Redox interactions of Tc(VII), U(VI), and Np(V) with microbially reduced biotite and chlorite

Technetium, uranium, and neptunium are contaminants that cause concern at nuclear facilities due to their long half-life, environmental mobility, and radiotoxicity. Here we investigate the impact of microbial reduction of Fe(III) in biotite and chlorite and the role that this has in enhancing mineral reactivity toward soluble TcO4 -, UO2 2+, and NpO2 +. When reacted with unaltered biotite and chlorite, significant sorption of U(VI) occurred in low carbonate (0.2 mM) buffer, while U(VI), Tc(VII), and Np(V) showed low reactivity in high carbonate (30 mM) buffer. On reaction with the microbially reduced minerals, all radionuclides were removed from solution with U(VI) reactivity influenced by carbonate. Analysis by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) confirmed reductive precipitation to poorly soluble U(IV) in low carbonate conditions and both Tc(VII) and Np(V) in high carbonate buffer were also fully reduced to poorly soluble Tc(IV) and Np(IV) phases. U(VI) reduction was inhibited under high carbonate conditions. Furthermore, EXAFS analysis suggested that in the reaction products, Tc(IV) was associated with Fe, Np(IV) formed nanoparticulate NpO2, and U(IV) formed nanoparticulate UO2 in chlorite and was associated with silica in biotite. Overall, microbial reduction of the Fe(III) associated with biotite and chlorite primed the minerals for reductive scavenging of radionuclides: this has clear implications for the fate of radionuclides in the environment

Thermal conduction in cosmological SPH simulations

Thermal conduction in the intracluster medium has been proposed as a possible heating mechanism for offsetting central cooling losses in rich clusters of galaxies. In this study, we introduce a new formalism to model conduction in a diffuse ionised plasma using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), and we implement it in the parallel TreePM/SPH-code GADGET-2. We consider only isotropic conduction and assume that magnetic suppression can be described in terms of an effective conductivity, taken as a fixed fraction of the temperature-dependent Spitzer rate. We also account for saturation effects in low-density gas. Our formulation manifestly conserves thermal energy even for individual and adaptive timesteps, and is stable in the presence of small-scale temperature noise. This allows us to evolve the thermal diffusion equation with an explicit time integration scheme along with the ordinary hydrodynamics. We use a series of simple test problems to demonstrate the robustness and accuracy of our method. We then apply our code to spherically symmetric realizations of clusters, constructed under the assumptions of hydrostatic equilibrium and a local balance between conduction and radiative cooling. While we confirm that conduction can efficiently suppress cooling flows for an extended period of time in these isolated systems, we do not find a similarly strong effect in a first set of clusters formed in self-consistent cosmological simulations. However, their temperature profiles are significantly altered by conduction, as is the X-ray luminosity.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, accepted by MNRAS, high resolution version available at http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~jubelgas/conduction.pdf. Fixed typos in eq. 20,22,2

Recent applications and potential of near-term (interannual to decadal) climate predictions

Following efforts from leading centres for climate forecasting, sustained routine operational near-term climate predictions (NTCP) are now produced that bridge the gap between seasonal forecasts and climate change projections offering the prospect of seamless climate services. Though NTCP is a new area of climate science and active research is taking place to increase understanding of the processes and mechanisms required to produce skillful predictions, this significant technical achievement combines advances in initialisation with ensemble prediction of future climate up to a decade ahead. With a growing NTCP database, the predictability of the evolving externally-forced and internally-generated components of the climate system can now be quantified. Decision-makers in key sectors of the economy can now begin to assess the utility of these products for informing climate risk and for planning adaptation and resilience strategies up to a decade into the future. Here, case studies are presented from finance and economics, water management, agriculture and fisheries management demonstrating the emerging utility and potential of operational NTCP to inform strategic planning across a broad range of applications in key sectors of the global economy

Recent applications and potential of near-term (interannual to decadal) climate predictions

Following efforts from leading centres for climate forecasting, sustained routine operational near-term climate predictions (NTCP) are now produced that bridge the gap between seasonal forecasts and climate change projections offering the prospect of seamless climate services. Though NTCP is a new area of climate science and active research is taking place to increase understanding of the processes and mechanisms required to produce skillful predictions, this significant technical achievement combines advances in initialisation with ensemble prediction of future climate up to a decade ahead. With a growing NTCP database, the predictability of the evolving externally-forced and internally-generated components of the climate system can now be quantified. Decision-makers in key sectors of the economy can now begin to assess the utility of these products for informing climate risk and for planning adaptation and resilience strategies up to a decade into the future. Here, case studies are presented from finance and economics, water management, agriculture and fisheries management demonstrating the emerging utility and potential of operational NTCP to inform strategic planning across a broad range of applications in key sectors of the global economy

Imperial Diasporas and the Search for Authenticity. The Macanese Fiction of Henrique de Senna Fernandes

As diásporas imperiais e a busca da autenticidade : A ficcção macaense de Henrique de Senna Fernandes Durante os últimos cinquenta anos, a imagem que a comunidade crióla lusófona de Macau tem dado dela mesma - os tão citados Macaenses - tem mudado gradualmente de uma identificação com a cultura portuguesa e com a missão imperial de Portugal, para uma adaptação com as realidades política e social dos anos 80 e 90. Este artigo aborda a mudança, tal como ela é vivida por um certo número de escritores e intelectuais macaenses, e no âmbito de uma contextualização teórica das diásporas e da etnicidade (nomeadamente Esman, Cohen, Smith). Este exercício serve como cortina de fundo contra a qual se focaliza, na maior parte do artigo, a obra de ficcção do principal escritor contemporâneo de Macau, Henrique de Senna Fernandes, como uma expressão da identidade cultural macaense, numa altura de tranformação social acelerada. Propõem-se analogias entre a obra de Fernandes, e mais precisamente entre as suas duas novelas, Amor e Dedinhos de Pê (1986) e A Trança Feiticeira (1993), e a ficção de fundação do século xixna América Latina, no sentido de demonstrar o significado da atracção particular do autor macaense pela área do romantismo.Imperial Diasporas and the Search for Authenticity : The Macanese Fiction of Henrique de Senna Fernandes Over the last fifty years, the self-image of the Lusophone creóle community of Macau -the so-called Macaenses - has changed gradually from close identification with Portuguese culture and Portugal's imperial mission, to an accommodation with the social and political realities of the 1980s and 90s. This paper will consider this change as expressed by a number of Macanese writers and intellectuals, and within the theoretical context of scholarship on diasporas and ethnicity (notably, Esman, Cohen, Smith). This serves as a backdrop against which to focus, in the main part of the paper, on the fiction of Macau's foremost contemporary writer, Henrique de Senna Fernandes, as an expression of Macanese cultural identity in a time of rapid social transformation. Analogies are drawn between Fernandes's work, in particular his two novels, Amor e Dedinhos de Pé (1986) and A Trança Feiticeira (1993), and the foundational fiction of nineteenth-century Latin America, in order to demonstrate the particular significance of the Macanese author's attraction to romantic plot development.Les diasporas impériales et la quête de l'authenticité : La fiction macanaise de Henrique de Senna Fernandes Au cours des cinquante dernières années, l'image que la communauté créole lusophone de Macao - lesdits Macaenses - se fait d'elle-même, est passée progressivement d'une identification étroite avec la culture portugaise et la mission impériale du Portugal, à un compromis d'adaptation aux réalités sociales et politiques des années 1980 et 1990. L'objet de cet article est d'étudier cette mutation telle qu'exprimée par un certain nombre d'auteurs et d'intellectuels macanais, et dans le cadre théorique des connaissances accumulées en matière de diasporas et d'ethnicité (notamment Esman, Cohen, Smith). C'est ainsi que se profilent, en toile de fond de la partie principale de cet article, les œuvres de fiction de l'écrivain contemporain le plus en vue de Macao, Henrique de Senna Fernandes, expression de l'identité culturelle macanaise, en pleine période de rapide transformation sociale. Nous établirons sur cette base, des analogies entre les œuvres de Fernandes, et notamment ses deux romans, Amor e Dedinhos de Pé (1986) et A Trança Feiticeira (1993), et la fiction fondatrice latino-américaine du dix-neuvième siècle, afin de démontrer l'importance particulière du penchant de l'écrivain macanais pour un développement romantique de l'intrigue.Brookshaw David. Imperial Diasporas and the Search for Authenticity. The Macanese Fiction of Henrique de Senna Fernandes. In: Lusotopie, n°7, 2000. Lusophonies asiatiques, Asiatiques en lusophonies. pp. 271-282

