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El trabajo consiste en una revisión de las investigaciones realizadas en Argentina sobre del ciclo reproductivo del mejillón Mytilus spp. y de la captación de sus postlarvas en colectores artificiales en ambiente natural. Su principal objetivo es unificar, sistematizar y discutir los resultados obtenidos durante las últimas cuatro décadas de estudios sobre el tema. El enfoque abarca la perspectiva biológica y biotecnológica vinculada al cultivo de esta especie en el país.

We introduce the GAMBIT Universal Model Machine (GUM), a tool for automatically generating code for the global fitting software framework GAMBIT, based on Lagrangian-level inputs. GUM accepts models written symbolically in FeynRules and SARAH formats, and can use either tool along with MadGraph and CalcHEP to generate GAMBIT model, collider, dark matter, decay and spectrum code, as well as GAMBIT interfaces to corresponding versions of SPheno, micrOMEGAs, Pythia and Vevacious (C++). In this paper we describe the features, methods, usage, pathways, assumptions and current limitations of GUM. We also give a fully worked example, consisting of the addition of a Majorana fermion simplified dark matter model with a scalar mediator to GAMBIT via GUM, and carry out a corresponding fit., 32 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables

We present a likelihood analysis of the general two Higgs doublet model, using the most important currently measured flavour observables, in view of the anomalies in charged current tree-level and neutral current one-loop rare decays of $B$ mesons in $b\to c l \overline{\nu}$ and $b\to s\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ transitions, respectively. We corroborate that the model explains the latter and it is able to simultaneously fit the experimental values of the $R(D)$ ratio at $1\sigma$, but it can not accommodate the $R(D^{*})$ and $F_{L}(D^{*})$ observables. We find that the fitted values for the angular observables in $b\to s\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ transitions exhibit better agreement with the general two Higgs double model in comparison to the SM. We also make predictions for future collider observables $\mathrm{BR}(t\to ch)$, $\mathrm{BR}(h\to bs)$, $\mathrm{BR}(h\to \tau\mu)$, $\mathrm{BR}(B_{s}\rightarrow\tau^{+}\tau^{-})$, $\mathrm{BR}(B^{+}\rightarrow K^{+}\tau^{+}\tau^{-})$ and the flavour violating decays of the $\tau$ lepton, $\mathrm{BR}(\tau\rightarrow3\mu)$ and $\mathrm{BR}(\tau\to\mu\gamma)$. The model predicts values of $\mathrm{BR}(t\to ch)$, $\mathrm{BR}(B_{s}\rightarrow\tau^{+}\tau^{-})$ and $\mathrm{BR}(B^{+}\rightarrow K^{+}\tau^{+}\tau^{-})$ that are out of reach of future experiments, but its predictions for $\mathrm{BR}(h\to bs)$ and $\mathrm{BR}(h\to \tau\mu)$ are within the future sensitivity of the HL-LHC or the ILC. We also find that the predictions for the $\tau\rightarrow3\mu$ and $\tau\to\mu\gamma$ decays are well within the projected limits of the Belle II experiment. Finally, using the latest measurement of the Fermilab Muon $g-2$ Collaboration, we performed a simultaneous fit to $\Delta a_{\mu}$ constrained by the charged anomalies, finding solutions at the $1\sigma$ level. Once the neutral anomalies are included, however, a simultaneous explanation is unfeasible., Comment: 49 pages, 18 figures, new references, fixed typos

The European physical journal / C 81(11), 992 (2021). doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09712-6, We assess the status of a wide class of WIMP dark matter (DM) models in light of the latest experimental results using the global fitting framework GAMBIT. We perform a global analysis of effective field theory (EFT) operators describing the interactions between a gauge-singlet Dirac fermion and the Standard Model quarks, the gluons and the photon. In this bottom-up approach, we simultaneously vary the coefficients of 14 such operators up to dimension 7, along with the DM mass, the scale of new physics and several nuisance parameters. Our likelihood functions include the latest data from Planck, direct and indirect detection experiments, and the LHC. For DM masses below 100 GeV, we find that it is impossible to satisfy all constraints simultaneously while maintaining EFT validity at LHC energies. For new physics scales around 1 TeV, our results are influenced by several small excesses in the LHC data and depend on the prescription that we adopt to ensure EFT validity. Furthermore, we find large regions of viable parameter space where the EFT is valid and the relic density can be reproduced, implying that WIMPs can still account for the DM of the universe while being consistent with the latest data., Published by Springer, Heidelberg

We determine the upper limit on the mass of the lightest neutrino from the most robust recent cosmological and terrestrial data. Marginalizing over possible effective relativistic degrees of freedom at early times ($N_\mathrm{eff}$) and assuming normal mass ordering, the mass of the lightest neutrino is less than 0.037 eV at 95% confidence; with inverted ordering, the bound is 0.042 eV. These results improve upon the strength and robustness of other recent limits and constrain the mass of the lightest neutrino to be barely larger than the largest mass splitting. We show the impacts of realistic mass models, and different sources of $N_\mathrm{eff}$., 5 pages, 2 figures + Appendix. Full dataset available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4005381 (v3: Matches version published in PRD)

The excess of electron recoil events seen by the XENON1T experiment has been interpreted as a potential signal of axion-like particles (ALPs), either produced in the Sun, or constituting part of the dark matter halo of the Milky Way. It has also been explained as a consequence of trace amounts of tritium in the experiment. We consider the evidence for the solar and dark-matter ALP hypotheses from the combination of XENON1T data and multiple astrophysical probes, including horizontal branch stars, red giants, and white dwarfs. We briefly address the influence of ALP decays and supernova cooling. While the different datasets are in clear tension for the case of solar ALPs, all measurements can be simultaneously accommodated for the case of a sub-dominant fraction of dark-matter ALPs. Nevertheless, this solution requires the tuning of several a priori unknown parameters, such that for our choices of priors a Bayesian analysis shows no strong preference for the ALP interpretation of the XENON1T excess over the background hypothesis., 40 pages, 9 figures. V3 corresponds to the accepted manuscript; added appendices on the DIC and MC simulations; supplementary material now available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4384061

