A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To assess the quality of the population data collected in the 2000 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau conducted the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (A.C.E.) program, which focused on a survey of housing units designed to estimate the number of people missed, counted more than once, or otherwise improperly counted in the census. GAO reviewed the life cycle costs of the A.C.E. program and its predecessor, the Integrated Coverage Measurement (ICM) program. GAO found that the original estimated cycle costs of conducting the ICM/A.C.E. programs were $400 million. The first evidence for the original $400 million estimate is in the original budget justifications for fiscal year 2000. The bureau based its estimates of ICM/A.C.E. costs on assumptions about the needs for personnel and benefits, contractual services, travel, office space, equipment, and other costs necessary to conduct and support operations of the programs. The budgeted amounts that GAO identified from bureau records for conducting the ICM/A.C.E. programs are $277 million through fiscal year 2003. The obligated costs that GAO identified from bureau records for conducting the ICM/A.C.E. programs are $207 million through fiscal year 2001. $58 million of …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the funding of 2000 Census planning and development efforts and the impact it had on census operations. Total funding for the 2000 Census, referred to as the life cycle cost, covers a 13-year period from fiscal year 1991 through fiscal year 2003 and is expected to total $6.5 billion adjusted to 2000 year dollars. This amount was almost double the reported life cycle cost of the 1990 Census of $3.3 billion adjusted to 2000 year dollars. Considering these escalating costs, the experience of the U.S. Census Bureau in preparing for the 2000 Census offers valuable insights for the planning and development efforts now occurring for the 2010 Census. Thorough and comprehensive planning and development efforts are crucial to the ultimate efficiency and success of any large, long-term project, particularly one with the scope, magnitude, and the deadlines of the U.S. decennial census. For fiscal years 1991 through 1997, $269 million was requested in the President's Budgets for 2000 Census planning and development and the program received funding of $224 million by Congress, or 83 percent of the amount requested. According to U.S. Census Bureau …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2001, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spent more than $15 million to move air traffic controllers and their managers to new permanent duty locations. FAA classifies the funds that it spends for these moves as permanent change of station (PCS) benefits. In 1998, as part of a broader effort to reform its personnel policies, FAA changed its policies on PCS benefits. Instead of fully reimbursing the costs of all PCS moves and prohibiting unfunded PCS moves, as it once did, FAA now determines the amount of PCS benefits to be offered on a position-by-position basis and allows employees and managers to move at their own expense. Under its new polices, FAA can fully reimburse the costs of a move if it determines that he move is in the interest of the government, or it can offer partial fixed relocation benefits if it determines that the agency will derive some benefit from the move. FAA's policies on eligibility for PCS benefits are the same for air traffic controllers and their managers, but the amounts of the benefits vary. According to these policies, eligibility depends …

This work addresses the issues of measurement of secondary cold work embrittlement (SCWE) of an IF steel in deep-drawn parts using laboratory tests, and its correlation with real part fracture. It aimed at evaluating the influence of the steel chemistry and processing condition, microstructure, and test conditions, on SCWE as well as the effect of SCWE on fatigue properties. Size 6-in. cups produced with various draw ratios or trimmed at different heights were tested to determine the ductile-to-brittle-transition temperature (DBTT) as a function of strain. The 2-in. cup/expansion test, bend test and fracture of notched specimens were also used to generate information complementary to that provided by the 6-inch cup/expansion test. The relationship between laboratory tests and fracture in real parts was established by testing large-scale parts. The fatigue behavior was investigated in the as-rolled and deep drawn (high stain) conditions, using prestrained specimens taken from the wall of a formed part.

This interim report summarizes detailed findings and conclusions drawn from evaluations of data obtained from the operation of ambient PM{sub 2.5} speciation sites in a geographical area encompassing southeastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and northwestern West Virginia. The overall goal of this program, called the Upper Ohio River Valley Project (UORVP), is to better understand the relationship between coal-based power system emissions and ambient air quality in the Upper Ohio River Valley region through the collection of chemically resolved or speciated data. A summary of the sampling activities, sample analyses and the correlation and interpretation of data acquired from February 1999 through March of 2001 are reported. Mass and speciated data from urban and rural sources are compared and seasonal variations in PM{sub 2.5} distribution are also examined. Correlations between meteorological parameters and total PM{sub 2.5} mass are also presented.

This report assesses the potential impact of the U.S. Department of Energy?s (DOE?s) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) developing program offerings in support of Federal operations and maintenance activities.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report responds to a Congressional request for information regarding critical infrastructure protection within the federal government. In May 1998, Presidential Decision Directive 63 was issued with the intent to eliminate any significant vulnerability to both physical and cyber attacks on the nation's critical infrastructure. It makes every department and agency of the federal government responsible for protecting its own critical physical infrastructure. The Interagency Security Committee (ISC) and all 22 of the agencies GAO reviewed have some role in providing security for office space, although the degree of involvement varied from agency to agency. Other types of security responsibilities include performing security assessments, providing security funding, providing security forces and security technology, and coordination of security efforts among and within agencies. Eleven of the 22 agencies stated that they had completed security assessments on all their facilities since 1995. Nine agencies reported that they were still doing security assessments on their buildings. Two agencies are located in General Service Administration (GSA) space only and GSA is responsible for the security assessments. The agencies provide security using a combination of security forces and security technologies. Security …

Based on known and estimated molecular constants, the thermodynamic functions, C{sub p}, S{sup o}, H{sup o}-H{sup o}(298), and -(G{sup o} - H{sup o}(298))/T, have been calculated and tabulated for actinide vapors species of the formulas AnO{sub 3}(g), AnO{sub 2}(OH){sub 2}(g), AnO{sub 2}Cl{sub 2}(g), and AnO{sub 2}F{sub 2}(g) where An = U, Np, Pu, and Am. A method to calculate the thermodynamic functions for the mixed species, AnO{sub 2}ClOH(g), AnO{sub 2}FOH(g), and AnO{sub 2}FCl(g), is also given.

The goal of this research is to improve the performance of moving bed granular filters for gas cleaning at high temperatures and pressures. A second objective is to better understand dust capture interfacial phenomena and cake formation in moving bed filters. The experimental bed tested in the present study has several unique design features configured as cold flow, axially symmetric, counter-current flow to simulate a filter operating at high temperatures (1088 K) and elevated pressures (10 atmospheres). The granular filter is evaluated in two separate performance studies: (1) optimization of particle collection efficiency and bed pressure drop in a factorial study at near-atmospheric operating pressures through appropriate use of granular bed materials, particle sizes, and feed rates; and (2) high temperature and high pressure model simulation conducted at above-atmospheric pressures and room temperature utilizing dust and granular flow rates, granular size, system pressure, and superficial velocity. The factorial study involves a composite design of 16 near-atmospheric tests, while the model simulation study is comprised of 7 above-atmospheric tests. Similarity rules were validated in tests at four different mass dust ratios and showed nearly constant collection efficiencies ({approx} 99.5 {+-} 0.3%) for operating pressures of 160 kPa gage (23.2 psig) at …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Section 1085 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 authorized the military department secretaries to (1) charge fees to persons requesting information from the primary military archives and (2) retain collected fees to help defray costs associated with providing the information. The military archives also have authority under the User Charge Statute and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to charge for general information provided to the public. The Conference Report on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 directs the Comptroller General to provide a report 1 year after implementation of the act on the fees collected and the associated costs of providing historical information. GAO found that Section 1085 authorizes but does not require action by the four primary military archives. Because of this, only the Army Military History Institute has implemented a fee schedule. Officials of the other three archives stated that the archives have no plans to implement a fee schedule under Section 1085. The Army Military History Institute first implemented a Section 1085 fee schedule in October 2001 and modified it in April 2002 to simplify some of …

Legislation has been proposed in the 107th Congress to combat the use and abuse of Ecstasy (MDMA) and other “club drugs.” In a 2001 survey, 12% of 12th graders reported ever having taken the drug. The Ecstasy Anti-Proliferation Act of 2000, enacted by the 106th Congress, directed the U.S. Sentencing Commission to increase penalties for Ecstasy offenses. As of March 2001, MDMA penalties became more severe than for powder cocaine but less severe than for heroin.

We report here experiments, conducted on the Omega laser [T.R. Boehly et al., Optics Commun. 133, 495 (1997)], and simulations that show reduced Richtmyer-Meshkov growth rates in a strongly shocked system with linear initial amplitudes (k{eta}{sub 0} {le} 0.9). The growth rate at early time is less than half the impulsive model prediction, rising at later time to near the impulsive prediction. An analytical model that accounts for shock proximity agrees with the results.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal ombudsmen help their agencies be more responsive to the public through the impartial investigation of citizens' complaints. Professional standards for ombudsmen incorporate certain core principles, such as independence and impartiality. In July 2001, GAO reported that key aspects of EPA's hazardous waste ombudsman were not consistent with professional standards, particularly with regard to independence. (See GAO-01-813.) Partly in response to GAO's recommendations, EPA reorganized its ombudsman function and removed the national ombudsman from the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. GAO made preliminary observations on these changes in testimony in June and July 2002. (See GAO-02-859T and GAO-02-947T). This report provides information on (1) the current status of EPA's reorganization of the ombudsman function and (2) issues identified in our prior report and testimonies that have not yet been addressed."

This Final Report summarizes the significant progress made by the researchers, students and staff of the Center for Laser Imaging and Cancer Diagnostics (CLICD) from January 1998 through May 2002. During this period, the Center supported several projects. Most projects were proposed initially, some were added subsequently as their relevance and importance to the DOE mission became evident. DOE support has been leveraged to obtain continuing funding for some projects. Leveraged funds come from various sources, including NIH, Army, NSF and the Air Force. The goal of the Center was to develop laser-based instruments for use in the detection and diagnosis of major diseases, with an emphasis on detection and diagnosis of various cancers. Each of the supported projects is a collaborative effort between physicists and laser scientists and the City College of New York and noted physicians, surgeons, pathologists, and biologists located at medical centers in the Metropolitan area. The participating institutions were: City College of New York Institute for Ultrafast Lasers and Spectroscopy, Hackensack University Medical Center, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and New York Eye and Ear Institute. Each of the projects funded by the Center is grouped into one of four research …

The events of FY01 dynamically reprogrammed the objectives of the CBNP bioinformatics support team, to meet rapidly-changing Homeland Defense needs and requests from other agencies for assistance: Use computational techniques to determine potential unique DNA signature candidates for microbial and viral pathogens of interest to CBNP researcher and to our collaborating partner agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Defense (DOD), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Develop effective electronic screening measures for DNA signatures to reduce the cost and time of wet-bench screening. Build a comprehensive system for tracking the development and testing of DNA signatures. Build a chain-of-custody sample tracking system for field deployment of the DNA signatures as part of the BASIS project. Provide computational tools for use by CBNP Biological Foundations researchers.

The hydroxide anion plays an essential role in many chemical and biochemical reactions. But questions of its hydration state and transport in water are currently controversial. Here we address this situation using the quasi-chemical theory of solutions. The simplest such approach suggests that HO [H20]3- is the most probable species at infinite dilution in aqueous solution under standard conditions, followed by the HO . [H20]2- and HO . [HzO]- forms which are close together in stablity. HO . [H20]4- is less stable, in contrast to recent proposals that the latter structure is the most stable hydration species in solution. Ab initio molecular dynamics results presented here support the dominance of the tri-hydrated form, but that the population distribution is broad and sensitive to solution conditions. On the basis of these results, the mobility of hydroxide can be simply that of a proton hole. This contrasts with recent proposals invoking the interconversion of a stable 'trap' structure HO . [H20]4- to HO . [H20]3- as the rate determining step in the transport process.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Under the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) contract, the Department of the Navy is obtaining information technology (IT) services that are to allow it to replace thousands of independent networks, applications, hardware, and software with one secure network. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2002 directed GAO to review the impact on IT costs of NMCI at Navy shipyards and air depots, which are predominantly working capital funded activities. Because this funding model requires these activities to recover all costs through charges to customers, GAO also reviewed NMCI's impact on shipyard and depot rates."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government is a primary sponsor of research conducted in the United States, expending during fiscal year 2001 $19.4 billion for research performed by federal employees and $62.2 billion for research conducted under contracts and grants. Some of this research leads to the development of technology that can be patented, licensed, and made available to the public through the introduction of new products and processes. In the past, however, there have been concerns that new technologies developed under federal research projects were not being properly translated into practical use. In response, Congress has made attempts through legislation over the past two decades to ensure that federally sponsored inventions were being transferred to the private sector where they could be commercialized. Federal agencies are identifying, patenting, and licensing inventions created in their own facilities through technology transfer programs that vary in design, approach, and measurable output. With respect to design, some agencies have centralized technology transfer programs, while others have decentralized programs, and still others have components of both. From an approach stand point, the agencies differ on what they will patent and the types of …

