Investigating the impact of UV-C/H2O2 and sunlight/H2O2 on the removal of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance determinants and toxicity present in urban wastewater

This work aimed at exploring the impact of UV-C/H2O2 and sunlight/H2O2 processes, applied at pilot scale, on removing: (i) ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole, (ii) cultivable Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa grown in the presence and absence of sub-minimal inhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole and (iii) the genes 16S rRNA and selected antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (i.e., sul1, blaCTX-M, qnrS, tetM, etc.) from urban wastewater. The major antibiotic transformation products (TPs) formed, were elucidated and the chronic toxicity of the whole effluent mixture against Vibrio fischeri was evaluated. The capability of the processes, in terms of the elimination of the antibiotics present in urban wastewater, varied among the two light sources used: both antibiotics were fully removed during UV-C/Η2Ο2, whereas only ciprofloxacin was removed during the sunlight/H2O2. The photo-transformation of the antibiotics led to the identification of 21 and 18 TPs of ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole, respectively, while all of them retained their core moiety, responsible for the antibacterial activity. All the UV-C/H2O2-treated samples were found to be toxic, whereas the luminescence of V. fischeri was not inhibited when tested in the sunlight/H2O2-treated samples. During both processes, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and the colonies of these species still viable in the presence of antibiotics, were successfully inactivated to values below the detection limit. However, sunlight/H2O2 has not achieved complete disinfection, as regrowth of E. coli and P. aeruginosa colonies was observed after 48 h of storage of the treated effluent. Finally, none of the technologies tested was able to completely remove the target ARGs, confirming their inability to prevent the spread of resistance determinants to the environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Determination of ππ\pi\pi scattering lengths from measurement of π+π−\pi^+\pi^- atom lifetime

The DIRAC experiment at CERN has achieved a sizeable production of $\pi^+\pi^-$ atoms and has significantly improved the precision on its lifetime determination. From a sample of 21227 atomic pairs, a 4% measurement of the S-wave $\pi\pi$ scattering length difference $|a_0-a_2| = (.0.2533^{+0.0080}_{-0.0078}|_\mathrm{stat}.{}^{+0.0078}_{-0.0073}|_\mathrm{syst})M_{\pi^+}^{-1}$ has been attained, providing an important test of Chiral Perturbation Theory.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Highlights from the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is the world's largest cosmic ray observatory. Our current exposure reaches nearly 40,000 km$^2$ str and provides us with an unprecedented quality data set. The performance and stability of the detectors and their enhancements are described. Data analyses have led to a number of major breakthroughs. Among these we discuss the energy spectrum and the searches for large-scale anisotropies. We present analyses of our X$_{max}$ data and show how it can be interpreted in terms of mass composition. We also describe some new analyses that extract mass sensitive parameters from the 100% duty cycle SD data. A coherent interpretation of all these recent results opens new directions. The consequences regarding the cosmic ray composition and the properties of UHECR sources are briefly discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, talk given at the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference, Rio de Janeiro 201

Anisotropy and chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using arrival directions measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropy in the distribution of arrival directions of the cosmic rays with energies $E>E_{th}=5.5\times 10^{19}$ eV. These show a correlation with the distribution of nearby extragalactic objects, including an apparent excess around the direction of Centaurus A. If the particles responsible for these excesses at $E>E_{th}$ are heavy nuclei with charge $Z$, the proton component of the sources should lead to excesses in the same regions at energies $E/Z$. We here report the lack of anisotropies in these directions at energies above $E_{th}/Z$ (for illustrative values of $Z=6,\ 13,\ 26$). If the anisotropies above $E_{th}$ are due to nuclei with charge $Z$, and under reasonable assumptions about the acceleration process, these observations imply stringent constraints on the allowed proton fraction at the lower energies

Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter

Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{$6\times 10^{19}$eV}. The anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less than $3.1^\circ$ from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc (using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron $12^{\rm th}$ catalog). An updated measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009. The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more precise measurement. The correlating fraction is $(38^{+7}_{-6})$, compared with $21$ expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early estimate of $(69^{+11}_{-13})$. The enlarged set of arrival directions is examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects: galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201

