Accurate mass measurements of 26^{26}Ne, 26−30^{26-30}Na, 29−33^{29-33}Mg performed with the {\sc Mistral} spectrometer

The minuteness of the nuclear binding energy requires that mass measurements be highly precise and accurate. Here we report on new measurements $^{29-33}$Mg and $^{26}$Na performed with the {\sc Mistral} mass spectrometer at {\sc Cern}'s {\sc Isolde} facility. Since mass measurements are prone to systematic errors, considerable effort has been devoted to their evaluation and elimination in order to achieve accuracy and not only precision. We have therefore conducted a campaign of measurements for calibration and error evaluation. As a result, we now have a satisfactory description of the {\sc Mistral} calibration laws and error budget. We have applied our new understanding to previous measurements of $^{26}$Ne, $^{26-30}$Na and $^{29,32}$Mg for which re-evaluated values are reported.Comment: submitted to Nuclear Physics

National Space Transportation Systems Program mission report

The STS 41-C National Space Transportation Systems Program Mission Report contains a summary of the major activities and accomplishments of the eleventh Shuttle flight and fifth flight of the OV-099 vehicle, Challenger. Also summarized are the significant problems that occurred during STS 41-C, and a problem tracking list that is a complete list of all problems that occurred during the flight. The major objectives of flight STS 41-C were to successfully deploy the LDEF (long duration exposure facility) and retrieve, repair and redeploy the SMM (Solar Maximum Mission) spacecraft, and perform functions of IMAX and Cinema 360 cameras

Mesures des propriétés statiques des noyaux : utilisation des pièges ioniques

École thématiqu

Is a grumpy ecologist an oxymoron?

This paper examines the widespread phenomenon of grumpiness among Australia’s ecologists and members of related disciplines. It argues that their disillusionment is a result of consistent first-hand experience of irretrievable, but preventable, losses of species and ecosystems. It also contends that the lessons of their professional experience continue to go unheeded by the broader community, and that this increases their feeling of disillusionment. The paper examines the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ report Measures of Australia’s Progress in the context of the threats facing Australian fauna and the existing state of public knowledge concerning these threats. It then analyses the results of the Who Cares About the Environment? report, conducted by the Office of Environment and Heritage, New South Wales (2012). It concludes that these reports illustrate a disturbing lack of knowledge and awareness of our fauna among the Australian public, as well as the threats facing biodiversity

Porcine cytokines, chemokines and growth factors: 2019 update

Pigs are a major food source worldwide as well as major biomedical models for human physiology and therapeutics. A thorough understanding of porcine immunity is essential to prevent and treat infectious diseases, and develop effective vaccines and therapeutics. The use of pigs as biomedical models is dependent on the growing molecular and immune toolbox. This paper summarizes current knowledge of swine cytokines, chemokines and growth factors, identifying 289 pig proteins, characterizing knowledge of their gene structures and families. It identifies areas in the current swine genome build that need to be clarified. A broad-based literature and vendor search was conducted to identify defined sets of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies reacting with porcine cytokines, chemokines, growth factors along with availability of cloned recombinant proteins and assays for their quantitation. This process identified numerous reagents that are reportedly reactive with 170 pig cytokines, chemokines, growth factors: 118 have at least one commercial antibody reagent, 66 a cloned recombinant peptide, and 97 with quantitative assays. This affirms the great need to develop and characterize additional reagents. There are panels of reagents for numerous high priority targets that have been essential reagents for characterizing porcine immunity, disease and vaccine responses, and factors regulating development of innate immune responses, polarized macrophages and lymphoid cells including T regulatory cells. Yet there are many areas requiring investment of efforts to more effectively explore the pig immune system. The development of more reagents to understand the complex of cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors will clearly advance these initiatives

Disasters for wildlife: an analysis of media attention

When disasters occur, media reporting tends to focus on the impacts on humans and their property, with only occasional references made to impacts on natural assets such as wildlife.We looked at a range of print and internet media sources to examine the way the media treat wildlife in their reporting of disasters. We found a growing media interest in wildlife problems from earlier analyses, at least partly generated by growing awareness of the risks to wildlife posed by global warming, a hot media topic. Scientists were rarely directly reported, but when they were the message came through loud and clear, calling for better bases for government actions to conserve wildlife.The media industry is separate to academic science and the policy and management world of governments, but has a responsibility to carry important information from these bodies to the wider community. For their part, wildlife scientists should make more effort to set priorities and to inform reporting, recognising that the media influence the political agenda. If global warming is making Australia more disaster-prone (New York. Times 30 September 2009), the consequences for wildlife need to be understood and widely communicated, as a precondition for protective actions

Ferromagnetism in substituted zinc oxide

Room-temperature ferromagnetism is observed in (110) oriented ZnO films containing 5 at % of Sc, Ti, V, Fe, Co or Ni, but not Cr, Mn or Cu ions. There are large moments, 1.9 and 0.5 muB/atom for Co- and Ti-substituted oxides, respectively. Sc-substituted ZnO shows also a moment of 0.3 muB/Sc. Magnetization is very anisotropic, with variations of up to a factor three depending on the orientation of the applied field relative to the R-cut sapphire substrates. Results are interpreted in terms of a spin-split donor impurity band model, which can account for ferromagnetism in insulating or conducting high-k oxides with concentrations of magnetic ions that lie far below the percolation threshold. The variation of the ferromagnetism with oxygen pressure used during film growth is evidence of a link between ferromagnetism and defect concentration.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

The portrayal of human-wildlife interactions in the print media

In the end Steve Irwin got too close" (Sydney Morning Herald 5/9 /06). Steve Irwin's untimely death generated an instantaneous and massive response by the media. The cause of his death - a stingray barb - highlights a vital part of the topic of how close we should be to wildlife for our own safety, and for the welfare of the wildlife. As working zoologists, we asked: "To what extent does the media's portrayal of human-wildlife interaction define or obscure the contentious issues in wildlife management?" We examined 287 newspaper articles over one year (7/10/05 to 9/10/06).The journalism was, by and large, informative, readable and entertaining. The usual pattern of reporting was a catchy headline, short story and/or a sensational photo. There is a paradox in our relationship with wildlife - we want to be both close and distant Media coverage reflects this, presenting wildlife as either dangerous or loveable, depending on the reporter's 'angle'. Safeguarding the future of our wildlife will need much more than a headline with a pun and an engaging photo of a charismatic creature. In its presentation of wildlife, the media plays a powerful role that will either further its conservation or leave it as a neglected element of our heritage. From our analysis, we argue that scientists and the media can be more profitably engaged, but ultimately the conservation of our fauna will depend on well-supported and diverse teams of scientists and wildlife managers that operate on sound ecological principles, not media precepts