Statistical Modeling and Optimization of Nuclear Waste Vitrification

This thesis describes the development of a methodology to minimize the cost of vitrifying nuclear waste. Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) regression models are used as baseline equations for modeling glass properties such as viscosity, electrical conductivity, and two types of durability. Revised PNL regression models are developed that eliminate insignificant variables from the original models. The Revised PNL regression model for electrical conductivity is shown to better predict electrical conductivity than the original PNL regression model. Neural networks are developed for viscosity and the two types of durability, PCT-B and MCC-1 B. The neural network models are shown to outperform every PNL and Revised PNL regression model in terms of predicting property values for viscosity, PCT-B, and MCC-1 B. The combined Neural Network/Revised PNL 2nd order electrical conductivity models are shown to be the best classifiers of nuclear waste glass, i.e. they have the highest probability of classifying a vitrified waste form as glass when it actually did produce glass in the laboratory. Finally, five nonlinear programs are developed with constraints containing: (1) the PNL original 1st order models, (2) the PNL original 2nd order models, (3) the Revised PNL 1st order models, (4) the Revised PNL 2nd order models, and (5) the Neural Network/Revised PNL 2nd order electrical conductivity models. The Neural Network/Revised PNL 2nd order electrical conductivity nonlinear program is shown to minimize the total expected cost of vitrifying nuclear waste glass. This nonlinear program allows DOE to minimize its risk and cost of high-level nuclear waste vitrification

A Combined Adaptive Tabu Search and Set Partitioning Approach for the Crew Scheduling Problem with an Air Tanker Crew Application

This research develops the first metaheuristic approach to the complete air crew scheduling problem. It develops the first dynamic, integrated, set-partitioning based vocabulary scheme for metaheuristic search. Since no benchmark flight schedules exist for the tanker crew scheduling problem, this research defines and develops a Java™ based flight schedule generator. The robustness of the tabu search algorithms is judged by testing them using designed experiments. An integer program is developed to calculate lower bounds for the tanker crew scheduling problem objectives and to measure the overall quality of solutions produced by the developed algorithms

Does Kentucky’s Merit-based Scholarship Program, KEES, Improve College Completion?

College completion is a complex process involving numerous socioeconomic factors at the individual, institutional, and governmental levels. One important factor is the way in which financial aid is disbursed so that affordability does not serve as a barrier to completion. Awarding scholarships on the basis of merit is one aspect of financial aid structure that has grown in popularity over recent decades, in turn, receiving considerable attention from policy researchers with the intent to assess how they affect an array of postsecondary education outcomes. To date, research of merit-based aid’s effect on college completion has been relatively sparse, yielding contradictory results. This study aims to add to the body of literature concerning merit-based aid and college completion, as well as inform state policymakers as to whether Kentucky’s merit-based aid program, KEES, contributes to the goal of increasing the level of degree completion. Analysis concluded that KEES increases the likelihood of completing college by a modest percentage across multiple models. It was also found that this increase in likelihood was greater among higher-achieving and higher-income students. Lastly, results indicated that KEES decreased the time to completion. The study concludes with several practical recommendations to be considered based on the results yielded

Nutritive value and cost of foods consumed by selected individuals over 70 years of age, The

August 1949.Includes bibliographical references (pages 138-143).Covers not scanned.To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document

How The United States Can Improve the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse Disorders

Over thirty million people worldwide suffer from diagnosed drug-use disorders. In the United States alone, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found in the 2020 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) that of people aged 12 or older, over 40 million reported struggling with substance abuse at some point in their life. Alarming statistics suggest that rates of drug abuse continue to rise worldwide. Drug use is a recognized epidemic in the United States, and it is far from a recent issue. Health professionals, government officials, and researchers have been trying to solve the problem for decades. That may seem discouraging when faced with the fact that current methods of preventing and treating substance abuse disorders have proven ineffective. However, there are mountains of optimistic evidence, both old and new, in the United States and worldwide to suggest that the goal of lessening drug abuse is finally tangible. The research and resources are all available to be able to make the necessary changes and solve the problem. But none of these changes can be implemented until drug addiction is recognized as a mental health problem, not a criminal justice problem. This shift in mentality is crucial if any real progress is to be made. But once it has, the United States can significantly improve the prevention and treatment of substance abuse disorders. This improvement is possible if three questions are answered: How can substance abuse disorders be prevented? How is intervention possible so those who desire help can seek it? And lastly, how can methods of rehabilitation be improved to ensure that sobriety is sustainable? The United States can improve in the area of prevention by focusing on the development of stronger communities and increasing education on the dangers of illicit substances. Both have proven effective, especially in adolescence, as methods of preventing drug use. The United States can improve in the area of intervention by making it easier and safer for those with substance abuse disorders to seek help. This can be done by working to destigmatize and decriminalize drug use. Combs 2 When drug use is destigmatized, it is easier for those affected to get help, as there is less of a fear of judgement and persecution from peers. When drug use is decriminalized, it is safer to get help because addicts don’t have to worry about receiving jail time when what they need is effective care. Finally, the United States can improve in the area of rehabilitation by helping to provide support for community-based treatments and putting more funding into the research and development of medication-assisted treatment. Community-based programs, such as Narcotics Anonymous, are constantly mentioned (both in formal studies and as anecdotes) as one of the most effective ways for people to sustain their sobriety. Medication-assisted treatment can be helpful in weaning withdrawal symptoms, making it easier to quit. There is controversy surrounding the areas of decriminalization and medication-assisted treatment in terms of efficacy, but professionally have proven that the benefits of these two ideas far out way the harms. As a matter of fact, the decriminalization of illicit substances in Portugal was wildly successful and can act as a sort of case study for those debating the issue. Experts felt that there were a number of reasons people turn to drugs, and it was simply ineffective to treat it as a purely criminal problem. As a result of decriminalizing drugs, they saw a decrease in problematic drug use, recidivism, and HIV rates, and they did not see an increase in drug use as many feared they would, thus proving that this approach has been effective in other countries and can be effective in the United States as well. As stated before, substance abuse disorders are an epidemic in the United States. Drug overdoses account for nearly 100,000 deaths every year and it is estimated that nearly one million people have overdosed in the United States since 1999. Under the status quo, these numbers are rising. Substance abuse disorders can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, sexuality, religion, race, occupation, social status, or income bracket. To ignore this issue, or to continue to treat drug use as a criminal justice problem instead of a Combs 3 mental health problem is to ignore decades of science confirming that this is a treatable problem. It is a difficult issue. But difficult is not the same as impossible. The United States can significantly improve the prevention and treatment of substance abuse disorders

Randomised phase I/II study to evaluate carbon ion radiotherapy versus fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy in patients with recurrent or progressive gliomas: The CINDERELLA trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Treatment of patients with recurrent glioma includes neurosurgical resection, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. In most cases, a full course of radiotherapy has been applied after primary diagnosis, therefore application of re-irradiation has to be applied cauteously. With modern precision photon techniques such as fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT), a second course of radiotherapy is safe and effective and leads to survival times of 22, 16 and 8 months for recurrent WHO grade II, III and IV gliomas.</p> <p>Carbon ions offer physical and biological characteristics. Due to their inverted dose profile and the high local dose deposition within the Bragg peak precise dose application and sparing of normal tissue is possible. Moreover, in comparison to photons, carbon ions offer an increased relative biological effectiveness (RBE), which can be calculated between 2 and 5 depending on the GBM cell line as well as the endpoint analyzed. Protons, however, offer an RBE which is comparable to photons.</p> <p>First Japanese Data on the evaluation of carbon ion radiation therapy for the treatment of primary high-grade gliomas showed promising results in a small and heterogeneous patient collective.</p> <p>Methods Design</p> <p>In the current Phase I/II-CINDERELLA-trial re-irradiation using carbon ions will be compared to FSRT applied to the area of contrast enhancement representing high-grade tumor areas in patients with recurrent gliomas. Within the Phase I Part of the trial, the Recommended Dose (RD) of carbon ion radiotherapy will be determined in a dose escalation scheme. In the subsequent randomized Phase II part, the RD will be evaluated in the experimental arm, compared to the standard arm, FSRT with a total dose of 36 Gy in single doses of 2 Gy.</p> <p>Primary endpoint of the Phase I part is toxicity. Primary endpoint of the randomized part II is survival after re-irradiation at 12 months, secondary endpoint is progression-free survival.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The Cinderella trial is the first study to evaluate carbon ion radiotherapy for recurrent gliomas, and to compare this treatment to photon FSRT in a randomized setting using an ion beam delivered by intensity modulated rasterscanning.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>NCT01166308</p

