Commercial stabilized slurry of zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) as well as laboratory-synthesized polymer–stabilized NZVI nanoparticles were used for lindane (γ-hexachlorocyclohexane) ...degradation studies in aqueous solution. In the present study, polymer-stabilized iron nanoparticles were stabilized using polyethylene glycol (PEG, Mn ~400 and ~950–1050) and polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF, Mn ~650). To study the effectiveness of the different nanoparticles, a quantitative monitorization of lindane degradation by using solid-phase extraction (SPE) and a qualitative measurement of generated volatile by-products by headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS–SPME) followed by GC/MS were carried out. The obtained data were compared and contrasted with the results obtained in previous work.
Results showed that the nanoparticles studied in this work possess superior dechlorination performance compared with previous observations. The freshly prepared Fe0-PEG400, Fe0-PEG1050 and Fe0-PTHF exhibited high reactivity during the dechlorination process of lindane in a very short time. The results obtained with the synthesized nanoparticles were similar to those obtained with commercial nanoparticles. However, in all cases reactivity decreased at reaction's late stage. Degradation of lindane by the studied nanoparticles removed 99.9% of the lindane initial concentration after 72h, except for Fe0-PTHF nanoparticles, for which the reaction stopped after 5min. In all cases, the reaction followed a second order kinetics. Finally, comparing the results from this study with our previous work, where different nature polymers were considered (Fe0-CMC, Fe0-PAA and Fe0-PAP), more gradual degradation profile of lindane was observed for Fe0-PAA and Fe0-CMC. It should be noted that in the present case, the reaction of lindane was speeded up with commercial and Fe0-PEG nanoparticles. Nevertheless, in the later case, the composition of by-products was affected by the presence of partially degraded intermediates. Taking into account the current technologies, the high removal rates obtained and the acceptable degradation times required, the proposed technology is suitable for its aimed purpose.
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•Iron nanoparticles modified with different polymers have been synthesized and evaluated.•Polyelectrolyte coated zero-valent iron has been used to degrade lindane.•Different polymeric coatings could be used according to desired degradation kinetics.•Lindane by-products obtained by the treatment with modified zero-valent iron.
Context. The ongoing Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey is using FLAMES at the VLT to obtain high-quality medium-resolution Giraffe spectra for about 105 stars and high-resolution UVES spectra for ...about 5000 stars. With UVES, the Survey has already observed 1447 FGK-type stars. Aims. These UVES spectra are analyzed in parallel by several state-of-the-art methodologies. Our aim is to present how these analyses were implemented, to discuss their results, and to describe how a final recommended parameter scale is defined. We also discuss the precision (method-to-method dispersion) and accuracy (biases with respect to the reference values) of the final parameters. These results are part of the Gaia-ESO second internal release and will be part of its first public release of advanced data products. Methods. The final parameter scale is tied to the scale defined by the Gaia benchmark stars, a set of stars with fundamental atmospheric parameters. In addition, a set of open and globular clusters is used to evaluate the physical soundness of the results. Each of the implemented methodologies is judged against the benchmark stars to define weights in three different regions of the parameter space. The final recommended results are the weighted medians of those from the individual methods. Results. The recommended results successfully reproduce the atmospheric parameters of the benchmark stars and the expected Teff-log g relation of the calibrating clusters. Atmospheric parameters and abundances have been determined for 1301 FGK-type stars observed with UVES. The median of the method-to-method dispersion of the atmospheric parameters is 55 K for Teff, 0.13 dex for log g and 0.07 dex for Fe/H. Systematic biases are estimated to be between 50−100 K for Teff, 0.10−0.25 dex for log g and 0.05−0.10 dex for Fe/H. Abundances for 24 elements were derived: C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Mo, Ba, Nd, and Eu. The typical method-to-method dispersion of the abundances varies between 0.10 and 0.20 dex. Conclusions. The Gaia-ESO sample of high-resolution spectra of FGK-type stars will be among the largest of its kind analyzed in a homogeneous way. The extensive list of elemental abundances derived in these stars will enable significant advances in the areas of stellar evolution and Milky Way formation and evolution.
Context. The nature of the metallicity gradient inside the solar circle (RGC < 8 kpc) is poorly understood, but studies of Cepheids and a small sample of open clusters suggest that it steepens in the ...inner disk. Aims. We investigate the metallicity gradient of the inner disk using a sample of inner disk open clusters that is three times larger than has previously been studied in the literature to better characterize the gradient in this part of the disk. Methods. We used the Gaia-ESO Survey (GES) Fe/H values and stellar parameters for stars in 12 open clusters in the inner disk from GES-UVES data. Cluster mean Fe/H values were determined based on a membership analysis for each cluster. Where necessary, distances and ages to clusters were determined via comparison to theoretical isochrones. Results. The GES open clusters exhibit a radial metallicity gradient of −0.10 ± 0.02 dex kpc-1, consistent with the gradient measured by other literature studies of field red giant stars and open clusters in the range RGC ~ 6−12 kpc. We also measure a trend of increasing Fe/H with increasing cluster age, as has also been found in the literature. Conclusions. We find no evidence for a steepening of the inner disk metallicity gradient inside the solar circle as earlier studies indicated. The age-metallicity relation shown by the clusters is consistent with that predicted by chemical evolution models that include the effects of radial migration, but a more detailed comparison between cluster observations and models would be premature.
Context. Stars are born together from giant molecular clouds and, if we assume that the priors were chemically homogeneous and well-mixed, we expect them to share the same chemical composition. Most ...of the stellar aggregates are disrupted while orbiting the Galaxy and most of the dynamic information is lost, thus the only possibility of reconstructing the stellar formation history is to analyze the chemical abundances that we observe today. Aims. The chemical tagging technique aims to recover disrupted stellar clusters based merely on their chemical composition. We evaluate the viability of this technique to recover co-natal stars that are no longer gravitationally bound. Methods. Open clusters are co-natal aggregates that have managed to survive together. We compiled stellar spectra from 31 old and intermediate-age open clusters, homogeneously derived atmospheric parameters, and 17 abundance species, and applied machine learning algorithms to group the stars based on their chemical composition. This approach allows us to evaluate the viability and efficiency of the chemical tagging technique. Results. We found that stars at different evolutionary stages have distinct chemical patterns that may be due to NLTE effects, atomic diffusion, mixing, and biases. When separating stars into dwarfs and giants, we observed that a few open clusters show distinct chemical signatures while the majority show a high degree of overlap. This limits the recovery of co-natal aggregates by applying the chemical tagging technique. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement if more elements are included and models are improved.
Establishing the approximate age of an ink entry from a questioned document is often a complicated task and a controversial issue in forensic sciences. Among the existing approaches, the analysis of ...solvents in ballpoint inks may be a useful parameter for determining the age of ink on paper. In recent years, several ink dating methods have been proposed. These methods have been based on the analysis of common ink solvents using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) as the analytical platform. Despite these recent methods, several questions remain. The aim of this work was to develop an ink dating methodology (DATINK) for documents written by ballpoint pens based on the disappearance of volatile solvents from the ink entry. Multiple solid-phase microextraction (MHS-SPME) coupled to GC/MS was used to measure the solvents from ink entries made with four BIC® ballpoint pens. The β parameter, the remaining fraction of the analyte in the system after one equilibration, corresponding to the successive extractions was considered for modelling a mathematical equation for later ink age dating. Preliminary tests of DATINK method showed that it was possible to detect the presence of ink solvents on documents up to the studied five years. The analyses of different real samples of known age were analyzed in terms of β values, which provided a mean relative error of 21%. The proposed use of β parameter for estimating the absolute age of ballpoint ink entries has shown promising results with a standard deviation of β ranging from 0.002 to 0.004.
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•Development of an ink dating procedure for documents written by ballpoint pens.•Analysis of 2-phenoxyethanol in ballpoint pen inks by MHS-SPME-GC/MS.•β parameter measurement for modelling a mathematical equation for ink age dating.•β parameter for estimating the absolute age of ink entries has shown promising results.
Context. Chemically inhomogeneous populations are observed in most globular clusters, but not in open clusters. Cluster mass seems to play a key role in the existence of multiple populations. Aims. ...Studying the chemical homogeneity of the most massive open clusters is needed to better understand the mechanism of their formation and determine the mass limit under which clusters cannot host multiple populations. Here we studied NGC 6705, which is a young and massive open cluster located towards the inner region of the Milky Way. This cluster is located inside the solar circle. This makes it an important tracer of the inner disk abundance gradient. Methods. This study makes use of BVI and ri photometry and comparisons with theoretical isochrones to derive the age of NGC 6705. We study the density profile of the cluster and the mass function to infer the cluster mass. Based on abundances of the chemical elements distributed in the first internal data release of the Gaia-ESO Survey, we study elemental ratios and the chemical homogeneity of the red clump stars. Radial velocities enable us to study the rotation and internal kinematics of the cluster. Results. The estimated ages range from 250 to 316 Myr, depending on the adopted stellar model. Luminosity profiles and mass functions show strong signs of mass segregation. We derive the mass of the cluster from its luminosity function and from the kinematics, finding values between 3700 M⊙ and 11 000 M⊙. After selecting the cluster members from their radial velocities, we obtain a metallicity of Fe/H = 0.10 ± 0.06 based on 21 candidate members. Moreover, NGC 6705 shows no sign of the typical correlations or anti-correlations between Al, Mg, Si, and Na, which are expected in multiple populations. This is consistent with our cluster mass estimate, which is lower than the required mass limit proposed in the literature to develop multiple populations.
The Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS ) is an ongoing 12-band photometric optical survey, observing thousands of square degrees of the Northern Hemisphere from the dedicated ...JAST/T80 telescope at the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (OAJ). The T80Cam is a camera with a field of view of 2 deg2 mounted on a telescope with a diameter of 83 cm, and is equipped with a unique system of filters spanning the entire optical range (3500–10 000 Å). This filter system is a combination of broad-, medium-, and narrow-band filters, optimally designed to extract the rest-frame spectral features (the 3700–4000 Å Balmer break region, Hδ, Ca H+K, the G band, and the Mg b and Ca triplets) that are key to characterizing stellar types and delivering a low-resolution photospectrum for each pixel of the observed sky. With a typical depth of AB ∼21.25 mag per band, this filter set thus allows for an unbiased and accurate characterization of the stellar population in our Galaxy, it provides an unprecedented 2D photospectral information for all resolved galaxies in the local Universe, as well as accurate photo-z estimates (at the δ z/(1 + z)∼0.005–0.03 precision level) for moderately bright (up to r ∼ 20 mag) extragalactic sources. While some narrow-band filters are designed for the study of particular emission features (O II/λ3727, Hα/λ6563) up to z < 0.017, they also provide well-defined windows for the analysis of other emission lines at higher redshifts. As a result, J-PLUS has the potential to contribute to a wide range of fields in Astrophysics, both in the nearby Universe (Milky Way structure, globular clusters, 2D IFU-like studies, stellar populations of nearby and moderate-redshift galaxies, clusters of galaxies) and at high redshifts (emission-line galaxies at z ≈ 0.77, 2.2, and 4.4, quasi-stellar objects, etc.). With this paper, we release the first ∼1000 deg2 of J-PLUS data, containing about 4.3 million stars and 3.0 million galaxies at r < 21 mag. With a goal of 8500 deg2 for the total J-PLUS footprint, these numbers are expected to rise to about 35 million stars and 24 million galaxies by the end of the survey.
Milky Way open clusters are very diverse in terms of age, chemical composition, and kinematic properties. Intermediate-age and old open clusters are less common, and it is even harder to find them ...inside the solar Galactocentric radius, due to the high mortality rate and strong extinction inside this region. NGC 6802 is one of the inner disk open clusters (IOCs) observed by the Gaia-ESO survey (GES). This cluster is an important target for calibrating the abundances derived in the survey due to the kinematic and chemical homogeneity of the members in open clusters. Using the measurements from Gaia-ESO internal data release 4 (iDR4), we identify 95 main-sequence dwarfs as cluster members from the GIRAFFE target list, and eight giants as cluster members from the UVES target list. The dwarf cluster members have a median radial velocity of 13.6 ± 1.9 km s-1, while the giant cluster members have a median radial velocity of 12.0 ± 0.9 km s-1 and a median Fe/H of 0.10 ± 0.02 dex. The color–magnitude diagram of these cluster members suggests an age of 0.9 ± 0.1 Gyr, with (m−M)0 = 11.4 and E(B−V) = 0.86. We perform the first detailed chemical abundance analysis of NGC 6802, including 27 elemental species. To gain a more general picture about IOCs, the measurements of NGC 6802 are compared with those of other IOCs previously studied by GES, that is, NGC 4815, Trumpler 20, NGC 6705, and Berkeley 81. NGC 6802 shows similar C, N, Na, and Al abundances as other IOCs. These elements are compared with nucleosynthetic models as a function of cluster turn-off mass. The α, iron-peak, and neutron-capture elements are also explored in a self-consistent way.
Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) is a heterogeneous genetic disorder characterized by peripheral muscular weakness often associated with dilated cardiomyopathy. We characterize clinically a ...large family with a mutation in FHL1 gene (p.Cys255Ser). Penetrance was 44%, 100% for males and 18% for females. The heart was the main organ involved. Affected adult males had mild hypertrophy, systolic dysfunction and restriction with non‐dilated ventricles. Carriers had significant QTc prolongation. The proband presented with resuscitated cardiac arrest. There were two transplants. Pathological study of explanted heart showed fibrofatty replacement and scarring consistent with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy and prominent left ventricular trabeculations. Myopathic involvement was evident in all males. Females had no significant neuromuscular disease. Mutations in FHL1 cause unclassifiable cardiomyopathy with coexisting EDMD. Prognosis is poor and systolic impairment and arrhythmias are frequent. Thrombopenia and raised creatine phosphokinase should raise suspicion of an FHL‐1 disorder in X‐linked cardiomyopathy.
A simple, easy-to-use, efficient and environmentally friendly method has been developed for the simultaneous analysis of nine pirethroid pesticides in water samples by the combination of hollow ...fibre-based liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). For the developed method, nine pirethroid pesticides (esbiothrin, prallethrin, bifenthrin, tetramethrin, phenothrin, permethrin, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin and deltamethrin) were concentrated and well separated under optimal conditions. Several factors that influence the efficiency of HF-LPME were investigated and optimized by means of experimental design. The proposed method has good linearity in the concentration range of 10–400μgL−1 with correlation coefficients between 0.995 and 0.999. Overall enrichment factors for the optimized method ranged from 139 to 255 times except for cypermethrin and deltamethrin which ranged from 35 to 128. Detection and quantitation limits of the chromatographic method were in the range of 0.002–0.012μgL−1 and 0.003–0.026μgL−1 respectively, with RSD values between 4.2% and 18.4%. The recoveries varied in the range of 69.4%–122.7% except for cypermethrin and deltamethrin (17.5%–64.1%) with relative standard deviations between 1.0% and 24.0% for intra and inter-day experiments at different concentrations (0.1μgL−1, 0.5μgL−1, 1μgL−1). The HF-LPME method optimized was applied to the analysis of three spiked real water samples with good results.
► Simultaneous analysis of nine pyrethoids by HF-LPME–GC/MS in water samples. ► Analysis of spiked real water samples showed acceptable results. ► Environmentally friendly technique. ► Methodology allows the simultaneous analysis of several samples. ► HF-LPME–GC/MS method is a valuable tool for monitoring pyrethroids in water samples.
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