United States Department of Energy

About: United States Department of Energy is a government organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Coal. The organization has 13656 authors who have published 14177 publications receiving 556962 citations. The organization is also known as: DOE & Department of Energy.

Blockchain-Based Approach to Create a Model of Trust in Open and Ubiquitous Higher Education.

Abstract: Currently, the training of the future work force presents challenging problems to higher education. This training, in the form of practical and theoretical knowledge can come from multiple platforms, channels and means, both formal and informal. In addition, it is quite difficult to assess the knowledge skill level that a student has acquired to optimize their chances for future employability. This, together with the need to still manage academic curricula on paper, the problems of confidence when validating these documents and contrasting them with real knowledge, etc., means that management in higher education requires revolutionary new tools. This work evaluates the benefits of the blockchain (or distributed ledger) technology and advocates a decentralised model of confidence for transactions based on an academic crypto currency. In this approach blockchain is used to manage transactions of content, teaching and competencies, assessed by consensus by students, trainers and employers, to eliminate once and for all the “gap” between the academic world and the working world. This paper aims to address the current challenges of an increasingly dispersed, open and ubiquitous higher education. The proposed model can be implemented in any training institution to adapt its teaching to the specific needs of professional profiles validated by employers in the sector. This model has been validated by means of a prototype with more than acceptable results.

Actinide and lanthanide separation process (ALSEP)

Abstract: The process of the invention is the separation of minor actinides from lanthanides in a fluid mixture comprising, fission products, lanthanides, minor actinides, rare earth elements, nitric acid and water by addition of an organic chelating aid to the fluid; extracting the fluid with a solvent comprising a first extractant, a second extractant and an organic diluent to form an organic extractant stream and an aqueous raffinate. Scrubbing the organic stream with a dicarboxylic acid and a chelating agent to form a scrubber discharge. The scrubber discharge is stripped with a simple buffering agent and a second chelating agent in the pH range of 2.5 to 6.1 to produce actinide and lanthanide streams and spent organic diluents. The first extractant is selected from bis(2-ethylhexyl)hydrogen phosphate (HDEHP) and mono(2-ethylhexyl)2-ethylhexyl phosphonate (HEH(EHP)) and the second extractant is selected from N,N,N,N-tetra-2-ethylhexyl diglycol amide (TEHDGA) and N,N,N′,N′-tetraoctyl-3-oxapentanediamide (TODGA).

IMG/VR: a database of cultured and uncultured DNA Viruses and retroviruses.

Abstract: Viruses represent the most abundant life forms on the planet Recent experimental and computational improvements have led to a dramatic increase in the number of viral genome sequences identified primarily from metagenomic samples As a result of the expanding catalog of metagenomic viral sequences, there exists a need for a comprehensive computational platform integrating all these sequences with associated metadata and analytical tools Here we present IMG/VR (https://imgjgidoegov/vr/), the largest publicly available database of 3908 isolate reference DNA viruses with 264 413 computationally identified viral contigs from >6000 ecologically diverse metagenomic samples Approximately half of the viral contigs are grouped into genetically distinct quasi-species clusters Microbial hosts are predicted for 20 000 viral sequences, revealing nine microbial phyla previously unreported to be infected by viruses Viral sequences can be queried using a variety of associated metadata, including habitat type and geographic location of the samples, or taxonomic classification according to hallmark viral genes IMG/VR has a user-friendly interface that allows users to interrogate all integrated data and interact by comparing with external sequences, thus serving as an essential resource in the viral genomics community

The sex-linked recessive lethal test for mutagenesis in Drosophila melanogaster: A report of the U.S. environmental protection agency Gene-Tox program

Abstract: The test for sex-linked recessive lethals (SLRL) in Drosophila melanogaster has been used to detect induced mutations since 1927. The advantage of the test for both screening and hazard evaluation is its objectivity in testing for transmissible mutations in the germ cells of a eukaryote. Statistical criteria for both positive and negative mutagenicity at the highest concentration tested under a particular exposure condition were developed by the Work Group, and a recommended protocol for future testing was agreed upon. For 421 compounds there were sufficient data available in the literature for analysis; 198 compounds were found to be positive and 46 negative at the highest concentration tested. Most experiments had been done for objectives of pure research rather than for deliberately screening for mutagenicity, although many of the 421 chemicals were selected for testing because of suspected mutagenicity. Therefore, the statement of 198 positive and 46 negative should not be taken as an example of the proportion of mutagens in the environment. In three sets of experiments with D. melanogaster that were done specifically for screening, one involving 40 compounds for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the others involving 13 for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), only 6 mutagens were discovered. After completion of the classification of compounds according to their response in the SLRL test, the compounds were classified as to their carcinogenic response according to the list of Griesemer and Cueto (1980). There were 62 compounds that could be classified as positive or negative for both carcinogenesis and mutagenesis. Of the 62 compounds, there was agreement between the carcinogenesis and mutagenesis classification in 56 (50 positive and 6 negative), or 90% would have been correctly classified as to carcinogenesis from only the SLRL test. Because of inadequate sample size, 177 compounds could not be classified as positive or negative according to the statistical criteria established by the Work Group. This large number of inadequately tested compounds reflects the fact that many of the experiments were not done for screening. Further work is needed on the compounds with inadequate sample size.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)