pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Toxicity of ZnO nanoparticles, ZnO bulk and ZnCl2 on earthworms in a spiked natural soil and toxicological effects of leachates on aquatic organisms

The present study assessed the uptake and toxicity of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), ZnO bulk, and ZnCl2 salt in earthworms in spiked agricultural soils. In addition, the toxicity of aqueous extracts to Daphnia magna and Chlorella vulgaris was analyzed to determine the risk of these soils to the aquatic compartment. We then investigated the distribution of Zn in soil fractions to interpret the nature of toxicity. Neither mortality nor differences in earthworm body weight were observed compared with the control. The most sensitive end point was reproduction. ZnCl2 was notably toxic in eliminating the production of cocoons. The effects induced by ZnO-NPs and bulk ZnO on fecundity were similar and lower than those of the salt. In contrast to ZnO bulk, ZnO-NPs adversely affected fertility. The internal concentrations of Zn in earthworms in the NP group were greater than those in the salt and bulk groups, although bioconcentration factors were consistently <1. No relationship was found between toxicity and internal Zn amounts in earthworms. The results from the sequential extraction of soil showed that ZnCl2 displayed the highest availability compared with both ZnO. Zn distribution was consistent with the greatest toxicity showed by the salt but not with Zn body concentrations. The soil extracts from both ZnO-NPs and bulk ZnO did not show effects on aquatic organisms (Daphnia and algae) after short-term exposure. However, ZnCl2 extracts (total and 0.45-μm filtered) were toxic to Daphnia
Effects of different swimming race constraints on turning movements

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different swimming race constraints on the evolution of turn parameters. One hundred and fifty-eight national and regional level 200-m (meters) male swimming performances were video-analyzed using the individualized-distance model in the Open Comunidad de Madrid tournament. Turn (p < .001, ES = 0.36) and underwater distances (p < .001, ES = 0.38) as well as turn velocity (p < .001, ES = 0.69) significantly dropped throughout the race, although stroke velocity and underwater velocity were maintained in the last lap of the race (p > .05). Higher expertise swimmers obtained faster average velocities and longer distances in all the turn phases (p < .001, ES = 0.59), except the approach distance. In addition, national level swimmers showed the ability to maintain most of the turn parameters throughout the race, which assisted them in improving average velocity at the end of races. Therefore, the variations in the turning movements of a swimming race were expertise-related and focused on optimizing average velocity. Turning skills should be included in the swimming race action plan
Gravity waves from non-minimal quadratic inflation

We discuss non-minimal quadratic inflation in supersymmetric (SUSY) and non-SUSY models which entails a linear coupling of the inflaton to gravity. Imposing a lower bound on the parameter cℛ, involved in the coupling between the inflaton and the Ricci scalar curvature, inflation can be attained even for subplanckian values of the inflaton while the corresponding effective theory respects the perturbative unitarity up to the Planck scale. Working in the non-SUSY context we also consider radiative corrections to the inflationary potential due to a possible coupling of the inflaton to bosons or fermions. We find ranges of the parameters, depending mildly on the renormalization scale, with adjustable values of the spectral index ns, tensor-to-scalar ratio r≃(2−4)⋅ 10−3, and an inflaton mass close to 3⋅ 1013 GeV. In the SUSY framework we employ two gauge singlet chiral superfields, a logarithmic Kähler potential  including all the allowed terms up to fourth order in powers of the various fields, and determine uniquely the superpotential by applying a continuous R and a global U(1) symmetry. When the Kähler manifold exhibits a no-scale-type symmetry, the model predicts ns ≃ 0.963 and r≃ 0.004. Beyond no-scale SUGRA, ns and r depend crucially on the coefficient involved in the fourth order term, which mixes the inflaton with the accompanying non-inflaton field in the Kähler potential, and the prefactor  encountered in it. Increasing slightly the latter above (−3), an efficient enhancement of the resulting r can be achieved putting it in the observable range. The inflaton mass in the last case is confined in the range (5−9)⋅ 1013 GeV
Large and small Fermi-surface spin density waves in the Kondo lattice model

