forms prepared with actual spent organic PUREX waste for regulatory classification.

Starting with regional geographic, geologic, hydrologic, geophysical, and meteorological data for the Tono area in Gifu, Japan, we develop a numerical model to simulate subsurface flow and transport in a 4 km by 6 km by 3 km thick fractured granite rock mass overlain by sedimentary layers. Individual fractures are not modeled explicitly. Rather, continuum permeability and porosity distributions are assigned stochastically, based on well-test data and fracture density measurements. The primary goal of the study is to simulate steady-state groundwater flow through the site, then calculate travel times to the model boundaries from specified monitoring points. The lateral boundaries of the model follow topographic features such as ridgelines and rivers. Assigning lateral boundary conditions is a major point of uncertainty in model construction. We evaluate two models with opposing boundary conditions: mostly closed and mostly open boundaries. The two models show vastly different spatial distributions of groundwater flow, so we would like to find a means of choosing the more realistic model. Surface recharge is much larger for the closed model, but field recharge data are of too limited spatial extent to provide a definitive model constraint. Temperature profiles in 16 boreholes show consistent trends with conduction-dominated (linear) temperature …

We synthesized hexagonal-disc-shaped MgB2 single crystals under high-pressure conditions and analyzed the microstructure and pinning properties. The lattice constants and the Laue pattern of the crystals from x-ray micro-diffraction showed the crystal symmetry of MgB2. A thorough crystallographic mapping within a single crystal showed that the edge and c axis of hexagonal-disc shape exactly matched the [10-10] and the [0001] directions of the MgB2 phase. Thus, these well-shaped single crystals may be the best candidates for studying the direction dependences of the physical properties. The magnetization curve and the magnetic hysteresis curve for these single crystals showed the existence of a wide reversible region and weak pinning properties, which supported our single crystals being very clean.

This report provides answers to some of the most frequently asked questions concerning the federal individual income tax, including the number of returns filed, average tax per return, and income tax as percentage of adjusted gross income. This report will be updated as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) releases new or revised statistics.

This report examines recent trends in retirement saving and the policy implications. The aging of the American population and the impending retirement of the "baby boom" will place significant strains over the next several decades on both Social Security and on retirees' own financial resources. With continued increases in average life expectancies, retirees in the 21st century will have to stretch their savings and other assets over longer periods of retirement than were experienced by their parents and grandparents.

Flow-acoustic interactions due to fully turbulent inflow past a shallow axisymmetric cavity mounted in a pipe are investigated using a technique of high-image-density particle image velocimetry in conjunction with unsteady pressure measurements. This imaging leads to patterns of velocity, vorticity, streamline topology, and hydrodynamic contributions to the acoustic power integral. Global instantaneous images, as well as time-averaged images, are evaluated to provide insight into the flow physics during tone generation. Emphasis is on the manner in which the streamwise length scale of the cavity alters the major features of the flow structure. These image-based approaches allow identification of regions of the unsteady shear layer that contribute to the instantaneous hydrodynamic component of the acoustic power, which is necessary to maintain a flow tone. In addition, combined image analysis and pressure measurements allow categorization of the instantaneous flow patterns that are associated with types of time traces and spectra of the fluctuating pressure. In contrast to consideration based solely on pressure spectra, it is demonstrated that locked-on tones may actually exhibit intermittent, non-phase-locked images, apparently due to low damping of the acoustic resonator. Locked-on flow tones (without modulation or intermittency), locked-on flow tones with modulation, and non-locked-on oscillations with short-term, highly …

Simulation-based power estimation is commonly used for its high accuracy despite excessive computation times. Techniques have been proposed to speed it up by compacting an input sequence while preserving its power-consumption characteristics. We propose a novel method to compact a sequence that preserves transition frequencies. We prove the problem is NP-Complete, and propose a graph model to reduce it to that of finding a heaviest weighted trail on a directed graph, along with a heuristic utilizing this model. We also propose using multiple sequences for better accuracy with even shorter sequences. Experiments showed that power dissipation can be estimated with an error of only 2.3 percent, while simulation times are reduced by 10. Proposed methods effectively preserve transition frequencies and generated solutions that are very close to an optimal. Experiments also showed that multiple sequences granted more accurate results with even shorter sequences.

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Among the current issues in U.S.-Egyptian relations are the shared concerns over the terrorist attacks against Egyptian police, religious, government, and tourist facilities, and what those attacks maysignal for Egypt’s domestic stability. The two nations may disagree over Egypt’s interpretation of applying human rights practices to Islamic terrorists. The two countries disagree over the speed and depth, but not the need for some of Egypt’s economic reforms. Egypt and the United States agree on the importance of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the need to continue current Arab-Israel peace talks, and the need for regional stability. The two nations agree on Egypt’s determination to introduce democratic reforms to Egypt.

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This report assesses the impact of September 11, 2001 attack on public and private information infrastructures in the context of critical infrastructure protection,continuity of operation (COP) and homeland security.

The United States recognized the independence of all the former Soviet republics by the end of 1991, including the South Caucasus states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The United States has fostered these states' ties with the West in part to end the dependence of these states on Russia for trade, security, and other relations. The FREEDOM Support Act of 1992 provides authorization for assistance to the Eurasian states for humanitarian needs, democratization, and other purposes. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, the Administration appealed for a national security waiver of the prohibition on aid to Azerbaijan, in consideration of Azerbaijan's assistance to the international coalition to combat terrorism. Azerbaijani and Georgian troops participate in stabilization efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Armenian personnel serve in Iraq.

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Proposals to replace all or part of the income tax and proposals for national health care have sparked congressional interest in possible sources of additional revenue. A value-added tax (VAT) or a national sales tax (NST) have been frequently discussed as possible new tax sources. Both the VAT and the NST are taxes on the consumption of goods and services and are conceptually similar. Yet, these taxes also have significant differences. This issue brief discusses some of the potential policy implications associated with these differences.

This report discusses the idea of replacing our current income tax system with a flat-rate tax, including background and analysis and various Congressional proposals.