Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 – August 2, 2012.

Reference EML-CONF-2009-004View record in Web of Science Record created on 2009-03-11, modified on 2016-08-08

Reference EML-CONF-2009-009View record in Web of Science Record created on 2009-03-11, modified on 2016-08-08

Biogenic nanoparticles formed by microbial reduction of uranyl and chromate were investigated in order to understand the mechanism and to design strategies for the bioremediation of Cr (VI) and U (VI) contaminated groundwater.

The stimulation of microbial populations in U(VI) contaminated sites to promote U(VI) reduction and produce biogenic mineral uraninite (UO2) is proposed as a promising strategy for remediation. The long-term success of such a strategy is contingent upon the enduring stability of UO2 in the subsurface environment, not only under anoxic conditions but also during oxidation events. Sedimentary UO2 often contain structural cation impurities that are shown to increase their stability to oxidation. By analogy, this study, considers the effect incorporation of Mn(II), a common groundwater cation, on the structure and reactivity of biogenic UO2.

Reference EML-CONF-2009-015View record in Web of Science Record created on 2009-07-05, modified on 2016-08-08

Reference EML-CONF-2009-014View record in Web of Science Record created on 2009-07-05, modified on 2016-08-08

Cost effective mechanical harvesting aids have been developed for an indoor, twentyfourpond, closed system aquaculture facility. Unlike conventional outdoor aquaculture, tilapia grownin this system are harvested and sold at live markets, thus requiring specialized harvestingequipment that maintains fish health and appearance. Using a partially submersed flightedconveyor, several high-stress, repetitive, injury inducing maneuvers have been eliminated from theprevious catch and manually lift harvesting method. The system accommodates the weighing offilled baskets, and does not induce damage to the harvested tilapia. In addition, a larger bulkcatching system has been developed which eliminates the need for the harvest crew to remove fishwith the smaller baskets. With this approach, up to 150 kg of fish can be extracted and weighed perbatch. These improvements have reduced work fatigue as well as the number or harvest crewinjuries. In addition, productivity measured as total fish harvested per worker-hour has increasedsignificantly.