Tackling invasive alien species in Europe: The top 20 issues

Globally, Invasive Alien Species (IAS) are considered to be one of the major threats to native biodiversity, with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) citing their impacts as ‘immense, insidious, and usually irreversible’. It is estimated that 11% of the c. 12,000 alien species in Europe are invasive, causing environmental, economic and social damage; and it is reasonable to expect that the rate of biological invasions into Europe will increase in the coming years. In order to assess the current position regarding IAS in Europe and to determine the issues that were deemed to be most important or critical regarding these damaging species, the international Freshwater Invasives - Networking for Strategy (FINS) conference was convened in Ireland in April 2013. Delegates from throughout Europe and invited speakers from around the world were brought together for the conference. These comprised academics, applied scientists, policy makers, politicians, practitioners and representative stakeholder groups. A horizon scanning and issue prioritization approach was used by in excess of 100 expert delegates in a workshop setting to elucidate the Top 20 IAS issues in Europe. These issues do not focus solely on freshwater habitats and taxa but relate also to marine and terrestrial situations. The Top 20 issues that resulted represent a tool for IAS management and should also be used to support policy makers as they prepare European IAS legislation. © 2014 The Author(s)

Discovery and physical characterization as the first response to a potential asteroid collision: The case of 2023 DZ2

Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) that may evolve into impactors deserve detailed threat assessment studies. Early physical characterization of a would-be impactor may help in optimizing impact mitigation plans. We first detected NEA 2023~DZ$_{2}$ on 27--February--2023. After that, it was found to have a Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance (MOID) with Earth of 0.00005~au as well as an unusually high initial probability of becoming a near-term (in 2026) impactor. We aim to perform a rapid but consistent dynamical and physical characterization of 2023~DZ$_{2}$ as an example of a key response to mitigate the consequences of a potential impact. We use a multi-pronged approach, drawing from various methods (observational/computational) and techniques (spectroscopy/photometry from multiple instruments), and bringing the data together to perform a rapid and robust threat assessment.} The visible reflectance spectrum of 2023~DZ$_{2}$ is consistent with that of an X-type asteroid. Light curves of this object obtained on two different nights give a rotation period $P$=6.2743$\pm$0.0005 min with an amplitude $A$=0.57$\pm$0.14~mag. We confirm that although its MOID is among the smallest known, 2023~DZ$_{2}$ will not impact Earth in the foreseeable future as a result of secular near-resonant behaviour. Our investigation shows that coordinated observation and interpretation of disparate data provides a robust approach from discovery to threat assessment when a virtual impactor is identified. We prove that critical information can be obtained within a few days after the announcement of the potential impactor.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 15 page

280 one-opposition near-Earth asteroids recovered by the EURONEAR with the <i>Isaac Newton</i> Telescope

Context. One-opposition near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are growing in number, and they must be recovered to prevent loss and mismatch risk, and to improve their orbits, as they are likely to be too faint for detection in shallow surveys at future apparitions. Aims. We aimed to recover more than half of the one-opposition NEAs recommended for observations by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) using the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) in soft-override mode and some fractions of available D-nights. During about 130 h in total between 2013 and 2016, we targeted 368 NEAs, among which 56 potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), observing 437 INT Wide Field Camera (WFC) fields and recovering 280 NEAs (76% of all targets). Methods. Engaging a core team of about ten students and amateurs, we used the THELI, Astrometrica, and the Find_Orb software to identify all moving objects using the blink and track-and-stack method for the faintest targets and plotting the positional uncertainty ellipse from NEODyS. Results. Most targets and recovered objects had apparent magnitudes centered around V ~ 22.8 mag, with some becoming as faint as V ~ 24 mag. One hundred and three objects (representing 28% of all targets) were recovered by EURONEAR alone by Aug. 2017. Orbital arcs were prolonged typically from a few weeks to a few years; our oldest recoveries reach 16 years. The O−C residuals for our 1854 NEA astrometric positions show that most measurements cluster closely around the origin. In addition to the recovered NEAs, 22 000 positions of about 3500 known minor planets and another 10 000 observations of about 1500 unknown objects (mostly main-belt objects) were promptly reported to the MPC by our team. Four new NEAs were discovered serendipitously in the analyzed fields and were promptly secured with the INT and other telescopes, while two more NEAs were lost due to extremely fast motion and lack of rapid follow-up time. They increase the counting to nine NEAs discovered by the EURONEAR in 2014 and 2015. Conclusions. Targeted projects to recover one-opposition NEAs are efficient in override access, especially using at least two-meter class and preferably larger field telescopes located in good sites, which appear even more efficient than the existing surveys

A large topographic feature on the surface of the trans-Neptunian object (307261) 2002 MS4_4 measured from stellar occultations

This work aims at constraining the size, shape, and geometric albedo of the dwarf planet candidate 2002 MS4 through the analysis of nine stellar occultation events. Using multichord detection, we also studied the object's topography by analyzing the obtained limb and the residuals between observed chords and the best-fitted ellipse. We predicted and organized the observational campaigns of nine stellar occultations by 2002 MS4 between 2019 and 2022, resulting in two single-chord events, four double-chord detections, and three events with three to up to sixty-one positive chords. Using 13 selected chords from the 8 August 2020 event, we determined the global elliptical limb of 2002 MS4. The best-fitted ellipse, combined with the object's rotational information from the literature, constrains the object's size, shape, and albedo. Additionally, we developed a new method to characterize topography features on the object's limb. The global limb has a semi-major axis of 412 $\pm$ 10 km, a semi-minor axis of 385 $\pm$ 17 km, and the position angle of the minor axis is 121 $^\circ$ $\pm$ 16$^\circ$. From this instantaneous limb, we obtained 2002 MS4's geometric albedo and the projected area-equivalent diameter. Significant deviations from the fitted ellipse in the northernmost limb are detected from multiple sites highlighting three distinct topographic features: one 11 km depth depression followed by a 25$^{+4}_{-5}$ km height elevation next to a crater-like depression with an extension of 322 $\pm$ 39 km and 45.1 $\pm$ 1.5 km deep. Our results present an object that is $\approx$138 km smaller in diameter than derived from thermal data, possibly indicating the presence of a so-far unknown satellite. However, within the error bars, the geometric albedo in the V-band agrees with the results published in the literature, even with the radiometric-derived albedo

Penerapan Model MVC pada Sistem Informasi Pendaftaran Mts Nurul Hikmah Sukabumi

Perkembangan teknologi informasi telah membawa dampak dalam berbagai bidang. Perkembangan teknologi informasi tentunya sangat dibutuhkan oleh semua kalangan, salah satunya yaitu di dunia pendidikan, sehingga menimbulkan persaingan antar seluruh institusi baik negeri maupun swasta. Mts Nurul Hikmah merupakan sebuah Lembaga Pendidikan swasta yang berada di kota Sukabumi. Proses pendaftaran pada Mts Nurul Hikmah masih dilakukan secara konvensional dengan mengisi formulir pendaftaran sehingga calon siswa harus datang langsung ke tempat dan bagian staf administrasi masih mengalami kesulitan dalam hal pencarian data calon siswa, dan laporan calon siswa yang sudah mendaftar pada Mts Nurul Hikmah. Sistem informasi pendaftaran merupakan solusi yang terbaik untuk memecahkan permasalahan-permasalahan yang ada pada Mts Nurul Hikmah, serta dengan sistem yang terkomputerisasi dapat tercapai suatu kegiatan yang efektif dan efisien dalam menunjang aktifitas pada Mts Nurul Hikmah. Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah Prototype. Dengan adanya sistem pendaftaran, dapat mempermudah pengolahan data pendaftaran dan pencarian data calon siswa Mts Nurul Hikmah

Audit Sistem Informasi Sumber Daya Manusia pada PT. Intercon Terminal Indonesia Menggunakan Framework Cobit 4.1

Pengelolaan sumber daya manusia merupakan proses dan struktur hubungan yang mengendalikan dan mengarahkan suatu organisasi Perusahaan dalam mencapai tujuan organisasi dengan menambahkan nilai agar teknologi informasi dan prosesnya dapat diseimbangkan dengan risikonya. Diperlukan sebuah evaluasi sumber daya manusia dibidang teknologi informasi untuk mengetahui sejauh mana tingkatan pengelolaan terhadap sumber daya manusia di PT Intercome Terminal Indonesia. Sumber daya manusia dibidang teknologi informasi pada PT Intercome Terminal Indonesia membutuhkan pengembangan dan pengelolaan sesuai dengan harapan organisasi. Melihat terbatasnya sumber daya manusia di bidang teknologi informasi pada PT Intercome Terminal Indonesia sangat terbatas sehingga kegiatan operasional masih belum efektif dan memenuhi sasaran yang diharapkan. Melihat kondisi organisasi yang mengalami terbatas pada sumber daya manusia di bidang teknologi informasi dilakukan evaluasi secara detail dengan menggunakan COBIT 4.1. Dalam melakukan evaluasi sumber daya manusia dengan menggunakan kerangka kerja COBIT yang berfokus pada Domain PO, DS dan ME diharapkan dapat memberikan acuan dan perbaikan yang lebih efektif terhadap organisasi ke depannya

Development and Performance Characterization of Intraoperative Positron Probes for Tumor Surgery

The emergence of promising specific tumor-seeking agents labeled with positron emitters is giving rise to a renewed interest for radioguided surgery using beta probes. Intraoperative positron probes present intrinsic advantages over gamma detection to provide real time information about the tumor extend and the assessment of reasonable surgical resection margins. In that context, we are currently developing two different intraoperative positron probes based on SiPM photosensors: a small positron imaging probe to perform tumor localization and post-operative control of the surgical cavity, and a miniaturized counting probe to guide in real time the excision of the lesion. We report here design and characterization of the performance of these probes. The imaging probe consists of the stack of two SiPM arrays coupled to a plastic and a GSOZ scintillators in order to remove the gamma ray background noise with a subtraction method. The counting probe is built around seven detection elements, each composed of a plastic scintillating fiber and a SiPM, and is designed to be directly coupled to an excision tool. We show that the imaging probe offers submillimetric intrinsic resolution and bias over its usable field of view. These performances are insensitive to temperature variations due to a real-time temperature-compensated circuit integrated in the readout electronics. The positron sensitivity measured with 18F-FDG (12.6 cps/nCi) is superior to those of the best positron probes reported. Detailed description of the first prototypes of the two positron probes as well as complete characterization of their performances, including evaluation of the gamma ray rejection efficiency with realistic phantoms, will be presented at the conference

Development and Performance Characterization of Intraoperative Positron Probes for Tumor Surgery

The emergence of promising specific tumor-seeking agents labeled with positron emitters is giving rise to a renewed interest for radioguided surgery using beta probes. Intraoperative positron probes present intrinsic advantages over gamma detection to provide real time information about the tumor extend and the assessment of reasonable surgical resection margins. In that context, we are currently developing two different intraoperative positron probes based on SiPM photosensors: a small positron imaging probe to perform tumor localization and post-operative control of the surgical cavity, and a miniaturized counting probe to guide in real time the excision of the lesion. We report here design and characterization of the performance of these probes. The imaging probe consists of the stack of two SiPM arrays coupled to a plastic and a GSOZ scintillators in order to remove the gamma ray background noise with a subtraction method. The counting probe is built around seven detection elements, each composed of a plastic scintillating fiber and a SiPM, and is designed to be directly coupled to an excision tool. We show that the imaging probe offers submillimetric intrinsic resolution and bias over its usable field of view. These performances are insensitive to temperature variations due to a real-time temperature-compensated circuit integrated in the readout electronics. The positron sensitivity measured with 18F-FDG (12.6 cps/nCi) is superior to those of the best positron probes reported. Detailed description of the first prototypes of the two positron probes as well as complete characterization of their performances, including evaluation of the gamma ray rejection efficiency with realistic phantoms, will be presented at the conference