Amanita mansehraensis, a new species in section Vaginatae from Pakistan

A new species of Amanita subgenus Amanita sect. Vaginatae is described and illustrated based on material collected in pine forests in district Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw, Pakistan. Amanita mansehraensis is recognized by the presence of a light brown or light greyish olive pileus with strong brown or deep brown pileus center; non-appendiculate, rimose, sulcate or plicate striate pileus margin; subglobose to ellipsoid basidiospores; and a saccate volva. The internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and large subunit of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nrLSU) were used for the delimitation of this species based on sequence data. The evolutionary relationships of A. mansehraensis with other species of Amanita were inferred by means of Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian inferences of the nrLSU dataset and concatenated ITS+nrLSU dataset. Amanita mansehraensis is most closely related to A. brunneofuliginea, A. pseudovaginata, and the recently described A. glarea

Foraging and territorial decisions by juvenile Atlantic salmon Salmo salar under chronic predation threat in the wild

Most animals are at some point in their development required to perform behaviours under the threat of predation. There is a need to trade off behaviours like foraging and territoriality with anti-predator behaviour in order to maximize survival. Recent studies have shown that Atlantic salmon potentially compensate for chronic predation risk by reducing territory size but maintaining the same growth rate. However, no direct measures of foraging or growth were collected. Here, I tested the hypothesis that juvenile Atlantic salmon can adjust behaviours depending on the perceived risk of predation. I conducted trials under semi natural conditions in which the experimental group was exposed to alarm cue and the control group to stream water over two field seasons in 2010 and 2011. Territory size was recorded on Day 1 and Day 7 while foraging was recorded daily for as many individuals as possible. The change in weight between Day 1 and Day 7 was also recorded for every individual. Overall, I found that territory size reduced over the seven day period for the alarm cue group while foraging and growth did not differ significantly between treatments. However, there were significant differences in results over the two field seasons. These results suggest a behavioural compensation between territory defense and foraging under the effect of chronic predation. The differences in response by year can be explained by looking at the resources dynamics of each year. Future work could examine this influence further

New species of Pseudosperma (Agaricales, Inocybaceae) from Pakistan revealed by morphology and multi-locus phylogenetic reconstruction

During fungal surveys between 2012 and 2014 in pine-dominated forests of the western Himalayas in Pakistan, several collections of Pseudosperma (Agaricales, Inocybaceae) were made. These were documented, based on morphological and molecular data. During this work, three new species came to light, which are here formally described as Pseudosperma brunneoumbonatum, P. pinophilum and P. triacicularis. These species belong in the genus Pseudosperma fide Matheny et al. (2019) = Pseudosperma clade fide Matheny (2005) = Inocybe sect. Rimosae s.s. fide Larsson et al. (2009). Macro- and micro-morphological descriptions, illustrations and molecular phylogenetic reconstructions of the studied taxa are provided. The new species are differentiated from their close relatives by basidiospore size and colouration of basidiomata. Molecular phylogenetic relationships are inferred using ITS (ITS1–5.8S–ITS2), nrLSU and mtSSU sequence data. All three newly-described taxa likely share an ectomycorrhizal association with trees in the genus Pinus. In addition, five names are recombined in Inosperma, Mallocybe and Pseudosperma. These are Inosperma vinaceobrunneum, Mallocybe erratum, Pseudosperma alboflavellum, Pseudosperma friabile and Pseudosperma neglectum

Molecular diagnostic challenges for non-retinal developmental eye disorders in the United Kingdom

Overall, approximately one-quarter of patients with genetic eye diseases will receive a molecular diagnosis. Patients with developmental eye disorders face a number of diagnostic challenges including phenotypic heterogeneity with significant asymmetry, coexisting ocular and systemic disease, limited understanding of human eye development and the associated genetic repertoire, and lack of access to next generation sequencing as regarded not to impact on patient outcomes/management with cost implications. Herein, we report our real world experience from a pediatric ocular genetics service over a 12 month period with 72 consecutive patients from 62 families, and that from a cohort of 322 patients undergoing whole genome sequencing (WGS) through the Genomics England 100,000 Genomes Project; encompassing microphthalmia, anophthalmia, ocular coloboma (MAC), anterior segment dysgenesis anomalies (ASDA), primary congenital glaucoma, congenital cataract, infantile nystagmus, and albinism. Overall molecular diagnostic rates reached 24.9% for those recruited to the 100,000 Genomes Project (73/293 families were solved), but up to 33.9% in the clinic setting (20/59 families). WGS was able to improve genetic diagnosis for MAC patients (15.7%), but not for ASDA (15.0%) and congenital cataracts (44.7%). Increased sample sizes and accurate human phenotype ontology (HPO) terms are required to improve diagnostic accuracy. The significant mixed complex ocular phenotypes distort these rates and lead to missed variants if the correct gene panel is not applied. Increased molecular diagnoses will help to explain the genotype-phenotype relationships of these developmental eye disorders. In turn, this will lead to improved integrated care pathways, understanding of disease, and future therapeutic development

Intense high-quality medical proton beams via laser fields

During the past decade, the interaction of high-intensity lasers with solid targets has attracted much interest, regarding its potential in accelerating charged particles. In spite of tremendous progress in laser-plasma based acceleration, it is still not clear which particle beam quality will be accessible within the upcoming multi petawatt (1 PW = 10$^{15}$ W) laser generation. Here, we show with simulations based on the coupled relativistic equations of motion that protons stemming from laser-plasma processes can be efficiently post-accelerated using crossed laser beams focused to spot radii of a few laser wavelengths. We demonstrate that the crossed beams produce monoenergetic accelerated protons with kinetic energies $> 200$ MeV, small energy spreads ($\approx$ 1$$) and high densities as required for hadron cancer therapy. To our knowledge, this is the first scheme allowing for this important application based on an all-optical set-up.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Transverse Dynamics and Energy Tuning of Fast Electrons Generated in Sub-Relativistic Intensity Laser Pulse Interaction with Plasmas

The regimes of quasi-mono-energetic electron beam generation were experimentally studied in the sub-relativistic intensity laser plasma interaction. The observed electron acceleration regime is unfolded with two-dimensional-particle-in-cell simulations of laser-wakefield generation in the self-modulation regime.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Überblick über die neueren Arbeiten auf dem Gebiet des Wasserstoff-und Tritiumverhaltens in Hochtemperaturreaktoren

This report comprises the contributions of members of the "Institut für Reaktor-Entwicklung" (IRE) to the "Und Seminar on Hydrogen and Tritium Behaviour in High Temperature Reactors", which was held March 8, 1978, at KFA Jülich. At the beginning the problem is introduced and the investigations at IRE related to this area are presented in their context. Then follow the individual papers on the subjects mentioned. At first the experiences with the operation of the experimental facility AUWARM and the newest results in the current testing program are discussed. Therafter the model investigations with hydrogen and deuterium on the problem of hydrogen- and tritium permeation are reported and a computer program for balancing tritium in pebble-bed-HTRs is described. Last notleast the studies on the behaviour of tritium in matrix graphite and the experiments on primary coolant purification by titanium gettering are shortly communicated. The results given in this report are preliminary informations on the actual status of the current investigations