232 research outputs found
Resonance ionization spectroscopy of thorium isotopes - towards a laser spectroscopic identification of the low-lying 7.6 eV isomer of Th-229
In-source resonance ionization spectroscopy was used to identify an efficient
and selective three step excitation/ionization scheme of thorium, suitable for
titanium:sapphire (Ti:sa) lasers. The measurements were carried out in
preparation of laser spectroscopic investigations for an identification of the
low-lying Th-229m isomer predicted at 7.6 +- 0.5 eV above the nuclear ground
state. Using a sample of Th-232, a multitude of optical transitions leading to
over 20 previously unknown intermediate states of even parity as well as
numerous high-lying odd parity auto-ionizing states were identified. Level
energies were determined with an accuracy of 0.06 cm-1 for intermediate and
0.15 cm-1 for auto-ionizing states. Using different excitation pathways an
assignment of total angular momenta for several energy levels was possible. One
particularly efficient ionization scheme of thorium, exhibiting saturation in
all three optical transitions, was studied in detail. For all three levels in
this scheme, the isotope shifts of the isotopes Th-228, Th-229, and Th-230
relative to Th-232 were measured. An overall efficiency including ionization,
transport and detection of 0.6 was determined, which was predominantly limited
by the transmission of the mass spectrometer ion optics
Mass measurements in the vicinity of the doubly-magic waiting point 56Ni
Masses of 56,57Fe, 53Co^m, 53,56Co, 55,56,57Ni, 57,58Cu, and 59,60Zn have
been determined with the JYFLTRAP Penning trap mass spectrometer at IGISOL with
a precision of dm/m \le 3 x 10^{-8}. The QEC values for 53Co, 55Ni, 56Ni, 57Cu,
58Cu, and 59Zn have been measured directly with a typical precision of better
than 0.7 keV and Coulomb displacement energies have been determined. The Q
values for proton captures on 55Co, 56Ni, 58Cu, and 59Cu have been measured
directly. The precision of the proton-capture Q value for 56Ni(p,gamma)57Cu,
Q(p,gamma) = 689.69(51) keV, crucial for astrophysical rp-process calculations,
has been improved by a factor of 37. The excitation energy of the proton
emitting spin-gap isomer 53Co^m has been measured precisely, Ex = 3174.3(10)
keV, and a Coulomb energy difference of 133.9(10) keV for the 19/2- state has
been obtained. Except for 53Co, the mass values have been adjusted within a
network of 17 frequency ratio measurements between 13 nuclides which allowed
also a determination of the reference masses 55Co, 58Ni, and 59Cu.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Polygenic risk for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in relation to cardiovascular biomarkers
Individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and a range of biomarkers related to CVD risk have been found to be abnormal in these patients. Common genetic factors are a putative underlying mechanism, alongside lifestyle factors and antipsychotic medication. However, the extent to which the altered CVD biomarkers are related to genetic factors involved in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder is unknown. In a sample including 699 patients with schizophrenia, 391 with bipolar disorder, and 822 healthy controls, we evaluated 8 CVD risk biomarkers, including BMI, and fasting plasma levels of CVD biomarkers from a subsample. Polygenic risk scores (PGRS) were obtained from genome-wide associations studies (GWAS) of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. The CVD biomarkers were used as outcome variables in linear regression models including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder PGRS as predictors, age, sex, diagnostic category, batch and 10 principal components as covariates, controlling for multiple testing by Bonferroni correction for the number of independent tests. Bipolar disorder PGRS was significantly (p = 0.03) negatively associated with BMI after multiple testing correction, and schizophrenia PGRS was nominally negatively associated with BMI. There were no other significant associations between bipolar or schizophrenia PGRS, and other investigated CVD biomarkers. Despite a range of abnormal CVD risk biomarkers in psychotic disorders, we only found a significant negative association between bipolar disorder PGRS and BMI. This has previously been shown for schizophrenia PGRS and BMI, and warrants further exploration
Winter Time Concentrations and Size Distribution of Bioaerosols in Different Residential Settings in the UK
The total concentration and size distribution of bioaerosols in three different types of housing (single room in shared accommodation [type I], single bedroom flat in three-storey building [type II] and two- or threebedroom detached houses [type III]) was assessed during the winter. This research was an extension of a previous study carried out in the summer. The measurement campaign was undertaken in winter 2008 and 30 houses were sampled. Samples were taken from kitchens, living rooms, corridors (only in housing type I) and outdoors with an Anderson 6 stage viable impactor. In housing type I, the total geometric mean concentration was highest in the corridor for both bacteria and fungi (3,171 and 1,281 CFU/m3, respectively). In type II residences, both culturable bacteria and fungi were greatest in the living rooms (3,487 and 833 CFU/m3, respectively). The living rooms in type III residences had largest number of culturable bacteria (1,361 CFU/m3) while fungi were highest in kitchens (280 CFU/m3). The concentrations of culturable bacteria and fungi were greater in mouldy houses than non-mouldy houses. A considerable variation was seen in the size distribution of culturable bacteria in type I residences compared to types II and III. For all housing types more than half of culturable bacterial and fungal aerosol were respirable (<4.7 μm) and so have the potential to penetrate into lower respiratory system. Considerable variation in concentration and size distribution within different housing types in the same geographical region highlights the impact of differences in design, construction, use and management of residential built environment on bioaerosols levels and consequent varied risk of population exposure to airborne biological agents. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Total Absorption Spectroscopy Study of Rb Decay: A Major Contributor to Reactor Antineutrino Spectrum Shape
The antineutrino spectra measured in recent experiments at reactors are
inconsistent with calculations based on the conversion of integral beta spectra
recorded at the ILL reactor. Rb makes the dominant contribution to the
reactor spectrum in the 5-8 MeV range but its decay properties are in question.
We have studied Rb decay with total absorption spectroscopy. Previously
unobserved beta feeding was seen in the 4.5-5.5 region and the GS to GS feeding
was found to be 87.5(25)%. The impact on the reactor antineutrino spectra
calculated with the summation method is shown and discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Long-range transport of airborne microbes over the global tropical and subtropical ocean
The atmosphere plays a fundamental role in the transport of microbes across the planet but it is often neglected as a microbial habitat. Although the ocean represents two thirds of the Earth’s surface, there is little information on the atmospheric microbial load over the open ocean. Here we provide a global estimate of microbial loads and air-sea exchanges over the tropical and subtropical oceans based on the data collected along the Malaspina 2010 Circumnavigation Expedition. Total loads of airborne prokaryotes and eukaryotes were estimated at 2.2 × 1021 and 2.1 × 1021 cells, respectively. Overall 33–68% of these microorganisms could be traced to a marine origin, being transported thousands of kilometres before re-entering the ocean. Moreover, our results show a substantial load of terrestrial microbes transported over the oceans, with abundances declining exponentially with
distance from land and indicate that islands may act as stepping stones facilitating the transoceanic transport of terrestrial microbes.En prens
Total absorption spectroscopy study of the beta decay of Br-86 and Rb-91
The beta decays of Br-86 and Rb-91 have been studied using the total absorption spectroscopy technique. The radioactive nuclei were produced at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line facility in Jyvaskyla and further purified using the JYFLTRAP. Br-86 and Rb-91 are considered to be major contributors to the decay heat in reactors. In addition, Rb-91 was used as a normalization point in direct measurements of mean gamma energies released in the beta decay of fission products by Rudstam et al. assuming that this decaywas well known from high-resolution measurements. Our results show that both decays were suffering from the Pandemonium effect and that the results of Rudstam et al. should be renormalized. The relative impact of the studied decays in the prediction of the decay heat and antineutrino spectrum from reactors has been evaluated.Peer reviewe
Izloženost alergenima plijesni u unutarnjem okolišu
Humid indoor environments may be colonised by allergenic fi lamentous microfungi (moulds), Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., Cladosporium spp., and Alternaria spp. in particular. Mould-induced respiratory diseases are a worldwide problem. In the last two decades, mould allergens and glucans have been used as markers of indoor exposure to moulds. Recently, mould allergens Alt a 1 (Alternaria alternata) and Asp f 1 (Aspergillus fumigatus) have been analysed in various environments (residential and occupational) with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, which use monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies. Household Alt a 1 and Asp f 1 levels were usually under the limit of the method detection. By contrast, higher levels of mould allergens were found in environments with high levels of bioaerosols such as poultry farms and sawmills. Data on allergen Alt a 1 and Asp f 1 levels in agricultural settings may provide information on possible colonisation of respective moulds and point out to mould-related diseases in occupants.Vlažni, unutarnji prostori mogu biti kolonizirani alergogenim, filamentoznim mikrogljivicama (plijesni) uglavnom rodova Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium i Alternaria. Respiratorne bolesti uzrokovane plijesnima zdravstveni su problem diljem svijeta. U posljednja dva desetljeća, neki sastavni dijelovi plijesni kao alergeni i glukan rabe se kao pokazatelji izloženosti plijesni u unutarnjem okolišu. Nedavno su alergeni plijesni Alt a 1 (Alternaria alternata) i Asp f 1 (Aspergillus fumigatus) određivani u različitom okolišu (kućnom i profesionalnom) enzim-imunokemijskom metodom koja rabi monoklonska ili poliklonska antitijela. Razina Alt a 1 i Asp f 1 u kućnoj prašini ispod je granice detekcije. Nasuprot tomu, alergeni plijesni su određeni u okolišu s visokom razinom bioaerosola kao peradarnici i pilane. Razine alergena Alt a 1 i Asp f 1 u nekim poljoprivrednim objektima pružaju informaciju o mogućoj kolonizaciji plijesnima, što upućuje na moguće zdravstvene učinke kod zaposlenika
Nuclear charge radius of Al and its implication for V in the quark-mixing matrix
Collinear laser spectroscopy was performed on the isomer of the aluminium
isotope Al. The measured isotope shift to Al in the
3s^{2}3p\;^{2}\!P^\circ_{3/2} \rightarrow 3s^{2}4s\;^{2}\!S_{1/2} atomic
transition enabled the first experimental determination of the nuclear charge
radius of Al, resulting in =\qty{3.130\pm.015}{\femto\meter}. This
differs by 4.5 standard deviations from the extrapolated value used to
calculate the isospin-symmetry breaking corrections in the superallowed
decay of Al. Its corrected value, important for the
estimation of in the CKM matrix, is thus shifted by one standard
deviation to \qty{3071.4\pm1.0}{\second}.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
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