Exploring taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships to predict radiocaesium transfer to marine biota

One potentially useful approach to fill data gaps for concentration ratios, CRs, is based upon the hypothesis that an underlying taxonomic and/or phylogenetic relationship exists for radionuclide transfer. The objective of this study was to explore whether these relationships could be used to explain variation in the transfer of radiocaesium to a wide range of marine organisms. CR data for 137Cs were classified in relation to taxonomic family, order, class and phylum. A Residual Maximum Likelihood (REML) mixed-model regression modelling approach was adopted. The existence of any patterns were then explored using phylogenetic trees constructed with mitochondrial COI gene sequences from various biota groups and mapping the REML residual means onto these trees. A comparison of the predictions made using REML with blind datasets allowed the efficacy of the procedure to be tested. The only significant correlation between predicted and measured activity concentrations was revealed at the taxonomic level of order when comparing REML analysis output with data from the Barents Sea Region. For this single case a correlation 0.80 (Spearman rank) was derived which was significant at the 0.01 level (1-tailed test) although this was not the case once a (Bonferroni) correction was applied. The application of the REML approach to marine datasets has met with limited success, and the phylogenetic trees illustrate complications of using predictions based on values from different levels of taxonomic organization, where predicted values for the order level can mask the values at lower taxonomic levels. Any influence of taxonomy and phylogeny on transfer is not immediately conspicuous and categorizing marine organisms in this way is limited in providing a potentially robust prognostic extrapolation tool. Other factors may plausibly affect transfer to a much greater degree in marine systems, such as quite diverse life histories and different diets, which may confound any phylogenetic pattern

Toward a physiological explanation of juvenile growth curves

Juvenile growth curves are generally sigmoid in shape: Growth is initially nearly exponential, but it slows to near zero as the animal approaches maturity. The drop‐off in growth rate is puzzling because, everything else being equal, selection favors growing as fast as possible. Existing theory posits sublinear scaling of resource acquisition with juvenile body mass and linear scaling of the requirement for maintenance, so the difference, fuel for growth, decreases as the juvenile increases in size. Experimental evidence, however, suggests that maintenance metabolism increases sublinearly not linearly with size. Here, we develop a new theory consistent with the experimental evidence. Our theory is based on the plausible assumption that there is a trade‐off in the capacity of capillaries to supply growing and developed cells. As the proportion of non‐growing cells increases, they take up more macromolecules from the capillaries, leaving fewer to support growing cells. The predicted growth curves are realistic and similar to those of previous models (Bertalanffy, Gompertz, and Logistic) but have the advantage of being derived from a plausible physiological model. We hope that our focus on resource delivery in capillaries will encourage new experimental work to identify the detailed physiological basis of the trade‐off underlying juvenile growth curves

Effect of compositional variation in plutonium on process shielding design

Radiation dose rate from plutonium with high {sup 239}Pu content varies with initial nuclidic content, radioactive decay time, and impurity elemental content. The two idealized states of old plutonium and clean plutonium, whose initial compositions are given, provide approximate upper and lower bounds on dose rate variation. Whole-body dose rates were calculated for the two composition states, using unshielded and shielded plutonium spheres of varying density. The dose rates from these variable density spheres are similar to those from expanded plutonium configurations encountered during processing. The dose location of 40 cm from the sphere center is representative of operator standoff for direct handling of plutonium inside a glove box. The results have shielding implications for glove boxes with only structurally inherent shielding, especially for processing of old plutonium in an expanded configuration. Further reduction in total dose rate by using lead to reduce photon dose rate is shown for two density cases representing compact and expanded plutonium configurations

The Impact of Leachate From Clean Coal Technology Waste on the Stability of Clay and Synthetic Liners

