The 50th ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics

Development of new mass spectrometers and implementation of new analytical methods were the central themes of the conference. The majority of oral presentations and posters were concerned with the application of mass spectrometry to pharmaceutical and biotechnological research

Stakeholder narratives on trypanosomiasis, their effect on policy and the scope for One Health

Background This paper explores the framings of trypanosomiasis, a widespread and potentially fatal zoonotic disease transmitted by tsetse flies (Glossina species) affecting both humans and livestock. This is a country case study focusing on the political economy of knowledge in Zambia. It is a pertinent time to examine this issue as human population growth and other factors have led to migration into tsetse-inhabited areas with little historical influence from livestock. Disease transmission in new human-wildlife interfaces such as these is a greater risk, and opinions on the best way to manage this are deeply divided. Methods A qualitative case study method was used to examine the narratives on trypanosomiasis in the Zambian policy context through a series of key informant interviews. Interviewees included key actors from international organisations, research organisations and local activists from a variety of perspectives acknowledging the need to explore the relationships between the human, animal and environmental sectors. Principal Findings Diverse framings are held by key actors looking from, variously, the perspectives of wildlife and environmental protection, agricultural development, poverty alleviation, and veterinary and public health. From these viewpoints, four narratives about trypanosomiasis policy were identified, focused around four different beliefs: that trypanosomiasis is protecting the environment, is causing poverty, is not a major problem, and finally, that it is a Zambian rather than international issue to contend with. Within these narratives there are also conflicting views on the best control methods to use and different reasoning behind the pathways of response. These are based on apparently incompatible priorities of people, land, animals, the economy and the environment. The extent to which a One Health approach has been embraced and the potential usefulness of this as a way of reconciling the aims of these framings and narratives is considered throughout the paper. Conclusions/Significance While there has historically been a lack of One Health working in this context, the complex, interacting factors that impact the disease show the need for cross-sector, interdisciplinary decision making to stop rival narratives leading to competing actions. Additional recommendations include implementing: surveillance to assess under-reporting of disease and consequential under-estimation of disease risk; evidence-based decision making; increased and structurally managed funding across countries; and focus on interactions between disease drivers, disease incidence at the community level, and poverty and equity impacts

The relevance of larval biology on spatiotemporal patterns of pathogen connectivity among open-marine salmon farms

Warming waters are changing marine pathogen dispersal patterns and infectivity worldwide. Coupled biological-physical modelling has been used in many systems to determine the connectivity of meta-populations via infectious disease particles. Here we model the connectivity of sea lice larvae (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) among salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia, Canada, using a coupled biological-physical model. The physical model simulated pathogen dispersal, while the biological component influenced the survival and developmental rates of the sea lice. Model results predicted high temporal variability in connectivity strength among farms; an emergent effect from the interacting parts of the simulation (dispersion vs. survival/development). Drivers of temporal variability were disentangled using generalized additive modeling, which revealed the variability was most strongly impacted by the spring freshet, which can act as a natural aid for sea lice control in the Broughton Archipelago. Our results suggest that farm management strategies can benefit by taking into account short-term spikes in regional pathogen connectivity among farms. Additionally, future scenarios of a warming climate with reduced snowpack can make sea lice control more challenging

Solar Wind Turbulence and the Role of Ion Instabilities

International audienc

Phase Effect of A General Two-Higgs-Doublet Model in b→sγb\to s\gamma

In a general two-Higgs-doublet model (2HDM), without the {\it ad hoc} discrete symmetries to prevent tree-level flavor-changing-neutral currents, an extra phase angle in the charged-Higgs-fermion coupling is allowed. We show that the charged-Higgs amplitude interferes destructively or constructively with the standard model amplitude depending crucially on this phase angle. The popular model I and II are special cases of our analysis. As a result of this phase angle the severe constraint on the charged-Higgs boson mass imposed by the inclusive rate of $b\to s\gamma$ from CLEO can be relaxed. We also examine the effects of this phase angle on the neutron electric dipole moment. Furthermore, we also discuss other constraints on the charged-Higgs-fermion couplings coming from measurements of $B^0-\bar{B^0}$ mixing, $\rho_0$, and $R_b$.Comment: LaTeX 17 pages, 3 figure

Field Measurements of Terrestrial and Martian Dust Devils

Surface-based measurements of terrestrial and martian dust devils/convective vortices provided from mobile and stationary platforms are discussed. Imaging of terrestrial dust devils has quantified their rotational and vertical wind speeds, translation speeds, dimensions, dust load, and frequency of occurrence. Imaging of martian dust devils has provided translation speeds and constraints on dimensions, but only limited constraints on vertical motion within a vortex. The longer mission durations on Mars afforded by long operating robotic landers and rovers have provided statistical quantification of vortex occurrence (time-of-sol, and recently seasonal) that has until recently not been a primary outcome of more temporally limited terrestrial dust devil measurement campaigns. Terrestrial measurement campaigns have included a more extensive range of measured vortex parameters (pressure, wind, morphology, etc.) than have martian opportunities, with electric field and direct measure of dust abundance not yet obtained on Mars. No martian robotic mission has yet provided contemporaneous high frequency wind and pressure measurements. Comparison of measured terrestrial and martian dust devil characteristics suggests that martian dust devils are larger and possess faster maximum rotational wind speeds, that the absolute magnitude of the pressure deficit within a terrestrial dust devil is an order of magnitude greater than a martian dust devil, and that the time-of-day variation in vortex frequency is similar. Recent terrestrial investigations have demonstrated the presence of diagnostic dust devil signals within seismic and infrasound measurements; an upcoming Mars robotic mission will obtain similar measurement types

B^0-\bar{B}^0 mixing and B \to X_s \gamma decay in the third type 2HDM: effects of NLO QCD contributions

In this paper, we calculated the next-to-leading order (NLO) new physics contributions to the mass splitting \dmd and the branching ratio \brbxsga induced by the charged Higgs loop diagrams in the third type of two-Higgs-doublet models (model III) and draw the constraints on the free parameters of model III. For the model III under consideration, we found that (a) an upper limit |\ltt|\leq 1.7 is obtained from the precision data of \dmd=0.502 \pm 0.007 ps^{-1}, while |\ltt| \approx 0.5 is favored phenomenologicaly; (b) for $B \to X_s \gamma$ decay, the NLO QCD contributions tend to cancel the LO new physics contributions; (c) a light charged Higgs boson with a mass around or even less than 200 GeV is still allowed at NLO level by the measured branching ratio \brbxsga: numerically, 188 \leq \mh \leq 215 GeV for (|\ltt|,|\lbb|)=(0.5,18); (d) the NLO QCD contributions tend to cancel the LO contributions effectively, the lower limit on \mh is consequently decreased by about 200 GeV; (e) the allowed region of \mh will be shifted toward heavy mass end for a non-zero relative phase $\theta$ between the Yukawa couplings \ltt and \lbb. The numerical results for the conventional model II are also presented for the sake of a comparison.Comment: 42 pages, 18 eps figures, Revtex, new references adde

First record of Rhabdoceras suessi (Ammonoidea, Late Triassic) from the Transylvanian Triassic Series of the Eastern Carpathians (Romania) and a review of its biochronology, paleobiogeography and paleoecology

Abstract The occurrence of the heteromorphic ammonoid Rhabdoceras suessi Hauer, 1860, is recorded for the first time in the Upper Triassic limestone of the Timon-Ciungi olistolith in the Rarău Syncline, Eastern Carpathians. A single specimen of Rhabdoceras suessi co-occurs with Monotis (Monotis) salinaria that constrains its occurrence here to the Upper Norian (Sevatian 1). It is the only known heteromorphic ammonoid in the Upper Triassic of the Romanian Carpathians. Rhabdoceras suessi is a cosmopolitan species widely recorded in low and mid-paleolatitude faunas. It ranges from the Late Norian to the Rhaetian and is suitable for high-resolution worldwide correlations only when it co-occurs with shorter-ranging choristoceratids, monotid bivalves, or the hydrozoan Heterastridium. Formerly considered as the index fossil for the Upper Norian (Sevatian) Suessi Zone, by the latest 1970s this species lost its key biochronologic status among Late Triassic ammonoids, and it generated a controversy in the 1980s concerning the status of the Rhaetian stage. New stratigraphic data from North America and Europe in the subsequent decades resulted in a revised ammonoid biostratigraphy for the uppermost Triassic, the Rhaetian being reinstalled as the topmost stage in the current standard timescale of the Triassic. The geographic distribution of Rhabdoceras is compiled from published worldwide records, and its paleobiogeography and paleoecology are discussed