802 research outputs found
Direct Mercury Analyzer (DMA) determination of mercury distribution in the sediments of lake Nokoué in Benin Republic-West Africa
Mercury pollution of water bodies constitutes a hazard to both the aquatic life and the populations consuming fishery products. To anticipate the probable eco-toxicological risks that may arise from the largest lake in southern Benin, the present work aims at assessing the mercury status of the sediments of Lake Nokoué, while identifying the areas exposed to anthropogenic mercury contamination. 45 sites were sampled according to a grid plan covering the entire ecosystem of the lake. Employing a Van Veen grab, surface sediments are collected at a depth from 0 to 5 cm in three catches at each site. The composite samples formed at equal mass on the three portions were frozen, lyophilized at - 40 °C, crushed, sieved and homogenized. Fraction less than 63 µm was collected for the mercury content determination by Direct Mercury Analyzer (DMA) operating by atomic absorption according to the US EPA 7473 method. The mercury concentration varies from 1.56 µg/kg to 164.88 µg/kg with an average value of 35.18 µg per kg of sediment. The south-eastern zone of the lake is more concentrated in mercury with a summation of the mercury content of 530.3 µg/kg of sediment. However, the lake has moderate contamination overall (1 ≤ FC ≤ 3).
Keywords: Pollution, contamination, mercury, sediment, Lake Nokoué
Current rectification by simple molecular quantum dots: an ab-initio study
We calculate a current rectification by molecules containing a conjugated
molecular group sandwiched between two saturated (insulating) molecular groups
of different length (molecular quantum dot) using an ab-initio non-equilibrium
Green's function method. In particular, we study S-(CH2)m-C10H6-(CH2)n-S
dithiol with Naphthalene as a conjugated central group. The rectification
current ratio ~35 has been observed at m = 2 and n = 10, due to resonant
tunneling through the molecular orbital (MO) closest to the electrode Fermi
level (lowest unoccupied MO in the present case). The rectification is limited
by interference of other conducting orbitals, but can be improved by e.g.
adding an electron withdrawing group to the naphthalene.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
The tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib affects ovulation but not ovarian reserve in mouse: A preclinical study
The aim of the study was to evaluate ovarian toxicity of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) sunitinib, since only scarce data are available on gonadal function after this treatment. Six-weekold female mice received orally, once daily, vehicle or sunitinib (50 mg/kg/d) during 5 weeks. Fertility parameters were analyzed from ovulation to litter assessment. Sunitinib exposure significantly reduced (i) corpora lutea number per ovary (1.1 ± 0.38 in sunitinib group versus 4 ± 0.79 in control group, p<0.01) and (ii) serum Anti Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels in sunitinib treated mice (12.01 ± 1.16) compared to control mice (14.33 ± 0.87 ng/ml, p< 0.05). However, primordial and growing follicles numbers per ovary were not different in both groups. After treatment withdrawal, female mice in both groups were able to obtain litters. These data could be helpful to counsel clinicians and patients, when fertility preservation methods are discussed, before TKI treatment in girls and young women
scattering S wave from the data on the reaction
The results of the recent experiments on the reaction
performed at KEK, BNL, IHEP, and CERN are analyzed in detail. For the I=0
S wave phase shift and inelasticity a new set
of data is obtained. Difficulties emerging when using the physical solutions
for the S and D wave amplitudes extracted with the partial wave
analyses are discussed. Attention is drawn to the fact that, for the
invariant mass, m, above 1 GeV, the other solutions, in principle,
are found to be more preferred. For clarifying the situation and further
studying the resonance thorough experimental investigations of the
reaction in the m region near the threshold
are required.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Hydrellia lagarosiphon Deeming (Diptera: Ephydridae), a potential biological control agent for the submerged aquatic weed, Lagarosiphon major (Ridl.) Moss ex Wager (Hydrocharitaceae)
The leaf-mining fly, Hydrellia lagarosiphon Deeming (Diptera: Ephydridae), was investigated in its native range in South Africa, to determine its potential as a biological control agent for Lagarosiphon major (Ridl.) Moss ex Wager (Hydrocharitaceae), an invasive submerged macrophyte that is weedy in many parts of the world. The fly was found throughout the indigenous range of the plant in South Africa. High larval abundance was recorded at field sites with nearly all L. major shoots sampled ontaining larvae, with densities of up to 10 larvae per shoot. Adults laid batches of up to 15 eggs, usually on the abaxial sides of L. major leaves. The larvae mined internally, leaving the epidermal tissues of the upper and lower leaves intact. The larvae underwent three instars which took an average of 24 days and pupated within the leaf tissue, from which the adults emerged. Impact studies in the laboratory showed that H. lagarosiphon larval feeding significantly restricted the formation of L. major side branches. Based on its biology and damage caused to the plant, Hydrellia lagarosiphon could be considered as a useful biological control candidate for L. major in countries where the plant is invasive
Advances in ab-initio theory of Multiferroics. Materials and mechanisms: modelling and understanding
Within the broad class of multiferroics (compounds showing a coexistence of
magnetism and ferroelectricity), we focus on the subclass of "improper
electronic ferroelectrics", i.e. correlated materials where electronic degrees
of freedom (such as spin, charge or orbital) drive ferroelectricity. In
particular, in spin-induced ferroelectrics, there is not only a {\em
coexistence} of the two intriguing magnetic and dipolar orders; rather, there
is such an intimate link that one drives the other, suggesting a giant
magnetoelectric coupling. Via first-principles approaches based on density
functional theory, we review the microscopic mechanisms at the basis of
multiferroicity in several compounds, ranging from transition metal oxides to
organic multiferroics (MFs) to organic-inorganic hybrids (i.e. metal-organic
frameworks, MOFs)Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure
How to make complexity look simple? Conveying ecosystems restoration complexity for socio-economic research and public engagement
Ecosystems degradation represents one of the major global challenges at the present time, threating people’s livelihoods and well-being worldwide. Ecosystem restoration therefore seems no longer an option, but an imperative. Restoration challenges are such that a dialogue has begun on the need to re-shape restoration as a science. A critical aspect of that reshaping process is the acceptance that restoration science and practice needs to be coupled with socio-economic research and public engagement. This inescapably means conveying complex ecosystem’s information in a way that is accessible to the wider public. In this paper we take up this challenge with the ultimate aim of contributing to making a step change in science’s contribution to ecosystems restoration practice. Using peatlands as a paradigmatically complex ecosystem, we put in place a transdisciplinary process to articulate a description of the processes and outcomes of restoration that can be understood widely by the public. We provide evidence of the usefulness of the process and tools in addressing four key challenges relevant to restoration of any complex ecosystem: (1) how to represent restoration outcomes; (2) how to establish a restoration reference; (3) how to cope with varying restoration time-lags and (4) how to define spatial units for restoration. This evidence includes the way the process resulted in the creation of materials that are now being used by restoration practitioners for communication with the public and in other research contexts. Our main contribution is of an epistemological nature: while ecosystem services-based approaches have enhanced the integration of academic disciplines and non-specialist knowledge, this has so far only followed one direction (from the biophysical underpinning to the description of ecosystem services and their appreciation by the public). We propose that it is the mix of approaches and epistemological directions (including from the public to the biophysical parameters) what will make a definitive contribution to restoration practice
Schwinger Pair Production via Instantons in Strong Electric Fields
In the space-dependent gauge, each mode of the Klein-Gordon equation in a
strong electric field takes the form of a time-independent Schr\"{o}dinger
equation with a potential barrier. We propose that the single- and
multi-instantons of quantum tunneling may be related with the single- and
multi-pair production of bosons and the relative probability for the no-pair
production is determined by the total tunneling probability via instantons. In
the case of a uniform electric field, the instanton interpretation recovers
exactly the well-known pair production rate for bosons and when the Pauli
blocking is taken into account, it gives the correct fermion production rate.
The instanton is used to calculate the pair production rate even in an
inhomogeneous electric field. Furthermore, the instanton interpretation
confirms the fact that bosons and fermions can not be produced by a static
magnetic field only.Comment: RevTex 7 Pages, No figure; Formulae for the production rate in very
strong fields and references added; the final version accepted in Phys. Rev.
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