Fire frequency and landscape management in the northwestern Pyrenean piedmont, France, since the early Neolithic (8000 cal. BP)

International audienceBoth quantitative reconstruction of fire frequency from charcoal counts and pollen analysis were undertaken on a 312 cm sediment core from Gabarn peat bog. An 8000 yr cal. BP palaeofire record and vegetation history were established on the basis of nine 14C (AMS) dates. As anthropogenic Inferred Fire Frequency (IFF) has seldom been studied, we test and discuss two different methods of frequency calculation. Our results shows a clear Holocene bipartition at c. 3500–4000 cal. BP characterized by a three times decrease in Mean Fire Interval (MFI): from 7000 to 4000 cal. BP, MFI = 530 yr; from 4000 to 400 cal. BP, MFI = 160 yr. In an Atlantic vegetation context, we hypothesize this fire regime with such episode frequency to be mainly controlled by human activities. This hypothesis is supported by comparisons with other European quantified palaeofireregimes (Swiss Alps, northern Italy) whether they are controlled by climate, man or both. Taking into account the pollen record, we interpret the Gabarn palaeofire record links with human pressure and land use. Our results suggest that the relationship between fire frequency and human pressure is not always linear. Fire frequency could also reflect land-use shifts and changing use of fire within agro-pastoral activitie

Study of the virus vector genus Trichodorus (Diphtherophorina, Trichodoridae) from the Iberian Peninsula, an apparent centre of speciation

Trichodoridae are polyphagous root ectoparasites occurring worldwide. Their major pest status is as virus vector of Tobraviruses. Currently, the family has 102 species classified within 6 genera. The genus Trichodorus is the largest in number of species (56) and predominantly occurs in temperate regions. Traditional morphology-based taxonomy revealed for Europe, a very high species diversity within the Iberian Peninsula, comprising about one fifth of all Trichodoridae described. Characteristic for this fauna is the presence of a morpho-species group within Trichodorus, characterized in males by slightly ventrally curved spicules with a mid-blade constriction with bristles and females with relatively large vaginal sclerotized pieces, quadrangular to triangular in shape. Recent surveys for Trichodoridae in cultivated and natural environments in Southern Spain and compared with the fauna from Portugal revealed four new species of Trichodorus, three of them belonging to this morpho-species group. Molecular analyses based on nuclear ribosomal RNA genes (D2-D3 expansion segments of 28S and partial 18S gene) supported not only the new species but also the morpho-species group as a separate clade. The integrated approach of morphology based taxonomy with molecular and biogeographic data enhanced the accuracy of the observed biodiversity and strengthen the hypothesis of the Iberian Peninsula as a center of speciation.The Society of Nematologists (SON

Integrative taxonomic study of the virus vector family Trichodoridae from the Iberian Peninsula, an apparent centre of speciation

Trichodoridae are polyphagous root ectoparasites occurring worldwide. Their major pest status is as virus vector of Tobraviruses. Currently, the family has 102 species classified within 6 genera. 88% of the species belong to the didelphic genera (females with two well developed genital branches) with the genus Trichodorus being the largest in number of species (56). Trichodorus species predominantly occur in temperate regions. Surveys for trichodorids were carried out in cultivated and natural habitats in Spain and compared with the trichodorid fauna from Portugal. A comparative morphological study was carried out together with molecular analyses based on nuclear ribosomal RNA genes (D2-D3 expansion segments of 28S and partial 18S gene). Characteristic for the Iberian Peninsula is the high number of morphologically closely resembling species but clearly separated molecularly (cryptic species), characterized in males by slightly ventrally curved spicules with a mid-blade constriction with bristles and females with relatively large vaginal sclerotized pieces, quadrangular to triangular in shape. Molecular analyses demonstrated that D2-D3 expansion segments are suitable diagnostic markers for Trichodoridae. Comparative morphology and molecular analyses provide support for the Iberian Peninsula as an apparent centre of speciation. South Africa is another known centre of speciation of Trichodorus.Nematological Society of Southern Afric

First report of root-knot nematode Meloidogyne hispanica infecting grapevines in southern Spain

Artículo open access.Some commercial vineyards producing the ‘Condado de Huelva’ wine denomination of origin in Almonte, Bonares, and Rociana (Huelva Province), southern Spain, showed general decline in sandy soils in 2009. Disease surveys revealed severe infections of grapevine rootstock Richter 110 feeder roots and heavy soil infestations by a root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne sp.).Peer Reviewe

A fused maxillary central incisor and its multidisciplinary treatment: an 18-year follow-up

Fused teeth may cause aesthetic, spacing, periodontal, eruption, and caries problems. The present case report describes a 7-year-old boy patient with a chief complaint of unerupted maxillary incisor. Radiographic examination indicated a fused tooth which had two fused roots but two independent root canals. A complex management of a fused tooth is really difficult to standardize. In this case an orthodontic, endodontic, and surgical treatment (intentional replantation) allowed the tooth to be retained until 18 years following intervention. Maintenance of the root and alveolar bone in young adults at least until full skeletal maturation should be the main treatment objectiv

CP violation at colliders

The prospects of experimental detection of $CP$ violation at $e^+e^-$ and $pp/p\overline{p}$ colliders are reviewed. After a general discussion on the quantities which can measure $CP$ violation and on the implications of the $CPT$ theorem, various possibilities of measuring $CP$ violation arising outside the standard model are taken up. $CP$ violation in leptonic processes, especially polarization effects in $e^+e^-\rightarrow l^+l^-$ are discussed next. $CP$ violation in $t\overline{t}$ and $W^+W^-$ production and decay is also described. (Based on talk presented at the WHEPP3, Madras, January 1994).Comment: 20 pages, latex, no figures (only revision is the comment that the article is based on a talk presented at WHEPP3, Madras, January 1994

Phenomenology of neutral heavy leptons

We continue our previous work on the flavour-conserving leptonic decays of the Z boson with neutral heavy leptons (NHL's) in the loops by considering box, vertex, and self-energy diagrams for the muon decay. By inclusion of these loops (they contribute to the input parameter M_W) we can probe the full parameter space spanned by the so-called flavour-conserving mixing parameters ee_(mix), \mu\mu_(mix), \tau\tau_(mix) in a superstring-inspired model of neutrino mass. We compare the results of our analysis with the existing work in this field and conclude that flavour-conserving decays have certain advantages over traditionally considered flavour-violating ones.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. D, 30 pages, 9 figures (ps), REVTE

Dynamical Symmetry Breaking in Warped Compactifications

We study dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking in the Randall-Sundrum scenario. We show that one extra dimension is enough to give the correct pattern of electroweak symmetry breaking in a simple model with gauge bosons and the right-handed top quark in the bulk. The top quark mass is also in agreement with experiment. Furthermore, we propose an extended scenario with all Standard Model gauge bosons and fermions propagating in the bulk, which naturally accommodates the fermion mass hierarchies. No new fields or interactions beyond the observed in the Standard Model are required.Comment: 16 pages, no figures. v3 : Final version, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Optimization of a class of tryptophan dendrimers that inhibit HIV replication leads to a selective, specific, and low-nanomolar inhibitor of clinical isolates of enterovirus A71

Tryptophan dendrimers that inhibit HIV replication by binding to the HIV envelope glycoproteins gp120 and gp41 have unexpectedly also proven to be potent, specific, and selective inhibitors of the replication of the unrelated enterovirus A71. Dendrimer 12, a consensus compound that was synthesized on the basis of the structure-activity relationship analysis of this series, is 3-fold more potent against the BrCr lab strain and, surprisingly, inhibits a large panel of clinical isolates in the low-nanomolar/high-picomolar range.This work has been supported by the Spanish MINECO (Project SAF2012-39760-C02-01, cofinanced by the FEDER program; Plan Nacional de Cooperación Público-Privada; and Subprograma INNPACTO IPT-2012-0213-060000, cofinanced by the FEDER program) and the Comunidad de Madrid (BIPEDD2-CM-S2010/BMD-2457). This work was also funded by EU FP7 (FP7/2007-2013) Project EUVIRNA under Grant408 Agreement 264286 by EU FP7 SILVER (Contract HEALTH-F3-2010- 260644), a grant from the Belgian Interuniversity Attraction Poles (IAP) Phase VII–P7/45 (BELVIR), and the EU FP7 Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways Project AIROPICO. The Spanish MEC/MINECO is also acknowledged for a grant to E.R.-B. L.S. was funded by China Scholarship Council (CSC) Grant 201403250056. We also acknowledge Charlotte Vanderheydt for help with the processing of the antiviral data.Peer Reviewe

Schwinger-Dyson Analysis of Dynamical Symmetry Breaking on a Brane with Bulk Yang-Mills Theory

The dynamically generated fermion mass is investigated in the flat brane world with (4+delta)-dimensional bulk space-time, and in the Randall-Sundrum (RS) brane world. We consider the bulk Yang-Mills theory interacting with the fermion confined on a four-dimensional brane. Based on the effective theory below the reduced cutoff scale on the brane, we formulate the Schwinger-Dyson equation of the brane fermion propagator. By using the improved ladder approximation we numerically solve the Schwinger-Dyson equation and find that the dynamical fermion mass is near the reduced cutoff scale on the brane for the flat brane world with delta >= 3 and for the RS brane world. In RS brane world KK excited modes of the bulk gauge field localized around the y = pi R brane and it enhances the dynamical symmetry breaking on the brane. The decay constant of the fermion and the anti-fermion composite operator can be taken to be the order of the electroweak scale much smaller than the Planck scale. Therefore electroweak mass scale can be realized from only the Planck scale in the RS brane world due to the fermion and the anti-fermion pair condensation. That is a dynamical realization of Randall-Sundrum model which solves the weak-Planck hierarchy problem.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures; typos corrected, references added and updated, footnotes adde