545 research outputs found
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Hanford Permanent Isolation Barrier Program: Asphalt technology data and status report - FY 1994
The asphalt layer within the Hanford Permanent Isolation Barrier (HPIB) is an important component of the overall design. This layer provides a RCRA equivalent backup to the overlying earthen layers in the unlikely event that these layers are not able to reduce the infiltration rate to less than 0.05 cm/yr. There is only limited amount of information on using asphalt for a moisture infiltration barrier over the long times required by the HPIB. Therefore, a number of activities are under way, as part of the Barrier Development Program, to obtain data on the performance of asphalt as a moisture barrier in a buried environment over a 1000-year period. These activities include (1) determining RCRA equivalency, (2) measurement of physical properties, (3) measurement of aging characteristics, and (4) relationship to ancient asphalt analogs. During FY 1994 progress was made on all of these activities. Studies were conducted both in the laboratory and on the prototype barrier constructed over the 216-B-57 crib in the 200 East Area on the Hanford Site. This report presents results obtained from the asphalt technology tasks during FY 1994. Also included are updates to planned activities for asphalt analogs and monitoring the asphalt test pad near the prototype barrier. Measurements of hydraulic conductivity on the HMAC portion of the prototype barrier show that the asphalt layers easily meet the RCRA standard of 1 {times} 10{sup -7} cm/s. In-place measurements using a new field falling head technique show an average of 3.66 {times} 10{sup -8} cm/s, while cores taken from the north end of the prototype and measured in a laboratory setup averaged 1.29 {times} 10{sup -9} cm/s. Measurements made on the fluid applied asphalt membrane (polymer-modified asphalt) show an extremely low permeability of less than 1 {times} 10{sup -11} cm/s
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Application of the base catalyzed decomposition process to treatment of PCB-contaminated insulation and other materials associated with US Navy vessels. Final report
The BCD process was applied to dechlorination of two types of PCB-contaminated materials generated from Navy vessel decommissioning activities at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard: insulation of wool felt impregnated with PCB, and PCB-containing paint chips/debris from removal of paint from metal surfaces. The BCD process is a two-stage, low-temperature chemical dehalogenation process. In Stage 1, the materials are mixed with sodium bicarbonate and heated to 350 C. The volatilized halogenated contaminants (eg, PCBs, dioxins, furans), which are collected in a small volume of particulates and granular activated carbon, are decomposed by the liquid-phase reaction (Stage 2) in a stirred-tank reactor, using a high-boiling-point hydrocarbon oil as the reaction medium, with addition of a hydrogen donor, a base (NaOH), and a catalyst. The tests showed that treating wool felt insulation and paint chip wastes with Stage 2 on a large scale is feasible, but compared with current disposal costs for PCB-contaminated materials, using Stage 2 would not be economical at this time. For paint chips generated from shot/sand blasting, the solid-phase BCD process (Stage 1) should be considered, if paint removal activities are accelerated in the future
Mice with genetically altered glucocorticoid receptor expression show altered sensitivity for stress-induced depressive reactions
Altered glucocorticoid receptor (GR) signaling is a postulated mechanism for the pathogenesis of major depression. To mimic the human situation of altered GR function claimed for depression, we generated mouse strains that underexpress or overexpress GR, but maintain the regulatory genetic context controlling the GR gene. To achieve this goal, we used the following: (1) GR-heterozygous mutant mice (GR+/-) with a 50% GR gene dose reduction, and (2) mice overexpressing GR by a yeast artificial chromosome resulting in a twofold gene dose elevation. GR+/- mice exhibit normal baseline behaviors but demonstrate increased helplessness after stress exposure, a behavioral correlate of depression in mice. Similar to depressed patients, GR+/- mice have a disinhibited hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system and a pathological dexamethasone/corticotropin-releasing hormone test. Thus, they represent a murine depression model with good face and construct validity. Overexpression of GR in mice evokes reduced helplessness after stress exposure, and an enhanced HPA system feedback regulation. Therefore, they may represent a model for a stress-resistant strain. These mouse models can now be used to study biological changes underlying the pathogenesis of depressive disorders. As a first potential molecular correlate for such changes, we identified a downregulation of BDNF protein content in the hippocampus of GR+/- mice, which is in agreement with the so-called neurotrophin hypothesis of depression
Stripes in Doped Antiferromagnets: Single-Particle Spectral Weight
Recent photoemission (ARPES) experiments on cuprate superconductors provide
important guidelines for a theory of electronic excitations in the stripe
phase. Using a cluster perturbation theory, where short-distance effects are
accounted for by exact cluster diagonalization and long-distance effects by
perturbation (in the hopping), we calculate the single-particle Green's
function for a striped t-J model. The data obtained quantitatively reproduce
salient (ARPES-) features and may serve to rule out "bond-centered" in favor of
"site-centered" stripes.Comment: final version as appeared in PRL; (c) 2000 The American Physical
Society; 4 pages, 4 figure
Critical Properties in Photoemmision Spectra for One Dimensional Orbitally Degenerate Mott Insulator
Critical properties in photoemission spectra for the one-dimensional Mott
insulator with orbital degeneracy are studied by exploiting the integrable {\it
t-J} model, which is a supersymmetric generalization of the SU() degenerate
spin model. We discuss the critical properties for the holon dispersion as well
as the spinon dispersions, by applying the conformal field theory analysis to
the exact finite-size energy spectrum. We study the effect of orbital-splitting
on the spectra by evaluating the momentum-dependent critical exponents.Comment: 8 pages, REVTeX, 2 figures(available upon request), accepted for
publication in JPSJ 68 (1999) No.
A pulsed, mono-energetic and angular-selective UV photo-electron source for the commissioning of the KATRIN experiment
The KATRIN experiment aims to determine the neutrino mass scale with a
sensitivity of 200 meV/c^2 (90% C.L.) by a precision measurement of the shape
of the tritium -spectrum in the endpoint region. The energy analysis of
the decay electrons is achieved by a MAC-E filter spectrometer. To determine
the transmission properties of the KATRIN main spectrometer, a mono-energetic
and angular-selective electron source has been developed. In preparation for
the second commissioning phase of the main spectrometer, a measurement phase
was carried out at the KATRIN monitor spectrometer where the device was
operated in a MAC-E filter setup for testing. The results of these measurements
are compared with simulations using the particle-tracking software
"Kassiopeia", which was developed in the KATRIN collaboration over recent
years.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures, submitted to European Physical Journal
Critical Properties in Dynamical Charge Correlation Function for the One-Dimensional Mott Insulator
Critical properties in the dynamical charge correlation function for the
one-dimensional Mott insulator are studied. By properly taking into account
{\it the final-state interaction} between the charge and spin degrees of
freedom, we find that the edge singularity in the charge correlation function
is governed by massless spinon excitations, although it is naively expected
that spinons do not directly contribute to the charge excitation over the
Hubbard gap. We obtain the momentum-dependent anomalous critical exponent by
applying the finite-size scaling analysis to the Bethe ansatz solution of the
half-filled Hubbard model.Comment: 7 pages, REVTe
One-Particle Spectral Properties of Mott-Hubbard Insulators
We use an exact holon and spinon Landau-liquid functional which describes the
holon - spinon interactions at all scattering orders, to study correlation
functions of integrable multicomponent many-particle problems showing both
linear and non-linear energy bands. We consider specific cases when the
dominant non-linear band terms are quadratic and apply our results to the
evaluation of the 1D Hubbard model correlation functions beyond conformal-field
theory.Comment: 10 Pages, Revte
Dual Nature of the Electronic Structure of the Stripe Phase
High resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements have been carried
out on (La_1.4-xNd_0.6Sr_x)CuO_4, a model system with static stripes, and
(La_1.85Sr_0.15)CuO_4, a high temperature superconductor (T_c=40K) with dynamic
stripes. In addition to the straight segments near (pi, 0) and (0, pi)
antinodal regions, we have identified the existence of nodal spectral weight
and its associated Fermi surface in the electronic structure of both systems.
The ARPES spectra in the nodal region show well-defined Fermi cut-off,
indicating a metallic character of this charge-ordered state. This observation
of nodal spectral weight, together with the straight segments near antinodal
regions, reveals dual nature of the electronic structure of the stripes due to
the competition of order and disorder
Lattice anisotropy as microscopic origin of static stripes in cuprates
Structural distortions in cuprate materials offer a microscopic origin for
anisotropies in electron transport in the basal plane. Using a real-space
Hartree-Fock approach, we consider the ground states of the anisotropic Hubbard
(t_x \ne t_y) and t-J (t_x \ne t_y, J_x \ne J_y) models. Symmetrical but
inhomogeneous (``polaronic'') charge structures in the isotropic models are
altered even by rather small anisotropies to one-dimensional, stripe-like
features. We find two distinct types of stripe, namely uniformly filled,
antiphase domain walls and non-uniform, half-filled, in-phase ones. We
characterize their properties, energies and dependence on the model parameters,
including filling and anisotropy in t (and J). We discuss the connections among
these results, other theoretical studies and experimental observation.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, 8 table
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