Army Combat Vehicles: Industrial Base Study’s Approach Met Research Standards, GAO-15-548: Published: Jun 16, 2015. Publicly Released: Jun 16, 2015. Aviation Security: TSA Has Taken Steps to Improve Vetting of Airport Workers, GAO-15-704T: Published: Jun 16, 2015. Publicly Released: Jun 16, 2015. Defense Civilian Compensation: DOD and OPM Could Improve the Consistency of DOD’s Eligibility… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Monthly Archives: June 2015
FDA announces ban on trans fats
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES – Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. FDA-2013-N-1317] Final Determination Regarding Partially Hydrogenated Oils AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice; declaratory order. “Based on the available scientific evidence and the findings of expert scientific panels, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) has made a final… Continue Reading
Patients – price of prescription drugs too high
“Given recent news about some high-cost prescription drugs and the debate about who should pay for them, this month’s Kaiser Health Tracking Poll has a special focus on the issue. Nearly three-quarters of the public think that the cost of prescription drugs is unreasonable. Americans place much of the blame with the drug companies saying… Continue Reading
Review of the FAA’s Certification Research Plan
“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently undertaking a broad program known as Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) to develop, introduce, and certify new technologies into the National Airspace System. NextGen is a fundamentally transformative change that is being implemented incrementally over a period of many years. Currently, the FAA is putting into place… Continue Reading
Review of the Everglades Aquifer Storage and Recovery Regional Study
“The Florida Everglades is a large and diverse aquatic ecosystem that has been greatly altered over the past century by an extensive water control infrastructure designed to increase agricultural and urban economic productivity. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), launched in 2000, is a joint effort led by the state and federal government to reverse… Continue Reading
Faces of Death Row – Texas
Jolie McCullough and Ben Hasson, The Texas Tribune: “Here is a look at the 261 inmates currently on Texas’ death row. Texas, which reinstated the death penalty in 1976, has the most active execution chamber in the nation. On average, these inmates have spent 13 years, 6 months on death row. Though 12 percent of… Continue Reading
NASA’s massive new dataset tells us what daily weather report will be in 2100
Via onEarth: “Forget your weather app with its five- or even ten-day forecasts—a supercomputer at NASA has just provided us with high-resolution climate projections through the end of the century. The massive new 11-terabyte data set combines historical daily temperatures and precipitation measurements with climate simulations under two greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. The project spans… Continue Reading
Confidence in U.S. Institutions Still Below Historical Norms
Gallup: “Americans’ confidence in most major U.S. institutions remains below the historical average for each one. Only the military (72%) and small business (67%) — the highest-rated institutions in this year’s poll — are currently rated higher than their historical norms, based on the percentage expressing “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence… Continue Reading
House Price Volatility and the Housing Ladder
Banks, James W. and Blundell, Richard W. and Oldfield, Zoé and Smith, James P., House Price Volatility and the Housing Ladder (June 2015). NBER Working Paper No. w21255. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2618643 “This paper investigates the effects of spatial housing price risk on housing choices over the first half of the life-cycle. Housing… Continue Reading
Role of Data in Tracking Black Markets in Wildlife
Via Wired: “The international black market in wildlife—alive or dead—is notoriously difficult to track. Hunters and smugglers don’t report their take for the same reasons that drug dealers don’t report profits to the IRS. But if you could actually track those networks, maybe you could do something about them. That’s what sent Nikkita Patel, a… Continue Reading
GAO Reports – Indian Energy Development, 401(K) Plans, Military Personnel, Nuclear Command, Older Americans Act
Indian Energy Development: Poor Management by BIA Has Hindered Energy Development on Indian Lands – GAO-15-502: Published: Jun 8, 2015. Publicly Released: Jun 15, 2015. 401(K) Plans: Frequent and Collective Trading Are Uncommon and Not a Significant Concern for Plan Participants, Sponsors, or Mutual Funds, GAO-15-427R: Published: May 14, 2015. Publicly Released: Jun 15, 2015.… Continue Reading
2012 Commodity Flow Survey Public Use Microdata
“This new data product contains information for approximately 4.5 million shipments obtained from businesses included in the 2012 Commodity Flow Survey. The public use microdata file provides access to shipment-level characteristics while protecting the confidentiality of business information. Users can create customized tables and build models to track and analyze the movement of commodities. The 2012 Commodity Flow Survey public… Continue Reading
