Postharvest diseases in citrus and characterization of the fungal population in São Paulo’s wholesale market

Este trabalho objetivou caracterizar os danos pós-colheita e as características físico-químicas de frutos de laranjas ‘Pêra’ e ‘Lima’ e de tangor ‘Murcott’ comercializados na Ceagesp SP, bem como caracterizar a micoflora ambiental nos pontos de revenda de citros da Ceagesp, em 2006. Frutos cítricos foram coletados de atacadistas e armazenados durante 14 dias a 25ºC e 85-90% de UR. A incidência de injúrias foi avaliada visualmente a cada três dias. As variáveis físico-químicas analisadas foram acidez titulável e teor de sólidos solúveis. A micoflora ambiental foi amostrada mediante o método gravimétrico, com placas de Petri, contendo meio batata-dextrose-ágar+pentabiótico, abertas por dois minutos. A incidência de podridões em laranjas ‘Pêra’ e ‘Lima’ e tangor ‘Murcott’ atingiu valores médios de 12,8; 14,9 e 25,8%, respectivamente, ao final do armazenamento, sendo o bolor verde a principal doença pós-colheita. Associações entre os parâmetros físico-químicos de maturação e a incidência de podridões foram, em geral, não significativas. A população fúngica ambiental variou significativamente entre os meses amostrados, com média de 25,3 ufc/placa e os gêneros Penicillium e Cladosporium foram os mais abundantes. Observou-se correlação positiva (r=0,96) entre a freqüência de P. digitatum encontrada no ambiente dos atacadistas e o bolor verde em laranja ‘Pêra’ comercializada. Entretanto, para laranja ‘Lima’ e tangor ‘Murcott’ tal correlação não foi verificada.The purposes of this work were to characterize postharvest injuries and to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics of ‘Pêra’ and ‘Lima’ oranges and ‘Murcott’ tangor at Ceagesp market, as well as to characterize the environmental mycoflora in retail points at Ceagesp in 2006. Fruits collected at retail points were stored for 14 days at 25ºC and 85-90% RH. The incidence of injuries was visually evaluated every three days. The physicochemical characteristics analyzed were titratable acidity and soluble solids amount. The environmental mycoflora was sampled according to the gravimetric method, using Petri dishes containing potato-dextrose-agar medium+pentabiotic opened for two minutes. The average rot incidences in ‘Pêra’ and ‘Lima’ oranges and ‘Murcott’ tangor were 12.8, 14.9 and 25.8%, respectively, at the end of the storage period, and green mold was the main postharvest disease. Associations between physicochemical parameters and rot incidence was, in general, not significant. The environmental fungal population varied significantly between the sampling months in retail points with an average of 25.3 cfu/plate. Penicillium and Cladosporium were the most recorded genera of fungi. Positive correlation (r=0.96) was observed between frequency of P. digitatum found in the environment of retail points and the green mold in on-sale fruits of ‘Pêra’ orange. However, for ‘Lima’ orange and ‘Murcott’ tangor such a correlation was not verified

Doenças pós-colheita em laranja 'Valência' e caracterização da população fúngica em pomares orgânicos e convencionais.

A agricultura orgânica busca atender a demanda crescente por alimentos saudáveis, produzidos sem agroquímicos. Este trabalho objetivou: a) caracterizar as doenças pós-colheita em laranjas 'Valência' provenientes de cultivo orgânico e convencional; b) caracterizar a micoflora ambiental nos pomares citrícolas e c) detectar a presença de isolados de Penicillium spp. resistentes aos fungicidas tiabendazol e imazalil nos pomares. Frutos coletados nos pomares e no mercado atacadista de São Paulo (CEAGESP) foram armazenados durante 14 dias a 25ºC e 85% de UR. A incidência de doenças foi avaliada visualmente a cada dois-três dias. A micoflora ambiental foi amostrada com placas de Petri, contendo meio batata-dextrose-ágar acrescido ou não dos fungicidas. As maiores incidências de doenças foram observadas nas laranjas orgânicas em relação as do sistema convencional. A principal doença detectada foi a podridão peduncular de lasiodiplodia. A micoflora total do ambiente, assim como os principais gêneros fúngicos não diferiram significativamente entre os pomares amostrados. Cladosporium foi o gênero fúngico mais abundante nos pomares. A frequência de isolados de P. digitatum resistentes a tiabendazol foi semelhante nos pomares, com média de 47,3% dos isolados. A frequência de isolados de P. digitatum resistentes a imazalil foi baixa (2,6%), não sendo constatados isolados resistentes a tiabendazol + imazalil

Counting and integrating readout for direct conversion X-ray imaging: Concept, realization and first prototype measurements

A novel signal processing concept for X-ray imaging with directly converting pixelated semiconductor sensors is presented. The novelty of this approach compared to existing concepts is the combination of charge integration and photon counting in every single pixel. Simultaneous operation of both signal processing chains extends the dynamic range beyond the limits of the individual schemes and allows determination of the mean photon energy. Medical applications such as X-ray computed tomography can benefit from this additional spectral information through improved contrast and the ability to determine the hardening of the tube spectrum due to attenuation by the scanned object. A prototype chip in 0.35-micrometer technology has been successfully tested. The pixel electronics are designed using a low-swing differential current mode logic. Key element is a configurable feedback circuit for the charge sensitive amplifier which provides continuous reset, leakage current compensation and replicates the input signal for the integrator. This paper will discuss measurement results of the prototype structures and give details on the circuit design

Planet Hunters X: Searching for Nearby Neighbors of 75 Planet and Eclipsing Binary Candidates from the K2 Kepler Extended Mission

We present high-resolution observations of a sample of 75 K2 targets from Campaigns 1-3 using speckle interferometry on the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope and adaptive optics (AO) imaging at the Keck II telescope. The median SOAR $I$-band and Keck $K_s$-band detection limits at 1" were $\Delta m_{I}=4.4$~mag and $\Delta m_{K_s}=6.1$~mag, respectively. This sample includes 37 stars likely to host planets, 32 targets likely to be eclipsing binaries (EBs), and 6 other targets previously labeled as likely planetary false positives. We find nine likely physically bound companion stars within 3" of three candidate transiting exoplanet host stars and six likely EBs. Six of the nine detected companions are new discoveries; one of the six, EPIC 206061524, is associated with a planet candidate. Among the EB candidates, companions were only found near the shortest period ones ($P<3$ days), which is in line with previous results showing high multiplicity near short-period binary stars. This high-resolution data, including both the detected companions and the limits on potential unseen companions, will be useful in future planet vetting and stellar multiplicity rate studies for planets and binaries.Comment: Accepted in A

Planet Hunters. VIII. Characterization of 41 Long-Period Exoplanet Candidates from Kepler Archival Data

The census of exoplanets is incomplete for orbital distances larger than 1 AU. Here, we present 41 long-period planet candidates in 38 systems identified by Planet Hunters based on Kepler archival data (Q0-Q17). Among them, 17 exhibit only one transit, 14 have two visible transits and 10 have more than three visible transits. For planet candidates with only one visible transit, we estimate their orbital periods based on transit duration and host star properties. The majority of the planet candidates in this work (75%) have orbital periods that correspond to distances of 1-3 AU from their host stars. We conduct follow-up imaging and spectroscopic observations to validate and characterize planet host stars. In total, we obtain adaptive optics images for 33 stars to search for possible blending sources. Six stars have stellar companions within 4". We obtain high-resolution spectra for 6 stars to determine their physical properties. Stellar properties for other stars are obtained from the NASA Exoplanet Archive and the Kepler Stellar Catalog by Huber et al. (2014). We validate 7 planet candidates that have planet confidence over 0.997 (3-{\sigma} level). These validated planets include 3 single-transit planets (KIC-3558849b, KIC-5951458b, and KIC-8540376c), 3 planets with double transits (KIC-8540376b, KIC-9663113b, and KIC-10525077b), and 1 planet with 4 transits (KIC-5437945b). This work provides assessment regarding the existence of planets at wide separations and the associated false positive rate for transiting observation (17%-33%). More than half of the long-period planets with at least three transits in this paper exhibit transit timing variations up to 41 hours, which suggest additional components that dynamically interact with the transiting planet candidates. The nature of these components can be determined by follow-up radial velocity and transit observations.Comment: Published on ApJ, 815, 127 Notations of validated planets are changed in accordance with naming convention of NASA Exoplanet Archiv

