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Funder: Cambridge Trust; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003343, Particulate matter (PM) concentration levels in the London Underground (LU) are higher than London background levels and beyond World Health Organization (WHO) defined limits. Wheel, track, and brake abrasion are the primary sources of particulate matter, producing predominantly Fe-rich particles that make the LU microenvironment particularly well suited to study using environmental magnetism. Here we combine magnetic properties, high-resolution electron microscopy, and electron tomography to characterize the structure, chemistry, and morphometric properties of LU particles in three dimensions with nanoscale resolution. Our findings show that LU PM is dominated by 5-500 nm particles of maghemite, occurring as 0.1-2 μm aggregated clusters, skewing the size-fractioned concentration of PM artificially to larger sizes when measured with traditional monitors. Magnetic properties are largely independent of the PM filter size (PM10, PM4, and PM2.5), and demonstrate the presence of superparamagnetic ( 1 μm). The oxidized nature of the particles suggests that PM exposure in the LU is dominated by resuspension of aged dust particles relative to freshly abraded, metallic particles from the wheel/track/brake system, suggesting that periodic removal of accumulated dust from underground tunnels might provide a cost-effective strategy for reducing exposure. The abundance of ultrafine particles identified here could have particularly adverse health impacts as their smaller size makes it possible to pass from lungs to the blood stream. Magnetic methods are shown to provide an accurate assessment of ultrafine PM characteristics, providing a robust route to monitoring, and potentially mitigating this hazard.

A mission to view the solar poles from high helio-latitudes (above 60°) will build on the experience of Solar Orbiter as well as a long heritage of successful solar missions and instrumentation (e.g. SOHO Domingo et al. (Solar Phys. 162(1-2), 1–37 1995), STEREO Howard et al. (Space Sci. Rev. 136(1-4), 67–115 2008), Hinode Kosugi et al. (Solar Phys. 243(1), 3–17 2007), Pesnell et al. Solar Phys. 275(1–2), 3–15 2012), but will focus for the first time on the solar poles, enabling scientific investigations that cannot be done by any other mission. One of the major mysteries of the Sun is the solar cycle. The activity cycle of the Sun drives the structure and behaviour of the heliosphere and of course, the driver of space weather. In addition, solar activity and variability provides fluctuating input into the Earth climate models, and these same physical processes are applicable to stellar systems hosting exoplanets. One of the main obstructions to understanding the solar cycle, and hence all solar activity, is our current lack of understanding of the polar regions. In this White Paper, submitted to the European Space Agency in response to the Voyage 2050 call, we describe a mission concept that aims to address this fundamental issue. In parallel, we recognise that viewing the Sun from above the polar regions enables further scientific advantages, beyond those related to the solar cycle, such as unique and powerful studies of coronal mass ejection processes, from a global perspective, and studies of coronal structure and activity in polar regions. Not only will these provide important scientific advances for fundamental stellar physics research, they will feed into our understanding of impacts on the Earth and other planets’ space environment., Experimental Astronomy, 54 (2-3), ISSN:0922-6435, ISSN:1572-9508

SUMMARY Anisotropy of remanent magnetization and magnetic susceptibility are highly sensitive and important indicators of geological processes which are largely controlled by mineralogical parameters of the ferrimagnetic fraction in rocks. To provide new physical insight into the complex interaction between magnetization structure, shape, and crystallographic relations, we here analyse ‘slice-and-view’ focused-ion-beam (FIB) nano-tomography data with micromagnetic modelling and single crystal hysteresis measurements. The data sets consist of 68 magnetite inclusions in orthopyroxene (Mg60) and 234 magnetite inclusions in plagioclase (An63) were obtained on mineral separates from the Rustenburg Layered Suite of the Bushveld Intrusive Complex, South Africa. Electron backscatter diffraction was used to determine the orientation of the magnetite inclusions relative to the crystallographic directions of their silicate hosts. Hysteresis loops were calculated using the finite-element micromagnetics code MERRILL for each particle in 20 equidistributed field directions and compared with corresponding hysteresis loops measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) on silicate mineral separates from the same samples. In plagioclase the ratio of remanent magnetization to saturation magnetization (Mrs/Ms) for both model and measurement agree within 1.0 per cent, whereas the coercivity (Hc) of the average modelled curve is 20 mT lower than the measured value of 60 mT indicating the presence of additional sources of high coercivity in the bulk sample. The VSM hysteresis measurements of the orthopyroxene were dominated by multidomain (MD) magnetite, whereas the FIB location was chosen to avoid MD particles and thus contains only particles with diameters

Introduction\ud Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM) is a psychophysical assessment used to estimate the efficiency of an individual’s endogenous modulatory mechanisms. CPM has been used as a predictive assessment for the development of chronic pain and responses to pain interventions. While much is known about the spinal cord mechanisms associated with CPM, less is known about the contribution of supraspinal and especially cortical regions. \ud Objectives\ud We aimed to explore how whole-brain connectivity of a core modulatory region, the periaqueductal grey (PAG), is associated with conditioned pain modulation, and endogenous pain modulation more broadly\ud Methods \ud We measured CPM and resting-state connectivity of 40 healthy volunteers, absent of chronic pain diagnoses. As a region of interest, we targeted the PAG, which is directly involved in endogenous modulation of input to the spinal cord and is a key node within the descending pain modulation network. \ud Results\ud We found that CPM was associated with heightened connectivity between the PAG and key regions associated with pain processing and inhibition, such as the primary & secondary somatosensory cortices, as well as the motor, premotor and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. These findings are consistent with connectivity findings in other resting-state and event-related fMRI studies. \ud Conclusion\ud These findings indicate that individuals who are efficient modulators have greater functional connectivity between the PAG, and regions involved in processing pain. The heightened connectivity of these regions may contribute to the beneficial outcomes in clinical pain management, as quantified by CPM. These results may function as brain-based biomarkers for vulnerability or resilience to pain.\ud \ud In Brief\ud Conditioned Pain Modulation is associated with heightened connectivity between a key pain modulatory region, the periaqueductal gray, and regions associated with processing pain.

Hematite carries magnetic signals of interest in tectonic, paleoclimatic, paleomagnetic, and planetary studies. First-order reversal curve (FORC) diagrams have become an important tool for assessing the domain state of, and magnetostatic interactions among, magnetic particles in such studies. We present here FORC diagrams for diverse hematite samples, which provide a catalog for comparison with other studies and explain key features observed for hematite. Ridge-type signatures typical of uniaxial single-domain particle assemblages and “kidney-shaped” FORC signatures, and combinations of these responses, occur commonly in natural and synthetic hematite. Asymmetric features that arise from the triaxial basal plane anisotropy of hematite contribute to vertical spreading in kidney-shaped FORC distributions and are intrinsic responses even for magnetostatically noninteracting particles. The dominant FORC distribution type in a sample (ridge, kidney-shaped, or mixture) depends on the balance between uniaxial/triaxial switching. The identified signals explain magnetization switching and anisotropy features that are intrinsic to the magnetic properties of hematite and other materials with multiaxial magnetic anisotropy.