Using combined data from the Relativistic Heavy Ion and Large Hadron Colliders, we constrain the shear and bulk viscosities of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) at temperatures of ∼ 150 – 350 MeV . We use ...Bayesian inference to translate experimental and theoretical uncertainties into probabilistic constraints for the viscosities. With Bayesian model averaging we propagate an estimate of the model uncertainty generated by the transition from hydrodynamics to hadron transport in the plasma's final evolution stage, providing the most reliable phenomenological constraints to date on the QGP viscosities.
Exposure to crystalline silica (SiO2), in the form of quartz, tridymite or cristobalite, can cause respiratory diseases, such as silicosis. However, the observed toxicity and pathogenicity of ...crystalline silica is highly variable. This has been attributed to a number of inherent and external factors, including the presence of impurities. In cristobalite-rich dusts, substitutions of aluminium (Al) for silicon (Si) in the cristobalite structure, and impurities occluding the silica surface, have been hypothesised to decrease its toxicity. This hypothesis is tested here through the characterisation and in vitro toxicological study of synthesised cristobalite with incremental amounts of Al and sodium (Na) dopants.
Samples of synthetic cristobalite with incremental amounts of Al and Na impurities, and tridymite, were produced through heating of a silica sol-gel. Samples were characterised for mineralogy, cristobalite purity and abundance, particle size, surface area and surface charge. In vitro assays assessed the ability of the samples to induce cytotoxicity and TNF-α production in J774 macrophages, and haemolysis of red blood cells.
Al-only doped or Al+Na co-doped cristobalite contained between 1 and 4 oxide wt% Al and Na within its structure. Co-doped samples also contained Al- and Na-rich phases, such as albite. Doping reduced cytotoxicity to J774 macrophages and haemolytic capacity compared to non-doped samples. Al-only doping was more effective at decreasing cristobalite reactivity than Al+Na co-doping. The reduction in the reactivity of cristobalite is attributed to both structural impurities and a lower abundance of crystalline silica in doped samples. Neither non-doped nor doped crystalline silica induced production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α in J774 macrophages.
Impurities can reduce the toxic potential of cristobalite and may help explain the low reactivity of some cristobalite-rich dusts. Whilst further work is required to determine if these effects translate to altered pathogenesis, the results have potential implications for the regulation of crystalline silica exposures.
•Systematic doping of synthetic silica with Al + Na produced impure cristobalite.•Al and Na structural impurities in cristobalite impact in vitro toxicity.•Accompanying Al-rich minerals also likely affect cristobalite toxicity.•Study findings help explain the low reactivity of some cristobalite-rich dusts.•Potential for future silica OELs to allow for inherent/external stimuli on toxicity.
The six week eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010 produced heavy ash fall in a sparsely populated area of southern and south eastern Iceland and disrupted European commercial flights for at ...least 6 days. We adopted a protocol for the rapid analysis of volcanic ash particles, for the purpose of informing respiratory health risk assessments. Ash collected from deposits underwent a multi-laboratory physicochemical and toxicological investigation of their mineralogical parameters associated with bio-reactivity, and selected in vitro toxicology assays related to pulmonary inflammatory responses. Ash from the eruption of Grímsvötn, Iceland, in 2011 was also studied. The results were benchmarked against ash from Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat, which has been extensively studied since the onset of eruptive activity in 1995.
For Eyjafjallajökull, the grain size distributions were variable: 2–13vol% of the bulk samples were <4µm, with the most explosive phases of the eruption generating abundant respirable particulate matter. In contrast, the Grímsvötn ash was almost uniformly coarse (<3.5vol%<4µm material). Surface area ranged from 0.3 to 7.7m2g−1 for Eyjafjallajökull but was very low for Grímsvötn (<0.6m2g−1). There were few fibre-like particles (which were unrelated to asbestos) and the crystalline silica content was negligible in both eruptions, whereas Soufrière Hills ash was cristobalite-rich with a known potential to cause silicosis. All samples displayed a low ability to deplete lung antioxidant defences, showed little haemolysis and low acute cytotoxicity in human alveolar type-1 like epithelial cells (TT1). However, cell-free tests showed substantial hydroxyl radical generation in the presence of hydrogen peroxide for Grímsvötn samples, as expected for basaltic, Fe-rich ash. Cellular mediators MCP-1, IL-6, and IL-8 showed chronic pro-inflammatory responses in Eyjafjallajökull, Grímsvötn and Soufrière Hills samples, despite substantial differences in the sample mineralogy and eruptive styles.
The value of the pro-inflammatory profiles in differentiating the potential respiratory health hazard of volcanic ashes remains uncertain in a protocol designed to inform public health risk assessment, and further research on their role in volcanic crises is warranted.
