Neutrino signature of supernova hydrodynamical instabilities in three dimensions

The first full-scale three-dimensional (3D) core-collapse supernova (SN) simulations with sophisticated neutrino transport show pronounced effects of the standing accretion shock instability (SASI) for two high-mass progenitors (20 and 27 M_sun). In a low-mass progenitor (11.2 M_sun), large-scale convection is the dominant nonradial hydrodynamic instability in the postshock accretion layer. The SASI-associated modulation of the neutrino signal (80 Hz in our two examples) will be clearly detectable in IceCube or the future Hyper-Kamiokande detector, depending on progenitor properties, distance, and observer location relative to the main SASI sloshing direction. The neutrino signal from the next galactic SN can therefore diagnose the nature of the hydrodynamic instability.Comment: 6 pages, including 4 figures. Results unchanged. Matches published version in PRL. Animated visualization available at: http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/ccsnarchive/data/Hanke2013_movie/index.htm

Marine chemical contaminants – support to harmonized MSFD reporting: Substances considered for MSFD descriptor 8

The 2018 reporting on updates of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Articles 8, 9 and 10 will be supported by web forms to aid completion of the XML files by Member States. It is planned to use, wherever possible, drop-down lists to facilitate data entry, thereby also helping to ensure consistency in the data entered. This report outlines a process to prepare a list of contaminants for use in 2018 MSFD D8 reporting (as drop-down lists in the reporting web forms). This list assists in using a harmonized nomenclature for the unambiguous identification of the substances, thereby facilitating consistency in the data entry. Additionally, the compilation of the list allows for comparisons between Member States and marine regions that may support the processes of selection of relevant contaminants for D8 assessments.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource

Potential chemical contaminants in the marine environment: An overview of main contaminant lists

The identification of priority chemicals is a challenge for regulators, managers and researchers all around the world. This report compiles in a single list more than 2700 substances (or groups of substances) coming from main lists of chemicals compiled by relevant global conventions, European legislation, European regional seas and dedicated research work. Although not all of these contaminants are of concern for the marine environment or for a particular MSFD region/sub-region/Member State, this general overview should help understand the different options and support further developments for the monitoring and assessment of chemical pollution in European marine waters. Discussion and collaboration between the different stakeholders and expert groups will be necessary for an efficient way towards an equally high level of protection for healthy and productive oceans. This compilation also assist in using a harmonized nomenclature for the unambiguous identification of the substances of concern. It may also serve as a basis for discussions about procedures for grouping/combining substances at European level. This is expected to facilitate consistency in the upcoming 2018 MSFD data reporting.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource

Self-sustained asymmetry of lepton-number emission: A new phenomenon during the supernova shock-accretion phase in three dimensions

During the stalled-shock phase of our 3D hydrodynamical core-collapse simulations with energy-dependent, 3-flavor neutrino transport, the lepton-number flux (nue minus antinue) emerges predominantly in one hemisphere. This novel, spherical-symmetry breaking neutrino-hydrodynamical instability is termed LESA for "Lepton-number Emission Self-sustained Asymmetry." While the individual nue and antinue fluxes show a pronounced dipole pattern, the heavy-flavor neutrino fluxes and the overall luminosity are almost spherically symmetric. Initially, LESA seems to develop stochastically from convective fluctuations, it exists for hundreds of milliseconds or more, and it persists during violent shock sloshing associated with the standing accretion shock instability. The nue minus antinue flux asymmetry originates mainly below the neutrinosphere in a region of pronounced proto-neutron star (PNS) convection, which is stronger in the hemisphere of enhanced lepton-number flux. On this side of the PNS, the mass-accretion rate of lepton-rich matter is larger, amplifying the lepton-emission asymmetry, because the spherical stellar infall deflects on a dipolar deformation of the stalled shock. The increased shock radius in the hemisphere of less mass accretion and minimal lepton-number flux (antinue flux maximum) is sustained by stronger convection on this side, which is boosted by stronger neutrino heating because the average antinue energy is higher than the average nue energy. Asymmetric heating thus supports the global deformation despite extremely nonstationary convective overturn behind the shock. While these different elements of LESA form a consistent picture, a full understanding remains elusive at present. There may be important implications for neutrino-flavor oscillations, the neutron-to-proton ratio in the neutrino-heated supernova ejecta, and neutron-star kicks, which remain to be explored.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures; new results and new figure added; accepted by Ap

Workshop Report: River Basin-Specific Pollutants - Identification and Monitoring

Besides the set of Priority Substances laid down in Annex X of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD), which are regulated and to be monitored at EU level, the EU Member States (MS) need to identify pollutants of regional or local importance (in particular substances listed in WFD, Annex VIII) and provide environmental quality standards (EQS), monitoring schemes, and regulatory measures for them. This means that MS need to decide which are the candidate substances for further investigation and which are the substances then to be declared as River Basin-Specific Pollutants (RBSP). This requires assessments of impacts as well as prioritisation efforts and strategic screening for substances possibly causing concern. While this is a matter of discretion for each of the MS of concern, there is as yet no harmonisation of the procedures involved. Therefore, JRC (European Commission, Joint Research Centre)and NORMAN (Network of Reference Laboratories for the Monitoring of Emerging Environmental Substances) organized a workshop in order to support MS. The objective of the workshop was to provide a common forum for MS and interested groups for presenting, discussing and streamlining approaches for a harmonised selection and monitoring of RBSP in the WFD context. Particular attention was given to emerging contaminants, as their prioritisation and monitoring are particularly challenging. The workshop aimed to produce clear recommendations on how to proceed.JRC.DDG.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

