The complexity of soil biological sustainability

Additions of organic amendments to soil not only compensate for decreased soil C, but also contribute to energy requirements for conserving biological activity levels. The soil microbial biomass displays some highly conserved, and possibly unique, characteristics that do not permit a classic interpretation of microbial metabolic parameter data. The resilience of soil microbial biomass and the role of soil organic matter in sustaining microbial biomass under practically zero C inputs were assessed in two long term incubation experiments using soils from the Broadbalk experiment at Rothamsted (UK). Soils with low organic C contents, showed the greatest decline in biomass C during the first 30 d of incubation. The ATP concentration of this rapidly declining microbial biomass did not change during the prolonged incubation period, confirming this peculiar character of the soil microbial biomass. Specific respiration rate did not depend upon substrate availability, being higher in soils that had received the lowest C inputs. Qualitative and quantitative changes observed in humic fractions suggest that humified soil organic matter is a much more dynamic soil fraction than is normally considered and provides a utilizable energy reserve for soil microorganisms. Carbon levels can be successfully restored in soils through practices such as incorporation of crop residues, re\u2010vegetation and application of manures, biosolids and composts. Some amendments, such as olive mill waste compost, promote incorporation of altered lignin structures, N\u2010containing compounds and carbohydrates into humic acids. The mineral\u2010bound fraction of humic C also increases, after their addition, and contributes to the accumulation of the most inert soil C pools

High-spin states and band terminations in v 49

High-spin states in 49 V have been studied through the 28 Si(28 Si, α3p) reaction using the EUROBALL γ-ray detector array. The 49 V level scheme has been extended up to 13.1 MeV including 21 new states. Both negative and positive parity states have been interpreted in the framework of theShell Model. The 27/2− and the 31/2+ band termination states have been observed in agreement with theoretical predictions.Fil: Rodrigues Ferreira Maltez, Dario Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Investigación y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia Física (Centro Atómico Constituyentes). Proyecto Tandar; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física; ArgentinaFil: Hojman, Daniel Leonardo. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Investigación y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia Física (Centro Atómico Constituyentes). Proyecto Tandar; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lenzi, Silvia M.. Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare.; Italia. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Cardona, Maria Angelica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Investigación y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia Física (Centro Atómico Constituyentes). Proyecto Tandar; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Fernea, Enrico. Università di Padova; Italia. Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare.; ItaliaFil: Axiotis, M.. Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare.; ItaliaFil: Beck, C.. Université de Strasbourg; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Bednarczyk, P.. Polish Academy of Sciences; ArgentinaFil: Bizzetti, P. G.. Università di Padova; Italia. Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare.; ItaliaFil: Bizzetti Sona, A. M.. Università di Padova; Italia. Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare.; ItaliaFil: Della Vedova, F.. Università di Padova; Italia. Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare.; ItaliaFil: Grebosz, J.. Polish Academy of Sciences; ArgentinaFil: Haas, F.. Université de Strasbourg; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Kmiecik, M.. Polish Academy of Sciences; ArgentinaFil: Maj, A.. Polish Academy of Sciences; ArgentinaFil: Męczyński, W.. Polish Academy of Sciences; ArgentinaFil: Napoli, D. R.. Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare.; ItaliaFil: Nespolo, M.. Università di Padova; Italia. Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare.; ItaliaFil: Papka, P.. Université de Strasbourg; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Sánchez i Zafra, A.. Université de Strasbourg; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Styczen, J.. Polish Academy of Sciences; ArgentinaFil: Thummerer, S.. Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung; AlemaniaFil: Ziębliński, M.. Polish Academy of Sciences; Argentin

Canonical DNA minor groove insertion of bisbenzamidine-Ru(ii) complexes with chiral selectivity

We report the first Ru(ii) coordination compounds that interact with DNA through a canonical minor groove insertion mode and with selectivity for A/T rich sites. This was made possible by integrating a bis-benzamidine minor groove DNA-binding agent with a ruthenium(ii) complex. Importantly, one of the enantiomers (Δ-[Ru(bpy)2b4bpy]2+, Δ-4Ru) shows a considerably higher DNA affinity than the parent organic ligand and the other enantiomer, particularly for the AATT sequence, while the other enantiomer preferentially targets long AAATTT sites with overall lower affinity. Finally, we demonstrate that the photophysical properties of these new binders can be exploited for DNA cleavage using visible light

Expected Performance of the ATLAS Experiment - Detector, Trigger and Physics

A detailed study is presented of the expected performance of the ATLAS detector. The reconstruction of tracks, leptons, photons, missing energy and jets is investigated, together with the performance of b-tagging and the trigger. The physics potential for a variety of interesting physics processes, within the Standard Model and beyond, is examined. The study comprises a series of notes based on simulations of the detector and physics processes, with particular emphasis given to the data expected from the first years of operation of the LHC at CERN

Association of MC1R Variants and host phenotypes with melanoma risk in CDKN2A mutation carriers: a GenoMEL study

<p><b>Background</b> Carrying the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A) germline mutations is associated with a high risk for melanoma. Penetrance of CDKN2A mutations is modified by pigmentation characteristics, nevus phenotypes, and some variants of the melanocortin-1 receptor gene (MC1R), which is known to have a role in the pigmentation process. However, investigation of the associations of both MC1R variants and host phenotypes with melanoma risk has been limited.</p> <p><b>Methods</b> We included 815 CDKN2A mutation carriers (473 affected, and 342 unaffected, with melanoma) from 186 families from 15 centers in Europe, North America, and Australia who participated in the Melanoma Genetics Consortium. In this family-based study, we assessed the associations of the four most frequent MC1R variants (V60L, V92M, R151C, and R160W) and the number of variants (1, ≥2 variants), alone or jointly with the host phenotypes (hair color, propensity to sunburn, and number of nevi), with melanoma risk in CDKN2A mutation carriers. These associations were estimated and tested using generalized estimating equations. All statistical tests were two-sided.</p> <p><b>Results</b> Carrying any one of the four most frequent MC1R variants (V60L, V92M, R151C, R160W) in CDKN2A mutation carriers was associated with a statistically significantly increased risk for melanoma across all continents (1.24 × 10−6 ≤ P ≤ .0007). A consistent pattern of increase in melanoma risk was also associated with increase in number of MC1R variants. The risk of melanoma associated with at least two MC1R variants was 2.6-fold higher than the risk associated with only one variant (odds ratio = 5.83 [95% confidence interval = 3.60 to 9.46] vs 2.25 [95% confidence interval = 1.44 to 3.52]; Ptrend = 1.86 × 10−8). The joint analysis of MC1R variants and host phenotypes showed statistically significant associations of melanoma risk, together with MC1R variants (.0001 ≤ P ≤ .04), hair color (.006 ≤ P ≤ .06), and number of nevi (6.9 × 10−6 ≤ P ≤ .02).</p> <p><b>Conclusion</b> Results show that MC1R variants, hair color, and number of nevi were jointly associated with melanoma risk in CDKN2A mutation carriers. This joint association may have important consequences for risk assessments in familial settings.</p&gt

DEVELOPMENT of the MODEL of GALACTIC INTERSTELLAR EMISSION for STANDARD POINT-SOURCE ANALYSIS of FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE DATA

Most of the celestial \u3b3 rays detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope originate from the interstellar medium when energetic cosmic rays interact with interstellar nucleons and photons. Conventional point-source and extended-source studies rely on the modeling of this diffuse emission for accurate characterization. Here, we describe the development of the Galactic Interstellar Emission Model (GIEM), which is the standard adopted by the LAT Collaboration and is publicly available. This model is based on a linear combination of maps for interstellar gas column density in Galactocentric annuli and for the inverse-Compton emission produced in the Galaxy. In the GIEM, we also include large-scale structures like Loop I and the Fermi bubbles. The measured gas emissivity spectra confirm that the cosmic-ray proton density decreases with Galactocentric distance beyond 5 kpc from the Galactic Center. The measurements also suggest a softening of the proton spectrum with Galactocentric distance. We observe that the Fermi bubbles have boundaries with a shape similar to a catenary at latitudes below 20\ub0 and we observe an enhanced emission toward their base extending in the north and south Galactic directions and located within \u2dc4\ub0 of the Galactic Center

Observation of Z production in proton-lead collisions at LHCb

The first observation of Z boson production in proton-lead collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per proton-nucleon pair of root(s) N N = 5TeV is presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.6 nb(-1) collected with the LHCb detector. The Z candidates are reconstructed from pairs of oppositely charged muons with pseudorapidities between 2.0 and 4.5 and transverse momenta above 20 GeV/c. The invariant dimuon mass is restricted to the range 60-120 GeV/c. The Z production cross-section is measured to be sigma(Z ->mu+mu-) (fwd) = 13.5(-4.0)(+5.4)(stat.) +/- 1.2(syst.) nb in the direction of the proton beam and sigma(Z ->mu+mu-) (bwd) = 10.7(-5.1)(+8.4)(stat.) +/- 1.0(syst.) nb in the direction of the lead beam, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic

Event reconstruction for KM3NeT/ORCA using convolutional neural networks

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the funding agencies: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (contract ANR-15-CE31-0020), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Commission Europeenne (FEDER fund and Marie Curie Program), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), LabEx UnivEarthS (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-18-IDEX-0001), Paris Ile-de-France Region, France; Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRNSFG, FR-18-1268), Georgia; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany; The General Secretariat of Research and Technology (GSRT), Greece; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Ministero dell'Universita e della Ricerca (MUR), PRIN 2017 program (Grant NAT-NET 2017W4HA7S) Italy; Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Professional Training, Morocco; Nederlandse organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), the Netherlands; The National Science Centre, Poland (2015/18/E/ST2/00758); National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS), Romania; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion, Investigacion y Universidades (MCIU): Programa Estatal de Generacion de Conocimiento (refs. PGC2018-096663-B-C41, -A-C42, -B-C43, -B-C44) (MCIU/FEDER), Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence and MultiDark Consolider (MCIU), Junta de Andalucia (ref. SOMM17/6104/UGR), Generalitat Valenciana: Grisolia (ref. GRISOLIA/2018/119) and GenT (ref. CIDEGENT/2018/034) programs, La Caixa Foundation (ref. LCF/BQ/IN17/11620019), EU: MSC program (ref. 713673), Spain.The KM3NeT research infrastructure is currently under construction at two locations in the Mediterranean Sea. The KM3NeT/ORCA water-Cherenkov neutrino detector off the French coast will instrument several megatons of seawater with photosensors. Its main objective is the determination of the neutrino mass ordering. This work aims at demonstrating the general applicability of deep convolutional neural networks to neutrino telescopes, using simulated datasets for the KM3NeT/ORCA detector as an example. To this end, the networks are employed to achieve reconstruction and classification tasks that constitute an alternative to the analysis pipeline presented for KM3NeT/ORCA in the KM3NeT Letter of Intent. They are used to infer event reconstruction estimates for the energy, the direction, and the interaction point of incident neutrinos. The spatial distribution of Cherenkov light generated by charged particles induced in neutrino interactions is classified as shower- or track-like, and the main background processes associated with the detection of atmospheric neutrinos are recognized. Performance comparisons to machine-learning classification and maximum-likelihood reconstruction algorithms previously developed for KM3NeT/ORCA are provided. It is shown that this application of deep convolutional neural networks to simulated datasets for a large-volume neutrino telescope yields competitive reconstruction results and performance improvements with respect to classical approaches.French National Research Agency (ANR) ANR-15-CE31-0020Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Commission Europeenne (FEDER fund)European Union (EU)Institut Universitaire de France (IUF)LabEx UnivEarthS ANR-10-LABX-0023 ANR-18-IDEX-0001Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia FR-18-1268German Research Foundation (DFG)Greek Ministry of Development-GSRTIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) Research Projects of National Relevance (PRIN)Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Professional Training, MoroccoNetherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)National Science Centre, Poland 2015/18/E/ST2/00758National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS), RomaniaMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovacion, Investigacion y Universidades PGC2018-096663-B-C41 A-C42 B-C43 B-C44Severo Ochoa Centre of ExcellenceJunta de Andalucia SOMM17/6104/UGRGeneralitat Valenciana: Grisolia GRISOLIA/2018/119 CIDEGENT/2018/034La Caixa Foundation LCF/BQ/IN17/11620019EU: MSC program 71367