Sexually transmitted Q fever

We report the sexual transmission of Coxiella burnetii from a man with occupationally acquired Q fever to his wife. Fifteen days after coitus, his wife also developed serologically proven acute Q fever. C. burnetii DNA sequences were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) performed on semen samples obtained from the husband at 4 and 15 months after the onset of acute Q fever, but PCR results were variable at 23 months, indicating the presence of few organisms.Adriana Milazzo, Robert Hall, Paul A. Storm, Ray J. Harris, William Winslow and Barrie P. Marmio

Genetic Evidence for a Tacaribe Serocomplex Virus, Mexico

We isolated arenavirus RNA from white-toothed woodrats (Neotoma leucodon) captured in a region of Mexico in which woodrats are food for humans. Analyses of nucleotide and amino acid sequence data indicated that the woodrats were infected with a novel Tacaribe serocomplex virus, proposed name Real de Catorce virus

Passive degassing at Nyiragongo (D.R. Congo) and Etna (Italy) volcanoes

Volcanoes are well known as an impressive large natural source of trace elements into the troposphere. Etna (Italy) and Nyiragongo (D.R. Congo) are two stratovolcanoes located in different geological settings, both characterized by persistent passive degassing from their summit craters. Here, we present some re-sults on trace element composition in volcanic plume emissions, atmospheric bulk deposition (rainwater) and their uptake by the surrounding vegetation, with the aim to compare and identify differences and sim-ilarities between these two volcanoes. Volcanic emissions were sampled by using active filter-pack for acid gases (sulfur and halogens) and specific teflon filters for particulates (major and trace elements). The im-pact of the volcanogenic deposition in the surrounding of the crater rims was investigated by using differ-ent sampling techniques: bulk rain collectors gauges were used to collect atmospheric bulk deposition, and biomonitoring technique was carried out to collect gases and particulates by using endemic plant species. The estimates of the trace element fluxes confirm that Etna and Nyiragongo are large sources of metals in-to the atmosphere, especially considering their persistent state of passive degassing. The large amount of emitted trace elements has a strong impact on the close surrounding of both volcanoes. This is clearly re-flected by in the chemical composition of rainwater collected at the summit areas both for Etna and Nyira-gongo. Moreover, the biomonitoring results highlight that bioaccumulation of trace elements is extremely high in the proximity of the crater rim and decreases with the distance from the active craters

Passive degassing at Nyiragongo (D.R. Congo) and Etna (Italy) volcanoes

Volcanoes are well known as an impressive large natural source of trace elements into the troposphere. Etna (Italy) and Nyiragongo (D.R. Congo) are two stratovolcanoes located in different geological settings, both characterized by persistent passive degassing from their summit craters. Here, we present some re-sults on trace element composition in volcanic plume emissions, atmospheric bulk deposition (rainwater) and their uptake by the surrounding vegetation, with the aim to compare and identify differences and sim-ilarities between these two volcanoes. Volcanic emissions were sampled by using active filter-pack for acid gases (sulfur and halogens) and specific teflon filters for particulates (major and trace elements). The im-pact of the volcanogenic deposition in the surrounding of the crater rims was investigated by using differ-ent sampling techniques: bulk rain collectors gauges were used to collect atmospheric bulk deposition, and biomonitoring technique was carried out to collect gases and particulates by using endemic plant species. The estimates of the trace element fluxes confirm that Etna and Nyiragongo are large sources of metals in-to the atmosphere, especially considering their persistent state of passive degassing. The large amount of emitted trace elements has a strong impact on the close surrounding of both volcanoes. This is clearly re-flected by in the chemical composition of rainwater collected at the summit areas both for Etna and Nyira-gongo. Moreover, the biomonitoring results highlight that bioaccumulation of trace elements is extremely high in the proximity of the crater rim and decreases with the distance from the active craters

Major loss of coralline algal diversity in response to ocean acidification

Calcified coralline algae are ecologically important in rocky habitats in the marine photic zone worldwide and there is growing concern that ocean acidification will severely impact them. Laboratory studies of these algae in simulated ocean acidification conditions have revealed wide variability in growth, photosynthesis and calcification responses, making it difficult to assess their future biodiversity, abundance and contribution to ecosystem function. Here, we apply molecular systematic tools to assess the impact of natural gradients in seawater carbonate chemistry on the biodiversity of coralline algae in the Mediterranean and the NW Pacific, link this to their evolutionary history and evaluate their potential future biodiversity and abundance. We found a decrease in the taxonomic diversity of coralline algae with increasing acidification with more than half of the species lost in high pCO2 conditions. Sporolithales is the oldest order (Lower Cretaceous) and diversified when ocean chemistry favoured low Mg calcite deposition; it is less diverse today and was the most sensitive to ocean acidification. Corallinales were also reduced in cover and diversity but several species survived at high pCO2; it is the most recent order of coralline algae and originated when ocean chemistry favoured aragonite and high Mg calcite deposition. The sharp decline in cover and thickness of coralline algal carbonate deposits at high pCO2 highlighted their lower fitness in response to ocean acidification. Reductions in CO2 emissions are needed to limit the risk of losing coralline algal diversity

