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Seafood is the main source of methylmercury (MeHg) exposure for humans and elevated total mercury (Hg) concentrations have been reported in marine fish from Norwegian fjords compared with offshore areas. Hg in tusk fillets (n = 201) and liver samples (n = 177) were measured in individuals from different habitats including offshore, coastal area, outer and inner Sognefjord. Specifically, the effects of habitat, energy sources and trophic complexity on Hg bioaccumulation pathways in tusk (Brosme brosme) were investigated using stable isotopes of carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N). The concentrations of Hg in tusk increased from offshore towards inner Sognefjord. While Hg concentrations in sediment were at background levels, tusk fillet samples from 7 of 8 sites in Sognefjord had higher Hg levels than the maximum level set by European Union. Based on these findings, human consumption advice for tusk from Sognefjord was issued by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. δ 13 C values in tusk successfully discriminated individuals from different habitats and were positively correlated to Hg concentrations in tusk across individuals, sites and habitats, outlining the potential importance of terrestrial carbon and most likely the atmospheric deposition of Hg from the catchment to the overall Hg bioaccumulation and exposure regime in tusk. Additionally, we postulate that the effects of terrestrial carbon sources increased towards inner Sognefjord and likely influenced Hg bioavailability throughout the food web. In contrast, δ 15 N values were patchy throughout the fjord system and although trophic position explained some of the Hg variation between individual fish, it was not correlated with Hg variation across sites and habitats. Our results suggest that tusk can accumulate high levels of Hg in fjord ecosystems and that catchment runoff is likely an important driver of Hg bioaccumulation in this species.

Thermonuclear reaction rates are calculated for three oxygen isotopes 14,15,16O in CNO cycles reactions occurring in red giant stars. These reactions are:, , , , and . Reaction rates have been calculated using Matlab codes, and related comparisons were made with NACRE II and Reaclib libraries, and the ratios of production to the destruction of 15,16O isotopes were found. Present reaction rate results were close to most of the selected reactions, and in some cases larger with a factor of 1-3. 15,16O production to destruction ratios indicated a special tendency to saturate at temperatures higher than ~ 2 GK, and these ratios were in general larger than 1 indicating an excess of producing such isotopes in red giant stars.

R. Lica et al. -- 14 pags., 7 figs., tab. -- Open Access funded by Creative Commons Atribution Licence 3.0 ; Neutron-rich Ba isotopes are expected to exhibit octupolar correlations, reaching their maximum in isotopes around mass A = 146. The odd-A neutron-rich members of this isotopic chain show typical patterns related to non-axially symmetric shapes, which are however less marked compared to even-A ones, pointing to a major contribution from vibrations. In the present paper we present results from a recent study focused on Cs β-decay performed at the ISOLDE Decay Station equipped with fast-timing detectors. A detailed analysis of the measured decay half-lives and decay scheme of Ba is presented, giving a first insight in the structure of this neutron-rich nucleus. ; The IDS collaboration acknowledges financial support from: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, the Italian 'Programmi di Ricerca Scientifica di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN)' contract number 2001024324 01302, the European Union's seventh framework through ENSAR, contract no. 262010, the European Unions Horizon 2020 Framework research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 654002 (ENSAR2), the FATIMA-NuPNET network via the PRI-PIMNUP-2011-1338 project, the Spanish MINECO projects reference numbers FPA2013-41467-P and FPA2015-646969-P, the German BMBF under contract 05P15PKCIA and 'Verbundprojekt 05P2015', the FWO-Vlaanderen (Belgium) and the IAP Belgian Science Policy (BriX network P7/12). VCh and ZP acknowledge support by the polish grant of Narodowe Centrum Nauki nr 2015/18/M/ST2/00523. ; Peer Reviewed