Measurements of CP violation in B mixing through B→J/ψXB \to J/\psi X decays at LHCb

B mesons provide an ideal laboratory for measurements of CP violation and searches for CP violation beyond the Standard Model. Recent measurements of the mixing phases of the $B_s^0$ and $B^0$ mesons, $\phi_s$ and $\sin2\beta$, using decays to $J/\psi X$ final states are presented. In view of future improved measurements, a good understanding of pollution from sub-leading penguin topologies in these decays is needed. Those can be probed using suppressed decays like $B_s^0 \to J/\psi K_S^0$ and $B_s^0 \to J/\psi \overline{K}^{*0}$. Recent results using these decay modes are presented.Comment: Proceedings for EPS-HEP 2015. Updated introductio

Evidence for polarised boron in Co-B and Fe-B alloys

By exploiting the tunability of synchrotron radiation in measurements of spin-resolved photoemission it has proved possible to obtain information on the polarisation of the valence electrons of Co-B and Fe-B amorphous magnetic alloys, Both the spin-integrated and spin-resolved energy distribution curves show a marked dependence on photon energy indicating that the p states of boron hybridise with the d states of the transition metals giving rise to mixed states in the binding energy range 1 to 5 eV, The observed polarisation and spin-resolved densities of states imply that in the above restricted energy range there is a net negative polarisation of the boron states

Recombining your way out of trouble: the genetic architecture of hybrid fitness under environmental stress

Hybridization between species is a fundamental evolutionary force that can both promote and delay adaptation. There is a deficit in our understanding of the genetic basis of hybrid fitness, especially in non-domesticated organisms. We also know little about how hybrid fitness changes as a function of environmental stress. Here, we made genetically variable F2 hybrid populations from two divergent Saccharomyces yeast species, exposed populations to ten toxins, and sequenced the most resilient hybrids on low coverage using ddRADseq. We expected to find strong negative epistasis and heterozygote advantage in the hybrid genomes. We investigated three aspects of hybridness: 1) hybridity, 2) interspecific heterozygosity, and 3) epistasis (positive or negative associations between non-homologous chromosomes). Linear mixed effect models revealed strong genotype-by-environment interactions with many chromosomes and chromosomal interactions showing species-biased content depending on the environment. Against our predictions, we found extensive selection against heterozygosity such that homozygous allelic combinations from the same species were strongly overrepresented in an otherwise hybrid genomic background. We also observed multiple cases of positive epistasis between chromosomes from opposite species, confirmed by epistasis- and selection-free simulations, which is surprising given the large divergence of the parental species (~15% genome-wide). Together, these results suggest that stress-resilient hybrid genomes can be assembled from the best features of both parents, without paying high costs of negative epistasis across large evolutionary distances. Our findings illustrate the importance of measuring genetic trait architecture in an environmental context when determining the evolutionary potential of hybrid populations

Development of indole sulfonamides as cannabinoid receptor negative allosteric modulators

This Letter was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) in 2011Peer reviewedPostprin

Volume and surface propellant heating in an electrothermal radio-frequency plasma micro-thruster

The temporal evolution of neutral gas temperature over the first 5 min of operation for an electrothermal radio-frequency micro-thruster with nitrogen (N2) propellant was measured using rovibrational band matching of the second positive N2 system. Three distinct periods of gas heating were identified with time constants of τ 1 = 8 × 10⁻⁵ s, τ 2 = 8 s, and τ 3 = 100 s. The fast heating (τ 1) is attributed to volumetric heating processes within the discharge driven by ion-neutral collisions. The slow heating (τ 3) is from ion neutralization and vibrational de-excitation on the walls creating wall heating. The intermediate heating mechanism (τ 2) is yet to be fully identified although some theories are suggested.This research was partially funded by the Australian Space Research Program (APT project) and the Australian Research Council Discovery Project (No. DP140100571)

The necessity of data availability in maintaining the value and longevity of paleointensity results

Asserting the reliability of paleointensity estimates, or comparing relative reliabilities between vastly or subtly different results is a key challenge for paleointensity studies, which often leaves interpretations of these data rife with ambiguities. How we define reliable data is a concept that changes as our understanding of data and experiments advances. As a community we need to take steps to push this forward in an objective fashion that provides the most benefit, not just for paleointensity analysts, but also for those who ultimately wish to use the data to better understand deep Earth processes. However, in this ever-changing landscape, we must also ensure that the data we obtain do not lose their value as our advances threaten to make published data obsolete. It remains unknown exactly how our ability to assess the reliability of data will change and what information will become relevant. It is therefore essential for paleointensity studies to report as much data and meta-data as possible and, ideally, publically archive their measurement data for future reanalysis. Such practices are important, not only for paleointensity studies, but science in general and their implementation is vital to the future of paleomagnetism

Isolation of 39 polymorphic microsatellite loci and the development of a fluorescently labelled marker set for the Eurasian badger

We have isolated 78 microsatellite loci from the Eurasian badger (Meles meles). Of the 52 loci characterized, 39 were found to be polymorphic. A fluorescently labelled primer set was developed to enable individual-specific 17-locus genotypes to be obtained efficiently

A Longitudinal Comparison of Speech Rate of Spontaneous Utterances vs Repeated Utterances in Preschool Children

Most researchers have concluded that the rate of speech increases gradually from young childhood to adulthood; however, a detailed understanding of the longitudinal trajectory of speech rate development is clearly lacking from even a brief review of existing data. This shortcoming has recently taken on clinical relevance for fluency disorders (e.g. Chon et al., 2012; Tumanova et al., 2011; Kloth et al., 1995) because aberrations in speech rate are noted in early developmental stuttering (Kloth et al., 1995). Achieving adult-like speech rate is actually a developmental accomplishment, but there is essentially no published data from typical children at the critical times when speech and grammar are developing to understand how motor development and language development shape speech rate. This longitudinal study is the first to evaluate speech rate development in 5 children between 24 and 36 months over the period when grammar emerges. It tests whether speech rate increases across this critical language development period and whether original utterances differ in rate compared to repeated sentences.Ope