Passive degassing at Nyiragongo (D.R. Congo) and Etna (Italy) volcanoes

Volcanoes are well known as an impressive large natural source of trace elements into the troposphere. Etna (Italy) and Nyiragongo (D.R. Congo) are two stratovolcanoes located in different geological settings, both characterized by persistent passive degassing from their summit craters. Here, we present some results on trace element composition in volcanic plume emissions, atmospheric bulk deposition (rainwater) and their uptake by the surrounding vegetation, with the aim to compare and identify differences and similarities between these two volcanoes. Volcanic emissions were sampled by using active filter-packs for acid gases (sulfur and halogens) and specific teflon filters for particulates (major and trace elements). The environmental impact of the volcanogenic deposition in the area surrounding of the crater rims was investigated by using different sampling techniques: bulk rain collectors’ gauges were used to collect atmospheric bulk deposition, and biomonitoring was carried out to collect gases and particulates by using endemic plant species. The estimates of the trace element fluxes confirm that Etna and Nyiragongo are large sources of metals into the atmosphere, especially considering their persistent state of passive degassing. The large amount of emitted trace elements is clearly reflected on the chemical composition of rainwater collected at the summit areas both for Etna and Nyiragongo. Moreover, the biomonitoring results highlight that bioaccumulation of trace elements is extremely high in the proximity of the crater rim and decreases with the distance from the active craters

Damped oscillations in the energy autocorrelation functions of the 58 Ni+ 46 Ti elastic and 58 Ni+ 62 Ni elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections

Structures of non-statistical character, recently observed in 58Ni +46Ti elastic and 58Ni +62Ni elastic and inelastic excitation functions, produce damped oscillations in the cross section energy autocorrelation functions. The analysis of these damped oscillations in terms of S-matrix spin and parity decoherence indicates, as a possible interpretation, damping of the coherent rotational motion of the intermediate dinuclear system formed in the reaction

Statistical evolution of isotope composition of nuclear fragments

Calculations within the statistical multifragmentation model show that the neutron content of intermediate mass fragments can increase in the region of liquid-gas phase transition in finite nuclei. The model predicts also inhomogeneous distributions of fragments and their isospin in the freeze-out volume caused by an angular momentum and external long-range Coulomb field. These effects can take place in peripheral nucleus-nucleus collisions at intermediate energies and lead to neutron-rich isotopes produced in the midrapidity kinematic region.Comment: 14 pages with 4 figures. GSI preprint, Darmstadt, 200

Fragmentation in Peripheral Heavy-Ion Collisions: from Neck Emission to Spectator Decays

Invariant cross sections of intermediate mass fragments in peripheral collisions of Au on Au at incident energies between 40 and 150 AMeV have been measured with the 4-pi multi-detector INDRA. The maximum of the fragment production is located near mid-rapidity at the lower energies and moves gradually towards the projectile and target rapidities as the energy is increased. Schematic calculations within an extended Goldhaber model suggest that the observed cross-section distributions and their evolution with energy are predominantly the result of the clustering requirement for the emerging fragments and of their Coulomb repulsion from the projectile and target residues. The quantitative comparison with transverse energy spectra and fragment charge distributions emphasizes the role of hard scattered nucleons in the fragmentation process.Comment: 5 pages, 5 eps figures, RevTeX4, submitted to Phys. Lett.

Analysis of charged particle emission sources and coalescence in E/A = 61 MeV 36^{36}Ar + 27^{27}Al, 112^{112}Sn and 124^{124}Sn collisions

Single-particle kinetic energy spectra and two-particle small angle correlations of protons ($p$), deuterons ($d$) and tritons ($t$) have been measured simultaneously in 61A MeV $^{36}$Ar + $^{27}$Al, $^{112}$Sn and $^{124}$Sn collisions. Characteristics of the emission sources have been derived from a ``source identification plot'' ($\beta_{source}$--$E_{CM}$ plot), constructed from the single-particle invariant spectra, and compared to the complementary results from two-particle correlation functions. Furthermore, the source identification plot has been used to determine the conditions when the coalescence mechanism can be applied for composite particles. In our data, this is the case only for the Ar + Al reaction, where $p$, $d$ and $t$ are found to originate from a common source of emission (from the overlap region between target and projectile). In this case, the coalescence model parameter, $\tilde{p}_0$ -- the radius of the complex particle emission source in momentum space, has been analyzed.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Nuclear Physics