Application of in-situ gamma spectrometry in the remediation of radioactively contaminated soil

The Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP) is a US Department of Energy site that is undergoing total remediation and closure. Most of the remediation effort entails massive excavation of soil for disposal, both offsite and onsite, at an engineered disposal facility. In-situ gamma spectrometry is routinely used to support soil excavation operations to accurately and quickly identify soil areas as being above or below regulatory remediation criteria. Two different in-situ gamma spectrometry systems are used. The first is a sodium iodide (NaI) detector mounted either on a tractor or a jogging stroller, depending on the terrain to be measured. The NaI system allows the collection of a gamma energy spectrum which can be analyzed to identify and quantify radioactive isotopes which are present within the detector`s viewing area. Each energy spectrum is tagged by location coordinates provided by an on-board global positioning system (GPS) to precisely locate elevated contamination areas. The second is a tripod-mounted, high purity germanium detector (HPGe) gamma spectrometry system that is functionally similar to the NaI system. The principal advantage of the HPGe is its superior resolution, which allows much more accurate identification and quantification of radionuclide contaminants in soils. In order to effectively utilize the data quality objective process with these systems, three quality assurance (QA) elements had to be performed

Pretreatment with beta-blockers and the frequency of hypokalemia in patients with acute chest pain

Plasma potassium concentration was measured at admission in 1234 patients who presented with acute chest pain. One hundred and ninety five patients were on P blockers before admission. The potassium concentrations of patients admitted early (within four hours of onsetof symptoms) were compared with those admitted later (4-18 hours after onset of symptoms). There was a transient fall in plasma potassium concentrations in patients not pre-treated with , B blockers. This was not seen in patients who had been on P blockers before admission. Nonselective, B blockers were more effective than cardioselective agents in maintaining concentrationsof plasma potassium. These findings suggest a mechanism for the beneficial effects of ,B blockers on morbidity and mortality in acute myocardial infarction

13CO and C18O emission from a dense gas disc at z = 2.3: abundance variations, cosmic rays and the initial conditions for star formation

We analyse the spectral line energy distributions of 13CO and C18O for the J = 1→0 up to J = 7→6 transitions in the gravitationally lensed ultraluminous infrared galaxy SMM J2135−0102 at z = 2.3. This is the first detection of 13CO and C18O in a high-redshift star-forming galaxy. These data comprise observations of six transitions taken with Plateau de Bure Interferometer and we combine these with ∼33 GHz Jansky Very Large Array data and our previous spatially resolved 12CO and continuum emission information to better constrain the properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) within this system. We study both the velocity-integrated and kinematically decomposed properties of the galaxy and coupled with a large velocity gradient (LVG) model we find that the star-forming regions in the system vary in their cold gas properties, in particular in their chemical abundance ratios. We find strong C18O emission both in the velocity-integrated emission and in the two kinematic components at the periphery of the system, where the C18O line flux is equivalent to or higher than the 13CO. We derive an average velocity-integrated flux ratio of 13CO/C18O ∼ 1 which suggests an abundance ratio of [13CO]/[C18O] which is at least seven times lower than that in the Milky Way. This is suggestive of enhanced C18O abundance, perhaps indicating star formation preferentially biased to high-mass stars. We estimate the relative contribution to the ISM heating from cosmic rays and UV of (30–3300) × 10−25 erg s−1 and 45 × 10−25 erg s−1 per H2 molecule respectively and find them to be comparable to the total cooling rate of (0.8–20) × 10−25 erg s−1 from the CO. However, our LVG models indicate high (>100 K) temperatures and densities (>103) cm−3 in the ISM which may suggest that cosmic rays play a more important role than UV heating in this system. If cosmic rays dominate the heating of the ISM, the increased temperature in the star-forming regions may favour the formation of massive stars and so explain the enhanced C18O abundance. This is a potentially important result for a system which may evolve into a local elliptical galaxy

Multibeam Maser Survey of methanol and excited OH in the Magellanic clouds: new detections and maser abundance estimates

‘The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com.’ Copyright Blackwell Publishing DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.12888.xPeer reviewe

Leading strategies in competitive on-line prediction

We start from a simple asymptotic result for the problem of on-line regression with the quadratic loss function: the class of continuous limited-memory prediction strategies admits a "leading prediction strategy", which not only asymptotically performs at least as well as any continuous limited-memory strategy but also satisfies the property that the excess loss of any continuous limited-memory strategy is determined by how closely it imitates the leading strategy. More specifically, for any class of prediction strategies constituting a reproducing kernel Hilbert space we construct a leading strategy, in the sense that the loss of any prediction strategy whose norm is not too large is determined by how closely it imitates the leading strategy. This result is extended to the loss functions given by Bregman divergences and by strictly proper scoring rules.Comment: 20 pages; a conference version is to appear in the ALT'2006 proceeding

The Local Bubble and Interstellar Material Near the Sun

The properties of interstellar matter (ISM) at the Sun are regulated by our location with respect to the Local Bubble (LB) void in the ISM. The LB is bounded by associations of massive stars and fossil supernovae that have disrupted natal ISM and driven intermediate velocity ISM into the LB interior void. The Sun is located in such a driven ISM parcel. The Local Fluff has a bulk velocity of 19 km/s in the LSR, and an upwind direction towards the center of the gas and dust ring formed by the Loop I supernova remnant interaction with the LB. When the ram pressure of the LIC is included in the total LIC pressure, and if magnetic thermal and cosmic ray pressures are similar, the LIC appears to be in pressure equilibrium with the local hot bubble plasma.Comment: Proceedings of Symposium on the Composition of Matter, honoring Johannes Geiss on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Space Science Reviews (in press

Disc polarization from both emission and scattering of magnetically aligned grains: the case of NGC 1333 IRAS 4A1

Stars and planetary system