Biological monitoring has been conducted in industrially impacted streams near US Department of Energy facilities in Tennessee and Kentucky for almost ten years. A comprehensive Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program, which was developed to meet National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit requirements, includes tasks on (1 ) toxicity testing; (2) bioaccumulation in aquatic and terrestrial biota; (3) bioindicators of fish health; and (4) fish, macroinvertebrate, and periphyton community surveys. These studies have been used successfully to characterize spatial trends and demonstrate temporal recovery resulting from remedial actions and pollution abatement activities, identify contaminant sources, and provide data for conducting ecological risk assessments. The program uses multiple lines of evidence to evaluate stream recovery and illustrates the importance of using an integrated approach when determining ...
Development of New Methods and Means of Assessing of Consequences of Radionuclide and Heavy Metal Salt Effect, Criteria of Forecasting Physiological State and Productivity of the Farm Animals under Conditions of Ecological Pollution of Environment
Due to the use of a limited number of species and subchronic exposures, current ecological hazard assessment processes can underestimate the chronic toxicity of environmental contaminants resulting...Full Text Available
A case study is presented where an integrated, ecologically relevant exposure assessment is presented for a polluted lowland river. Using partial least squares regression of latent structures (PLS), an analysis of the impact of two effluents on physico-chemical water quality measures, macroinvertebrate and diatom communities, and in situ bioassay responses with four different test species are combined into an integrative exposure assessment. Bioassays focussed on growth and condition related endpoints, because they are key functional processes of organisms and populations. Integrating these multiple lines of evidence, we were able to discriminate among the impact of both effluents, link changes in physico-chemical water quality with bioassay endpoints and ecological quality of the ecosystem, and address the importance of integrating all information into one exposure assessment ...
The Morris water maze is widely used to evaluate to evaluate the spatial learning ability of rodents under laboratory settings. The present study demonstrates that reproductive male meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, are able to acquire and retain a spatial water maze task using celestial cues. Voles were able to acquire a modified outdoor Morris water maze task over 4 trials per day, whereby they had to learn and remember the location of a submerged hidden platform, using the position of the sun and associated celestial cues. Their proficiency on this task was related to the availability of the celestial cues, with voles displaying significantly poorer spatial navigation on overcast than clear days and when the testing time (and position of the sun and associated celestial cues) was shifted from morning to afternoon. These findings with meadow voles support the ecological relevance of the water ...
The overarching goals of the 'Kootenai River Floodplain Ecosystem Operational Loss Assessment, Protection, Mitigation and Rehabilitation' Project (BPA Project No.2002-011-00) are to: (1) assess abiotic and biotic factors (i.e., geomorphologic, hydrological, aquatic and riparian/floodplain communities) in determining a definitive composition of ecological integrity, (2) develop strategies to assess and mitigate losses of ecosystem functions, and (3) produce a regional operational loss assessment framework. To produce a scientifically defensible, repeatable, and complete assessment tool, KTOI assembled a team of top scientists in the fields of hydrology, hydraulics, ornithology, entomology, statistics, and river ecology, among other expertise. This advisory team is known as the Research Design and Review Team (RDRT). The RDRT ...
As part of on-going study of acid mine drainage (AMD), a comprehensive ecological risk assessment was conducted in the Leading Creek Watershed in southeast Ohio. The watershed is influenced by agriculture and active and abandoned coal-mining operations. This work presents a broad overview of several quantitative measures of hydrology and hydraulic watershed properties available for in risk assessment and evaluates their relation to metrics of ecology. Data analysis included statistical comparisons of metrics of ecology, ecotoxicology, water quality, and physically based parameters describing land use, geomorphology, flow, velocity, and particle size. A multiple regression analysis indicated that abandoned mining operations dominated impacts upon aquatic ecology. It also indicated low flow velocity measurements and a ratio of maximum velocity to average velocity ...
The relative risk model (RRM) was applied in regional ecological risk assessments successfully. In this study, the RRM was developed through increasing the data of risk source and introducing the source?stressor?habitat exposure filter (SSH), the endpoint?habitat exposure filter (EH) and the stressor?endpoint effect filter (SE) to reflect the meaning of exposure and effect more explicit. Water environment which include water quality, water quantity and aquatic ecosystems was selected as the ecological risk assessment endpoints. The Luanhe River Basin located in the North China was selected as model case. The results showed that there were three low risk regions, one medium risk region and two high risk regions in the Luanhe River Basin. The results also indicated habitat destruction was th...
In the discussion of environmental architecture, we are conjoining two disciplines, the subject of architecture and that of ecology. At their best, green buildings are examples of applied ecology, where designers understand the constitution, organization, and structure of ecosystems, and the impacts of architecture are considered from an environmental perspective. By utilizing the concepts, methods, and language of ecology, designers can create architecture that intentionally engages the natural systems of a site. The establishment of assessment criteria implies the definition of building design criteria. If we establish criteria that are based on our best scientific understanding of environmental capacity, we will begin to develop a building stock that is sustainable. To do this we must quantify the link between the resulting environmental impacts and their cause in building production and use. This is ...
This paper focuses on the development of explicit self-awareness in children. Mirror self-recognition has been the most popular paradigm used to assess this ability in children. Nevertheless, according to Rochat (2003), there are, at least, three different levels of explicit self-awareness. We therefore designed three different self-recognition tasks, each corresponding to one of these levels (a mirror self-recognition task, a picture self-recognition task and a masked self-recognition task). We observed a decrease in performance across the three tasks. This supports a developmental scale in self-awareness. Besides, the masked self-recognition performance makes it possible to assess the final and the most sophisticated level of self-awareness, i.e. the external self. To our best knowledge,...
Reliable dietary assessment is a challenging yet essential task for determining general health. Existing efforts are manual, require considerable effort, and are prone to underestimation and misrepresentation...Full Text Available
Environmental assessment in an arid coal mining area requires an understanding of the influences of coal mining, the arid climate and ecological remediation. To that end, we selected vegetation as the key environmental factor to observe. Remote sensing approaches to monitoring the spatio-temporal variation of vegetation caused by mining activities, the arid climate and ecological remediation in the Shengdong coal mining area are described. Over a large regional scale it was found that the vegetation was improved as a result of ecological remediation activities. At the local scale, however, the vegetation coverage and soil moisture in the mined areas were slightly lower than those in un-mined areas due to mining subsidence. These differences are partly attributed to ground fissures that inj...
The role of natural enemies in the regulation of populations is one of the major questions facing population ecologists. Simplification have led to two theoretical ways of incorporating the role of natural enemies in single ecological models: diffusion models and patch-type models. The predictions of the models are different because of the way variability is incorporated. Three equations are presented for diffusion models and one for patch models. Since the two types of models apply at different combinations of spatial and temporal scales, the right model(s) to choose for a particular study requires careful assessment. A continuing dialogue between experimentalists and theoreticians will lead to a better understanding of natural systems such as those that occur in biological control.
The ''Enabling & Information Technology To Increase RAM for Advanced Powerplants'' program, by DOE request, was re-directed, de-scoped to two tasks, shortened to a 2-year period of performance, and refocused to develop, validate and accelerate the commercial use of enabling materials technologies and sensors for coal/IGCC powerplants. The new program was re-titled ''Enabling Technology for Monitoring & Predicting Gas Turbine Health & Performance in IGCC Powerplants''. This final report summarizes the work accomplished from March 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004 on the four original tasks, and the work accomplished from April 1, 2004 to July 30, 2005 on the two re-directed tasks. The program Tasks are summarized below: Task 1--IGCC Environmental Impact on high Temperature Materials: The first ...
Since 1983, about 600 research projects received a total of DM 250 million public funds for the following tasks: - Development of scientific fundamentals for monitoring and observation of forest decline and its ecological and economic consequences. - Investigation of the cause-effect relationship of forest damage, with particular regard to the involvement of the various compartments of the forest ecosystem and to the contribution of different pollutants. - Development of the scientific fundamentals required for forestry measures to accompany the air pollution abatement measures. The investigations comprised both laboratory and field tests. The findings and conclusion are summarized. (orig./MG).
Managing sites contaminated with munitions constituents is an international challenge. Although the choice of approach and the use of Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) tools may vary from country to country, the assurance of quality and the direction of ecotoxicological research are universally recognized as shared concerns. Drawing on a multidisciplinary team of contributors, 'Ecotoxicology of Explosives' provides comprehensive and critical reviews available to date on fate, transport, and effects of explosives. The book delineates the state of the science of the ecotoxicology of explosives, past, present, and recently developed. It reviews the accessible fate and ecotoxicological data for energetic materials (EMs) and the methods for their development. The chapters characterize the fate of explosives in the environment, then provide information on their ecological effects in key environmental media, ...
It has been acknowledged that river morphology and hydrology have been intensively altered due to the anthropic demands in floodplain land use and management, flood protection, promotion of navigability or energy production. Rivers were transformed in water highways, having lost contact with their surrounding floodplain as well as the plethora of ecological processes and occupants once thriving in these ecotonal zones. The identification of this emerging threat of morphological and hydrological alteration on ecological integrity adds further complexity in the exploitation of hydrosystem resources. These resources are heavily coveted and guarded by different lobbies each having strategic views on future project development. Stakeholders may want to promote hydro-electricity, ecologists a natural reserve, communes may wish to have an increased flood protection and leisure promoters a nautical center. As a result, the proposition of a river ...
Volume VII of the documentation for the Phase I Data Analysis Task performed in support of the current Regional Flow Model, Transport Model, and Risk Assessment for the Nevada Test Site Underground Test Area Subproject contains the tritium transport model documentation. Because of the size and complexity of the model area, a considerable quantity of data was collected and analyzed in support of the modeling efforts. The data analysis task was consequently broken into eight subtasks, and descriptions of each subtask's activities are contained in one of the eight volumes that comprise the Phase I Data Analysis Documentation.
Volume VI of the documentation for the Phase I Data Analysis Task performed in support of the current Regional Flow Model, Transport Model, and Risk Assessment for the Nevada Test Site Underground Test Area Subproject contains the groundwater flow model data. Because of the size and complexity of the model area, a considerable quantity of data was collected and analyzed in support of the modeling efforts. The data analysis task was consequently broken into eight subtasks, and descriptions of each subtask's activities are contained in one of the eight volumes that comprise the Phase I Data Analysis Documentation.
Volume IV of the documentation for the Phase I Data Analysis Task performed in support of the current Regional Flow Model, Transport Model, and Risk Assessment for the Nevada Test Site Underground Test Area Subproject contains the hydrologic parameter data. Because of the size and complexity of the model area, a considerable quantity of data was collected and analyzed in support of the modeling efforts. The data analysis task was consequently broken into eight subtasks, and descriptions of each subtask's activities are contained in one of the eight volumes that comprise the Phase I Data Analysis Documentation.
Volume II of the documentation for the Phase I Data Analysis Task performed in support of the current Regional Flow Model, Transport Model, and Risk Assessment for the Nevada Test Site Underground Test Area Subproject contains the potentiometric data. Because of the size and complexity of the model area, a considerable quantity of data was collected and analyzed in support of the modeling efforts. The data analysis task was consequently broken into eight subtasks, and descriptions of each subtask's activities are contained in one of the eight volumes that comprise the Phase I Data Analysis Documentation.
ObjectiveThis study discusses an appropriate framework to measure system performance for the task of neonatal seizure detection using EEG. The framework is used to present an extended...Full Text Available
Introduction. This study used Item-Response Theory (IRT) to model the psychometric properties of a false belief picture sequencing task. Consistent with the mental time travel hypothesis of paranoia, we anticipated that performance on this deductive theory of mind (ToM) task would not be associated with the presence of persecutory delusions but would be related to other clinical, cognitive, and demographic factors. Method. A large (N=237) and diverse clinical and nonclinical sample differing in levels of depression and paranoid ideation performed 2 ToM tasks: the false belief sequencing task and a ToM stories task that was used to assess the validity of the false belief sequencing task as a measure of ToM. Results. A unidimensional IRT model was found to fit the data well. Latent ToM ability as measured by the false belief sequencing ...
After the introduction Chapter 2 presents details of the ecological-economic analysis based on the FAO/IIASA agro-ecological zones (AEZ) approach for evaluation of biophysical limitations and agricultural production potentials, and IIASA's Basic Linked System (BLS) for analyzing the world's food economy and trade system. The BLS is a global general equilibrium model system for analyzing agricultural policies and food system prospects in an international setting. BLS views national agricultural systems as embedded in national economies, which interact with each other through trade at the international level. The combination of AEZ and BLS provides an integrated ecological-economic framework for the assessment of the impact of climate change. We consider climate scenarios based on experiments with four General Circulation Models (GCM), and we assess the four basic ...
The Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) has historically released radionuclide chemicals of potential concern into the surrounding environment. The off-site environment was evaluated for Pu"2"3"9"/"2"4"0 and Am"2"4"1 occurrence. An evaluation of exposure and effects to the aquatic ecology within off-site areas including: Standley Lake, Great Western Reservoir, Mower Reservoir and portions of Big Dry Creek, Walnut Creek, and Woman Creek was performed for the completion of an Ecological Risk Assessment. Collocated sampling activities were performed for surface water, sediment, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish. Results of the analytical data were used to assess ongoing exposure and effects. Data collected to determine effects (chemical content of fish tissue, diversity and density of macroinvertebrate populations) provided some of the necessary information needed to evaluate risk. However, ...
This report forms part of an independent review of the specifications, execution and results of Task 6 of the Aespoe Task Force on Modelling of Groundwater Flow and Transport of Solutes, which is seeking to provide a bridge between site characterization (SC) and performance assessment (PA) approaches to solute transport in fractured rock. The present report is concerned solely with Task 6C, which relates to the construction and parametrisation of a block-scale hydrostructural model of the TRUE Block Scale region of the Aespoe Hard Rock laboratory. The task objectives, specifications and outcome are summarised and reviewed. Also, consideration is given to how the hydrostructural model might affect the outcomes of Task 6D and 6E. The main conclusions of this review are summarised below: The Task 6C hydrostructural model is a more comprehensive ...
The foundation conducts an environmental monitoring and surveillance program over an area covering much of the upper Snake River Plain and provide environmental education and support services related to INEL natural resource issues. Also, the foundation, with its university affiliates, conducts ecological and radioecological research on the Idaho National Environmental Research Park. This research benefits major DOE-ID programs including waste management, environmental restoration, spent nuclear fuels, and land management issues. Major accomplishments during CY1995 can be divided into five categories: environmental surveillance program, environmental education, environmental services and support, ecological risk assessment, and research benefitting the DOE-ID mission.
Agricultural sustainability is a vital parameter to be ascertained locally and globally if food security is to be achieved and maintained. Agricultural sustainability is the combined product of social, economic and ecological sustainability. It is also a function of temporal and spatial variations, a fact which indicates that area-specific sustainability indices need to be designed. We present here an Agricultural Sustainability Index (ASI) for rural eastern India and use it to calculate the ASI for 150 farms for three decades over a 60-year period, viz., 1950?1960, 1980?1990 and 2000?2010 for a representative Indian village of Gangapur (25?83?N, 85?65?E). The ASI was calculated using 30 variables, 10 each of social, economic and ecological sustainability. An extensive questionnaire-based ...
DECOVALEX II project started in November 1995 as a continuation of the DECOVALEX I project, which was completed at the end of 1994. The project was initiated by recognizing the fact that a proper evaluation of the current capacities of numerical modelling of the coupled T-H-M processes in fractured media is needed not only for small scale, well controlled laboratory test cases such as those studied in DECOVALEX I, but also for less characterised, more complex and realistic in-situ experiments. This will contribute to validation and confidence building in the current mathematical models, numerical methods and computer codes. Four tasks were defined in the DECOVALEX II project: TASK 1 - numerical study of the RCF3 pumping test and shaft excavation at Sellafield by Nirex, UK; TASK 2 - numerical study of the in-situ T-H-M experiments at Kamaishi Mine by PNC, Japan; TASK 3 - review of current ...
The purpose of this assessment is to develop a versatile process that will provide a mechanism for evaluating both present and future risks to this environment. Much of the regulatory and environmental interest in the port has centered around a Ballast Water Treatment facility that treats and discharges up to 30 mgd of oily ballast water brought in by crude oil tankers. However, six point discharges and other potential sources of pollution exist in the area. The authors have delineated eleven subareas in the port in order to identify the potential anthropogenic stressors, as well as the receptors that could be exposed to these stressors. Potential effects were then characterized for each exposure. Each component is ranked and integrated, resulting in a relative risk estimate in each subarea. Both the discernible risks, based on available data, and the data gaps are presented. Uncertainty is expressed as a range of high and low risk associated with each component. ...
The Subseabed Disposal Project (SDP) was part of an international program that investigated the feasibility of high-level radioactive waste disposal in the deep ocean sediments. This report briefly describes the seven-step iterative performance assessment procedures used in this study and presents representative results of the last iteration. The results of the performance are compared to interim standards developed for the SDP, to other conceptual repositories, and to related metrics. The attributes, limitations, uncertainties, and remaining tasks in the SDP feasibility phase are discussed.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) must account for legally protected and endangered species. Uncertainties relating to the validity and sensitivity of EIA arise from predictions and valuation of effects on these species. This paper presents a validity and sensitivity analysis of a model (BIO-SAFE) for assessment of impacts of land use changes and physical reconstruction measures on legally protected and endangered river species. The assessment is based on links between species (higher plants, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, butterflies and dragon- and damselflies) and ecotopes (landscape ecological units, e.g., river dune, soft wood alluvial forests), and on value assignment to protected and endangered species using different valuation criteria (i.e., EU Habitats and Birds directive, Conventions of Bern and Bonn and Red Lists). The validity of BIO-SAFE has been tested by comparing predicted ...
Over the five year period of performance, thirteen task assignments were issued by the DOE to ARINC Research. During the two year base period seven tasks were assigned. Two task assignments were issued for each of the three consecutive one year option periods. Associated with all task assignments were multiple subtasks, some of which required significant effort. These subtasks are appropriately cited in this report under their respective task assignments as principal work activities or deliverables. The technical and management support provided to the DOE under this contract focused on two general areas: (1) appraisal activities and (2) non-appraisal activities. Support to appraisals included planning, document review, developing lines-of-inquiry, interviewing, data collection, report writing, and follow-up. Such work was executed both on-site at the DOE facility under review and ...
The set of activities performed by SENTECH, Inc. addressed the specific recommendations provided to the Department of Energy (DOE) by its advisors, including the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Panel and the review panel members of the DOE Annual Hydrogen Program Review. SENTECH`s efforts were conducted under five tasks: Task 1: Technology and Process Analysis; Task 2: Hydrogen Information Development and Transfer; Task 3: Educational Products; Task 4: Systems Analysis; and Task 5: Life Cycle Costs. SENTECH activities were executed in two broad areas--analysis and technology transfer. The analytical tasks undertaken in FY97 were focused on two types of analysis--systems analysis and technical/economic assessments. These analytical activities benefit DOE by providing data that allow it to define the strategic goals of the ...
Volume V of the documentation for the Phase I Data Analysis Task performed in support of the current Regional Flow Model, Transport Model, and Risk Assessment for the Nevada Test Site Underground Test Area Subproject contains the transport parameter and source term data. Because of the size and complexity of the model area, a considerable quantity of data was collected and analyzed in support of the modeling efforts. The data analysis task was consequently broken into eight subtasks, and descriptions of each subtask's activities are contained in one of the eight volumes that comprise the Phase I Data Analysis Documentation.
Volume III of the documentation for the Phase I Data Analysis Task performed in support of the current Regional Flow Model, Transport Model, and Risk Assessment for the Nevada Test Site Underground Test Area Subproject contains the data covering groundwater recharge and discharge. Because of the size and complexity of the model area, a considerable quantity of data was collected and analyzed in support of the modeling efforts. The data analysis task was consequently broken into eight subtasks, and descriptions of each subtask's activities are contained in one of the eight volumes that comprise the Phase I Data Analysis Documentation.
The study concerns the assessment of the state of the environment in Lebanon and the identification of policy options has three specific objectives namely to determine the conditions of the environment in Lebanon after years of wars (1975-1992); to identify environmentals trends associated with Lebanon's development and to assess their sustainability; to identify policy options for environmental management. Issues of the environment concerned are both the brown issues e.g. the management of wastes and effluent arising from human activitiesand green issues, the natural resource base defined through main receptors:air, water (including coastal waters), land and terrestrial ecology sectors such as agriculture, industry, energy, transport, tourism and fisheries, population and human settlements are also studied
This report covers the technical effort through February, 1989. This effort was directed towards the technology associated with the development of a large scale, long pulse DF-CO{sub 2} chemical laser. Optics damage studies performed under Task 1 assessed damage thresholds for diamond-turned salt windows. Task 2 is a multi-faceted task involving the use of PHOCL-50 for laser gain measurements, LTI experiments, and detector testing by LANL personnel. To support these latter tests, PHOCL-50 was upgraded with Boeing funding to incorporate a full aperture outcoupler that increased its energy output by over a factor of 3, to a full kilojoule. The PHOCL-50 carbon block calorimeter was also recalibrated and compared with the LANL Scientech meter. Cloud clearing studies under Task 3 initially concentrated on delivering a Boeing built Cloud Simulation Facility to LANL, and currently involves ...
In 2009, following approval of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC), the European Commission (EC) created task groups to develop guidance for eleven quality descriptors that form the basis for evaluating ecosystem function. The objective was to provide European countries with practical guidelines for implementing the MSFD, and to produce a Commission Decision that encapsulated key points of the work in a legal framework. This paper presents a review of work carried out by the eutrophication task group, and reports our main findings to the scientific community. On the basis of an operational, management-oriented definition, we discuss the main methodologies that could be used for coastal and marine eutrophication assessment. Emphasis is placed on integrated ap...
The Clean Water Act of 1977 directed EPA to establish standards for use and disposal of sewage sludge (biosolids). The application of biosolids to non-agricultural lands is becoming increasingly important as a method of waste disposal. Ecological endpoints at the population, community, and/or ecosystem level have not previously been emphasized in the development of regulatory standards for municipal sewage sludge. This risk assessment focuses on terrestrial endpoints in four ecosystem types to which substantial quantities of sludge have been applied or are expected to be applied in the future: northwest Douglas-fir forest, southeastern loblolly pine plantation, eastern deciduous forest, and semi-arid rangeland. Conceptual models suitable for all ecosystems were developed that depict the links among assessment endpoints. Estimates of risks to wildlife from contaminants and simulations of impacts of nitrogen in sewage sludge ...
This Current Year Work Plan presents a detailed description of the activities to be performed by the Joint Integration Office during FY87. It breaks down the activities into two major work areas: Program Management and Program Analysis. Program Management is performed by the JIO by providing technical planning and guidance for the development of advanced TRU waste management capabilities. This includes equipment/facility design, engineering, construction, and operations. These functions are integrated to allow transition from interim storage to final disposition. JIO tasks include program requirements identification, long-range technical planning, budget development, program planning document preparation, task guidance, task monitoring, information gathering and task reporting to DOE, interfacing with other agencies and DOE lead programs, integrating public involvement with program efforts, and ...
Safety standards for exposure to radiofrequency radiation must be based upon biologic consequences of exposure to such environments. Behavioral-based measures are considered to be the most-sensitive indices of biological effects. Current safety guidelines are based upon average power density and may not be relevant to the high-peak-power, short pulse width microwave radiation produced by newly developed high peak power microwave sources. The effects of exposure to high-peak-power radiation on reflexive responding and motor function in Fischer 344/N rats were assessed by measuring startle and general activity, and disruption of on-going performance of a rotarod task, respectively. The emitter used was the TEMPO repeat pulse axially extracted vircator. Exposure to single pulses resulted in significant startle responses. Exposure to 1 pps for 10 s produced significant alterations in baseline activity and marked disruption of performance of the ...
The Fusion Technology task performs analyses and systems studies of conceptual fusion reactors based upon inertial and high-#beta# magnetic confinement schemes. Progress in the areas of theoretical analysis (plasma and neutral-gas blanket models), specific reactor studies (toroidal and linear theta pinches, Z pinches, laser fusion) neutronic and nuclear data assessments, materials (metals and insulators) evaluation, and general engineering design is reported.
Focuses on the application of remote sensing techniques to the study of coal waste mounds. The situation at the coal waste mounds in Fukuoka, Japan is cited. Guidelines on film parameters, photographic keys and tasks required to inventory, monitor and manage coal waste mounds in Japan are addressed. Application of photogrammetry, remote sensing, aerial photography and satellite imagery techniques in monitoring spoil banks is reviewed. Applicability of the techniques is discussed. 24 refs.
National Nuclear Safety Department is authorized by Infra (Iranian Nuclear Regulatory Authority) for issuing rules and regulation and conducting the licensing and supervisory process for nuclear facilities. The main responsibilities of the NNSD are conducted via five main division are, nuclear codes and standards, Nuclear Safety assessment, Authorization, Inspection and Enforcement and Technical Support. In this paper, the functions and responsibilities of TSD in enhancing nuclear safety are described. Examples of main tasks to support the Nuclear Safety assessment division regarding to technical calculations and research of safety issues in licensing documents are provided. (author)
Disaster impact modeling and analysis uses huge volumes of image data that are produced immediately following a natural or an anthropogenic disaster event. Rapid damage assessment is the key to time critical decision support in disaster management to better utilize available response resources and accelerate recovery and relief efforts. But exploiting huge volumes of high resolution image data for identifying damaged areas with robust consistency in near real time is a challenging task. In this paper, we present an automated image analysis technique to identify areas of structural damage from high resolution optical satellite data using features based on image content.
The intention is to define what is required as evidence of continuous resistance to malfunction to ensure operational safety according to Rule KTA 3706 'Proof of electrical component safety under leakage conditions'. As a supporting part of this task, a recognized scientific and engineering basis on which to define the requirements has to be set up. The report is a compilation of studies and development work which could contribute useful improvements to the assessment methodology applied to thermal aging (Arrhenius model, ndeg-rule, Eyring model, Inverse-power model, according to KTA Rule 3505) of electronic controls or electrical components. (orig./DG).
Task, Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) Transition to Operations ... Related Tasks (36). Task, Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) on ISS. Common Item(s) ...
Quantitative ecological risk assessment (ERA) is a means whereby the risk posed by a toxicant in any system can be evaluated by comparing the distribution of its measured or modelled concentrations (water quality data (WQD)) with available information on the range of concentrations that are known to adversely affect biota within that, or similar, habitats (dose-response data (DRD)). Initially, the WQD are compared with regulatory criteria (e.g. ANZECC and ARMCANZ, 2000). If they fail this test, then, on the assumption that both data sets comprise subsets of the entire range of concentrations, probability density functions are derived assuming a standard distribution form a typically log-normal. In this paper, AQUARISK has been used to estimate the risk posed by copper in effluent from the Rum Jungle mine site, pre- and post-remediation, and the proportion of taxa likely to be affected in the East Branch (EB) of the Finniss River downstream of ...
The improvement of the ecological conditions at waste storing reservoirs is an important task of the restoration activity at Production Association (PA) ``Mayak`` (South Urals). The radionuclides mostly {sup 90}Sr, {sup 137}Cs, and chemical pollutants deposited in the reservoir water and in the bottom sediment are very dangerous sources for the contamination of Techa River below the reservoirs and the contamination of groundwater in the surrounding formations. The spreading of radioactive contaminants has both hydrogeological and the chemical features. The thermodynamic approach used to account for physical-chemical interactions between water and the bed rocks based on Gibbs free energy minimization of multicomponent system (H-O-Ca-Mg-K-Na-S-Cl-C-Sr) permitted the authors to calculate the corresponding ionic and complex species existing in the solutions, and to characterize the processes of precipitation and dissolution. The model takes into ...
The objective of this Task Group is the coordination of research studies on biokinetic models and the evaluation of the implications of new biokinetic models on dose assessment and safety standards. For this the new ICRP models, which will be used for a revision of ICRP Publications 30, 54, 68 and 78, are implemented into six different computer codes in five European countries and quality assured by intercomparison procedures. The work has started with the implementation of the new ICRP Alimentary Tract Model. New systemic models and the new NCRP wound model will follow. The work also includes the evaluation of experimental results in terms of formulation by the new model structures and a quality assurance of model formulation. PMID:17556343
Ecological speciation is the process by which barriers to gene flow between populations evolve due to adaptive divergence via natural selection. A relatively unexplored area in ecological speciation...Full Text Available
The goal of the work this quarter has been to partition and high-grade the Greater Green River basin for exploration efforts in the Upper Cretaceous tight gas play and to initiate resource assessment of the basin. The work plan for the quarter of July 1-September 30, 1998 comprised three tasks: (1) Refining the exploration process for deep, naturally fractured gas reservoirs; (2) Partitioning of the basin based on structure and areas of overpressure; (3) Examination of the Kinney and Canyon Creek fields with respect to the Cretaceous tight gas play and initiation of the resource assessment of the Vermilion sub-basin partition (which contains these two fields); and (4) Initiation analysis of the Deep Green River Partition with respect to the Stratos well and assessment of the resource in the partition.
BackgroundStatistical autoregressive analyses of direct and delayed density dependence are widespread in ecological research. The models suggest that changes in ecological factors...Full Text Available
The ecological approach to perception, as developed by James Gibson, is described and applied to how one knows, by means of the haptic perceptual system, various properties of hand-held objects. Four...Full Text Available
The relative abundance and variation of Cr, Co, Cd and Pb in Ascophyllum nodosum and intertidal surface sediments from six locations around the coast were assessed over six seasons. Higher Cd and Pb levels in Galway Docks and Cork Harbour were attributed to localised inputs of these metals from municipal and domestic waste, while at a reference site (Ballyconneely), high algal Cr concentrations were considered a function of geological setting rather than anthropogenic loading. Little seasonal variation was observed, with the exception of higher Co levels in plants in winter, associated with growth dynamics and increased fluvial inputs. In comparison with previously published data for metals in A. nodosum from the North Atlantic, with the exception of localised hot spots, the Irish coastline is still a relatively pristine environment. A. nodosum may be successfully and easily used as a biomonitor of metal contamination in coastal waters. - This paper provides ...
Chlorine is not just one of many chemical feedstocks which is used in a few definitely harmful products like PVC or CFC but is irrelevant in all other respects. Just the opposite is true: There is hardly any product line of the chemical industry that can do without chlorine, from herbicides and pesticides to dyes, plastics, pharmaceuticals, photographic atricles, and cosmetics. Chlorine is not only a key element of chemical production but also an ubiquitous element of everyday life in civilisation. There are even many who would agree that the volume of chlorine production is an indicator of the competitive strength and national wealth of a modern society. By now, however, it has become evident that the unreflected use of chlorine is no longer ecologically acceptable. The consequences of a chlorine phase-out as compared to the continued chlorine production at the present level were investigated scientifically by a PROGNOS team. They are presented in this book. ...
This remedial investigation (RI)/feasibility study (FS) supports the selection of remedial actions for the David Witherspoon, Inc. 901 Maryville Pike Site in Knoxville, Tennessee. Operations at the site, used as a recycling center, have resulted in past, present, and potential future releases of hazardous substances in to the environment. This Site is a Tennessee Superfund site. A phased approach was planned to (1) gather existing data from previous investigations managed by the Tenn. Dept. of Environment and Conservation; (2) perform a preliminary RI, including risk assessments, and an FS with existing data to identify areas where remedial action may be necessary; (3) gather additional field data to adequately define the nature and extent of risk-based contaminants that present identifiable threats to human and/or ecological receptors; and (4) develop remedial action alternatives to reduce risks to acceptable levels.
Summary 1.-The metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) predicts that, after correcting for body mass variation among organisms, the rates of most biological processes will vary as a universal function of temperature. However, empirical support for -universal temperature dependence- (UTD) is currently equivocal and based on studies of a limited number of traits. 2.-In many ectothermic animals, the rate at which females produce mature eggs is temperature dependent and may be an important factor in determining the costs of reproduction. 3.-We tested whether the rate of egg maturation in marine turtles varies with environmental temperature as predicted by MTE, using the time separating successive clutches of individual females to estimate the rate at which eggs are formed. We also assessed the pheno...
Bank sediments along a 40km reach of the South River, downstream of Waynesboro, VA, store mercury from historical contamination as a result of textile manufacturing. Knowledge of the rate at which contaminated sediment is released to the stream channel through bank erosion is required to implement restoration programs designed, for example, to minimize its ecological impact and to reduce risk to human health. Digitized stream channel boundaries based on visual interpretations of georeferenced aerial imagery from 1937 and 2005 were compared to calculate a minimum estimate of the total area of bank sediment eroded between Waynesboro and Port Republic, Virginia. Estimates of riverbank height were extracted from aerial LIDAR data, allowing areal estimates of bank retreat to be converted to vol...
Fitness, (biometric measurements, reproduction) and behaviour that are ecologically relevant biomarkers in assessing the quality of estuarine sediments were studied by comparing the responses of the polychaete worm Nereis diversicolor - a key species in estuaries - along a pollution gradient. Intersite differences were shown for all the measured parameters: size-weight relationships, energy reserves as glycogen and lipids, sexual maturation patterns, total number of oocytes per female, total and relative fecundity, burrowing behaviour. The physiological and behavioural status of N. diversicolor was consistently disturbed in the larger, most contaminated estuaries (Loire and Seine, Fr.) compared to reference sites (Bay of Bourgneuf, Goyen estuary, Fr.). Many classes of potentially toxic che...
Hydrological classification constitutes the first step of a new holistic framework for developing regional environmental flow criteria: the ?Ecological Limits of Hydrologic Alteration (ELOHA)?. The aim of this study was to develop a classification for 390 stream sections of the Segura River Basin based on 73 hydrological indices that characterize their natural flow regimes. The hydrological indices were calculated with 25?years of natural monthly flows (1980/81?2005/06) derived from a rainfall-runoff model developed by the Spanish Ministry of Environment and Public Works. These indices included, at a monthly or annual basis, measures of duration of droughts and central tendency and dispersion of flow magnitude (average, low and high flow conditions). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indi...
Ecosystems worldwide are experiencing unprecedented nitrogen enrichment through fertilization and pollution. While longterm ecological consequences are difficult to predict, it seems that plants and animals adapted to nitrogen-limited environments are at particular risk from these changes. This report summarizes the limited body of literature which addresses this important topic. From a herbivoreAes perspective, fertilization increases the nutritional quality of host plant tissues. In some cases fertilization has lead to decreased production of defensive compounds. How this affects populations of insects is unclear because fertilization affects not only herbivores but their natural enemies. This report outlines how fertilization affects tree processes such as growth, photosynthesis, and production of defensive compounds. The many factors that affect insect repsonse to fertilization and the difficulties in assessing how fertilization affects ...
Climate variability greatly affects animals through direct and indirect effects. Animals with slow reproductive adaptation to ecological changes such as large mammals are likely to have evolved mechanisms to anticipate early such impacts of climate variability on the environment. One of the adaptive mechanisms between reproductive costs and benefits in mammals affects parental investment through biases in sex ratio. Deer might be likely to show an early detection of climate variability because conception takes place in early autumn, but the main raising cost in deer concerns lactation, which takes place at the end of the following spring. The aim of this paper is to assess whether there is a relationship between global indices of climate variability such as El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (EN...
The Plant Life Assessment Network (PLAN) is a Brite Euram Type II Thematic Network, initiated by the European Commission to facilitate structured co-operation between all cost shared action projects already funded by the Commission which fall under this common technical theme. The projects involved address a multiplicity of problems associated with plant life assessment and are drawn from Brite-Euram, Standards, Measurement and Testing, Nuclear Fission Safety and Esprit EC programmes. The main aim of the Network is to initiate, maintain and monitor a fruitful co-operation process between completed, ongoing and future EC R and D projects, thereby promoting improved cross fertilization and enhanced industrial exploitation of R and D results. As the project is in its infancy, this presentation covers the background to the initiative in some detail. In particular two key aspects are highlighted, namely, the requirement of the EC to launch such a ...
Empirical formulae are proposed for the description of relation between optimum energies minimizing the mean-weighted error of gamma absorption measurement of the thickness of layers in two-layer products with the thickness of every layer from 30 up to 150 mm by carbon. Error of informational parameter approximation with the application of tables does not exceed 10% in case of non-accurate assessment of layers thickness not exceeding 2.5%. Generalized equation is derived which binds main parameters of the task and permits to choose optimum energies with the accuracy sufficient for practical purposes
Kong-Ming Wu (Corresponding author) The application of recombinant DNA technology has resulted in many insect-resistant varieties by genetic engineering (GE). Crops expressing Cry toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have been planted worldwide, and are an effective tool for pest control. However, one ecological concern regarding the potential effects of insect-resistant GE plants on non-target organisms (NTOs) has been continually debated. In the present study, we briefly summarize the data regarding the development and commercial use of transgenic Bt varieties, elaborate on the procedure and methods for assessing the non-target effects of insect-resistant GE plants, and synthetically analyze the related research results, mostly those published between 2005 and 2010. A mass of laboratory and field studies have shown that the currently available Bt crops have no direct detrimental effects on NTOs due to their narrow spectrum of ...
In June 1997, the US Navy plans to close its Naval Air Facility on Sand Island and transfer the atoll to the US Fish and Wildlife Service for use as a National Wildlife Refuge. Midway provides breeding and feeding habitat for migratory seabirds, terrestrial and marine mammals, sea turtles and other reptiles, and a variety of reef fishes and invertebrates. As part of the base closure and transfer process, 36 sites of potential environmental concern were identified on Sand and Eastern islands. These sites include landfills and uncontrolled disposal areas, hazardous materials storage areas, abandoned transformers, sewer outfalls, and other potential hazardous waste sites. Potential contaminants include pesticides, PAHs, PCBs, and heavy metals. A screening ecological risk assessment was performed at each site with a goal of determining whether contaminants could pose any current or future risks to protected migratory bird or marine mammal wildlife ...
Pai ALH, Gray E, Kurivial K, Ross J, Schoborg D, Goebel J. The Allocation of Treatment Responsibility scale: A novel tool for assessing patient and caregiver management of pediatric medical treatment regimens. Pediatr Transplantation 2010: 14:993 999. 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Abstract: The purpose of the current study is to report preliminary psychometric properties of the ATR scale, a brief measure of the distribution of treatment tasks across the family members of children with a kidney transplant. Pediatric patients with renal transplants (ages 7 18 yr) and their caregivers completed the ATR and measures of adherence and family functioning. Internal consistency for the ATR (total score and subscales) was strong (range = 0.75 0.93). Validity for the ATR was supported by significant co...
Papers and presentations were made by all participating countries and provided a wide range of perspectives on the use of the ASSET methodology. Generally, the views expressed were positive, however, there were comments on areas were the service could be improved or enhanced. The workshop was divided into three task groups to analyze the self-assessments conducted at Krsko NPP, Slovenia; Dukovany NPP, Czech Republic; and Balakovo NPP, Russian Federation. In addition, they were asked to comment on the recommendations on the ASSET service made by the Consultants' Meeting of 26-30 August 1996 on ''Performance of the IAEA programme on Operational Safety Services''. A presentation was made by Mr. B. Thomas to remind delegates of the ASSET methodologies, and Mr. V. Sivokon demonstrated the latest developments of computer software available for assisting in the plant Self-Assessment process. Refs, figs, tabs.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has funded major environmental technology developments over the past several years. One area that received significant attention is robotics, which has resulted in the development of a wide range of unique robotic systems tailored to the many tasks unique to the DOE complex. These systems are often used in highly hazardous environments, which reduces or eliminates worker exposures. The DOE, concurrent with the technology development initiative, also established and funded a 5-yr cooperative agreement intended to interface with the technology development community-with specific attention to the occupational safety and health aspects associated with individual technologies through human factors and hazard assessments. This program is now in its third year.
The model of `ecological forestry' has evolved as a part of the development of the concept of ecosystem management. `Ecological forestry' emphasises that manipulation of a forest ecosystem should consider, and as far as practicable work within the limits of, natural disturbance patterns prior to extensive human alteration of the landscape. This paper evaluates the extent to which forest management practices in jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) and karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) forests of south-western Australia align with this view of the characteristics and appropriate silviculture of `ecological forestry'. Characteristics and appropriate silviculture of `ecological forestry' are evaluated in relation to (i) the stand level decisions of stand structure and harvest timing and (ii) the landsc...
One of the initial stages in ecological risk assessment for hazardous waste sites is the screening of contaminants to determine which of them are worthy of further consideration as ''contaminants of potential concern.'' This process is termed ''contaminant screening.'' It is performed by comparing measured ambient concentrations of chemicals to benchmark concentrations. Currently, no standard benchmark concentrations exist for assessing contaminants in soil with respect to their toxicity to plants. This report presents a standard method for deriving benchmarks for this purpose (phytotoxicity benchmarks), a set of data concerning effects of chemicals in soil or soil solution on plants, and a set of phytotoxicity benchmarks for 34 chemicals potentially associated with US Department of Energy (DOE) sites. Chemicals that are found in soil at concentrations exceeding both the phytotoxicity benchmark and the background ...
One of the initial stages in ecological risk assessments for hazardous waste sites is the screening of contaminants to determine which of them are worthy of further consideration as open-quotes contaminants of potential concern.close quotes This process is termed open-quotes contaminant screening.close quotes It is performed by comparing measured ambient concentrations of chemicals to benchmark concentrations. Currently, no standard benchmark concentrations exist for assessing contaminants in soil with respect to their toxicity to soil- and litter-dwelling invertebrates, including earthworms, other micro- and macroinvertebrates, or heterotrophic bacteria and fungi. This report presents a standard method for deriving benchmarks for this purpose, sets of data concerning effects of chemicals in soil on invertebrates and soil microbial processes, and benchmarks for chemicals potentially associated with United States Department ...
This Current Year Work Plan presents in detail a description of the activities to be performed by the Joint Integration Office/RI during FY86. It breaks down the activities into two major work areas: Program Management and Program Analysis. Program Management is performed by the JIO/RI by providing technical planning and guidance for the development of advanced TRU waste management capabilities. This includes equipment/facility design, engineering, construction, and operations. These functions are integrated to allow transition from interim storage to final disposition. JIO/RI tasks include program requirements identification, long-range technical planning, budget development, program planning document preparation, task guidance development, task monitoring, task progress information gathering and reporting to DOE, interfacing with other agencies and DOE lead programs, integrating public involvement ...
... The task consisted of determination of the most economical composition of the charge of the cupola furnace of the foundry. 21s was no simple task. ...
... directed the transformation of designated Service operational headquarters into effective and scalable Joint Task Force headquarters capable of ...
Laser safety standards and eye protection (filters) are designed to limit ocular exposures to prevent retinal lesions, yet eyesafe laser exposures can disrupt vision by causing glare and flashblindness. Protective filters can have opposing effects on vision function. They reduce laser exposures but also reduce task luminance and contrast. Filters alone may interfere with vision and consequently reduce work safety and performance. It is therefore important to be able to predict the effects of both laser exposures and protective filters to assess trade-offs between protection and visual function. This paper briefly reviews the methods, concepts, and experimental database used in our laboratory to predict laser, filter, and laser-plus-filter effects on tasks involving visual detection. The modeling approach uses estimates of the spatial distribution of light in the retinal image of the laser source to predict glare, ...
The environmental impact caused by local people (ecological footprint of consumption, EFc) and the actual environmental impact that the ecosystem burdens (ecological footprint of production, EFp) in West Jilin Province, Northeast China from 1986 to 2006 were evaluated by using ecological footprint (EF) method. And the major driving forces of EFc and EFp were analyzed by STIRPAT model. Both EFc and EFp showed increasing trends in 1986?2006, accompanied by decreasing ecological deficits but expanding ecological overshoots. Population (P), GDP per capita (A 1), quadratic term of GDP per capita (A 2), urbanization (T a1), and quadratic term of urbanization (T a2) were important influencing factors of EFc, among which T a2 and T a1 were the most dominate driving forces of EFc. A 1, A 2 and T a2...
The Electrochemical Technology Program at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) provides advanced battery R&D; technology transfer to industry; technical analyses, assessments, modeling, and databases; and independent testing and post-test analyses of advanced batteries. These capabilities and services are being offered to the US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) are being negotiated for USABC-sponsored work at ANL. A small portion of DOE`s cost share for USABC projects has been provided to ANL to continue R&D and testing activities on key technologies that were previously supported directly by DOE. This report summarizes progress on these USABC projects during the period of April I through September 30, 1992. In this report, the objective, background, technical progress, and status are described for each task. The work is organized into the following task ...
The Electrochemical Technology Program at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) provides advanced battery R D; technology transfer to industry; technical analyses, assessments, modeling, and databases; and independent testing and post-test analyses of advanced batteries. These capabilities and services are being offered to the US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) are being negotiated for USABC-sponsored work at ANL. A small portion of DOE's cost share for USABC projects has been provided to ANL to continue R D and testing activities on key technologies that were previously supported directly by DOE. This report summarizes progress on these USABC projects during the period of April I through September 30, 1992. In this report, the objective, background, technical progress, and status are described for each task. The work is organized into the following task ...
This report contains the results of the Photovoltaic (PV) Industry Manufacturing Technology Assessment performed by the Automation and Robotics Research Institute (ARRI) of the University of Texas at Arlington for the National Renewable Energy laboratory. ARRI surveyed eleven companies to determine their state-of-manufacturing in the areas of engineering design, operations management, manufacturing technology, equipment maintenance, quality management, and plant conditions. Interviews with company personnel and plant tours at each of the facilities were conducted and the information compiled. The report is divided into two main segments. The first part of the report presents how the industry as a whole conforms to ``World Class`` manufacturing practices. Conclusions are drawn from the results of a survey as to the areas that the PV industry can improve on to become more competitive in the industry and World Class. Appendix A contains the questions asked in the ...
Low and intermediate waste disposal facilities safety assessment is comprised of several steps from site selection , construction and operation to post-closure performance assessment. This is a multidisciplinary and complex task , and can not be analyzed by one expert only. This high complexity can lead to ambiguity and vagueness in information and consequently in the decision making process. In order to make the decision process clear and objective, there is the need to provide the decision makers with a clear and comprehensive picture of the whole process and, at the same time, simple and easily understandable by the public. This paper suggests the development of an inference system based on fuzzy decision making methodology. Fuzzy logic tools are specially suited to deal with ambiguous data by using language expressions. This process would be capable of integrating knowledge from various fields of environmental sciences. ...
Some of most used indicators in marine ecology are nucleic acid-derived indices. They can be divided by target levels in three groups: 1) at the organism level as ecophysiologic indicators, indicators...Full Text Available
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are ecologically important root symbionts of most terrestrial plants. Ecological studies of AMF have concentrated on differences between species; largely assuming...Full Text Available
An important early step in the assessment of ecological risks at contaminated sites is the screening of chemicals detected on the site to identify those that constitute a potential risk. Part of this screening process is the comparison of measured ambient concentrations to concentrations that are believed to be nonhazardous, termed benchmarks. This article discusses 13 methods by which benchmarks may be derived for aquatic biota and presents benchmarks for 105 chemicals. It then compares them with respect to their sensitivity, availability, magnitude relative to background concentrations, and conceptual bases. This compilation is limited to chemicals that have been detected on the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) and to benchmarks derived from studies of toxic effects on freshwater organisms. The list of chemicals includes 45 metals and 56 industrial organic chemicals but only four pesticides. Although some individual ...
The impact of surface mining for coal on the nature and extent of freshwater wetlands was assessed on 73,200 ha in western Pennsylvania. The influence of mining on wetlands was not uniform across physiographic regions, varying with regional differences in hydrology and soils. Overall, mined lands supported 18% more palustrine wetlands, than unmined lands, primarily because of a 270% gain in permanent, open-water wetlands on mined lands in the glaciated region. Open-water wetlands declined on mined lands in unglaciated regions owing to unfavorable hydrologic conditions. The number and size of emergent wetlands declined as a result of mining. Mined lands supported 81% fewer riverine wetlands than unmined lands. This was caused primarily by avoidance of lands containing streams, and secondarily by a 10% reduction in replacement of riverine wetlands during reclamation. Land managers need to develop land use policies that maximize the ecological and ...
Fitness, (biometric measurements, reproduction) and behaviour that are ecologically relevant biomarkers in assessing the quality of estuarine sediments were studied by comparing the responses of the polychaete worm Nereis diversicolor - a key species in estuaries - along a pollution gradient. Intersite differences were shown for all the measured parameters: size-weight relationships, energy reserves as glycogen and lipids, sexual maturation patterns, total number of oocytes per female, total and relative fecundity, burrowing behaviour. The physiological and behavioural status of N. diversicolor was consistently disturbed in the larger, most contaminated estuaries (Loire and Seine, Fr.) compared to reference sites (Bay of Bourgneuf, Goyen estuary, Fr.). Many classes of potentially toxic chemicals present in these estuaries most likely contribute to these impairments but food availability may act as a confounding factor, interfering with the ...
The ''biotechnology 2000'' project is supervised by the project sponsor ''biology, energy, ecology'' at Forschungszentrum Juelich on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology. The project activities cover the development of techniques and methods, cell biology, gene structure and gene regulation, photosynthetic production processes, biological hydrogen production, synthetic biology, protein design, neurobiological research, biosystems, plant breeding, phytomedicine and plant protection, the biology of waste disposal methods, research into methods which replace animal experiments, biological safety research, technology risk assessment, and ethical aspects. A general survey introduces the promoted projects, and standardized data sheets briefly introduce the individual activities. The appendix gives the project indices, the indices of joint projects, a list of ...
The major purpose of the work described in this report was to use diffusion modeling techniques to calculate the impact on ambient air quality of SO2 emissions from the ASARCO copper smelter in Tacoma, Washington for the existing smelter configuration (51-percent constant emissions control) and for 20 alternative smelter configurations with varying degrees of constant emissions control. The accuracy of the modeling techniques was established by the close correspondence obtained between calculated and observed short-term ground-level SO2 concentrations for 20 selected historical cases, when high hourly SO2 concentrations were measured in the area surrounding the smelter, as well as by the close agreement between calculated and observed annual average concentrations for 1972. The results of the model calculations show that the maximum allowable constant SO2 emission rate consistent with maintaining the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE) and Puget Sound Air ...
At Livermore our hope and our intention is to make important contributions to global sustainability by basing both our scientific and technological research and our business practices on the principles of industrial ecology. Current efforts in the following fields are documented: global security, global ecology, energy for transportation, fusion energy, materials sciences, environmental technology, and bioscience.
This report is the result of field work performed at the former White Point Nike Missile Site, San Pedro, California. The Hazardous Waste Remedial Actions Program tasked the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Pollutant Assessments Group in Grand Junction, Colo., with this project. The objective was to determine whether or not radioisotopes possibly associated with past Department of Defense (DOD) operations were present and within accepted background levels. The radiation survey was accomplished by performing three independent radiation surveys, both outdoors and indoors, and random soil sampling. Initially, the site was land surveyed to develop a grid block system. A background radiation investigation was performed out in the San Pedro area.
A large portion of the work performed at nuclear power plants follows standardized flow paths. For example, although components on which the maintenance crew works differ from one assignment to the next, all assignments basically follow the same process: requesting, reviewing, planning, scheduling, executing, testing, and documenting the work. In general, the term open-quotes work processclose quotes is used to refer to a standardized sequence of tasks designed within the operational environment of an organization to achieve a specific goal. The predictable nature of work processes suggests that a systematic analysis can be conducted to identify the desirable design of the process and to develop performance measures with respect to the strengths and weaknesses in the process. Furthermore, because of the close relationship of the work process to plant performance and plant safety, it is believed that such an analysis will facilitate the inclusion of organizational ...
The recent literature in the field of supply chain management emphasizes the role of inter-organizational networks and the integration of vertical reproduction networks (supply chains) in particular as a key factor for value creation. However, the literature includes little empirical evidence. This situation suggests the need to appraise investments in such networks or supply chains carefully. How can a decision maker reliably assess the effect of investing in inter-organizational network arrangements on firm value? This article takes up this issue and suggests a framework consisting of five components to help answer the question. The task of the framework is to support the structuring and revelation of the causal chain between investments in the network on the one hand and the effect of t...
Typically, point forecasting methods are compared and assessed by means of an error measure or scoring function, such as the absolute error or the squared error. The individual scores are then averaged over forecast cases, to result in a summary measure of the predictive performance, such as the mean absolute error or the (root) mean squared error. I demonstrate that this common practice can lead to grossly misguided inferences, unless the scoring function and the forecasting task are carefully matched. Effective point forecasting requires that the scoring function be specified ex ante, or that the forecaster receives a directive in the form of a statistical functional, such as the mean or a quantile of the predictive distribution. If the scoring function is specified ex ante, the forecaster can issue the optimal point forecast, namely, the Bayes rule. If the forecaster receives a directive in the form of a functional, it is critical that the ...
The major goal of this continuation project is to advance the utilization of heat transfer enhancement techniques in commercial heat exchange equipment. Thirteen heat transfer enhancement techniques have been identified as having potential for improving heat transfer coefficients in full-scale industrial equipment. The following tasks are part of this project, which was originally planned for three years: (1) expansion of technology information base; (2) evaluation of performance of enhanced surfaces and inserts; (3) correlation of data for spirally fluted surfaces; (4) study of structured surfaces in pool boiling; and (5) study of structured surface in spray film evaporation.
The impacts of federal projects on wetlands should be included in documents prepared to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA assessments of impacts on wetlands are often related to requirements of other laws, regulations, and executive orders, such as permitting requirements under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and those contained in Executive Order 11990, Protection of Wetlands. This paper reviews recent NEPA environmental impact statements that contained assessments of impacts on wetlands or that involved projects likely to affect wetlands. It covers documents prepared by several federal agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Energy, Federal Highway Administration, Soil Conservation Service, and Tennessee Valley Authority. The extent and depth of analyses of wetlands issues was found to be highly variable, both within and among agencies. Most analyses did not provide adequate geographical ...
The fundamental tasks of the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant maintenance operations are planning, scheduling, executing, postmaintenance testing, completing the maintenance job, and supporting these activities with administrative and technical assistance. The Department of Energy (DOE) ``Maintenance Management Program`` guidelines require that we use a graded approach for applying formality and documentation to these maintenance operations. The most-rigorous controls should be placed on maintaining the most-vital systems, structures, and components (SSCs). We must understand risk assessments in order to evaluate which SSCs are most vital. The product of this assessment process is a well-developed understanding of where to apply the most rigor, formality, and documentation. Once we have determined where, we must determine how to apply maintenance so as to mitigate risk. Fundamental to determining how to apply it is an understanding of ...
Work on this coke oven gas cleaning demonstration project (CCT-II) this quarter has been focused on Phase IIB tasks, and include engineering, procurement, construction, and training. Additionally, plans for changes in the operating schedule of the coke plant that affect the demonstration project are described. Engineering efforts are nearly complete. Remaining to be finalized is an assessment of electrical heat tracing/insulation needs for pipe lines, assessment of fire protection requirements, and instrument modifications. Procurement of all major equipment items is complete, except for possible additions to fire fighting capabilities. Major focus is on expediting pipe and structural steel to the project site. Civil construction is complete except for minor pads and bases as required for pipe supports, etc. Erection of the hydrogen sulfide and ammonia scrubber vessels is complete. Installation of scrubber vessel internals ...
INSAG has emphasized that safety culture has two general components: the organizational framework and the attitude of the staff. To develop a structured approach to the assessment of safety culture, we propose that the highly formalized nature of nuclear power plant organizations be exploited. The prime coordinating mechanism of NPP organizations is the standardization of work processes, where a work process is defined as a standardized sequence of tasks designed to achieve a specific goal (an example is the maintenance work process). The predictable nature of work processes is exploited by the Work Process Analysis Model (WPAM) to conduct a systematic analysis that identifies the desirable characteristics of work processes and develops performance measures for their strengths and weaknesses. These can provide a set of tangible characteristics of a good safety culture. It is argued in this paper that the analysis of normal power production and ...
Special Operations Forces (SOF) within a Joint Task Force are controlled by a Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF). Presently, JSOTF headquarters are formed around the core of the Theater Special Operations Command (TSOC), a service SOF headquarter...
Atlantic Richfield Company, together with Bechtel Group, Inc. and Combustion Engineering, have conducted a study since August 1979 for the Electric Power Research Institute to: (1) develop guidelines for the electric utility industry to assess the technical and economic applicability of coal-oil mixtures (COM) to existing fossil fuel plants, and (2) assess the market potential and cost of preparation for a commercially produced COM fuel suitable for use by electric utility entities. This report is the compilation of work done for the second task. Results from Task 1 are reported separately. Reported here is a methodology for the estimation of coal-oil mixture pricing. Components included in the pricing estimate are raw materials costs, transportation and manufacturing cost components, with capital recovery treated according to both public (utility) and private financing guidelines. A detailed base case ...
Cache locking technique is often utilized to guarantee a tighter prediction of Worst-Case Execution Time (WCET) which is one of the most important performance metrics for embedded systems. However, in Multi-Processor Systems-on-Chip (MPSoC) systems with multi-tasks, Level 2 (L2) cache is often shared among different tasks and cores, which leads to extended unpredictability of cache. Task assignment has inherent relevancy for cache behavior, while cache behavior also affects the efficiency of task assignment. Task assignment and cache behavior have dramatic influences on the overall WCET of MPSoC. This paper proposes joint task assignment and cache partitioning techniques to minimize the overall WCET for MPSoC systems. Cache locking is applied to each task to guarantee a precise WCET. We pr...
This Remedial Investigation (RI) Work Plan specifically addresses Chestnut Ridge Operable Unit 1, (OU1) which consists of the Chestnut Ridge Security Pits (CRSP). The CRSP are located {approximately}800 ft southeast of the central portion of the Y-12 Plant atop Chestnut Ridge, which is bounded to the northwest by Bear Creek Valley and to the southeast by Bethel Valley. Operated from 1973 to 1988, the CRSP consisted of a series of trenches used for the disposal of classified hazardous and nonhazardous waste materials. Disposal of hazardous waste materials was discontinued in December 1984, while nonhazardous waste disposal ended on November 8, 1988. An RI is being conducted at this site in response to CERCLA regulations. The overall objectives of the RI are to collect data necessary to evaluate the nature and extent of contaminants of concern (COC), support an ecological risk assessment (ERA) and a human health risk ...
The proposed action is to recycle slightly activated copper that is currently stored in a warehouse leased by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) to a scrap metal dealer. Subsequent reutilization of the copper would be unrestricted. This document addresses the potential environmental effects of recycling and reutilizing the activated copper. In addition, the potential environmental effects of possible future uses by the dealer are addressed. Direct environmental effects from the proposed action are assessed, such as air emissions from reprocessing the activated copper, as well as indirect beneficial effects, such as averting air emissions that would result from mining and smelting an equivalent quantity of copper ore. Evaluation of the human health impacts of the proposed action focuses on the pertinent issues of radiological doses and protection of workers and the public. Five alternatives to the proposed action are considered, and their associated potential ...
The challenge for truck engine product engineering is not only to fulfill increasingly stringent emission requirements, but also to improve the engine's economical viability in its role as the backbone of our global economy. While societal impact and therefore emission limit values are to be reduced in big steps, continuous improvement is not enough but technological quantum leaps are necessary. The introduction and refinement of electronic control of all major engine systems has already been a quantum leap forward. Maximizing the benefits of these technologies to customers and society requires full use of parameter optimization and other enabling technologies. The next big step forward will be widespread use of exhaust aftertreatment on all transportation related diesel engines. While exhaust gas aftertreatment has been successfully established on gasoline (Otto cycle) engines, the introduction of exhaust aftertreatment especially for heavy-duty diesel engines will be much mo ...
This is the ninth quarterly report as required by the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Ecology et al. 1990), also known as the Tri-Party Agreement, established between the US Department of Energy (DOE), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology). The Tri-Party Agreement sets the plan and schedule for achieving regulatory compliance and cleanup of waste sites at the Hanford Site. This report covers progress for the quarter that ended June 30, 1991. A total of 87 milestones have been completed to date. 39 refs., 1 fig.
Institutional and organizational models ... Review individual centre institutional and organizational models in the light of the tasks to be performed by
BackgroundSister species divergence and reproductive isolation commonly results from ecological adaptation. In mimetic Heliconius butterflies, shifts in colour pattern...Full Text Available
This paper first discusses the challenge offered by natural and anthropogenic systems in all of their complexity and then indicates some areas of research in which specific scientific and technological needs are identifiable.
Jun 16, 2011 ... Description: Within the Deschutes River basin of central Oregon, the geology, hydrology, and physiography influence geomorphic and ecologic ...
Mangroves are disappearing rapidly worldwide despite their well documented biodiversity and the ecosystem services they provide. Failure to link ecological processes and their societal benefits has...Full Text Available
An environmental study was done to examine the prevalence of Vibrio mimicus in some aquatic environments of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and of Okayama, Japan. Water samples from Dhaka environments and water...Full Text Available
From out of the numerous technical alternatives the manual develops a waste management concept with emphasis on methods which can be coordinated for maximum ecological use and minimum economic costs. A clear-cut analysis of the present state of waste utilization and waste disposal in the Federal Republic of Germany (chapter 1) is followed by a detailed description of conventional and modern state-of-the-art waste utilization methods based on ecological evaluation criteria (chapter 3). An optimum waste utilization concept for defined quantities of wastes is derived from the ecological and economic comparison of waste utilization techniques given in chapter 3. Chapter 4 points out different variants of waste utilization and waste disposal methods and shows how to determine the optimum variant of the optimum concept for a particular area or community. (orig.).
This report presents findings from the first year of a two-year study of interactive efforts involving utilities and non-utility parties (NUPS) working together to prepare plans, develop Demand-Side Management (DSM) programs, or otherwise promote integrated planning and the use of cost-effective DSM measures. Of the ten cases covered in the current study, seven involved the collaborative approach to NUP involvement, which generally is marked by intensive utility-NUP interactions designed to reach consensus on a broad range of important issues; in collaboratives, outside consultants often are provided to enhance the technical capabilities of the NUPS. Another of the cases in this study involved a cooperative arrangement,'' whereby a utility and a NLT worked together in a focused short-term effort to develop a single DSM program. The intense interaction involved in this approach makes it very similar to a collaborative, except that both the scope and the duration of the ...
This report presents findings from the first year of a two-year study of interactive efforts involving utilities and non-utility parties (NUPS) working together to prepare plans, develop Demand-Side Management (DSM) programs, or otherwise promote integrated planning and the use of cost-effective DSM measures. Of the ten cases covered in the current study, seven involved the collaborative approach to NUP involvement, which generally is marked by intensive utility-NUP interactions designed to reach consensus on a broad range of important issues; in collaboratives, outside consultants often are provided to enhance the technical capabilities of the NUPS. Another of the cases in this study involved a ``cooperative arrangement,`` whereby a utility and a NLT worked together in a focused short-term effort to develop a single DSM program. The intense interaction involved in this approach makes it very similar to a collaborative, except that both the scope and the duration of the effort were ...
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, using the ANS Low Power /Shutdown (LPSD)PRA Standard, evaluated the LPSD PSA model of the KSNP, Younggwang (YGN) Units 5 and 6, and identified the items to be improved. The evaluation results of human reliability analysis (HRA) of the pre-accident human errors in the LPSD PSA model of the KSNP showed that 13 items among 15 items of supporting requirements for those in the ANS PRA Standard were identified as them to be improved. Thus, we newly carried out a HRA for pre-accident human errors in the LPSD PSA model for the KSNP to improve its quality. We considered potential pre-accident human errors for all manual valves and control/instrumentation equipment of the systems modeled in the KSNP LPSD PSA model except reactor protection system/ engineering safety features actuation system. We reviewed 160 manual valves and 56 control/instrumentation equipment. The number of newly identified pre-accident human errors is 101. Among them, the number of ...
The purpose of the Utility Applications Program is to provide information and assistance to interested utilities on central station energy storage systems. Compressed air and underground pumped hydroelectric energy storage are the primary technical focus. Smaller utilities are the primary targets of this program, as they may not have resources to track and utilize new energy conservation developments. The program, initiated during this year-long period, consists of a series of tasks integrating and supporting energy storage implementation. Program management and technical coordination activities monitor the wide range of research ongoing both under government support and in industry and provide a locus for dissemination of results. Recently completed DOE demonstration studies provide the central data base and the DOE CAES and UPH Technology Program activities provide another major resource. In addition a UPH preliminary feasibility study in coorination with Central ...
This report is the user's manual of seismic system reliability analysis code SECOM2 (Seismic Core Melt Frequency Evaluation Code Ver.2) developed at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute for systems reliability analysis, which is one of the tasks of seismic probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The SECOM2 code has many functions such as: Calculation of component failure probabilities based on the response factor method, Extraction of minimal cut sets (MCSs), Calculation of conditional system failure probabilities for given seismic motion levels at the site of an NPP, Calculation of accident sequence frequencies and the core damage frequency (CDF) with use of the seismic hazard curve, Importance analysis using various indicators, Uncertainty analysis, Calculation of the CDF taking into account the effect of the correlations of responses and capacities of components, and Efficient sensitivity analysis by ...
The staff of the Spent Fuel Project Office at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission undertook the investigation and thermal analysis of the Baltimore tunnel fire event. This event occurred in the Howard Street tunnel, in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 18, 2001. The staff was tasked with assessing the consequences of this event on the transportation of spent nuclear fuel. This paper describes the staff's coordination with the following government and laboratory organizations: the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), to determine the details of the train derailment and fire; the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to quantify the thermal conditions within the tunnel; the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analysis (CNWRA), to validate the NIST evaluations, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), to assist in the thermal analysis. The results of the staff's review and analysis efforts are ...
This study examines some radiation accidents occurred in the past. This information has been systematically assessed to get global lessons. The experience feedback shows that the most of accidents happened in certain conditions. These conditions can be distributed in four categories: 1- perception and vigilance in occupation: accidental exposure happened by lack of vigilance in details and lack of vigilance and perception; 2- procedures: accidental exposure happened following a lack of procedures or control that were not enough complete, not enough documented or not completely implemented; 3- training and understanding: accidental exposures happened because the personnel was not enough qualified and educated, did not get the general training nor the the necessary specialized training; 4- liabilities: accidental exposures happened following lacks and ambiguity in the definition of functions of the personnel and in the hierarchy liabilities. In these precise cases ...
An economic analysis of the potential advantages of alternatives for recycling and reusing equipment now stored in Building 865 at the Rocky Flats Plant (RFP) in Colorado has been conducted. The inventory considered in this analysis consists primarily of metallurgical and process equipment used before January 1992, during development and production of nuclear weapons components at the site. The economic analysis consists of a thorough building inventory and cost comparisons for four equipment dispositions alternatives. The first is a baseline option of disposal at a Low Level Waste (LLW) landfill. The three alternatives investigated are metal recycling, reuse with the government sector, and release for unrestricted use. This report provides item-by-item estimates of value, disposal cost, and decontamination cost. The economic evaluation methods documented here, the simple cost comparisons presented, and the data provided as a supplement, should provide a foundation for D&D ...
This article describes the utilization of plastic wastes in a blast furnace. The plastic waste is a substitution for petroleum and coal as a raw material for synthesis gas production. The synthesis gas is the reducing agent in the blast furnace for the reduction of iron ores. You can find here an ecological and economical analysis of this process in comparison to the utilization of petroleum and coal. (SR)
Bacteriocins are an abundant class of antimicrobial molecules that appear to mediate population dynamics within species. The bacteriocins of Escherichia coli have served as a model for exploring the ecological role of these potent toxins. Studies suggest that colicins provide a competitive edge in nutrient-poor environments and that there might be a trade-off between the costs and benefits of colicin production. PMID:10203843
The effect of open pit mine motor transport with ICE on the air basin is examined using the example of shale mines and open pits of the production association ''Estonslanets''. Efficient areas of use of different types of open pit mine motor transport, diesel-trolley tracks and electric cars are determined based on technical-economic and ecologic feasibility.
General trends of developing hydrogen power engineering and technology in Ukraine are considered. Based on a general level of power consumption and real opportunities for hydrogen production, a conclusion is derived that there are possibilities in the near future to partially replace conventional hydrocarbon fuels by hydrogen. Besides, developed technologies for burning hydrogenous gases and hydrogen-fuel systems when applied to transport installations allow one to improve essentially their power and ecological characteristics. 5 refs.
This 'Issues in Ecology' article from the Ecological Society of America provides information about the consequences of nutrient enrichment along the US coast. It describes problems such as harmful algal blooms (HABs), anoxia, hypoxia, and dead zones. It explains which nutrients are involved and describes implications of excess nutrients in regions such as the Gulf of Mexico/Mississippi River basin. The article features several color photographs, maps, and diagrams.
Research programs from the following sections and programs are summarized: aquatic ecology, environmental resources, earth sciences, terrestrial ecology, advanced fossil energy program, toxic substances program, environmental impacts program, biomass, low-level waste research and development program, US DOE low-level waste management program, and waste isolation program.
Two experiments examined the role of compatibility of input and output (I-O) modality mappings in task switching. We define I-O modality compatibility in terms of similarity of stimulus modality and modality of response-related sensory consequences. Experiment 1 included switching between 2 compatible tasks (auditory-vocal vs. visual-manual) and between 2 incompatible tasks (auditory-manual vs. visual-vocal). The resulting switch costs were smaller in compatible tasks compared to incompatible tasks. Experiment 2 manipulated the response-stimulus interval (RSI) to examine the time course of the compatibility effect. The effect on switch costs was confirmed with short RSI, but the effect was diminished with long RSI. Together, the data suggest that task sets are modality specific. Reduced switch costs in compatible tasks may be due to special ...
The application of fossil fuels and the simultaneous dependency on fuel imports can only be decreased through consequent utilisation of efficient hydro power which is the most efficient way to avoid CO{sub 2} emissions. Only some decades ago hydro power plants were buildings erected according to met technical demands. In the 1990s rethinking started and the new designs took into account ecology and architecture. Maintenance and/or improvement of ecological efficiency play a decisive role. Experts of ecology and environmental protection of different faculties are involved right from the beginning when planning starts in order to obtain a maximum of nature compatibility and to develop efficient ecological accompanying and compensating measures. Landscape is being recultivated sustainably during construction activities in order to offer biota optimum conditions of living. Devices supporting fish migration ...
Based upon the existing regulatory cleanup criteria, remediation of this wetlands was proposed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy (NJDEPE). This remedial process would have totally destroyed a thriving Old Field Wetlands. Site-Specific evaluation of the chemicals of potential concern (CPC), remaining source areas, potential environmental fate and transport (EF and T), toxicology (including oral absorption and bioaccumulation) and potential land use scenarios were conducted. It was determined that although the analytical chemistry data reported soil concentrations of arsenic, the compound used by the facility and discharged to the wetlands sediments was in fact gallium arsenide. Secondly, all remaining source areas and hot spots had previously been remediated. Vertical migration to soils had not progressed past a depth of 3 feet and groundwater/surface water did not contain significantly elevated concentrations of gallium arsenide. In comparison to ...
Sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) is a vertebrate pesticide widely used for possum control in New Zealand. Fluoroacetate is also a toxic component of poisonous plants found in Australia, South Africa, South America, and India. Because of its importance and effectiveness in pest control and the highly toxic nature of this compound, its acute sub-lethal and target organ toxicity have been extensively studied. In relation to its use as a pesticide its environmental fate, persistence, non-target impacts and general toxicology have been and continue to be extensively studied. Toxic baits must be prepared and used with extreme care, otherwise humans, livestock, and non-target wildlife will be put at risk. The high risk of secondary poisoning of dogs is a cause for concern. 1080 acts by interfering with cellular energy production. Possums die from heart failure, usually within 6-18 h of eating baits. Long-term exposure to sub-lethal doses can have harmful effects and strict safety precautions ...