The extension of the Standard Model by right-handed neutrinos can not only explain the active neutrino masses via the seesaw mechanism, it is also able solve a number of long standing problems in cosmology. Especially, masses below the TeV scale are of particular interest as they can lead to a plethora of signatures in experimental searches. We present the first full frequentist analysis of the extension of the Standard Model by three right-handed neutrinos, with masses between 60 MeV and 500 GeV, using the Global and Modular BSM (beyond the Standard Model) Inference Tool GAMBIT. Our analysis is based on the Casas-Ibarra parametrisation and includes a large range of experimental constraints: active neutrino mixing, indirect constraints from, e.g., electroweak precision observables and lepton universality, and numerous direct searches for right-handed neutrinos. To study their overall effect, we derive combined profile likelihood results for the phenomenologically most relevant parameter projections. Furthermore, we discuss the role of (marginally) statistically preferred regions in the parameter space. Finally, we explore the flavour mixing pattern of the three right-handed neutrinos for different values of the lightest neutrino mass. Our results comprise the most comprehensive assessment of the model with three right-handed neutrinos model below the TeV scale so far, and provide a robust ground for exploring the impact of future constraints or detections., 56 pages, 40 figures, 22 tables

Urbanisation is an important global driver of biodiversity change, negatively impacting some species groups whilst providing opportunities for others. Yet its impact on ecosystem services is poorly investigated. Here, using a replicated experimental design, we test how Central European cities impact flying insects and the ecosystem service of pollination. City sites have lower insect species richness, particularly of Diptera and Lepidoptera, than neighbouring rural sites. In contrast, Hymenoptera, especially bees, show higher species richness and flower visitation rates in cities, where our experimentally derived measure of pollination is correspondingly higher. As well as revealing facets of biodiversity (e.g. phylogenetic diversity) that correlate well with pollination, we also find that ecotones in insect-friendly green cover surrounding both urban and rural sites boost pollination. Appropriately managed cities could enhance the conservation of Hymenoptera and thereby act as hotspots for pollination services that bees provide to wild flowers and crops grown in urban settings., Pollinators can persist in urban areas despite little natural habitat. Here the authors compare insect pollinators and pollination inside and outside of German cities, showing that urban areas have high diversity of bees but not other insects, and high pollination provisioning, relative to rural sites.

AT 2018hyz (=ASASSN-18zj) is a tidal disruption event (TDE) located in the nucleus of a quiescent E+A galaxy at a redshift of $z = 0.04573$, first detected by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN). We present optical+UV photometry of the transient, as well as an X-ray spectrum and radio upper limits. The bolometric light curve of AT 2018hyz is comparable to other known TDEs and declines at a rate consistent with a $t^{-5/3}$ at early times, emitting a total radiated energy of $E = 9\times10^{50}$ erg. An excess bump appears in the UV light curve about 50 days after bolometric peak, followed by a flattening beyond 250 days. The light curve shows an excess bump in the UV about 50 days after bolometric peak lasting for at least 100 days, which may be related to an outflow. We detect a constant X-ray source present for at least 86 days. The X-ray spectrum shows a total unabsorbed flux of $\sim 4\times10^{-14}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ and is best fit by a blackbody plus power-law model with a photon index of $\Gamma = 0.8$. A thermal X-ray model is unable to account for photons $> 1$ keV, while the radio non-detection favors inverse-Compton scattering rather than a jet for the non-thermal component. We model the optical and UV light curves using the Modular Open-Source Fitter for Transients (MOSFiT) and find a best fit for a black hole of $5.2\times10^6$ M$_\odot$ partially disrupting a $0.1$ M$_\odot$ star (stripping a mass of $\sim 0.01$ M$_\odot$ for the inferred impact parameter, $\beta=0.6$). The low optical depth implied by the small debris mass may explain how we are able to see hydrogen emission with disk-like line profiles in the spectra of AT 2018hyz (see our companion paper, Short et al.~2020)., Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, published in MNRAS

This communication describes the first records of byssal hairs on the postlarvae shells of Mytilusedulisplatensis d’Orbigny, 1842. The postlarvae used in this study were sampled on artificial collectors used for mussel culture in San Jorge Gulf, Sudoccidental Atlantic Ocean. A general description of the hairs is made as well as an exploratory analysis of their spatial distribution on the shell surface. The presence of these byssal hairs is suggested as a criterion to differentiate M.edulisplatensis from other mytilids.

Highbush blueberries require sufficient water throughout the growing season, especially during fruit development. Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) has been used in many fruit crops to save water and potentially increase fruit quality without reducing yield. Our aim was to determine the effects of RDI on yield, plant–water relations, and fruit quality at harvest. Three irrigation treatments based on actual evapotranspiration (ETa) were applied: 50, 75 and 100% (control) to six-year-old ‘Brigitta’ highbush blueberries in Colbun, Maule Region, Chile, for seasons 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 and to 26-year-old ‘Brigitta’ plants in South Haven, Michigan, USA, during the 2014 season. Severe water deficit treatment (50% ETa) decreased photosynthetic rate, vegetative growth (second season in Colbun and South Haven’s trial), and fruit quality (berry size, titratable acidity, soluble solids, weight), and increased oxidative stress during both seasons in Colbun. The 50% ETa treatment also had the highest yield reduction during Colbun’s second season. In contrast, mild water stress (75% ETa) resulted in similar fruit yields and quality (firmness, fruit size, titratable acidity, soluble solids and berry weight) but with higher water productivity than the 100% ETa treatment, while it achieved intermediate values for antioxidant capacity compared to the 50% ETa treatment.

Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) partial sequences are widely used in taxonomy for species identification. Increasingly, these sequence identities are combined with modelling approaches to delineate species. Yet the validity of species delineation based on such DNA ‘barcodes’ is rarely tested and may be called into question by phenomena such as ancestral polymorphisms in DNA sequences, phylogeographic divergence, mitochondrial introgression and hybridization, or distortion of mitochondrial inheritance through such factors as Wolbachia infection. The common and widespread European bumble bee Bombus lucorum s. lato contains three distinct mitochondrial DNA lineages that are assumed to represent three cryptic species, namely Bombus cryptarum, B. lucorum s. str. and B. magnus. To test whether nuclear gene pools of the three putative species were differentiated, we genotyped 304 sympatric members of the lucorum complex (54 B. cryptarum females, 168 B. lucorum s. str. females and 82 B. magnus females, as defined using mtDNA COI haplotypes) from 11 localities spread across the island of Ireland at seven nuclear microsatellite loci. Multilocus genotypes clustered into three discrete groups that largely corresponded to the three mtDNA lineages: B. cryptarum, B. lucorum s. str. and B. magnus. The good fit of mitochondrial haplotype to nuclear (microsatellite) genotypic data supports the view that these three bumble bee taxa are reproductively isolated species, as well as providing a vindication of species identity using so-called DNA barcodes.

Habitat fragmentation and loss are important drivers of genetic differentiation, often leading to a decrease in genetic diversity. Yet, natural populations of tropical bees often show a lack of differentiation, even in fragmented landscapes, suggesting resilience to deal with unfavourable land use. It is not clear what leads to this lack of differentiation, but large population sizes, high rates of dispersal and stable demography likely play important roles. Here, we investigate the population genetic structure and infer the present and historic demography of the eusocial stingless bee Partamona bilineata from tropical montane cloud forests in Guatemala. We used microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA to test for genetic differentiation, to infer migration rates, and to evaluate the effects of landscape. We also used demographic modelling to trace population sizes over time. We found that six populations of P. bilineata exhibited only subtle differentiation, with the exception of one site at the edge of the cloud forest, which was clearly distinct from all others. Effective population sizes (number of colonies) appeared to be rather small (18 ± 6 colonies) compared to the original sample size (N = 51 ± 9), but stable over time, and inferred rates of gene flow were low; yet, no genetic bottleneck was detected. A statistical model including elevation was the best in explaining the observed pattern of differentiation. We find that P. bilineata does not exhibit strong genetic structure, making it a resilient species for provision of pollination services. But, at the same time, our data point to the potential vulnerability of this and similar species, as effective population sizes appear to be low and hence populations may be easily affected by future environmental change. As such, P. bilineata may be representative of many other tropical stingless bees, for which lack of differentiation has been invoked.

Summary Traditional tropical agriculture often entails a form of slash‐and‐burn land management that may adversely affect ecosystem services such as pollination, which are required for successful crop yields. The Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico has a >4000 year history of traditional slash‐and‐burn agriculture, termed ‘milpa’. Hot ‘Habanero’ chilli is a major pollinator‐dependent crop that nowadays is often grown in monoculture within the milpa system.We studied 37 local farmers’ chilli fields (sites) to evaluate the effects of landscape composition on bee communities. At 11 of these sites, we undertook experimental pollination treatments to quantify the pollination of chilli. We further explored the relationships between landscape composition, bee communities and pollination service provision to chilli.Bee species richness, particularly species of the family Apidae, was positively related to the amount of forest cover. Species diversity decreased with increasing proportion of crop land surrounding each sampling site. Sweat bees of the genus Lasioglossum were the most abundant bee taxon in chilli fields and, in contrast to other bee species, increased in abundance with the proportion of fallow land, gardens and pastures which are an integral part of the milpa system.There was an average pollination shortfall of 21% for chilli across all sites; yet the shortfall was unrelated to the proportion of land covered by crops. Rather, chilli pollination was positively related to the abundance of Lasioglossum bees, probably an important pollinator of chilli, as well indirectly to the proportion of fallow land, gardens and pastures that promote Lasioglossum abundance. Synthesis and applications. Current, low‐intensity traditional slash‐and‐burn (milpa) agriculture provides Lasioglossum spp. pollinators for successful chilli production; fallow land, gardens and pasture therefore need to be valued as important habitats for these and related ground‐nesting bee species. However, the negative impact of agriculture on total bee species diversity highlights how agricultural intensification is likely to reduce pollination services to crops, including chilli. Indeed, natural forest cover is vital in tropical Yucatán to maintain a rich assemblage of bee species and the provision of pollination services for diverse crops and wild flowers., Current, low‐intensity traditional slash‐and‐burn (milpa) agriculture provides Lasioglossum spp. pollinators for successful chilli production; fallow land, gardens and pasture therefore need to be valued as important habitats for these and related ground‐nesting bee species. However, the negative impact of agriculture on total bee species diversity highlights how agricultural intensification is likely to reduce pollination services to crops, including chilli. Indeed, natural forest cover is vital in tropical Yucatán to maintain a rich assemblage of bee species and the provision of pollination services for diverse crops and wild flowers.

Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) are one of the most interesting high-energy completions of the Standard Model, because they provide a rich, powerful and elegant group-theoretical framework able to resolve a variety of problems remaining in our current understanding of particle physics. They usually act as motivators for many low energy BSM theories, such as left-right symmetric or supersymmetric models, and they serve to fill the gap between the experimentally reachable low energies and the physics in the ultraviolet. In recent years, however, they have fallen slightly from the spotlight, in favour of `simplified' models with more specific phenomenological predictions. The aim of this review is to summarize the state of the art on GUTs and argue for their importance in modern physics. Recent advances in experiments permit to test the predictions of GUTs at different energy scales. First, as GUTs can play a role in the inflationary dynamics of the early Universe, their imprints could be found in the CMB observations by the Planck satellite. Remarkably enough, GUTs could manifest themselves also in terrestrial tests; several planned experiments aim to probe the proton stability and to establish order of magnitude higher bounds on its lifetime. Moreover, the predictions of specific GUT models could be tested even at the LHC thanks to its high energy reach, via searches for exotic states or additional contributions to flavour anomalies., Comment: 92 pages, 19 figures, 3 tables. Updated to match published version

