The increasingly widespread use of beneficial microbial inocula in agriculture gives rise to two primary needs: i) the assessment of the environmental risk, i.e. their impact on local soil microbiome ...and soil properties; ii) being able to track them and monitor their persistence and fate to both optimize their formulation and application method. In previous years, PCR-based methods have detected bacterial or fungal bioinoculant at the species or strain level. However, the selective detection, quantification, and monitoring of target microbial species in a complex ecosystem such as soil require that the tests possess high specificity and sensitivity.
The work proposes a quantitative real-time PCR detection method using TaqMan chemistry, showing high specificity and sensitivity for the Paenibacillus polymyxa K16 strain. The primer and probe sets were designed using the polymyxin gene cluster targeting pmxC and pmxE sequences. Validation tests showed that these assays allowed a discriminant and specific detection of P. polymyxa K16 in soil.
The TaqMan-assay developed could thus ensure the necessary level of discrimination required by commercial and regulatory purposes to detect and monitor the bioinoculant in soil.
One of the most serious accidents that can occur in the experimental nuclear fusion reactor ITER is the break of one of the headers of the refrigeration system of the first wall of the Tokamak. This ...results in water-steam mixture discharge in vacuum vessel (VV), with consequent pressurization of this container. To prevent the pressure in the VV exceeds 150 KPa absolute, a system discharges the steam inside a suppression pool, at an absolute pressure of 4.2 kPa. The computer codes used to analyze such incident (eg. RELAP 5 or MELCOR) are not validated experimentally for such conditions. Therefore, we planned a basic research, in order to have experimental data useful to validate the heat transfer correlations used in these codes. After a thorough literature search on this topic, ACTA, in collaboration with the staff of ITER, defined the experimental matrix and performed the design of the experimental apparatus. For the thermal-hydraulic design of the experiments, we executed a series of calculations by MELCOR. This code, however, was used in an unconventional mode, with the development of models suited respectively to low and high steam flow-rate tests. The article concludes with a discussion of the placement of experimental data within the map featuring the phenomenon characteristics, showing the importance of the new knowledge acquired, particularly in the case of chugging.
We correct an overestimation of the production rate of
137
Xe in the DARWIN detector operated at LNGS. This formerly dominant intrinsic background source is now at a level similar to the irreducible ...background from solar
8
B neutrinos, thus unproblematic at the LNGS depth. The projected half-life sensitivity for the neutrinoless double beta decay (
0
ν
β
β
) of
136
Xe improves by
22
%
compared to the previously reported number and is now
T
1
/
2
0
ν
=
3.0
×
10
27
yr
(90% C.L.) after 10 years of DARWIN operation.
Bees represent an important element for the preservation of plant biodiversity. During their activities, bees cover a large area around the hive and their products strictly reflect the distinctive ...traits of these environments. In honey, the floral diversity of the areas inspected by bees is revealed by their pollen spectra. The present work characterized 460 Italian unifloral honeys by melissopalynological and physicochemical analyses. Obtained data contributed to: confirm the botanical identity of the samples; determine the plant biodiversity revealed in each honey; differentiate the samples of the same monofloral typology in relation to their geographical origin; and identify peculiar floristic associations in the Italian regions. Moreover, gas chromatographic analysis was carried out on rare unifloral honey to study their sugar profiles. This work provided the scientific base to create a valid tool able to assign a territorial brand and an authenticity guarantee to the honey, protecting the consumers from adulterations.
•The I2 transport in two multi-compartment THAI tests was analyzed.•In a benchmark 4 different codes were applied by 7 organizations.•The I2 concentrations were mostly overestimated, up to a factor ...100.•Inadequate iodine models and inaccurate thermal-hydraulic parameters were detected.•The user effect on the quality of the iodine results was large.
In the SARNET2 WP8.3 THAI Benchmark the capability of current accident codes to simulate the iodine transport and behavior in sub-divided containments has been assessed. In THAI test Iod-11 and Iod-12, made available for the benchmark, the distribution of molecular iodine (I2) in the five compartments of the 60m3 vessel under stratified and well mixed conditions was measured. The main processes addressed are the I2 transport with the atmospheric flows and the interaction of I2 with the steel surface. During test Iod-11 the surfaces in contact with the containment atmosphere were dry. In Iod-12, steam was released, which condensed on the walls.
Nine post-test calculations were conducted for Iod-11 and eight for Iod-12 by seven organizations using four different codes: ASTEC-IODE (CIEMAT, GRS and TUS), COCOSYS-AIM (AREVA, FZ-Jülich and GRS), ECART (Pisa University) and MELCOR (Pisa University and VTT). Different nodalizations of the THAI vessel with 20–65 zones were applied.
Generally, for both tests the analytical thermal-hydraulic results are in a fairly good agreement with the measurements. Only the calculated local relative humidity deviates significantly from the measured values in all calculations. The results in Iod-11 for the local I2 concentration in the gaseous phase are quite diverse. Three calculations show only minor deviations from the measurement, whereas the others are substantially different from the measured I2 concentrations. For Iod-12, no calculation delivers a satisfactory evolution of the I2 concentration in all five compartments of the vessel. There are three mediocre results standing out in the Iod-11 exercise which are from the same user–code combinations. The discrepancies derive from various reasons which are discussed in the paper.
In the benchmark a significant user effect was detected, i.e. results achieved with the same code differed considerably.
This work highlights the need of a detailed iodine adsorption/desorption model and precise thermal-hydraulic modeling for an accurate simulation of I2 transport in a sub-divided containment, as well as experienced users or straight forward user guidelines.
The paper is focused on some of the different forms of the analogy between heat and mass transfer, as they appear in available textbooks and literature on condensation and evaporation. The motivation ...for the work is the need to clearly point out the assumptions at the basis of each one of them and to quantify the related differences in the application to real experimental data. In fact, the analogy is very often cast in apparently very different forms, whose relation to each other must be carefully understood when a selection among them is performed for a given application.
Basing on previous experience in the analysis of heat and mass transfer for passive cooling in light water nuclear reactors, the present work briefly summarises the theoretical bases of the selected forms of the analogy, comparing the related relationships. Then, an experimental activity related to condensation on a flat plate in the presence of noncondensable gases, aimed at providing data for nuclear reactor containment analysis, is presented and the obtained results are processed by the different forms of the analogy to assess the related quantitative differences, thus providing a clearer perspective about the results of their use in engineering applications.
Substances and methods used to increase oxygen blood transport and physical performance can be detected in the blood, but the screening of the athletes to be tested remains a critical issue for the ...International Federations. This project, AR.I.E.T.T.A., aimed to develop a software capable of analysing athletes' hematological and performance profiles to detect abnormal patterns.
One-hundred eighty athletes belonging to the International Biathlon Union gave written informed consent to have their hematological data, previously collected according to anti-doping rules, used to develop the AR.I.E.T.T.A. software.
Software was developed with the included sections: 1) log-in; 2) data-entry: where data are loaded, stored and grouped; 3) analysis: where data are analysed, validated scores are calculated, and parameters are simultaneously displayed as statistics, tables and graphs, and individual or subpopulation profiles; 4) screening: where an immediate evaluation of the risk score of the present sample and/or the athlete under study is obtained. The sample risk score or AR.I.E.T.T.A. score is calculated by a simple computational system combining different parameters (absolute values and intra-individual variations) considered concurrently. The AR.I.E.T.T.A. score is obtained by the sum of the deviation units derived from each parameter, considering the shift of the present value from the reference values, based on the number of standard deviations.
AR.I.E.T.T.A. enables a quick evaluation of blood results assisting surveillance programs and perform timely target testing controls on athletes by the International Federations. Future studies aiming to validate the AR.I.E.T.T.A. score and improve the diagnostic accuracy will improve the system.
•Consequent implementation of the recommendations derived from the OECD/NEA ISP-47.•Phenomenological code-to-code comparison performed on plant scale.•Systematic identification and elimination of the ...user effect.•Identification of fundamental differences in the model basis.•Application to PAR system analysis.
One outcome of the OECD/NEA ISP-47 activity was the recommendation to elaborate a ‘Generic Containment’ in order to allow comparing and rating the results obtained by different lumped-parameter models on plant scale. Within the European SARNET2 project (http://www.sar-net.eu), such a Generic Containment nodalisation, based on a German PWR (1300MWel), was defined. This agreement on the nodalisation allows investigating the remaining differences among the results, especially the ‘user-effect’, related to the modelling choices, as well as fundamental differences in the underlying model basis in detail. The methodology applied in order to compare the different code predictions consisted of a series of three benchmark steps with increasing complexity as well as a systematic comparison of characteristic variables and observations.
This paper summarises the benchmark series, the lessons learned during specifying the steps, comparing and discussing the results and finally gives an outlook on future steps.
We report results from searches for new physics with low-energy electronic recoil data recorded with the XENON1T detector. With an exposure of 0.65 tonne-years and an unprecedentedly low background ...rate of 76 ± 2stat events/(tonne × year × keVÞ between 1 and 30 keV, the data enable one of the most sensitive searches for solar axions, an enhanced neutrino magnetic moment using solar neutrinos, and bosonic dark matter. An excess over known backgrounds is observed at low energies and most prominent between 2 and 3 keV. The solar axion model has a 3.4σ significance, and a three-dimensional 90% confidence surface is reported for axion couplings to electrons, photons, and nucleons. This surface is inscribed in the cuboid defined by gae < 3.8 × 10−12, ..., and gaegaγ < 7.7 × 10−22 GeV−1, and excludes either gae = 0 or ... . The neutrino magnetic moment signal is similarly favored over background at 3.2σ, and a confidence interval of μν ∈ (1.4, 2.9) × 10−11 μB (90% C.L.) is reported. Both results are in strong tension with stellar constraints. The excess can also be explained by β decays of tritium at 3.2σ significance with a corresponding tritium concentration in xenon of (6.2 ± 2.0) × 10−25 mol/mol. Such a trace amount can neither be confirmed nor excluded with current knowledge of its production and reduction mechanisms. The significances of the solar axion and neutrino magnetic moment hypotheses are decreased to 2.0σ and 0.9σ, respectively, if an unconstrained tritium component is included in the fitting. With respect to bosonic dark matter, the excess favors a monoenergetic peak at (2.3 ± 0.2) keV (68% C.L.) with a 3.0σ global (4.0σ local) significance over background. This analysis sets the most restrictive direct constraints to date on pseudoscalar and vector bosonic dark matter for most masses between 1 and 210 keV/c2. We also consider the possibility that 37Ar may be present in the detector, yielding a 2.82 keV peak from electron capture. Contrary to tritium, the 37Ar concentration can be tightly constrained and is found to be negligible. (ProQuest: ... denotes formula omitted.)
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