Colorimetric Solid-Phase Extraction Method for Cu(II) Ion Determination Using 2-Hydroxybenzaldehyde Benzoylhydrazone as Sensing Reagent

A new sensor based on the use of 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde benzoylhydrazone as a colorimetric reagent immobilized onto styrenedivinylbenzene disks has been carried out for the determination of Cu(II) ions within several minutes. The sensor is designed on a rapid and easy two-step procedure: (1) the extraction of Cu(II) ions onto a disk loaded with the copper-selective colorimetric reagent and (2) the determination of the complexed analyte directly on the surface of the disk using diffuse reflectance measurements at 400 nm. The color of the disk changed from white to green in the presence of Cu(II) ions. The work herein details the optimization of the sensing system employing a fractional factorial design 33-1 considering three variables (pH, immobilization time, and amount of ligand immobilized onto the disk). The Pareto chart and response surfaces in a spherical domain indicated that the optimum conditions for the sensing of copper ions were pH ¼ 7, with a ligand immobilization time of 10 min and 6.25 mg of reagent loaded onto the disk. Under the optimum conditions, the analytical parameters of the proposed method were determined. The calibration graph was linear over the range of 0 to 2.5 mg L 1 of Cu(II) with a detection limit of 0.21 mg L 1. The relative standard deviation for six measurements of 1 mg L 1 of Cu(II) was found to be 4.87%. The interference from inorganic salts and other metals was found not to be of major concern when monitoring copper ions in water samples. The simplicity and rapidity of this technique make it convenient and amenable for on-site and routine analysis

The SST-1M camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The prototype camera of the single-mirror Small Size Telescopes (SST-1M) proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project has been designed to be very compact and to deliver high performance over thirty years of operation. The camera is composed of an hexagonal photo-detection plane made of custom designed large area hexagonal silicon photomultipliers and a high throughput, highly configurable, fully digital readout and trigger system (DigiCam). The camera will be installed on the telescope structure at the H. Niewodnicza{\'n}ski institute of Nuclear Physics in Krakow in fall 2015. In this contribution, we review the steps that led to the development of the innovative photo-detection plane and readout electronics, and we describe the test and calibration strategy adopted.Comment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1508.05894; Full consortium author list at http://cta-observatory.or

Granica izlaganja formaldehidu u alkoholnim pićima

Formaldehyde has been classified as carcinogenic to humans (WHO IARC group 1). It causes leukaemia and nasopharyngeal cancer, and was described to regularly occur in alcoholic beverages. However, its risk associated with consumption of alcohol has not been systematically studied, so this study will provide the first risk assessment of formaldehyde for consumers of alcoholic beverages. Human dietary intake of formaldehyde via alcoholic beverages in the European Union was estimated based on WHO alcohol consumption data and literature on formaldehyde contents of different beverage groups (beer, wine, spirits, and unrecorded alcohol). The risk assessment was conducted using the margin of exposure (MOE) approach with benchmark doses (BMD) for 10 % effect obtained from dose-response modelling of animal experiments. For tumours in male rats, a BMD of 30 mg kg-1 body weight per day and a “BMD lower confi dence limit” (BMDL) of 23 mg kg-1 d-1 were calculated from available long-term animal experiments. The average human exposure to formaldehyde from alcoholic beverages was estimated at 8·10-5 mg kg-1 d-1. Comparing the human exposure with BMDL, the resulting MOE was above 200,000 for average scenarios. Even in the worst-case scenarios, the MOE was never below 10,000, which is considered to be the threshold for public health concerns. The risk assessment shows that the cancer risk from formaldehyde to the alcohol-consuming population is negligible and the priority for risk management (e.g. to reduce the contamination) is very low. The major risk in alcoholic beverages derives from ethanol and acetaldehyde.Formaldehid je kancerogen za ljude te je klasificiran u skupinu 1 prema WHO IARC-u. Uzrokuje leukemiju i nazofaringealni karcinom, a navodi se i kao redoviti sastojak alkoholnih pića. Međutim, rizik od izlaganja formaldehidu konzumacijom alkoholnih pića nije sustavno istražen pa će ovo istraživanje pružiti prvu takvu procjenu rizika. Količina formaldehida koju ljudi unose alkoholnim pićima u Europskoj je uniji procijenjena temeljem podataka Svjetske zdravstvene organizacije o konzumaciji alkohola i literature o sadržaju formaldehida u različitim skupinama alkoholnih pića (pivo, vino, jaka alkoholna pića i neregistrirani alkohol). Procjena rizika obavljena je korištenjem pristupa granice izlaganja (eng. margin of exposure, MOE) i graničnih doza (eng. benchmark doses, BMD) za 10 %-tni učinak koji se postiže modeliranjem odnosa doza-odgovor u ispitivanjima provedenima na životinjama. BMD od 30 mg kg-1 tjelesne težine na dan i BMD s nižom granicom pouzdanosti (BMDL) od 23 mg kg-1 d-1 izračunati su za tumore kod mužjaka štakora temeljem raspoloživih dugotrajnih ispitivanja provedenih na životinjama. Prosječno izlaganje ljudi formaldehidu u alkoholnim pićima procijenjeno je na 8·10-5 mg kg-1 d-1. U usporedbi s BMDL vrijednošću krajnji MOE je iznosio više od 200.000 u prosječnim situacijama. Čak i u najlošijim situacijama MOE nije nikada bio niži od 10.000, što se smatra graničnom vrijednošću za zdravlje ljudi. Procjena rizika pokazuje da je rizik od nastanka karcinoma uslijed izlaganja formaldehidu iz alkoholnih pića zanemariv te da je prioritet upravljanja rizikom u takvim slučajevima (npr. kako bi se smanjila kontaminacija) vrlo nizak. Najveći rizik proizlazi iz etanola i acetaldehida koji se također nalaze u alkoholnim pićima

GW190412: Observation of a Binary-Black-Hole Coalescence with Asymmetric Masses

We report the observation of gravitational waves from a binary-black-hole coalescence during the first two weeks of LIGO’s and Virgo’s third observing run. The signal was recorded on April 12, 2019 at 05∶30∶44 UTC with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 19. The binary is different from observations during the first two observing runs most notably due to its asymmetric masses: a ∼30 M_⊙ black hole merged with a ∼8 M_⊙ black hole companion. The more massive black hole rotated with a dimensionless spin magnitude between 0.22 and 0.60 (90% probability). Asymmetric systems are predicted to emit gravitational waves with stronger contributions from higher multipoles, and indeed we find strong evidence for gravitational radiation beyond the leading quadrupolar order in the observed signal. A suite of tests performed on GW190412 indicates consistency with Einstein’s general theory of relativity. While the mass ratio of this system differs from all previous detections, we show that it is consistent with the population model of stellar binary black holes inferred from the first two observing runs

Properties and Astrophysical Implications of the 150 M_⊙ Binary Black Hole Merger GW190521

The gravitational-wave signal GW190521 is consistent with a binary black hole (BBH) merger source at redshift 0.8 with unusually high component masses, 85⁺²¹₋₁₄ M_⊙ and 66⁺¹⁷₋₁₈ M_⊙, compared to previously reported events, and shows mild evidence for spin-induced orbital precession. The primary falls in the mass gap predicted by (pulsational) pair-instability supernova theory, in the approximate range 65–120 M_⊙. The probability that at least one of the black holes in GW190521 is in that range is 99.0%. The final mass of the merger 142⁺²⁸₋₁₆ M_⊙) classifies it as an intermediate-mass black hole. Under the assumption of a quasi-circular BBH coalescence, we detail the physical properties of GW190521's source binary and its post-merger remnant, including component masses and spin vectors. Three different waveform models, as well as direct comparison to numerical solutions of general relativity, yield consistent estimates of these properties. Tests of strong-field general relativity targeting the merger-ringdown stages of the coalescence indicate consistency of the observed signal with theoretical predictions. We estimate the merger rate of similar systems to be 0.13_(-0.11)^(+0.30) Gpc⁻³ yr⁻¹. We discuss the astrophysical implications of GW190521 for stellar collapse and for the possible formation of black holes in the pair-instability mass gap through various channels: via (multiple) stellar coalescences, or via hierarchical mergers of lower-mass black holes in star clusters or in active galactic nuclei. We find it to be unlikely that GW190521 is a strongly lensed signal of a lower-mass black hole binary merger. We also discuss more exotic possible sources for GW190521, including a highly eccentric black hole binary, or a primordial black hole binary

GW190521 : a binary black hole merger with a total mass of 150 M⊙

On May 21, 2019 at 03:02:29 UTC Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo observed a short duration gravitational-wave signal, GW190521, with a three-detector network signal-to-noise ratio of 14.7, and an estimated false-alarm rate of 1 in 4900 yr using a search sensitive to generic transients. If GW190521 is from a quasicircular binary inspiral, then the detected signal is consistent with the merger of two black holes with masses of 85+21−14  M⊙ and 66+17−18  M⊙ (90% credible intervals). We infer that the primary black hole mass lies within the gap produced by (pulsational) pair-instability supernova processes, with only a 0.32% probability of being below 65  M⊙. We calculate the mass of the remnant to be 142+28−16  M⊙, which can be considered an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). The luminosity distance of the source is 5.3+2.4−2.6  Gpc, corresponding to a redshift of 0.82+0.28−0.34. The inferred rate of mergers similar to GW190521 is 0.13+0.30−0.11  Gpc−3 yr−1

Population of Merging Compact Binaries Inferred Using Gravitational Waves through GWTC-3

We report on the population properties of compact binary mergers inferred from gravitational-wave observations of these systems during the first three LIGO-Virgo observing runs. The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog 3 (GWTC-3) contains signals consistent with three classes of binary mergers: binary black hole, binary neutron star, and neutron star-black hole mergers. We infer the binary neutron star merger rate to be between 10 and 1700 Gpc-3 yr-1 and the neutron star-black hole merger rate to be between 7.8 and 140 Gpc-3 yr-1, assuming a constant rate density in the comoving frame and taking the union of 90% credible intervals for methods used in this work. We infer the binary black hole merger rate, allowing for evolution with redshift, to be between 17.9 and 44 Gpc-3 yr-1 at a fiducial redshift (z=0.2). The rate of binary black hole mergers is observed to increase with redshift at a rate proportional to (1+z)κ with κ=2.9-1.8+1.7 for z≲1. Using both binary neutron star and neutron star-black hole binaries, we obtain a broad, relatively flat neutron star mass distribution extending from 1.2-0.2+0.1 to 2.0-0.3+0.3M⊙. We confidently determine that the merger rate as a function of mass sharply declines after the expected maximum neutron star mass, but cannot yet confirm or rule out the existence of a lower mass gap between neutron stars and black holes. We also find the binary black hole mass distribution has localized over- and underdensities relative to a power-law distribution, with peaks emerging at chirp masses of 8.3-0.5+0.3 and 27.9-1.8+1.9M⊙. While we continue to find that the mass distribution of a binary's more massive component strongly decreases as a function of primary mass, we observe no evidence of a strongly suppressed merger rate above approximately 60M⊙, which would indicate the presence of a upper mass gap. Observed black hole spins are small, with half of spin magnitudes below χi≈0.25. While the majority of spins are preferentially aligned with the orbital angular momentum, we infer evidence of antialigned spins among the binary population. We observe an increase in spin magnitude for systems with more unequal-mass ratio. We also observe evidence of misalignment of spins relative to the orbital angular momentum

Search for continuous gravitational wave emission from the Milky Way center in O3 LIGO--Virgo data

We present a directed search for continuous gravitational wave (CW) signals emitted by spinning neutron stars located in the inner parsecs of the Galactic Center (GC). Compelling evidence for the presence of a numerous population of neutron stars has been reported in the literature, turning this region into a very interesting place to look for CWs. In this search, data from the full O3 LIGO--Virgo run in the detector frequency band $[10,2000]\rm~Hz$ have been used. No significant detection was found and 95$\%$ confidence level upper limits on the signal strain amplitude were computed, over the full search band, with the deepest limit of about $7.6\times 10^{-26}$ at $\simeq 142\rm~Hz$. These results are significantly more constraining than those reported in previous searches. We use these limits to put constraints on the fiducial neutron star ellipticity and r-mode amplitude. These limits can be also translated into constraints in the black hole mass -- boson mass plane for a hypothetical population of boson clouds around spinning black holes located in the GC.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

Increasing the Astrophysical Reach of the Advanced Virgo Detector via the Application of Squeezed Vacuum States of Light

Current interferometric gravitational-wave detectors are limited by quantum noise over a wide range of their measurement bandwidth. One method to overcome the quantum limit is the injection of squeezed vacuum states of light into the interferometer’s dark port. Here, we report on the successful application of this quantum technology to improve the shot noise limited sensitivity of the Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detector. A sensitivity enhancement of up to 3.2±0.1  dB beyond the shot noise limit is achieved. This nonclassical improvement corresponds to a 5%–8% increase of the binary neutron star horizon. The squeezing injection was fully automated and over the first 5 months of the third joint LIGO-Virgo observation run O3 squeezing was applied for more than 99% of the science time. During this period several gravitational-wave candidates have been recorded