The Northeast Regional Cancer Institute conducted cancer surveillance in Northeast Pennsylvania using data from the institute’s population-based regional cancer registry and the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry. The results of this surveillance have been used to set priorities for research and outreach activities at the Cancer Institute and selected results have been reported to medical professionals at member hospitals and in the community. One consistent observation of this surveillance was that colorectal cancer was unusually common in Northeast Pennsylvania; incidence was approximately 25% higher than the rate published for NCI’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program. In addition, death rates form colorectal cancer in several counties in this region were above the 90Th percentile for colorectal cancer mortality in the United States. As a result of these observations, several activities have been developed to increase awareness of colorectal cancer and the value of screening for this cancer in both the lay and medical communities. Funding from this grant also provided support for a population-based study of cancer risk factors, screening practices, and related behaviors. This project continues beyond the termination of the present grant with funding from other sources. This project gathers data from a representative sample of adults residing in …

During the contract period, absolute cross sections for projectile ionization, and in some cases for target ionization, were measured for energetic (MeV/u) low-charge-state heavy ions interacting with gases typically found in high and ultra-high vacuum environments. This information is of interest to high-energy-density research projects as inelastic interactions with background gases can lead to serious detrimental effects when intense ion beams are accelerated to high energies, transported and possibly confined in storage rings. Thus this research impacts research and design parameters associated with projects such as the Heavy Ion Fusion Project, the High Current and Integrated Beam Experiments in the USA and the accelerator upgrade at GSI-Darmstadt, Germany. Via collaborative studies performed at GSI-Darmstadt, at the University of East Carolina, and Texas A&M University, absolute cross sections were measured for a series of collision systems using MeV/u heavy ions possessing most, or nearly all, of their bound electrons, e.g., 1.4 MeV/u Ar{sup +}, Xe{sup 3+}, and U{sup 4,6,10+}. Interactions involving such low-charge-state heavy ions at such high energies had never been previously explored. Using these, and data taken from the literature, an empirical model was developed for extrapolation to much higher energies. In order to extend our measurements to much …

The 100-F-43 waste site is the portion of the former discharge spillway for the PNL Outfall formerly existing above the ordinary high water mark of the Columbia River. The spillway consisted of a concrete flume used to discharge waste effluents from the 100-F Experimental Animal Farm. The results of verification sampling show that residual contaminant concentrations do not preclude any future uses and allow for unrestricted use of shallow zone soils. The results also demonstrate that residual contaminant concentrations are protective of groundwater and the Columbia River.

At the time of this writing, we have manufactured and delivered more than 25 multilayer dielectric diffraction gratings from 470-800 mm in long aperture for pulse compression on Petawatt-class,1-micron laser systems being built at government and university facilities in the U.S and elsewhere. We present statistics of diffraction efficiency and its spatial uniformity, diffracted wavefront, and laser damage results on witness gratings. We also discuss yield, failure modes, and manufacturing improvements necessary to improve upon the current state of the art.

In heated tunnels such as those designated for emplacementof radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, axial temperature gradients maycause natural convection processes that can significantly influence themoisture conditions in the tunnels and in the surrounding fractured rock.Large-scale convection cells would provide an effective mechanism foraxial vapor transport, driving moisture out of the formation away fromthe heated tunnel section into cool end sections (where no waste isemplaced). To study such processes, we have developed and applied anenhanced version of TOUGH2 (Pruess et al., 1999) adding a new module thatsolves for natural convection in open cavities. The new TOUGH2 simulatorsimultaneously handles (1) the flow and energy transport processes in thefractured rock; (2) the flow and energy transport processes in thecavity; and (3) the heat and mass exchange at the rock-cavity interface.The new module is applied to simulate the future thermal-hydrological(TH) conditions within and near a representative waste emplacement tunnelat Yucca Mountain. Particular focus is on the potential for condensationalong the emplacement section, a possible result of heat outputdifferences between individual waste packages.

Germanium, element No.32, was discovered in 1886 by Clemens Winkler. Its first broad application was in the form of point contact Schottky diodes for radar reception during WWII. The addition of a closely spaced second contact led to the first all-solid-state electronic amplifier device, the transistor. The relatively low bandgap, the lack of a stable oxide and large surface state densities relegated germanium to the number 2 position behind silicon. The discovery of the lithium drift process, which made possible the formation of p-i-n diodes with fully depletable i-regions several centimeters thick, led germanium to new prominence as the premier gamma-ray detector. The development of ultra-pure germanium yielded highly stable detectors which have remained unsurpassed in their performance. New acceptors and donors were discovered and the electrically active role of hydrogen was clearly established several years before similar findings in silicon. Lightly doped germanium has found applications as far infrared detectors and heavily Neutron Transmutation Doped (NTD) germanium is used in thermistor devices operating at a few milliKelvin. Recently germanium has been rediscovered by the silicon device community because of its superior electron and hole mobility and its ability to induce strains when alloyed with silicon. Germanium is again a …

This paper presents a novel method for determining the probability that a supernova candidate belongs to a known supernova type (such as Ia, Ibc, IIL, etc.), using its photometric information alone. It is validated with Monte Carlo, and both space- and ground-based data. We examine the application of the method to well-sampled as well as poorly sampled supernova light curves and investigate to what extent the best currently available supernova models can be used for typing supernova candidates. Central to the method is the assumption that a supernova candidate belongs to a group of objects that can be modeled; we therefore discuss possible ways of removing anomalous or less well understood events from the sample. This method is particularly advantageous for analyses where the purity of the supernova sample is of the essence, or for those where it is important to know the number of the supernova candidates of a certain type (e.g., in supernova rate studies).

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has developed into a powerful clinical tool for imaging the human body (1). This technique is based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of protons (2, 3) in a static magnetic field B{sub 0}. An applied radiofrequency pulse causes the protons to precess about B{sub 0} at their Larmor frequency {nu}{sub 0} = ({gamma}/2{pi})B{sub 0}, where {gamma} is the gyromagnetic ratio; {gamma}/2{pi} = 42.58 MHz/tesla. The precessing protons generate an oscillating magnetic field and hence a voltage in a nearby coil that is amplified and recorded. The application of three-dimensional magnetic field gradients specifies a unique magnetic field and thus an NMR frequency in each voxel of the subject, so that with appropriate encoding of the signals one can acquire a complete image (4). Most clinical MRI systems involve magnetic fields generated by superconducting magnets, and the current trend is to higher magnetic fields than the widely used 1.5-T systems (5). Nonetheless, there is ongoing interest in the development of less expensive imagers operating at lower fields. Commercially available 0.2-T systems based on permanent magnets offer both lower cost and a more open access than their higher-field counterparts, at the expense of signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) and spatial resolution. …

As the development of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography progresses, interest grows in the extension of traditional optical components to the EUV regime. The strong absorption of EUV by most materials and its extremely short wavelength, however, makes it very difficult to implement many components that are commonplace in the longer wavelength regimes. One such component is the diffractive optical element used, for example, in illumination systems to efficiently generate modified pupil fills. Here we demonstrate the fabrication and characterization of EUV binary phase-only computer-generated holograms allowing arbitrary far-field diffraction patterns to be generated.

The 1607-F5 waste site is a former septic tank, tile field, and associated pipeline located within the 100-FR-1 Operable Unit that received sewage from the former 181-F Pumphouse. Lead, gamma-chlordane, and heptachlor epoxide were identified within or around the septic system at concentrations exceeding the direct exposure cleanup criteria. Multiple metal and pesticide constituents were also identified as exceeding the groundwater and river protection cleanup criteria. The results of verification sampling demonstrated that residual contaminant concentrations do not preclude any future uses and allow for unrestricted use of shallow zone soils. The results also showed that residual contaminant concentrations are protective of groundwater and the Columbia River.

We perform linear stability calculations for horizontal fluid bilayers that can undergo a phase transformation, taking into account both buoyancy effects and thermocapillary effects in the presence of a vertical temperature gradient. We compare the familiar case of the stability of two immiscible fluids in a bilayer geometry with the less-studied case that the two fluids represent different phases of a single-component material, e.g., the water-steam system. The two cases differ in their interfacial boundary conditions: the condition that the interface is a material surface is replaced by the continuity of mass flux across the interface, together with an assumption of thermodynamic equilibrium that in the linearized equations represents the Clausius-Clapeyron relation relating the interfacial temperature and pressures. For the two-phase case, we find that the entropy difference between the phases plays a crucial role in determining the stability of the system. For small values of the entropy difference between the phases, the two-phase system can be linearly unstable to either heating from above or below. The instability is due to the Marangoni effect in combination with the effects of buoyancy (for heating from below). For larger values of the entropy difference the two-phase system is unstable only for heating …

We describe the performance of various materials used as thethermal interface between silicon to silicon and silicon to copper jointswhen operated at ~;120K and loaded with ~;20 watts of thermal power. Wefind that only the indium based silicon-to-silicon joint isreliable.

We describe an efficient implementation and present aperformance study of an algebraic multilevel sub-structuring (AMLS)method for sparse eigenvalue problems. We assess the time and memoryrequirements associated with the key steps of the algorithm, and compareitwith the shift-and-invert Lanczos algorithm in computational cost. Oureigenvalue problems come from two very different application areas: theaccelerator cavity design and the normal mode vibrational analysis of thepolyethylene particles. We show that the AMLS method, when implementedcarefully, is very competitive with the traditional method in broadapplication areas, especially when large numbers of eigenvalues aresought.

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Nephtys longosetosa is a carnivorous polychaete worm that lives in the intertidal and subtidal zones with worldwide distribution (pleijel&rouse2001). Its mitochondrial genome has the characteristics typical of most metazoans: 37 genes; circular molecule; almost no intergenic sequence; and no significant gene rearrangements when compared to other annelid mtDNAs (booremoritz19981995). Ubiquitous features as small intergenic regions and lack of introns suggested that metazoan mtDNAs are under strong selective pressures to reduce their genome size allowing for faster replication requirements (booremoritz19981995Lynch2005). Yet, in 1996 two type I introns were found in the mtDNA of the basal metazoan Metridium senile (FigureX). Breaking a long-standing rule (absence of introns in metazoan mtDNA), this finding was later supported by the further presence of group I introns in other cnidarians. Interestingly, only the class Anthozoa within cnidarians seems to harbor such introns. Although several hundreds of triploblastic metazoan mtDNAs have been sequenced, this study is the first evidence of mitochondrial introns in triploblastic metazoans. The cox1 gene of N. longosetosa has an intron of almost 2 kbs in length. This finding represents as well the first instance of a group II intron (anthozoans harbor group I introns) in all metazoan lineages. Opposite trends are observed within …

This paper discribes a synthetic low density lipoprotein(LDL) made by complexing a 29 amino acid that consists of a lipid bindingdomain and the LDL receptor binding domain with a lipid microemulsion.The nano-LDL particles were intermdiate in size between LDL and HDL andbound to LDL receptors on GBM brain tumor cells. Synthetic nano-LDLuptake by GBM cells was LDL receptor specific and dependent on cellreceptor number. It is suggested that these synthetic particles can serveas a delivery vehicle for hydophobic anti-tumor drugs by targeting theLDL receptor.

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The 116-F-16 waste site is the former Pacific National Laboratories (PNL) Outfall, used to discharge waste effluents from the 100-F Experimental Animal Farm. The results of verification sampling show that residual contaminant concentrations do not preclude any future uses and allow for unrestricted use of shallow zone soils. The results also demonstrate that residual contaminant concentrations are protective of groundwater and the Columbia River.

In this work, we propose a computationally feasible approachtodetect severe multiple contingencies. We pose a contingency analysisproblem using a nonlinear optimization framework, which enables ustodetect the fewest possible transmission line outages resulting ina systemfailure of specified severity, and the most severe system failure causedby removing a specified number of transmission lines from service.Illustrations using a three bus system and the IEEE ~;30 bus system aimto exhibit the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

A novel parallel kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) algorithm formulated on the basis of perfect time synchronicity is presented. The algorithm provides an exact generalization of any standard serial kMC model and is trivially implemented in parallel architectures. We demonstrate the mathematical validity and parallel performance of the method by solving several well-understood problems in diffusion.

We present a novel LOD (level-of-detail) algorithm to accelerate ray tracing of massive models. Our approach computes drastic simplifications of the model and the LODs are well integrated with the kd-tree data structure. We introduce a simple and efficient LOD metric to bound the error for primary and secondary rays. The LOD representation has small runtime overhead and our algorithm can be combined with ray coherence techniques and cache-coherent layouts to improve the performance. In practice, the use of LODs can alleviate aliasing artifacts and improve memory coherence. We implement our algorithm on both 32bit and 64bit machines and able to achieve up to 2.20 times improvement in frame rate of rendering models consisting of tens or hundreds of millions of triangles with little loss in image quality.

In March 1990, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) as endangered. Snake River sockeye salmon were officially listed as endangered in November 1991 under the Endangered Species Act (56 FR 58619). In 1991, the Snake River Sockeye Salmon Habitat and Limnological Research Project was implemented. This project is part of an interagency effort to prevent the extinction of the Redfish Lake stock of Snake River sockeye salmon. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribal goal for this project is two tiered: The immediate goal is to increase the population of Snake River sockeye salmon while preserving the unique genetic characteristics of the Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). The Tribes long term goal is to maintain a viable population that warrants delisting and provides Tribal harvest opportunities. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) provides funding for this interagency recovery. Collaborators in the recovery effort include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), the University of Idaho (UI), and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (SBT). This report summarizes activities conducted by Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Fisheries Department personnel during the 2005 calendar year. Project tasks include: (1) monitor limnological parameters of the …

Background: Molecular evolutionary studies of noncodingsequences rely on multiple alignments. Yet how multiple alignmentaccuracy varies across sequence types, tree topologies, divergences andtools, and further how this variation impacts specific inferences,remains unclear. Results: Here we develop a molecular evolutionsimulation platform, CisEvolver, with models of background noncoding andtranscription factor binding site evolution, and use simulated alignmentsto systematically examine multiple alignment accuracy and its impact ontwo key molecular evolutionary inferences: transcription factor bindingsite conservation and divergence estimation. We find that the accuracy ofmultiple alignments is determined almost exclusively by the pairwisedivergence distance of the two most diverged species and that additionalspecies have a negligible influence on alignment accuracy. Conservedtranscription factor binding sites align better than surroundingnoncoding DNA yet are often found to be misaligned at relatively shortdivergence distances, such that studies of binding site gain and losscould easily be confounded by alignment error. Divergence estimates frommultiple alignments tend to be overestimated at short divergencedistances but reach a tool specific divergence at which they cease toincrease, leading to underestimation at long divergences. Our moststriking finding was that overall alignment accuracy, binding sitealignment accuracy and divergence estimation accuracy vary greatly acrossbranches in a tree and are most accurate for terminal branches connectingsister taxa and least …

Mineral carbonation is a promising concept for permanent CO{sub 2} sequestration due to the vast natural abundance of the raw materials and the permanent storage of CO{sub 2} in solid form as carbonates. The sequestration of CO{sub 2} through the employment of magnesium silicates--olivine and serpentine--is beyond the proof of concept stage. For the work done in this project, serpentine was chosen as the feedstock mineral due to its abundance and availability. Although the reactivity of olivine is greater than that of serpentine, physical and chemical treatments have been shown to increase greatly the reactivity of serpentine. The primary drawback to mineral carbonation is reaction kinetics. To accelerate the carbonation, aqueous processes are preferred, where the minerals are first dissolved in solution. In aqueous carbonation, the key step is the dissolution rate of the mineral, where the mineral dissolution reaction is likely to be surface-controlled. The relatively low reactivity of serpentine has warranted research into physical and chemical treatments that have been shown to greatly increase its reactivity. The use of sulfuric acid as an accelerating medium for the removal of magnesium from serpentine has been investigated. To accelerate the dissolution process, the mineral can be ground to very fine …