Taitaia, a novel lichenicolous fungus in tropical montane forests in Kenya (East Africa)

During lichenological explorations of tropical montane forests in Kenya, a remarkable new lichenicolous fungus was repeatedly found growing on thalli of the epiphytic tripartite cyanolichen Crocodia cf. clathrata. Molecular phylogenetic analyses placed the fungus within Gomphillaceae (Ostropales, Lecanoromycetes), a family mainly of lichen-symbiotic species in the tropics. The anatomical features (unitunicate, non-amyloid asci and simple, septate paraphyses) as well as the hemiangiocarpic ascoma development confirm its taxonomic affinity. DNA sequence data showed the closest relationship was with Gyalidea fritzei, followed by Corticifraga peltigerae. A monotypic genus, Taitaia, is introduced to incorporate a single species, T. aurea. The new fungus is characterized by aggregated ascomata with yellow margins and salmon red discs developing from a single base.Peer reviewe

The Lichen Genus Sticta (Lobariaceae, Peltigerales) in East African Montane Ecosystems

The lichen flora of Africa is still poorly known. In many parts of the tropics, recent studies utilizing DNA methods have revealed extraordinary diversity among various groups of lichenized fungi, including the genus Sticta. In this study, East African Sticta species and their ecology are reviewed using the genetic barcoding marker nuITS and morphological characters. The studied regions represent montane areas in Kenya and Tanzania, including the Taita Hills and Mt. Kilimanjaro, which belong to the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot. Altogether 14 Sticta species are confirmed from the study region, including the previously reported S. fuliginosa, S. sublimbata, S. tomentosa, and S. umbilicariiformis. Sticta andina, S. ciliata, S. duplolimbata, S. fuliginoides, and S. marginalis are reported as new to Kenya and/or Tanzania. Sticta afromontana, S. aspratilis, S. cellulosa, S. cyanocaperata, and S. munda, are described as new to science. The abundance of new diversity detected and the number of taxa represented by only few specimens show that more comprehensive sampling of the region may be needed to reveal the true diversity of Sticta in East Africa. More generally, our results highlight the need for further taxonomic studies of lichenized fungi in the region

Diversity of Leptogium (Collemataceae, Ascomycota) in East African Montane Ecosystems

Tropical mountains and especially their forests are hot spots of biodiversity threatened by human population pressure and climate change. The diversity of lichens in tropical Africa is especially poorly known. Here we use the mtSSU and nuITS molecular markers together with morphology and ecology to assess Leptogium (Peltigerales, Ascomycota) diversity in the tropical mountains of Taita Hills and Mt. Kasigau in Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The sampled habitats cover a wide range of ecosystems from savanna to alpine heath vegetation and from relatively natural forests to agricultural environments and plantation forests. We demonstrate that Leptogium diversity in Africa is much higher than previously known and provide preliminary data on over 70 putative species, including nine established species previously known from the area and over 60 phylogenetically, morphologically, and/or ecologically defined Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs). Many traditional species concepts are shown to represent morphotypes comprised of several taxa. Many of the species were only found from specific ecosystems and/or restricted habitats and are thus threatened by ongoing habitat fragmentation and degradation of the natural environment. Our results emphasize the importance of molecular markers in species inventories of highly diverse organism groups and geographical areas

Diversity of Leptogium (Collemataceae, Ascomycota) in East African Montane Ecosystems

Tropical mountains and especially their forests are hot spots of biodiversity threatened by human population pressure and climate change. The diversity of lichens in tropical Africa is especially poorly known. Here we use the mtSSU and nuITS molecular markers together with morphology and ecology to assess Leptogium (Peltigerales, Ascomycota) diversity in the tropical mountains of Taita Hills and Mt. Kasigau in Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The sampled habitats cover a wide range of ecosystems from savanna to alpine heath vegetation and from relatively natural forests to agricultural environments and plantation forests. We demonstrate that Leptogium diversity in Africa is much higher than previously known and provide preliminary data on over 70 putative species, including nine established species previously known from the area and over 60 phylogenetically, morphologically, and/or ecologically defined Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs). Many traditional species concepts are shown to represent morphotypes comprised of several taxa. Many of the species were only found from specific ecosystems and/or restricted habitats and are thus threatened by ongoing habitat fragmentation and degradation of the natural environment. Our results emphasize the importance of molecular markers in species inventories of highly diverse organism groups and geographical areas

