The conclusions of EFSA following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authorities of the rapporteur Member State, the Netherlands, and co‐rapporteur Member ...State, France, for the pesticide active substance laminarin are reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 844/2012. The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative uses of laminarin as elicitor on apple, pear, vine, kiwi, green bean, lettuce, strawberry, tomato, cucurbits, aubergine and pepper. The reliable end points, appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment, are presented. Missing information identified as being required by the regulatory framework is listed. Concerns are identified.
Non-solvent induced phase-inversion is one of the most used methods to fabricate membranes. However, there are only a few studies supported by statistical analysis on how the different fabrication ...conditions affect the formation and performance of membranes. In this paper, a central composite design was employed to analyze how different fabrication conditions affect the pure water flux, pore size, and photocatalytic activity of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was used to form pores, and titanium dioxide (TiO
) to ensure the photocatalytic activity of the membranes. The studied bath temperatures (15 to 25 °C) and evaporation times (0 to 60 s) did not significantly affect the pore size and pure water flux of the membranes. The concentration of PVDF (12.5 to 17.5%) affected the viscosity, formation capability, and pore sizes. PVDF at high concentrations resulted in membranes with small pore sizes. PVP affected the pore size and should be used to a limited extent to avoid possible hole formation. TiO
contents were responsible for the decolorization of a methyl orange solution (10
M) up to 90% over the period studied (30 h). A higher content of TiO
did not increase the decolorization rate. Acidic conditions increased the photocatalytic activity of the TiO
-membranes.
Herein, we report the performance of a photocatalytic system based on visible-light active MIL-125-NH
2
mixed with nickel phosphide (Ni
2
P) nanoparticles. This combination boosts the H
2
evolution ...rate to an outstanding value of 894 μmol h
−1
g
−1
under visible-light irradiation, which is among the highest H
2
evolution rates reported to date for metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The H
2
generation rate exhibited by Ni
2
P/MIL-125-NH
2
is almost 3 times higher than that of the Pt/MIL-125-NH
2
system, highlighting the impact of the co-catalyst on photocatalytic water splitting. Additionally, our system outperforms the Ni
2
P/TiO
2
system under UV-vis irradiation. The exceptional performance of Ni
2
P/MIL-125-NH
2
is due to the efficient transfer of photogenerated electrons from MIL-125-NH
2
to Ni
2
P, high intrinsic activity of Ni
2
P and exceptional synergy between them. This system exhibits the highest apparent quantum yields of 27.0 and 6.6% at 400 and 450 nm, respectively, ever reported for MOFs.
We showcase the key role of the co-catalyst when combined with MIL-125-NH
2
towards the photocatalytic H
2
generation.
Background and Aims: The Diverticular Inflammation and Complication Assessment (DICA) endoscopic classification of diverticulosis and diverticular disease (DD) is currently available. It scores ...severity of the disease as DICA 1, DICA 2 and DICA 3. Our aim was to assess the agreement on this classification in an international endoscopists community setting.
Methods: A total of 96 doctors (82.9% endoscopists) independently scored a set of DD endoscopic videos. The percentages of overall agreement on DICA score and a free-marginal multirater kappa (κ) coefficient were reported as statistical measures of interrater agreement.
Results: Overall agreement in using DICA was 91.8% with a free-marginal kappa of 88% (95% CI 80-95). The overall agreement levels were: DICA 1, 85.2%; DICA 2, 96.5%; DICA 3, 99.5%. The free marginal κ was: DICA 1 = 0.753, DICA 2 = 0.958, DICA 3 = 0.919. The agreement about the main endoscopic items was 83.4% (k 67%) for diverticular extension, 62.6% (k 65%) for number of diverticula for each district, 86.8% (k 82%) for presence of inflammation, and 98.5 (k 98%) for presence of complications.
Conclusions: The overall interrater agreement in this study ranges from good to very good. DICA score is a simple and reproducible endoscopic scoring system for diverticulosis and DD.
The conclusions of EFSA following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authority of the rapporteur Member State, the Netherlands, for the pesticide active ...substance Beauveria bassiana IMI389521 are reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative use of Beauveria bassiana IMI389521 as an insecticide in empty post‐harvest storage facilities. The reliable endpoints, appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment are presented. Missing information identified as being required by the regulatory framework is listed. Concerns are identified.
We prove that the product of a subset and a normal subset inside any finite simple non-abelian group \(G\) grows rapidly. More precisely, if \(A\) and \(B\) are two subsets with \(B\) normal and ...neither of them is too large inside \(G\), then \(|AB| \geq |A||B|^{1-\epsilon}\) where \(\epsilon>0\) can be taken arbitrarily small. This is a somewhat surprising strengthening of a theorem of Liebeck, Schul, Shalev.
Since 2018, the potential for a high-energy neutrino telescope, named the Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment (P-ONE), has been thoroughly examined by two pathfinder missions, STRAW and STRAW-b, short ...for short for Strings for Absorption Length in Water. The P-ONE project seeks to install a neutrino detector with a one cubic kilometer volume in the Cascadia Basin's deep marine surroundings, situated near the western shores of Vancouver Island, Canada. To assess the environmental conditions and feasibility of constructing a neutrino detector of that scale, the pathfinder missions, STRAW and STRAW-b, have been deployed at a depth of 2.7 km within the designated site for P-ONE and were connected to the NEPTUNE observatory, operated by Ocean Networks Canada (ONC). While STRAW focused on analyzing the optical properties of water in the Cascadia Basin, \ac{strawb} employed cameras and spectrometers to investigate the characteristics of bioluminescence in the deep-sea environment. This report introduces the STRAW-b concept, covering its scientific objectives and the instrumentation used. Furthermore, it discusses the design considerations implemented to guarantee a secure and dependable deployment process of STRAW-b. Additionally, it showcases the data collected by battery-powered loggers, which monitored the mechanical stress on the equipment throughout the deployment. The report also offers an overview of STRAW-b's operation, with a specific emphasis on the notable advancements achieved in the data acquisition (DAQ) system and its successful integration with the server infrastructure of ONC.
The complex formation of vanadium(IV) with 1,3,5-triamino-1,3,5-trideoxy-cis-inositol (taci) and 1,3,5-trideoxy-1,3,5-tris(dimethylamino)-cis-inositol (tdci) was studied in aqueous solution and in ...the solid state. The formation constants of VIVO(taci)2+, VIVO(tdci)2+, and VIV(tdci)24+ and of the deprotonation product VIV(tdci)2H- 13+ were determined (25 °C, 0.1 M KNO3). Cyclic voltammetry measurements established a reversible one-electron transfer for the VIV(tdci)2H- m (4- m )/VIII(tdci)2H- n (3- n ) couple (0 ≤ n, m ≤ 6) with a strongly pH-dependent E 1/2 obs (+0.15 V at pH 5, −0.57 V at pH 13.5). Slightly more negative potentials were measured for the taci complexes. An additional quasi-reversible electron transfer at strongly positive potentials (1.2−0.5 V) was assigned to the VV(taci)2H- m (5- m )/VIV(taci)2H- n (4- n ) couple. The structures of VIV(taci)2(SO4)2 ·12H2O (1), VIV(tdci)2V4 VO12·14.5H2O (2), and VIV(tdci)2H- 1Cl3 ·15H2O (3) were determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis. The cations of 1−3 exhibit a structure of approximate D 3 d symmetry. The vanadium centers have an almost regular octahedral geometry. The coordinated oxygen donors are deprotonated, and their protons are transferred to the amino groups which act as internal bases. For both ligands, EPR measurements support the formation of non-oxo VIV complexes, with a d z 2 ground state, in aqueous solution above pH 7. The spectral features are indicative of hexacoordinated complexes with a geometry distorted toward a trigonal prism. Finally, a mechanism is proposed for the decomposition of VIVL2H- x (4- x ) (L = taci and tdci) in strongly alkaline media (pH ≈ 13).
Ion acceleration resulting from the interaction of 11 fs laser pulses of ~35 mJ energy with ultrahigh contrast (<10^-10), and 10^19 W/cm^2 peak intensity with foil targets made of various materials ...and thicknesses at normal (0-degree) and 45-degree laser incidence is investigated. The maximum energy of the protons accelerated from both the rear and front sides of the target was above 1 MeV. A conversion efficiency from laser pulse energy to proton beam is estimated to be as high as ~1.4 % at 45-degree laser incidence using a 51 nm-thick Al target. The excellent laser contrast indicates the predominance of vacuum heating via the Brunels effect as an absorption mechanism involving a tiny pre-plasma of natural origin due to the Gaussian temporal laser pulse shape. Experimental results are in reasonable agreement with theoretical estimates where proton acceleration from the target rear into the forward direction is well explained by a TNSA-like mechanism, while proton acceleration from the target front into the backward direction can be explained by the formation of a charged cavity in a tiny pre-plasma. The exploding Coulomb field from the charged cavity also serves as a source for forward-accelerated ions at thick targets.
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) has the potential to reveal wonders about the fundamental theory of nature at play in the extreme gravity regime, where the gravitational interaction is ...both strong and dynamical. In this white paper, the Fundamental Physics Working Group of the LISA Consortium summarizes the current topics in fundamental physics where LISA observations of GWs can be expected to provide key input. We provide the briefest of reviews to then delineate avenues for future research directions and to discuss connections between this working group, other working groups and the consortium work package teams. These connections must be developed for LISA to live up to its science potential in these areas.
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