First Observation of Neutral Bremsstrahlung Electroluminescence in Liquid Argon

A recent discovery of additional mechanism of electroluminescence (EL) in noble gases due to the neutral bremsstrahlung (NBrS) effect led to a prediction that NBrS EL should be present in noble liquids as well. A theoretical model of NBrS EL in noble liquids was developed accordingly in the frameworks of Cohen-Lekner and Atrazhev. In this work, we confirm this prediction: For the first time, visible-range EL has been observed in liquid argon at electric fields reaching 90  kV/cm, using gas electron multiplier (GEM) and thick GEM structures. Absolute light yields of the EL were measured and found to be in excellent agreement with the theory, provided that the momentum-transfer cross section of electron scattering is used for calculation of the NBrS cross section (instead of the energy-transfer one).

Molecular and morphological screening of Podocotyle spp. (Trematoda: Opecoelidae) sheds light on their diversity in Northwest Pacific and eastern European Arctic

Podocotyle is a genus of marine opecoelid digeneans that parasitize a wide variety of fish as adults. We present the first phylogenetic analysis of several Podocotyle isolates using nuclear 28S rDNA and mitochondrial cox1 DNA regions. New sequences were obtained for Podocotyle specimens from fish caught in the Sea of Okhotsk and the White Sea. Based on morphological and molecular data, eight Podocotyle lineages of species rank were revealed. However, this diversity is poorly formalized within the current taxonomic model of the genus. As a result, we identified Podocotyle cf. angulata, Podocotyle cf. atomon, Podocotyle cf. reflexa, Podocotyle atomon of Sokolov et al., 2019, Podocotyle sp. of Denisova et al., 2023, Podocotyle sp. 1, Podocotyle sp. 2 and Podocotyle sp. 3. We also highlight the unresolved question of the life cycles of representatives of Podocotyle whose intramolluscan stages parasitize the intertidal snails Littorina spp.