Microscopic fungi of wheat grain in the Polissya zone

The article presents the data on the quantitative and qualitative composition of micromycetes of wheat grain grown in the Polissya region. During the research period, an average of 2.88-104 ± 3.62-103 colony forming units (CFU) per 1 g of grain was found in wheat grain samples collected in the Polissya region. Twenty species of microscopic fungi belonging to 9 genera were isolated from the wheat grain of the Polissya zone. Among them were the genera Alternaria (92.5 %), Mucor (92.5 %), Aspergillus (83.0 %), Penicillium (47.2 %), Fusarium (60.4 %), Phoma (15,.1 %), Mycelia (15.1 %), Trichotecium (1.9 %) and Monascus (1.9 %) of the samples. Aspergillus niger (17.0 %), Aspergillus candidus (9.4 %), and Aspergillus terreus (1.9 %) were detected less frequently among Aspergillus. Fusarium spp. (17.0 %), Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium moniliforme, Fusarium semitectum in (5.7 %), and Fusarium culmorum (3.8 %) of the samples were identified among Fusarium. A smaller number of microscopic fungi species represents the endophytic mycobiota of wheat grain. Among the isolates of micromycetes isolated from the Polissya zone, pure cultures were obtained from F. sporotrichiella var. tricinctum isolate 1218/4, and F. sporotrichiella isolate 1218/5. These isolates were atoxic against the test culture Candida pseudotropicalis strain 44 PC, but F. sporotrichiella var. tricinctum 1218/4 produced a growth retardation zone with Rf 0.05 and produced an unidentified trichothecene mycotoxin (TTMT). Among the isolated fungi, Aspergillus flavus isolate 1219/3 and Aspergillus flavus isolate 1221/1 were the first to produce kojic and aspergillic acids and the second to synthesize penicillic and aspergillic acids. To reduce the negative effect of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol on the body of chickens of the meat and egg breed Adler Silver, the birds were fed the sorbent “Mikosorb”. It was found that when added to the diet, the sorbent “Mikosorb” in the amount of 2.0 % of the total feed weight reduces the negative effect of deoxynivalenol on the body of chickens of the experimental group. This was confirmed by a 12.0 % reduction in bird mortality. Feeding “Microsorb” in the amount of 2.0 % by weight of complete feed contributed to an increase in the average daily weight gain of poultry during the experiment by 5.43 % compared to the experimental group that consumed feed with the toxin deoxynivalenol (DON). During the experiment, the birds of the experimental group No. 2 consumed 28.91 kg of feed more than group No. 2. Feeding the sorbent “Mikosorb” in the amount of 2.0 % of the feed weight to chickens of the meat and egg breed Adler silver contributes to an increase in gross weight gain by 9.69 kg during the experiment. The use of “Mikosorb” in the technology of feeding chickens of experimental group No. 2 contributed to an increase in the profitability of poultry production by up to 12.0 % compared to poultry that consumed feed affected by DON toxin. After analyzing the scientific results from the literature and our research results, we concluded that the abovementioned studies on wheat grain should be carried out throughout Ukraine during harvesting and storage in warehouses or storages

Geological-morphological description of the Sedna and Guinevre planitiae on Venus (photomap sheets B-11, B-20, B-21)

Presented are descriptions and maps of the region of Sedna and Guinevra Planitiae--representatives of the largest geological providense on Venus comprised of volcanic rock. Units of different age are isolated and their relations are given, as well as interpretations of proposed mechanisms of formation

Geological-morphological description of the Ishtar Terra (photomap of the Venusian surface sheet B-5)

The main part of the Ishtar Terra east of the Maxwell Montes is covered with systems of areal dislocations of several directions, which are called Parquet. According to the structural patterns these may be divided into: (1) the central stable block; (2) the lesser peripheral blocks separated from the central one by gaps and grabens; (3) the zones of mobilized parquet, whose substance flowed downward at an incline in the directions away from the central block in the form of plastic flows; and (4) the partially parqueted lava sheets. The Maxwell Montes were formed as a result of the collision between the central parquet block and the Lakshmi Planum

Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay in 136^{136}Xe with EXO-200

We report on a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{136}$Xe with EXO-200. No signal is observed for an exposure of 32.5 kg-yr, with a background of ~1.5 x 10^{-3} /(kg yr keV) in the $\pm 1\sigma$ region of interest. This sets a lower limit on the half-life of the neutrinoless double-beta decay $T_{1/2}^{0\nu\beta\beta}$($^{136}$Xe) > 1.6 x 10$^{25}$ yr (90% CL), corresponding to effective Majorana masses of less than 140-380 meV, depending on the matrix element calculation

Deep Neural Networks for Energy and Position Reconstruction in EXO-200

We apply deep neural networks (DNN) to data from the EXO-200 experiment. In the studied cases, the DNN is able to reconstruct the relevant parameters - total energy and position - directly from raw digitized waveforms, with minimal exceptions. For the first time, the developed algorithms are evaluated on real detector calibration data. The accuracy of reconstruction either reaches or exceeds what was achieved by the conventional approaches developed by EXO-200 over the course of the experiment. Most existing DNN approaches to event reconstruction and classification in particle physics are trained on Monte Carlo simulated events. Such algorithms are inherently limited by the accuracy of the simulation. We describe a unique approach that, in an experiment such as EXO-200, allows to successfully perform certain reconstruction and analysis tasks by training the network on waveforms from experimental data, either reducing or eliminating the reliance on the Monte Carlo.Comment: Accepted version. 33 pages, 28 figure

Investigation of radioactivity-induced backgrounds in EXO-200

The search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0{\nu}{\beta}{\beta}) requires extremely low background and a good understanding of their sources and their influence on the rate in the region of parameter space relevant to the 0{\nu}{\beta}{\beta} signal. We report on studies of various {\beta}- and {\gamma}-backgrounds in the liquid- xenon-based EXO-200 0{\nu}{\beta}{\beta} experiment. With this work we try to better understand the location and strength of specific background sources and compare the conclusions to radioassay results taken before and during detector construction. Finally, we discuss the implications of these studies for EXO-200 as well as for the next-generation, tonne-scale nEXO detector.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 3 table