Planetary meteorology Final report

Temperature profile, wind measurement, radiative heat transfer, and diurnal variations in Martian atmospher

Search for direct production of charginos, neutralinos and sleptons in final states with two leptons and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √s = 8TeV with the ATLAS detector

Searches for the electroweak production of charginos, neutralinos and sleptons in final states characterized by the presence of two leptons (electrons and muons) and missing transverse momentum are performed using 20.3 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at s√ = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess beyond Standard Model expectations is observed. Limits are set on the masses of the lightest chargino, next-to-lightest neutralino and sleptons for different lightest-neutralino mass hypotheses in simplified models. Results are also interpreted in various scenarios of the phenomenological Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

Percolation Effects in Very High Energy Cosmic Rays

Most QCD models of high energy collisions predict that the inelasticity $K$ is an increasing function of the energy. We argue that, due to percolation of strings, this behaviour will change and, at $\sqrt{s} \simeq 10^4$ GeV, the inelasticity will start to decrease with the energy. This has straightforward consequences in high energy cosmic ray physics: 1) the relative depth of the shower maximum $\bar{X}$ grows faster with energy above the knee; 2) the energy measurements of ground array experiments at GZK energies could be overestimated.Comment: Correction of equation (19) and figures 3 and 4. 4 pages, 4 figure

Infection and exposure to vector-borne pathogens in rural dogs and their ticks, Uganda

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.[Background]: In rural parts of Africa, dogs live in close association with humans and livestock, roam freely, and usually do not receive prophylactic measures. Thus, they are a source of infectious disease for humans and for wildlife such as protected carnivores. In 2011, an epidemiological study was carried out around three conservation areas in Uganda to detect the presence and determine the prevalence of vector-borne pathogens in rural dogs and associated ticks to evaluate the risk that these pathogens pose to humans and wildlife. [Methods]: Serum samples (n=105), blood smears (n=43) and blood preserved on FTA cards (n=38) and ticks (58 monospecific pools of Haemaphysalis leachi and Rhipicephalus praetextatus including 312 ticks from 52 dogs) were collected from dogs. Dog sera were tested by indirect immunofluorescence to detect the presence of antibodies against Rickettsia conorii and Ehrlichia canis. Antibodies against R. conorii were also examined by indirect enzyme immunoassay. Real time PCR for the detection of Rickettsia spp., Anaplasmataceae, Bartonella spp. and Babesia spp. was performed in DNA extracted from FTA cards and ticks. [Results]: 99 % of the dogs were seropositive to Rickettsia spp. and 29.5 % to Ehrlichia spp. Molecular analyses revealed that 7.8 % of the blood samples were infected with Babesia rossi, and all were negative for Rickettsia spp. and Ehrlichia spp. Ticks were infected with Rickettsia sp. (18.9 %), including R. conorii and R. massiliae; Ehrlichia sp. (18.9 %), including E. chaffeensis and Anaplasma platys; and B. rossi (1.7 %). Bartonella spp. was not detected in any of the blood or tick samples. [Conclusions]: This study confirms the presence of previously undetected vector-borne pathogens of humans and animals in East Africa. We recommend that dog owners in rural Uganda be advised to protect their animals against ectoparasites to prevent the transmission of pathogens to humans and wildlife.This study received partial support from the project CGL2010-17931.Peer Reviewe

3-200 keV spectral states and variability of the INTEGRAL Black Hole binary IGR J17464-3213

On March 2003, IBIS, the gamma-ray imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite, detected an outburst from a new source, IGR J17464-3213, that turned out to be a HEAO-1 transient, H1743-322. In this paper we report on the high energy behaviour of this BHC studied with the three main instruments onboard INTEGRAL. The data, collected with unprecedented sensitivity in the hard X-Ray range, show a quite hard Comptonised emission from 3 keV up to 150 keV during the rising part of the source outburst, with no thermal emission detectable. A few days later, a prominent soft disk multicolour component appears, with the hard tail luminosity almost unchanged: 10-9 erg*cm-2*s-1. Two months later, during a second monitoring campaign near the end of the outburst, the observed disk component was unchanged. Conversely, the Comptonised emission from the central-hot part of the disk reduced by a factor of 10. We present here its long term behaviour in different energy ranges and the combined JEM-X, SPI and IBIS wide band spectral evolution of this source.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for pubblication in AP

Artropodofauna de solo com potencial de uso em programas de controle biológico de pragas em cultivos alternativos de palma de óleo (Elaeis Guineensis).

Avaliou-se a diversidade de artrópodes benéficos (ênfase em insetos) associada à palma de óleo (Elaeis guineensis) cultivada em monocultivo e em sistemas agroflorestais (biodiversificados), com diferentes combinações de preparo de área sem o uso do fogo, no município de Tomé-Açu, Pará. Nos sistemas estudados foram realizadas coletas mensais entre maio de 2009 e janeiro de 2010, utilizando-se armadilhas tipo pitfall, para a captura de artrópodes de solo. As armadilhas permaneceram no campo por 72 horas e após esse período, o material biológico coletado foi processado e transportado para o Laboratório de Entomologia da Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, em Belém, Pará, onde foi triado, quantificado e identificado ao menor nível taxonômico possível. Plantios de palma de óleo biodiversificados com um ano de idade não apresentaram diferenças significativas de ocorrência para os principais grupos de inimigos naturais de solo (Araneae, Coleoptera e Hymenoptera) quando comparados com o plantio convencional solteiro. Entretanto, sistemas biodiversificados apresentaram maiores populações e diversidade de predadores e parasitóides com o potencial de controle biológico de insetos-praga em plantios de palma de óleo. Independente do sistema de cultivo adotado, nossos resultados demonstram que não é possível identificar diferenças nas populações de artrópodes de solo associadas a plantas de palma de óleo no primeiro ano de cultivo.Editores técnicos: Roberto Porro, Milton Kanashiro, Maria do Socorro Gonçalves Ferreira, Leila Sobral Sampaio e Gladys Ferreira de Sousa