Radionuclides from Windscale discharges I: Nonequilibrium tracer experiments in high-latitude oceanography

The releases of soluble radionuclides from the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Windscale represent for some artificial radionuclides a major addition to the inventories due to nuclear test fallout on the northern hemisphere…

Radionuclides from Windscale discharges II: Their dispersion in Scottish and Norwegian coastal circulation

Measurement of the concentrations of 134Cs, 137Cs, 90Sr, 238Pu, and 239, 240Pu in Scottish and Norwegian coastal waters in 1976 and 1978 provides information on dispersal pathways, transport times, and dilution in these waters of radioactive waste discharged to the Irish Sea from the Windscale nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Cumbria, U. K...

Bear Canyon Virus: An Arenavirus Naturally Associated with the California Mouse (Peromyscus californicus)

Thirty-four rodents captured in southern California were studied to increase our knowledge of the arenaviruses indigenous to the western United States. An infectious arenavirus was isolated from 5 of 27 California mice but none of the 7 other rodents. Analyses of viral nucleocapsid protein gene sequence data indicated that the isolates from the California mice are strains of a novel Tacaribe serocomplex virus (proposed name “Bear Canyon”) that is phylogenetically most closely related to Whitewater Arroyo and Tamiami viruses, the only other Tacaribe serocomplex viruses known to occur in North America. The discovery of Bear Canyon virus is the first unequivocal evidence that the virus family Arenaviridae is naturally associated with the rodent genus Peromyscus and that a Tacaribe serocomplex virus occurs in California

Fallout nuclides in Atlantic and Pacific water columns : GEOSECS data

This report contains results of measurements of the fallout radionuclides 90Sr, 137Cs , 239,240Pu , and 241Am in large volume seawater samples collected between 1972 and 1974 in the Atlantic and Pacific as part of Geochemical Ocean Sections (GEOSECS) program. The stations for which data are reported include both the North and South Atlantic oceans and latitudes north of 20° S in the Pacific Ocean. The 90Sr and 137Cs data set has been corrected by a procedure which estimates independently the analytical blank for the laboratory which made the analysis. When the data quality and spacing permit, water column inventory estimates were made for each nuclide over depth intervals appropriate to the nuclide's distribution.Funding was provided by the United States Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC02-EV03563

Evolution of the Gene Lineage Encoding the Carbon Dioxide Receptor in Insects

A heterodimer of the insect chemoreceptors Gr21a and Gr63a has been shown to be the carbon dioxide receptor in Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Comparison of the genes encoding these two proteins across the 12 available drosophilid fly genomes allows refined definition of their N-termini. These genes are highly conserved, along with a paralog of Gr21a, in the Anopheles gambiae, Aedes aegypti, and Culex pipiens mosquitoes, as well as in the silk moth Bombyx mori and the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. In the latter four species we name these three proteins Gr1, Gr2, and Gr3. Intron evolution within this distinctive three gene lineage is considerable, with at least 13 inferred gains and 39 losses. Surprisingly, this entire ancient gene lineage is absent from all other available more basal insect and related arthropod genomes, specifically the honey bee, parasitoid wasp, human louse, pea aphid, waterflea, and blacklegged tick genomes. At least two of these species can detect carbon dioxide, suggesting that they evolved other means to do so

Mechanical properties of β-HMX

Background: For a full understanding of the mechanical properties of a material, it is essential to understand the defect structures and associated properties and microhardness indentation is a technique that can aid this understanding. Results: The Vickers hardness on (010), {011} and {110} faces lay in the range of 304-363 MPa. The Knoop Hardnesses on the same faces lay in the range 314-482 MPa. From etching of three indented surfaces, the preferred slip planes have been identified as (001) and (101). For a dislocation glide, the most likely configuration for dislocation movement on the (001) planes is (001) [100] (|b| = 0.65 nm) and for the (101) plane as (101) 101~(|b| = 1.084 nm) although (101) [010] (|b| = 1.105 nm) is possible. Tensile testing showed that at a stress value of 2.3 MPa primary twinning occurred and grew with increasing stress. When the stress was relaxed, the twins decreased in size, but did not disappear. The twinning shear strain was calculated to be 0.353 for the (101) twin plane. Conclusions: HMX is considered to be brittle, compared to other secondary explosives. Comparing HMX with a range of organic solids, the values for hardness numbers are similar to those of other brittle systems. Under the conditions developed beneath a pyramidal indenter, dislocation slip plays a major part in accommodating the local deformation stresses. © 2015 Gallagher et al.; licensee Springer