Implementing an integrated standards-based management system to ensure compliance at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL or the Laboratory) is developing and implementing a comprehensive, Integrated Standards-Based Management System (ISBMS) to enhance environmental, safety, and health (ESH) compliance efforts and streamline management of ESH throughout the Laboratory. The Laboratory recognizes that to be competitive in today`s business environment and attractive to potential Partnerships, Laboratory operations must be efficient and cost-effective. The Laboratory also realizes potential growth opportunities for developing ESH as a strength in providing new or improved services to its customers. Overall, the Laboratory desires to establish and build upon an ESH management system which ensures continuous improvement in protecting public health and safety and the environment and which fosters a working relationship with stakeholders. A team of process experts from the LANL Environmental Management (EM) Program Office, worked with management system consultants, and the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop an ESH management systems process to compare current LANL ESH management Systems and programs against leading industry standards. The process enabled the Laboratory to gauge its performance in each of the following areas: Planning and Policy Setting; Systems and Procedures; Implementation and Education; and Monitoring and Reporting. The information gathered on ESH management systems enabled LANL to pinpoint and prioritize opportunities for improvement in the provision of ESH services throughout the Laboratory and ultimately overall ESH compliance

Febrile seizures and mechanisms of epileptogenesis: insights from an animal model.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most prevalent type of human epilepsy, yet the causes for its development, and the processes involved, are not known. Most individuals with TLE do not have a family history, suggesting that this limbic epilepsy is a consequence of acquired rather than genetic causes. Among suspected etiologies, febrile seizures have frequently been cited. This is due to the fact that retrospective analyses of adults with TLE have demonstrated a high prevalence (20-->60%) of a history of prolonged febrile seizures during early childhood, suggesting an etiological role for these seizures in the development of TLE. Specifically, neuronal damage induced by febrile seizures has been suggested as a mechanism for the development of mesial temporal sclerosis, the pathological hallmark of TLE. However, the statistical correlation between febrile seizures and TLE does not necessarily indicate a causal relationship. For example, preexisting (genetic or acquired) 'causes' that result independently in febrile seizures and in TLE would also result in tight statistical correlation. For obvious reasons, complex febrile seizures cannot be induced in the human, and studies of their mechanisms and of their consequences on brain molecules and circuits are severely limited. Therefore, an animal model was designed to study these seizures. The model reproduces the fundamental key elements of the human condition: the age specificity, the physiological temperatures seen in fevers of children, the length of the seizures and their lack of immediate morbidity. Neuroanatomical, molecular and functional methods have been used in this model to determine the consequences of prolonged febrile seizures on the survival and integrity of neurons, and on hyperexcitability in the hippocampal-limbic network. Experimental prolonged febrile seizures did not lead to death of any of the seizure-vulnerable populations in hippocampus, and the rate of neurogenesis was also unchanged. Neuronal function was altered sufficiently to promote synaptic reorganization of granule cells, and transient and long-term alterations in the expression of specific genes were observed. The contribution of these consequences of febrile seizures to the epileptogenic process is discussed

Supercritical fluids cleaning

This paper discusses a proposed multi-party research and development program which seeks to develop supercritical fluid cleaning technology as an alternative to existing solvent cleaning applications. While SCF extraction technology has been in commercial use for several years, the use of these fluids as cleaning agents poses several new technical challenges. Problems inherent in the commercialization of SCF technology include: the cleaning efficacy and compatibility of supercritical working fluids with the parts to be cleaned must be assessed for a variety of materials and components; process parameters and equipment design Have been optimized for extractive applications and must be reconsidered for application to cleaning; and co-solvents and entrainers must be identified to facilitate the removal of polar inorganic and organic contaminants, which are often not well solvated in supercritical systems. The proposed research and development program would address these issues and lead to the development and commercialization of viable SCF-based technology for precision cleaning applications. This paper provides the technical background, program scope, and delineates the responsibilities of each principal participant in the program

Compilation and assessment of microwave bioeffects. Final report. A selective review of the literature on biological effects of microwaves in relation to the Satellite Power System (SPS)

One of many alternate sources of electrical energy that are being considered by the Department of Energy is a microwave-mediated Satellite Power System (SPS). Once inserted into geosynchronous orbit at an altitude of more than 40,000 kilometers, a satellite would collect then convert the sun's energy to 2450-MHz microwaves, which would be beamed to the Earth's surface, where a rectifying antenna (rectenna) would convert the microwaves to electrical current suitable for industrial and domestic use. The expanse of each rectenna (about 10 by 13 kilometers), the power density of the continuous-wave microwave beam (approx. 23 mW/cm/sup 2/ at center, with fall off to 1 mW/cm/sup 2/ or less at the periphery of the rectenna), and the possibility that 20 or more satellite systems will eventually be operating, creates two sets of interrelated problems for biological/ecological assessment. These are 1) the effects of microwave fields of higher intensity on airborne biota (including human beings in aircraft) that may traffic the area above the rectenna and 2) the effects of virtually perpetual fields of much lower intensity on all forms of life at and beyond the rectennae's zone of exclusion. In this review, the scientific literature is examined, not only for biological effects that are pertinent to assessment of SPS, but for hiatuses of knowledge that will have to be filled before SPS can be vouched for operational safety

Implementing a Student-Designed Green Chemistry Laboratory Project in Organic Chemistry

A multiweek organic chemistry laboratory project is described that emphasizes sustainable practices in experimental design. An emphasis on student-driven development of the project is meant to mirror the independent nature of research. Students propose environmentally friendly modifications of several reactions. With instructor feedback, students search for a literature protocol for their most promising reaction. Students follow the procedure as described and also carry out a modified, greener reaction that they have designed on their own, incorporating a modest change in reaction conditions. The exercise concludes with a report focusing on comparative data analysis. This unique approach also focuses on teaching students the important research skills involved in locating, reproducing, and modifying a literature procedure