Environmental risk assessment of cobalt and manganese from industrial sources in an estuarine system.

A total of 74 samples of soil, sediment, industrial sludge, and surface water were collected in a Mediterranean estuarine system in order to assess the potential ecological impact of elevated concentrations of Co and Mn associated with a Terephthalic (PTA) and Isophthalic (PIPA) acids production plant. Samples were analyzed for elemental composition (37 elements), pH, redox potential, organic carbon, and CaCO3 content, and a group of 16 selected samples were additionally subjected to a Tessier sequential extraction. Co and Mn soil concentrations were significantly higher inside the industrial facility and around its perimeter than in background samples, and maximum dissolved Co and Mn concentrations were found in a creek near the plant's discharge point, reaching values 17,700 and 156 times higher than their respective background concentrations. The ecological risk was evaluated as a function of Co and Mn fractionation and bioavailability which were controlled by the environmental conditions generated by the advance of seawater into the estuarine system during high tide. Co appeared to precipitate near the river mouth due to the pH increase produced by the influence of seawater intrusion, reaching hazardous concentrations in sediments. In terms of their bioavailability and the corresponding risk assessment code, both Co and Mn present sediment concentrations that result in medium to high ecological risk whereas water concentrations of both elements reach values that more than double their corresponding Secondary Acute Values.

Observation of Oscillatory Radial Electric Field Relaxation in a Helical Plasma.

Measurements of the relaxation of a zonal electrostatic potential perturbation in a nonaxisymmetric magnetically confined plasma are presented. A sudden perturbation of the plasma equilibrium is induced by the injection of a cryogenic hydrogen pellet in the TJ-II stellarator, which is observed to be followed by a damped oscillation in the electrostatic potential. The waveform of the relaxation is consistent with theoretical calculations of zonal potential relaxation in a nonaxisymmetric magnetic geometry. The turbulent transport properties of a magnetic confinement configuration are expected to depend on the features of the collisionless damping of zonal flows, of which the present Letter is the first direct observation.

Cam morphology and inguinal pathologies: is there a possible connection?

BACKGROUND: To analyse the prevalences of the cam and pincer morphologies in a cohort of patients with groin pain syndrome caused by inguinal pathologies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-four patients (40 men and 4 women) who suffered from groin pain syndrome were enrolled in the study. All the patients were radiographically and clinically evaluated following a standardised protocol established by the First Groin Pain Syndrome Italian Consensus Conference on Terminology, Clinical Evaluation and Imaging Assessment in Groin Pain in Athlete. Subsequently, all of the subjects underwent a laparoscopic repair of the posterior inguinal wall. RESULTS: The study demonstrated an association between the cam morphology and inguinal pathologies in 88.6% of the cases (39 subjects). This relationship may be explained by noting that the cam morphology leads to biomechanical stress at the posterior inguinal wall level. CONCLUSIONS: Athletic subjects who present the cam morphology may be considered a population at risk of developing inguinal pathologies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, Observational cross-sectional study.

Cytokine profile determined by data-mining analysis set into clusters of non-small-cell lung cancer patients according to prognosis.

BACKGROUND: Immunoregulatory cytokines may play a fundamental role in tumor growth and metastases. Their effects are mediated through complex regulatory networks. Human cytokine profiles could define patient subgroups and represent new potential biomarkers. The aim of this study was to associate a cytokine profile obtained through data mining with the clinical characteristics of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective study of the plasma levels of 14 immunoregulatory cytokines by ELISA and a cytometric bead array assay in 110 NSCLC patients before chemotherapy and 25 control subjects. Cytokine levels and data-mining profiles were associated with clinical, quality of life and pathological outcomes. RESULTS: NSCLC patients had higher levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-12p70, IL-17a and interferon (IFN)-γ, and lower levels of IL-33 and IL-29 compared with controls. The pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1b, IL-6 and IL-8 were associated with lower hemoglobin levels, worse functional performance status (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, ECOG), fatigue and hyporexia. The anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4, IL-10 and IL-33 were associated with anorexia and lower body mass index. We identified three clusters of patients according to data-mining analysis with different overall survival (OS; 25.4, 16.8 and 5.09 months, respectively, P = 0.0012). Multivariate analysis showed that ECOG performance status and data-mining clusters were significantly associated with OS (RR 3.59, [95% CI 1.9-6.7], P < 0.001 and 2.2, [1.2-3.8], P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Our results provide evidence that complex cytokine networks may be used to identify patient subgroups with different prognoses in advanced NSCLC. These cytokines may represent potential biomarkers, particularly in the immunotherapy era in cancer research.

Complete genome sequence of two rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus variant b isolates detected on the Iberian Peninsula.

We report the complete genome sequences of two isolates (RHDV-N11 and CBVal16) of variant rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDVb). Isolate N11 was detected in young domestic animals during a rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) outbreak that occurred in 2011 on a rabbit farm in Navarra, Spain, while CBVal16 was isolated from a wild rabbit found dead in Valpaços, Northern Portugal, a year later. The viral sequences reported show 84.8-85.1 % and 78.3-78.5 % identity to RHDVAst/89 and RCV-A1 MIC-07, representative members of the pathogenic genogroup 1 RHDV and apathogenic rabbit calicivirus, respectively. In comparison with other RHDV isolates belonging to the previously known genogroups 1-6, RHDVb shows marked phenotypic differences, as it causes disease preferentially in young rabbits under 40 days of age and shows modified red blood cell agglutination profiles as well as antigenic differences that allow this variant to escape protection by the currently available vaccines.

Intrinsic rotation driven by non-Maxwellian equilibria in Tokamak plasmas.

The effect of small deviations from a Maxwellian equilibrium on turbulent momentum transport in tokamak plasmas is considered. These non-Maxwellian features, arising from diamagnetic effects, introduce a strong dependence of the radial flux of cocurrent toroidal angular momentum on collisionality: As the plasma goes from nearly collisionless to weakly collisional, the flux reverses direction from radially inward to outward. This indicates a collisionality-dependent transition from peaked to hollow rotation profiles, consistent with experimental observations of intrinsic rotation.

Experimental signatures of critically balanced turbulence in MAST.

Beam emission spectroscopy (BES) measurements of ion-scale density fluctuations in the MAST tokamak are used to show that the turbulence correlation time, the drift time associated with ion temperature or density gradients, the particle (ion) streaming time along the magnetic field, and the magnetic drift time are consistently comparable, suggesting a "critically balanced" turbulence determined by the local equilibrium. The resulting scalings of the poloidal and radial correlation lengths are derived and tested. The nonlinear time inferred from the density fluctuations is longer than the other times; its ratio to the correlation time scales as ν(*i)(-0.8 ± 0.1), where ν(*i) = ion collision rate/streaming rate. This is consistent with turbulent decorrelation being controlled by a zonal component, invisible to the BES, with an amplitude exceeding those of the drift waves by ∼ ν(*i)(-0.8).

Turbulent transport and heating of trace heavy ions in hot magnetized plasmas.

Scaling laws for the transport and heating of trace heavy ions in low-frequency magnetized plasma turbulence are derived and compared with direct numerical simulations. The predicted dependences of turbulent fluxes and heating on ion charge and mass number are found to agree with numerical results for both stationary and differentially rotating plasmas. Heavy ion momentum transport is found to increase with mass, and heavy ions are found to be preferentially heated, implying a mass-dependent ion temperature for very weakly collisional plasmas and for partially ionized heavy ions in strongly rotating plasmas.

Zero-turbulence manifold in a toroidal plasma.

Sheared toroidal flows can cause bifurcations to zero-turbulent-transport states in tokamak plasmas. The maximum temperature gradients that can be reached are limited by subcritical turbulence driven by the parallel velocity gradient. Here it is shown that q/ϵ (magnetic field pitch/inverse aspect ratio) is a critical control parameter for sheared tokamak turbulence. By reducing q/ϵ, far higher temperature gradients can be achieved without triggering turbulence, in some instances comparable to those found experimentally in transport barriers. The zero-turbulence manifold is mapped out, in the zero-magnetic-shear limit, over the parameter space (γ(E), q/ϵ, R/L(T)), where γ(E) is the perpendicular flow shear and R/L(T) is the normalized inverse temperature gradient scale. The extent to which it can be constructed from linear theory is discussed.

Scaling of spontaneous rotation with temperature and plasma current in tokamaks.

Using theoretical arguments, a simple scaling law for the size of the intrinsic rotation observed in tokamaks in the absence of a momentum injection is found: The velocity generated in the core of a tokamak must be proportional to the ion temperature difference in the core divided by the plasma current, independent of the size of the device. The constant of proportionality is of the order of 10 km·s(-1)·MA·keV(-1). When the intrinsic rotation profile is hollow, i.e., it is countercurrent in the core of the tokamak and cocurrent in the edge, the scaling law presented in this Letter fits the data remarkably well for several tokamaks of vastly different size and heated by different mechanisms.

Co-infection by classic MYXV and ha-MYXV in Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis) and European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus algirus).

Myxomatosis is an emergent disease in the Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis). In this species, the disease is caused by a natural recombinant virus (ha-myxoma virus [MYXV]) identified for the first time in 2018 and has since been responsible for a large number of outbreaks in Spain and Portugal. The ha-MYXV, which harbours a 2.8 Kb insert-disrupting gene M009L, can also infect and cause disease in wild and domestic rabbits, despite being less frequently identified in rabbits. During the laboratory investigations of wild leporids found dead in Portugal carried out within the scope of a Nacional Surveillance Plan (Dispatch 4757/17, MAFDR), co-infection events by classic (MYXV) and naturally recombinant (ha-MYXV) strains were detected in both one Iberian hare and one European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus algirus). These two cases were initially detected by a multiplex qPCR detection of MYXV and ha-MYXV and subsequently confirmed by conventional PCR and sequencing of the M009L gene, which contains an ha-MYXV-specific insertion. To our knowledge, this is the first documented report of co-infection by classic MYXV and ha-MYXV strains either in Iberian hare or in European wild rabbit. It is also the first report of infection of an Iberian hare by a classic MYXV strain. These findings highlight the continuous evolution of the MYXV and the frequent host range changes that justify the nonstop monitoring of the sanitary condition of wild Leporidae populations in the Iberian Peninsula.

1D_RnDPM: A freely available 222Rn production, diffusion, and partition model to evaluate confounding factors in the radon-deficit technique.

The radon-deficit technique is a powerful tool to detect and delineate sub-surface accumulations of organic contaminants. Field measurements of 222Rn in soil air, however, are affected by several confounding factors that can lead to the misinterpretation of results. Among the most influential are: vertical and lateral changes of lithology, fluctuating contaminant saturations with depth, varying water saturation ratios along the soil profile and atmospheric (and, therefore, soil) thermal oscillations. To evaluate and minimize the effect of these confounding factors on the interpretation of the results of the Rn deficit technique, a Matlab® based multi-layer model of 222Rn production-partition-diffusion in unsaturated porous media (1D_RnDPM: One-Dimensional 222Rn Diffusion and Partition Model) has been developed and is freely available as Supplementary Material in this work. A laboratory protocol has also been proposed to obtain site-specific input parameters for the model, i.e., 222Rn equilibrium concentration (as determined by the accumulation chamber method), soil bulk density and soil solid-phase density. The model predictions have been contrasted with field information obtained from successive sampling campaigns in which 222Rn in soil air was measured at a site where the vadose zone, consisting of an anthropogenic backfill underlain by a silt layer, is affected by a complex mixture of benzene, phenol, (poly) chlorobenzenes, (poly) chlorophenols and hexachlorocyclohexane isomers, among other compounds. The model has successfully predicted the vertical profile of 222Rn concentrations in soil air, including the effect of the oscillations of the water table and of ground-level temperature. The results also underline that 222Rn measurements in subsoil air are representative only of local conditions around the sampling point, an expected result given that 222Rn maximum effective diffusion length is very limited. As a consequence, the influence of a highly fluctuating water table at the site goes undetected at the sampling depths used in the field campaigns. MAIN FINDINGS: The combination of a numerical model and a laboratory protocol allows to predict the activity of 222Rn along the soil profile and to assess the influence of site-specific confounding factors.

Validating and optimizing mismatch tolerance of Doppler backscattering measurements with the beam model (invited).

We use the beam model of Doppler backscattering (DBS), which was previously derived from beam tracing and the reciprocity theorem, to shed light on mismatch attenuation. This attenuation of the backscattered signal occurs when the wavevector of the probe beam's electric field is not in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. Correcting for this effect is important for determining the amplitude of the actual density fluctuations. Previous preliminary comparisons between the model and Mega-Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) plasmas were promising. In this work, we quantitatively account for this effect on DIII-D, a conventional tokamak. We compare the predicted and measured mismatch attenuation in various DIII-D, MAST, and MAST-U plasmas, showing that the beam model is applicable in a wide variety of situations. Finally, we performed a preliminary parameter sweep and found that the mismatch tolerance can be improved by optimizing the probe beam's width and curvature at launch. This is potentially a design consideration for new DBS systems.

Critically balanced ion temperature gradient turbulence in fusion plasmas.

Scaling laws for ion temperature gradient driven turbulence in magnetized toroidal plasmas are derived and compared with direct numerical simulations. Predicted dependences of turbulence fluctuation amplitudes, spatial scales, and resulting heat fluxes on temperature gradient and magnetic field line pitch are found to agree with numerical results in both the driving and inertial ranges. Evidence is provided to support the critical balance conjecture that parallel streaming and nonlinear perpendicular decorrelation times are comparable at all spatial scales, leading to a scaling relationship between parallel and perpendicular spatial scales. This indicates that even strongly magnetized plasma turbulence is intrinsically three dimensional.

Momentum injection in tokamak plasmas and transitions to reduced transport.

The effect of momentum injection on the temperature gradient in tokamak plasmas is studied. A plausible scenario for transitions to reduced transport regimes is proposed. The transition happens when there is sufficient momentum input so that the velocity shear can suppress or reduce the turbulence. However, it is possible to drive too much velocity shear and rekindle the turbulent transport. The optimal level of momentum injection is determined. The reduction in transport is maximized in the regions of low or zero magnetic shear.

Turbulent transport in tokamak plasmas with rotational shear.

Nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations are conducted to investigate turbulent transport in tokamak plasmas with rotational shear. At sufficiently large flow shears, linear instabilities are suppressed, but transiently growing modes drive subcritical turbulence whose amplitude increases with flow shear. This leads to a local minimum in the heat flux, indicating an optimal E×B shear value for plasma confinement. Local maxima in the momentum fluxes are observed, implying the possibility of bifurcations in the E×B shear. The critical temperature gradient for the onset of turbulence increases with flow shear at low flow shears; at higher flow shears, the dependence of heat flux on temperature gradient becomes less stiff. The turbulent Prandtl number is found to be largely independent of temperature and flow gradients, with a value close to unity.

Revascularization of the tongue by radial forearm flow-through flap.

The concept of a flow-through flap refers to a free flap in which both the proximal and distal ends of the vascular pedicle are anastomosed to provide blood flow to the distal tissues. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the use of this technique, which may be useful in selected cases of head and neck reconstruction. In certain situations, like bilateral resection of the base of the tongue involving both lingual arteries, the application of a flow-through forearm free flap can provide an anatomical and functional restoration of the defect while revascularizing the anterior two-thirds of the tongue. We review this technique, which was used in a case of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the base of the tongue with excellent results.

Field performance of the radon-deficit technique to detect and delineate a complex DNAPL accumulation in a multi-layer soil profile.

The performance of the radon (222Rn)-deficit technique has been evaluated at a site in which a complex DNAPL mixture (mostly hexachlorocyclohexanes and chlorobenzenes) has contaminated all four layers (from top to bottom: anthropic backfill, silt, gravel and marl) of the soil profile. Soil gas samples were collected at two depths (0.8 m and 1.7 m) in seven field campaigns and a total of 186 222Rn measurements were performed with a pulse ionization detector. A statistical assessment of the influence of field parameters on the results revealed that sampling depth and atmospheric pressure did not significantly affect the measurements, while the location of the sampling point and ground-level atmospheric temperature did. In order to remove the bias introduced by varying field temperatures and hence to be able to jointly interpret 222Rn measurements from different campaigns, 222Rn concentrations were rescaled by dividing each individual datum by the mean 222Rn concentration of its corresponding field campaign. Rescaled 222Rn maps showed a high spatial correlation between 222Rn minima and maximum contaminant concentrations in the top two layers of the soil profile, successfully delineating the surface trace of DNAPL accumulation in the anthropic backfill and silt layers. However, no correlation could be established between 222Rn concentrations in superficial soil gas and contaminant concentration in the deeper two layers of the soil profile. These results indicate that the 222Rn-deficit technique is unable to describe the vertical variation of contamination processes with depth but can be an effective tool for the preliminary characterization of sites in which the distance between the inlet point of the sampling probe and the contaminant accumulation falls within the effective diffusion length of 222Rn in the affected soil profile.

Transport bifurcation in a rotating tokamak plasma.

The effect of flow shear on turbulent transport in tokamaks is studied numerically in the experimentally relevant limit of zero magnetic shear. It is found that the plasma is linearly stable for all nonzero flow shear values, but that subcritical turbulence can be sustained nonlinearly at a wide range of temperature gradients. Flow shear increases the nonlinear temperature gradient threshold for turbulence but also increases the sensitivity of the heat flux to changes in the temperature gradient, except over a small range near the threshold where the sensitivity is decreased. A bifurcation in the equilibrium gradients is found: for a given input of heat, it is possible, by varying the applied torque, to trigger a transition to significantly higher temperature and flow gradients.

Applicability and limitations of the radon-deficit technique for the preliminary assessment of sites contaminated with complex mixtures of organic chemicals: A blind field-test.

A blind field test with 136 independent measurements of radon (222Rn) in soil air retrieved from a depth of 0.8 m in a decommissioned lindane (γ-hexachlorocyclohexane) production plant was undertaken to evaluate the performance of the 222Rn-deficit technique as a screening methodology for the location and delineation of subsurface accumulations of complex mixtures of organic contaminants. Maps of 222Rn iso-concentrations were drawn and interpreted before direct analytical information regarding concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexanes, chlorobenzenes and BTEX compounds in soil, groundwater and soil air were disclosed to the authors. The location and extension of pollution hot spots inferred from the 222Rn campaigns agrees remarkably well with the analytical data obtained from the intrusive sampling campaigns and with the location of contaminant source zones (chemical reactor and waste-storage area) and geological sinks of those contaminants (paleochannel). Two main limitations to the applicability of the 222Rn-deficit technique were identified and assessed: The statistically significant variation of 222Rn concentrations with diurnal changes of ground-level air temperature and the maximum depth of investigation in the absence of significant advective and co-advective transport of radon. If the influence of those two factors is accounted for and/or minimized (by averaging replicated measurements during the workday and in different days), the 222Rn-deficit technique has the potential to be an efficient technique which delivers information in quasi-real time, with a much higher spatial density than that of intrusive techniques, at a much faster rate and at a significantly lower cost. MAIN FINDINGS: The 222Rn-deficit technique is an effective tool for real-time site characterization only limited by diffusion length of radon and diurnal temperature variations.