Distribution of heavy metals in vegetative biofiltration columns

This study investigated the distribution of heavy metals in vegetative biofiltration columns irrigated by synthetic greywater. Twelve species of ornamental plants (three plants from each species) were planted in the same designed 36 biofiltration columns. Samples of effluent water, soils, roots, shoots and leaves were collected and analyzed. It was observed that before irrigation, the distribution of copper was in soils (0%), roots (42%), leaves (37%) and shoots (21%). After irrigation, this distribution changed to soils (29%), roots (39%), leaves (17%) and shoots (15%). It was found that lead concentrations decreased in soils from (84% to 7%), but increased in plants (from 16% to 93%) following irrigation with greywater. In contrast, the distribution of zinc changed from leaves (46%), roots (22%) and soils (16%) before irrigation to 89% in leaves and soils and 11% in shoots following irrigation. The chromium distribution before and after irrigation was found to be almost unchanged in soils, shoots and effluent water, but it increased in roots (19.4% to 26.9%) and decreased in leaves (11.4% to 5.8%). The outcomes of this study demonstrated that heavy metals mostly accumulate in soils and roots, and it is necessary to investigate their potential detrimental effects on the receiving environment

Highly charged ions in Penning traps, a new tool for resolving low lying isomeric states

The use of highly charged ions increases the precision and resolving power, in particular for short-lived species produced at on-line radio-isotope beam facilities, achievable with Penning trap mass spectrometers. This increase in resolving power provides a new and unique access to resolving low-lying long-lived ($T_{1/2} > 50$ ms) nuclear isomers. Recently, the $111.19(22)$ keV (determined from $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy) isomeric state in $^{78}$Rb has been resolved from the ground state, in a charge state of $q=8+$ with the TITAN Penning trap at the TRIUMF-ISAC facility. The excitation energy of the isomer was measured to be $108.7(6.4)$ keV above the ground state. The extracted masses for both the ground and isomeric states, and their difference, agree with the AME2003 and Nuclear Data Sheet values. This proof of principle measurement demonstrates the feasibility of using Penning trap mass spectrometers coupled to charge breeders to study nuclear isomers and opens a new route for isomer searches.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Expression and cellular localization of hepcidin mRNA and protein in normal rat brain.

BACKGROUND: Hepcidin is a peptide hormone belonging to the defensin family of cationic antimicrobial molecules that has an essential role in systemic iron homeostasis. The peptide is synthesised by hepatocytes and transported in the circulation to target tissues where it regulates the iron export function of the ferrous iron permease, ferroportin. In the brain hepcidin protein has been identified using immuno-histochemistry and mRNA by real-time PCR but not by in situ hybridisation raising the question of whether there is measurable transcription of the hepcidin gene in the central nervous system. Alternatively hepcidin could be transported as a hormone to the brain via the circulation. RESULTS: By RT-PCR hepcidin mRNA was present at low level throughout normal rat brain while in situ hybridisation to detect low-abundant mRNA revealed that transcripts were restricted to endothelium of blood vessels and choroid plexus. In contrast, hepcidin protein analysed by immuno-histochemistry was highly expressed in blood vessels, in endothelium and in pericytes. Hepcidin was also present in glial cells and in the olfactory bulb, sub-ventricular zone and dentate gyrus, areas where neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity are maintained throughout adult life. The hepcidin species identified by Western blotting in sub-ventricular zone, cortex and hippocampus migrated as a ~2.8 kDa band, identical in size to hepcidin present in normal rat serum suggesting that hepcidin in brain was the full-length biologically active 25 amino acid peptide. Hepcidin co-localised with ferroportin in ependymal cells of the sub-ventricular zone and in the corpus callosum consistent with a regulatory role in iron metabolism at these sites. CONCLUSIONS: Hepcidin protein was widely expressed in brain parenchyma while levels of hepcidin gene transcription appeared to be below the limits of detection of the in situ hybridisation probes. This disparity suggests that not all hepcidin in the brain is transcribed in situ and may originate in part outside the brain. The properties of hepcidin as a cationic peptide hormone are reflected in the finding of hepcidin in the walls of blood vessels and in pericytes and glia, cells that may be involved in transporting the peptide into brain interstitium

An optical fiber hydrogen sensor using a palladium-coated ball lens

A self-referenced optical fiber refractometer using a ball lens as a sensor head has been developed and characterized. A 350-μm ball lens created at the tip of a single mode fiber has been coated with a 40-nm optically thin layer of palladium that reacts with hydrogen to form a hydride, which has a lower reflectivity than pure palladium. Optical reflectance measurements from the tip of the ball lens were performed to determine the hydrogen response. The change in reflectivity is proportional to the hydrogen concentration in the range 0% to 1% hydrogen in air with a detection limit down to 10 ppm (1σ) in air. This technique offers a simple sensor head arrangement, with a larger sampling area (~40 times) than a typical single-mode fiber core. A statistical image analysis of a palladium film, with cracks created by accelerated failure, confirms that the anticipated sensor area for a ball lens sensor head has a more predictable reflectivity than that of a bare fiber core

Extinction of the N=20 neutron-shell closure for 32Mg examined by direct mass measurements

The 'island of inversion' around $^{32}$Mg is one of the most important paradigm for studying the disappearance of the stabilizing 'magic' of a shell closure. We present the first Penning-trap mass measurements of the exotic nuclides $^{29-31}$Na and $^{30-34}$Mg, which allow a precise determination of the empirical shell gap for $^{32}$Mg. The new value of 1.10(3) MeV is the lowest observed shell gap for any nuclide with a canonical magic number.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review

A phase III, randomized, open-label study (CONTACT-02) of cabozantinib plus atezolizumab versus second novel hormone therapy in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

Atezolizumab; Cabozantinib; Immune checkpoint inhibitorAtezolizumab; Cabozantinib; Inhibidor del punto de control inmunitarioAtezolizumab; Cabozantinib; Inhibidor del punt de control immunitariCabozantinib inhibits multiple receptor tyrosine kinases, including the TAM kinase family, and may enhance response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. One cohort of the ongoing phase Ib COSMIC-021 study (NCT03170960) evaluating cabozantinib plus the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) that has progressed in soft tissue on/after enzalutamide and/or abiraterone treatment for metastatic disease has shown promising efficacy. Here, we describe the rationale and design of a phase III trial of cabozantinib plus atezolizumab versus a second novel hormone therapy (NHT) in patients who have previously received an NHT for mCRPC, metastatic castration-sensitive PC or nonmetastatic CRPC and have measurable visceral disease and/or extrapelvic adenopathy – a population with a significant unmet need for treatment options.This study is funded by Exelixis but includes support (including the provision of atezolizumab) from Roche

Cellular Automata Models of Road Traffic

In this paper, we give an elaborate and understandable review of traffic cellular automata (TCA) models, which are a class of computationally efficient microscopic traffic flow models. TCA models arise from the physics discipline of statistical mechanics, having the goal of reproducing the correct macroscopic behaviour based on a minimal description of microscopic interactions. After giving an overview of cellular automata (CA) models, their background and physical setup, we introduce the mathematical notations, show how to perform measurements on a TCA model's lattice of cells, as well as how to convert these quantities into real-world units and vice versa. The majority of this paper then relays an extensive account of the behavioural aspects of several TCA models encountered in literature. Already, several reviews of TCA models exist, but none of them consider all the models exclusively from the behavioural point of view. In this respect, our overview fills this void, as it focusses on the behaviour of the TCA models, by means of time-space and phase-space diagrams, and histograms showing the distributions of vehicles' speeds, space, and time gaps. In the report, we subsequently give a concise overview of TCA models that are employed in a multi-lane setting, and some of the TCA models used to describe city traffic as a two-dimensional grid of cells, or as a road network with explicitly modelled intersections. The final part of the paper illustrates some of the more common analytical approximations to single-cell TCA models.Comment: Accepted for publication in "Physics Reports". A version of this paper with high-quality images can be found at: http://phdsven.dyns.cx (go to "Papers written"