6,595 research outputs found
Depth-stratified soil sampling for assessing nematode communities.
This study assessed the importance of stratified soil sampling on the detection (and therefore the distribution) of nematode communities and the differentiation of ecosystems by collecting stratified soil samples at intervals of 10 cm and non-stratified samples from 0 to 30 cm in two soil management systems (no-tillage and conventional tillage) and in a native forest fragment. The nematode frequency and prominence values were obtained after extraction by successive screening operations, sugar floatation clarification and the identification of nematodes to the genus level. The nematode communities were compared two-by-two based on Sorensen’s community coefficient (CC) and the percentage similarity (PS). Relative abundances of functional guilds were subjected to a principal component analysis (PCA) and classified in dendrograms. Thirty-two edaphic nematode genera were found, and the nematode communities sampled on a non-stratified basis in the soil profile exhibited a high level of similarity because they could not be accurately characterized. Genera with low abundances were not detected. In the stratified samples, we were able to classify and group the nematodes present at different depths, mainly from 0 to 10 cm. Stratified soil sampling allowed a more accurate characterization and greater differentiation of nematode communities, identifying taxa that occurred at lower abundance levels, irrespective of frequency
A white dwarf catalogue from Gaia-DR2 and the Virtual Observatory
We present a catalogue of 73¿221 white dwarf candidates extracted from the astrometric and photometric data of the recently published Gaia-DR2 catalogue. White dwarfs were selected from the Gaia Hertzsprung–Russell diagram with the aid of the most updated population synthesis simulator. Our analysis shows that Gaia has virtually identified all white dwarfs within 100¿pc from the Sun. Hence, our sub-population of 8555 white dwarfs within this distance limit and the colour range considered, -0.52<(GBP-GRP)<0.80¿, is the largest and most complete volume-limited sample of such objects to date. From this sub-sample, we identified 8343 CO-core and 212 ONe-core white dwarf candidates and derived a white dwarf space density of 4.9±0.4×10-3pc-3¿. A bifurcation in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram for these sources, which our models do not predict, is clearly visible. We used the Virtual Observatory SED Analyzer tool to derive effective temperatures and luminosities for our sources by fitting their spectral energy distributions, that we built from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared using publicly available photometry through the Virtual Observatory. From these parameters, we derived the white dwarf radii. Interpolating the radii and effective temperatures in hydrogen-rich white dwarf cooling sequences, we derived the surface gravities and masses. The Gaia 100¿pc white dwarf population is clearly dominated by cool (~8000¿K) objects and reveals a significant population of massive (¿M~0.8M¿¿) white dwarfs, of which no more than ~30--40 per cent can be attributed to hydrogen-deficient atmospheres, and whose origin remains uncertain.Peer ReviewedPreprin
Atomic Hydrogen Properties of AGN Host Galaxies: HI in 16 NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA) Sources
We present a comprehensive spectroscopic imaging survey of the distribution
and kinematics of atomic hydrogen (HI) in 16 nearby spiral galaxies hosting low
luminosity AGN, observed with high spectral and spatial resolution (resolution:
~20 arcsec, 5 km/s) using the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA). The sample contains
a range of nuclear types, ranging from Seyfert to star-forming nuclei and was
originally selected for the NUclei of GAlaxies project (NUGA) - a spectrally
and spatially resolved interferometric survey of gas dynamics in nearby
galaxies designed to identify the fueling mechanisms of AGN and the relation to
host galaxy evolution. Here we investigate the relationship between the HI
properties of these galaxies, their environment, their stellar distribution and
their AGN type. The large-scale HI morphology of each galaxy is classified as
ringed, spiral, or centrally concentrated; comparison of the resulting
morphological classification with AGN type reveals that ring structures are
significantly more common in LINER than in Seyfert host galaxies, suggesting a
time evolution of the AGN activity together with the redistribution of the
neutral gas. Dynamically disturbed HI disks are also more prevalent in LINER
host galaxies than in Seyfert host galaxies. While several galaxies are
surrounded by companions (some with associated HI emission), there is no
correlation between the presence of companions and the AGN type