The first part of the conference dealt with environmental effects of using coal. Papers dealt with the use of fly ash in agriculture and its effect on plant growth; the effect of airborne emissions on fish and wildlife resources, on watersheds, and on airsheds; the effects of surface mining on the ecology; blast effects; and health hazards associated with coal. The session on policy studies addressed the issue of cost of synthetic fuels and discussed the state and federal pollution regulations on burning coal and waste disposal. The session on combustion presented papers on atmospheric and pressurized fluidized-bed combustion for industrial and utility boilers. It also included papers on MHD power plants, coal-oil and coal-water mixtures, emission characterization and control, and catalytic combustors. The design of gasification plants, reaction kinetics, specific heats of coals and chars, simultaneous production of liquid and gaseous fuels, and economics of fuel ...
The first part of the conference dealt with environmental effects of using coal. Papers dealt with the use of fly ash in agriculture and its effect on plant growth; the effect of airborne emissions on fish and wildlife resources, on watersheds, and on airsheds; the effects of surface mining on the ecology; blast effects; and health hazards associated with coal. The session on policy studies addressed the issue of cost of synthetic fuels and discussed the state and federal pollution regulations on burning coal and waste disposal. The session on combustion presented papers on atmospheric and pressurized fluidized-bed combustion for industrial and utility boilers. It also included papers on MHD power plants, coal-oil and coal-water mixtures, emission characterization and control, and catalytic combustors. The design of gasification plants, reaction kinetics, specific heats of coals and chars, simultaneous production of liquid and gaseous fuels, and economics of fuel ...
Since 1988, the Expertise group of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) is an important partner in the development of the Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (MELiSSA). The MELiSSA was designed to allow a small crew to survive on an Antarctic, lunar or Mars outpost, and is a joint research project currently fostered by the European Space Agency, ESA. The MELiSSA functions through a series of five interconnected compartments, of which four are microbial bioreactors and was engineered to degrade organic waste, regenerate the outpost's atmosphere and water, and provide the crew with an additional vegetarian diet. The bioreactor of the third compartment provides the edible cyanobacteria and plants of the fourth compartment with nitrate instead of ammonium as a source of nitrogen. The two bacteria responsible for the biological transformation of ammonium to nitrate (nitrification) are Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrobacter winogradskyi. Since all ...
This Environmental Assessment (EA) reviews the environmental consequences associated with the proposed action of granting a site use permit to construct and operate a conference center on an approximately 70-acre tract of land on the Savannah River Site (SRS). While the proposed action requires an administrative decision by DOE, this EA reviews the linked action of physically constructing and operating a conference center. The SRS is a DOE-owned nuclear production facility encompassing approximately 200,000 acres in southwestern South Carolina. The proposed conference center would have an area of approximately 4,000 square feet, and would infrequently accommodate as many as 150 people, with the average being about 20 people per day. In addition to the No-Action alternative, under which the Research Foundation would not require the 70-acre tract of SRS land for a conference center, this EA considers site preservation. Under Site Preservation only minimal activities ...
The `biotechnology 2000` project is supervised by the project sponsor `biology, energy, ecology` at Forschungszentrum Juelich on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology. The project activities cover the development of techniques and methods, cell biology, gene structure and gene regulation, photosynthetic production processes, biological hydrogen production, synthetic biology, protein design, neurobiological research, biosystems, plant breeding, phytomedicine and plant protection, the biology of waste disposal methods, research into methods which replace animal experiments, biological safety research, technology risk assessment, and ethical aspects. A general survey introduces the promoted projects, and standardized data sheets briefly introduce the individual activities. The appendix gives the project indices, the indices of joint projects, a list of the supported companies and institutions, and the project sponsor ...
Ulrich in the forward to the Zenger and Folkman (2002) book, ''The Extraordinary Leader'', wrote about the importance of character in leadership stating, ''Everything about great leaders radiates from character. Character improves the probability of exhibiting strong interpersonal skill. Some of this perceived character is innate . . . but more is driven by the leader's self-awareness and interactions with others'' (p. ix). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between leadership effectiveness and character using leader-managers of knowledge workers as the subject sample. Findings indicated that character, particularly those factors associated with honesty, setting the example, and valuing and strengthening others, were what set the most effective leader-managers apart from their peers. Technical competence and self-efficacy were found to be common characteristics of the study sample as ...
Herbivores and pathogens impact the species composition, ecosystem function, and socioeconomic value of forests. Herbivores and pathogens are an integral part of forests, but sometimes produce undesirable effects and a degradation of forest resources. In the United States, a few species of forest pests routinely have significant impacts on up to 20 million ha of forest with economic costs that probably exceed $1 billion/year. Climatic change could alter patterns of disturbance from herbivores and pathogens through: (1) direct effects on the development and survival of herbivores and pathogens; (2) physiological changes in tree defenses; and (3) indirect effects from changes in the abundance of natural enemies (e.g. parasitoids of insect herbivores), mutualists (e.g. insect vectors of tree pathogens), and competitors. Because of their short life cycles, mobility, reproductive potential, and physiological sensitivity to temperature, even modest climate change will have rapid impacts on ...
A.C.R.O. (Association pour le Controle de la Radioactivite dans l Ouest) is a French non governmental organisation that operates a laboratory for radioactivity analysis. It was created in 1986 as a response to people demands for information and reliable, independent testing. The organisation mainly carries out missions of information and training for its correspondents and more generally for a wide audience, particularly for people who worry about problems of environment, health, management of radioactive waste and emissions. Thanks to its structure, it enables citizens to involve themselves together with scientists so as to gain access to information that was hither to reserved to specialists. The organisation can vouchsafe its independence from the diversity of its members and volunteers, as well as from the diversity of its money resources. Besides its headquarters situated on the city of Caen area (Normandy), three branches situated in North Normandy, in Touraine and North Cotentin ...
The effect of reference signals on performance in a visual vigilance task was studied under three conditions. Reference signals were presented on the same display as the real signals. In condition 1 (control), no reference signals were displayed. Sugbject...
The Space Task Group in its study of future directions in space, with ..... almost $6 billion and a peak civil service and contractor work force of 420000 people. ..... space organizations permitting assumptions of primary or joint responsibility for ...
Performance on serial tasks is influenced by first- and higher-order sequential effects, respectively due to the immediately previous and earlier trials. As response-to-stimulus interval (RSI)...Full Text Available
The purpose of the Joint Task Force Headquarters Master Training Guide (JTF HQ MTG) is to provide a descriptive, performance-oriented training guide to assist leaders in training their units. It also serves as a guide for the JTF Headquarters in actual op...
We used the idea of hierarchical control to study multi-muscle synergies during a whole-body sway task performed by a standing person. Within this view, at the lower level of the hierarchy,...Full Text Available
This ETP defines the task and deliverables associated with the design, fabrication and testing of an improved spray wash system for the Rotary Mode Core Sampling (RMCS)Spray Wash Trailer.
As requested by the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) and the Director DARPA, the Defense Science Board task force performed a one-time independent evaluation of the technology investment for the Defense Advanced Research...
This study investigates the doctrinal guidance available to a corps headquarters if required to serve as ajoint task force headquarters and simultaneously be required to warfight the corps. The study contends that a corps being required to simultaneously ...
...undertake missions and tasks (on either a...Secretary of Defense to task the DoD Components...the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff any commitment of military forces assigned to the Unified... (9) Military forces employed in MSCA...approval from higher headquarters, local military...
Commercial introduction of new polymer materials for use as the electrolyte in solid tantalum and solid aluminum electrolytic capacitors is underway. ...
... The goal is to understand and describe the work actors do, their information behavior, the context in which they work, and the reasons for their ...
The fundamental tasks of the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant maintenance operations are planning, scheduling, executing, postmaintenance testing, completing the maintenance job, and supporting these activities with administrative and technical assistance. The Department of Energy (DOE) Maintenance Management Program'' guidelines require that we use a graded approach for applying formality and documentation to these maintenance operations. The most-rigorous controls should be placed on maintaining the most-vital systems, structures, and components (SSCs). We must understand risk assessments in order to evaluate which SSCs are most vital. The product of this assessment process is a well-developed understanding of where to apply the most rigor, formality, and documentation. Once we have determined where, we must determine how to apply maintenance so as to mitigate risk. Fundamental to determining how to apply it is an ...
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, using the ANS low power and shutdown (LPSD) probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) Standard, evaluated the LPSD PSA model of the KSNP, Yonggwang Units 5 and 6, and identified the items to be improved. The evaluation results of human reliability analysis (HRA) of the post-accident human errors in the LPSD PSA model for the KSNP showed that 10 items among 19 items of supporting requirements for those in the ANS PRA Standard were identified as them to be improved. Thus, we newly carried out a HRA for post-accident human errors in the LPSD PSA model for the KSNP. Following tasks are the improvements in the HRA of post-accident human errors of the LPSD PSA model for the KSNP compared with the previous one: Interviews with operators in the interpretation of the procedure, modeling of operator actions, and the quantification results of human errors, site visit. Applications of limiting value to the combined ...
This report provides a summary of progress for the project {open_quotes}Evaluation of the Geologic Relations and Seismotectonic Stability of the Yucca Mountain Area, Nevada Nuclear Waste Site Investigation (NNWSI).{close_quotes} A similar report was previously provided for the period of 1 October 1991 to 30 September 1992. The report initially covers the activities of the General Task and is followed by sections that describe the progress of the other ongoing tasks.
Abstract Questions: How important is the choice of flow routing algorithm with respect to application of topographic wetness index (TWI) in vegetation ecology? Which flow routing algorithms are preferable for application in vegetation ecology? Location: Forests in three different regions of the Czech Republic. Methods: We used vegetation data from 521 georeferenced plots, recently sampled in a wide range of forest communities. From a digital elevation model, we calculated 11 variations of TWI for each plot with 11 different flow routing algorithms. We evaluated the performance of differently calculated TWI by (1) Spearman rank correlation with average Ellenberg indicator values for soil moisture, (2) Mantel correlation coefficient between dissimilarities of species composition and dissimil...
The Humane metropolis is a rubric to summarize and promote environmental and social quality in contemporary urban mosaics. Because cities, suburbs, and exurbs, as spatially extensive and connected socio-ecological systems, exhibit many negative features, the humane metropolis identifies a strategy to combat the ills and instill more positive and sustainable features and processes in urban systems. Because the humane metropolis as a program has arisen primarily from social motivations, there is the opportunity to articulate more explicitly the role that science can play in addressing the humane metropolis program and evaluating its success. A humane metropolis can be summarized as one that 1) protects and restores ecological services in cities and suburbs, 2) promotes physical and mental he...
Scientific and technological communities have a significant role to play and responsibility for the evolution of global sustainability (continuously improving quality of life into the indefinite future). Sustainability is not possible without a substantially improved science and technology basis for industrial ecology. Society needs data and understanding of complex ecological issues to govern itself in a sustainable manner. We should: support and develop multi-disciplinary programs which create the scientific basis for understanding natural and anthropogenic complex systems and for developing environmentally and economically efficient technology; demonstrate a systems-based approach to science and technology issues which is life-cycle comprehensive, integrates environmental considerations, and promotes conservation of natural resources; and encourage development of responsible, technically and scientifically valid, cost-effective environmental ...
An overview of climatic factors and impact relative to river ice engineering and science is presented. An explanation of the fundamentals of climatic change is followed by a review of direct and indirect climatic influences that govern river ice breakup and related trends. Known responses of river ice to climatic change and potential future changes to ice breakup processes are described along with the probable ecological and socio-economic consequences of these changes. Changes in engineering approaches to accommodate the present ice regime and predicted changes in climatic variables that affect river ice processes and reduce the vulnerability of infrastructure and ecosystems to climatic change are examined. Future research on the links between river ice and stream ecology is suggested to identify ecological concerns that may result from changes in river ice regimes induced by climatic change. 60 refs., 3 figs.
A probabilistic precursor study provides a complement to the 'root cause' analysis approach by focusing on how an event might have developed adversely, and implies the mapping of an operational event on a probabilistic risk model of the plant in order to obtain a quantitative assessment of the safety significance of the event. In order to benefit from state-of-the-art PSA features but also to assure repeatability of the analysis, a comprehensive set of PSAEA guidelines was developed. This PSAEA procedure was established in 1996-1998 by Enconet Consulting in the framework of an international project on behalf of - and involving - the nuclear regulatory bodies from 6 countries: AECB (Canada), AVN (Belgium), CSN (Spain), HSK (Switzerland), NII (United Kingdom) and SKI (Sweden). The PSAEA procedure defines preliminary requirements for the PSA model and code, and identifies input requirements such as information on plant status, event sequence chronology and causes. The ...
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, using the ASME PRA Standard, evaluated the PSA model of the Korea Standard Nuclear Power Plant (KSNP) and identified the items to be improved to enhance its quality. The new risk monitor PSA model for the KSNP of which quality was enhanced is called as PRiME-U3i. The evaluation results of human reliability analysis (HRA) of the post-accident human errors in the PSA model of the KSNP showed that 10 items among 19 items of supporting requirements for those in the ASME PRA Standard were identified as them to be improved. Thus, we newly carried out a HRA for post-accident human errors for the KSNP PSA model as the target of grading its quality above ASME PRA Standard Category I+. Following tasks were additionally major tasks performed in the HRA of post-accident human errors of PRiME-U3i compared with the previous PSA model of the KSNP: interviews with operators in the collection and review of input data need ...
This report accounts for Task 3 of DOE Contract No. AC01-81FE-05077. It reviews the developments in indirect coal liquefaction with emphasis on slurry-phase reactors and catalysis. This report also discusses topics related to indirect coal liquefaction research, such as analytical techniques in catalysis. The subjects covered in this report were selected by DOE. This report is the third and final task report of the three major tasks in this contract. The first task, ''Direct Coal Liquefaction Catalyst Development - Program Review and Research Perspectives'', was completed in November 1982. The second task, ''Review of Direct Coal Liquefaction by Slurry-Phase Catalysis'', was completed in September 1983. 47 refs., 66 figs., 50 tabs.
Ecological investigations were made of habitats containing natural populations of the snail Oncomelania hupensis quadrasi and of habitats free from the snail in the island of Leyte,...Full Text Available
Lake Erie, the southernmost of the Laurentian Great Lakes, is narrow and relatively shallow in comparison to other Great Lakes. The lake experiences extreme water level fluctuations and storm energy restricts the development of wetlands to protected areas within embayments, lagoons, or behind barriers. However, coastal marshes of western Lake Erie fringe the shorelines of Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario and encompass an area of 268 km/sup 2/. This publication reviews the ecological data and information on the wetlands of Lake Erie, which are some of the more productive areas in the Great Lakes ecosystem. The geologic history of the Lake Erie leading to the development of wetlands, the present environment, and present wetland distribution are presented as background in the opening chapters. Biological information available for the Lake Erie wetlands is discussed in detail, and ecological processes contributing to the evolution of wetlands, ...
... The main goal was the analysis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis for the Czech Republic. A paper by Bruha and Scasny, accepted to the European Society of Ecological Economics, ( Lisbon June 2005), analyses driving forces (including economic policy) on ...
This final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) is one of a series of reports concerning municipal development in various cities in Switzerland. The four city districts involved include Basel (Gundeldinger Feld), Lausanne (Bellevaux), Lucerne (Basel-/Bernstrasse) and Zurich (Werdwies). This paper takes a look at aspects of building ecology. In the four areas, the following building types and projects were examined with respect to their ecology: Basel: conversion of commercial premises to a community centre, Lausanne and Lucerne: Enhancement of residential areas, Zurich: a new residential building. Criteria examined include general building ecology, building materials, raw materials, toxic substances, recycling, maintenance and deconstruction, energy for heating and hot water, grey energy, electricity, ground usage, water, wastes and public infrastructure. Knowledge gained along with questions and problems ...
Although deep-sea cephalopods are key marine organims, their feeding ecology remains essentially unknown. Here, we report for the first time the trophic structure of an assemblage of these animals (19...Full Text Available
A previous report of high levels of members of the domain Archaea in Antarctic coastal waters prompted us to investigate the ecology of Antarctic planktonic prokaryotes. rRNA hybridization...Full Text Available
The scaling of reproductive parameters to body size is important for understanding ecological and evolutionary patterns. Here, we derived allometric relationships for the number and mass of seeds, eggs...Full Text Available
... verges of a two-lane highway in continuous Jarrah Eucalyptus marginata forest of south-western Australia. Midway during this ... Birds were recorded from the beginning of continuous Jarrah Eucalyptus marg...
[1] Independent data from the Gulf of Mexico are used to develop and test the hypothesis that the same sequence of physical and ecological events each year allows the toxic dinoflagellate Karenia...Full Text Available
... 12, 2007 | Rate It Distribution and Variety of Equatorial Rain Forest , The http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/rainfo.html (3 votes) an in depth examination of ecological patterns in rainforests from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Added: Mar. 17, 2001 ...
BackgroundLong-term vegetation changes in hyper-arid areas have long been neglected. Mortality, recruitment and change in populations of the ecologically and culturally important...Full Text Available
Pyrethroid insecticides have been extensively used in China and worldwide for public health pest control. Accurate resistance monitoring is essential to guide the rational use of insecticides and resistance...Full Text Available
Enteropathogenic bacteria was isolated from 131 of 447 (29.4%) neotropical Panamanian lizards belonging to 34 species of seven families. Overall, 147 strains of bacteria were isolated comprising 26...Full Text Available
Evolutionary biologists have long been fascinated by both the ways in which species respond to ecological conditions at the edges of their geographic ranges and the way that species' body sizes evolve...Full Text Available
By the time of primary 21st century, water hyacinth had become a serious environmental problem in China. Water hyacinth contributes to the major part of ecological hazards from the invasion of foreign...Full Text Available
• Background and Aims Although mangroves have been extensively studied, little is known about their ecological wood anatomy. This investigation examined the potential use of...Full Text Available
Sauropod dinosaurs, the dominant herbivores throughout the Jurassic, challenge general rules of large vertebrate herbivory. With body weights surpassing those of any other megaherbivore, they relied...Full Text Available
The effective population size (Ne) is an important parameter in ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation biology. It is, however, notoriously difficult to estimate,...Full Text Available
We investigated the effects of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharge on the ecology of bacterial communities in the sediment of a small, low-gradient stream in South Australia. The quantification...Full Text Available
Air pollution abatement measures are not an end in themselves, and undesirable side effects should be taken into account. The proposed emission index takes into account the total emissions caused by a technical project as well as the effects of the individual pollutants.
Spatial abilities have been associated with many ecologically-relevant behaviors such as territoriality, mate choice, navigation and acquisition of food resources. Differential demands on spatial...Full Text Available
While pleiotropic adaptive mutations are thought to be central for evolution, little is known on the downstream molecular effects allowing adaptation to complex ecologically relevant environments. Here...Full Text Available
Despite their ecological and economical importance, fishes of the family Ariidae are still genetically and cytogenetically poorly studied. Among the 133 known species of ariids, only eight have been...Full Text Available
BackgroundComplex situations that follow war and natural disasters have a psychosocial impact on not only the individual but also on the family, community and society. Just as the...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe continued depletion of tropical rainforests and fragmentation of natural habitats has led to significant ecological changes which place most top carnivores under heavy...Full Text Available
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are obligate biotrophs, known to play an important role in ecological processes. Conventional light microscopy is the most common method used to detect their presence...Full Text Available
Background and AimsPlants from the family Lemnaceae are widely used in ecological engineering projects to purify wastewater and eutrophic water bodies. However, the biology of nutrient...Full Text Available
... relative suitability of areas for production of commercial timber was determined based on considerations of operability, proximity ... habitats, and an ecologically-based estimate of sustainable timber pr...
BackgroundThe order Tetraodontiformes consists of approximately 429 species of fishes in nine families. Members of the order exhibit striking morphological diversity and radiated...Full Text Available
by American scientists, ecosystems containing a greater number of plant species, produce more biomass.This result ...to meet the increasing demand for land for farmland planted with monocultures, buildings and roads.For ...have hypothesized that greater ecological diversity (diversity of plant and animal species) leads to a greater
This is the third quarterly progress report for Year 3 of the ACTS Project. It includes a review of progress made in: (1) Flow Loop construction and development and (2) research tasks during the period of time between Jan. 1, 2002 and Mar. 31, 2002. This report presents a review of progress on the following specific tasks: (a) Design and development of an Advanced Cuttings Transport Facility (Task 3: Addition of a Cuttings Injection/Separation System), (b) Research project (Task 6): ''Study of Cuttings Transport with Foam Under LPAT Conditions (Joint Project with TUDRP)'', (c) Research project (Task 9b): ''Study of Foam Flow Behavior Under EPET Conditions'', (d) Research project (Task 10): ''Study of Cuttings Transport with Aerated Mud Under Elevated Pressure and ...
Research performed under this contract was divided into four tasks under the following headings: Task 1, Characterization of fly ash; Task 2, Measurements of the optical constants of slags; Task 3, Calculations of the radiant properties of fly ash dispersions; and Task 4, Measurements of the radiant properties of fly ash dispersions. Tasks 1 and 4 constituted the Ph.D. research topic of Sarbajit Ghosal, while Tasks 2 and 3 constituted the Ph.D. research topic of Jon Ebert. Together their doctoral dissertations give a complete account of the work performed. This final report, issued in two volumes consists of an executive summary of the whole program followed by the dissertation of Ghosal and Ebert. Volume 2 contains the dissertation of Ebert which covers the measurements of the optical constants of slags, and calculations of the radiant ...
Recent research developments in common-pool resource models emphasize the importance of links with ecological systems and the presence of non-linearities, thresholds and multiple steady states. In a recent paper Kossioris et al. (2008) develop a methodology for deriving feedback Nash equilibria for non-linear differential games and apply this methodology to a common-pool resource model of a lake where pollution corresponds to benefits and at the same time affects the ecosystem services. This paper studies the structure of optimal state-dependent taxes that steer the combined economic-ecological system towards the trajectory of optimal management, and provides an algorithm for calculating such taxes.
The importance of ecosystem restoration to land reclamation is discussed. If a plant community is to be self sustaining, natural diversity processes provide a useful model for restoration. Biodiversity is important for utilitarian, ecological, and ethical/aesthetic reasons. Issues that must be considered include sampling and management scales, the separate richness of the diverse array of species playing a role in ecosystem productivity and stability, and natural trends in diversity. Ecological restoration comprises two fundamental activities: management for some pre-disturbance level of biodiversity and the combination of species in a manner that is essentially experimental. Endeavours to restore biological diversity are a useful method of experimenting with the factors that control ecosystem structure and function. 21 refs.
The IAEA has requested several member states to present their proposal of the application of the Integrated Safeguards (IS) system in their nuclear facilities. This report contains a IS proposal for Finland prepared under the Task FIN C 1264 of The Finnish Support Programme to IAEA Safeguards. The comprehensive safeguards system of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been one of the main tools in the fight against nuclear proliferation since the entry-into-force of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty three decades ago. In the 1990s some of the inherent weaknesses of this so-called traditional safeguards system were revealed first in Iraq and then in North Korea. Therefore, the member states of the LAEA decided to give the Agency additional legal authority in order to make its control system more effective as well as more efficient than before. This was accomplished by the approval of the so-called Model Additional Protocol (INFCIRC/540) in 1997. ...
The Task Force solicited comments on its Draft Final Report from a variety of sources. Letters were sent to over 400 individuals who had expressed interest in the interest in the Department`s radioactive waste, management programs, a notice was placed in the Federal Register, the morning session of the January 1993 meeting of the full Secretary of Energy Advisory Board was given over to discussion of the draft, and Task Force members and staff presented the effort at several professional meetings. Altogether 32 written comments were received. They are reproduced here, followed in each case by the Task Force`s response to specific suggestions made to improve the draft. (The panel did not respond to comments that simply reflected policy preferences or that praised the group`s effort.) With one exception, those specific suggestions are highlighted and given a letter designation from {open_quotes}A{close_quotes} to ...
