Performance Based Decision System In Determining Post Closure Care (pcc) Duration In Florida Landfills

This study is an evaluation of Post Closure Care (PCC) duration of landfills using performance based methodology. The post closure care phase begins once the landfill is closed. As required by the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle D, PCC duration for municipal solid waste landfills is 30 years. During the PCC period, the landfill operator/owner is required to conduct monitoring for leachate, landfill gas, and ground-water and maintain the integrity of the cap so that the landfill does not impose a threat to surrounding human health and environment (HH&E). The duration of PCC can be reduced by the director of an approved State if an owner/operator of a landfill demonstrates that the landfill exhibits no threat to the surrounding HH&E or can be increased if the director of the approved State determines that an increased PCC period is required for the protection of HH&E. RCRA provides flexibility in optimizing PCC duration of landfills, although it does not identify the criteria/methodology which can be used in demonstrating the status of a landfill from the point of PCC. Researchers worldwide recognize that the threat imposed by a landfill after closure depends on the extent of degradation occurring inside the landfill. The increased functional stability of landfills reduces its risk to the surrounding HH&E. However, there is a wide range of opinions in defining functional stability of a landfill. The present thesis applies performance based methodology, developed by Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF), to making a decision on the PCC of landfills. Performance based methodology is a modular approach encompassing all four PCC components of landfills (Leachate, gas, groundwater and cap maintenance). This methodology was applied to Alachua County Southwest Landfill (ACSWLF) in Alachua County, Florida. Each module was analyzed individually and recommendations on the PCC monitoring at the landfill site were provided

SolarWorld Amidst Uncertainty

Solar energy is turning out to be a widely accepted renewable energy alternative. It is considered as the cleanest and abundantly available source of energy. Adoption of this source for energy generation has been made possible by technological advancements. The United States has realized the potential of the solar energy but hasn’t been able to exploit the technology until recently. Since 2009, the US has seen a significant growth in consumption of solar energy. Efficiency of solar cells, tax credits, state policies, increasing public awareness on environmental pollution have resulted in increasing use of solar energy. Although a key reason for this growth has been declining prices facilitated by cheaper and efficient imported modules. American solar cell manufacturers are unable to compete with cheap and efficient imported modules and have sought the help of the International Trade Commission (ITC) to impose tariffs on them. Although tariffs would help these two failing manufacturing companies, it could negatively impact the growth of the solar industry as whole. This report studies the impact of the ITC verdict on the solar industry and SolarWorld and also proposes the direction of the outcome considering social, technological, environmental, economic and political aspects

Resource Sharing With Mobile Nodes

Abstract — Resource Management in wireless is concerned with a system in which the main aim is to make sure that a user/client can access the remote resources with as much ease as it can access the local resources. The basis of Resource Management is also resource sharing. The main goal of this project is to ease the sharing of resources among mobile users. We are going to implement a Peer to Peer system where files are our prime resources. Any two mobile nodes within a network can access their resources provided they are authenticated. A graphical user interface is made available at each peer for registering itself to the network, for searching required file and if found, displaying its contents. In our proposed system we are implementing resource sharing (file, image etc.) security by authentication, fast query solving in wireless environment. Index terms—Peer-to-peer resource sharing, peer-to-peer networks, P2P, super-peer selection, super-peer, mobile node

Safety and Efficacy of Vacuum-Assisted Breast Biopsies under Ultrasound and Stereotactic Guidance

Purpose To evaluate the safety and efficacy of vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VABB) under ultrasound and stereotactic guidance