Report of the committee to review the use of J-13 well water in Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations

The Waste Management Project Office of the Department of Energy conducted a special audit of the activities of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigation Project at Livermore. It was noted that there never has been a comprehensive, well-documented examination of the basis for the use of J-13 water in the nuclear waste storage investigations. In each of the sections of This Report, an issue relating to the use of J-13 water has been addressed. 58 refs., 19 figs., 8 tabs

Mood Management Intervention for College Smokers with Elevated Depressive Symptoms: A Pilot Study

Objective This pilot study examined smoking reduction and cessation among college smokers with elevated depressive symptomatology participating in a group-based behavioral counseling, mood management, and motivational enhancement combined intervention (CBT). Participants & Methods Fifty-eight smokers (smoked ≥ 6 days in the past 30) were randomized to six sessions of CBT (n=29) or a nutrition-focused attention-matched control group (CG, n=29). Results Relative to CG participants, significantly more CBT participants reduced smoking intensity by 50% (χ2(1, N=58)=4.86, p=.028) at end of treatment. Although CBT participants maintained smoking reductions at 3- and 6-month follow-up, group differences were no longer significant. No group differences in cessation emerged. Finally, participants in both groups evidenced increased motivation to reduce smoking at end of treatment (F(1, 44)=11.717, p=.001, ηp2=.207). Conclusions Findings demonstrate the utility of this intervention for smoking reduction and maintenance of reductions over time among a population of college students with elevated depressive symptomatology

Analysis of Smoking Patterns and Contexts Among College Student Smokers

Many who smoke in college do so infrequently and smoking conditions are not well-understood. We examined smoking patterns among college fraternity and sorority members (N=207) from a Midwestern university in three successive fall semesters in 2006–2008. Participants completed calendar-assisted retrospective assessments of 30-day smoking at up to 5 assessment points over 96 days. Overall smoking rates declined over the course of each semester and higher smoking on weekends was observed, with more variability among daily smokers. The most frequent categories of events to cue recall of smoking were socializing, work, and school. Findings can be used to target prevention efforts

Strategies to Recruit and Retain College Smokers in Cessation Trials

Techniques to recruit and retain college fraternity and sorority members who reported past 30-day smoking into a cessation trial are described. Recruitment efforts included relationship-building, raffles, and screening survey administration during existing meetings. Surveys were administered to 76% (n = 3,276) of members in 30 chapters, 79% of eligible members agreed to participate, and 76% of those completed assessments and were enrolled in the trial (n = 452). The retention rate was 73%. Retention efforts included cash incentives, flexible scheduling, multiple reminders, chapter incentives, and use of chapter members as study personnel. Retention was not related to demographic, behavioral, or group characteristics. The strategies of partnership, convenience, and flexibility appear effective and may prove useful to investigators recruiting similar samples

Motivational Interviewing for Smoking Cessation in College Students: A Group Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective—To examine the efficacy of four individually-delivered Motivational Interviewing counseling sessions for smoking cessation versus a matched intensity comparison condition. Method—From 2006–2009, students attending college in the Midwest smoking at least 1 of 30 days were recruited regardless of their interest in quitting. 30 fraternities and sororities were randomized, resulting in 452 participants. Results—No significant differences were found for 30-day cessation between treatment and comparison at end of treatment (31.4% vs 28%, OR=1.20, 95% CI .72,1.99) or at follow-up (20.4% vs 24.6%, OR=.78, 95% CI .50,1.22). Predictors of cessation at follow-up, regardless of condition, included more sessions attended (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1,1.8) and more cigarettes smoked in 30 days at baseline (OR 4.7, 95% CI 2.5,8.9). The odds of making at least one quit attempt were significantly greater for those in the smoking group at end of treatment (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.11,2.74) and followup (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.11,2.47). Modeling showed reduction in days smoked for both groups. At end of treatment, more frequent smokers in the treatment condition had greater reductions in days smoked. Conclusion—Motivational Interviewing for smoking cessation is effective for increasing cessation attempts and reducing days smoked in the short run

Effects of organic additives on the formation of solids from hypersaline geothermal brine

Studies are underway to identify compounds that will, at cost-effective concentrations, inhibit scale and solids formation when added to the brine at the high-temperature (approximately 200{sup 0}C) front end of the plant. The study reported here constitutes a preliminary, bench-test screening of 49 substances, the most promising of which will be examined later in on-line pilot plant studies. A variety of substances were tested, including both simple and polymeric alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, amines, amides, cellulose derivatives, and classes of materials such as detergents, surfactants, and coupling agents. An inorganic phosphate, KH{sub 2}PO{sub 4}, and a chelating agent EDTA, also were tested. In the present work the additives were mixed with hypersaline brine that had been acidified to pH 4.0 +- 0.3 and flashed to 1 atm, approximately 100{sup 0}C, in the LLL Geothermal Field Test Apparatus near Niland, California. The rate of disappearance of dissolved silica from the treated brine was compared with the rate for untreated brine as a measure of the effectiveness of the additive. (JGB

Automated sample-processing and titration system for determining uranium in nuclear materials

The system is designed for accurate, precise, and selective determination of from 10 to 180 mg of uranium in 2 to 12 cm/sup 3/ of solution. Samples, standards, and their solutions are handled on a weight basis. These weights, together with their appropriate identification numbers, are stored in computer memory and are used automatically in the assay calculations after each titration. The measurement technique (controlled-current coulometry) is based on the Davies-Gray and New Brunswick Laboratory method, in which U(VI) is reduced to U(IV) in strong H/sub 3/PO/sub 4/, followed by titration of the U(IV) with electrogenerated V(V). Solution pretreatment and titration are automatic. The analyzer is able to process 44 samples per loading of the sample changer, at a rate of 4 to 9 samples per hour. The system includes a comprehensive fault-monitoring system that detects analytical errors, guards against abnormal conditions which might cause errors, and prevents unsafe operation. A detailed description of the system, information on the reliability of the component subsystems, and a summary of its evaluation by the New Brunswick Laboratory are presented

Visual detail about the body modulates tactile localisation biases

The localisation of tactile stimuli requires the integration of visual and somatosensory inputs within an internal representation of the body surface, and is prone to consistent bias. Joints may play a role in segmenting such internal body representations, and may therefore influence tactile localisation biases, although the nature of this influence remains unclear. Here, we investigate the relationship between conceptual knowledge of joint locations and tactile localisation biases on the hand. In one task, participants localised tactile stimuli applied to the dorsum of their hand. A distal localisation bias was observed in all participants, consistent with previous results. We also manipulated the availability of visual information during this task, to determine whether the absence of this information could account for the distal bias observed here and by Mancini and colleagues (2011). The observed distal bias increased in magnitude when visual information was restricted, without a corresponding decrease in precision. In a separate task, the same participants indicated, from memory, knuckle locations on a silhouette image of their hand. Analogous distal biases were also seen in the knuckle localisation task. The accuracy of conceptual joint knowledge was not correlated with tactile localisation bias magnitude, although a similarity in observed bias direction suggests that both tasks may rely on a common, higher-order body representation. These results also suggest that distortions of conceptual body representation may be more common in healthy individuals than previously thought

The Rac1-GEF Tiam1 Couples the NMDA Receptor to the Activity-Dependent Development of Dendritic Arbors and Spines

NMDA-type glutamate receptors play a critical role in the activity-dependent development and structural remodeling of dendritic arbors and spines. However, the molecular mechanisms that link NMDA receptor activation to changes in dendritic morphology remain unclear. We report that the Rac1-GEF Tiam1 is present in dendrites and spines and is required for their development. Tiam1 interacts with the NMDA receptor and is phosphorylated in a calcium-dependent manner in response to NMDA receptor stimulation. Blockade of Tiam1 function with RNAi and dominant interfering mutants of Tiam1 suggests that Tiam1 mediates effects of the NMDA receptor on dendritic development by inducing Rac1-dependent actin remodeling and protein synthesis. Taken together, these findings define a molecular mechanism by which NMDA receptor signaling controls the growth and morphology of dendritic arbors and spines

The effects of immediate vision on implicit hand maps

Perceiving the external spatial location of the limbs using position sense requires that immediate proprioceptive afferent signals be combined with a stored body model specifying the size and shape of the body. Longo and Haggard (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:11727–11732, 2010) developed a method to isolate and measure this body model in the case of the hand in which participants judge the perceived location in external space of several landmarks on their occluded hand. The spatial layout of judgments of different landmarks is used to construct implicit hand maps, which can then be compared with actual hand shape. Studies using this paradigm have revealed that the body model of the hand is massively distorted, in a highly stereotyped way across individuals, with large underestimation of finger length and overestimation of hand width. Previous studies using this paradigm have allowed participants to see the locations of their judgments on the occluding board. Several previous studies have demonstrated that immediate vision, even when wholly non-informative, can alter processing of somatosensory signals and alter the reference frame in which they are localised. The present study therefore investigated whether immediate vision contributes to the distortions of implicit hand maps described previously. Participants judged the external spatial location of the tips and knuckles of their occluded left hand either while being able to see where they were pointing (as in previous studies) or while blindfolded. The characteristic distortions of implicit hand maps reported previously were clearly apparent in both conditions, demonstrating that the distortions are not an artefact of immediate vision. However, there were significant differences in the magnitude of distortions in the two conditions, suggesting that vision may modulate representations of body size and shape, even when entirely non-informative