Antifungal activities of the essential oil extracted from the tea of savanna (Lippia multiflora) in Côte d’Ivoire

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antifungal potency of the essential oil of tea of savanna (Lippia multiflora) on three fungal strains. The essential oil is extracted of Lippia multiflora by steam distillation and the antifungal activity in vitro was investigated on Apergillus flavus,  Asperguillus Niger and Fusarium sp species. This activity was realized by incorporation of the plant extract in Sabouraud medium prepared by a double dilution. The study revealed a sensitivity of these three species to the essential oil extracted from Lippia multiflora. It has been observed, in a descending order of sensitivity, a minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of 2.08 ± 0.58 µl / ml with Aspergillus flavus; 4.16 ± 1.17 µl / ml with Aspergillus Niger and 8.33 ± 2.35 µl / ml with Fusarium sp. The antifungal potency of the essential oil extracted from Lippia multiflora, allows  considering its use as a novel approach in the field of integrated management of cereal stocks in post-harvest.Keywords: Essential oil, Lippia multiflora, Antifungal, Aspergillus, Fusarium

Multidecadal variability of the continental precipitation annual amplitude driven by AMO and ENSO

As the water vapor content in the atmosphere scales with temperature, a warmer world is expected to feature an intensification of the hydrological cycle. Work to date has mainly focused on mean precipitation changes, whose connection to climatic modes is elusive at a global scale. Here we show that continental precipitation annual amplitude, which represents the annual range between minimum and maximum (monthly) rainfall, covaries with a linear combination of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and low-frequency variations in the El Niño–Southern Oscillation on a decadal to multidecadal scale with a correlation coefficient of 0.92 (P<0.01). The teleconnection is a result of changes in moisture transport in key regions. Reported trends in the annual amplitude of global precipitation in recent decades need to be assessed in light of this substantial low-frequency variability, which could mask or enhance an anthropogenic signal in hydrological cycle changes.D.G.G. was supported through a Spanish Project (CGL2010-12153-E) and the Generalitat Valenciana (GV/2013/144 and ACOMP-2013-068) and C.C.U. through the Penzance and John P. Chase Memorial Endowed Funds at WHOI

The extreme r-element rich, iron-poor halo giant CS31082-001: Implications for the r-process site(s) and radioactive cosmochronology

We present a high-resolution spectroscopic analysis of the bright (V=11.7), extreme halo giant CS31082-001 ([Fe/H] = -2.9), obtained in an ESO-VLT Large Programme dedicated to very metal-poor stars. We find CS31082-001 to be extremely rich in r-process elements, comparable in this respect only to the similarly metal-poor, but carbon-enriched, giant CS22892-052. As a result of the extreme overabundance of the heaviest r-process elements, and negligible blending from CH and CN molecular lines, a reliable measurement is obtained of the U II line at 386 nm, for the first time in a halo star, along with numerous lines of Th II, as well as lines of 25 other r-process elements. Abundance estimates for a total of 43 elements are reported in CS31082-001, almost half of the entire periodic table. All elements with 56 \leq Z \leq 72 follow the Solar r-element pattern, reduced by about 1.25 dex ([r/Fe]=+1.7 dex, a factor 50). Pb, in contrast, seems to be below the shifted Solar r-process distribution, possibly indicating an error in the latter, while thorium is more enhanced than the lighter nuclides. Thus, while a universal production ratio for the r-process elements seems to hold in the interval 56 \leq Z \leq 72, it breaks down in the actinide region. When available, the U/Th is thus preferable to Th/Eu for radioactive dating: (i) because of its faster decay rate and smaller sensitivity to observational errors, and (ii) because the inital production ratio of the neighboring nuclides 238U and 232Th is more robustly predicted than the 151Eu/232Th ratio. Our current best estimate for the age of CS31082-001 is 14.0+/-2.4 Gyr