5,452 research outputs found
Occurrence and risk assessment of pesticides in a Mediterranean Basin with strong agricultural pressure (Guadiana Basin: Southern of Portugal)
The study aimed to assess the occurrence and the environmental risk of a group of 51 selected pesticides in the Guadiana Basin (a biodiversity hotspot, in the Mediterranean). The most abundant pesticides were bentazone and 2,4-D, while terbuthylazine together with terbutryn constituted the most ubiquitous pesticides. Eighteen out of the 38 pesticides detected are no longer approved in Europe, and 5 of them are included in the list of priority substances. The risk assessment showed that azinphos ethyl, diflufenican, irganol, imidacloprid, and oxadiazon occurred occasionally, but always in concentrations above their respective ecotoxicological threshold value. Contrary, bentazone, terbuthylazine, and terbutryn presented a high risk in most of the sampled locations and periods.
The site-specific risk assessment showed a spatial and temporal pattern, with a higher risk occurring mainly in
intermittent streams, in the drought period. The presence of pesticides banned from the EU market since 2009
showed the importance of improving the monitoring process, to identify the main sources of pollution and the
fate of these emerging compounds. The results showed the need of implementing actions to improve the sustainable use of pesticides in agricultural areas,workingwith farmers and management entities to reduce the contamination of aquatic ecosystems. Transboundarywater governance is also required to solve potential transboundary contamination problems
Baterias para una movilidad sostenible: avances, retos y perspectiva
La aplicación de baterías acopladas a sistemas de conversión de energía renovable en las ciudades ayudará en gran medida a superar algunos de los retos tecnológicos para la electrificación de la red y el transporte, como la difícil accesibilidad a puntos de carga, y de coste, mejorando sus capacidades técnicas y haciendo que el sistema energético a nivel global sea más sostenible. Además, su aplicación tendrá un efecto inmediato en la salud de los ciudadanos debido a la disminución de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero a la atmósfera, así como otros contaminantes. A continuación, presentamos una revisión de los esfuerzos recientes para desarrollar nuevas tecnologías avanzados para las futuras baterías sostenibles. También destacaremos las estrategias actuales de reciclado de baterías que se aplican hacia un futuro con cero emisiones de carbono y basado en el concepto de economía circular.
The application of batteries coupled to renewable energy conversion systems in cities will greatly help to overcome some of the technological challenges for grid electrification and transport, such as difficult accessibility to charging points, and cost, by improving their technical capabilities and making the energy system globally more sustainable. Furthermore, its implementation will have an immediate effect on citizens'' health due to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, as well as other pollutants. Below is a review of recent efforts to develop new advanced technologies for future sustainable batteries. We will also highlight current battery recycling strategies that are being implemented towards a zero-carbon future based on the concept of the circular economy
The Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector (RICH) of the AMS experiment
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment to be installed on the
International Space Station (ISS) will be equipped with a proximity focusing
Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detector for measuring the electric charge and
velocity of the charged cosmic particles. A RICH prototype consisting of 96
photomultiplier units, including a piece of the conical reflector, was built
and its performance evaluated with ion beam data. Preliminary results of the
in-beam tests performed with ion fragments resulting from collisions of a 158
GeV/c/nuc primary beam of Indium ions (CERN SPS) on a Pb target are reported.
The collected data included tests to the final front-end electronics and to
different aerogel radiators. Cherenkov rings for a large range of charged
nuclei and with reflected photons were observed. The data analysis confirms the
design goals. Charge separation up to Fe and velocity resolution of the order
of 0.1% for singly charged particles are obtained.Comment: 29th International Conference on Cosmic Rays (Pune, India
Measurement of inclusive π0 production in the charged-current interactions of neutrinos in a 1.3-GeV wide band beam
In this paper, we report on the measurement of the rate of inclusive π0 production induced by charged-current neutrino interactions in a C 8H8 target at a mean energy of 1.3 GeV in the K2K near detector. Out of a sample of 11606 charged-current neutrino interactions, we select 479 π0 events with two reconstructed photons. We find that the cross section for the inclusive π0 production relative to the charged-current quasielastic cross section is σCCπ0σCCQE=0. 426±0.032(stat)±0.035(syst). The energy-dependent cross section ratio is also measured. The results are consistent with previous experiments for exclusive channels on different targets. © 2011 American Physical Society
Experimental study of the atmospheric neutrino backgrounds for proton decay to positron and neutral pion searches in water Cherenkov detectors
The atmospheric neutrino background for proton decay to positron and neutral
pion in ring imaging water Cherenkov detectors is studied with an artificial
accelerator neutrino beam for the first time. In total, about 314,000 neutrino
events corresponding to about 10 megaton-years of atmospheric neutrino
interactions were collected by a 1,000 ton water Cherenkov detector (KT). The
KT charged-current single neutral pion production data are well reproduced by
simulation programs of neutrino and secondary hadronic interactions used in the
Super-Kamiokande (SK) proton decay search. The obtained proton to positron and
neutral pion background rate by the KT data for SK from the atmospheric
neutrinos whose energies are below 3 GeV is about two per megaton-year. This
result is also relevant to possible future, megaton-scale water Cherenkov
detectors.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figure
Measurement of single charged pion production in the charged-current interactions of neutrinos in a 1.3 GeV wide band beam
Single charged pion production in charged-current muon neutrino interactions
with carbon is studied using data collected in the K2K long-baseline neutrino
experiment. The mean energy of the incident muon neutrinos is 1.3 GeV. The data
used in this analysis are mainly from a fully active scintillator detector,
SciBar. The cross section for single production in the resonance
region ( GeV/) relative to the charged-current quasi-elastic cross
section is found to be 0.734 . The energy-dependent cross
section ratio is also measured. The results are consistent with a previous
experiment and the prediction of our model.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, 7 tables. Uses revtex4. Minor revisions to
match version accepted for publication in Physical Review
Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay
channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7
TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector,
and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No
significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper
limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the
standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at
95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE
Search for New Physics with Jets and Missing Transverse Momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search for new physics is presented based on an event signature of at least
three jets accompanied by large missing transverse momentum, using a data
sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns
collected in proton--proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV with the CMS detector
at the LHC. No excess of events is observed above the expected standard model
backgrounds, which are all estimated from the data. Exclusion limits are
presented for the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard
model. Cross section limits are also presented using simplified models with new
particles decaying to an undetected particle and one or two jets
Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation
Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks
produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in
2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of
the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or
electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant
Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a
simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of
fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses
below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal
mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass
difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses
of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results
significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of
fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
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