Effects on sleep of noise from two proposed STOL aircraft

Responses, both overt behavior and those measured by electroencephalograph, to noise by eight male subjects were studied for sixteen consecutive nights. Test stimuli were: (1) The simulated sideline noise of a short takeoff and landing aircraft with blown flaps; (2) the simulated sideline noise of a STOL aircraft of turbofan design; (3) the simulated takeoff noise of the blown flap STOL aircraft; and (4) a four second burst of simulated pink noise. Responses to each noise were tested at three noise intensities selected to represent levels expected indoors from operational aircraft. The results indicate that the blown flap STOL aircraft noise resulted in 8 to 10 percent fewer sleep disturbance responses than did the turbofan STOL aircraft when noises of comparable intensities from similar maneuvers were used

Effects on muscle tension and tracking task performance of simulated sonic booms with low and high intensity vibrational components

Effects of simulated sonic booms with high and low intensity vibrational components on tracking task performance and muscle tension in human subject

Reliability of laboratory tests of VSTOL and other long duration noises

Paired-comparison and magnitude estimations of the subjective noisiness or unacceptability of noise from fixed wing jet aircraft and simulated noise of VSTOL aircraft were obtained from groups of subjects given different instructions. These results suggest that VSTOL noises can be evaluated in terms of their noisiness or unwantedness to people with reasonable accuracy by units of the physical measures designated as PNdBM, with or without tone corrections, and dBD sub 2. Also, that consideration should be given to the use of D sub 2 as an overall frequency weighting function for sound level meters instead of the presently available A weighting. Two new units of noise measurement, PLdB and dB(E), used for predicting subjective noisiness, were found to be less accurate than PNdBM or dBD sub 2 in this regard

European Non-native Species in Aquaculture Risk Analysis Scheme - a summary of assessment protocols and decision support tools for use of alien species in aquaculture

The European Non-native Species in Aquaculture Risk Analysis Scheme (ENSARS) was developed in response to European 'Council Regulation No. 708/2007 of 11 June 2007 concerning use of alien and locally absent species in aquaculture' to provide protocols for identifying and evaluating the potential risks of using non-native species in aquaculture. ENSARS is modular in structure and adapted from non-native species risk assessment schemes developed by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation and for the UK. Seven of the eight ENSARS modules contain protocols for evaluating the risks of escape, introduction to and establishment in open waters, of any non-native aquatic organism being used (or associated with those used) in aquaculture, that is, transport pathways, rearing facilities, infectious agents, and the potential organism, ecosystem and socio-economic impacts. A concluding module is designed to summarise the risks and consider management options. During the assessments, each question requires the assessor to provide a response and confidence ranking for that response based on expert opinion. Each module can also be used individually, and each requires a specific form of expertise. Therefore, a multidisciplinary assessment team is recommended for its completion

Ecology and thermal inactivation of microbes in and on interplanetary space vehicle components

Experiments performed on the heat resistant organism CK 4-6 are described. Its response to dry heat at two temperatures (125 C and 135 C) at eight humidity levels (0.001 percent to 100 percent RH) in a closed can system is studied

Investigation of Sludge Batch 3 (Macrobatch 4) Glass Sample Anomalous Behavior

Two Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) glass samples from Sludge Batch 3 (SB3) (Macrobatch 4) were received by the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) on February 23, 2005. One sample, S02244, was designated for the Product Consistency Test (PCT) and elemental and radionuclide analyses. The second sample, S02247, was designated for archival storage. The samples were pulled from the melter pour stream during the feeding of Melter Feed Tank (MFT) Batch 308 and therefore roughly correspond to feed from Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) Batches 306-308. During the course of preparing sample S02244 for PCT and other analyses two observations were made which were characterized as ''unusual'' or anomalous behavior relative to historical observations of glasses prepared for the PCT. These observations ultimately led to a series of scoping tests in order to determine more about the nature of the behavior and possible mechanisms. The first observation was the behavior of the ground glass fraction (-100 +200 mesh) for PCT analysis when contacted with deionized water during the washing phase of the PCT procedure. The behavior was analogous to that of an organic compound in the presence of water: clumping, floating on the water surface, and crawling up the beaker walls. In other words, the glass sample did not ''wet'' normally, displaying a hydrophobic behavior in water. This had never been seen before in 18 years SRNL PCT tests on either radioactive or non-radioactive glasses. Typical glass behavior is largely to settle to the bottom of the water filled beaker, though there may be suspended fines which result in some cloudiness to the wash water. The typical appearance is analogous to wetting sand. The second observation was the presence of faint black rings at the initial and final solution levels in the Teflon vessels used for the mixed acid digestion of S02244 glass conducted for compositional analysis. The digestion is composed of two stages, and at both the intermediate and the final content levels in the digestion vessel the rings were present. The rings had not been seen previously during glass digestions and were not present in the Analytical Reference Glass (ARG) standard samples digested, in separate vessels, along with the DWPF glass. What follows in this report are the results and analyses from various scoping experiments done in order to explain the anomalous behavior observed with DWPF glass S02244, along with a comparison with tests on sample S02247 where the anomalous wetting behavior was not observed

Ecology and thermal inactivation of microbes in and on interplanetary space vehicle components

Dry heat sterilization of spacecraft was investigated by studying the production of spore crops, and thermal inactivation of the spores, and bacillus subtillus. Spore assays were made by conventional plate count methods, and survival curves for the spores are presented. The results indicate that the inherent resistance of spores from a parent cell can be maintained

Performance of a Buried Radioactive High Level Waste Glass After 24 Years

A radioactive high level waste glass was made in 1980 with Savannah River Site (SRS) Tank 15 waste. This glass was buried in the SRS burial ground for 24 years but lysimeter data was only available for the first 8 years. The glass was exhumed and analyzed in 2004. The glass was predicted to be very durable and laboratory tests confirmed the durability response. The laboratory results indicated that the glass was very durable as did analysis of the lysimeter data. Scanning electron microscopy of the glass burial surface showed no significant glass alteration consistent with the results of the laboratory and field tests. No detectable Pu, Am, Cm, Np, or Ru leached from the glass into the surrounding sediment. Leaching of {beta}/{delta} from {sup 90}Sr and {sup 137}Cs in the glass was diffusion controlled. Less than 0.5% of the Cs and Sr in the glass leached into the surrounding sediment, with >99% of the leached radionuclides remaining within 8 centimeters of the glass pellet