Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To successfully manage AIA implementation, USPTO must consider a number of trade-offs as it sets and uses its over 340 fees, as well as maintain an effective fee review process. USPTO officials have stated that the agency’s limited fee-setting authority prior to the AIA and uncertainty about the extent to which its collections would be available contributed to a number of the agency’s operational challenges, such as the current backlog of over 640,000 patent applications and patent application processing time of over 30 months. They said fees that generated over 80 percent of USPTO’s revenues were set in statute, limiting the agency’s ability to ensure that total collections kept pace with total costs as its workload has grown. USPTO can only use its fee collections to the extent that Congress makes them available. In the past, Congress has in some years made available less than the total amount collected; there has been significant debate about the status and use of these fees collected in excess of amounts appropriated."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Field employees have key roles in the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) efforts to reduce costs and generate revenue. For example, these employees evaluate the feasibility of closing or consolidating facilities, such as post offices and mail- processing facilities; carry out the closures and consolidations of these facilities; and evaluate and consolidate delivery routes. These roles support USPS’s plans to save, by 2016, about $9 billion annually by improving its operational efficiency and realigning its retail, mail processing, and delivery networks with declining mail use. These plans include evaluating about half of its approximately 31,000 post offices to identify cost-reduction opportunities, closing or reducing operations at about half of its 461 mail-processing facilities, and consolidating about 20,000 of its 144,000 city delivery routes. Area and district employees also have a significant role in USPS’s efforts to generate additional revenue by (1) promoting the value of mail to businesses, (2) maintaining and increasing its customer base through customer service, and (3) growing the package business."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government faces long-standing problems in managing real property, including excess and underutilized property. In focusing on this issue, GAO found that data problems continue to hamper federal efforts. GAO examined Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP) data, which is managed by the General Services Administration (GSA) and is to describe the real property under the custody and control of executive branch agencies. GAO identified inconsistencies and inaccuracies at 23 of the 26 locations visited in 2011 and 2012 in key data elements related to the management of excess and underutilized property, including utilization, condition, annual operating costs, and value of the buildings. For example, several buildings that received high scores for condition were in poor condition, with problems including, asbestos, mold, health concerns, radioactivity, and flooding. These findings raised concern that the FRPP is not a useful tool for describing the nature, use, and extent of excess and underutilized federal real property."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The reorganization of the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) affected reporting chains of command and workforce composition for some offices at Hanscom Air Force Base, but did not change how former components of the Electronic Systems Center (ESC) at Hanscom carry out their acquisition mission. Personnel in functional offices who provide technical services previously reported to the locally-based ESC leadership; they now report directly to senior functional managers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, who oversee functional offices across all locations of the new Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) established by the reorganization. In addition, the reorganization eliminated 131 functional office positions (about 10 percent of Hanscom's civilian positions), which AFMC determined were not directly involved with development, delivery, or sustainment of weapon systems. GAO's analysis of Hanscom's data showed that the eliminated positions included 13 which were unfilled; of personnel in the remaining 118 positions, 15 accepted voluntary-separation agreements, 102 were reassigned at Hanscom Air Force Base, and 1 was removed. The reorganization did not change the mission of directorates that deliver electronic capabilities to customers."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As with many other demographic groups, older workers’ unemployment overall and long-term unemployment rates have increased dramatically since the recession began in 2007. In December 2011, the unemployment rate for older workers was 6.0 percent, up from 3.1 at the start of the recession, but down from its peak of 7.6 percent in February 2010. In particular, long-term unemployment rose substantially, and at a greater rate for older than younger workers. By 2011, 55 percent of unemployed older workers had been actively seeking a job for more than half a year (27 weeks or more). Meanwhile, the long-term trend of rising labor force participation rates among older workers has continued, with the recession possibly amplifying this trend."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) forces grew over the past 10 years to meet wartime and other needs, but the Department of Defense (DOD) does not have the data needed to develop a funding strategy to support future EOD force plans. To meet increased demands for EOD personnel, the services increased their EOD forces from about 3,600 personnel in 2002 to about 6,200 in 2012. Anticipating that the need for EOD will continue as forces withdraw from ongoing operations, the services intend to maintain their larger size. The Navy and Air Force have data on the baseline costs for some or all of their EOD activities, but the Army and Marine Corps do not have complete data on spending for EOD activities. Therefore, DOD does not have complete data on service spending on EOD activities needed to determine the costs of its current EOD capability and to provide a basis for future joint planning. Until all the services have complete information on spending, service and DOD leadership will be unable to effectively identify resource needs, weigh priorities, and assess budget trade-offs."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Oversight of managed care rate-setting has been inconsistent. In August 2010, GAO reported that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) had not ensured that all states were complying with the managed care actuarial soundness requirements that rates be developed in accordance with actuarial principles, appropriate for the population and services, and certified by actuaries. For example, GAO found significant gaps in CMS’s oversight of 2 of the 26 states reviewed—CMS had not reviewed one state’s rates in multiple years and had not completed a full review of another state’s rates since the actuarial soundness requirements became effective. Variation in practices across CMS regional offices contributed to these gaps and other inconsistencies in the agency’s oversight of states’ rate setting. GAO’s previous work also found that CMS’s efforts to ensure the quality of the data used to set rates were generally limited to requiring assurances from states and health plans—efforts that did not provide the agency with enough information to ensure the quality of the data used. With limited information on data quality, CMS cannot ensure that states’ managed care rates are appropriate, which places billions of …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Budget Control Act of 2011, amending the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, establishes limits on discretionary spending for fiscal years 2012 through 2021. In addition, the Act specifies additional limits on discretionary spending and automatic reductions in direct spending because legislation was not enacted that would reduce projected deficits by at least $1.2 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2021. Among other things, the Budget Control Act requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to calculate, and the President to order, a sequestration of discretionary and direct spending on January 2, 2013, to achieve reductions for that fiscal year."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) uses data reactively and proactively to prevent accidents and manage safety risks. For instance, since 1998, FAA has partnered with the airline industry to identify precursors and contributing factors, and ensure that efforts to improve safety focus on the most prevalent categories of accidents and formulate an intervention strategy designed to reduce recurrences. Although FAA plans to continue using data reactively to understand the causes of accidents and incidents, as part of its adoption of Safety Management Systems (SMS), it is shifting to a proactive approach in which it analyzes data to identify and mitigate risks before they result in accidents."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Coast Guard, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, has made progress in developing its Common Operational Picture (COP) by increasing the information in the COP and increasing user access to this information, but the Coast Guard has also faced challenges in developing COP-related systems. The Coast Guard has made progress by adding internal and external data sources that allow for better maritime domain awareness--the effective understanding of anything associated with the global maritime domain that could affect the United States. In addition, the COP has made information from these sources available to more COP users and decision makers throughout the Coast Guard. However, the Coast Guard has also experienced challenges in meeting the COP's goals and implementing systems to display and share COP information. For example, it experienced challenges when it deployed its Enterprise Geographic Information System (EGIS), a tool that did not meet user needs. The challenges Coast Guard personnel experienced with EGIS included system slowness and displays of inaccurate information. Our prior work found similar challenges with other Coast Guard COP-related systems not meeting intended objectives. For example, in February …

A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) obligated about $367 billion in fiscal year 2010 to acquire goods and services to meet its mission and support its operations, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan. GAO's work, as well as that of others, has documented shortcomings in DOD's strategic and acquisition planning, contract administration and oversight, and acquisition workforce. These are challenges that need to be addressed by DOD and by the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as they carry out their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and prepare for future contingencies. Today's statement discusses (1) contract management challenges faced by DOD, including those that take on heightened significance in a contingency environment; (2) actions DOD has taken and those needed to address these challenges; and (3) similar challenges State and USAID face. The statement is drawn from GAO's body of work on DOD contingency contracting, contract management, and workforce, as well as prior reports on State and USAID's contracting and workforce issues."

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the TAO(X) oiler shipbuilding program, a program to build a new class of fleet oilers for the Navy. The report discusses the issue for Congress which is whether to approve, reject, or modify the Navy's funding requests and acquisition strategy for the TAO(X) program.

The Technology Innovation Program (TIP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was established in 2007 to replace the Advanced Technology Program (ATP). This effort is designed "to support, promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States through highrisk, high-reward research in areas of critical national need," according to the authorizing legislation. Grants are provided to small and medium-sized firms for individual projects or joint ventures with other research organizations.

This report discusses the revolution and current conflict in Libya. The current crisis was triggered in mid-February 2011 by a chain of events in Benghazi and other eastern cities that quickly spiraled out of Qadhafi's control. Although Libyan opposition groups had called for a so-called "day of rage" on February 17 to commemorate protests that had occurred five years earlier, localized violence erupted prior to the planned national protests. As of April 25, U.S. and coalition officials stated that coalition military operations had destroyed the ability of the Libyan military to control Libyan airspace and had reduced the capability of Libyan ground forces by roughly 30%-40%.

This report discusses the continued debate amongst congressional policymakers regarding telecommunications reform. A major point of the ongoing discussion is whether action is needed to ensure unfettered access to the Internet.

