Diversity of N2-fixing cyanobacteria from Andalusian paddy fields and analysis of their potential as bioinoculants

The marshes of the Guadalquivir River contain the largest area of rice cultivation in Spain, where more than 40,000 ha are used every year for rice production. These wetland areas provide a perfect place for rice cultivation, and represent a unique aquaticterrestrial habitat that hold more wintering waterfowl than any other European wetland. Paddies require large amounts nitrogen and phosphorus for their growth, development and production. Though, flooded conditions used for rice cultivation drastically diminish efficiency inorganic nitrogen fertilizers, being only 30–40% used by the plant, and in some cases even less. Large amounts of nitrogen fertilizers are dissolved in the surface water and lost, causing environmental pollution and health problems due to losses through N2O and NO volatilization, denitrification, and leaching (Ishii et al., 2011)

Diversity of N2-fixing cyanobacteria from Andalusian paddy fields and analysis of their potential as bioinoculants

The marshes of the Guadalquivir River contain the largest area of rice cultivation in Spain, where more than 40,000 ha are used every year for rice production. These wetland areas provide a perfect place for rice cultivation, and represent a unique aquatic-terrestrial habitat that hold more wintering waterfowl than any other European wetland.Paddies require large amounts nitrogen and phosphorus for their growth, development and production. Though, flooded conditions used for rice cultivation drastically diminish efficiency inorganic nitrogen fertilizers, being only 30–40% used by the plant, and in some cases even less. Large amounts of nitrogen fertilizers are dissolved in the surface water and lost, causing environmental pollution and health problems due to losses through N2O and NO volatilization, denitrification, and leaching (Ishii et al., 2011).The paddy field ecosystem provides a favourable environment for the growth of phototrophic microorganisms including nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria, as it meets their requirements for light, water, temperature and nutrient availability. The ability of this type of cyanobacteria to fix N2 provides a natural source of fixed nitrogen to the plant that is evidently priceless, and encourages research to develop new cyanobacteria-based biofertilizers for rice cultivation. In our laboratory, diversity of N2-fixing cyanobacteria from Andalusian paddies has been studied by means of metagenomic analysis and classical microbiological approaches. We have found that agronomic techniques influence microbial diversity (Ramírez-Moncayo et al., 2018). We have also isolated Nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria from the paddy fields and we have found that Nostocaceae and Rivulariaceae are the dominant N2-fixing cyanobacteria families in these isolates (Alves-Martínez et al., 2017). Genetic analysis of the different isolates revealed the presence of new uncharacterized strains. We have evaluated their potential as bioinoculants for plant fortification. Some of the strains showed a strong attraction and attachment to rice roots, which could be an indication of possible supply to the plant of nitrogen-fixed metabolites by the cyanobacterium. These isolates might be used for the formulation of new ecological biofertilizers alternative to chemical synthetic fertilizers

Functional behaviour of TiO2films doped with noble metals

To evaluate the effects of different concentrations of noble metal in a TiO2 matrix, different films of both Ag:TiO2 and Au:TiO2 systems were prepared. Mechanical and tribological characterization was carried out to evaluate the coatings response as a function of the noble metals composition and (micro)structure of the films. The overall set of results indicates that the amorphous films reveal better results than the crystalline ones. For the amorphous samples, the reduced Young’s modulus and the adhesion critical loads followed similar tendencies in both sets of films. Wear rates were similar for all samples except for the one with the highest silver content. To improve brittleness of TiO2 films, the results seem to indicate that a slight metal doping is preferred, and Au showed to be a better choice than Ag. In fact, the sample with the lowest Au content revealed a better mechanical behaviour than the pure TiO2 film.This research was sponsored by FEDER funds through the COMPETE program (Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade) and by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia), under the projects PEST-C/FIS/UI607/2013 and PEst-C/EME/UI0285/2013. The authors also acknowledge the financial support by the project Nano4color – Design and develop a new generation of color PVD coatings for decorative applications (FP7 EC R4SME Project No. 315286)

An additive subfamily of enlargements of a maximally monotone operator

We introduce a subfamily of additive enlargements of a maximally monotone operator. Our definition is inspired by the early work of Simon Fitzpatrick. These enlargements constitute a subfamily of the family of enlargements introduced by Svaiter. When the operator under consideration is the subdifferential of a convex lower semicontinuous proper function, we prove that some members of the subfamily are smaller than the classical $\epsilon$-subdifferential enlargement widely used in convex analysis. We also recover the epsilon-subdifferential within the subfamily. Since they are all additive, the enlargements in our subfamily can be seen as structurally closer to the $\epsilon$-subdifferential enlargement

Effects of suspension versus traditional resistance training on explosive strength in elementary school-aged boys

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of an 8-week program of resistance training (RT) or suspension training (ST) on explosive strength in prepubescent boys. Methods: Fifty-seven boys aged 10–11 years were assigned to 2 training groups, RT or ST or a control group (no training program). Boys trained twice weekly for 8 weeks. Results: A significant interaction was reported with a large (P < .001, η2p = .463), medium (P < .001, η2p = .395), and small effect sized (P ≤ .001, η2p = .218) in the 1-kg ball throw, 3-kg ball throw, and time-at-20-m test, respectively. There was no significant interaction in the countermovement vertical jump or the standing long jump. Changes from preintervention to postintervention for the 1-kg ball throw were 5.94% and 5.82% for the ST and RT, respectively, and 8.82% and 8.14% in the 3-kg ball throw for the ST and RT, respectively. The improvement in the 20-m sprint was 1.19% for the ST and 2.33% for the RT. Conclusion: Traditional RT and ST seem to be effective methods for improving explosive strength in prepubescent boys. ST could be considered as an alternative modality to optimize explosive strength training in school-based programs

Hint for a TeV neutrino emission from the Galactic Ridge with ANTARES

[EN] Interactions of cosmic ray protons, atomic nuclei, and electrons in the interstellar medium in the inner part of the Milky Way produce gamma-ray flux from the Galactic Ridge. If the gamma-ray emission is dominated by proton and nuclei interactions, a neutrino flux comparable to the gamma-ray flux is expected from the same sky region. Data collected by the ANTARES neutrino telescope are used to constrain the neutrino flux from the Galactic Ridge in the 1-100 TeV energy range. Neutrino events reconstructed both as tracks and showers are considered in the analysis and the selection is optimized for the search of an excess in the region |l| < 30 degrees, |b| < 2 degrees. The expected background in the search region is estimated using an off-zone region with similar sky coverage. Neutrino signal originating from a power-law spectrum with spectral index ranging from Gamma nu = 1to 4is simulated in both channels. The observed energy distributions are fitted to constrain the neutrino emission from the Ridge. The energy distributions in the signal region are inconsistent with the background expectation at similar to 96% confidence level. The mild excess over the background is consistent with a neutrino flux with a power law with a spectral index 2.45(-0.34)(+0.22) and a flux normalization dN nu/dE nu= 4.0(-2.0)(+2.7) x 10(-16) GeV-1 cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) at 40 TeV reference energy. Such flux is consistent with the expected neutrino signal if the bulk of the observed gamma-ray flux from the Galactic Ridge originates from interactions of cosmic ray protons and nuclei with a power-law spectrum extending well into the PeV energy range.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the funding agencies: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Commission Europeenne (FEDER fund and Marie Curie Program), Labex UnivEarthS (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-18-IDEX-0001), Region Alsace (contrat CPER), Region Provence-Alpes-Cpte d'Azur, Departement du Var and Ville de La Seyne-sur-Mer, France; Bundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Germany; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 754496, Italy; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), the Netherlands; Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation (UEFISCDI), Romania; Grants PID2021-124591NB-C41,-C42,-C43 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and, as appropriate, by "ERDF A way of making Europe", by the "European Union" or by the "European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR", Programa de Planes Complementarios I+D+I (refs. ASFAE/2022/023, ASFAE/2022/014), Programa Prometeo (PROMETEO/2020/019) and GenT (refs. CIDE-GENT/2018/034,/2019/043,/2020/049./2021/23) of the Generalitat Valenciana, Junta de Andalucia (ref. P18-FR-5057), EU: MSC program (ref. 101025085), Programa Maria Zambrano (Spanish Ministry of Universities, funded by the European Union, NextGenerationEU), Spain; Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Training, Morocco, and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Kuwait. We also acknowledge the technical support of Ifremer, AIM and Foselev Marine for the sea operation and the CC-IN2P3 for the computing facilities.Albert, A.; Alves, S.; Andre, M.; Ardid, M.; Ardid, S.; Aubert, J.; Aublin, J.... (2023). Hint for a TeV neutrino emission from the Galactic Ridge with ANTARES. Physics Letters B. 841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2023.13795184

Cell walls of the dimorphic fungal pathogens Sporothrix schenckii and Sporothrix brasiliensis exhibit bilaminate structures and sloughing of extensive and intact layers

This work was supported by the Fundação Carlos Chagas de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), grants E-26/202.974/2015 and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), grants 229755/2013-5, Brazil. LMLB is a senior research fellow of CNPq and Faperj. NG acknowledged support from the Wellcome Trust (Trust (097377, 101873, 200208) and MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Planck intermediate results. XXIII. Galactic plane emission components derived from Planck with ancillary data

Galactic structure, stellar clusters and populations.-- et al.Planck data when combined with ancillary data provide a unique opportunity to separate the diffuse emission components of the inner Galaxy. The purpose of the paper is to elucidate the morphology of the various emission components in the strong star-formation region lying inside the solar radius and to clarify the relationship between the various components. The region of the Galactic plane covered is l = 300° → 0° → 60° wherestar-formation is highest and the emission is strong enough to make meaningful component separation. The latitude widths in this longitude range lie between 1° and 2°, which correspond to FWHM z-widths of 100−200 pc at a typical distance of 6 kpc. The four emission components studied here are synchrotron, free-free, anomalous microwave emission (AME), and thermal (vibrational) dust emission. These components are identified by constructing spectral energy distributions (SEDs) at positions along the Galactic plane using the wide frequency coverage of Planck (28.4−857 GHz) in combination with low-frequency radio data at 0.408−2.3 GHz plus WMAP data at 23−94 GHz, along with far-infrared (FIR) data from COBE-DIRBE and IRAS. The free-free component is determined from radio recombination line (RRL) data. AME is found to be comparable in brightness to the free-free emission on the Galactic plane in the frequency range 20−40 GHz with a width in latitude similar to that of the thermal dust; it comprises 45 ± 1% of the total 28.4 GHz emission in the longitude range l = 300° → 0° → 60°. The free-free component is the narrowest, reflecting the fact that it is produced by current star-formation as traced by the narrow distribution of OB stars. It is the dominant emission on the plane between 60 and 100 GHz. RRLs from this ionized gas are used to assess its distance, leading to a free-free z-width of FWHM ≈ 100 pc. The narrow synchrotron component has a low-frequency brightness spectral index βsynch ≈ −2.7 that is similar to the broad synchrotron component indicating that they are both populated by the cosmic ray electrons of the same spectral index. The width of this narrow synchrotron component is significantly larger than that of the other three components, suggesting that it is generated in an assembly of older supernova remnants that have expanded to sizes of order 150 pc in 3 × 105 yr; pulsars of a similar age have a similar spread in latitude. The thermal dust is identified in the SEDs with average parameters of Tdust = 20.4 ± 0.4 K, βFIR = 1.94 ± 0.03 (> 353 GHz), and βmm = 1.67 ± 0.02 (< 353 GHz). The latitude distributions of gamma-rays, CO, and the emission in high-frequency Planck bands have similar widths, showing that they are all indicators of the total gaseous matter on the plane in the inner Galaxy.The development of Planck has been supported by: ESA; CNES and CNRS/INSU-IN2P3-INP (France); ASI, CNR, and INAF (Italy); NASA and DoE (USA); STFC and UKSA (UK); CSIC, MICINN, JA and RES (Spain); Tekes, AoF and CSC (Finland); DLR and MPG (Germany); CSA (Canada); DTU Space (Denmark); SER/SSO (Switzerland); RCN (Norway); SFI (Ireland); FCT/MCTES (Portugal); and PRACE (EU). The research leading to these results has received funding from an STFC Consolidated Grant (No. ST/L000768/1), as well as the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement Nos. 267934 and 307209.Peer Reviewe

Interactive translation prediction versus conventional post-editing in practice: a study with the CasMaCat workbench

[EN] We conducted a field trial in computer-assisted professional translation to compare interactive translation prediction (ITP) against conventional post-editing (PE) of machine translation (MT) output. In contrast to the conventional PE set-up, where an MT system first produces a static translation hypothesis that is then edited by a professional (hence "post-editing"), ITP constantly updates the translation hypothesis in real time in response to user edits. Our study involved nine professional translators and four reviewers working with the web-based CasMaCat workbench. Various new interactive features aiming to assist the post-editor/translator were also tested in this trial. Our results show that even with little training, ITP can be as productive as conventional PE in terms of the total time required to produce the final translation. Moreover, translation editors working with ITP require fewer key strokes to arrive at the final version of their translation.This work was supported by the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement No 287576 (CasMaCat ).Sanchis Trilles, G.; Alabau, V.; Buck, C.; Carl, M.; Casacuberta Nolla, F.; Garcia Martinez, MM.; Germann, U.... (2014). Interactive translation prediction versus conventional post-editing in practice: a study with the CasMaCat workbench. Machine Translation. 28(3-4):217-235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10590-014-9157-9S217235283-4Alabau V, Leiva LA, Ortiz-Martínez D, Casacuberta F (2012) User evaluation of interactive machine translation systems. 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