Imperial Diasporas and the Search for Authenticity. The Macanese Fiction of Henrique de Senna Fernandes

As diásporas imperiais e a busca da autenticidade : A ficcção macaense de Henrique de Senna Fernandes Durante os últimos cinquenta anos, a imagem que a comunidade crióla lusófona de Macau tem dado dela mesma - os tão citados Macaenses - tem mudado gradualmente de uma identificação com a cultura portuguesa e com a missão imperial de Portugal, para uma adaptação com as realidades política e social dos anos 80 e 90. Este artigo aborda a mudança, tal como ela é vivida por um certo número de escritores e intelectuais macaenses, e no âmbito de uma contextualização teórica das diásporas e da etnicidade (nomeadamente Esman, Cohen, Smith). Este exercício serve como cortina de fundo contra a qual se focaliza, na maior parte do artigo, a obra de ficcção do principal escritor contemporâneo de Macau, Henrique de Senna Fernandes, como uma expressão da identidade cultural macaense, numa altura de tranformação social acelerada. Propõem-se analogias entre a obra de Fernandes, e mais precisamente entre as suas duas novelas, Amor e Dedinhos de Pê (1986) e A Trança Feiticeira (1993), e a ficção de fundação do século xixna América Latina, no sentido de demonstrar o significado da atracção particular do autor macaense pela área do romantismo.Imperial Diasporas and the Search for Authenticity : The Macanese Fiction of Henrique de Senna Fernandes Over the last fifty years, the self-image of the Lusophone creóle community of Macau -the so-called Macaenses - has changed gradually from close identification with Portuguese culture and Portugal's imperial mission, to an accommodation with the social and political realities of the 1980s and 90s. This paper will consider this change as expressed by a number of Macanese writers and intellectuals, and within the theoretical context of scholarship on diasporas and ethnicity (notably, Esman, Cohen, Smith). This serves as a backdrop against which to focus, in the main part of the paper, on the fiction of Macau's foremost contemporary writer, Henrique de Senna Fernandes, as an expression of Macanese cultural identity in a time of rapid social transformation. Analogies are drawn between Fernandes's work, in particular his two novels, Amor e Dedinhos de Pé (1986) and A Trança Feiticeira (1993), and the foundational fiction of nineteenth-century Latin America, in order to demonstrate the particular significance of the Macanese author's attraction to romantic plot development.Les diasporas impériales et la quête de l'authenticité : La fiction macanaise de Henrique de Senna Fernandes Au cours des cinquante dernières années, l'image que la communauté créole lusophone de Macao - lesdits Macaenses - se fait d'elle-même, est passée progressivement d'une identification étroite avec la culture portugaise et la mission impériale du Portugal, à un compromis d'adaptation aux réalités sociales et politiques des années 1980 et 1990. L'objet de cet article est d'étudier cette mutation telle qu'exprimée par un certain nombre d'auteurs et d'intellectuels macanais, et dans le cadre théorique des connaissances accumulées en matière de diasporas et d'ethnicité (notamment Esman, Cohen, Smith). C'est ainsi que se profilent, en toile de fond de la partie principale de cet article, les œuvres de fiction de l'écrivain contemporain le plus en vue de Macao, Henrique de Senna Fernandes, expression de l'identité culturelle macanaise, en pleine période de rapide transformation sociale. Nous établirons sur cette base, des analogies entre les œuvres de Fernandes, et notamment ses deux romans, Amor e Dedinhos de Pé (1986) et A Trança Feiticeira (1993), et la fiction fondatrice latino-américaine du dix-neuvième siècle, afin de démontrer l'importance particulière du penchant de l'écrivain macanais pour un développement romantique de l'intrigue.Brookshaw David. Imperial Diasporas and the Search for Authenticity. The Macanese Fiction of Henrique de Senna Fernandes. In: Lusotopie, n°7, 2000. Lusophonies asiatiques, Asiatiques en lusophonies. pp. 271-282

A busca da Identidade regional e individual em Chiquinho e o movimento da Claridade

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