Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction development for rapid detection of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus and comparison with other techniques

Background: Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) is a highly infectious tobamovirus that causes severe disease in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) crops. In Italy, the first ToBRFV outbreak occurred in 2018 in several provinces of the Sicily region. ToBRFV outbreak represents a serious threat for tomato crops in Italy and the Mediterranean Basin. Methods: Molecular and biological characterisation of the Sicilian ToBRFV ToB-SIC01/19 isolate was performed, and a sensitive and specific Real-time RT-PCR TaqMan minor groove binder probe method was developed to detect ToBRFV in infected plants and seeds. Moreover, four different sample preparation procedures (immunocapture, total RNA extraction, direct crude extract and leaf-disk crude extract) were evaluated. Results: The Sicilian isolate ToB-SIC01/19 (6,391 nt) showed a strong sequence identity with the isolates TBRFV-P12-3H and TBRFV-P12-3G from Germany, Tom1-Jo from Jordan and TBRFV-IL from Israel. The ToB-SIC01/19 isolate was successfully transmitted by mechanical inoculations in S. lycopersicum L. and Capsicum annuum L., but no transmission occurred in S. melongena L. The developed real-time RT-PCR, based on the use of a primer set designed on conserved sequences in the open reading frames3, enabled a reliable quantitative detection. This method allowed clear discrimination of ToBRFV from other viruses belonging to the genus Tobamovirus, minimising false-negative results. Using immunocapture and total RNA extraction procedures, the real-time RT-PCR and end-point RT-PCR gave the same comparable results. Using direct crude extracts and leaf-disk crude extracts, the end-point RT-PCR was unable to provide a reliable result. This developed highly specific and sensitive real-time RT-PCR assay will be a particularly valuable tool for early ToBRFV diagnosis, optimising procedures in terms of costs and time

The Earth Mantle-Core Effect in Matter-Induced Asymmetries for Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations

Earth medium effects in the three-neutrino oscillations of atmospheric neutrinos are observable under appropriate conditions. This paper generalizes the study of the medium effects and the possibility of their observation in the atmospheric neutrino oscillations from the case of neutrinos traversing only the Earth mantle, where the density is essentially constant, to the case of atmospheric neutrinos crossing also the Earth core. In the latter case new resonance-like effects become apparent. We calculate the CPT-odd asymmetry for the survival probability of muon neutrinos and the observable muon-charge asymmetry, taking into account the different atmospheric neutrino fluxes, and show the dependence of these asymmetries on the sign of $\Delta m^{2}_{3 1}$ and on the magnitude of the mixing angle $\theta_{13}$. A magnetized detector with a sufficiently good neutrino momentum resolution is required for the observation of the muon-charge asymmetry generated by the Earth mantle-core effect.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Inversion mechanism for the transport current in type-II superconductors

The longitudinal transport problem (the current is applied parallel to some bias magnetic field) in type-II superconductors is analyzed theoretically. Based on analytical results for simplified configurations, and relying on numerical studies for general scenarios, it is shown that a remarkable inversion of the current flow in a surface layer may be predicted under a wide set of experimental conditions. Strongly inhomogeneous current density profiles, characterized by enhanced transport toward the center and reduced, or even negative, values at the periphery of the conductor, are expected when the physical mechanisms of flux depinning and consumption (via line cutting) are recalled. A number of striking collateral effects, such as local and global paramagnetic behavior, are predicted. Our geometrical description of the macroscopic material laws allows a pictorial interpretation of the physical phenomena underlying the transport backflow.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures (Best quality pictures are available by author's contact

Sterile neutrino decay and the LSND experiment

We propose a new explanation of the intriguing LSND evidence for electron antineutrino appearance in terms of heavy (mostly sterile) neutrino decay via a coupling with a light scalar and light (mostly active) neutrinos. We perform a fit to the LSND data, as well as all relevant null-result experiments, taking into account the distortion of the spectrum due to decay. By requiring a coupling g ~ 10^{-5}, a heavy neutrino mass m_4 ~ 100 keV and a mixing with muon neutrinos |U_{mu 4}|^2 ~ 10^{-2}, we show that this model explains all existing data evading constraints that disfavor standard (3+1) neutrino models.Comment: 3pp. Talk given at 9th International Conference on Astroparticle and Underground Physics (TAUP 2005), Zaragoza, Spain, 10-14 Sep 200

Instability of Amorphous Ru-Si-O Thin Films under Thermal Oxidation

Ternary films about 200 nm thick of composition Ru20Si15O65 have been synthesized by reactive rf magnetron sputtering of a Ru1Si1 target in an argon-oxygen gas. As-deposited, the films are X-ray-amorphous. Their atomic density is 8.9 × 10^22/cm^3 (5.1 g/cm^3), and their electrical resistivity is in the range of 2 mOmega cm. After annealing in dry oxygen at 600°C for 30 min, micron-sized grains of RuO2 grow out of the film and volatile RuO4 escapes. The significance of these results is discussed

Dynamical magnetic anisotropy and quantum phase transitions in a vibrating spin-1 molecular junction

We study the electronic transport through a spin-1 molecule in which mechanical stretching produces a magnetic anisotropy. In this type of device, a vibron mode along the stretching axis will couple naturally to the molecular spin. We consider a single molecular vibrational mode and find that the electron-vibron interaction induces an effective correction to the magnetic anisotropy that shifts the ground state of the device toward a non-Fermi liquid phase. A transition into a Fermi liquid phase could then be achieved, by means of mechanical stretching, passing through an underscreened spin-1 Kondo regime. We present numerical renormalization group results for the differential conductance, the spectral density, and the magnetic susceptibility across the transition.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure