637 research outputs found
Effects of a glyphosate-based herbicide on soil animal trophic groups and associated ecosystem functioning in a northern agricultural field
Despite an increasing concern of consequences of using vast amounts of glyphosate-based herbicides in agroecosystems, their potential effects on non-target soil organisms and soil functioning are mostly unknown. It has also been argued that fields in northern latitudes should be under special surveillance as the short active period of decomposers may restrict glyphosate degradation. We investigated the effects of a glyphosate- based herbicide, Roundup, on the abundance of enchytraeids and nematodes, both essential groups in decomposer food webs, and plant litter mass loss and soil availability of mineral N in a two-year agricultural field setting in south-west Finland. Our experiment consisted of (1) non-treated weed plots, (2) plots, where weeds were killed by hoeing, and (3) plots treated with both Roundup and hoeing. We found that killing plants by hoeing had drastic effects on soil fauna and functioning, and apparently, distinguishing these effects from direct glyphosate effects is profoundly important when evaluating glyphosate risks in soils. In contrast, the effects of Roundup on soil fauna and functioning were minor and transient and no glyphosate remains were found in the soil at the end of the experiment. These results suggest that side-effects can be minor and glyphosate degradation effective also in soil under northern climatic conditions
Relationships between geomagnetic Ар-indeх and parameters of the immunity in patients with neuroendocrine-immune complex dysfunction in former sportsmen
Background. The effect of geomagnetism on human immunity has so far been studied through long-term observations. Recently, we have been detected the immediate immunotropic effects of the disturbances of the geomagnetic field (Ap-index) at multiple sclerosis patients. The aim of this study was to identify the immunotropic effects of geomagnetism on another contingent of people. Material and methods. The object of observation were 21 men (24-63 y) and 20 women (33-62 y) with neuroendocrine-immune complex dysfunction. Each patient was tested twice with an interval of 4 days. Observations were carried out on 09.06. and 13.06. 2015, 14.09 and 18.09. 2015, 27-28.03. and 04-05.04. 2018, 28.01. and 01.02. 2019. Retrospectively we recorded the geomagnetic Ap-Index on the day of testing and during the previous 7 days, using resource https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/. The content of subpopulations of lymphocytes expressing CD3, CD4, CD25, CD8, CD22 and CD56 receptors as well as the serum concentration of circulating immune complexes, immunoglobulins classes M, G, A, C-reactive protein and IL-1β was determined. The state of phagocytic function of neutrophils estimated by microbial count and phagocytic and killing indices against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Results. During the week, the average level of Ap-index ranged from 7 to 13 nT. Maximum coefficients of multiple correlation with immunity parameters were detected for Ap-index on the eve of blood sampling (R=0,768) and 5 days before it (R=0,758) while the minimum on 3 (R=0,541) and 2 (R=0,479) days before sampling. The canonical correlation between Ap-indices for 7 days before and on the day of testing, on the one hand, and the immunity parameters - on the other hand, was very strong: R=0,921; R2=0,849; χ2(200)=375; p<10-6. Conclusion. Disturbances of the geomagnetic field (Ap-index) has a significant immediate modulating effect on the immune parameters, mostly phagocytosis completeness, Igg A and M serum concentration, T-helper and B lymphocytes as well as eosinophils, rod-shaped neutrophils and monocytes blood level
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Spectroscopy of geo-neutrinos from 2056 days of Borexino data
We report an improved geo-neutrino measurement with Borexino from 2056 days
of data taking. The present exposure is
protonyr. Assuming a chondritic Th/U mass ratio of 3.9, we obtain geo-neutrino events. The null
observation of geo-neutrinos with Borexino alone has a probability of (5.9). A geo-neutrino signal from the mantle is
obtained at 98\% C.L. The radiogenic heat production for U and Th from the
present best-fit result is restricted to the range 23-36 TW, taking into
account the uncertainty on the distribution of heat producing elements inside
the Earth.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
The Main Results of the Borexino Experiment
The main physical results on the registration of solar neutrinos and the
search for rare processes obtained by the Borexino collaboration to date are
presented.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figgures, To be published as Proceedings of the Third
Annual Large Hadron Collider Physics Conference, St. Petersburg, Russia, 201
Determination of the muon charge sign with the dipolar spectrometers of the OPERA experiment
The OPERA long-baseline neutrino-oscillation experiment has observed the
direct appearance of in the CNGS beam. Two large muon
magnetic spectrometers are used to identify muons produced in the
leptonic decay and in interactions by measuring their charge and
momentum. Besides the kinematic analysis of the decays, background
resulting from the decay of charmed particles produced in
interactions is reduced by efficiently identifying the muon track. A new method
for the charge sign determination has been applied, via a weighted angular
matching of the straight track-segments reconstructed in the different parts of
the dipole magnets. Results obtained for Monte Carlo and real data are
presented. Comparison with a method where no matching is used shows a
significant reduction of up to 40\% of the fraction of wrongly determined
charges.Comment: 10 pages. Improvements in the tex
New limits on heavy sterile neutrino mixing in -decay obtained with the Borexino detector
If heavy neutrinos with mass 2 are produced in the
Sun via the decay in a side
branch of pp-chain, they would undergo the observable decay into an electron, a
positron and a light neutrino . In the
present work Borexino data are used to set a bound on the existence of such
decays. We constrain the mixing of a heavy neutrino with mass 1.5 MeV 14 MeV to be
respectively. These are tighter limits on the mixing parameters than obtained
in previous experiments at nuclear reactors and accelerators.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Qweak: A Precision Measurement of the Proton's Weak Charge
The Qweak experiment at Jefferson Lab aims to make a 4% measurement of the
parity-violating asymmetry in elastic scattering at very low of a
longitudinally polarized electron beam on a proton target. The experiment will
measure the weak charge of the proton, and thus the weak mixing angle at low
energy scale, providing a precision test of the Standard Model. Since the value
of the weak mixing angle is approximately 1/4, the weak charge of the proton
is suppressed in the Standard Model, making it
especially sensitive to the value of the mixing angle and also to possible new
physics. The experiment is approved to run at JLab, and the construction plan
calls for the hardware to be ready to install in Hall C in 2007. The
theoretical context of the experiment and the status of its design are
discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX2e, to be published in CIPANP 2003
proceeding
Limits on muon-neutrino to tau-neutrino oscillations induced by a sterile neutrino state obtained by OPERA at the CNGS beam
The OPERA experiment, exposed to the CERN to Gran Sasso beam,
collected data from 2008 to 2012. Four oscillated Charged Current
interaction candidates have been detected in appearance mode, which are
consistent with oscillations at the atmospheric within the "standard" three-neutrino framework. In this paper, the OPERA
appearance results are used to derive limits on the mixing
parameters of a massive sterile neutrino.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures; reference to Planck result updated in the
Introduction. Submitted to JHE
Measurement of neutrino flux from the primary proton--proton fusion process in the Sun with Borexino detector
Neutrino produced in a chain of nuclear reactions in the Sun starting from
the fusion of two protons, for the first time has been detected in a real-time
detector in spectrometric mode. The unique properties of the Borexino detector
provided an oppurtunity to disentangle pp-neutrino spectrum from the background
components. A comparison of the total neutrino flux from the Sun with Solar
luminosity in photons provides a test of the stability of the Sun on the
10 years time scale, and sets a strong limit on the power production in
the unknown energy sources in the Sun of no more than 4\% of the total energy
production at 90\% C.L.Comment: 15 pages, 2 tables, 3 figure
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