EM-21 Higher Waste Loading Glasses for Enhanced DOE High-Level Waste Melter Throughput Studies -10194

ABSTRACT Supplemental validation data have been generated that will be used to determine the applicability of the current Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) liquidus temperature (T L ) model to expanded DWPF glass regions of interest based on higher waste loadings. For those study glasses which had very close compositional overlap with the model development and/or model validation ranges (except TiO 2 and MgO concentrations), there was very little difference in the predicted and measured T L values, even though the TiO 2 contents were above the 2 wt% upper concentration covered by the model. The results indicate that the current T L model is applicable in these compositional regions. As the compositional overlap between the model validation ranges diverged from the target glass compositions, the T L data suggest that the model underpredicted the measured values. These discrepancies imply that the influence of individual oxides or their combinations at concentrations outside of the model development and/or previous validation regions may not be adequately assessed by the current model. These oxides include B 2 O 3 , SiO 2 , MnO, TiO 2 and/or their combinations. More data are required to fill in these anticipated DWPF compositional regions so that the model coefficients could be refit to account for these influences. INTRODUCTION High-level waste (HLW) throughput (i.e., the amount of waste processed per unit time) is a function of several parameters, two of which are extremely critical: waste loading (WL) and melt rate. For the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS), increasing HLW throughput would significantly reduce the overall mission life cycle costs for the Department of Energy (DOE)

MicroRNA expression signature in human abdominal aortic aneurysms

Background: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a dilatation of the aorta affecting most frequently elderly men. Histologically AAAs are characterized by inflammation, vascular smooth muscle cell apoptosis, and extracellular matrix degradation. The mechanisms of AAA formation, progression, and rupture are currently poorly understood. A previous mRNA expression study revealed a large number of differentially expressed genes between AAA and non-aneurysmal control aortas. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs that are post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression, could provide a mechanism for the differential expression of genes in AAA. Methods: To determine differences in miRNA levels between AAA (n = 5) and control (n = 5) infrarenal aortic tissues, a microarray study was carried out. Results were adjusted using Benjamini-Hochberg correction (adjusted p\u3c 0.05). Real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) assays with an independent set of 36 AAA and seven control tissues were used for validation. Potential gene targets were retrieved from miRNA target prediction databases Pictar, TargetScan, and MiRTarget2. Networks from the target gene set were generated and examined using the network analysis programs, CytoScape® and Ingenuity Pathway Core Analysis®. Results: A microarray study identified eight miRNAs with significantly different expression levels between AAA and controls (adjusted p \u3c 0.05). Real-time qRT-PCR assays validated the findings for five of the eight miRNAs. A total of 222 predicted miRNA target genes known to be differentially expressed in AAA based on a prior mRNA microarray study were identified. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that several target genes are involved in apoptosis and activation of T cells. Conclusions: Our genome-wide approach revealed several differentially expressed miRNAs in human AAA tissue suggesting that miRNAs play a role in AAA pathogenesis. Keywords: Apoptosis, Microarray analysis, Vascular biology, miRNA-mRNA analysis, Network analysi