Organic recycled mulches in sustainable viticulture: assessment of spontaneous plants communities and weed coverage

Organic recycled mulching has become an interesting strategy for developing more efficient and sustainable viticulture management. This work aimed to analyse the effect of three different organic mulches [straw (S), grape pruning debris (GPD) and spent mushroom compost (SMC)] and two traditional soil management techniques [herbicide and inter-row tillage] on weed control and the spontaneous plant communities presence in the vine-line. SMC and herbicide were the treatments with the highest and the lowest weed cover percentage respectively. Inter-row tillage had a delayed weed emergence at the beginning of the vine vegetative cycle but finally, it reached maximum values nearby SMC. GPD and S had similar effects on weed emergence, reaching up to 23% and 31% of the maximum coverage values respectively. An amount of 28 herbaceous species were identified, some of them very isolated and occasional. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed specific species-treatment associations, especially for inter-row tillage and SMC treatments. The different soil management techniques had a clear effect on weed coverage and plant species communities. This study provides interesting information about how organic recycled mulching influences spontaneous plant biodiversity and weed coverage control

First T2K measurement of transverse kinematic imbalance in the muon-neutrino charged-current single-π+ production channel containing at least one proton

Artículo escrito por un elevado número de autores, solo se referencian el que aparece en primer lugar, el nombre del grupo de colaboración, si le hubiere, y los autores pertenecientes a la UAMThis paper reports the first T2K measurement of the transverse kinematic imbalance in the single-π+ production channel of neutrino interactions. We measure the differential cross sections in the muonneutrino charged-current interaction on hydrocarbon with a single π+ and at least one proton in the final state, at the ND280 off axis near detector of the T2K experiment. The extracted cross sections are compared to the predictions from different neutrino-nucleus interaction event generators. Overall, the results show a preference for models that have a more realistic treatment of nuclear medium effects including the initial nuclear state and final-state interaction

Measurement of the production of a W boson in association with a charm quark in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The production of a W boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 4.6 fb−1 of pp collision data at s√ = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. In events in which a W boson decays to an electron or muon, the charm quark is tagged either by its semileptonic decay to a muon or by the presence of a charmed meson. The integrated and differential cross sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W-boson decay are measured. Results are compared to the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD calculations obtained from various parton distribution function parameterisations. The ratio of the strange-to-down sea-quark distributions is determined to be 0.96+0.26−0.30 at Q 2 = 1.9 GeV2, which supports the hypothesis of an SU(3)-symmetric composition of the light-quark sea. Additionally, the cross-section ratio σ(W + +c¯¯)/σ(W − + c) is compared to the predictions obtained using parton distribution function parameterisations with different assumptions about the s−s¯¯¯ quark asymmetry

Organic mulches slightly influence the wine phenolic profile and sensory evaluation

Organic mulching offers numerous agronomical benefits, but its impact on wine quality remains unclear. This study assessed the effect of this practice on wine physicochemical, phenolic composition and sensory properties. Over four years, three organic mulches (grape pruning debris (GPD), straw (STR), and spent mushroom compost (SMC)) and two conventional practices (tillage (TILL) and herbicide (HERB)) were evaluated in two locations. Wines from mulching treatments exhibited higher pH, potassium, hue, and lower tartaric acid. Moreover, the SMC mulch treatment showed lower amounts of wine anthocyanins, flavonols and hydroxycinnamics, probably due to increased nutrient availability. However, no differences were detected in the wine sensory analysis. Therefore, organic mulches could be alternative practices to mitigate the consequences of climate change without significant impact on young wine's phenolic profile and sensory properties compared to HERB and TILL conventional soil management. However, future studies should focus on wine evolution during aging.The authors thank Pernod Ricard and D. Mateos for sharing their vineyards. This research was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDR) and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN) (RTI2018-095748-R-I00). A.M. thanks ERDR/MCIN for his pre-doctoral fellowship (PRE2019-089110). MP and DL thank Gobierno de La Rioja for their FPI research grants. The authors would like to thank Miguel Ángel Fernández-Recio, technical staff at the ICVV, for his UHPLC-QqQ(MS/MS) technical support and analysis performance in the anthocyanin and phenol analysis. We authors would like to remark that the UHPLC-QqQ (MS/MS) method used for the performance of the analysis was developed at the ICVV Instrumental Analysis Research Service.Peer reviewe

Improved constraints on neutrino mixing from the T2K experiment with 3.13×1021 protons on target

