Lutzomyia umbratilis, the Main Vector of Leishmania guyanensis, Represents a Novel Species Complex?

BACKGROUND: Lutzomyia umbratilis is an important Leishmania guyanensis vector in South America. Previous studies have suggested differences in the vector competence between L. umbratilis populations situated on opposite banks of the Amazonas and Negro Rivers in the central Amazonian Brazil region, likely indicating a species complex. However, few studies have been performed on these populations and the taxonomic status of L. umbratilis remains unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Phylogeographic structure was estimated for six L. umbratilis samples from the central Amazonian region in Brazil by analyzing mtDNA using 1181 bp of the COI gene to assess whether the populations on opposite banks of these rivers consist of incipient or distinct species. The genetic diversity was fairly high and the results revealed two distinct clades ( = lineages) with 1% sequence divergence. Clade I consisted of four samples from the left bank of the Amazonas and Negro Rivers, whereas clade II comprised two samples from the right bank of Negro River. No haplotypes were shared between samples of two clades. Samples within clades exhibited low to moderate genetic differentiation (F(ST) = -0.0390-0.1841), whereas samples between clades exhibited very high differentiation (F(ST) = 0.7100-0.8497) and fixed differences. These lineages have diverged approximately 0.22 Mya in the middle Pleistocene. Demographic expansion was detected for the lineages I and II approximately 30,448 and 15,859 years ago, respectively, in the late Pleistocene. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The two genetic lineages may represent an advanced speciation stage suggestive of incipient or distinct species within L. umbratilis. These findings suggest that the Amazonas and Negro Rivers may be acting as effective barriers, thus preventing gene flow between populations on opposite sides. Such findings have important implications for epidemiological studies, especially those related to vector competence and anthropophily, and for vector control strategies. In addition, L. umbratilis represents an interesting example in speciation studies

Centrality evolution of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density over a broad pseudorapidity range in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

Peer reviewe

Charged kaon femtoscopic correlations in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=7 TeV

Correlations of two charged identical kaons (KchKch) are measured in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV by the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). One-dimensional (KKch)-K-ch correlation functions are constructed in three multiplicity and four transverse momentum ranges. The (KKch)-K-ch femtoscopic source parameters R and lambda are extracted. The (KKch)-K-ch correlations show a slight increase of femtoscopic radii with increasing multiplicity and a slight decrease of radii with increasing transverse momentum. These trends are similar to the ones observed for pi pi and K-s(0) K-s(0) correlations in pp and heavy-ion collisions. However at high multiplicities, there is an indication that the one-dimensional correlation radii for charged kaons are larger than those for pions in contrast to what was observed in heavy-ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider

Freeze-out radii extracted from three-pion cumulants in pp, p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC

In high-energy collisions, the spatio-temporal size of the particle production region can be measured using the Bose-Einstein correlations of identical bosons at low relative momentum. The source radii are typically extracted using two-pion correlations, and characterize the system at the last stage of interaction, called kinetic freeze-out. In low-multiplicity collisions, unlike in high-multiplicity collisions, two-pion correlations are substantially altered by background correlations, e.g. mini-jets. Such correlations can be suppressed using three-pion cumulant correlations. We present the first measurements of the size of the system at freeze-out extracted from three-pion cumulant correlations in pp, p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC with ALICE. At similar multiplicity, the invariant radii extracted in p-Pb collisions are found to be 5-15% larger than those in pp, while those in Pb-Pb are 35-55% larger than those in p-Pb. Our measurements disfavor models which incorporate substantially stronger collective expansion in p-Pb as compared to pp collisions at similar multiplicity

Beauty production in pp collisions at s=2.76TeV\sqrt {s}=2.76 TeV measured via semi-electronic decays

The ALICE Collaboration at the LHC reports measurement of the inclusive production cross section of electrons from semi-leptonic decays of beauty hadrons with rapidity |y| e) = 3.47 +/- 0.40(stat)(+1.12)(-1.33)(sys) +/- 0.07(norm) mu b, was extrapolated to full phase space using Fixed Order plus Next-to-Leading Log (FONLL) calculations to obtain the total b (b) over bar production cross section, sigma(b (b) over bar) = 130 +/- 15.1(stat)(+42.1)(-49.8)(sys)(+3.4)(-3.1)(extr) +/- 2.5(norm) +/- 4.4(BR) mu b

Beauty production in pp collisions at s=2.76 TeV measured via semi-electronic decays

The ALICE Collaboration at the LHC reports measurement of the inclusive production cross section of electrons from semi-leptonic decays of beauty hadrons with rapidity |y|<0.8 and transverse momentum 1<pT<10 GeV/c, in pp collisions at s=2.76 TeV. Electrons not originating from semi-electronic decay of beauty hadrons are suppressed using the impact parameter of the corresponding tracks. The production cross section of beauty decay electrons is compared to the result obtained with an alternative method which uses the distribution of the azimuthal angle between heavy-flavour decay electrons and charged hadrons. Perturbative QCD predictions agree with the measured cross section within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties. The integrated visible cross section, σb→e=3.47±0.40(stat)-1.33+1.12(sys)±0.07(norm) μb, was extrapolated to full phase space using Fixed Order plus Next-to-Leading Log (FONLL) calculations to obtain the total bb production cross section, σbb=130±15.1(stat)-49.8+42.1(sys)-3.1+3.4(extr)±2.5(norm)±4.4(BR) μb

Inclusive quarkonium production at forward rapidity in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV TeV

We report on the inclusive production cross sections of J/psi, psi(2S), gamma(1S), gamma(2S) and gamma(3S), measured at forward rapidity with the ALICE detector in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy root s = 8 TeV. The analysis is based on data collected at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.23 pb(-1). Quarkonia are reconstructed in the dimuon-decay channel. The differential production cross sections are measured as a function of the transverse momentum p(T) and rapidity y, over the p(T) ranges 0 < p(T) < 20 GeV/c for J/psi, 0 < p(T) < 12 GeV/c for all other resonances, and for 2.5 < y < 4. The cross sections, integrated over p(T) and y, and assuming unpolarized quarkonia, are sigma(J/psi) = 8.98 +/- 0.04 +/- 0.82 mu b, sigma(psi(2S)) = 1.23 +/- 0.08 +/- 0.22 mu b, sigma(gamma(1S)) = 71 +/- 6 +/- 7 nb, sigma(gamma(2S)) = 26 +/- 5 +/- 4 nb and sigma(gamma(3S)) = 9 +/- 4 +/- 1 nb, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second one is systematic. These values agree, within at most 1.4 sigma, with measurements performed by the LHCb collaboration in the same rapidity range