Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5,-triazine (RDX) is a cyclic nitramine explosive that is a major component in many military high-explosive formulations. In this study, we developed a real-time TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that targets the xplA functional gene involved in the breakdown/transformation of RDX. The xplA gene, described previously [Seth-Smith, H.M., Rosser, S.J., Basran, A.,...

The use of hydrated lime has the potential to be an effective in situ technology for the destruction and containment of explosives contamination. This was proven with the results from the SERDP project CU-1230, where it was shown to rapidly degrade RDX and TNT. However, prior to field deployment of this technology additional experimental work was required to address concerns regarding the mecha...

The focus of the research at OSU will be simulations and rate calculations of the various physical and chemical processes in the gas, liquid, and solid phases of nitro and nitramine energetic materials. The models will be based on those previously developed in the group with extensions and refinements based on the theoretical developments and results from the work of the MURI team, thus the mod...

An estimated 45 to 50 million emplaced landmines in over 60 countries kill or maim approximately 10,000 people annually. An international humanitarian demining effort is underway to eliminate this global problem. Currently, the most common in-situ mine neutralization procedure is demolition using small explosive charges such as C-4 or TNT. However, this method is not suitable for mines placed o...

Energetic materials store a large amount of chemical energy that can be readily converted into mechanical energy via decomposition. A number of different ignition processes such as sparks, shocks, heat, or arcs can initiate the excited electronic state decomposition of energetic materials. Experiments have demonstrated the essential role of excited electronic state decomposition in the energy c...

We have recently developed a new class IV charge model for calculating partial atomic charges in molecules. The new model, called Charge Model 3 (CM3), was parameterized for calculations on molecules containing H, Li, C, N, O, F, Si, S, P, Cl, and Br by Hartree-Fock theory and by hybrid density functional theory (HDFT) based on the modified Perdew-Wang density functional with several basis sets...

The list of completely sequenced microbial genomes, released in August and September of 2007 (Table 1), is relatively short. Still, it includes some remarkable environmental microorganisms, such as the sulfur-reducing crenarchaeon Ignicoccus hospitalis, host of the smallest archaeon Nanoarchaeum equitans, the soil bacterium Bacillus pumilus isolated from a supposedly sterile environment of the ...