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Medicare Part D: Plan Sponsors' Processing and CMS Monitoring of Drug Coverage Requests Could Be Improved

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the Medicare Part D program, prescription drug coverage is provided through plans sponsored by private companies. Beneficiaries, their appointed representatives, or physicians can ask sponsors to cover prescriptions restricted under their plan--a process known as a coverage determination--and can appeal denials to the sponsor and the independent review entity (IRE). GAO was asked to review (1) the… more
Date: January 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Information Technology: Treasury Needs to Better Define and Implement Its Earned Value Management Policy

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2008, the Department of Treasury (Treasury) plans to spend approximately $3 billion on information technology (IT) investments--the third largest planned IT expenditure among civilian agencies. To more effectively manage such investments, in 2005 the Office of Management and Budget required agencies to use earned value management (EVM). EVM is a project management approach that, if implemented approp… more
Date: September 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Forest Service: Better Planning, Guidance, and Data Are Needed to Improve Management of the Competitive Sourcing Program

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Competitive sourcing is aimed at promoting competition between federal employees and the private sector as a way to improve government operations. Key work activities--those that are either inherently governmental or core to the agency's mission--are generally exempt from competitions. In fiscal year 2004, Congress began placing spending limitations on the Forest Service's competitive sourcing program b… more
Date: January 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Border Security: State Department Should Plan for Potentially Significant Staffing and Facilities Shortfalls Caused by Changes in the Visa Waiver Program

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), citizens from 27 countries can travel to the United States visa free. Terrorism concerns involving VWP country citizens have led some to suggest eliminating or suspending the program, while the executive branch is considering adding countries to it. Legislation passed in 2007 led the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop its Electronic System for Travel Au… more
Date: May 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Wildlife Refuges: Changes in Funding, Staffing, and Other Factors Create Concerns about Future Sustainability

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Wildlife Refuge System, which is administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service in the Department of the Interior, comprises 585 refuges on more than 96 million acres of land and water that preserve habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds, threatened and endangered species, and other wildlife. Refuges also provide wildlife-related activities such as hunting and fishing to nearly 40 m… more
Date: September 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Secure Border Initiative: DHS Needs to Address Significant Risks in Delivering Key Technology Investment

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Secure Border Initiative (SBI) is a multiyear, multibillion-dollar program to secure the nation's borders through, among other things, new technology, increased staffing, and new fencing and barriers. The technology component of SBI, which is known as SBInet, involves the acquisition, development, integration, and deployment of surveillance systems and command… more
Date: September 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Department of Agriculture: Recommendations and Options to Address Management Deficiencies in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For decades, numerous federal reports have described serious weaknesses in USDA's civil rights programs--in particular, in resolving discrimination complaints and providing minority farmers with access to programs. In 2002, Congress authorized the position of Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) at USDA to provide leadership for resolving these long-standing problems. GAO was asked to assess USDA… more
Date: October 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Department of Homeland Security: Better Planning and Assessment Needed to Improve Outcomes for Complex Service Acquisitions

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has relied on service acquisitions to meet its expansive mission. In fiscal year 2006, DHS spent $12.7 billion to procure services. To improve service acquisition outcomes, federal procurement law establishes a preference for a performance-based approach, which focuses on developing measurable outcomes rather than prescribing how contractors should perform servi… more
Date: April 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Disaster Cost Estimates: FEMA Can Improve Its Learning from Past Experience and Management of Disaster-Related Resources

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Public Law No. 110-28 directed GAO to review how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) develops its disaster cost estimates. Accordingly, GAO addressed the following questions: (1) What is FEMA's process for developing and refining its cost estimates for any given disaster? (2) From 2000 through 2006, how close have cost estimates been to the actual costs for noncatastrophic (i.e., federal cost… more
Date: February 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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DCAA Audits: Allegations That Certain Audits at Three Locations Did Not Meet Professional Standards Were Substantiated

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) under the Department of Defense (DOD) Comptroller plays a critical role in contractor oversight by providing auditing, accounting, and financial advisory services in connection with DOD and other federal agency contracts and subcontracts. DCAA has elected to follow generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS). These standards provide guidelines to hel… more
Date: July 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Veterans Affairs: Additional Details Are Needed in Key Planning Documents to Guide the New Financial and Logistics Initiative

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Through its Financial and Logistics Integrated Technology Enterprise (FLITE) initiative, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is developing a new system that is intended to fulfill the critical need for a modernized and integrated financial and asset management capability. FLITE is the successor to an earlier initiative that the department undertook--the Core Financial and Logistics System (CoreFLS)-… more
Date: September 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Medicare Advantage: Increased Spending Relative to Medicare Fee-for-Service May Not Always Reduce Beneficiary Out-of-Pocket Costs

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2006, the federal government spent about $59 billion on Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, an alternative to the original Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) program. Although health plans were originally envisioned in the 1980s as a potential source of Medicare savings, such plans have generally increased program spending. Payments to MA plans have been estimated to be 12 percent greater than what Medicare w… more
Date: February 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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State and Local Governments: Growing Fiscal Challenges Will Emerge during the Next 10 Years

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "State and local governments provide an array of services to their residents, such as primary and secondary education, libraries, police and fire services, social programs, roads and other infrastructure, public colleges and universities, and more. These subnational governments may face fiscal stress similar to the federal government. Given the nature of the partnership among levels of government in prov… more
Date: January 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Electricity Restructuring: FERC Could Take Additional Steps to Analyze Regional Transmission Organizations' Benefits and Performance

