A plausible link between the asteroid 21 Lutetia and CH carbonaceous chondrites

A crucial topic in planetology research is establishing links between primitive meteorites and their parent asteroids. In this study we investigate the feasibility of a connection between asteroids similar to 21 Lutetia, encountered by the Rosetta mission in July 2010, and the CH3 carbonaceous chondrite Pecora Escarpment 91467 (PCA 91467). Several spectra of this meteorite were acquired in the ultraviolet to near-infrared (0.3 to 2.2 {\mu}m) and in the mid-infrared to thermal infrared (2.5 to 30.0 {\mu}m or 4000 to ~333 cm^-1), and they are compared here to spectra from the asteroid 21 Lutetia. There are several similarities in absorption bands and overall spectral behavior between this CH3 meteorite and 21 Lutetia. Considering also that the bulk density of Lutetia is similar to that of CH chondrites, we suggest that this asteroid could be similar, or related to, the parent body of these meteorites, if not the parent body itself. However, the apparent surface diversity of Lutetia pointed out in previous studies indicates that it could simultaneously be related to other types of chondrites. Future discovery of additional unweathered CH chondrites could provide deeper insight in the possible connection between this family of metal-rich carbonaceous chondrites and 21 Lutetia or other featureless, possibly hydrated high-albedo asteroids.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures and 2 tables, Meteoritics and Planetary Science, manuscript #2225 (2016

HLA association with the susceptibility to anti-synthetase syndrome.

Objective: To investigate the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) association with anti-synthetase syndrome (ASSD). Methods: We conducted the largest immunogenetic HLA-DRB1 and HLA-B study to date in a homogeneous cohort of 168 Caucasian patients with ASSD and 486 ethnically matched healthy controls by sequencing-based-typing. Results: A statistically significant increase of HLA-DRB1*03:01 and HLA-B*08:01 alleles in patients with ASSD compared to healthy controls was disclosed (26.2% versus 12.2%, P = 1.56E–09, odds ratio–OR [95% confidence interval–CI] = 2.54 [1.84–3.50] and 21.4% versus 5.5%, P = 18.95E–18, OR [95% CI] = 4.73 [3.18–7.05]; respectively). Additionally, HLA-DRB1*07:01 allele was significantly decreased in patients with ASSD compared to controls (9.2% versus 17.5%, P = 0.0003, OR [95% CI] = 0.48 [0.31–0.72]). Moreover, a statistically significant increase of HLA-DRB1*03:01 allele in anti-Jo-1 positive compared to anti-Jo-1 negative patients with ASSD was observed (31.8% versus 15.5%, P = 0.001, OR [95% CI] = 2.54 [1.39–4.81]). Similar findings were observed when HLA carrier frequencies were assessed. The HLA-DRB1*03:01 association with anti-Jo-1 was unrelated to smoking history. No HLA differences in patients with ASSD stratified according to the presence/absence of the most representative non-anti-Jo-1 anti-synthetase autoantibodies (anti-PL-12 and anti-PL-7), arthritis, myositis or interstitial lung disease were observed. Conclusions: Our results support the association of the HLA complex with the susceptibility to ASSD.This study was partially supported by grants from the Foundation for Research in Rheumatology (FOREUM); SR-M is supported by funds of the RETICS Program [grant number RD16/0012/0009] from the `Instituto de Salud Carlos III´ (ISCIII), co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); BA-M is a recipient of a ‘López Albo’ Post-Residency Programme funded by Servicio Cántabro de Salud; VP-C is supported by a pre-doctoral grant from IDIVAL [grant number PREVAL 18/01]; LL-G is supported by funds of ISCIII, co-funded by ERDF [grant number PI18/00042]; OG is beneficiary of a grant funded by Xunta de Galicia, Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional and Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria (GAIN), GPC IN607B2019/10; EAR is partially supported by Versus Arthritis [grant number 20719] and by Scleroderma and Raynaud's UK [grant number BR11]; RL-M is a recipient of a Miguel Servet type I programme fellowship from the ISCIII, co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF, ‘Investing in your future’) [grant number CP16/00033]

HLA association with the susceptibility to anti-synthetase syndrome

Objective: To investigate the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) association with anti-synthetase syndrome (ASSD). Methods: We conducted the largest immunogenetic HLA-DRB1 and HLA-B study to date in a homogeneous cohort of 168 Caucasian patients with ASSD and 486 ethnically matched healthy controls by sequencing-based-typing. Results: A statistically significant increase of HLA-DRB1*03:01 and HLA-B*08:01 alleles in patients with ASSD compared to healthy controls was disclosed (26.2% versus 12.2%, P=1.56E-09, odds ratio-OR [95% confidence interval-CI]=2.54 [1.84-3.50] and 21.4% versus 5.5%, P=18.95E-18, OR [95% CI]=4.73 [3.18-7.05]; respectively). Additionally, HLA-DRB1*07:01 allele was significantly decreased in patients with ASSD compared to controls (9.2% versus 17.5%, P=0.0003, OR [95% CI]=0.48 [0.31-0.72]). Moreover, a statistically significant increase of HLA-DRB1*03:01 allele in anti-Jo-1 positive compared to anti-Jo-1 negative patients with ASSD was observed (31.8% versus 15.5%, P=0.001, OR [95% CI]=2.54 [1.39-4.81]). Similar findings were observed when HLA carrier frequencies were assessed. The HLA-DRB1*03:01 association with anti-Jo-1 was unrelated to smoking history. No HLA differences in patients with ASSD stratified according to the presence/absence of the most representative non-anti-Jo-1 anti-synthetase autoantibodies (anti-PL-12 and anti-PL-7), arthritis, myositis or interstitial lung disease were observed. Conclusions: Our results support the association of the HLA complex with the susceptibility to ASSD

Influence of MUC5B gene on antisynthetase syndrome

ABSTRACT: MUC5B rs35705950 (G/T) is strongly associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and also contributes to the risk of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA-ILD) and chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (CHP). Due to this, we evaluated the implication of MUC5B rs35705950 in antisynthetase syndrome (ASSD), a pathology characterised by a high ILD incidence. 160 patients with ASSD (142 with ILD associated with ASSD [ASSD-ILD+]), 232 with ILD unrelated to ASSD (comprising 161 IPF, 27 RA-ILD and 44 CHP) and 534 healthy controls were genotyped. MUC5B rs35705950 frequency did not significantly differ between ASSD-ILD+ patients and healthy controls nor when ASSD patients were stratified according to the presence/absence of anti Jo-1 antibodies or ILD. No significant differences in MUC5B rs35705950 were also observed in ASSD-ILD+ patients with a usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern when compared to those with a non-UIP pattern. However, a statistically significant decrease of MUC5B rs35705950 GT, TT and T frequencies in ASSD-ILD+ patients compared to patients with ILD unrelated to ASSD was observed. In summary, our study does not support a role of MUC5B rs35705950 in ASSD. It also indicates that there are genetic differences between ILD associated with and that unrelated to ASSD.We are indebted to the patients and healthy controls for their essential collaboration to this study. We also thank the National DNA Bank Repository (Salamanca) for supplying part of the control samples. This study was partially supported by grants from the Foundation for Research in Rheumatology (FOREUM). RL-M is a recipient of a Miguel Servet type I programme fellowship from the ‘Instituto de Salud Carlos III’ (ISCIII), co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF, ‘Investing in your future’) (grant CP16/00033). SR-M is supported by funds of the RETICS Program (RD16/0012/0009), co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). VP-C is supported by a pre-doctoral grant from IDIVAL (PREVAL 18/01). VM is supported by funds of a Miguel Servet type I programme (grant CP16/00033) (ISCIII, co-funded by ESF). LL-G is supported by funds of PI18/00042 (ISCIII, co-funded by ERDF). OG is Staff Personnel of Xunta de Galicia (Servizo Galego de Saude, SERGAS) through a research-staff stabilization contract (ISCIII/SERGAS). OG,is member of RETICS Programme, RD16/0012/0014 (RIER: Red de Investigación en Inflamación y Enfermedades Reumáticas) via Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and FEDER. The work of OG (PI17/00409), was funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III and FEDER. OG is a beneficiary of a project funded by Research Executive Agency of the European Union in the framework of MSCA-RISE Action of the H2020 Programme (Project number 734899). OG is beneficiary of a grant funded by Xunta de Galicia, Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional and Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria (GAIN), GPC IN607B2019/10

