Constraints and prospects on gravitational wave and neutrino emission using GW150914

The recent LIGO observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger triggered several follow-up searches from both electromagnetic wave as well as neutrino observatories. Since in general, it is expected that all matter has been removed from the binary black hole environment long before the merger, no neutrino emission is expected from such mergers. Still, it remains interesting to test this hypothesis. The ratio of the energy emitted in neutrinos with respect to gravitational waves represents a useful parameter to constrain the environment of such astrophysical events. In addition to putting constraints by use of the non-detection of counterpart neutrinos, it is also possible to consider the diffuse neutrino flux measured by the IceCube observatory as the maximum contribution from an extrapolated full class of BBHs. Both methods currently lead to similar bounds on the fraction of energy that can be emitted in neutrinos. Nevertheless, combining both methods should allow to strongly constrain the source population in case of a future neutrino counterpart detection. The proposed approach can and will be applied to potential upcoming LIGO events, including binary neutron stars and black hole-neutron star mergers, for which a neutrino counterpart is expected.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. In Proceedings of the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2017), Busan, Kore

A Synopsis of Serum Biomarkers in Cutaneous Melanoma Patients

Many serum biomarkers have been evaluated in melanoma but their clinical significance remains a matter of debate. In this paper, a review of the serum biomarkers for melanoma will be detailed and will be discussed from the point of view of their practical usefulness. The expression of biomarkers can be detected intracellularly or on the cell membrane of melanoma cells or noncancer cells in association with the melanoma. Some of these molecules can then be released extracellularly and be found in body fluids such as the serum. Actually, with the emergence of new targeted therapies for cancer and the increasing range of therapeutic options, the challenge for the clinician is to assess the unique risk/response ratio and the prognosis for each patient. New serum biomarkers of melanoma progression and metastatic disease are still awaited in order to provide efficient rationale for followup and treatment choices. LDH as well as S100B levels have been correlated with poor prognosis in AJCC stage III/IV melanoma patients. However, the poor sensitivity and specificity of those markers and many other molecules are serious limitations for their routine use in both early (AJCC stage I and II) and advanced stages of melanoma (AJCC stage III and IV). Microarray technology and proteomic research will surely provide new candidates in the near future allowing more accurate definition of the individual prognosis and prediction of the therapeutic outcome and select patients for early adjuvant strategies

Development of an electrochemical procedure for monitoring hydrogen sorption/desorption in steel

Hydrogen embrittlement leads to mechanical degradation of metals. Hence, hydrogen sorption/desorption properties of metals need to be characterized. An electrochemical procedure based on cyclic voltammetry (CV) and potentiostatic polarization is elaborated on plain-carbon steel. The procedure consists of first two consecutive CV cycles (pretreatment and reference CV), followed by cathodic H-charging, and subsequent CV scans to study and quantify the H-sorption/desorption. Best practice in this procedure is to perform all steps consecutively without interruption or sample manipulations between steps to avoid spontaneous H-loss. The H-related interaction with the steel is clearly identified in the CV and can be differentiated from the electrolyte contribution coming from thiourea. The study confirms the role of thiourea as H-recombination poison in alkaline solution, and also demonstrates that it contributes to the CV response. Additionally, various charging times are investigated to study the time to H-saturation, and also the scan rate during the CV procedure is varied to study time-related phenomena. Dedicated discharging experiments were included in the study to complement the CV data, giving additional insights in the H-steel interaction. Moreover, hydrogen related findings are successfully verified by using a complimentary method, i.e. hot extraction. The better understanding of the peaks in the CV and the continuous procedure result in a reliable methodology to characterize the H-sorption/desorption in steel

Electromagnetic characterization of organic-rich soils at the microwave L-band with ground-penetrating radar, radiometry and laboratory measurements

peer reviewedMicrowave remote sensing of the environment strongly relies on knowledge of the soil electrical properties. In this study, we characterized organic-rich soils using remote ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and radiometer as well as resonant cavity and waveguide reference methods. Organic-rich soil samples were collected from the HOBE (Hydrological Observatory) test site in the Skjern River Catchment (Denmark) and set up at the TERENO (Terrestrial Environmental Observatories) controlled test site in Selhausen (Germany). GPR and L-band radiometer measurements were performed above the soils during two months in order to cover a wide range of soil moisture conditions. GPR data were processed using full-wave inversion based on layered media Green's functions and radiometer data were inverted using a two-stream radiative transfer model for estimating the soil electrical properties. Results were compared to reference measurements carried out at the IMS laboratory (Laboratoire de l'Intégration du Matériau au Système, France) using two different methods, i.e., the small perturbation method with resonant cavity and the waveguide method. Relatively large differences were observed between the different estimation methods for the real part of the relative dielectric permittivity, while reasonable agreement were obtained with respect to its imaginary part. This was attributed to a higher sensitivity of the real part of the relative dielectric permittivity with respect to soil samples heterogeneities. This study provided valuable insights into the electrical characterization of organic soils to improve space-borne remote sensing data products

Attractivité et performance de différents pièges utilisés pour la capture des Apoïdea à Kisangani, RD Congo

The study aimed to evaluate used traps performance on attractiveness and captured Apoïdea in some pepper cropping systems in studied area.  Some traps were established (sweep net, triplet of yellow, white and blue cups) in Kisangani and surrounding. Three treatments were used per site: T0: 0.5 ha of area not yet cultivated (control), T1: 0.5 ha of pepper, T2: 0.5 ha of mixing pepper-maize-cassava. Observed results showed that in Kisangani and its surrounding area, the yellow cups were the most attracted traps compared to white and blue cups in term of number of individual trapped. Keys words:  Attractiveness, performance, traps, ApoïdeaLe but visé dans cette étude est d’évaluer la performance des pièges utilisés sur l’attractivité et la capture des Apoïdea dans quelques systèmes culturaux du piment dans les sites d’essai. Pour y arriver quelques pièges ont été installés (filet fauchoire et triplet de coupelles jaunes, blanches et bleues) à Kisangani et son environ. Trois traitements ont été utilisés par site : T0 : 0,5 ha du milieu non cultivé (le témoin), T1 : 0,5 ha du piment, T2 : 0,5 ha de l’association des  cultures piment-maïs-manioc. Au regard des résultats obtenus, il ressort qu’à Kisangani et son environ ce sont les coupelles jaunes qui ont été plus attractives que les blanches et les bleues en terme d’individus capturés. Mots clé : Attractivité, performance, pièges, Apoïde

Can organic arable and silvoarable micro-farms contribute to biodiversity conservation? A survey of wild bees community structure in the Brabant Wallon province (Belgium)

Agricultural intensification has led to the simplification and homogeneization of landscapes, threatening farm-land biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services in the process (Newbold et al. 2015; Potts et al. 2016).Several options have been put forward to mitigate these adverse impacts, including the agri-environmentalschemes (AES, particularly “sown wildflower strips”, see Geslin et al. 2017), the promotion of organic agri-culture and the increase of in-site plant diversity. The latter aspect is also expected to contribute to the sustainable intensification of production while reducing conventional agricultural inputs (pesticides, fertilizers,renting pollinators, etc.) and/or to optimize and stabilize ecosystem services in time and space (Lichtenberg etal. 2017).In this context, we examined the contribution of organic diversified micro-farms (defined here as productionsites of less than 2 hectares with high in-site plant diversity) to the conservation of wild bees in a networkof production farms located in the Brabant Wallon province of Belgium

Clustering patterns of physical activity, sedentary and dietary behavior among European adolescents: The HELENA study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence suggests possible synergetic effects of multiple lifestyle behaviors on health risks like obesity and other health outcomes. A better insight in the clustering of those behaviors, could help to identify groups who are at risk in developing chronic diseases. This study examines the prevalence and clustering of physical activity, sedentary and dietary patterns among European adolescents and investigates if the identified clusters could be characterized by socio-demographic factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study comprised a total of 2084 adolescents (45.6% male), from eight European cities participating in the HELENA (Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence) study. Physical activity and sedentary behavior were measured using self-reported questionnaires and diet quality was assessed based on dietary recall. Based on the results of those three indices, cluster analyses were performed. To identify gender differences and associations with socio-demographic variables, chi-square tests were executed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Five stable and meaningful clusters were found. Only 18% of the adolescents showed healthy and 21% unhealthy scores on all three included indices. Males were highly presented in the cluster with high levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and low quality diets. The clusters with low levels of MVPA and high quality diets comprised more female adolescents. Adolescents with low educated parents had diets of lower quality and spent more time in sedentary activities. In addition, the clusters with high levels of MVPA comprised more adolescents of the younger age category.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In order to develop effective primary prevention strategies, it would be important to consider multiple health indices when identifying high risk groups.</p

Ecological, environmental, and management data indicate apple production is driven by wild bee diversity and management practices

Climate, landscape composition, management practice, and wild bee pollination are all variables thought to play significant roles in commercial apple production. However, how these variables affect production efficiency under field-realistic conditions has not been investigated at large geographical scales. We combined intensive standardized field surveys (using netting and pan traps) with structural equation models to explore the relative impact of biotic and abiotic variables on bee diversity, apple yield and fruit quality, and their ability to represent reliable proxies of apple production. Here we show that apple yields are mainly driven by management practice, without evidence for a significantly superior contribution by managed honey bees. Total wild bee diversity, while negatively correlated with honey bee dominance, promoted apple quality by enhancing seed set number. Our study demonstrates that even across a broad geographical range there is potential to harness wild bee diversity as nature-based solution and as a substitute to an exclusive reliance on honey bees in the context of commercial apple production

Inequities in energy-balance related behaviours and family environmental determinants in European children : baseline results of the prospective EPHE evaluation study

Background: Tackling inequalities in overweight, obesity and related determinants has become a top priority for the European research and policy agendas. Although it has been established that such inequalities accumulate from early childhood onward, they have not been studied extensively in children. The current article discusses the results of an explorative analysis for the identification of inequalities in behaviours and their determinants between groups with high and low socio-economic status. Methods: This study is part of the Epode for the Promotion of Health Equity (EPHE) evaluation study, the overall aim of which is to assess the impact and sustainability of EPODE methodology to diminish inequalities in childhood obesity and overweight. Seven community-based programmes from different European countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Portugal, Romania, The Netherlands) participate in the EPHE study. In each of the communities, children aged 6-8 years participated, resulting in a total sample of 1266 children and their families. A parental self-administrated questionnaire was disseminated in order to assess the socio-economic status of the household, selected energy balance-related behaviours (1. fruit and vegetable consumption; 2. soft drink/fruit juices and water consumption; 3. screen time and 4. sleep duration) of the children and associated family environmental determinants. The Mann-Whitney U test and Pearson's chi-square test were used to test differences between the low and high education groups. The country-specific median was chosen as the cut-off point to determine the educational level, given the different average educational level in every country. Results: Children with mothers of relatively high educational level consumed fruits and vegetables more frequently than their peers of low socio-economic status. The latter group of children had a higher intake of fruit juices and/or soft drinks and had higher screen time. Parental rules and home availability were consistently different between the two socio-economic groups in our study in all countries. However we did not find a common pattern for all behaviours and the variability across the countries was large. Conclusions: Our findings are indicative of socio-economic inequalities in our samples, although the variability across the countries was large. The effectiveness of interventions aimed at chancing parental rules and behaviour on health inequalities should be studied