BASECOL2023 scientific content

Context. The global context of making numerous data produced by researchers available requires collecting and organising the data, assigning meaningful metadata, and presenting the data in a meaningful and homogeneous way. The BASECOL database, which collects inelastic rate coefficients for application to the interstellar medium and to circumstellar and cometary atmospheres, meets those requirements. Aims. We aim to present the scientific content of the BASECOL2023 edition. Methods. While the previous versions relied on finding rate coefficients in the literature, the current version is populated with published results sent by the producers of data. The paper presents the database, the type of data that can be found, the type of metadata that are used, and the Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Centre (VAMDC) standards that are used for the metadata. Finally, we present the different datasets species by species. Results. As the BASECOL database, interconnected with the VAMDC e-infrastructure, uses the VAMDC standards, the collisional data can be extracted with tools using VAMDC standards and can be associated with spectroscopic data extracted from other VAMDC connected databases such as the Cologne database for molecular spectroscopy (CDMS), the jet propulsion laboratory molecular spectroscopy database (JPL), and the high-resolution transmission molecular absorption database (HITRAN)

ECORISK2050: An Innovative Training Network for predicting the effects of global change on the emission, fate, effects, and risks of chemicals in aquatic ecosystems

By 2050, the global population is predicted to reach nine billion, with almost three quarters living in cities. The road to 2050 will be marked by changes in land use, climate, and the management of water and food across the world. These global changes (GCs) will likely affect the emissions, transport, and fate of chemicals, and thus the exposure of the natural environment to chemicals. ECORISK2050 is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network that brings together an interdisciplinary consortium of academic, industry and governmental partners to deliver a new generation of scientists, with the skills required to study and manage the effects of GCs on chemical risks to the aquatic environment. The research and training goals are to: (1) assess how inputs and behaviour of chemicals from agriculture and urban environments are affected by different environmental conditions, and how different GC scenarios will drive changes in chemical risks to human and ecosystem health; (2) identify short-to-medium term adaptation and mitigation strategies, to abate unacceptable increases to risks, and (3) develop tools for use by industry and policymakers for the assessment and management of the impacts of GC-related drivers on chemical risks. This project will deliver the next generation of scientists, consultants, and industry and governmental decision-makers who have the knowledge and skillsets required to address the changing pressures associated with chemicals emitted by agricultural and urban activities, on aquatic systems on the path to 2050 and beyond

Collisional excitation of interstellar PN by H 2 : New interaction potential and scattering calculations

International audienc

Design of new fluorinated bridged push-pull stilbenes and preparation of LB films for second harmonic generation in the blue domain

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Design of new fluorinated bridged push-pull stilbenes and preparation of LB films for second harmonic generation in the blue domain

International audienceno abstrac

Accuracy of leptin serum level in diagnosing ventilator-associated pneumonia: a case-control study

Background. Undernutrition causes a reduction of body-fat mass and a decrease in the circulating concentration of leptin which impairs the production of proinflammatory cytokines and increases the incidence of infectious diseases. The main objective of this study was to determine whether leptin deficiency is a risk factor for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Methods. This prospective observational case-control study was conducted in a university ICU during a 2-year period. Patients with VAP (cases) were matched (1:1) to patients without VAP (controls) according to all the following criteria: age, gender, SAPS II, and duration of ICU stay before VAP occurrence. In all patients leptin, C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) were measured at ICU admission, and twice a week. In addition, in cases, leptin, CRP and PCT were also measured on the day of VAP diagnosis. Results. Eighty-six cases were matched with 86 controls. No significant difference was found in leptin and PCT levels between cases and controls. CRP level was significantly higher on the day of VAP in cases compared with controls (99 vs. 48 mg/L, P=0.001). Combination of CRP-leptin (CRP >= 78 mg/L and leptin >= 6.2 ng/mL on the day of VAP) was significantly (P=0.009) associated with VAP in univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis identified the combination of CRP-leptin (OR [95% CI] 3.08 [1.18-8.04], P=0.003), LOD score (1.27 [1.08-1.48], P=0.003), neuromuscular-blockers use (6.6 [2.03-21.7], P=0.002), and reintubation (3.3 [1.14-9.6], P=0.027) as independent risk factors for VAP. Conclusion. In our study, leptin level was not associated with VAP occurrence. Further studies are needed to confirm our results, and to define the exact inflammatory role of leptin, and its interest as a biomarker in ICU patients

Anomalous viscosity jump during the volume phase transition of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) particles

Dilute dispersions of cross-linked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgels are studied by viscosity at low stress, dynamic light scattering and microelectrophoresis. The rheological measurements at low stress demonstrate that upon heating through the volume phase transition temperature (VPTT) there is a stress-dependent increase in viscosity that passes through a maximum before falling close to the value of water. On cooling only a much smaller viscosity rise is seen in the region of the VPTT. The particle size, measured in the absence of shear, decreases smoothly on increase in temperature as the microgel transitions through the VPTT from a swollen coil to a collapsed, globular latex. The magnitude of electrophoretic mobility of the swollen coil is low but of the collapsed globule is high, consistent with a charge-stabilised polymer latex. The collapse in particle size occurs at a lower temperature than the increase in magnitude of electrophoretic mobility. The viscosity rise on heating occurs in the range of temperature over which the hydrodynamic particle size falls, then the viscosity falls as the magnitude of the electrophoretic mobility increases. We propose that the viscosity rise is a shear-induced association of microgel particles via inter-chain association and the findings are consistent with a two-stage collapse during the coil-globule transition

IGRT kV-imaging dose MC calculations validated in anthropomorphic phantoms using OSL

International audiencePurpose or Objective: While in-room Magnetic Resonance Imaging starts becoming part of radiotherapy (RT) treatments, the use of X-ray imaging equipment in Image-Guided RT (IGRT) is still growing and with it the need to evaluate the additional dose-to-organs it delivers. This study aims atverifying the accuracy of Monte Carlo (MC) calculation of the patient dose-to-organs delivered by four commercially available kV imaging systems: the XVI CBCT (Elekta), the OBI CBCT (Varian), the ExacTrac 2D-kV system (Brainlab) and the 2D-kV CyberKnife imaging system (Accuray). Simulations were validated against OSL measurements in the pediatric anthropomorphic phantom Grant (CIRS, ATOM) performed in three different clinical sites.Material and Methods: Each of the four kV-imaging systems was modeled as a Virtual Source Model (VSM) using the Penelope MC code. Such models were validated as part of a previous study using ionization chambers in water phantoms [G. Boissonnat et al., ESTRO 2017 Vienna]. In a second step, CT images of the phantom Grant were used to generate a voxelized phantom by converting the HU value of each voxel into the appropriate biological tissue (chemical composition and density). Then for each system, photons produced by the corresponding VSM were propagated in the voxelized phantom in order to obtain the 3D relative absorbed dose-to-medium map for three localizations (head, thorax and pelvis). MC-calculateddoses were calibrated in amplitude using the ratio between the air kerma measured with an ionization chamber at the isocenter and the corresponding simulated value. After calibrating OSLs in air kerma at every beam quality, OSL measurements were performed in the anthropomorphic phantom at three localizations (head and neck, thorax and pelvis). After verifying that beam quality inside the phantom was impacting OSL corrections factors of less than 5%, they were neglecting. Therefore measured air kerma values were converted into absorbed dose-in-medium values using the incoming beam quality before being compared to simulated dose values.Results: MC calculations were performed in 2 hours on a cluster of 40 CPUs with a MC uncertainty better than 5% in 1mm3 voxels. The current study highlights the possibility to reproduce absolute dose measurements using VSM-driven MC simulations with an overall agreement better than 20 % (inside the irradiation field) for all four kV imaging systems and for the three anatomical localizations as presented in Table 1.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that MC calculations based on VSMs allow obtaining reliable absolute doses for kV imaging protocols in a reasonable computing time. All these developments are currently integrated into a dedicated software for imaging dose prediction, which will also include the Tomotherapy MVCT imaging system [V. Passal et al., MCMA 2017 Napoli].This software will enable to study the magnitude of additional doses delivered by in-room X-Ray imaging positioning units during the course of a complete RT treatment