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of high-temperature superconductors

Tunneling spectroscopy played a central role in the experimental verification of the microscopic theory of superconductivity in the classical superconductors. Initial attempts to apply the same approach to high-temperature superconductors were hampered by various problems related to the complexity of these materials. The use of scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) on these compounds allowed to overcome the main difficulties. This success motivated a rapidly growing scientific community to apply this technique to high-temperature superconductors. This paper reviews the experimental highlights obtained over the last decade. We first recall the crucial efforts to gain control over the technique and to obtain reproducible results. We then discuss how the STM/STS technique has contributed to the study of some of the most unusual and remarkable properties of high-temperature superconductors: the unusual large gap values and the absence of scaling with the critical temperature; the pseudogap and its relation to superconductivity; the unprecedented small size of the vortex cores and its influence on vortex matter; the unexpected electronic properties of the vortex cores; the combination of atomic resolution and spectroscopy leading to the observation of periodic local density of states modulations in the superconducting and pseudogap states, and in the vortex cores.Comment: To appear in RMP; 65 pages, 62 figure

Multicentric validation of proteomic biomarkers in urine specific for diabetic nephropathy

Background: Urine proteome analysis is rapidly emerging as a tool for diagnosis and prognosis in disease states. For diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy (DN), urinary proteome analysis was successfully applied in a pilot study. The validity of the previously established proteomic biomarkers with respect to the diagnostic and prognostic potential was assessed on a separate set of patients recruited at three different European centers. In this case-control study of 148 Caucasian patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 and duration &gt;= 5 years, cases of DN were defined as albuminuria &gt;300 mg/d and diabetic retinopathy (n = 66). Controls were matched for gender and diabetes duration (n = 82). Methodology/Principal Findings: Proteome analysis was performed blinded using high-resolution capillary electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry (CE-MS). Data were evaluated employing the previously developed model for DN. Upon unblinding, the model for DN showed 93.8% sensitivity and 91.4% specificity, with an AUC of 0.948 (95% CI 0.898-0.978). Of 65 previously identified peptides, 60 were significantly different between cases and controls of this study. In &lt;10% of cases and controls classification by proteome analysis not entirely resulted in the expected clinical outcome. Analysis of patient's subsequent clinical course revealed later progression to DN in some of the false positive classified DN control patients. Conclusions: These data provide the first independent confirmation that profiling of the urinary proteome by CE-MS can adequately identify subjects with DN, supporting the generalizability of this approach. The data further establish urinary collagen fragments as biomarkers for diabetes-induced renal damage that may serve as earlier and more specific biomarkers than the currently used urinary albumin

Ultrasensitive plano-concave optical microresonators for ultrasound sensing

Highly sensitive broadband ultrasound detectors are needed to expand the capabilities of biomedical ultrasound, photoacoustic imaging and industrial ultrasonic non-destructive testing techniques. Here, a generic optical ultrasound sensing concept based on a novel plano-concave polymer microresonator is described. This achieves strong optical confinement (Q-factors > 105) resulting in very high sensitivity with excellent broadband acoustic frequency response and wide directivity. The concept is highly scalable in terms of bandwidth and sensitivity. To illustrate this, a family of microresonator sensors with broadband acoustic responses up to 40 MHz and noise-equivalent pressures as low as 1.6 mPa per √Hz have been fabricated and comprehensively characterized in terms of their acoustic performance. In addition, their practical application to high-resolution photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging is demonstrated. The favourable acoustic performance and design flexibility of the technology offers new opportunities to advance biomedical and industrial ultrasound-based techniques