256 research outputs found
Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector
Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente
Origins of domestic dog in Southern East Asia is supported by analysis of Y-chromosome DNA
Global mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data indicates that the dog originates from domestication of wolf in Asia South of Yangtze River (ASY), with minor genetic contributions from dog–wolf hybridisation elsewhere. Archaeological data and autosomal single nucleotide polymorphism data have instead suggested that dogs originate from Europe and/or South West Asia but, because these datasets lack data from ASY, evidence pointing to ASY may have been overlooked. Analyses of additional markers for global datasets, including ASY, are therefore necessary to test if mtDNA phylogeography reflects the actual dog history and not merely stochastic events or selection. Here, we analyse 14 437 bp of Y-chromosome DNA sequence in 151 dogs sampled worldwide. We found 28 haplotypes distributed in five haplogroups. Two haplogroups were universally shared and included three haplotypes carried by 46% of all dogs, but two other haplogroups were primarily restricted to East Asia. Highest genetic diversity and virtually complete phylogenetic coverage was found within ASY. The 151 dogs were estimated to originate from 13–24 wolf founders, but there was no indication of post-domestication dog–wolf hybridisations. Thus, Y-chromosome and mtDNA data give strikingly similar pictures of dog phylogeography, most importantly that roughly 50% of the gene pools are shared universally but only ASY has nearly the full range of genetic diversity, such that the gene pools in all other regions may derive from ASY. This corroborates that ASY was the principal, and possibly sole region of wolf domestication, that a large number of wolves were domesticated, and that subsequent dog–wolf hybridisation contributed modestly to the dog gene pool
Recent Surveys in the Forests of Ulu Segama Malua, Sabah, Malaysia, Show That Orang-utans (P. p. morio) Can Be Maintained in Slightly Logged Forests
BACKGROUND: Today the majority of wild great ape populations are found outside of the network of protected areas in both Africa and Asia, therefore determining if these populations are able to survive in forests that are exploited for timber or other extractive uses and how this is managed, is paramount for their conservation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In 2007, the "Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project" (KOCP) conducted aerial and ground surveys of orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus morio) nests in the commercial forest reserves of Ulu Segama Malua (USM) in eastern Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Compared with previous estimates obtained in 2002, our recent data clearly shows that orang-utan populations can be maintained in forests that have been lightly and sustainably logged. However, forests that are heavily logged or subjected to fast, successive coupes that follow conventional extraction methods, exhibit a decline in orang-utan numbers which will eventually result in localized extinction (the rapid extraction of more than 100 m(3) ha(-1) of timber led to the crash of one of the surveyed sub-populations). Nest distribution in the forests of USM indicates that orang-utans leave areas undergoing active disturbance and take momentarily refuge in surrounding forests that are free of human activity, even if these forests are located above 500 m asl. Displaced individuals will then recolonize the old-logged areas after a period of time, depending on availability of food sources in the regenerating areas. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: These results indicate that diligent planning prior to timber extraction and the implementation of reduced-impact logging practices can potentially be compatible with great ape conservation
Health impact of US military service in a large population-based military cohort: findings of the Millennium Cohort Study, 2001-2008
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Combat-intense, lengthy, and multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have characterized the new millennium. The US military's all-volunteer force has never been better trained and technologically equipped to engage enemy combatants in multiple theaters of operations. Nonetheless, concerns over potential lasting effects of deployment on long-term health continue to mount and are yet to be elucidated. This report outlines how findings from the first 7 years of the Millennium Cohort Study have helped to address health concerns related to military service including deployments.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Millennium Cohort Study was designed in the late 1990s to address veteran and public concerns for the first time using prospectively collected health and behavioral data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over 150 000 active-duty, reserve, and National Guard personnel from all service branches have enrolled, and more than 70% of the first 2 enrollment panels submitted at least 1 follow-up survey. Approximately half of the Cohort has deployed in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Millennium Cohort Study is providing prospective data that will guide public health policymakers for years to come by exploring associations between military exposures and important health outcomes. Strategic studies aim to identify, reduce, and prevent adverse health outcomes that may be associated with military service, including those related to deployment.</p
Why Don't We Ask? A Complementary Method for Assessing the Status of Great Apes
Species conservation is difficult. Threats to species are typically high and immediate. Effective solutions for counteracting these threats, however, require synthesis of high quality evidence, appropriately targeted activities, typically costly implementation, and rapid re-evaluation and adaptation. Conservation management can be ineffective if there is insufficient understanding of the complex ecological, political, socio-cultural, and economic factors that underlie conservation threats. When information about these factors is incomplete, conservation managers may be unaware of the most urgent threats or unable to envision all consequences of potential management strategies. Conservation research aims to address the gap between what is known and what knowledge is needed for effective conservation. Such research, however, generally addresses a subset of the factors that underlie conservation threats, producing a limited, simplistic, and often biased view of complex, real world situations. A combination of approaches is required to provide the complete picture necessary to engage in effective conservation. Orangutan conservation (Pongo spp.) offers an example: standard conservation assessments employ survey methods that focus on ecological variables, but do not usually address the socio-cultural factors that underlie threats. Here, we evaluate a complementary survey method based on interviews of nearly 7,000 people in 687 villages in Kalimantan, Indonesia. We address areas of potential methodological weakness in such surveys, including sampling and questionnaire design, respondent biases, statistical analyses, and sensitivity of resultant inferences. We show that interview-based surveys can provide cost-effective and statistically robust methods to better understand poorly known populations of species that are relatively easily identified by local people. Such surveys provide reasonably reliable estimates of relative presence and relative encounter rates of such species, as well as quantifying the main factors that threaten them. We recommend more extensive use of carefully designed and implemented interview surveys, in conjunction with more traditional field methods
Human and Non-Human Primate Genomes Share Hotspots of Positive Selection
Among primates, genome-wide analysis of recent positive selection is currently
limited to the human species because it requires extensive sampling of genotypic
data from many individuals. The extent to which genes positively selected in
human also present adaptive changes in other primates therefore remains unknown.
