Laboratory and Field Studies Related to Radionuclide Migration at the Nevada Test Site in Support of the Underground Test Area and Hydrologic Resources Management Projects

This report details the work of Chemistry Division personnel from Los Alamos National Laboratory in FY 2001 for the U. S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Operations Office (NNSA/NV) under its Defense Programs and Environmental Restoration divisions. Los Alamos is one of a number of agencies collaborating in an effort to describe the present and future movement of radionuclides in the underground environment of the Nevada Test Site. This fiscal year we collected and analyzed water samples from a number of expended test locations at the Nevada Test Site. We give the results of these analyses and summarize the information gained over the quarter century that we have been studying several of these sites. We find that by far most of the radioactive residues from a nuclear test are contained in the melt glass in the cavity. Those radionuclides that are mobile in water can be transported if the groundwater is moving due to hydraulic or thermal gradients. The extent to which they move is a function of their chemical speciation, with neutral or anionic materials traveling freely relative to cationic materials that tend to sorb on rock surfaces. However, radionuclides sorbed on colloids may be transported if the colloids are moving. Local conditions strongly influence the distribution and movement of radionuclides, and we continue to study sites such as Almendro, which is thermally quite hot, and Nash and Bourbon, where radionuclides had not been measured for 8 years. We collected samples from three characterization wells in Frenchman Flat to obtain baseline radiochemistry data for each well, and we analyzed eight wells containing radioactivity for {sup 237}Np, using our highly sensitive ICP/MS. We have again used our field probe that allows us to measure important groundwater properties in situ. We conclude our report by noting document reviews and publications produced in support of this program

Integrating eBusiness, Knowledge Management and Policy Considerations Within an Information Systems Strategy Framework

Much has been written on the topic of Information Systems (IS) Strategy over the past 30 years or so since the early work of, for example, Kriebel (1968) and McFarlan (1971). We have gone through periods where various approaches to IS Strategy have had their heyday. (Galliers, 1993) These include, for example: long range planning; businessdriven (or ‘top-down’) approaches; strategic data planning; the proactive use of Information Technology (IT) for competitive advantage, and business process analysis (or BPR), to name but a few (e.g., McLean & Soden, 1977; Ein-Dor & Segev, 1978; Martin, 1982; Porter & Millar, 1985; Hammer, 1990). More recently, we have seen the emergence of e-business and knowledge management as major phenomena worthy of our attention in the strategy arena

The density of anthropogenic features explains seasonal and behaviour-based functional responses in selection of linear features by a social predator

Anthropogenic linear features facilitate access and travel efficiency for predators, and can influence predator distribution and encounter rates with prey. We used GPS collar data from eight wolf packs and characteristics of seismic lines to investigate whether ease-of-travel or access to areas presumed to be preferred by prey best explained seasonal selection patterns of wolves near seismic lines, and whether the density of anthropogenic features led to functional responses in habitat selection. At a broad scale, wolves showed evidence of habitat-driven functional responses by exhibiting greater selection for areas near low-vegetation height seismic lines in areas with low densities of anthropogenic features. We highlight the importance of considering landscape heterogeneity and habitat characteristics, and the functional response in habitat selection when investigating seasonal behaviour-based selection patterns. Our results support behaviour in line with search for primary prey during summer and fall, and ease-of-travel during spring, while patterns of selection during winter aligned best with ease-of-travel for the less-industrialized foothills landscape, and with search for primary prey in the more-industrialized boreal landscape. These results highlight that time-sensitive restoration actions on anthropogenic features can affect the probability of overlap between predators and threatened prey within different landscapes

Laboratory and field studies related to radionuclide migration at the Nevada Test Site October 1, 1998-September 30, 1999

In this report the author describes his research in FY 1999 at the Nevada Test Site regarding the movement of radionuclides in groundwater. This work is funded by the US Department of Energy/Nevada Operations Office through their Defense Programs and Environmental Restorations divisions. Significant accomplishments include upgrading a spectrometer used to characterize groundwater colloids, acquisition of a probe to allow in situ measurement of groundwater parameters, and purchase of pumps for use in small-diameter access tubing. He collected water samples from a number of nuclear test sites during the past year. Samples from the chimney horizon at the Camembert site show that only volatile radionuclides are present there, as expected. Groundwater from the cavity region at the Cheshire site shows evidence of fission product leaching or desorption from melt glass or rock surfaces. Colloids present in this water were found to be remarkably stable during storage for many years. The colloid content of groundwater at the Cambric site and at UE-5n was found to be low relative to that in groundwater on Pahute Mesa. This, coupled with the apparent lack of groundwater flow in the alluvial rock at the Cambric site, suggests that radionuclide movement underground in this area is relatively minimal. He continued the yearly monitoring of the thermally hot cavity fluids at the Almendro site. He concludes this report by listing documents reviewed and presentations and publications generated by the program

Unsettling play: perceptions of Agonistic Games

In this article, we propose Agonistic Games (AGs) as a serious games subcategory that can stimulate critical reflection on topics of dark heritage through multiperspectivity and unsettling play. We first discuss the emerging topic of agonism in memory studies, and then how games can be used to support its objectives. We then discuss the development of two original AGs: Endless Blitz and Umschlagplatz ’43. We explore whether these two AGs were perceived as capable of stimulating critical reflection by collecting data from visitors to the exhibition “Krieg. Macht. Sinn” at the Ruhr Museum in Germany where the games were installed, and from participants in an online course describing the games. From analysing data collected, we outline four factors inhibiting the capacity of AGs to stimulate critical reflection (topic, context, design, and assumptions about games) and propose strategies for overcoming these inhibitors. Our findings are valuable to scholars, game researchers, and designers, strengthening the foundations for the design and development of future AGs