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1999, as a part of federal efforts to restructure the electricity industry, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) began encouraging the voluntary formation of Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO)--independent entities to manage regional networks of electric transmission lines. FERC oversees six RTOs that cover part or all of 35 states and D.C. and serve over half of U.S. electricity de… more
Date: September 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Drug Safety: Better Data Management and More Inspections Are Needed to Strengthen FDA's Foreign Drug Inspection Program

Description: 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), oversees the safety and effectiveness of human drugs marketed in the United States, including those manufactured in foreign establishments. FDA inspects foreign establishments in order to ensure that the quality of drugs is not jeopardized by poor manufacturing processes. This report examines (1) … more
Date: September 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Global Nuclear Energy Partnership: DOE Should Reassess Its Approach to Designing and Building Spent Nuclear Fuel Recycling Facilities

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy (DOE) proposes under the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) to build facilities to begin recycling the nation's commercial spent nuclear fuel. GNEP's objectives include reducing radioactive waste disposed of in a geologic repository and mitigating the nuclear proliferation risks of existing recycling technologies. DOE originally planned a small engineering-scale demonstrat… more
Date: April 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal User Fees: Substantive Reviews Needed to Align Port-Related Fees with the Programs They Support

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "America's port infrastructure is vital to U.S. foreign trade and a bulwark for national security. One way the federal government funds port-related programs is to levy user fees. GAO was asked to examine (1) what is known about the way selected fees assessed on air and sea port users are set, collected, used, and reviewed and (2) the effects of these attributes on program operations. GAO examined the Ha… more
Date: February 22, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Experimental Study of Three-body Cabibbo-suppressed D0 Decays and Extraction of Cp Violation Parameters

Description: The authors present measurements of the relative branching ratios, Dalitz plot structures and CP-asymmetry values in the three-body singly Cabibbo-suppressed decays D{sup 0} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup 0} and D{sup 0} {yields} K{sup -}K{sup +}{pi}{sup 0} using data collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy ring at SLAC. The author applies the results of the D{sup 0} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup 0} analysis to extracting CP-violation parameters relate… more
Date: February 22, 2008
Creator: Mishra, Kalanand & U., /Nehru
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Report on the Depth Requirements for a Massive Detector at Homestake

Description: This report provides the technical justification for locating a large detector underground in a US based Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory. A large detector with a fiducial mass greater than 100 kTon will most likely be a multipurpose facility. The main physics justification for such a device is detection of accelerator generated neutrinos, nucleon decay, and natural sources of neutrinos such as solar, atmospheric and supernova neutrinos. The requirement on the depth of this d… more
Date: December 22, 2008
Creator: Bernstein,A.; Blucher, E.; Cline, D. B.; Diwan, M. V.; Fleming, b.; Kadel, R. et al.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FILL STEM MANUFACTURING CHANGES AND PINCH WELD QUALIFICATIONS

Description: In March of 2007 a document was issued, see attachment I, that defined the test protocol and required welding for the Kansas City Plant to change cutting oils from the recently approved 50:50 oil to an oil with similar characteristics but with different chemistry, additives, and possibly a different vendor due to plans by the current vendor to stop preparing the oils that are used in the KCP 50:50 mix. The KCP manufactured stems with the existing 50:50 oil blend in late FY07 and SRNL welded the… more
Date: February 22, 2008
Creator: Korinko, P & David Maxwell, D
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Modification of the GS LT Paired-end Library Protocol for Constructing Longer Insert Size Libraries

Description: Paired-end library sequencing has been proven useful in scaffold construction during de novo assembly of genomic sequences. The ability of generating mate pairs with 8 Kb or greater insert sizes is especially important for genomes containing long repeats. While the current 454 GS LT Paired-end library preparation protocol can successfully construct libraries with 3 Kb insert size, it fails to generate longer insert sizes because the protocol is optimized to purify shorter fragments. We have mad… more
Date: May 22, 2008
Creator: Peng, Ze; Peng, Ze; Hamilton, Matthew; Ting, Sara; Tu, Hank; Goltsman, Eugene et al.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Science & Technology Review March/April 2008

Description: This month's issue has the following articles: (1) Science and Security in Sharp Focus--Commentary by William H. Goldstein; (2) Extending the Search for Extrasolar Planets--The Gemini Planet Imager will delve deep into the universe to identify planets that cannot be detected with current instrumentation; (3) Standardizing the Art of Electron-Beam Welding--The Laboratory's EBeam Profiler makes electron-beam welds consistent and improves quality control; (4) Molecular Building Blocks Made of Diam… more
Date: January 22, 2008
Creator: Chinn, D J
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Polypeptide and Polysaccharide Processing in Hyperthermophilic Microorganisms

Description: This project focused on the microbial physiology and biochemistry of heterotrophic hyperthermophiles with respect to mechanisms by which these organisms process polypeptides and polysaccharides under normal and stressed conditions. Emphasis is on two model organisms, for which completed genome sequences are available: Pyrococcus furiosus (growth Topt of 98°C), an archaeon, and Thermotoga maritima (growth Topt of 80°C), a bacterium. Both organisms are obligately anaerobic heterotrophs that reduc… more
Date: December 22, 2008
Creator: Kelly, Robert M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Regulating Intracellular Calcium in Plants: From Molecular Genetics to Physiology

Description: To grow, develop, adapt, and reproduce, plants have evolved mechanisms to regulate the uptake, translocation and sorting of calcium ions into different cells and subcellular compartments. Yet how plants accomplish this remarkable feat is still poorly understood. The spatial and temporal changes in intracellular [Ca2+] during growth and during responses to hormonal and environmental stimuli indicate that Ca2+ influx and efflux transporters are diverse and tightly regulated in plants. The specifi… more
Date: June 22, 2008
Creator: Sze, Heven
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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