394 research outputs found
Human Dispersal from Siberia to Beringia: Assessing a Beringian Standstill in Light of the Archaeological Evidence
With genetic studies showing unquestionable Asian origins of the first Americans, the Siberian and Beringian archaeological records are absolutely critical for understanding the initial dispersal of modern humans in the Western Hemisphere. The genetics-based Beringian Standstill Model posits a three-stage dispersal process and necessitates several expectations of the archaeological record of northeastern Asia. Here we present an overview of the Siberian and Beringian Upper Paleolithic records and discuss them in the context of a Beringian Standstill. We report that not every expectation of the model is met with archaeological data at hand
European climate response to tropical volcanic eruptions over the last half millennium
We analyse the winter and summer climatic signal following 15 major tropical volcanic eruptions over the last half millennium based on multi-proxy reconstructions for Europe. During the first and second post-eruption years we find significant continental scale summer cooling and somewhat drier conditions over Central Europe. In the Northern Hemispheric winter the volcanic forcing induces an atmospheric circulation response that significantly follows a positive NAO state connected with a significant overall warm anomaly and wetter conditions over Northern Europe. Our findings compare well with GCM studies as well as observational studies, which mainly cover the substantially shorter instrumental period and thus include a limited set of major eruptions
Dry Creek Revisited: New Excavations, Radiocarbon Dates, and Site Formation Inform on the Peopling of Eastern Beringia
The multicomponent Dry Creek site, located in the Nenana Valley, central Alaska, is arguably one of the most important archaeological sites in Beringia. Original work in the 1970s identified two separate cultural layers, called Components 1 and 2, thought to date to the terminal Pleistocene and suggesting that the site was visited by Upper Paleolithic huntergatherers between about 13,000 and 12,000 calendar years before present (cal B.P.). The oldest of these became the typeassemblage for the Nenana complex. Recently, some have questioned the geoarchaeological integrity of the site's early deposits, suggesting that the separated cultural layers resulted from natural postdepositional disturbances. In 2011, we revisited Dry Creek to independently assess the site's age and formation. Here we present our findings and reaffirm original interpretations of clear separation of two terminal Pleistocene cultural occupations. For the first time, we report direct radiocarbon dates on cultural features associated with both occupation zones, one dating to 13,485-13,305 and the other to 11,060-10,590 cal B.P.</jats:p
Characterization of three pyranose dehydrogenase isoforms from the litter-decomposing basidiomycete Leucoagaricus meleagris (syn. Agaricus meleagris)
Trypsin-Like Serine Proteases in Lutzomyia longipalpis – Expression, Activity and Possible Modulation by Leishmania infantum chagasi
Background: Midgut enzymatic activity is one of the obstacles that Leishmania must surpass to succeed in establishing infection. Trypsins are abundant digestive enzymes in most insects. We have previously described two trypsin cDNAs of L. longipalpis: one (Lltryp1) with a bloodmeal induced transcription pattern, the other (Lltryp2) with a constitutive transcription pattern. We have now characterized the expression and activity of trypsin-like proteases of Lutzomyia longipalpis, the main vector of visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil.
Methodology and Principal Findings: In order to study trypsin expression profiles we produced antibodies against peptides specific for Lltryp1 and Lltryp2. The anti-Lltryp1-peptide antibody revealed a band of 28 kDa between 6 and 48 hours. The anti-Lltryp2 peptide antibody did not evidence any band. When proteinaceous substrates (gelatin, hemoglobin, casein or albumin) were co-polymerized in polyacrylamide gels, insect midguts obtained at 12 hours after feeding showed a unique proteolytic pattern for each substrate. All activity bands were strongly inhibited by TLCK, benzamidine and 4-amino-benzamidine, indicating that they are trypsin-like proteases. The trypsin-like activity was also measured in vitro at different time points after ingestion of blood or blood containing Leishmania infantum chagasi, using the chromogenic substrate BArNA. L. longipalpis females fed on blood infected with L. i. chagasi had lower levels of trypsin activity after 12 and 48 hours than non-infected insects, suggesting that the parasite may have a role in this modulation.
