UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Lists of reportable conditions and case definitions are important tools for epidemiologic surveillance. As part of an initiative to encourage occupational disease surveillance systems linked to intervention...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

Acute Asthma

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Background In May 2000, AstraZeneca launched a Web service for asthma patients and health-care providers called LinkMedica, which includes an asthma diary for...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

A number of biological agents are available or being investigated for the treatment of asthma and rhinitis. The safety profiles of these biologic agents, which may modify allergic and immunological...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundSelf-management of asthma may improve asthma outcomes. The Internet has been suggested as a tool for the monitoring and self-management of asthma....Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

That regulatory T cells (Tregs) have a crucial role in controlling allergic diseases such as asthma is now undisputed. The cytokines most commonly implicated in Treg-mediated suppression of...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

ObjectiveTo report the outcome of children with life-threatening asthma (LTA) admitted to a university Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).MethodsRetrospective...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

A survey was conducted at 15 textile plants with dyehouses in western Sweden. Employees with a history of work related rhinitis, asthma, or skin symptoms were offered a clinical and immunological investigation...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

Dust detection and control in real time, represent one of the most challenging problem in all those environments where fine and ultrafine airborne particulate solids products are present. The presence of such products can be linked to several factors, often directly related and influenced by the working-production actions performed. Independently from the causes generating dust, airborne contaminants are an occupational problem of increasing interest as they are related to a wide number of diseases. In particular, airborne dusts are well known to be associated with several classical occupational lung diseases, such as the pneumoconiosis, especially at high levels of exposure. Nowadays there is also an increasing interest in other dust related diseases, from the most serious as cancer and asthma, to those related with allergies or irritation and other illnesses, also occurring at lower levels of exposure. Among the different ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The current therapy for extrinsic and intrinsic asthma, together with that of ‘wheezing bronchitis’, is presented, with special attention to bronchodilators and adrenocorticosteroids....Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The US Department of Energy has provided support to four universities and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in order to pursue research leading to the development and deployment of an advanced robotic system capable of performing tasks that are hazardous to humans, that generate significant occupational radiation exposure, and/or whose execution times can be reduced if performed by an automated system. The goal is to develop a generation of advanced robotic systems capable of performing surveillance, maintenance, and repair tasks in nuclear facilities and other hazardous environments. This goal will be achieved through a team effort among the Universities of Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and their industrial partners, Combustion Engineering, Martin Marietta Baltimore Aerospace, Odetics, Remotec, and Telerobotics International. Each of the universities and ORNL have ongoing activities and ...

Science.gov (United States)

PMID:5089231

Medline Plus

... or she will start intensive rehabilitation. This includes physical therapy and occupational therapy. Physical and occupational therapies aim at strengthening the remaining ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

US Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.1 requires the preparation of environmental monitoring plans and implementation of environmental monitoring programs for all DOE facilities. The order identifies two distinct components of environmental monitoring, namely effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance. In general, effluent monitoring has the objectives of characterizing contaminants and demonstrating compliance with applicable standards and permit requirements, whereas environmental surveillance has the broader objective of monitoring the effects of DOE activities on on- and off-site environmental and natural resources. The purpose of this document is to support the Environmental Monitoring Plan for the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) by describing the groundwater component of the environmental surveillance program for the DOE facilities on the ORR. The distinctions between groundwater effluent monitoring and ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

AimsThe efficacy of topical glucocorticosteroids in rhinitis and asthma is likely to depend on drug retention in the airway mucosa. With fluticasone propionate, retention may be...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

AimTo assess the progression of bronchial reactivity (BR) and incidence of bronchial hyperreactivity (BH), exercise‐induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) and asthma in triathletes...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are often prescribed as first-line therapy for patients with asthma Despite their efficacy and improved safety profile compared with oral corticosteroids, the potential...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Cytokines produced by Th2 cells are responsible for the pathogenesis of asthma. Th1-biased immune responses caused by attenuated salmonella have the potential to relieve asthmatic symptoms. We evaluated...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Health surveillance program This article outlines the principal components of quality control of laboratory rodents.

Science.gov (United States)

Exposure to crystalline silica dust causes multiple diseases, but silicosis and silica dust-associated tuberculosis (TB), in particular, are the two diseases that remain high on the list of occupational health priorities in low-income countries and that still occur in some high-income countries. The prevalence of silica-related TB is exacerbated by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in low-income countries. This review describes the morphology of silica and the variable potency of the different forms. Sources of crystalline silica are discussed, with emphasis on less commonly recognised sources, such as small-scale mining operations and agriculture. Trends in the prevalence of silicosis are also presented. Although efforts have been made for many years in most countries to reduce silica dust levels, silicosis continues to occur even in young people. The clinical and pathological features and diagnosis of silicosis, with emphasis on chest radiography, ...

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Objectives. We investigated increases in diarrheal illness detected through syndromic surveillance after a power outage in New York City on August 14, 2003.Methods....Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Vector-borne infections (VBI) are defined as infectious diseases transmitted by the bite or mechanical transfer of arthropod vectors. They constitute a significant proportion of the global infectious...Full Text Available

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Summary This third paper, in a three-part CE series on the preventions of infection in patients with chronic kidney disease, focuses on surveillance and auditing of healthcare-associated infections within the renal care environment. The last decade has seen an increased awareness of the threat to patient safety from healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) and the emergence of multi-drug resistance organisms. Effective HCAI prevention strategies include adequate governance structures, access to expert advice, adherence to standard and transmission-based precautions, minimising the use of invasive medical devices, and surveillance. Surveillance data can be collected using outcome (e.g. infection) and/or process (e.g. hand hygiene compliance audit) measures. Establishing a surveillance program...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Two men reported previously with vitiligo after occupational exposure to hydroquinone monomethyl ether (HMME) have been reviewed after eight years. Repigmentation of significant degree was found in...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Transmission electron microscopy analysis (TEMA) was used to analyze the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of 262 subjects occupationally exposed (OE) to nonfibrous mineral particles (NFMP) and 42...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Generally, Hardening and irradiated brominating phenomena are occurred in the reactor vessel under operation conditions by atomic cavities and creation of impurity atoms which are led by high fast neutron flux. To assure the mechanical integrity of pressure vessel until the end of power plant life after monitoring the sample specimens on the vessel inside, a series of tests is performed over the retrieved surveillance capsule to examine the changes according to the plant operation in accordance with regulations. Monitoring surveillance capsules attached to neutron shield wall of outer core are consists of impact sample, tensile sample and temperature monitor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

We find dosage of gamma emitters radionuclides of samples collected in the environment of the Chinon nuclear power plant for 2002 and 2003, these results are presented in two tables: concentrations in gamma emitter radionuclides of samples collected in the terrestrial environment (soils) and aquatic environment (sediments) of the site of Chinon in june 2002 in the frame of the annual surveillance, the second table concerns the concentrations in gamma emitter radionuclides of samples collected in the terrestrial environment (soils and lichens) of the site of Chinon in may 2003 in the frame of the annual surveillance. We find also the dosage of free tritium in the water of the Loire river for 2002 and 2003, upstream and downstream to the power plant of Chinon. (N.C.)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Material degradation of pressure tubes, which are the most important components in CANDU fuel channel, can only be evaluated by removing and examining them(material surveillance). This study aimed at establishment of overall evaluation technology including the evaluation of the material degradation for the integrity of pressure tubes of Wolsung units. Material tests for pressure tubes were performed as follows; (1) Evaluation on life limiting factors of pressure tubes (2) Review on leak-before-break and integrity maintenance technology of pressure tubes (3) Survey on selection criteria for tubes to be inspected and on related regulations for material surveillance (4) Analysis of material surveillance test procedure (5) Basic examinations of Wolsung unit 1 pressure tube material(TEM, texture, chemical component etc) (6) Manufacture of test equipments and test (DHCV, hydriding, grip and tensile specimen etc). 23 figs, 6 tabs, ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Laboratory-based surveillance of Lyme disease in Connecticut during 1984 and 1985 identified 3,098 persons with suspected Lyme disease; 1,149 were defined as cases. Lyme disease incidence in Connecticut...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998 p. 79 Poland Bandurski, T. Skokowski, J. Mizan-Gross, K. Romanowicz,

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Since August 1984, the MITRE Corporation has been supporting the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and the Naval Medical Command (NAVMEDCOM) in their joint efforts to enhance the Navy Occupational Health Information Management System (NOHIMS). The goal of the enhancement effort was to create a comprehensive occupational health and safety system for Navy industrial facilities by expanding upon the original NOHIMS functions and adding modules for hazard deficiency abatement, hazardous-material control, injury claims and compensation, and safety and health training. To meet this goal, MITRE developed an enhanced industrial subsystem, referred to as the Occupational Safety and Health Record Keeping System (OSHRKS), using a prototyping approach and a public-domain data base-management software package, the Veterans Administration's (VA's) FileManager (FileMan).

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

People assess the quality of the air indoors primarily on the basis of its odors and on their perception of associated health risk. The major current contributors to indoor odorants are human occupant...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

A field study of 89 refrigerator repairmen was carried out to ascertain whether occupational exposure to fluorocarbons induces cardiac arrhythmia. The concentrations of fluorocarbons in the breathing...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Cells of the mononuclear phagocyte lineage have the capability to adhere to and fuse with each other and to differentiate into osteoclasts and giant cells. To investigate the macrophage adhesion/fusion...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Research highlights: #-># The building occupancy affecting the cooling load prediction is studied. #-># PENN model is adopted in this study for predicting the building cooling load. #-># Statistical approach is adopted to result a less prejudice prediction performance. #-># Results show that occupancy data can significantly improve the prediction. -- Abstract: Building cooling load prediction is one of the key factors in the success of energy-saving measures. Many computational models available in the industry today have been developed from either forward or inverse modeling approaches. However, most of these models require extensive computer resources and involve lengthy computation. This paper discusses the use of data-driven intelligent approaches, a probabilistic entropy-based neural (PENN) model to predict the cooling load of a building. Although it is common knowledge that the presence and activity of building ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Surveillance and maintenance (S & M) of 75 sites were conductd by the Remedial Action Section for the Environmental Restoration Program for surplus facilities and sites contaminated with radioactive materials and/or hazardous chemicals. S & M activities on these sites were conducted from the end of their operating life until final facility disposal or site stabilization. The objectives of the Waste Area Grouping S & M Program are met by maintaining a program of routine S & M as well as by implementing interim corrective maintenance when deemed necessary as a result of site surveillance. This report briefly presents this program`s activities and includes tables indicating tank levels and dry well data for FY 1991.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

For the purpose of nationwide surveillance of the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens collected from patients in Japan, the Japanese Society of Chemotherapy conducted a third year of nationwide surveillance during the period from January to April 2008. A total of 1,097 strains were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections. Susceptibility testing was evaluable with 987 strains (189 Staphylococcus aureus, 211 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 6 Streptococcus pyogenes, 187 Haemophilus influenzae, 106 Moraxella catarrhalis, 126 Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 162 Pseudomonas aeruginosa). A total of 44 antibacterial agents, including 26 ?-lactams (four penicillins, three penicillins in combination with ?-lacta...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This paper introduces an occupational exposure information system in detail, which is developed and in operation presently by Daya Bay nuclear power plant. It is presented in the paper that individual dose monitoring items and method, design and classification of database configuration, statistics and analysis of individual dose, and management of staff entering and exiting controlled area. The system is instructive to analysing individual dose and optimizing radiation protection measures. (authors)

Science.gov (United States)

Government agencies responsible for protecting the public from the adverse effects of toxic chemicals must set priorities for research, regulatory action, protocol testing, and monitoring due to the vast number of toxic chemicals and the limited resources available to these agencies. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) must set priorities for research on hazards encountered in the workplace. Priorities are also utilized by NIOSH in preparing criteria for recommended occupational standards which are forwarded to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. Department of Labor, for possible promulgation. For various reasons, including rapidly changing conditions in the American workplace, NIOSH has instituted a revised priorities program. In the future, NIOSH research and recommended standards activities will focus not only on individual chemicals, but also on industries, ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Highly polymorphic genes with central roles in lymphocyte mediated immune surveillance are grouped together in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in higher vertebrates. Generally, across vertebrate...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

The surveillance systems have been widely used in automatic teller machines (ATMs), banks, convenient stores, etc. For example, when a customer uses the ATM, the surveillance systems will record his/her face information. The information will help us understand and trace who withdrew money. However, when criminals use the ATM to withdraw illegal money, they usually block their faces with something (in Taiwan, criminals usually use safety helmets or masks to block their faces). That will degrade the purpose of the surveillance system. In previous work, we already proposed a technology for safety helmet detection. In this paper, we propose a mask detection technology based upon automatic face recognition methods. We use the Gabor filters to generate facial features and utilize geometric analysis algorithms for mask detection. The technology can give an early warning to save-guards when any "customer" or "intruder" blocks ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundMarburg virus (MARV), a zoonotic pathogen causing severe hemorrhagic fever in man, has emerged in Angola resulting in the largest outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The p53 tumour suppressor plays a pivotal role in the prevention of oncogenic transformation. Cancers frequently evade the potent antitumour surveillance mechanisms of p53 through mutation of the TP53...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundMost maternal deaths in developing countries can be prevented. China is among the 13 countries with the most maternal deaths; however, there has been a marked decrease...Full Text Available

Wastenet

...because it had greatly contributed to the geospatial capability of coalition forces in the Global War on Terrorism by producing a system that provides high-resolution imagery for use in detecting ground changes, creating detailed maps and obtaining Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) information. ...