The goal of GRI's Gas Appliance Technology Center is to encourage the introduction of highly efficient, cost-effective, convenient gas appliances for residential and commercial gas users. The report covers activity at Battelle from February 1989 to April 1990 in broad support tasks, residential and commercial appliances, and residential space conditioning. Broad support tasks included the G/A/S Newsletter; the GATC InfoBase; and technology transfer, workshops, and GATC coordination. Residential appliance tasks included burner technology research, gas appliance venting, gas lighting, and plastics durability. Commercial appliance tasks included development of a commercial cooktop fuel/air mixing valve. Residential space conditioning tasks included a corrosion test method for gas appliances and vents, generic technology for condensing heat exchangers, and technology for ...
This report describes the 5 tasks to be covered under this project and compiles budget information. Task 1 is to establish a Plutonium Information Resource, which has been established in Amarillo, Texas. Task 2, Advisory Functions, coordinates studies and activities relating to the disposition of excess weapons-grade plutonium. Task 3, Environmental, Public Health, and Safety, supports soil remediation activities. Task 4, Education and Outreach, is supporting four programs: K--12 education improvement in science and math courses; Academic intervention to identify and encourage high ability high school and middle school students with potential to become scientists and engineers; Graduate education evaluation; and Public outreach programs. Task 5, Plutonium and other Materials Studies, is currently funding two projects for the disposition of high explosives: a ...
This work plan has been prepared to document the scoping and planning process performed by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to support remedial action activities at the Colonie site. The site is located in eastern New York State in the town of Colonie near the city of Albany. Remedial action of the Colonie site is being planned as part of DOE's Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. The DOE is responsible for controlling the release of all radioactive and chemical contaminants from the site. Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), a remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) must be prepared to support the decision-making process for evaluating remedial action alternatives. This work plan contains a summary of information known about the site as of January 1988, presents a conceptual site model that identifies potential routes of human exposure to site containments, identifies data gaps, and summarizes the ...
Colerectal cancer (CRC) is the second commonest cancer in the Western World. Successful treatment relies significantly on accurate detection and staging of primary disease as well as the early identification of the presence and extent of recurrence. Morphological imaging techniques, particularly computed tomography (CT), are well established and widely available to carry out these tasks in addition to predicting and monitoring response to therapy. This review analyses the current inadequacies for imaging CRC and critically assesses the potential role of functional imaging with positron emission tomography (PET). It was reviewed the current literature, to use the experience from the firs 1000 PET studies carried out at the institution and the perspective of surgical colleagues. It was found little evidence for the use of 2-["1"8F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-PET for screening asymptomatic individuals and current modalities appear better suited ...
The follow-up system for wastes (JAeSTI), developed at the end of the 1990s, forms a basis for today's followup activities in Finland. JAeSTI relies on an environmental protection database, the compliance monitoring system VAHTI operated by the environmental authorities. Waste followup and waste statistics depend very much on the annual waste quantities recorded in the VAHTI system. In the KYJ-project the coverage and reliability of the data in the VAHTI system was evaluated as for the streams of solid municipal waste. The project also included the compiling of national statistics on municipal waste for the year 2000. The project used other information sources, too, such as statistics compiled when the National Waste Plan and regional waste plans were revised in 2002. In addition, the extent and quantity of in-situ (household) composting and incineration were assessed on the basis of a separate study (Annex 2, In Finnish). In connection with the data ...
A procedure is described for modeling the choices made in urban American households among personal vehicles on the bases of cost, passenger capacity, and engine technology, and it projects those preferences to the year 1990 and 2000. The results of this disaggregate technique are used by the other predictive research tasks undertaken by Argonne National Laboratory in a project entitled Technology Assessment of Productive Conservation in Urban Transportation (TAPCUT). The vehicle preferences reported here furnish data for the overall TAPCUT objective of forecasting the probable effects of energy conservation policies in transportation. In our projections, vehicles with standard spark-ignition (Otto-cycle) engines continue to dominate automobile holdings and new car purchases in either of two socioeconomic scenarios under any of three settings (an existing policy set and two alternative conservation strategies). From 1990, small cars (seating ...
Carbonyl compounds constitute an important reactive class of non methane volatile organic compounds. They can be emitted directly to the atmosphere from primary sources such as combustion engines, landfills and wastewater surfaces or as secondary products by the photochemical oxidation of hydrocarbons and other volatile organic compounds 1-3. Carbonyls photo-oxidize during the day to produce toxic radicals such as OH, HO_2, RO and RO_2. These species react with nitrogen oxides (NOx) and other VOCs present in the atmosphere to form tropospheric ozone (O_3); a highly reactive oxidizing agent that is harmful to human health, agricultural products and climate 4, 5. Hence identifying the levels and sources of ozone precursors such as low carbonyls, carbon monoxide (CO) and NOx derivatives, and understanding their physical and chemical transformation in the troposphere is an important task due to their atmospheric and adverse health implications. Diurnal variations of ...
We argue that published results demonstrate that new insights into human brain function may be obscured by poor and/or limited choices in the data-processing pipeline, and review the work on performance metrics for optimizing pipelines: prediction, reproducibility, and related empirical Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve metrics. Using the NPAIRS split-half resampling framework for estimating prediction/reproducibility metrics (Strother et al., 2002), we illustrate its use by testing the relative importance of selected pipeline components (interpolation, in-plane spatial smoothing, temporal detrending, and between-subject alignment) in a group analysis of BOLD-fMRI scans from 16 subjects performing a block-design, parametric-static-force task. Large-scale brain networks were detected using a multivariate linear discriminant analysis (canonical variates analysis, CVA) that was tuned to fit the data. We found that tuning the CVA model and spatial smoothing ...
PETROBRAS/TRANSPETRO Pipelines and Terminals has 500 regular employees and 5.064 out sourced workers in its Southeast Division. The out sourced employees work through 125 contracts involving a wide range of activities such as maintenance, operational, pipeline launching , engineering, administrative and auxiliary services. Among these workers, 200 people are subjected to benzene occupational exposure, which might be present in the products we transport in our pipelines. Benzene is recognized as a carcinogen according to ACGIH and Brazilian Ministry of Labour regulation NR- 15. Exposure to benzene in an uncontrolled way, be it chronic or sharp, may affect the worker's health such as: hematological alterations, neoplasys, neurobehavior alterations. Our program PPEOB (acronym in Portuguese for benzene occupational exposure prevention program) involved the work force and fosters health by anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of the situations that may result in ...
The Milstar communications satellite system will provide secure antijam communication capabilities for DOD operations into the next century. In order to accomplish this task, the Milstar system will employ precise timekeeping on its satellites and at its ground control stations. The constellation will consist of four satellites in geosynchronous orbit, each carrying a set of four rubidium (Rb) atomic clocks. Several times a day, during normal operation, the Mission Control Element (MCE) will collect timing information from the constellation, and after several days use this information to update the time and frequency of the satellite clocks. The MCE will maintain precise time with a cesium (Cs) atomic clock, synchronized to UTC(USNO) via a GPS receiver. We have developed a Monte Carlo simulation of Milstar's space segment timekeeping. The simulation includes the effects of: uplink/downlink time transfer noise; satellite crosslink time transfer noise; satellite ...
As the penetration of wind energy continues to increase around the world, with a trend towards large utility-scale wind farms (greater than 100 MW), effective wind energy forecasting will become increasingly important. Previous work by GH has estimated the trading benefit of high quality short-term forecasting to be EUR 7/MWh. Depending on market conditions, for a 100 MW wind farm with a capacity factor of 30%, this equates to an estimated annual trading benefit of up to EUR 1.8m. To date, a number of studies have focused on the mathematical modelling techniques for forecasting the production from wind farms, looking predominantly at the task of predicting the meteorological conditions at the site. This paper focuses on the final stage of the forecasting process, conversion from a meteorological forecast to a power production forecast. This challenge is particularly significant for utility-scale wind farms. The main body of research in short-term forecasting in ...
Selecting the best bit for an application is a difficult task because a large number of variables can influence bit performance, therefore upon a decision to run a particular bit type based solely on the average measurements of previous bit performances can lead to a very important impact on the drilling cost. Bits are designed with different concepts and that recent technological advances allow them to be used in a wider range of applications that could improve their drilling programs. Rather than a deterministic estimate, a more mature view of a bit performance is a presentation of possible outputs (bits longevity in drilled meters, rate of penetration, bit cost and cost per meter) in recognition of the uncertainty associated with drilling wells. An evaluation of a simple model based on the drilling cost equation indicates the sensitivity of each variable - described here by its probability distribution function - on the bottom line and can be a very effective ...
This interim technical report presented a summary of results obtained from Pit Lake models developed from different simulation models. The models were used to predict stratification in a hypothetical Pit Lake. Predictions were used to assess the hydrodynamic similarities and differences between the 2 models and to determine if the models would produce similar stratification profiles for the Pit Lakes to previous models. Results showed that the models produced similar results for both temperatures and salinities. The main difference between the RMA10 and CE-QUAL-W2 model used in a previous study was found to be run time. A sensitivity analysis of the RMA10 and CE-QUAL-W2 model predictions was completed to assess the effects of segmentation; time step; lake surface area; lake orientation; and model coefficients or parameters. Results showed that the selected time step and model segmentation were appropriate, as both led to modelling results that ...
Unmanned systems are often used to augment the ability of humans to perform challenging tasks. While the value of individual unmanned vehicles have been proven for a variety of tasks, it is less understood how multiple unmanned systems should be used together to accomplish larger missions such as site security. The purpose of this paper is to discuss efforts by researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to explore the utility and practicality of operating multiple unmanned systems for a site security mission. This paper reviews the technology developed for a multi-agent mission and summarizes the lessons-learned from a technology demonstration.
In FY 1984 three specific tasks which are all related to not-well-understood two-phase phenomena of importance to LWR accidents have been identified under the program. These three tasks are: (1) inverted annular flow experiments and modeling; (2) hot leg U-bend two-phase flow simulation study; and (3) development and evaluation of two-phase flow scaling criteria. Some of the important results obtained under Tasks (1) and (2) are reported in this paper.
This chapter reports recent advances in the statistical learning literature that may be of interest for biometrics. In particular we discuss two different algorithmic settings, binary classification and multi-task learning, and analyze the two closely related problems of feature selection and feature learning. In the binary case the theoretical and algorithmic advances to feature selection are applied to solve face detection and face authentication problems. In the multi-task case we show how the data structure described by a group of features common to the various tasks can be effectively learned, and then we discuss how this approach could be used to address face recognition.
2.1 The Importance of Life Cycle Management and Cost Estimating................. ........... 1-2 .... 4.3.5 Task 12: Update Cost Estimate on Regular Basis. ...
Information superiority provides the Joint force a competitive ... Information Grid (GIG) as it matures and fills the needs of the Joint Task Force ... representatives from The Army Secretariat, Headquarters Department of Army ...
How to decide which mine surface tasks may be performed by industrial robots to improve productivity and working conditions is described. Charts are presented of the industrial tasks performed on the surface and how each task may be classified as light, average, difficult or very diffcult according to a defect criteria is explained (defective operations are those which involve, heavy, harmful, stressful or dangerous jobs). The results of these calculations are used to identify which operations are suitable for first introduction of robots since traditional automation methods cannot be used, e.g. various storage, loading and packaging tasks, coal selection, sorting and removal of foreign matter, provision of services such as food preparation, cleaning, etc. Robots may also be used to control automated operations that are monotonous and hazardous for human operators. It is envisaged that in the future ...
... Headquarters Element, Defense Logistics Agency, Support Detachment 3 ... Joint Task Force, Team 6 ... 19th Special Forces Group, Support Element 1 ...
... 7th Joint Task Force Augmentation Team Schwetzingen ... Headquarters 85th Division Training Support, Detach 2 ... 20th Special Forces Company A ...
BackgroundFeature selection is an important pre-processing task in the analysis of complex data. Selecting an appropriate subset of features can improve classification or clustering...Full Text Available
Selection of the appropriate radiation quality is an important aspect of optimisation for every clinical imaging task in radiology, since it affects both image quality and patient dose. Spreadsheet...Full Text Available
... The other standards in this group deal with heat exchangers, insulation, marking, valves, hydraulic cleanliness, storage of LPG, and centrifugal fire ...
... WHS- Washington Headquarters Service. ... US Military (ie, Army, Navy, Air Force) service publications ... Strike Group to Fight in the Joint Task Force. ...
Project methodology, analysis of the occupational and training situation, task analysis process, design process for a systematic training plan specific to the job position are described.
... WHS- Washington Headquarters Service. ... ie, Army, Navy, Air Force) service publications ... The Case of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force. ...
During this quarter, work began on the regional structural and geologic analysis of the greater Green River basin (GGRB) in southwestern Wyoming, northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah. The ultimate objective of the regional analysis is to apply the techniques developed and demonstrated during earlier phases of the project to sweet-spot delineation in a relatively new and underexplored play: tight gas from continuous-type Upper Cretaceous reservoirs of the GGRB. The primary goal of this work is to partition and high-grade the greater Green River basin for exploration efforts in the Cretaceous tight gas play. The work plan for the quarter of January 1, 1998--March 31, 1998 consisted of three tasks: (1) Acquire necessary data and develop base map of study area; (2) Process data for analysis; and (3) Initiate structural study. The first task and second tasks were completed during this reporting period. The third ...
... WHS- Washington Headquarters Service ... but also with respect to other Joint, National and ... unit of action (UA) combat team or task force is organized ...
Amotivation is a telling hallmark of negative symptomatology in schizophrenia, and it impacts nearly every facet of behavior, including inclination to attempt the difficult cognitive tasks involved...Full Text Available
... for team sizes ranging from 2 to 6 robots. ... intercep- tion mission, a robot must overtake a ... of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), unmanned aerial ...
... Experts ( Appendix 5 ), and the NMFS-Sea Grant Joint Graduate Fellowship Program ( Appendix 6) . The Task Force consisted of one representative from NMFS Headquarters and 1-2 rep...
We used neuropsychological tasks to investigate integrity of brain circuits linking orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala (orbitofrontal-amygdala), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus...Full Text Available
Sep 5, 1996 ... In Haiti, the military deployed a space support team to advise the task force commander on the effective use of space assets, such as the Milstar ...
This standard establishes requirements, verification criteria, and contractor tasks for electromagnetic effects protection of airborne, ground, and support systems. These effects include electromagnetic compatibility, electromagnetic interference, lightni...
Jan 14, 2004 ... presented to the nation at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., ...... Board/Air Force Scientific Advisory Board Joint Task Force on ...
By using the paired comparison methodology, it was possible to establish evaluative priorities, providing criterion weights which reflected the thoughts and feelings of an advisory committee consisting of experts in the task selection process. For the U.S. Army Infantry School, the weights can be used to stress higher weighted criterion results in the task selection process. By extending the size and diversity of the advisory committee, the use of paired comparison methodology can provide an effective, reliable procedure for (1) constructing evaluative criterion weights for the task selection process and in other areas which have multiple criteria used for evaluative purposes and (2) incorporating into an evaluative design the valuable contributions of various experts and interest groups. (Author/BW)
Even before Egyptian times, fiber and paper-based methods were used to manage time, tasks, and priorities. Papyrus and paper were effective in their time, but now is the time for the even more effective computer-based methods of time management. This study compares paper and computer methods of the management of time, tasks, and priorities. Discussed are recommended strengths of off-the-shelf software for time management. Integrated software is recommended. A case study of the use of idea processing software to manage publication tasks and priorities is examined. Illustrated--for classroom-style training--are uses of a computer to enhance the quality and increase the efficiency of the coordination of publications from conception and research to printing and issuance. 3 refs., 43 figs.
Feb 6, 2003 ... Director, Plans and Programs, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, .... Commander of the Joint Task Force Southwest Asia at Prince ...
... increasing its economic results, tapping mew financial sources and augmenting its income, but also a basic task in financial and tax management. ...
Recall from visual memory is vulnerable to the influence of task-irrelevant information, including the remembered, prototypical value of stimuli seen previously. Wilken...Full Text Available
Flow cytometry (FCM) is widely used in health research and in treatment for a variety of tasks, such as in the diagnosis and monitoring of leukemia and lymphoma patients, providing the counts of helper-T...Full Text Available
joint task force (JTF), division (OIV) and regimental combat team (RCT) with ..... Headquarters, Department of the Army. (HQOA), (2010). Field Manual 2-0 ...
Gel dosimetry is a new dosimetry method applied in radiation therapy. Gel dosimeters consist of a radiation sensitive gel, which can integrate absorbed doses from several radiation sources or beams. The dose to the gel can be evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a procedure that is the focus of the present thesis. A robust tool for the evaluation of the nonuniformity in MRI has been developed, the Deviation Image method. Unlike previously presented methods, the Deviation Image method includes all nonuniformity variations across a phantom surface and is insensitive to stochastic noise. Methods for the estimation of stochastic noise were analyzed in terms of sensitivity to nonuniformities. A method that averages the stochastic noise level over five regions over the phantom surface, and a method that assesses the stochastic noise level from the background, were found to be the methods of choice. Pronounced MR image nonuniformity variation with repetition and ...
The R and D activities of the institute focused on two major projects, ``Molecular and cellular environmental toxicology``, and ``Biophysics of multi-cellular systems``. For assessment of health risks emanating from the uptake of heavy metal compounds, work performed under the first mentioned project studies the formation of allergy-inducing metabolic products from membrane lipids, and the effects of related cellular signaling processes. These studies are accompanied by an approach to quantify and classify the toxicity of environmental organometallic compounds. Another major task is research into the pathogenesis of lung disease induced by dusts, gases, and gas-dust mixtures and the liberation of inflammatory agents by immunological cell reactions (alveolar macrophages). Atomic force microscopy is the tool used to visualize the related dynamic changes in bronchial cells. Studies for detection of the localisation and structure of the Fe-Mo ...
The training of a new project team member was completed (Task 2.1). The Software Requirements Document was written (Task 2.3). It was determined that the CAPE-OPEN interfaces are sufficient for the communication between Fluent and V21 Controller (Task 2.4). The AspenPlus-Fluent prototype on allyl/triacetone alcohol production was further developed to assist the GUI and software design tasks. The prototype was also used to analyze the sensitivity of a process simulation result with respect to a parameter in a CFD model embedded in the process simulation. Thus the integration of process simulation and CFD provides additional process insights and enables the engineer to optimize overall process performance (e.g., product purity and yield) with respect to important CFD design and operation parameters (e.g., CSTR shaft speed). A top-level design of the V21 Controller was developed and discussed. A draft ...
This report summarizes the objectives, background, technical progress, and status of ANL electric vehicle battery R&D tasks for DOE-EHP during the period of January 1 through March 31, 1991. The work is organized into the following six task areas: Project management; battery systems technology; lithium/sulfide batteries; advanced sodium/metal chloride battery; aqueous batteries; and EV Battery performance/life evaluation.
This report summarizes the objectives, background, technical progress, and status of ANL electric vehicle battery R D tasks for DOE-EHP during the period of January 1 through March 31, 1991. The work is organized into the following six task areas: Project management; battery systems technology; lithium/sulfide batteries; advanced sodium/metal chloride battery; aqueous batteries; and EV Battery performance/life evaluation.
This quality assurance plan (QAP) is designed ensure that the methodologies and the data used for environmental cleanup and treatment studies at the Nevada Test Site are both usable and defensible. The QAP serves two purposes in this regard: (1) to guide the preparation of procedures for carrying out the tasks of the Basic Environmental compliance and Monitoring program (BECAMP); and (2) to help management track the progress of those tasks.
Advances in robotic technologies reflected in commercially available and demonstrated capabilities provide exceptional alternatives to the designer of new and upgraded production processes. This paper discusses the states of the art of these technologies, describes some of the research and application engineering which has extended and exploited these capabilities, and provides some conceptual synthesis of advanced robotics and other industrial automation to hypothetical nuclear industry/laboratory tasks. Nuclear industry applications are oriented upon tasks in hazardous and contaminating environments and with hazardous materials.
Mission, threat and capabilities adaptations in the twenty-first century continue to change the tasks assigned to U.S. Army Infantry units. Traditional infantry tactical training does not prepare U.S. infantry forces for many of the tasks required in cont...
Coal exploitation inevitably damages the natural ecological environment through large scale underground exploitation which exhausts the surrounding areas and is the cause of surface subsidence and cracks. These types of damage seriously lower the underground water table. Deterioration of the environment has certainly an impact on and limits growth of vegetation, which is a very important indicator of a healthy ecological system. Dynamically monitoring vegetation growth under coal exploitation stress by remote sensing technology provides advantages such as large scale coverage, high accuracy and abundant information. A scatter plot was built by a TM (Thematic Mapper) infrared and red bands. A detailed analysis of the distributional characteristics of vegetation pixels has been carried out. ...
The Spratly Islands constitute one of the earth's most ecologically significant areas, hosting a high diversity of marine species, providing critical habitats for endangered species, and providing marine larvae to reestablish depleted stocks among the heavily overfished and degraded coastal ecosystems of the South China Sea. Territorial disputes have led to the establishment of environmentally destructive, socially and economically costly military outposts on many of the islands. Given the rapid proliferation of international peace parks around the world, it is time to take positive steps toward the establishment of a Spratly Islands Marine Peace Park. Its purpose would be to manage the area's natural resources and alleviate regional tensions via a freeze on claims and claim supportive act...
Diet overlap and niche breadth are well-known species traits from trophic ecology that can assist in explaining how species interact and coexist as well as the ecological mechanisms that influence biodiversity. In the present study, we analyzed the relationships between these trophic variables and indicators of resource availability with some attributes of fish assemblages (species richness, Shannon diversity index, evenness, density and individual body size). The physical and chemical characteristics of the biotopes (topography, water quality and conservation of slopes) were examined to identify possible patterns. Monthly sampling using electrofishing was conducted in 2003 along five streams located in the Cuiab? River watershed. The relationships between environmental variables and attri...
Krsko NPP plant life extension was analysed and evaluated with respect to system, economy and ecology viewpoints. From the system perspective it was established that also in the extended lifetime the plant will remain in operation as a base load electricity supplier. The systematic review was performed to determine its overall competitiveness against advanced coal, gas and new nuclear units. The analysis considered also hydro and renewable sources. Analysis and evaluations resulted in the conclusion that the Krsko NPP lifetime extension is the most effective alternative for base load production due to small additional capital investments, low fuel costs, no new siting requirements, lowest climate and environmental impact, and reliable and safe operation. (author)
The biota of the Mississippi River in an ecological recovery zone near Red Wing, MN was studied before and after start-up of a nuclear plant to acquire baseline data and to estimate changes due to thermal addition. Thermal addition produced significant decreases in primary production in a plant region during summer month periods when water temperatures were near 36C. Extensive fisheries studies and sonar tagging/tracking of S. vitreum were performed. Comparison of fisheries results with other riverine, lake, and pond studies indicated a favorable environment for the success of the fish species studied. Qualitative macroinvertebrate surveys were conducted.
Summary 1.-Plant-plant interactions fluctuate between competition and facilitation depending upon ecological conditions and species traits. Facilitative interactions are expected to increase in frequency via associational defences with increasing consumer pressure. The ability of species to cope with competition and/or ecological stressors may alter the outcome of plant-plant interactions. 2.-We conducted a transplant experiment to determine if native and non-native grasses and forbs respond similarly to interactions with Juncus effusus L., an unpalatable benefactor species, along a grazing intensity gradient in two contrasting pasture types: intensively managed and semi-natural. We expected competitive taller, erect species (grasses) and non-natives to obtain stronger facilitative effects...
Previous work shows the presence of scale invariance and long-range correlations in ongoing and spontaneous activity of large scale brain responses (i.e. EEG), and such scaling behavior can also be modulated by simple sensory stimulus. However, little is known whether such alteration but not destruction in scaling properties also occurs during complex cognitive processing and if neuroplasticity plays any role in mediating such changes. In this study, we addressed these issues by investigating scaling properties of multivariate EEG signals obtained from two broad groups - artists and non-artists - while they performed complex tasks of perception and mental imagery of visual art objects. We found that brain regions showing increased correlation properties from rest were similar for both tasks, suggesting that brain networks responsible for visual perception are reactivated for mental imagery. Further, we observed that the two groups could be ...
