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To assess the accuracy and applicability of an electromagnetic navigation system (EMNS) for CT-guided microwave ablation (MWA) of hepatic tumors in comparison with conventional CT-guidance.34 patients (m = 20/f = 14, mean age 34 y) with 34 liver tumors (primary = 22, metastases = 14, mean size 20 mm) referred for CT-guided MWA were included in this IRB-approved study. Interventions were performed prospectively using an EMNS in 17 patients (navigation group), and results were compared to a matched historic cohort of 17 patients using conventional CT-guidance (control group, t-test, p 0.05 deemed significant). Primary outcome measurement: accuracy of antenna placement (deviation). Secondary outcome measurements: setup time, number of control scans, duration and radiation exposure for antenna placement.Ablations were performed using a single or a double-angulated approach. Application of the EMNS was feasible in 14 cases (82%). Mean total deviation of the antenna feed point in the navigation and control group was 2.4 mm (range 0.2-4.8 mm) and 3.9 mm (range 0.4-7.8 mm), p 0.05. Mean setup time for the EMNS was 6.75 ± 3.9 min (range 3-12 min). Mean number of control scans in the navigation and control group was 3 ± 0.9 (range 1-4) and 6 ± 1.3 (range 4-8), p 0.0001; mean time for antenna placement was 9 ± 7.3 min (range 1.4-25.9 min) and 11.45 ± 6.1 min (range 3.9-27.4 min), p = 0.3164. Radiation exposure was significantly less in the navigation group.Our experience in a limited number of patients suggests that EMNS enables intuitive CT-guided MWA of liver tumors with higher accuracy when compared to ablations performed without navigation and with fewer control scans needed.

A precision thermally controlled system and the associated measurement processes have been developed to facilitate accurate characterization of 10 MHz quartz resonators for noise and anomalous frequency behavior.

During World War II, the Hanford Site in Washington became the location for U.S. plutonium production. In 2004, a bottle containing a sample of plutonium was recovered from a Hanford waste trench. Here, state-of-the-art instrumental analyses, reactor model simulations, and investigative science techniques were used to provide insights as to the origin of this unknown sample, a process collectively termed as nuclear archeology. Isotopic age dating conducted on the sample in 2007 indicated the sample was separated from the spent fuel 61.6 +/- 4.5 years earlier. The isotope (22)Na, a detectable product of a secondary nuclear reaction, proved useful as a powerful tool for nuclear forensic analysis as (1) an easily detectable signifier of the presence of alpha emitting actinides, (2) an indicator of sample splitting, and (3) a measure of the time since sample splitting. Analytical results of minor actinide isotopes and reactor model simulations confirmed the material originated from the X-10 reactor in Oak Ridge, TN. Corroborated by historical documents, we concluded this sample was part of the first batch of Pu separated at T-Plant, Hanford, the world's first industrial-scale reprocessing facility, on December 9, 1944. This sample represents the oldest known collection of man-made (239)Pu in the world.

The Tagish Lake C2 (ungrouped) carbonaceous chondrite fall of January 18, 2000, delivered 10 kg of one of the most primitive and physically weak meteorites yet studied. In this paper, we report the detailed circumstances of the fall and the recovery of all documented Tagish Lake fragments from a strewnfield at least 16 km long and 3 to 4 km wide. Nearly 1 kg of "pristine" meteorites were collected one week after the fall before new snow covered the strewnfield; the majority of the recovered mass was collected during the spring melt. Ground eyewitnesses and a variety of instrument-recorded observations of the Tagish Lake fireball provide a refined estimate of the fireball trajectory. From its calculated orbit and its similarity to the remotely sensed properties of the D- and P-class asteroids, the Tagish Lake carbonaceous chondrite apparently represents these outer belt asteroids. The cosmogenic nuclide results and modeled production indicate a prefall radius of 2.1-2.4 m (corresponding to 60-90 tons) consistent with the observed fireball energy release. The bulk oxygen-isotope compositions plot just below the terrestrial fractionation line (TFL), following a trend similar to the CM meteorite mixing line. The bulk density of the Tagish Lake material (1.64 ± 0.02 g/cm^3) is the same, within uncertainty, as the total bulk densities of several C-class and especially D- and P-class asteroids. The high microporosity of Tagish Lake samples (~40%) provides an obvious candidate material for the composition of low bulk density primitive asteroids.

On the night of March 26, 2003, a large meteorite broke up and fell upon the south suburbs of Chicago. The name Park Forest, for the village that is at the center of the strewnfield, has been approved by the nomenclature committee of the Meteoritical Society. Satellite data indicate that the bolide traveled from the southwest toward the northeast. The strewnfield has a southeast-northwest trend; however, this is probably due to the effects of strong westerly winds at high altitudes. Its very low 56Co and very high 60Co activities indicate that Park Forest had a preatmospheric mass that was at least ~900 kg and could have been as large as ~7 x 10^3 kg, of which only ~30 kg have been recovered. The average compositions of olivine and low-Ca pyroxene, Fa24.7 ± 1.1 and Fs20.8 ± 0.7, respectively, and its bulk oxygen isotopic composition, δ18O = +4.68‰, δ17O = +3.44‰, show that Park Forest is an L chondrite. The ferromagnesian minerals are well equilibrated, chondrules are easily recognized, and maskelynite is mostly ≤50 μm across. Based on these observations, we classify Park Forest as type 5. The meteorite has been strongly shocked, and based on the presence of maskelynite, mosaicism and planar deformation features in olivine, undulatory extinction in pyroxene, and glassy veins, the shock stage is S5. The meteorite is a monomict breccia, consisting of light-colored, angular to rounded clasts in a very dark host. The light and dark lithologies have essentially identical mineral and oxygen isotopic compositions. Their striking difference in appearance is due to the presence of a fine, pervasive network of sulfide veins in the dark lithology, resulting in very short optical path lengths. The dark lithology probably formed from the light lithology in an impact that formed a sulfide-rich melt and injected it into cracks.

An ordinary chondrite fall in southeast Michigan, USA (near the crossroads hamlet of Worden in northeast Washtenaw County) penetrated the garage roof of a private home on 1997 September 1. The Worden chondrite comprises silicate matrix, mineral fragments, chondrules, chondrule fragments, and opaque primary phases. Electron microprobe analyses (olivine, Fa23.9; orthopyroxene, FS20.1, En78.8, W01) indicate diagnostic L-chondrite silicate mineral compositions. Recognizable chondrules and chondrule fragments constitute up to 42 vol%. Chondrule boundaries are readily discernable (especially where chondrules have rims of opaque material) but not sharp, and discrete plagioclase crystals are visible in the devitrified mesostasis of barred olivine chondrules; together, these characteristics suggest petrologic type S. The spatially averaged ensemble of shockrelated features (optical extinction of olivine grains, minor localized shock melt) suggests assignment of a shock stage of S3. The 26 Al and 22Na activities are typical for an L chondrite. Worden fell near the most recent solar minimum in 1997, and the 22Na production rate should have been at a level approaching the maximum levels due to solar modulation of the galactic cosmic-ray flux. The low value for the Worden 22Na activity relative to those observed in chondrite falls associated with the 1969 solar maximum and 1976 solar minimum suggests a relatively small preatmospheric size. The 60Co activity confirms the indication of a small body. The 56Co activity was essentially zero, indicating that none of the recovered meteorite contained material exposed to solar cosmic rays. The Worden chondrite is the fourth documented fall in Michigan, and the fourth stony meteorite recovered in Michigan; all other Michigan meteorites are finds, not observed falls, and are iron meteorites. All Michigan falls to date are ordinary chondrites. The three falls prior to Worden were Allegan (HS) fell 1899; Rose City (HS, brecciated, black (dark matrix)) fell 1921 ; and Coleman (L6, veined (shocked); Osborn et aI., 1997) fell 1994. Worden has a much lighter matrix than Rose City, and is less extensively thermally and shock metamorphosed than either Rose City (StOffler et aI., 1991) or Coleman.

— The compositionally typical H5 chondrite St-Robert has an exposure age, 7.8 Ma, indistinguishable from that of the main cluster of H chondrites. Small values of the cosmogenic 22Ne/21Ne ratio in interior samples imply a pre-atmospheric radius on the order of 40 cm. Sample depths based on tracks and the production rates of Bhattacharya et al. (1973) range from 6 to ∼40 cm and are generally larger than depths estimated from published 60Co activities, perhaps because the track production rates adopted are too high. Depth profiles of the production rates of 14C, 36Cl, 26Al, 10Be, and 21Ne in stony material show increases with depth and reach levels 5% to 15% higher than expected from modeling calculations. The maximum concentrations in St-Robert are, however, generally comparable to those measured for the L5 chondrite, Knyahinya, whose pre-atmospheric radius of ∼45 cm is thought to lead to the maximum possible production rates in chondrites. We infer that the pre-atmospheric radius of St-Robert was within 5 cm of the value that supports maximum production rates (i.e., 45 ± 5 cm). This radius corresponds to a pre-atmospheric mass of (1.3 ± 0.4) × 103 kg. The agreement of exposure ages for St-Robert obtained in several different ways and the similarity of the depth profiles for 14C, 26Al, 10Be, and 21Ne argue against a lengthy pre-exposure of St-Robert on the parent body and against a two-stage exposure after launch from the parent body. Following Morbidelli and Gladman (1998), we suggest that St-Robert was chipped from deep in its parent body, spent the next 7–8 Ma without undergoing a major collision, was nudged gradually into an orbital resonance with Jupiter, and then traveled quickly to Earth.

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty calls for the monitoring of aerosol radionuclides throughout the globe. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed the Radionuclide Aerosol Sampler/Analyzer (RASA) for the Department of Energy to automatically collect and measure radioactive aerosols from the atmosphere. The RASA passes high volumes of air through a 3MTM Substrate Blown Microfiber Media (SBMF) specifically designated as SBMF-40VF. It then automatically moves the filter media in front of a high-purity germanium detector and collects a gamma spectrum. If further analysis on the filter is desired, the filter is sent to a laboratory and radiochemical analysis is performed. This paper discusses the method of dissolution of the SBMF-40VF filter media and the separation of the radioisotopes of interest.

— A 0.5 kg stony meteorite associated with a bright bolide seen over southeastern Michigan on 1994 October 20 has been recovered. The circumstances of the fall and recovery of this chondrite, named Coleman, are presented. The most likely trajectory from the observations of the event implies preatmospheric orbital parameters typical of meteorites. Gamma-ray spectrometry of the cosmogenic radionuclides showed that the recovered mass was an interior fragment of a larger body and revealed abnormally high 22Na and 26Al activity. Electron microprobe analysis yielded compositions of Fa24.1 and Fs20.3, which are consistent with an L-chondrite classification. Petrographically, the presence of chondrules, the observed mineralogy and the degree of chondrule-matrix integration suggests assignment to petrologic type 6.

— The Peekskill H6 meteorite fell on 1992 October 9. We report extensive measurements of cosmic-ray produced stable nuclides of He, Ne, and Ar, of the radionuclides 22Na, 60Co, 14C, 36Cl, 26Al, and 10Be, and of cosmic-ray track densities. After correction for shielding via the 22Ne/21Ne ratio, the concentrations of cosmic-ray produced 3He, 21Ne and 38Ar give an average exposure age of 25 Ma, which is considered to be a lower limit on the true value. The 10Be/21Ne age is 32 Ma and falls onto a peak in the H-chondrite exposure age distribution. The activities of 26Al, 14C, 36Cl, and 10Be are all close to the maximum values expected for H-chondrites. Together with cosmic-ray track densities and the 22Ne/21Ne ratio, these radionuclide data place the samples at a depth >20 cm in a meteoroid with a radius >40 cm. In contrast, the 60Co activity requires a near-surface location and/or a much smaller body. Calculations show that a flattened geometry for the Peekskill meteoroid does not explain the observations in the context of a one-stage irradiation. A two-stage model can account for the data. We estimate an upper bound of 70 cm on the radius of the earlier stage of irradiation and conclude that Peekskill's radius was