Etat des lieux des recherches ethnologiques et sociologiques sur la vallée du Haut Vicdessos

National audienc

Standalone micro-reformer for on-demand hydrogen production from dimethyl ether

Entering a new era of sustainable energy generation and consumption, micro-fuel cells are showing great po-tential for providing high energy density to consumer electronics, and micro-reactor technology can indeed enable their integration by providing hydrogen on-demand from hydrocarbons. In this work, we present the design and fully scalable wafer-level fabrication of a MEMS-based catalytic micro-reactor tested in real-life operating conditions by means of a 3D printed ceramic housing. The device consists of an array of thousands of vertically aligned micro-channels, 500 µm in length and 50 µm in diameter, for an overall superficial area per unit volume of 120 cm2 cmPeer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::7 - Energia Assequible i No ContaminantPostprint (author's final draft

A Pd/Al2O3-based micro-reformer unit fully integrated in silicon technology for H-rich gas production

This work reports the design, manufacturing and catalytic activity characterization of a micro-reformer for hydrogen-rich gas generation integrated in portable-solid oxide fuel cells (µ-SOFCs). The reformer has been designed as a silicon micro monolithic substrate compatible with the mainstream microelectronics fabrication technologies ensuring a cost-effective high reproducibility and reliability. Design and geometry of the system have been optimized comparing with the previous design, consisting in an array of more than 7x103 vertical through-silicon micro channels perfectly aligned (50 µm diameter) and a 5 W integrated serpentine heater consisting of three stacked metallic layers (TiW, W and Au) for perfect adhesion and passivation. Traditional fuels for SOFCs, such as ethanol or methanol, have been replaced by dimethyl ether (DME) and the chosen catalyst for DME conversion consists of Pd nanoparticles grafted on an alumina active support. The micro-channels have been coated by atomic layer deposition (ALD) with amorphous Al2O3 and the influence of rapid thermal processing (RTP) on such film has been studied. A customized ceramic 3D-printed holder has been designed to measure the specific hydrogen production rates, DME conversion and selectivity profiles of such catalyst at different temperatures

Exposure to micro(nano)plastics polymers in water stored in single-use plastic bottles

Human exposure to micro (nano)plastics (MNPLs) has become a significant concern as a potential health threat. Exposure routes include ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact, being food and drinking water the primary sources of oral exposure. Here we present the quantification of polymers of MNPLs particles from 700 nm to 20 μm in bottled water commercialised in Spain, including an estimation of the potential risk for daily consumers. We evaluated samples from 20 popular brands in 0.5 and 1.5 L plastic bottles. A double-suspect screening approach developed and validated in our research group for drinking water was adapted for bottled water samples. The identification and quantification of MNPLs-polymers in mass units and the tentative identification of plastic additives (PA) until the second level of confidence was carried out based on high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS). The results showed the presence of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene terephthalate (PET) in the samples. Among them, PE was the most frequently detected and quantified polymer (55% of samples) followed by PET which was detected in 33% of the samples and showing the highest concentration (4700 ng L-1). The median value of the sum of polymer concentrations was 359 ng L-1. In addition, 28 plastic additives were detected, where at least one of them was present in 100% of the samples. Stabilizers and plasticisers were the most frequently identified. A prioritisation study was performed using a multi-QSAR modelling software, where bis(2-ethylhexyl) adipate and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate were estimated as the most potentially harmful compounds for human health. Overall, findings suggest that bottled water is a non-negligible route to exposure to MNPLs.This work was supported by IMAGE research project (PID 2020-116789RB) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Albert Vega-Herrera and Maria Garcia-Torné thank their grants PRE 2018-083989 and PRE 2021-099409 respectively from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. The authors also thank R. Chaler and A. García for their technical support during the analyses carried out by HPLC-HRMS. The authors thank Generalitat de Catalunya through Consolidated Research Group ON-HEALTH 2021 SGR 01150. IDAEA-CSIC is a Severo Ochoa Centre of Research Excellence (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; Project CEX 2018-000794-S). ISGlobal acknowledges support from the grant CEX 2018-000806-S funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and from the Government of Catalonia through CERCA Program.Peer reviewe