(Seyfert/LINER).Comment: 54 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in AJ. The
full-resolution version is available at
http://www.mpia.de/homes/haan/research.htm
Simian immunodeficiency virus infection in wild-caught chimpanzees from Cameroon
Simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVcpz) infecting chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in west central Africa are the closest relatives to all major variants of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 ([HIV-1]; groups M, N and O), and have thus been implicated as the source of the human infections; however, information concerning the prevalence, geographic distribution, and subspecies association of SIVcpz still remains limited. In this study, we tested 71 wild-caught chimpanzees from Cameroon for evidence of SIVcpz infection. Thirty-nine of these were of the central subspecies (Pan troglodytes troglodytes), and 32 were of the Nigerian subspecies (Pan troglodytes vellerosus), as determined by mitochondrial DNA analysis. Serological analysis determined that one P. t. troglodytes ape (CAM13) harbored serum antibodies that cross-reacted strongly with HIV-1 antigens; all other apes were seronegative. To characterize the newly identified virus, 14 partially overlapping viral fragments were amplified from fecal virion RNA and concatenated to yield a complete SIVcpz genome (9,284 bp). Phylogenetic analyses revealed that SIVcpzCAM13 fell well within the radiation of the SIVcpzPtt group of viruses, as part of a clade including all other SIVcpzPtt strains as well as HIV-1 groups M and N. However, SIVcpzCAM13 clustered most closely with SIVcpzGAB1 from Gabon rather than with SIVcpzCAM3 and SIVcpzCAM5 from Cameroon, indicating the existence of divergent SIVcpzPtt lineages within the same geographic region. These data, together with evidence of recombination among ancestral SIVcpzPtt lineages, indicate long-standing endemic infection of central chimpanzees and reaffirm a west central African origin of HIV-1. Whether P. t. vellerosus apes are naturally infected with SIVcpz requires further study
Seed germination and in vitro propagation of sucupira branca (Pterodon pubescens (Benth.) Benth.), a medicinal plant.
Trabalho apresentado no World Congress on In Vitro Biology, 2000, San Diego, California
Photo-detection using Bose-condensed atoms in a micro trap
A model of photo-detection using a Bose--Einstein condensate in an atom-chip
based micro trap is analyzed. Atoms absorb photons from the incident light
field, receive part of the photon momentum and leave the trap potential. Upon
counting of escaped atoms within predetermined time intervals, the photon
statistics of the incident light is mapped onto the atom-count statistics.
Whereas traditional photo-detection theory treats the emission centers of photo
electrons as distinguishable, here the centers of escaping atoms are condensed
and thus indistinguishable atoms. From this an enhancement of the photon-number
resolution as compared to the commonly known counting formula is derived.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures; revised versio
Protective effects of spray-dried açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart) fruit pulp against initiation step of colon carcinogenesis.
Lorentz violating electrodynamics
After summarizing the most interesting results in the calculation of
synchrotron radiation in the Myers-Pospelov effective model for Lorentz
invariance violating (LIV) electrodynamics, we present a general unified way of
describing the radiation regime of LIV electrodynamics which include the
following three different models : Gambini-Pullin, Ellis et al. and
Myers-Pospelov. Such unification reduces to the standard approach of radiation
in a dispersive and absortive (in general) medium with a given index of
refraction. The formulation is presented up to second order in the LIV
parameter and it is explicitly applied to the synchrotron radiation case.Comment: 11 pages, extended version of the talk given by L.F. Urrutia in the
VI Mexican School: Approaches to Quantum Gravity, Playa del Carmen, Mexico,
Nov. 2004. Minor chages in the text and added reference
Fragmentation of Nuclei at Intermediate and High Energies in Modified Cascade Model
The process of nuclear multifragmentation has been implemented, together with
evaporation and fission channels of the disintegration of excited remnants in
nucleus-nucleus collisions using percolation theory and the intranuclear
cascade model. Colliding nuclei are treated as face--centered--cubic lattices
with nucleons occupying the nodes of the lattice. The site--bond percolation
model is used. The code can be applied for calculation of the fragmentation of
nuclei in spallation and multifragmentation reactions.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figure
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