Potential use of split-beam echosounder angular information for bivalve banks cartography: a critical evaluation

Peer Reviewe

Abelian Toda field theories on the noncommutative plane

Generalizations of GL(n) abelian Toda and $\widetilde{GL}(n)$ abelian affine Toda field theories to the noncommutative plane are constructed. Our proposal relies on the noncommutative extension of a zero-curvature condition satisfied by algebra-valued gauge potentials dependent on the fields. This condition can be expressed as noncommutative Leznov-Saveliev equations which make possible to define the noncommutative generalizations as systems of second order differential equations, with an infinite chain of conserved currents. The actions corresponding to these field theories are also provided. The special cases of GL(2) Liouville and $\widetilde{GL}(2)$ sinh/sine-Gordon are explicitly studied. It is also shown that from the noncommutative (anti-)self-dual Yang-Mills equations in four dimensions it is possible to obtain by dimensional reduction the equations of motion of the two-dimensional models constructed. This fact supports the validity of the noncommutative version of the Ward conjecture. The relation of our proposal to previous versions of some specific Toda field theories reported in the literature is presented as well.Comment: v3 30 pages, changes in the text, new sections included and references adde

Large-scale analysis of the SDSS-III DR8 photometric luminous galaxies angular correlation function

We analyse the large-scale angular correlation function (ACF) of the CMASS luminous galaxies (LGs), a photometric-redshift catalogue based on the Data Release 8 (DR8) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III. This catalogue contains over $600 \, \, 000$ LGs in the range $0.45 \leq z \leq 0.65$, which was split into four redshift shells of constant width. First, we estimate the constraints on the redshift-space distortion (RSD) parameters $b\sigma_8$ and $f\sigma_8$, where $b$ is the galaxy bias, $f$ the growth rate and $\sigma_8$ is the normalization of the perturbations, finding that they vary appreciably among different redshift shells, in agreement with previous results using DR7 data. When assuming constant RSD parameters over the survey redshift range, we obtain $f\sigma_8 = 0.69 \pm 0.21$, which agrees at the $1.5\sigma$ level with Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey DR9 spectroscopic results. Next, we performed two cosmological analyses, where relevant parameters not fitted were kept fixed at their fiducial values. In the first analysis, we extracted the baryon acoustic oscillation peak position for the four redshift shells, and combined with the sound horizon scale from 7-year \textit{Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe} $(WMAP7)$ to produce the constraints $\Omega_{m}=0.249 \pm 0.031$ and $w=-0.885 \pm 0.145$. In the second analysis, we used the ACF full shape information to constrain cosmology using real data for the first time, finding $\Omega_{m} = 0.280 \pm 0.022$ and $f_b = \Omega_b/\Omega_m = 0.211 \pm 0.026$. These results are in good agreement with $WMAP7$ findings, showing that the ACF can be efficiently applied to constrain cosmology in future photometric galaxy surveys.Comment: MNRAS accepted. Minor corrections to match publish versio

Effect of Different Parameters (Treatment Administration Mode, Concentration and Phenological Weed Stage) on Thymbra capitata L. Essential Oil Herbicidal Activity

The essential oil (EO) of Thymbra capitata has been demonstrated to possess herbicidal activity and could be used as an alternative to synthetic herbicides with reduced persistence in soil and new mode of action. Nevertheless, it is necessary to determine the adequate doses for its use, the proper way for its application and the best phenological stage of weeds and crops in which the EO should be applied to obtain maximum efficacy against weeds without compromising crop production. In this work, T. capitata EO was tested at three different concentrations against weeds grown from a citrus orchard soil seedbank untreated with herbicides and against three important weed species grown in substrate to determine the efficacy of the concentrations on different weed species. All experiments were carried out under greenhouse conditions. To find out the best way for applying the EO, it was applied by irrigation and by spraying on the targeted weeds, and to verify the influence of timing, it was tested on Lolium rigidum at two different phenological stages and on wheat at a later phenological stage than weeds. The highest concentration tested (12 μL·mL−1) showed the best performance to control weeds. The more effective mode of application was by spraying on dicotyledons and by irrigation on monocotyledons at the earliest phenological stage. T. capitata EO was phytotoxic for wheat. More trials in different crops are needed to determine the best conditions for its use

Adenovirus VA RNA-derived miRNAs target cellular genes involved in cell growth, gene expression and DNA repair

Adenovirus virus-associated (VA) RNAs are processed to functional viral miRNAs or mivaRNAs. mivaRNAs are important for virus production, suggesting that they may target cellular or viral genes that affect the virus cell cycle. To look for cellular targets of mivaRNAs, we first identified genes downregulated in the presence of VA RNAs by microarray analysis. These genes were then screened for mivaRNA target sites using several bioinformatic tools. The combination of microarray analysis and bioinformatics allowed us to select the splicing and translation regulator TIA-1 as a putative mivaRNA target. We show that TIA-1 is downregulated at mRNA and protein levels in infected cells expressing functional mivaRNAs and in transfected cells that express mivaRNAI-138, one of the most abundant adenoviral miRNAs. Also, reporter assays show that TIA-1 is downregulated directly by mivaRNAI-138. To determine whether mivaRNAs could target other cellular genes we analyzed 50 additional putative targets. Thirty of them were downregulated in infected or transfected cells expressing mivaRNAs. Some of these genes are important for cell growth, transcription, RNA metabolism and DNA repair. We believe that a mivaRNA-mediated fine tune of the expression of some of these genes could be important in adenovirus cell cycle

T-Duality in 2-D Integrable Models

The non-conformal analog of abelian T-duality transformations relating pairs of axial and vector integrable models from the non abelian affine Toda family is constructed and studied in detail.Comment: 14 pages, Latex, v.2 misprints corrected, reference added, to appear in J. Phys.

Scattering of Noncommutative Waves and Solitons in a Supersymmetric Chiral Model in 2+1 Dimensions

Interactions of noncommutative waves and solitons in 2+1 dimensions can be analyzed exactly for a supersymmetric and integrable U(n) chiral model extending the Ward model. Using the Moyal-deformed dressing method in an antichiral superspace, we construct explicit time-dependent solutions of its noncommutative field equations by iteratively solving linear equations. The approach is illustrated by presenting scattering configurations for two noncommutative U(2) plane waves and for two noncommutative U(2) solitons as well as by producing a noncommutative U(1) two-soliton bound state.Comment: 1+13 pages; v2: reference added, version published in JHE

Genetic admixture patterns in argentinian patagonia

As in other Latin American populations, Argentinians are the result of the admixture amongst different continental groups, mainly from America and Europe, and to a lesser extent from Sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is known that the admixture processes did not occur homogeneously throughout the country. Therefore, considering the importance for anthropological, medical and forensic researches, this study aimed to investigate the population genetic structure of the Argentinian Patagonia, through the analysis of 46 ancestry informative markers, in 433 individuals from five different localities. Overall, in the Patagonian sample, the average individual ancestry was estimated as 35.8% Native American (95% CI: 32.2–39.4%), 62.1% European (58.5–65.7%) and 2.1% African (1.7–2.4%). Comparing the five localities studied, statistically significant differences were observed for the Native American and European contributions, but not for the African ancestry. The admixture results combined with the genealogical information revealed intra-regional variations that are consistent with the different geographic origin of the participants and their ancestors. As expected, a high European ancestry was observed for donors with four grandparents born in Europe (96.8%) or in the Central region of Argentina (85%). In contrast, the Native American ancestry increased when the four grandparents were born in the North (71%) or in the South (61.9%) regions of the country, or even in Chile (60.5%). In summary, our results showed that differences on continental ancestry contribution have different origins in each region in Patagonia, and even in each locality, highlighting the importance of knowing the origin of the participants and their ancestors for the correct interpretation and contextualization of the genetic information.Finantial support was granted by Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, Argentina (ANPCyT; https://www.argentina.gob.ar/ ciencia/agencia; grants ref. MPL PICT 2013-2414, JLL PICT 2014-1558), and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil (CNPq; http://www.cnpq.br; grant ref. LG 305330/2016-0)

Ocular surface analysis and automatic non-invasive assessment of tear film breakup location, extension and progression in patients with glaucoma

Background: Tear film stability is the key event in ocular surface diseases. The purpose of this study is to evaluate spatial and temporal progression of the tear film breakup using an automatic non-invasive device. Methods: Non-invasive tear breakup time (NITBUT) parameters, such as First NITBUT (F-NITBUT) and Average NITBUT (A-NITBUT), were evaluated in 132 glaucoma and 87 control eyes with the Keratograph 5 M device. Further analysis of this data was used to determine size, location and progression of tear film breakup with automatically identified breakup areas (BUA). The progression from First BUA (F-BUA) to total BUA (T-BUA) was expressed as Dry Area Growth Rate (DAGR). Differences between both groups were analysed using Student t-test for parametric data and Mann-Whitney U test for non-parametric data. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship between parametric variables and Spearman in the case of non-parametric variables. Results: F-NITBUT was 11.43 ± 7.83 s in the control group and 8.17 ± 5.73 in the glaucoma group (P = 0.010). A-NITBUT was 14.04 ± 7.21 and 11.82 ± 6.09 s in control and glaucoma groups, respectively (P = 0.028). F-BUA was higher in the glaucoma group than in the control group (2.73 and 2.28; P = 0.022) and was more frequently located at the centre of the cornea in the glaucoma group (P = 0.039). T-BUA was also higher in the glaucoma group than in the control group (13.24 and 9.76%; P = 0.012) and the DAGR was steeper in the glaucoma group than in the control group (34.38° and 27.15°; P = 0.009). Conclusions: Shorter NITBUT values and bigger, more central tear film breakup locations were observed in the glaucoma group than in the control group. The DAGR indicates that tear film rupture is bigger and increases faster in glaucomatous eyes than in normal eyes

Vertex Operators and Soliton Solutions of Affine Toda Model with U(2) Symmetry

The symmetry structure of non-abelian affine Toda model based on the coset $SL(3)/SL(2)\otimes U(1)$ is studied. It is shown that the model possess non-abelian Noether symmetry closing into a q-deformed $SL(2)\otimes U(1)$ algebra. Specific two vertex soliton solutions are constructed.Comment: 17 pages, latex, misprints corrected, version to appear in J.Phys