Engineering Commons^™

Missouri River Recovery Program: Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

The Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC) will serve as a collaborative forum to develop a shared vision and comprehensive plan for the restoration of the Missouri River ecosystem. This committee will provide recommendations to federal, tribal, state, local and private entities in the basin on efforts to recover threatened and endangered species and restore their habitats while sustaining the river’s many uses. Section 5018 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 authorizes the Secretary of the Army to establish the MRRIC.

Missouri River Recovery Program: Shallow Water Habitat Program

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

Historically, the Missouri River was a shallow, shifting river well known for muddy waters and rapidly changing channel conditions. The dynamic river provided a wide range of depth, velocity and sediment conditions. Within this environment, the amount of shallow water habitat was quite prevalent, with estimated amounts of more than 100 acres per mile. Shallow water habitat is an aquatic area less than five feet deep where the river flows slowly – less than two feet per second.

Over the years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been charged by Congress to remove snags, protect banks, construct navigation channels …

Missouri River Recovery Program: Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan (Mrerp)

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

The Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan (MRERP) and Missouri River
Recovery Program (MRRP) are complementary efforts led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect, recover and restore the Missouri River ecosystem and its native species. The MRERP will provide a long-term, focused analysis of basin-wide restoration, mitigation and recovery needs of the Missouri River for the next 30 years. It will provide a comprehensive perspective to accomplish restoration objectives and reduce conflict over scarce resources while balancing the river’s social, economic and cultural values.

Effective Elution Of Rdx And Tnt From Particles Of Comp B In Surface Soil, John S. Furey, Herbert L. Fredrickson, Margaret J. Richmond, Michael Michel

United States Army: Publications

During live fire training exercises, large amounts of explosives are consumed. Low order detonations of high explosive payloads result in the patchy dispersal of particles of high explosive formulations over large areas of firing range soils. Dissolution of explosives from explosive formulation particles into soil pore water is a controlling factor for transport, fate, and effects of explosive compounds. We developed an empirical method to evaluate soils based on functionally defined effective dissolution rates. An automated Accelerated Solvent Extractor was used to determine the effective elution rates under controlled conditions of RDX and TNT from soil columns containing particles of …

Detection Of The Superoxide Radical Anion Using Various Alkanethiol Monolayers And Immobilized Cytochrome C, Xiaojun J. Chen, Alan C. West, Donald M. Cropek, Scott Banta

United States Army: Publications

The superoxide radical anion (SO) is a critical biomarker for monitoring cellular stress responses. Electrochemical SO biosensors are frequently constructed through the covalent immobilization of cytochrome c (Cyt c) onto self-assembled monolayers (SAMs); however, a detailed comparison of these systems as well as configuration influence on SO detection is needed to enable robust applications. Two reaction pathways, oxidation of SO by the SAM-modified gold electrode or electron transfer through a protein and monolayer relay, may be involved during the electrochemical detection of SO with Cyt c, depending on the SAM that is used. Although electrodes with SAMs alone can exhibit …

Phase 2a Trial Of 0, 1, And 3 Month And 0, 7, And 28 Day Immunization Schedules Of Malaria Vaccine Rts,S/As02 In Malaria-Naive Adults At The Walter Reed Army Institute Of Research, Kent E. Kester, James F. Cummings, Christian F. Ockenhouse, Robin Nielsen, B. Ted Hall, Daniel M. Gordon, Robert J. Schwenk, Urszula Krzych, Carolyn A. Holland, Gregory Richmond, Megan G. Dowler, Jackie Williams, Robert A. Wirtz, Nadia Tornieporth, Laurence Vigneron, Martine Delchambre, Marie-Ange Demoitie, W. Ripley Ballou, Joe Cohen, D. Gray Heppner Jr.

United States Army: Publications

Background: Immunization with RTS,S/AS02 consistently protects some vaccinees against malaria infection in experimental challenges and in field trials. A brief immunization schedule against falciparum malaria would be compatible with the Expanded Programme on Immunization, or in combination with other prevention measures, interrupt epidemic malaria or protect individuals upon sudden travel to an endemic area.
Methods: We conducted an open label, Phase 2a trial of two different full dose schedules of RTS,S/AS02 in 40 healthy malaria-naıve adults. Cohort 1 (n = 20) was immunized on a 0, 1, and 3 month schedule and Cohort 2 (n = 20) on a 0, …

Vietnam: Historians At War, Mark Moyar

United States Army: Publications

By the early 1990s, when I began studying the Vietnam War, the American public had largely lost interest in the history of that conflict. The Civil War and World War II were the wars that historians were advised to cover if they wanted to reach the public. Among government officials, military officers, and political scientists, Vietnam was considered irrelevant, because the United States would never get caught in protracted counterinsurgency warfare again. Iraq changed all that. Ever since the outbreak of insurgency in the former empire of Saddam Hussein, people of all persuasions have been mining the history of Vietnam …

Influenza Immunization And Subsequent Diagnoses Of Group A Streptococcus-Illnesses Among U.S. Army Trainees, 2002–2006, Seung-Eun Lee, Angelia Eick, Michael S. Bloom, John F. Brundage

United States Army: Publications

To assess the association between influenza immunization and subsequent diagnosis of group A streptococcus (GAS)-illness in Army recruits during influenza seasons 2002–2006. A case–control study was employed with cases as trainees with outpatient GAS diagnosis (ICD-9-CM codes: 034.0, 035, 038.0, 041.01, 320.2, 390–392, 482.31) during the influenza season, and controls as trainees with no outpatient GAS diagnosis during the influenza season. Primary exposure was influenza immunization during 1st September to 30th April of each season. Estimated protective effects of influenza immunization against GAS-illness ranged from 50% to 77%. A strong protective effect was suggested for Army trainee influenza immunization on …

Utility Of Lipid Biomarkers In Support Of Bioremediation Efforts At Army Sites, D. Ringelberg, M. Richmond, K. Foley, C. Reynolds

United States Army: Publications

Lipid biomarker analysis has proven valuable in testing the hypothesis that attributes of the extant microbiota can directly reflect the occurrence of contaminant biodegradation. Two past research efforts have demonstrated this utility and are described here.
A 4.5 m vertical core was obtained from a diesel fuel oil contamination plume. Core material was assayed for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and bacterial membrane phospholipids (PLFA) via a single solvent extraction. Microbial viable biomass and the relative abundance of Gram-negative bacterial PLFA biomarkers were found to be significantly correlated with TPH concentration. The core TPH profile also revealed two distinct areas where …

"Making It Fresh - Your Choice For Performance", The Army's Hospital Foodservice Program, S. Spielmann, M. Worley, R. Harris

United States Army: Publications

To describe the Army’s new foodservice design and concept, “Making it Fresh—Your Choice for Performance” and its application for customer and patient feeding in a fixed medical treatment facility.

Moderate Zinc Restriction Affects Intestinal Health And Immune Function In Lipopolysaccharide-Challenged Mice, Daniel G. Peterson, Angus G. Scrimgeour, James P. Mcclung, Elizabeth A. Koutsos

United States Army: Publications

Zinc (Zn) is an essential nutrient that affects immune function, especially within the digestive system, although the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. This study examined the effects of short-term moderate Zn restriction on intestinal health and immune function in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged mice through plasma cytokine profiling and histological evaluation of intestinal tissue sections. Adult male mice were fed with a Zn-adequate (40 ppm) or a Zn-marginal (4 ppm) diet for 4 weeks, and then a bacterial challenge was simulated by intraperitoneal injection of LPS (10 μg/g body weight [BW]) or saline (control). BW was recorded weekly, and feed intake …

The 2008 Strategy For United States Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance And Reconnaissance, United States Air Force

United States Air Force: Publications

Since the inception of the Air Force, our Nation has asked us to create aerospace forces that no adversary could "out gun" under any circumstances. For over six decades we have answered that call. Now the Nation demands that we also create a set of capabilities that no adversary can "out smart" in the future. This strategy outlines our response in the realm of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR).
This is a new document that specifies why and how our Air Force will provide the capacity and capability for full spectrum ISR. It provides the foundation for enabling our air …

An Integer Programming Approach To Support The Us Air Force’S Air Mobility Network, Corbin G. Koepke, Andrew P. Armacost, Cynthia Barnhart, Stephan E. Kolitz

United States Air Force: Publications

The United States Air Force’s air mobility command is responsible for creating a schedule and executing that schedule for a large-scale air mobility network that encompasses aircraft with prioritized missions. Aerial ports (airports) can process or park a maximum number of aircraft, called the maximum on ground (MOG). As the schedule changes due to disruptions, such as equipment failure or weather, the MOG constraint can cause the new schedule to be infeasible. Traditionally, re-planning the channel route schedule to adhere to MOG constraints has been a manual process that usually stops after the first feasible set of changes is found, …

Conduction In Rectangular Plates With Boundary Temperatures Specified, James V. Beck, Neil T. Wright, A. Haji-Sheikh, Kevin D. Cole, Donald E. Amos

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Steady-state components of heat conduction solutions may have very slowly convergent series for temperatures and non-convergent heat fluxes for temperature boundary conditions. Previous papers have proposed methods to remove these convergence problems. However, even more effective procedures based on insights of Morse and Feshbach are given herein. In some cases it is possible to replace poorly-convergent or non-convergent series by closed-form algebraic solutions. Examples are given.

Characterization Of Aerosols Containing Zn, Pb, And Cl From An Industrial Region Of Mexico City, Ryan C. Moffet, Yury Desyaterik, Rebecca J. Hopkins, Alexei V. Tivanski, Mary K. Gilles, Y. Wang, V. Shuthanandan, Luisa T. Molina, Rodrigo Gonzalez Abraham, Kirsten S. Johnson, Violeta Mugica, Mario J. Molina, Alexander Laskin, Kimberly A. Prather

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Recent ice core measurements show lead concentrations increasing since 1970, suggesting new non automobile-related sources of Pb are becoming important worldwide (1). Developing a full understanding of the major sources of Pb and other metals is critical to controlling these emissions. During the March, 2006 MILAGRO campaign, single particle measurements in Mexico City revealed the frequent appearance of particles internally mixed with Zn, Pb, Cl, and P. Pb concentrations were as high as 1.14 μg/m3 in PM₁₀ and 0.76 μg/m3 in PM_2.5. Real time measurements were used to select time periods of interest …

Assignment Of Polarization-Dependent Peaks In Carbon K-Edge Spectra From Biogenic And Geologic Aragonite, Dong Zhou, Rebecca A. Metzler, Tolek Tyliszczak, Jinghua Guo, Mike Abrecht, Susan N. Coppersmith, P. U. P. A. Gilbert

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Many biominerals, including mollusk and echinoderm shells, avian eggshells, modern and fossil bacterial sediments, planktonic coccolithophores, and foraminifera, contain carbonates in the form of biogenic aragonite or calcite. Here we analyze biogenic and geologic aragonite using different kinds of surface- and bulksensitive X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy at the carbon K-edge, as well as highresolution scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM). Besides the well-known main π* and σ* carbonate peaks, we observed and fully characterized four minor peaks, at energies between the main π* and σ* peaks. As expected, the main peaks are similar in geologic …

Challenges In Earth System Modelling: Approaches And Applications, D.J. Erickson Ill, Robert J. Oglesby, S. Elliott, W. Steffen, G. Brasseur

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Earth system modelling has taken on increasing importance over the past several years. These models are being used to address an increasing number of environmental and global change problems of societal concern (e.g. Adams et al., 1998; Easterling et al., 2000; Foley et al., 2003). Perhaps most commonly known is the application to possible greenhouse-gas induced warming (Hoffman et al., 2005). Other compelling problems include the climatic effects of land use changes, aerosols (including sulphate emissions, and smoke from biomass burning; Erickson et al., 1995; Oglesby et al., 1999), changing trace gas fluxes, interactions and feedbacks with the global carbon …

Understanding The Grafting Of Telechelic Polymers On A Solid Substrate To Form Loops, Zhenyu Huang, Haining Ji, Jimmy W. Mays, Mark D. Dadmun

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Recent experimental and theoretical studies have demonstrated that relative to singly tethered chains, the presence of polymer loops at interfaces significantly improves interfacial properties such as adhesion, friction, and wettability. In the present study, a simple system was studied to examine the formation of polymeric loops on a solid surface, where the grafting of carboxylic acid terminated telechelic polystyrene from the melt to an epoxy functionalized silicon is chosen. The impact of telechelic molecular weight, grafting temperature, and surface functionality on the telechelic attachment process is studied. It was found that grafting of the telechelic to the surface at both …

Synthesis And Characterization Of An Abc Miktoarm Star Terpolymer Of Cyclohexadiene, Styrene, And 2-Vinylpyridine, David Uhrig, Kunlun Hong, Jimmy W. Mays, S. Michael Kilbey Ii, Phillip F. Britt

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Several research groups have expended great effort toward the preparation of miktoarm (mixed-arm) star copolymers and terpolymers. We describe herein a novel synthesis, using anionicpolymerization,ofapoly(cyclohexadiene)[PCHD]-polystyrene [PS]-poly(2-vinylpyridine) [P2VP] miktoarm star terpolymer.

Previously, miktoarm A₂B and A₃B star polydiene copolymers comprised partially of poly(cyclohexadiene) have been synthesized by Tsoukatos and Hadjichristidis by employing chlorosilane linking techniques. More recently, an ABC star terpolymer of PS, polyisoprene, and PCHD was prepared by Yang and co-workers by using meta-double-diphenylethylene-based linking chemistry.

Small Angle Neutron Scattering Study Of Conformation Of Oligo(Ethylene Glycol)-Grafted Polystyrene In Dilute Solutions: Effect Of The Backbone Length, Gang Cheng, Yuri B. Melnichenko, George D. Wignall, Fengjun Hua, Kunlun Hong, Jimmy W. Mays

United States Department of Energy: Publications

The conformation and clusterization of comblike polymers of polystyrene densely grafted with oligo(ethylene glycol) (OEG) side chains in 1.0 wt % solutions of D₂O, toluene-d₈, and methanol-d₄ was investigated as a function of the degree of polymerization (DP) of the backbone by small angle neutron scattering (SANS). Each side chain had four EG repeat units, and the DP of the polystyrene backbone varied from 8 to 85. The global conformation of the polymers in toluene and methanol was shown to assume ellipsoidal, rigid cylindrical, or wormlike morphologies with increasing DP of the polystyrene …

A New Fluorinated Polymer Having Two Connected Rings In The Main Chain: Synthesis And Characterization Of Fluorinated Poly(1,3-Cyclohexadiene), Tianzi Huang, Jamie M. Messman, Jimmy W. Mays

United States Department of Energy: Publications

The high electronegativity and small size of the fluorine atom and the high stability of C-F bonds impart interesting properties and applications to fluorine containing polymers. The unique properties of fluoropolymers include high thermal stability, improved chemical resistance, low surface energies, low coefficients of friction, and low dielectric constants. Applications of fluorinated polymers include use as noncorrosive materials, polymer processing aids, chemically resistant and antifouling coatings, as well as interlayer dielectrics. Fluorine-containing polymers can be directly synthesized via polymerization of fluorine-containing monomers or by post-polymerization modification. The latter method can be used to attach fluorinated species, such as perfluoroalkyl groups, …

Impact Of Solvent Quality On The Density Profiles Of Looped Triblock Copolymer Brushes By Neutron Reflectivity Measurements, Zhenyu Huang, Jose Alonzo, Ming Liu, Haining Ji, Fang Yin, Grant D. Smith, Jimmy W. Mays, S. Michael Kilbey Ii, Mark D. Dadmun

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Preferential adsorption of poly(2-vinylpyridine)-deuterated polystyrene-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PVP-dPS-PVP) triblock copolymers from toluene onto silicon leads to the formation of dPS loops tethered by the PVP end blocks. Using neutron reflectometry, we have determined the segment density profiles of these looped polymer brushes in toluene, a good solvent for the dPS block, and in cyclohexane at 20 °C (poor solvent), 32 °C, (near-Θ solvent), and 50 °C (marginal solvent). While the swelling behavior qualitatively agrees with that observed for singly grafted brushes, there are interesting differences in the local structural details: In a good solvent, the segment density profiles are composed of an …

Hierarchical Assemblies Of Block-Copolymer-Based Supramolecules In Thin Films, Shih-Huang Tung, Nisha C. Kalarickal, Jimmy W. Mays, Ting Xu

United States Department of Energy: Publications

The hierarchical assemblies of supramolecules, which consisted of polystyrene-b-poly(4- vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) with 3-pentadecylphenol (PDP) hydrogen-bonded to the 4VP, were investigated in thin films after solvent annealing in a chloroform atmosphere. The synergistic coassembly of PS-b-P4VP and PDP was utilized to generate oriented hierarchical structures in thin films. Hierarchical assemblies, including lamellae-within-lamellae and cylinders-within-lamellae, were simultaneously ordered and oriented from a few to several tens of nanometers over macroscopic length scales. The macroscopic orientation of supramolecular assembly depends on the P4VP(PDP) fraction and can be tailored by varying the PDP to P4VP ratio without interfering …

Association And Structure Of Thermosensitive Comblike Block Copolymers In Aqueous Solutions, Gang Cheng, Fengjun Hua, Yuri B. Melnichenko, Kunlun Hong, Jimmy W. Mays, Boualem Hammouda, George D. Wignall

United States Department of Energy: Publications

The structures and association properties of thermosensitive block copolymers of poly(methoxyoligo( ethylene glycol) norbornenyl esters) in D₂O were investigated by small angle neutron scattering (SANS). Each block is a comblike polymer with a polynorbornene (PNB) backbone and oligo ethylene glycol (OEG) side chains (one side chain per NB repeat unit). The chemical formula of the block copolymer is (OEG₃NB) ₇₉- (OEG_6.6NB) ₆₇, where subscripts represent the degree of polymerization (DP) of OEG and NB in each block. The polymer concentration was fixed at 2.0 wt % and the structural changes were investigated …

Biogeochemical Processes In Ethanol Stimulated Uranium-Contaminated Subsurface Sediments, Santosh R. Mohanty, Bharati Kollah, David B. Hedrick, Aaron D. Peacock, Ravi K. Kukkadapu, E. E. Roden

United States Department of Energy: Publications

A laboratory incubation experiment was conducted with uranium contaminated subsurface sediment to assess the geochemical and microbial community response to ethanol amendment. A classical sequence of terminal electron-accepting processes (TEAPs) was observed in ethanol-amended slurries, with NO₃^- reduction, Fe(III) reduction, SO₄^2- reduction, and CH4 production proceeding in sequence until all of the added ¹³Cethanol (9 mM) was consumed. Approximately 60% of the U(VI) content of the sediment was reduced during the period of Fe(III) reduction. No additional U(VI) reduction took place during the sulfate-reducing and methanogenic phases of the experiment. Only gradual reduction of NO …

Reduction Of Tc(Vii) By Fe(Ii) Sorbed On Al (Hydr)Oxides, T. Peretyazhko, J.M. Zachara, S.M. Heald, Ravi K. Kukkadapu, C. Liu, A.E. Plymale, C.T. Resch

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Under oxic conditions, Tc exists as the soluble, weakly sorbing pertechnetate [TcO₄^-] anion. The reduced form of technetium, Tc(IV), is stable in anoxic environments and is sparingly soluble as TcO₂ ·nH₂O_(s). Here we investigate the heterogeneous reduction of Tc(VII) by Fe(II) adsorbed on Al (hydr)oxides [diaspore (α-AlOOH) and corundum (α-Al₂O₃)]. Experiments were performed to study the kinetics of Tc(VII) reduction, examine changes in Fe surface speciation during Tc(VII) reduction (Mössbauer spectroscopy), and identify the nature of Tc(IV)-containing reaction products (X-ray absorption spectroscopy). We found that Tc(VII) was completely …

Long-Term Dynamics Of Uranium Reduction/Reoxidation Under Low Sulfate Conditions, John Komlos, Aaron Peacock, Ravi K. Kukkadapu, Peter R. Jaffe

United States Department of Energy: Publications

The biological reduction and precipitation of uranium in groundwater has the potential to prevent uranium migration from contaminated sites. Although previous research has shown that uranium bioremediation is maximized during iron reduction, little is known on how long-term iron/uranium reducing conditions can be maintained. Questions also remain about the stability of uranium and other reduced species after a long-term biostimulation scheme is discontinued and oxidants (i.e., oxygen) re-enter the bioreduced zone. To gain further insights into these processes, four columns, packed with sediment containing iron as Fe-oxides (mainly Al-goethite) and silicate Fe (Fe-containing clays), were operated in the laboratory under …

Kinetics Of Reduction Of Fe(Iii) Complexes By Outer Membrane Cytochromes Mtrc And Omca Of Shewanella Oneidensis Mr-1, Zheming Wang, Chongxuan Liu, Xuelin Wang, Matthew J. Marshall, John M. Zachara, Kevin M. Rosso, Michel Dupuis, James K. Fredrickson, Steve Heald, Liang Shi

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Because of their cell surface locations, the outer membrane c-type cytochromes MtrC and OmcA of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 have been suggested to be the terminal reductases for a range of redox-reactive metals that form poorly soluble solids or that do not readily cross the outer membrane. In this work, we determined the kinetics of reduction of a series of Fe(III) complexes with citrate, nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), and EDTA by MtrC and OmcA using a stopped-flow technique in combination with theoretical computation methods. Stopped-flow kinetic data showed that the reaction proceeded in two stages, a fast stage that was completed …

Hydrogenase- And Outer Membrane C-Type Cytochrome-Facilitated Reduction Of Technetium(Vii) By Shewanella Oneidensis Mr-1, Matthew J. Marshall, Andrew Plymale, David W. Kennedy, Liang Shi, Zheming Wang, Samantha B. Reed, Alice Dohnalkova, Cody Simonson, Chongxuan Liu, Daad A. Saffarini, Margaret F. Romine, John M. Zachara, Alexander S. Beliaev, James K. Fredrickson

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Pertechnetate, ⁹⁹Tc(VII)O₄^–, is a highly mobile radionuclide contaminant at US Department of Energy sites that can be enzymatically reduced by a range of anaerobic and facultatively anaerobic microorganisms, including Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, to poorly soluble Tc(IV)O_2(s). In other microorganisms, Tc(VII)O₄^– reduction is generally considered to be catalysed by hydrogenase. Here, we provide evidence that although the NiFe hydrogenase of MR-1 was involved in the H2-driven reduction of Tc(VII)O₄^– [presumably through a direct coupling of H₂ oxidation and Tc(VII) reduction], the deletion of both hydrogenase genes did not completely eliminate …

Electron Transfer At The Microbe–Mineral Interface: A Grand Challenge In Biogeochemistry, James K. Fredrickson, John M. Zachara

United States Department of Energy: Publications

The interplay between microorganisms and minerals is a complex and dynamic process that has sculpted the geosphere for nearly the entire history of the Earth. The work of Dr. Terry Beveridge and colleagues provided some of the first insights into metal–microbe and mineral–microbe interactions and established a foundation for subsequent detailed investigations of interactions between microorganisms and minerals. Beveridge also envisioned that interdisciplinary approaches and teams would be required to explain how individual microbial cells interact with their immediate environment at nano- or microscopic scales and that through such approaches and using emerging technologies that the details of such interactions …