Actividad invernal de Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) en las Vegas del Guadiana (Extremadura)

[ESP] El trips F. occidentalis es capaz de reproducirse a lo largo de todo el año, sin periodo de diapausa invernal, en las regiones mediterráneas de la geografía peninsular, caracterizadas por inviernos temperados (cf. costas de Levante), precisamente donde más problemas ocasiona, por si mismo o en conjunción con el TSWV. Al contrario, en las regiones de clima continental, con inviernos rigurosos, son sólo los adultos diapausantes los que perpetúan la especie (cf. centro peninsular). Para clarificar esta situación en las Vegas del Guadiana (Extremadura), con un clima transicional entre ambos extremos, se estudió la actividad invernal de F. occidentalis durante los inviernos de 1995/1996 y 1996/1997. La dinámica poblacional se siguió mediante el muestreo sistemático de 30 brotes de alfalfa cada 1-2 semanas y extracción en embudo de Berlese- Tullgren. Paralelamente, se efectuó un muestreo de la vegetación adventicia y un seguimiento del vuelo de los adultos con trampas cromáticas. Se observó una situación antagónica entre ambos inviernos. Durante el invierno de 1995/1996, aunque F. occidentalis disminuyó sus efectivos, tuvo lugar una presencia continuada de larvas, evidenciando que el trips no entró en diapausa y fue capaz de reproducirse. Al contrario, durante el invierno de 1996/1997, F. occidentalis entró en diapausa y detuvo su reproducción, detectándose larvas tan sólo muy esporádicamente. La confrontación de las temperaturas de ambos inviernos con las del año medio, indica que la situación más usual en las Vegas del Guadiana debe corresponderse con la observada en 1996/1997, aunque la gran variabilidad térmica invernal interanual que caracteriza a la zona, especialmente patente en los últimos años, también sugiere que la reproducción invernal de F. occidentalis en las Vegas del Guadiana no debe ser infrecuente. El trips se asoció a 10 de las 13 especies de malas hierbas invernales muestreadas, que confirmaron su papel como reservorio potencial de insectación. El empleo de trampas cromáticas no fue efectivo para el seguimiento de las poblaciones de adultos durante el invierno. Se sugiere que las temperaturas invernales pueden ser un factor determinante de la irregular incidencia del complejo F. occidentalis-JSWW constatada en las Vegas del Guadiana. [ENG] The western flower thrips F. occidentalis does not enter in diapause and maintains its reproduction throughout the winter in temperate areas of Spain, precisely where more damage produces itself or together with the TSWV. In the contrary, in cold winter continental areas the thrips overwinters as diapausing adult. To clarify this situation in the Vegas del Guadiana, Extremadura, southwestern Spain, with a transitional climate between both extremes, the winter activity of F. occidentalis was studied during 1995/1996 and 1996/1997. Thrips population dynamic was monitored sampling systematically 30 lucerne shoots every 1-2 weeks and extracting thrips with a Berlese-Tullgren funnel. Additionally, population dynamic was monitored on winter weeds and with chromatic sticky traps. An opposed situation was observed between both winters. During 1995/1996 winter, even though F. occidentalis population was limited, larvae occurred throughout the winter, pointing out that F. occidentalis did not enter in diapause and maintained reproduction. In the contrary, during 1996/1997 winter, larvae were detected only very sporadically, which suggests that thrips reproduction was stopped and adult diapause induced. The comparison of temperatures of both winters with mean-year temperatures, indicates that the usual situation in the Vegas del Guadiana could be the observed during 1996/1997, even though the high winter thermic inter-annual variation that characterizes the region, specially in the last years, also suggests that thrips winter reproduction may be frequent. F. occidentalis occurred on 10 of 13 species of weeds sampled, which confirms their role as potential reservoir to infest crops. Sticky traps were no effective for monitoring adult populations during the winter. It is suggested that winter temperature may be an important factor determining the observed irregular incidence of the F. occidentalis-TSWV complex in the Vegas del Guadiana

The Balloon Experimental Twin Telescope for Infrared Interferometry (BETTII): First Flight

The Balloon Experimental Twin Telescope for Infrared Interferometry (BETTII) is an 8-meter far-infrared (30-100 m) double-Fourier Michelson interferometer designed to fly on a high altitude scientific balloon. The project began in 2011, and the payload was declared ready for flight in September 2016. Due to bad weather, the first flight was postponed until June 2017; BETTII was successfully launched on June 8, 2017 for an engineering flight. Over the course of the one night flight, BETTII acquired a large amount of technical data that we are using to characterize the payload. Unfortunately, the flight ended with an anomaly that resulted in destruction of the payload. In this paper, we will discuss the path to BETTII flight, the results of the first flight, and some of the plans for the future

A lepto-hadronic model for high-energy emission from FR I radiogalaxies

The well know radiogalaxy Cen A has been recently detected as a source of very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays by the HESS experiment just before Fermi/LAT detected it at high energies (HE). The detection, together with that of M87, establishes radiogalaxies as VHE gamma-ray emitters. The aim of this work is to present a lepto-hadronic model for the VHE emission from the relativistic jets in FR I radiogalaxies. We consider that protons and electrons are accelerated in a compact region near the base of the jet, and they cool emitting multi wavelength radiation as they propagate along the jet. The proton and electron distributions are obtained through an inhomogeneous steady-state transport equation taking into account acceleration, radiative and non-radiative cooling processes, as well as particle transport by convection. Considering the effects of photon absorption at different wavelengths, we calculate the radiation emitted by the primary protons and electrons, as well as the contribution of secondaries particles (e+/-, pions and muons). The expected high-energy neutrino signal is also obtained and the possibility of detections with KM3Net and IceCube is discussed. The spectral energy distribution obtained in our model with an appropriate set of parameters for an extended emission zone can account for much of the observed spectrum for both AGNs.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. New and revised calculations were adde

The Behaviour Of Cosmological Models With Varying-G

We provide a detailed analysis of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universes in a wide range of scalar-tensor theories of gravity. We apply solution-generating methods to three parametrised classes of scalar-tensor theory which lead naturally to general relativity in the weak-field limit. We restrict the parameters which specify these theories by the requirements imposed by the weak-field tests of gravitation theories in the solar system and by the requirement that viable cosmological solutions be obtained. We construct a range of exact solutions for open, closed, and flat isotropic universes containing matter with equation of state $p\leq \frac{1}{3}\rho$ and in vacuum. We study the range of early and late-time behaviours displayed, examine when there is a `bounce' at early times, and expansion maxima in closed models.Comment: 58 pages LaTeX, 6 postscript figures, uses eps

An inhomogeneous lepto-hadronic model for the radiation of relativistic jets. Application to XTE J1118+480

Conceptually reconstructing the physical conditions in relativistic jets, given the observed electromagnetic spectrum, poses a complex inverse problem. We aim to obtain a better understanding of the mechanisms operating in relativistic jets through the modeling of their broadband electromagnetic spectrum. We develop an inhomogeneous jet model where the injection of relativistic primary and secondary particles takes place in a spatially extended region. We calculate the contribution of all particles species to the jet emissivity due to several processes, and assess the effect of gamma-ray absorption in internal and external photon fields. A number of specific models with different parameters are computed to explore the possibilities of this scenario. We obtain a variety of spectral shapes depending on the model parameters, some of them predicting significant gamma-ray emission. The observed broadband spectrum of the low-mass microquasar XTE J1118+480 can be satisfactorily reproduced by the model. Our results indicate that outbursts similar to those displayed in the past by XTE J1118+480 might be detected with present-day gamma-ray instruments.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Language edition and updated reference

Recommendations of the Spanish Antibiogram Committee (COESANT) for selecting antimicrobial agents and concentrations for in vitro susceptibility studies using automated systems

Automated antimicrobial susceptibility testing devices are widely implemented in clinical microbiology laboratories in Spain, mainly using EUCAST (European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing) breakpoints. In 2007, a group of experts published recommendations for including antimicrobial agents and selecting concentrations in these systems. Under the patronage of the Spanish Antibiogram Committee (Comité Español del Antibiograma, COESANT) and the Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobial Agents (GEMARA) from the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), and aligned with the Spanish National Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance (PRAN), a group of experts have updated this document. The main modifications from the previous version comprise the inclusion of new antimicrobial agents, adaptation of the ranges of concentrations to cover the EUCAST breakpoints and epidemiological cut-off values (ECOFFs), and the inference of new resistance mechanisms. This proposal should be considered by different manufacturers and users when designing new panels or cards. In addition, recommendations for selective reporting are also included. With this approach, the implementation of EUCAST breakpoints will be easier, increasing the quality of antimicrobial susceptibility testing data and their microbiological interpretation. It will also benefit epidemiological surveillance studies as well as the clinical use of antimicrobials aligned with antimicrobial stewardship programs

"Counterpart" method for abundance determinations in HII regions

We suggest a new way of the determining abundances and electron temperatures in HII regions from strong emission lines. Our approach is based on the standard assumption that HII regions with similar intensities of strong emission lines have similar physical properties and abundances. A "counterpart" for a studied HII region may be chosen among HII regions with well-measured abundances (reference HII regions) by comparison of carefully chosen combinations of strong line intensities. Then the abundances in the investigated HII region can be assumed to be the same as that in its counterpart. In other words, we suggest to determine the abundances in HII regions "by precedent". To get more reliable abundances for the considered HII region, a number of reference HII regions is selected and then the abundances in the target HII region is estimated through extra-/interpolation. We will refer to this method of abundance determination as the counterpart method or, for brevity, the C method. We define a sample of reference HII regions and verify the validity of the C method. We find that this method produces reliable abundances. Finally, the C method is used to obtain the radial abundance distributions in the extended discs of the spiral galaxies M83, NGC4625 and NGC 628.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in the MNRA

No selection for change in polyandry under experimental evolution

What drives mating system variation is a major question in evolutionary biology. Female multiple mating (polyandry) has diverse evolutionary consequences, and there are many potential benefits and costs of polyandry. However, our understanding of its evolution is biased towards studies enforcing monandry in polyandrous species. What drives and maintains variation in polyandry between individuals, genotypes, populations and species remains poorly understood. Genetic variation in polyandry may be actively maintained by selection, or arise by chance if polyandry is selectively neutral. In Drosophila pseudoobscura, there is genetic variation in polyandry between and within populations. We used isofemale lines to found replicate populations with high or low initial levels of polyandry and tracked polyandry under experimental evolution over seven generations. Polyandry remained relatively stable, reflecting the starting frequencies of the experimental populations. There were no clear fitness differences between high versus low polyandry genotypes, and there was no signature of balancing selection. We confirmed these patterns in direct comparisons between evolved and ancestral females and found no consequences of polyandry for female fecundity. The absence of differential selection even when initiating populations with major differences in polyandry casts some doubt on the importance of polyandry for female fitness