Solar flares and their associated processes

The evolution of the solar neutrino flux which is described by the wave function $\Psi^T=(\nu_{eL},\nu_{XL}, \overline{\nu}_{eL}, \overline{\nu}_{XL})$ is examined. Our treatment of the problem holds for any standard model (SM) extensions possessing nonzero dipole magnetic and anapole moments. When the solar neutrino flux moves through the solar flare (SF) region in the preflare period, then it undergoes the additional (compared with the SM) resonance conversions. As a result, the weakening the electron neutrinos flux takes place. On the other hand, existence of the additional resonances lead to appearance of the $\overline{\nu}_{eL}$ and $\overline{\nu}_{XL}$ neutrinos that could be detected by the terrestrial detectors. The hypothesis of the $\nu_e$-induced $\beta$-decays is also discussed. According to it, before the large SF, decreasing the $\beta$-decay rate for some elements takes place. The possible influence of the electron antineutrino flux produced in the superflares on the regime of the hypothetical georeactor is considered.Comment: 11 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:hep-ph/0401221 by other author

Dobbs in a Technologized World: Implications for US Data Privacy

In June of 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning 50 years of precedent by eliminating the federal constitutional right to abortion care established by the Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. The Dobbs decision leaves the decision about abortion services in the hands of the states, which created an immediately variegated checkerboard of access to women’s healthcare across the country. This in turn laid bare a profusion of privacy issues that emanate from our technologized world. We review these privacy issues, including healthcare data, financial data, website tracking and social media. We then offer potential future legislative and regulatory pathways that balance privacy with law enforcement goals in women’s health and any domain that shares this structural feature

Forensic investigation of microtraces on an item of Dutch eighteenth century clothing in the Rijksmuseum collection

Most garments in museum collections have belonged to people of high societal status. Clothing of the common people, however, has rarely been preserved. Because of this, the conservation of such rare items is of special importance. The current study focuses on such an object from the Rijksmuseum collection; a pair of eighteenth century breeches that were retrieved from an anonymous grave on Spitsbergen. As these breeches contain several unidentified materials, it is unclear how best to conduct the conservation of the object. The identification of trace material plays a key role within criminal law and therefore, it is hypothesized that a forensic approach could provide a suitable framework within this case of cultural heritage as well. After forensic examination, trace material was analyzed using a microscopy-based approach and was found to be mainly of biological origin. Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy indicated the presence of human skin remains. It was concluded that a modern forensic approach can successfully be applied to a historical object within cultural heritage and can assist decision-making regarding possible future conservation of the object. The systematic application of the forensic methodology was found to be appropriate with little to no modification to classify and identify trace materials, but further improvements could be made. The current work should be seen as a starting point that allows for more questions regarding museum objects to be answered in a forensic manner, including aspects such as authenticity, the chain of custody, the context, original use and object conservation

Nanoconfined Water Clusters in Zinc White Oil Paint

Pigments in oil paint are bound by a complex oil polymer network that is prone to water-related chemical degradation. We use cryo-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry to study how water distributes inside zinc white oil paint. By measuring water freezing and melting transitions, we show that water-saturated zinc white oil paint contains both liquid-like clustered water and nonclustered water. A comparison of titanium white paint and nonpigmented model systems indicates that water clustering happens near the pigment-polymer interface. The cluster size was estimated in the nanometer range based on the ice melting and freezing temperatures and on the position of the O-D vibration band. As liquid-like water can play a crucial role in the dissolution and transport of ions and molecules, understanding the factors that favor this phenomenon is essential for establishing safe conditions for the conservation of painted works of art.</p

Molecular characterization, tissue expression and sequence variability of the barramundi (Lates calcarifer) myostatin gene

Background: Myostatin (MSTN) is a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily that negatively regulates growth of skeletal muscle tissue. The gene encoding for the MSTN peptide is a consolidate candidate for the enhancement of productivity in terrestrial livestock. This gene potentially represents an important target for growth improvement of cultured finfish.\ud \ud Results: Here we report molecular characterization, tissue expression and sequence variability of the barramundi (Lates calcarifer) MSTN-1 gene. The barramundi MSTN-1 was encoded by three exons 379, 371 and 381 bp in length and translated into a 376-amino acid peptide. Intron 1 and 2 were 412 and 819 bp in length and presented typical GT...AG splicing sites. The upstream region contained cis-regulatory elements such as TATA-box and E-boxes. A first assessment of sequence variability suggested that higher mutation rates are found in the 5' flanking region with several SNP's present in this species. A putative micro RNA target site has also been observed in the 3'UTR (untranslated region) and is highly conserved across teleost fish. The deduced amino acid sequence was conserved across vertebrates and exhibited characteristic conserved putative functional residues including a cleavage motif of proteolysis (RXXR), nine cysteines and two glycosilation sites. A qualitative analysis of the barramundi MSTN-1 expression pattern revealed that, in adult fish, transcripts are differentially expressed in various tissues other than skeletal muscles including gill, heart, kidney, intestine, liver, spleen, eye, gonad and brain.\ud \ud Conclusion: Our findings provide valuable insights such as sequence variation and genomic information which will aid the further investigation of the barramundi MSTN-1 gene in association with growth. The finding for the first time in finfish MSTN of a miRNA target site in the 3'UTR provides an opportunity for the identification of regulatory mutations on the expression of this gene