HESS J1632-478: an energetic relic

HESS J1632-478 is an extended and still unidentified TeV source in the galactic plane. In order to identify the source of the very high energy emission and to constrain its spectral energy distribution, we used a deep observation of the field obtained with XMM-Newton together with data from Molonglo, Spitzer and Fermi to detect counterparts at other wavelengths. The flux density emitted by HESS J1632-478 peaks at very high energies and is more than 20 times weaker at all other wavelengths probed. The source spectrum features two large prominent bumps with the synchrotron emission peaking in the ultraviolet and the external inverse Compton emission peaking in the TeV. HESS J1632-478 is an energetic pulsar wind nebula with an age of the order of 10^4 years. Its bolometric (mostly GeV-TeV) luminosity reaches 10% of the current pulsar spin down power. The synchrotron nebula has a size of 1 pc and contains an unresolved point-like X-ray source, probably the pulsar with its wind termination shock.Comment: A&A accepted, 9 pages, 5 figures, 4 table

HESS J1632-478: An energetic relic

HESS J1632-478 is an extended and still unidentified TeV source in the galactic plane. In order to identify the source of the very high energy emission and to constrain its spectral energy distribution, we used a deep observation of the field obtained with XMM-Newton together with data from Molonglo, Spitzer and Fermi to detect counterparts at other wavelengths. The spectral energy density features two large prominent bumps with the synchrotron emission peaking in the ultraviolet and the external inverse Compton emission peaking in the TeV. HESS J1632-478 is an energetic pulsar wind nebula with an age of the order of 104 years. Its bolometric (mostly GeV-TeV) luminosity reaches 10% of the current pulsar spin down power. The synchrotron nebula has a size of 1 pc and contains an unresolved point-like X-ray source, probably the pulsar with its wind termination shock

Is the Riemann zeta function in a short interval a 1-RSB spin glass ?

Fyodorov, Hiary & Keating established an intriguing connection between the maxima of log-correlated processes and the ones of the Riemann zeta function on a short interval of the critical line. In particular, they suggest that the analogue of the free energy of the Riemann zeta function is identical to the one of the Random Energy Model in spin glasses. In this paper, the connection between spin glasses and the Riemann zeta function is explored further. We study a random model of the Riemann zeta function and show that its two-overlap distribution corresponds to the one of a one-step replica symmetry breaking (1-RSB) spin glass. This provides evidence that the local maxima of the zeta function are strongly clustered.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure, Minor corrections, References update

Ecotoxicity characterization of chemicals: global recommendations and implementation in USEtox

Chemicals emitted to the environment affect ecosystem health from local to global scale, and reducing chemical impacts has become an important element of European and global sustainability efforts. The present work ad-vances ecotoxicity characterization of chemicals in life cycle impact assessment by proposing recommendations resulting from international expert workshops and work conducted under the umbrella of the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative in the GLAM project (Global guidance on environmental life cycle impact assessment indicators). We include specific recommendations for broadening the assessment scope through proposing to introduce additional environmental compartments beyond freshwater and related ecotoxicity indicators, as well as for adapting the ecotoxicity effect modelling approach to better reflect environmentally relevant exposure levels and including to a larger extent chronic test data. As result, we (1) propose a consistent mathematical framework for calculating freshwater ecotoxicity characterization factors and their underlying fate, exposure and effect pa-rameters; (2) implement the framework into the USEtox scientific consensus model; (3) calculate characteriza-tion factors for chemicals reported in an inventory of a life cycle assessment case study on rice production and consumption; and (4) investigate the influence of effect data selection criteria on resulting indicator scores. Our results highlight the need for careful interpretation of life cycle assessment impact scores in light of robustness of underlying species sensitivity distributions. Next steps are to apply the recommended characterization frame-work in additional case studies, and to adapt it to soil, sediment and the marine environment. Our framework is applicable for evaluating chemicals in life cycle assessment, chemical and environmental footprinting, chemical substitution, risk screening, chemical prioritization, and comparison with environmental sustainability targets.Environmental Biolog

Isotopic Composition of Light Nuclei in Cosmic Rays: Results from AMS-01

The variety of isotopes in cosmic rays allows us to study different aspects of the processes that cosmic rays undergo between the time they are produced and the time of their arrival in the heliosphere. In this paper we present measurements of the isotopic ratios 2H/4He, 3He/4He, 6Li/7Li, 7Be/(9Be+10Be) and 10B/11B in the range 0.2-1.4 GeV of kinetic energy per nucleon. The measurements are based on the data collected by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, AMS-01, during the STS-91 flight in 1998 June.Comment: To appear in ApJ. 12 pages, 11 figures, 6 table

EFSA's OpenFoodTox: An open source toxicological database on chemicals in food and feed and its future developments

Since its creation in 2002, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has produced risk assessments for over 5000 substances in >2000 Scientific Opinions, Statements and Conclusions through the work of its Scientific Panels, Units and Scientific Committee. OpenFoodTox is an open source toxicological database, available both for download and data visualisation which provides data for all substances evaluated by EFSA including substance characterisation, links to EFSA's outputs, applicable legislations regulations, and a summary of hazard identification and hazard characterisation data for human health, animal health and ecological assessments. The database has been structured using OECD harmonised templates for reporting chemical test summaries (OHTs) to facilitate data sharing with stakeholders with an interest in chemical risk assessment, such as sister agencies, international scientific advisory bodies, and others. This manuscript provides a description of OpenFoodTox including data model, content and tools to download and search the database. Examples of applications of OpenFoodTox in chemical risk assessment are discussed including new quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) models, integration into tools (OECD QSAR Toolbox and AMBIT-2.0), assessment of environmental footprints and testing of threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) values for food related compounds. Finally, future developments for OpenFoodTox 2.0 include the integration of new properties, such as physico-chemical properties, exposure data, toxicokinetic information; and the future integration within in silico modelling platforms such as QSAR models and physiologically-based kinetic models. Such structured in vivo, in vitro and in silico hazard data provide different lines of evidence which can be assembled, weighed and integrated using harmonised Weight of Evidence approaches to support the use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in chemical risk assessment and the reduction of animal testing

Characterization of the Metabolically Modified Heavy Metal-Resistant Cupriavidus metallidurans Strain MSR33 Generated for Mercury Bioremediation

BACKGROUND: Mercury-polluted environments are often contaminated with other heavy metals. Therefore, bacteria with resistance to several heavy metals may be useful for bioremediation. Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 is a model heavy metal-resistant bacterium, but possesses a low resistance to mercury compounds. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To improve inorganic and organic mercury resistance of strain CH34, the IncP-1β plasmid pTP6 that provides novel merB, merG genes and additional other mer genes was introduced into the bacterium by biparental mating. The transconjugant Cupriavidus metallidurans strain MSR33 was genetically and biochemically characterized. Strain MSR33 maintained stably the plasmid pTP6 over 70 generations under non-selective conditions. The organomercurial lyase protein MerB and the mercuric reductase MerA of strain MSR33 were synthesized in presence of Hg(2+). The minimum inhibitory concentrations (mM) for strain MSR33 were: Hg(2+), 0.12 and CH(3)Hg(+), 0.08. The addition of Hg(2+) (0.04 mM) at exponential phase had not an effect on the growth rate of strain MSR33. In contrast, after Hg(2+) addition at exponential phase the parental strain CH34 showed an immediate cessation of cell growth. During exposure to Hg(2+) no effects in the morphology of MSR33 cells were observed, whereas CH34 cells exposed to Hg(2+) showed a fuzzy outer membrane. Bioremediation with strain MSR33 of two mercury-contaminated aqueous solutions was evaluated. Hg(2+) (0.10 and 0.15 mM) was completely volatilized by strain MSR33 from the polluted waters in presence of thioglycolate (5 mM) after 2 h. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: A broad-spectrum mercury-resistant strain MSR33 was generated by incorporation of plasmid pTP6 that was directly isolated from the environment into C. metallidurans CH34. Strain MSR33 is capable to remove mercury from polluted waters. This is the first study to use an IncP-1β plasmid directly isolated from the environment, to generate a novel and stable bacterial strain useful for mercury bioremediation

Study of large hemispherical photomultiplier tubes for the ANTARES neutrino telescope

The ANTARES neutrino telescope, to be immersed depth in the Mediterranean Sea, will consist of a 3 dimensional matrix of 900 large area photomultiplier tubes housed in pressure resistant glass spheres. The selection of the optimal photomultiplier was a critical step for the project and required an intensive phase of tests and developments carried out in close collaboration with the main manufacturers worldwide. This paper provides an overview of the tests performed by the collaboration and describes in detail the features of the PMT chosen for ANTARES

Dark Matter Searches with the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope

[EN] The MOSCAB experiment (Materia OSCura A Bolle) uses the Geyser technique for dark matter search. The results of the first 0.5 kg mass prototype detector using superheated C3F8 liquid were very encouraging, achieving a 5 keV nuclear recoil threshold with high insensitivity to gamma radiation. Additionally, the technique seems to be easily scalable to higher masses for both in terms of complexity and costs, resulting in a very competitive technique for direct dark matter search, especially for the spin dependent case. Here, we report as well in the construction and commissioning of the big detector of 40 kg at the Milano-Bicocca University. The detector, the calibration tests and the evaluation of the background will be presented. Once demonstrated the functionality of the detector, it will be operated at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in 2015.We acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) and Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), Grants FPA2012-37528-C02-02, and Consolider MultiDark CSD2009-00064, and of the Generalitat Valenciana, Grants ACOMP/2014/153 and PrometeoII/2014/079.Ardid Ramírez, M. (2016). Dark Matter Searches with the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope. Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings. 273:378-382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2015.09.054S37838227