Morphophysiological Plasticity Of Plagiotropic Branches In Response To Change In The Coffee Plant Spacing Within Rows

Changes in spacing within rows may alter the morphology of the coffee plant by affecting the physiological constituents of its productivity. Even though some common plant responses to crop spacing variation are known, there is yet no scientific evidence that elucidates the effects of decreased spacing on the sourcesink relation in plagiotropic branches and, its association with both productivity and eco-physiological aspects of coffee leaves, mainly for new coffee cultivars in the Brazilian savannah. The aim of this work was to characterize the morphophysiological responses of Coffea arabica L. cultivars subjected to different spacing between plants within rows. Four Arabica coffee cultivars (Catuaí Vermelho IAC 144, Catuaí Amarelo IAC 62, Catuaí Amarelo IAC 32, and Tupi RN IAC 1669-13) were transplanted in January 2010. A row spacing of 0.40, 0.50, 0.60, 0.70, and 0.80 m was adopted between plants, maintaining a 3.80-m constant between rows. A randomized block design with four replicates was applied. During the experimental period, several morphophysiological characteristics of plagiotropic fruiting branches were evaluated in the months of April and December in 2013 and, in April 2014. The evaluation was conducted based on two canopy positions; canopy toward the rows, representing low exposure to light or toward the inter-row spacing, representing high light exposure. Leaf gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, and photosynthetic pigments levels were minimally or not at all affected by changing either the coffee cultivars or plant spacing. During the first evaluation, the leaf-to-fruitratio linearly increased, regardless of the cultivar. Light-exposed branches showed higher content of carotenoids and chlorophyll a in leaves and lower leaf-to-fruit-ratio as compared to those within the plant canopy. A major reduction in the number of fruits per branch was observed which was closely related to a parallel decrease in the number of fruits per node but not in the number of fruiting nodes per branch. Although this response was largely cultivar-dependent, it also changed according to the branch position in the hedgerow. Our results suggest that all tested cultivars exhibit high morphophysiological plasticity and have the potential to grow under different plant spacing within rows.3763819383

Scattering map for two black holes

We study the motion of light in the gravitational field of two Schwarzschild black holes, making the approximation that they are far apart, so that the motion of light rays in the neighborhood of one black hole can be considered to be the result of the action of each black hole separately. Using this approximation, the dynamics is reduced to a 2-dimensional map, which we study both numerically and analytically. The map is found to be chaotic, with a fractal basin boundary separating the possible outcomes of the orbits (escape or falling into one of the black holes). In the limit of large separation distances, the basin boundary becomes a self-similar Cantor set, and we find that the box-counting dimension decays slowly with the separation distance, following a logarithmic decay law.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, uses REVTE

Shear Viscosity to Entropy Density Ratio in Six Derivative Gravity

We calculate shear viscosity to entropy density ratio in presence of four derivative (with coefficient $\alpha'$) and six derivative (with coefficient $\alpha'^2$) terms in bulk action. In general, there can be three possible four derivative terms and ten possible six derivative terms in the Lagrangian. Among them two four derivative and eight six derivative terms are ambiguous, i.e., these terms can be removed from the action by suitable field redefinitions. Rest are unambiguous. According to the AdS/CFT correspondence all the unambiguous coefficients (coefficients of unambiguous terms) can be fixed in terms of field theory parameters. Therefore, any measurable quantities of boundary theory, for example shear viscosity to entropy density ratio, when calculated holographically can be expressed in terms of unambiguous coefficients in the bulk theory (or equivalently in terms of boundary parameters). We calculate $\eta/s$ for generic six derivative gravity and find that apparently it depends on few ambiguous coefficients at order $\alpha'^2$. We calculate six derivative corrections to central charges $a$ and $c$ and express $\eta/s$ in terms of these central charges and unambiguous coefficients in the bulk theory.Comment: 29 pages, no figure, V2, results and typos correcte

Evidence for the Gompertz Curve in the Income Distribution of Brazil 1978-2005

This work presents an empirical study of the evolution of the personal income distribution in Brazil. Yearly samples available from 1978 to 2005 were studied and evidence was found that the complementary cumulative distribution of personal income for 99% of the economically less favorable population is well represented by a Gompertz curve of the form $G(x)=\exp [\exp (A-Bx)]$, where $x$ is the normalized individual income. The complementary cumulative distribution of the remaining 1% richest part of the population is well represented by a Pareto power law distribution $P(x)= \beta x^{-\alpha}$. This result means that similarly to other countries, Brazil's income distribution is characterized by a well defined two class system. The parameters $A$, $B$, $\alpha$, $\beta$ were determined by a mixture of boundary conditions, normalization and fitting methods for every year in the time span of this study. Since the Gompertz curve is characteristic of growth models, its presence here suggests that these patterns in income distribution could be a consequence of the growth dynamics of the underlying economic system. In addition, we found out that the percentage share of both the Gompertzian and Paretian components relative to the total income shows an approximate cycling pattern with periods of about 4 years and whose maximum and minimum peaks in each component alternate at about every 2 years. This finding suggests that the growth dynamics of Brazil's economic system might possibly follow a Goodwin-type class model dynamics based on the application of the Lotka-Volterra equation to economic growth and cycle.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables. LaTeX. Accepted for publication in "The European Physical Journal B

Hypotensive effect and endothelium-dependent vascular action of leaves of Alpinia purpurata (Vieill) K. Schum

The aims of this study were to evaluate the chemical profile, vascular reactivity, and acute hypotensive effect (AHE) of the ethanolic extract of leaves of Alpinia purpurata (Vieill) K. Schum (EEAP). Its chemical profile was evaluated using HPLC-UV, ICP-OES, and colorimetric quantification of total flavonoids and polyphenols. The vascular reactivity of the extract was determined using the mesenteric bed isolated from WKY. AHE dose-response curves were obtained for both EEAP and inorganic material isolated from AP (IAP) in WKY and SHR animals. Cytotoxic and mutagenic safety levels were determined by the micronucleus test. Rutin-like flavonoids were quantified in the EEAP (1.8 ± 0.03%), and the total flavonoid and polyphenol ratios were 4.1 ± 1.8% and 5.1 ± 0.3%, respectively. We observed that the vasodilation action of EEAP was partially mediated by nitric oxide (·NO). The IAP showed the presence of calcium (137.76 ± 4.08 μg mg-1). The EEAP and IAP showed an AHE in WKY and SHR animals. EEAP did not have cytotoxic effects or cause chromosomic alterations. The AHE shown by EEAP could result from its endothelium-dependent vascular action. Rutin-like flavonoids, among other polyphenols, could contribute to these biological activities, and the calcium present in EEAP could act in a synergistic way

Vasodilator activity of extracts of field Alpinia purpurata (Vieill) K: Schum and A. zerumbet (Pers.) Burtt et Smith cultured in vitro

Nowadays, the high blood pressure is one of the main causes of death and cardiovascular diseases. Vasodilator drugs are frequently used to treat arterial hypertension. Experiments were undertaken to determine whether hydroalcoholic extracts obtained from leaves of field-grown Alpinia purpurata and A. zerumbet cultured in vitro under different plant growth regulators induce a vasodilator effect on Wistar rat mesenteric vascular bed pre-contracted with norepinephrine. Plant extracts were able to induce a long-lasting endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Efficiency on activity of A. purpurata reached 87% at concentration of 60 μg. The extract of A. zerumbet maintained in medium containing IAA, induced the relaxation (17.4%) at 90 μg, as compared to the control (MS0) that showed a better vasodilator effect (60%). These results are in agreement with the quantification of phenolic compounds in the extracts, which were 50% lower for those plants cultured in IAA. A. purpurata was assayed for the first time in relation to its vasodilator activity. This paper showed a strong probability of correlation between the pharmacological activities of A. purpurata with their content in phenolic compounds.Atualmente, a hipertensão arterial é uma das maiores causas de morte e de doenças cardiovasculares. Os vasodilatadores são freqüentemente utilizados no tratamento da hipertensão. Extratos hidroalcoólicos de Alpinia purpurata de campo e de A. zerumbet cultivada in vitro sob diferentes reguladores de crescimento vegetal foram ensaiados no leito mesentérico de ratos Wistar. Os extratos de A. purpurata e A. zerumbet produziram efeito vasodilatador com padrão de resposta dose-dependente de duração prolongada. Extratos da espécie A. purpurata tiveram efeito vasodilatador de 87% na dose de 60 μg. O extrato obtido de folhas de A. zerumbet oriundas das culturas mantidas em meio contendo AIA (ácido indol acético) inibiu o relaxamento (17,4%) na dose de 90 μg em relação ao controle (MS0), com o qual foi verificado melhor efeito vasodilatador (60%). Estes resultados estão de acordo com a concentração de fenóis totais que foi 50% menor para os extratos de plantas cultivadas in vitro em AIA. A espécie A. purpurata foi pela primeira vez ensaiada quanto à atividade vasodilatadora. Os resultados obtidos indicaram a presença de substâncias fenólicas provavelmente correlacionadas à ação terapêutica de A. purpurata

Demonstration of the temporal matter-wave Talbot effect for trapped matter waves

We demonstrate the temporal Talbot effect for trapped matter waves using ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. We investigate the phase evolution of an array of essentially non-interacting matter waves and observe matter-wave collapse and revival in the form of a Talbot interference pattern. By using long expansion times, we image momentum space with sub-recoil resolution, allowing us to observe fractional Talbot fringes up to 10th order.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure