Reactivity and fate of secondary alkane sulfonates (SAS) in marine sediments

This research is focused on secondary alkane sulfonates (SAS), anionic surfactants widely used in household applications that access aquatic environments mainly via sewage discharges.We studied their sorption capacity and anaerobic degradation in marine sediments, providing the first data available on this topic. SAS partition coefficients increased towards those homologues having longer alkyl chains(from up to 141 L kg 1 for C14 to up to 1753 L kg 1 for C17), which were those less susceptible to undergo biodegradation. Overall, SAS removal percentages reached up to 98% after 166 days of incubation using anoxic sediments. The degradation pathway consisted on the formation of sulfocarboxylic acids after an initial fumarate attack of the alkyl chain and successive b-oxidations. This is the first study showing that SAS can be degraded in absence of oxygen, so this new information should be taken into account for future environmental risk assessments on these chemicals

The Familial Clustering of Age at Menarche in Extended Twin Families

The timing of puberty is complex, possibly involving many genetic factors that may interact with environmental influences. Familial resemblance for age at menarche was studied in a sample of 4,995 female twins, 1,296 sisters, 2,946 mothers and 635 female spouses of male twins. They had indicated their age at menarche as part of a larger longitudinal survey. We assessed assortative mating for age at menarche, gene–environment interaction effects and estimated the heritability of individual differences in pubertal timing. There was significant evidence of gene–environment interaction, accounting for 1.5% of the variance. There was no indication of consistent mate assortment on age at menarche. Individual differences in age at menarche are highly heritable, with additive genetic factors explaining at least 70% of the true variation. An additional 1.5% of the variation can be explained by a genotype–environment interaction effect where environmental factors are more important in individuals genetically predisposed for late menarche

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

Tres álbumes de grabados antiguos en la Biblioteca Nacional del Perú

The Peruvian National Library holds today in its vaults three valuable albums of Old Master prints which still await proper catalogation. The prints of these albums come from the Low Countries, Paris, Rome, Cologne, and Augsburg, and were produced in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Taken together, these albums offer an encompassing view of the prints that circulated in Colonial Peru, thus contributing to the formation of the visual culture of the country. The purpose of this essay is to reveal the wealth of the Old Master print collection in the Peruvian National Library. One of the noteworthy fruits of our labors will be the discovery of the only known impressions of a couple of prints of Thomas de Leu (ca. 1555-ca. 1612), a prominent Parisian printer of great significance for Colonial Art.La Biblioteca Nacional del Perú alberga hoy en sus bóvedas tres valiosos álbumes de grabados antiguos que están todavía por catalogar a cabalidad. Los grabados de estos álbumes provienen de los Países Bajos, París, Roma, Colonia, y Augsburgo, y fueron producidos entre los siglos XVI y XVIII. Tomados en conjunto, estos álbumes ofrecen una vista panorámica de las distintas épocas y procedencias de los grabados que circularon por el Perú Colonial, contribuyendo así a la formación de la cultura visual del país. El propósito de este ensayo es difundir la riqueza de los materiales gráficos de los fondos antiguos de la Biblioteca Nacional del Perú. Entre los frutos de nuestros esfuerzos destacará el descubrimiento de las únicas impresiones conocidas de un par de grabados de Thomas de Leu (ca. 1555-ca. 1612), prominente impresor parisino de gran importancia para el arte colonial

The Rossiter-McLaughlin effect in Exoplanet Research

The Rossiter-McLaughlin effect occurs during a planet's transit. It provides the main means of measuring the sky-projected spin-orbit angle between a planet's orbital plane, and its host star's equatorial plane. Observing the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect is now a near routine procedure. It is an important element in the orbital characterisation of transiting exoplanets. Measurements of the spin-orbit angle have revealed a surprising diversity, far from the placid, Kantian and Laplacian ideals, whereby planets form, and remain, on orbital planes coincident with their star's equator. This chapter will review a short history of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, how it is modelled, and will summarise the current state of the field before describing other uses for a spectroscopic transit, and alternative methods of measuring the spin-orbit angle.Comment: Review to appear as a chapter in the "Handbook of Exoplanets", ed. H. Deeg & J.A. Belmont

Waves and structure interaction using multi-domain couplings for Navier-Stokes solvers in OpenFOAM®. Part II: Validation and application to complex cases

In this work, we present several applications of the 2D-3D multi-domain couplings for Navier-Stokes models developed and validated in its companion (Di Paolo et al., submitted). The methodology is used to carry out some relevant simulations which include long regular and irregular waves, solitary wave propagation on a shallow foreshore, focused wave group transformation on a planar beach, wave impact on a cylinder and finally, the numerical twin of a complex laboratory experiment to analyse the performance of a perforated breakwater under wave action. Results agree well with the full 3D simulations and laboratory experiments and demonstrate the feasibility of using the 2D-3D coupled methodologies presented in Part I to successfully replace full 3D modelling. For all the cases considered, the application of coupled methodologies have resulted in a drastic reducing of the computational time without decreasing the accuracy of the full solution

Submarine sediment routing over a blocky mass-transport deposit in the Espírito Santo Basin, SE Brazil

The control of slide blocks on slope depositional systems is investigated in a high-quality 3D seismic volume from the Espírito Santo Basin, SE Brazil. Seismic interpretation and statistical methods were used to understand the effect of differential compaction on strata proximal to the headwall of a blocky mass-transport deposit (MTD), where blocks are large and undisturbed (remnant), and in the distal part of this same deposit. The distal part contains smaller rafted blocks that moved and deformed with the MTD. Upon their emplacement, the positive topographic relief of blocks created a rugged seafloor, confining sediment pathways and creating accommodation space for slope sediment. In parallel, competent blocks resisted compaction more than the surrounding debrite matrix during early burial. This resulted in differential compaction between competent blocks and soft flanking strata, in a process that was able to maintain a rugged seafloor for >5 Ma after burial. Around the largest blocks, a cluster of striations associated with a submarine channel bypassed these obstructions on the slope and, as a result, reflects important deflection by blocks and compaction-related folds that were obstructing turbidite flows. Log-log graphs were made to compare the width and height of different stratigraphic elements; blocks, depocentres, and channels. There is a strong correlation between the sizes of each element, but with each subsequent stage (block – depocentre – channel) displaying marked reductions in height. Blocky MTDs found on passive margins across the globe are likely to experience similar effects during early burial to those documented in this work

Measuring the sustainable behaviour and satisfaction with services in cruise tourism: a Naples case study

The main aim of this paper is to analyse cruise tourists’ sustainable behaviour and their level of satisfaction in Naples as one of the main Mediterranean ports receiving this type of tourism. The usage of a semi-structured questionnaire, administered to 1180 cruise tourists, allows us to group cruise tourists into clusters and analyse all the elements of two alternate types of behaviour: environmental and social. We have developed an IPA analysis and use ordered logit models to assess which aspects are influencing the general satisfaction level. Our findings highlight that over 80% of visitors indicated that they are highly aware of the need to dispose of trash in a sustainable way, as well as differences between different cluster preferences. The findings, although drawn from only one destination, may be useful for practitioners and policy makers by allowing them to pinpoint and understand specific determinants of the socio-economic effects of cruise tourism on a destination, by taking into account the role of sustainable services