525 research outputs found
Pediatric Artificial Lung: Improving a Large Animal Model of ESLF
Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP)http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116115/1/Pediatric_Artificial_Lung_Improving_Large_Animal_Model_ESLF.pd
Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon: Threats to Wilderness, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples
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.The western Amazon is the most biologically rich part of the Amazon basin and is home to a great diversity
of indigenous ethnic groups, including some of the worldâs last uncontacted peoples living in voluntary isolation. Unlike
the eastern Brazilian Amazon, it is still a largely intact ecosystem. Underlying this landscape are large reserves of oil and
gas, many yet untapped. The growing global demand is leading to unprecedented exploration and development in the
region. Without improved policies, the increasing scope and magnitude of planned extraction means
that environmental and social impacts are likely to intensify. We review the most pressing oil- and gas-related conservation
policy issues confronting the region. These include the need for regional Strategic Environmental Impact Assessments and
the adoption of roadless extraction techniques. We also consider the conflicts where the blocks overlap indigenous peoplesâ
territories
Search for supersymmetric particles in scenarios with a gravitino LSP and stau NLSP
Sleptons, neutralinos and charginos were searched for in the context of
scenarios where the lightest supersymmetric particle is the gravitino. It was
assumed that the stau is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle. Data
collected with the DELPHI detector at a centre-of-mass energy near 189 GeV were
analysed combining the methods developed in previous searches at lower
energies. No evidence for the production of these supersymmetric particles was
found. Hence, limits were derived at 95% confidence level.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figure
Avoiding Costly Conservation Mistakes: The Importance of Defining Actions and Costs in Spatial Priority Setting
Background: The typical mandate in conservation planning is to identify areas that represent biodiversity targets within the smallest possible area of land or sea, despite the fact that area may be a poor surrogate for the cost of many conservation actions. It is also common for priorities for conservation investment to be identified without regard to the particular conservation action that will be implemented. This demonstrates inadequate problem specification and may lead to inefficiency: the cost of alternative conservation actions can differ throughout a landscape, and may result in dissimilar conservation priorities
Ape Conservation Physiology: Fecal Glucocorticoid Responses in Wild Pongo pygmaeus morio following Human Visitation
Nature-based tourism can generate important revenue to support conservation of biodiversity. However, constant exposure to tourists and subsequent chronic activation of stress responses can produce pathological effects, including impaired cognition, growth, reproduction, and immunity in the same animals we are interested in protecting. Utilizing fecal samples (Nâ=â53) from 2 wild habituated orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio) (in addition to 26 fecal samples from 4 wild unhabituated orangutans) in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, we predicted that i) fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations would be elevated on the day after tourist visitation (indicative of normal stress response to exposure to tourists on the previous day) compared to samples taken before or during tourist visitation in wild, habituated orangutans, and ii) that samples collected from habituated animals would have lower fecal glucocorticoid metabolites than unhabituated animals not used for tourism. Among the habituated animals used for tourism, fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were significantly elevated in samples collected the day after tourist visitation (indicative of elevated cortisol production on the previous day during tourist visitation). Fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were also lower in the habituated animals compared to their age-matched unhabituated counterparts. We conclude that the habituated animals used for this singular ecotourism project are not chronically stressed, unlike other species/populations with documented permanent alterations in stress responses. Animal temperament, species, the presence of coping/escape mechanisms, social confounders, and variation in amount of tourism may explain differences among previous experiments. Acute alterations in glucocorticoid measures in wildlife exposed to tourism must be interpreted conservatively. While permanently altered stress responses can be detrimental, preliminary results in these wild habituated orangutans suggest that low levels of predictable disturbance can likely result in low physiological impact on these animals
Stressed out symbiotes:hypotheses for the influence of abiotic stress on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Abiotic stress is a widespread threat to both plant and soil communities. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can alleviate effects of abiotic stress by improving host plant stress tolerance, but the direct effects of abiotic stress on AM fungi are less well understood. We propose two hypotheses predicting how AM fungi will respond to abiotic stress. The stress exclusion hypothesis predicts that AM fungal abundance and diversity will decrease with persistent abiotic stress. The mycorrhizal stress adaptation hypothesis predicts that AM fungi will evolve in response to abiotic stress to maintain their fitness. We conclude that abiotic stress can have effects on AM fungi independent of the effects on the host plant. AM fungal communities will change in composition in response to abiotic stress, which may mean the loss of important individual species. This could alter feedbacks to the plant community and beyond. AM fungi will adapt to abiotic stress independent of their host plant. The adaptation of AM fungi to abiotic stress should allow the maintenance of the plant-AM fungal mutualism in the face of changing climates. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00442-016-3673-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
Combined Tevatron upper limit on gg->H->W+W- and constraints on the Higgs boson mass in fourth-generation fermion models
Report number: FERMILAB-PUB-10-125-EWe combine results from searches by the CDF and D0 collaborations for a standard model Higgs boson (H) in the process gg->H->W+W- in p=pbar collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV. With 4.8 fb-1 of integrated luminosity analyzed at CDF and 5.4 fb-1 at D0, the 95% Confidence Level upper limit on \sigma(gg->H) x B(H->W+W-) is 1.75 pb at m_H=120 GeV, 0.38 pb at m_H=165 GeV, and 0.83 pb at m_H=200 GeV. Assuming the presence of a fourth sequential generation of fermions with large masses, we exclude at the 95% Confidence Level a standard-model-like Higgs boson with a mass between 131 and 204 GeV.We combine results from searches by the CDF and D0 collaborations for a standard model Higgs boson (H) in the process ggâHâW+W- in ppÌ
collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider at âs=1.96ââTeV. With 4.8ââfb-1 of integrated luminosity analyzed at CDF and 5.4ââfb-1 at D0, the 95% confidence level upper limit on Ï(ggâH)ĂB(HâW+W-) is 1.75 pb at mH=120ââGeV, 0.38 pb at mH=165ââGeV, and 0.83 pb at mH=200ââGeV. Assuming the presence of a fourth sequential generation of fermions with large masses, we exclude at the 95% confidence level a standard-model-like Higgs boson with a mass between 131 and 204 GeV.Peer reviewe
Study of B0_s anti-B0_s oscillations and B0_s lifetimes using hadronic decays of B0_s mesons
Oscillations of B0s mesons have been studied in samples selected from about
3.5 million hadronic Z decays detected by DELPHI between 1992 and 1995. One
analysis uses events in the exclusive decay channels: B0s -> Ds- pi+ or Ds- a1+
and B0s -> anti-D0 K- pi+ or anti-D0 K- a1+, where the D decays are completely
reconstructed. In addition, B0s anti-B0s oscillations have been studied in
events with an exclusively reconstructed Ds accompanied in the same hemisphere
by a high momentum hadron of opposite charge. Combining the two analyses, a
limit on the mass difference between the physical B0s states has been obtained:
Delta(m_B0s) > 4.0 ps^{-1} at the 95% C.L. with a sensitivity of Delta(m_B0s)
= 3.2 ps^{-1}. Using the latter sample of events, the B0s lifetime has been
measured and an upper limit on the decay width difference between the two
physical B0s states has been obtained:
tau(B0s) = 1.53^{+0.16}_{-0.15}(stat.) +/- {0.07}(syst.) ps
\Delta\Gamma(B0s)/\Gamma(B0s) < 0.69 at the 95% C.L.
The combination of these results with those obtained using Ds+- lepton-+
sample gives:
Delta(m_B0s) > 4.9 ps^{-1} at the 95% C.L.
with a sensitivity of Delta(m_B0s) = 8.7 ps^{-1}.
tau(B0s) = 1.46 +/- 0.11 ps and \Delta\Gamma(B0s)/\Gamma(B0s) < 0.45 at the
95% C.L.Comment: 42 pages, 13 figure
- âŠ