The Aquila prestellar core population revealed by Herschel

The origin and possible universality of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is a major issue in astrophysics. One of the main objectives of the Herschel Gould Belt Survey is to clarify the link between the prestellar core mass function (CMF) and the IMF. We present and discuss the core mass function derived from Herschel data for the large population of prestellar cores discovered with SPIRE and PACS in the Aquila rift cloud complex at d ~ 260 pc. We detect a total of 541 starless cores in the entire ~11 deg^2 area of the field imaged at 70–500 μm with SPIRE/PACS. Most of these cores appear to be gravitationally bound, and thus prestellar in nature. Our Herschel results confirm that the shape of the prestellar CMF resembles the stellar IMF, with much higher quality statistics than earlier submillimeter continuum ground-based surveys

The possibilities of organic sheep and goat production in Serbia

Basic principles that inform organic livestock production are reviewed in this paper, with special emphasis on sheep and goat organic farming in Serbia and provide guidance for development in the future. It also discusses the challenges of the modern age that may affect the viability of sheep and goat production. Today in Serbia grow less than 1.5 million sheep. In terms of breed structures, most of the population makes indigenous Pramenka sheep (80%), while the remaining 20% are: Tsigai, Merinolandschaf, lie de France, Pirot improved, and other less important populations, as well as the crossbreeds with foreign and local domestic sheep. The most popular goat breeds are: balkan goat, domestic white as autochthonous breeds, as well as the Sanental, Alpen and Toggenburg breeds. Genetic improvement is significantly increased level of production of all species of domestic animals. However, native animals selected for high and efficient production are exposed to greater risk. This primarily refers to the physiological and immunological problems, but would generally be said that all this leads to distortion of harmony between the organism and the environment and the repercussions on the molecular level. Sustainable development of sheep and goat breeding in Serbia must be kept in mind. Possibilities for further development of organic sheep and goat production are great, and it can be expected that it will increase in the future and can become a significant branch of livestock production

The possibilities of organic sheep and goat production in Serbia

Basic principles that inform organic livestock production are reviewed in this paper, with special emphasis on sheep and goat organic farming in Serbia and provide guidance for development in the future. It also discusses the challenges of the modern age that may affect the viability of sheep and goat production. Today in Serbia grow less than 1.5 million sheep. In terms of breed structures, most of the population makes indigenous Pramenka sheep (80%), while the remaining 20% are: Tsigai, Merinolandschaf, lie de France, Pirot improved, and other less important populations, as well as the crossbreeds with foreign and local domestic sheep. The most popular goat breeds are: balkan goat, domestic white as autochthonous breeds, as well as the Sanental, Alpen and Toggenburg breeds. Genetic improvement is significantly increased level of production of all species of domestic animals. However, native animals selected for high and efficient production are exposed to greater risk. This primarily refers to the physiological and immunological problems, but would generally be said that all this leads to distortion of harmony between the organism and the environment and the repercussions on the molecular level. Sustainable development of sheep and goat breeding in Serbia must be kept in mind. Possibilities for further development of organic sheep and goat production are great, and it can be expected that it will increase in the future and can become a significant branch of livestock production

Lamb fattening possibilities in mixed flock of sheep

The aim of this study was to determine daily weight gain of different Wiirtemberg crosses. The experiment was carried out in central part of Vajdaság province, at right and left side of river Tisza in Bácska and Bánság region. In flock of 240 Wiirtemberg ewes 3 genotype of ram were used: Wiirtemberg, lie de France and Charolais. Trial included 60 lambs of three breed and crosses, 20 lambs per each: I. group pure Wiirtemberg, II. group lie de France x Wiirtemberg and III. group Charolais x Wiirtemberg. Average body mass of lambs at the beginning of trial was approx. 12 kg and at the end of the trial approx. 30 kg. The lambs were divided into two groups: indoor and pasture trial group. Lambs of group A were kept exclusively on pasture for fattening, fed by mothers milk and grass. Lambs of group B were kept indoors fed by mothers milk, concentrate mixture and alfalfa hay (ad libitum). During the experiment all lambs in group had same housing and nutrition condition. At the indoor condition the average daily gain of pure Wiirtemberg breed were 290 g for ram and 279 g for ewe lambs. In the case of He de France x Wiirtemberg crosses the daily gain were 313 and 309 g respectively. Charolais x Wiirtemberg crosses showed daily gain of 333 and 300 g per day. In this case the ram and ewe lambs obtained the best daily gain in the group. In the pasture condition the crosses of ram the Charolais x Wiirtemberg show the highest results 271 g while in the case of pure Wiirtemberg breed the result was 226 g/day. The average values of He de France x Wiirtemberg crosses are in the middle with daily gain value of 250 and 243 g/day. Wiirtemberg breed and their crosses at indoor condition have realised higher daily gain average. This confirms the fact that in crossing beside the genetic difference between populations that are being crossed, important factor for better daily gain is also the system of feeding. At indoor and also in outdoor condition the all breed crosses of Charolais x Wiirtemberg lambs got the highest daily gain results. In that case of crossing the Charolais breed has an outstanding effect

Pre-maximum spectroscopic diversity of hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae

We search for the reasons behind the spectroscopic diversity of hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) in the pre-maximum phase. Our analysis is a continuation of the paper of \citet{ktr21}, who disclosed two new subtypes of SLSNe-I characterized by the presence/absence of a W-shaped absorption feature in their pre-maximum spectra between 4000 and 5000 \AA (called Type~W and Type~15bn, respectively). However, the physical cause of this bimodality is still uncertain. Here we present pre-maximum spectral synthesis of 27 SLSNe-I with special attention to the photospheric temperature ($T_{ \rm phot}$) and velocity ($v_{ \rm phot}$) evolution. We find that a $T_{\rm phot}$ limit of 12000~K separates the Type~W and Type~15bn SLSNe-I: Type~W objects tend to show $T_{\rm phot}\geq$12000~K, while Type~15bn ones have $T_{\rm phot} \leq$12000~K. This is consistent with the chemical composition of the studied objects. Another difference between these groups may be found in their ejecta geometry: Type W SLSNe-I may show null-polarization, implying spherical symmetry, while the polarization of Type 15bn objects may increase in time. This suggests a two-component model with a spherical outer carbon-oxygen layer and an asymmetric inner layer containing heavier ions. The two subgroups may have different light curve evolution as well, since 6 Type~W objects show early bumps, unlike Type 15bn SLSNe-I. This feature, however, needs further study, as it is based on only a few objects at present.Comment: 23 pages, 37 figure

The complete plastome of Hyacinthoides non-scripta (L.) Chouard ex Rothm. (Asparagaceae)

The whole plastome sequence ofHyacinthoides non-scripta, was assembled and annotated in this study.This is the first complete plastid genome for the genusHyacinthoides. The plastome is 155,035 bp longand consists of a large single-copy (LSC) region spanning 83,947 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) regionspanning 18,496bp, and two inverted repeat (IR) regions, each of which is 26,296bp in length. Thereare 132 genes annotated in the plastome, of which the protein-coding geneinfAhas pseudogenized

Cyclamen libanoticum, a species that knows its identity!

The species limits and infraspecific DNA sequence diversity of Cyclamen libanoticum was examined. Analysis of the chloroplast DNA from six regions shows that, in C. libanoticum, only one base-pair difference is found among samples within the analysed 7066 base-pairs. This one base-pair difference (9 ‘A’s vs 10 ‘A’s) was found in the samples collected from a single site and could represent a very minor change in DNA sequence or even show the limits or accuracy of the sequencing system used. C. libanoticum is highly distinct from other congeners in DNA sequence

Photospheric Velocity Gradients and Ejecta Masses of Hydrogen-poor Superluminous Supernovae -- Proxies for Distinguishing between Fast and Slow Events

We present a study of 28 Type I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) in the context of the ejecta mass and photospheric velocity. We combine photometry and spectroscopy to infer ejecta masses via the formalism of radiation diffusion equations. We show an improved method to determine the photospheric velocity by combining spectrum modeling and cross correlation techniques. We find that Type I SLSNe can be divided into two groups by their pre-maximum spectra. Members of the first group have the W-shaped absorption trough in their pre-maximum spectrum, usually identified as due to O II. This feature is absent in the spectra of supernovae in the second group, whose spectra are similar to SN~2015bn. We confirm that the pre- or near-maximum photospheric velocities correlate with the velocity gradients: faster evolving SLSNe have larger photosheric velocities around maximum. We classify the studied SLSNe into the Fast or the Slow evolving group by their estimated photosheric velocities, and find that all those objects that resemble to SN~2015bn belong to the Slow evolving class, while SLSNe showing the W-like absorption are represented in both Fast and Slow evolving groups. We estimate the ejecta masses of all objects in our sample, and obtain values in the range of 2.9 ($\pm$0.8) - 208 ($\pm$61) $M_\odot$, with a mean of $43 (\pm 12)~ M_\odot$. We conclude that Slow evolving SLSNe tend to have higher ejecta masses compared to the Fast ones. Our ejecta mass calculations suggests that SLSNe are caused by energetic explosions of very massive stars, irrespectively of the powering mechanism of the light curve.Comment: 21 pages, Submitted to Ap