This report looks at the history, purpose, and current status of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Residual impurities in manganese (Mn) are a big obstacle to obtaining high-performance CdMnTe (CMT) X-ray and gamma-ray detectors. Generally, the zone-refining method is an effective way to improve the material's purity. In this work, we purified the MnTe compounds combining the zone-refining method with molten Te, which has a very high solubility for most impurities. We confirmed the improved purity of the material by glow-discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS). We also found that CMT crystals from a multiply-refined MnTe source, grown by the vertical Bridgman method, yielded better performing detectors.

Project objective is to develop and disseminate accurate, objective information on critical wind energy issues impacting market acceptance of hundreds of land-based projects and vast off-shore wind developments proposed in the 6-state New England region, thereby accelerating the pace of wind installation from today's 140 MW towards the region's 20% by 2030 goals of 12,500 MW. Methodology: This objective will be accomplished by accumulating, developing, assembling timely, accurate, objective and detailed information representing the 'state of the knowledge' on critical wind energy issues impacting market acceptance, and widely disseminating such information. The target audience includes state agencies and local governments; utilities and grid operators; wind developers; agricultural and environmental groups and other NGOs; research organizations; host communities and the general public, particularly those in communities with planned or operating wind projects. Information will be disseminated through: (a) a series of topic-specific web conference briefings; (b) a one-day NEWEEP conference, back-to-back with a Utility Wind Interest Group one-day regional conference organized for this project; (c) posting briefing and conference materials on the New England Wind Forum (NEWF) web site and featuring the content on NEWF electronic newsletters distributed to an opt-in list of currently over 5000 individuals; (d) through interaction with …

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As a national laboratory Argonne concentrates on scientific and technological challenges that can only be addressed through a sustained, interdisciplinary focus at a national scale. Argonne's eight major initiatives, as enumerated in its strategic plan, are Hard X-ray Sciences, Leadership Computing, Materials and Molecular Design and Discovery, Energy Storage, Alternative Energy and Efficiency, Nuclear Energy, Biological and Environmental Systems, and National Security. The purposes of Argonne's Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program are to encourage the development of novel technical concepts, enhance the Laboratory's research and development (R and D) capabilities, and pursue its strategic goals. projects are selected from proposals for creative and innovative R and D studies that require advance exploration before they are considered to be sufficiently developed to obtain support through normal programmatic channels. Among the aims of the projects supported by the LDRD Program are the following: establishment of engineering proof of principle, assessment of design feasibility for prospective facilities, development of instrumentation or computational methods or systems, and discoveries in fundamental science and exploratory development.

As a national laboratory Argonne concentrates on scientific and technological challenges that can only be addressed through a sustained, interdisciplinary focus at a national scale. Argonne's eight major initiatives, as enumerated in its strategic plan, are Hard X-ray Sciences, Leadership Computing, Materials and Molecular Design and Discovery, Energy Storage, Alternative Energy and Efficiency, Nuclear Energy, Biological and Environmental Systems, and National Security. The purposes of Argonne's Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program are to encourage the development of novel technical concepts, enhance the Laboratory's research and development (R and D) capabilities, and pursue its strategic goals. projects are selected from proposals for creative and innovative R and D studies that require advance exploration before they are considered to be sufficiently developed to obtain support through normal programmatic channels. Among the aims of the projects supported by the LDRD Program are the following: establishment of engineering proof of principle, assessment of design feasibility for prospective facilities, development of instrumentation or computational methods or systems, and discoveries in fundamental science and exploratory development.

A class of generalized Kapchinskij-Vladimirskij solutions of the nonlinear Vlasov-Maxwell equations and the associated envelope equations for high-intensity beams in a periodic lattice is derived. It includes the classical Kapchinskij-Vladimirskij solution as a special case. For a given lattice, the distribution functions and the envelope equations are specified by eight free parameters. The class of solutions derived captures a wider range of dynamical envelope behavior for high-intensity beams, and thus provides a new theoretical tool to investigate the dynamics of high-intensity beams.

The objective of this Plant Directed Research and Demonstration (PDRD) task was to develop a system to safetly analyze tritium in moisture collected from glovebox atmospheres in the Savannah River Site (SRS) Tritium Facility. In order to minimize potential radiation exposures that could occur in handling and diluting high-tritium-content water, SRS sought alternatives to liquid-scintillation counting. The proposed system determines tritium concentrations by measuring Bremsstrahlung radiation induced by low-energy beta interactions in liquid samples. Results show that, after a short counting period (30 seconds), detection limits are three orders of magnitude below the described concentration of tritiated water in the zeolite beds. Additionally, this report covers the analysis of process samples and the investigation of several cell window materials including beryllium, aluminum, and copper. Final tests reveal that alternate window materials and thicknesses can be used to obtain useful results. In particular, a window of stainless steel of moderate thickness (0.3 cm) can be used for counting relatively high levels of tritium.