Advanced functionality for radio analysis in the Offline software framework of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The advent of the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) necessitates the development of a powerful framework for the analysis of radio measurements of cosmic ray air showers. As AERA performs "radio-hybrid" measurements of air shower radio emission in coincidence with the surface particle detectors and fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the radio analysis functionality had to be incorporated in the existing hybrid analysis solutions for fluoresence and surface detector data. This goal has been achieved in a natural way by extending the existing Auger Offline software framework with radio functionality. In this article, we lay out the design, highlights and features of the radio extension implemented in the Auger Offline framework. Its functionality has achieved a high degree of sophistication and offers advanced features such as vectorial reconstruction of the electric field, advanced signal processing algorithms, a transparent and efficient handling of FFTs, a very detailed simulation of detector effects, and the read-in of multiple data formats including data from various radio simulation codes. The source code of this radio functionality can be made available to interested parties on request.Comment: accepted for publication in NIM A, 13 pages, minor corrections to author list and references in v

Search for First Harmonic Modulation in the Right Ascension Distribution of Cosmic Rays Detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory

We present the results of searches for dipolar-type anisotropies in different energy ranges above $2.5\times 10^{17}$ eV with the surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory, reporting on both the phase and the amplitude measurements of the first harmonic modulation in the right-ascension distribution. Upper limits on the amplitudes are obtained, which provide the most stringent bounds at present, being below 2% at 99% $C.L.$ for EeV energies. We also compare our results to those of previous experiments as well as with some theoretical expectations.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure

Detection of Pionium with DIRAC

The aim of the DIRAC experiment at CERN is to provide an accurate determination of S-wave pion-pion scattering lengths from the measurement of the lifetime of the pi+ pi- atom. The measurement will be done with precision comparable to the level of accuracy of theoretical predictions, formulated in the context of Chiral Perturbation Theory. Therefore, the understanding of chiral symmetry breaking of QCD will be submitted to a stringent test

A global multinational survey of cefotaxime-resistant coliforms in urban wastewater treatment plants

The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as crucial strategies for monitoring antibiotic resistance. Although several national surveillance programs are in place for clinical and veterinary settings, no such schemes exist for monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this transnational study, we developed, validated, and tested a low-cost surveillance and easy to implement approach to evaluate antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by targeting cefotaxime-resistant (CTX-R) coliforms as indicators. The rationale for this approach was: i) coliform quantification methods are internationally accepted as indicators of fecal contamination in recreational waters and are therefore routinely applied in analytical labs; ii) CTX-R coliforms are clinically relevant, associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), and are rare in pristine environments. We analyzed 57 WWTPs in 22 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America. CTX-R coliforms were ubiquitous in raw sewage and their relative abundance varied significantly (<0.1% to 38.3%), being positively correlated (p < 0.001) with regional atmospheric temperatures. Although most WWTPs removed large proportions of CTX-R coliforms, loads over 103 colony-forming units per mL were occasionally observed in final effluents. We demonstrate that CTX-R coliform monitoring is a feasible and affordable approach to assess wastewater antibiotic resistance status

Evidence for πK\pi K-atoms with DIRAC

We present evidence for the first observation of electromagnetically bound $\pi^\pm K^\mp$-pairs ($\pi K$-atoms) with the DIRAC experiment at the CERN-PS. The $\pi K$-atoms are produced by the 24 GeV/c proton beam in a thin Pt-target and the $\pi^\pm$ and $K^\mp$-mesons from the atom dissociation are analyzed in a two-arm magnetic spectrometer. The observed enhancement at low relative momentum corresponds to the production of 173 $\pm$ 54 $\pi K$-atoms. The mean life of $\pi K$-atoms is related to the s-wave $\pi K$-scattering lengths, the measurement of which is the goal of the experiment. From these first data we derive a lower limit for the mean life of 0.8 fs at 90% confidence level.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure