Analysis of the radiation produced by Z-machine nuclear experiments at Sandia National Laboratory and the materials irradiated indicate that the majority of produced radionuclides can easily be detected. One significant exception is volumetric contamination of stainless steel by iron-55. Detecting iron-55 in Z-machine components presents a particular problem due to its low-abundance and the low-energy (5.9 keV) xray it emits. The nuclide is often below the minimum detectable activity (MDA) threshold and resolution criteria of many standard radiation detection devices. Liquid scintillation has proven useful in determining iron-55 presence in loose contamination at concentrations below that of regulatory guidelines, but determination of volumetric iron- 55 contamination remains a significant challenge. Due to this difficulty, an alternate method of detection is needed. The use of radioactive surrogates correlating to iron-55 production is proposed in order to establish an estimate of iron-55 abundance. The primary interaction pathways and interaction probabilities for all likely radionuclide production in the Z-machine were tabulated and radionuclides with production pathways matching those of iron-55 production were noted. For purposes of nuclide identification and adequate detection, abundant gamma emitters with half-lives on the order of days were selected for use as surrogates. Interaction probabilities were compared between that of iron-55 production and a chosen surrogate. Weighting factors were developed to account for the differences in the interaction probabilities over the range of the known energy spectra produced on the device. The selection process resulted in cobalt-55, cobalt-57 and chromium-51 as optimal surrogates for iron-55 detection in both deuterium and non-deuterium loaded interactions. A decay corrected correlation of the surrogates (chromium-51, cobalt-57 and cobalt-55) to iron-55 for deuterium and non-deuterium loaded Z-machine driven reactions was derived. The weighting factors presented here are estimates which are based on rough comparisons of cross-section graphs. Analysis considering factors such as energy spectrum criteria to provide refined weighting factors may be utilized in future work.

I examined genetic variation for two populations of Black-crowned Night Herons using a 467 base pair region of the mitochondrial DNA. One population inhabits an environment highly impacted by industrial waste, heavy metals, and urbanization; while the other, a reference population, comes from a contaminant-free area. I observed a total of 10 haplotypes, three of which the two populations share. One individual from the contaminated site was ostensibly heteroplasmic. I found no evidence of significant genetic differentiation between the two populations. Coalescent simulation results provided evidence that both populations have undergone or are currently undergoing population expansion. The results of the biological marker I developed showed a high diversity for the ND-6 gene, making it a useful biomarker of population effects.

Thesis (M.Sc.)(Microbiology))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S. in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Philip A. Durkee, Carlyle H. Wash. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-51). Also available online.

Phosphorus (P) has long been acknowledged as a vital nutrient for living organisms and is a key factor responsible for the fresh water eutrophication. Our understanding of the phosphorus cycle has been limited by: (1) the common assumption that all P in the environment occurs primarily as phosphates and (2) by the limited analytical methods available to identify P speciation. In an attempt to understand the distribution and chemistry of phosphorus within a freshwater system we must be able to identify individual P species. To this end, we used a coupled High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) - Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICPMS) to determine concentrations of orthophosphate (+5), phosphite (+3) and hypophosphite (+1) in aqueous samples using methods modified from IC techniques developed by Ivey & Foster (2005) and Pech, et al. (2009) and Atlas et al. (in prep). The identification of different P species provides insight pertaining to contamination, bioavailability and sustainability within a freshwater system. Thirty-two individual water samples were collected from six different bodies of freshwater in the Tampa Bay area between the months of November 2012 to March 2013. The freshwater samples collected were from river and pond/swamp water locations. Two sampling sites were chosen at each location. At each site, one sample was collected from the water's surface and a second sample was collected from the sediment pore water. When depth was sufficient a third sample was obtained from the midpoint between the surface and sediment. Analytical results show that redox reactions of P occur in all freshwater samples collected as identified by HPLC-ICP-MS analysis. Our data show that the distribution and concentration of reduced P is controlled primarily by pH, and secondarily by water circulation, ORP and sediment type. Our results also imply biologic influence as a potential primary control of reduced P flux. Additional samples must be collected in order to quantify and differentiate the processes controlling P speciation. The ability to identify P speciation raises many questions concerning the validity of current methods used to measure P; other forms of reduced P may be present. Additional sample analysis will be necessary to determine how and if reduced forms of P affect the P cycle.

There are 1,305 Superfund Sites on the United States Environmental Protection Agencies National Priorities List that may require remediation due to the environmental or human health risks associated with subsurface contamination. The contaminants present at these sites and others vary with respect to their physical and chemical properties which dictate the selection of appropriate remediation technologies. In-Situ Thermal Desorption (ISTD) has been studied as a remediation technique for removing many recalcitrant contaminants from soil. ISTD involves passing electrical current through heating elements in wells and removing contaminants through heater/vacuum wells. Heating occurs by heat conduction through the soil. At high temperatures, even relatively low volatility contaminants can be vaporized, removed by vacuum and treated with an on-site recovery system. The main objective of this research was to design and test a laboratory apparatus scaled to a typical ISTD field site and to use it to conduct experiments that could be used to aid in the validation of the STARS numerical simulator. A dimensional analysis was done on the governing energy balance equation to determine the most important scaling groups for the ISTD process so the laboratory experiments could be scaled up to the field. The laboratory apparatus was modeled after a symmetry element of the hexagonal field pattern and a triangular glass prism was constructed for heated sandpack experiments. Temperature data was measured in dry sand, sand partially saturated with water, and sand with both water and PCE added to it. The apparatus was made of glass so that the behavior of the PCE contaminant could be observed when the sand was heated. / text

No description available.

Refuges of non-Bt cotton are used to delay Bt resistance in the pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella, Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), a pest that eats cotton seeds. Contamination of refuges by transgenic Bt cotton could threaten the efficacy of such refuges by increasing the relative survival of larvae that carry alleles for Bt resistance. Here I compared contamination levels in refuges of varying configuration and distance from Bt. I found two types of contamination at low rates in refuges: outcrossing by Bt pollen and adventitious Bt plants. Unexpectedly, outcrossing did not differ between refuge configurations, and did not decrease as distance from Bt fields increased, perhaps because Bt plants in refuges acted as the main Bt pollen source. Bioassays, conducted to evaluate the impacts of contamination on pink bollworm resistance, indicated that Bt plants in refuges may increase the frequency of resistance alleles at a higher rate than outcrossing by Bt plants.

A major challenge in the manufacturing of micro and nano devices is the cleaning, rinsing, and drying of very small structures. Without a technology for in situ and real-time monitoring and controlling, the rinse processes that account for a significant fraction of the total processing steps use a large amount of water and energy perhaps unnecessarily. This "blind" processing approach leads to waste that can have significant economic and environmental impacts. An electrochemical residue sensor (ECRS) has been developed and is aimed at in situ and real-time measurement of residual contamination inside the micro and nano structures. Using this technology, the mechanisms and bottlenecks of cleaning, rinsing, and drying can be investigated and the processes can be monitored and controlled.An equivalent circuit model was developed to assist the design of the sensor; its validity was proved by the first prototype. The simulation results and the experimental data predicted a good sensitivity in a wide range of operational frequency. To use the sensor in a practical rinse tank setup, the sensor-on-wafer prototype was designed and fabricated. Both the fab-scale and the lab-scale tests were performed and results illustrated many successes. The sensor is the first and the only available technology that provides the in situ and real-time cleanness information in the microstructures during the rinse processes. The sensor results distinguished four different types of rinse processes and showed high sensitivity to the ionic concentration change in the microstructures. The impacts of cleaning and rinsing parameters such as flow rate, temperature, cleaning solution concentrations, and process time on the sulfuric acid rinsing efficiency were investigated by using the sensor. The investigation discovered that sulfuric acid rinsing is a two-stage process: a flow-control stage and a desorption-control stage. A comprehensive rinse model was developed to correlate the transport process and the trench impedance that is the sensor's signal. This model combined with the experimental data proved that increasing flow rate in the overflow rinse has a low efficiency for the rinse processes controlled by the surface reactions. The model, for the first time, shows the dynamics of the charging of the silicon dioxide surface and the dynamics of the potential build-up in the solution. It also discovered that the cation rinsing is a challenge if the cation adsorbs on or reacts with the surface.

Recent theories posit that cognitive factors explain the development and maintenance of contamination fears associated with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Few studies to date have aimed to establish causality or temporal precedence for cognitions predicting OCD-relevant distress and avoidance. The current study used a prospective design to assess threat appraisals, personality traits, and obsessive compulsive symptoms in an unselected sample of university students and community members (N = 105) several days prior to a contamination behavioural approach task (BAT) in a public washroom. Results of the hierarchical regressions demonstrated that prospective danger appraisals significantly predicted both disgust and avoidance on the BAT, even when controlling for neuroticism, disgust sensitivity, and OCD symptoms. In contrast, looming germ spread appraisals and responsibility appraisals were not significant predictors of the BAT. Results from in vivo distress ratings and implicit reaction time data indicated that disgust is more strongly associated with contaminants compared with anxiety. The findings of this research suggest that psychological treatment for contamination concerns should include monitoring of disgust as a process and outcome variable in exposure paradigms, and focus on reappraisal of danger estimates related to disease in cognitive paradigms.