Cryogenic Gaseous Photomultiplier for position reconstruction of liquid argon scintillation light

Presented here are first tests of a Gaseous Photomultiplier based on a cascade of Thick GEM structures intended for gamma-ray position reconstruction in liquid argon. The detector has a MgF2 window, transparent to VUV light, and a CsI photocathode deposited on the first THGEM . A gain of 8⋅ 105 per photoelectron and ~ 100% photoelectron collection efficiency are measured at stable operation settings. The excellent position resolution capabilities of the detector (better than 100 μm) at 100 kHz readout rate, is demonstrated at room temperature. Structural integrity tests of the detector and seals are successfully performed at cryogenic temperatures by immersing the detector in liquid Nitrogen, laying a good foundation for future operation tests in noble liquids

Drought impact on forest carbon dynamics and fluxes in Amazonia

In 2005 and 2010 the Amazon basin experienced two strong droughts, driven by shifts in the tropical hydrological regime possibly associated with global climate change, as predicted by some global models. Tree mortality increased after the 2005 drought, and regional atmospheric inversion modelling showed basin-wide decreases in CO2 uptake in 2010 compared with 2011 (ref. 5). But the response of tropical forest carbon cycling to these droughts is not fully understood and there has been no detailed multi-site investigation in situ. Here we use several years of data from a network of thirteen 1-ha forest plots spread throughout South America, where each component of net primary production (NPP), autotrophic respiration and heterotrophic respiration is measured separately, to develop a better mechanistic understanding of the impact of the 2010 drought on the Amazon forest. We find that total NPP remained constant throughout the drought. However, towards the end of the drought, autotrophic respiration, especially in roots and stems, declined significantly compared with measurements in 2009 made in the absence of drought, with extended decreases in autotrophic respiration in the three driest plots. In the year after the drought, total NPP remained constant but the allocation of carbon shifted towards canopy NPP and away from fine-root NPP. Both leaf-level and plot-level measurements indicate that severe drought suppresses photosynthesis. Scaling these measurements to the entire Amazon basin with rainfall data, we estimate that drought suppressed Amazon-wide photosynthesis in 2010 by 0.38 petagrams of carbon (0.23-0.53 petagrams of carbon). Overall, we find that during this drought, instead of reducing total NPP, trees prioritized growth by reducing autotrophic respiration that was unrelated to growth. This suggests that trees decrease investment in tissue maintenance and defence, in line with eco-evolutionary theories that trees are competitively disadvantaged in the absence of growth. We propose that weakened maintenance and defence investment may, in turn, cause the increase in post-drought tree mortality observed at our plots.Gordon and Betty Moore FoundationNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)EU FP7 Amazalert (282664) projectEU FP7GEOCARBON (283080) projectNational Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, Brazil)ARC - fellowship awardERC - Advanced Investigator AwardRoyal Society - Wolfson Research Merit AwardJackson FoundationJohn Fell Fun

Torta de mamona no controle da broca-do-rizoma (Cosmopolites sordidus) em bananeira-Terra

Objetivou-se avaliar o efeito da torta de mamona sobre a infestação por Cosmopolites sordidus e o desenvolvimento de mudas de bananeira cultivar Terra. Avaliaram-se diferentes dosagens da torta de mamona (0 g, 12 g, 15 g, 18 g e 24 g) aplicadas a cada dois meses, a partir do plantio em mudas de bananeira dispostas num delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com dez repetições. Avaliou-se a evolução vegetativa das mudas pela altura da planta, pelo diâmetro do pseudocaule e pelo número de folhas verdes. Efetuou-se a infestação das plantas com 25 adultos de C. sordidus em cada muda. Os danos causados foram avaliados por meio da percentagem de galerias no rizoma, número de adultos vivos e mortos, número de larvas e número de pupas. Determinou-se também o efeito dos tratamentos sobre o valor de absorbância relativo ao teor de clorofila nas folhas por meio do uso de um clorofilômetro. Observou-se baixa infestação da broca-do-rizoma nas mudas tratadas com a torta de mamona. O crescimento e a absorbância foram afetados positivamente pela aplicação da torta de mamona. Assim, a torta de mamona reduz a população de C. sordidus nos rizomas de bananeira cv. Terra, favorece o crescimento das plantas e aumenta o valor de absorbância