| 1. |
- Gierga, Merle, et al.
(författare)
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Purification of fire derived markers for mu g scale isotope analysis (delta C-13, Delta C-14) using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
- 2014
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Ingår i: Organic Geochemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0146-6380 .- 1873-5290. ; 70, s. 1-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Black carbon (BC) is the residue of incomplete biomass combustion. It is ubiquitous in nature and, due to its relative persistence, is an important factor in Earth's slow-cycling carbon pool. This resistant nature makes pure BC one of the most used materials for C-14 dating to elucidate its formation date or residence time in the environment. However, most BC samples cannot be physically separated from their matrices, precluding accurate C-14 values. Here we present a method for radiocarbon dating of the oxidation products of BC, benzene polycarboxylic acids, thereby circumventing interference from extraneous carbon. Individual compounds were isolated using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and converted to CO2 via wet chemical oxidation for C-13 and C-14 isotope analysis. A detailed assessment was performed to identify and quantify sources of extraneous carbon contamination using two process standards with distinct isotopic signatures. The average blank was 1.6 +/- 0.7 mu g C and had an average radiocarbon content of 0.90 +/- 0.50 (FC)-C-14. We successfully analyzed the C-14 content of individual benzene polycarboxylic acids with a sample size as small as 20-30 mu g C after correcting for the presence of the average blank. The combination of delta C-13 and (FC)-C-14 analysis helps interpret the results and enables monitoring of extraneous carbon contribution in a fast and cost efficient way. Such a molecular approach to radiocarbon dating of BC residues enables the expansion of isotopic BC studies to samples that have either been too small or strongly affected by non-fire derived carbon.
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| 2. |
- Perez-Escobar, O. A., et al.
(författare)
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Molecular Clocks and Archeogenomics of a Late Period Egyptian Date Palm Leaf Reveal Introgression from Wild Relatives and Add Timestamps on the Domestication
- 2021
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Ingår i: Molecular Biology and Evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 38:10, s. 4475-4492
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, has been a cornerstone of Middle Eastern and North African agriculture for millennia. It was first domesticated in the Persian Gulf, and its evolution appears to have been influenced by gene flow from two wild relatives, P. theophrasti, currently restricted to Crete and Turkey, and P. sylvestris, widespread from Bangladesh to the West Himalayas. Genomes of ancient date palm seeds show that gene flow from P. theophrasti to P. dactylifera may have occurred by similar to 2,200years ago, but traces of P. sylvestris could not be detected. We here integrate archeogenomics of a similar to 2,100-year-old P. dactylifera leaf from Saqqara (Egypt), molecular-clock dating, and coalescence approaches with population genomic tests, to probe the hybridization between the date palm and its two closest relatives and provide minimum and maximum timestamps for its reticulated evolution. The Saqqara date palm shares a close genetic affinity with North African date palm populations, and we find clear genomic admixture from both P. theophrasti, and P. sylvestris, indicating that both had contributed to the date palm genome by 2,100years ago. Molecular-clocks placed the divergence of P. theophrasti from P. dactylifera/P. sylvestris and that of P. dactylifera from P. sylvestris in the Upper Miocene, but strongly supported, conflicting topologies point to older gene flow between P. theophrasti and P. dactylifera, and P. sylvestris and P. dactylifera. Our work highlights the ancient hybrid origin of the date palms, and prompts the investigation of the functional significance of genetic material introgressed from both close relatives, which in turn could prove useful for modern date palm breeding.
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| 3. |
- Reimer, Paula J., et al.
(författare)
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The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0-55 cal kBP)
- 2020
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Ingår i: Radiocarbon. - 0033-8222. ; 62:4, s. 725-757
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Radiocarbon (C) ages cannot provide absolutely dated chronologies for archaeological or paleoenvironmental studies directly but must be converted to calendar age equivalents using a calibration curve compensating for fluctuations in atmospheric C concentration. Although calibration curves are constructed from independently dated archives, they invariably require revision as new data become available and our understanding of the Earth system improves. In this volume the international C calibration curves for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, as well as for the ocean surface layer, have been updated to include a wealth of new data and extended to 55,000 cal BP. Based on tree rings, IntCal20 now extends as a fully atmospheric record to ca. 13,900 cal BP. For the older part of the timescale, IntCal20 comprises statistically integrated evidence from floating tree-ring chronologies, lacustrine and marine sediments, speleothems, and corals. We utilized improved evaluation of the timescales and location variable C offsets from the atmosphere (reservoir age, dead carbon fraction) for each dataset. New statistical methods have refined the structure of the calibration curves while maintaining a robust treatment of uncertainties in the C ages, the calendar ages and other corrections. The inclusion of modeled marine reservoir ages derived from a three-dimensional ocean circulation model has allowed us to apply more appropriate reservoir corrections to the marine C data rather than the previous use of constant regional offsets from the atmosphere. Here we provide an overview of the new and revised datasets and the associated methods used for the construction of the IntCal20 curve and explore potential regional offsets for tree-ring data. We discuss the main differences with respect to the previous calibration curve, IntCal13, and some of the implications for archaeology and geosciences ranging from the recent past to the time of the extinction of the Neanderthals.
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| 4. |
- Wiedemeier, Daniel B., et al.
(författare)
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Characterization, Quantification and Compound-specific Isotopic Analysis of Pyrogenic Carbon Using Benzene Polycarboxylic Acids (BPCA)
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Visualized Experiments. - : MyJove Corporation. - 1940-087X. ; :111
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fire-derived, pyrogenic carbon (PyC), sometimes called black carbon (BC), is the carbonaceous solid residue of biomass and fossil fuel combustion, such as char and soot. PyC is ubiquitous in the environment due to its long persistence, and its abundance might even increase with the projected increase in global wildfire activity and the continued burning of fossil fuel. PyC is also increasingly produced from the industrial pyrolysis of organic wastes, which yields charred soil amendments (biochar). Moreover, the emergence of nanotechnology may also result in the release of PyC-like compounds to the environment. It is thus a high priority to reliably detect, characterize and quantify these charred materials in order to investigate their environmental properties and to understand their role in the carbon cycle. Here, we present the benzene polycarboxylic acid (BPCA) method, which allows the simultaneous assessment of PyC's characteristics, quantity and isotopic composition (C-13 and C-14) on a molecular level. The method is applicable to a very wide range of environmental sample materials and detects PyC over a broad range of the combustion continuum, i.e., it is sensitive to slightly charred biomass as well as high temperature chars and soot. The BPCA protocol presented here is simple to employ, highly reproducible, as well as easily extendable and modifiable to specific requirements. It thus provides a versatile tool for the investigation of PyC in various disciplines, ranging from archeology and environmental forensics to biochar and carbon cycling research.
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| 5. |
- Edmund, J. M., et al.
(författare)
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Optically stimulated luminescence from Al2O3 : C irradiated with 10-60 MeV protons
- 2007
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research. Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors, and Associated Equipment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-5087 .- 0168-9002. ; 580:1, s. 210-213
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated the potential use of Al2O3:C for medical proton dosimetry. Detector crystals coupled to fiber-optic cables were irradiated in proton beams with energies from 10 to 60 MeV. The key finding is that the initial intensity of the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signal is energy independent for small detectors (<0.5mm) and relatively small doses (<0.3Gy). This feature is related to the supralinearity of the detectors dose-response to low linear energy transfer (LET) radiation. The results show that our system can be used in medical proton dosimetry without LET-dependent correction factors in the dose and energy interval investigated. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 6. |
- Wu, X., et al.
(författare)
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PANGU : A Wide Field Gamma-Ray Imager and Polarimeter
- 2016
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Ingår i: SPACE TELESCOPES AND INSTRUMENTATION 2016. - : SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. - 9781510601895
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- PANGU (the PAir-productioN Gamma-ray Unit) is a gamma-ray telescope with a wide field of view optimized for spectro-imaging, timing and polarization studies. It will map the gamma-ray sky from 10 MeV to a few GeV with unprecedented spatial resolution. This window on the Universe is unique to detect photons produced directly by relativistic particles, via the decay of neutral pions, or the annihilation or decay light from anti-matter and the putative light dark matter candidates. A wealth of questions can be probed among the most important themes of modern physics and astrophysics. The PANGU instrument is a pair-conversion gamma-ray telescope based on an innovative design of a silicon strip tracker. It is light, compact and accurate. It consists of 100 layers of silicon micro-strip detectors of 80 x 80 cm(2) in area, stacked to height of about 90 cm, and covered by an anticoincidence detectors. PANGU relies on multiple scattering effects for energy measurement, reaching an energy resolution between 30-50% for 10 MeV - 1GeV. The novel tracker will allow the first polarization measurement and provide the best angular resolution ever obtained in the soft gamma ray and GeV band.
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| 7. |
- Wu, X., et al.
(författare)
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PANGU : A high resolution gamma-ray space telescope
- 2015
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 11th Frascati Workshops on Multifrequency Behaviour of High Energy Cosmic Sources Workshop, MULTIF 2015. - : Sissa Medialab Srl.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- PANGU (the PAir-productioN Gamma-ray Unit) is a small astrophysics mission with wide field of view optimized for spectro-imaging, timing and polarisation studies. It will map the gamma-ray sky from 10 MeV to a few GeV with unprecedented spatial resolution. This window on the Universe is unique to detect photons emitted directly by relativistic particles, via the decay of neutral pions, or the annihilation or decay light from anti-matter and the putative light dark matter candidates. A wealth of questions can be probed among the most important themes of modern physics and astrophysics. The PANGU instrument is a pair-conversion gamma-ray telescope based on an innovative design of a silicon strip tracker. It is light, compact and accurate. It consists of 100 layers of silicon micro-strip detector of 40 x 40 cm2 in area, stacked to height of about 90 cm, and covered by a top anticoincidence detector. PANGU relies on multiple scattering effects for energy measurement, reaching an energy resolution between 30-50% for 10 MeV - 1 GeV. The novel tracker will allow the first polarisation measurement and provide the best angular resolution ever obtained in the soft gamma ray and GeV band. PANGU has been proposed to the recent ESA-CAS Call for Joint Small Science Mission. In this contribution, the key science objectives, the payload concept and the expected performance will be presented.
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