Characterisation of solid particles emitted from diesel and petrol engines as a contribution to the determination of the origin of carbonaceous particles in urban aerosol

Solid particles emitted from diesel and petrol engines were studied using a scanning electron microscope fitted with an energy dispersive spectrometer. The soot emitted from different engines under different operating conditions differed in particle size, and the form and size of aggregates. Identification of the soot particles emitted from diesel or petrol engines in urban aerosol based on their size and morphology was found to be impossible

Direct mass measurements of 19B, 22C, 29F, 31Ne, 34Na and other light exotic nuclei

We report on direct time-of-flight based mass measurements of 16 light neutron-rich nuclei. These include the first determination of the masses of the Borromean drip-line nuclei $^{19}$B, $^{22}$C and $^{29}$F as well as that of $^{34}$Na. In addition, the most precise determinations to date for $^{23}$N and $^{31}$Ne are reported. Coupled with recent interaction cross-section measurements, the present results support the occurrence of a two-neutron halo in $^{22}$C, with a dominant $\nu2s_{1/2}^2$ configuration, and a single-neutron halo in $^{31}$Ne with the valence neutron occupying predominantly the 2$p_{3/2}$ orbital. Despite a very low two-neutron separation energy the development of a halo in $^{19}$B is hindered by the 1$d_{5/2}^2$ character of the valence neutrons.Comment: 5 page

Metabolic state alters economic decision making under risk in humans

Background: Animals' attitudes to risk are profoundly influenced by metabolic state (hunger and baseline energy stores). Specifically, animals often express a preference for risky (more variable) food sources when below a metabolic reference point (hungry), and safe (less variable) food sources when sated. Circulating hormones report the status of energy reserves and acute nutrient intake to widespread targets in the central nervous system that regulate feeding behaviour, including brain regions strongly implicated in risk and reward based decision-making in humans. Despite this, physiological influences per se have not been considered previously to influence economic decisions in humans. We hypothesised that baseline metabolic reserves and alterations in metabolic state would systematically modulate decision-making and financial risk-taking in humans. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used a controlled feeding manipulation and assayed decision-making preferences across different metabolic states following a meal. To elicit risk-preference, we presented a sequence of 200 paired lotteries, subjects' task being to select their preferred option from each pair. We also measured prandial suppression of circulating acyl-ghrelin (a centrally-acting orexigenic hormone signalling acute nutrient intake), and circulating leptin levels (providing an assay of energy reserves). We show both immediate and delayed effects on risky decision-making following a meal, and that these changes correlate with an individual's baseline leptin and changes in acyl-ghrelin levels respectively. Conclusions/Significance: We show that human risk preferences are exquisitely sensitive to current metabolic state, in a direction consistent with ecological models of feeding behaviour but not predicted by normative economic theory. These substantive effects of state changes on economic decisions perhaps reflect shared evolutionarily conserved neurobiological mechanisms. We suggest that this sensitivity in human risk-preference to current metabolic state has significant implications for both real-world economic transactions and for aberrant decision-making in eating disorders and obesity

0 k.y. depositional cyclicity in the early Eocene: Stratigraphic and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar evidence from the lacustrine Green River Formation

ABSTRACT 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating of sanidine from two interbedded tuffs reveals that the maximum average duration of depositional cycles in the Wilkins Peak Member, Green River Formation, was ϳ10 k.y., marking the first time that subprecessional cycles have been recognized in lacustrine strata. The origin of these cycles is uncertain, but may relate to a nonlinear climatic response to orbital forcing of insolation. Alternatively, regional tectonic and geomorphic controls on drainage stability may have promoted autocyclic delivery of sediment to the lake. Owing to an interaction between basin-floor relief and varying amplitudes of lake expansion, only one-third of the cycles identified near the basin center are present near the basin margin. This spatial variability in the temporal completeness of the stratigraphic record is not apparent from examination of individual localities, indicating that studies based on time-series analysis from other lacustrine systems may need reevaluation

Experimental investigation of ground-state properties of ⁷H with transfer reactions

The properties of nuclei with extreme neutron–to–proton ratios, far from those naturally occurring on Earth, are key to understand nuclear forces and how nucleons hold together to form nuclei. 7H, with six neutrons and a single proton, is the nuclear system with the most unbalanced neutron–to–proton ratio known so far. However, its sheer existence and properties are still a challenge for experimental efforts and theoretical models. Here we report experimental evidences on the formation of 7H as a resonance, detected with independent observables, and the first measurement of the structure of its ground state. The resonance is found at ∼0.7 MeV above the 3H+4n mass, with a narrow width of ∼0.2 MeV and a 1/2+ spin and parity. These data are consistent with a 7H as a 3H core surrounded by an extended four-neutron halo, with a unique four-neutron decay and a relatively long half-life thanks to neutron pairing; a prime example of new phenomena occurring in what would be the most pure-neutron nuclear matter we can access in the laboratory.</p

Structure around the island of inversion with single-neutron knockout reactions at GANIL

CERN-Proceedings-2010-001 available at http://www.fluka.org/Varenna2009/procmat.htmInternational audienceThe nuclear structure of the 31Mg nucleus has been studied with the singleneutron knockout reaction. We report on the preliminary results of an experiment performed with the EXOGAM array coupled, for the first time, to the SPEG spectrometer at GANIL.We present a provisional result for the inclusive single-neutron knockout cross section of σinc= 90(5) mb. Preliminary exclusive cross sections for the measured bound states, including the ground state, are also presented. Finally, preliminary longitudinal momentum distributions for the ground state and first excited state are also shown. These results are compared to Monte Carlo Shell-Model calculations in the sd-pf region

Structure around the island of inversion with single-neutron knockout reactions at GANIL

The nuclear structure of the 31Mg nucleus has been studied with the singleneutron knockout reaction. We report on the preliminary results of an experiment performed with the EXOGAM array coupled, for the first time, to the SPEG spectrometer at GANIL.We present a provisional result for the inclusive single-neutron knockout cross section of σinc= 90(5) mb. Preliminary exclusive cross sections for the measured bound states, including the ground state, are also presented. Finally, preliminary longitudinal momentum distributions for the ground state and first excited state are also shown. These results are compared to Monte Carlo Shell-Model calculations in the sd-pf region