We demonstrate the existence of metallic spin density waves (SDWs) in the Kondo lattice model on a square lattice for a wide range of parameters by means of real space dynamical mean-field theory. In these SDWs, the spin polarization as well as the charge density depend on the lattice site and are modulated along one direction of the square lattice. We show that within this phase of metallic SDWs the Fermi surface changes from small to large, when the coupling strength is increased. Furthermore, the transition between the large Fermi-surface SDW phase and the paramagnetic phase is of second order, while the transition between the small Fermi-surface SDW phase and the paramagnetic phase is of first order. A local quantum critical point is thus avoided in our calculations by undergoing a first-order phase transition
POPs in the Lagoon of Venice budgets and pathways.

Dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in the ecosystem of the Lagoon of Venice were studied, in order to provide a general picture of  conditions  in  the  Lagoon  in  terms  of  contamination  by  persistent  organic  pollutants (POPs). We  present  here  novel  data  on  atmospheric  deposition,  water,  sediment  and  clam samples  collected  in  the   Lagoon  during  the  period  January  2001-December  2004. Atmospheric  deposition  was  sampled  monthly  at  six  sites  located  both  close  and  far  from large  industrial  and  urban  sources.  Water  samples  were  collected  monthly  from  fifteen stations,  and  twenty-five  samples  of  sediments  and  clams  (Tapes  philippinarum)  were collected in four areas where clams are farmed and harvested inside the Lagoon. All samples  were analysed for PCDD/Fs, PCBs and HCB by HRGC/HRMS in the same laboratory. All samples  examined  (atmospheric  deposition  and  water)  substantially  confirmed  the  spatial pattern reported in previously published data on sediments and atmospheric deposition: the zone surrounding the Porto Marghera petrochemical plant always had the highest levels of POPs (i.e., PCDD/Fs: atmosphere ∼6 pg of 2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalents (I-TE) m -2 d -1 ; water 0.37 pg I-TE l -1 ; sediment: 300 ng kg -1 ; clam 2.8 pg I-TE g -1 ), and the minima were found at points on the margins of the Lagoon (PCDD/Fs: atmosphere ∼ 1 pg I-TE m -2 d -1 ; water 0.05 pg  I-TE  l -1 ;  sediment:  ∼5  ng  kg -1 ;  clam  ∼0.2  pg  I-TE  g -1 ).  Intermediate  values  were  often encountered in the historical city centre of Venice and in the central part of the Lagoon. To confirm this, new data on correlation between levels of PCDD/F in sediments and clams are reported, both for absolute values and for the PCDD/F “fingerprint”. There is always a clear fingerprinting  signature  (PCDF/PCDD>1)  for  samples  collected  near  Porto  Marghera,  and the opposite (PCDF/PCDD<1) in the rest of the Lagoon
Synthesis, characterization and optical spectroscopy of Eu3 þ doped titanate nanotubes

The synthesis of Eu3 þ doped titania nanotubes was carried out via a hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope analyses showed that the nanotubes were formed by rolling multilayered titania structure with a length of up to 100 nm. The Eu3 þ -doped nanotubes exhibited strong emission lines associated with the 5D0-7FJ (with J from 1 to 4) transition of Eu3 þ and the differences between the luminescence properties of the precursor powders and the nanotubes were studied at low temperature
Azimuthal asymmetries in the debris disk around HD61005

Debris disks offer valuable insights into the latest stages of circumstellar
disk evolution, and can possibly help us to trace the outcomes of planetary
formation processes. In the age range 10 to 100\,Myr, most of the gas is
expected to have been removed from the system, giant planets (if any) must have
already been formed, and the formation of terrestrial planets may be on-going.
Pluto-sized planetesimals, and their debris released in a collisional cascade,
are under their mutual gravitational influence, which may result into
non-axisymmetric structures in the debris disk. High angular resolution
observations are required to investigate these effects and constrain the
dynamical evolution of debris disks. Furthermore, multi-wavelength observations
can provide information about the dust dynamics by probing different grain
sizes. Here we present new VLT/SPHERE and ALMA observations of the debris disk
around the 40\,Myr-old solar-type star HD\,61005. We resolve the disk at
unprecedented resolution both in the near-infrared (in scattered and polarized
light) and at millimeter wavelengths. Thanks to the new observations, we
propose a solution for both the radial and azimuthal distribution of the dust
grains in the debris disk. We find that the disk has a moderate eccentricity
($e \sim 0.1$) and that the dust density is two times larger at the pericenter
compared to the apocenter. With no giant planets detected in our observations,
we investigate alternative explanations besides planet-disk interactions to
interpret the inferred disk morphology. We postulate that the morphology of the
disk could be the consequence of a massive collision between
$\sim$\,1000\,km-sized bodies at $\sim$\,61\,au. If this interpretation holds,
it would put stringent constraints on the formation of massive planetesimals at
large distances from the star.Comment: Accepted by A&
Performance study of a MegaPixel single photon position sensitive photodetector EBCMOS

International audienceThis development is related to the design and the integration of a Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor (MAPS) into a photosensitive proximity focusing vacuum-based tube. This EBCMOS project is dedicated to the fluorescent and the bioluminescent high speed imaging. The results of the full characterization of the first prototype are presented. Comparative tests with different fluorescent dyes have been performed in biology laboratories. Preliminary conclusions on the ability of EBCMOS to perform fast single-molecule tracking will be given
Impact of Liability Rules on Modes of Coordination for Food Safety in Supply Chains

International audienceThis article analyzes how the allocation of liability for safety defects could influence coordination in the food supply chain. To do so, we analyzed the strategic reaction of importers and supermarkets who import Spanish fresh produce into France. We considered the implementation and enforcement of the European General Food Law as an exogenous shock for French food operators. In France, depending on the situation, food operators can transfer their liability to someone else in the food supply and imports decisions are crucial indicators. After 2005, supermarkets transferred the liability risk linked to importing sensitive products to importers. We argue that this regulatory change also prompted French importers of fresh produce to develop a horizontal, collective governance structure to monitor the safety of imported produc
Video games in adolescence and emotional functioning: Emotion regulation, emotion intensity, emotion expression, and alexithymia

International audienceVideo-game users represent 40% of the French population and adolescents are the primary users. Yet excessive playing of video games has become a problem in modern society and is manifesting itself in treatment centers for adolescents. Before attempting to gain insight into this problematic use, we must understand video gaming itself and its implications for the gamer. The aim of this research is to propose an understanding of video-game playing based on some dimensions of emotional functioning such as emotion regulation, emotion intensity, emotion expression, and alexithymia. A total of 159 adolescents took part in the study. Regular gamers regulated their emotions more than irregular gamers did. They also felt their emotions more intensely. But regular gamers expressed their emotions less than irregular gamers did. Finally, the regular gamers' alexithymia level was higher than the irregular gamers' level. Especially, they had more difficulty being emotionally reactive. The avatar's evolution in the virtual environment may help mediate adolescents' problematic emotional experiences to give them meaning and enable their appropriation. As such, video games may act as a medium for projecting and experiencing one's emotional life by staging the emotional self, thereby explaining the engagement of adolescents in video gaming
A Discrete Choquet Integral for Ordered Systems

International audienceA model for a Choquet integral for arbitrary finite set systems is presented. The model includes in particular the classical model on the system of all subsets of a finite set. The general model associates canonical non-negative and positively homogeneous superadditive functionals with generalized belief functions relative to an ordered system, which are then extended to arbitrary valuations on the set system. It is shown that the general Choquet integral can be computed by a simple Monge-type algorithm for so-called intersection systems, which include as a special case weakly union-closed families. Generalizing Lovász' classical characterization, we give a characterization of the superadditivity of the Choquet integral relative to a capacity on a union-closed system in terms of an appropriate model of supermodularity of such capacities
Late-Paleozoic emplacement and Meso-Cenozoic reactivation of the southern Kazakhstan granitoid basement

International audienceThe Ili-Balkhash Basin in southeastern Kazakhstan is located at the junction of the actively deforming mountain ranges of western Junggar and the Tien Shan, and is therefore part of the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The basement of the Ili-Balkhash area consists of an assemblage of mainly Precambrian microcontinental fragments, magmatic arcs and accretionary complexes. Eight magmatic basement samples (granitoids and tuffs) from the Ili-Balkhash area were dated with zircon U-Pb LA-ICP-MS and yield Carboniferous to late Permian (~ 350-260 Ma) crystallization ages. These ages are interpreted as reflecting the transition from subduction to (post-) collisional magmatism, related to the closure of the Junggar-Balkhash Ocean during the Carboniferous – early Permian and hence, to the final late Paleozoic accretion history of the ancestral Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Apatite fission track (AFT) dating of 14 basement samples (gneiss, granitoids and volcanic tuffs) mainly provides Cretaceous cooling ages. Thermal history modeling based on the AFT data reveals that several intracontinental tectonic reactivation episodes affected the studied basement during the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Late Mesozoic reactivation and associated basement exhumation is interpreted as distant effects of the Cimmerian collisions at the southern Eurasian margin and possibly of the Mongol-Okhotsk Orogeny in SE Siberia during the Jurassic – Cretaceous. Following tectonic stability during the Palaeogene, inherited basement structures were reactivated during the Neogene (constrained by Miocene AFT ages of ~ 17–10 Ma). This late Cenozoic reactivation is interpreted as the far-field response of the India-Eurasia collision and reflects the onset of modern mountain building and denudation in southeast Kazakhstan, which seems to be at least partially controlled by the inherited basement architecture
Skyline Matching: A robust registration method between Video and GIS

International audienceCamera pose estimation from an image has long been a very active research for Video/GIS registration. Different from traditional methods which are based on direct building feature matching, this paper presents an alternative method which uses an overall Skyline feature to determine the camera's orientation. Through our skyline matching method we find out a way to transform an image/model matching problem into a curve matching problem which significantly reduced the computation complexity and make it a possible solution for real-time applications. 1 Introductio
Crustal and mantle structure beneath the Terre Adélie Craton, East Antarctica: insights from receiver function and seismic anisotropy measurements

International audienceThe Terre Adélie and George V Land (East Antarctica) represent key areas for understanding tectonic relationships between terranes forming the Neoarchean-Palaeoproterozoic Terre Adélie Craton (TAC) and the neighbouring lithospheric blocks, together with the nature of its boundary. This region that represents the eastern border of the TAC is limited on its eastern side by the Mertz shear zone (MSZ) separating more recent Palaeozoic units from the craton. The MSZ, that recorded dextral strike-slip movement at 1.7 and 1.5 Ga, is likely correlated with the Kalinjala or Coorong shear zone in South Australia, east of the Gawler Craton and may therefore represent a frozen lithospheric-scale structure. In order to investigate the litho-spheric structure of the TAC and the MSZ, we deployed from 2009 October to 2011 October four temporary seismic stations, which sampled the various lithospheric units of the TAC and of the neighbouring Palaeozoic block, together with the MSZ. We used receiver function method to deduce Moho depths and seismic anisotropy technique to infer the upper mantle deformation. Results from receiver functions analysis reveal Moho at 40–44 km depth beneath the TAC, at 36 km under the MSZ and at 28 km beneath the eastern Palaeozoic domain. The MSZ therefore delimits two crustal blocks of different thicknesses with a vertical offset of the Moho of 12 km. Seismic anisotropy deduced from SKS splitting at stations on the TAC shows fast polarisation directions () trending E–W, that is, parallel to the continental margin, and delay times (δt) ranging from 0.8 to 1.6 s. These results are similar to the splitting parameters observed at the permanent GEOSCOPE Dumont D'Urville station (DRV: 95 • N, δt 1.1 s) located in the Palaeoproterozoic domain of TAC. On the MSZ, the small number of good quality measurements limits the investigation of the deep signature of the shear zone. However, the station in the Palaeozoic domain shows trending N60 • E, which is significantly different to the trending measurements from stations on the TAC, suggesting that the MSZ may also represent a major frontier between the Neoarchean-Palaeoproterozoic and Palaeozoic terranes
Women in the boardroom: how do female directors of corporate boards perceive boardroom dynamics?

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1461-9.This study investigated how female directors of corporate boards of directors (BoD) experience boardroom
dynamics. The study represents an initial research trend that moves from a unilateral focus on financial outcomes of
female representation in BoDs toward stronger attention on the social dynamics in the boardroom. Drawing on social
identity theory, the study proposed that female directors often constitute an out-group within the BoD, preventing them
from experiencing positive board dynamics. More specifically, the study explored the extent to which female directors
do experience less justice, lower cohesion, and higher levels of conflicts within the BoD than their male counterparts
do. Moreover, we assumed that female directors with nontraditional educational backgrounds would be particularly
likely to experience negative boardroom dynamics whereas female chairpersons of BoDs would perceive boardroom
dynamics more positively than other female directors. The sample consisted of 491 directors from 149 BoDs. Our
findings revealed that there were generally few differences in the way female and male directors experienced boardroom
dynamics and female chairpersons of BoDs did not perceive the dynamics differently than other female directors.
Female directors with nontraditional educational backgrounds perceived the boardroom dynamics somewhat more
negatively than other female directors, but the differences were not statistically significant. The conclusions from this
study are that there are reasons to believe that female directors are welcomed into boardrooms, not perceived as outgroups,
and BoDs are able to benefit from the female directors’ experience and skills
Implications of in situ calcification for photosynthesis in a ~3.3 Ga-old microbial biofilm from the Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa

International audienceTiming the appearance of photosynthetic microorganisms is crucial to understanding the evolution of life on Earth. The ability of the biosphere to use sunlight as a source of energy (photoautotrophy) would have been essential for increasing biomass and for increasing the biogeochemical capacity of all prokaryotes across the range of redox reactions that support life. Typical proxies for photosynthesis in the rock record include features, such as a mat-like, laminated morphology (stratiform, domical, conical) often associated with bulk geochemical signatures, such as calcification, and a fractionated carbon isotope signature. However, to date, in situ, calcification related to photosynthesis has not been demonstrated in the oldest known microbial mats. We here use in situ nanometer-scale techniques to investigate the structural and compositional architecture in a 3.3 billion-year (Ga) old microbial biofilm from the Barberton greenstone belt, thus documenting in situ calcification that was most likely related to anoxygenic photosynthesis. The Josefsdal Chert Microbial Biofilm (JCMB) formed in a littoral (photic) environment. It is characterised by a distinct vertical structural and compositional organisation. The lower part is calcified in situ by aragonite, progressing upwards into uncalcified kerogen characterised by up to 1% sulphur, followed by an upper layer that contains intact filaments at the surface. Crystallites of pseudomorphed pyrite are also associated with the biofilm suggesting calcification related to the activity of heterotrophic sulphur reducing bacteria. In this anoxygenic, nutrient-limited environment, the carbon required by the sulphur reducing bacteria could only have been produced by photoautotrophy. We conclude that the Josfsdal Chert Microbial Biofilm was formed by a consortium of anoxygenic microorganisms, including photosynthesisers and sulphur reducing bacteria