MEASUREMENT OF WIND SPEED FROM COOLING LAKE THERMAL IMAGERY

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) collected thermal imagery and ground truth data at two commercial power plant cooling lakes to investigate the applicability of laboratory empirical correlations between surface heat flux and wind speed, and statistics derived from thermal imagery. SRNL demonstrated in a previous paper [1] that a linear relationship exists between the standard deviation of image temperature and surface heat flux. In this paper, SRNL will show that the skewness of the temperature distribution derived from cooling lake thermal images correlates with instantaneous wind speed measured at the same location. SRNL collected thermal imagery, surface meteorology and water temperatures from helicopters and boats at the Comanche Peak and H. B. Robinson nuclear power plant cooling lakes. SRNL found that decreasing skewness correlated with increasing wind speed, as was the case for the laboratory experiments. Simple linear and orthogonal regression models both explained about 50% of the variance in the skewness - wind speed plots. A nonlinear (logistic) regression model produced a better fit to the data, apparently because the thermal convection and resulting skewness are related to wind speed in a highly nonlinear way in nearly calm and in windy conditions

Using theories of behaviour to understand transfusion prescribing in three clinical contexts in two countries: Development work for an implementation trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Blood transfusion is an essential part of healthcare and can improve patient outcomes. However, like most therapies, it is also associated with significant clinical risks. In addition, there is some evidence of overuse. Understanding the potential barriers and enablers to reduced prescribing of blood products will facilitate the selection of intervention components likely to be effective, thereby reducing the number of costly trials evaluating different implementation strategies. Using a theoretical basis to understand behaviours targeted for change will contribute to a 'basic science' relating to determinants of professional behaviour and how these inform the selection of techniques for changing behaviour. However, it is not clear which theories of behaviour are relevant to clinicians' transfusing behaviour. The aim of this study is to use a theoretical domains framework to identify relevant theories, and to use these theories to identify factors that predict the decision to transfuse.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study involves two steps: interview study and questionnaire study. Using a previously identified framework, we will conduct semi-structured interviews with clinicians to elicit their views about which factors are associated with waiting and further monitoring the patient rather than transfusing red blood cells. Interviews will cover the following theoretical domains: knowledge; skills; social/professional role and identity; beliefs about capabilities; beliefs about consequences; motivation and goals; memory, attention, and decision processes; environmental context and resources; social influences; emotion; behavioural regulation; nature of the behaviour. The interviews will take place independently in Canada and the UK and involve two groups of physicians in each country (UK: adult and neonatal intensive care physicians; Canada: intensive care physicians and orthopaedic surgeons). We will: analyse interview transcript content to select relevant theoretical domains; use consensus processes to map these domains on to theories of behaviour; develop questionnaires based on these theories; and mail them to each group of physicians in the two countries. From our previous work, it is likely that the theories will include: theory of planned behaviour, social cognitive theory and the evidence-based strategy, implementation intention. The questionnaire data will measure predictor variables (theoretical constructs) and outcome variables (intention and clinical decision), and will be analysed using multiple regression analysis. We aim to achieve 150 respondents in each of the four groups for each postal survey.</p

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COYOTE FOOD HABITS ON TWO UTAH DEER HERDS

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Monitoring of a RCRA Mixed Waste Management Facility

Since startup of the Savannah River Site (SRS) in 1953, solid radioactive waste materials have been disposed of in a centrally located facility known as the Radioactive Waste Burial Grounds. These burial grounds comprise three distinct disposal sites which include the original set of burial trenches for solid low level radioactive wastes (643-G), the currently operating Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility (643-7G), and the Mixed Waste Management Facility (643-28G) located within 643-7G. The Mixed Waste Management Facility (MWMF) has been used to dispose of various low level radioactive waste materials just as the other portions of the Radioactive Waste Burial Grounds. Some of the waste materials in the MWMF have been classified as mixed waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Because the MWMF contains mixed wastes, a closure plan for the facility was developed and submitted to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) to comply with RCRA requirements. This paper discusses the various aspects of the groundwater monitoring program developed to satisfy regulatory requirements for post-closure care and provides some initial results on groundwater quality

Cost-effective sampling of ground water monitoring wells

Cost-Effective Sampling (CES) is a method for estimating the lowest-frequency (and, as a result, lowest-cost) sampling schedule for a given groundwater monitoring location which will still provide needed information for regulatory and remedial decision-making. Its initial development was motivated by the preponderance of sampling results showing little changes over time or failing below detection limits at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory`s (LLNL`s) environmental restoration sites. The fact that many locations had never shown, or had ceased for some time to show, any detectable levels or changes in levels of contamination suggested that some of their 700+ groundwater monitoring wells were being sampled more often than necessary. Similar concerns were raised at the Savannah River Site (SRS), where some 10,000 samples are taken per year from 1500+ monitoring wells. The question facing both organizations has been how to reduce sampling costs while still satisfying both regulatory agencies and their own scientists and engineers that sufficient data will be collected for decision-making purposes. The first version of CES was implemented at LLNL`s Livermore site in 1992 and approved by regulators under CERCLA. It is designed to statistically evaluate the sampling results to be able to recommend sampling schedules of groundwater monitoring locations for a common suite of volatile organic compounds, with the goal of reducing frequencies. The table below presents the sampling status of monitoring wells at LLNL`s two restoration sites both before and after the application of CES

Effects of sample collection device and filter pore size on concentrations of metals in groundwater samples

The Savannah River Site has conducted a study to statistically quantify differences in metals concentrations as a function of sampling device and filter treatment. Twelve wells screened in unconsolidated coastal plain sediments were sampled for the study. All wells had histories of detectable toxic metals concentrations. Unfiltered and filtered (using 10 and 0.45 micron filters) samples were collected from all wells to evaluate the effects of filtering. To compare the effects of sampling device, the wells were sampled twice, once with a bladder pump and once with a centrifugal pump. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) method was used to assess the effects of sampling device and filtration on metals concentrations considering the variation in pH, conductivity, and turbidity among samples. This study demonstrates that when controlled sampling techniques are employed, differences in toxic metals concentrations between filtered and unfiltered samples are not statistically significant. However, variations in sampling devices yield samples with statistically different metals concentrations. The centrifugal pumps, which cause more agitation of the sample and the screened zone than bladder pumps, yield samples with statistically higher metals concentrations

Species-Specific Abundance Response of Montane Stream Fishes to Drought-Induced Variation in Streamflow

Climate change projections in the western United States suggest that snowpack levels and winter precipitation will decline, but mean annual precipitation levels will remain unchanged. Mountain streams that once saw a constant source of water from snowpack will begin to see large seasonal variation in flow. Increased stream intermittency will create significant conservation risks for fish species; however, few studies have examined the abundance responses of fish in high elevation streams to the shift from perennial to intermittent flow. To determine the effects of stream intermittency on fish abundance in a montane stream, we quantified changes in abundance for five species over a five-year period that exhibited extreme variation in streamflow. Responses varied by species and life stage, suggesting that the shift from perennial to intermittent flow will cause significant declines in abundance for some species. Northern leatherside chub may experience large decreases in their range as the availability of perennial streams decreases. The study of drought effects on fish abundance will be crucial to the conservation of biodiversity in montane regions of the world

Species-Specific Abundance Response of Montane Stream Fishes to Drought-Induced Variation in Streamflow

Climate change projections in the western United States suggest that snowpack levels and winter precipitation will decline, but mean annual precipitation levels will remain unchanged. Mountain streams that once saw a constant source of water from snowpack will begin to see large seasonal variation in flow. Increased stream intermittency will create significant conservation risks for fish species; however, few studies have examined the abundance responses of fish in high elevation streams to the shift from perennial to intermittent flow. To determine the effects of stream intermittency on fish abundance in a montane stream, we quantified changes in abundance for five species over a five-year period that exhibited extreme variation in streamflow. Responses varied by species and life stage, suggesting that the shift from perennial to intermittent flow will cause significant declines in abundance for some species. Northern leatherside chub may experience large decreases in their range as the availability of perennial streams decreases. The study of drought effects on fish abundance will be crucial to the conservation of biodiversity in montane regions of the world