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Hanford waste tank safety issues
This paper presents an overview of the potential high-activity waste safety issues in the 177 underground radioactive waste storage tanks at the Hanford Site. Also, included is a discussion of the strategy and plans to remedy hazardous conditions and remove other deficiencies related to the operation of the tanks. A three-pronged multimillion dollar integrated program has been initiated that (1) assesses and, on an as needed basis, defines remediation and/or mitigation actions to allow interim stabilization of high risk waste tanks; (2) upgrades existing facilities and instrumentation to meet current nuclear facility operations standards; and (3) addresses and upgrades the conduct of operations. For tanks that are considered at risk, extensive management controls presently are employed to ensure that the tanks continue to be maintained in a safe manner. In addition, comprehensive monitoring, characterization and applied research, and engineering efforts have been initiated to support resolution of safety issues. A key element of the Westinghouse Hanford Company effort is preventing future problems associated with creating potentially incompatible wastes as part of waste management activities associated with the planned disposal of the wastes in these storage tanks. Such efforts also will provide the basis for safe near future remediation of tanks and define and maintain the envelope of safety to support the ultimate disposal of all high- activity waste in Hanford Site tanks. 6 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab
Identification of the Rem-responsive element of mouse mammary tumor virus
Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) has previously been shown to encode a functional homolog of the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) nuclear export protein Rev, termed Rem. Here, we show that deletion of the rem gene from a MMTV molecular clone interfered with the nucleo-cytoplasmic transport of genomic length viral mRNA and resulted in a loss of viral capsid (Gag) protein production. Interestingly, nuclear export of single-spliced env mRNA was only moderately affected, suggesting that this transcript is, at least to some extent, transported via a distinct, Rem-independent export mechanism. To identify and characterize a cis-acting RNA element required for Rem responsiveness (RmRE), extensive computational and functional analyses were performed. By these means a region of 490 nt corresponding to positions nt 8517–nt 9006 in the MMTV reference strain was identified as RmRE. Deletion of this fragment, which spans the env-U3 junction region, abolished Gag expression. Furthermore, insertion of this sequence into a heterologous HIV-1-based reporter construct restored, in the presence of Rem, HIV-1 Gag expression to levels determined for the Rev/RRE export system. These results clearly demonstrate that the identified region, whose geometry resembles that of other retroviral-responsive elements, is capable to functionally substitute, in the presence of Rem, for Rev/RRE and thus provide unequivocal evidence that MMTV is a complex retrovirus
Multi-layered control of Galectin-8 mediated autophagy during adenovirus cell entry through a conserved PPxY motif in the viral capsid.
Cells employ active measures to restrict infection by pathogens, even prior to responses from the innate and humoral immune defenses. In this context selective autophagy is activated upon pathogen induced membrane rupture to sequester and deliver membrane fragments and their pathogen contents for lysosomal degradation. Adenoviruses, which breach the endosome upon entry, escape this fate by penetrating into the cytosol prior to autophagosome sequestration of the ruptured endosome. We show that virus induced membrane damage is recognized through Galectin-8 and sequesters the autophagy receptors NDP52 and p62. We further show that a conserved PPxY motif in the viral membrane lytic protein VI is critical for efficient viral evasion of autophagic sequestration after endosomal lysis. Comparing the wildtype with a PPxY-mutant virus we show that depletion of Galectin-8 or suppression of autophagy in ATG5-/- MEFs rescues infectivity of the PPxY-mutant virus while depletion of the autophagy receptors NDP52, p62 has only minor effects. Furthermore we show that wildtype viruses exploit the autophagic machinery for efficient nuclear genome delivery and control autophagosome formation via the cellular ubiquitin ligase Nedd4.2 resulting in reduced antigenic presentation. Our data thus demonstrate that a short PPxY-peptide motif in the adenoviral capsid permits multi-layered viral control of autophagic processes during entry
Models of organometallic complexes for optoelectronic applications
Organometallic complexes have potential applications as the optically active
components of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic photovoltaics
(OPV). Development of more effective complexes may be aided by understanding
their excited state properties. Here we discuss two key theoretical approaches
to investigate these complexes: first principles atomistic models and effective
Hamiltonian models. We review applications of these methods, such as,
determining the nature of the emitting state, predicting the fraction of
injected charges that form triplet excitations, and explaining the sensitivity
of device performance to small changes in the molecular structure of the
organometallic complexes.Comment: To appear in themed issue of J. Mat. Chem. on the modelling of
material