This question is important because a gene that has been positively selected
independently in the human and in other primate lineages may be less likely to
be involved in human specific phenotypic changes such as dietary habits or
cognitive abilities. To answer this question, we analysed heterozygous Single
Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genomes of single human, chimpanzee,
orangutan, and macaque individuals using a new method aiming to identify
selective sweeps genome-wide. We found an unexpectedly high number of
orthologous genes exhibiting signatures of a selective sweep simultaneously in
several primate species, suggesting the presence of hotspots of positive
selection. A similar significant excess is evident when comparing genes
positively selected during recent human evolution with genes subjected to
positive selection in their coding sequence in other primate lineages and
identified using a different test. These findings are further supported by
comparing several published human genome scans for positive selection with our
findings in non-human primate genomes. We thus provide extensive evidence that
the co-occurrence of positive selection in humans and in other primates at the
same genetic loci can be measured with only four species, an indication that it
may be a widespread phenomenon. The identification of positive selection in
humans alongside other primates is a powerful tool to outline those genes that
were selected uniquely during recent human evolution
Evidence for Hitchhiking of Deleterious Mutations within the Human Genome
Deleterious mutations present a significant obstacle to adaptive evolution. Deleterious mutations can inhibit the spread of linked adaptive mutations through a population; conversely, adaptive substitutions can increase the frequency of linked deleterious mutations and even result in their fixation. To assess the impact of adaptive mutations on linked deleterious mutations, we examined the distribution of deleterious and neutral amino acid polymorphism in the human genome. Within genomic regions that show evidence of recent hitchhiking, we find fewer neutral but a similar number of deleterious SNPs compared to other genomic regions. The higher ratio of deleterious to neutral SNPs is consistent with simulated hitchhiking events and implies that positive selection eliminates some deleterious alleles and increases the frequency of others. The distribution of disease-associated alleles is also altered in hitchhiking regions. Disease alleles within hitchhiking regions have been associated with auto-immune disorders, metabolic diseases, cancers, and mental disorders. Our results suggest that positive selection has had a significant impact on deleterious polymorphism and may be partly responsible for the high frequency of certain human disease alleles
Pervasive Hitchhiking at Coding and Regulatory Sites in Humans
Much effort and interest have focused on assessing the importance of natural
selection, particularly positive natural selection, in shaping the human genome.
Although scans for positive selection have identified candidate loci that may be
associated with positive selection in humans, such scans do not indicate whether
adaptation is frequent in general in humans. Studies based on the reasoning of
the MacDonald–Kreitman test, which, in principle, can be used to
evaluate the extent of positive selection, suggested that adaptation is
detectable in the human genome but that it is less common than in Drosophila or
Escherichia coli. Both positive and purifying natural
selection at functional sites should affect levels and patterns of polymorphism
at linked nonfunctional sites. Here, we search for these effects by analyzing
patterns of neutral polymorphism in humans in relation to the rates of
recombination, functional density, and functional divergence with chimpanzees.
We find that the levels of neutral polymorphism are lower in the regions of
lower recombination and in the regions of higher functional density or
divergence. These correlations persist after controlling for the variation in GC
content, density of simple repeats, selective constraint, mutation rate, and
depth of sequencing coverage. We argue that these results are most plausibly
explained by the effects of natural selection at functional
sites—either recurrent selective sweeps or background
selection—on the levels of linked neutral polymorphism. Natural
selection at both coding and regulatory sites appears to affect linked neutral
polymorphism, reducing neutral polymorphism by 6% genome-wide and by
11% in the gene-rich half of the human genome. These findings suggest
that the effects of natural selection at linked sites cannot be ignored in the
study of neutral human polymorphism
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