Propagation of nine endemic plant species from Madeira Island (Portugal)

Efficient propagation of endangered plant species is a critical factor in successful ecological restoration and conscientious habitat management. Hence, propagation trials of nine endemic plant species of Madeira (Anthyllis lemanniana Lowe, Armeria maderensis Lowe, Cedronella canariensis (L.) Webb & Berthel., Erica maderensis (Benth.) Bornm., Genista tenera (Jacq. ex Murray) Kuntze, Helichrysum melaleucum Rchb. ex Holl, Pericallis aurita (L'Her.) B. Nord., Sideritis candicans Aiton and Teline maderensis Webb & Berthel.) were carried out. Plant propagation requirements and their sexual and vegetative propagation methods were studied. Seed germination success varied between species. Germination rate exceeded 70% in six out of nine species, being lower than 30% in Pericallis aurita, while H. melaleucum seeds did not germinate. Vegetative propagation yielded lower success rates, with three species (Erica maderensis, Genista tenera and Teline maderensis) unable to establish roots, and three species (Helichrysum melaleucum, Pericallis aurita and Sideritis candicans) exceeding 60% of the rooting success. Establishment of the propagation requirements of these species could be regarded an important tool for supporting Madeira’s flora conservation programs.A propagação eficaz de espécies de plantas ameaçadas pode ser um fator crítico numa restauração ecológica de sucesso e numa gestão consciente de habitats. Por conseguinte, foram realizadas ensaios de propagação de nove espécies de plantas endémicas da Madeira (Anthyllis lemanniana Lowe, Armeria maderensis Lowe, Cedronella canariensis (L.) Webb & Berthel., Erica maderensis (Benth.) Bornm., Genista tenera (Jacq. Ex Murray) Kuntze, Helichrysum melaleucum Rchb. Ex Holl, Pericallis aurita (L'Her.) B. Nord., Sideritis candicans Aiton e Teline maderensis Webb & Berthel.). Foram analisados os requisitos de propagação destas espécies através de métodos de propagação sexual e vegetativa. O sucesso da germinação das sementes variou entre as espécies. A taxa de germinação foi superior a 70% em seis das nove espécies, sendo inferior a 30% em Pericallis aurita, e de 0% para H. melaleucum. A propagação vegetativa apresentou taxas de sucesso inferiores, com três espécies (Erica maderensis, Genista tenera e Teline maderensis) incapazes de estabelecer raízes. Por outro lado, três espécies apresentaram taxas de enraizamento superiores a 60% (Helichrysum melaleucum, Pericallis aurita e Sideritis candicans). O estabelecimento dos requisitos de propagação dessas espécies pode ser considerado como uma ferramenta importante na conservação da flora da Madeira.nowledgments José Manuel Rodrigues and other staff from the Ecological Park of Funchal, Sónia Ferraz, Marta Moreira and Filipe Ganança from the ISOPlexis Genebank, and the staff of the Floriculture Centre. We thank Jan J. Slaski of the ISOPlexis Genebank and the Alberta Innovates Technology Futures for reviewing the manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ecology and diversity of Solanum trisectum Dunal from Madeira Island: implications for Its conservation

Solanum trisectum Dunal is an endemic Solanaceae of Madeira Island (Portugal), considered critically endangered due to its extreme rarity. Since its discovery this species has shown a narrow distributional range mainly on the northern side of the island, with scattered and small populations and large time gaps between sightings. The present work aimed to understand the underlying ecological underpinnings for this species rarity towards an effort to increase the success of conservation actions. Data on historical locations, environmental conditions field surveys, reinforcement in situ and ex situ germination trials were obtained. The species was found to currently occur only in two wild populations and two reinforcement sites, amounting to twenty-four plants in total. Statistical analysis of these data related wild populations and successful reinforcement sites, separating them from other sites where the reinforcement did not succeed. This suggests that the successful reinforcement sites showed conditions more similar to wild population sites compared to non-successful ones. The data obtained supports the hypothesis that S. trisectum distribution and rarity is determined by species specific habitat needs, i.e., abiotic conditions, which have been for the first time assessed during the present work. Further, this study also reinforces the classification of S. trisectum as a top priority species for conservation.Prospecting, Monitoring and Conservation of Normania triphylla in Madeira (Mohamed bin Zayed Species (project number 13255498)) and Madeira PO 14-20, contract CASBIO (ref M1420-01- 0145-FEDER-000011 ).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impairment of the Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocytic Cycle Induced by Angiotensin Peptides

Plasmodium falciparum causes the most serious complications of malaria and is a public health problem worldwide with over 2 million deaths each year. The erythrocyte invasion mechanisms by Plasmodium sp. have been well described, however the physiological aspects involving host components in this process are still poorly understood. Here, we provide evidence for the role of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) components in reducing erythrocyte invasion by P. falciparum. Angiotensin II (Ang II) reduced erythrocyte invasion in an enriched schizont culture of P. falciparum in a dose-dependent manner. Using mass spectroscopy, we showed that Ang II was metabolized by erythrocytes to Ang IV and Ang-(1–7). Parasite infection decreased Ang-(1–7) and completely abolished Ang IV formation. Similar to Ang II, Ang-(1–7) decreased the level of infection in an A779 (specific antagonist of Ang-(1–7) receptor, MAS)-sensitive manner. 10−7 M PD123319, an AT2 receptor antagonist, partially reversed the effects of Ang-(1–7) and Ang II. However, 10−6 M losartan, an antagonist of the AT1 receptor, had no effect. Gs protein is a crucial player in the Plasmodium falciparum blood cycle and angiotensin peptides can modulate protein kinase A (PKA) activity; 10−8 M Ang II or 10−8 M Ang-(1–7) inhibited this activity in erythrocytes by 60% and this effect was reversed by 10−7 M A779. 10−6 M dibutyryl-cAMP increased the level of infection and 10−7 M PKA inhibitor decreased the level of infection by 30%. These results indicate that the effect of Ang-(1–7) on P. falciparum blood stage involves a MAS-mediated PKA inhibition. Our results indicate a crucial role for Ang II conversion into Ang-(1–7) in controlling the erythrocytic cycle of the malaria parasite, adding new functions to peptides initially described to be involved in the regulation of vascular tonus

Impairment of the Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocytic Cycle Induced by Angiotensin Peptides

Plasmodium falciparum causes the most serious complications of malaria and is a public health problem worldwide with over 2 million deaths each year. The erythrocyte invasion mechanisms by Plasmodium sp. have been well described, however the physiological aspects involving host components in this process are still poorly understood. Here, we provide evidence for the role of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) components in reducing erythrocyte invasion by P. falciparum. Angiotensin II (Ang II) reduced erythrocyte invasion in an enriched schizont culture of P. falciparum in a dose-dependent manner. Using mass spectroscopy, we showed that Ang II was metabolized by erythrocytes to Ang IV and Ang-(1–7). Parasite infection decreased Ang-(1–7) and completely abolished Ang IV formation. Similar to Ang II, Ang-(1–7) decreased the level of infection in an A779 (specific antagonist of Ang-(1–7) receptor, MAS)-sensitive manner. 10−7 M PD123319, an AT2 receptor antagonist, partially reversed the effects of Ang-(1–7) and Ang II. However, 10−6 M losartan, an antagonist of the AT1 receptor, had no effect. Gs protein is a crucial player in the Plasmodium falciparum blood cycle and angiotensin peptides can modulate protein kinase A (PKA) activity; 10−8 M Ang II or 10−8 M Ang-(1–7) inhibited this activity in erythrocytes by 60% and this effect was reversed by 10−7 M A779. 10−6 M dibutyryl-cAMP increased the level of infection and 10−7 M PKA inhibitor decreased the level of infection by 30%. These results indicate that the effect of Ang-(1–7) on P. falciparum blood stage involves a MAS-mediated PKA inhibition. Our results indicate a crucial role for Ang II conversion into Ang-(1–7) in controlling the erythrocytic cycle of the malaria parasite, adding new functions to peptides initially described to be involved in the regulation of vascular tonus

Studies of new Higgs boson interactions through nonresonant HH production in the b¯bγγ fnal state in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in the b ¯bγγ fnal state is performed using 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. This analysis supersedes and expands upon the previous nonresonant ATLAS results in this fnal state based on the same data sample. The analysis strategy is optimised to probe anomalous values not only of the Higgs (H) boson self-coupling modifer κλ but also of the quartic HHV V (V = W, Z) coupling modifer κ2V . No signifcant excess above the expected background from Standard Model processes is observed. An observed upper limit µHH < 4.0 is set at 95% confdence level on the Higgs boson pair production cross-section normalised to its Standard Model prediction. The 95% confdence intervals for the coupling modifers are −1.4 < κλ < 6.9 and −0.5 < κ2V < 2.7, assuming all other Higgs boson couplings except the one under study are fxed to the Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted in the Standard Model efective feld theory and Higgs efective feld theory frameworks in terms of constraints on the couplings of anomalous Higgs boson (self-)interactions

Search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production in the 2b+2l+ETmiss final state in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair (HH) production is presented, in which one of the Higgs bosons decays to a b-quark pair (bb ̄) and the other decays to WW*, ZZ*, or τ+τ−, with in each case a final state with l+l−+ neutrinos (l = e, μ). The analysis targets separately the gluon-gluon fusion and vector boson fusion production modes. Data recorded by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1, are used in this analysis. Events are selected to have exactly two b-tagged jets and two leptons with opposite electric charge and missing transverse momentum in the final state. These events are classified using multivariate analysis algorithms to separate the HH events from other Standard Model processes. No evidence of the signal is found. The observed (expected) upper limit on the cross-section for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production is determined to be 9.7 (16.2) times the Standard Model prediction at 95% confidence level. The Higgs boson self-interaction coupling parameter κλ and the quadrilinear coupling parameter κ2V are each separately constrained by this analysis to be within the ranges [−6.2, 13.3] and [−0.17, 2.4], respectively, at 95% confidence level, when all other parameters are fixed

Measurement of the total cross section and ρ -parameter from elastic scattering in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

In a special run of the LHC with β⋆= 2.5 km, proton–proton elastic-scattering events were recorded at s=13 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 340μb-1 using the ALFA subdetector of ATLAS in 2016. The elastic cross section was measured differentially in the Mandelstam t variable in the range from - t= 2.5 · 10 - 4 GeV 2 to - t= 0.46 GeV 2 using 6.9 million elastic-scattering candidates. This paper presents measurements of the total cross section σtot , parameters of the nuclear slope, and the ρ -parameter defined as the ratio of the real part to the imaginary part of the elastic-scattering amplitude in the limit t→ 0 . These parameters are determined from a fit to the differential elastic cross section using the optical theorem and different parameterizations of the t-dependence. The results for σtot and ρ are σtot(pp→X)=104.7±1.1mb,ρ=0.098±0.011. The uncertainty in σtot is dominated by the luminosity measurement, and in ρ by imperfect knowledge of the detector alignment and by modelling of the nuclear amplitude

Comparison of inclusive and photon-tagged jet suppression in 5.02 TeV Pb+Pb collisions with ATLAS

Parton energy loss in the quark–gluon plasma (QGP) is studied with a measurement of photon-tagged jet production in 1.7 nb−1 of Pb+Pb data and 260 pb−1 of pp data, both at sNN=5.02 TeV, with the ATLAS detector. The process pp →γ+jet+X and its analogue in Pb+Pb collisions is measured in events containing an isolated photon with transverse momentum (pT) above 50 GeV and reported as a function of jet pT. This selection results in a sample of jets with a steeply falling pT distribution that are mostly initiated by the showering of quarks. The pp and Pb+Pb measurements are used to report the nuclear modification factor, RAA, and the fractional energy loss, Sloss, for photon-tagged jets. In addition, the results are compared with the analogous ones for inclusive jets, which have a significantly smaller quark-initiated fraction. The RAA and Sloss values are found to be significantly different between those for photon-tagged jets and inclusive jets, demonstrating that energy loss in the QGP is sensitive to the colour-charge of the initiating parton. The results are also compared with a variety of theoretical models of colour-charge-dependent energy loss