Toward Universal Broadband in Rural Alaska

The TERRA-Southwest project is extending broadband service to 65 communities in the Bristol Bay, Bethel and Yukon-Kuskokwim regions. A stimulus project funded by a combination of grants and loans from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), TERRA-Southwest has installed a middle-mile network using optical fiber and terrestrial microwave. Last-mile service will be through fixed wireless or interconnection with local telephone networks. The State of Alaska, through its designee Connect Alaska, also received federal stimulus funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for tasks that include support for an Alaska Broadband Task Force “to both formalize a strategic broadband plan for the state of Alaska and coordinate broadband activities across relevant agencies and organizations.” Thus, a study of the impact of the TERRA project in southwest Alaska is both relevant and timely. This first phase provides baseline data on current access to and use of ICTs and Internet connectivity in rural Alaska, and some insights about perceived benefits and potential barriers to adoption of broadband. It is also intended to provide guidance to the State Broadband Task Force in determining how the extension of broadband throughout the state could contribute to education, social services, and economic activities that would enhance Alaska’s future. Results of the research could also be used proactively to develop strategies to encourage broadband adoption, and to identify applications and support needed by users with limited ICT skills.Connect Alaska. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration. General Communications Incorporated.Part 1: An Analysis of Internet Use in Southwest Alaska / Introduction / Previous Studies / Current Connectivity / Analytical Framework and Research Methodology / Demographics / Mobile Phones: Access and Use / Access to the Internet / Internet Useage / Considerations about Internet Service / Interest in Broadband / Sources of News / Comparison with National Data / Internet Use by Businesses and Organizations / What Difference may Broadband make in the Region? / Conclusiongs / Part 2 Literature Review / Reference

Developing the buyer-friendly transportation salesperson: an empirical analysis of the most important seller traits and behaviors from the transportation buyer’s perspective

The research reported in this manuscript provides several insights regarding the specific behaviors and traits of transportation salespersons as sought by a sample of shippers. Shippers in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries were asked to evaluate the importance of 30 potential salesperson characteristics. Overall, dependability, ethical conduct, honesty, provision of regular service, and solution selling were ranked as the most important (“must have”) characteristics. In addition to the overall rankings, t-tests were used to compare the manufacturing and non-manufacturing groups and ANOVA tests were used to compare the responses of shippers which were grouped by number of contacts from salespersons

Truckload transportation requirements: in anticipation of Y2K with epilogue

This article investigates the impact of the much-hyped Y2K phenomenon on truckload transportation requirements in the United States, as a result of year-end inventory build-ups. The article reports the results of a Y2K Truckload Transportation Survey of truckload shippers conducted in August of 1999. Additionally, the article takes a post-hoc look at what actually occurred in an effort to completely document the impact of the Y2K phenomenon in the dry van, temperature controlled, and flatbed segments of the truckload transportation industry

Tc-99 Ion Exchange Resin Testing

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was contracted by CHPRC to evaluate the release of 99Tc from spent resin used to treat water from well 299-W15-765 and stored for several years. The key questions to be answered are: 1) does 99Tc readily release from the spent ion exchange resin after being in storage for several years; 2) if hot water stripping is used to remove the co-contaminant carbon tetrachloride, will 99Tc that has been sequestered by the resin be released; and 3) can spent resin be encapsulated into a cementitious waste form; if so, how much 99Tc would be released from the weathering of the monolith waste form? The results from the long term stability leach test results confirm that the resin is not releasing a significant amount of the sequestered 99Tc, evident by the less than 0.02% of the total 99Tc loaded being identified in the solution. Furthermore, it is possible that the measured 99Tc concentration is the result of 99Tc contained in the pore spaces of the resin. In addition to these results, analyses conducted to examine the impact of hot water on the release of 99Tc suggest that only a small percentage of the total is being released. This suggest that hot water stripping to remove carbon tetrachloride will not have a significant affect on the resin’s ability to hold-on to sequestered 99Tc. Finally, encapsulation of spent resin in a cementitious material may be a viable disposal option, but additional tests are needed to examine the extent of physical degradation caused by moisture loss and the effect this degradation process can have on the release of 99Tc

The Reliability of Global and Hemispheric Surface Temperature Records

The purpose of this review article is to discuss the development and associated estimation of uncertainties in the global and hemispheric surface temperature records. The review begins by detailing the groups that produce surface temperature datasets. After discussing the reasons for similarities and differences between the various products, the main issues that must be addressed when deriving accurate estimates, particularly for hemispheric and global averages, are then considered. These issues are discussed in the order of their importance for temperature records at these spatial scales: biases in SST data, particularly before the 1940s; the exposure of land-based thermometers before the development of louvred screens in the late 19th century; and urbanization effects in some regions in recent decades. The homogeneity of land-based records is also discussed; however, at these large scales it is relatively unimportant. The article concludes by illustrating hemispheric and global temperature records from the four groups that produce series in near-real time

Adsorption of Carbon Tetrachloride to Sediments from the UP-1 Operable Unit

In 2004, Fluor Hanford, Inc. (FHI) drilled several groundwater wells within the 200-UP-1 operable unit to monitor plumes that have been the focus of past remediation activities. Thirteen cores taken from three wells (C4298, C4299, and C4300) were sent to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for characterization and quantification of contaminant retardation. These cores were 4-inches in diameter by 6-inches in length and were taken from depths near the unconfined aquifer surface (water table) to locations approximately 150 to 180 ft below the water table. Prior to this work, no 200-UP-1 site-specific adsorption data (i.e., values of distribution coefficient [Kd ]) were available for the sediments or key contaminants present in the 200-UP-1 operable unit groundwater plume. Site-specific sorption data for carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) was obtained with the <2 mm size fractions of uncontaminated 200-UP-1 sediments taken from two of these boreholes (C4299 and C4300) and distribution coefficients determined. Each fraction exhibited bimodal CCl4 adsorption isotherms over the concentration range (15 – 2500 g L-1) for total CCl4 in solution. Sorption of CCl4 was linear over the concentration ranges of 15 to 400 g L-1 and 400 to 2500 g L-1. The Kd values measured for the three 200-UP-1 sediments exhibited bimodal sorption with initial Kd values ranging from 0.0002 to 0.0005, and phase 2 values approximately 0.003 for all sediments. The measure Kd values are lower than the range calculated for CCl4 in a Hanford soil (0.016 to 0.83 L/Kg) containing an average organic carbon content of 0.2% (Truex et al., 2001). The best estimate value of Truex et al. (2001) is 0.06 L/Kg based on a 0.1% sediment organic carbon content. However, this estimate is based on an organic carbon content up to an order of magnitude greater than the organic carbon content of the sediments tested herein. Prolonged contact may increase adsorption of CCl4 as a result of mineral driven sorption and intraparticle diffusion. Kd values obtained on sediment samples from 200-UP-1 contributes to a larger Kd database that exists for other Hanford sediments, and contains significant desorption data for CCl4. Comparison of previous data with new results (e.g., from this study) will allow inferences to be made on how the 200-UP-1 Kd values for CCl4 may compare with sediments from other Hanford locations. Adsorption results presented here validate the use of a linear adsorption isotherm (Kd) to predict short contact time CCl4 adsorption to sediments in 200-UP-1 groundwater plume for a distinct ranges in CCl4 concentration. However, this does not imply that values of Kd will be constant if the groundwater chemical composition at 200-UP-1 changes with space or time. This site-specific sorption data, when complemented by the chemical, geologic, mineralogic, hydrologic, and physical characterization data that are also being collected (see Sampling and Analysis Plan for the 200-UP-1 Groundwater Monitoring Well Network, DOE 2002) can be used to develop a robust, scientifically defensible data base to allow risk predictions to be generated and to aid in future remediation decisions for the 200-UP-1 operable unit

Magnetochronology of the Entire Chinle Formation (Norian Age) in a Scientific Drill Core From Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona, USA) and Implications for Regional and Global Correlations in the Late Triassic

Building on an earlier study that confirmed the stability of the 405‐kyr eccentricity climate cycle and the timing of the Newark‐Hartford astrochronostratigraphic polarity time scale back to 215 Ma, we extend the magnetochronology of the Late Triassic Chinle Formation to its basal unconformity in scientific drill core PFNP‐1A from Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona, USA). The 335‐m‐thick Chinle section is imprinted with paleomagnetic polarity zones PF1r to PF10n, which we correlate to chrons E17r to E9n (~209 to 224 Ma) of the Newark‐Hartford astrochronostratigraphic polarity time scale. A sediment accumulation rate of ~34 m/Myr can be extended down to ~270 m, close to the base of the Sonsela Member and the base of magnetozone PF5n, which we correlate to chron E14n that onsets at 216.16 Ma. Magnetozones PF5r to PF10n in the underlying 65‐m‐thick section of the mudstone‐dominated Blue Mesa and Mesa Redondo members plausibly correlate to chrons E13r to E9n, indicating a sediment accumulation rate of only ~10 m/Myr. Published high‐precision U‐Pb detrital zircon dates from the lower Chinle tend to be several million years older than the magnetochronological age model. The source of this discrepancy is unclear but may be due to sporadic introduction of juvenile zircons that get recycled. The new magnetochronological constraint on the base of the Sonsela Member brings the apparent timing of the included Adamanian‐ Revueltian land vertebrate faunal zone boundary and the Zone II to Zone III palynofloral transition closer to the temporal range of the ~215 Ma Manicouagan impact structure in Canada

Empirical evidence for stability of the 405-kiloyear Jupiter-Venus eccentricity cycle over hundreds of millions of years

The Newark–Hartford astrochronostratigraphic polarity timescale (APTS) was developed using a theoretically constant 405-kiloyear eccentricity cycle linked to gravitational interactions with Jupiter–Venus as a tuning target and provides a major timing calibration for about 30 million years of Late Triassic and earliest Jurassic time. While the 405-ky cycle is both unimodal and the most metronomic of the major orbital cycles thought to pace Earth’s climate in numerical solutions, there has been little empirical confirmation of that behavior, especially back before the limits of orbital solutions at about 50 million years before present. Moreover, the APTS is anchored only at its younger end by U–Pb zircon dates at 201.6 million years before present and could even be missing a number of 405-ky cycles. To test the validity of the dangling APTS and orbital periodicities, we recovered a diagnostic magnetic polarity sequence in the volcaniclastic-bearing Chinle Formation in a scientific drill core from Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona) that provides an unambiguous correlation to the APTS. New high precision U–Pb detrital zircon dates from the core are indistinguishable from ages predicted by the APTS back to 215 million years before present. The agreement shows that the APTS is continuous and supports a stable 405-kiloyear cycle well beyond theoretical solutions. The validated Newark–Hartford APTS can be used as a robust framework to help differentiate provinciality from global temporal patterns in the ecological rise of early dinosaurs in the Late Triassic, amongst other problems