Thorium and uranium isotopes in a manganese nodule from the Peru basin determined by alpha spectrometry and thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS): Are manganese supply and growth related to climate?

Thorium- and uranium isotopes were measured in a diagenetic manganese nodule from the Peru basin applying alpha- and thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Alpha-counting of 62 samples was carried out with a depth resolution of 0.4 mm to gain a high-resolution230Thexcess profile. In addition, 17 samples were measured with TIMS to obtain precise isotope concentrations and isotope ratios. We got values of 0.06–0.59 ppb (230Th), 0.43–1.40 ppm (232Th), 0.09–0.49 ppb (234U) and 1.66–8.24 ppm (238U). The uranium activity ratio in the uppermost samples (1–6 mm) and in two further sections in the nodule at 12.5±1.0 mm and 27.3–33.5 mm comes close to the present ocean water value of 1.144±0.004. In two other sections of the nodule, this ratio is significantly higher, probably reflecting incorporation of diagenetic uranium. The upper 25 mm section of the Mn nodule shows a relatively smooth exponential decrease in the230Thexcess concentration (TIMS). The slope of the best fit yields a growth rate of 110 mm/Ma up to 24.5 mm depth. The section from 25 to 30.3 mm depth shows constant230Thexcess concentrations probably due to growth rates even faster than those in the top section of the nodule. From 33 to 50 mm depth, the growth rate is approximately 60 mm/Ma. Two layers in the nodule with distinct laminations (11–15 and 28–33 mm depth) probably formed during the transition from isotopic stage 8 to 7 and in stage 5e, respectively. The Mn/Fe ratio shows higher values during interglacials 5 and 7, and lower ones during glacials 4 and 6. A comparison of our data with data from adjacent sediment cores suggests (a) a variable supply of hydrothermal Mn to sediments and Mn nodules of the Peru basin or (b) suboxic conditions at the water sediment interface during periods with lower Mn/Fe ratios

Cyber insurance of information systems: Security and privacy cyber insurance contracts for ICT and helathcare organizations

Nowadays, more-and-more aspects of our daily activities are digitalized. Data and assets in the cyber-space, both for individuals and organizations, must be safeguarded. Thus, the insurance sector must face the challenge of digital transformation in the 5G era with the right set of tools. In this paper, we present CyberSure-an insurance framework for information systems. CyberSure investigates the interplay between certification, risk management, and insurance of cyber processes. It promotes continuous monitoring as the new building block for cyber insurance in order to overcome the current obstacles of identifying in real-time contractual violations by the insured party and receiving early warning notifications prior the violation. Lightweight monitoring modules capture the status of the operating components and send data to the CyberSure backend system which performs the core decision making. Therefore, an insured system is certified dynamically, with the risk and insurance perspectives being evaluated at runtime as the system operation evolves. As new data become available, the risk management and the insurance policies are adjusted and fine-tuned. When an incident occurs, the insurance company possesses adequate information to assess the situation fast, estimate accurately the level of a potential loss, and decrease the required period for compensating the insured customer. The framework is applied in the ICT and healthcare domains, assessing the system of medium-size organizations. GDPR implications are also considered with the overall setting being effective and scalable

Candidate genes and quantitative trait loci for grain yield and seed size in durum wheat

Grain yield (YLD) is affected by thousand kernel weight (TKW) which reflects the combination of grain length (GL), grain width (GW) and grain area (AREA). Grain weight is also influenced by heading time (HT) and plant height (PH). To detect candidate genes and quantitative trait loci (QTL) of yield components, a durum wheat recombinant inbred line (RIL) population was evaluated in three field trials. The RIL was genotyped with a 90K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array and a high-density genetic linkage map with 5134 markers was obtained. A total of 30 QTL were detected including 23 QTL grouped in clusters on 1B, 2A, 3A, 4B and 6B chromosomes. A QTL cluster on 2A chromosome included a major QTL for HT co-located with QTL for YLD, TKW, GL, GW and AREA, respectively. The photoperiod sensitivity (Ppd-A1) gene was found in the physical position of this cluster. Serine carboxypeptidase, Big grain 1 and β-fructofuranosidase candidate genes were mapped in clusters containing QTL for seed size. This study showed that yield components and phenological traits had higher inheritances than grain yield, allowing an accurate QTL cluster detection. This was a requisite to physically map QTL on durum genome and to identify candidate genes affecting grain yield

Effect of the Ambient Temperature on the Start-Up of a Multi-Evaporator Loop Thermosyphon

Two-phase heat transfer devices are becoming fairly ubiquitous; the capability to transport heat at high rates over appreciable distances, without any external pumping device, the low cost, durability and relatively simpler modeling/design process, make this technology very attractive for many thermal management applications. Indeed, such devices have been investigated in plenty of fields such as: nuclear plants, energy systems, solar heat recovery, air conditioning, electronic cooling in avionics and in railway traction. As a consequence, they can operate under different environmental conditions that can affect their behavior. Nevertheless, it is difficult to find in literature something related to the effect of the ambient temperature on the thermal performance of such devices. The actual temperature, varying the thermo-fluid properties of the fluid inside the device, the condensation and the evaporation phenomena, could be an important parameter that can affect the performance. In this work a Multi-Evaporator loop thermosyphon is tested at different ambient temperatures, ranging from -20 °C up to 30 °C. The start-up behavior, as well as the thermal performance, are analyzed by means of temperature and pressure measurements and fluid flow visualization