This project was developed to provide design criteria for landfill disposal sites used for sludges such as those generated using the Clean Coal Technologies (CCT) tested at the Public Service Company of Colorado`s Arapahoe Power Plant. The CCT wastes used were produced at the Arapahoe Plant Unit No. 4 that was equipped with the integrated dry NO{sub x}/S{sub 2} emissions control system installed under the Clean Coal Technology (CCT) Program. The investigation emphasized the potential impact of clean coal technology materials (sodium and calcium injection systems, and urea injection) on the permeability and stability characteristics of clay liner materials and the stability of synthetic liner materials. Flexible-wall permeameters were used to determine the hydraulic conductivities (HC) of the clay liner materials impacted by various compactive conditions. Tests were conducted using the waste materials overlying the clay liner materials under wet/dry cycles, freeze/thaw cycles, and over 120-day periods. The impact of CCT materials on the characteristics of the clay liner materials studied in this project was minimal The HC measurements of the waste/clay liner systems were similar to the water/clay liner systems. HC decreased for clay liners compacted at moisture levels slightly higher than optimum (standard Procter) and increased for liners compacted at moisture levels lower than optimum (standard Procter). Although some swelling was evident in the sodium materials, the sludge materials did not have a negative impact on the integrity of the liners over 120-day tests. Wet/dry cycles tended to result in lower HC, while freeze/thaw cycles substantially increased HC for the liners tested

Market Assessment and Technical Feasibility Study of Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion Ash Use

Western Research Institute in conjunction with the Electric Power Research Institute, Foster Wheeler Energy International, Inc. and the U.S. Department of Energy Technology Center (METC), has undertaken a research and demonstration program designed to examine the market potential and the technical feasibility of ash use options for pressurized fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) ashes. The assessment is designed to address six applications, including: (1) structural fill, (2) road base construction, (3) supplementary cementing materials in portland cement, (4) synthetic aggregate, and (5) agricultural/soil amendment applications. Ash from low-sulfur subbituminous coal-fired Foster Wheeler Energia Oy pilot circulating PFBC tests in Karhula, Finland, and ash from the high-sulfur bituminous coal-fired American Electric Power (AEP) bubbling PFBC in Brilliant, Ohio, were evaluated in laboratory and pilot-scale ash use testing. This paper addresses the technical feasibility of ash use options for PFBC unit using low- sulfur coal and limestone sorbent (karhula ash) and high-sulfur coal and dolomite sorbents (AEP Tidd ash)

Baryonic and Gluonic Correlators in Hot QCD

We extend our earlier work on static color singlet correlators in high T QCD (DeTar correlators) to baryonic and gluonic sources, and estimate the corresponding screening masses using the dimensionally reduced theory. We discuss spin and polarization dependence of meson and baryon masses in the $T \rightarrow \infty$ limit, and possible nonperturbative effects at non-asymptotic temperatures.Comment: 20 pages, USITP-94-1 (SUNY-NTG-93-12

Spin polarization and magneto-luminescence of confined electron-hole systems

A BCS-like variational wave-function, which is exact in the infinite field limit, is used to study the interplay among Zeeman energies, lateral confinement and particle correlations induced by the Coulomb interactions in strongly pumped neutral quantum dots. Band mixing effects are partially incorporated by means of field-dependent masses and g-factors. The spin polarization and the magneto-luminescence are computed as functions of the number of electron-hole pairs present in the dot and the applied magnetic field.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.

Photoproduction of mesons in nuclei at GeV energies

In a transport model that combines initial state interactions of the photon with final state interactions of the produced particles we present a calculation of inclusive photoproduction of mesons in nuclei in the energy range from 1 to 7 GeV. We give predictions for the photoproduction cross sections of pions, etas, kaons, antikaons, and $\pi^+\pi^-$ invariant mass spectra in ^{12}C and ^{208}Pb. The effects of nuclear shadowing and final state interaction of the produced particles are discussed in detail.Comment: Text added in summary in general reliability of the method, references updated. Phys. Rev. C (2000) in pres

Shadowing in photo-production : role of in-medium hadrons

We study the effects of in-medium hadronic properties on shadowing in photon-nucleus interactions in Glauber model as well as in the multiple scattering approach. A reasonable agreement with the experimental data is obtained in a scenario of downward spectral shift of the hadrons. Shadowing is found to be insensitive to the broadening of the spectral functions. An impact parameter dependent analysis of shadowing might shed more light on the role of in-medium properties of hadrons.Comment: Title modified; version to appear in PRC, Rapid Communication