Red Lists are very valuable tools in nature conservation at global, continental and (sub-) national scales. In an attempt to prioritise conservation actions for European butterflies, we compiled a database with species lists and Red Lists of all European countries, including the Macaronesian archipelagos (Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands). In total, we compiled national species lists for 42 countries and national Red Lists for 34 of these. The most species-rich countries in Europe are Italy, Russia and France with more than 250 species each. Endemic species are mainly found on the Macaronesian archipelagos and on the Mediterranean islands. By attributing numerical values proportionate to the threat statuses in the different national Red List categories, we calculated a mean Red List value for every country (cRLV) and a weighted Red List value for every species (wsRLV) using the square root of the country’s area as a weighting factor. Countries with the highest cRLV were industrialised (NW) European countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Denmark, whereas large Mediterranean countries such as Spain and Italy had the lowest cRLV. Species for which a Red List assessment was available in at least two European countries and with a relatively high wsRLV (≥ 50) are Colias myrmidone, Pseudochazara orestes, Tomares nogelii, Colias chrysotheme and Coenonympha oedippus. We compared these wsRLVs with the species statuses on the European Red List to identify possible mismatches. We discuss how this complementary method can help to prioritise butterfly conservation on the continental and/or the (sub-)national scale.

Searches for supersymmetric electroweakinos have entered a crucial phase, as the integrated luminosity of the Large Hadron Collider is now high enough to compensate for their weak production cross-sections. Working in a framework where the neutralinos and charginos are the only light sparticles in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, we use gambit to perform a detailed likelihood analysis of the electroweakino sector. We focus on the impacts of recent ATLAS and CMS searches with 36 fb$^{-1}$ of 13 TeV proton-proton collision data. We also include constraints from LEP and invisible decays of the $Z$ and Higgs bosons. Under the background-only hypothesis, we show that current LHC searches do not robustly exclude any range of neutralino or chargino masses. However, a pattern of excesses in several LHC analyses points towards a possible signal, with neutralino masses of $(m_{\tilde{\chi}_1^0}, m_{\tilde{\chi}_2^0}, m_{\tilde{\chi}_3^0}, m_{\tilde{\chi}_4^0})$ = (8-155, 103-260, 130-473, 219-502) GeV and chargino masses of $(m_{\tilde{\chi}_1^{\pm}}, m_{\tilde{\chi}_2^{\pm}})$ = (104-259, 224-507) GeV at the 95% confidence level. The lightest neutralino is mostly bino, with a possible modest Higgsino or wino component. We find that this excess has a combined local significance of $3.3\sigma$, subject to a number of cautions. If one includes LHC searches for charginos and neutralinos conducted with 8 TeV proton-proton collision data, the local significance is lowered to 2.9$\sigma$. We briefly consider the implications for dark matter, finding that the correct relic density can be obtained through the Higgs-funnel and $Z$-funnel mechanisms, even assuming that all other sparticles are decoupled. All samples, gambit input files and best-fit models from this study are available on Zenodo., Comment: 38 pages, 16 figures, v3 is the version accepted by EPJC

Summary Pollination is a major ecosystem service in which insects, particularly bees, play an important role for the reproduction of most angiosperms. Currently, this service is considered under threat due to reported bee declines. Moderately urbanised areas could be important for pollinators and pollination; however, compared to agricultural and natural systems, they are poorly studied. Here, we investigated the relative effects of local habitat quality and anthropogenic land use across an agricultural to urban gradient for local plant and flying insect communities. We quantified local flower visitor networks and related network architecture to these local and landscape factors using structural equation modelling. Flower visitor network architecture is often assumed to act as a surrogate for the ecosystem service of pollination. To test this idea, we related network metrics to pollination of four experimental, insect pollinator-dependent plant species. Overall, local land use markedly influenced plant and flying insect communities. Flower richness and bee richness were higher in urban compared to agricultural areas. Flower visitor network metrics (e.g. linkage density) increased with the proportion of urban area surrounding a site. Also, relative to agricultural areas, urban flower visitors were more generalised and foraged from a higher number of plant species, likely a consequence of higher urban flowering plant richness. However, urban bees also visited a lower proportion of the available flowering plants (higher specialisation). Surprisingly, linkage density, network specialisation and flower visitor generality were not related to pollination of our four experimental plants per se. Rather, it was the proportion of urban cover, flying insect abundance and bee richness that were positively related to pollination. Our findings show strong effects of local land use on plant and flying insect communities and flower visitor interaction networks. We observed increased overall visitation rates and pollination services to our experimental plants in urban compared to agricultural areas, despite increased urban flower visitor generality. Indeed, flower visitor network metrics were a poor proxy of provision of the ecosystem service of pollination. Nevertheless, our results point to potential facilitating effects of diverse urban floral and bee communities for pollination. A lay summary is available for this article.

Mera, Santa Clara and Pastaza municipalities are located in the Ecuadorian Amazon region. The objective of the study was to identify plant species used in traditional medicine by small farmers of these localities, and to classify these plants according to locality, farmer ethnicity and purposes of use. It was also investigated whether the use of medicinal plants differs between the ethnic groups. Data were collected by applying a questionnaire and personal interview with 213 farmers belonging to two ethnicities (Kichwa and mestizo), and to different municipalities (Mera, Santa Clara and Pastaza). Generated data were analyzed using contingency tables and frequency and the most representative species were determined by proportion analysis comparison. A total of 34 families and 52 species of medicinal plants were identified. The most used species was Ilex guayusa which was cited 48 times. Santa Clara municipality and Kichwa farmers used the highest number of species. These species belonged to the Lamiaceae and Solanacease family, and the plants were used for treating stomach pain, cold and inflammations. There were significant differences (Chi square test p < 0.05) between localities and ethnicities (Kichwa and mestizo). There were differences in the use of medicinal plant species among members of the Kichwa ethnicity and mestizo farmers, depending on locality, being Ilex guayusa the most used species. RESUMO A pesquisa foi desenvolvida em três municípios da Província de Pastaza, (Mera, Santa Clara e Pastaza), na Amazônia equatoriana. O objetivo do estudo foi identificar espécies vegetais utilizadas na medicina tradicional pelos agricultores nestas localidades e classificar as espécies segundo a localidade, etnia do produtor e as aflições nas que eram utilizadas. Alem disso, na pesquisa analisaram-se as diferença de uso das plantas entre as etnias Kichwa e Mestiça. A metodologia do trabalho consistiu na aplicação de questionários e entrevistas pessoais com 213 agricultores das diferentes etnias. Utilizaram-se as tabelas de contingência por freqüência de uso com os dados gerados, para determinar as espécies mais representativas e em cada grupo realizou-se comparação por análise de proporções. Os principais resultados mostraram a existência de 52 espécies de plantas medicinais pertencente a 34 famílias. A espécie mais utilizada foi Ilex guayusa com 48 registros. Os produtores Kichwa do município Santa Clara registraram o maior número de espécies pertencente às famílias Lamiaceae e Solanacease e as plantas foram utilizadas para tratamento de dor de estômago, gripe e inflamações. A prova de "chi quadrado" mostrou diferenças (p < 0,05) entre os municípios e as etnias. Conclui-se que existe diferença no uso de plantas medicinais entre as localidades e os grupos étnicos estudados. A espécie Ilex guayusa foi a planta medicinal mais usada pelos agricultores independentemente da localidade e a etnia.

Given ongoing biodiversity decline, an important concern is that a large fraction of species diversity is not yet documented. Correct delimitation of species remains a challenge, especially for small and morphologically uniform groups such as sweat bees (Halictidae). Here, we applied an integrative taxonomic approach to study diversity within the Neotropical sweat bee subgenus Dialictus (genus Lasioglossum). We used four statistical methods to delimit species based on cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene sequences: Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD), two variants of the General Mixed Yule Coalescent (single-threshold (stGMYC) and Bayesian (bGMYC)) and the Refined Single Linkage analysis (RESL). We detected eight principal molecular operational taxonomic units (mOTUs). Subsequently, these lineages were evaluated using ten nuclear microsatellite loci and morphological and ecological analyses. Most mOTUs could be differentiated using microsatellites and morphology (82 % identified correctly), further supporting the status of mOTUs as independent biological units. For the two most widespread mOTUs, we analysed intra-lineage geographic variation using microsatellites but did not detect additional substructuring. We further tested if the lineages showed predictable patterns of co-occurrence and habitat preferences. While we did not find any evidence of preferential association or disassociation between taxa, we detected a slight positive effect of high crop cover favouring the abundance of some lineages. We show that integrated approaches using statistical analysis of DNA barcodes jointly with additional data can provide robust and objective means of delimiting species in morphologically difficult groups.

Plant-derived smoke promotes germination in Mediterranean-like environments, but its effect is unclear in the Mediterranean Cistaceae. This article investigates the role of smoke in the comparative germination ecology of five Helianthemum taxa. Laboratory germination experiments were conducted using seeds collected in the field and stored in a seed bank. All seeds were mechanically scarified prior to testing. Various pre-treatments with smoke solutions and gibberellins were applied, and seeds were incubated in three germination temperature regimes (30/20 °C, 22/12 °C, 14/4 °C). In H. cantabricum , H . nummularium , H. oelandicum and H. urrielense germination was very high at the three temperatures, and no effect of smoke was detected. In H. tinetense germination was generally poor and a significant effect of smoke was found, but the effect size was small. The thermal niche of Helianthemum appears to follow an opportunistic strategy, being limited only by physical dormancy at the time of dispersal. H. tinetense follows a more conservative strategy, with physiological dormancy retarding germination. In the Mediterranean basin and surrounding areas, smoke appears to be one of a multitude of environmental signals controlling germination. The smoke effect might be more relevant in certain species such as H. tinetense .

Blueberries are highly sensitive to water stress, especially during fruit development when fruit yields and post-harvest quality can be affected. Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) can increase fruit quality of many fruit crops without reducing yield. However, the influence of pre-harvest RDI on postharvest quality of blueberry has not been studied. Our aim was to evaluate the post-harvest quality of V. corymbosum fruits cv. Brigitta grown under pre-harvest RDI. Two locations were used for this research: (1) Colbun, Maule Region, Chile (35° 41′ 12.99″ LS; 71° 25′ 8.75″ LW) during the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons using six-year-old plants, and (2) South Haven, Michigan, USA (42° 21′ 16.26″ LN; 86° 12′ 48.88″ LW), during the 2014 season, on twenty-six-year-old bushes. Plants were subjected to three irrigation treatments that replaced 50, 75 or 100% (control) of actual evapotranspiration (ETa). Fruits were harvested at >90 full color and stored for 30 and 60d at 0–2 °C + 3d at 18–20 °C. Water treatments had no effect on the proportion of sound, dehydrated or decayed berries after storage. However, fruit quality was affected, with mild water deficit (75% ETa) producing similar fruit quality, i.e., firmness, titratable acidity, soluble solids and antioxidant activity as fully irrigated plants (100% ETa), and lower oxidative stress than 50% ETa treatment at 60 + 3d, but with lesser weight loss. Blueberries are considerably sensitive to water stress, with 50% treatment showing the highest lipid peroxidation and lowest antioxidant activity (ORAC) for both 30 + 3d and 60 + 3d, as well as by decreasing fruit quality (high SS and low TA). We have shown that applying 25% less water to highbush blueberries does not reduce fruit quality or levels of antioxidants.

We analyse the gravitational wave and low energy signatures of a Pati-Salam phase transition. For a Pati-Salam scale of $M_{PS} \sim 10^5$ GeV, we find a stochastic power spectrum within reach of the next generation of ground-based interferometer experiments such as the Einstein Telescope, in parts of the parameter space. We study the lifetime of the proton in this model, as well as complementarity with low energy constraints including electroweak precision data, neutrino mass measurements, lepton flavour violation, and collider constraints., 26 pages, 7 figures

International audience; In Ref. (GAMBIT Collaboration: Athron et. al., Eur. Phys. J. C. arXiv:1705.07908, 2017) we introduced the global-fitting framework GAMBIT. In this addendum, we describe a new minor version increment of this package. GAMBIT 1.1 includes full support for Mathematica backends, which we describe in some detail here. As an example, we backend SUSYHD (Vega and Villadoro, JHEP 07:159, 2015), which calculates the mass of the Higgs boson in the MSSM from effective field theory. We also describe updated likelihoods in PrecisionBit and DarkBit, and updated decay data included in DecayBit.

We present the GAMBIT modules SpecBit, DecayBit and PrecisionBit. Together they provide a new framework for linking publicly available spectrum generators, decay codes and other precision observable calculations in a physically and statistically consistent manner. This allows users to automatically run various combinations of existing codes as if they are a single package. The modular design allows software packages fulfilling the same role to be exchanged freely at runtime, with the results presented in a common format that can be easily passed to downstream dark matter, collider and flavour codes. These modules constitute an essential part of the broader GAMBIT framework, a major new software package for performing global fits. In this paper we present the observable calculations, data, and likelihood functions implemented in the three modules, as well as the conventions and assumptions used in interfacing them with external codes. We also present 3-BIT-HIT, a command-line utility for computing mass spectra, couplings, decays and precision observables in the MSSM, which shows how the three modules can be easily used independently of GAMBIT., 67 pages, 9 figures, updated to match version published in EPJC

Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) are a very well motivated extensions of the Standard Model (SM), but the landscape of models and possibilities is overwhelming, and different patterns can lead to rather distinct phenomenologies. In this work we present a way to automatise the model building process, by considering a top to bottom approach that constructs viable and sensible theories from a small and controllable set of inputs at the high scale. By providing a GUT scale symmetry group and the field content, possible symmetry breaking paths are generated and checked for consistency, ensuring anomaly cancellation, SM embedding and gauge coupling unification. We emphasise the usefulness of this approach for the particular case of a non-supersymmetric SO(10) model with an intermediate left-right symmetry and we analyse how low-energy observables such as proton decay and lepton flavour violation might affect the generated model landscape., 36 pages, 6 figures

9 páginas.-- 4 figuras.-- 2 tablas.-- 47 referencias.-- Supplementary data are available online at https://academic.oup.com/aob/article/119/7/1169/3056736#supplementary-data, Background and Aims A phylogenetic comparative analysis of the seed germination niche was conducted in coastal plant communities of western Europe. Two hypotheses were tested, that (1) the germination niche shape (i.e. the preference for a set of germination cues as opposed to another) would differ between beaches and cliffs to prevent seedling emergence in the less favourable season (winter and summer, respectively); and (2) the germination niche breadth (i.e. the amplitude of germination cues) would be narrower in the seawards communities, where environmental filtering is stronger. Methods Seeds of 30 specialist species of coastal plant communities were collected in natural populations of northern Spain. Their germination was measured in six laboratory treatments based on field temperatures. Germination niche shape was estimated as the best germination temperature. Germination niche breadth was calculated using Pielou’s evenness index. Differences between plant communities in their germination niche shape and breadth were tested using phylogenetic generalized least squares regression (PGLS). Key Results Germination niche shape differed between communities, being warm-cued in beaches (best germination temperature = 20 °C) and cold-cued in cliffs (14 °C). Germination niche was narrowest in seawards beaches (Pielou’s index = 0·89) and broadest in landwards beaches (0·99). Cliffs had an intermediate germination niche breadth (0·95). The relationship between niche and plant community had a positive phylogenetic signal for shape (Pagel’s λ = 0·64) and a negative one for breadth (Pagel’s λ = −1·71). Conclusion Environmental filters shape the germination niche to prevent emergence in the season of highest threat for seedling establishment. The germination niche breadth is narrower in the communities with stronger environmental filters, but only in beaches. This study provides empirical support to a community-level generalization of the hypotheses about the environmental drivers of the germination niche. It highlights the role of germination traits in community assembly., The LIFE+ programme of the European Commission partly supported seed collection (project LIFE+ ARCOS). E.F.P. had the financial support of the Government of Asturias and the FP7 – Marie Curie – COFUND programme of the European Commission (Grant ‘Clarín’ ACA14-19). The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, receives grant-in-aid from Defra.

The European physical journal / C 77(11), 784 (2017). doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5321-8, We describe the open-source global fitting package GAMBIT: the Global And Modular Beyond-the-Standard-Model Inference Tool. GAMBIT combines extensive calculations of observables and likelihoods in particle and astroparticle physics with a hierarchical model database, advanced tools for automatically building analyses of essentially any model, a flexible and powerful system for interfacing to external codes, a suite of different statistical methods and parameter scanning algorithms, and a host of other utilities designed to make scans faster, safer and more easily-extendible than in the past. Here we give a detailed description of the framework, its design and motivation, and the current models and other specific components presently implemented in GAMBIT. Accompanying papers deal with individual modules and present first GAMBIT results. GAMBIT can be downloaded from gambit.hepforge.org., Published by Springer, Berlin

Background and aims Seed dormancy varies within species in response to climate, both in the long term (through ecotypes or clines) and in the short term (through the influence of the seed maturation environment). Disentangling both processes is crucial to understand plant adaptation to environmental changes. In this study, the local patterns of seed dormancy were investigated in a narrow endemic species, Centaurium somedanum, in order to determine the influence of the seed maturation environment, population genetic composition and climate. Methods Laboratory germination experiments were performed to measure dormancy in (1) seeds collected from different wild populations along a local altitudinal gradient and (2) seeds of a subsequent generation produced in a common garden. The genetic composition of the original populations was characterized using intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) PCR and principal co-ordinate analysis (PCoA), and its correlation with the dormancy patterns of both generations was analysed. The effect of the local climate on dormancy was also modelled. Key results An altitudinal dormancy cline was found in the wild populations, which was maintained by the plants grown in the common garden. However, seeds from the common garden responded better to stratification, and their release from dormancy was more intense. The patterns of dormancy variation were correlated with genetic composition, whereas lower temperature and summer precipitation at the population sites predicted higher dormancy in the seeds of both generations. Conclusions The dormancy cline in C. somedanum is related to a local climatic gradient and also corresponds to genetic differentiation among populations. This cline is further affected by the weather conditions during seed maturation, which influence the receptiveness to dormancy-breaking factors. These results show that dormancy is influenced by both long-and short-term climatic variation. Such processes at such a reduced spatial scale highlight the potential of plants to adapt to fast environmental changes.

In this paper, we embed the model of flipped GUT sneutrino inflation — in a flipped SU(5) or SO(10) set up — developed by Ellis et al. in a supergravity framework. The GUT symmetry is broken by a waterfall which could happen at early or late stage of the inflationary period. The full field dynamics is thus studied in detail and these two main inflationary configurations are exposed, whose cosmological predictions are both in agreement with recent astrophysical measurements. The model has an interesting feature where the inflaton has natural decay channels to the MSSM particles allowed by the GUT gauge symmetry. Hence it can account for the reheating after the inflationary epoch., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Se analizó el contenido de carne, la composición química proximal y el perfil de ácidos grasos de la carne de mejillones recolectados en bancos naturales infralitorales y en cultivos localizados en el Golfo San Jorge, Argentina. Se comparó el contenido de humedad, cenizas, lípidos, proteínas y glúcidos. El perfil de ácidos grasos se determinó por cromatografíagaseosa y fue empleado para calcular el índice aterogénico (IA) y el índice trombótico (IT). Los mejillones del banco natural tienen un menor contenido relativo de carne que los ejemplares de cultivo. Se obtuvieron diferencias significativas en la composición química proximal de los mejillones. La carne de mejillón presentó un alto contenido de humedad, siendo ésta mayor en mejillones de bancos. Las proteínas son el componente bioquímico con mayor porcentaje, seguido por los hidratos de carbono y en menor cantidad por los lípidos. Independientemente del origen de los animales, la carne de mejillón se caracterizó por una mayor cantidad de ácidos grasos polinsaturados que ácidos grasos monoinsaturados y saturados. El IA en mejillones de banco fue levemente menor que en los ejemplares de cultivo, mientras que el IT fue el mismo en ambos casos. Las diferencias observadas en la composición química proximal de los mejillones de cultivos y bancos naturales se deberían al hábitat que ocupan, el cual determina diferencias en la calidad y cantidad de alimentos y diferencias en la energía destinada a mantenimiento. In the present study we compared meat yield, proximate chemical composition and fatty acid profile of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis from rocky shores and long line cultures in San Jorge Gulf, Argentina. Moisture, ash, lipids, proteins and carbohydrates were quantified. The fatty acid profile was analyzed by gas chromatography. Mussels from rocky shores had lower meat yield than cultured mussels. The proximate chemical composition was different between the mussels of the two environments. Mussel meat was characterized by high moisture content, with higher moisture in mussels from rocky shores. Proteins were the main biochemical component, followed by carbohydrates and lipids. Regardless of the origin of the mussels, meat mussel was characterized by higher content of polyunsaturated fatty acids than that of monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids. Atherogenic index was lower in cultured mussels, while thrombogenic index was similar in both groups of mussels. Differences in proximate chemical composition between mussels from rocky shores and cultures are related to the habitat in which they grow, which determines differences in the amount and quality of food and in maintenance costs. Fil: Colombo, Julia Soledad. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia Golfo San Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia Golfo San Jorge. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia Golfo San Jorge; Argentina Fil: Varisco, Martin Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia Golfo San Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia Golfo San Jorge. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia Golfo San Jorge; Argentina Fil: Isola, Tomas. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia Golfo San Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia Golfo San Jorge. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia Golfo San Jorge; Argentina Fil: Crovetto, Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Comodoro. Departamento de Bioquímica; Argentina Fil: Rost, Enrique Julian. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco"; Argentina Fil: Risso, Susana Josefina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Comodoro. Departamento de Bioquímica; Argentina

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is also available via DOI:10.3390/molecules21060567 Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a plant growth regulator belonging to the jasmonate family. It plays an important role as a possible airborne signaling molecule mediating intra- and inter-plant communications and modulating plant defense responses, including antioxidant systems. Most assessments of this compound have dealt with post-harvest fruit applications, demonstrating induced plant resistance against the detrimental impacts of storage (chilling injuries and pathogen attacks), enhancing secondary metabolites and antioxidant activity. On the other hand, the interactions between MeJA and other compounds or technological tools for enhancing antioxidant capacity and quality of fruits were also reviewed. The pleiotropic effects of MeJA have raisen numerous as-yet unanswered questions about its mode of action. The aim of this review was endeavored to clarify the role of MeJA on improving pre- and post-harvest fresh fruit quality and health properties. Interestingly, the influence of MeJA on human health will be also discussed.

To improve understanding of how a rare endemic species of Centaurium adapts to a specialized ecological niche, we studied the germination ecology of the mountain spring specialist, C. somedanum, a perennial species restricted to an unusual habitat for this genus. We conducted laboratory experiments with fresh seeds collected from two populations for three consecutive years, to investigate: (1) the effect of temperature and light on germination; (2) the existence of seed dormancy; and (3) inter-population and inter-annual variation in germinability. Germination occurred only in the light and at relatively low temperatures (15–22°C) with no differences between constant and alternating regimes, and a significant decrease at high temperatures (25°C and 30°C). We found non-deep simple morphophysiological dormancy and variation in seed germinability depending on the year of seed collection. C. somedanum diverged from the common germination characteristics of the genus in: (1) its germination at lower temperatures, which contrasts with what is generally expected in wetland species but could be adaptive in the spring habitat; and (2) its morphophysiological dormancy, which we report here for the first time in the genus and which could be an adaptation to its mountain habitat.

We propose a class of left-right symmetric models (LRSMs) with spontaneous D parity breaking, where SU(2)_R breaks at the TeV scale while discrete left-right symmetry breaks around 10^9 GeV. By embedding this framework in a non-supersymmetric SO(10) Grand Unified Theory (GUT) with Pati-Salam symmetry as the highest intermediate breaking step, we obtain g_R / g_L ~ 0.6 between the right- and left-handed gauge couplings at the TeV scale. This leads to a suppression of beyond the Standard Model phenomena induced by the right-handed gauge coupling. Here we focus specifically on the consequences for neutrinoless double beta decay, low energy lepton flavour violation and LHC signatures due to the suppressed right handed currents. Interestingly, the reduced g_R allows us to interpret an excess of events observed recently in the range of 1.9 TeV to 2.4 TeV by the CMS group at the LHC as the signature of a right handed gauge boson in LRSMs with spontaneous D parity breaking. Moreover, the reduced right-handed gauge coupling also strongly suppresses the non-standard contribution of heavy states to the neutrinoless double beta decay rate as well as the amplitude of low energy lepton flavour violating processes. In a dominant type-II Seesaw mechanism of neutrino mass generation, we find that both sets of observables provide stringent and complimentary bounds which make it challenging to observe the scenario at the LHC., 20 pages, 11 figures

We point out that the recent excess observed in searches for a right-handed gauge boson W_R at CMS can be explained in a left-right symmetric model with D parity violation. In a class of SO(10) models, in which D parity is broken at a high scale, the left-right gauge symmetry breaking scale is naturally small, and at a few TeV the gauge coupling constants satisfy g_R ~ 0.6 g_L. Such models therefore predict a right-handed charged gauge boson W_R in the TeV range with a suppressed gauge coupling as compared to the usually assumed manifest left-right symmetry case g_R = g_L. The recent CMS data show excess events which are consistent with the cross section predicted in the D parity breaking model for 1.9 TeV < M_{W_R} < 2.4 TeV. If the excess is confirmed, it would in general be a direct signal of new physics beyond the Standard Model at the LHC. A TeV scale W_R would for example not only rule out SU(5) grand unified theory models. It would also imply B-L violation at the TeV scale, which would be the first evidence for baryon or lepton number violation in nature and it has strong implications on the generation of neutrino masses and the baryon asymmetry in the Universe., 4 pages, 2 figures, matches published version

The worldwide spread of diseases is considered a major threat to biodiversity and a possible driver of the decline of pollinator populations, particularly when novel species or strains of parasites emerge. Previous studies have suggested that populations of introduced European honeybee (Apis mellifera) and bumblebee species (Bombus terrestris and Bombus ruderatus) in Argentina share the neogregarine parasite Apicystis bombi with the native bumblebee (Bombus dahlbomii). In this study we investigated whether A. bombi is acting as an emergent parasite in the non-native populations. Specifically, we asked whether A. bombi, recently identified in Argentina, was introduced by European, non-native bees. Using ITS1 and ITS2 to assess the parasite's intraspecific genetic variation in bees from Argentina and Europe, we found a largely unstructured parasite population, with only 15% of the genetic variation being explained by geographic location. The most abundant haplotype in Argentina (found in all 9 specimens of non-native species) was identical to the most abundant haplotype in Europe (found in 6 out of 8 specimens). Similarly, there was no evidence of structuring by host species, with this factor explaining only 17% of the genetic variation. Interestingly, parasites in native Bombus ephippiatus from Mexico were genetically distant from the Argentine and European samples, suggesting that sufficient variability does exist in the ITS region to identify continent-level genetic structure in the parasite. Thus, the data suggest that A. bombi from Argentina and Europe share a common, relatively recent origin. Although our data did not provide information on the direction of transfer, the absence of genetic structure across space and host species suggests that A. bombi may be acting as an emergent infectious disease across bee taxa and continents., Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores

Animal-mediated pollination is required for the reproduction of the majority of angiosperms, and pollinators are therefore essential for ecosystem functioning and the economy. Two major threats to insect pollinators are anthropogenic land-use change and the spread of pathogens, whose effects may interact to impact pollination. Here, we investigated the relative effects on the ecosystem service of pollination of (i) land-use change brought on by agriculture and urbanization as well as (ii) the prevalence of pollinator parasites, using experimental insect pollinator-dependent plant species in natural pollinator communities. We found that pollinator habitat (i.e. availability of nesting resources for ground-nesting bees and local flower richness) was strongly related to flower visitation rates at the local scale and indirectly influenced plant pollination success. At the landscape scale, pollination was positively related to urbanization, both directly and indirectly via elevated visitation rates. Bumblebees were the most abundant pollinator group visiting experimental flowers. Prevalence of trypanosomatids, such as the common bumblebee parasiteCrithidia bombi,was higher in urban compared with agricultural areas, a relationship which was mediated through higherBombusabundance. Yet, we did not find any top-down, negative effects of bumblebee parasitism on pollination. We conclude that urban areas can be places of high transmission of both pollen and pathogens.

International audience; Recent concerns regarding the decline of plant and pollinator species, and the impact on ecosystem functioning, has focused attention on the local and global threats to bee diversity. As evidence for bee declines is now accumulating from over broad taxonomic and geographic scales, we review the role of ecology in bee conservation at the levels of species, populations and communities. Bee populations and communities are typified by considerable spatiotemporal variation; whereby autecological traits, population size and growth rate, and plant-pollinator network architecture all play a role in their vulnerability to extinction. As contemporary insect conservation management is broadly based on species- and habitat-targeted approaches, ecological data will be central to integrating management strategies into a broader, landscape scale of dynamic, interconnected habitats capable of delivering bee conservation in the context of global environmental change.