1,556 research outputs found
Phylogenetic relationships of cone snails endemic to Cabo Verde based on mitochondrial genomes
Background: Due to their great species and ecological diversity as well as their capacity to produce hundreds of different toxins, cone snails are of interest to evolutionary biologists, pharmacologists and amateur naturalists alike. Taxonomic identification of cone snails still relies mostly on the shape, color, and banding patterns of the shell. However, these phenotypic traits are prone to homoplasy. Therefore, the consistent use of genetic data for species delimitation and phylogenetic inference in this apparently hyperdiverse group is largely wanting. Here, we reconstruct the phylogeny of the cones endemic to Cabo Verde archipelago, a well-known radiation of the group, using mitochondrial (mt) genomes. Results: The reconstructed phylogeny grouped the analyzed species into two main clades, one including Kalloconus from West Africa sister to Trovaoconus from Cabo Verde and the other with a paraphyletic Lautoconus due to the sister group relationship of Africonus from Cabo Verde and Lautoconus ventricosus from Mediterranean Sea and neighboring Atlantic Ocean to the exclusion of Lautoconus endemic to Senegal (plus Lautoconus guanche from Mauritania, Morocco, and Canary Islands). Within Trovaoconus, up to three main lineages could be distinguished. The clade of Africonus included four main lineages (named I to IV), each further subdivided into two monophyletic groups. The reconstructed phylogeny allowed inferring the evolution of the radula in the studied lineages as well as biogeographic patterns. The number of cone species endemic to Cabo Verde was revised under the light of sequence divergence data and the inferred phylogenetic relationships. Conclusions: The sequence divergence between continental members of the genus Kalloconus and island endemics ascribed to the genus Trovaoconus is low, prompting for synonymization of the latter. The genus Lautoconus is paraphyletic. Lautoconus ventricosus is the closest living sister group of genus Africonus. Diversification of Africonus was in allopatry due to the direct development nature of their larvae and mainly triggered by eustatic sea level changes during the Miocene-Pliocene. Our study confirms the diversity of cone endemic to Cabo Verde but significantly reduces the number of valid species. Applying a sequence divergence threshold, the number of valid species within the sampled Africonus is reduced to half.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [CGL2013-45211-C2-2-P, CGL2016-75255-C2-1-P, BES-2011-051469, BES-2014-069575, Doctorado Nacional-567]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Precision luminosity measurements at LHCb
Measuring cross-sections at the LHC requires the luminosity to be determined accurately at each centre-of-mass energy √s. In this paper results are reported from the luminosity calibrations carried out at the LHC interaction point 8 with the LHCb detector for √s = 2.76, 7 and 8 TeV (proton-proton collisions) and for √sNN = 5 TeV (proton-lead collisions). Both the "van der Meer scan" and "beam-gas imaging" luminosity calibration methods were employed. It is observed that the beam density profile cannot always be described by a function that is factorizable in the two transverse coordinates. The introduction of a two-dimensional description of the beams improves significantly the consistency of the results. For proton-proton interactions at √s = 8 TeV a relative precision of the luminosity calibration of 1.47% is obtained using van der Meer scans and 1.43% using beam-gas imaging, resulting in a combined precision of 1.12%. Applying the calibration to the full data set determines the luminosity with a precision of 1.16%. This represents the most precise luminosity measurement achieved so far at a bunched-beam hadron collider
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Search for lepton-flavour-violating decays of Higgs-like bosons.
A search is presented for a Higgs-like boson with mass in the range 45 to 195 GeV/c2 decaying into a muon and a tau lepton. The dataset consists of proton-proton interactions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV , collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2 fb-1 . The tau leptons are reconstructed in both leptonic and hadronic decay channels. An upper limit on the production cross-section multiplied by the branching fraction at 95% confidence level is set and ranges from 22 pb for a boson mass of 45 GeV/c2 to 4 pb for a mass of 195 GeV/c2
Measurement of the lifetime
Using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of ,
collected by the LHCb experiment in collisions at centre-of-mass energies
of 7 and 8 TeV, the effective lifetime in the
decay mode, , is measured to be ps. Assuming
conservation, corresponds to the lifetime of the light
mass eigenstate. This is the first measurement of the effective
lifetime in this decay mode.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-2016-017.htm
Strong constraints on the rare decays Bs -> mu+ mu- and B0 -> mu+ mu-
A search for Bs -> mu+ mu- and B0 -> mu+ mu- decays is performed using 1.0
fb^-1 of pp collision data collected at \sqrt{s}=7 TeV with the LHCb experiment
at the Large Hadron Collider. For both decays the number of observed events is
consistent with expectation from background and Standard Model signal
predictions. Upper limits on the branching fractions are determined to be BR(Bs
-> mu+ mu-) mu+ mu-) < 1.0 (0.81) x 10^-9 at
95% (90%) confidence level.Comment: 2+6 pages; 4 figures; Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
Observation of excited Lambda_b0 baryons
Using pp collision data corresponding to 1.0 fb-1 integrated luminosity
collected by the LHCb detector, two narrow states are observed in the
Lambda_b0pi+pi- spectrum with masses 5911.97 +- 0.12(stat) +- 0.02(syst) +-
0.66(Lambda_b0 mass) MeV/c^2 and 5919.77 +- 0.08(stat) +- 0.02(syst) +-
0.66(Lambda_b0 mass) MeV/c^2. The significances of the observations are 5.2 and
10.2 standard deviations, respectively. These states are interpreted as the
orbitally-excited Lambda_b0 baryons, Lambda_b*0(5912) and Lambda_b*0(5920).Comment: Replaced by version published in Phys. Rev. Lett, modified fit with
better mass resolution treatmen
Model-independent evidence for contributions to decays
The data sample of decays acquired with the
LHCb detector from 7 and 8~TeV collisions, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 3 fb, is inspected for the presence of or
contributions with minimal assumptions about
contributions. It is demonstrated at more than 9 standard deviations that
decays cannot be described with
contributions alone, and that contributions play a dominant role in
this incompatibility. These model-independent results support the previously
obtained model-dependent evidence for charmonium-pentaquark
states in the same data sample.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures (including the supplemental section added at the
end
Inclusive W and Z production in the forward region at √s=7TeV
Measurements of inclusive W and Z boson production cross-sections in p p collisions at root s = 7TeV using final states containing muons are presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 37 pb(-1) collected with the LHCb detector. The W and Z bosons are reconstructed from muons with a transverse momentum above 20 GeV/c and pseudorapidity between 2.0 and 4.5, and, in the case of the Z cross-section, a dimuon invariant mass between 60 and 120 GeV/c(2). The cross-sections are measured to be 831 +/- 9 +/- 27 +/- 29 pb for W+, 656 +/- 8 +/- 19 +/- 23 for W- and 76.7 +/- 1.7 +/- 3.3 +/- 2.7 pb for Z, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic and the third is due to the luminosity. Differential cross-sections, W and Z cross-section ratios and the lepton charge asymmetry are also measured in the same kinematic region. The ratios are determined to be sigma W+->mu(+)nu/sigma W-->mu-(nu) over bar = 1.27 +/- 0.02 +/- 0.01 and (sigma W+->mu+nu+sigma W-->mu-(nu) over bar)/sigma Z ->mu mu = 19.4 +/- 0.5 +/- 0.9. The results are in general agreement with theoretical predictions, performed at next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD using recently calculated parton distribution functions
Amplitude analysis of decays
The first full amplitude analysis of with
, decays is performed with a data sample
of 3 fb of collision data collected at and TeV
with the LHCb detector. The data cannot be described by a model that contains
only excited kaon states decaying into , and four
structures are observed, each with significance over standard deviations.
The quantum numbers of these structures are determined with significance of at
least standard deviations. The lightest has mass consistent with, but width
much larger than, previous measurements of the claimed state. The
model includes significant contributions from a number of expected kaon
excitations, including the first observation of the
transition.Comment: 62 pages 26 figure
Observation of structures consistent with exotic states from amplitude analysis of decays
The first full amplitude analysis of with
, decays is performed with a data sample
of 3 fb of collision data collected at and TeV
with the LHCb detector. The data cannot be described by a model that contains
only excited kaon states decaying into , and four
structures are observed, each with significance over standard deviations.
The quantum numbers of these structures are determined with significance of at
least standard deviations. The lightest has mass consistent with, but width
much larger than, previous measurements of the claimed state.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure
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