First cases of exclusive paternal care in stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

We describe paternal care in two pentatomid bugs, Lopadusa (Lopadusa) augur Stål, 1860 and Edessa nigropunctata Berg, 1884. Field and laboratory observations showed that males remain with their eggs and early hatched nymphs, while females abandon the eggs after oviposition. Guarding males defensive behaviors towards their clutches were similar to those described for guarding females of pentatomids. Since there is no detailed information on the internal phylogeny of Pentatomidae, it is not possible to make a robust inference on whether paternal care in L. augur and E. nigropunctata has arisen independently or not. If the latter, the two new cases of paternal care we describe here represent the fifth event of independent evolution of this rare behavioral trait in Heteroptera.FAPESPCoordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)CNP

Digital Transformation in Higher Education: Maturity and Challenges Post COVID-19

Digital transformation in higher education, especially after COVID-19 is inevitable. This research explores digital transformation maturity and challenges post COVID-19. The significance of the study does not only stem from the critical role of higher education in building the workforce and knowledge economy. This study triangulates the findings of multiple research instruments, including survey, interviews, case study, and direct observation. The research findings show a significant variance between the respondents’ perception of digital transformations maturity levels, and the core requirements of digital transformation maturity. The findings also show the lack of holistic vision, digital transformation competency, and data structure and processing as the leading challenges of digital transformation

Exploring CEvNS with NUCLEUS at the Chooz Nuclear Power Plant

Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS) offers a unique way to study neutrino properties and to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model. Nuclear reactors are promising sources to explore this process at low energies since they deliver large fluxes of (anti-)neutrinos with typical energies of a few MeV. In this paper, a new-generation experiment to study CE$\nu$NS is described. The NUCLEUS experiment will use cryogenic detectors which feature an unprecedentedly low energy threshold and a time response fast enough to be operated in above-ground conditions. Both sensitivity to low-energy nuclear recoils and a high event rate tolerance are stringent requirements to measure CE$\nu$NS of reactor antineutrinos. A new experimental site, denoted the Very-Near-Site (VNS) at the Chooz nuclear power plant in France is described. The VNS is located between the two 4.25 GW$_{\mathrm{th}}$ reactor cores and matches the requirements of NUCLEUS. First results of on-site measurements of neutron and muon backgrounds, the expected dominant background contributions, are given. In this paper a preliminary experimental setup with dedicated active and passive background reduction techniques is presented. Furthermore, the feasibility to operate the NUCLEUS detectors in coincidence with an active muon-veto at shallow overburden is studied. The paper concludes with a sensitivity study pointing out the promising physics potential of NUCLEUS at the Chooz nuclear power plant

Expression of the plasma membrane citrate carrier (pmCiC) in human cancerous tissues—correlation with tumour aggressiveness

We have recently shown that cancer cells of various origins take up extracellular citrate through the plasma membrane citrate carrier (pmCiC), a specific plasma membrane citrate transporter. Extracellular citrate is required to support cancer cell metabolism, in particular fatty acid synthesis, mitochondrial activity, protein synthesis and histone acetylation. In addition, cancer cells tend to acquire a metastatic phenotype in the presence of extracellular citrate. Our recent study also showed that cancer-associated stromal cells synthesise and release citrate and that this process is controlled by cancer cells. In the present study, we evaluated the expression of pmCiC, fibroblast activation protein-α (FAP) and the angiogenesis marker cluster of differentiation 31 (CD31) in human cancer tissues of different origins. In the cohort studied, we found no correlation between disease stage and the expression of FAP or CD31. However, we have identified a clear correlation between pmCiC expression in cancer cells and cancer-associated stroma with tumour stage. It can be concluded that pmCiC is increased in cancer cells and in cancer-supporting cells in the tumour microenvironment at the later stages of cancer development, particularly at the metastatic sites. Therefore, pmCiC expression has the potential to serve as a prognostic marker, although further studies are needed

First results from the CRESST-III low-mass dark matter program

The CRESST experiment is a direct dark matter search which aims to measure interactions of potential dark matter particles in an earth-bound detector. With the current stage, CRESST-III, we focus on a low energy threshold for increased sensitivity towards light dark matter particles. In this manuscript we describe the analysis of one detector operated in the first run of CRESST-III (05/2016-02/2018) achieving a nuclear recoil threshold of 30.1eV. This result was obtained with a 23.6g CaWO$_4$ crystal operated as a cryogenic scintillating calorimeter in the CRESST setup at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). Both the primary phonon/heat signal and the simultaneously emitted scintillation light, which is absorbed in a separate silicon-on-sapphire light absorber, are measured with highly sensitive transition edge sensors operated at ~15mK. The unique combination of these sensors with the light element oxygen present in our target yields sensitivity to dark matter particle masses as low as 160MeV/c$^2$.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

COSINUS: Cryogenic Calorimeters for the Direct Dark Matter Search with NaI Crystals

COSINUS (Cryogenic Observatory for SIgnatures seen in Next-generation Underground Searches) is an experiment employing cryogenic calorimeters, dedicated to direct dark matter search in underground laboratories. Its goal is to cross-check the annual modulation signal the DAMA collaboration has been detecting for about 20 years (Bernabei et al. in Nucl Part Phys Proc 303-305:74-79, 2018. 10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2019.03.015) and which has been ruled out by other experiments in certain dark matter scenarios. COSINUS can provide a model-independent test by the use of the same target material (NaI), with the additional chance of discriminating beta/gamma events from nuclear recoils on an event-by-event basis, by the application of a well-established temperature sensor technology developed within the CRESST collaboration. Each module is constituted by two detectors: the light detector, that is a silicon beaker equipped with a transition edge sensor (TES), and the phonon detector, a small cubic NaI crystal interfaced with a carrier of a harder material (e.g. CdWO4), also instrumented with a TES. This technology had so far never been applied to NaI crystals because of several well-known obstacles, and COSINUS is the first experiment which succeeded in operating NaI crystals as cryogenic calorimeters. Here, we present the COSINUS project, describe the achievements and the challenges of the COSINUS prototype development and discuss the status and the perspectives of this NaI-based cryogenic frontier

Indicadores de sustentabilidade na visão de agricultores familiares como instrumento para gestão de unidades de produção com pecuária de leite.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi construir de forma participativa um instrumento de gestão de unidades de produção de base familiar com pecuária de leite, constituído por indicadores de sustentabilidade. O trabalho foi conduzido no âmbito do Programa Rede Leite, na região noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul, tendo como base teórico-metodológica a Pesquisa-Desenvolvimento.Organizadores Lírio José Reichert, Pedro Selvino Neumann, Lovois de Andrade Miguel

Simulation-based design study for the passive shielding of the COSINUS dark matter experiment

The COSINUS (Cryogenic Observatory for SIgnatures seen in Next-generation Underground Searches) experiment aims at the detection of dark matter-induced recoils in sodium iodide (NaI) crystals operated as scintillating cryogenic calorimeters. The detection of both scintillation light and phonons allows performing an event-by-event signal to background discrimination, thus enhancing the sensitivity of the experiment. The construction of the experimental facility is foreseen to start by 2021 at the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) in Italy. It consists of a cryostat housing the target crystals shielded from the external radioactivity by a water tank acting, at the same time, as an active veto against cosmic ray-induced events. Taking into account both environmental radioactivity and intrinsic contamination of materials used for cryostat, shielding and infrastructure, we performed a careful background budget estimation. The goal is to evaluate the number of events that could mimic or interfere with signal detection while optimising the geometry of the experimental setup. In this paper we present the results of the detailed Monte Carlo simulations we performed, together with the final design of the setup that minimises the residual amount of background particles reaching the detector volume.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Deep-underground dark matter search with a COSINUS detector prototype

Sodium iodide (NaI) based cryogenic scintillating calorimeters using quantum sensors for signal read out have shown promising first results towards a model-independent test of the annually modulating signal detected by the DAMA/LIBRA dark matter experiment. The COSINUS collaboration has previously reported on the first above-ground measurements using a dual channel readout of phonons and light based on transition edge sensors (TESs) that allows for particle discrimination on an event-by-event basis. In this letter, we outline the first underground measurement of a NaI cryogenic calorimeter read out via the novel remoTES scheme. A 3.67 g NaI absorber with an improved silicon light detector design was operated at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. A significant improvement in the discrimination power of $e^-$/$\gamma$-events to nuclear recoils was observed with a five-fold improvement in the nuclear recoil baseline resolution, achieving $\sigma$ = 441 eV. Furthermore, we present a limit on the spin-independent dark-matter nucleon elastic scattering cross-section achieving a sensitivity of $\mathcal{O}$(pb) with an exposure of only 11.6 g d.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figure