Polymers of micro(nano) plastic in household tap water of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area

Microplastics (MPLs) are emerging persistent pollutants affecting drinking water systems, and different studies have reported their presence in tap water. However, most of the work has a focus on particles in the 100-5 µm range. Here, a workflow to identify and quantify polymers of micro and nanoplastics (MNPLs), with sizes from 0.7 to 20 µm in tap water, is presented. The analytical method consisted of water fractionated filtration followed by toluene ultrasonic-assisted extraction and size-exclusion chromatography, using an advanced polymer chromatography column coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry with atmospheric pressure photoionization source with negative and positive ionization conditions (HPLC(APC)-APPI(±)-HRMS) and normal phase chromatography HILIC LUNA® column and electrospray ionisation source in positive and negative mode (HPLC(HILIC)-ESI(±)-HRMS). The acquisition was performed in full scan mode, and the subsequent tentative identification of MNPLs polymers has been based on increasing the confirmation level, including the characterisation of monomers by using Kendrick Mass Defect (KMD) analysis, and confirmation and quantification using standards. This approach was applied to assess MNPLs in tap water samples of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (BMA), that were collected from August to October 2020 from home taps of volunteers distributed in the 42 postal codes of the BMA. Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyisoprene (PI), polybutadiene (PBD), polystyrene (PS), polyamide (PA), and polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS) were identified. PE, PP, and PA were the most highly detected polymers, and PI and PBD were found at the highest concentrations (9,143 and 1,897 ng/L, respectively). A principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to assess differences in MNPLs occurrence in drinking water, that was provided from the two drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) suppliers. Results showed that no significant differences (at 95% confidence level) were established between the drinking water supplies to the different areas of the BMA.This work was supported by IMAGE project (PID2020-116789RB) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, and by the Ajuntament de Barcelona (Institut de Cultura, Pla Barcelona Ciencia 2019. #19S01446–006). Albert Vega-Herrera thanks his grant PRE2018–083989 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. The authors also thank R. Chaler and A. García for their technical support during the analyses that were performed with the Acquity HPLC and Q-Exactive instruments. IDAEA-CSIC and ISGlobal are Severo Ochoa Centre of Research Excellence (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; Project CEX2018–000794-S, and CEX2018–000806-S, respectively).Peer reviewe

Standalone ethanol micro-reformer integrated on silicon technology for onboard production of hydrogen-rich gas

A novel design of a silicon-based micro-reformer for onboard hydrogen generation from ethanol is presented in this work. The micro-reactor is fully fabricated with mainstream MEMS technology and consists of an active low-thermal-mass structure suspended by an insulating membrane. The suspended structure includes an embedded resistive metal heater and an array of ca. 20k vertically aligned through-silicon micro-channels per square centimetre. Each micro-channel is 500 mu m in length and 50 mu m in diameter allowing a unique micro-reformer configuration that presents a total surface per projected area of 16 cm(2) cm(-2) and per volume of 320 cm(2) cm(-3). The walls of the micro-channels become the active surface of the micro-reformer when coated with a homogenous thin film of Rh-Pd/CeO2 catalyst. The steam reforming of ethanol under controlled temperature conditions (using the embedded heater) and using the micro-reformer as a standalone device are evaluated. Fuel conversion rates above 94% and hydrogen selectivity values of ca. 70% were obtained when using operation conditions suitable for application in micro-solid oxide fuel cells (micro-SOFCs), i.e. 750 degrees C and fuel flows of 0.02 ml(L) min(-1) (enough to feed a one watt power source).Postprint (published version