Estimation of soil phosphorus availability via visible and near-infrared spectroscopy

Spectroscopic techniques have great potential to evaluate soil properties. However, there are still questions regarding the applicability of spectroscopy to analyze soil phosphorous (P) availability, especially in tropical soils with low nutrient contents. Therefore, this study evaluated the possibility to estimate P availability in soil and its pools (labile, moderately labile and non-labile) via Vis-NIR spectroscopy based on intra-field calibration. We used soils from two different locations, a plot experiment that received application of phosphate fertilizers (Field-A) and a cultivated field where a grid soil sampling was performed (Field-B). We used the technique of diffuse reflectance in the visible and near-infrared (Vis-NIR) to obtain the spectra of soil samples. Predictive modeling for P availability and labile, moderately labile and non-labile pools of P in soil were obtained via partial least squares (PLS) regression; classification modeling was performed via Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) on three P availability levels in order to overcome the limitation on quantifying P via Vis-NIR spectroscopy. We found that isolating P contents as the only variable (Field-A), Vis-NIR spectroscopy does not allow estimating P pools in the soil. In addition, quantification of P available in the soil via predictive modeling has limitations in tropical soils. On the other hand, estimating P content in soil through classes of availability is a feasible and promising alternative

Resposta da cana‑de‑açúcar a doses de nitrogênio estimada por sensor de refletância do dossel

The objective of this work was to evaluate whether a canopy sensor is capable of estimating sugarcane response to N, as well as to propose strategies for handling the data generated by this device during the decision‑making process for crop N fertilization. Four N rate‑response experiments were carried out, with N rates varying from 0 to 240 kg ha-1. Two evaluations with the canopy sensor were performed when the plants reached average stalk height of 0.3 and 0.5 m. Only two experiments showed stalk yield response to N rates. The canopy sensor was able to identify the crop response to different N rates and the relationship of the nutrient with sugarcane yield. The response index values obtained from the canopy sensor readings were useful in assessing sugarcane response to the applied N rate. Canopy reflectance sensors can help to identify areas responsive to N fertilization and, therefore, improve sugarcane fertilizer management.O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar se um sensor de dossel é capaz de estimar a resposta da cana‑de‑açúcar ao N, bem como propor estratégias para tratar os dados gerados pelo equipamento durante o processo de tomada de decisão para a adubação nitrogenada da cultura. Foram conduzidos quatro experimentos de dose‑resposta ao N, com doses de N que variaram de 0 a 240 kg ha-1. Duas avaliações foram realizadas com o sensor de dossel quando as plantas alcançaram altura média de colmos de 0,3 e 0,5 m. Apenas dois experimentos mostraram resposta ao N aplicado em termos de produtividade de colmos. O sensor foi capaz de identificar a resposta da cultura a diferentes doses de N e a relação do nutriente com a produtividade da cana. Os índices de resposta obtidos pelas leituras do sensor foram úteis em avaliar a resposta da cana‑de‑açúcar ao N aplicado. Sensores de dossel podem auxiliar na identificação de áreas responsivas à aplicação de N e, consequentemente, melhorar o manejo da fertilização nitrogenada da cana‑de‑açúcar

Auditory stimulation with Mozart sonata k-448 and heavy metal music improves short-term memory in rats

Objectives. We aimed to assess the effect of both classical and heavy metal music on short-term and long-term memory. Methods. Male rats were separated into three groups: Mozart (n=14), rats were exposed to Mozart´s K-448 piano sonata; Heavy Metal (n=15), rats were exposed to Psychosocial (band: Slipknot), and Control (n=12), rats were exposed to ambient sounds in an acoustically isolated room. The animals were exposed to the music for 8 hours per day, between 10:00 pm to 06:00 am, with an intensity of 50-75 dB, for 61 consecutive days. Twenty-four hours after the final day of adjustment to the enclosure the animals were individually exposed for 5 minutes in the enclosure to explore two identical objects. Ninety minutes after the object recognition training session, the animals were submitted to the short-term memory test and twenty-eight days after the object recognition training session, the animals were submitted to a long-term memory test. Results. There was no modification amongst the three groups during the object recognition training. Regarding the short-term memory test both Mozart (U=33.00, p=0.016, FDR-corrected) and Heavy Metal (U=44.00, p=0.033, FDR-corrected) groups revealed a higher percentage value of significance compared to the control group. In contrast, there was no significant change in relation to the long-term memory test. Conclusion. Mozart Sonata K-448 and heavy metal music achieved beneficial effects on the short-term memory in rats

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson

Measurement of the inclusive isolated prompt photon cross-section in pp collisions at sqrt(s)= 7 TeV using 35 pb-1 of ATLAS data

A measurement of the differential cross-section for the inclusive production of isolated prompt photons in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is presented. The measurement covers the pseudorapidity ranges |eta|<1.37 and 1.52<=|eta|<2.37 in the transverse energy range 45<=E_T<400GeV. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 35 pb-1, collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The yields of the signal photons are measured using a data-driven technique, based on the observed distribution of the hadronic energy in a narrow cone around the photon candidate and the photon selection criteria. The results are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and found to be in good agreement over four orders of magnitude in cross-section.Comment: 7 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 4 tables, final version published in Physics Letters