Not Too Warm, Not Too Cold: Thermal Treatments to Slightly Warmer or Colder Conditions from Mother’s Origin Can Enhance Performance of Montane Butterfly Larvae

Climate change alters organismal performance via shifts in temperature. However, we know little about the relative fitness impacts of climate variability and how cold-adapted ectotherms mediate these effects. Here, we advance the field of climate change biology by directly testing for species performance, considering the effects of different thermal environments at the first developmental stage of larvae. We conducted our experiments in climatic chambers (2019–2020) using five coldadapted butterflies of the genus Erebia (Erebia aethiops, Erebia cassioides, Erebia manto, Erebia tyndarus, Erebia nivalis). Larvae were reared indoors and were treated with higher and lower temperatures than those of their mothers’ origins. Overall, we found evidence of better performance at warmer temperatures and a decreased performance at lower temperatures, and larvae were able to tolerate small temperature changes from mother’s origin. Warmer conditions, however, were unfavorable for E. nivalis, indicative of its limited elevational range and its poor ability to mediate a variety of thermal conditions. Further, larvae generally performed poorly where there was a large difference in thermal regimen from that of their maternal origin. Future efforts should include additional life history stages and focus on a more mechanistic understanding of species thermal tolerance. Such studies could increase the realism of predicted responses to climate change and could account for asynchronous changes in species development, which will alter community composition and ecosystem functioning

Familial hypercholesterolaemia in children and adolescents from 48 countries: a cross-sectional study

Background: Approximately 450 000 children are born with familial hypercholesterolaemia worldwide every year, yet only 2·1% of adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia were diagnosed before age 18 years via current diagnostic approaches, which are derived from observations in adults. We aimed to characterise children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) and understand current approaches to the identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia to inform future public health strategies. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we assessed children and adolescents younger than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of HeFH at the time of entry into the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (FHSC) registry between Oct 1, 2015, and Jan 31, 2021. Data in the registry were collected from 55 regional or national registries in 48 countries. Diagnoses relying on self-reported history of familial hypercholesterolaemia and suspected secondary hypercholesterolaemia were excluded from the registry; people with untreated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of at least 13·0 mmol/L were excluded from this study. Data were assessed overall and by WHO region, World Bank country income status, age, diagnostic criteria, and index-case status. The main outcome of this study was to assess current identification and management of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia. Findings: Of 63 093 individuals in the FHSC registry, 11 848 (18·8%) were children or adolescents younger than 18 years with HeFH and were included in this study; 5756 (50·2%) of 11 476 included individuals were female and 5720 (49·8%) were male. Sex data were missing for 372 (3·1%) of 11 848 individuals. Median age at registry entry was 9·6 years (IQR 5·8-13·2). 10 099 (89·9%) of 11 235 included individuals had a final genetically confirmed diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia and 1136 (10·1%) had a clinical diagnosis. Genetically confirmed diagnosis data or clinical diagnosis data were missing for 613 (5·2%) of 11 848 individuals. Genetic diagnosis was more common in children and adolescents from high-income countries (9427 [92·4%] of 10 202) than in children and adolescents from non-high-income countries (199 [48·0%] of 415). 3414 (31·6%) of 10 804 children or adolescents were index cases. Familial-hypercholesterolaemia-related physical signs, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular disease were uncommon, but were more common in non-high-income countries. 7557 (72·4%) of 10 428 included children or adolescents were not taking lipid-lowering medication (LLM) and had a median LDL-C of 5·00 mmol/L (IQR 4·05-6·08). Compared with genetic diagnosis, the use of unadapted clinical criteria intended for use in adults and reliant on more extreme phenotypes could result in 50-75% of children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia not being identified. Interpretation: Clinical characteristics observed in adults with familial hypercholesterolaemia are uncommon in children and adolescents with familial hypercholesterolaemia, hence detection in this age group relies on measurement of LDL-C and genetic confirmation. Where genetic testing is unavailable, increased availability and use of LDL-C measurements in the first few years of life could help reduce the current gap between prevalence and detection, enabling increased use of combination LLM to reach recommended LDL-C targets early in life

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe

Probing effective field theory operators in the associated production of top quarks with a Z boson in multilepton final states at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

Performance of the CMS muon trigger system in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

The muon trigger system of the CMS experiment uses a combination of hardware and software to identify events containing a muon. During Run 2 (covering 2015-2018) the LHC achieved instantaneous luminosities as high as 2 × 10 cm s while delivering proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV. The challenge for the trigger system of the CMS experiment is to reduce the registered event rate from about 40 MHz to about 1 kHz. Significant improvements important for the success of the CMS physics program have been made to the muon trigger system via improved muon reconstruction and identification algorithms since the end of Run 1 and throughout the Run 2 data-taking period. The new algorithms maintain the acceptance of the muon triggers at the same or even lower rate throughout the data-taking period despite the increasing number of additional proton-proton interactions in each LHC bunch crossing. In this paper, the algorithms used in 2015 and 2016 and their improvements throughout 2017 and 2018 are described. Measurements of the CMS muon trigger performance for this data-taking period are presented, including efficiencies, transverse momentum resolution, trigger rates, and the purity of the selected muon sample. This paper focuses on the single- and double-muon triggers with the lowest sustainable transverse momentum thresholds used by CMS. The efficiency is measured in a transverse momentum range from 8 to several hundred GeV

Serpentine ecology: ecosystem processes, plant functional traits and investigation of the function of metal hyperccumulation in Alyssum lesbiacum: a serpentine endemic species from Lesbos island (Greece)

THIS THESIS FOCUSES ON THE ECOLOGY OF SERPENTINE SOILS AND CONSISTS OF THREE DIFFERENT STUDY LEVELS: (A) AT THE GENETIC LEVEL, THE GENETIC DIVERSITY AND POPULATION STRUCTURE OF THE DIFFERENT POPULATIONS OF THE NI-HYPERACCUMULATING SPECIES Alyssum lesbiacum WAS ASSESED, (B) AT THE POPULATION LEVEL, DIFFERENCES IN PHENOLOGY ACROSS THE DIFFERENT POPULATIONS OF A. lesbiacum AND IN FUNCTIONAL TRAITS OF SPECIES DISTRIBUTED ON BOTH SERPENTINE AND NON-SERPENTINE SOILS WERE INVESTIGATED AND (C) AT THE COMMUNITY-ECOSYSTEM LEVEL DIFFERENCES IN COMMUNITY STRUCTURE, BIOMASS PRODUCTION AND DECOMPOSITION DYNAMICS BETWEEN SERPENTINE AND NON-SERPENTINE COMMUNITIES WERE INVESTIGATED. FINALLY, THE NI-PHYTOEXTRACTING ABILITY OF THE SPECIES A. lesbiacum WAS STUDIED.ΤΟ ΑΝΤΙΚΕΙΜΕΝΟ ΤΗΣ ΠΑΡΟΥΣΑΣ ΔΙΑΤΡΙΒΗΣ, ΠΟΥ ΑΦΟΡΑ ΣΤΗΝ ΟΙΚΟΛΟΓΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΣΕΡΠΕΝΤΙΝΙΚΩΝ ΕΔΑΦΩΝ, ΔΙΑΡΘΡΩΝΕΤΑΙ ΣΕ ΤΡΙΑ ΕΠΙΠΕΔΑ ΜΕΛΕΤΗΣ: (Α) ΣΕ ΓΕΝΕΤΙΚΟ ΕΠΙΠΕΔΟ ΠΡΟΣΔΙΟΡΙΣΤΗΚΑΝ ΟΙ ΔΙΑΦΟΡΕΣ ΣΤΗ ΔΟΜΗ ΤΩΝ ΠΛΗΘΥΣΜΩΝ ΤΟΥ ΕΝΔΗΜΙΚΟΥ ΕΙΔΟΥΣ ΤΗΣ ΛΕΣΒΟΥ Alyssum lesbiacum, ΠΟΥ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΥΠΕΡΣΥΣΣΩΡΕΥΤΗΣ ΝΙΚΕΛΙΟΥ, (Β) ΣΕ ΕΠΙΠΕΔΟ ΠΛΗΘΥΣΜΟΥ, ΕΞΕΤΑΣΤΗΚΑΝ ΟΙ ΔΙΑΦΟΡΕΣ ΣΤΗ ΦΑΙΝΟΛΟΓΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΝΑΠΑΡΑΓΩΓΙΚΗ ΕΚΡΟΗ ΤΩΝ ΔΙΑΚΡΙΤΩΝ ΠΛΗΘΥΣΜΩΝ ΤΟΥ A. lesbiacum ΚΑΘΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΑ ΛΕΙΤΟΥΡΓΙΚΑ ΧΑΡΑΚΤΗΡΙΣΤΙΚΑ ΕΙΔΩΝ ΠΟΥ ΑΠΑΝΤΩΝΤΑΙ ΣΕ ΣΕΡΠΕΝΤΙΝΙΚΑ ΚΑΙ ΜΗ ΣΕΡΠΕΝΤΙΝΙΚΑ ΕΔΑΦΗ ΚΑΙ (Γ) ΣΕ ΕΠΙΠΕΔΟ ΚΟΙΝΟΤΗΤΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΟΙΚΟΣΥΣΤΗΜΑΤΟΣ ΔΙΕΡΕΥΝΗΘΗΚΕ Η ΥΠΑΡΞΗ ΔΙΑΦΟΡΟΠΟΙΗΣΕΩΝ ΣΤΗ ΔΟΜΗ ΤΗΣ ΒΛΑΣΤΗΣΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΕ ΒΑΣΙΚΕΣ ΟΙΚΟΣΥΣΤΗΜΙΚΕΣ ΔΙΕΡΓΑΣΙΕΣ (ΠΑΡΑΓΩΓΙΚΟΤΗΤΑ, ΑΠΟΔΟΜΗΣΗ) ΣΕ ΣΕΡΠΕΝΤΙΝΙΚΑ ΚΑΙ ΜΗ ΣΕΡΠΕΝΤΙΝΙΚΑ ΕΔΑΦΗ. ΣΕ ΕΠΙΠΕΔΟ ΕΦΑΡΜΟΓΗΣ, ΔΙΕΡΕΥΝΗΘΗΚΕ Η ΙΚΑΝΟΤΗΤΑ ΦΥΤΟΕΞΑΓΩΓΗΣ ΝΙΚΕΛΙΟΥ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ A. lesbiacum, ΜΕ ΣΤΟΧΟ ΤΗ ΧΡΗΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΣΤΗ ΦΥΤΟΕΞΥΓΙΑΝΣΗ ΡΥΠΑΣΜΕΝΩΝ ΕΔΑΦΩΝ

Broomrape Species Parasitizing Odontarrhena lesbiaca (Brassicaceae) Individuals Act as Nickel Hyperaccumulators

The elemental defense hypothesis supports that metal hyperaccumulation in plant tissues serves as a mechanism underpinning plant resistance to herbivores and pathogens. In this study, we investigate the interaction between Odontarrhena lesbiaca and broomrape parasitic species, in the light of the defense hypothesis of metal hyperaccumulation. Plant and soil samples collected from three serpentine sites in Lesbos, Greece were analyzed for Ni concentrations. Phelipanche nowackiana and Phelipanche nana were found to infect O. lesbiaca. In both species, Ni concentration decreased gradually from tubercles to shoots and flowers. Specimens of both species with shoot nickel concentrations above 1000 mg.kg−1 were found, showing that they act as nickel hyperaccumulators. Low values of parasite to O. lesbiaca leaf or soil nickel quotients were observed. Orobanche pubescens growing on a serpentine habitat but not in association with O. lesbiaca had very low Ni concentrations in its tissues analogous to excluder plants growing on serpentine soils. Infected O. lesbiaca individuals showed lower leaf nickel concentrations relative to the non-infected ones. Elevated leaf nickel concentration of O. lesbiaca individuals did not prevent parasitic plants to attack them and to hyperaccumulate metals to their tissues, contrary to predictions of the elemental defense hypothesis

Removal of Two Triazole Fungicides from Agricultural Wastewater in Pilot-Scale Horizontal Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands

Myclobutanil is a systemic fungicide belonging to the triazole group, which is frequently detected in environmental samples. Triticonazole, also a triazole fungicide, controls soil and seed-borne diseases and it is mainly used as a seed-coating pesticide. Both myclobutanil and triticonazole are considered as persistent pollutants in the environment, raising concerns about their environmental fate and ecotoxicity potential. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the efficiency of four pilot-scale horizontal subsurface flow (HSF) constructed wetlands (CWs) to remediate myclobutanil and triticonazole from artificially polluted water. Daily loading of the four CWs took place from March 2022 to July 2022 with contaminated water fortified with myclobutanil and triticonazole. Three of the CWs, encoded WMG-R, WMG-C, and WMG-U, with medium gravel (MG) as porous media and the fourth, with code name WFG-R, fine gravel (FG). Common reed (R, Phragmites australis) was planted in the WMG-R and WFG-R units, and cattail (C, Typha latifolia) in the WMG-C unit. The WMG-U unit with no plant was used as a control unit. The results showed that the removal rate follows the pattern: WFG-R (88.4%) > WMG-R > (83.4%) > WMG-C (59.3%) > WMG-U (36.6%) and WFG-R (88.5%) > WMG-C (71.0%) > WMG-R > (70.9%) > WMG-U (49.2%) for myclobutanil and triticonazole, respectively. The most significant factors influencing the fungicides’ dissipation were the porous media content and the plant species