Transport,fate, and infectivity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cryptosporidium parvum</Emphasis> oocysts released from manure and leached through macroporous soil

A major mode of transmission of Cryptosporidium parvum, a widespread waterborne pathogen, is via contaminated drinking and recreational waters. Oocyst transport to surface water can occur by deposition of manure directly in the water or by wash off in surface runoff. Oocyst transport to groundwater is less straightforward and requires that the oocysts move through soil and bedrock to reach the water table. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative concentration and infectivity of C. parvum oocysts released from manure and leached through columns of undisturbed, macroporous karst soil. Modeling the fate of oocysts in this system over time can provide baseline data for evaluating real world events. Substantially more oocysts leached from undisturbed soil columns than disturbed soil columns. Oocyst survival studies using BALB/c neonatal suckling mice showed that about 85% of oocysts were infective at the beginning of leaching experiments. The oocyst infectivity decreased to about 20% after 12 weeks of leaching from soil columns maintained at 10°C. Cool (10°C) temperatures appear to increase survivability and maintain infectivity of many oocysts for 3 months or longer. Cool temperatures also appear to increase rates of release of oocysts from manure and leaching through soil. This study demonstrated that leaching is an important mechanism of oocyst transport in karst soils where infiltration capacities are high and long, continuous macropores exist. Karst groundwater systems might be especially vulnerable to contamination by leached oocysts, because of the prevalence of shallow soils and rapid groundwater movement. Oocysts leaching from soils into the epikarst could accumulate and remain viable for months until hydrological conditions are right for flushing the oocysts into the conduit flow system.     

Summer mean daily air temperature extremes in Central Spitsbergen

Summer mean daily temperature extremes in Svalbard Lufthavn (Central Spitsbergen) in the period 1975–2010 and daily pressure patterns and directions of air circulation conducive to their occurrence were analyzed. Positive (negative) extremes of daily mean temperatures in the summer were determined as higher (lower) than or equal to the value of the 90th (10th) percentile. The annual number of selected days shows a great year-to-year variability, although the annual number of extremely low mean daily temperature (≤1.3 °C) was decreasing in the 1976–2010 period, with a rate of about 4 days per decade. At the same time, the number of days with extremely high mean daily temperatures (≤8.2 °C) was increasing with a rate of about 2 days per decade. The summer pressure patterns and the air circulation conditions have an impact on the occurrence of the air mean daily temperature extremes. Namely, anticyclones spreading east to the Svalbard Archipelago, accompanied by the Icelandic Low, cause the air inflow from the southerly direction and positive mean daily temperature extremes. A cyclonal system spreading east or southeast towards the archipelago, together with a high-pressure ridge over the North Atlantic, indicates the northern air flow and negative mean daily temperature extremes in summer. The results obtained in this study prove that the summer air temperature in the Atlantic region of the Arctic is partly controlled by air circulation, and despite the intensity and stability of the summer cyclones and anticyclones being weaker than in the winter, their position strongly determines the occurrence of mean daily temperature extremes in the summer.     

Continuous evaluation of seismic hazard induced by the deposit extraction in selected coal mines in Poland

A probabilistic relation between seismic activity and the volumeV of extracted deposits in mines is derived $$\Sigma E = C \cdot V^B ,$$ whereC andB are parameters characterizing mining works and the state of rock mass. Assuming that the measure of seismic hazard is the amount of seismic energy released in a given time interval, it is shown how the hazard can be evaluated continuously. The derived relations were tested in selected coal mines in Upper Silesia.     

Thermodynamic stability of various alkylated, dealkylated and rearranged 17α- and 17β-hopane isomers using molecular mechanics calculations

The thermodynamic stability of selected alkylated, dealkylated and rearranged 17α- and 17β-hopane isomers in the C₂₇, C₂₈, C₂₉, C₃₀ and C₃₁ families were calculated using molecular mechanics (MM2) methods and, where possible, calculated equilibrium ratios of certain isomers were compared with observed ratios of isomers in thermally mature crude oil samples. Those calculated and observed ratios having similar values include: (1) the relative distributions among 17β(H)/17α(H) and 21β(H)/21α(H)-hopanes including the absence of the 17β(H),21β(H)- and 17α(H),21α(H)-hopanes; (2) the 22R/22S ratios in 30-methyl-17α-hopane and 30-methyl-17β-moretane; (3) the relative distributions among 17α(H)/17β(H)- and 21α(H)/21β(H)-28,30-bisnorhopanes and among 25,28,30-trisnorhopanes, including the relatively greater stability of 17β(H) isomers in contrast to the regular hopane series; and (4) the ratios of 28(18−17S)abeo hopanes with respect to their unrearranged counterparts including the C₂₇ compounds, Ts/Tm.     

Dark matter distribution in dwarf spheroidal galaxies

We study the distribution of dark matter in dwarf spheroidal galaxies by modelling the moments of their line-of-sight velocity distributions. We discuss different dark matter density profiles, both cuspy and possessing flat density cores. The predictions are made in the framework of standard dynamical theory of two-component (stars and dark matter) spherical systems with different velocity distributions. We compare the predicted velocity dispersion profiles to observations in the case of Fornax and Draco dwarfs. For isotropic models the dark haloes with cores are found to fit the data better than those with cusps. Anisotropic models are studied by fitting two parameters, dark mass and velocity anisotropy, to the data. In this case all profiles yield good fits, but the steeper the cusp of the profile, the more tangential is the velocity distribution required to fit the data. To resolve this well-known degeneracy of density profile versus velocity anisotropy, we obtain predictions for the kurtosis of the line-of-sight velocity distribution for models found to provide best fits to the velocity dispersion profiles. It turns out that profiles with cores typically yield higher values of kurtosis which decrease more steeply with distance than the cuspy profiles, which will allow us to discriminate between the profiles once the kurtosis measurements become available. We also show that with present quality of the data the alternative explanation of velocity dispersions in terms of Modified Newtonian Dynamics cannot yet be ruled out.     

Spectral variability in transonic discs around black holes

Transonic discs with accretion rates relevant to intrinsically bright Galactic X-ray sources ( L ≈10³⁸–10³⁹ erg s⁻¹) exhibit a time-dependent cyclic behaviour due to the onset of a thermal instability driven by radiation pressure. In this paper we calculate radiation spectra emitted from thermally unstable discs to provide detailed theoretical predictions for observationally relevant quantities. The emergent spectrum has been obtained by solving self-consistently the vertical structure and radiative transfer in the disc atmosphere. We focus on four particular stages of the disc evolution, the maximal evacuation stage and three intermediate stages during the replenishment phase. The disc is found to undergo rather dramatic spectral changes during the evolution, emitting mainly in the 1–10 keV band during outburst and in the 0.1–1 keV band off-outburst. Local spectra, although different in shape from a blackbody at the disc effective temperature, may be characterized in terms of a hardening factor f . We have found that f is more or less constant, both in radius and in time, with a typical value ∼ 1.65.     

Velocity dispersions of dwarf spheroidal galaxies: dark matter versus MOND

We present predictions for the line-of-sight velocity dispersion profiles of dwarf spheroidal galaxies and compare them to observations in the case of the Fornax dwarf. The predictions are made in the framework of standard dynamical theory of spherical systems with different velocity distributions. The stars are assumed to be distributed according to Sérsic laws with parameters fitted to observations. We compare predictions obtained assuming the presence of dark matter haloes (with density profiles adopted from N -body simulations) with those resulting from Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND). If the anisotropy of velocity distribution is treated as a free parameter, observational data for Fornax are reproduced equally well by models with dark matter and with MOND. If stellar mass-to-light ratio of 1 M_⊙/L_⊙ is assumed, the required mass of the dark halo is     , two orders of magnitude larger than the mass in stars. The derived MOND acceleration scale is     . In both cases a certain amount of tangential anisotropy in the velocity distribution is needed to reproduce the shape of the velocity dispersion profile in Fornax.     

Distribution of Selected Critical Elements in the Carboniferous Coal-bearing Series of the Upper Silesian and Lublin Coal Basins (Poland)

The distribution of selected critical elements in the sedimentary rocks of the Carboniferous coal-bearing series within the Polish Coal Basins is presented.Critical elements such as Be,Mg,Si,P,Sc,V,Co,Y,Nb,In,Sb,La,Ce,Hf,Ta,W,Bi were analysed using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP/MS).Concentrations of elements such as Sb,Bi,In and,to a slightly lesser extent,Nb,as well as Sc,show average concentrations higher than those from the upper continental crust.The average concentrations of elements like Hf,Mg,P,Y,La,and Ce are slightly lower than in the upper continental crust.Other elements,such as Be,Co,Si,Ta,W and V have average concentrations that are similar,but slightly enriched or slightly depleted,relative to the upper continental crust.The research showed enrichment of some critical elements in the analysed samples,but not high enough that extraction would be economically viable.Statistical methods,which include correlation coefficients between elements and cluster analysis,reveal a strong positive correlation between elements like Be,Bi,Nb,Sc,Ta,W and V.Very high,almost total,positive correlation is also noted between La and Ce.