6,721 research outputs found
The influence of risk factors associated with captive rearing on post-release survival in translocated cirl buntings Emberiza cirlus in the UK
Population decline resulting from agricultural intensification led to contraction of the range of the cirl bunting Emberiza cirlus in the UK to a small area of south Devon. As part of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan for the species, a project to re-establish a population in suitable habitat in Cornwall was undertaken during 2006–2011, in which chicks were removed from the nest in Devon, hand-reared and then delayed-released. The survival of the birds to four time points in the year after release was analysed in relation to the effect of rearing factors, using a multivariable logistic regression model. Individuals with higher body weight at capture were more likely to survive to 1 January and 1 May in the year following release, and individuals released in June and July were more likely to survive than those released in August. Individuals released in 2006 and 2011 had a higher survival rate than those released during 2007–2010. Timing of capture, time spent at each stage in captivity, medication and the detection of parasites in the brood had no significant effect. Immunosuppressive disease, weather factors and predator activity may have led to some of the observed differences in survival. This analysis provides evidence with which to plan future translocation projects for cirl buntings and other passerine birds
Phonon Dispersion Relations in PrBa2Cu3O6+x (x ~ 0.2)
We report measurements of the phonon dispersion relations in
non-superconducting, oxygen-deficient PrBa2Cu3O6+x (x ~ 0.2) by inelastic
neutron scattering. The data are compared with a model of the lattice dynamics
based on a common interaction potential. Good agreement is achieved for all but
two phonon branches, which are significantly softer than predicted. These modes
are found to arise predominantly from motion of the oxygen ions in the CuO2
planes. Analogous modes in YBa2Cu3O6 are well described by the common
interaction potential model.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes following referees' comment
The Pearson-Readhead Survey of Compact Extragalactic Radio Sources From Space. II. Analysis of Source Properties
We have performed a multi-dimensional correlation analysis on the observed
properties of a statistically complete core-selected sample of compact
radio-loud active galactic nuclei, based on data from the VLBI Space Observing
Programme (Paper I) and previously published studies. Our sample is drawn from
the well-studied Pearson-Readhead (PR) survey, and is ideally suited for
investigating the general effects of relativistic beaming in compact radio
sources. In addition to confirming many previously known correlations, we have
discovered several new trends that lend additional support to the beaming
model. These trends suggest that the most highly beamed sources in
core-selected samples tend to have a) high optical polarizations; b) large
pc/kpc-scale jet misalignments; c) prominent VLBI core components; d)
one-sided, core, or halo radio morphology on kiloparsec scales; e) narrow
emission line equivalent widths; and f) a strong tendency for intraday
variability at radio wavelengths. We have used higher resolution space and
ground-based VLBI maps to confirm the bi-modality of the jet misalignment
distribution for the PR survey, and find that the sources with aligned parsec-
and kiloparsec-scale jets generally have arcsecond-scale radio emission on both
sides of the core. The aligned sources also have broader emission line widths.
We find evidence that the BL Lacertae objects in the PR survey are all highly
beamed, and have very similar properties to the high-optically polarized
quasars, with the exception of smaller redshifts. A cluster analysis on our
data shows that after partialing out the effects of redshift, the luminosities
of our sample objects in various wave bands are generally well-correlated with
each other, but not with other source properties.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal. Part I can be found at astro-ph/010227
Spectroscopy of Po
Prompt, in-beam rays following the reaction Yb + 142 MeV
Si were measured at the ATLAS facility using 10 Compton-suppressed Ge
detectors and the Fragment Mass Analyzer. Transitions in Po were
identified and placed using -ray singles and coincidence data gated on
the mass of the evaporation residues. A level spectrum up to
J10 was established. The structure of Po is more
collective than that observed in the heavier polonium isotopes and indicates
that the structure has started to evolve towards the more collective nature
expected for deformed nuclei.Comment: 8 pages, revtex 3.0, 4 figs. available upon reques
VLBA polarimetric observations of the CSS quasar 3C147
Aims. We report new VLBA polarimetric observations of the compact
steep-spectrum (CSS) quasar 3C147 (B0538+498) at 5 and 8.4GHz.
Methods. By using multifrequency VLBA observations, we derived
milliarcsecond-resolution images of the total intensity, polarisation, and
rotation measure distributions, by combining our new observations with archival
data.
Results. The source shows a one-sided structure, with a compact region, and a
component extending about 200 mas to the south-west. The compact region is
resolved into two main components with polarised emission, a complex rotation
measure distribution, and a magnetic field dominated by components
perpendicular to the source axis.
Conclusions. By considering all the available data, we examine the possible
location of the core component, and discuss two possible interpretations of the
observed structure of this source: core-jet and lobe-hot spot. Further
observations to unambiguously determine the location of the core would help
distinguish between the two possibilities discussed here.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure
Pores in Bilayer Membranes of Amphiphilic Molecules: Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulations Compared with Simple Mesoscopic Models
We investigate pores in fluid membranes by molecular dynamics simulations of
an amphiphile-solvent mixture, using a molecular coarse-grained model. The
amphiphilic membranes self-assemble into a lamellar stack of amphiphilic
bilayers separated by solvent layers. We focus on the particular case of
tension less membranes, in which pores spontaneously appear because of thermal
fluctuations. Their spatial distribution is similar to that of a random set of
repulsive hard discs. The size and shape distribution of individual pores can
be described satisfactorily by a simple mesoscopic model, which accounts only
for a pore independent core energy and a line tension penalty at the pore
edges. In particular, the pores are not circular: their shapes are fractal and
have the same characteristics as those of two dimensional ring polymers.
Finally, we study the size-fluctuation dynamics of the pores, and compare the
time evolution of their contour length to a random walk in a linear potential
Low-Energy \Lambda-\p Scattering Parameters from the Reaction
Constraints on the spin-averaged scattering length and effective
range have been obtained from measurements of the reaction
close to the production threshold by comparing model phase-space Dalitz plot
occupations with experimental ones. The data fix well the position of the
virtual bound state in the system. Combining this with information
from elastic scattering measurements at slightly higher energies,
together with the fact that the hyperdeuteron is not bound, leads to a new
determination of the low energy scattering parameters.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure
Mammalian ANP32A and ANP32B proteins drive differential polymerase adaptations in avian influenza virus
ANP32 proteins, which act as influenza polymerase cofactors, vary between birds and mammals. In mammals, ANP32A and ANP32B have been reported to serve essential but redundant roles to support influenza polymerase activity. The well-known mammalian adaptation PB2-E627K enables influenza polymerase to use mammalian ANP32 proteins. However, some mammalian-adapted influenza viruses do not harbor this substitution. Here, we show that alternative PB2 adaptations, Q591R and D701N, also allow influenza polymerase to use mammalian ANP32 proteins, whereas other PB2 mutations, G158E, T271A, and D740N, increase polymerase activity in the presence of avian ANP32 proteins as well. Furthermore, PB2-E627K strongly favors use of mammalian ANP32B proteins, whereas D701N shows no such bias. Accordingly, PB2-E627K adaptation emerges in species with strong pro-viral ANP32B proteins, such as humans and mice, while D701N is more commonly seen in isolates from swine, dogs, and horses, where ANP32A proteins are the preferred cofactor. Using an experimental evolution approach, we show that the passage of viruses containing avian polymerases in human cells drove acquisition of PB2-E627K, but not in the absence of ANP32B. Finally, we show that the strong pro-viral support of ANP32B for PB2-E627K maps to the low-complexity acidic region (LCAR) tail of ANP32B. IMPORTANCE Influenza viruses naturally reside in wild aquatic birds. However, the high mutation rate of influenza viruses allows them to rapidly and frequently adapt to new hosts, including mammals. Viruses that succeed in these zoonotic jumps pose a pandemic threat whereby the virus adapts sufficiently to efficiently transmit human-to-human. The influenza virus polymerase is central to viral replication and restriction of polymerase activity is a major barrier to species jumps. ANP32 proteins are essential for influenza polymerase activity. In this study, we describe how avian influenza viruses can adapt in several different ways to use mammalian ANP32 proteins. We further show that differences between mammalian ANP32 proteins can select different adaptive changes and are responsible for some of the typical mutations that arise in mammalian-adapted influenza polymerases. These different adaptive mutations may determine the relative zoonotic potential of influenza viruses and thus help assess their pandemic risk
Experimental results on strangeness production in proton-proton collisions at COSY
The production of K+ and K- mesons in elementary proton-proton collision has
been investigated at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY in Juelich. A high quality
proton beam with low emittance and small momentum spread permitted to study the
creation of these mesons very close to the kinematical threshold. The energy
dependence of the total cross section is investigated using internal beam
facilities providing a high accuracy particle momentum determination as well as
an external non-magnetic detection setup with a large geometrical acceptance.
The determination of the four-momentum vectors for all ejectiles of each
registered event gives the complete kinematical information allowing to study
the interaction of the outgoing particles. Results on the performed studies of
the pp --> pp K+ K-, pp --> p Lambda K+ and pp --> p Sigma0 K+ reactions will
be presented and their relevance to the interpretation of heavy ion collisions
will be discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, plenary talk at 6th International Conference On
Strange Quarks in Matter: '2001 - A Flavorspace Odyssey' (SQM2001),
Frankfurt, Germany, September 25-29, 2001, to be published in J. Phys. G:
Nucl. Part. Phy
Current Status of the SuperWASP Project
We present the current status of the SuperWASP project, a Wide Angle Search
for Planets. SuperWASP consists of up to 8 individual cameras using ultra-wide
field lenses backed by high-quality passively cooled CCDs. Each camera covers
7.8 x 7.8 sq degrees of sky, for nearly 500 sq degrees of sky coverage.
SuperWASP I, located in LaPalma, is currently operational with 5 cameras and is
conducting a photometric survey of a large numbers of stars in the magnitude
range ~7 to 15. The collaboration has developed a custom-built reduction
pipeline and aims to achieve better than 1 percent photometric precision. The
pipeline will also produce well sampled light curves for all the stars in each
field which will be used to detect: planetary transits, optical transients, and
track Near-Earth Objects. Status of current observations, and expected rates of
extrasolar planetary detections will be presented. The consortium members,
institutions, and further details can be found on the web site at:
http://www.superwasp.org.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, submitted to the Proceedings of the 13th Cool
Stars Workshop, Ed. F. Favata, ESA-S
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