Study of the electron trigger efficiency of the CMS Experiment using test beam data

A study of the electron identification and selection efficiency of the L1 Trigger algorithm has been performed using the combined ECAL/HCAL test beam data. A detailed discussion of the electron isolation and its impact on the selection efficiency is presented. The L1 electron algorithm is studied for different beam energies and the results indicate that efficiencies of 98% or more can be achieved for electrons with energies between 15 and 100 GeV. The fraction of charged hadrons with energies from 3 up to 100 GeV rejected by the L1 electron trigger algorithm is estimated to be larger than 93%.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figure

Agronomic descriptors and ornamental potential of passion fruit species.

Abstract: Brazil has great variability, being one of the centers of origin of the genus Passiflora. Passion fruit has a multiple and diversified uses, being little explored as an ornamental plant in the country. The objective of this work was to characterize four passion fruit genotypes (two hybrid materials from the experimental field of passion fruit breeding program of the University of Brasília, and two passion fruit cultivars - BRS Sertão Forte and BRS Mel do Cerrado, both of them from Brazil), based on official and validated morphoagronomic descriptors for the identification of morphological aspects and ornamental potential, under field conditions, in the Distrito Federal, Brazil. The experiment consisted of a randomized block design, with four treatments, four replications, and six plants per plot. Plants were analyzed weekly regarding the characteristics of the branches, leaf blade, petiole, and flowers, with 24 measurements of each structure in the four treatments, which were recorded using a digital camera. Flowers presented pronounced size and color, colored branches, and leaves of varying sizes and shapes. All materials studied showed commercial ornamental potential to be explored as new options for ornamental climbing plants

Seeds germination and early development of beggartick on extracted soil solution from an area with cover crops.

Plants produce and store many products of secondary metabolism that are released into the environment and can influence direct or indirectly on nearby organisms. Thus, this study investigated the allelopathic potential of extracted soil solution from an area with cover crops according to germination and early development of beggartick. Soil solution was extracted in an area where black oats, turnip and hairy vetch were grown. The concentrated solution was tested in sand substrate while the dilutions were tested in 100; 200; 300 and 400 ml L-1 germitest paper substrate, plus the control treatment on beggartick. Germination was tested for 10 days and the early development for 20 days. Twenty seeds or seedlings were distributed in gerbox, with three replications and the experimental design was completely randomized (CRD). Soil solution showed considerable changes on beggartick germination only in the last collections, mainly with extracted solution in an area cropped with turnip and hairy vetch. The results, in this case, were more significant when germitest was used than with sand substrate. Therefore, it is recommended these cover crops in crop rotation, aiming to reduce beggartick infestation in a long term

Effect of the environment on zinc and iron levels in common beans.

To characterize Zn and Fe high content promising bean lines concerning genotype x environment (GxE) interaction, those mineral contents have to be evaluated for a certain number of years in various locations and cropping seasons to get a reliable estimate of that interaction. That procedure would allow the identification of genotypes with high stability for those nutrient contents, giving more confidence to breeders when new biofortified cultivars are to be released

Theoretical analysis of the role of chromatin interactions in long-range action of enhancers and insulators

Long-distance regulatory interactions between enhancers and their target genes are commonplace in higher eukaryotes. Interposed boundaries or insulators are able to block these long distance regulatory interactions. The mechanistic basis for insulator activity and how it relates to enhancer action-at-a-distance remains unclear. Here we explore the idea that topological loops could simultaneously account for regulatory interactions of distal enhancers and the insulating activity of boundary elements. We show that while loop formation is not in itself sufficient to explain action at a distance, incorporating transient non-specific and moderate attractive interactions between the chromatin fibers strongly enhances long-distance regulatory interactions and is sufficient to generate a euchromatin-like state. Under these same conditions, the subdivision of the loop into two topologically independent loops by insulators inhibits inter-domain interactions. The underlying cause of this effect is a suppression of crossings in the contact map at intermediate distances. Thus our model simultaneously accounts for regulatory interactions at a distance and the insulator activity of boundary elements. This unified model of the regulatory roles of chromatin loops makes several testable predictions that could be confronted with \emph{in vitro} experiments, as well as genomic chromatin conformation capture and fluorescent microscopic approaches.Comment: 10 pages, originally submitted to an (undisclosed) journal in May 201