Waste Volume Reduction Using Surface Characterization and Decontamination by Lase Ablation

Laser ablation is being studied as a method both for removing and for measuring contaminated surface layers from concrete. The objectives of this research are to determine the mechanism and efficacy of laser ablation, to understand the chemistry of contaminated concrete surfaces, and to chemically and physically characterize the captured ablation effluent, which would become the stored waste. The method is attractive because it adds no additional waste, offers fine control over the amount of material removed, can work on cracked, curved or irregular surfaces, and can potentially be instrumented for real-time contamination analysis. While the focus of this project is on concrete, the technology should be applicable to any surface requiring contaminant removal

Preliminary expression profile of cytokines in brain tissue of BALB/c mice with Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection

BACKGROUND: Angiostrongylus cantonensis (A. cantonensis) infection can result in increased risk of eosinophilic meningitis. Accumulation of eosinophils and inflammation can result in the A. cantonensis infection playing an important role in brain tissue injury during this pathological process. However, underlying mechanisms regarding the transcriptomic responses during brain tissue injury caused by A. cantonensis infection are yet to be elucidated. This study is aimed at identifying some genomic and transcriptomic factors influencing the accumulation of eosinophils and inflammation in the mouse brain infected with A. cantonensis. METHODS: An infected mouse model was prepared based on our laboratory experimental process, and then the mouse brain RNA Libraries were constructed for deep Sequencing with Illumina Genome Analyzer. The raw data was processed with a bioinformatics’ pipeline including Refseq genes expression analysis using cufflinks, annotation and classification of RNAs, lncRNA prediction as well as analysis of co-expression network. The analysis of Refseq data provides the measure of the presence and prevalence of transcripts from known and previously unknown genes. RESULTS: This study showed that Cys-Cys (CC) type chemokines such as CCL2, CCL8, CCL1, CCL24, CCL11, CCL7, CCL12 and CCL5 were elevated significantly at the late phase of infection. The up-regulation of CCL2 indicated that the worm of A. cantonensis had migrated into the mouse brain at an early infection phase. CCL2 could be induced in the brain injury during migration and CCL2 might play a major role in the neuropathic pain caused by A. cantonensis infection. The up-regulated expression of IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13 showed Th2 cell predominance in immunopathological reactions at late infection phase in response to infection by A. cantonensis. These different cytokines can modulate and inhibit each other and function as a network with the specific potential to drive brain eosinophilic inflammation. The increase of ATF-3 expression at 21 dpi suggested the injury of neuronal cells at late phase of infection. 1217 new potential lncRNA were candidates of interest for further research. CONCLUSIONS: These cytokine networks play an important role in the development of central nervous system inflammation caused by A. cantonensis infection. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0939-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Waste Volume Reduction Using Surface Characterization and Decontamination By Laser Ablation

The U.S. Department of Energy's nuclear complex, a nation-wide system of facilities for research and production of nuclear materials and weapons, contains large amounts of radioactively contaminated concrete[1]. This material must be disposed of prior to the decommissioning of the various sites. Often the radioactive contaminants in concrete occupy only the surface and near-surface ({approx}3-6 mm deep) regions of the material. Since many of the structures such as walls and floors are 30 cm or more thick, it makes environmental and economic sense to try to remove and store only the thin contaminated layer rather than to treat the entire structure as waste. Current mechanical removal methods, known as scabbling, are slow and labor intensive, suffer from dust control problems, and expose workers to radiation fields. Improved removal methods are thus in demand[2-5]. Prior to decontamination, the surface must be characterized to determine the types and amounts of contaminants present i n order to decide on an appropriate cleaning strategy. Contamination occurs via exposure to air and water-borne radionuclides and by neutron activation. The radionuclides of greatest concern are (in order of abundance) [1]: 137Cs & 134Cs, 238U, 60Co, and 90Sr, followed by 3H, radioactive iodine, and a variety of Eu isotopes and transuranics. A system capable of on- line analysis is valuable since operators can determine the type of contaminants in real time and make more efficient use of costly sampling and characterization techniques. Likewise, the removed waste itself must be analyzed to insure that proper storage and monitoring techniques are used. The chemical speciation of radionuclides in concrete is largely unknown. Concrete is a complex material comprising many distinct chemical and physical phases on a variety of size scales[6-8]. Most studies of radionuclides in cements and concrete are for the most part restricted to phenomenological treatments of diffusion of ion s, particularly Cs, in and out of model waste forms and engineered barriers[9-21]. Few studies exist on the chemical speciation of the contaminants themselves in concrete [22-25]. For example, the extent to which various contaminants react with the cement and various aggregate particles is currently unknown, as is the role of the high pH of the cement pore water on ion partitioning and chemical speciation. DOE has designated understanding the chemical nature of the contaminants as important in the rational design of characterization, decontamination, and waste handling strategies[26, 27]. We have investigated laser ablation as a means of concrete surface removal[28-31]. Lasers are attractive since the power can be delivered remotely via articulated mirrors or fiber optic cables and the ablation head can be manipulated by robots, thus avoiding exposing workers and the laser system to the radiation field. In addition, lasers can be instrumented with spectrometers or effluent sampling devices to provide for on-line analysis. In contrast to mechanical scabbling systems, laser beams can penetrate cracks or follow very rough or irregularly shaped surfaces. Finally, a laser ablation system produces the smallest possible waste stream since no cleaning agents such as detergents or grit (from grit blasting systems) are mixed with the effluent

Laser Drilling: Drilling with the Power of Light Phase 1: Feasibility Study

A laser drilling research team was formed from members of academia, industry and national laboratory to explore the feasibility of using modern high-powered lasers to drill and complete oil and gas wells. The one-year Phase 1 study discussed in this report had the goals of quantifying the amount of pulsed infrared laser energy needed to spall and melt rock of varying lithologies and to investigate the possibility of accomplishing the same task in water under atmospheric conditions. Previous work by some members of this team determined that continuous wave lasers of varying wavelengths have more than enough power to cut, melt and vaporize rock. Samples of sandstone, limestone, and shale were prepared for laser beam interaction with a 1.6 kW pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam to determine how the beam's size, power, repetition rate, pulse width, exposure time and energy can affect the amount of energy transferred to the rock for the purposes of spallation, melting and vaporization. The purpose of the laser rock interaction experiment was to determine the threshold parameters required to remove a maximum rock volume from the samples while minimizing energy input. Absorption of radiant energy from the laser beam gives rise to the thermal energy transfer required for the destruction and removal of the rock matrix. Results from the tests indicate that each rock type has a set of optimal laser parameters to minimize specific energy (SE) values as observed in a set of linear track and spot tests. In addition, it was observed that the rates of heat diffusion in rocks are easily and quickly overrun by absorbed energy transfer rates from the laser beam to the rock. As absorbed energy outpaces heat diffusion by the rock matrix, local temperatures can rise to the melting points of the minerals and quickly increase observed SE values. The lowest SE values are obtained in the spalling zone just prior to the onset of mineral melt. The current study determined that using pulsed lasers could accomplish removing material from rock more efficiently than continuous wave lasers. The study also determined that reducing the effect of secondary energy absorbing mechanisms resulted in lower energy requirements in shale and, to some extent, in sandstones. These secondary mechanisms are defined as physical processes that divert beam energy from directly removing rock, and may include thermally-induced phase behavior changes of rock minerals (i.e., melting, vaporization, and dissociation) and fractures created by thermal expansion. Limestone is spalled by a different mechanism and does not seem to be as affected by secondary mechanisms. It was also shown that the efficiency of the cutting mechanism improved by saturating porous rock samples with water, and that a laser beam injected directly through a water layer at a sandstone sample was able to spall and melt the sample

Effect of Heating Time of Cottonseed Meal on Nutrient and Mineral Element Digestibility in Chicken (Based on Cottonseed Meal Replaced with All Soybean Meal)

A digestibility test was conducted to estimate the effects of the heating time of cottonseed meal on nutrient digestibility and mineral element absorption in chicken. A total of 36, 45-week-old healthy New Yangzhou chickens with similar body weight were randomly divided into 6 groups with 6 replicates per group and one chicken per replicate. The chickens in Group A (control group) were fed the corn-soybean meal diet. The chickens in Groups B, C, D, E, and F (experimental groups) were fed the cottonseed meal to replace all soybean meal. The cottonseed meal in the experimental groups was treated with wet heating. The heating temperature was set at 120 °C, and the humidity was set at 50%. The heating time was set to 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 min successively. The trial period was 4 day. The digestibility of crude protein, metabolic energy, and dry matter was highest using wet-heat treating for 15 min (p 0.05). The digestibility of Fe increased significantly from 66.78% to 70.39% when the heating time of cottonseed meal was prolonged from 10 min to 30 min (p 0.05). Compared with Group A, the digestibility of Zn was increased in Groups B and C, and then there was a decrease in Group D. Finally, the digestibility was increased again in Group F. The opposite pattern was shown in the digestibility of Cu and Zn. There was no significant effect of wet heat treatment time on the digestibility of calcium, phosphorus, and manganese (p > 0.05). When cottonseed meal is considered as feed for 45-week-old chickens, processing conditions of 120 °C and 50% humidity for 15 min are recommended

Requirement of Non-Phytate Phosphorus in 1- to 28-Day-Old Geese Based on Growth Performance, Serum Variables, and Bone Characteristics

The standard of dietary non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) requirement is important for geese production. However, limited reports remain an obstacle to the NPP requirement of geese. We aimed to evaluate the NPP requirement in geese based on the effects of NPP levels on growth performance, serum variables, and bone characteristics in 1–28-day-old geese. One-day-old male Jiangnan White Geese (n = 360) were randomly divided into five groups. Five corn-soybean diets were used in these groups, with NPP levels at 0.18%, 0.28%, 0.39%, 0.47%, 0.59% in the feed, respectively. The average body weight, serum phosphorus (P) content, tibia strength, tibia P content, and femoral skim weight were significantly reduced, by 0.18%, compared with 0.28–0.59%. These variables had significant linear fit (p < 0.001) between the levels of 0.18% and 0.58%. The estimated requirement of NPP for goslings is between 0.28% and 0.35%, based on the broken-line model, using the above indicators. In conclusion, the dietary NPP requirement for 1–28-day-old geese should be no less than 0.35% to ensure normal growth performance and bone development, based on body weight gain, serum P content, and skeletal variables

Requirement of Non-Phytate Phosphorus in 1- to 28-Day-Old Geese Based on Growth Performance, Serum Variables, and Bone Characteristics

The standard of dietary non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) requirement is important for geese production. However, limited reports remain an obstacle to the NPP requirement of geese. We aimed to evaluate the NPP requirement in geese based on the effects of NPP levels on growth performance, serum variables, and bone characteristics in 1&ndash;28-day-old geese. One-day-old male Jiangnan White Geese (n = 360) were randomly divided into five groups. Five corn-soybean diets were used in these groups, with NPP levels at 0.18%, 0.28%, 0.39%, 0.47%, 0.59% in the feed, respectively. The average body weight, serum phosphorus (P) content, tibia strength, tibia P content, and femoral skim weight were significantly reduced, by 0.18%, compared with 0.28&ndash;0.59%. These variables had significant linear fit (p &lt; 0.001) between the levels of 0.18% and 0.58%. The estimated requirement of NPP for goslings is between 0.28% and 0.35%, based on the broken-line model, using the above indicators. In conclusion, the dietary NPP requirement for 1&ndash;28-day-old geese should be no less than 0.35% to ensure normal growth performance and bone development, based on body weight gain, serum P content, and skeletal variables

Effects of arginine on the growth performance, hormones, digestive organ development and intestinal morphology in the early growth stage of layer chickens

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of arginine on the growth performance, hormones, digestive organ development and intestinal morphology of chicks of laying hens. A total of three hundred 1-d-old male Lohmann Brown chicks were randomly assigned to five groups, each with six replicate sets of 10 birds. The five groups were fed different diets containing 1.19, 1.44, 1.69, 1.94 or 2.19% arginine from 1 d to 42 d of age. The results showed that dietary levels of arginine had a significant effect on body weight at 14, 28 and 42 d (p < .05). The insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentration in serum was significantly increased with increasing levels of dietary arginine (p < .05). With the increase in dietary arginine, chicks had a higher relative liver weight (p < .05). Levels of 1.94 and 2.19% dietary arginine had a more positive effect on the length (p < .05) and relative weight of the small intestine (p < .05), respectively. The morphology of the duodenal mucosa and the villus height of the ileum in chicks were significantly affected by the dietary arginine levels (p < .05). This study suggested that 1.44% dietary arginine provided the maximum body weight of layer chickens during their early development by increasing the villus height in both the duodenum and ileum, whereas 2.19% dietary arginine inhibited the growth of the chicks via a shorter villus height in the intestinal mucosa and excessive serum IGF-I