None

We report on recent improvements made to our 1 MV accelerator mass spectrometry system that is dedicated to {sup 14}C quantification of biochemical samples. Increased vacuum pumping capacity near the high voltage terminal has resulted in a 2-fold reduction of system backgrounds to 0.04 amol {sup 14}C/mg carbon. Carbon ion transmission through the accelerator has also improved a few percent. We have also developed tritium measurement capability on this spectrometer. The {sup 3}H/{sup 1}H isotopic ratio of a milligram-sized processed tap water sample has been measured at 4 {+-} 1 x 10{sup -16} (430 {+-} 110 {micro}Bq/mg H). Measurement throughput for a typical biochemical {sup 3}H sample is estimated to be {approx}10 minutes/sample.

There are three basic research objectives. (1) To develop an accurate personal and area radon/thoron (222Rn/220Rn) detector for accurate measurement of the exposure to low airborne concentrations of these gases during remediation at Fernald. These are to be used to determine atmospheric dispersion and exposure to radon and thoron prior to and during retrieval and removal of the 4000 Ci of radium (226Ra) in the two silos at Fernald . (2) To develop a miniature personal (or area) aerosol particle size sampler that will operate continuously for weeks of continuous sampling under adverse conditions such as outdoors. Aerosol particle size is the major determinant of lung dose and without a measurement of the inhaled aerosol particle size accurate lung dosimetry cannot be obtained. No DOE site, with the exception of Fernald, is measuring the inhaled particle size spectrum for dosimetric purposes. (3) To develop the sequential radiochemistry necessary to measure any environmental sample (soil or water) for 228,230,232Th, 226,228Ra, 234,235,238U and 210Pb. To utilize the radiochemistry to accurately trace and delineate these nuclides in the environment.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since the early 1980s, health maintenance organizations (HMO) have entered into risk-based contracts with Medicare and offered beneficiaries an alternative to the traditional fee-for-service (FFS) program. By 1997, 5.2 million Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in an HMO. Although Medicare HMOs were available in most urban areas, they were often unavailable in rural areas. Medicare+Choice (M+C) has HMO requirements pertaining to benefit package proposals, the beneficiary enrollment process, marketing and enrollee communication materials, and quality improvement, among other areas. An HMO must annually submit a benefit package proposal to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for each M+C health plan that the HMO intends to offer. M+C requirements for the beneficiary enrollment process specify the information that an HMO must include in its enrollment application and the checks that it must perform to ensure that beneficiaries who submit applications are eligible to enroll in the HMO's health plan. M+C marketing requirements prohibit HMOs from using inaccurate or misleading language in advertisements or materials distributed to enrollees. M+C requirements for quality improvements specify that HMOs must undertake multiyear projects intended to improve the quality of health …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Medicare provided health care coverage to 40 million people age 65 and over and to qualifying disabled persons at a cost of $240 billion in fiscal year 2001. In 1990, GAO designated the program as "high risk" for fraud and abuse because of its vast size, complex structure, and program management weaknesses. GAO issued two reports in 2000 that discussed weaknesses in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) oversight of Medicare contractors' financial operations and the guidance it provides contractors in carrying out Medicare financial activities. GAO also cited CMS for deficiencies in its accounting procedures and improper payment measurement projects. GAO determined that CMS implemented corrective actions to substantially address four of the eight recommendations included in the 2000 reports and has made good progress in addressing the remaining four. Actions taken by CMS include the implementation of more in-depth internal control reviews at Medicare contractors as well as the development of an accounting procedures manual to guide its financial management staff in consistent accounting and reporting for Medicare. CMS has also tested several innovative analysis techniques for identifying improper payments. These actions have helped …

This report provides an alphabetical list of the 61 Members of Congress who have died of other than natural causes while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. Each entry includes party affiliation, the name of the state that the Member represented, dates of service, chamber in which the Member served, and cause of death.