Fluid-flow pressure measurements and thermo-fluid characterization of a single loop two-phase passive heat transfer device

Abstract A Novel Single Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe (SLPHP), with an inner diameter of 2 mm, filled up with two working fluids (Ethanol and FC-72, Filling Ratio of 60%), is tested in Bottom Heated mode varying the heating power and the orientation. The static confinement diameter for Ethanol and FC-72, respectively 3.4 mm and 1.7mm, is above and slightly under the inner diameter of the tube. This is important for a better understanding of the working principle of the device very close to the limit between the Loop Thermosyphon and Pulsating Heat Pipe working modes. With respect to previous SLPHP experiments found in the literature, such device is designed with two transparent inserts mounted between the evaporator and the condenser allowing direct fluid flow visualization. Two highly accurate pressure transducers permit local pressure measurements just at the edges of one of the transparent inserts. Additionally, three heating elements are controlled independently, so as to vary the heating distribution at the evaporator. It is found that peculiar heating distributions promote the slug/plug flow motion in a preferential direction, increasing the device overall performance. Pressure measurements point out that the pressure drop between the evaporator and the condenser are related to the flow pattern. Furthermore, at high heat inputs, the flow regimes recorded for the two fluids are very similar, stressing that, when the dynamic effects start to play a major role in the system, the device classification between Loop Thermosyphon and Pulsating Heat Pipe is not that sharp anymore

Dynamics of high-energy multimode Raman solitons

The dynamics of high-energy Raman solitons in graded-index multimode fibers is both numerically and experimentally investigated. The propagation of high-power pulses produces nonlinear losses, that quench up to 80% of the fiber transmission. In such a regime, several solitons arising from the fission of ultra-short femtosecond pulses manifest unique features: pulse width, Raman self-frequency shift and soliton order remain nearly constant over a broad range of energies

Calorimetry of photon gases in nonlinear multimode optical fibers

Because of their massless nature, photons do not interact in linear optical media. However, light beam propagation in nonlinear media permits to break this paradigm, and makes it possible to observe photon-photon interactions. Based on this principle, a beam of light propagating in a nonlinear multimode optical system can be described as a gas of interacting particles. As a consequence, the spatio-temporal evolution of this photon gas is expressed in terms of macroscopic thermodynamic variables, e.g., temperature and chemical potential. Moreover, the gas evolution is subject to experiencing typical thermodynamic phenomena, such as thermalization. The meaning of thermodynamic variables associated with the photon gas must not be confused with their classical counterparts, e.g., the gas temperature cannot be measured by means of standard thermometers. Although the thermodynamic parameters of a multimode photon gas result from a rigorous mathematical derivation, their physical meaning is still unclear. In this work, we report on optical calorimetric measurements, which exploit nonlinear beam propagation in multimode optical fibers. Our results show that, indeed, heat only flows from a hot to a cold photon gas subsystem. This provides an unequivocal demonstration that nonlinear multimode wave propagation phenomena are governed by the second law of thermodynamics. In addition to be fundamental, our findings provide a new approach to light-by-light activated management of laser beams

Mapping powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici) resistance inwild and cultivated tetraploid wheats

Wheat is the most widely grown crop and represents the staple food for one third of the world’s population. Wheat is attacked by a large variety of pathogens and the use of resistant cultivars is an effective and environmentally safe strategy for controlling diseases and eliminating the use of fungicides. In this study, a collection of wild and cultivated tetraploid wheats (Triticum turgidum) were evaluated for seedling resistance (SR) and adult plant resistance (APR) to powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis) and genotyped with a 90K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array to identify new sources of resistance genes. The genome-wide association mapping detected 18 quantitative trait loci (QTL) for APR and 8 QTL for SR, four of which were identical or at least closely linked to four QTL for APR. Thirteen candidate genes, containing nucleotide binding sites and leucine-rich repeats, were localized in the confidence intervals of the QTL-tagging SNPs. The marker IWB6155, associated to QPm.mgb-1AS, was located within the gene TRITD1Av1G004560 coding for a disease resistance protein. While most of the identified QTL were described previously, five QTL for APR (QPm.mgb-1AS, QPm.mgb-2BS, QPm.mgb-3BL.1, QPm.mgb-4BL, QPm.mgb-7BS.1) and three QTL for SR (QPm.mgb-3BL.3, QPm.mgb-5AL.2, QPm.mgb-7BS.2) were mapped on chromosome regions where no resistance gene was reported before. The novel QTL/genes can contribute to enriching the resistance sources available to breeders

High energy pulse dynamics in multimode GRIN fibers

High energy, ultra-short multimode soliton pulse fission is observed and numerically studied in multimode GRIN fibers, showing complex dynamics bringing to multiple fundamental solitons that do not entirely follow standard single mode soliton perturbation theory predictions