Molecular gas in Arp 94: Implications for intergalactic star formation

We present $^{12}$CO(1-0) observations of the interacting galaxy system Arp 94, which contains the Seyfert galaxies NGC 3227 and NGC 3226 as well as the star-forming candidate dwarf galaxy J1023+1952. We mapped the CO distribution in J1023+1952 with the IRAM 30m telescope and found molecular gas across the entire extent of the neutral hydrogen cloud -- an area of about 9 by 6 kpc. The region where star formation (SF) takes place is restricted to a much smaller ($\sim$ 1.5 by 3 kpc) region in the south where the narrow line width of the CO shows that the molecular gas is dynamically cold. Neither the molecular nor the total gas surface density in the SF region are significantly higher than in the rest of the object suggesting that an external trigger is causing the SF. The fact that CO is abundant and apparently a good tracer for the molecular gas in J1023+1952 indicates that its metallicity is relatively high and argues for a tidal origin of this object.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in the proceedings of "The fate of gas in galaxies", held in Dwingeloo, July 200

Recapturing the Wonder in Natural Resources: Perspectives from a Community of Lifelong Learners

We will present various perspectives of natural resource learning journeys experienced by faculty, student, and staff members of the Bailey Scholars Program within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University. The Bailey Scholars Program seeks to be a community of scholars dedicated to lifelong learning. All members of the community work toward providing a respectful, trusting environment where we acknowledge our interdependence and encourage personal growth. Individuals will share their experiences and nurture a conversation regarding the challenge and opportunities of building learning communities. We invite others to come share their journeys and discuss opportunities for fostering learning in higher education that value and encourage the wonder and enjoyment of the environment that brings us to the field initially

Peroxide cross-linking of EPDMs having high fractions of ethylenic units

The considerable amount of research in the literature has practically allowed the elucidation of the mechanism of peroxide cross-linking of ethylene–propylene–diene–monomer rubber (EPDM), which occurs through a radical chain reaction initiated by the thermal decomposition of the peroxide molecule. According to this radical chain reaction, all types of labile hydrocarbon bonds (i.e., allylic, methynic, and methylenic CH bonds) would be exposed to alkoxy radicals and involved in the formation of the elastomeric network. However, for high fractions of ethylenic units (typically ≥60 mol.%), simple chemical kinetics and thermochemical analyses have shown that the radical attack would essentially occur on the methylenic CH bonds. Starting from this assertion, a simplified mechanistic scheme has been proposed for the three commercial EPDMs under study. The corresponding kinetic model, derived from this new scheme by using the basic concepts of the chemical kinetics, provides access to the changes in concentration of the main reactive chemical functions (against exposure time), among which are double bonds and changes in cross-linking density. The validity of these predictions has been eventually successfully verified by five distinct analytical techniques frequently used for studying the cross-linking of rubbers

Influence of the transient conditions on release of corrosion products and oxidation of alloy 690 tubes during pressurized water reactor restart after steam generators replacement

The radioactivity of the Reactor Coolant System (RCS) of Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) mainly comes from the release of corrosion products of Steam Generator (SG) tubes made of Ni-base alloys. In order to reduce this activity and thus the radiation exposure of PWR operators during maintenance operations, it is necessary to minimize the release. That requires prior understanding of the various mechanisms involved. EDF R&D constructed a loop, BOREAL, to specifically measure rates of release of SG tubes in various conditions of primary environment. Tubes were usually tested at high temperature, under con- stant conditions of primary chemistry. So, it is necessary to carefully investigate the impact of transient conditions during a PWR restart after SG replacement. Tests were performed on the industrial material with curvature, roughness, defects and heterogeneities, regularly observed on this type of component. Characterisations of the inner surface were done on as-received and corroded specimens of SG tubes and were correlated with the obtained release kinetics. The native oxide layer is formed of a very thin layer (1-2 nm) of oxidised matrix, without specific en- richment. During the restart, the most critical step for the release phenomenon is revealed from 170 °C to 297 °C. The majority of the metal is indeed released into the fluid during this step. The characterisa- tions after release tests have made it possible to propose oxidation and release mechanism during a PWR restart after SG replacement. Up to 170 °C, a thin layer of amorphous chromium oxide is formed by selec- tive dissolution of iron and nickel. When the temperature rises, this chromium oxide layer is not stable enough to be protective and the diffusion phenomena are activated. At 325 °C, the oxide does not exhibit any particular enrichment and corresponds to an oxidised metal layer; an equilibrium is established and the rate of release reaches a pseudo-stationary regime

Diffusion-controlled radiochemical oxidation of bisphenol A polysulfone

The radiochemical degradation of bisphenol A polysulfone was investigated under a γ-ray dose rate of 24 kGy h-1 up to 30.7 MGy total absorbed dose at 60 °C using gel permeation chromatography, sol-gel analysis, glass transition and rheometry measurements, and oxidation profile measurements by microscopy coupled with Fourier transform infrared analysis in attenuated total reflectance mode. Thin (200 μm) and thick (2 mm) samples were compared. Thin samples undergo mainly chain scissions whereas thick ones undergo mainly crosslinking. The thickness of oxidized layers and, radiochemical yields for chain scissions, crosslinking, oxygen absorption and radical formation were tentatively determined from experimental data in order to determine the influence of oxidative processes on radiochemical ageing and to establish the nature of the crosslinking reactions