•Eyjafjallajökull and Grímsvötn volcanic ash fell on Iceland in 2010 and 2011.•The respiratory hazard was investigated in 2 rapid, multi-disciplinary lab. studies.•Up to 13vol% of the Eyjafjallajökull ash was respirable (<4µm diameter).•Crystalline silica in the samples was negligible and few fibrous particles were observed.•Both ash types showed positive chronic pro-inflammatory responses.
Ashfall into heavily populated areas during the October–November 2010 eruption of Merapi volcano, Indonesia created anxiety regarding the growing impacts to health as the eruption escalated and the ...hazard zone widened. We made a preliminary assessment of the respiratory hazards to human health of the tephra deposits (ashfall, lahar, and PDC surge) from the eruption using a laboratory protocol specifically developed to study the toxic potential of volcanic ash particles. Twenty samples collected from a range of locations were analysed for health-pertinent mineralogical parameters (grain size, crystalline silica content, morphology, surface area, bulk chemistry, and leachable elements) and bio-reactivity (hydroxyl radical generation, haemolytic potential, oxidative capacity, pro-inflammatory response). The grain size pertinent to respiratory health was variable, ranging from 1.4–15.6 vol.% sub-4μm and 3.0–28.9 vol.% sub-10μm diameter material. No fibre-like particles were observed. Cristobalite was present in all samples, ranging from 1.9–9.5wt.%, but surface reactivity and in vitro toxicity assays showed low reactivity for all samples tested. The risk of direct exposure to ash from fallout was in any case low due to seasonal rains limiting its re-suspension and the immediate and effective clean-up of communities by local people who supplied the ash to the Indonesian construction industry for use as aggregate. However, mining of the lahar and thick PDC deposits in the valleys draining the volcano is performed on a vast, industrial scale, which could result in high occupational exposure to thousands of sand miners at Merapi during the dry seasons. Further study of the health hazard of the mined Merapi deposits is warranted.
► First study of respiratory health hazard of ash at Merapi volcano. ► The health risk of inhaling volcanic ash was low for the general population. ► The rapidity of urban ash clearance by rain and people was unprecedented. ► Ash within PDC surge-affected houses was particularly fine-grained. ► The greatest hazard is from the industrial mining of volcanic deposits.
Diatomaceous earth (DE) is mined globally and is potentially of occupational respiratory health concern due to the high crystalline silica content in processed material. DE toxicity, in terms of ...variability related to global source and processing technique, is poorly understood. This study addresses this variability using physicochemical characterisation and in vitro toxicology assays.
Nineteen DE samples sourced from around the world, comprising unprocessed, calcined and flux-calcined DE, were analysed for chemical and mineral composition, particle size and morphology, and surface area. The potential toxicity of DE was assessed by its haemolytic capacity, and its ability to induce cytotoxicity or cytokine release by J774 macrophages.
The potential toxicity of DE varied with source and processing technique, ranging from non-reactive to as cytotoxic and haemolytic as DQ12. Crystalline silica-rich, flux-calcined samples were all unreactive, regardless of source. The potential toxicity of unprocessed and calcined samples was variable, and did not correlate with crystalline silica content. Calcium-rich phases, iron content, amorphous material, particle size and morphology all appeared to play a role in sample reactivity. An increased surface area was linked to an increased reactivity in vitro for some sample types.
Overall, no single property of DE could be linked to its potential toxicity, but crystalline silica content was not a dominant factor. Occlusion of the potentially toxic crystalline silica surface by an amorphous matrix or other minerals and impurities in the crystal structure are suggested to pacify toxicity in these samples. In vivo verification is required, but these data suggest that crystalline silica content alone is not a sufficient indicator of the potential DE hazard.
We present a new study of jet interactions in the quark-gluon plasma created in high-energy heavy-ion collisions, using a multistage event generator within the jetscape framework. We focus on ...medium-induced modifications in the rate of inclusive jets and high transverse momentum (high-pT) hadrons. Scattering-induced jet energy loss is calculated in two stages: a high virtuality stage based on the matter model, in which scattering of highly virtual partons modifies the vacuum radiation pattern, and a second stage at lower jet virtuality based on the lbt model, in which leading partons gain and lose virtuality by scattering and radiation. Coherence effects that reduce the medium-induced emission rate in the matter phase are also included. The trento model is used for initial conditions, and the (2 + 1)dimensional vishnu model is used for viscous hydrodynamic evolution. Jet interactions with the medium are modeled via 2-to-2 scattering with Debye screened potentials, in which the recoiling partons are tracked, hadronized, and included in the jet clustering. Holes left in the medium are also tracked and subtracted to conserve transverse momentum. Calculations of the nuclear modification factor (RAA) for inclusive jets and high-pT hadrons are compared to experimental measurements at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Within this framework, we find that with one extra parameter which codifies the transition between stages of jet modification—along with the typical parameters such as the coupling in the medium, the start and stop criteria, etc.—we can describe these data at all energies for central and semicentral collisions without a rescaling of the jet transport coefficient qˆ.
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