ALBERT

Description: Background: Despite the ecological and socioeconomic importance of wild Capsicum annuum L., few investigations have been carried out to study basic characteristics. The peninsula of Baja California has a unique characteristic that it provides a high degree of isolation for the development of unique highly diverse endemic populations. The objective of this study was to evaluate for the first time the growth type, associated vegetation, morphometric traits in plants, in fruits and mineral content of roots, stems and leaves of three wild populations of Capsicum in Baja California, Mexico, near biosphere reserves. Results: The results showed that the majority of plants of wild Capsicum annuum have a shrub growth type and were associated with communities consisting of 43 species of 20 families the most representative being Fabaceae, Cactaceae and Euphorbiaceae. Significant differences between populations were found in plant height, main stem diameter, beginning of canopy, leaf area, leaf average and maximum width, stems and roots dry weights. Coverage, leaf length and dry weight did not show differences. Potassium, sodium and zinc showed significant differences between populations in their roots, stems and leaves, while magnesium and manganese showed significant differences only in roots and stems, iron in stems and leaves, calcium in roots and leaves and phosphorus did not show differences. Average fruit weight, length, 100 fruits dry weight, 100 fruits pulp dry weight and pulp/seeds ratio showed significant differences between populations, while fruit number, average fruit fresh weight, peduncle length, fruit width, seeds per fruit and seed dry weight, did not show differences. Conclusions: We concluded that this study of traits of wild Capsicum, provides useful information of morphometric variation between wild populations that will be of value for future decision processes involved in the management and preservation of germplasm and genetic resources.

Description: We analyzed C-band and L-band Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data acquired from 2003 to 2011 to search for volcanic deformations at Llaima volcano, Southern Andes (38.69° S 71.73° W). There, specific environmental conditions (steep slopes, snow- or ice-capped summit, dense vegetation cover and strong tropospheric artifacts) and limited amount of radar data available make it challenging to accurately measure ground surface displacement with InSAR. To overcome these difficulties, we first performed a careful analysis of the water vapor variations using MERIS and MODIS near-infrared water vapor products and then we inverted wrapped interferograms for both topographic correlated phase delays and a simple model source strength. In the light of our results, we conclude that there is no detectable ground displacement related to a deep magmatic source for the 2003–2011 period and that most of the fringes observed in the interferograms were produced by tropospheric delays.

Description: Abstract Species traits provide a strong link between an organism's fitness and processes at community and ecosystem levels. However, such data remains scarce for amphibians in the neotropics. Colombia is the country with the highest number of threatened amphibians and the second greatest number of amphibian species worldwide. We present a data set containing eight morphological traits for 4623 museum specimens of the seven largest collections in the country corresponding to 293 species of 14 families. The number of measured specimens per species ranged from 1 to 118 individuals with a median of eight individuals per species. Overall, this database gathered morphological information for 37.6% of Colombian anuran diversity. Species measured were mainly distributed in the high Andean forest, the páramo, and wetland ecosystems and was part of a national initiative led by the Instituto Alexander von Humboldt. The morphological traits were selected on the basis of their role in species’ responses to environmental variability and their contributions to ecosystem processes. These traits were related to habitat use, (forearm length, tibia length, femur length, foot length, and foot webbing) predation and food chains (head width and mouth width), and nutrient recycling (snout‐vent length). We expect this data set will be used in studies on functional diversity in amphibians and the development of conservation planning for these taxa. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with the use of this data set other than citation of this Data Paper. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Description: Atmospheric Motion Vectors (AMVs) are wind observations derived by tracking cloud or water vapour features in consecutive satellite images. These observations are incorporated into Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) through data assimilation. In the assimilation algorithm, the weighting given to an observation is determined by the uncertainty associated with its measurement and representation. Previous studies assessing AMV uncertainty have used direct comparisons between AMVs with co-located radiosonde data and AMVs derived from Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs). These have shown that AMV error is horizontally correlated with characteristic length scale up to 200 km. In this work, we take an alternative approach and estimate AMV error variance and horizontal error correlation using background and analysis residuals obtained from the Met Office limited area, 3 km horizontal grid length data assimilation system. The results show that the observation error variance profile ranges from 5.2 to 14.1 s m 2 s − 2 , with the highest values occurring at high and medium heights. This is indicative that the maximum error variance occurs where wind speed and shear, in combination, are largest. With the exception of AMVs derived from the High Resolution Visible channel, the results show horizontal observation error correlations at all heights in the atmosphere, with correlation lengthscales ranging between 140 and 200 km. These horizontal lengthscales are significantly larger than current AMV observation thinning distances used in the Met Office high resolution assimilation.