Wastenet

1 to the operator of a waste collective system by an agreement or contract. The conditions for the ...Fees of the waste collective system are subject to the supervision of the authority responsible for market surveillance. ...The operator of waste collection system collects wastes from producers and holder and transports these to a collection

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Empirical treatment is best guided by current surveillance of local resistance patterns. The goal of this study is to characterize the prevalence of antimicrobial nonsusceptibility within pneumococcal...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

A cross sectional population based epidemiological survey of 899 adults aged between 15 and 59 was undertaken in two urban areas of demographic surveillance sites in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, using the...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of this research was to determine improved thermal, epithermal, and fast fluxes and several responses at mechanical test surveillance location keys 2, 4, 5, and 7 of the pressure vessel of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) for the beginning of the fuel cycle. The purpose of the research was to provide essential flux data in support of radiation embrittlement studies of the pressure vessel shell and beam tubes at some of the important locations.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The recent definition of a postulated thermal shock accident followed promptly by system repressurization, termed an overcooling or pressurized thermal shock accident, has set a large analysis and research effort into motion. The essential elements are concerned with defining the accident transients, evaluating the instrumentation and controls that cause the postulated accidents, and evaluating the metallurgical and structural mechanics aspects of the reactor vessel with respect to its failure potential. This paper poses the question faced by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the vessel steel embrittlement, annealing, and surveillance dosimetry facets of this postulated accident and provides information on our plans for study of this problem as well as current status.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Summary Objective To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of an educational outreach intervention to improve primary respiratory care by South African nurses. Methods Cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial, with individual patient data. The intervention, the Practical Approach to Lung Health in South Africa (PALSA), comprised educational outreach based on syndromic clinical practice guidelines for tuberculosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases. The study included 1999 patients aged 15 or over with cough or difficult breathing, attending 40 primary care clinics staffed by nurses in the Free State province. They were interviewed at first presentation, and 1856 (93%) were interviewed 3 months late...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This guide is intended to provide the necessary guidance to successfully manage the NAVMED Navy Occupational Health Information Management System (NOHIMS) at NAVMED sites and the NAVSEA Occupational Safety and Health Record Keeping System (OSHRKS) at NAVSEA sites. Outlines procedures to manage system operations, procedures to resolve hardware, software and communications problems, and procedures outside the realm of system operations that are required for a successful system. This guide is intended for the System and Functional Managers use. The System Manager is the individual designated to provide overall ADP management to the entire local configuration. Usually responsible for file backup, daily operations of the CPU, security, supplies, equipment, operating software and technical ADP guidance to the local functional users.

Science.gov (United States)

Isocapnic hyperventilation with cold air (IHCA) is a reliable technique for assessing indirect bronchial hyperresponsiveness in patients with asthma. Impedance measurement of the respiratory system by the forced pseudorandom noise oscillation technique is a sensitive technique to assess changes in bronchial tone after IHCA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 6 weeks of treatment with beclomethasone dipropionate, 1,000 microg x day-1, on IHCA in asthmatic patients, measured with both forced oscillation technique and flow-volume recordings. Forty patients with mild asthma were included in this double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel-group study. Stratification on the basis of sex was performed to overcome differences in airway diameter. At entry and every 2 weeks during the treatment period, IHCA was performed and patient diaries were evaluated. Characteristic changes in forced oscillation parameters after IHCA were observed in ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Depleted uranium (DU) is a dense heavy metal used primarily in military applications. Although the health effects of occupational uranium exposure are well known, limited data exist regarding the long-term...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

OBJECTIVE--The survey aimed at studying the associations between prevalent respiratory symptoms in an occupational population and sickness absence due to respiratory disorders. METHODS--A cross sectional...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the current fitness of an area ambulance service based in Belfast and to quantify the physiological demands of accident and emergency work. From a total...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Government agencies responsible for protecting the public from the adverse effects of toxic chemicals must set priorities for research, regulatory action, protocol testing, and monitoring due to the...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The possible contribution to urinary mutagenicity of occupational exposures in the rubber industry was studied by assaying the urine concentrates of 72 workmen (44 smokers) employed in a tyre plant....Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

OBJECTIVES. In this study we tested the association between occupational stress--as measured by job demands, decision latitude, and job strain--and hypertension in a population of 1396 Black and White...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

OBJECTIVEThis study describes the development and preliminary psychometric properties of an assessment to quantify the magnitude of an environmental barrier's influence on occupational performance.METHODThe assessment was developed then piloted on a group of 77 older adults before and after an occupational therapy intervention focused on environmental barrier removal. Refinements were made to the assessment before it was evaluated for interrater reliability in a sample of 10 older adults using two raters.RESULTSThe In-Home Occupational Performance Evaluation (I-HOPE) is a performance based measure that evaluates 44 activities in the home. The four subscales of activity participation, client's rating of performance, client's satisfaction with performance, and severity of environmental barriers are sensitive to change in the environment. The internal consistency of the subscales ranged from .77-.85 and ICCs ranged from .99 to ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundGender differences in the prevalence and occupational consequences of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are consistently found in epidemiological studies. The study investigated...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Epidemiologic research concerning electric and magnetic fields in relation to cancer has focused on the potential etiologic roles of residential exposure on childhood cancer and occupational exposure...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Death as a criterion (age distribution of occupational death; mean loss of life years due to radiation deaths); accidents at work (incidence of accidents of certain degrees of severity); total loss of working days due to accidents; occupational diseases; somatic and genetic radiation effects; radiation effects during pregnancy (incidence of pregnancies, ristes before implantation, hazards to the embryo, hazards to the foetus, total additional risk due to radiation exposure during pregnancy); age and sex dependence of risk figures; attempted formulation of an index of harm. (HP/orig.).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

As regards the environmental protection, the A.C.R.O. maintained in 2001 its programs of surveillance around the main western nuclear installations of France. The radioecological surveillance of the site of Cogema La-Hague for the dismantling of the former pipe of release in sea was one of the key points of this action environmental surveillance. The two accidents of atmospheric release in may and october 2001 at Cogema La Hague have shown the interest of an association as A.C.R.O.. It is thank to the measure, by our laboratory, of repercussions on environment of these incidents that it has been possible to bring to light a dysfunction of the measurement system of the gaseous effluents released by the facility operator. To improve the public information, A.C.R.O. concerns its main efforts on the development of the consumer technical information available on-line via its web site and in its regular publication 'the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A new surveillance system for Oil-Filled cable, which can provide continuous monitoring, using a newly developed optical gas sensor that can detect the concentration of the gas dissolved in the oil with extremely high sensitivity has been developed. It was proved that the degree of deterioration of the insulating oil can be detected by measuring C{sub 2}H{sub 2} and CH{sub 4} by investigating the relation between the degree of deterioration and amount of combustible gas generated. In order to detect extremely small amounts of gas, a new gas detecting method using absorption line of the gas using a frequency modulated technique has been developed. The gas detection ability was also confirmed by examination using a 66 kV of cable and the possibility of detection at an early stage is expected.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

To assess the effects of automobile exhaust on human health, we determined serum concentrations of total immunoglobulin E and hyaluronate in 185 schoolchildren who lived in a district that contained major roads. Serum immunoglobulin E levels were elevated in children who had asthma or wheezing, but levels did no t differ with respect to distance of their homes from the major roads. Serum hyaluronate levels were higher in children who lived less than 50 m from the roadside, compared with children who resided a greater distance from roads. The difference, however, was significant only in a subgroup of children in whom immunoglobulin E levels exceeded 250 IU/ml. Our results suggest that serum hyaluronate levels in children reflect the effects of traffic-related air pollution. Children with high immunoglobulin E levels appeared to be particularly susceptible to the effects of automobile exhaust. 34 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Set up in 2004 by the A.C.R.O. the citizens network of radioecological surveillance, information and evaluation (R.I.V.I.E.R.E.) aims at making a follow-up of the radioactive contamination of the aquatic ecosystems on the scale of the Seine-Normandy pond: from Nogent-on-Seine to La Hague and from the Mont-Saint-Michel to the Treport. The peculiarity of this network, which also makes its strength is to associate strictly all those who wish to appropriate the knowledge of the radioactivity levels around to them. With R.I.V.I.E.R.E., the citizen is at the same moment an author and an actor of the surveillance of his environment as his information. An approach defended by the A.C.R.O. since about 20 years and which has no equivalent anywhere else. This project has four main objectives: to know the levels and the tendencies of the present radioactivity in the main aquatic ecosystems of the Seine-Normandy widened pond, and so feed a data base ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The paper deals with the disposal of radioactive waste and the plans for dealing with solid wastes of intermediate and low levels of activity, which are the responsibility of NIREX. NIREX is an executive body which co-ordinates the waste-disposal plans of the main radioactive waste producers. The disposal routes for the active wastes are described including the deep disposal of wastes containing material that will remain active for thousands of years. Requirements for deep burial are outlined with reference to the geology and hydrogeology of the site. Monitoring, maintenance and surveillance are mentioned for the protection of the public.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

It is maintained that special features of FFTF make it an ideal system to test sodium boiling detection techniques by acoustic/neutronic methods and to test the response of acoustic/neutronic sensors to vibrations. It is shown that accumulated research results indicate that such tests in FFTF are feasible, predictable, promising and safe. (author).

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

A nationwide surveillance for antimicrobial susceptibility in Escherichia coli strains isolated from food-producing animals in Japan was conducted from 1999 to 2002. Eighteen cefazolin-resistant...Full Text Available

Wastenet

... IN-STORE PROCUREMENT SERVICES - Energy (Electric/Gas) - Telecoms (Call/Lines/Switchboards/Mobiles) - Waste & waste compliance (Cleaning/Collection/Compliance) - Carrier bags (Plastic/Paper) - Stationery (Supplies) - Catering (Consumables/Equipment) - Insurance (Business/Legal/Personal) - Water (Rates/Coolers) - Personnel (Staff Uniforms/Recruitment/Training) - Security (Patrols/Surveillance Equipment) - Instore ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A case is presented in which the diagnosis of acute myelomonocytic leukemia was made 16 months after the start of irradation and chemotherapy for Ewing's sarcoma. The association of these two diseases is rare. The etiologic role of therapy in the development of leukemia is speculative in this case. However, there is need for surveillance for secondary neoplasms of all types so that the benefits of therapy may be properly weighed against the risks.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Previous research has shown that SAR hotspots are induced within the laboratory rat and that the resulting thermal hotspots are not entirely dissipated by bloodflow. Two experiments were conducted to determine if hotspot formation in the body and tail of the rat, which is radiation frequency specific, would have behavioral consequences. In the first experiment rats were placed in a plexiglas cage one side of which, when occupied by the rat, commenced microwave radiation exposure; occupancy of the other side terminated exposure. Groups of rats were tested during a baseline period to determine the naturally preferred side of the cage. Subsequent exposure to 360-MHz, 700-MHz or 2450-MHz microwave radiation was made contingent on preferred-side occupancy. A significant reduction in occupancy of the preferred side of the cage, and hence, microwaves subsequently occurred. Reduced exposure to 360-MHz and 2450-MHz microwaves at 1, ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

In the United States, approximately 20% of all workers who died on the job in 2007 were foreign-born. The objective of this study was to describe trends in occupational fatalities among foreign-born workers. An analysis of fatal injuries among foreign-born workers in the US occurring from 1992 through 2007 was conducted using the Bureau of Labor Statistics? Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Individual characteristics, employment characteristics, injury events and industry employment were summarized and evaluated for trends. Both the number and proportion of foreign-born workers who died from a traumatic work-related injury increased substantially over the time period studied. The proportion who were men, aged 25?44?years, Hispanic, non self-employed, employed by business establishment...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Recent research findings of epidemiologist Alice Stewart suggest that nuclear workers may be at risk of contracting cancer even though their measured occupational doses fall within current safety standards. It is argued that these standards are inappropriate as they are based on extrapolations of studies on survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki explosions. These individuals received single doses of radiation, whereas today's nuclear industry personnel are exposed to low-level ionizing radiation over the length of their working lives. Stewart's team linked low dose occupational exposure to ionizing radiation with an increased risk of cancer in respiratory, digestive and blood-forming tissues. The nuclear industry and United States government agencies hotly contest these assertion with their potentially damaging political and economic consequences. (UK).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The OSHA's chemical occupational exposure standard for laboratories is an outgrowth of the previously issued Hazard Communication Standard. The standard relieves laboratories from complying with general industry standards but does not require compliance with specific guidelines. The heart of the standard is the creation of a Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) in every laboratory. The CHP addresses major issues such as safety equipment and procedures, work practices and training, the designation of a chemical hygiene officer, and the provision of medical consultation and examination for affected employees. This new standard, in effect as of 31 January, 1991, presents yet another regulatory challenge to laboratory managers but also will ensure a safer work environment for laboratory workers.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The archaeological excavation of a rock shelter (Abrigo del Pozo) in one of the slopes of the Segura River (SE Spain) has revealed a exceptionally preserved sedimentary record spanning from the Paleolithic to the present-day, which includes an anomalous layer of stones (RFB) fallen from the roof. The sedimentary analysis of the stratigraphic sequence exhumed by the excavation indicates that human occupation of the rock shelter was controlled by fluvial environmental evolution. However, the RFB level resulted in a disturbance of human occupation and normal fluvial sedimentation. From the sedimentary and archaeological pieces of evidence, the RFB level has been interpreted as related to a palaeoearthquake responsible for the collapse of the roof and walls of the rock shelter. The palaeoearth...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The authors report the individual monitoring data management system (IDOSE) at Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station. The components of the individual monitoring system, the design requirements of IDOSE, the characteristics and application of this computerized management system are mainly presented. Its application shows that IDOSE meets the requirements of the concerning occupational standards of the state and matches with the requirements of IAEA/ISOE.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Exposure of teachers of physics to X-radiation emitted by instruments which are used for demonstrating rarefied gas discharges during physics lessons at secondary schools is discussed. The measurements performed provide an explicit evidence that an effective, annual exposure dose under the most unfavorable conditions does not exceed admissible levels according to Polish regulations pertaining to persons non-occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation. (author). 3 refs,1 fig.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Building materials contain low concentrations of natural radioactive materials, causing a radiation dose for occupants of houses. Governmental policies and regulations with respect to radon emission are or will be implemented. An overview is given of recent developments. 3 refs.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramsar, a city in the northern Iran, has the highest level of natural background radiation in the world. It has been clearly shown that low doses of ionising radiation can induce resistance to subsequent higher exposures. This phenomenon is termed radioadaptive response. We have compared induction of cytogenetic radioadaptive response by High Natural Background Radiation (HNBR) in Ramsar and X-ray occupational exposure as conditioning doses in human peripheral blood lymphocytes. 30 healthy control individuals, living in Ramsar but in normal background radiation areas, 15 healthy individuals from Talesh Mahalleh, a region with extraordinary high level of background radiation, and 7 X-ray radiographers working in Ramsar hospital located in normal natural background ionising radiation area were evaluated. Peripheral blood samples were prepared and exposed to challenge dose of 0 and 2 Gy. Lymphocytes were scored using analysis of metaphase, for the presence of ...

Science.gov (United States)

Suggests that knowledge work is a useful way of characterizing important changes in the nature of work across a range of different occupational and professional groups. Discusses the implications through a conflict-based analysis that highlights the inherent conflict between "knowing" as part of the work experience and "knowledge" as an economic commodity. (Author/CCM)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Health Physics, Safety and Medical Services Report for Harwell Laboratory for 1989 includes data on the monitoring of the working environment, personnel monitoring, radiological incidents, disposal of radioactive waste and protection of the public. Work on emergency planning, non-radiological health and safety, occupational hygiene, operations support is also discussed. Finally the medical services available and the medical examinations performed are described. (UK).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A research report presents the basic data required when designing a building with minimal environmental impacts. Topics covered include the energy consumption of building elements during their lifetime, the environmental implications linked to the extraction and processing of building material and the energy consumed in buildings by the occupants. (UK)

Science.gov (United States)

Past "elitist" development efforts modeled on Western academic education have failed to meet manpower needs but resist change due to popular preference for "modern" occupations. A new development strategy providing universal basic education and improved general living standards is needed. (Part of a theme issue on Third World educational development.) (SJL)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

An overview is given of techniques to analyze all kinds of complaints from occupants of office buildings about their working environment: headaches, lethargy, eye irritation, respiratory problems, and complaints about the temperature and draught. Special attention is paid to the sensory evaluation of air quality. 4 figs., 7 refs.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

3d occupation numbers of the transition elements corresponding to various types of atomic configurations are calculated by means of the linear muffin-tin orbital (LMTO) method. This data is used with the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock (MCDF) X-ray intensity ratios to estimate the electron populations of the 3d metals in alloys.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Personal monitoring and dose assessment of all radiation workers is an essential regulatory requirement as per radiation safety procedures of AERB and operating stations. The occupational workers of TAPS 1 and 2 and TAPS 3 and 4 are monitored for internal contamination due to high energy gamma emitters by whole body counting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A model designed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the use of robotics and remote tooling in achieving reduction of occupational exposure at nuclear installations is presented. The operational cost saving of implementing dose reduction action is introduced as a key parameter. Through specific example, a partial demonstration of the model is given. (author).

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Environmental and occupational exposures to heavy metals such as methylmercury (MeHg) and cadmium (Cd) pose significant health risks to humans, including neurotoxicity. The underlying mechanisms of...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The present study answers at the request of the Inspection of the classified installations to see the operator of the G.I.P. Cyceron setting up a plan of environmental radiological surveillance around its installations and including, at a minimal level, the following data: Measures of radioactivity on representative biological indicators and measures of dose rate in the environment close to installations in functioning. Further to the radiological assessment of the terrestrial environment of the G.I.P. Cyceron installations realized at the end of 2003, within the framework of a project of the installations extension, the A.C.R.O. was again required for the implementation of this radiological surveillance for year 2005. The first purpose is to supply elements of appreciation about the impact of these installations on environment and persons. This evaluation participates in radiation protection and allows to make sure that the G.I.P. operator ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Overhead persistent surveillance systems are becoming more capable at acquiring wide-field image sequences for long time-spans. The need to exploit this data is becoming ever greater. The ability to track a single vehicle of interest or to track all the observable vehicles, which may number in the thousands, over large, cluttered regions while they persist in the imagery is very desirable. Typically, this imagery has many thousands of pixels on a side and is characterized by lower resolutions (e.g. {approx}0.5 meters/pixel to {approx}2.0 meters/pixel) and lower frame rates (e.g. {approx} sub-Hz to several Hz). We describe our ultra-scale capable implementation of a multiple-vehicle tracking algorithm for overhead persistent surveillance imagery. This work builds upon an earlier report, where now the algorithm has been modified for improved performance and has been substantially improved to handle much larger datasets in a much shorter time.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Event-based biosurveillance is a scientific discipline in which diverse streams of data, available from the Internet, are characterized prospectively to provide information on infectious disease events. Biosurveillance complements traditional public health surveillance to provide both early warning of infectious disease events as well as situational awareness. The Global Health Security Action Group (GHSAG) of the Global Health Security Initiative is developing a biosurveillance capability that integrates and leverages component systems from member nations. This work discusses these biosurveillance systems and identifies needed future studies.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ageing of nuclear power plants means evolution of material or equipment properties on one side, and evolution of personnel skill and procedure adequacy on the other side, both of which, after a certain time, may not be compatible with the required safety provisions, or with an economic operation of the plant. Repair or replacement of components, as well as change in service conditions for a better compatibility with component reduced capabilities can be used to mitigate ageing effects. The paper summarises the results of a study conducted in this field with the support of the European Commission. It presents: the synthesis of the work done under international auspices, and in the European context; the comparison of ageing management approaches used in several European countries with international recommendations; the summary of the various potential phenomena and their governing parameters, the methods of in-service ageing identification and possible mitigation methods; illustrative ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The measurement of air pollutants is no more sufficient. It is necessary to assess the risk induced by air pollution, and then to put in place actions to reduce it. The air quality monitoring takes into account different pollutants: nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulates for the traffic; sulfur dioxide and particulates for use of fuel or coal or chemical transformations in air; ozone and nitrogen dioxide from hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxides emissions; the use of simulation methods allow to calculate the concentrations levels for these pollutants taken as indicators. (N.C.)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Although the majority of men presenting with non-seminomatous germ cell tumours (NSGCT) are cured, late relapse (occurring more than 2 years after obtaining a complete response to treatment) is increasingly recognized. The typical patterns of disease spread have been well-documented, but the findings at late relapse are more variable and less well-described. We discuss the phenomenon of late relapse, the characteristics of teratoma differentiated (TD), and the issue of long-term imaging surveillance of patients with NSGCT. The potential sites of late relapse of NSGCT and the associated spectrum of imaging appearances are illustrated.

Science.gov (United States)

Event-based biosurveillance is a scientific discipline in which diverse sources of data, many of which are available from the Internet, are characterized prospectively to provide information on infectious disease events. Biosurveillance complements traditional public health surveillance to provide both early warning of infectious disease events and situational awareness. The Global Health Security Action Group of the Global Health Security Initiative is developing a biosurveillance capability that integrates and leverages component systems from member nations. This work discusses these biosurveillance systems and identifies needed future studies.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The Savannah River Site (SRS), one of several U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities, produces nuclear materials for national defense and for other government and civilian uses. SRS ceased production of defense materials in 1988, and the site's main activities now involve waste management and environmental restoration. These programs have generated extensive effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance programs for the Environmental Monitoring Section (EMS), which performs #approx#105,000 radiological analyses on 30,000 samples a year. Gamma spectroscopy is performed on an estimated 10,000 samples annually. This report describes a program to develop and improve the EMS system.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The work of this association is cut according to 6 axes. Three publications: radiological quality of marine and continental waters of the Normandy coast (synthesis 1997 and 1998); preliminary study of the iodine 129 distribution in the environment of the reprocessing plant of La Hague with terrestrial moss (Homalotecium sericeum); radiological surveillance of the aquatic environment of the nuclear facilities on the area of La Hague (1997 and 1998). The second axis concerns the radiation protection with a campaign of radon measures in a school of the Vire rural district (june 1999). The third part is devoted to the radioecology with the surveillance of radioactivity in the aquatic continental environment of nuclear facilities and the radioecological surveillance (1999) of the building site of Cogema la Hague in the area of tidal range of the Moulinets cove. The fourth part concerns the radioactive waste and environment, with ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A variety of surveillance operations require the ability to track vehicles over a long period of time using sequences of images taken from a camera mounted on an airborne or similar platform. In order to be able to see and track a vehicle for any length of time, either a persistent surveillance imager is needed that can image wide fields of view over a long time-span or a highly maneuverable smaller field-of-view imager is needed that can follow the vehicle of interest. The algorithm described here was designed for the persistence surveillance case. In turns out that most vehicle tracking algorithms described in the literature[1,2,3,4] are designed for higher frame rates (> 5 FPS) and relatively short ground sampling distances (GSD) and resolutions ({approx} few cm to a couple tens of cm). But for our datasets, we are restricted to lower resolutions and GSD's ({ge}0.5 m) and limited frame-rates ({le}2.0 Hz). ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Previous studies have found that classrooms are often inadequately ventilated, with the resultant increased risk of negative impacts on the pupils. This paper describes a series of field measurements that investigated the indoor air quality, thermal comfort and acoustic performance of nine recently built secondary schools in England. The most significant conclusion is that the complex interaction between ventilation, thermal comfort and acoustics presents considerable challenges for designers. The study showed that while the acoustic standards are demanding it was possible to achieve natural ventilation designs that met the criteria for indoor ambient noise levels when external noise levels were not excessive. Most classrooms in the sample met the requirement of limiting the daily average CO{sub 2} concentration to below 1500 ppm but just a few met the need to readily provide 8 l/s per person of fresh air under the easy control of the occupants. It would seem that ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Although hearing loss has been the focus of national surveys in the civilian population, these surveys typically do not include occupational exposure information. Furthermore, very few studies have addressed this problem in the military, particularly in industrial settings. Audiometric data, including hearing loss information, recorded and stored in the prototype application of the Navy's Occupational Health Information Management System (NOHIMS) has not been systematically evaluated to identify military and civilian populations that are at high risk for hearing loss. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of hearing loss in a cohort of Navy civilian workers employed at an industrialized facility. It is both appropriate and timely to look at hearing loss among civilian workers, as well as among the military, especially in relation to the recent Presidential initiative that established a government-wide five year ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper reports thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ) studies of an under-floor air-conditioning (UFAC) system in a hot and humid climate. Thermal comfort parameters were measured at pre-determined grid points within an imaginary plane to predict the air flow pattern of the supply air jet as well as to determine the occurrence of thermal stratification in the office space. Fanger's thermal comfort index was also computed to detect the occupants' thermal sensation. Besides, the concentration levels of dust and carbon dioxide were recorded with the intention to examine the quality of the indoor air. Statistical methods were applied to derive the relationship between air velocity and the other parameters as mentioned earlier. The main findings from the study revealed reasonable level of acceptability of IAQ associated with the UFAC system. However, occupants are likely to experience localised thermal discomfort near the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The aim of this paper is to present and evaluate control strategies for adjustment and preservation of air quality, thermal and visual comfort for buildings' occupants while, simultaneously, energy consumption reduction is achieved. Fuzzy PID, fuzzy PD and adaptive fuzzy PD control methods are applied. The inputs to any controller are: the PMV index affecting thermal comfort, the CO{sub 2} concentration affecting indoor air quality and the illuminance level affecting visual comfort. The adaptive fuzzy PD controller adapts the inputs and outputs scaling factors and is based on a second order reference model. More specifically, the scaling factors are modified according to a sigmoid type function, in such a way that the measured variable to be as closer as possible to the reference model. The adaptive fuzzy PD controller is compared to a non-adaptive fuzzy PD and to an ON-OFF one. The comparison criteria are the energy required and the controlled variables ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Health physicists from the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) visited the Savannah River Site (SRS) as one of 12 facilities operated by the Department of Energy (DOE) contractors with annual collective dose equivalents greater than 100 person-rem (100 person-cSv). Their charter was to review, evaluate and summarize as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) techniques, methods and practices as implemented. This presentation gives an overview of the two selected ALARA practices implemented at the SRS: Administrative Exposure Limits and Goal Setting. These dose control methods are used to assure that individual and collective occupational doses are ALARA and within regulatory limits.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper describes a simulation model for predicting end-use energy consumption in residential sectors of a city or region. In this model, the annual energy consumption of a dwelling is simulated from the occupants' schedule of living activities, weather data and energy efficiencies of appliances and dwellings. By summing up the simulation results for various household categories, total energy consumption for the residential sector in a region can be estimated. In this paper, energy consumption for Osaka City is simulated. The result is compared with statistical data. The effects of energy efficiency standards and urban heat island phenomena are examined. (author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A major component of the 1990 recommendations of ICRP (ICRP, 1991a) was the revision of the dose limits. But other changes were introduced which necessitated a review of earlier guidance. In particular, ICRP set up a Task Group in 1993 to prepare a report on the principles for the protection of workers. The report was adopted in 1997 and has now been published as ICRP Publication 75 (ICRP, 1997). It is for others to judge the real significance of the guidance provided; what follows are some of the main points. (author)

Science.gov (United States)

Tb3+-activated Sr3AlO4F phosphors were synthesized by a high-temperature solid-state reaction method. The investigation of photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence indicates that these phosphors can be effectively excited by ultraviolet light and low-voltage electron beam. The phosphors exhibit a tunable-green emission. The luminescence behaviors are explained by the site occupancy of Tb3+ ions in the host crystal and the cross-relaxation of 5D3 to 5D4 state.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper presents a multicriteria analysis of ventilation during summertime in Europe. Multicriteria analysis theories are used to determine the most suitable ventilation strategy on a university building, that is to say to ensure the best possible indoor air quality, thermal comfort of the occupants and the lower energy consumption in case of accelerated diurnal or nocturnal ventilation and/or air conditioning. After defining the possible actions, the criteria of quality regarding thermal comfort, indoor air quality and energy consumption are defined. The possible actions are then assessed relative to each of these three criteria and ranked from the best to the worst ones using two different multicriteria analysis methods. (author)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The author briefly discusses definition of terms, gives an introduction to measurement techniques and describes the characteristics of various low-frequency fields and their causes using typical examples: natural electric fields (thunderstroms), natural magnetic fields, technical electric constant fields (urban transportation, households), static magnetic fields (urban transportation, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging), technical electric alternating fields (high-voltage transmission lines, households), and magnetic alternating fields (high-voltage transmission lines). The author discusses both occupational exposure and that of the general public while underpinning his statements by numerous tables, measurement diagrams and charts. (Uhe).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

There is very little quantitative documentation of actual improvements resulting from the installation of new general ventilation systems in industrial settings. Therefore the performance of the common mixing design principle was compared to the displacement design principle by means of an intervention study in a workshop (V = 12,000 m[sup 3]), where thermoplastics were moulded. An experimental signal-response tracer gas technique was used. In terms of supplying fresh air to the zone of occupancy the displacement system was better than the mixing system by a factor of 2. In terms of the exposure level to a simulated contaminant (tracer gas) the displacement system was better by a factor 1.5-18. (author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chemical effects of L X-ray intensity ratios in niobium and molybdenum compounds were studied by electron and proton bombardments. L{sub {gamma}1} X-rays which involve transition of 4d electrons of the valence shell were found to be sensitive to the chemical environment. The L{sub {gamma}1}/L{sub {beta}1} X-ray intensity ratio increased with an increase of the 4d electron occupation of niobium or molybdenum in niobium or molybdenum compounds, showing that the chemical effects can be ascribed to the 4d electron behavior of the metallic atom in its compounds. (orig.).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Environmental considerations have led the Italian electric utility, ENEL, to use an advanced compact design for the reconstruction of a 60kV power line on the outskirts of Rome. This solution has achieved the following aims: minimisation of the visual impact by reducing the size of the supports; reduction of the occupation of the area especially during construction; reduction of damage due to the degree of penetration into the soil. The use of one stem tubular supports and bored pile foundations is described. The scheme has been shown to be viable in terms of planning and low environmental impact and also cost-effective and is likely to be adopted by ENEL in other situations. (UK)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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 ...

Science.gov (United States)

Preterm children born before 32 weeks of gestation represent 1% of the annual births in Switzerland, and are the most at risk of neurodevelopmental disabilities. A neurological surveillance is thus implemented in the neonatal units, and multidisciplinary neurodevelopmental follow-up is offered to all our preterm patients. The follow-up clinics of the University hospitals in Lausanne and Geneva follow the Swiss guidelines for follow-up. An extended history and neurological examination is taken at each appointment, and a standardized test of development is performed. These examinations, which take place between the ages of 3 months and 9 years old, allow the early identification and treatment of developmental disorders frequent in this population, such as motor, cognitive or behavioral disorders, as well as the monitoring of the quality of neonatal care. PMID:21452511

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Based on the enhanced cooperation between Republic of Korea (ROK) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), IAEA installed new safeguards equipment (Unattended Monitoring System, UMS) at Wolsung unit 2 on January, 2005. The UMS was utilized in parallel with traditional human surveillance during the transfer campaign of Wolsung unit 2 (7 March - 22 July). Installation of UMS at all Wolsung units will be decided on the basis of the result of this test. The transfer campaign with UMS at Wolsung units 2 and 4 was started from September 1, 2006 at the same time. Implementation of UMS to the transfer campaign in Wolsung site will be considerably reduced the IAEA's inspection effort and burden of operator.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Objectification theory contends that women are socialized to view their body as an object to be evaluated by others (Fredickson and Roberts 1997). In contrast, pregnancy may be a time that women are more attuned to their body?s functionality. Extending objectification theory, we investigate relationships among body surveillance, awareness and appreciation of body functionality, depressive symptoms, and prenatal health behaviors among an on-line sample of 156 predominantly White, middle-class pregnant women from throughout the U.S recruited through maternity stores, message boards, listservs, and snowballing techniques. We examine whether higher levels of awareness and appreciation of body functionality may attenuate, and thereby possibly protect women from the negative effects of high body...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weld metal, base material and stainless steel overlay specimens for Charpy tests and static tensile tests were irradiated for a year in a power reactor of the Bohunice nuclear power plant in place of the evaluated surveillance specimens. The material of the specimens was identical with that of the WWER-440 reactor pressure vessels, and was exposed to a fluence of (1.2 - 4.5) x 10"2"3 m"-"2 (E > 0.5 MeV) at approximately 270 degC. Some of the irradiated as well as unirradiated specimens were subjected to regeneration annealing at 475 degC for 168 h. The behavior of the materials after irradiation and annealing was evaluated. (author). 33 tabs., 32 figs., 8 refs.

CERN Document Server

In the paper we investigate a mathematical model describing the growth of tumor in the presence of immune response of a host organism. The dynamics of tumour and immune cells is based on the generic Michaelis-Menten kinetics describing interaction and competition between the tumour and the immune system. The appropriate phenomenological equation modeling cell-mediated immune surveillance against cancer is of the predator-prey form and within a given choice of parameters exhibits bistability. Under the influence of spontaneous weak fluctuations, the model may be analyzed in terms of a stochastic differential equation bearing the form of an overdamped Langevin-like dynamics in the external quasi-potential represented by a double well. We analyze properties of the system within the range of parameters for which the potential wells are of the same depth and when the additional perturbation describing a periodic treatment is insufficient to overcome the barrier height ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report discusses the UTR-10 reactor at Iowa State University which went critical on low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel on August 14, 1991. However, subsequent to the criticality experiments the fuel plates started to discolor. In addition, roll pins used to lift the fuel assemblies were discovered to be cracked. It was determined that these problems were due to chemical agents in the primary coolant water. The roll pins were replaced by solid stainless steel pins. The primary coolant was replaced and the reactor is currently in operation. Surveillance specimens will be used to monitor any possible future discoloration. The high enriched fuel (HEU) is being prepared for eventual shipment to a high enriched fuel receiving facility.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The aim of this review is to evaluate the role of inflammatory spine disease in patients with chronic back pain. The contribution of imaging modalities for the diagnostic evaluation of back pain is discussed. A systematic literature search based on the classification of seronegative spondyloarthropathies and rheumatoid arthritis was performed. The results of this search and the experiences in a large collective of rheumatological patients are analyzed. The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (1-2%) is comparable to that of spondyloarthropathies (1.9%). The etiology of these entities is not fully elucidated. Magnetic resonance imaging is increasingly used for early detection and surveillance of therapy with TNF-#alpha# antagonists. Bone marrow edema, which is only detectable with MRI, represents an early sign of inflammation. Therapy with TNF-#alpha# antagonists is based on clinical and laboratory criteria, and signs of inflammation in MRI. MRI is useful for ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The author explains current developments in high voltage cable technology and subsequently describes problems inherent in its application, from the users viewpoint, in municipal electricity supply. The planning of a high voltage cable network and the selection of a specific type of cable are not only dependent on the typical properties of various cables but to a major degree also on the feasible laying technique, the power transmitted, the costs, the stellation treatment of the high voltage network, the acceptance requirement, the inductive influence from telecommunication cable, thermal influences from the environment, eventual safeguards from mechanical and chemical damage to the network, frequency of failure and surveillance and breakdown location. In conclusion, the author portrays potential developments in the fields of high and maximum voltage cable from the perspectives of today.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The reliability analysis of the Fast Flux Test Facility reactor shutdown system was reevaluated. Failure information based on five years of plant operating experience was used to verify original reliability numbers or to establish new ones. Also, system modifications made subsequent to performance of the original analysis were incorporated into the reevaluation. Reliability calculations and sensitivity analyses were performed using a commercially available spreadsheet on a personal computer. The spreadsheet was configured so that future failures could be tracked and compared with expected failures. A number of recommendations resulted from the reevaluation including both increased and decreased surveillance intervals. All recommendations were based on meeting or exceeding existing reliability goals. Considerable cost savings will be incurred upon implementation of the recommendations.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A systematic study of the effects of environmental factors on nylon 66 and Kevlar 29 strength degradation in parachute components is being conducted at Sandia National Laboratories. It includes: (1) accelerated aging studies in air, inert environments, humidity, ozone, and smog; (2) a 25-year surveillance program of parachutes in a variety of natural climatic environments; (3) moisture absorption as a function of humidity; (4) effects of surface coatings normally applied to parachutes; and (5) development of nondestructive evaluation techniques which can be used to map mechanical properties over the entire parachute surface. The accelerated aging and moisture absorption studies show that air, humidity, and smog contribute to degradation. Chemiluminescence, gas chromatographic pyrograms, and uv spectroscopy show promise as nondestructive evaluation techniques.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are being proposed for many applications including surveillance, mapping and atmospheric studies. These applications require a lightweight, low speed, medium to long duration airplane. Due to the weight, speed, and altitude constraints imposed on such aircraft, solar array generated electric power is a viable alternative to air-breathing engines. Development of such aircraft is currently being funded under the Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program. NASA Lewis Research Center (LeRC) is currently building a Solar Electric Airplane to demonstrate UAV technology. This aircraft utilizes high efficiency Applied Solar Energy Corporation (ASEC) GaAs/Ge space solar cells. The cells have been provided by the Air Force through the ManTech Office. Expected completion of the plane is early 1995, with the airplane currently undergoing flight testing using battery power.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In 1993, the US Department of Energy (DOE) decided to shut down the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) due to lack of national missions that justified the annual operating budget of approximately $88M/year. The initial vision was to ''deactive'' the facility to an industrially and radiologically safe condition to allow long-term, minimal surveillance storage until approximately 2045. This approach would minimize near term cash flow and allow the radioactive decay of activated components. The final decontamination and decommissioning (D and D) would then be performed using then-current methodology in a safe and efficient manner. the philosophy has now changed to close coupling the initial deactivation with final D and D. This paper presents the status of the facility and focuses on the future challenge of sodium removal.

CERN Document Server

A growing number of applications that generate massive streams of data need intelligent data processing and online analysis. Real-time surveillance systems, telecommunication systems, sensor networks and other dynamic environments are such examples. The imminent need for turning such data into useful information and knowledge augments the development of systems, algorithms and frameworks that address streaming challenges. The storage, querying and mining of such data sets are highly computationally challenging tasks. Mining data streams is concerned with extracting knowledge structures represented in models and patterns in non stopping streams of information. Generally, two main challenges are designing fast mining methods for data streams and need to promptly detect changing concepts and data distribution because of highly dynamic nature of data streams. The goal of this article is to analyze and classify the application of diverse data mining techniques in ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In 2001, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA/NSO) remediated six areas associated with Amchitka mud pit release sites located on Amchitka Island, Alaska. This included the construction of seven closure caps. To ensure the integrity and effectiveness of remedial action, the mud pit sites are to be inspected every five years as part of DOE's long-term monitoring and surveillance program. In August of 2006, the closure caps were inspected in accordance with the ''Post-Closure Monitoring and Inspection Plan for Amchitka Island Mud Pit Release Sites'' (Rev. 0, November 2005). This post-closure monitoring report provides the 2006 cap inspection results.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Free Topology Network technology provides cost reduction benefits as well as flexibility in safeguards applications. Power line communications technologies have proven viability for transmission and reception of safeguards data, including surveillance photographs, the source of the largest data files. In the future, enhancements will be made to the technology that should boost both performance and flexibility. Work is already underway to achieve higher data rates over power line communications eventually, it should be possible to reach data rates of one million bits per second or higher. Also, the use of technologies such as Novell Embedded Systems Technology (NEST) and Echelon LON technology will allow a greater number of safeguards technologies to become resident on the Free Topology Safeguards Network.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This paper presents the regulatory experience gained from Wolsong Units 2,3 and 4 - Special Safety System Instrumentation Uncertainty for Trip Setpoint and Allowable Values. The equipment diversity method for the defense against common mode failure was applied to the transmitters of shutdown system number 2. However the Units experienced an unexpected drift problem with which the performance did not meet the Technical Specification (Tech Spec) Surveillance Requirements (SR). Discussed are the background, status and corrective actions, regulatory positions and issues to be solved for the drift problem. It was an instrument uncertainty methodology that the designer of safety system should have shown when the drift problem occurred. For deeper understanding of the problem, we present the background of Tech Spec SR for setpoints in Korean PWR and in CANDU reactors. The Setpoint Verification Test(SVT) and Calibration Test(CT) shall be achieved by recording sufficient ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In order to watch the environment of the construction site of dismantling of the former pipe of releases in sea of Cogema-La Hague, the special and permanent commission of Information near the establishment Cogema of La Hague (C.S.P.I.) asked the association for the radiation monitoring in the West (A.C.R.O.) to realize a specific campaign of measures, on the basis of a protocol accepted by the C.S.P.I.. During the three years of the building work, two significant increases of the concentration in {sup 137}Cs in the marine flora with at most, 9.3 Bq/kg dry, are noticed so be it ten times the concentration that could be measured before the building work begins. We note a net improvement of the situation after the works. The {sup 137}Cs tends finally to disappear. For the sedimentary masses and the sands of beaches, it is outlined no increase of the contamination in {sup 137}Cs (during the works and in posteriori) which translates in a irrefutable way contributions of the construction ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purpose: To examine the role of brachytherapy in the treatment of cholangiocarcinomas in a relatively large group of patients. Methods and Materials: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database, a total of 193 patients with cholangiocarcinoma treated with brachytherapy were identified for the period 1988-2003. The primary analysis compared patients treated with brachytherapy (with or without external-beam radiation) with those who did not receive radiation. To try to account for confounding variables, propensity score and sensitivity analyses were used. Results: There was a significant difference between patients who received radiation (n = 193) and those who did not (n = 6859) with regard to surgery (p < 0.0001), race (p < 0.0001), stage (p < 0.0001), and year of diagnosis (p <0.0001). Median survival for patients treated with brachytherapy was 11 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 9-13 months), compared with 4 months for patients ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The main objectives of this project are to quantify the changes in fracture porosity and multi-phase transport properties as a function of confining stress. These changes will be integrated into conceptual and numerical models that will improve our ability to predict and optimize fluid transport in fractured system. This report details our progress on: (a) developing the direct experimental measurements of fracture aperture and topology and fluid occupancy using high-resolution x-ray micro-tomography, (b) counter-current fluid transport between the matrix and the fracture, (c) studying the effect of confining stress on the distribution of fracture aperture and two-phase flow, and (d) characterization of shear fractures and their impact on multi-phase flow. The three-dimensional surface that describes the large-scale structure of the fracture in the porous medium can be determined using x-ray micro-tomography with significant accuracy. Several fractures have been ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Direct visualization of rare earths in @a- and @b-SiAlON unit-cells is performed through Z-contrast imaging technique in an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope. The preferential occupation of Yb and Ce atoms in different interstitial locations of @b-SiAlON lattice is demonstrated, yielding higher solubility for Yb than Ce. The triangular-like host sites in @a-SiAlON unit cell accommodate more Ce atoms than hexagonal sites in @b-SiAlON. We think that our results will be applicable as guidelines for many kinds of rare-earth-doped materials.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Unlike the well-characterized nuclear function of the Notch intracellular domain, it has been difficult to identify a nuclear role for the ligands of Notch. Here we provide evidence for the nuclear function of the Notch ligand Delta-like 1 in colon cancer (CC) cells exposed to butyrate. We demonstrate that the intracellular domain of Delta-like 1 (Dll1icd) augments the activity of Wnt signaling-dependent reporters and that of the promoter of the connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) gene. Data suggest that Dll1icd upregulates CTGF promoter activity through both direct and indirect mechanisms. The direct mechanism is supported by co-immunoprecipitation of endogenous Smad2/3 proteins and Dll1 and by chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses that revealed the occupancy of Dll1icd on CTGF promot...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report covers the second year of the 28 month grant current grant to Clarkson University to study the chemical and physical behavior of the polonium 218 atom immediately following its formation by the alpha decay of radon. Because small changes in size for activity result in large changes in the delivered dose per unit exposure, this behavior must be understood if the exposure to radon progeny and it dose to the cells in the respiratory tract are to be fully assessed. Two areas of radon progeny behavior are being pursued; laboratory studies under controlled conditions to better understand the fundamental physical and chemical process that affect the progeny`s atmospheric behavior and studies in actual indoor environments to develop a better assessment of the exposure of the occupants of that space to the size and concentration of the indoor radioactive aerosol. This report describes the progress toward achieving these objectives.

Science.gov (United States)

We report here results of an application of single-nucleon stripping reactions at high energies (65 MeV/u) in inverse kinematics to obtain spectroscopic factors. From measurements of the partial cross-sections for ground and excited states in residual nuclei formed in one-proton stripping reactions, single particle orbits and occupancies of light nuclei have been studied in the s-d shell. Single proton stripping cross-sections of {sup 25}Al and {sup 26,27,28}P on a Be target have been measured using the S800 spectrograph and the NaI(Tl) array at the NSCL. These results indicate that this technique may provide a general tool for the intermediate energy range analogous to transfer (pick-up) reactions at low-energy.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Spatial ability is a powerful systematic source of individual differences that has been neglected in complex learning and work settings; it has also been neglected in modeling the development of expertise and creative accomplishments. Nevertheless, over 50years of longitudinal research documents the important role that spatial ability plays in educational and occupational settings wherein sophisticated reasoning with figures, patterns, and shapes is essential. Given the contemporary push for developing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) talent in the information age, an opportunity is available to highlight the psychological significance of spatial ability. Doing so is likely to inform research on aptitude-by-treatment interactions and Underwood's (1975) idea to utili...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Radon measurements were carried out in Kozlu, Karadon and Uzulmez underground coal mines of Zonguldak bituminous coal basin in Turkey. Passive-time integrating method, which is the most widely used technique for the measurement of radon concentration in air, was applied by using nuclear etched track detectors (CR-39) in the study area. The radon concentration measurements were performed on a total of 42 points in those three mines. The annual exposure, the annual effective dose and lifetime fatality risk, which are the important parameters for the health of workers, were estimated based on chronic occupational exposure to the radon gas, which is calculated using UNCEAR-2000 and ICRP-65 models. The radon concentrations at several coal production faces are higher than the action level of 1000 Bq m{sup -3}. It is suggested that the ventilation rates should be rearranged to reduce the radon concentration.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Soviet Union does not currently have an overall radioactive waste management program or national laws that define objectives, procedures, and standards, although such a law is being developed, according to the Soviets. Occupational health and safety does not appear to receive major attention as it does in Western nations. In addition, construction practices that would be considered marginal in Western facilities show up in Soviet nuclear power and waste management operations. The issues involved with radioactive waste management and environmental restoration are being investigated at several large Soviet institutes; however, there is little apparent interdisciplinary integration between them, or interaction with the USSR Academy of Sciences. It is expected that a consensus on technical solutions will be achieved, but it may be slow in coming, especially for final disposal of high-level radioactive wastes and environmental restoration of contaminated areas. ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract The aim was to utilize data from a study of occupational indoor environments to analyze symptoms and physiological signs in relation to the home environment. A medical investigation was performed at the workplace among university staff (n = 173) from four university buildings in Bergen, in March 2004. Tear film break up time (BUT) was measured by two methods. Nasal patency was measured by acoustic rhinometry. Nasal lavage fluid analysis (NAL) included eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP); myeloperoxidase (MPO), lysozyme and albumin. Atopy was assessed by total serum IgE and specific IgE (Phadiatop). Totally 21%, 21%, 18%, 11%, and 27% had weekly ocular, nasal, facial dermal symptoms, headache and tiredness, respectively, 15% had a damp dwelling, and 20% had a cat or dog. Multiple l...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Eshkaft-e Gavi is a cave located in the southern Zagros Mountains of Iran and is one of the few archaeological sites in the region to preserve both Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic occupations. Excavation of the site in the 1970s yielded an assemblage of lithic and faunal remains, including ten hominin specimens: a mandibular molar, four cranial fragments, a clavicular diaphysis, the proximal half of a metacarpal, a fragment of os coxa, the proximal diaphysis of a juvenile femur, and a patella. The bones derive from a minimum of four individuals, including two juveniles. Although many of these remains could be Epi-Paleolithic in age, one of the juvenile specimens-the mandibular molar-occurs at the base of the caves Upper Paleolithic sequence. The remains are very fragmentary, but t...

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The Hazardous Materials Control Module (HMC) is one module of four for the Industrial Health component. The HMC module was designed to inform employees of health and safety hazards in the workplace and to track the movement of hazardous materials through the facility. The module performs these functions by maintaining health and safety data on hazardous materials used in the facility, and by tracking who requests information about any hazardous materials. The HMC module gets its information from two sources. The first one is the Hazardous Materials Information System (HMIS), this is a national system that is used by the Department of Defense. It is loaded on to the system via tapes that contain all safety, health and transportation information about a particular product. The second is Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) that are procured by a particular site. This information is manually entered into their own personal system, which they give a site specific sequential number.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

This work presents the results of a combined study on the beach morphology and the evolution at short- and medium-term of the littoral between Ceuta and Cabo Negro (Morocco). It is an interesting sector showing a great increase of human occupation and coastal structures. The monitoring program allowed for the reconstruction of the beach morphological behavior and the seasonal changes. The studied beaches presented reflective profiles recording little seasonality, with the most notable morphological changes being strictly related to storms. Surf Similarity and Surf Scaling parameters highlighted the existence of intermediate and reflective beach states, characterized by plunging breakers. Aerial photographs and a satellite image have been geo-referenced and elaborated with GIS tools to reco...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Extensive epidemiological studies have been carried out in recent years to examine the possible effects of exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields on the development of cancer. In some studies, both residential and occupational, a number of cancers, in particular leukaemia and brain cancer, have occurred at an increased incidence at higher levels of exposure. In general, however, no consistent and coherent pattern of results has been obtained and no clear evidence of a cancer risk has been demonstrated. A better understanding of any effect of electromagnetic fields on the development of cancer must await the results of more informative epidemiological studies and an improved understanding of the mechanisms by which these fields may interact with the body and their likely consequences. (author)

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Industrial effects have long been significant factors in wage inequality. Previous research indicates that wage differentials across industries were increasing through the mid 1980s. Using more recent data, however, we find that the level of inter-industry wage dispersion declined by 36% from 1986 to 2002 despite the continued trend towards increasing inequality in the labor force. This decline in inter-industry wage dispersion is evident across gender and educational groups. Using multilevel growth curve models, our multivariate results indicate that the decline is only weakly related to industrial changes in education, occupation or even productivity despite the fact that the latter variable had been a critical factor in the prior period. Indicators of globalization and downsizing also d...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The z-phase, existing between 35% and 70% U in Pu, belongs to the high-density phases seen from the point of view of systematics of allotropic modifications of Pu metal. Despite the volume per actinide atom only slightly higher than for a-Pu, it magnetic susceptibility is much higher than for a-Pu and exceeds even the d-Pu value. Similarly, the Sommerfeld coefficient g>40mJ/mol Pu K2 exceeds the experimental d-Pu value. The data confirm that the volume is not the primary control parameter affecting the situation around the Fermi level of common Pu phases and they point against the traditional belief that they are essentially narrow 5f band systems. Electronic structure calculations suggest that the 5f states of Pu have slightly lower occupancy comparing with d-Pu. A tendency to the 5f loca...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The assessment and control of fetal exposure to radiation in the workplace is an issue that is complicated by both biological and political/social ramifications. As a result of the dramatic increase in the number of women employed as radiation workers during the past 10 years, many facilities using radioactive materials have instituted fetal protection programs with special requirements for female radiation workers. It is necessary, however, to ensure that any fetal protection program be developed in such a way as to be nondiscriminatory. A study has been initiated whose purpose is to balance the political/social and the biological ramifications associated with occupational protection of the developing embryo/fetus. Several considerations are involved in properly balancing these factors. These considerations include appropriate methods of declaring the pregnancy, training workers, controlling the dose to the embryo/fetus, measuring and calculating the dose to the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Environmental exposure measurements are, in general, positive and may be subject to left censoring; i.e,. the measured value is less than a ''detection limit''. In occupational monitoring, strategies for assessing workplace exposures typically focus on the mean exposure level or the probability that any measurement exceeds a limit. Parametric methods used to determine acceptable levels of exposure, are often based on a two parameter lognormal distribution. The mean exposure level, an upper percentile, and the exceedance fraction are used to characterize exposure levels, and confidence limits are used to describe the uncertainty in these estimates. Statistical methods for random samples (without non-detects) from the lognormal distribution are well known for each of these situations. In this report, methods for estimating these quantities based on the maximum likelihood method for randomly left censored lognormal data are ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Efforts to assess and quantify deleterious effects from toxicants concentrate mainly on single agents whereas real world environmental and occupational exposures to natural and anthropogenic agents entail quite often the concomitant presence of several toxicants. For occupational important exposure situations, combined exposures to physical and chemical agents such as radon and smoking or asbestos and smoking, respectively, were shown to produce over-additive effects at exposure levels typical for earlier workplaces. Already the elucidation of possible health risks from a single agents, its dependence on exposure level, exposure rates, age at exposure and its expression in time is a complex endeavour. Therefore in the past and the present the main emphasis in radiation protection, toxicology, and public health is on the study and assessment of single toxicants. The existing data base on combined effect is rudimentary, mainly descriptive and ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collective dose equivalent and population dose from occupational exposures in Japan, 1988 were estimated on the basis of a nationwide survey. The survey was conducted on annual collective dose equivalents by sex, age group and type of radiation work for about 0.21 million workers except for the workers in nuclear power stations. The data on the workers in nuclear power stations were obtained from the official report of the Japan Nuclear Safety Commission. The total number of workers including nuclear power stations was estimated to be about 0.26 million. Radiation works were subdivided as follows: medical works including dental; non-atomic energy industry; research and education; atomic energy industry and nuclear power station. For the determination of effective dose equivalent and population dose, organ or tissue doses were measured with a phantom experiment. The resultant doses were compared with the doses previously calculated using a chord length technique and ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

12 kind of environmental samples such as soil, underground water, seawater, etc. around the Nuclear Power Plants(NPP) and surface seawater around the Korea peninsula were sampled, For the samples of rain, pine-needle, air, seawater, underground water, chinese cabbage, grain of rice and milk sampled around NPP, and surface seawater and rain sampled all around country, tritium concentration was measured, The tritium concentration in the tap water and the gamma activity in the domestic and imported beef that were sampled at ward in the large city in Korea(Seoul, Pusan, Taegu, Taejun, Inchun, Kwangju) were analyzed for the meat and drinking waters. As the results of analyzing, tritium concentration in rain and tap water were very low all around country, but a little higher around the NPP than general surrounding. At the Wolsung NPP, tritium concentration was descend according to distance from the stack. Tritium activity of surface seawater around the Korea peninsula was also, very low. The ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

ObjectivesThe SPIRIT V (A Clinical Evaluation of the XIENCE V Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System in the Treatment of Patients With De Novo Coronary Artery Lesions) study is a post-market surveillance experience of the XIENCE V (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California) everolimus-eluting stent (EES) in patients with higher-risk coronary anatomy. BackgroundPrevious pre-approval studies have shown the safety and efficacy of EES in highly selected groups of patients. MethodsThe SPIRIT V trial is a prospective, open label, single arm, multicenter study. Two thousand seven hundred patients with multiple de novo coronary artery lesions suitable for treatment with a planned maximum of 4 EES were enrolled at 93 centers in Europe, Asia Pacific, Canada, and South Africa. Lesions had a referenc...

Science.gov (United States)

All Streptococcus pneumoniae strains isolated from paediatric clinical samples at Heraklion University General Hospital in the 10-year period 2000-2009 were tested for serotype and susceptibility to antimicrobials. Among a total of 258 strains, 159 were isolated in the 5-year period 2000-2004, before the introduction of the heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7), and 99 in the post-PCV7 5-year period 2005-2009. The prevalence of PCV7-included serotypes decreased in the post-PCV7 period (p?=?0.0002), but an increase was observed for serotypes 7F (p?=?0.002) and 19A (p?=?0.004). Pan-susceptibility rates and susceptibility to cotrimoxazole increased in the post-PCV7 period (p?=?0.01 and p?=?0.008, respectively), but serotype 19A emerged as a contributor to multi-resistance (p?=?0.007). PCV7 was followed by decreased S. pneumoniae resistance and prevalence of vaccine-related serotypes but increased prevalence of serotypes 7F and 19A. Continuing surveillance ...

Science.gov (United States)

The Department of Defense (DoD) has long depended on military support functions enabled by space reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) assets. Future generation satellite capabilities will further push technologies in space - if the right technologies are deployed in the right numbers and with the right payloads. Modeling and simulation play major parts in developing and deploying such assets: 1) system and operational requirements determination, and 2) assessment of military utility of such assets. Each area is critical in a system"s life cycle. Requirements determination cuts across the issues of doctrine, organizations, training, materiel, leader development, personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF). Military utility assessments are necessary to explore and quantify the military worth/benefit of space RSTA assets to operational commanders. Each of these areas requires relevant modeling/simulation tools which span the engineering to system to ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

ITN Energy Systems is developing next-generation solar cells based on the concepts of an optical rectenna. ITN's optical rectenna consists of two key elements: (1) an optical antenna to efficiently absorb the incident solar radiation, and (2) a high-frequency metal-insulator-metal (MIM) tunneling diode that rectifies the AC field across the antenna, providing DC power to an external load. The combination of a rectifying diode at the feedpoints of a receiving antenna is often referred to as a rectenna. Rectennas were originally proposed in the 1960s for power transmission by radio waves for remote powering of aircraft for surveillance or communications platforms. Conversion efficiencies greater than 85% have been demonstrated at radio frequencies (efficiency defined as DC power generated divided by RF power incident on the device). Later, concepts were proposed to extend the rectennas into the IR and optical region of the electromagnetic spectrum for use as ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

With its 527 217 m{sup 3} of low and medium activity wastes put in storage between 1969 and 1994, the C.S.M.( center of storage of Manche) is and remains to this day a necessary element to understand the problems posed by the eternal storage of nuclear materials and the limits of the notion of reversibility. There are therefore teachings to be drawn. We cannot repeat past mistakes in particular with high activity wastes which we wish to bury deep underground. This report is based on the analysis of the existing bibliography, of the internal A.N.D.R.A. documents which we released to the public, of the lessons drawn from our participation in the official concerting and work groups, and finally of the data obtained after inquiries were done in the region in the framework of R.I.V.I.E;R.E. (citizens network of radioecological surveillance, information and evaluation). In spite of all efforts produced, many questions remain unanswered regarding this site so it is ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report focuses on air quality at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) for 1994. A general description of the effluent sources are presented. Each potential source of NTS emissions was characterized by one of the following: (1) by monitoring methods and procedures previously developed at NTS; (2) by a yearly radionuclide inventory of the source, assuming that volatile radionuclides are released to the environment; (3) by the measurement of tritiated water concentration in liquid effluents discharged to containment ponds and assuming all the effluent evaporates over the course of the year to become an air emission; or (4) by using a combination of environmental measurements and CAP88-PC to calculate emissions. Appendices A through J describe the methods used to determine the emissions from the sources. These National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) emissions are very conservative, are used to calculate the effective dose equivalent to the Maximally Exposed Individual ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The research and development for the first year of the project are performed through specialization of researchers, information from aborad and international cooperation, securement of advanced nuclear technology, development and installation of test equipment, application of external man-power, establishment of advanced test techniques, and certified test method. 1. Absolute efficiency measurement examination technology development of gamma scanning system 2. Sample preparation technology development of SEM and EPMA for micro-structural observation and chemical composition analysis 3. Irradiated high burn-up nuclear fuel transportation and test for PWR 4. Development of hot cell examination techniques and equipment 5. Acquirement of KOLAS system. In addition to the project, the following activities are carried out as follows; - PIE of Hanaro fuel(KH99H-001) - PIE of U-Mo advanced nuclear fuel irradiated at Hanaro - PIE of Hi-MET advanced nuclear fuel irradiated at Hanaro - PIE of ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Annual medical examinations are conducted by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) for a population of Marshallese who were accidentally exposed to radioactive fallout in 1954, for a comparison population, and for all inhabitants of the atolls of Rongelap and Utirik. Disease surveillance includes analysis of serum samples. Elevated serum uric acid (SUA) levels are common along Pacific populations, and modifying environmental factors have been investigated as a cause for this finding. The authors have studied SUA levels of people living in the Marshall Islands, and have found elevated values similar to those reported for other Micronesian populations. The nearly Gaussian distribution of individual serum uric acid values for men, and for women less than or equal to45 years of age, indicates that the elevation is due to a regularized increase in serum uric acid rather than to a subpopulation that has pathologic hyperuricemia. The higher serum uric acid levels appear, ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This report describes a neutron fluence assessment performed for the Kori Unit 3 pressure vessel beltline region based on the guidance specified in Regulatory Guide 1.190. In this assessment, maximum fast neutron exposures expressed in terms of fast neutron fluence (E>1 MeV) and iron atom displacements (dpa) were established for the beltline region of the pressure vessel. After Cycle 16 of reactor operation, 2nd Ex-Vessel Neutron Dosimetry Program was instituted at Kori Unit 3 to provide continuous monitoring of the beltline region of the reactor vessel. The use of the Ex-Vessel Neutron Dosimetry Program coupled with available surveillance capsule measurements provides a plant specific data base that enables the evaluation of the vessel exposure and the uncertainty associated with that exposure over the service life of the unit. Ex-Vessel Neutron Dosimetry has been evaluated at the conclusion of Cycle 17

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Over the past few years, NPCIL has performed comprehensive Level-1 Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) for a 220 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) and for the first 540 MWe PHWR at Tarapur Atomic Power Project (TAPP- 3 and 4). The major objective of these PSAs was to present an integrated picture of the safety of the plant to identify and understand key plant vulnerabilities. As a result of the availability of these PSAs, there is a desire to use them to operate the plants in the most efficient manner practicable. In recent years, the operation of Indian Nuclear Power Plants has been characterized by improved availability/capacity factors and reduced forced outages. Frequency of planned outages is also being reduced. In order to achieve this, the PSAs are now being used as an engineering tool for optimization of Technical Specifications with regard to Allowed Outage Time (AOT) and Surveillance Test Intervals ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

ACRO, a NGO equipped with a laboratory to measure radioactivity, runs the Citizen Watchdog of Radioactivity in the Environment. Involving many volunteers, it monitors regularly the French coast of the Channel and many rivers of the North half of France. It also makes investigations in other places. Such an action is aimed to supplement the official monitoring, not to replace it, in order to answer to the worries of the population. This monitoring shows that some radioelements, such as iodine 129, cobalt 60, tritium, etc. released in the environment by nuclear facilities can be detected on very large areas. Carbon 14 was detected up to almost 4 times the background in vegetables around the reprocessing plant of La Hague. ACRO also sits in many official committees to transmit the point of view of the populations exposed to the radioactive pollution. It is lobbying for a decrease of the release authorization, especially for the elements that are discharged in large quantity in the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The purpose of this document is to provide the definition and means of maintaining the Safety Envelope (SE) related to the Criticality Alarm System (CAS). This document provides amplification of the Limiting Condition for Operation (LCO) described in the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) Operational Safety Requirements (OSR), WHC-SD-CP-OSR-010, Rev. 0, 1994, Section 3.1.2, Criticality Detectors and Alarms. This document, with its appendices, provides the following: (1) System functional requirements for determining system operability (Section 3); (2) A list of annotated system block diagrams which indicate the safety envelope boundaries (Appendix C); (3) A list of the Safety Class 1 and 2 Safety Envelope (SC-1/2 SE) equipment for input into the Master Component Index (Appendix B); (4) Functional requirements for individual SC-1/2 SE components, including appropriate setpoints and process parameters (Section 6 and Appendix A); (5) A list of the operational, maintenance and ...

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ESH-19 personnel collected soil and single-stage water samples around the perimeter of Area G at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) during FY 95 to characterize possible radionuclide movement out of Area G through surface water and entrained sediment runoff. Soil samples were analyzed for tritium, total uranium, isotopic plutonium, americium-241, and cesium-137. The single-stage water samples were analyzed for tritium and plutonium isotopes. All radiochemical data was compared with analogous samples collected during FY 93 and 94 and reported in LA-12986 and LA-13165-PR. Six surface soils were also submitted for metal analyses. These data were included with similar data generated for soil samples collected during FY 94 and compared with metals in background samples collected at the Area G expansion area.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This disclosure provides a solar rechargeable aircraft that is inexpensive to produce, is steerable, and can remain airborne almost indefinitely. The preferred aircraft is a span-loaded flying wing, having no fuselage or rudder. Travelling at relatively slow speeds, and having a two-hundred foot wingspan that mounts photovoltaic cells on most all of the wing`s top surface, the aircraft uses only differential thrust of its eight propellers to turn. Each of five sections of the wing has one or more engines and photovoltaic arrays, and produces its own lift independent of the other sections, to avoid loading them. Five two-sided photovoltaic arrays, in all, are mounted on the wing, and receive photovoltaic energy both incident on top of the wing, and which is incident also from below, through a bottom, transparent surface. The aircraft is capable of a top speed of about ninety miles per hour, which enables the aircraft to attain and can continuously maintain altitudes of up to sixty-five ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Construction and commissioning period of NPP are reduced world over drastically by stringent schedule for financial and economic reasons. For meeting the schedule, commissioning of components and systems are started immediate after installation, while construction activities are continued in parallel at the same place. Parallel activities' and 'Time Constraint' have brought new challenges to 'Management of Fire and Industrial Safely' during commissioning. An innovative approach was used during such phase of commissioning of TAPP-3 and 4. This paper outlines challenges encountered during this phase and special approach and measures used to meet those challenges. This paper also outlines problems encountered during implementation of these measures and subsequent change in approach to ensure smooth and safe execution of activities. Primarily, challenges were conflicting requirements by various agencies to carryout commissioning in parallel with construction activities concurrently. Main ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This paper presents actual time/motion data for an oversize truck spent-fuel shipment from its origin, Surry, Virginia to its destination, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). These data include the receipt of the empty cask at the reactor, wet-loading the cask, over-the-road or in-transit data, and receipt and dry unloading of the shipping cask at the receiving facility. Occupational doses were recorded at the Surry Power Plant as well as at INEL, and public doses were calculated for the in-transit dose analysis. This shipment was one of a series performed in support of a demonstration and evaluation of dry storage at INEL. The oversized shipment consisted of a TN-8L shipping cask loaded with three 10-yr-old pressurized water reactor assemblies. The total distance traveled was #approx#2800 miles, requiring 62 h including stops. The time required to receive and inspect the empty shipping cask and wet-load and release the shipment at the reactor was ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mining operations took place at the Sullivan Mine, located at Sullivan, Abitibi, Quebec between 1930 and 1967 and generated large quantities of tailings. These tailings now represent a waste rock pile in the shape of a delta on the shore of De Montigny Lake. The area covers approximately 50 hectares. When the waste rock pile was first established, several terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems were lost forever. In addition, the very nature of the tailings, combined to the action of the wind and lake, further slow the natural site regeneration. The Ministere des Ressources naturelles du Quebec (Quebec Natural Resources Department) asked Les Consultants en Environnement Argus to prepare a site remediation plan to stimulate the natural regeneration of the ecosystems. It would enable the local fauna to resume its occupation of the territory, while ensuring its proper integration in the environment. The authors described in detail the proposed plan that addresses all the ...

Science.gov (United States)

Somatogenic hormones play an important role in regulation of receptors for prolactin (PRL) and estrogen. Plerocercoids of the tapeworm, S. mansonoides produce a factor which mimics some, but not all of the actions reported for GH. Intact female rats were subjected to a constant infusion of plerocercoid growth factor (PGF) via a subcutaneous infection for two weeks to determine if PGF influences receptors for PRL, GH or estradiol. The rate of weight gain in the PGF-treated rats was accelerated in spite of a marked reduction in serum GH. Partially-purified PGF specifically displaced [125I]hGH from rat liver receptors but microsomes prepared from rats treated with PGF specifically bound significantly less [125I]hGH than microsomes from control rats. The reduction in [125I]hGH binding was not due to occupancy or to a change in affinity but to a suppression in receptor concentration. Scatchard analysis of [3H]estradiol binding in rat liver cytosols shows a 50% reduction ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

More details about the construction of the Terra Nova floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel are provided. The vessel was built in the Daewoo shipyard in South Korea, and is now undergoing final fitting at Bull Arm, near St. John's, Newfoundland. When complete, the vessel will operate 350 km offshore, southeast of St. John's. It is 291 metres long and 45.5 metres wide and has a capacity of 960,000 barrels of oil. Although the FPSO will hold less than half of the last giant supertanker which sailed for Irving Oil, it has a crew of 81, four times the size of the supertanker, reflecting the technical uniqueness of the vessel and the intense pre-occupation with safety associated with the combination of winds, ice, waves, and shallow water around the Grand Banks. Also described is the alliance system of partnership between the oil companies and the main contractors. The deal stipulates that if the project ran over its budget, the oil ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pattern and model makers are skilled tradespersons who may be exposed to hardwoods, softwoods, phenol-formaldehyde resin-impregnated woods, epoxy and polyester/styrene resin systems, and welding and metal-casting fumes. The relationship of respiratory symptoms (wheezing, chronic bronchitis, dyspnea) and pulmonary function (FVC% predicted, FEV1% predicted, FEV1/FVC% predicted) with interview-derived cumulative exposure estimates to specific workplace agents and to all work with wood, plastic, or metal products was investigated in 751 pattern and model makers in southeast Michigan. In stratified analyses and age- and smoking-adjusted linear and logistic regression models, measures of cumulative wood exposures were associated with decrements in pulmonary function and dyspnea, but not with other symptoms. In similar analyses, measures of cumulative plastic exposures were associated with wheezing, chronic bronchitis, and dyspnea, but not with decrements in pulmonary function. Prior studies ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

When a nuclear power station was installed on the Meuse in central Belgium, the impact of thermal, radioactive, and chemical waste on the water of the Neuse and on its biocenoses was studied. Three successive periods of development of the channel bed and the flood plain in Belgium have occurred, and their hydrological, physicochemical, and ecological consequences have been examined. Since the last century, the ecosystem of the Meuse has undergone, due to the increasing activity of man, modifications of increasing importance: marked reduction of the water flow, a drastic increase in the suspended material being transported, a degree of eutrophication of the water, and the disturbance of the original floral and faunal communities. The causes of this evolution of the Meuse can be itemized as different types of human interference in descending order of importance: (1) occupation of the catchment area; (2) encroachment on the flood plain; (3) encroachment on the channel ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This study presents the findings of radiometric analysis carried out to determine the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in raw materials (clay, kaolin, quartz, feldspar, dolomite, alumina, bauxite, zirconium minerals, red mud and frit) and end products (glazed ceramic wall and floor tiles) in the Turkish ceramics industry. Hundred forty-six samples were obtained from various manufacturers and suppliers throughout the country and analyzed using gamma-ray spectrometer with HPGe detectors. Radiological parameters such as radium equivalent activity, activity concentration index and alpha index were calculated to assess the radiological aspects of the use of the ceramic end products as decorative or covering materials in construction sector. Results obtained were examined in the light of the relevant national and international legislation and guidance and compared with the results of similar studies reported in different countries. The results suggest that the use of ceramic ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) are envisioned as building blocks for realization of novel nanoelectronic devices, for which the site-selective growth is highly desirable. This thesis presents a successful route toward selective positioning of self-assembled InAs QDs on patterned GaAs surface by combination of in situ focused ion beam (FIB) implantation and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technology. First, a buffer layer of GaAs was grown by MBE before a square array of holes with a pitch of 1-2 #mu#m was fabricated by FIB implantation of Ga and In, ions respectively. Later, an in-situ annealing step followed by InAs deposition was performed. The InAs QDs were preferentially formed in the holes generated by FIB. The influence of ion dose, annealing parameters and InAs amount was investigated in this work. With optimized parameters, more than 50 % single dot occupancy per hole is achieved. Furthermore, the photoluminescence spectra from positioned QDs confirm their ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Occupational exposure to N-nitrosamines in the rubber industry was first reported by Fajen et al. (1979). In order to study the origin and formation of nitrosamines in this industry, chemicals and industrial products, as well as the air in various working areas, were analysed. All chemicals used for rubber compounding contain nitrosamines if they are derivatives of secondary amines; e.g., tetramethylthiurame, zinc-diethyldithiocarbamate or N-oxydiethylene benzothiazolylsulfenamide. All rubber products containing these dialkyl amine derivatives exhibited considerable levels of the corresponding nitrosamines. Accordingly, variable concentrations of airborne nitrosamines could be detected at places where rubber products are manufactured or stored. The nitrosamines found correspond to the compounded chemicals. The original nitrosamine level in rubber chemicals is not high enough to explain the amounts found in rubber products and in air, so that additional nitrosation ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The use of electricity is indispensable to modern life. As Macao Special Administrative Region becomes a gaming and tourism center in Asia, modeling the consumption of electricity is critical to Macao's economic development. The purposes of this paper are to conduct an extensive literature review on modeling of electricity consumption, and to identify key climatic, demographic, economic and/or industrial factors that may affect the electricity consumption of a country/city. It was identified that the five factors, namely temperature, population, the number of tourists, hotel room occupancy and days per month, could be used to characterize Macao's monthly electricity consumption. Three selected approaches including multiple regression, artificial neural network (ANN) and wavelet ANN were used to derive mathematical models of the electricity consumption. The accuracy of these models was assessed by using the mean squared error (MSE), the mean ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lyophilized human whole blood control material containing lead was prepared for internal and external quality assurance to evaluate and improve the analytical performance of lead. The samples were prepared in four different concentrations from outdated human whole blood stabilized with glucose and a citrate/phosphate buffer and provided under clean room conditions to avoid contamination. The lyophilized samples are easy to reconstitute with water. The materials were evaluated according to a statistical model. The lead concentrations in the specimens are close to blood lead levels usually following environmental and industrial exposure, particular in occupational health to the control of lead exposure at work regulations. The materials are available to the commercial as well as the scientific community. The Danish External Quality Assessment Scheme (DEQAS) for lead in blood is intended to complement the internal quality control for the Danish laboratories assaying ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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 ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reduction of occupational radiation exposure dose in a BWR plant is achieved by an elimination of crud in a BWR primary loop condensate stream by condensate demineralizer. Crud removal by condensate polisher improves year by year, a phenomenon called the Aging Effect of Ion Exchange Resins. The cause of this phenomenon is assumed to be mainly due to changes in the cation resin property becoming more crud adsorptive, where a typical change in physical property of aged cation resin is an increase in water retention capacity. Assuming that the crud removal efficiency was influenced by a crosslinkage of cation resin, an attempt was made to enhance this removal efficiency by decreasing the crosslinkage and satisfactory results were obtained. As a result, new gel type cation resins were developed with lower crosslinkage and larger surface areas, as compared with conventional gel type resins. The crosslinkage degree of these new cation resins are equivalent to a 6 % DVB ...

Science.gov (United States)

An evaluation was made of possible hazardous working conditions at the ASARCO Globe facility, Denver, Colorado. The facility was involved in the recovery of cadmium from baghouse dust, a waste byproduct of nonferrous smelters. A medical study of kidney function was conducted in 45 current or former cadmium production workers; results were compared to those for 35 hospital workers. Kidney abnormalities were more common and more severe in the cadmium workers than in the hospital workers. Abnormalities of proximal tubular function included reduced reabsorption of beta-2-microglobulin, retinol binding protein, calcium and phosphate. Glomerular dysfunction was evidenced as elevated serum creatinine. As length of exposure to cadmium increased, changes became more apparent in workers. No reversal of the conditions was noted in workers who had ceased to be exposed to cadmium some time before the study. The authors conclude that occupational overexposure to cadmium caused ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Epidemiologic studies suggest a weak link between occupational or residential exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields and cancer, especially tumors of the central nervous and hematopoietic systems. This report discusses these studies with reference to basic research on ELF EMF bioeffects relevant to cancer-promoting mechanisms. Many of the studies suggest a possible interaction of ELF EMF with the immune system, endocrine system, or growth-regulatory signals and morphogenic movements that involve calcium flux through cell membranes. Many bioeffects have been reported only with certain specific combinations of frequency, amplitude, and orientation of the EMF signal with respect to the geomagnetic field. The possibility of signal-specific effects raises a complication in dosimetry for both epidemiologic and experimental studies since ELF EMF effects may not be directly related to field strength. The report concludes with a discussion of design ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Background: The effective-dose method which was proposed by the ICRP (International Commission of Radiation Protection) for the estimation of risk to the general population from occupational or environmental, low-dose radiation exposure is not adequate for estimating the risk of cancer induction by radiotherapy of malignant or nonmalignant diseases. Methods:The risk of cancer induction by radiotherapy of benign diseases should be based on epidemiologic data directly derived from follow-up studies of patients who had been given radiotherapy for nonmalignant diseases in the past. Results: Risk factors were derived from epidemiologic studies of patients treated with irradiation for nonmalignant diseases to be used for selecting treatment options and optimizing treatment procedures. Conclusion: In most cases, cancer risks estimated by the effective-dose method may overestimate the true risks by one order of magnitude, yet in other cases even may underestimate it. The ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A survey to assess the techniques used to control occupational exposure to formaldehyde (50000) and methanol (67561) was conducted at the E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company (SIC-2869) formaldehyde production unit, Linden, New Jersey, in October 1982. Exposure concentrations were reduced primarily by the use of a process that was completely enclosed except for process sampling, methanol unloading, and formaldehyde discharge points. Local and area exhaust ventilation, and work practices were also used to control exposures. Formaldehyde concentrations in the absorber area were controlled by burning the exit gases in an afterburner and discharging them high above the ground. Analysis of area and breathing zone samples showed methanol and formaldehyde concentrations below the OSHA limits of 200 and 3 parts per million, respectively. The authors conclude that workers are not overexposed to either methanol or formaldehyde on a short or long term basis. Maintenance ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crystallography and computer modeling have been used to exploit a previously unexplored channel in the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Highly potent, nonsteroidal indazole amides showing excellent complementarity to the channel were designed with the assistance of the computational technique AlleGrow. The accuracy of the design process was demonstrated through crystallographic structural determination of the GR ligand-binding domain-agonist complex of the D-prolinamide derivative 11. The utility of the channel was further exemplified through the design of a potent phenylindazole in which structural motifs, seen to interact with the traditional GR ligand pocket, were abandoned and replaced by interactions within the new channel. Occupation of the channel was confirmed with a second GR crystal structure of this truncated D-alaninamide derivative 13. Compound 11 displays properties compatible with development as an intranasal solution formulation, whereas oral ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The crystal structure and phonon densities of states (DOS) of #beta#'-SiAlON ceramics, Si_6_-_zAl_zO"zN_8_-_z (0 #<=# z #<=# 4), prepared by a novel slipcast method, are studied by neutron-scattering techniques. The samples with z < 4 form a single-phase solid solution of Si-Al-O-N isostructural to #beta#-Si_3N_4 (space group P6_3/m). A consistent preferential occupation of the 2c sites by oxygen atoms and the 6h sites by nitrogen atoms exists within this structure. The phonon DOS of #beta#'-SiAlON displays phonon bands at #approx#50 and 115 meV. These features are considerably broader than the corresponding ones in #beta#-Si_3N_4 powder.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Headquarters and associated contractors have developed an IBM PC-based software package that estimates costs, schedules, and public and occupational health risks for a range of mixed-waste management options. A key application of the software package is the comparison of various waste-treatment options documented in the draft Site Treatment Plans prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Facility Compliance Act of 1992. This automated Systems Analysis Methodology consists of a user interface for configuring complexwide or site-specific waste-management options; calculational algorithms for cost, schedule and risk; and user-selected graphical or tabular output of results. The mixed-waste management activities modeled in the automated Systems Analysis Methodology include waste storage, characterization, handling, transportation, treatment, and disposal. Analyses of treatment options identified in the draft Site ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naturally occurring radionuclides are present in most material. The most common naturally occurring radionuclides in material are those of the uranium and thorium series and potassium-40. This material is commonly referred to as Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM). In some material the levels of naturally occurring radionuclides are significantly higher, to the extent that regulatory control may be required for radiation protection purposes. Regulation of NORM presents a range of new challenges for both regulators and operators. Unlike more traditional industries dealing with radionuclides, NORM industries have generally not had any radiological oversight and, for example, are not equipped for radiological monitoring. Some consumer goods containing NORM, which have not traditionally been considered as a radiological problem (such as some fertilizers), may require regulation and this may have social and economic consequences. The transport and disposal of NORM are also a ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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 ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The purpose of the Isotopes Facilities Deactivation Project (IFDP) is to place former isotopes production facilities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in a safe, stable, and environmentally sound condition; suitable for an extended period of minimum surveillance and maintenance (S&M) and as quickly and economical as possible. Implementation and completion of the deactivation project will further reduce the risks to the environment and to public safety and health. Furthermore, completion of the project will result in significant S&M cost savings in future years. The IFDP work plan defines the project schedule, the cost estimate, and the technical approach for the project. A companion document, the IFDP management plan, has been prepared to document the project objectives, define organizational relationships and responsibilities, and outline the management control systems to be employed in the management of the project. The project has adopted the strategy ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Technology roadmaps serve as pathways to the future. They call attention to future needs for research and development; provide a structure for organizing technology forecasts and programs; and help communicate technological needs and expectations among end users and the research and development (R and D) community. Critical Technology roadmaps, of which the Robotics and Intelligent Machines (RIM) Roadmap is one example, focus on enabling or cross-cutting technologies that address the needs of multiple US Department of Energy (DOE) offices. Critical Technology roadmaps must be responsive to mission needs of the offices; must clearly indicate how the science and technology can improve DOE capabilities; and must describe an aggressive vision for the future of the technology itself. The RIM Roadmap defines a DOE research and development path for the period beginning today, and continuing through the year 2020. Its purpose is to identify, select and develop objectives that will satisfy ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The IAEA Code of Practice on Quality Assurance for Safety in Nuclear Power Plants and the corresponding Safety Guides are reviewed and compared with quality assurance (QA) practices in the IAEA Member States. The QA requirements stipulated by the Code place on the nuclear power plant owner the responsibility to establish an overall QA programme for the plant. In selecting the QA programme level for specific activities, the Code allows of a flexible approach but does not specify gradation in programme requirements. The Code is placing the burden of quality-achieving and quality-assuring functions on the task-performing organizations, namely the designers, manufacturers, constructors and plant operators. The plant owner provides for the management of the overall QA programme, surveillance of activities and verifications of the effectiveness of the constituent programmes of all project participants through programme audits and evaluations. The Code and the supporting ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is committed to conducting its operations in an environmentally safe and sound manner. It is mandatory that activities at SNL/California comply with all applicable environmental statutes, regulations, and standards. Moreover, SNL/California continuously strives to reduce risks to employees, the public, and the environment to the lowest levels reasonably possible. To help verify effective protection of public safety and preservation of the environment, SNL/California maintains an extensive, ongoing environmental monitoring program. This program monitors all significant effluents and the environment at the SNL/California site perimeter. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) performs off-site external radiation monitoring for both sites. These monitoring efforts ensure that emission controls are effective in preventing contamination of the environment. As part of SNL/California`s Environmental Monitoring Program, an environmental ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels are subjected to neutron irradiation at a temperature of about 290 deg C. This radiation exposure alters the mechanical properties, leading to a shift of the brittle-to-ductile transition temperature toward higher temperatures and to a diminution of the rupture energy as determined by Charpy V-notch tests. This radiation embrittlement is one of the important aging factors of nuclear power plants. U.S. NRC recommended the basic requirements for the determination of the pressure vessel fluence by regulatory guide DG-1025 in order to reduce the uncertainty in the determination of neutron fluence calculation and measurements. The determination of the pressure vessel fluence is based on both calculations and measurements. The fluence prediction is made with a calculation and the measurements are used to qualify the calculational methodology. Because of the importance and the difficulty of these calculations, the method`s qualification by comparison to ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Developed under the PN II Project 71-009 - MONA, the pre-operational monitoring program of the LIL waste disposal site presented in this paper covers the main elements requested for a continuous improvement of site characterization and safety assessment, as well as for the set up of the baseline data requested for the future operational and post-operational monitoring and surveillance. These elements are: vadose and saturated zones hydrogeology, surface erosion, meteorology and radionuclides content in waters, soil and biota. Pairs of TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry) and pressure sensors, coupled with a meteorological station have been installed on site for the continuously measurement of the water content and matric potential changes due to the climate variations. The data will be used to follow the water balance, the pores water velocity and to calculate the infiltration rate. A new set of erosion rates experimentally determined by Pinhole test on surface soil ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A large matrix of simple alloys and complex commercial type steels was irradiated over a range of fluxes at 60 FC up to a fast fluence of about 3 x 10"2"2 n/m"2. Combined with data in the literature, these results show a negligible effect of flux on irradiation hardening in the range of 2 x 10"1"3 to 5 x 10"1"8 n/m"2-s. This observation lends indirect support to the proposal that the accelerated embrittlement in the High Flux Isotope Reactor surveillance steels was due to an anomalously high level of damage from gamma rays. A weak dependence of hardening on a number of elements, including copper, nickel, phosphorus, molybdenum and manganese, can be described by a simple empirical chemistry factor. Particular combinations of elements resulted in hardening differences of up to about 60% in the complex commercial type steels and up to about 100% in simple model alloys. Direct effects of microstructure appear to be minimal. Hardening varies with the square root of ...