An annotated checklist of vascular plants of Cherangani hills, Western Kenya

Cherangani hills, located in Western Kenya, comprises of 12 forest blocks, maintaining great plant diversity. However, little attention to plant diversity studies has been paid to it in the past years. Here, we present a checklist of the vascular plants of this region obtained through intensive field investigations and matching of herbarium specimens. In total, 1296 species, including 17 endemic species are documented, belonging to 130 families and 608 genera. This flora represents 18.50%, 43.83% and 54.17% of the Kenyan species, genera and families, respectively. The habit, habitat and voucher specimens, as well as brief notes on the distribution of each taxon recorded are presented in this checklist. It is the first exhaustive inventory of the terrestrial vascular plants in Cherangani hills which is a significant regional centre for plant diversity

Complete Chloroplast Genomes of Acanthochlamys bracteata (China) and Xerophyta (Africa) (Velloziaceae): Comparative Genomics and Phylogenomic Placement

Acanthochlamys P.C. Kao is a Chinese endemic monotypic genus, whereas XerophytaJuss. is a genus endemic to Africa mainland, Arabian Peninsula and Madagascar with ca.70 species. In this recent study, the complete chloroplast genome of Acanthochlamys bracteata was sequenced and its genome structure compared with two African Xerophyta species (Xerophyta spekei and Xerophyta viscosa) present in the NCBI database. The genomes showed a quadripartite structure with their sizes ranging from 153,843 bp to 155,498 bp, having large single-copy (LSC) and small single-copy (SSC) regions divided by a pair of inverted repeats (IR regions). The total number of genes found in A. bracteata, X. spekei and X. viscosa cp genomes are 129, 130, and 132, respectively. About 50, 29, 28 palindromic, forward and reverse repeats and 90, 59, 53 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were found in the A. bracteata, X. spekei, and X. viscosa cp genome, respectively. Nucleotide diversity analysis in all species was 0.03501, Ka/Ks ratio average score was calculated to be 0.26, and intergeneric K2P value within the Order Pandanales was averaged to be 0.0831. Genomic characterization was undertaken by comparing the genomes of the three species of Velloziaceae and it revealed that the coding regions were more conserved than the non-coding regions. However, key variations were noted mostly at the junctions of IRs/SSC regions. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that A. bracteata species has a closer genetic relationship to the genus Xerophyta. The present study reveals the complete chloroplast genome of A. bracteata and gives a genomic comparative analysis with the African species of Xerophyta. Thus, can be useful in developing DNA markers for use in the study of genetic variabilities and evolutionary studies in Velloziaceae

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Search for heavy resonances decaying to two Higgs bosons in final states containing four b quarks

A search is presented for narrow heavy resonances X decaying into pairs of Higgs bosons (H) in proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at root s = 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The search considers HH resonances with masses between 1 and 3 TeV, having final states of two b quark pairs. Each Higgs boson is produced with large momentum, and the hadronization products of the pair of b quarks can usually be reconstructed as single large jets. The background from multijet and t (t) over bar events is significantly reduced by applying requirements related to the flavor of the jet, its mass, and its substructure. The signal would be identified as a peak on top of the dijet invariant mass spectrum of the remaining background events. No evidence is observed for such a signal. Upper limits obtained at 95 confidence level for the product of the production cross section and branching fraction sigma(gg -> X) B(X -> HH -> b (b) over barb (b) over bar) range from 10 to 1.5 fb for the mass of X from 1.15 to 2.0 TeV, significantly extending previous searches. For a warped extra dimension theory with amass scale Lambda(R) = 1 TeV, the data exclude radion scalar masses between 1.15 and 1.55 TeV

Measurement of the top quark mass using charged particles in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Measurement of the top quark forward-backward production asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric and chromomagnetic moments in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract The parton-level top quark (t) forward-backward asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric (d̂ t) and chromomagnetic (μ̂ t) moments have been measured using LHC pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in the CMS detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The linearized variable AFB(1) is used to approximate the asymmetry. Candidate t t ¯ events decaying to a muon or electron and jets in final states with low and high Lorentz boosts are selected and reconstructed using a fit of the kinematic distributions of the decay products to those expected for t t ¯ final states. The values found for the parameters are AFB(1)=0.048−0.087+0.095(stat)−0.029+0.020(syst),μ̂t=−0.024−0.009+0.013(stat)−0.011+0.016(syst), and a limit is placed on the magnitude of | d̂ t| < 0.03 at 95% confidence level. [Figure not available: see fulltext.