Notes

Brand-new capabilitys in microparticle forensics: Actinide imaging as well as recognition associated with 238Pu and 242mAm in hot particles.
Rock varnishes are known to be fine, dark, glossy submicron films found in deserts bare rock surfaces. The oxides and hydroxides of manganese and iron bind together the clay minerals present in the varnish layer. The processes of oxide-hydroxide accumulation at varnish sites are due to iron and manganese oxidizing bacteria which may require clay minerals for additional nutrition. Quantification and identification of clay minerals in this biofilm is needed to understand its formation. Past attempts to analyze the mineralogical composition of rock varnish have led to inconclusive results as varnish is a submicron thin layer composed of a complex mineral matrix. The elimination of non-crystalline cementing groups comprising of free iron oxides is a key step in the identification of many types of clay minerals, particularly in soil/sediment mineral studies.•The Fe-Mn oxide-hydroxide coatings, acting as cementing materials, can be easily removed using a one-step reduction method employing Na2S2O4 at 70 °C, leading to separation of clay minerals.•We have taken the lead from earlier reported Jackson (1958) method, wherein a combination of reagents was used such as sodium acetate, sodium citrate, hydrogen peroxide, sodium bicarbonate, and sodium dithionite for removing carbonate, organic carbon and Fe-Mn oxy-hydroxide coatings respectively from sediment grains to segregate individual grains from each other.•Our modification helps in the unveiling of clay minerals from a solid substrate and reports the X-ray diffraction peaks, which are elsewise hard to detect and therefore earlier studies are inconclusive.We designed a marking stand for the Dermojet Ⓡ , which substantially improves fish marking via needleless subcutaneous injection of dye. The marking stand allows to increase the nozzle-to-fish distance, adjust this position and to keep the jet injector fixed during operation as well as dye refilling. A laser pointer enables a precise and small-scale aiming. Using this marking stand we marked the caudal fin of small fish with Alcian blue for a flume experiment. In total we marked 204 gudgeon (Gobio gobio) and spirlin (Alburnoides bipunctatus) of 9-14 cm length with up to two dots per fish. Weighing, measuring and marking one sedated fish took 30 to 60 s. Immediate marking success was 100%. Fish were kept indoors in tanks for 7-12 days post-marking and the colour mark remained visible for the complete study period. During our flume experiment the colour marks at the caudal fin were detectable on all fish regardless of swimming position. With this easy and fast method fish can be marked gently, reliably and efficiently.•Application of a high-pressure jet injector for needleless and accurate colour marking of fish.•Manual for marking the caudal fin of small fish with Alcian blue.Phytoremediation has widely been recognised as an eco-system friendly and effective technique for soil remediation. However, this method is generally slow, and most plants used for phytoextraction are incapable of thriving in crude oil polluted soils with high concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbon. Hence, organic stimulants were developed for accelerating the phytoremediation of crude oil polluted soils by enhancing the growth of cowpea through nutrient supplementation, and increasing the bioavailability of petroleum hydrocarbon by saponification. Moringa and pawpaw seeds are high in plant available nutrients and contain saponin, a phytochemical that increases the bioavailability of contaminants. Although both seeds and moringa seed powder have been used for water purification, they have not been explored in soil remediation studies. MeclofenamateSodium For these reasons, pawpaw seeds were processed into powdery form to increase their surface area as organic stimulants for enhancing phytoremediation of crude oil polluted soil. This study investigates the performance of pawpaw seed powder, relative to moringa seed powder, in increasing the removal rate of petroleum hydrocarbon by cowpea under crude oil polluted soil conditions. The key functions of the newly developed organic stimulant include•Increased bioavailability of petroleum hydrocarbon for phytoextraction.•Enhanced shoot production in cowpea.•Increased capacity of cowpea to remove petroleum hydrocarbons from soils.Mixed-integer programming is a common method used in electricity generation and transmission optimization models. However, the size of the problem can result in extraordinarily long run times. Solve time also increases exponentially with the number of variables to optimize. There is therefore a constant trade-off between a realistic representation of the network and computational tractability. Additionally, actual data and publicly available, real-world application are scare. This is particularly true for Small Island Developing States. This paper bridges these gaps by describing a customized mathematical formulation for co-optimizing generation and transmission infrastructure investments. Data from the island of Jamaica and program scripts are available for reproduction. Key customizations to a mixed-integer programming model for long-term generation and transmission infrastructure investment planning include•Hours are treated as representative hour categories and multiplied by the number of hour types within a given period.•Simulated construction is limited to every other year.•While fossil fuel plants are treated as discrete variables, renewable energy plants are treated as continuous variables.In probability theory and statistics, the probability distribution of the sum of two or more independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables is the convolution of their individual distributions. While convoluting random variables following a binomial, geometric or Poisson distribution is a straightforward procedure, convoluting hypergeometric-distributed random variables is not. The problem is that there is no closed form solution for the probability mass function (p.m.f.) and cumulative distribution function (c.d.f.) of the sum of i.i.d. hypergeometric random variables. To overcome this problem, we propose an approximation for the distribution of the sum of i.i.d. hypergeometric random variables. In addition, we compare this approximation with two classical numerical methods, i.e., convolution and the recursive algorithm by De Pril, by means of an application in Statistical Process Monitoring (SPM). We provide MATLAB codes to implement these three methods for computing the probability distr the results while reducing computational time considerably.[This corrects the article DOI 10.1016/j.mex.2021.101404.].The Global Emissions Initiative (GEIA) stores and offers global datasets of emission inventories developed in the last 30 years. One of the most recently updated global datasets covering anthropogenic source emissions is the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). This study applied NetCDF Command Operator (NCO) software to preprocess the anthropogenic sources included in the CAMS datasets and converted those files as an input in the Sparse Matrix Operator Kerner Emissions (SMOKE) model for future air quality modeling. As a result, six steps were applied to obtain the required file format. The case of the central coast in Chile was analyzed to compare the global database and official reports for the on-road transport sector. As a result, some differences were shown in the most populated locations of the domain of analysis. The rest of the zones registered similar values. The methodology exposed in this report could be applied in any other region of the planet for air quality modeling studies. The development of global datasets such as CAMS is useful for hemispheric analysis and could bring an estimation on the mesoscale. It represents an opportunity for those locations without official reports of non-updated data.•This study applied NCO commands available for the preprocessing of the CAMS dataset files.•The emissions and temporal profile registered in CAMS datasets must be compared to official reports of transport sectors.•The development of global datasets such as CAMS is useful for hemispheric analysis and could bring an estimation on the mesoscale.ChIP-qPCR permits the study of protein and chromatin interactions. The general technique can apply to the study of the interactions of protein with RNA, and the methylation state of genomic DNA. While the technique is vital to our understanding of epigenetic processes, there is much confusion around the proper normalization methods. Percent Input has recently emerged as a normalization standard, due to its reproducibility and accuracy. This method relies on the use of a constant volume of ChIP Isolate in each qPCR assay. Researchers may accidentally run qPCR assays with a constant amount of isolate, a common practice for RT-qPCR; however, the traditional Percent Input method cannot accurately normalize these data. We developed a novel method that can normalize these data to provide the same reproducible Percent Input value. Here, we present evidence that this novel method of normalizing ChIP-qPCR data works with real samples. link2 Later, we present a mathematical proof which shows how a Percent Input value calculated from Cq (quantification cycle) values obtained from qPCR run with a constant amount (in nanograms of DNA in ChIP isolate) is equal to the traditional Percent Input calculated from quantification cycle (Cq) values obtained from running a constant volume of ChIP isolate.•Increases the number of possible data points per sample•End values are the same % Input values as the traditional normalization method.Microbially-mediated hydrocarbon degradation is well documented. link3 However, how these microbial processes occur in complex subsurface petroleum impacted systems remains unclear, and this knowledge is needed to guide technologies to enhance microbial degradation effectively. Analysis of RNA derived from soils impacted by petroleum liquids would allow for analysis of active microbial communities, and a deeper understanding of the dynamic biochemistry occurring during site remediation. However, RNA analysis in soils impacted with petroleum liquids is challenging due to (A) RNA being inherently unstable, and (B) petroleum impacted soils containing problematic levels of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) inhibitors that must be removed to yield high-purity RNA for downstream analysis. A previously published soil wash pretreatment step and a commercially available DNA extraction kit protocol were combined and modified to be able to purify RNA from soils containing petroleum liquids.•A key modification involved reformulation of the pretreatment solution via replacing water as the diluent with a commercially-available RNA preservation solution.•Methods were developed and demonstrated using cryogenically preserved soils from three former petroleum refineries. Results showed the new soil washing approach had no adverse effects on RNA recovery but did improve RNA quality, by PCR inhibitor removal, which in turn allows for characterization of active microbial communities present in petroleum impacted soils.•In summary, our method for extracting RNA from petroleum-impacted soils provides a promising new tool for resolving metabolic processes at sites as they progress toward restoration via natural and/or engineered remediation.
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