Acute imidacloprid exposure alters mitochondrial function in bumblebee flight muscle and brain - Correction / Corrigendum

This article is a correction to: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/finsc.2021.765179 Acute Imidacloprid Exposure Alters Mitochondrial Function in Bumblebee Flight Muscle and Brai

A Welcome Proposal to Amend the GMO Legislation of the EU

Is the European Union (EU) regulatory framework for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) adequate for emerging techniques, such as genome editing? This has been discussed extensively for more than 10 years. A recent proposal from The Netherlands offers a way to break the deadlock. Here, we discuss how the proposal would affect examples from public plant researchauthorsversionPeer reviewe

Minimising medicine use in organic dairy herds through animal health and welfare planning

Livestock is important in many organic farming systems, and it is an explicit goal to ensure high levels of animal health and welfare (AHW) through good management. This will lead to reduced medicine use and better quality of animal products. In two EU network projects NAHWOA & SAFO it was concluded that this is not guaranteed merely by following organic standards. Both networks recommended implementation of individual animal health plans to stimulate organic farmers to improve AHW. These plans should include a systematic evaluation of AHW and be implemented through dialogue with each farmer in order to identify goals and plan improvements. 15 research institutions in 8 European countries are involved in the proposed project with the main objective to minimise medicine use in organic dairy herds through active and well planned AHW promotion and disease prevention. The project consists of 5 work packages, 4 of which comprise research activities building on current research projects, new applications across borders, exchange of knowledge, results and conclusions between participating countries, and adopting them to widely different contexts. International and national workshops facilitate this exchange. Focus areas are animal health planning, AHW assessment using animal based parameters and development of advisory systems and farmer groups. Epidemiological analyses of the effect on AHW from reduced medicine use and herd improvements are planned in all participating countries

Monoplacophoran mitochondrial genomes: convergent gene arrangements and little phylogenetic signal

Background: Although recent studies have greatly advanced understanding of deep molluscan phylogeny, placement of some taxa remains uncertain as different datasets support competing class-relationships. Traditionally, morphologists have placed Monoplacophora, a group of morphologically simple, limpet-like molluscs as sister group to all other conchiferans (shelled molluscs other than Polyplacophora), a grouping that is supported by the latest large-scale phylogenomic study that includes Laevipilina. However, molecular datasets dominated by nuclear ribosomal genes support Monoplacophora + Polyplacophora (Serialia). Here, we evaluate the potential of mitochondrial genome data for resolving placement of Monoplacophora. Results: Two complete (Laevipilina antarctica and Vema ewingi) and one partial (Laevipilina hyalina) mitochondrial genomes were sequenced, assembled, and compared. All three genomes show a highly similar architecture including an unusually high number of non-coding regions. Comparison of monoplacophoran gene order shows a gene arrangement pattern not previously reported;there is an inversion of one large gene cluster. Our reanalyses of recently published polyplacophoran mitogenomes show, however, that this feature is also present in some chiton species. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference analyses of 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes failed to robustly place Monoplacophora and hypothesis testing could not reject any of the evaluated placements of Monoplacophora. Conclusions: Under both serialian or aculiferan-conchiferan scenarios, the observed gene cluster inversion appears to be a convergent evolution of gene arrangements in molluscs. Our phylogenetic results are inconclusive and sensitive to taxon sampling. Aculifera (Polyplacophora + Aplacophora) and Conchifera were never recovered. However, some analyses recovered Serialia (Monoplacophora + Polyplacophora), Diasoma (Bivalvia + Scaphopoda) or Pleistomollusca (Bivalvia + Gastropoda). Although we could not shed light on deep evolutionary traits of Mollusca we found unique patterns of gene arrangements that are common to monoplacophoran and chitonine polyplacophoran species but not to acanthochitonine Polyplacophora

Interaction effects at the magnetic-field induced metal-insulator transition in Si/SiGe superlattices

A metal-insulator transition was induced by in-plane magnetic fields up to 27 T in homogeneously Sb-doped Si/SiGe superlattice structures. The localisation is not observed for perpendicular magnetic fields. A comparison with magnetoconductivity investigations in the weakly localised regime shows that the delocalising effect originates from the interaction-induced spin-triplet term in the particle-hole diffusion channel. It is expected that this term, possibly together with the singlet particle-particle contribution, is of general importance in disordered n-type Si bulk and heterostructures.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Solid State Communications, in prin

The new heavy fermion compound Ce3_3Bi4_4Ni3_3

The family of cubic noncentrosymmetric 3-4-3 compounds has become a fertile ground for the discovery of novel correlated metallic and insulating phases. Here, we report the synthesis of a new heavy fermion compound, Ce$_3$Bi$_4$Ni$_3$. It is an isoelectronic analog of the prototypical Kondo insulator Ce$_3$Bi$_4$Pt$_3$ and of the recently discovered Weyl-Kondo semimetal Ce$_3$Bi$_4$Pd$_3$. In contrast to the volume-preserving Pt-Pd substitution, structural and chemical analyses reveal a positive chemical pressure effect in Ce$_3$Bi$_4$Ni$_3$ relative to its heavier counterparts. Based on the results of electrical resistivity, Hall effect, magnetic susceptibility, and specific heat measurements, we identify an energy gap of 65-70 meV, about 8 times larger than that in Ce$_3$Bi$_4$Pt$_3$ and about 45 times larger than that of the Kondo-insulating background hosting the Weyl nodes in Ce$_3$Bi$_4$Pd$_3$. We show that this gap as well as other physical properties do not evolve monotonically with increasing atomic number, i.e., in the sequence Ce$_3$Bi$_4$Ni$_3$-Ce$_3$Bi$_4$Pd$_3$-Ce$_3$Bi$_4$Pt$_3$, but instead with increasing partial electronic density of states of the $d$ orbitals at the Fermi energy. To understand under which condition topological states form in these materials is a topic for future studies.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure

Pattern Formation in Catalytic H₂ Oxidation on Rh: Zooming in by Correlative Microscopy

Spatio-temporal nonuniformities in H2 oxidation on individual Rh(h k l) domains of a polycrystalline Rh foil were studied in the 10–6 mbar pressure range by photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM), X-ray photoemission electron microscopy (XPEEM), and low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM). The latter two were used for in situ correlative microscopy to zoom in with significantly higher lateral resolution, allowing detection of an unusual island-mediated oxygen front propagation during kinetic transitions. The origin of the island-mediated front propagation was rationalized by model calculations based on a hybrid approach of microkinetic modeling and Monte Carlo simulations