This book traces the early history of nuclear power regulation in the US. It focuses on the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the federal agency that until 1975 was primarily responsible for planning and carrying out programs to protect public health and safety from the hazards of the civilian use of nuclear energy. It also describes the role of other groups that figured significantly in the development of regulatory policies, including the congressional Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, federal agencies other than the AEC, state governments, the nuclear industry, and scientific organizations. And it considers changes in public perceptions of and attitudes toward atomic energy and the dangers of radiation exposure. The context in which regulatory programs evolved is a rich and complex mixture of political, legislative, legal, technological, scientific, and administrative history. The basic purpose of this book is to provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which inherited responsibility for nuclear safety after Congress disbanded the AEC, and the general public with information on the historical antecedents and background of regulatory issues.

In widely distributed systems generally, and in science-oriented Grids in particular, software, CPU time, storage, etc., are treated as"services" -- they can be allocated and used with service guarantees that allows them to be integrated into systems that perform complex tasks. Network communication is currently not a service -- it is provided, in general, as a"best effort" capability with no guarantees and only statistical predictability. In order for Grids (and most types of systems with widely distributed components) to be successful in performing the sustained, complex tasks of large-scale science -- e.g., the multi-disciplinary simulation of next generation climate modeling and management and analysis of the petabytes of data that will come from the next generation of scientific instrument (which is very soon for the LHC at CERN) -- networks must provide communication capability that is service-oriented: That is it must be configurable, schedulable, predictable, and reliable. In order to accomplish this, the research and education network community is undertaking a strategy that involves changes in network architecture to support multiple classes of service; development and deployment of service-oriented communication services, and; monitoring and reporting in a form that is directly useful to the application-oriented system so that it may …

There is overwhelming evidence that addiction is a disease of the brain (Leshner, 1997). Yet public perception that addiction is a reflection of moral weakness or a lack of willpower persists. The insidious consequence of this perception is that we lose sight of the fact that there are enormous medical consequences of addiction including the fact that a large fraction of the total deaths from cancer and heart disease are caused by smoking addiction. Ironically the medical school that educates physicians in addiction medicine and the cancer hospital that has a smoking cessation clinic are vanishingly rare and efforts at harm reduction are frequently met with a public indignation. Meanwhile the number of people addicted to substances is enormous and increasing particularly the addictions to cigarettes and alcohol. It is particularly tragic that addiction usually begins in adolescence and becomes a chronic relapsing problem and there are basically no completely effective treatments. Clearly we need to understand how drugs of abuse affect the brain and we need to be creative in using this information to develop effective treatments. Imaging technologies have played a major role in the conceptualization of addiction as a disease of the brain (Fowler et al., 1998a; …

As the treatment and management of HIV/AIDS continues to evolve with new scientific breakthroughs, treatment discoveries, and management challenges, it is difficult for people living with HIV/AIDS and those who care for them to keep up with the latest information on HIV/AIDS screening and testing, prevention, treatment, and research. The National Library of Medicine (NLM), of the National Institutes of Health, has a wealth of health information resources freely available on the Internet to address these needs.

The Equal Access Initiative: HIV/AIDS Information Resources from the National Library of Medicine training is designed specifically for the National Minority AIDS Council 2010 Equal Access Initiative (EAI) Computer Grants Program awardees to provide valuable health information resources from the National Library of Medicine and other reliable sources to increase awareness of the wealth of treatment information and educational materials that are available on the Internet and to improve prevention and treatment education for their clients. These resources will also meet the needs of community-based

Today's scientific challenges such as routes to a sustainable energy future, materials by design or biological and chemical environmental remediation methods, are complex problems that require the integration of a wide range of complementary expertise to be addressed successfully. Experimental and computational science research methods can hereby offer fundamental insights for their solution. Experimental facilities in particular can contribute through a large variety of investigative methods, which can span length scales from millions of kilometers (radar) to the sub-nucleus (LHC). These methods are used to probe structure, properties, and function of objects from single elements to whole communities. Hereby direct imaging techniques are a powerful means to develop an atomistic understanding of scientific issues. For example, the identification ofmechanisms associated with chemical, material, and biological transformations requires the direct observation of the reactions to build up an understanding of the atom-by-atom structural and chemical changes. Computational science can aid the planning of such experiments, correlate results, explain or predict the phenomena as they would be observed and thus aid their interpretation. Furthermore computational science can be essential for the investigation of phenomena that are difficult to observe due to their scale, reaction time or extreme conditions. Combining experimental and computational …

Geological specimens are often complex materials that require different analytical methods for their characterization. The parameters of interest may include the chemical composition of major, minor and trace elements. The chemical compounds incorporated in the minerals, the crystal structure and isotopic composition need to be considered. Specimens may be highly heterogeneous thus necessitating analytical methods capable of measurements on small sample volumes with high spatial resolution and sensitivity. Much essential information on geological materials can be obtained by using ion or photon beams. In this chapter the authors describe the principal analytical techniques based on particle accelerators, showing some applications that are hardly possible with conventional methods. In particular, the following techniques will be discussed: (1) Synchrotron radiation (SR) induced X-ray emission (SRIXE) and particle-induced X-ray emission (PEE) and other ion beam techniques for trace element analysis; and (2) Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for ultra sensitive analysis of stable nuclides and long-lived radionuclides. In most of the cases also the possibilities of elemental and isotopic analysis with high resolution will be discussed.

Geological specimens are often complex materials that require different analytical methods for their characterization. The parameters of interest may include the chemical composition of major, minor and trace elements. The chemical compounds incorporated in the minerals, the crystal structure and isotopic composition need to be considered. Specimens may be highly heterogeneous thus necessitating analytical methods capable of measurements on small sample volumes with high spatial resolution and sensitivity. Much essential information on geological materials can be obtained by using ion or photon beams. In this chapter we describe the principal analytical techniques based on particle accelerators, showing some applications that are hardly possible with conventional methods. In particular, the following techniques will be discussed: (1) Synchrotron radiation (SR) induced X-ray emission (SRIXE) and particle-induced X-ray emission (PEE) and other ion beam techniques for trace element analysis. (2) Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for ultra sensitive analysis of stable nuclides and long-lived radionuclides. In most of the cases also the possibilities of elemental and isotopic analysis with high resolution will be discussed.

Environmental health focus with training conducted as part of the United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation/National Library of Medicine HBCU ACCESS Project at Winston-Salem State University, NC on November 10, 2010.

Training update with Environmental a health focus. Training conducted as part of the United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation/National Library of Medicine - HBCU ACCESS Project at the University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC on November 2, 2010.

Training Manual updated for United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation/National Library of Medicine - HBCU ACCESS Project for Alcorn State University, Natchez, Mississippi, November 12, 2010

Training conducted as a part of the United Negro College Fund Special Programs/National Library of Medicine -HBCU ACCESS Project at Howard University, Washington, DC on November 20, 2010.

Cometabolic bioremediation is probably the most under appreciated bioremediation strategy currently available. Cometabolism strategies stimulate only indigenous microbes with the ability to degrade the contaminant and cosubstrate e.g. methane, propane, toluene and others. This highly targeted stimulation insures that only those microbes that can degrade the contaminant are targeted, thus reducing amendment costs, well and formation plugging, etc. Cometabolic bioremediation has been used on some of the most recalcitrant contaminants, e.g. PCE, TCE, MTBE, TNT, dioxane, atrazine, etc. Methanotrophs have been demonstrated to produce methane monooxygense, an oxidase that can degrade over 300 compounds. Cometabolic bioremediation also has the advantage of being able to degrade contaminants to trace concentrations, since the biodegrader is not dependent on the contaminant for carbon or energy. Increasingly we are finding that in order to protect human health and the environment that we must remediate to lower and lower concentrations, especially for compounds like endocrine disrupters, thus cometabolism may be the best and maybe the only possibility that we have to bioremediate some contaminants.

This is a report on the comebiotic bioremediation which is the most under-appreciated strategy currently available.

The HIV/AIDS Information Resources from the National Library of Medicine training is designed specifically for the UNCFSP HBCU Screening, Testing, Outreach, and Prevention (STOP) HIV/AIDS Program project members to provide valuable health information resources from the National Library of Medicine and other reliable sources to increase awareness of the wealth of treatment information and educational materials that are available on the Internet and to improve prevention and treatment education for their clients. These resources will also meet the needs of community-based organizations

This GRIPS (Geothermal Resources Impact Project Study) contains over 1700 references on a wide variety of subjects dealing directly or indirectly with geothermal development at the Geysers/Calistoga KGRA. (MHR)

EUV lithography (EUVL) employs illumination wavelengths around 13.5 nm, and in many aspects it is considered an extension of optical lithography, which is used for the high-volume manufacturing (HVM) of today's microprocessors. The EUV wavelength of illumination dictates the use of reflective optical elements (mirrors) as opposed to the refractive lenses used in conventional lithographic systems. Thus, EUVL tools are based on all-reflective concepts: they use multilayer (ML) coated optics for their illumination and projection systems, and they have a ML-coated reflective mask.

The U.S. electric power system comprises multiple distinct interconnections of generators, high voltage transmission systems, and local distribution systems that maintain a continuous balance between generation and load with impressive levels of efficiency and reliability. This critical infrastructure has served the nation remarkably well, but is likely to see more changes over the next decade than it has seen over the past century. In particular, the widespread deployment of renewable generation, smart-grid controls, energy storage, and new conducting materials will require fundamental changes in grid planning and the way we run the power grid. Two challenges in the realization of the smart grid technology are the ability to visualize the deluge of expected data streams for global situational awareness; as well as the ability to detect disruptive and classify such events from spatially-distributed high-speed power system frequency measurements. One element of smart grid technology is the installation of a wide-area frequency measurement system on the electric poles in the streets for conditions monitoring of the distribution lines. This would provide frequency measurements about the status of the electric grid and possible information about impending problems before they start compounding and cascading. The ability to monitor the distribution lines is just …

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in the Western world. The World Health Organisation estimates that 135 million people have diabetes mellitus worldwide and that the number of people with diabetes will increase to 300 million by the year 2025 (Amos et al., 1997). Timely detection and treatment for DR prevents severe visual loss in more than 50% of the patients (ETDRS, 1991). Through computer simulations is possible to demonstrate that prevention and treatment are relatively inexpensive if compared to the health care and rehabilitation costs incurred by visual loss or blindness (Javitt et al., 1994). The shortage of ophthalmologists and the continuous increase of the diabetic population limits the screening capability for effective timing of sight-saving treatment of typical manual methods. Therefore, an automatic or semi-automatic system able to detect various type of retinopathy is a vital necessity to save many sight-years in the population. According to Luzio et al. (2004) the preferred way to detect diseases such as diabetic retinopathy is digital fundus camera imaging. This allows the image to be enhanced, stored and retrieved more easily than film. In addition, images may be transferred electronically to other sites where a retinal specialist or an automated …

From the date its role in heredity was discovered, DNA has been generating interest among scientists from different fields of knowledge: physicists have studied the three dimensional structure of the DNA molecule, biologists tried to decode the secrets of life hidden within these long molecules, and technologists invent and improve methods of DNA analysis. The analysis of the nucleotide sequence of DNA occupies a special place among the methods developed. Thanks to the variety of sequencing technologies available, the process of decoding the sequence of genomic DNA (or whole genome sequencing) has become robust and inexpensive. Meanwhile the assembly of whole genome sequences remains a challenging task. In addition to the need to assemble millions of DNA fragments of different length (from 35 bp (Solexa) to 800 bp (Sanger)), great interest in analysis of microbial communities (metagenomes) of different complexities raises new problems and pushes some new requirements for sequence assembly tools to the forefront. The genome assembly process can be divided into two steps: draft assembly and assembly improvement (finishing). Despite the fact that automatically performed assembly (or draft assembly) is capable of covering up to 98% of the genome, in most cases, it still contains incorrectly assembled reads. …

A description of some of the methods used in neuroreceptor imaging to distinguish changes in receptor availability has been presented in this chapter. It is necessary to look beyond regional uptake of the tracer since uptake generally is affected by factors other than the number of receptors for which the tracer has affinity. An exception is the infusion method producing an equilibrium state. The techniques vary in complexity some requiring arterial blood measurements of unmetabolized tracer and multiple time uptake data. Others require only a few plasma and uptake measurements and those based on a reference region require no plasma measurements. We have outlined some of the limitations of the different methods. Laruelle (1999) has pointed out that test/retest studies to which various methods can be applied are crucial in determining the optimal method for a particular study. The choice of method will also depend upon the application. In a clinical setting, methods not involving arterial blood sampling are generally preferred. In the future techniques for externally measuring arterial plasma radioactivity with only a few blood samples for metabolite correction will extend the modeling options of clinical PET. Also since parametric images can provide information beyond that of ROI analysis, …

This third volume in the official history of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission covers the years of the Eisenhower Administration.

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Evaporitic environments are found in a variety of depositional environments as early as the Archean. The depositional settings, microbial community and mineralogical composition vary significantly as no two settings are identical. The common thread linking all of the settings is that evaporation exceeds precipitation resulting in elevated concentrations of cations and anions that are higher than in oceanic systems. The Dead Sea and Storrs Lake are examples of two diverse modern evaporitic settings as the former is below sea level and the latter is a coastal lake on an island in the Caribbean. Each system varies in water chemistry as the Dead Sea dissolved ions originate from surface weathered materials, springs, and aquifers while Storrs Lake dissolved ion concentration is primarily derived from sea water. Consequently some of the ions, i.e., Sr, Ba are found at significantly lower concentrations in Storrs Lake than in the Dead Sea. The origin of the dissolved ions are ultimately responsible for the pH of each system, alkaline versus mildly acidic. Each system exhibits unique biogeochemical properties as the extreme environments select certain microorganisms. Storrs Lake possesses significant biofilms and stromatolitic deposits and the alkalinity varies depending on rainfall and storm activity. The microbial community …