| 1. |
- Navarrini, A., et al.
(author)
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Design of PHAROS2 Phased Array Feed
- 2018
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In: 2018 2nd URSI Atlantic Radio Science Meeting, AT-RASC 2018.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We describe the design and architecture of PHAROS2, a cryogenically cooled 4-8 GHz Phased Array Feed (PAF) demonstrator with digital beamformer for radio astronomy application. The instrument will be capable of synthesizing four independent single-polarization beams by combining 24 active elements of an array of Vivaldi antennas. PHAROS2, the upgrade of PHAROS (PHased Arrays for Reflector Observing Systems), features: a) commercial cryogenic LNAs with state-of-the-art performance, b) a 'Warm Section' for signal filtering, conditioning and single downconversion to select a≈275 MHz: Intermediate Frequency (IF) bandwidth within the 4-8 GHz Radio Frequency (RF) band, c) an IF signal transportation by analog WDM (Wavelength Division Mutiplexing) fiber-optic link, and d) a FPGA-based Italian Tile Processing Module (iTPM) digital backend. PHAROS2 will be mounted at the primary focus of the 76-m diameter Lovell radio telescope (Jodrell Bank Observatory, UK) for technical and scientific validation.
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| 2. |
- Wilkinson, John L., et al.
(author)
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Pharmaceutical pollution of the world's rivers
- 2022
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In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 119:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Environmental exposure to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can have negative effects on the health of ecosystems and humans. While numerous studies have monitored APIs in rivers, these employ different analytical methods, measure different APIs, and have ignored many of the countries of the world. This makes it difficult to quantify the scale of the problem from a global perspective. Furthermore, comparison of the existing data, generated for different studies/regions/continents, is challenging due to the vast differences between the analytical methodologies employed. Here, we present a global-scale study of API pollution in 258 of the world's rivers, representing the environmental influence of 471.4 million people across 137 geographic regions. Samples were obtained from 1,052 locations in 104 countries (representing all continents and 36 countries not previously studied for API contamination) and analyzed for 61 APIs. Highest cumulative API concentrations were observed in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and South America. The most contaminated sites were in low- to middle-income countries and were associated with areas with poor wastewater and waste management infrastructure and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The most frequently detected APIs were carbamazepine, metformin, and caffeine (a compound also arising from lifestyle use), which were detected at over half of the sites monitored. Concentrations of at least one API at 25.7% of the sampling sites were greater than concentrations considered safe for aquatic organisms, or which are of concern in terms of selection for antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, pharmaceutical pollution poses a global threat to environmental and human health, as well as to delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
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