Soil C, N and P cycling enzyme responses to nutrient limitation under elevated CO2

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer via the DOI in this recordData availability: Data will be available from the Environmental Information Data Centre, https://eidc.ac.uk/Elevated CO2 (eCO2) can stimulate plant productivity and increase carbon (C) input to soils, but nutrient limitation restricts productivity. Despite phosphorus (P)-limited ecosystems increasing globally, it is unknown how nutrient cycling, particularly soil microbial extra cellular enzyme activity (EEA), will respond to eCO2 in such ecosystems. Long-term nutrient manipulation plots from adjacent P-limited acidic and limestone grasslands were exposed to eCO2 (600 ppm) provided by a mini-Free Air CO2 Enrichment system. P-limitation was alleviated (35 kg-P ha−1 y−1 (P35)), exacerbated (35 kg-N ha−1 y−1 (N35), 140 kg-N ha−1 y−1 (N140)), or maintained (control (P0N0)) for > 20 years. We measured EEAs of C-, N- and P-cycling enzymes (1,4-β-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, N-acetyl β-D-glucosaminidase, leucine aminopeptidase, and acid phosphatase) and compared C:N:P cycling enzyme ratios using a vector analysis. Potential acid phosphatase activity doubled under N additions relative to P0N0 and P35 treatments. Vector analysis revealed reduced C-cycling investment and increased P-cycling investment under eCO2. Vector angle significantly increased with P-limitation (P35 < P0N0 < N35 < N140) indicating relatively greater investment in P-cycling enzymes. The limestone grassland was more C limited than the acidic grassland, characterised by increased vector length, C:N and C:P enzyme ratios. The absence of interactions between grassland type and eCO2 or nutrient treatment for all enzyme indicators signaled consistent responses to changing P-limitation and eCO2 in both grasslands. Our findings suggest that eCO2 reduces C limitation, allowing increased investment in P- and N-cycle enzymes with implications for rates of nutrient cycling, potentially alleviating nutrient limitation of ecosystem productivity under eCO2.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

Litter inputs and phosphatase activity affect the temporal variability of organic phosphorus in a tropical forest soil in the Central Amazon

Purpose The tropical phosphorus cycle and its relation to soil phosphorus (P) availability are a major uncertainty in projections of forest productivity. In highly weathered soils with low P concentrations, plant and microbial communities depend on abiotic and biotic processes to acquire P. We explored the seasonality and relative importance of drivers controlling the fluctuation of common P pools via processes such as litter production and decomposition, and soil phosphatase activity. Methods We analyzed intra-annual variation of tropical soil phosphorus pools using a modified Hedley sequential fractionation scheme. In addition, we measured litterfall, the mobilization of P from litter and soil extracellular phosphatase enzyme activity and tested their relation to fluctuations in P- fractions. Results Our results showed clear patterns of seasonal variability of soil P fractions during the year. We found that modeled P released during litter decomposition was positively related to change in organic P fractions, while net change in organic P fractions was negatively related to phosphatase activities in the top 5 cm. Conclusion We conclude that input of P by litter decomposition and potential soil extracellular phosphatase activity are the two main factors related to seasonal soil P fluctuations, and therefore the P economy in P impoverished soils. Organic soil P followed a clear seasonal pattern, indicating tight cycling of the nutrient, while reinforcing the importance of studying soil P as an integrated dynamic system in a tropical forest context

Large-scale pathways-based association study in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a devastating neurodegenerative disease, most likely results from complex genetic and environmental interactions. Although a number of association studies have been performed in an effort to find genetic components of sporadic ALS, most of them resulted in inconsistent findings due to a small number of genes investigated in relatively small sample sizes, while the replication of results was rarely attempted. Defects in retrograde axonal transport, vesicle trafficking and xenobiotic metabolism have been implicated in neurodegeneration and motor neuron death both in human disease and animal models. To assess the role of common genetic variation in these pathways in susceptibility to sporadic ALS, we performed a pathway-based candidate gene case-control association study with replication. Furthermore, we determined reliability of whole genome amplified DNA in a large-scale association study. In the first stage of the study, 1277 putative functional and tagging SNPs in 134 genes spanning 8.7 Mb were genotyped in 822 British sporadic ALS patients and 872 controls using whole genome amplified DNA. To detect variants with modest effect size and discriminate among false positive findings 19 SNPs showing a trend of association in the initial screen were genotyped in a replication sample of 580 German sporadic ALS patients and 361 controls. We did not detect strong evidence of association with any of the genes investigated in the discovery sample (lowest uncorrected P-value 0.00037, lowest permutation corrected P-value 0.353). None of the suggestive associations was replicated in a second sample, further excluding variants with moderate effect size. We conclude that common variation in the investigated pathways is unlikely to have a major effect on susceptibility to sporadic ALS. The genotyping efficiency was only slightly decreased (∼1%) and genotyping quality was not affected using whole genome amplified DNA. It is reliable for large scale genotyping studies of diseases such as ALS, where DNA sample collections are limited because of low disease prevalence and short survival time. © 2007 The Author(s)

Perspectives in visual imaging for marine biology and ecology: from acquisition to understanding

Durden J, Schoening T, Althaus F, et al. Perspectives in Visual Imaging for Marine Biology and Ecology: From Acquisition to Understanding. In: Hughes RN, Hughes DJ, Smith IP, Dale AC, eds. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review. 54. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2016: 1-72

DES Y3 + KiDS-1000: Consistent cosmology combining cosmic shear surveys

We present a joint cosmic shear analysis of the Dark Energy Survey (DES Y3) and the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS-1000) in a collaborative effort between the two survey teams. We find consistent cosmological parameter constraints between DES Y3 and KiDS-1000 which, when combined in a joint-survey analysis, constrain the parameter $S_8 = \sigma_8 \sqrt{\Omega_{\rm m}/0.3}$ with a mean value of $0.790^{+0.018}_{-0.014}$. The mean marginal is lower than the maximum a posteriori estimate, $S_8=0.801$, owing to skewness in the marginal distribution and projection effects in the multi-dimensional parameter space. Our results are consistent with $S_8$ constraints from observations of the cosmic microwave background by Planck, with agreement at the $1.7\sigma$ level. We use a Hybrid analysis pipeline, defined from a mock survey study quantifying the impact of the different analysis choices originally adopted by each survey team. We review intrinsic alignment models, baryon feedback mitigation strategies, priors, samplers and models of the non-linear matter power spectrum.Comment: 38 pages, 21 figures, 15 tables, submitted to the Open Journal of Astrophysics. Watch the core team discuss this analysis at https://cosmologytalks.com/2023/05/26/des-kid

Search for a W ' boson decaying to a muon and a neutrino in pp collisions at √s =7 TeV

This is the Pre-Print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 ElsevierA new heavy gauge boson, W', decaying to a muon and a neutrino, is searched for in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass of 7 TeV. The data, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns. No significant excess of events above the standard model expectation is found in the transverse mass distribution of the muon-neutrino system. Masses below 1.40 TeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level for a sequential standard-model-like W'. The W' mass lower limit increases to 1.58 TeV when the present analysis is combined with the CMS result for the electron channel.This work is supported by the FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland, ME, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF and WCU (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTD (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA)

First measurement of hadronic event shapes in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV

This is the Pre-Print version of the Article - Copyright @ 2011 ElsevierHadronic event shapes have been measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV, with a data sample collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 inverse picobarns. Event-shape distributions, corrected for detector response, are compared with five models of QCD multijet production

Search for microscopic black hole signatures at the Large Hadron Collider

This is the Pre-Print version of the Article. The official published paper can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 ElsevierA search for microscopic black hole production and decay in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV has been conducted by the CMS Collaboration at the LHC, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 inverse picobarns. Events with large total transverse energy are analyzed for the presence of multiple high-energy jets, leptons, and photons, typical of a signal expected from a microscopic black hole. Good agreement with the expected standard model backgrounds, dominated by QCD multijet production, is observed for various final-state multiplicities. Limits on the minimum black hole mass are set, in the range 3.5 -- 4.5 TeV, for a variety of parameters in a model with large extra dimensions, along with model-independent limits on new physics in these final states. These are the first direct limits on black hole production at a particle accelerator.This work is supported by the FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland, ME, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF and WCU (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTD (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA)