Signatures in a Giant Radio Galaxy of a Cosmological Shock Wave at Intersecting Filaments of Galaxies

Sensitive images of low-level, Mpc-sized radio cocoons offer new opportunities to probe large scale intergalactic gas flows outside clusters of galaxies. New radio images of high surface brightness sensitivity at strategically chosen wavelengths of the giant radio galaxy NGC 315 (Mack et al. 1997,1998) reveal significant asymmetries and particularities in the morphology, radio spectrum and polarization of the ejected radio plasma. We argue that the combination of these signatures provides a sensitive probe of an environmental shock wave. Analysis of optical redshifts in NGC 315 vicinity confirms its location to be near, or at a site of large-scale flow collisions in the 100 Mpc sized Pisces-Perseus Supercluster region. NGC 315 resides at the intersection of several galaxy filaments, and its radio plasma serves there as a `weather station' (Burns 1998) probing the flow of the elusive and previously invisible IGM gas. If our interpretation is correct, this is the first indication for a shock wave in flows caused by the cosmological large scale structure formation, which is located in a filament of galaxies. The possibility that the putative shock wave is a source of gamma-rays and ultra high energy cosmic rays is briefly discussed.Comment: accepted by Astrophysical Journal Letters, 4 pages, 3 figures (incl. 2 color), uses emulateapj5.sty (included), aastex.sty (included) and psfig.st

NFDI4Culture - Consortium for research data on material and immaterial cultural heritage

Digital data on tangible and intangible cultural assets is an essential part of daily life, communication and experience. It has a lasting influence on the perception of cultural identity as well as on the interactions between research, the cultural economy and society. Throughout the last three decades, many cultural heritage institutions have contributed a wealth of digital representations of cultural assets (2D digital reproductions of paintings, sheet music, 3D digital models of sculptures, monuments, rooms, buildings), audio-visual data (music, film, stage performances), and procedural research data such as encoding and annotation formats. The long-term preservation and FAIR availability of research data from the cultural heritage domain is fundamentally important, not only for future academic success in the humanities but also for the cultural identity of individuals and society as a whole. Up to now, no coordinated effort for professional research data management on a national level exists in Germany. NFDI4Culture aims to fill this gap and create a usercentered, research-driven infrastructure that will cover a broad range of research domains from musicology, art history and architecture to performance, theatre, film, and media studies. The research landscape addressed by the consortium is characterized by strong institutional differentiation. Research units in the consortium's community of interest comprise university institutes, art colleges, academies, galleries, libraries, archives and museums. This diverse landscape is also characterized by an abundance of research objects, methodologies and a great potential for data-driven research. In a unique effort carried out by the applicant and co-applicants of this proposal and ten academic societies, this community is interconnected for the first time through a federated approach that is ideally suited to the needs of the participating researchers. To promote collaboration within the NFDI, to share knowledge and technology and to provide extensive support for its users have been the guiding principles of the consortium from the beginning and will be at the heart of all workflows and decision-making processes. Thanks to these principles, NFDI4Culture has gathered strong support ranging from individual researchers to highlevel cultural heritage organizations such as the UNESCO, the International Council of Museums, the Open Knowledge Foundation and Wikimedia. On this basis, NFDI4Culture will take innovative measures that promote a cultural change towards a more reflective and sustainable handling of research data and at the same time boost qualification and professionalization in data-driven research in the domain of cultural heritage. This will create a long-lasting impact on science, cultural economy and society as a whole

Metagenomic analysis of sewage for surveillance of bacterial pathogens:A release experiment to determine sensitivity

Accurate monitoring of gastro-enteric and other diseases in large populations poses a challenge for public health management. Sewage represents a larger population, is freely obtainable and non-subject to ethical approval. Metagenomic sequencing offers simultaneous, multiple-target analysis. However, no study has demonstrated the sensitivity of metagenomics for detecting bacteria in sewage. In this study, we spot-released 1013 colony-forming units (CFU) of Staphyloccus hyicus (non-pathogenetic strain 842J-88). The strain was flushed down a toilet into the sewer in the catchment area of a public wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), serving a population of 36,000 people. Raw sewage was continuously sampled at the WWTP’s inlet over 30- and 60-minute intervals for a total period of seven hours. The experiment was conducted twice with one week in-between release days and under comparable weather conditions. For the metagenomics analyses, the pure single isolate of S. hyicus was sequenced, assembled and added to a large database of bacterial reference sequences. All sewage samples were analyzed by shotgun metagenome sequencing and mapped against the reference database. S. hyicus was identified in duplicate samples at both of two release days and these sequence fragment counts served as a proxy to estimate the minimum number of sick people or sensitivity required in order to observe at least one sick person at 95% probability. We found the sensitivity to be in the range 41–140 and 16–36 sick people at release days 1 and 2, respectively. The WWTP normally serves 36,000 people giving a normalized sensitivity in the range of one in 257 to 2,250 persons

Inactivation of hepatitis A virus and murine norovirus on surfaces of plastic, steel and raspberries using steam-ultrasound treatment

International audienceThe leading causes of foodborne viral disease outbreaks are human norovirus and hepatitis A virus (HAV). Their environmental persistence enables contamination of kitchen surfaces and crops often consumed raw, such as berries. Many decontamination procedures are inefficient and unsuitable for surfaces of industrial kitchen environments and soft fruits. In this study, we investigated the efficiency of a novel surface decontamination technology, combining steam and ultrasound (steam-ultrasound). Plastic, steel or raspberry surfaces were spiked with the norovirus surrogate, murine norovirus (MNV), and HAV, and steam-ultrasound treated at 85, 90 and 95 °C for 0–5 s. Post treatment viruses were titrated for survival by plaque assay and for genome stability by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) of nucleic acid extracts. Survival of viruses were estimated in a log-linear model and the treatment time requirements for each decimal reduction (D value) in viral survival were calculated. The estimated D values of MNV or HAV were 0.4–0.2 or 1.1–0.8 s on plastic, 0.9–0.7 or 1.4–0.8 s on steel and 1.6–1.7 or 3.2–4.7 s on raspberries. No clear trend of genome reduction was observed with tested treatment parameters. Raspberries treated up to 4 s retained its natural texture and visual appeal similar to untreated controls whilst monitored for 7 days. In conclusion, steam-ultrasound treatment can within seconds reduce the titre of foodborne viruses on surfaces of plastic, steel and raspberries. This may particularly benefit industrial scale production of soft fruits for raw consumption and for swift non-hazardous decontamination of industrial kitchen surfaces

Signatures in a giant radio galaxy of a cosmological shock wave at intersecting filaments of galaxies

SIGLEAvailable from: http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman