Citizens’ opinions on (non-)essential uses of persistent chemicals: A survey in seven European countries

In accordance with the European Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability towards a Toxic-free Environment, the European Commission plans to phase out persistent chemicals, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), except for uses classified essential for society. Until now, empirical research on what is considered an essential or non-essential chemical use has been lacking. Furthermore, as such criteria are bound to be subjective, different parties can have different views. In this study we explored which uses of persistent chemicals citizens from seven EU countries consider (non-)essential for society. As EU citizens are directly impacted by policy decisions based on (non-)essentiality criteria, we also investigated the influence of emphasis on the consequences of banning vs. allowing persistent chemicals, the association with demographics, and of having heard of persistent chemicals or PFAS prior to the study. We found substantial variation in essentiality ratings within and between use categories and between countries. Uses related to safety were frequently considered essential, whereas uses related to recreation, household, and personal care were frequently considered non-essential. Emphasis on different consequences did not influence essentiality ratings. Gender, age, education, and political orientation were to some extent associated with essentiality ratings. People who had not heard of persistent chemicals or PFAS prior to the study rated uses of persistent chemicals less frequently as non-essential or essential. Our findings offer insight into EU citizens’ opinions on (non-)essential uses of persistent chemicals, and provide empirical input to the scientific and public debate on framing the concept of essential use.</p

Pohjois-Suomen varhaisproterotsooisen Näränkävaaran kerrosintruusion petrogeneesi, osa I: pohjoisen peridotiitit ja niiden suhde kerrossarjaan ja uusiin magmapulsseihin

The Paleoproterozoic Näränkävaara layered intrusion, northern Finland, has a surface area of 25 km x 5 km and a stratigraphic thickness of ~3 km. The main body of the intrusion includes a 1.5–2 km thick basal dunite series and a 1.3 km thick peridotitic-dioritic layered series, the latter with two peridotitic reversals related to magma recharge. In addition, a series of poorly known elongate poikilitic harzburgitic intrusions (the northern peridotites) are found along the NE contact between the intrusion and the granite-gneiss basement complex. We investigate new mineral and whole-rock geochemical data from the northern peridotites, with the aim of clarifying their petrogenetic relationship to the main layered body of the intrusion. The northern peridotites form a 200–400 m thick cumulate series grading from olivine orthocumulates (OC) at the northern basement complex contact to olivine-orthopyroxene heteradcumulates (HAC) towards the main intrusion body in the south. The OC show whole-rock and mineral chemical trends consistent with origin as rapidly cooled olivine-melt mixtures. The HAC have crystallized in situ from a relatively Cr- and SiO2-rich magma. Based on lithological and stratigraphical correlations, the northern peridotites are linked to the emplacement of the magma that caused the first reversal in the layered series: marginal orthocumulates were formed at the initial emplacement of a new pulse of LREE-enriched siliceous high-MgO basaltic (SHMB) magma into the Näränkävaara chamber, followed by heteradcumulate formation from a fractionating magma with added external SiO2 and fluid. Ubiquitous granite-gneiss xenoliths and felsic veins in drill core suggest assimilation may have been a local process. The northern peridotite parental magma shows undepleted metal ratios suggesting no sulfide saturation occurred prior to emplacement.Peer reviewe

Development of high-speed directly-modulated DFB and DBR lasers with surface gratings

The conventional distributed feedback and distributed Bragg reflector edge-emitting lasers employ buried gratings, which require two or more epitaxial growth steps. By using lateral corrugations of the ridge-waveguide as surface gratings the epitaxial overgrowth is avoided, reducing the fabrication complexity, increasing the yield and reducing the fabrication cost. The surface gratings are applicable to different materials, including Al-containing ones and can be easily integrated in complex device structures and photonic circuits. Single-contact and multiple contact edge-emitting lasers with laterally-corrugated ridge waveguide gratings have been developed both on GaAs and InP substrates with the aim to exploit the photon-photon resonance in order to extend their direct modulation bandwidth. The paper reports on the characteristics of such surface-grating-based lasers emitting both at 1.3 and 1.55 μm and presents the photon-photon resonance extended small-signal modulation bandwidth (> 20 GHz) achieved with a 1.6 mm long single-contact device under direct modulation. Similarly structured devices, with shorter cavity lengths are expected to exceed 40 GHz smallsignal modulation bandwidth under direct modulatio

Pohjois-Suomen varhaisproterotsooisen Näränkävaaran kerrosintruusion petrogeneesi, osa II: U-Pb ID-TIMS -ikä ja Sm-Nd-isotooppisystematiikka

Several mafic-ultramafic layered intrusions were emplaced in the NE Fennoscandian Shield during a magmatic episode at 2.44 Ga. The Paleoproterozoic Näränkävaara layered intrusion, northern Finland, is one of the largest ultramafic bodies in the Fennoscandian Shield, with a surface area of 25 km x 5 km and a magmatic stratigraphic thickness of ~3 km. The intrusion comprises a 1.3 km-thick peridotitic–dioritic layered series (2436 ± 5 Ma) with two peridotitic reversals, and a 1.5–2 km thick basal dunite series mainly composed of olivine adcumulates (dated here). The intrusion has been studied since the 1960’s, but several questions regarding its structure and petrogenesis remain. The basal dunite shows several lithological features typical of komatiitic rather than intrusive olivine cumulates; namely, >1 km-thick “extreme” olivine adcumulates, some showing textures with bimodal grain sizes, oscillating variations in Mg# with stratigraphic height, and poikilitic chromite. With Archean greenstone belts nearby, it was previously hypothesized that the basal dunite series could represent an Archean komatiitic wall rock to the Paleoproterozoic layered series. However, our new U-Pb ID-TIMS baddeleyite age of 2441.7 ± 0.9 Ma for the basal dunite series shows that the basal dunite and layered series of the Näränkävaara intrusion are co-genetic. New whole-rock Sm-Nd isotope data from key stratigraphic units (initial εNd at 2440 Ma of -3.5 to -1.7) indicate that the intrusion was constructed from repeated emplacement of LREE-enriched high-MgO basaltic magmas that were mantle-derived and contaminated by crust, similarly to other Fennoscandian 2.44 Ga intrusions. The parental magmas show similar compositions regardless of stratigraphic position, suggesting that most wall rock contamination and homogenization had occurred before emplacement, with in situ contamination being a relatively minor process. The open-system features of the basal dunite suggest that it may have formed (at least partly) as a feeder channel cumulate, possibly related to the ~100 km long Koillismaa-Näränkävaara Layered Igneous Complex. The Näränkävaara parental magmas show variably depleted metal ratios and could have potential for orthomagmatic mineral deposits, given the availability of S-rich wall rocks.Peer reviewe

Fluctuations in measured radioactive decay rates inside a modified Faraday cage: Correlations with space weather

[EN] For several years, reports have been published about fluctuations in measured radioactive decay time-series and in some instances linked to astrophysical as well as classical environmental influences. Anomalous behaviors of radioactive decay measurement and measurement of capacitance inside and outside a modified Faraday cage were documented by our group in previous work. In the present report, we present an in-depth analysis of our measurement with regard to possible correlations with space weather, i.e. the geomagnetic activity (GMA) and cosmic-ray activity (CRA). Our analysis revealed that the decay and capacitance time-series are statistically significantly correlated with GMA and CRA when specific conditions are met. The conditions are explained in detail and an outlook is given on how to further investigate this important finding. Our discovery is relevant for all researchers investigating radioactive decay measurements since they point out that the space weather condition during the measurement is relevant for partially explaining the observed variability.This work has been partially financed by: grant no. 20170764 (Equipos de deteccion, regulacion e informacion en el sector de los sistemas inteligentes de transporte (ITS). Nuevos modelos y ensayos de compatibilidad y verificacion de funcionamiento) (Spain), by grant no. RTI2018-102256-B-I00 (Spain), by the Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) under project Bioingenieria de las Radiaciones Ionizantes. Biorad (PROMETEO/2018/035) and the project MEMO RADION (IDIFEDER/2018/038) co-financed by the Programa Operativo del Fondo Social Europeo 2014-2020", and by grant No.075-00845-20-01 (Russia).Milián-Sánchez, V.; Scholkmann, F.; Fernández De Córdoba, P.; Mocholí Salcedo, A.; Mocholí-Belenguer, F.; Iglesias-Martínez, ME.; Castro-Palacio, JC.... (2020). Fluctuations in measured radioactive decay rates inside a modified Faraday cage: Correlations with space weather. Scientific Reports. 10(1):1-12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64497-0S112101Milián-Sánchez, V., Mocholí-Salcedo, A., Milián, C., Kolombet, V. A. & Verdú, G. Anomalous effects on radiation detectors and capacitance measurements inside a modified Faraday cage. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 828, 210–228 (2016).G. F. Knoll Radiation Detection and Measurement, 4th Edition. (Wiley, 2010).Jenkins, J. H., Mundy, D. W. & Fischbach, E. Analysis of environmental influences in nuclear half-life measurements exhibiting time-dependent decay rates. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 620, 332–342 (2010).Jenkins, J. H. et al. Additional experimental evidence for a solar influence on nuclear decay rates. Astroparticle Physics 37, 81–88 (2012).Falkenberg, E. D. Radioactive Decay Caused by Neutrinos? Apeiron 8, 32–45 (2001).A. G. Parkhomov Influence of Relic Neutrinos on Beta Radioactivity. arXiv:1010.1591v1 [physics.gen-ph], (2010).P. A. Sturrock, E. Fischbach, A. G. Parkhamov, J. D. Scargle, G. Steinitz, Concerning the variability of beta-decay measurements. arXiv:1510.05996 [nucl-ex], (2015).Baurov, Y. A. et al. Experimental Investigations of Changes in β-Decay if 60Co and 137Cs. Modern Physics Letters A 16, 2089–2101 (2001).Baurov, Y. A. Research of Global Anisotropy of Physical Space on Investigation Base of Changes in β and α-decay Rate of Radioactive Elements. Motion of Pulsars and Anisotropy of Cosmic Rays. American Journal of Modern Physics 2, 177–184 (2013).Baurov, Y. A., Sobolev, Y. G., Ryabov, Y. V. & Kushniruk, V. F. Experimental investigations of changes in the rate of beta decay of radioactive elements. Physics of Atomic Nuclei 70, 1825–1835 (2009).Baurov, Y. A. The anisotropic phenomenon in the β decay of radioactive elements and in other processes in nature. Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Physics 76, 1076–1080 (2012).Baurov, Y. A., Sobolev, Y. G. & Ryabov, Y. V. New force, global anisotropy and the changes in β-decay rate of radioactive elements. American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics 2, 8–19 (2014).Pons, D. J., Pons, A. D. & Pons, A. J. Asymmetrical neutrino induced decay of nucleons. Applied Physics Research 7, 1–13 (2015).Pons, D. J., Pons, A. D. & Pons, A. J. Hidden Variable Theory Supports Variability in Decay Rates of Nuclides. Applied Physics Research 7, 18–29 (2015).Kossert, K. & Nähle, O. J. Long-term measurements of 36Cl to investigate potential solar influence on the decay rate. Astroparticle Physics 55, 33–36 (2014).Schrader, H. Seasonal variations of decay rate measurement data and their interpretation. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 114, 202–213 (2016).Pommé, S. et al. Evidence against solar influence on nuclear decay constants. Physics Letters B 761, 281–286 (2016).Bergeson, S. D., Peatross, J. & Ware, M. J. Precision long-term measurements of beta-decay-rate ratios in a controlled environment. Physics Letters B 767, 171–176 (2017).McKnight, Q., Bergeson, S. D., Peatross, J. & Ware, M. J. 2.7 years of beta-decay-rate ratio measurements in a controlled environment. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 142, 113–119 (2018).Pommé, S. et al. On decay constants and orbital distance to the Sun—part I: alpha decay. Metrologia 54, 1–18 (2017).Pommé, S. et al. On decay constants and orbital distance to the Sun—part III: beta plus and electron capture decay. Metrologia 54, 36–50 (2017).Pommé, S., Lutter, G., Marouli, M., Kossert, K. & Nähle, O. On the claim of modulations in radon decay and their association with solar rotation. Astroparticle Physics 97, 38–45 (2018).S. Pommé, K. Kossert, O. Nähle On the Claim of Modulations in 36Cl Beta Decay and Their Association with Solar Rotation. Solar Physics 292 (2017).Pommé, S. et al. Is decay constant? Applied Radiation and Isotopes 134, 6–12 (2018).Bellotti, E., Broggini, C., Di Carlo, G., Laubenstein, M. & Menegazzo, R. Search for time modulations in the decay constant of 40 K and 226 Ra at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory. Physics Letters B 780, 61–65 (2018).Borrello, J. A., Wuosmaa, A. & Watts, M. Non-dependence of nuclear decay rates of 123 I and 99m Tc on Earth-Sun distance. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 132, 189–194 (2018).Sturrock, P. A., Steinitz, G., Fischbach, E., Parkhomov, A. & Scargle, J. D. Analysis of beta-decay data acquired at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt: Evidence of a solar influence. Astroparticle Physics 84, 8–14 (2016).Stancil, D. D., Balci Yegen, S., Dickey, D. A. & Gould, C. R. Search for possible solar influences in Ra-226 decays. Results in Physics 7, 385–406 (2017).P. A. Sturrock, G. Steinitz & E. Fischbach Analysis of Ten Years of Radon-Chain Decay Measurements: Evidence of Solar Influences and Inferences Concerning Solar Internal Structure and the Role of Neutrinos. arXiv:1705.03010 [astro-ph.SR], (2017).Sturrock, P. A., Steinitz, G. & Fischbach, E. Concerning the variability of nuclear decay rates: Rebuttal of an article by Pomme et al. [1]. Astroparticle Physics 98, 9–12 (2018).Pommé, S., Lutter, G., Marouli, M., Kossert, K. & Nähle, O. A reply to the rebuttal by Sturrock et al. Astroparticle Physics 107, 22–25 (2019).S. Pommé, Solar influence on radon decay rates: irradiance or neutrinos? The European Physical Journal C. 79 (2019).Barnes, V. E. et al. Upper limits on perturbations of nuclear decay rates induced by reactor electron antineutrinos. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 149, 182–199 (2019).Pommé, S., Stroh, H. & Van Ammel, R. The 55Fe half-life measured with a pressurised proportional counter. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 148, 27–34 (2019).Elmaghraby, E. E. Configuration Mixing in Particle Decay and Reaction. Progress in Physics 13, 150–155 (2017).Shnoll, S. E. et al. Realization of discrete states during fluctuations in macroscopic processes. Physics-Uspekhi 41, 1025–1035 (1998).Namiot, V. A. & Shnoll, S. E. On the possible mechanism of periodicity in fine structure of histograms during nuclear decay processes. Physics Letters A 359, 249–251 (2006).Panchelyuga, V. A. & Panchelyuga, M. S. Fractal dimension and histogram method: Algorithm and some preliminary results of noise-like time series analysis. Biophysics 58, 283–289 (2013).Panchelyuga, V. A. & Panchelyuga, M. S. Local fractal analysis of noise-like time series by the all-permutations method for 1–115 min periods. Complex Systems Biophysics 60, 317–330 (2015).T. A. Zenchenko, A. A. Konradov, K. I. Zenchenko In Biophotonics and Coherent Systems in Biology. chap. Chapter 18, pp. 225–233 (2005).Jenkins, J. H. & Fischbach, E. Perturbation of nuclear decay rates during the solar flare of 2006 December 13. Astroparticle Physics 31, 407–411 (2009).F. Scholkmann et al., Anomalous effects of radioactive decay rates and capacitance values measured inside a modified Faraday cage: Correlations with space weather. EPL (Europhysics Letters) 117 (2017).M. E. Iglesias-Martínez et al. Correlations between Background Radiation Inside a Multilayer Interleaving Structure, Geomagnetic Activity, and Cosmic Radiation: A Fourth-Order Cumulant-Based Correlation Analysis. Mathematics 8 (2020).Karinen, A. & Mursula, K. A new reconstruction of the Dst index for 1932-2002. Annales Geophysicae 23, 475–485 (2005).A. Karinen, K. Mursula Correcting the Dst index: Consequences for absolute level and correlations. Journal of Geophysical Research 111 (2006).Nakamura, T., Uwamino, Y., Ohkubo, T. & Hara, A. Altitude Variation of Cosmic-ray Neutrons. Health Physics 53, 509–517 (1987).Hendrick, L. D. & Edge, R. D. Cosmic-Ray Neutrons near the Earth. Physical Review 145, 1023–1025 (1966).Yamashita, M., Stephens, L. D. & Patterson, H. W. Cosmic-ray-produced neutrons at ground level: Neutron production rate and flux distribution. Journal of Geophysical Research 71, 3817–3834 (1966).Mohsinally, T. et al. Evidence for correlations between fluctuations in 54Mn decay rates and solar storms. Astroparticle Physics 75, 29–37 (2016).Snyder, C. W., Neugebauer, M. & Rao, U. R. The solar wind velocity and its correlation with cosmic-ray variations and with solar and geomagnetic activity. Journal of Geophysical Research 68, 6361–6370 (1963).Kharayat, H., Prasad, L., Mathpal, R., Garia, S. & Bhatt, B. Study of Cosmic Ray Intensity in Relation to the Interplanetary Magnetic Field and Geomagnetic Storms for Solar Cycle 23. Solar Physics 291, 603–611 (2016).M. Tsichla, M. Gerontidou, H. Mavromichalaki, Spectral Analysis of Solar and Geomagnetic Parameters in Relation to Cosmic-ray Intensity for the Time Period 1965 – 2018. Solar Physics 294 (2019).Singh, Y. P. Badruddin, Short- and mid-term oscillations of solar, geomagnetic activity and cosmic-ray intensity during the last two solar magnetic cycles. Planetary and Space Science 138, 1–6 (2017).B. Adhikari, N. Sapkota, P. Baruwal, N. P. Chapagain & C. R. Braga Impacts on Cosmic-Ray Intensity Observed During Geomagnetic Disturbances. Solar Physics 292 (2017).Grigoryev, V. G., Starodubtsev, S. A. & Gololobov, P. Y. Monitoring geomagnetic disturbance predictors using data of ground measurements of cosmic rays. Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Physics 81, 200–202 (2017).W. Reich Selected Writings: An Introduction to Orgonomy. (Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1960).Fischbach, E. et al. Time-Dependent Nuclear Decay Parameters: New Evidence for New Forces? Space Science Reviews 145, 285–335 (2009).Javorsek, D. et al. Power spectrum analyses of nuclear decay rates. Astroparticle Physics 34, 173–178 (2010).Bellotti, E., Broggini, C., Di Carlo, G., Laubenstein, M. & Menegazzo, R. Search for time dependence of the 137Cs decay constant. Physics Letters B 710, 114–117 (2012)

