Hazardous doses of the herbicide imazamox in wild plant species and oilseed rape cultivars

Imidazolinones and crops resistant to these herbicides have successfully been introduced recently in some European countries. Imazamox has a high efficacy, moderate persistence and ecotoxicity, but data on hazardous doses (HD) in non-target plants and species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) are still scarce. To screen a larger variety of plant taxa in standardized vegetative vigor tests, 22 wild plant species and 14 oilseed rape (OSR) cultivars were sown into trays filled with a standard soil. When seedlings had reached the three-to-four leaf stage, plants were exposed to a single application of the herbicide Bolero® using a commercial pump sprayer. The five treatments corresponded to rates of 0 (control), 0.4, 4, 20 and 40 g/ha of imazamox with latter representing the recommended dose in Switzerland. Two weeks after the application, five plants per treatment were sub-sampled at random and visible injuries and fresh weights were recorded as endpoints for herbicidal effects. Dose-response curves and effective doses (EDs) were fitted using the drc package of the statistical software R and SSDs were obtained using ETX2.0. ED50 varied between 0.006 and 37 g/ha of the active ingredient in Nigella arvensis and Brassica rapa. Several dose-response curves indicated hormetic effects at a hundredth of the recommended field dose. In OSR, exposure to the field rate (40 g/ha) resulted in growth reductions between 28 and 97 % in the non imazamox-tolerant cultivars and in growth stimulations of up to 20 % in imazamox-tolerant cultivars. Responses were unrelated to leaf thickness, growth rates and the taxonomy of the tested species. Hazardous doses were 0.32 g/ha for HD5 and 3.9 g/ha for HD50 indicating that 50 % of the non-target plants would be affected at a tenth of the recommended dose. Based on general herbicide drift values the results suggest that potentially adverse effects may be expected up to a distance of 4 m offsite. Keywords: Clearfield, non-target plants, plant growth tests, plant functional typesSchädliche Dosen des Herbizids Imazamox bei verschiedenen Wildpflanzenarten und RapssortenImidazolinone und gegen diese Herbizide resistente Sorten einiger Kulturarten wurden in den letzten Jahren in einigen Europäischen Ländern erfolgreich eingeführt. Imazamox hat eine hohe Wirksamkeit, moderate Persistenz und Ökotoxizität, aber es gibt bislang nur wenige Informationen zu Schaddosen (hazardous doses, HD) in Nichtzielpflanzen und Art-Sensitivitäts-Spektren (species sensitivity distributions, SSDs). Um eine größere Anzahl von Pflanzenarten in standardisierten Wachstumstests zu überprüfen, wurden 22 Wildpflanzenarten und 14 Rapssorten in mit Standardboden gefüllten Schalen ausgesät. Bei Erreichung des Drei- bis Vierblattstadiums wurden die Pflanzen einmal mittels Pumpsprüher mit dem Herbizid Bolero® behandelt. Die fünf eingesetzten Behandlungen entsprachen den Dosen 0 (Kontrolle), 0.4, 4, 20 und 40 g AS/ha, wobei die letztere in der Schweiz die empfohlene Aufwandmenge darstellte. Zwei Wochen nach der Applikation wurden fünf Pflanzen pro Behandlung nach dem Zufallsprinzip geerntet, wobei sichtbare Schäden und Frischgewichte als Wirkkriterien betrachtet wurden. Dosis-Wirkungs-Kurven und effektive Dosen (EDs) wurden mit Hilfe des drc-Pakets mit der Statistik-Software R berechnet und SSDs wurden mittels ETX2.0 abgeleitet. Die ED50-Werte schwankten zwischen 0.006 und 37 g/ha der aktiven Substanz in Nigella arvensis und Brassica rapa. Viele der Dosis-Wirkungs-Beziehungen deuteten hormetische Effekte bei einem Hundertstel der empfohlenen Aufwandmenge an. Bei den nicht Imazamox-toleranten Rapssorten wurden bei der empfohlenen Aufwandmenge (40 g/ha) Wachstumsreduktionen zwischen 28 und 97 % beobachtet, während in den Imazamox-toleranten Sorten Wachstumsstimulationen von bis zu 20 % auftraten. Die beobachteten Effekte standen in keinem Zusammenhang mit der Blattdichte, den Wachstumsraten und der Taxonomie der überprüften Pflanzenarten. Die ermittelten Schaddosen betrugen 0.32 g/ha für HD5 und 3.9 g/ha für HD50, was darauf hindeutet, dass 50 % der Nichtzielarten bei einem Zehntel der empfohlenen Aufwandmenge beeinträchtigt würden. Wenn man die Abdrifteckwerte für Herbizidanwendungen zu Grunde legt, wären potenziell nachteilige Effekte bis zu einer Entfernung von 4 m zum Feldrand zu erwarten. Stichwörter: Clearfield, funktionelle Pflanzentypen, Nichtzielpflanzen, Pflanzenwachstumstest

Investigations on plant functional traits, epidermal structures and the ecophysiology of the novel bioenergy species Sida hermaphrodita Rusby and Silphium perfoliatum L.

A growth experiment was performed with different accessions of the novel bioenergy species Sida hermaphrodita Rusby (Fanpetals, Malvaceae) and Silphium perfoliatum L. (Cup Plant, Asteraceae) to study differences between the perennial shrubs and the variation among biotypes. Non-destructive assessments (phenology, leaf numbers, height, SPAD and gas exchange) and several harvests were conducted to examine growth, allometry and the quality of shoot material (C:N, raw ash, protein, fibre, fat, calorific value and leafδ13C). In addition to the functional analyses, epidermal structures of two widely used accessions were addressed to give insight into anatomical properties of the species.   In the establishment phase, productivity was higher on average in S. hermaphrodita than in S. perfoliatum since latter remains in the rosette stage in the first year. While the accessions of S. hermaphrodita did not significantly differ in growth, functional traits and forage quality, S. perfoliatum showed large biotypic variation. Leaf water and ash contents, raw protein and fat levels were higher in latter species, while raw fibre contentswere twice as highin S. hermaphrodita. At the end of the season, the calorific value of senesced stems of S. hermaphrodita proved to be higher than that of senesced leaves of S. perfoliatum pointing to its suitability of as a solid fuel.   Despite the shorter longevity, lower SPAD and smaller size, the delicate leaves of S. hermaphrodita had more stomata, higher photosynthetic rates and higher stomatal conductances than the robust leaves of S. perfoliatum. Less negative δ13C signatures in S. perfoliatum (-27.3 ‰) compared to S. hermaphrodita (-30.24 ‰), point to the potentially higher water use efficiency of S. perfoliatum. Further investigations on the relationships between leaf properties, carbon acquisition and stomatal conductance under dry conditions may serve to select productive lines of the bioenergy species on marginal land thus avoiding conflicts with the farming of food crops

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 heavy resonances decaying to two Higgs bosons in final states containing four b quarks

A search is presented for narrow heavy resonances X decaying into pairs of Higgs bosons (H) in proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at root s = 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The search considers HH resonances with masses between 1 and 3 TeV, having final states of two b quark pairs. Each Higgs boson is produced with large momentum, and the hadronization products of the pair of b quarks can usually be reconstructed as single large jets. The background from multijet and t (t) over bar events is significantly reduced by applying requirements related to the flavor of the jet, its mass, and its substructure. The signal would be identified as a peak on top of the dijet invariant mass spectrum of the remaining background events. No evidence is observed for such a signal. Upper limits obtained at 95 confidence level for the product of the production cross section and branching fraction sigma(gg -> X) B(X -> HH -> b (b) over barb (b) over bar) range from 10 to 1.5 fb for the mass of X from 1.15 to 2.0 TeV, significantly extending previous searches. For a warped extra dimension theory with amass scale Lambda(R) = 1 TeV, the data exclude radion scalar masses between 1.15 and 1.55 TeV

Measurement of the top quark mass using charged particles in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

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Measurement of t(t)over-bar normalised multi-differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, and simultaneous determination of the strong coupling strength, top quark pole mass, and parton distribution functions

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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

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe

Measurement of prompt open-charm production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The production cross sections for prompt open-charm mesons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV are reported. The measurement is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 29 nb(-1). The differential production cross sections of the D*(+/-), D-+/-, and D-0 ((D) over bar (0)) mesons are presented in ranges of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity 4 < p(T) < 100 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.1, respectively. The results are compared to several theoretical calculations and to previous measurements.Peer reviewe

Search for supersymmetry in events with one lepton and multiple jets in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

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