A kT-dependent sea-quark density for the CASCADE Monte Carlo event generator

Parton-shower event generators that go beyond the collinear-ordering approximation at small x have so far included only gluon and valence quark channels at transverse momentum dependent level. We describe results of recent work to include effects of the sea-quark distribution with explicit dependence on the transverse quark-momentum.This sea-quark density is then applied to the description of forward Z -production. The qq*->Z matrix element (with one off-shell quark) is calculated in an explicit gauge invariant way, making use of high energy factorization. The kT-factorized result has been implemented into the CCFM Monte-Carlo CASCADE and a numerical comparison with the qg*->Zq matrix element has been carried out.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, based on a talk given at the XXI Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects, 11-15 April, Newport News, Virginia (2011

Parton shower contributions to jets from high rapidities at the LHC

We discuss current issues associated with the dependence of jet distributions at the LHC on the behavior of QCD parton showers for high rapidities.Comment: Contribution at DIS2012, Univ. of Bonn, March 201

Oysters and oyster-like bivalves from the Middle Triassic Muschelkalk of the Germanic Basin

Middle Triassic marine deposits of the Germanic Basin (Muschelkalk) record a significant proliferation of cementing bivalves from different families. Based on previously undescribed, excellently preserved material from the Willebadessen Member (late Anisian, Illyrian) of the Upper Muschelkalk Trochitenkalk Formation of Willebadessen (Germany), we propose the new genus Noetlingiconcha, type species N. speculostreum sp. nov., for strongly plicate prospondylids lacking auricles. The new genus differs from Terquemia and Enantiostreon in being plicate rather than costate, and from Newaagia in the absence of auricles. We demonstrate that N. speculostreum was invariably attached by its right valve, in contrast to an externally similar species from the Lower Muschelkalk Freudenstadt Formation (lower Anisian, Bithynian) that was exclusively cemented by its left valve and thus represents the geologically oldest known oyster species. Previous reports of amphi-pleurothetic cemented bivalve species from the Muschelkalk probably result from lumping together these two externally similar species. The constancy of sinistral attachment in the geologically oldest Ostreidae suggests that left-pleurothetic valve orientation was already established in the ancestry of this family. Palaeontological data are therefore in accordance with genetic and larval shell morphology analyses that identified Pterioidea as the sister taxon of Ostreoidea, because Pterioidea contains several Permian-Triassic genera with an anatomically lower left valv

Forward Jets and Energy Flow in Hadronic Collisions

We observe that at the Large Hadron Collider, using forward + central detectors, it becomes possible for the first time to carry out calorimetric measurements of the transverse energy flow due to "minijets" accompanying production of two jets separated by a large rapidity interval. We present parton-shower calculations of energy flow observables in a high-energy factorized Monte Carlo framework, designed to take into account QCD logarithmic corrections both in the large rapidity interval and in the hard transverse momentum. Considering events with a forward and a central jet, we examine the energy flow in the interjet region and in the region away from the jets. We discuss the role of these observables to analyze multiple parton collision effects.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. Version2: added results on azimuthal distributions and more discussion of energy flow definition using jet clusterin

Palaeoecology of the Spathian Virgin Formation (Utah, USA) and its implications for the Early Triassic recovery

The Spathian (late Early Triassic) Virgin Formation of south-western Utah (U.S.A.) yields a comparatively diverse benthic fauna that flourished ~2 Ma after the end-Permian mass extinction. In this study, we present quantitative palaeoecological data, which are analysed in the context of their depositional environments. This integrated approach helps to discriminate between effects of the end-Permian mass extinction event and local environmental factors on alpha diversity and ecological structure of the Virgin Fauna. Shallow subtidal environments yield the highest species richness and lowest dominance values as recorded in two benthic associations, the Eumorphotis sp. A Association and the Protogusarella smithi Association, both of which contain 20 benthic species (bivalves, gastropods, brachiopods, echinoderms, and porifers). Tidal inlet deposits yield a low diverse fauna (Piarorhynchella triassica Association) with a very high dominance of filter feeders adapted to high energy conditions. Another comparably low diverse fauna is recorded by the Bakevellia exporrecta Association, which is recorded in deposits of the offshore transition zone, most likely reflecting unconsolidated substrates. A single sample containing five bivalve species (Bakevellia costata Assemblage) is recorded from a marginal-marine setting. The Virgin fauna yields a bulk diversity of 30 benthic species (22 genera) of body fossils and 14 ichnogenera and, thus, represents the most diverse marine bottom fauna known so far from the Early Triassic. Our results suggest that oceanographic conditions during the early Spathian enabled ecosystems to rediversify without major abiotic limitations. However, taxonomical differentiation between habitats was still low, indicating a time lag between increasing within-habitat diversity (alpha diversity) and the onset of taxonomical differentiation between habitats (beta diversity). We suggest that taxonomical habitat differentiation after mass extinction events starts only when within-habitat competition exceeds a certain threshold, which was not yet reached in the Spathian of the investigated area. This interpretation is an alternative to previous suggestions that the prevalence of generalistic taxa in the aftermath of mass extinction events reflects protracted environmental stress. The onset of increasing beta diversity is a potential criterion for distinguishing two major recovery phases, the first ending with habitat saturation and the second ending with the completion of ecosystem differentiation

Evidence for Factorization Breaking in Diffractive Low-Q^2 Dijet Production

We calculate diffractive dijet production in deep-inelastic scattering at next-to-leading order of perturbative QCD, including contributions from direct and resolved photons, and compare our predictions to preliminary data from the H1 collaboration at HERA. In contrast to recent experimental claims, evidence for factorization breaking is found only for resolved, and not direct, photon contributions. No evidence is found for large normalization uncertainties in diffractive parton densities. The results confirm theoretical expectations for the (non-)cancellation of soft singularities in diffractive scattering as well as previous results for (almost) real photoproduction.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

TMDlib and TMDplotter: library and plotting tools for transverse-momentum-dependent parton distributions

Transverse-momentum-dependent distributions (TMDs) are central in high-energy physics from both theoretical and phenomenological points of view. In this manual we introduce the library, TMDlib, of fits and parameterisations for transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMD PDFs) and fragmentation functions (TMD FFs) together with an online plotting tool, TMDplotter. We provide a description of the program components and of the different physical frameworks the user can access via the available parameterisations.Comment: version 2, referring to TMDlib 1.0.2 - comments and references adde

Kinetics of 5-aminolevulinic acid-induced fluorescence in organ cultures of bronchial epithelium and tumor

Background: 5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA)-induced protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) fluorescence improves the differentiation of tumor and normal tissue in the bladder, skin and brain. Objective: The kinetics of 5-ALA-induced protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) fluorescence in organ cultures of normal human bronchial epithelium and cocultures of bronchial epithelium and tumor have been studied. Methods: Cultured biopsies of bronchial epithelium were exposed for 5 or 15 min, or continuously to 5-ALA. PPIX fluorescence was quantified for up to 300 min by spectroscopy. Cocultures of normal bronchial epithelium and a non-small-cell lung cancer cell line (EPLC-32M1) were incubated with 5-ALA. Space-resolved fluorescence microscopy was used to quantify PPIX fluorescence kinetics in the tumor and normal epithelium. Results: In cultures of normal epithelium, PPIX fluorescence kinetics were shown to depend on the duration of exposure to 5-ALA. There was a trend to higher fluorescence intensities with longer exposure times. In cocultures of bronchial epithelium and tumor, increases of fluorescence intensity were significantly greater in the tumor. Best tumor/normal tissue fluorescence ratios were found between 110 and 160 min after exposure to 5-ALA. Conclusion: Data obtained in this coculture system of bronchial epithelium and tumor is valuable to optimize modalities of fluorescence bronchoscopy for the diagnosis of early bronchial carcinoma. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel