Abstract: Combined mu-XRF, mu-XAFS, and mu-XRD investigations of a uranium-rich tertiary sediment, from a nuclear repository natural analogue site, and a fractured granite bore core section after a column tracer experiment using a Np(V) containing cocktail have been performed. Most mu-XRF/mu-XAFS measurements are recorded in a confocal geometry to provide added depth information. The U-rich sediment results show uranium to be present as a tetravalent phosphate and that U(IV) is associated with As(V). Arsenic present is either As(V) or As(0). The As(0) form thin coatings on the surface of pyrite nodules. A hypothesis for the mechanism of uranium immobilization is proposed, where arsenopyrite acted as reductant of ground water dissolved U(VI) leading to precipitation of less soluble U(IV) and thereby forming As(V). Results for the granite sample show the immobilized Np to be tetravalent and associated with facture material.

Abstract: The methodology of protecting the European stained glass windows against environmental risk (e.g. meteorological factors, air pollution, microorganisms) by means of an external glazing is not new. In spite of many scientific studies carried out in the last 20 years, some questions were still up for discussion. The European VIDRIO (20022005) project gave an answer to these questions. The research carried out by the different project partners established a new multidisciplinary approach aimed at evaluating the efficiency of the protective glazing systems and their effects on stained glass windows conservation, and finally at assessing the most appropriate strategy to preserve stained glass windows. Scientific results showed that the so-called isothermal glazing (i.e. ventilation by the air coming from the inside of the building) protected efficiently the ancient stained glass window from environmental attack (i.e. rain, pollutants, condensation, thermal shocks) with very limited secondary effects. The scientific research highlighted that its efficiency was strongly related to the technical design of the protective system. In particular, the ventilation and the size of the interspace had to be carefully considered. The research developed within the VIDRIO project was turned into general recommendations to the owners and practitioners on the best practice for the stained glass windows future conservation.

Abstract: Porous limestone and mortar are able to absorb large quantities of water. This phenomenon will accelerate the deterioration of the material. In such cases, the material might be treated with a hydrophobic product, which creates a superficial layer that hampers the penetration of water. In order to decide if such a treatment should be applied or not, the water absorbing behaviour of the material should be measured. With the same measuring technique the efficiency of the hydrophobic barrier can be evaluated. Moreover, it allows the monitoring of such barriers as a function of time. At the same time, the water absorption of porous stone material is an indication of the degree of deterioration and its sensitivity to future deterioration. Up to now, two different measuring techniques exist, but one can only be used in laboratory and the other, which can be operated in laboratory as well as in situ, is not always reliable for in situ analyses. This article proposes an alternative method: the contact sponge method. This recently developed method was tested on non-treated porous stone materials in a laboratory environment in order to evaluate its performance in comparison with the two existing methods.

Abstract: We present a large dataset containing simulated core-loss electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) spectra with the elemental content as ground-truth labels. Additionally we present some neural networks trained on this data for element identification.  The simulated dataset contains zero padded core-loss spectra from 0 to 3072 eV, which represents 107 core-loss edges through all 80 elements from Be up to Bi. The core-loss edges are calculated from the generalised oscillator strength (GOS) database presented by Zhang et al.[1] Generic fine structures using lifetime broadened peaks are used to imitate fine structure due to solid-state effects in experimental spectra. Generic low-loss regions are used to imitate the effect of multiple scattering. Each spectrum contains at least one edge of a given query element and possibly additional edges depending on samples drawn from The Materials Project [2]. The dataset contains for each of the 80 elements: 7000 training spectra, 1500 test spectra, 600 validation spectra and 100 spectra representing only the query element. This results in a total 736 000 labeled spectra. Code on how to  – read the simulated data – transform HDF5 format to TFRecord format – train and evaluate neural networks using the simulated data – use the trained networks for automated element identification is available on GitHub at arnoannys/EELS_ID A full report on the simulation of the dataset and the training and evaluation of the neural networks can be found at:                    Annys, A., Jannis, D. & Verbeeck, J. Deep learning for automated materials characterisation in core-loss electron energy loss spectroscopy. Sci Rep 13, 13724 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-40943-7 [1] Zezhong Zhang, Ivan Lobato, Daen Jannis, Johan Verbeeck, Sandra Van Aert, & Peter Nellist. (2023). Generalised oscillator strength for core-shell electron excitation by fast electrons based on Dirac solutions (1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7729585 [2] Anubhav Jain, Shyue Ping Ong, Geoffroy Hautier, Wei Chen, William Davidson Richards, Stephen Dacek, Shreyas Cholia, Dan Gunter, David Skinner, Gerbrand Ceder, Kristin A. Persson; Commentary: The Materials Project: A materials genome approach to accelerating materials innovation. APL Mater 1 July 2013; 1 (1): 011002. [https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4812323](https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4812323)

Abstract: Background Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women in the developed world. In order to find developing cancers in an early stage, BC screening is commonly used. In Flanders, screening is performed in and outside an organized breast cancer screening program (BCSP). However, the determinants of BC screening coverage for both screening strategies are yet unknown. Objective To assess the determinants of BC screening coverage in Flanders. Methods Reimbursement data were used to attribute a screening status to each woman in the target population for the years 2008-2016. Yearly coverage data were categorized as screening inside or outside BCSP or no screening. Data were clustered by municipality level. A generalized linear equation model was used to assess the determinants of screening type. Results Over all years and municipalities, the median screening coverage rate inside and outside BCSP was 48.40% (IQR: 41.50-54.40%) and 14.10% (IQR: 9.80-19.80%) respectively. A higher coverage rate outside BSCP was statistically significantly (P < 0.001) associated with more crowded households (OR: 3.797, 95% CI: 3.199-4.508), younger age, higher population densities (OR: 2.528, 95% CI: 2.455-2.606), a lower proportion of unemployed job seekers (OR: 0.641, 95% CI: 0.624-0.658) and lower use of dental care (OR: 0.969, 95% CI: 0.967-0.972). Conclusion Coverage rate of BC screening is not optimal in Flanders. Women with low SES that are characterized by younger age, living in a high population density area, living in crowded households, or having low dental care are less likely to be screened for BC in Flanders. If screened, they are more likely to be screened outside the BCSP.