Comparative mitochondrial genomics in zygomycetes: bacteria-like RNase P RNAs, mobile elements and a close source of the group I intron invasion in angiosperms

To generate data for comparative analyses of zygomycete mitochondrial gene expression, we sequenced mtDNAs of three distantly related zygomycetes, Rhizopus oryzae, Mortierella verticillata and Smittium culisetae. They all contain the standard fungal mitochondrial gene set, plus rnpB, the gene encoding the RNA subunit of the mitochondrial RNase P (mtP-RNA) and rps3, encoding ribosomal protein S3 (the latter lacking in R.oryzae). The mtP-RNAs of R.oryzae and of additional zygomycete relatives have the most eubacteria-like RNA structures among fungi. Precise mapping of the 5′ and 3′ termini of the R.oryzae and M.verticillata mtP-RNAs confirms their expression and processing at the exact sites predicted by secondary structure modeling. The 3′ RNA processing of zygomycete mitochondrial mRNAs, SSU-rRNA and mtP-RNA occurs at the C-rich sequence motifs similar to those identified in fission yeast and basidiomycete mtDNAs. The C-rich motifs are included in the mature transcripts, and are likely generated by exonucleolytic trimming of RNA 3′ termini. Zygomycete mtDNAs feature a variety of insertion elements: (i) mtDNAs of R.oryzae and M.verticillata were subject to invasions by double hairpin elements; (ii) genes of all three species contain numerous mobile group I introns, including one that is closest to an intron that invaded angiosperm mtDNAs; and (iii) at least one additional case of a mobile element, characterized by a homing endonuclease insertion between partially duplicated genes [Paquin,B., Laforest,M.J., Forget,L., Roewer,I., Wang,Z., Longcore,J. and Lang,B.F. (1997) Curr. Genet., 31, 380–395]. The combined mtDNA-encoded proteins contain insufficient phylogenetic signal to demonstrate monophyly of zygomycetes

Optics and Quantum Electronics

Contains reports on ten research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAALO3-86-K-0002)National Science Foundation (Grant ECS 83-05448)National Science Foundation (Grant ECS 83-10718)National Science Foundation (Grant ECS 82-11650)National Science Foundation (Grant ECS 84-13178)National Science Foundation (Grant ECS 85-52701)US Air Force - Office of Scientific Research (Contract AFOSR-85-0213)National Institutes of Health (Contract 5-RO1-GM35459)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-86-K-0117

Impacts of the Tropical Pacific/Indian Oceans on the Seasonal Cycle of the West African Monsoon

The current consensus is that drought has developed in the Sahel during the second half of the twentieth century as a result of remote effects of oceanic anomalies amplified by local land–atmosphere interactions. This paper focuses on the impacts of oceanic anomalies upon West African climate and specifically aims to identify those from SST anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Oceans during spring and summer seasons, when they were significant. Idealized sensitivity experiments are performed with four atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). The prescribed SST patterns used in the AGCMs are based on the leading mode of covariability between SST anomalies over the Pacific/Indian Oceans and summer rainfall over West Africa. The results show that such oceanic anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Ocean lead to a northward shift of an anomalous dry belt from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel as the season advances. In the Sahel, the magnitude of rainfall anomalies is comparable to that obtained by other authors using SST anomalies confined to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. The mechanism connecting the Pacific/Indian SST anomalies with West African rainfall has a strong seasonal cycle. In spring (May and June), anomalous subsidence develops over both the Maritime Continent and the equatorial Atlantic in response to the enhanced equatorial heating. Precipitation increases over continental West Africa in association with stronger zonal convergence of moisture. In addition, precipitation decreases over the Gulf of Guinea. During the monsoon peak (July and August), the SST anomalies move westward over the equatorial Pacific and the two regions where subsidence occurred earlier in the seasons merge over West Africa. The monsoon weakens and rainfall decreases over the Sahel, especially in August.Peer reviewe

Measurement of the Splitting Function in &ITpp &ITand Pb-Pb Collisions at root&ITsNN&IT=5.02 TeV

Data from heavy ion collisions suggest that the evolution of a parton shower is modified by interactions with the color charges in the dense partonic medium created in these collisions, but it is not known where in the shower evolution the modifications occur. The momentum ratio of the two leading partons, resolved as subjets, provides information about the parton shower evolution. This substructure observable, known as the splitting function, reflects the process of a parton splitting into two other partons and has been measured for jets with transverse momentum between 140 and 500 GeV, in pp and PbPb collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair. In central PbPb collisions, the splitting function indicates a more unbalanced momentum ratio, compared to peripheral PbPb and pp collisions.. The measurements are compared to various predictions from event generators and analytical calculations.Peer reviewe

Measurement of nuclear modification factors of gamma(1S)), gamma(2S), and gamma(3S) mesons in PbPb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

The cross sections for ϒ(1S), ϒ(2S), and ϒ(3S) production in lead-lead (PbPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV have been measured using the CMS detector at the LHC. The nuclear modification factors, RAA, derived from the PbPb-to-pp ratio of yields for each state, are studied as functions of meson rapidity and transverse momentum, as well as PbPb collision centrality. The yields of all three states are found to be significantly suppressed, and compatible with a sequential ordering of the suppression, RAA(ϒ(1S)) > RAA(ϒ(2S)) > RAA(ϒ(3S)). The suppression of ϒ(1S) is larger than that seen at √sNN = 2.76 TeV, although the two are compatible within uncertainties. The upper limit on the RAA of ϒ(3S) integrated over pT, rapidity and centrality is 0.096 at 95% confidence level, which is the strongest suppression observed for a quarkonium state in heavy ion collisions to date. © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP3.Peer reviewe

Electroweak production of two jets in association with a Z boson in proton-proton collisions root s =13 TeV

A measurement of the electroweak (EW) production of two jets in association with a Z boson in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV is presented, based on data recorded in 2016 by the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The measurement is performed in the lljj final state with l including electrons and muons, and the jets j corresponding to the quarks produced in the hard interaction. The measured cross section in a kinematic region defined by invariant masses m(ll) > 50 GeV, m(jj) > 120 GeV, and transverse momenta P-Tj > 25 GeV is sigma(EW) (lljj) = 534 +/- 20 (stat) fb (syst) fb, in agreement with leading-order standard model predictions. The final state is also used to perform a search for anomalous trilinear gauge couplings. No evidence is found and limits on anomalous trilinear gauge couplings associated with dimension-six operators are given in the framework of an effective field theory. The corresponding 95% confidence level intervals are -2.6 <cwww/Lambda(2) <2.6 TeV-2 and -8.4 <cw/Lambda(2) <10.1 TeV-2. The additional jet activity of events in a signal-enriched region is also studied, and the measurements are in agreement with predictions.Peer reviewe

Inclusive Search for a Highly Boosted Higgs Boson Decaying to a Bottom Quark-Antiquark Pair

© 2018 CERN. An inclusive search for the standard model Higgs boson (H) produced with large transverse momentum (pT) and decaying to a bottom quark-antiquark pair (bb) is performed using a data set of pp collisions at s=13 TeV collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb-1. A highly Lorentz-boosted Higgs boson decaying to bb is reconstructed as a single, large radius jet, and it is identified using jet substructure and dedicated b tagging techniques. The method is validated with Z→bb decays. The Z→bb process is observed for the first time in the single-jet topology with a local significance of 5.1 standard deviations (5.8 expected). For a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV, an excess of events above the expected background is observed (expected) with a local significance of 1.5 (0.7) standard deviations. The measured cross section times branching fraction for production via gluon fusion of H→bb with reconstructed pT > 450 GeV and in the pseudorapidity range -2.5 < η < 2.5 is 74±48(stat)-10+17(syst) fb, which is consistent within uncertainties with the standard model prediction

Search for electroweak production of charginos and neutralinos in multilepton final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Results are presented from a search for the direct electroweak production of charginos and neutralinos in signatures with either two or more leptons (electrons or muons) of the same electric charge, or with three or more leptons, which can include up to two hadronically decaying tau leptons. The results are based on a sample of protonproton collision data collected at p s = 13TeV, recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb1. The observed event yields are consistent with the expectations based on the standard model. The results are interpreted in simpli ed models of supersymmetry describing various scenarios for the production and decay of charginos and neutralinos. Depending on the model parameters chosen, mass values between 180GeV and 1150 GeV are excluded at 95% CL. These results signi cantly extend the parameter space probed for these particles in searches at the LHC. In addition, results are presented in a form suitable for alternative theoretical interpretations.Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physic

Study of W boson production in pPb collisions at vsNN = 5.02 TeV

The first study of W boson production in pPb collisions is presented, for bosons decaying to a muon or electron, and a neutrino. The measurements are based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34.6 nb-1 at a nucleon–nucleon centre-of-mass energy of vsNN = 5.02 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment. The W boson differential cross sections, lepton charge asymmetry, and forward–backward asymmetries are measured for leptons of transverse momentum exceeding 25 GeV/c, and as a function of the lepton pseudorapidity in the |?lab| < 2.4range. Deviations from the expectations based on currently available parton distribution functions are observed, showing the need for including W boson data in nuclear parton distribution global fits