Physiological analysis of responses of lateral branching of the primary root for tolerance to phosphorus stress and drought in the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is essential to the food security of millions of people in developing nations. However, inadequate precipitation and low soil fertility, mainly phosphorus (P) deficiency, tend to limit its production in smallholder systems. Drought stress severely restricts root growth, binding the capacity of soil water exploration in deep horizons, while phosphorus (P) limitation increases the root capacity of foraging for nutrients in the top soil. Therefore, the development of traits associated with drought resistance and phosphorus stress will contribute to common bean improvement for lines suited for these environments. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the physiological response of lateral branching of the primary roots for tolerance to low phosphorus and drought stress in the common bean. To achieve this, pot and field experiments were established at the Agricultural Research Institute of Mozambique (IIAM) - Chókwè Research Station to: (1) determine the effect of drought stress on crop performance at different bean growth stages in the field and pot trials, (2) evaluate phosphorus use efficiency on grain yield efficiency index (GYEI) and P concentration in the plant tissues of selected genotypes in a pot study, and (3) assess the contribution of root phenes to shoot biomass and grain yield under combined stress (drought and low P) in the field and pot study. Eight genotypes were tested for shoot biomass, root biomass, shoot P concentration and uptake assessment in the pot study. For the field experiments, a total of 24 bean lines were used to assess phenology, yield components and total yield per unit. All pot studies were set using a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement with four replications. The first study had two levels of water (water stress and irrigated- no water stress); while the second study had two treatments combining phosphorus levels x genotypes, grown in a system of stratified phosphorus, 0.025 g P kg−1of soil as low rate and 0.2 g P kg−1 of soil as high P rate. The last pot experiment combined both water and phosphorus levels and, in all cases, eight genotypes were tested. The field experiment was set as a split plot design with four replications for the drought and phosphorus studies, while for the combined study it was set as a splitsplit plot. Water stress lowered substantially the leaf relative water content, leaf water potential and all growth parameters in the pot experiment, decreasing shoot biomass by 47%, leaflet growth rates by 49% and number of leaflets by 53%. In spite of significant reduction, these variables were highly and positively correlated, and can be recommended for early selection of genotypes grown under limited water conditions. Phosphorus levels also significantly affected shoot and root biomass, shoot phosphorus concentration, phosphorus uptake and phosphorus leachate under high P levels. However, genotypes responded differently to phosphorus levels in term of root biomass, shoot biomass and P uptake; genotypes BFS 81, SEQ342-87 and IBC 301-204 performing better in terms of root and shoot biomass as well as P uptake. These genotypes can be recommended for early selection under low soil fertility, especially in soils with P deficiency. Under field conditions, drought stress had a significant effect (p<0.05) on yield components. Among all the genotypes evaluated, SEF 16, SX 14825- 7-1, TARS MST-1, SEN 52, BRT103- 182, FBN1211-66, IBC 301-204, SER 125 and MHR 311-17 were the most adapted and showed the best yield performances under drought stress, and therefore can be incorporated in breeding programs particularly in drought prone areas. Meanwhile, high phosphorus treatment significantly increased all yield components (pods per plant, 100- seed weight, and grain yield), and variability among genotypes was also observed for yield and yield components. Based on the grain yield efficiency index (GYEI), 10 bean lines out of the 24 were categorized as P use efficient genotypes and therefore, they can be used in phosphorus deficient soils as well as crop improvement program. Grain yield from field data under drought stress and low P were positively correlated with the pot data on root traits. Response of root phene to drought and phosphorus stress appeared to be related to the phenotype traits of water stress and P use efficiency (that is, deep and shallow rooted systems, respectively). Deeper rooted genotypes produced more total root biomass, high taproot lateral branching density, which resulted in high total root length under drought and low P stress. On the other hand, shallow rooted genotypes allocated relatively low total root biomass and less allocation of taproot lateral branching. Increase in shoot biomass and seed yield in drought and low P stress was associated with higher mean values of taproot lateral branching density and total taproot length. Genotypes SER 125, BFS 81, FBN12111-66 and MER 22 11-28 showed greater score of taproots branching density in the pot study with the highest grain yield in the field under low P and drought stress. Therefore, these genotypes can be used in phosphorus deficient soils and drought stress environments or serve as parents for improving phosphorus use efficiency and drought tolerance in common bean. An increased total taproot lateral branching and length observed under stressful conditions (drought stress), contributed for plant performance, and could be considered as an important trait for selecting cultivars. Although no previous study has explicitly explored the utility of taproot lateral length and lateral branching for plant performance under edaphic stress, results from the present study suggest that an increased taproot lateral branching and length provide benefits under multiple environments. Genotypes that exhibited higher scores of taproot lateral branching in the field such as SER 125, BFS 81, FBN12111- 66 and MER 22 11-28, combining with higher grain yield under low P and drought were ranked as deeper rooted and suited to environments where water is limiting. In contrast, genotypes INB 814, SEN52, BIOF 2-06 and SEQ342-87 had relatively low scores of tap root branching density, but with better yield under low P and drought, and were classified as shallow rooted and suited to environments where P is limiting. Keywords: common bean, taproot lateral branching, drought, phosphorus use efficien

Moving in the anthropocene: global reductions in terrestrial mammalian movements

Animal movement is fundamental for ecosystem functioning and species survival, yet the effects of the anthropogenic footprint on animal movements have not been estimated across species. Using a unique GPS-tracking database of 803 individuals across 57 species, we found that movements of mammals in areas with a comparatively high human footprint were on average one-half to one-third the extent of their movements in areas with a low human footprint. We attribute this reduction to behavioral changes of individual animals and to the exclusion of species with long-range movements from areas with higher human impact. Global loss of vagility alters a key ecological trait of animals that affects not only population persistence but also ecosystem processes such as predator-prey interactions, nutrient cycling, and disease transmission

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

In COVID-19 Health Messaging, Loss Framing Increases Anxiety with Little-to-No Concomitant Benefits: Experimental Evidence from 84 Countries

The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior, behavioral science research highlights a pressing question: Is it more effective to frame COVID-19 health messages in terms of potential losses (e.g., "If you do not practice these steps, you can endanger yourself and others") or potential gains (e.g., "If you practice these steps, you can protect yourself and others")? Collecting data in 48 languages from 15,929 participants in 84 countries, we experimentally tested the effects of message framing on COVID-19-related judgments, intentions, and feelings. Loss- (vs. gain-) framed messages increased self-reported anxiety among participants cross-nationally with little-to-no impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking relevant to pandemic risks. These results were consistent across 84 countries, three variations of the message framing wording, and 560 data processing and analytic choices. Thus, results provide an empirical answer to a global communication question and highlight the emotional toll of loss-framed messages. Critically, this work demonstrates the importance of considering unintended affective consequences when evaluating nudge-style interventions

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV

Probing effective field theory operators in the associated production of top quarks with a Z boson in multilepton final states at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe