Aim
To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and ...hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser‐availability hypothesis) and/or the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits (resource‐availability hypothesis).
Time period
Tree‐inventory plots established between 1934 and 2019.
Major taxa studied
Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 9.55 cm.
Location
Amazonia, here defined as the lowland rain forests of the Amazon River basin and the Guiana Shield.
Methods
We assigned dispersal modes to a total of 5433 species and morphospecies within 1877 tree‐inventory plots across terra‐firme, seasonally flooded, and permanently flooded forests. We investigated geographic patterns in the proportional abundance of dispersal modes. We performed an abundance‐weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD) test and fit generalized linear models (GLMs) to explain the geographic distribution of dispersal modes.
Results
Anemochory was significantly, positively associated with mean annual wind speed, and hydrochory was significantly higher in flooded forests. Dispersal modes did not consistently show significant associations with the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits. A lower dissimilarity in dispersal modes, resulting from a higher dominance of endozoochory, occurred in terra‐firme forests (excluding podzols) compared to flooded forests.
Main conclusions
The disperser‐availability hypothesis was well supported for abiotic dispersal modes (anemochory and hydrochory). The availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits seems an unlikely explanation for the distribution of dispersal modes in Amazonia. The association between frugivores and the proportional abundance of zoochory requires further research, as tree recruitment not only depends on dispersal vectors but also on conditions that favour or limit seedling recruitment across forest types.
Remote sensing data are powerful tools that contribute to sustainability and efficiency in crop management. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is widely recognized as one of the most important crops in terms of ...economic and social impact. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in providing valuable information regarding plant health and status with respect to two rice varieties (Ariete and Ceres) submitted to a biofortification workflow with two types of selenium (sodium selenate and sodium selenite). In this context, through the use of synchronized UAVs, the state of the culture was further assessed. As well, digital elevation models, water lines, slope classes/infiltration suitability, and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were considered. Additionally, leaf gas exchange measurements were conducted during the biofortification process and Se content in rice was quantified. The NDVI index ranged from 0.76 to 0.80, with no significant differences regarding control. The water drainage pattern following the artificial pattern created by grooves between plots was observed. Furthermore, selenite application up to 100 g Se.ha−1 did not exhibit toxicity effects on the biofortified plants and presented grain enrichment of 16.09 µg g−1 (Ariete) and 15.46 µg g−1 (Ceres). In conclusion, precision agriculture techniques and the utilization of data from leaf gas exchanges allow for efficient monitoring of experimental field conditions and are highly useful tools in decision-making.
A measurement of the lifetimes of the Omega(0)(c) and Xi(0)(c) baryons is reported using proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity ...of 5.4 fb(-1) collected by the LHCb experiment. The Omega(0)(c) and Xi(0)(c) baryons are produced directly from proton interactions and reconstructed in the pK(-)K(-)pi(+) final state. The Omega(0)(c) lifetime is measured to be 276.5 +/- 13.4 +/- 4.4 +/- 0.7 fs, and the Xi(0)(c) lifetime is measured to be 148.0 +/- 2.3 +/- 2.2 +/- 0.2 fs, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic, and the third due to the uncertainty on the D-0 lifetime. These results confirm previous LHCb measurements based on semileptonic beauty-hadron decays, which disagree with earlier results of a four times shorter Omega(c)0 lifetime, and provide the single most precise measurement of the Omega(0 )(c)lifetime.
Calcium is one of the 16 essential elements for plants, being required as Casup.2+ and being involved in several fundamental processes (namely, in the stability and integrity of the cell wall, the ...development of plant tissue, cell division, and in stress responses). Moreover, Ca plays an important role in potato production. In this context, this study aimed to monitor the culture development (in situ and using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)) and the mineral content of four essential elements (Ca, P, K, and S) in different organs of Solanum tuberosum L. (roots, stems, leaves, and tubers) during a calcium biofortification process, carried out with two types of solutions (CaClsub.2 and Ca-EDTA) with two concentrations (12 and 24 kg∙hasup.−1 ). The calcium content generally increased in the S. tuberosum L. organs of both varieties and showed, after the last foliar application, an increase in Ca content that varied between 5.7–95.6% and 20.7–33%, for the Picasso and Agria varieties, respectively. The patterns of accumulation in both varieties during the biofortification process were different between the variety and mineral element. Regarding the quality analysis carried out during the development of the tubers, only the Agria variety was suitable for industrial processing after the last foliar application.
Abstract
Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and ...investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution.
Collagen IV (Col IV) and laminin (Lam) are the main structural components of the basement membrane where they form two overlapping polymeric networks. We studied the adsorption pattern of these ...proteins on five model surfaces with tailored density of -OH groups obtained by copolymerization of different ratios ethyl acrylate (EA) and hydroxyl EA (HEA): X(OH)=0, X(OH)=0.3, X(OH)=0.5, X(OH)=0.7, and X(OH)=1 (where X refers the ratio of HEA). Atomic force microscopy revealed substratum-specific adsorption patterns of Col IV and Lam, ranging from single molecules deposition on more hydrophilic substrata to the formation of complex networks on hydrophobic ones. Human umbilical endothelial cells were used to study the biological performance of adsorbed proteins, following the overall cell morphology, the quantities for cell adhesion and spreading, and the development of focal adhesion complexes and actin cytoskeleton. Surprisingly, two optima in the cellular interaction were observed-one on the most hydrophilic X(OH)=1 and other on the relatively hydrophobic X(OH)=0.3 substrate-valid for both Col IV and Lam. When the proteins were adsorbed consecutively, a hydrophobic shift to X(OH)=0 substratum was obtained. Collectively, these data suggest that varying with the density of -OH groups one can tailor the conformation and the functional activity of adsorbed basement membrane proteins.
A
bstract
Using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb
−
1
collected with the LHCb detector, seven decay modes of the
$$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$
B
c
...+
meson into a J
/
ψ or ψ(2S) meson and three charged hadrons, kaons or pions, are studied. The decays
$$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$
B
c
+
→ (ψ(2S) → J
/
ψπ
+
π
−
)π
+
,
$$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$
B
c
+
→ ψ(2S)π
+
π
−
π
+
,
$$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$
B
c
+
→ J
/
ψK
+
π
−
π
+
and
$$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$
B
c
+
→ J
/
ψK
+
K
−
K
+
are observed for the first time, and evidence for the
$$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$
B
c
+
→ ψ(2S)K
+
K
−
π
+
, decay is found, where J
/
ψ and ψ(2S) mesons are reconstructed in their dimuon decay modes. The ratios of branching fractions between the different
$$ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{c}}^{+} $$
B
c
+
decays are reported as well as the fractions of the decays proceeding via intermediate resonances. The results largely support the factorisation approach used for a theoretical description of the studied decays.
Experimental vaccines to protect against visceral leishmaniasis (VL) have been developed by using BALB/c mice infected with a large (10
7
to 10
8
) inoculum of parasites. Remarkably, prior literature ...has reported that the poor protection observed is mainly due to the high susceptibility of this strain. To determine factors inherent to mice that might abrogate vaccine-induced efficacy, the present research sought to investigate the impact of the administration of different infective inoculums of
Leishmania chagasi
(syn.
L
.
infantum
) in BALB/c mice, evaluating subcutaneous and intravenous routes of administration as well as parasitological and immunological parameters over different periods of time. This study shows that the injection of a highly infective inoculum in mice, through both subcutaneous and intravenous routes, results in a sustained infection. The mice developed a high parasite load in the liver; however, these values diminished over time. This result did not corroborate with the parasite load in the bone marrow and brain and proved to be expressively different in the spleen and draining lymph nodes, where the values increased over time. Mice infected with a low dose of parasites (10
3
) showed a certain resistance against infection, based mainly on the IFN-γ and oxide nitric production. Considering all the elements, it could be concluded that the models employing high doses (10
7
) of
L
.
chagasi
in BALB/c mice can bring about an imbalance in the animals’ immune response, thus allowing for the development of the disease at the expense of efficacy within the vaccine candidates.
3XMM J185246.6+003317 is a transient magnetar located in the vicinity of the supernova remnant Kes79. So far, observations have only set upper limits to its surface magnetic field and spindown, and ...there is no estimate for its mass and radius. Using ray-tracing modelling and Bayesian inference for the analysis of several light curves spanning a period of around three weeks, we have found that it may be one of the most massive neutron stars to date. In addition, our analysis suggests a multipolar magnetic field structure with a subcritical field strength and a carbon atmosphere composition. Due to the time-resolution limitation of the available light curves, we estimate the surface magnetic field and the mass to be log10(B/G)=11.89−0.93+0.19 and M=2.09−0.09+0.16M⊙ at 1σ confidence level, while the radius is estimated to be R=12.02−1.42+1.44 km at 2σ confidence level. They were verified by simulations, i.e., data injections with known model parameters, and their subsequent recovery. The best-fitting model has three small hot spots, two of them in the southern hemisphere. These are, however, just first estimates and conclusions, based on a simple ray-tracing model with anisotropic emission; we also estimate the impact of modelling on the parameter uncertainties and the relevant phenomena on which to focus in more precise analyses. We interpret the above best-fitting results as due to accretion of supernova layers/interstellar medium onto 3XMM J185246.6+003317 leading to burying and a subsequent re-emergence of the magnetic field, and a carbon atmosphere being formed possibly due to hydrogen/helium diffusive nuclear burning. Finally, we briefly discuss some consequences of our findings for superdense matter constraints.
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