64 research outputs found
Tigers of Sundarbans in India: Is the Population a Separate Conservation Unit?
The Sundarbans tiger inhabits a unique mangrove habitat and are morphologically distinct from the recognized tiger subspecies in terms of skull morphometrics and body size. Thus, there is an urgent need to assess their ecological and genetic distinctiveness and determine if Sundarbans tigers should be defined and managed as separate conservation unit. We utilized nine microsatellites and 3 kb from four mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes to estimate genetic variability, population structure, demographic parameters and visualize historic and contemporary connectivity among tiger populations from Sundarbans and mainland India. We also evaluated the traits that determine exchangeability or adaptive differences among tiger populations. Data from both markers suggest that Sundarbans tiger is not a separate tiger subspecies and should be regarded as Bengal tiger (P. t. tigris) subspecies. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses of the mtDNA data revealed reciprocal monophyly. Genetic differentiation was found stronger for mtDNA than nuclear DNA. Microsatellite markers indicated low genetic variation in Sundarbans tigers (He= 0.58) as compared to other mainland populations, such as northern and Peninsular (Hebetween 0.67- 0.70). Molecular data supports migration between mainland and Sundarbans populations until very recent times. We attribute this reduction in gene flow to accelerated fragmentation and habitat alteration in the landscape over the past few centuries. Demographic analyses suggest that Sundarbans tigers have diverged recently from peninsular tiger population within last 2000 years. Sundarbans tigers are the most divergent group of Bengal tigers, and ecologically non-exchangeable with other tiger populations, and thus should be managed as a separate "evolutionarily significant unit" (ESU) following the adaptive evolutionary conservation (AEC) concept.Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun (India)
Updated measurements of exclusive J/Ï and Ï(2S) production cross-sections in pp collisions at âs = 7 TeV
The differential cross-section as a function of rapidity has been measured for the exclusive production of J/Ï and Ï(2S) mesons in protonâproton collisions at âs = 7 TeV, using data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 930 pbâ1. The cross-sections times branching fractions to two muons having pseudorapidities between 2.0 and 4.5 are measured to be where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The measurements agree with next-to-leading order QCD predictions as well as with models that include saturation effects
Studies of beauty baryon decays to D0phâ and Î+châ final states
Decays of beauty baryons to the D0phâ and Î+châ final states (where h indicates a pion or a kaon) are studied using a data sample of pp collisions, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0ââfbâ1, collected by the LHCb detector. The Cabibbo-suppressed decays Î0bâD0pKâ and Î0bâÎ+cKâ are observed, and their branching fractions are measured with respect to the decays Î0bâD0pÏâ and Î0bâÎ+cÏâ. In addition, the first observation is reported of the decay of the neutral beauty-strange baryon Î0b to the D0pKâ final state, and a measurement of the Î0b mass is performed. Evidence of the Î0bâÎ+cKâ decay is also reported
Measurement of the CKM angle using with decays
A model-dependent amplitude analysis of the decay is performed using proton-proton collision data
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0fb, recorded at
and by the LHCb experiment. The CP violation observables
and , sensitive to the CKM angle , are measured to
be \begin{eqnarray*} x_- &=& -0.15 \pm 0.14 \pm 0.03 \pm 0.01, y_- &=& 0.25 \pm
0.15 \pm 0.06 \pm 0.01, x_+ &=& 0.05 \pm 0.24 \pm 0.04 \pm 0.01, y_+ &=&
-0.65^{+0.24}_{-0.23} \pm 0.08 \pm 0.01, \end{eqnarray*} where the first
uncertainties are statistical, the second systematic and the third arise from
the uncertainty on the amplitude model. These
are the most precise measurements of these observables. They correspond to
and , where is
the magnitude of the ratio of the suppressed and favoured decay amplitudes, in a mass region of around the
mass and for an absolute value of the cosine of the decay
angle larger than .Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2016-007.htm
Search for dark photons produced in 13 TeV collisions
Searches are performed for both promptlike and long-lived dark photons,
A
0
, produced in proton-proton
collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, using
A
0
â
Ό
ĂŸ
Ό
â
decays and a data sample corresponding
to an integrated luminosity of
1
.
6
fb
â
1
collected with the LHCb detector. The promptlike
A
0
search covers
the mass range from near the dimuon threshold up to 70 GeV, while the long-lived
A
0
search is restricted to
the low-mass region
214
<m
Ă°
A
0
Ă
<
350
MeV. No evidence for a signal is found, and 90% confidence
level exclusion limits are placed on the
Îł
â
A
0
kinetic-mixing strength. The constraints placed on promptlike
dark photons are the most stringent to date for the mass range
10
.
6
<m
Ă°
A
0
Ă
<
70
GeV, and are
comparable to the best existing limits for
m
Ă°
A
0
Ă
<
0
.
5
GeV. The search for long-lived dark photons is the
first to achieve sensitivity using a displaced-vertex signature
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