Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant hydrogen generation study: Formation of ammonia from nitrate and nitrate in hydrogen generating systems

The Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant (HWVP) is being designed for the Departrnent of Energy (DOE) to immobilize pretreated highly radioactive wastes in glass for permanent disposal in the HWVP, formic acid is added to the waste before vitrification to adjust glass redox and melter feed rheology. The operation of the glass melter and durability of the glass are affected by the glass oxidation state. Formation of a conductive metallic sludge in an over-reduced melt can result in a shortened melter lifetime. An over-oxidized melt may lead to foaming and loss of ruthenium as volatile RuO{sub 4}. Historically, foaming in the joule heated ceramic melter has been attributed to gas generation in the melt which is controlled by instruction of a reductant such as formic acid into the melter feed. Formic acid is also found to decrease the melter feed viscosity thereby facilitating pumping. This technical report discusses the noble metal catalyzed formic acid reduction of nitrite and/or nitrate to ammonia, a problem of considerable concern because of the generation of a potential ammonium nitrate explosion hazard in the plant ventilation system

Superconducting p-branes and Extremal Black Holes

In Einstein-Maxwell theory, magnetic flux lines are `expelled' from a black hole as extremality is approached, in the sense that the component of the field strength normal to the horizon goes to zero. Thus, extremal black holes are found to exhibit the sort of `Meissner effect' which is characteristic of superconducting media. We review some of the evidence for this effect, and do present new evidence for it using recently found black hole solutions in string theory and Kaluza-Klein theory. We also present some new solutions, which arise naturally in string theory, which are non-superconducting extremal black holes. We present a nice geometrical interpretation of these effects derived by looking carefully at the higher dimensional configurations from which the lower dimensional black hole solutions are obtained. We show that other extremal solitonic objects in string theory (such as p-branes) can also display superconducting properties. In particular, we argue that the relativistic London equation will hold on the worldvolume of `light' superconducting p-branes (which are embedded in flat space), and that minimally coupled zero modes will propagate in the adS factor of the near-horizon geometries of `heavy', or gravitating, superconducting p-branes.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure

Deriving a preference-based utility measure for cancer patients from the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer's Quality of Life Questionnaire C30: a confirmatory versus exploratory approach

Background: Multi attribute utility instruments (MAUIs) are preference-based measures that comprise a health state classification system (HSCS) and a scoring algorithm that assigns a utility value to each health state in the HSCS. When developing a MAUI from a health-related quality of life (HRQOL) questionnaire, first a HSCS must be derived. This typically involves selecting a subset of domains and items because HRQOL questionnaires typically have too many items to be amendable to the valuation task required to develop the scoring algorithm for a MAUI. Currently, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) followed by Rasch analysis is recommended for deriving a MAUI from a HRQOL measure. Aim: To determine whether confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is more appropriate and efficient than EFA to derive a HSCS from the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer’s core HRQOL questionnaire, Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30), given its well-established domain structure. Methods: QLQ-C30 (Version 3) data were collected from 356 patients receiving palliative radiotherapy for recurrent/metastatic cancer (various primary sites). The dimensional structure of the QLQ-C30 was tested with EFA and CFA, the latter informed by the established QLQC30 structure and views of both patients and clinicians on which are the most relevant items. Dimensions determined by EFA or CFA were then subjected to Rasch analysis. Results: CFA results generally supported the proposed QLQ-C30 structure (comparative fit index =0.99, Tucker–Lewis index =0.99, root mean square error of approximation =0.04). EFA revealed fewer factors and some items cross-loaded on multiple factors. Further assessment of dimensionality with Rasch analysis allowed better alignment of the EFA dimensions with those detected by CFA. Conclusion: CFA was more appropriate and efficient than EFA in producing clinically interpretable results for the HSCS for a proposed new cancer-specific MAUI. Our findings suggest that CFA should be recommended generally when deriving a preference-based measure from a HRQOL measure that has an established domain structure

Sedimentation record in the Konkan-Kerala Basin: implications for the evolution of the Western Ghats and the Western Indian passive margin

The Konkan and Kerala Basins constitute a major depocentre for sediment from the onshore hinterland of Western India and as such provide a valuable record of the timing and magnitude of Cenozoic denudation along the continental margin. This paper presents an analysis of sedimentation in the Konkan-Kerala Basin, coupledwith a mass balance study, and numerical modelling of flexural responses to onshore denudational unloading and o¡shore sediment loading in order to test competing conceptual models for the development of high-elevation passive margins. The Konkan-Kerala Basin contains an estimated 109,000 km<sup>3</sup>; of Cenozoic clastic sediment, a volume difficult to reconcile with the denudation of a downwarped rift flank onshore, and more consistent with denudation of an elevated rift flank. We infer from modelling of the isostatic response of the lithosphere to sediment loading offshore and denudation onshore that flexure is an important component in the development of the Western Indian Margin.There is evidence for two major pulses in sedimentation: an early phase in the Palaeocene, and a second beginning in the Pliocene. The Palaeocene increase in sedimentation can be interpreted in terms of a denudational response to the rifting between India and the Seychelles, whereas the mechanism responsible for the Pliocene pulse is more enigmatic

