International audienceIn recent times it has become increasingly clear thatreleases of trace gases from human activity have a potentialfor causing change in the upper atmosphere. However,our knowledge of systematic changes and trends inthe temperature of the mesosphere and lower thermosphereis relatively limited compared to the Earths loweratmosphere, and not much effort has been made to synthesizethese results so far. In this article, a comprehensivereview of long-term trends in the temperature of the regionfrom 50 to 100 km is made on the basis of the availableup-to-date understanding of measurements and model calculations.An objective evaluation of the available datasets is attempted, and important uncertainly factors arediscussed. Some natural variability factors, which arelikely to play a role in modulating temperature trends,are also briefly touched upon. There are a growing numberof experimental results centered on, or consistent with,zero temperature trend in the mesopause region (80–100km). The most reliable data sets show no significant trendbut an uncertainty of at least 2 K/decade. On the otherhand, a majority of studies indicate negative trends inthe lower and middle mesosphere with an amplitude ofa few degrees (2–3 K) per decade. In tropical latitudesthe cooling trend increases in the upper mesosphere.The most recent general circulation models indicateincreased cooling closer to both poles in the middlemesosphere and a decrease in cooling toward the summerpole in the upper mesosphere. Quantitatively, thesimulated cooling trend in the middle mesosphere producedonly by CO₂ increase is usually below the observedlevel. However, including other greenhouse gasesand taking into account a “thermal shrinking” of theupper atmosphere result in a cooling of a few degreesper decade. This is close to the lower limit of the observednonzero trends. In the mesopause region, recentmodel simulations produce trends, usually below 1 K/decade,that appear to be consistent with most observationsin this regio

The IBEX-Lo sensor covers the low-energy heliospheric neutral atom spectrum from 0.01 to 2 keV. It shares significant energy overlap and an overall design philosophy with the IBEX-Hi sensor. Both sensors are large geometric factor, single pixel cameras that maximize the relatively weak heliospheric neutral signal while effectively eliminating ion, electron, and UV background sources. The IBEX-Lo sensor is divided into four major subsystems. The entrance subsystem includes an annular collimator that collimates neutrals to approximately 7°× 7°in three 90°sectors and approximately 3.5°× 3.5°in the fourth 90°sector (called the high angular resolution sector). A fraction of the interstellar neutrals and heliospheric neutrals that pass through the collimator are converted to negative ions in the ENA to ion conversion subsystem. The neutrals are converted on a high yield, inert, diamond-like carbon conversion surface. Negative ions from the conversion surface are accelerated into an electrostatic analyzer (ESA), which sets the energy passband for the sensor. Finally, negative ions exit the ESA, are post-accelerated to 16 kV, and then are analyzed in a time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer. This triple-coincidence, TOF subsystem effectively rejects random background while maintaining high detection efficiency for negative ions. Mass analysis distinguishes heliospheric hydrogen from interstellar helium and oxygen. In normal sensor operations, eight energy steps are sampled on a 2-spin per energyThe IBEX-Lo Sensor 119 step cadence so that the full energy range is covered in 16 spacecraft spins. Each year in the spring and fall, the sensor is operated in a special interstellar oxygen and helium mode during part of the spacecraft spin. In the spring, this mode includes electrostatic shutoff of the low resolution (7°× 7°) quadrants of the collimator so that the interstellar neutrals are detected with 3.5°× 3.5°angular resolution. These high angular resolution data are combined with star positions determined from a dedicated star sensor to measure the relative flow difference between filtered and unfiltered interstellar oxygen. At the end of 6 months of operation, full sky maps of heliospheric neutral hydrogen from 0.01 to 2 keV in 8 energy steps are accumulated. These data, similar sky maps from IBEX-Hi, and the first observations of interstellar neutral oxygen will answer the four key science questions of the IBEX mission.

Exposure to high inorganic arsenic concentrations in drinking water has been related to detrimental health effects, including cancers and possibly cardiovascular disease, in many epidemiological studies. Recent studies suggest that arsenic might elicit some of its toxic effects also at lower concentrations. The Strong Heart Study, a large epidemiological study of cardiovascular disease in American Indian communities, collected urine samples and performed medical examinations on 4,549 participants over a 10-year period beginning in 1989. We used anion-exchange HPLC/ICPMS to determine concentrations of arsenic species (methylarsonate, dimethylarsinate and arsenate) in 5,095 urine samples from the Strong Heart Study. We repeated the chromatography on a portion of the urine sample that had been oxidised, by addition of H2O2, to provide additional information on the presence of As(III) species and thio-arsenicals, and by difference, of arsenobetaine and other non-retained cations. Total concentrations for As, Cd, Mo, Pb, Sb, Se, U, W, and Zn were also determined in the urine samples by ICPMS. The dataset will be used to evaluate the relationships between the concentrations of urinary arsenic species and selected metals with various cardiometabolic health endpoints. We present and discuss the analytical protocol put in place to produce this large and valuable dataset.

Neutral gas of the local interstellar medium flows through the inner solar system while being deflected by solar gravity and depleted by ionization. The dominating feature in the energetic neutral atom Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) all-sky maps at low energies is the hydrogen, helium, and oxygen interstellar gas flow. The He and O flow peaked around 8 February 2009 in accordance with gravitational deflection, whereas H dominated after 26 March 2009, consistent with approximate balance of gravitational attraction by solar radiation pressure. The flow distributions arrive from a few degrees above the ecliptic plane and show the same temperature for He and O. An asymmetric O distribution in ecliptic latitude points to a secondary component from the outer heliosheath.

The dominant feature in Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) sky maps of heliospheric energetic neutral atom (ENA) flux is a ribbon of enhanced flux that extends over a broad range of ecliptic latitudes and longitudes. It is narrow (approximately 20 degrees average width) but long (extending over 300 degrees in the sky) and is observed at energies from 0.2 to 6 kilo-electron volts. We demonstrate that the flux in the ribbon is a factor of 2 to 3 times higher than that of the more diffuse, globally distributed heliospheric ENA flux. The ribbon is most pronounced at approximately 1 kilo-electron volt. The average width of the ribbon is nearly constant, independent of energy. The ribbon is likely the result of an enhancement in the combined solar wind and pickup ion populations in the heliosheath.