Primary dispersal of Cytisus multiflorus seeds

Current work relates to the primary dispersal of Cytisus multiflorus seeds: seed production, dispersal mechanisms, distribution of seed after dissemination and dormancy were investigated. The distribution of seed was recorded before collection; seed viabilaty and dormancy were assessed. The results indicate that the dispersion is assisted by an explosive dehiscence of the seed pod in that only 35% of the seed drop directly beneath the plant, the remainder falling further away, some reaching distances greater than 3 m. Dormancy index was found to be 98.9%.[es] En el presente trabajo se estudia la dispersión primaria de las semillas de Cytisus multiflorus: cuantificación de la producción, mecanismos de dispersión, distribución de las semillas tras la diseminación, y su estado de latencia. Para ello se colocaron dispositivos de recogida de las semillas debajo y alrededor de las plantas, anotando la cantidad y distancia de la calda; posteriormente eran sembradas para comprobarla viabilidad y dormición de las semillas. Los resultados indican la existencia de una dispersión por dehiscencia explosiva; solamente el 35% de las semillas caen bajo la planta, haciéndolo el resto en sus alrededores; algunas alcanzaron distancias superiores a los 3 m. El índice de dormición es de 98.9%. [fr] Dans le présent travail on étudie la dispersion primaire des graines de Cytisus multiflorus: quantification de la production, mécanismes de dispersion, distribution des graines après la dissémination et leur état de latence. Pour ce faire on a placé des dispositifs de récolte des graines au dessous et autour des plantes, enregistrant la quantité et la distance de la chute; après elles étaient semées pour tester la viabilité et dormance des graines. Les résultats indiquent l'existence d'une dispersion par déhiscence explosive; seulement 35% des graines tombent au-dessous de la plante, et le reste dans les alentours; quelques-unes atteignent des distances supérieures à 3 m. L'index de dormition est de 98.9%

A beam-beam monitoring detector for the MPD experiment at NICA

The Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD) is to be installed at the Nuclotron Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR). Its main goal is to study the phase diagram of the strongly interacting matter produced in heavy-ion collisions. These studies, while providing insight into the physics of heavy-ion collisions, are relevant for improving our understanding of the evolution of the early Universe and the formation of neutron stars. In order to extend the MPD trigger capabilities, we propose to include a high granularity beam-beam monitoring detector (BE-BE) to provide a level-0 trigger signal with an expected time resolution of 30 ps. This new detector will improve the determination of the reaction plane by the MPD experiment, a key measurement for flow studies that provides physics insight into the early stages of the reaction. In this work, we use simulated Au+Au collisions at NICA energies to show the potential of such a detector to determine the event plane resolution, providing further redundancy to the detectors originally considered for this purpose namely, the Fast Forward Detector (FFD) and the Hadron Calorimeter (HCAL). We also show our results for the time resolution studies of two prototype cells carried out at the T10 beam line at the CERN PS complex.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures. Updated to published version with added comments and correction

Composição química e atividade inibidora de acetilcolinesterase de óleos voláteis de Myrceugenia myrcioides(Cambess.) O. Berg and Eugenia riedeliana O. Berg, Myrtaceae

The chemical composition of volatile oils from two Myrtaceae species, Myrceugenia myrcioidesand Eugenia riedeliana, both native from the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest, was analyzed by GC-MS. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity was colorimetrically evaluated for these oils. For M. myrcioides, monoterpene hydrocarbons represented the major class in the volatile oil, with α-pinene as the most abundant component and a weak inhibitory activity was observed, whilst for E. riedeliana sesquiterpenes were found in higher amounts, being valerianol the major compound, and this oil presented a strong acetylcholinesterase inhibition.A composição química dos óleos voláteis de duas espécies de Myrtaceae, Myrceugenia myrcioidese Eugenia riedeliana, ambas nativas da Mata Atlântica, foi analisada por CG-EM. A atividade inibidora de acetilcolinesterase foi determinada colorimetricamente para estes óleos. Em M. myrcioides, hidrocarbonetos monoterpênicos representaram a classe majoritária de compostos presentes no óleo volátil, sendo α-pineno o componente mais abundante e a atividade inibidora de acetilcolinesterase foi baixa, enquanto para E. riedelianaos sesquiterpenos foram observados em maiores concentrações, sendo o valerianol o componente majoritário, e este óleo apresentou uma forte atividade inibidora da enzima.BIOTA/FAPESPCNPqCoordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES

Mediterranean diet, diet quality, and bone mineral content in adolescents: the HELENA study

Summary: Dietary scores, rather than individual nutrients, allow exploring associations between overall diet and bone health. The aim of the present study was to assess the associations between the Mediterranean Diet Score for Adolescents (MDS-A) and the Diet Quality Index for Adolescents (DQI-A) and bone mineral content (BMC) among Spanish adolescents. Our results do not support an association between dietary scores or indices and BMC in adolescents. Introduction: To assess the associations between the MDS-A and a DQI-A with the BMC measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Methods: The MDS-A and the DQI-A were calculated in 179 Spanish adolescents, based on two 24-h dietary recalls from the HELENA cross-sectional study. The associations between the diet scores and the BMC outcomes [total body less head (TBLH), femoral neck (FN), lumbar spine (LS), and hip] were analyzed using logistic regression models adjusting for several confounders. Results: Four hundred ninety-two models were included and only fruits and nuts and cereal and roots were found to provide significant ORs with regard to BMC. The risk of having low BMC reduced by 32% (OR 0.684; CI 0.473–0.988) for FN when following the ideal MDS-A, but this association lost significance when adjusting for lean mass and physical activity. For every 1-point increase in the cereal and root and the fruit and nut components, the risk of having low FN diminished by 56% (OR 0.442; CI 0.216–0.901) and by 67% (OR 0.332; CI 0.146–0.755), respectively. Conclusion: An overall dietary score or index is not associated with BMC in our adolescent Spanish sample

Anticholinesterase activity evaluation of alkaloids and coumarin from stems of Conchocarpus fontanesianus

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conchocarpus fontanesianus (A. St.-Hill.) Kallunki & Pirani, Rutaceae, popularly known as pitaguara, is a native and endemic tree from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro States, Brazil. Based in the information that anticholinesterasic derivatives could act as new prototypes to treatment of Alzheimer disease, this work describes the fractionation guided by evaluation of the anticholinesterase activity of the ethanolic stems extract from C. fontanesianus. This procedure afforded the alkaloids dictamnine (1), gamma-fagarine (2), skimianine (3), and 2-phenyl-1-methyl-4-quinolone (4), as well as the coumarin marmesin (5).222374380Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

MSSM Electroweak Baryogenesis and Flavour Mixing in Transport Equations

We make use of the formalism developed in Ref. [1], and calculate the chargino mediated baryogenesis in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. The formalism makes use of a gradient expansion of the Kadanoff-Baym equations for mixing fermions. For illustrative purposes, we first discuss the semiclassical transport equations for mixing bosons in a space-time dependent Higgs background. To calculate the baryon asymmetry, we solve a standard set of diffusion equations, according to which the chargino asymmetry is transported to the top sector, where it biases sphaleron transitions. At the end we make a qualitative and quantitative comparison of our results with the existing work. We find that the production of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe by CP-violating currents in the chargino sector is strongly constrained by measurements of electric dipole moments.Comment: 30 pages, 6 figures; minor changes, published versio

Evaluation of CNV detection tools for NGS panel data in genetic diagnostics

Although germline copy-number variants (CNVs) are the genetic cause of multiple hereditary diseases, detecting them from targeted next-generation sequencing data (NGS) remains a challenge. Existing tools perform well for large CNVs but struggle with single and multi-exon alterations. The aim of this work is to evaluate CNV calling tools working on gene panel NGS data and their suitability as a screening step before orthogonal confirmation in genetic diagnostics strategies. Five tools (DECoN, CoNVaDING, panelcn.MOPS, ExomeDepth, and CODEX2) were tested against four genetic diagnostics datasets (two in-house and two external) for a total of 495 samples with 231 single and multi-exon validated CNVs. The evaluation was performed using the default and sensitivity-optimized parameters. Results showed that most tools were highly sensitive and specific, but the performance was dataset dependant. When evaluating them in our diagnostics scenario, DECoN and panelcn.MOPS detected all CNVs with the exception of one mosaic CNV missed by DECoN. However, DECoN outperformed panelcn.MOPS specificity achieving values greater than 0.90 when using the optimized parameters. In our in-house datasets, DECoN and panelcn.MOPS showed the highest performance for CNV screening before orthogonal confirmation. Benchmarking and optimization code is freely available at https://github.com/TranslationalBioinformaticsIGTP/CNVbenchmarkeR