Conclusions and Significance: Trypsins are important and abundant digestive enzymes in L. longipalpis. Protein production and enzymatic activity followed previously identified gene expression of a blood modulated trypsin gene. A decrease of enzymatic activity upon the parasite infection, previously detected mostly in Old World vectors, was detected for the first time in the natural vector-parasite pair L. longipalpis-L. i. chagasi
Direct Measurement of the Top Quark Mass at D0
We determine the top quark mass m_t using t-tbar pairs produced in the D0
detector by \sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV p-pbar collisions in a 125 pb^-1 exposure at the
Fermilab Tevatron. We make a two constraint fit to m_t in t-tbar -> b W^+bbar
W^- final states with one W boson decaying to q-qbar and the other to e-nu or
mu-nu. Likelihood fits to the data yield m_t(l+jets) = 173.3 +- 5.6 (stat) +-
5.5 (syst) GeV/c^2. When this result is combined with an analysis of events in
which both W bosons decay into leptons, we obtain m_t = 172.1 +- 5.2 (stat) +-
4.9 (syst) GeV/c^2. An alternate analysis, using three constraint fits to fixed
top quark masses, gives m_t(l+jets) = 176.0 +- 7.9 (stat) +- 4.8 (syst)
GeV/C^2, consistent with the above result. Studies of kinematic distributions
of the top quark candidates are also presented.Comment: 43 pages, 53 figures, 33 tables. RevTeX. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Measurement of the Boson Mass
A measurement of the mass of the boson is presented based on a sample of
5982 decays observed in collisions at
= 1.8~TeV with the D\O\ detector during the 1992--1993 run. From a
fit to the transverse mass spectrum, combined with measurements of the
boson mass, the boson mass is measured to be .Comment: 12 pages, LaTex, style Revtex, including 3 postscript figures
(submitted to PRL
Search for a Fourth Generation Charge -1/3 Quark via Flavor Changing Neutral Current Decay
We report on a search for pair production of a fourth generation charge -1/3
quark (b') in pbar p collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron
using an integrated luminosity of 93 pb^-1. Both quarks are assumed to decay
via flavor changing neutral currents (FCNC). The search uses the signatures
gamma + 3 jets + mu-tag and 2 gamma + 2 jets. We see no significant excess of
events over the expected background. We place an upper limit on the production
cross section times branching fraction that is well below theoretical
expectations for a b' quark decaying exclusively via FCNC for b' quark masses
up to m(Z) + m(b).Comment: Eleven pages, two postscript figures, submitted to Physical Review
Letter
The Azimuthal Decorrelation of Jets Widely Separated in Rapidity
This study reports the first measurement of the azimuthal decorrelation
between jets with pseudorapidity separation up to five units. The data were
accumulated using the D{\O}detector during the 1992--1993 collider run of the
Fermilab Tevatron at 1.8 TeV. These results are compared to
next--to--leading order (NLO) QCD predictions and to two leading--log
approximations (LLA) where the leading--log terms are resummed to all orders in
. The final state jets as predicted by NLO QCD
show less azimuthal decorrelation than the data. The parton showering LLA Monte
Carlo {\small HERWIG} describes the data well; an analytical LLA prediction
based on BFKL resummation shows more decorrelation than the data.Comment: 6 pages with 4 figures, all uuencoded and gzippe
Search for First Generation Scalar Leptoquark Pairs in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV
We have searched for first generation scalar leptoquark (LQ) pairs in the
enu+jets channel using ppbar collider data (integrated luminosity= 115 pb^-1)
collected by the DZero experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron during 1992-96. The
analysis yields no candidate events. We combine the results with those from the
ee+jets and nunu+jets channels to obtain 95% confidence level (CL) upper limits
on the LQ pair production cross section as a function of mass and of beta, the
branching fraction to a charged lepton. Comparing with the next-to-leading
order theory, we set 95% CL lower limits on the LQ mass of 225, 204, and 79
GeV/c^2 for beta=1, 1/2, and 0, respectively.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters Replaced to
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