Annual Report Ant Smelt 2010: A changing role for smelt Osmerus eperlanus in the Lake IJsselmeer and Lake Markermeer foodweb? Climate- and nutrient-induced changes in ecoystem functioning

The smelt project is part of a larger research project that aims at generating, exploring and testing different possible explanations for the observed Autonomous Negative Trends (ANT) in water fowl in Lake Markermeer and Lake IJsselmeer. The smelt populations in both lakes have been in severe decline since 1990. These declines have a large impact on the conservation of water birds relying on smelt as their prey and the fishery both on smelt and on piscivorous fish relying on smelt. In winter time the Lake IJsselmeer area is home to the largest population of waterfowl in Western Europe. The area is therefore considered to be an important Natura-2000 area. Identification of the causes of the observed negative trends will help managers (RWS) to take the appropriate restoration measures and thereby improve the these lakes as habitat for waterfowl

Combatting electoral traces: the Dutch tempest discussion and beyond

In the Dutch e-voting debate, the crucial issue leading to the abandonment of all electronic voting machines was compromising radiation, or tempest. Other countries, however, do not seem to be bothered by this risk. In this paper, we use actor-network theory to analyse the socio-technical origins of the Dutch tempest issue in e-voting, and its consequences for e-voting beyond the Netherlands. We introduce the term electoral traces to denote any physical, digital or social evidence of a voter's choices in an election. From this perspective, we provide guidelines for risk analysis as well as an overview of countermeasures

Functional Integral Approach to the Single Impurity Anderson Model

Recently, a functional integral representation was proposed by Weller (Weller, W.: phys.~stat.~sol.~(b) {\bf 162}, 251 (1990)), in which the fermionic fields strictly satisfy the constraint of no double occupancy at each lattice site. This is achieved by introducing spin dependent Bose fields. The functional integral method is applied to the single impurity Anderson model both in the Kondo and mixed-valence regime. The f-electron Green's function and susceptibility are calculated using an Ising-like representation for the Bose fields. We discuss the difficulty to extract a spectral function from the knowledge of the imaginary time Green's function. The results are compared with NCA calculations.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, figures upon request, preprint No. 93/10/

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer installation modifications in a radioactive contaminated laboratory for the analysis of DOE radioactive waste streams

The operation and maintenance of a complex analytical instrument such as an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer in a radioactive contaminated environment presents unique problems and challenges that have to be considered in the purchasing and installation process. Considerations such as vendor experience, typical radiation levels, sample matrices encountered during sample analysis, instrument accessibility for maintenance, and upkeep must be incorporated into the decision process. The Radioactive Materials Analytical Laboratory (RMAL) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) recently purchased and installed an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer for the analysis of Department of Energy (DOE) radioactive waste streams. This presentation will outline the purchasing decision, installation of the instrument, and how the modifications needed to operate in a radioactive contaminated laboratory do not significantly impact the daily operation and maintenance requirements of the instrument. Also, a contamination survey of the system will be presented which demonstrates the contamination levels in the instrument from the sample introduction system to the detector

Comparison of SW-846 method 3051 and SW-846 method 7471A for the preparation of solid waste samples for mercury determination

This report describes experimental studies to evaluate the use of EPA SW-846 method 3051 for preparation and dissolution of solid samples for Hg analysis. The study showed that the method is effective in dissolution of four sample types without significant loss of Hg. Based on results of this study, method 3051 was used for analysis of high radioactive waste samples to obtain results for a number of RCRA regulated metals without the need to utilize a separate sample preparation method (EPA SW-846 method 7471A) specific only for Hg

Characterization of the MVST waste tanks located at ORNL

During the fall of 1996 there was a major effort to sample and analyze the Active Liquid Low-Level Waste (LLLW) tanks at ORNL which include the Melton Valley Storage Tanks (MVST) and the Bethel Valley Evaporator Service Tanks (BVEST). The characterization data summarized in this report was needed to address waste processing options, address concerns of the performance assessment (PA) data for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), evaluate the characteristics with respect to the waste acceptance criteria (WAC) for WIPP and Nevada Test Site (NTS), address criticality concerns, and meet DOT requirements for transporting the waste. This report only discusses the analytical characterization data for the MVST waste tanks. The isotopic data presented in this report support the position that fissile isotopes of uranium and plutonium were ``denatured`` as required by administrative controls. In general, MVST sludge was found to be both hazardous by RCRA characteristics and the transuranic alpha activity was well about the limit for TRU waste. The characteristics of the MVST sludge relative to the WIPP WAC limits for fissile gram equivalent, plutonium equivalent activity, and thermal power from decay heat, were estimated from the data in this report and found to be far below the upper boundary for any of the remote-handled transuranic waste requirements for disposal of the waste in WIPP

Binaphthyl-1,2,3-triazole peptidomimetics with activity against Clostridium difficile and other pathogenic bacteria

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a problematic Gram positive bacterial pathogen causing moderate to severe gastrointestinal infections. Based on a lead binaphthyl-tripeptide dicationic antimicrobial, novel mono-, di- and tri-peptidomimetic analogues targeting C. difficile were designed and synthesized incorporating one, two or three d-configured cationic amino acid residues, with a common 1,2,3-triazole ester isostere at the C-terminus. Copper- and ruthenium-click chemistry facilitated the generation of a 46 compound library for in vitro bioactivity assays, with structure-activity trends over the largest compound subset revealing a clear advantage to triazole-substitution with a linear or branched hydrophobic group. The most active compounds were dicationic-dipeptides where the triazole was substituted with a 4- or 5-cyclohexylmethyl or 4,5-diphenyl moiety, providing MICs of 4 μg mL-1 against three human isolates of C. difficile. Further biological screening revealed significant antimicrobial activity for several compounds against other common bacterial pathogens, both Gram positive and negative, including S. aureus (MICs ≥2 μg mL-1), S. pneumoniae (MICs ≥1 μg mL-1), E. coli (MICs ≥4 μg mL-1), A. baumannii (MICs ≥4 μg mL-1) and vancomycin-resistant E. faecalis (MICs ≥4 μg mL-1)

CenomanianTuronian transition in a shallow water sequence of the Sinai, Egypt

Environmental and depositional changes across the Late Cenomanian oceanic anoxic event (OAE2) in the Sinai, Egypt, are examined based on biostratigraphy, mineralogy, δ13C values and phosphorus analyses. Comparison with the Pueblo, Colorado, stratotype section reveals the Whadi El Ghaib section as stratigraphically complete across the late Cenomanianearly Turonian. Foraminifera are dominated by high-stress planktic and benthic assemblages characterized by low diversity, low-oxygen and low-salinity tolerant species, which mark shallow-water oceanic dysoxic conditions during OAE2. Oyster biostromes suggest deposition occurred in less than 50 m depths in low-oxygen, brackish, and nutrient-rich waters. Their demise prior to the peak δ13C excursion is likely due to a rising sea-level. Characteristic OAE2 anoxic conditions reached this coastal region only at the end of the δ13C plateau in deeper waters near the end of the Cenomanian. Increased phosphorus accumulations before and after the δ13C excursion suggest higher oxic conditions and increased detrital input. Bulk-rock and clay mineralogy indicate humid climate conditions, increased continental runoff and a rising sea up to the first δ13C peak. Above this interval, a dryer and seasonally well-contrasted climate with intermittently dry conditions prevailed. These results reveal the globally synchronous δ13C shift, but delayed effects of OAE2 dependent on water depth

Mode transitions in a model reaction-diffusion system driven by domain growth and noise

Pattern formation in many biological systems takes place during growth of the underlying domain. We study a specific example of a reaction–diffusion (Turing) model in which peak splitting, driven by domain growth, generates a sequence of patterns. We have previously shown that the pattern sequences which are presented when the domain growth rate is sufficiently rapid exhibit a mode-doubling phenomenon. Such pattern sequences afford reliable selection of certain final patterns, thus addressing the robustness problem inherent of the Turing mechanism. At slower domain growth rates this regular mode doubling breaks down in the presence of small perturbations to the dynamics. In this paper we examine the breaking down of the mode doubling sequence and consider the implications of this behaviour in increasing the range of reliably selectable final patterns

A New Approach to Fuzzy-Rough Nearest Neighbour Classification

In this paper; we present a new fuzzy-rough nearest neighbour (FRNN) classification algorithm, as an alternative to Sarkar's fuzzy-rough ownership function (FRNN-O) approach. By contrast to the latter, our method uses the nearest neighbours to construct lower and ripper approximations of decision classes; and classifies test instances based on their membership to these approximations. In the experimental analysis; we evaluate our approach with both classical fuzzy-rough approximations (based on an implicator and a t-norm), as well as with the recently introduced vaguely quantified rough sets. Preliminary results are very good, and in general FRNN outperforms both FRNN-O; as well as the traditional frizzy nearest neighbour (FNN) algorithm