Prediction of genetic gains with selection between and within S2 progenies of papaya using the REML/Blup analysis.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi predizer os ganhos genéticos em mamoeiro (Carica papaya) com a seleção dos indivíduos superiores dentro de progênies, por meio da análise REML/Blup. Foram avaliadas 36 progênies S2, oriundas dos híbridos Calimosa e Tainung 1, e duas testemunhas comerciais, no delineamento de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições. Os caracteres avaliados foram: altura de planta e do primeiro fruto; diâmetro de caule aos 12 e 18 meses; número de dias requeridos para surgimento do primeiro fruto; número, massa e massa média de frutos comerciais; e número e massa de frutos carpeloides e pentândricos. As magnitudes dos parâmetros genéticos estimados indicaram que a variabilidade presente, para a maioria dos caracteres, possibilita maiores ganhos genéticos se a seleção for praticada em progênies e não por plantas individuais. Para a seleção entre progênies, PROT-268, PROT-74, PROT-55 e PROT-22 foram as mais promissoras, com os maiores ganhos genéticos para os caracteres estudados. Na seleção entre e dentro de progênies, a predição dos ganhos é maior para o aumento da expressividade do número de frutos comerciais e para a redução da expressividade do número de frutos pentândricos.The objective of this work was to predict the genetic gains with selection of superior individuals within papaya (Carica papaya) progenies using the REML/Blup analysis. Thirty-six S2 progenies, originated from the Calimosa and Tainung 1 hybrids, and two commercial control checks were evaluated in a randomized complete block design, with four replicates. The following traits were evaluated: heights of plants and first fruit; stem diameter at 12 and 18 months; number of days required for fruiting; number, mass, and average mass of commercial fruit; and number and mass of carpelloid and pentandric fruit. The magnitudes of the genetic parameters indicated that the variability present in most of the characters allows greater genetic gain if the selection is made at the progeny level, and not in individual plants. For selection among progenies, PROT-268, PROT-74, PROT-55, and PROT-22 were the most promising, with the greatest genetic gain for the studied characters. In the selection among and within progenies, the prediction of the gains is higher for the increase in the expression of the number of commercial fruit and for the decrease in the expression of pentandric fruit

Comparing ultrastable lasers at 7 × 10−17 fractional frequency instability through a 2220 km optical fibre network

Ultrastable lasers are essential tools in optical frequency metrology enabling unprecedented measurement precision that impacts on fields such as atomic timekeeping, tests of fundamental physics, and geodesy. To characterise an ultrastable laser it needs to be compared with a laser of similar performance, but a suitable system may not be available locally. Here, we report a comparison of two geographically separated lasers, over the longest ever reported metrological optical fibre link network, measuring 2220 km in length, at a state-of-the-art fractional-frequency instability of 7 × 10−17 for averaging times between 30 s and 200 s. The measurements also allow the short-term instability of the complete optical fibre link network to be directly observed without using a loop-back fibre. Based on the characterisation of the noise in the lasers and optical fibre link network over different timescales, we investigate the potential for disseminating ultrastable light to improve the performance of remote optical clocks

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Search for Tensor, Vector, and Scalar Polarizations in the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background

The detection of gravitational waves with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo has enabled novel tests of general relativity, including direct study of the polarization of gravitational waves. While general relativity allows for only two tensor gravitational-wave polarizations, general metric theories can additionally predict two vector and two scalar polarizations. The polarization of gravitational waves is encoded in the spectral shape of the stochastic gravitational-wave background, formed by the superposition of cosmological and individually unresolved astrophysical sources. Using data recorded by Advanced LIGO during its first observing run, we search for a stochastic background of generically polarized gravitational waves. We find no evidence for a background of any polarization, and place the first direct bounds on the contributions of vector and scalar polarizations to the stochastic background. Under log-uniform priors for the energy in each polarization, we limit the energy densities of tensor, vector, and scalar modes at 95% credibility to Ω0T<5.58×10-8, Ω0V<6.35×10-8, and Ω0S<1.08×10-7 at a reference frequency f0=25 Hz. © 2018 American Physical Society

Measurement of the energy asymmetry in t(t)over-barj production at 13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment and interpretation in the SMEFT framework

A measurement of the energy asymmetry in jet-associated top-quark pair production is presented using $$139\,{\mathrm {fb}}^{-1}$$ 139 fb - 1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider during pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=13\,\text {TeV}$$ s = 13 TeV . The observable measures the different probability of top and antitop quarks to have the higher energy as a function of the jet scattering angle with respect to the beam axis. The energy asymmetry is measured in the semileptonic $$t{\bar{t}}$$ t t ¯ decay channel, and the hadronically decaying top quark must have transverse momentum above $$350\,\text {GeV}$$ 350 GeV . The results are corrected for detector effects to particle level in three bins of the scattering angle of the associated jet. The measurement agrees with the SM prediction at next-to-leading-order accuracy in quantum chromodynamics in all three bins. In the bin with the largest expected asymmetry, where the jet is emitted perpendicular to the beam, the energy asymmetry is measured to be $$-0.043\pm 0.020$$ - 0.043 ± 0.020 , in agreement with the SM prediction of $$-0.037\pm 0.003$$ - 0.037 ± 0.003 . Interpreting this result in the framework of the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT), it is shown that the energy asymmetry is sensitive to the top-quark chirality in four-quark operators and is therefore a valuable new observable in global SMEFT fits