1. |
- Žliobaitė, Indrė, et al.
(author)
-
The NOW Database of Fossil Mammals
- 2023
-
In: Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems: 25 years of the NOW database of fossil mammals. - : Springer. ; , s. 33-42
-
Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- NOW (New and Old Worlds) is a global database of fossil mammal occurrences, currently containing around 68,000 locality-species entries. The database spans the last 66 million years, with its primary focus on the last 23 million years. Whereas the database contains records from all continents, the main focus and coverage of the database historically has been on Eurasia. The database includes primarily, but not exclusively, terrestrial mammals. It covers a large part of the currently known mammalian fossil record, focusing on classical and actively researched fossil localities. The database is managed in collaboration with an international advisory board of experts. Rather than a static archive, it emphasizes the continuous integration of new knowledge of the community, data curation, and consistency of scientific interpretations. The database records species occurrences at localities worldwide, as well as ecological characteristics of fossil species, geological contexts of localities and more. The NOW database is primarily used for two purposes: (1) queries about occurrences of particular taxa, their characteristics and properties of localities in the spirit of an encyclopedia; and (2) large scale research and quantitative analyses of evolutionary processes, patterns, reconstructing past environments, as well as interpreting evolutionary contexts. The data are fully open, no logging in or community membership is necessary for using the data for any purpose.
|
|
2. |
- Fortelius, Mikael, et al.
(author)
-
The Origin and Early History of NOW as It Happened
- 2023
-
In: Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems: 25 years of the NOW database of fossil mammals.. - : Springer. ; , s. 7-32
-
Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The NOW database of fossil mammals came to be through a confluence of several initiatives spanning multiple decades. The first public version of NOW database was released in 1996 and the first Advisory Board was established the year after. Originally, NOW stood for Neogene of the Old World but with the gradual expansion of the database the acronym was eventually reassigned to stand for New and Old Worlds. The structure of what would become NOW was originally cloned from the ETE database of the Smithsonian Institution and the first NOW version accessible over the internet was a node of the ETE database. The first standalone, online version of NOW was launched in 2005 and the first formal steering group was established in 2009. During its existence, NOW has been funded, directly or indirectly, by several organizations but fundamentally it has always been an unfunded community effort, dependent on voluntary work by the participants.
|
|
3. |
- Gao, Zhihao, et al.
(author)
-
Applying machine learning methods for the analysis of two-dimensional mass spectra
- 2023
-
In: European Physical Journal A. - : Springer Nature. - 1434-6001 .- 1434-601X. ; 59:169
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In a measurement of isomeric yield-ratios in fission, the Phase-Imaging Ion-Cyclotron-Resonance technique, which projects the radial motions of ions in the Penning trap (JYFLTRAP) onto a position-sensitive micro-channel plate detector, has been applied. To obtain the yield ratio, that is the relative population of two states of an isomer pair, a novel analysis procedure has been developed to determine the number of detected ions in each state, as well as corrections for the detector efficiency and decay losses. In order to determine the population of the states in cases where their mass difference is too small to reach full separation, a Bayesian Gaussian Mixture model was implemented. The position-dependent efficiency of the micro-channel plate detector was calibrated by mapping it with 133Cs+ ions, and a Gaussian Process was trained with the position data to construct an efficiency function that could be used to correct the recorded distributions. The obtained numbers of counts of excited and ground-state ions were used to derive the isomeric yield ratio, taking into account decay losses as well as feeding from precursors.
|
|
4. |
- Gao, Zhihao, et al.
(author)
-
Benchmark of a multi-physics Monte Carlo simulation of an ionguide for neutron-induced fission products
- 2022
-
In: European Physical Journal. - : Springer Nature. - 1286-0042 .- 1286-0050. ; 58:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To enhance the production of medium-heavy,neutron-rich nuclei, and to facilitate measurements of independentyields of neutron-induced fission, a proton-toneutronconverter and a dedicated ion guide for neutroninducedfission have been developed for the IGISOL facilityat the University of Jyväskylä. The ion guide holds thefissionable targets, and the fission products emerging fromthe targets are collected in helium gas and transported to thedownstream experimental stations.Acomputer model, basedon a combination of MCNPX for modeling the neutron production,the fission code GEF, and GEANT4 for the transportof the fission products, was developed. The model willbe used to improve the setup with respect to the productionand collection of fission products. In this paper we benchmarkthe model by comparing simulations to a measurementin which fission products were implanted in foils located atdifferent positions in the ion guide. In addition, the productsfrom neutron activation in the titanium foil and the uraniumtargets are studied. The result suggests that the neutron fluxat the high-energy part of the neutron spectrum is overestimatedby approximately 40%.However, the transportation offission products in the uranium targets agrees with the experimentwithin 10%. Furthermore, the simulated transportationof fission products in the helium gas achieves almost perfectagreement with the measurement. Hence, we conclude thatthe model, after correction for the neutron flux, is well suitedfor optimization studies of future ion guide designs.
|
|
5. |
- Gao, Zhihao, et al.
(author)
-
Fission studies at IGISOL/JYFLTRAP : Simulations of the ion guide for neutron-induced fission and comparison with experimental data
- 2020
-
In: ND 2019. - : EDP Sciences. - 9782759891061
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For the production of exotic nuclei at the IGISOL facility, an ion guide for neutron-induced fission has been developed and tested in experiments. Fission fragments are produced inside the ion guide and collected using a helium buffer gas. Meanwhile, a GEANT4 model has been developed to simulate the transportation and stopping of the charged fission products. In a recent measurement of neutron-induced fission yields, implantation foils were located at different positions in the ion guide. The gamma spectra from these foils and the fission targets are compared to the results from the GEANT4 simulation.In order to allow fission yield measurements in the low yield regions, towards the tails and in the symmetric part of the mass distribution, the stopping and extraction efficiency of the ion guide has to be significantly improved. This objective can be achieved by increasing the size while introducing electric field guidance using a combination of static electrodes and an RF-carpet. To this end, the GEANT4 model is used to optimise the design of such an ion guide.
|
|
6. |
- Gao, Zhihao, et al.
(author)
-
Isomeric yield ratios in proton-induced fission of 238U
- 2023
-
In: Physical Review C. - : American Physical Society. - 2469-9985 .- 2469-9993. ; 108:5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Isomeric yield ratios are an important observable in nuclear fission as they can guide model development by providing insight into the angular momentum generation. Furthermore, isomeric yield ratios are important in applications for nuclear energy, as well as in the study of the r-process in stellar nucleosynthesis, and in the antineutrino mixing angle from reactor spectra. In nuclear data evaluations, the Madland-England model is commonly used to estimate isomeric yield ratios that have not been measured.Purpose: To measure isomeric yield ratios in 25-MeV proton-induced fission of 238U, and to compare the result with the values obtained from the Madland-England model and the fission model code GEF. Furthermore, to evaluate whether the predictions of GEF can be improved by coupling it to the nuclear reaction code TALYS.Methods: Isomeric yield ratios in 25-MeV proton-induced fission of 238U have been measured at the Ion GuideIsotope Separate On-Line facility. The excited state and the ground state were separated by mass using the Phase-Imaging Ion-Cyclotron-Resonance technique in the double Penning trap JYFLTRAP. The number of counts of each state was extracted from the phase-images using a Bayesian Gaussian Mixture model and, after corrections fordetector efficiency and decay, the isomeric yield ratios were derived. The experimental values have been compared with the calculated results from the Madland-England model and the GEF code. Furthermore, GEF has been combined with the nuclear reaction code TALYS, in order to take advantage of the latter codes’ implementation of the Hauser-Feshbach formalism, and the results have been compared with the experimental values.Results: From the measurements, 19 new isomeric yield ratios in 25-MeV proton-induced fission of 238U are reported and are, together with another 12 isomeric yield ratios (IYRs) from a previous campaign, compared with the model calculations. It is shown that, though the models manage to capture some of the features observed, there is room for improvement.Conclusions: As predicted by the Madland-England model, a strong correlation between the measured IYRs and the spins of the long-lived states of the fission products is confirmed. However, the IYRs also vary between nuclides with the same spin-parity of the two states, and systematic trends in the IYRs of close-lying isotopes and isotones with similar nuclear configurations are observed.From the comparison of the experimental data with the prediction of GEF it is concluded that more data from proton-induced fission are needed to optimize the internal parameters of GEF. Furthermore, using a combination of GEF and TALYS in most cases results in an underestimation of the yield ratios. This might be explained by an underestimation of the angular momentum on the initial fission fragments by GEF. Altogether, these results highlight the possibility to use measurements of IYRs to improve model predictions and to study the angular momentum generation in nuclear fission.
|
|
7. |
|
|
8. |
- Laptander, Roza, et al.
(author)
-
Critical seasonal conditions in the reindeer-herding year : A synopsis of factors and events in Fennoscandia and northwestern Russia
- 2024
-
In: Polar Science. - : Elsevier. - 1873-9652 .- 1876-4428. ; 39
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this article, we identify what herders in Fennoscandia and northwestern Russia see as critical conditions and events in the annual reindeer herding cycle. Indigenous Sámi and Yamal reindeer herders identify eight seasons, each of which has crucial importance in its own way. Differences in perception between Fennoscandian and northwestern Russian reindeer herders about good and bad seasonal conditions are based on the degree of climatic and geographic variation, herd control and the variety of simultaneous pressures on pastures. The scope and speed of ongoing climate change in the Arctic will profoundly modify these conditions, and consequently shape critical events and outcomes in reindeer herding. The resulting challenges need to be assessed in the context of social and economic dynamics. Reindeer herders throughout Fennoscandia and Russia are concerned about future prospects of their livelihood. To adapt to climate change and develop new strategies, reindeer herders must have access to pastures; they must retain their mobility and flexibility; and their participation in land-use decisions must be endorsed.
|
|
9. |
- Rasmus, Sirpa, et al.
(author)
-
Policy documents considering biodiversity, land use, and climate in the European Arctic reveal visible, hidden, and imagined nexus approaches
- 2024
-
In: One Earth. - : Cell Press. - 2590-3330 .- 2590-3322. ; 7:2, s. 265-279
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Arctic is experiencing rapid and interlinked socio-environmental changes. Therefore, governance approaches that take the complex interactions between climate change, biodiversity loss, increasing land use pressures, and local livelihoods into account are needed: nexus approaches. However, an overview of whether and to what extent Arctic policies address these nexus elements in concert has been missing. Here we analyzed a large sample of publicly available assessment reports and policy documents from the terrestrial European Arctic. Our results show that, although nexus approaches are widely adopted in Arctic policy reporting, the emphasis varies among the governance levels, and documents underestimate certain interactions: local communities and traditional livelihoods are seldom seen as actors with agency and impact. Practical implementations were identified as potential advancements in Arctic governance: ecosystem-specific, technological, and authoritative solutions; co-production of knowledge; and adaptive co-management. Implementation of nexus approaches can promote more holistic environmental governance and guide cross-sectoral policies.
|
|
10. |
- Sarmiento Pico, Luis, et al.
(author)
-
Elucidating the nature of the proton radioactivity and branching ratio on the first proton emitter discovered 53mCo
- 2023
-
In: Nature Communications. - 2041-1723. ; 14
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The observation of a weak proton-emission branch in the decay of the 3174keV 53mCo isomeric state marked the discovery of proton radioactivity in atomic nuclei in 1970. Here we show, based on the partial half-lives and the decay energies of the possible proton-emission branches, that the exceptionally high angular momentum barriers, lp = 9 and lp = 7, play a key role in hindering the proton radioactivity from 53mCo, making them very challenging to observe and calculate. Indeed, experiments had to wait decades for significant advances in accelerator facilities and multi-faceted state-of-the-art decay stations to gain full access to all observables. Combining data taken with the TASISpec decay station at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and the ACTAR TPC device on LISE3 at GANIL, France, we measured their branching ratios as bp1 = 1.3(1)% and bp2 = 0.025(4)%. These results were compared to cutting-edge shell-model and barrier penetration calculations. This description reproduces the order of magnitude of the branching ratios and partial half-lives, despite their very small spectroscopic factors.
|
|
11. |
|
|