Sneutrino as Lightest Supersymmetric Particle in B3 mSUGRA Models and Signals at the LHC

We consider B3 mSUGRA models where we have one lepton number violating LQD operator at the GUT scale. This can alter the supersymmetric mass spectrum leading to a sneutrino as the lightest supersymmetric particle in a large region of parameter space. We take into account the restrictions from neutrino masses, the muon anomalous magnetic moment, b -> s gamma and other precision measurements. We furthermore investigate existing restrictions from direct searches at LEP, the Tevatron and the CERN p\bar p collider. We then give examples for characteristic signatures at the LHC.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figure

Testing Dividend Signalling Models

This paper derives a key monotonicity property common to all dividend signaling models: the greater the rate that dividend income is taxed relative to capital gains income, the greater the value of information revealed by a given dividend, and hence the greater the associated excess return. This monotonicity condition is tested with robust non-parametric techniques. No evidence is found to support dividend signaling models. The same results are inconsistent with tax-based CAPM arguments

Finding Direct-Collapse Black Holes at Birth

Direct-collapse black holes (DCBHs) are currently one of the leading contenders for the origins of the first quasars in the universe, over 300 of which have now been found at $z >$ 6. But the birth of a DCBH in an atomically-cooling halo does not by itself guarantee it will become a quasar by $z \sim$ 7, the halo must also be located in cold accretion flows or later merge with a series of other gas-rich halos capable of fueling the BH's rapid growth. Here, we present near infrared luminosities for DCBHs born in cold accretion flows in which they are destined to grow to 10$^9$ M$_{\odot}$ by $z \sim$ 7. Our observables, which are derived from cosmological simulations with radiation hydrodynamics with Enzo, reveal that DCBHs could be found by the James Webb Space Telescope at $z \lesssim$ 20 and strongly-lensed DCBHs might be found in future wide-field surveys by Euclid and the Wide-Field Infrared Space Telescope at $z \lesssim$ 15.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted by ApJ

Field studies evaluate methods to prevent sudden oak death in oaks and tanoak

We conducted field studies to evaluate management methods for the prevention of sudden oak death (SOD), caused by Phytophthora ramorum. Phosphite was applied as a trunk spray at the product label rate (22.36% a.i. aqueous solution + Pentra-Bark® surfactant at 2.3% v/v) to a 1.35 ha block of 233 large-diameter (mean 46 cm) tanoaks. Annual phosphite applications began in 2008; symptoms of P. ramorum were not seen in the stand until 2011. In 2013, SOD incidence in treated trees was 32% compared to 18% in adjacent untreated trees. Subsequent discontinuation of phosphite treatment did not affect disease progress; SOD continued to increase at similar rates in phosphite-treated and control trees, reaching 47% among phosphite-treated trunks compared to 32% in untreated trunks. Preventative phosphite application did not delay SOD onset, or reduce SOD incidence or SOD-related mortality. In contrast, in other studies we found that removal of California bay (Umbellularia californica) around coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia), California black oaks (Q. kelloggii), and Shreve oaks (Q. parvula var. shrevei) strongly decreased or prevented new disease development over study periods ranging from 5 to 7 years. In these studies, SOD incidence in oaks treated by removal of nearby California bay was 20 to 25% lower than in untreated controls

Effects of Population Size and Density On Pollinator Visitation, Pollinator Behavior, and Pollen Tube Abundance in Lupinus Perennis

Both the number and the density of flowering plants in a population can be important determinants of pollinator abundance and behavior. We report the joint effects of population size and density on pollinator visitation and pollination success for Lupinus perennis (Fabaceae). Focusing on five pairs of populations, we matched one small population (125-800 flowering plants) with one distinctly larger population (1000-3000 flowering plants). In these pairs, population size did not affect pollinator communities or pollination success. All measures of pollination success increased significantly with density. Only bee behavior (number of flowers probed per inflorescence) exhibited a significant interaction of size and density. Testing whether population sizes smaller than those in the paired populations might affect pollination, we gathered pollen tube samples from 14 unpaired populations (16-215 flowering plants). Combining these data with those from the paired populations revealed a significant decrease in pollination for smaller populations, indicating that effects of population size may be detectable only when populations smaller than a few hundred plants are sampled. We found that effects of density are consistent and much stronger than those of population size. Our results suggest that both size and density of natural populations should be considered in designing restoration and reintroduction programs for this threatened plant

A computational tool to predict the evolutionarily conserved protein-protein interaction hot-spot residues from the structure of the unbound protein

Identifying hot-spot residues – residues that are critical to protein–protein binding – can help to elucidate a protein's function and assist in designing therapeutic molecules to target those residues. We present a novel computational tool, termed spatial-interaction-map (SIM), to predict the hot-spot residues of an evolutionarily conserved protein–protein interaction from the structure of an unbound protein alone. SIM can predict the protein hot-spot residues with an accuracy of 36–57%. Thus, the SIM tool can be used to predict the yet unknown hot-spot residues for many proteins for which the structure of the protein–protein complexes are not available, thereby providing a clue to their functions and an opportunity to design therapeutic molecules to target these proteins.Novartis (Firm)Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technolog