Chi Kung Facilitates Integral Growth: An Empirical Investigation

Chi Kung Facilitates Integral Growth: An Empirical Investigation C. Arnold, E. Bruggerman, H. Kim, & A. Combs[1] Swiss cultural philosopher Jean Gebser (1949/1986) proposed a theory of the evolutionary development of structures of consciousness that describes the common ways people living in different periods of history interpreted reality and constructed their worldviews. These included four major structures corresponding to four historical epochs, an archaic, magic, mythic, and mental structure which remains dominant today. Citing changes in art, literature, and scientific during the 20th century, Gebser also proposed the emergence of a forthcoming fifth structure, that he termed integral consciousness. The transitions from each structure to the next, which Gebser termed mutations, do not imply the replacement of previous structures. Rather, as Feuerstein (1987) and Combs (2002) note, there is a sense of increasing complexity with each successive new mutation, in which a structure comes to dominate the earlier ones. Thus, the modern human, operating predominantly in the mental structure of consciousness, continues to experience the world to some degree through the older structures as well. These structures are described elsewhere, and will not be reviewed here (Combs, 2002; Gebser, 1949/1986; Feuerstein, 1987; Wilber, 1981). The integral structure of consciousness, however, incorporates a balanced synthesis of all four earlier structures, and was regarded by Gebser as the highest potential for human experience. Although Gebser focused mostly on the emergence of integral consciousness in terms of its wide occurrence across the human species, late in his life he came to regard meditation and other spiritual practices valuable for the cultivation of integral consciousness (Combs, 2002). Gebser was particularly fond of Taoist thought, acknowledging the play of all structures in Taoist practices and philosophy (Combs, 2002; Gebser, 2000). This study was designed to detect the growth of the integral structure of consciousness in long-term practioners of Sundo, a holistic Chi Kung discipline that involves both physical and mental practices as well as the cultivation of character (Kim, 1998, 2000). Such growth might manifest itself as growth in the archaic, magical, mythic and mental structures said to come into balance in integral consciousness

Linear accelerator-based stereotactic radiosurgery in 140 brain metastases from malignant melanoma

Background: To retrospectively access outcome and prognostic parameters of linear accelerator-based stereotactic radiosurgery in brain metastases from malignant melanoma. Methods: Between 1990 and 2011 140 brain metastases in 84 patients with malignant melanoma (median age 56 years) were treated with stereotactic radiosurgery. At initial stereotactic radiosurgery 48 % of patients showed extracerebral control. The median count of brain metastases in a single patient was 1, the median diameter was 12 mm. The median dose applied was 20 Gy/80 % isodose enclosing. Results: The median follow-up was 7 months and the median overall survival 9 months. The 6-, 12- and 24 month overall survival rates were 71 %, 39 % and 25 % respectively. Cerebral follow-up imaging showed complete remission in 20 brain metastases, partial remission in 39 brain metastases, stable disease in 54 brain metastases, progressive disease in 24 brain metastases and pseudo-progression in 3 brain metastases. Median intracerebral control was 5.3 months and the 6- and 12-month intracerebral progression-free survival rates 48 % and 38 %, respectively. Upon univariate analysis, extracerebral control (log-rank, p < 0.001), the response to stereotactic radiosurgery (log-rank, p < 0.001), the number of brain metastases (log-rank, p = 0.007), the recursive partitioning analysis class (log-rank, p = 0.027) and the diagnosis-specific graded prognostic assessment score (log-rank, p = 0.011) were prognostic for overall survival. The most common clinical side effect was headache common toxicity criteria grade I. The most common radiological finding during follow-up was localized edema within the stereotactic radiosurgery high dose region. Conclusion: Stereotactic radiosurgery is a well-tolerated and effective treatment option for brain metastases in malignant melanoma and was able to achieve local remissions in several cases. Furthermore, especially patients with controlled extracerebral disease and a low count of brain metastases seem to benefit from this treatment modality. Prospective trials analysing the effects of combined stereotactic radiosurgery and new systemic agents are warranted