‘That eccentric use of land at the top of the hill’: Cemeteries and stories of the city

Most contemporary research accounts for conflict within cemetery space, but does not consider the potentially contested and poorly understood role of cemeteries within their broader cityscape. This study draws on stories from cemetery managers across England and Wales to narrate this multifunctionality, as they hold the pivotal role which oversees both the day-to-day running of the cemetery, and its strategic role within a given municipality. The study outlines how cemeteries hold multiple functions in the cities in which they are located, specifically contributing to greenspace or green infrastructure, civic identity and local place attachment. These varying city level roles in turn impact on what is deemed (il)legitimate behaviour within the cemetery. Moreover, they raise important considerations for urban planners and policymakers who currently have little guidance on planning for new or existing cemeteries but are critical in the ongoing successful development of cities

A high-resolution record of early Paleozoic climate

The spatial coverage and temporal resolution of the Early Paleozoic paleoclimate record are limited, primarily due to the paucity of well-preserved skeletal material commonly used for oxygen-isotope paleothermometry. Bulk-rock δ¹⁸O datasets can provide broader coverage and higher resolution, but are prone to burial alteration. We assess the diagenetic character of two thick Cambro–Ordovician carbonate platforms with minimal to moderate burial by pairing clumped and bulk isotope analyses of micritic carbonates. Despite resetting of the clumped-isotope thermometer at both sites, our samples indicate relatively little change to their bulk δ¹⁸O due to low fluid exchange. Consequently, both sequences preserve temporal trends in δ¹⁸O. Motivated by this result, we compile a global suite of bulk rock δ¹⁸O data, stacking overlapping regional records to minimize diagenetic influences on overall trends. We find good agreement of bulk rock δ¹⁸O with brachiopod and conodont δ¹⁸O trends through time. Given evidence that the δ¹⁸O value of seawater has not evolved substantially through the Phanerozoic, we interpret this record as primarily reflecting changes in tropical, nearshore seawater temperatures and only moderately modified by diagenesis. Focusing on the samples with the most enriched, and thus likely least-altered, δ¹⁸O values, we reconstruct Late Cambrian warming, Early Ordovician extreme warmth, and cooling around the Early–Middle Ordovician boundary. Our record is consistent with models linking the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event to cooling of previously very warm tropical oceans. In addition, our high-temporal-resolution record suggests previously unresolved transient warming and climate instability potentially associated with Late Ordovician tectonic events

RNA-Seq identifies SPGs as a ventral skeletal patterning cue in sea urchins

The sea urchin larval skeleton offers a simple model for formation of developmental patterns. The calcium carbonate skeleton is secreted by primary mesenchyme cells (PMCs) in response to largely unknown patterning cues expressed by the ectoderm. To discover novel ectodermal cues, we performed an unbiased RNA-Seq-based screen and functionally tested candidates; we thereby identified several novel skeletal patterning cues. Among these, we show that SLC26a2/7 is a ventrally expressed sulfate transporter that promotes a ventral accumulation of sulfated proteoglycans, which is required for ventral PMC positioning and skeletal patterning. We show that the effects of SLC perturbation are mimicked by manipulation of either external sulfate levels or proteoglycan sulfation. These results identify novel skeletal patterning genes and demonstrate that ventral proteoglycan sulfation serves as a positional cue for sea urchin skeletal patterning

Evidence for long-term Gamma-ray and X-ray variability from the unidentified TeV source HESS J0632+057

HESS J0632+057 is one of only two unidentified very-high-energy gamma-ray sources which appear to be point-like within experimental resolution. It is possibly associated with the massive Be star MWC 148 and has been suggested to resemble known TeV binary systems like LS I +61 303 or LS 5039. HESS J0632+057 was observed by VERITAS for 31 hours in 2006, 2008 and 2009. During these observations, no significant signal in gamma rays with energies above 1 TeV was detected from the direction of HESS J0632+057. A flux upper limit corresponding to 1.1% of the flux of the Crab Nebula has been derived from the VERITAS data. The non-detection by VERITAS excludes with a probability of 99.993% that HESS J0632+057 is a steady gamma-ray emitter. Contemporaneous X-ray observations with Swift XRT reveal a factor of 1.8+-0.4 higher flux in the 1-10 keV range than earlier X-ray observations of HESS J0632+057. The variability in the gamma-ray and X-ray fluxes supports interpretation of the ob ject as a gamma-ray emitting binary.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Status of the VERITAS Observatory

VERITAS, an Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT) system for gammma-ray astronomy in the GeV-TeV range, has recently completed its first season of observations with a full array of four telescopes. A number of astrophysical gamma-ray sources have been detected, both galactic and extragalactic, including sources previously unknown at TeV energies. We describe the status of the array and some highlight results, and assess the technical performance, sensitivity and shower reconstruction capabilities.Comment: Submitted to Proceedings of "4th Heidelberg International Symposium on High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy 2008