In-Depth Assessment of the EU Member States’ Submissions for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive under articles 8, 9 and 10 on Hydrographical Conditions Descriptor 7

According to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), in 2012 Member States had to report on the initial assessment of their marine waters (art. 8), on the determination of good environmental status (art. 9) and on the establishment of environmental targets and associated indicators (art. 10). At the request of DG Environment, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission has carried out an in-depth assessment (IDA) of the reporting done by Member States. This document presents the result of this IDA for MSFD Descriptor 7 (Permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions does not adversely affect marine ecosystems), carried out on the basis of reporting from the following Member States (MS): Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. The aims of the IDA were: i) to evaluate comparability and coherence of methods and in particular their relation to the assessments under other European and international frames and the latest scientific evidence, ii) to provide recommendations for improved implementation of the MSFD in the second cycle (2018) and iii) to support the review and the possible revision of the Commission Decision (2010/477/EU). In this IDA document, relevant issues are addressed, followed by suggestions and potential actors regarding the MSFD Descriptor 7.JRC.H.1-Water Resource

Monitoring for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: Requirements and Options

According to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD: 2008/56/EC) coordinated monitoring programmes should be established and implemented by Member States in order to assess the environmental status of marine waters and the achievement of environmental targets. These programmes shall be compatible within marine regions or sub regions and shall integrate and complement the monitoring requirements imposed by other EU legislation and international agreements. In this report, monitoring requirements are reviewed and overlaps and gaps (including considerations on spatial scale and temporal frequency) are highlighted. The screening of monitoring requirements is restricted to the WFD (2000/60/EC), EQS Directive (2008/105/EC), Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), Birds Directive (2009/147/EC), Common Fisheries Policy and Regional Sea Conventions covering European seas (OSPAR, HELCOM, UNEP MAP, Black Sea Commission). Additionally, concepts of integrated monitoring and less applied monitoring approaches are discussed.JRC.H.1-Water Resource

Top Marine Beach Litter Items in Europe

Reducing litter in the coastal and marine environment is a major and prior challenge to preserve biota, ecosystems, as well as goods and services that humans derive from seas and oceans. The identification of the most abundant beach litter items, the so-called Top Marine Litter Items, is a matter of concern for the MSFD, the upcoming EU Plastics Strategy and in general for the prioritisation of measures against marine litter. Specific measures are needed to prevent further inputs and reduce the abundance of litter items. Based on a compiled beach litter data set from 2016, most abundant items on EU beaches have been identified. The quantification of items through beach litter monitoring enables a ranking of items based on their numerical abundance. While a few studies from Regional Sea Conventions (RSCs), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and research projects have ranked items by their occurrence on beaches at different spatial scales, there was no EU wide analysis available. The report has been developed by JRC within the TG Marine Litter. It lists an updated compilation of available studies and publications of top item lists. Different calculation methods, leading to different results, have been described and applied on a set of European beach litter data that had been collected within the TG Marine Litter. Data is based on 1-year sampling (2016) and included the outcome from monitoring programs, clean-up campaigns and research projects. Results, also with focus on single use products, have been provided in support to the development of the EU Plastics Strategy. The data analysis involved spatial-temporal data grouping at European, regional and national level, including also seasonal variability of beach litter. A total of 355671 marine litter items have been recorded during 679 surveys on 276 European beaches. Furthermore the report gives a brief outlook on the potential consideration of risk-related item properties, leading to a prioritization based on potential harm. The report should provide information in order to develop and implement most efficient measures against marine litter.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource

Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling of Metoprolol Enantiomers and α-Hydroxymetoprolol to Describe CYP2D6 Drug-Gene Interactions

The beta-blocker metoprolol (the sixth most commonly prescribed drug in the USA in 2017) is subject to considerable drug–gene interaction (DGI) effects caused by genetic variations of the CYP2D6 gene. CYP2D6 poor metabolizers (5.7% of US population) show approximately five-fold higher metoprolol exposure compared to CYP2D6 normal metabolizers. This study aimed to develop a whole-body physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model to predict CYP2D6 DGIs with metoprolol. The metoprolol (R)- and (S)-enantiomers as well as the active metabolite α-hydroxymetoprolol were implemented as model compounds, employing data of 48 different clinical studies (dosing range 5–200 mg). To mechanistically describe the effect of CYP2D6 polymorphisms, two separate metabolic CYP2D6 pathways (α-hydroxylation and O-demethylation) were incorporated for both metoprolol enantiomers. The good model performance is demonstrated in predicted plasma concentration–time profiles compared to observed data, goodness-of-fit plots, and low geometric mean fold errors of the predicted AUClast (1.27) and Cmax values (1.23) over all studies. For DGI predictions, 18 out of 18 DGI AUClast ratios and 18 out of 18 DGI Cmax ratios were within two-fold of the observed ratios. The newly developed and carefully validated model was applied to calculate dose recommendations for CYP2D6 polymorphic patients and will be freely available in the Open Systems Pharmacology repository