Late Pleistocene insects from the Dubrovino site at Ob River (West Siberia, Russia) and their paleoenvironmental significance

A blue-grey clay loam lens with plant and insect remains was found in an expo-sure of the Ob River, 2 km upper Dubrovino village in Novosibirskaya Oblast of Russia.Conventional radiocarbon dating of the Dubrovino deposit is ca 19,444±159 14C BP(23,234±338 cal yr BP) and coincides with Sartan glaciation period (MIS 2). Ninety-twoColeoptera species, dominated by fragments of Curculionidae and Carabidae are rep-resented in the Dubrovino deposit. Species of the tundra-steppe fauna are dominant,followed by meadow-dwelling taxa and coniferous forest taxa. A comparison of theDubrovino assemblage with the previously studied late Pleistocene Kalistratikha andBunkovo fossil assemblages showed that tundra-steppe landscapes with coniferousgroves and sparse meadow vegetation were typical for this area from the end of Kargininterglacial (MIS 3) through the end of the Sartan glaciation (MIS 2)

Комплексы жесткокрылых из четвертичных отложений р. Кизиха - самые южные позднеплейстоценовые насекомые Западно-Сибирской равнины

Two sites with insect remains were found in an exposure on the bank of Kizikha river, in the Rubtsovskii District of the Altaiskii Krai of Russia, Kizikha-1 with radiocarbon age 13455±150 14C BP (SPb-1347), and Kizikha-2 with the age 26094±400 14C BP (SPb-1418). This period is coincides with Sartan stadial and Kargin interstadial (MIS 2 and MIS 3). This is the southernmost late Pleistocene insect bearing deposit found in West Siberia. The fragments in both sites are represented mainly by Coleoptera. Beetle fauna from the site Kizikha-1 is represented by 34 species from 9 families. The majority of fragments belong to weevils and ground beetles. 28 species from 8 families are found in Kizikha-2 site, the majority of fragments belong to Carabidae. 7 species found in the sites, Dyschiriodes rufimanus, Cymindis cf. rostowtzowi (Carabidae), Cidnopus cf. parallelus, Pristilophus punctatissimus (Elateridae), Hemitrichapion alexsandri (Brentidae), Paophilus albilaterus and Otiorhynchus sushkini (Curculionidae), are recorded in Pleistocene deposits for the first time. Sub-fossil insect assemblages of the two sites coincides with the late Pleistocene “Otiorhynchus-type” sub-fossil insect fauna from southeastern part of West-Siberian Plain (Zinovyev, 2011; Legalov et al., 2016) with characteristics as follows: dominance of steppe species, presence of halophile species, lack of forest species. Most of these species are absent in the contemporary regional fauna. The complex of eastern species and presence of endemics of Altai-Sayan Mountain system is also characteristic to the both studied sites. Specifics of the deposit assemblages in comparison with the other late Pleistocene fauna of West Siberian Plain is in high share of meadow species that could be explained by taphonomic condition of sedimentation or microclimatic conditions caused by close location to Altai mountains. Analysis of sub-fossil insect fragments showed that open landscapes with zonal steppe and sparse meadow vegetation near rivers and in depressions were typical for this area. In comparison to contemporary conditions climate was dry and cold, but Kizikha-2 (end of MIS 3) was formed in more mild climate conditions than Kizikha-1 (end of MIS 2). Results gained from Kizikha-1 and Kizikha-2 sites are complementing data on latitudinal-zonal distribution of beetles found in late Pleistocene deposits in West Siberian Plain

Search for standard model production of four top quarks in the lepton + jets channel in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV

Open Access, Copyright CERN, for the benefit of the CMS Collaboration. Article funded by SCOAP3.Abstract: A search is presented for standard model (SM) production of four top quarks (Formula presented.) in pp collisions in the lepton + jets channel. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 fb−1 recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The expected cross section for SM (Formula presented.) production is (Formula presented.). A combination of kinematic reconstruction and multivariate techniques is used to distinguish between the small signal and large background. The data are consistent with expectations of the SM, and an upper limit of 32 fb is set at a 95% confidence level on the cross section for producing four top quarks in the SM, where a limit of 32 ± 17 fb is expected

Measurement of the t(t)over-bar production cross section in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV in dilepton final states containing a tau

The top quark pair production cross section is measured in dilepton events with one electron or muon, and one hadronically decaying tau lepton from the decay t (t) over bar -> (l nu(l))((sic)(h)nu((sic)))b (b) over bar, (l = e, mu). The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.0 fb(-1) for the electron channel and 2.2 fb(-1) for the muon channel, collected by the CMS detector at the LHC. This is the first measurement of the t (t) over bar cross section explicitly including tau leptons in proton- proton collisions at root s = 7 TeV. The measured value sigma(t (t) over bar) = 143 +/- 14(stat) +/- 22(syst) +/- 3(lumi) pb is consistent with the standard model predictions

Combined Forward-Backward Asymmetry Measurements in Top-Antitop Quark Production at the Tevatron

The CDF and D0 experiments at the Fermilab Tevatron have measured the asymmetry between yields of forward- and backward-produced top and antitop quarks based on their rapidity difference and the asymmetry between their decay leptons. These measurements use the full data sets collected in proton-antiproton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt s =1.96$ TeV. We report the results of combinations of the inclusive asymmetries and their differential dependencies on relevant kinematic quantities. The combined inclusive asymmetry is $A_{\mathrm{FB}}^{t\bar{t}} = 0.128 \pm 0.025$. The combined inclusive and differential asymmetries are consistent with recent standard model predictions

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis