Reductions in the size of the U. S. nuclear weapons arsenal resulted in the need to store large quantities of plutonium-bearing metals and oxides for prolonged periods of time. To assure that the excess plutonium from the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites was stored in a safe and environmentally friendly manner the plutonium-bearing materials are stabilized and packaged according to well developed criteria published as a DOE Standard. The packaged materials are stored in secure facilities and regular surveillance activities are conducted to assure continuing package integrity. The stabilization, packaging, storage and surveillance requirements were developed through extensive science and engineering activities including those related to: plutonium-environment interactions and container pressurization, corrosion and stress corrosion cracking, plutonium-container material interactions, loss of sealing capability and changes in heat transfer characteristics. This paper summarizes some of those activities and outlines ongoing science and engineering programs that assure continued safe and secure storage of the plutonium-bearing metals and oxides.

Weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

In this work we begin to examine the feasibility of using time-lapse seismic methods-specifically the vertical seismic profiling (VSP) method-for monitoring changes in hydrate accumulations that are predicted to occur during production of natural gas.

"This project was established to provide a means of conducting small-scale research activities on an as needed basis so that the results could be available within months of starting the specific research. This report summarizes the small-scale research activities that were conducted between September 2008 and August 2009." (p. i).

The use of genomic techniques to address ecological questions is emerging as the field of genomic ecology. Experimentation under environmentally realistic conditions to investigate the molecular response of plants to meaningful changes in growth conditions and ecological interactions is the defining feature of genomic ecology. Since the impact of global change factors on plant performance are mediated by direct effects at the molecular, biochemical and physiological scales, gene expression analysis promises important advances in understanding factors that have previously been consigned to the 'black box' of unknown mechanism. Various tools and approaches are available for assessing gene expression in model and non-model species as part of global change biology studies. Each approach has its own unique advantages and constraints. A first generation of genomic ecology studies in managed ecosystems and mesocosms have provided a testbed for the approach and have begun to reveal how the experimental design and data analysis of gene expression studies can be tailored for use in an ecological context.

The goal of this program was to design, build, test, and characterize a flight qualified calibration source and monitor for a Dark Energy related experiment: ACCESS - 'Absolute Color Calibration Experiment for Standard Stars'. This calibration source, the On-board Calibration Monitor (OCM), is a key component of our ACCESS spectrophotometric calibration program. The OCM will be flown as part of the ACCESS sub-orbital rocket payload in addition to monitoring instrument sensitivity on the ground. The objective of the OCM is to minimize systematic errors associated with any potential changes in the ACCESS instrument sensitivity. Importantly, the OCM will be used to monitor instrument sensitivity immediately after astronomical observations while the instrument payload is parachuting to the ground. Through monitoring, we can detect, track, characterize, and thus correct for any changes in instrument senstivity over the proposed 5-year duration of the assembled and calibrated instrument.

Weekly newspaper from Lexington, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Lexington, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly Jewish newspaper from Houston, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

Weekly Jewish newspaper from Houston, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

Weekly Jewish newspaper from Houston, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Port Aransas, Texas on Mustang Island that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Albany, Texas that includes local, county, and state news along with extensive advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Bastrop, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.

Monthly newsletter of Congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston, including news and events, upcoming services, member announcements, editorials, and other information of interest to congregants.

Weekly newspaper from Electra, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

The phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA, auxin) is important for many aspects of plant growth, development and responses to the environment yet the routes to is biosynthesis and mechanisms for regulation of IAA levels remain important research questions. A critical issue concerning the biosynthesis if IAA in plants is that redundant pathways for IAA biosynthesis exist in plants. We showed that these redundant pathways and their relative contribution to net IAA production are under both developmental and environmental control. We worked on three fundamental problems related to how plants get their IAA: 1) An in vitro biochemical approach was used to define the tryptophan dependent pathway to IAA using maize endosperm, where relatively large amounts of IAA are produced over a short developmental period. Both a stable isotope dilution and a protein MS approach were used to identify intermediates and enzymes in the reactions. 2) We developed an in vitro system for analysis of tryptophan-independent IAA biosynthesis in maize seedlings and we used a metabolite profiling approach to isolate intermediates in this reaction. 3) Arabidopsis contains a small family of genes that encode potential indolepyruvate decarboxylase enzymes. We cloned these genes and studied plants that are mutant in these genes and …

Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Dell City, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Albany, Texas that includes local, county, and state news along with extensive advertising.