Universal Oil Products, Inc. (UOP) of Des Plaines, Illinois has contracted A.E. Roberts & Associates, Inc. (AERA) of Atlanta, Georgia to prepare a sensitivity analysis for the development of the Fluidized-bed Copper Oxide (FBCO) process. As proposed by AERA in September 1991, development of the FBCO process design for a 500 mega-watt (MW) unit was divided into three tasks: (1) Establishment of a Conceptual Design, (2) Conceptual Design, (3) Cost Analysis Task 1 determined the basis for a conceptual design for the 500 megawatt (MW) FBCO process. It was completed by AERA in September of 1992, and a report was submitted at that time {open_quotes}Establishment of the Design Basis for Application to a 500 MW Coal-fired Facility.{close_quotes} Task 2 gathered all pertinent data available to date and reviewed its applicability to the 500 MW FBCO process. Work on this task was carried out on a joint basis ...
NASA cost-risk assessment is composed of cost estimating relationship (CER) and technical risk assessment plus cost element correlation assessment; ...
The Model for the Assessment of Psychosocial Problems (MAPP) can help family medicine residents effectively assess patients with psychosocial problems. Following a patient-centred clinical method, MAPP...Full Text Available
The primary goal of this project is to increase the availability and ease of access to critical data on the Mesaverde and Dakota tight gas reservoirs of the San Juan Basin. Secondary goals include tuning well log interpretations through integration of core, water chemistry and production analysis data to help identify bypassed pay zones; increased knowledge of permeability ratios and how they affect well drainage and thus infill drilling plans; improved time-depth correlations through regional mapping of sonic logs; and improved understanding of the variability of formation waters within the basin through spatial analysis of water chemistry data. The project will collect, integrate, and analyze a variety of petrophysical and well data concerning the Mesaverde and Dakota reservoirs of the San Juan Basin, with particular emphasis on data available in the areas defined as tight gas areas for purpose of FERC. A relational, geo-referenced database (a geographic information system, or GIS) ...
The measuring series was performed from November 1991 through April 1992 in seven drinking-water conditioning plants of the Fichtel mountains area in the north-eastern part of Bavaria, and the results revealed as an annual average a dose of about 1 - 40 WLM. The area of interest is a drinking-water catchment area where the ground water and other water resources include waters particularly rich in radon content, which explains this relatively high dose range. This is why comprehensive, specific local and long-term mearurements were carried out in order to assess the occupational radiation dose in the drinking-water conditioning plants, taking as a model site the conditioning plant of the municipal utilities of Hof in Weissenstadt. These more specific measurements were performed by the Technical Inspectorates (TUeV) of Bavaria and Saxony and the isotope laboratory of Georg-August University of Goettingen in mid-April 1994 (Goettingen University, TUeV Saxonia and ...
... Another solution, hybrid vehicles, combine two sources of energy (electric and chemical), reducing the global consumption of fossil fuels. Fuel cell vehicles are also one of the most promising technologies for the future, with the capacity to use any fuel - hydrogen being the ideal fuel ecologically, but constrained by infrastructure and storage issues. This book explores all these different solutions for moving our vehicles from fossil ...
DescriptionThis cross-disciplinary project will combine chemical, ecological and modelling techniques to determine whether cabbages grown under an organic regime differ in terms of pest dynamics and plant chemistry. There is increasing pressure to de-intensify agricultural practice and organic approaches are becoming more popular and widely adopted. However, there are very few, if any, detailed scientific investigations into the claims made about improved pest control, reduced environmental impact and be [continued...
This paper introduces in detail the compression performance of biogas, the application of compressed biogas to the compression-ignition engine and the possibility as well as the necessity of using compressed biogas. Moreover, the paper also goes further into some problems about the power increasing, efficiency raising and their social, economic and ecological beneficial results, when the compressed biogas is used in the compression ignition-dual fuel engine.
Highlights of the meeting are briefly summarized in this paper. Most of the papers presented at the meeting dealt with remediation and pollution prevention practices. A major focus of the technical sessions was on the identification of pollution sources. Identification of exposures to specific chemicals with disease outcomes was also discussed. Other papers focused on ecological exposures and their effects on wildlife to identify the presence of contaminants. 4 refs.
BackgroundThere are several known factors that cause ischemic heart disease. However, the part played by air pollution still remains something of a mystery. Recent attention has...Full Text Available
...Assemblages of plants and invertebrate animals of tumulus (organic mound) springs of the Swan Coastal Plain Assemblages of plants and invertebrate animals of tumulus ...organic mound) springs of the Swan Coastal Plain [Skip navigation links] About us | Contact us | Publications |...ecological communities Assemblages of plants and invertebrate animals of tumulus (organic mound) springs of the Swan Coastal Plain Advice to the Minister for the ...of the 'Assemblages of plants and invertebrate animals of tumulus (organic mound) springs of the Swan Coastal Plain' community sufficient to distinguish it from ...
This statement summarizes Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory`s committment to making important scientific, technological, and business contributions to global sustainability. The quest has many aspects, some socio-political or economic and some technological, and some in which the soft and hard sciences become indistinguishable, as in visionary national strategies, like Holland`s, and futuristic regional and city development plans, like those of Kagoshima and Chattanooga.
Atrazine (ATR) has been widely applied in the US and Mid Western states. Recently, public health and ecological concerns have been raised about contamination of surface and ground water by ATR and its chlorinated metabolites, due to their toxicity and potential carcinogenic or endocrinology effects....
A short synopsis of each project is given covering the following main areas of research and development: Atmospheric sciences; Biotechnology; Chemical and instrumentation analysis; Computer and information science; Design and manufacture engineering; Ecological science; Electronics and sensors; Experimental technology; Health protection and dosimetry; Hydrologic and geologic science; Marine sciences; Materials science; Nuclear science and engineering; Process science and engineering; Sociotechnical systems analysis; Statistics and applied mathematics; and Thermal and energy systems.
DescriptionCEH - Quest CCMAP see http://quest.bris.ac.uk/research/themes/CCMAP.html CCMAP (Climate-carbon modelling, assimilation and prediction) Leader: Dr. Eleanor Blyth (CEH, Wallingford) Overview and Goals CCMAP is one of QUEST's Theme 1 projects and is about to be commissioned to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Wallingford. The Principal Investigator will be Dr. Eleanor Blyth, with subcontracts to the Universities of Bristol (Dr. Wolfgang Knorr, Earth Sciences and QUEST; Andy Ridgw [continued...
References covering the years 1904-80 are listed under the following headings: cultivation and occurrence (India and Pakistan, Africa, South America, Pacific, Middle East); Taxonomy, morphology, variation and selection; Reference works and reviews; Ecology of Prosopis (General effects on surrounding soil and vegetation): Physiology (General, Roots, Growth, Hydrology, Saline tolerance); Control of mesquite: Propagation (Germination and other nursery techniques, Vegetative propagation): and Utilization (General, Chemical analyses, Food and Ethnobiology, Fodder, Wood, Charcoal, Gum, Paper). 141 references.
Transport and deposition of atmospheric lead over the coastal zone of Northern Germany are investigated. It is shown that marked differences in the impact of the ecologically valuable wadden sea areas can occur between summer and winter time. Due to the formation of sea breeze systems in summer the coastal zone is likely to be less stressed than in winter when the pollutant is confined to a shallow layer above ground. (orig.) 10 refs.
The Devonian oil shales of the Eastern United States are a significant domestic energy resource. The overall objective of the multi-year program, initiated in October 1987 by the US Department of Energy is to perform the research necessary to develop the Pressurized Fluidized-Bed Hydroretorting (PFH) process for producing oil from Eastern oil shales. The program also incorporates research on technologies in areas such as raw shale preparation, beneficiation, product separation, and waste disposal that have the potential of improving the economics and/or environmental acceptability of recovering oil from oil shales using the PFH process. The results of the original 3-year program, which was concluded in May 1991, have been summarized in a four-volume final report published by IGT. DOE subsequently approved a 1-year extension to the program to further develop the PFH process specifically for application to beneficiated shale as feedstock. Studies have shown that beneficiated shale is the ...
The Devonian oil shales of the Eastern United States are a significant domestic energy resource. The overall objective of the multi-year program, initiated in October 1987 by the US Department of Energy is to perform the research necessary to develop the Pressurized Fluidized-Bed Hydroretorting (PFH) process for producing oil from Eastern oil shales. The program also incorporates research on technologies in areas such as raw shale preparation, beneficiation, product separation, and waste disposal that have the potential of improving the economics and/or environmental acceptability of recovering oil from oil shales using the PFH process. The results of the original 3-year program, which was concluded in May 1991, have been summarized in a four-volume final report published by IGT. DOE subsequently approved a 1-year extension to the program to further develop the PFH process specifically for application to beneficiated shale as feedstock. Studies have shown that beneficiated shale is the ...
Conventional radiography has been the accepted nondestructive testing (NDT) method used for many years to either ''accent'' or ''reject'' a field weld in the pipeline industry. However, conventional radiography requires the expense of film, developing chemicals, and manpower for film development. It also normally has a delay of 2 hours or more between when the weld was radiographed and when the radiographic film of the weld is available for interpretation. Over the last few years, a newer approach to performing radiographic testing, called ''realtime'' radiography, has been used in several different types of field inspection operations. The realtime radiography system forms the image with optical imaging in lieu of photographic film. Objectives of this project were: (Task 1) Integration of realtime x-ray system components into a realtime-radiographic imaging ...
There are five tasks within this project on thermally stable coal-based jet fuels. Progress on each of the tasks is described. Task 1, Investigation of the quantitative degradation chemistry of fuels, has 5 subtasks which are described: Literature review on thermal stability of jet fuels; Pyrolytic and catalytic reactions of potential endothermic fuels: cis- and trans-decalin; Use of site specific {sup 13}C-labeling to examine the thermal stressing of 1-phenylhexane: A case study for the determination of reaction kinetics in complex fuel mixtures versus model compound studies; Estimation of critical temperatures of jet fuels; and Surface effects on deposit formation in a flow reactor system. Under Task 2, Investigation of incipient deposition, the subtask reported is Uncertainty analysis on growth and deposition of particles during heating of coal-derived aviation gas turbine fuels; under ...
This report is intended to satisfy two concurrent needs: (1) provide a contract deliverable from Oncorh Consulting to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), with emphasis on identification of salient results of value to ongoing Yakima/Klickitat Fisheries Project (YKFP) planning and (2) summarize results of research that have broader scientific relevance. This is the fourth in a series of reports that address reproductive ecological research and monitoring of spring chinook populations in the Yakima River basin. This annual report summarizes data collected between April 1, 2004 and March 31, 2005 and includes analyses of historical baseline data, as well. Supplementation success in the Yakima Klickitat Fishery Project's (YKFP) spring chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) program is defined as increasing natural production and harvest opportunities, while keeping adverse ecological interactions and genetic impacts within ...
There is evidence that aged normal subjects have more difficulty in achieving automaticity than young subjects. The underlying central neural mechanism for this phenomenon is unclear. In the present study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the effect of normal ageing on automaticity. Aged healthy subjects were asked to practice self-initiated, self-paced, memorized sequential finger movements with different complexity until they could perform the tasks automatically. Automaticity was evaluated by having subjects perform a secondary task simultaneously with the sequential movements. Although it took more time, most aged subjects eventually performed the tasks automatically at the same level as the young subjects. Functional MRI results showed that, for bot...
A three-light, three-lever discrete avoidance behavioral task was initiated to study the effects of a 500-675 rad neutron pulse upon performance. Eight primates performed the task for 4 h(3.5 h postexposure) on exposure day and for 4 h on each of 3 d postexposure. For the exposure day, five subjects had a decrease in correct responses, seven had increased reaction times, and six experienced productive emesis within 3.5 hours postexposure. Although the performance degradations were not severe, these data suggest that the performance of time critical tasks could be significantly impaired.
Many real-world text classification tasks involve imbalanced training examples. The strategies proposed to address the imbalanced classification (e.g., resampling, instance weighting), however, have not been systematically evaluated in the text domain. In this paper, we conduct a comparative study on the effectiveness of these strategies in the context of imbalanced text classification using Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifier. SVM is the interest in this study for its good classification accuracy reported in many text classification tasks. We propose a taxonomy to organize all proposed strategies following the training and the test phases in text classification tasks. Based on the taxonomy, we survey the methods proposed to address the imbalanced classification. Among them, 10 common...
In 1992, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) established a task force to develop a procedure for measuring electric energy consumption, all-electric range, fuel economy, and exhaust emissions for hybrid vehicles; the procedure will be submitted to regulatory agencies as representing the automotive industry`s recommendations. The draft procedure is currently being tested on hybrid vehicles. The University of Maryland`s parallel hybrid was tested in September 1994, and the University of California-Davis` parallel hybrid and the University of Illinois` series hybrid will be tested in November 1994 and January 1995, respectively. The procedure is being modified to incorporate any lessons learned, and the task force hopes to recommend the final procedure to the SAE by mid 1995.
Adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often fail to master literacy skills, in part because disruptive behaviors interfere with task engagement and persistence. The theory of behavioral momentum explains the persistence of behavior in the face of changing environmental conditions. The current exploratory study examined variables related to behavioral momentum in the context of a continuous reading task. Participants were three adolescents identified with EBD who were instructional on fifth-grade material. Results indicated that when participants read a third-grade paragraph immediately before a fifth-grade paragraph, they decreased the latency to initiate reading of the fifth-grade paragraph and increased words read correctly per minute on the first 10 words of the fifth-grade paragraph. Results are discussed in terms of the theory of behavioral momentum and the nature of interventions that may be developed to increase ...
Due to recent advancements in mobile computing and communication technologies, mobile ad hoc computational Grids are emerging as a new computing paradigm, enabling innovative applications through sharing of computing resources among mobile devices without any pre-existing network infrastructure. Energy-efficient resource allocation is one of the key issues in mobile ad hoc computational Grids due to limited battery life of mobile nodes. To reduce energy consumption, we propose a hybrid power-based resource allocation scheme for allocation of interdependent tasks to nodes within mobile ad hoc computational Grid. The basic idea is to exploit dependencies and task type, and allocate interdependent tasks to nodes accessible at minimum transmission power. We also propose a power-based algorithm...
We investigated high-resolution mental imagery and mental rotation, while the participants received caloric vestibular stimulation. High-resolution visual mental imagery tasks have been shown...Full Text Available
... Headquarters 5th Brugade 78th Division (Ts) ... 2nd Battalion 20th Special Forces Company B ... 29th Corps Personnel Serves Hq Joint Task Force Aug ...
... NE Mall Room B-607, EPA Headquarters, 401 M ... formally adopted and initiated a joint strategy for ... CLI kick-off Partner and Task Force meeting. ...
This report describes a quality assurance program plan for the Yucca Mountain Project. Aspects of the plan include: document control, equipment maintenance and calibration, process control, audits, computer software, and inspections. (CBS)
BackgroundThe variety of ways in which faces are categorized makes face recognition challenging for both synthetic and biological vision systems. Here we focus on two face processing...Full Text Available
ObjectiveMusician's focal dystonia is usually considered to be task specific but secondary motor disturbances have been reported also. We carried out a detailed evaluation of the...Full Text Available
The status of the South American Geocentric reference System (SIRGAS) Project is presented, including the project goals, objectives and tasks already carried out by the Working Groups. (author). 2 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab
Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) often exhibit impaired executive function, particularly in experimental tasks that involve response conflict and require adaptive behavioral...Full Text Available
The Executive Director for Operations (EDO) in establishing the Piping Review Committee concurred in its overall scope that included an evaluation of the potential for pipe breaks. The Pipe Break Task Group has responded to this directive. This report summarizes a review of regulatory documents and contains the Task Group's recommendations for application of the leak-before-break (LBB) approach to the NRC licensing process. The LBB approach means the application of fracture mechanics technology to demonstrate that high energy fluid piping is very unlikely to experience double-ended ruptures or their equivalent as longitudinal or diagonal splits. The Task Group's reommendations and discussion are founded on current and ongoing NRC staff actions as presented in Section 3.0 of this report. Additional more detailed comments and discussion are presented in Section 5.0 and in Appendices A and B. The obvious ...
Treatment of functional bowel disorders of irritable bowel-type (IBS) in children remains a difficult task because of a lack of drugs with low adverse event profile. We here report the results of a...Full Text Available
This report results from a contract tasking Eindhoven University of Technology as follows: The contractor will investigate the plasma treatment of surfaces and plasma enhanced deposition using EUT's cascade arc source as the basis for this effort.
Rare Earth Cobalt (REC) permanent magnets have unique properties that permit solutions to some optical tasks that cannot be accomplished with conventional magnets. A review of design and of performance characteristics of these magnets includes an analytical description of the three dimensional fringe fields of REC quadrupoles.
Preventing tobacco use in youths may be an easier task than helping adults break the habit of smoking and overcome its ill effects. Using experimental procedures based on social work techniques,...Full Text Available
This report is designed to cover the overall Operation Castle radiological safety matters from the viewpoint of those issues of direct concern to Headquarters, Joint Task Force Seven. It was written for the express purpose of assisting in the development ...
This report is designed to cover the overall Operation Castle radiological safety matters from the viewpoint of those issues of direct concern to Headquarters, Joint Task Force Seven. It was written for the express purpose of assisting in the development ...
Background:An association has been reported between the dominant nostril through which we breathe and the cerebral hemisphere found to be active.Aims:To...Full Text Available
... We also toured a Trident submarine at Kings Bay, Ga. "During the weekend at the Joint Interagency Task Force Headquarters in Key West, Fla., we ...
This manual provides information to assist in selection and designing control measures for reducing pollutant discharges from combined sewer overflows (CSOs). he manual will be useful for municipal public works staff, design engineers, and regulatory agency staff tasked with the ...
BackgroundThe various tasks of visual systems, including course control, collision avoidance and the detection of small objects, require at the neuronal level the dendritic integration...Full Text Available
This paper summarizes the findings for the African Region of the WPA Task Force on Steps, Obstacles and Mistakes to Avoid in the Implementation of Community Mental Health Care. We present an overview...Full Text Available
Circuit modification associated with learning and memory involves multiple events, including the addition and remotion of newborn cells trough adulthood. Adult neurogenesis and gliogenesis were mainly...Full Text Available
Laser-assisted processing techniques for producing high-quality solar cell metallization patterns are being investigated, developed, and characterized. The tasks comprising these investigations are outlined.
We studied multi-joint coordination during tasks of transporting real and imaginary objects with two arms. One of the arms was unexpectedly arrested in one third of trials performed. In the...Full Text Available
Patients with schizophrenia can be taught the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) sorting rules based upon expanded feedback. However, few task manipulations have been reported that differentially...Full Text Available
This monograph explores an alternative way of providing a JSOTF headquarters to the Joint Force Commander. Beginning with a history of joint SOF doctrine, the monograph outlines the evolution of special operations command and control and the subsequent ne...
Responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the bulk of the 132 kV cable network in England and Wales was transferred from the CEGB to the area boards in the 1970s. Norweb has successfully dealt with the increase in work using in-house expertise exclusively.
Microarray data has a high dimension of variables but available datasets usually have only a small number of samples, thereby making the study of such datasets interesting and challenging. In the task...Full Text Available
Peripheral vision has been the topic of few studies compared with central vision. Nevertheless, given that visual information covers all the visual field and that relevant information can...Full Text Available
Officers receive service-specific education and undergo experiences within their components that provide the expert knowledge that enables them to operate in their respective military departments. Given the Department of Defense (DoD) emphasis on service ...
The main objectives of Phase 2 are to determine the feasibility of using cements with controlled particle size distributions (CPSD cements) in practical concrete applications, and to refine our estimates of the potential energy savings that may ensue from such use. The work in Phase 2 is divided into two main tasks, some parts of which will be carried out simultaneously: Task 1 will continue cement paste studies to optimize cement performance similar to those of Phase 1, but with particular emphasis on gypsum requirements, blended cements, and water-reducing admixtures. This task will also include preparation of sufficient CPSD cements for use in all Phase 2 work. Task 2 will be a comprehensive examination of the properties of concretes made with CPSD cements. This will include optimization of concrete mix designs to obtain the best possible performance for practical applications of both portland and ...
Static task intensity–endurance time (ET) relationships (e.g. Rohmert's curve) were first reported decades ago. However, a comprehensive meta-analysis to compare experimentally-observed...Full Text Available
Double cones (DCs) are the most common cone types in fish, reptiles and birds. It has been suggested that DCs are used for achromatic tasks such as luminance, motion and polarization vision. Here we...Full Text Available
A summary of research conducted during the first year is presented. The research objectives were sought by conducting two tasks: (1) investigation of probabilistic design techniques for reliability-based design of composite sandwich panels, and (2) examin...
ObjectivesTo study inhalation and dermal exposure to hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) and its oligomers as well as personal protection equipment (PPE) use during task performance...Full Text Available
This official IEA report is a deliverable of IEA SHC Task 21/IEA BCS Annex 29: Daylight in Buildings. The Task focuses on daylighting systems and strategies which can be applied in new and existing buildings with a high potential electricity saving potential such as offices, schools, commercial, and institutional buildings. The daylighting performance of these strategies and systems is tested in laboratory facilities, through modeling, and in real case study buildings. This paper provides methods and procedures to evaluate the daylighting performance of real buildings. Annex 29 case studies located in Europe, North America, and Australia. It is a deliverable of Subtask D research projects. The main objective of Subtask D, as stated in the Implementing Agreement of Task 21/Annex 29, is `to demonstrate the viability of daylighting buildings in various world climatic zones as a means of achieving significant improvements in ...
One of the tasks comprising ERDA Contract EY-76-S-02-2840, ''Minimization of Cupola Energy and Air Pollution,'' has been the carrying out of a comprehensive survey of world literature relating to the cupola furnace for melting of cast iron. It was decided...
The author compares the UHF Follow-on and MILSTAR satellite communication systems. The comparison uses an analytical hierarchy process. Although the two systems have been tasked with different missions, a comparison of cost, capability, and orbit is condu...
New neurons are generated in the granule cell layer of the dentate gyrus (GCL) throughout adulthood. This process is modulated by many environmental and neurochemical factors. We previously...Full Text Available
The last of our series on the Task Forces. PS accelerator 'We had a clear mandate, which we could approach in a logical way', explains Steve Myers, Head of SL Division and convenor of Task Force 5, 'To avoid duplication of effort in the accelerator sector through a restructuring that would lead to greater efficiency and flexibility and so release resources for the LHC.' The implementation of all their recommendations is already underway, albeit with different time scales. In 2001 the accelerator sector involved more than 900 staff members in three divisions (LHC, PS and SL) and one unit (AC), working in 141 sections within 34 groups. The first step for the Task Force was to identify major activities within the sector and to set up inter-divisional working groups to review these activities (16 in all), identifying the technologies and the numbers of staff associated with each activity. The working groups were also asked ...
This report details the status of the Biological Conversion of Synthesis Gas Project. The following tasks are described as being completed: (1) the test plan, (2) culture development, and (3) the mass transfer/kinetic studies. The bioreactor studies (Task 4) are underway. The continuous stirred tank reactor system for the conversion of H{sub 2}S to elemental sulfur using Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum has been studied for varying light intensities. The system was also modified to include both sulfur recovery and cell recycle using ceramic membranes. Studies were also performed to observe the effects of cell recycle using a polysulfone hollow filter membrane module. Work on Task 5, limiting conditions/scale-up, includes a scale-up study with three different size reactors to establish the optimum operating conditions for hydrogen production from synthesis gas by the biological water-gas shift reaction using the photosynthetic ...
The tendency for some individuals to partake in high-risk behaviors (eg, substance abuse, gambling, risky sexual activities) is a matter of great public health concern, yet the characteristics and neural...Full Text Available
Average human behavior in cue combination tasks is well predicted by Bayesian inference models. As this capability is acquired over developmental timescales, the question arises, how it is learned....Full Text Available
Conceptual documents like Joint Vision 2010 (JV 2010), the Concept for Future Joint Operations (CFJO), and the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) postulate that advances in technology and information superiority will revolutionize the way military force...