Orthogonal methods based ant colony search for solving continuous optimization problems
Research into ant colony algorithms for solving continuous optimization problems forms one of the most
significant and promising areas in swarm computation. Although traditional ant algorithms are designed for combinatorial
optimization, they have shown great potential in solving a wide range of optimization problems, including continuous
optimization. Aimed at solving continuous problems effectively, this paper develops a novel ant algorithm termed "continuous orthogonal ant colony" (COAC), whose pheromone deposit mechanisms would enable ants to search for
solutions collaboratively and effectively. By using the orthogonal design method, ants in the feasible domain can explore
their chosen regions rapidly and e±ciently. By implementing an "adaptive regional radius" method, the proposed
algorithm can reduce the probability of being trapped in local optima and therefore enhance the global search capability and accuracy. An elitist strategy is also employed to reserve the most valuable points. The performance of the COAC is
compared with two other ant algorithms for continuous optimization of API and CACO by testing seventeen functions
in the continuous domain. The results demonstrate that the proposed COAC algorithm outperforms the others
A computational study of the influence of methyl substituents on competitive ring closure to α- and β-lactones
Ring-closure of substituted 2-chlorosuccinates to α- or β-lactones has been studied by means of MP2/6-311+G(d,p)//MP2/6-31+G(d) calculations in water treated as a polarised continuum (PCM) and in vacuum. Optimised geometries have been obtained for 2-chlorosuccinate and its 2-methyl, 3,3-dimethyl, and 2,3,3-trimethyl derivatives, along with the transition structures and products for intramolecular nucleophilic displacement leading to the 3- or 4-membered rings. Relative enthalpies and Gibbs free energies of activation and reaction are presented, along with key geometrical parameters, and changes in electrostatic-potential-derived atomic charges. The difference in free-energy barriers for α- and β-lactone formation from the 2-methyl substrate at 298 K is less than 1 kJ mol−1. Primary 14C kinetic isotope effects calculated for substitution at C2 are significantly smaller for α-lactone formation than for β, suggesting a possible way to distinguish between the competing pathways of reaction. The B3LYP method without dispersion corrections predicts the wrong relative stability order for methyl-substituted succinate dianions in PCM water
Spin states of zigzag-edged Mobius graphene nanoribbons from first principles
Mobius graphene nanoribbons have only one edge topologically. How the
magnetic structures, previously associated with the two edges of zigzag-edged
flat nanoribbons or cyclic nanorings, would change for their Mobius
counterparts is an intriguing question. Using spin-polarized density functional
theory, we shed light on this question. We examine spin states of zigzag-edged
Mobius graphene nanoribbons (ZMGNRs) with different widths and lengths. We find
a triplet ground state for a Mobius cyclacene, while the corresponding
two-edged cyclacene has an open-shell singlet ground state. For wider ZMGNRs,
the total magnetization of the ground state is found to increase with the
ribbon length. For example, a quintet ground state is found for a ZMGNR. Local
magnetic moments on the edge carbon atoms form domains of majority and minor
spins along the edge. Spins at the domain boundaries are found to be
frustrated. Our findings show that the Mobius topology (i.e., only one edge)
causes ZMGNRs to favor one spin over the other, leading to a ground state with
non-zero total magnetization.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
Uniform electron gases
We show that the traditional concept of the uniform electron gas (UEG) --- a
homogeneous system of finite density, consisting of an infinite number of
electrons in an infinite volume --- is inadequate to model the UEGs that arise
in finite systems. We argue that, in general, a UEG is characterized by at
least two parameters, \textit{viz.} the usual one-electron density parameter
and a new two-electron parameter . We outline a systematic
strategy to determine a new density functional across the
spectrum of possible and values.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 5 table
Transcriptional Activation of the Adenoviral Genome Is Mediated by Capsid Protein VI
Gene expression of DNA viruses requires nuclear import of the viral genome. Human
Adenoviruses (Ads), like most DNA viruses, encode factors within early
transcription units promoting their own gene expression and counteracting
cellular antiviral defense mechanisms. The cellular transcriptional repressor
Daxx prevents viral gene expression through the assembly of repressive chromatin
remodeling complexes targeting incoming viral genomes. However, it has remained
unclear how initial transcriptional activation of the adenoviral genome is
achieved. Here we show that Daxx mediated repression of the immediate early Ad
E1A promoter is efficiently counteracted by the capsid protein VI. This requires
a conserved PPxY motif in protein VI. Capsid proteins from other DNA viruses
were also shown to activate the Ad E1A promoter independent of Ad gene
expression and support virus replication. Our results show how Ad entry is
connected to transcriptional activation of their genome in the nucleus. Our data
further suggest a common principle for genome activation of DNA viruses by
counteracting Daxx related repressive mechanisms through virion proteins
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