Anthropogenic Space Weather

Anthropogenic effects on the space environment started in the late 19th century and reached their peak in the 1960s when high-altitude nuclear explosions were carried out by the USA and the Soviet Union. These explosions created artificial radiation belts near Earth that resulted in major damages to several satellites. Another, unexpected impact of the high-altitude nuclear tests was the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that can have devastating effects over a large geographic area (as large as the continental United States). Other anthropogenic impacts on the space environment include chemical release ex- periments, high-frequency wave heating of the ionosphere and the interaction of VLF waves with the radiation belts. This paper reviews the fundamental physical process behind these phenomena and discusses the observations of their impacts.Comment: 71 pages, 35 figure

Anduril 2: Upgraded large-scale data integration framework

aSummary: Anduril is an analysis and integration framework that facilitates the design, use, parallelization and reproducibility of bioinformatics workflows. Anduril has been upgraded to use Scala for pipeline construction, which simplifies software maintenance, and facilitates design of complex pipelines. Additionally, Anduril's bioinformatics repository has been expanded with multiple components, and tutorial pipelines, for next-generation sequencing data analysis.Peer reviewe

Population level determinants of acute mountain sickness among young men: a retrospective study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many visitors, including military troops, who enter highland regions from low altitude areas may suffer from acute mountain sickness (AMS), which negatively impacts workable man-hours and increases healthcare costs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the population level risk factors and build a multivariate model, which might be applicable to reduce the effects of AMS on Chinese young men traveling to this region.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Chinese highland military medical records were used to obtain data of young men (n = 3727) who entered the Tibet plateau between the years of 2006-2009. The relationship between AMS and travel profile, demographic characteristics, and health behaviors were evaluated by logistic regression. Univariate logistic models estimated the crude odds ratio. The variables that showed significance in the univariate model were included in a multivariate model to derive adjusted odds ratios and build the final model. Data corresponding to odd and even years (2 subsets) were analyzed separately and used in a simple cross-validation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Univariate analysis indicated that travel profile, prophylactic use, ethnicity, and province of birth were all associated with AMS in both subsets. In multivariate analysis, young men who traveled from lower altitude (600-800 m <it>vs</it>. 1300-1500 m, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.32-1.44) to higher altitudes (4100-4300 m <it>vs</it>. 2900-3100 m, AOR = 3.94-4.12; 3600-3700 m <it>vs</it>. 2900-3100 m, AOR = 2.71-2.74) by air or rapid land transport for emergency mission deployment (emergency land deployment <it>vs</it>. normal land deployment, AOR = 2.08-2.11; normal air deployment <it>vs</it>. normal land deployment, AOR = 2.00-2.20; emergency air deployment <it>vs</it>. normal land deployment, AOR = 2.40-3.34) during the cold season (cold <it>vs</it>. warm, AOR = 1.25-1.28) are at great risk for developing AMS. Non-Tibetan male soldiers (Tibetan <it>vs</it>. Han, AOR = 0.03-0.08), born and raised in lower provinces (eastern <it>vs</it>. northwestern, AOR = 1.32-1.39), and deployed without prophylaxis (prophylactic drug <it>vs</it>. none, AOR = 0.75-0.76), also represented a population at significantly increased risk for AMS. The predicted model was built; the area under receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.703.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Before a group of young men first enter a high altitude area, it is important that a health service plan should be made referring to the group's travel profile and with respect to young men's ethnicity and province of birth. Low-cost Chinese traditional prophylactic drugs might have some effect on decreasing the risk of AMS, although this needs further verification.</p