A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 (HEARTH Act) directed GAO to study the appropriate administrative costs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Emergency Shelter Grants Program (ESG)--a widely used, formula-based program that supports services to persons experiencing homelessness. This report discusses (1) for selected recipients, the types of administrative activities performed and administrative costs incurred under the ESG program, and the extent to which grant proceeds cover these administrative costs; (2) how the ESG program's allowance for administrative costs compares with administrative cost allowances for selected other targeted federal homeless grant programs, plus selected other HUD formula-based grant programs; and (3) how the nature or amount of administrative costs might be different under changes Congress made to the ESG program in the HEARTH Act that expand the types of activities that may be funded. To address these issues, GAO reviewed relevant policies and documents, interviewed officials of HUD and other agencies, made site visits in four states, reviewed HUD and other available standards on eligible administrative costs for federal grants, and reviewed cost allowances for homeless …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter formally transmits and summarizes an oral briefing we gave on April 12, 2010, in response to House of Representatives Explanatory Statement, 155 Cong. Rec. H2113 (daily ed., Feb. 23, 2009), accompanying the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. No. 111-8, 123 Stat. 524) (2009). GAO was directed to review the indirect costs the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) paid the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Specifically, our objectives were to (1) describe CDC's methodology for determining and allocating indirect costs to bill ATSDR for administrative services and (2) determine if the methodology CDC uses to bill ATSDR appropriately considers relevant laws and guidance."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To enhance aviation security, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began initial testing in October 2003 of its Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program. Behavior Detection Officers (BDO) carry out SPOT's mission to identify persons who pose a risk to aviation security by focusing on behavioral and appearance indicators. GAO was asked to review the SPOT program. GAO analyzed (1) the extent to which TSA validated the SPOT program before deployment, (2) implementation challenges, and (3) the extent to which TSA measures SPOT's effect on aviation security. GAO analyzed TSA documents, such as strategic plans and operating procedures; interviewed agency personnel and subject matter experts; and visited 15 SPOT airports, among other things. Although the results from these visits are not generalizable, they provided insights into SPOT operations."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Participation in school sports can benefit children but also carries a risk of injury, including concussion. Concussion is a brain injury that can affect memory, speech, and muscle coordination and can cause permanent disability or death. Concussion can be especially serious for children, who are more likely than adults both to sustain a concussion and to take longer to recover. These factors may affect return-to-play decisions, which determine when it is safe for an athlete to participate in sports again. GAO was asked to testify on concussion incurred in high school sports. This statement focuses on (1) what is known about the nationwide occurrence of concussion, (2) federal concussion prevention programs, (3) the components of key state laws related to the management of concussion, and (4) the recommendations of voluntary nationwide concussion management guidelines. To do this work, GAO conducted literature searches; reviewed injury databases, state laws, and documents from federal agencies and organizations that conduct work in high school athletics or sports medicine; and interviewed federal officials and experts who identified key state laws and nationwide guidelines and provided other information. GAO shared the information in this …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR) policies and procedures for product preparation. ATSDR investigates community exposures related to chemical sites and releases; works with federal, tribal, state, and local agencies to identify potential exposures; assesses associated health effects; and recommends actions to stop, prevent, or minimize these harmful effects. In conducting these activities, the agency publishes many types of public health products, including public health assessments, health consultations, health study reports, and exposure investigations. Recent reports by the Institute of Medicine and ATSDR's Board of Scientific Counselors have identified various concerns such as the appropriateness and quality of the data used in ATSDR's products, the methodology and design of the studies, and clearance policies. This committee has held two previous hearings that focused on its concern about the quality of ATSDR's products. In response, ATSDR has noted that multiple factors have posed challenges for the agency, including limitations in the ability of available science to answer community questions about the effect of chemical exposures, limitations in ATSDR's ability to collect data related to exposures, and reductions since 2004 in the number of …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies face a complicated set of decisions in finding the right mix of government and contractor personnel to conduct their missions. While contractors, when properly used, can play an important role in helping agencies accomplish their missions, GAO has found that agencies face challenges with increased reliance on contractors to perform core agency missions. Congress and the Executive branch also have expressed concern as to whether federal agencies have become over-reliant on contractors and have appropriately outsourced services. A March 2009 Presidential memorandum tasked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to take several actions in response to this concern. Based on GAO's prior work, this statement discusses (1) civilian agencies' development and implementation of guidelines to consider whether contracted functions should be brought in-house --a process known as insourcing; (2) OMB's proposed policy on work reserved for federal employees; (3) challenges agencies face in managing the federal workforce; and (4) key tools available for insourcing and related efforts."

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; Authority of a School district to set property tax rates under section 26.08,Tax Code(RQ-0839-GA).

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The purpose of the Daemen Alternative Energy/Geothermal Technologies Demonstration Project is to demonstrate the use of geothermal technology as model for energy and environmental efficiency in heating and cooling older, highly inefficient buildings. The former Marian Library building at Daemen College is a 19,000 square foot building located in the center of campus. Through this project, the building was equipped with geothermal technology and results were disseminated. Gold LEED certification for the building was awarded. 1) How the research adds to the understanding of the area investigated. This project is primarily a demonstration project. Information about the installation is available to other companies, organizations, and higher education institutions that may be interested in using geothermal energy for heating and cooling older buildings. 2) The technical effectiveness and economic feasibility of the methods or techniques investigated or demonstrated. According to the modeling and estimates through Stantec, the energy-efficiency cost savings is estimated at 20%, or $24,000 per year. Over 20 years this represents $480,000 in unrestricted revenue available for College operations. See attached technical assistance report. 3) How the project is otherwise of benefit to the public. The Daemen College Geothermal Technologies Ground Source Heat Pumps project sets a standard for …

Lignocellulosic biomass is a promising feedstock for producing renewable chemicals and transportation fuels as petroleum substitutes. Fermentation of the cellulose in biomass in an SSF process requires that the properties of the microbial biocatalyst match the fungal cellulase activity optima for cost-effective production of products. Fermentation of the pentose sugars derived from hemicellulose in biomass is an additional asset of an ideal biocatalyst. The microbial biocatalyst used by the industry, yeast, lacks the ability to ferment pentose sugars. The optimum temperature for growth and fermentation of yeast is about 35°C. The optimum temperature for commercially available cellulase enzymes for depolymerization of cellulose in biomass to glucose for fermentation is 50-55 °C. Because of the mismatch in the temperature optima for the enzyme and yeast, SSF of cellulose to ethanol (cellulosic ethanol) with yeast is conducted at a temperature that is close to the optimum for yeast. We have shown that by increasing the temperature of SSF to 50-55 °C using thermotolerant B. coagulans, the amount of cellulase required for SSF of cellulose to products can be reduced by 3-4 –fold compared to yeast-based SSF at 35°C with a significant cost savings due to lower enzyme loading. Thermotolerant Bacillus coagulans strains …

We present total, energy-sharing and triple differential cross sections for one-photon, double ionization of lithium and beryllium starting from aligned, excited P states. We employ a recently developed hybrid atomic orbital/ numerical grid method based on the finite-element discrete-variable representation and exterior complex scaling. Comparisons with calculated results for the ground-state atoms, as well as analogous results for ground-state and excited helium, serve to highlight important selection rules and show some interesting effects that relate to differences between inter- and intra-shell electron correlation.

The goal for this research is to optimize the XRD structure and usage configurations and increase the efficiency of the XRD. This research was successful in optimizing the XRD structure and usage configurations, thus creating a high efficiency XRD. Best efficiency occurs when there is an angle between the photocathode and incident X-rays.

Plutonium oxide left over from the 3013 destructive surveillance process is ultimately disposed of as waste. Therefore, this material is not re-stabilized and packaged to meet the requirements of DOE-STD-3013. Instead, it is stored on an interim basis in compliance with the interim safe storage criteria issued by DOE in January 1996. One of the safe storage criteria requires actions to be taken to minimize the formation or accumulation of flammable gases inside the storage container. Personnel responsible for the safe storage of the material have chosen to use a polymer-based, ambient air compatible hydrogen 'getter' to prevent the formation of hydrogen gas inside the storage container and thus prevent the formation of a flammable gas mixture. This paper briefly describes the method in which the getter performs its functions. More importantly, this paper presents the results of the testing that has been performed to characterize the bounding effects of aging and demonstrate the use of the getter for long-term storage. In addition, the favorable results of a post-storage analysis of actual getter material are presented and compared with bounding predictions. To date, bounding test results have shown that after 18 months of continuous storage and 39 months of total …

This report discusses the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) role that oversees matters related to the content of proxy materials.

Trafficking in persons (TIP) for the purposes of exploitation is both an international and a domestic crime that involves violations of labor, public health, and human rights standards. This report focuses on human trafficking both internationally and within the United States. The report begins with an overview of human trafficking including a discussion of the definition of human trafficking, the scope of the problem globally, and an examination of the victims. It follows with an analysis of global anti-trafficking efforts by the United States and the international community. The report then focuses on trafficking into and within the United States, examining relief for trafficking victims in the United States and discussing U.S. law enforcement efforts to combat domestic trafficking. The report concludes with an overview of anti-trafficking legislation and an analysis of policy issues related to human trafficking.

This report discusses the current political conditions of Rwanda, including a brief historical overview. The report also includes information about the poor human rights conditions in Rwanda and U.S. Rwanda relations.

This report briefly discusses the context in which federal budget process changes are made and identifies selected reform proposals by major category. The identification of reform proposals in this report is not intended to be comprehensive.

The first real-time detection of surface dust inside a tokamak was made using an electrostatic dust detector. A fine grid of interlocking circuit traces was installed in the NSTX vessel and biased to 50 v. Impinging dust particles created a temporary short circuit and the resulting current pulse was recorded by counting electronics. The techniques used to increase the detector sensitivity by a factor of x10,000 to match NSTX dust levels while suppressing electrical pickup are presented. The results were validated by comparison to lab measurements, by the null signal from a covered detector that was only sensitive to pickup, and by the dramatic increase in signal when Li particles were introduced for wall conditioning purposes.

Scientific applications and experimental facilities generate massive data sets that need to be transferred to remote collaborating sites for sharing, processing, and long term storage. In order to support increasingly data-intensive science, next generation research networks have been deployed to provide high-speed on-demand data access between collaborating institutions. In this paper, we present a practical model for online data scheduling in which data movement operations are scheduled in advance for end-to-end high performance transfers. In our model, data scheduler interacts with reservation managers and data transfer nodes in order to reserve available bandwidth to guarantee completion of jobs that are accepted and confirmed to satisfy preferred time constraint given by the user. Our methodology improves current systems by allowing researchers and higher level meta-schedulers to use data placement as a service where theycan plan ahead and reserve the scheduler time in advance for their data movement operations. We have implemented our algorithm and examined possible techniques for incorporation into current reservation frameworks. Performance measurements confirm that the proposed algorithm is efficient and scalable.

This report discusses the reauthorization of and appropriations for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program; followed by an overview of the runaway and homeless youth population. The report describes the challenges in defining and counting the runaway and homeless youth population, as well as the factors that influence homelessness and leaving home.

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