Forward-central two-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

Two-particle angular correlations between trigger particles in the forward pseudorapidity range (2.5 2GeV/c. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B. V.Peer reviewe

Event-shape engineering for inclusive spectra and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV

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The genetic history of the Southern Arc: a bridge between West Asia and Europe

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe

Elliptic flow of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at forward rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

The elliptic flow, v(2), of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at forward rapidity (2.5 <y <4) is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)= 2.76TeVwith the ALICE detector at the LHC. The scalar product, two- and four-particle Q cumulants and Lee-Yang zeros methods are used. The dependence of the v(2) of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays on the collision centrality, in the range 0-40%, and on transverse momentum, p(T), is studied in the interval 3 <p(T)<10 GeV/c. A positive v(2) is observed with the scalar product and two-particle Q cumulants in semi-central collisions (10-20% and 20-40% centrality classes) for the p(T) interval from 3 to about 5GeV/c with a significance larger than 3 sigma, based on the combination of statistical and systematic uncertainties. The v(2) magnitude tends to decrease towards more central collisions and with increasing pT. It becomes compatible with zero in the interval 6 <p(T)<10 GeV/c. The results are compared to models describing the interaction of heavy quarks and open heavy-flavour hadrons with the high-density medium formed in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Ecotourism in an archaeological site from the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve

Many cultural heritage sites are located within biodiversity hotspots and, through restricted anthropogenic intervention, allow biodiversity to thrive. These sites attract an increasing number of tourists, thus visitors-wildlife interactions and conflicts can arise. Little is known about how visitors perceive the wildlife occurring within their visiting areas, with differences in perception between species being expected. We evaluated through a questionnaire survey visitors’ perception regarding the reptiles and amphibians inhabiting Histria archaeological site, located within the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. Past archaeological activities inside the site have positively influenced the ecology of tortoises through landscape changes (i.e., archaeological diggings), offering better hibernation sites for the winter and shelter during colder periods. We found that most visitors were not disturbed by the encounters with tortoises, terrapins, frogs and toads, while for snakes 20% were ‘very’ or ‘extremely disturbed’. Disturbance elicited by snakes differed according to visitors’ gender and nationality, women and Romanians being more disturbed. Similarly, emotional response was mostly enthusiasm, except for snakes when visitors expressed repulsion (65% of the Romanians, 30% of the foreigners), while 12% of Romanians expressed repulsion towards frogs and toads as well. Therefore education should be targeted differently according to sex, age and education level, by highlighting the need for preserving cultural and natural heritages in an integrative and educational approach. Our case study emphasized the necessity for in situ education and increasing public awareness in regards with wildlife inhabiting cultural heritage sites.peerReviewe

There and back again: A T-brane's tale

19 pages, 4 figuresInternational audienceT-branes are supersymmetric configurations described by multiple Dp-branes with worldvolume flux and non-commuting vacuum expectation values for two of the worldvolume scalars. When these values are much larger than the string scale this description breaks down. We show that in this regime the correct description of T-branes is in terms of a single Dp-brane, whose worldvolume curvature encodes the T-brane data. We present the tale of the journey to reach this picture, which takes us through T-dualities and rugby-ball-shaped brane configurations that no eye has gazed upon before

Thermal Decay without Information Loss in Horizonless Microstate Geometries

International audienceWe develop a new hybrid WKB technique to compute boundary-to-boundary scalar Green functions in asymptotically-AdS backgrounds in which the scalar wave equation is separable and is explicitly solvable in the asymptotic region. We apply this technique to a family of six-dimensional $\frac{1}{8}$-BPS asymptotically AdS$_3\,\times\,$S$^3$ horizonless geometries that have the same charges and angular momenta as a D1-D5-P black hole with a large horizon area. At large and intermediate distances, these geometries very closely approximate the extremal-BTZ$\,\times\,$S$^3$ geometry of the black hole, but instead of having an event horizon, these geometries have a smooth highly-redshifted global-AdS$_3\,\times\,$S$^3$ cap in the IR. We show that the response function of a scalar probe, in momentum space, is essentially given by the pole structure of the highly-redshifted global-AdS$_3$ modulated by the BTZ response function. In position space, this translates into a sharp exponential black-hole-like decay for times shorter than $N_1 N_5$, followed by the emergence of evenly spaced "echoes from the cap," with period $\sim N_1 N_5$. Our result shows that horizonless microstate geometries can have the same thermal decay as black holes without the associated information loss

Space use data and systematic conservation planning inform habitat conservation priorities for brown bears in Romania

Recovery of large carnivores in the European human-dominated landscapes has sparked a debate regarding the optimal landscape conditions in which carnivores can thrive and coexist with humans (López-Bao et al. 2015). Here, we use brown bears (Ursus arctos) in the Romanian Carpathians to test and develop a framework for identifying habitat conservation priorities based on a novel integration of resource selection functions, home range data, and systematic conservation planning (Pop et al. 2018). We used a comprehensive GPS telemetry dataset from 18 individuals to (1) calculate sex-specific seasonal home ranges, and (2) characterize population-level habitat selection. We then used systematic conservation planning software Zonation to identify contiguous areas of high conservation value for males and females by using Manly’s habitat selection ratios as weights for habitat layers, and home range information as a smoothing parameter for habitat connectivity. Home ranges were smallest during winter (median [IQR] for November-February: 28.2 km2 [9.8-42.4]), and largest during the intense-feeding season (September-November: 127.3 km2 [62.2-288.5]), with males having larger home ranges across all seasons. Females consistently selected for mixed forest habitat during all seasons. Males selected mixed forest during winter; then switched to a rather generalist approach, selecting regenerating forest, and mixed and coniferous forests during low-feeding/reproduction and wild berries seasons. We identified large tracts of forest habitat (~14% of the landscape) that was selected across all seasons as key habitats for brown bear conservation in the Eastern Carpathians. Spatially, high-value winter habitat was the most dissimilar for both males and females, suggesting that conservation actions should focus on protecting contiguous denning habitat. These key findings can inform the management and conservation of the brown bear population in the Romanian Carpathians, currently plagued by high uncertainity in management outcomes (Popescu et al. 2016) by identifying critical intervention areas for maintaining landscape connectivity, enable transboundary management, and contribute to maintaining Favourable Conservation Status, an important target of European Union Strategy for Biodiversity. 1. López-Bao, J.V., Kaczensky, P., Linnell, J.D.C., Boitani, L. &amp; Chapron, G. (2015). Carnivore coexistence: Wilderness not required. Science 348, 871–872. 2. Pop, M. I., R. Iosif, I. V. Miu, S. Chiriac, L. Rozylowicz, and V. D. Popescu. 2018. Combining resource selection functions and home range data to identify habitat conservation priorities for brown bears. Animal Conservation. in press 3. Popescu, V. D., K. A. Artelle, M. I. Pop, S. Manolache, and L. Rozylowicz. 2016. Assessing biological realism of wildlife population estimates in data-poor systems. Journal of Applied Ecology 53, 1248-1259peerReviewe