The burden of legionnaires’ disease in Belgium, 2013 to 2017

Background: Legionnaires’ disease (LD) is a severe bacterial infection causing pneumonia. Surveillance commonly underestimates the true incidence as not all cases are laboratory confirmed and reported to public health authorities. The aim of this study was to present indicators for the impact of LD in Belgium between 2013 and 2017 and to estimate its true burden in the Belgian population in 2017, the most recent year for which the necessary data were available. Methods: Belgian hospital discharge data, data from three infectious disease surveillance systems (mandatory notification, sentinel laboratories and the national reference center), information on reimbursed diagnostic tests from the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance and mortality data from the Belgian statistical office were used. To arrive at an estimate of the total number of symptomatic cases in Belgium, we defined a surveillance pyramid and estimated a multiplication factor to account for LD cases not captured by surveillance. The multiplication factor was then applied to the pooled number of LD cases reported by the three surveillance systems. This estimate was the basis for our hazard- and incidence-based Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) calculation. To account for uncertainty in the estimations of the DALYs and the true incidence, we used Monte Carlo simulations with 10,000 iterations. Results: We found an average of 184 LD cases reported by Belgian hospitals annually (2013–2017), the majority of which were male (72%). The surveillance databases reported 215 LD cases per year on average, 11% of which were fatal within 90 days after diagnosis. The estimation of the true incidence in the community yielded 2674 (95% Uncertainty Interval [UI]: 2425–2965) cases in 2017. LD caused 3.05 DALYs per case (95%UI: 1.67–4.65) and 8147 (95%UI: 4453–12,426) total DALYs in Belgium in 2017, which corresponds to 71.96 (95%UI: 39.33–109.75) DALYs per 100,000 persons. Conclusions: This analysis revealed a considerable burden of LD in Belgium that is vastly underestimated by surveillance data. Comparison with other European DALY estimates underlines the impact of the used data sources and methodological approaches on burden estimates, illustrating that national burden of disease studies remain essential

Radiochemical ageing of poly(ether ether ketone)

Thin (60 μm) and thick (250 μm) samples of poly(ether ether ketone) were subjected to radiochemical ageing at 24 kGy h -1 dose rate for doses up to 30.7 MGy at 60 °C in air. FTIR spectrophotometry (hydroxyl and carbonyl build-up), ATR microscopy (oxidation profiles), ammonia gaseous treatment (determination of carbonyl nature), density, DSC (glass transition temperature, cold crystallization and melting point changes), and gel content measurements (crosslinking) were conducted for examination of polymer degradation. Thin samples were shown to undergo principally chain scission process whereas thick ones undergo mainly crosslinking. This difference can be attributed to the kinetic control of oxidation by oxygen diffusion. A mechanistic scheme was proposed from radiochemical yields estimations

Genetic diversity and relationships of the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica (Trematoda) with native and introduced definitive and intermediate hosts

Fasciolosis is a worldwide spread parasitosis mainly caused by the trematode Fasciola hepatica. This disease is particularly important for public health in tropical regions, but it can also affect the economies of many developed countries due to large infections in domestic animals. Although several studies have tried to understand the transmission by studying the prevalence of different host species, only a few have used population genetic approaches to understand the links between domestic and wildlife infections. Here, we present the results of such genetic approach combined with classical parasitological data (prevalence and intensity) by studying domestic and wild definitive hosts from Camargue (southern France) where fasciolosis is considered as a problem. We found 60% of domestic hosts (cattle) infected with F. hepatica but lower values in wild hosts (nutria, 19%; wild boars, 4.5%). We explored nine variable microsatellite loci for 1,148 adult flukes recovered from four different populations (non-treated cattle, treated cattle, nutria and wild boars). Populations from the four groups differed, though we found a number of migrants particularly non-treated cattle and nutria. Overall, we detected 729 different multilocus genotypes (from 783 completely genotyped individuals) and only 46 genotypes repeated across samples. Finally, we experimentally infected native and introduced intermediate snail hosts to explore their compatibility with F. hepatica and assess the risks of fasciolosis expansion in the region. The introduced species Galba truncatula and Pseudosuccinea columella attained the higher values of overall compatibility in relation to the European species. However, concerning the origin, sympatric combinations of G. truncatula were more compatible (higher prevalence, intensity and survival) than the allopatric tested. According to our results, we should note that the assessment of epidemiological risks cannot be limited to a single host–parasite system, but should focus on understanding the diversity of hosts in the heterogeneous environment through space and time.Fil: Vázquez, Antonio A.. Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Pedro Kourí”; Cuba. Université Montpellier II; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Sabourin, Emeline. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; FranciaFil: Alda, Maria del Pilar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Laboratorio de Zoología de Invertebrados I; Argentina. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; FranciaFil: Leroy, Clémentine. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; FranciaFil: Leray, Carole. Institut de Recherche de la Tour du Valat; FranciaFil: Carron, Eric. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; FranciaFil: Mulero, Stephen. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; Francia. Université de Perpignan Via Domitia; FranciaFil: Caty, Céline. Institut de Recherche de la Tour du Valat; FranciaFil: Hasfia, Sarah. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; FranciaFil: Boisseau, Michel. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; FranciaFil: Saugné, Lucas. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; FranciaFil: Pineau, Olivier. Institut de Recherche de la Tour du Valat; FranciaFil: Blanchon, Thomas. Institut de Recherche de la Tour du Valat; FranciaFil: Alba, Annia. Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Pedro Kourí”; Cuba. Università di Corsica Pasquale Paoli; FranciaFil: Faugère, Dominique. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; FranciaFil: Vittecoq, Marion. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; Francia. Institut de Recherche de la Tour du Valat; FranciaFil: Hurtrez Boussès, Sylvie. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia. Université Montpellier II; Franci