Artículo escrito por un elevado número de autores, solo se referencian el que aparece en primer lugar, el nombre del grupo de colaboración, si le hubiere, y los autores pertenecientes a la UAMThe T2K experiment reports updated measurements of neutrino and antineutrino oscillations using both appearance and disappearance channels. This result comes from an exposure of 14.9(16.4) × 1020 protons on target in neutrino (antineutrino) mode. Significant improvements have been made to the neutrino interaction model and far detector reconstruction. An extensive set of simulated data studies have also been performed to quantify the effect interaction model uncertainties have on the T2K oscillation parameter sensitivity. T2K performs multiple oscillation analyses that present both frequentist and Bayesian intervals for the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata parameters. For fits including a constraint on sin2θ13 from reactor data and assuming normal mass ordering T2K measures sin2θ23 = 0.53-0.04+0.03 and Δm322 = (2.45±0.07) × 10-3 eV2 c-4. The Bayesian analyses show a weak preference for normal mass ordering (89% posterior probability) and the upper sin2θ23 octant (80% posterior probability), with a uniform prior probability assumed in both cases. The T2K data exclude CP conservation in neutrino oscillations at the 2σ leve

In vitro interactions between Armillaria sp. and Trichoderma sp. collected from mushroom crop residues

Armillaria mel/ea (Agaricales: Physalacriaceae) is a fungus naturally occurring in the soil, which may penetrate the grapevines' roots, causing their death in the long term. Many chemical products have been tested to manage this fungus with limited success. Nowadays, uprooting and non-prolonged cultivation is the only field-allowable and effective solution. Trichoderma is a well-known fungus used as a biocontrol agent. However, it is also known to be a contaminating fungus far the cultivation of mushrooms (Agaricus sp.). We hypothesized that T. Harzianum from contaminated mushroom cultivation is an effective biological control agent of A. mellea in vitro and could be used as a treatment in the vineyard. In this sense, a circular economic model would be favored in which, on the one hand, the waste reuse from mushroom cultivation would be encouraged, and on the other hand, an effective and sustainable solution would be proposed to combat sorne fungal diseases. To accomplish this, field strains of T. Harzianum and A. mellea were isolated on Malt Extract Agar (MEA). Dual confrontation tests on Patato Dextrose Agar (PDA) plates were performed to evaluate the inhibitory effect of the T. harzianum strain on A mellea. Far this purpose, A. mellea was plated 14 days befare T. harzianum. The two fungi were also individually cultivated as positive controls. AII plates were kept at 25ºC throughout the experiment. We observed that T. harzianum inhibited the in vitro growth of A. mel/ea. Specifically, the A. mel/ea growth stopped when both fungi met, while T. harzianum continued to grow above A. mel/ea. The results obtained support our hypothesis of the potential of T. harzianum as a biocontrol agent far A. mel/ea. However, it must be validated in field experiments. Future research will facus on analyzing whether mushroom crop residues infected with T. harzianum could be reused as an organic mulch treatment against A. mellea in the vineyard

Search for dark matter in events with heavy quarks and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

This article reports on a search for dark matterpair production in association with bottom or top quarks in20.3fb−1ofppcollisions collected at√s=8TeVbytheATLAS detector at the LHC. Events with large missing trans-verse momentum are selected when produced in associationwith high-momentum jets of which one or more are identifiedas jets containingb-quarks. Final states with top quarks areselected by requiring a high jet multiplicity and in some casesa single lepton. The data are found to be consistent with theStandard Model expectations and limits are set on the massscale of effective field theories that describe scalar and tensorinteractions between dark matter and Standard Model par-ticles. Limits on the dark-matter–nucleon cross-section forspin-independent and spin-dependent interactions are alsoprovided. These limits are particularly strong for low-massdark matter. Using a simplified model, constraints are set onthe mass of dark matter and of a coloured mediator suitableto explain a possible signal of annihilating dark matter

He I λ 10 830 Å in the transmission spectrum of HD 209458 b

Context. Recently, the He I triplet at 10 830 Å was rediscovered as an excellent probe of the extended and possibly evaporating atmospheres of close-in transiting planets. This has already resulted in detections of this triplet in the atmospheres of a handful of planets, both from space and from the ground. However, while a strong signal is expected for the hot Jupiter HD 209458 b, only upper limits have been obtained so far. Aims. Our goal is to measure the helium excess absorption from HD 209458 b and assess the extended atmosphere of the planet and possible evaporation. Methods. We obtained new high-resolution spectral transit time-series of HD 209458 b using CARMENES at the 3.5 m Calar Alto telescope, targeting the He I triplet at 10 830 Å at a spectral resolving power of 80 400. The observed spectra were corrected for stellar absorption lines using out-of-transit data, for telluric absorption using the MOLECFIT software, and for the sky emission lines using simultaneous sky measurements through a second fibre. Results. We detect He I absorption at a level of 0.91 ± 0.10% (9σ) at mid-transit. The absorption follows the radial velocity change of the planet during transit, unambiguously identifying the planet as the source of the absorption. The core of the absorption exhibits a net blueshift of 1.8 ± 1.3 km s^(−1) . Possible low-level excess absorption is seen further blueward from the main absorption near the centre of the transit, which could be caused by an extended tail. However, this needs to be confirmed. Conclusions. Our results further support a close relation between the strength of planetary absorption in the helium triplet lines and the level of ionising, stellar X-ray, and extreme-UV irradiation