Alteration conditions on the CM and CV parent bodies – Insights from hydrothermal experiments with the CO chondrite Kainsaz

This study simulates the hydrothermal conditions that existed on carbonaceous chondrite planetesimals in the early solar system. Our experiments are relevant to alteration conditions that existed on the CV parent body and the late stage oxidizing alteration of the CM chondrites. We conducted 11 alteration experiments using chips of the CO3 chondrite Kainsaz. Water was added to each chip and sealed in separate Teflon reaction vessels for 175 days. Samples were altered at different initial water-to-rock ratios (W/R: 0.2–0.8) and temperatures (50 °C and 150 °C). Isotopically doped 17O-rich heavy water (δ17O: +64.5‰) was used in five runs. All samples experienced pronounced alteration under a partially open system environment where gases were able to escape the reaction vessels. The style of alteration (Fe-alkali metasomatism) is similar in all cases. The principal alteration minerals formed are Fe-oxyhydroxides (goethite) and Fe-oxides (magnetite), with smaller quantities of Fe-sulphides. Minor phases formed include fayalite, sulphates (gypsum and Fe-sulphate) and calcite. Nanophase, poorly crystalline phyllosilicates formed in the high-temperature samples but are absent from the low-temperature experiments. In all instances, Mg-rich chondrule silicates remained chemically unaltered although some grains suffered hydrothermal fracture. Chondrule mesostases remained largely unaffected. By contrast, kamacite readily dissolved, acting as a source of Fe and Ni for the fluid phase. A new generation of nanophase Fe-sulphides formed within the matrix, while pre-existing pyrrhotite group sulphides experienced Ni enrichment ( 10 at%) were formed in the 150 °C samples, most likely by sulphidation of taenite. Matrix alteration cemented grains together, reducing porosity. The fine-grained matrix shows highly variable degrees of alteration, with minimally altered matrix in direct contact with regions of heavily altered matrix. Chondrule fine-grained rims (FGRs) were preferentially altered. These textures imply that the unaltered matrix readily reacted with the fluid phase, resulting in an efficient depletion of dissolved ions (Fe2+ and S2-), limiting reactivity until further primary phases were dissolved. At larger length-scales the distribution of heavily altered matrix reveals the presence of large ∼100 µm wide channels that meander through the specimens. Their textures resemble features seen in some CM chondrites and the ungrouped CO-like chondrite MIL 07687. We suggest that alteration fronts developed by sustained rapid reaction of matrix with dissolved cations in solution. Our observations provide a mechanism for the establishment and maintenance of geochemical microenvironments on chondritic asteroids. The effects of open system loss notwithstanding, our experiments demonstrate that more advanced alteration is correlated with higher initial W/R ratios. The use of 17O-rich doped water allowed the isotopic effects of aqueous alteration to be observed. Bulk rock compositions evolved towards the initial water composition, reflecting the incorporation of heavy O into hydrated minerals. Additionally, altered samples shifted in δ18O space, reflecting the competing effects of water–mineral fractionation and mass fractionation due to the preferential escape of isotopically light water

A 'third way' for football fandom research: Anthony Giddens and Structuration Theory

Although football fans actively discuss all of the 'big players' within their practice, the same cannot be said for sociologists of sport. Anthony Giddens is a world renowned intellectual and author of some of the most predominant sociological texts of the last millennium. He is the most frequently cited contemporary sociologist spanning all aspects of the social sciences, and yet his work is seldom referred to or used within the sociology of sport. In response to this and in reaction to calls from authors such as Williams to re-think football fandom, this article aims to explore the potential of Giddens 'Structuration Theory' (ST) for moving the sociology of sport closer towards meeting this end. It draws on in-depth qualitative interviews with thirty football fans. The findings of these and their implications are discussed in relation to the 'everyday' processes of fandom

Yukawa structure, flavour and CP violation in Supergravity

The hierarchical structure of fermion masses and mixings strongly suggests an underlying family symmetry. In supergravity any familon field spontaneously breaking this symmetry necessarily acquires an F-term which contributes to the soft trilinear couplings. We show, as a result, mu -> e gamma decay can receive large contributions from this source at the level of current experimental bounds and thus this channel may provide the first indication of supersymmetry and a clue to the structure of the soft breaking sector. Using the mercury EDM bounds we find strong bounds on the right handed down quark mixing angles that are inconsistent with models relating them to neutrino mixing angles and favour a near-symmetric form for the magnitude of the down quark mass matrix.Comment: Final version to appear in PRD. Improved discusion of several points, updated references, typos correcte

Erratum to: Using a discrete choice experiment to value the QLU-C10D: feasibility and sensitivity to presentation format.

© 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland. In this article by R. Norman et al., the article by M. T. King et al. is cited as Reference 10, as ‘Submitted’ and ‘Under Review’. However, the Reference 10 should appear with year, volume and page numbers as: King et al., Quality of Life Research (2016); 25(3):625-636. Also an error was found in Table 1 in the reported wording of the Physical Functioning item. The error and correction are described below. The error was limited to Table 1. The survey described in the paper used the correct labelling, and the validity of the analysis is therefore unaffected by the error