Description: The synthesis of multicomponent ceramic materials in the titanium-diboride-carbide-nitride-carbonitride system by the mechanochemical process known as the mechanically induced self-sustaining reaction (MSR) was investigated. Ceramic composite powders containing TiB 2 and TiC , TiN or TiC x N 1− x were prepared from a blended mixture of the elements by exploiting the highly exothermic nature of the formation reactions. The synthesis of the composite materials was made possible by the ability of the MSR to simultaneously induce independent self-sustaining reactions, generating a mixture of ceramic phases. The composition of the ceramic composites was designed using the initial atomic ratio of the reactants, and the achieved microstructure was characterized by TiB 2 particles in the micrometric range, surrounded by submicrometric and nanometric TiC , TiN , or TiC x N 1− x crystals.

Description: During the TopoIberia experiment, a total of 26 seismic broadband stations were recording in northern Morocco, providing for the first time extended regional coverage for investigating structure and seismotectonics of the southern branch of the Betic-Rif arc, its foreland, and the Atlas domain. Here, we analyze P-to-S converted waves in teleseismic receiver functions to infer gross crustal properties as thickness and Vp/Vs ratio. Strong lateral variations of the crustal thickness are observed throughout the region. Crustal thicknesses vary between 22 and 44 km and display a simple geographic pattern that divides the study area into three domains: entire northwestern Morocco underlain by a thickened crust with crustal thicknesses between 35 and 44 km; northeastern Morocco affected by significant crustal thinning, with crustal thicknesses ranging from 22 to 30 km, with the shallowest Moho along the Mediterranean coast; and an extended domain of 27–34 km thick crust, farther south which includes the Atlas domain and its foreland regions. Vp/Vs ratios show normal values of ∼1.75 for most stations except for the Atlas domain, where several stations give low Vp/Vs ratios of around 1.71. The very sharp transition from thick crust in northwestern Morocco to thin crust in northeastern Morocco is attributed to regional geodynamics, possibly the realm of present-day subcrustal dynamics in the final stage of western Mediterranean subduction. Crustal thicknesses just slightly above 30 km in the southern domain are intriguing, showing that high topography in this region is not isostatically compensated at crustal level.

Description: The reactivities of commercially available Ti 2 AlC or Ti 3 SiC 2 powders with uncoated SiC fibers or SiC powders were evaluated in this paper. When Ti 2 AlC–SiC samples were hot pressed or hot isostatically pressed at temperatures up to 1500°C, fully dense composites were obtained. The latter were characterized by X-ray diffraction and electron-dispersive spectroscopy in a scanning and transmission electron microscope. Differential thermal analysis up to 1550°C was also carried out. In all cases, SiC reacted with the Ti 2 AlC powder resulting in the formation of Ti 3 (Al 1− x Si x )C 2 TiC and Al 1+ x Ti 1− x , where x ranges from 0 to 1. In the limit x =1, pure Al forms. Conversely, Ti 3 SiC 2 samples, reinforced with uncoated SiC fibers or powders, can be hot pressed in vacuum at temperatures as high as 1500°C to produce fully dense composites with no apparent reaction between the matrix and fibers. Based on these results, Ti 3 SiC 2 can, but Ti 2 AlC cannot, be reinforced with SiC. Such reinforcements will be needed if the MAX phases are to be used as structural materials at very high temperatures.

Description: In this article, the reactivity of Ti 2 AlC powders, with 3 and 10 μm alumina, Al 2 O 3 , fibers during pressure-assisted sintering is explored. Samples were fabricated by hot-isostatic-pressing (HIPed) or hot-pressing (HPed), and characterized by X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis, and electron microscopy—both scanning and transmission—equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopes. Samples prepared at 1300°C were fully dense, with no apparent reaction between fiber and matrix. In samples HPed to 1500°C, even pure Ti 2 AlC powders dissociated to Ti 3 AlC 2 according to: 2 Ti 2 AlC = Ti 3 AlC 2  + TiAl x ( l ) + (1- x ) Al ( l / v ), with x  〈 1. More severe Al loss results in the formation of TiC y . The presence of the Al 2 O 3 fibers delayed densification enough to allow most of the Al and some of the Ti to escape into the vacuum of the hot press or react with the encapsulating glass during HIPing a resulting in a more intensive dissociation of the Ti 2 AlC. Although, in principle Ti 2 AlC can be reinforced with Al 2 O 3 fibers, the processing/use temperature will have to be kept below 1500°C, as, at that temperature the fibers, used here, sinter together.

Description: The synthesis of multicomponent ceramic materials in the titanium-diboride-carbide-nitride-carbonitride system by the mechanochemical process known as the mechanically induced self-sustaining reaction (MSR) was investigated. Ceramic composite powders containing TiB 2 and TiC , TiN or TiC x N 1− x were prepared from a blended mixture of the elements by exploiting the highly exothermic nature of the formation reactions. The synthesis of the composite materials was made possible by the ability of the MSR to simultaneously induce independent self-sustaining reactions, generating a mixture of ceramic phases. The composition of the ceramic composites was designed using the initial atomic ratio of the reactants, and the achieved microstructure was characterized by TiB 2 particles in the micrometric range, surrounded by submicrometric and nanometric TiC , TiN , or TiC x N 1− x crystals.