Attosecond time-resolved photoelectron holography

Ultrafast strong-field physics provides insight into quantum phenomena that evolve on an attosecond time scale, the most fundamental of which is quantum tunneling. The tunneling process initiates a range of strong field phenomena such as high harmonic generation (HHG), laser-induced electron diffraction, double ionization and photoelectron holography—all evolving during a fraction of the optical cycle. Here we apply attosecond photoelectron holography as a method to resolve the temporal properties of the tunneling process. Adding a weak second harmonic (SH) field to a strong fundamental laser field enables us to reconstruct the ionization times of photoelectrons that play a role in the formation of a photoelectron hologram with attosecond precision. We decouple the contributions of the two arms of the hologram and resolve the subtle differences in their ionization times, separated by only a few tens of attoseconds

Nesting biologies of oxaeine bees.

31 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm. "Appendix: Postdefecating larva of the cleptoparasitic bees Thalestria spinosa (Fabricius) and Triepeolus kathrynae Rozen (Apidae, Nomadinae, Epeolini)": pages 28-31.This study encompasses a number of field encounters by the author and others with nests of representatives of three of the four genera of the little-known New World andrenid subfamily Oxaeinae. Species treated include Protoxaea gloriosa Fox, Oxaea flavescens Klug, O. austera Gerstaecker, and Mesoxaea nigerrima (Friese), leaving the nesting biology of only the monotypic genus Notoxaea completely unknown. Nests, all subterranean, are described and diaƠgrammed, and each is reported to consist of a moderately to very deep main burrow with vertical cells occurring at the lower end attached to the main burrow by subhorizontal lateral tunnels, each of which is closed immediately after egg deposition. To the extent known, eggs, mature larvae, and pupae are described. Two known cleptoparasites of the subfamily are reported: Triepeolus kathrynae Rozen, hosted by P. gloriosa, and Thalestria spinosa (Fabricius) (= T. smaragdina Smith), which attacks nests of both O. flavescens and O. austera. The mature larvae of these cleptoparasitic Nomadinae are described and illustrated as an appendix

Centris bicornuta and Epicharis albofasciata.

20 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm.This paper presents detailed comparative descriptions of the mature larvae and eggs of Centris (Heterocentris) bicornuta Mocsáry and Epicharis (Epicharoides) albofasciata Smith as representatives of two genera that are closely related. It strongly suggests that both species, while developing, pass through five larval instars; because the first instar remains mostly pharate within the chorion, it is only as a second instar that it begins to consume provisions and increase in size. There follows an account of how each species changes in functional anatomy from one instar to the next and how each instar of one species compares with the same instar of the other. In response to a recently published paper (Martins and Melo, 2016), which suggested that the tribe Centridini may be polyphyletic because some taxa within Centris share features with corbiculate genera, it is pointed out that all corbiculate genera uniquely share an apomorphy: they bear small paired, elevated, finely setose, sclerotized, and usually pigmented apical tubercles on the thoracic segments of mature larvae. Such thoracic tubercles are unknown in the Centridini or elsewhere among bees

Solitary bee Epicharis albofasciata.

8 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm.This paper describes the extensive nesting site and the nesting behavior of a large population of the solitary, ground-nesting bee Epicharis (Epicharoides) albofasciata Smith, found in Trinidad in association with its cleptoparasite Mesoplia (Mesoplia) rufipes (Perty). In addition to describing nests and their cells, it provides information about provisioning, egg deposition, and larval eclosion

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci from two inbreeding bark beetle species (Coccotrypes)

We developed 14 microsatellite markers in Coccotrypes carpophagus and 14 in C. dactyliperda. These loci will be used for studying genetic structure and the level of inbreeding in populations in the Canary Islands and Madeira. As a result of long-term inbreeding, genetic variability is relatively low in these bark beetle species. We found one to five alleles per locus in 29 C. carpophagus and 41 C. dactyliperda from various localities. Eleven of the markers developed for C. carpophagus amplified in C. dactyliperda and seven of the markers developed for C. dactyliperda amplified in C. carpophagus

Survey of Hatching Spines of Bee Larvae Including Those of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)

This article explores the occurrence of hatching spines among bee taxa and how these structures enable a larva on hatching to extricate itself from the egg chorion. These spines, arranged in a linear sequence along the sides of the first instar just dorsal to the spiracles, have been observed and recorded in certain groups of solitary and cleptoparasitic bee taxa. After eclosion, the first instar remains loosely covered by the egg chorion. The fact that this form of eclosion has been detected in five families (Table 1 identifies four of the families. The fifth family is the Andrenidae for which the presence of hatching spines in the Oxaeinae will soon be announced.) of bees invites speculation as to whether it is a fundamental characteristic of bees, or at least of solitary and some cleptoparasitic bees. The wide occurrence of these spines has prompted the authors to explore and discover their presence in the highly eusocial Apis mellifera L. Hatching spines were indeed discovered on first instar A. mellifera. The honey bee hatching process appears to differ in that the spines are displayed somewhat differently though still along the sides of the body, and the chorion, instead of splitting along the sides of the elongate egg, seems to quickly disintegrate from the emerging first instar in association with the nearly simultaneous removal of the serosa that covers and separates the first instar from the chorion. Unexpected observations of spherical bodies of various sizes perhaps containing dissolving enzymes being discharged from spiracular openings during hatching may shed future light on the process of how A. mellifera effects chorion removal during eclosion. Whereas hatching spines occur among many groups of bees, they appear to be entirely absent in the Nomadinae and parasitic Apinae, an indication of a different eclosion process

Reasoning with comparative moral judgements: an argument for Moral Bayesianism

The paper discusses the notion of reasoning with comparative moral judgements (i.e judgements of the form “act a is morally superior to act b”) from the point of view of several meta-ethical positions. Using a simple formal result, it is argued that only a version of moral cognitivism that is committed to the claim that moral beliefs come in degrees can give a normatively plausible account of such reasoning. Some implications of accepting such a version of moral cognitivism are discussed

Genetic regulation of glucoraphanin accumulation in Beneforté® broccoli

Diets rich in broccoli (Brassica oleracea var italica) have been associated with maintenance of cardiovascular health and reduction in risk of cancer. These health benefits have been attributed to glucoraphanin that specifically accumulates in broccoli. The development of broccoli with enhanced concentrations of glucoraphanin may deliver greater health benefits. Three high-glucoraphanin F1 broccoli hybrids were developed in independent programmes through genome introgression from the wild species Brassica villosa. Glucoraphanin and other metabolites were quantified in experimental field trials. Global SNP analyses quantified the differential extent of B. villosa introgression The high-glucoraphanin broccoli hybrids contained 2.5–3 times the glucoraphanin content of standard hybrids due to enhanced sulphate assimilation and modifications in sulphur partitioning between sulphur-containing metabolites. All of the high-glucoraphanin hybrids possessed an introgressed B. villosa segment which contained a B. villosa Myb28 allele. Myb28 expression was increased in all of the high-glucoraphanin hybrids. Two high-glucoraphanin hybrids have been commercialised as Beneforte broccoli. The study illustrates the translation of research on glucosinolate genetics from Arabidopsis to broccoli, the use of wild Brassica species to develop cultivars with potential consumer benefits, and the development of cultivars with contrasting concentrations of glucoraphanin for use in blinded human intervention studie