Subtle sexual plumage color dimorphism and size dimorphism in a South American colonial breeder, the Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus)

Parrots (Psittacidae Family) are one of the most colorful groups of birds in the world, their colors produced both structurally and via unusual pigments (psittacofulvins). Most species are considered to be monogamous, and many have been viewed historically as sexually monomorphic and monochromatic. However, studies using morphometric analysis and spectrophotometric techniques have revealed sexual size dimorphism and also sexual plumage color dimorphism among some species. The Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus), a native parrot of South America, is an interesting species for the study of plumage coloration and size since it is considered sexually monochromatic and monomorphic. Furthermore, recent studies show that the Monk Parakeet has extra-bond paternity behavior and even breeding trios, which suggests that sexual selection may play an important role in this species, and that it might have sexually dimorphic plumage (albeit imperceptible by humans) and be dimorphic in size. Methods: For the determination of plumage color we used spectrophotometry in the range of avian vision (300-700 nm) and performed a morphological analysis. Results: Our spectrophotometric results indicate that the Monk Parakeet shows subtle sexual plumage color dimorphism in three (crown, nape and wing) out of twelve body regions. Similarly, our morphometric analysis showed that there are subtle sex differences in body size (bill and weight). Conclusions: Although the Monk Parakeet shows extra-bond paternity and breeding trio behaviors which could increase sexual dimorphism, these behaviors occur among highly related individuals; perhaps the high rate of inbreeding is responsible for the attenuation of sexual plumage color dimorphism and sex differences in body size observed.Fil: Morales, Macarena. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Zoología Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Gigena, Deysi J.. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Benitez-Vieyra, Santiago Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Valdez, Diego Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; Argentin

Triplet Dimerization Crossover Driven by Magnetic Frustration in In2VO5

In2VO5, containing magnetically frustrated zig-zag chains, shows a remarkable magnetic crossover at 120 K between paramagnetic states with positive (17 K) and negative (-70 K) Weiss temperatures. Magnetic moment and entropy data show that the V4+ S = 1/2 spins condense into S = 1 triplet dimers below the crossover. A further freezing of the antiferromagnetically coupled triplet dimers into a global singlet state is observed at 2.5 K, with no long range magnetic order down to 0.42 K and in fields up to 9 T. No structural V-V dimerization is observed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction down to 10 K, but a subtle lattice anomaly evidences a spin-lattice coupling in the triplet dimer state. This is assigned to longitudinal oxygen displacement modes that reduce frustration within the chains and so couple to the spin dimer fluctuations.Comment: submitted for publicatio

Síndrome confusional agudo en pacientes posquirúrgicos de cirugía de revascularización miocárdica

Se realizó un estudio de investigación con un diseño cuantitativo, analítico, retrospectivo, transversal, con metodología de Casos y Controles, seleccionando una muestra de 90 pacientes, a través de un muestreo aleatorio simple de un total de 246 pacientes posquirúrgicos de revascularización miocárdica, los cuales fueron distribuidos en grupo de casos y grupo de controles. En el grupo casos se incluyeron 30 pacientes, mientras que en el grupo control se incluyeron 60 pacientes. Esto fue realizado en el Instituto de Cardiología de Juana Francisca Cabral, de la ciudad de Corrientes, capital.Las operaciones estadísticas utilizadas fueron porcentajes, promedios; y para establecer las asociaciones, Odds Ratio, el nivel de significación fue de p< 0,05, se utilizó el programa “SPPS, versión 17.0”.Cuando se analizó la CEC (Circulación Extracorpórea), en relación al Síndrome Confusional Agudo, se encontró que los pacientes que requirieron CEC tienen 1,75 veces más de probabilidades de desarrollar S.C.A. que los pacientes que no requirieron CEC, con Intervalo de Confianza = 0,71 – 4,17 y P= 0,162 (NS= no significativo).Al analizar el antecedente de tabaquismo, se observó que los pacientes con antecedente de tabaquismo, tienen 1,83 veces más de probabilidades de desarrollar S.C.A. en el posoperatorio de cirugía de revascularización miocárdica con circulación extracorpórea, que de los pacientes sin antecedente de tabaquismo, con un Intervalo de Confianza = 0,58 – 3,36 y P= 0,3 (NS= no significativo).Por último, al analizar la variable sexo, se encontró que el grupo de mujeres tienen 2,11 veces más de probabilidades de desarrollar S.C.A., en el posoperatorio de cirugía de revascularización miocárdica con circulación extracorpórea, que los pacientes del sexo masculino, con Intervalo de Confianza = 0,78 – 7,09 y P= 0,10 (NS= no significativo)

Potential of the active heat pulse method with fiber optic temperature sensing for estimation of water content and infiltration in agricultural soils

The principle of temperature measurement along a fiber optic cable is based on the thermal sensitivity of the relative intensities of backscattered Raman Stokes and anti Stokes photons that arise from collisions with electrons in the core of the glass fiber. A laser pulse, generated by the Distributed Temperature Sensing unit DTS, traversing a fiber optic cable will result in Raman backscatter at two frequencies, referred to as Stokes and anti-Stokes

Mapping variability of soil water content and flux across 1¿1000 m scales using the actively heated fiber optic method

The Actively Heated Fiber Optic (AHFO) method is shown to be capable of measuring soil water content several times per hour at 0.25 m spacing along cables of multiple kilometers in length. AHFO is based on distributed temperature sensing (DTS) observation of the heating and cooling of a buried fiber-optic cable resulting from an electrical impulse of energy delivered from the steel cable jacket. The results presented were collected from 750 m of cable buried in three 240 m colocated transects at 30, 60, and 90 cm depths in an agricultural field under center pivot irrigation. The calibration curve relating soil water content to the thermal response of the soil to a heat pulse of 10 W m−1 for 1 min duration was developed in the lab. This calibration was found applicable to the 30 and 60 cm depth cables, while the 90 cm depth cable illustrated the challenges presented by soil heterogeneity for this technique. This method was used to map with high resolution the variability of soil water content and fluxes induced by the nonuniformity of water application at the surface

Heated fiber optic distributed temperature sensing for measuring soil volumetric heat capacity and water content: A dual probe heat-pulse approach

The first feasibility study of using dual-probe heated fiber optics with distributed temperature sensing to measure soil volumetric heat capacity and soil water content is presented. Although results using different combinations of cables demonstrate feasibility, further work is needed to gain accuracy, including a model to account for the finite dimension and the thermal influence of the probes. Implementation of the dual-probe heat-pulse (DPHP) approach for measurement of volumetric heat capacity (C) and water content (θ) with distributed temperature sensing heated fiber optic (FO) systems presents an unprecedented opportunity for environmental monitoring (e.g., simultaneous measurement at thousands of points). We applied uniform heat pulses along a FO cable and monitored the thermal response at adjacent cables. We tested the DPHP method in the laboratory using multiple FO cables at a range of spacings. The amplitude and phase shift in the heat signal with distance was found to be a function of the soil volumetric heat capacity. Estimations of C at a range of moisture contents (θ = 0.09– 0.34 m3 m−3) suggest the feasibility of measurement via responsiveness to the changes in θ, although we observed error with decreasing soil water contents (up to 26% at θ = 0.09 m3 m−3). Optimization will require further models to account for the finite radius and thermal influence of the FO cables. Although the results indicate that the method shows great promise, further study is needed to quantify the effects of soil type, cable spacing, and jacket configurations on accuracy

FAS system deregulation in T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma

The acquisition of resistance towards FAS-mediated apoptosis may be required for tumor formation. Tumors from various histological origins exhibit FAS mutations, the most frequent being hematological malignancies. However, data regarding FAS mutations or FAS signaling alterations are still lacking in precursor T-cell lymphoblastic lymphomas (T-LBLs). The available data on acute lymphoblastic leukemia, of precursor origin as well, indicate a low frequency of FAS mutations but often report a serious reduction in FAS-mediated apoptosis as well as chemoresistance, thus suggesting the occurrence of mechanisms able to deregulate the FAS signaling pathway, different from FAS mutation. Our aim at this study was to determine whether FAS-mediated apoptotic signaling is compromised in human T-LBL samples and the mechanisms involved. This study on 26 T-LBL samples confirms that the FAS system is impaired to a wide extent in these tumors, with 57.7% of the cases presenting any alteration of the pathway. A variety of mechanisms seems to be involved in such alteration, in order of frequency the downregulation of FAS, the deregulation of other members of the pathway and the occurrence of mutations at FAS. Considering these results together, it seems plausible to think of a cumulative effect of several alterations in each T-LBL, which in turn may result in FAS/FASLG system deregulation. Since defective FAS signaling may render the T-LBL tumor cells resistant to apoptotic cell death, the correct prognosis, diagnosis and thus the success of anticancer therapy may require such an in-depth knowledge of the complete scenario of FAS-signaling alterations.S

Pressure-Driven Metallization in Hafnium Diselenide

The quest for new transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) with outstanding electronic properties operating at ambient conditions draws us to investigate the 1T-HfSe2 polytype under hydrostatic pressure. Diamond anvil cell (DAC) devices coupled to in- situ synchrotron X-ray, Raman and optical (VIS-NIR) absorption experiments along with density functional theory (DFT) based calculations prove that: (i) bulk 1T-HfSe2 exhibits strong structural and vibrational anisotropies, being the interlayer direction especially sensitive to pressure changes, (ii) the indirect gap of 1T-HfSe2 trend to vanish by a -0.1 eV/GPa pressure rate, slightly faster than MoS2 or WS2, (iii) the onset of the metallic behavior appears at Pmet ~10 GPa, which is to date the lowest pressure among common TMDs, and finally (iv) the electronic transition is explained by the bulk modulus B0-Pmet correlation, along with the pressure coefficient of the band gap, in terms of the electronic overlap between chalcogenide p-type and metal d-type orbitals