The non-licensed operator on the job training model presently considered for development and implementation at C.N. Almaraz (CNA) has the primary objective of imparting practical knowledge and skills to the trainee on a per system basis and specific to the job position. This model is somewhat different in scope from the OJT process used in U.S. stations because the learning process is not done on a task per task basis, but rather on the concept of learning collectively all the knowledge and skills required by the specific-system job. This model arose primarily from two thoughts. First, the knowledge and skills have been obtained from a detailed job and task analysis process which will result in the learning of many required knowledge and skills divided by three categories: components, systems and academics. Secondly, the OJT most commonly used in the U.S. requires that the respective station department administers and ...
for sensitive personnel data. Based on the judgment of Task Force ...... Gunn, R ., Memorandum on Sub-Atomic Power Sources for Submarine ... Hunley, J., ed., The Birth of NASA: The Diary of T. Keith Glennan, SP-4105, ...
...COMCAM forces document Air Force and air component activities...supported unified command or joint task force commander, through the...Force COMCAM forces in a joint environment. If an...share of Unified Command headquarters COMCAM and visual...
(General Stafford) was selected as chair for the Task Force based on his expertise .... a large foreign customer base that includes joint working agreements with Russia, the .... NASA Headquarters management advocates the Jorge Scientific ...
Four major projects at UNRSL have been supported by NWPO-Neotectonics Yucca Mountain Task 4 funds during the last year: (1) Operation and analysis of data from the UNRSL microearthquake network at Yucca Mountain. (2) Continued operation, maintenance, and calibration of three broadband stations. Limited data analysis was also initiated. (3) Continued review by Dr. Brune of documents and literature related to seismic hazard and tectonics of the Yucca Mountain region. (4) Testing of noise levels in boreholes.
This study investigates spent fuel cask handling experience at existing nuclear facilities to determine appropriate cask decontamination and maintenance operations at the potential Yucca Mountain repository. These operations are categorized as either routine or nonroutine. Routine cask decontamination and maintenance tasks are performed in the cask preparation area at the repository. Casks are taken offline to a separate cask maintenance area for major nonroutine tasks. The study develops conceptual designs of the cask preparation area and cask maintenance area. The functions, layouts, and major features of these areas are also described.
What makes teamwork tick?. Cooperation matters, in daily life and in complex applications. After all, many tasks need more than a single agent to be effectively performed. Therefore, teamwork rules!. Teams are social groups of agents dedicated to the fulfilment of particular persistent tasks. In modern multiagent environments, heterogeneous teams often consist of autonomous software agents, various types of robots and human beings. Teamwork in Multi-agent Systems: A Formal Approach explains teamwork rules in terms of agents' attitudes and their complex interplay. It provides the first comprehe
The Knowledge Associates for Novel Intelligence (KANI) system provides a collection of automated 'associates' to actively support and participate in the information analysis task. In this paper, we describe the Information Integration Associate (IIA), which facilitates analyst interaction with underlying KANI reasoning and extraction associates and provides an interactive representation of the analytic process. We focus on features of the IIA that guide communication between the user and the KANI system in a way that ensures mutual understanding of the analytic task being performed, the capabilities of the system to assist the user, and the status of any reasoning and extraction conducted on behalf of the user by the KANI system.
The Fast Flux Test Facility near Richland, Washington, utilizes computer control for reactor refueling and other related core component handling and processing tasks. The computer controlled tasks described in this paper include core component transfers within the reactor vessel, core component transfers into and out of the reactor vessel, remote duct measurements of irradiated core components, remote duct cutting, and finally, transferring irradiated components out of the reactor containment building for off-site shipments or to long term storage. 3 refs., 16 figs.
The Phase I feasibility study has focused on determining the availability of information for estimating exposures of the public to chemicals and radionuclides released as a result of historical operation of the facilities at the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR). The estimation of such past exposures is frequently called dose reconstruction. The initial project tasks, Tasks 1 and 2 were designed to identify and collect information that documents the history of activities at the ORR that resulted in the release of contamination and to characterize the availability of data that could be used to estimate the magnitude of the contaminant releases or public exposures. A history of operations that are likely to have generated off-site releases has been documented as a result of Task 1 activities. The activities required to perform this task involved the extensive review of historical operation records and ...
Full text: The ITWG was first formed in 1995 for the purpose of fostering international cooperation for combating illicit trafficking of nuclear materials. The initial focus for the ITWG was on the development of nuclear forensics to help answer attribution questions regarding nuclear materials of unknown origin. More recently, the ITWG has also expanded its focus to include detection of nuclear materials during transit. This paper presents some of the key developments by this group and their potential impact for combating nuclear smuggling. The initial focus of the ITWG was to write a status report on international cooperation on nuclear smuggling forensic analysis. This 26-page report summarized previous work on nuclear forensics and gave an initial analysis on prioritizing techniques and methods for forensic analysis regarding source and route attribution. This report was submitted to the G-8 countries, and shortly thereafter, nuclear forensics was endorsed at the Moscow Summit in ...
Species interactions research and monitoring was initiated in 1989 to investigate ecological interactions among fish in response to proposed supplementation of salmon and steelhead in the upper Yakima River basin. This is the eighth of a series of progress reports that address species interactions research and pre-supplementation monitoring of fishes in the Yakima River basin. Data have been collected prior to supplementation to characterize the ecology and demographics of non-target taxa (NTT) and target taxon, and develop methods to monitor interactions and supplementation success. Major topics of this report are associated with implementing NTT monitoring prescriptions for detecting potential impacts of hatchery supplementation, hatchery fish interactions, and monitoring fish predation indices. This report is organized into four chapters, with a general introduction preceding the first chapter. This annual report summarizes data collected ...
This is the annual report of the Radiological and Environmental Division of the Argonne National Laboratory for 1982. Studies of the effects of ozone on crop growth and yield have been carried out by the Terrestrial Ecology Group for winter wheat and for sorghum. The Microcosms for Acid Rain Studies (MARS) facility was completed in the early summer. Controlled investigations of plant and soil responses in acid rain were initiated with crop plants grown in two different midwestern soil types. The Transuranics Group has found that the solubility and adsorptive behavior of plutonium previously observed at fallout concentrations in natural waters (approx. 10/sup -16/ to 10/sup -18/ M) is applicable at plutonium concentrations as high as 10/sup -8/ M. The Lake Michigan eutrophication model has been adapted to operation in a Monte Carlo mode. Simulations based on yearly phosphorus loadings and winter conditions were selected at random from prescribed probability ...
Wireless sensor networks can revolutionize soil ecology by providing measurements at temporal and spatial granularities previously impossible. This paper presents a soil monitoring system we developed and deployed at an urban forest in Baltimore as a first step towards realizing this vision. Motes in this network measure and save soil moisture and temperature in situ every minute. Raw measurements are periodically retrieved by a sensor gateway and stored in a central database where calibrated versions are derived and stored. The measurement database is published through Web Services interfaces. In addition, analysis tools let scientists analyze current and historical data and help manage the sensor network. The article describes the system design, what we learned from the deployment, and initial results obtained from the sensors. The system measures soil factors with unprecedented temporal precision. However, the deployment required device-level programming, sensor ...
The K Reactor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) shut-down in spring 1988 for maintenance and safety upgrades. Since that time the receiving stream for thermal effluent, Indian Grave Branch and Pen Branch, have undergone a pattern of post-thermal recovery that is typical of other SRS streams following removal of thermal stress. Divesity of fish and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities has increased and available habitats have been colonized by numerous species of herbaceous and woody plants. K Reactor is scheduled to resume operation in 1991 and operate through 1992 without a cooling tower to cool the discharge. It is likely that the reactor will operate at approximately one-third to one-half of full power (800--1200 MW thermal) during this period and effluent temperatures will be substantially lower than earlier operation at full power. Monthly average discharge temperatures at half-power operation will range from approximately 42 degrees C in winter to 49 degrees C in summer. The ...
Childhood anxiety is impairing and associated with later emotional disorders. Studying risk factors for child anxiety may allow earlier identification of at-risk children for prevention efforts. This study applied an ecological risk model to address how early childhood anxiety symptoms, child temperament, maternal anxiety and depression symptoms, violence exposure, and sociodemographic risk factors predict school-aged anxiety symptoms. This longitudinal, prospective study was conducted in a representative birth cohort (n = 1109). Structural equation modeling was used to examine hypothesized associations between risk factors measured in toddlerhood/preschool (age = 3.0 years) and anxiety symptoms measured in kindergarten (age = 6.0 years) and second grade (age = 8.0 years). Early child risk factors (anxiety symptoms and temperament) emerged as the most robust predictor for both parent-and child-reported anxiety outcomes and mediated the effects of maternal and ...
The atmosphere and the biosphere are inherently coupled to one another. Atmospheric surface state variables such as temperature, winds, water vapor, precipitation, and radiation control biophysical, biogeochemical, and ecological processes at the surface and subsurface. At the same time, surface fluxes of momentum, moisture, heat, and trace gases act as time-dependent boundary conditions providing feedback on atmospheric processes. To understand such phenomena, a coupled set of interactive models is required. Costs are still prohibitive for computing surface/subsurface fluxes directly for medium-resolution atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs), but a technique has been developed for testing large-scale homogeneity and accessing surface parameterizations and models to reduce this computational cost and maintain accuracy. This modeling system potentially bridges the observed spatial and temporal ranges yet allows the incorporation of necessary details about ...
This article discusses the proper use of sandy land in China from the viewpoint of ecology. The many low-yield fields in every locality across China include sandy land that is unsuited to the cultivation of grains such as paddy rice, corn and wheat. Separate investigations of the northern plain and the southern coast between 1980 and 1982 demonstrated that sandy land in a warm climatic zone (e.g. Huang He) is suited to peanuts, soybeans and other oil-bearing crops; that forestation can be carried out on sandy land in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang; and that coastal sandy land has much salinity and is best suited to growing horsetail beefwood. Moreover, the creation of windbreaks along the coasts of southern China has lessened the threat of wind-blown sand which had made rice not worth cultivating on sandy land. It is concluded that different crops can be grown on the sandy soil of China's temperate, warm, semitropical and tropical zones.
This report presents and discusses results from Task 5 of the study ''Fate of Mercury in Synthetic Gypsum Used for Wallboard Production,'' performed at a full-scale commercial wallboard plant. Synthetic gypsum produced by wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems on coal-fired power plants is commonly used in the manufacture of wallboard. The FGD process is used to control the sulfur dioxide emissions which would result in acid rain if not controlled. This practice has long benefited the environment by recycling the FGD gypsum byproduct, which is becoming available in increasing quantities, decreasing the need to landfill this material, and increasing the sustainable design of the wallboard product. However, new concerns have arisen as recent mercury control strategies developed for power plants involve the capture of mercury in FGD systems. The objective of this study is to determine whether any mercury is released into the ...
This document, the Standards/Requirements Identification Document (S/RID) Phase 2 Assessment Report for the subject facility, represents the results of a Performance Assessment to determine whether procedures containing S/RID requirements are fully implemented by field personnel in the field. It contains a summary report and three attachments; an assessment schedule, performance objectives, and assessments for selected functional areas.
This document describes the 2003 SNL ASCI Software Quality Engineering (SQE) assessment of twenty ASCI application code teams and the results of that assessment. The purpose of this assessment was to determine code team compliance with the Sandia National Laboratories ASCI Applications Software Quality Engineering Practices, Version 2.0 as part of an overall program assessment.
Data on the postfire dynamics of soil properties in the foci of Siberian moth population outbreaks are considered. It has been shown that controlled fires set in pest-defoliated forests result in the loss of approximately 75% of carbon and 50% of nitrogen from the forest litter through their emission into the atmosphere and in the enrichment of the upper soil horizons with potassium and phosphorus (this concerns both total and movable forms). Microbiological processes in the organogenic horizon undergo significant transformation, the density of microarthropods decreases, and the abundance of mites becomes hundreds of times lower. PMID:15354965
Wetlands have important ecological values and functions. It is estimated that 80 percent of the Nation's coastal fisheries are dependent on wetlands for spawning, nursery areas, and food sources. Both coastal and inland wetlands provide essential breeding, nesting, feeding, and predator escape habitats for millions of waterfowl, other birds, mammals, and reptiles. Well over one-third of the 564 plant and animal species listed as threatened or endangered in the United States utilize wetland habitats during some portion of their life cycle. Wetlands Stewardship is intended as a resource for everyone interested in wetlands protection.
A laboratory stream consisting of two stream sections interrupted by two pools was filled with a mixture of tap water and organically enriched water from rivers nearby. Bottom sediment material, Potamogeton pectinatus, macro-invertebrate organisms, as well as the mosquito fish, Aplocheilichthys johnstonii were collected from rivers around Johannesburg and introduced into the laboratory stream. After initial acclimatization, the distribution of the isotope "3"2P through this laboratory stream was followed. Absorption of this isotope by benthic algae, Potamogeton pectinatus, several macro-invertebrate organisms as well as Aplocheilichthys johnstonii was recorded.
Industrial activities in the river basin of the Elbe have a very long tradition, and have been resulting in the contamination of sediments for centuries. Contamination lasted until the fall of the iron curtain; since then, the situation has improved significantly. In the transition zone between freshwater systems and the marine environment, ports like Hamburg still have to bear this burden of history. An overall (contaminated) management strategy should be developed in the context of the European Water Framework Directive with the emphasis on source control. (orig.)
The long term goal is to determine the ecological importance of specific toxic metals (copper and zinc) in harbors, through an understanding of their chemistry and biological effects at the base of marine food chains. This work provides information on potential problems with Zn and Cu, which may help to foresee problems in the future. Anthropogenic inputs of both metals are increasing; they are derived from diverse sources and are a simple function of population growth in coastal regions.
The lithium-polymer energy storage technology requires the production of thin films of huge surface. The BT-EdF-CEA consortium has studied the various manufacturing techniques of these films and their assembly. The process was chosen according to its productivity, low expensiveness, ecological impact and energy performances with capacities reaching 40 Ah. This paper explains: the objectives and specifications of the project, the advantage of the consortium and the role of the different partners, the results (coating, dry extrusion and battery element manufacturing techniques), and the electrochemical performances of the elements. (J.S.)
This conference was attended by experts on current issues in engineering of an urban ecosystem, composting, biofuels and green energy. The meeting provided a forum to discuss advances in the application of engineering principles and practices dealing with biological systems for the production of food, bioproducts and energy. The discussions focused on engineering practices in agriculture, forestry, bioresources, biochemistry and biosystems. The 7 technical sessions of the conference were entitled: aquaculture; safety and training; bioprocessing; energy production and biofuels; environment and ecology; soil and water; and development of technologies. The conference feature 58 presentations, of which 9 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs.
Two new species of the genus Microplana are described from the Iberian Peninsula. The new taxa are compared with congeneric species. Distributional records for two other European species, Microplana monacensis (Heinzel, 1929) and Microplana groga Jones et al. 2008, are presented and the presence of Microplana terrestris (Muller, 1774) is confirmed on the Iberian Peninsula. A partial re-description of Microplana nana Mateos, Giribet and Carranza, 1998 is provided. The finding of a new and probably introduced, but unidentified, species of land planarian is reported. Land planarians were generally found in the vicinity of deciduous trees and rivers.
This document provides information on septic systems with a design capacity of greater than 14,500 gal/d and cribs submitted as requested by the Washington State Department of Ecology. Data for this submittal were taken from the Waste Information Database System (WIDS) and the Hanford Environmental Compliance Record (HECR) database. The current definition used in WIDS for an ''inactive facility'' is one that either no longer receives waste or plans to in the future. Information concerning the deactivation method for a facility is included when such information is available.
The marine environment is becoming increasingly contaminated by environmental pollutants with the potential to damage DNA, with marine sediments acting as a sink for many of these contaminants. Understanding genotoxic responses in sediment-dwelling marine organisms, such as polychaetes, is therefore of increasing importance. This study is an exploration of species-specific and cell-specific differences in cell sensitivities to DNA-damaging agents in polychaete worms, aimed at increasing fundamental knowledge of their responses to genotoxic damage. The sensitivities of coelomocytes from three polychaetes species of high ecological relevance, i.e. the lugworm Arenicola marina, the harbour ragworm Nereis diversicolor and the king ragworm Nereis virens to genotoxic damage are compared, and dif...
...assistantship in Suburban Ecology Location: Bedford, NY Deadline: August 15, 2008 Postdoctoral Fellow in energy Location: University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Deadline: August 11, 2008 Junior Professional Fellowship Sustainable Development Governance Programme Location: UNU, Yokohama, Japan Deadline: August 1, 2008 Center for Ocean Solutions Early Career Fellowship Program Location: Stanford, California Deadline: July 15, 2008 Asian MetaCentre for Population and Sustainable Development Analysis Postdoctoral Research Fellow Location: Singapore Deadline: July 15, ...
A synthesis of papers based on the United Nations Environment Programme meeting on the ozone layer, Washington DC, this book contains valuable information on ongoing and planned activities concerned with stratospheric ozone problems, and presents the recommendations for further action resulting from the meeting. Possible changes in the characteristics of the ozone layer are discussed, together with the environmental, ecological, climatic, economic, and health implications of stratospheric ozone depletion. A comprehensive survey of current research in five European countries, the USA, Canada, and Australia is included and the volume is concluded by the UNEP report of the meeting and a world plan of action.
The environmental Restoration Remedial Action Quality Assurance Requirements Document (DOE/RL 90-28) defines the quality assurance program requirements for the US Department of Energy-Richland Field Office Environmental Restoration Remedial Action Program at the Hanford Site, Richland, Washington. This paper describes the objectives outlined in DOE/RL 90-28. The Environmental Restoration Remedial Action Program implements significant commitments made by the US Department of Energy in the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order entered into with the Washington State Department of Ecology and the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Growing ecological awareness in the car industry resulted in further developments of the otto and diesel engines, and of alternative fuels like cars with electric drive. This article gives an overview on a number of pertinent developments. The possible uses of electric cars are still limited by the battery in terms of storage capacity, output, service life and weight so that for the time being their use can be expected to be restricted to public and local-authority antreprises or to companies driving within city areas preferably. A break-through is expected by the industry in the field of high-temperature batteries although there are still a number of problems unsolved. (BWI).
... Cameron; Lowell A. Miller; Miller, Lowell A. CSIRO PUBLISHING - Wildlife Research Books Journals Multimedia About Us Shopping Cart You are here: Journals Wildlife Research Ecology, Management and Conservation in Natural and Modified Habitats Search ... Cameron and Lowell A. Miller Abstract Context. Contraception is increasingly used as a management technique to reduce fertility in wildlife populations; however, the feasibility of contraceptive formulations has been limited until recently because they have required multiple treatments to achieve prolonged infertility. ...
The NPPs safety system in Germany is discussed. It is shown that there exists no threat for the German NPPs at the peace times. They release insignificant quantities of radioactive substances into the water and atmosphere. The average equivalent dose constitutes 0.0005 mSv annually. The annual equivalent dose for the personnel is equal to 4.4 mSv. At the same time, the NPPs contribute to a certain degree to the environmental medium improvement, preventing the ingress therein of the sulfur and carbon dioxide, dust and nitrogen oxides by application of fossil fuels. Attention is also paid to reprocessing facilities and also to the nuclear fuel wastes disposal. The advantages of the nuclear power engineering in comparison with the fossil fuel power engineering are enumerated
A revision of some basic concepts related to the analysis of variance of repeated measures is presented within an ecological context topics such as the types of experiments in which the technique is applicable, the hypotheses of interest, and its preference over other traditional techniques such as regression and conventional analysis of variance, are discussed. As an example, the technique was successfully applied to an experiment carried out at Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia, in which the concentration of cadmium #mu#g/g in leaves of the black mangrove Avicennia germinans was measured in several monitoring stations and throughout several sampling intervals representing seasons.
The Georges Bank, off southwestern Nova Scotia, is one of the most biologically productive continental shelf ecosystems in the world. It supports a wide diversity of species, including many seabirds. In 1988, federal and provincial legislation placed a moratorium on petroleum exploration and drilling on the Georges Bank, directing the ministers of Natural Resources Canada, and of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources to make a decision regarding the moratorium by January 1, 2000. This report by the Ecology Action Centre (EAC) asks the Georges Bank Review Panel to recommend extending the moratorium on Georges Bank and adjacent areas until 2012, in part to match the American moratorium. Other reasons why the panel made this recommendation were explored. The principal reason is the EAC concern that when the moratorium is lifted, several oil and gas developments will proceed in this ecologically significant offshore area that could result ...
This report presents results from the soil inorganic analysis of the 44th set of environmental quality assessment samples, of the quality assessment program, that were received on or before June 3, 1996. The samples were analyzed for RCRA metals.
This chapter provides a glimpse of student affairs assessment at Northern Arizona University including a specific example of assessment, tips to implementing assessment at your institution, and barriers encountered when implementing the process at Northern Arizona University.
The British Andrology Society guidelines for the assessment of post vasectomy semen samples recommend that initial assessment is undertaken 16 weeks post vasectomy and after the patient has produced...Full Text Available
Behavioural assessment methods have been used to signal the need for intervention and to evaluate treatment effectiveness. Direct observation and rating scales have been used to assess pain and distress...Full Text Available
Assessment strategies are an important component in game theoretical models of contests. Strategies can be either based on one’s own abilities (self assessment) or on the relative abilities...Full Text Available
BackgroundComputer-based health-risk assessments are electronic surveys which can be completed by patients privately, for example during their waiting time...Full Text Available
BackgroundWe were commissioned to carry out three health assessments in urban areas of Dublin in Ireland. We required an epidemiologically robust method that could collect data rapidly...Full Text Available
The report gives an initial assessment of the feasibility of disposing of flue gas desulfurization wastes in mines and in the ocean. The purpose of the assessment was to evaluate environmental, technical, regulatory, and economic aspects of the use of such disposal sites. Availab...
P.S. Lowell and Co., Inc. (Lowell and Co.) and Jay S. Dweck, Consultant, Inc. (JSD) under contract to the US Department of Energy (DOE) Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) have developed and implemented an aqueous electrolyte calculation capability into the ASPEN (Advanced System for Process Engineering) process simulator. This report documents the efforts of Task 1 which were to implement the basic calculational capability. Task 2 involves development of several unit operations models and demonstration of the models in simulating environmental control processes in coal gasification and shale oil processing plants. Task 1 of the project involved several subtasks: selection of a chemical equilibrium algorithm; selection of activity coefficient algorithms; selection of species for inclusion in the initial implementation; collection of required data for the selected species; regression of parameters not found in the ...
The evaluation of biological markers is recognized as necessary to the future of toxicology, epidemiology, and quantitative risk assessment. For biological markers to become widely accepted, their validity...Full Text Available
Trinitrotoluene (TNT) absorption was assessed in groups of workers at two explosives factories by measuring the urinary concentrations of dinitroaminotoluene (DNAT) metabolites. DNAT was detected in...Full Text Available
Transtelephonic electrocardiographic transmission (TET) is the most widespread form of telecardiology since it enables clinicians to assess patients at a distance. The purpose of this study was to assess...Full Text Available
Bone mineral density is considered to be the standard measure for the diagnosis of osteoporosis and the assessment of fracture risk. The majority of fragility fractures occur in patients with bone mineral...Full Text Available
ObjectivesTo determine the content and extent, design, and relative importance of patient assessment courses in the professional pharmacy curriculum.MethodsA...Full Text Available
... was associated with at least some 360 intent to ... herself, at least to 366 some degree, can be ... As prospective assessment instruments for suicidality are created ...
... 1768 1475 360 to 3400 ... The TSC provided an independent assessment of SA based on ... Complexity of Situation Degree of complication (number of ...
Report) A Screening Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Mitigation in the Great Lakes and New England Regions (Final Report)...
assessment.Both frustumswerein excellentcondition.No missingTPSor debonds/ unbondswere ...... 2) The average time for a 360 degree rotation was 29.9 seconds. ...
The existence of thresholds for toxicants is a matter of debate in chemical risk assessment and regulation. Current risk assessment methods are based on the assumption that, in the absence of sufficient...Full Text Available
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine potential new uses of return on investment (ROI) in alternative methods for library assessment and valuation. Design/methodology/approach - Uses examples of recent uses of ROI by libraries to identify potential new applications of ROI in library assessment and valuation. Findings - ROI investment has historically been used by libraries for the assessment of past performance of library organizations in a reactive/defensive nature or for assessing the value of customer services. ROI has not been widely used as a proactive assessment tool, to introspectively assess administrative or other internal services, or as an offensive assessment and valuation tool, especially for intangible performance assessment and valuation. Originality/value - New ...
BackgroundAdequate pain assessment is critical for evaluating the efficacy of analgesic treatment in clinical practice and during the development of new therapies. Yet the currently...Full Text Available
The Electrochemical Program at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) provides technical and programmatic support to DOE`s Electric and Hybrid Propulsion Division (DOE-EHP). The goal of DOE-EHP is to advance promising electric-vehicle (EV) propulsion technologies to levels where industry will continue their commercial development and thereby. significantly reduce petroleum consumption in the transportation sector of the economy. In support of this goal, ANL provides research, development, testing/evaluation, post-test analysis, modeling, database management, and technical management of industrial R&D contracts on advanced battery and fuel cell technologies for DOE-EHP. This report summarizes the battery-related activities undertaken during the period of October 1, 1991 through March 31, 1992. In this report, the objective, background, technical progress, and status are described for each task. These tasks are structured into the following ...
The Electrochemical Program at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) provides technical and programmatic support to DOE's Electric and Hybrid Propulsion Division (DOE-EHP). The goal of DOE-EHP is to advance promising electric-vehicle (EV) propulsion technologies to levels where industry will continue their commercial development and thereby. significantly reduce petroleum consumption in the transportation sector of the economy. In support of this goal, ANL provides research, development, testing/evaluation, post-test analysis, modeling, database management, and technical management of industrial R D contracts on advanced battery and fuel cell technologies for DOE-EHP. This report summarizes the battery-related activities undertaken during the period of October 1, 1991 through March 31, 1992. In this report, the objective, background, technical progress, and status are described for each task. These tasks are structured into the following ...
The Safeguards and Security Technology Development Directory is published annually by the Office of Safeguards and Security (OSS) of the US Department of Energy (DOE), and is Intended to inform recipients of the full scope of the OSS R&D program. It is distributed for use by DOE headquarters personnel, DOE program offices, DOE field offices, DOE operating contractors, national laboratories, other federal agencies, and foreign governments. Chapters 1 through 7 of the Directory provide general information regarding the Technology Development Program, including the mission, program description, organizational roles and responsibilities, technology development lifecycle, requirements analysis, program formulation, the task selection process, technology development infrastructure, technology transfer activities, and current research and development tasks. These chapters are followed by a series of appendices which contain more specific ...
The Hanford Cultural Resources Laboratory (HCRL) was established by the US Department of Energy Field Office, Richland (RL) in 1987 as part of Pacific Northwest Laboratory. The HCRL provides support for managing the archaeological, historical, and cultural resources of the Hanford Site, Washington, in a manner consistent with federal statutes and regulations. This report summarizes activities of the HCRL during fiscal year (FY) 1990. The HCRL responsibilities have been set forth in the Hanford Cultural Resources Management Plan (HCRMP) as a prioritized list of tasks. The task list guided cultural resources management activities during FY 1990 and is the outline for this report. In order, these tasks were to (1) conduct cultural resource reviews, (2) develop an archaeological resources protection plan, (3) monitor the condition of known archaeological sites, (4) plan a curation system for artifacts and records, (5) evaluate ...
In October 1980, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. began a three year contract with the DOE: Catalyst and Reactor Development for a Liquid Phase Fischer-Tropsch Process. The program contains four major tasks: (1) Project Work Plan, (2) Slurry Catalyst Development, (3) Slurry Reactor Design Studies, and (4) Pilot Facility Design. This report describes work on Tasks 2 and 3 carried out in the third quarter of the contract. In Task 2, the computerized search of the Fischer-Tropsch literature was continued, and improvements were made in data processing programs. Shakedown tests were completed on the first 300 ml slurry reactor, and construction of the second and third reactors began. Five modified conventional slurry catalysts were prepared, and two batches were tested in the gas phase giving information on selectivity as a function of composition and activation. Four supported cluster catalyst were synthesized, and seven were ...
Implementation of Noble Metal Chemical Application (NMCA) in a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) requires injection of a noble metal compound while the reactor is idle at hot shutdown conditions. In order to minimize outage time, utilities are very pro-actively finding ways to reduce the number of critical path tasks. One of these tasks is to remove some containment vessel drywell head bolts during the NMCA idle time. This, thereby, saves the utilities outage time, or they can perform other tasks as desired. Using design basis conditions and state-of-the-art analytical techniques, detailed finite element stress analyses of the closure region are performed. Two acceptance criteria are evaluated. The first is that contained within Section III of the ASME Code for allowable stresses. The second relates to leak tightness, i.e., with bolt removal the joint must still remain leak tight. This paper describes the activities performed to ...
With steam generator check testing, the numerous types of defect not only have to be detected reliably but also to be identified correctly and classified according to depth. A priori, no signals are provided by the physical eddy-current mechanism, i.e. the disturbance of an excited eddy-current field by a defect, which will allow unambiguous identification and classification of the defects. The task, therefore, consists in designing the eddy-current method in terms of measurement technology in such a way as to obtain useful detection, identification and classification by a translation of the signals as simple and as save as possible. Internal through-flow wils and internal rotating probes were examined for their suitability to fulfill this three-pronged task with steam generator inspection.
With steam generator check testing, the numerous types of defect not only have to be detected reliably but also to be identified correctly and classified according to depth. A priori, no signals are provided by the physical eddy-current mechanism, i.e. the disturbance of an excited eddy-current field by a defect, which will allow unambiguous identification and classification of the defects. The task, therefore, consists in designing the eddy-current method in terms of measurement technology in such a way as to obtain useful detection, identification and classification by a translation of the signals as simple and as save as possible. Internal through-flow wils and internal rotating probes were examined for their suitability to fulfill this three-pronged task with steam generator inspection. (orig./RW).
The three tasks were completed during this reporting period. During this quarter, work focused on a local structural analysis of the Table Rock field, greater Green River basin (GGRB) in southwestern Wyoming. The ultimate objective of the local analysis is to apply the techniques developed and demonstrated during earlier phases of the project in the Rulison Field area of the Piceance basin for sweet-spot delineation. The primary goal of this work is to focus in on the Table Rock field area in the northern Washakie basin of the Greater Green River basin in support of Union Pacific Resources and DOE planned horizontal drilling efforts. The work plan for the quarter of April 1, 1998--June 30, 1998 consisted of three tasks: (1) Acquire necessary seismic data and depth-convert, (2) Map major fault geometry and analyze displacement vectors, (3) Develop and initiate a natural fracture prediction study.
Background:- Children with oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) have shown deficits in -cool- abstract-cognitive, and -hot- reward-related executive function (EF) tasks. However, it is currently unclear to what extent ODD/CD is associated with neuropsychological deficits, independently of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods:- Fifty-nine adolescents with a history of early-onset oppositional problems, 28 with pure ODD/CD symptoms and 31 with ADHD with or without ODD/CD, and 34 healthy controls were administered a task battery measuring motor response inhibition, sustained attention, cognitive flexibility and reward-related decision-making. Findings were analysed using dimensional and group analyses. Results:- In group analyses both groups with and wit...
This operation plan covers the period of operations from the time major elements of the joint task force are deployed in the forward area until the completion of on-site operations. It was published for planning purposes only, always subject to periodic revision and refinement as more detailed information became available. ENIWETOK-BIKINI Danger Area, as the term is used in this plan, is that area encompassing ENIWETOK and BIKINI ATOLLS and bounded by the meridians 160 deg 35' - 166 deg 16' east longitude, and by the parallels 10 deg 15' - 12 deg 45' north latitude (an area of 150 by 350 miles).
The Buried Waste Integrated Demonstration (BWID) is a program of the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Development whose mission is to evaluate different new and existing technologies and determine how well they address DOE community waste remediation problems. Twenty-three Technical Task Plans (TTPs) have been identified to support this mission during FY-92; 10 of these have identified some support requirements when demonstrations take place. Section 1 of this report describes the tasks supported by BWID, determines if a technical demonstration is proposed, and if so, identifies the support requirements requested by the TTP Principal Investigators. Section 2 of this report is an evaluation identifying facility characteristics of existing Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) facilities that may be considered for use in BWID technology demonstration activities.
This report summarizes the results of Task 3 work that was initially discussed in our monthly reports for the period October 1, 1992 through September 30, 1993, and contained in our various papers and abstracts, both published and currently in press or in review. Our work during this period was involved (a) the continuation of studies begun prior to October, 1992, focussed mainly on aspects of the caldera geology, volcanic stratigraphy, magmatic activity, hydrothermal mineralization and extensional tectonics of the western and northwestern parts of the southwestern and Nevada volcanic field (SWNVF), studies of the subsurface rocks of Yucca Mountain utilizing drill hole samples obtained in 1991 and 1992, and (b) new studies of veins and siliceous rocks cropping out in northwestern Yucca Mountain that provide evidence for previously unrecognized hydrothermal activity during the Crater Flat Tuff period of volcanism.
This document is the report of a task group of the Radiation Therapy Committee of the AAPM and has been prepared primarily to advise hospital physicists involved in external beam treatment of patients with pelvic malignancies who have high atomic number (Z) hip prostheses. The purpose of the report is to make the radiation oncology community aware of the problems arising from the presence of these devices in the radiation beam, to quantify the dose perturbations they cause, and, finally, to provide recommendations for treatment planning and delivery. Some of the data and recommendations are also applicable to patients having implanted high-Z prosthetic devices such as pins, humeral head replacements. The scientific understanding and methodology of clinical dosimetry for these situations is still incomplete. This report is intended to reflect the current state of scientific understanding and technical methodology in clinical dosimetry for radiation oncology patients ...
A scheme for controlling multimanipulator systems is presented. The control objective is to coordinate the manipulators to perform parts-matching tasks such as screwing a nut onto a bolt. The task of moving a rigid object can be treated as a special case. Two secondary control objectives internal force control and load distribution can be accomplished within the structure of the control law. The internal force control mechanism keeps the internal forces on the object being manipulated at a desirable level. The load distribution mechanism distributes control effort to each manipulator according to a weighting factor. It is also shown that the control algorithm has a modular structure which facilitates its implementation on a multiprocessor computer. The scheme was tested on a planar scara type dual-manipulator system. A series of experimental results is included to demonstrate the system performance under various conditions.
In this paper we present an approach for supporting users in the difficult task of searching for video. We use collaborative feedback mined from the interactions of earlier users of a video search system to help users in their current search tasks. Our objective is to improve the quality of the results that users find, and in doing so also assist users to explore a large and complex information space. It is hoped that this will lead to them considering search options that they may not have considered otherwise. We performed a user centred evaluation. The results of our evaluation indicate that we achieved our goals, the performance of the users in finding relevant video clips was enhanced with our system; users were able to explore the collection of video clips more and users demonstrated a preference for our system that provided recommendations.
This document is furnished as part of the effort to develop NRC Class 1E Digital Computer Systems Guidelines which is Task 8 of USAF Rome Laboratories Contract F30602-89-D-0100. The report addresses four major topics, namely, computer programming languages, software design and development, software testing and fault tolerance and fault avoidance. The topics are intended as stepping stones leading to a Draft Regulatory Guide document. As part of this task a small scale survey of software fault avoidance and fault tolerance practices was conducted among vendors of nuclear safety related systems and among agencies that develop software for other applications demanding very high reliability. The findings of the present report are in part based on the survey and in part on review of software literature relating to nuclear and other critical installations, as well as on the authors' experience in these areas.
A methodology is proposed to facilitate the construction of gridded bathymetry data for the use of hydrodynamic models on the continental shelf. It relies on the carrying out of three successive tasks: (1) automatic selection of records of better quality among multiple sets of overlapping data; (2) elimination of data points located on land; and (3) taking into account the shoreline as bathymetric data. Algorithms are proposed to perform sorting of the records according to their quality as well as masking by the coastline. The suggested method facilitates the updating of bathymetry data and optimizes their use. It enables automatic execution of all the tasks and building of new digital bathymetry models in a few hours, without action from the operator. The method has been tested many times...
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) at the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) contracted with P.S. Lowell and Co. Inc. (Lowell and Co.) and Jay S. Dweck, Consultant, Inc., (JSD) to enhance the capability of ASPEN in simulating coal gasification and oil shale processing plants. Of particular concern was the capability to predict the distribution of environmentally significant components among the various aqueous and organic liquids and gas streams within or leaving the process. The project was divided into major task areas. The first was to develop and implement the calculational routines necessary for predicting aqueous electrolyte chemical reactions. Part of this effort also was to select a species list and collect and/or regress data for the necessary parameters. The second task was to develop and implement a multi-phase flash capability (including precipitated solids) and unit operations models for a venturi and a ...
This paper summarizes the findings from an exploratory definition of a usage strategy for multiple control centre wall displays in CANDU nuclear power plants. Wall displays are defined as large sized, vertically oriented display surfaces that may be positioned in various locations about a control room to support user information needs. The paper begins by discussing the need for a usage strategy for all control room information resources, and then reviews the history in wall display implementation and usage in nuclear power plant control rooms. The balance of the paper discusses the approach used in characterization and review of control room task information needs and definition of a wall display usage strategy. The paper concludes by outlining some of the possible impacts on future control room design and operations that the introduction of wall displays may imply. (author)
The six-axes industrial robot MANUTEC r15 UW was modified to work underwater and successfully tested down to the simulated water depth of 1100 m. Next step in the program was to use this robot as a handling tool for inspection tasks at the welding seam of an underwater structure conducted with CCD-cameras and distance sensors. This was also to demonstrate the possibility to assist and later on to replace divers from this work. Additional research was focussed on the stiffness and rigidity of the robot during the precise guiding of tools and workpieces under current water conditions up to a flow velocity of 1.1 m/s. Present work is concentrated on the application of this subsea robot on a maintenance task at the Brazilian underwater template OCTOS-1000. For this experiments the robot is integrated in a large mock-up which simulates a quarter section of this template. (orig.)
The vigilance reinforcement hypothesis (VRH) asserts that errors in signal detection tasks are partially explained by operant reinforcement and extinction processes. VRH predictions were tested with a computerized baggage screening task. Our experiment evaluated the effects of signal schedule (extinction vs. variable interval 6 min) and visual field complexity (dial vs. baggage x-ray) on search behavior rates. There was a main effect for signal schedule [F (1, 20) = 14.0, p = 0.001, p[subscript rep] = 0.99], but no effects for field complexity or interaction. The VRH suggests that performance errors in visual screening work may be reduced through operant conditioning of search behaviors by intensive management of artificially planted signals. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)
This is the final report of a one-year, Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The main objective of this project was to engineer and procure an electron beamline compatible with the operation of a 1-kW free-electron laser (FEL). Another major task is the physics design of the electron beam line from the end of the wiggler to the electron beam dump. This task is especially difficult because electron beam is expected to have 20 kW of average power and to simultaneously have a 25% energy spread. The project goals were accomplished. The high-power electron design was completed. All of the hardware necessary for high-power operation was designed and procured.
The research documented herein was funded by a research contract between the Research Reactors Division (RRD) of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering Department (MABE). The research was governed by a statement of work (SOW) which clearly defines nine specific tasks. This report is outlined to follow and document the results of each of these nine specific tasks. The primary goal of this phase of the research is to demonstrate, through verification and validation methods, that COMSOL is a viable simulation tool for thermal-hydraulic modeling of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) core. A secondary goal of this two-dimensional phase of the research is to establish methodology and data base libraries that are also needed in the full three-dimensional COMSOL simulation to follow. COMSOL version 3.5a was used for all of the models presented throughout ...
The Guarantee Outline presents the technical demands of design and contents of assessment for radiation hardening in satellite engineering in China. It includes the basis of design in space environment of polar orbit, the contents of design for general radiation hardening, the requirements and assessments of the single-board computer, the requirements of design for circuits (including hardware and software), the choices and assessments for devices, and the primary stipulations for the requirements of design and assessments against the phenomenon of charge and discharge.
A performance assessment of the operating Solid Waste Storage Area 6 (SWSA 6) facility for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been prepared to provide the technical basis for demonstrating compliance with the performance objectives of DOE Order 5820.2A, Chapter 111.2 An analysis of the uncertainty incorporated into the assessment was performed which addressed the quantitative uncertainty in the data used by the models, the subjective uncertainty associated with the models used for assessing performance of the disposal facility and site, and the uncertainty in the models used for estimating dose and human exposure. The results of the uncertainty analysis were used to interpret results and to formulate conclusions about the performance assessment. This paper discusses the approach taken in analyzing the uncertainty in the performance ...
Secretary Cheney's 1990 Annual Report to the President and the Congress established the requirement for the Unified Commanders in Chief to be prepared for Third World conflict involving roles and missions requiring, 'mobile, highly ready, well equipped fo...
This document presents the SSI preliminary views and position concerning the decommissioning of nuclear plants. To prevent the exposure of the decommissioning personnel and the general public to unacceptable levels of radiation and to protect the environment and future generations, it is SSI`s task to formulate and issue the necessary terms and regulations with which the reactor licensees must comply during the decommissioning work. The views and principles presented here are the basis of SSI`s continued work on guidelines and regulations for the decommissioning of nuclear plants.
During the first 18 months of this project, four experimental subtasks were to have begun but only one of these was to have been completed. Additionally, five modeling subtasks were scheduled to begin, four of which were to have been completed. We are on schedule for all but one of these subtasks. All four experimental tasks are progressing on schedule. Initial durability tests were completed. The conclusions drawn from this first round of durability tests are being used to design the next set of tests. Initial baseline engine data were acquired and showed that the engine selected for this task behaves as hoped. However, the dyno controller is inadequate. The engine will be moved to another dyno during the near future. The modeling tasks are also progressing well. A model for the dynamic response of the ignition circuit was developed and validated. Two technical papers resulting from this model were submitted for ...
The systems analyses and optimization studies performed in connection with a program to design and evaluate a commercial 663 MWe coal-fired combined cycle power plant using pressurized fluidized bed combustion and advanced technology in the hot gas cleanup system and gas turbines are presented. Details on the plant control system are included. (LCL)
This report is designed to cover the overall Operation Castle radiological safety matters from the viewpoint of those issues of direct concern to Headquarters, Joint Task Force Seven. It was written for the express purpose of assisting in the development of future radiological safety plans by presenting detailed discussion of the problems and solutions arising during Operation Castle.
This report is designed to cover the overall Operation Castle radiological safety matters from the viewpoint of those issues of direct concern to Headquarters, Joint Task Force Seven. It was written for the express purpose of assisting in the development of future radiological safety plans by presenting detailed discussion of the problems and solutions arising during Operation Castle. Included is a discussion of fallout forecasting techniques.
Research is being carried out in this project in two areas which are of interest to ongoing investigations at the Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center (PETC). They are: (a) thermal behavior of slurry reactors used for indirect coal liquefaction; and (b) coal liquefaction under supercritical conditions. The current status of each of these tasks is summarized in this report. 76 refs., 23 figs., 6 tabs.
Research is being carried out in this project in two areas which are of interest to ongoing investigations at the Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center (PETC). They are: (1) behavior of slurry reactors used for indirect coal liquefaction, and (2) coal liquefaction under supercritical conditions. The current status of each of these tasks is summarized in this report.
One of the supporting elements of the Advanced Turbine Systems (ATS) Program is the materials/manufacturing technologies task. The objective of this element is to address critical materials issues for both industrial and utility gas turbines. DOE Oak Ridge Operations Office (ORO) will manage this element of the program, and a team from DOE-ORO and Oak Ridge National Laboratory is coordinating the planning for the materials/manufacturing effort. This paper describes that planning activity which is in the early stages.
Substantial damages at main components of steam turbines do not have to result inevitably in an exchange of the components concerned. Rather a preliminary or final repair is possible which also considers the cause of the damage. An important condition with the technically complex questions is an appropriate qualification and experience of all involved persons. The common task of operators, manufacturers and insurance companies is to preserve the balance from costs, expenditure of time and risk.
With the lifting of the top dome of the Windscale (AGR) Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor earlier this year, the decommissioning team has begun to dismantle the heaviest of the reactor components. In defining the tasks involved, the most important criterion was to minimise the radiation exposure expected to be received by the team members. The manager of the WAGR decommissioning project describes the preparation undertaken and the final lifting of the top dome in this article. (author).
Task 13 (a) was approved on December 21, 2001. Minimal work was performed for the quarter during the approval process. Laboratory and equipment facilities have been maintained in anticipation of the work to be done. The PI communicated with DOE and Estonia researchers during this period, providing advice and direction for the startup of the Estonia research, and preparing a Draft Teaming Agreement. The PI participated in an industrial liaison meeting with DOE personnel. This meeting is expected to lead to formal cooperation between industry and government.
Space HVAC systems are to provide hygienical room air. Air change is necessary because of pollutants released from materials or production processes but also because of the presence of humans or animals who consume oxygen. Poor room climate and/or poor air hygiene do not only reduce the felt comfort but may also result in a loss or profitability and higher sickness rates. (orig.)
The special geodetic problems encountered during the construction of the Paks nuclear power plants are treated. The main building with its hermetically connected components including the reactor, the steam generators, the circulation pumps etc. impose special requirements on the control net of datum points. The geodesy tasks solved during the construction of the main building are presented in details.
This report presents the work performed at the Institute of Gas Technology (IGT) during the second program quarter from October 1, 1993 to December 31, 1993, under Department of Energy (DOE) Contract No. DE-AC22-93PC92114. This program has co-ordinated funding for Task 1 from IGT`s Sustaining Membership Program (SMP), while DOE is funding Tasks 2--8. Progress in all tasks are reported. The overall objective of this research project is to develop a catalytic process to convert natural gas to liquid transportation fuels. The process consists of two steps that each utilize catalysts and sulfur containing intermediates: (1) to convert natural gas to CS{sub 2} and (2) to convert CS{sub 2} to gasoline range liquids. Experimental data will be generated to demonstrate the potential of catalysts and the overall process. During this quarter, progress in the following areas has been made. An existing unit at IGT was modified to ...
In November 1998, President Clinton charged the National Bioethics Advisory Commission with the task of conducting a thorough review of the issues associated with human stem cell research, balancing all ethical and medical considerations. The President's ...
Characterization of the electron beam's properties will be a major task after the upgrade of the Los Alamos Free-Electron Laser (FEL) Facility with a photoelectric injector (PEI) and increased acceleration capability to 40 MeV. Adjustments to the previous diagnostics package that address the lower beam emittance, higher energy, and wakefield source reduction issues will be discussed. 6 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab.
Emerging high-power microwave technologies require that bioeffects of exposure to this type of radiation be investigated for health and safety considerations. Disruption of animal behavior is reported to be a sensitive indicator of microwave exposure. Three behavioral tasks were chosen for this initial investigation of exposure to U.S. Air Force high-power microwave emitters. The tasks were: (1) single-trail avoidance, (2) water satiation, and (3) rotarod performance. Exposure to high-power microwave radiation from the USAFSAM peak-power simulator significantly affected the single-trail avoidance task. Neither the single-trail avoidance task nor rotarod performance was affected by the Gypsy emitter. However, animals exposed to 9-kW and 11-kW outputs from the USAFSAM emitter spent significantly less time imbibing water postexposure than sham-exposed animals. The most consistent finding in the animals ...
An American Society of Mechanical Engineers task group on stainless steel weld materials was organized to determine the need for ferrite measurements of production welds required by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulatory Guide 1.31 (Rev. 1). The task group studied paired ferrite measurements (i.e., calculated and measured ferrite numbers (FNs) for the material qualifications versus measured ferrite numbers for corresponding production welds (PWs)). Our purpose was to compare delta-ferrite content as measured in the filler metal weld qualification pad with that in the resultant PW. Welds made predominantly by three common processes (submerged arc, shielded metal arc, and gas tungsten arc) were included in the study. Weld metals investigated included types 308, 308L, 316, and 316L stainless steel. An initial evaluation of the paired ferrite measurements was made by the task group, and specific conclusions and ...