Light and Kno3 on Tridax procumbens seed germination at constant and alternating temperatures

Poucos são os estudos relacionados à germinação de espécies de plantas daninhas tropicais, incluindo-se a de Tridax procumbens, apesar de sua importância como infestante em áreas de lavoura. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito de luz e KNO3 sobre a germinação de sementes de T. procumbens em temperatura constante e alternada. Quatro subamostras de 75 sementes foram submetidas ao teste de germinação utilizando-se uma combinação fatorial de luz (escuro; fotoperíodo de 12 horas diárias de luz) e umedecimento do substrato com solução de KNO3 (0% de KNO3; 0,2% de KNO3) para os ensaios na temperatura de 25 °C constante e alternada de 15 ºC/35 ºC, em delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado. Efetuou-se a contagem diária da germinação pela emissão da raiz primária, bem como as análises de porcentagem de germinação acumulada, velocidade de germinação e curva de germinação acumulada. Em temperatura constante, a luz contribuiu para aumentar a porcentagem e a velocidade de germinação, enquanto em temperaturas alternadas houve aumento na porcentagem e velocidade de germinação com a aplicação de KNO3, independentemente da presença ou ausência de luz. As curvas de germinação acumulada se ajustaram ao modelo logístico tanto a 25 ºC quanto a 15 ºC/35 ºC, demonstrando assincronia na germinação de sementes no tempo.There are few studies available on germination of tropical weed species, Tridax procumbens included, despite its importance as a crop weed. This study was carried out at the Laboratory of Plant Biophysics of Embrapa Cerrados, Planaltina, DF, to evaluate the effect of light and KNO3 on T. procumbens seed germination at constant and alternating temperatures. Four sub-samples of 75 seeds were submitted to a factorial combination of light (darkness; 12 daily hours of light photoperiod) and substrate moistened with KNO3 solution (0% of KNO3; 0.2% of KNO3) for the assays at 25 °C constant and 15 ºC/35 ºC alternating temperatures, arranged in a completely randomized experimental design. Seed germination was daily counted based on emission of primary roots, with accumulated germination percentage, germination speed and accumulated germination curve being evaluated. Light contributed to increase germination percentage and speed at constant temperature, while at alternating temperatures, increase of germination percentage and speed occurred with KNO3 application, regardless of the presence or absence of light. The accumulated germination curves at 25 ºC and 15 ºC/35 ºC were adjusted to the logistic model, showing seed germination asynchrony along time

Saturation physics at HERA and RHIC: An unified description

One of the frontiers of QCD which are intensely investigated in high energy experiments is the high energy (small $x$) regime, where we expect to observe the non-linear behavior of the theory. In this regime, the growth of the parton distribution should saturate, forming a Color Glass Condensate (CGC). In fact, signals of parton saturation have already been observed both in $ep$ deep inelastic scattering at HERA and in deuteron-gold collisions at RHIC. Currently, the description of the experimental data of these experiments is possible considering different phenomenological saturation models for the two processes within the CGC formalism. In this letter we analyze the universality of these dipole cross section parameterizations and verify that they are not able to describe the HERA and RHIC data simultaneously. We analyze possible improvements in the parameterizations and propose a new parametrization for the forward dipole amplitude which allows us to describe quite well the small-$x$ $ep$ HERA data on $F_2$ structure function as well as the $dAu$ RHIC data on charged hadron spectra. It is an important signature of the universality of the saturation physics.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures. Version to be published in Physics Letters

Could saturation effects be visible in a future electron-ion collider?

We expect to observe parton saturation in a future electron - ion collider. In this letter we discuss this expectation in more detail considering two different models which are in good agreement with the existing experimental data on nuclear structure functions. In particular, we study the predictions of saturation effects in electron - ion collisions at high energies, using a generalization for nuclear targets of the b-CGC model, which describes the $ep$ HERA quite well. We estimate the total, longitudinal and charm structure functions in the dipole picture and compare them with the predictions obtained using collinear factorization and modern sets of nuclear parton distributions. Our results show that inclusive observables are not very useful in the search for saturation effects. In the small $x$ region they are very difficult to disentangle from the predictions of the collinear approaches . This happens mainly because of the large uncertainties in the latter. On the other hand, our results indicate that the contribution of diffractive processes to the total cross section is about 20 % at large A and small Q^2, allowing for a detailed study of diffractive observables. The study of diffractive processes becomes essential to observe parton saturation.Comment: 7 pages 5 figure

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods: We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors—the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings: Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8% (95% CI 56·6–58·8) of global deaths and 41·2% (39·8–42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million [192·7 million to 231·1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million [134·2 million to 163·1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million [125·1 million to 163·5 million]), high BMI (120·1 million [83·8 million to 158·4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million [103·9 million to 123·4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million [90·8 million to 115·1 million]), high total cholesterol (88·7 million [74·6 million to 105·7 million]), household air pollution (85·6 million [66·7 million to 106·1 million]), alcohol use (85·0 million [77·2 million to 93·0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million [49·3 million to 127·5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation: Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Construction status and prospects of the Hyper-Kamiokande project

The Hyper-Kamiokande project is a 258-kton Water Cherenkov together with a 1.3-MW high-intensity neutrino beam from the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). The inner detector with 186-kton fiducial volume is viewed by 20-inch photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) and multi-PMT modules, and thereby provides state-of-the-art of Cherenkov ring reconstruction with thresholds in the range of few MeVs. The project is expected to lead to precision neutrino oscillation studies, especially neutrino CP violation, nucleon decay searches, and low energy neutrino astronomy. In 2020, the project was officially approved and construction of the far detector was started at Kamioka. In 2021, the excavation of the access tunnel and initial mass production of the newly developed 20-inch PMTs was also started. In this paper, we present a basic overview of the project and the latest updates on the construction status of the project, which is expected to commence operation in 2027