Grazing management strategies for Urochloa decumbens (Stapf) R. Webster in a silvopastoral system under rotational stocking.

Our objective was to compare herbage accumulation and nutritive value of Urochloa decumbens (Stapf) R. Webster managed under pre-grazing canopy light interception (LI) targets of 90%, 95% and 100% in silvopastoral system (SPS) and 95% in open pasture (OP; U. decumbens under full sunlight) to establish a pre-grazing target for SPS of ~43% shade. The evaluations were made during two rainy seasons and one dry season. The total herbage accumulation in SPS was lower than in OP at all LI targets and seasons. However, the difference in total herbage accumulation between SPS and OP was reduced when SPS was harvested at 95% LI, with reductions of 20% and 28% in both rainy seasons (12,191 × 15,324 kg DM/ha and 11,158 × 15,424 kg DM/ha respectively). Moreover, under 95% LI in SPS, crude protein concentration was 18% and 19% greater than that in OP in both rainy seasons (155 × 131 g/kg DM and 144 × 121 g/kg DM respectively), thus representing the optimal pre-grazing LI target for U. decumbens in SPS. In addition, a canopy height of 20 cm was necessary for 95% LI in OP and a height of 40 cm in SPS. Therefore, U. decumbens should be grazed at 40 cm canopy height, in SPS with ~43% shade to keep 95% LI as the target. However, this target will only be effective if the shade level is maintained, which will reduce height variation over time

Application of an indoor air pollution metamodel to a spatially-distributed housing stock

Estimates of population air pollution exposure typically rely on the outdoor component only, and rarely account for populations spending the majority of their time indoors. Housing is an important modifier of air pollution exposure due to outdoor pollution infiltrating indoors, and the removal of indoor-sourced pollution through active or passive ventilation. Here, we describe the application of an indoor air pollution modelling tool to a spatially distributed housing stock model for England and Wales, developed from Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data and containing information for approximately 11.5 million dwellings. First, we estimate indoor/outdoor (I/O) ratios and total indoor concentrations of outdoor air pollution for PM2.5 and NO2 for all EPC dwellings in London. The potential to estimate concentration from both indoor and outdoor sources is then demonstrated by modelling indoor background CO levels for England and Wales pre- and post-energy efficient adaptation, including heating, cooking, and smoking as internal sources. In London, we predict a median I/O ratio of 0.60 (99% CIs; 0.53–0.73) for outdoor PM2.5 and 0.41 (99%CIs; 0.34–0.59) for outdoor NO2; Pearson correlation analysis indicates a greater spatial modification of PM2.5 exposure by housing (ρ = 0.81) than NO2 (ρ = 0.88). For the demonstrative CO model, concentrations ranged from 0.4–9.9 ppm (99%CIs)(median = 3.0 ppm) in kitchens and 0.3–25.6 ppm (median = 6.4 ppm) in living rooms. Clusters of elevated indoor concentration are found in urban areas due to higher outdoor concentrations and smaller dwellings with reduced ventilation potential, with an estimated 17.6% increase in the number of living rooms and 63% increase in the number of kitchens exceeding recommended exposure levels following retrofit without additional ventilation. The model has the potential to rapidly calculate indoor pollution exposure across large housing stocks and estimate changes to exposure under different pollution or housing policy scenarios

The differential effects of the gonadotropin receptors on aromatase expression in primary cultures of immature rat granulosa cells are highly dependent on the density of receptors expressed and the activation of the inositol phosphate cascade

Signaling pathways mediating the divergent effects of FSH and LH on aromatase in immature rat granulosa cells were studied by infecting cells with increasing amounts of adenoviral vectors for the hLHR or hFSHR. Increasing amounts of Ad-hLHR, used at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 20 or 200 viable viral particles/cell increased hCG binding, hCG-induced cAMP and Akt phosphorylation but inositol phosphates only increased in response to hCG in cells infected with 200 MOI Ad-hLHR. In contrast hCG increased aromatase expression in cells infected with 20 but not in cells infected with 200 MOI Ad-hLHR. Cells infected with 20 or 200 MOI Ad-hFSHR showed increased hFSH binding and hFSH-induced Akt phosphorylation, but the hFSH-induced cAMP response was unchanged relative to control cells. However, hFSH was able to stimulate the inositol phosphate cascade in the Ad-hFSHR infected cells, and the hFSH induction of aromatase was abolished. We also found that activation of C kinase or expression of a constitutively active form of Gαq inhibited the induction of aromatase by hFSH or 8Br-cAMP. We conclude that the differential effects of FSH and LH on aromatase in immature granulosa cells are highly dependent on gonadotropin receptor density and on the signaling pathways activated. We propose that aromatase is induced by common signals generated by activation of the FSHR and LHR (possibly cAMP and Akt) and that the activation of the inositol phosphate cascade in cells expressing a high density of LHR or FSHR antagonizes this induction

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