Pollen morphology of the Boraginaceae from Santa Catarina state (Southern Brazil), with comments on the taxonomy of the family

The pollen morphology of 30 #Boraginaceae taxa native to the Santa Catarina State was investigated by both light and scanning electron microscopy. The species were classified into nine pollen types on the basis of aperture characteristics and surface ornamentation. Sub-types were defined with regard to differences in shape, surface ornamentation and the number of apertures. The general agreement of these pollen types with taxonomic classifications was verified, with a few exceptions. An extensive re-evaluation of the systematics of the subfamily #Heliotropioideae, especially of the genus #Heliotropium$, is suggested. (Résumé d'auteur

Fungi infection in honeybee hives in regions affected by Brazilian sac brood

The Brazilian Sac Brood is a disease that affects apiaries of Africanized bee hives in Brazil, thereby making them susceptible to high losses. This study investigated the pathogenicity of Africanized bee hives by the entomopathogenic fungi in a Brazilian Sac Brood endemic region. The degree of fungal contamination, presence of mycotoxins in beehive elements, and vulnerability of healthy beehives in environments subjected and not subjected to the disease were investigated. From the contaminating fungal load, species that are mycotoxin producers and pathogenic causing mortality in the bees have been isolated. The analysis of bee pollen and bee bread samples did not show the presence of the toxic pollen of Stryphnodendron (Fabaceae), which has been indicated as the causative agent of mortality in pre-pupal stage larvae. However, bee bread showed the highest correlation between substrate and fungal contamination

Three dimensional magnetic nanotextures with high order vorticity in soft magnetic wireframes

Additive nanotechnology enable curvilinear and three dimensional 3D magnetic architectures with tunable topology and functionalities surpassing their planar counterparts. Here, we experimentally reveal that 3D soft magnetic wireframe structures resemble compact manifolds and accommodate magnetic textures of high order vorticity determined by the Euler characteristic, amp; 967;. We demonstrate that self standing magnetic tetrapods homeomorphic to a sphere; amp; 967; amp; 8201; amp; 8201; amp; 8201;2 support six surface topological solitons, namely four vortices and two antivortices, with a total vorticity of amp; 8201; amp; 8201;2 equal to its Euler characteristic. Alternatively, wireframe structures with one loop homeomorphic to a torus; amp; 967; amp; 8201; amp; 8201;0 possess equal number of vortices and antivortices, which is relevant for spin wave splitters and 3D magnonics. Subsequent introduction of n holes into the wireframe geometry homeomorphic to an n torus; amp; 967; amp; 8201; lt; amp; 8201;0 enables the accommodation of a virtually unlimited number of antivortices, which suggests their usefulness for non conventional e.g., reservoir computation. Furthermore, complex stray field topologies around these objects are of interest for superconducting electronics, particle trapping and biomedical application