PPARs and Bone Metabolism

In this paper we present first analyses and results of a comprehensive measurement campaign investigating the propagation channel in case of direct (base station free) communication between railway vehicles. The measurements cover urban, suburban and rural environments along a multifaceted regional railway network in the south of Bavaria. Beside different operational conditions like front, rear, and flank approaches of trains, we investigated several topological scenarios on both, single and double track sections along the line. We will also discuss the observed characteristic changes in narrow band signal attenuation and Doppler spectra for passages through forests, hilly areas, stations and a tunnel

Storm-induced sediment gravity flows at the head of the Eel submarine canyon, northern California margin

10 pages, 5 figuresAs part of the STRATAFORM program, a bottom-boundary layer (BBL) tripod was deployed at 120 m depth in the northern thalweg of the Eel Canyon during winter 2000. Increases of the near-bottom suspended-sediment concentrations (SSC) recorded at the canyon head were not directly related to the Eel River discharge, but were clearly linked to the occurrence of storms. BBL measurements revealed that during intensifications of the wave orbital velocity, sediment transport at the head of the canyon occurred as sediment gravity flows directed down-canyon. Observational evidence for near-bed sediment gravity-flow transport included an increase toward the bed of the down-canyon component of wave-averaged velocity and high estimated SSC. At higher sampling frequencies (1 Hz), the current components during these events fluctuated at the same periodicity as the pressure, reflecting a clear influence of the surface-wave activity on the generation and maintenance of the sediment gravity flows. The origin of such flows is not related to the formation of fluid muds on the shelf or to intense wave-current sediment resuspension around the canyon head region. Rather, liquefaction of sediment deposited at the head of the canyon (induced by wave-load excess pore water pressures during storms) combined with elevated slopes around the canyon head appear to be the mechanisms initiating sediment transport. The resulting fluidized-sediment layer can easily be eroded, entrained into the water column, and transported down-canyon as a sediment gravity flow. Results from this study reveal that storm-induced sediment gravity flows occur periodically in the Eel Canyon head, and suggest that this kind of sediment transport process can occur in other submarine canyons more frequently than previously expected. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical UnionThis work has been funded by the Office of Naval Research, Marine Geology and Geophysics Program, grants N00014-95-1-0418 and N00014-99-1-0028, as part of the STRATAFORM program. P. Puig received financial support from a Fulbright scholarship provided by the Spanish Ministry of Education and CulturePeer Reviewe

Once in a blue moon: detection of ‘bluing’ during debris transits in the white dwarf WD 1145+017

The first transiting planetesimal orbiting a white dwarf was recently detected in K2 data of WD 1145+017 and has been followed up intensively. The multiple, long and variable transits suggest the transiting objects are dust clouds, probably produced by a disintegrating asteroid. In addition, the system contains circumstellar gas, evident by broad absorption lines, mostly in the u΄ band, and a dust disc, indicated by an infrared excess. Here we present the first detection of a change in colour of WD 1145+017 during transits, using simultaneous multiband fast-photometry ULTRACAM measurements over the u΄g΄r΄i΄ bands. The observations reveal what appears to be ‘bluing' during transits; transits are deeper in the redder bands, with a u΄ − r΄ colour difference of up to ∼−0.05 mag. We explore various possible explanations for the bluing, including limb darkening or peculiar dust properties. ‘Spectral' photometry obtained by integrating over bandpasses in the spectroscopic data in and out of transit, compared to the photometric data, shows that the observed colour difference is most likely the result of reduced circumstellar absorption in the spectrum during transits. This indicates that the transiting objects and the gas share the same line of sight and that the gas covers the white dwarf only partially, as would be expected if the gas, the transiting debris and the dust emitting the infrared excess are part of the same general disc structure (although possibly at different radii). In addition, we present the results of a week-long monitoring campaign of the system using a global network of telescopes

Reproductive Isolation in a Threespine Stickleback Hybrid Zone

In many estuarine sites, morphological and genetic differences between anadromous and freshwater threespine sticklebacks are maintained despite breeding in sympatry. Here, we investigate the maintenance of this morphological divergence in a natural hybrid zone in the River Tyne, Scotland. We provide a morphological description of the hybrid zone, and using a Bayesian MCMC approach, identified distinct anadromous and freshwater genetic clusters. Anadromous and freshwater sticklebacks breed in spatial and temporal sympatry in the lower reaches of the River Tyne. The frequency of hybrids within these sites (33%) indicates prezygotic isolation is not complete, and suggests that assortative mating is not strong. However, significant heterozygote deficit and cytonuclear disequilibrium in juveniles collected from sympatric sites confirms that barriers to gene flow exist between the morphs in the wild. In addition, we found no evidence of a directional bias in hybridisation, although hybrids with anadromous mothers were more common because anadromous females outnumbered freshwater females within the hybrid zone. We discuss the potential contribution of temporal, spatial, and sexual prezygotic barriers to the observed reproductive isolation as well as postzygotic selection against hybrid zygotes or fry

Measurement of the p-pbar -> Wgamma + X cross section at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV and WWgamma anomalous coupling limits

The WWgamma triple gauge boson coupling parameters are studied using p-pbar -> l nu gamma + X (l = e,mu) events at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. The data were collected with the DO detector from an integrated luminosity of 162 pb^{-1} delivered by the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The cross section times branching fraction for p-pbar -> W(gamma) + X -> l nu gamma + X with E_T^{gamma} > 8 GeV and Delta R_{l gamma} > 0.7 is 14.8 +/- 1.6 (stat) +/- 1.0 (syst) +/- 1.0 (lum) pb. The one-dimensional 95% confidence level limits on anomalous couplings are -0.88 < Delta kappa_{gamma} < 0.96 and -0.20 < lambda_{gamma} < 0.20.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. D Rapid Communication

Measurement of the ttbar Production Cross Section in ppbar Collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV using Kinematic Characteristics of Lepton + Jets Events

We present a measurement of the top quark pair ttbar production cross section in ppbar collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV using 230 pb**{-1} of data collected by the DO detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We select events with one charged lepton (electron or muon), large missing transverse energy, and at least four jets, and extract the ttbar content of the sample based on the kinematic characteristics of the events. For a top quark mass of 175 GeV, we measure sigma(ttbar) = 6.7 {+1.4-1.3} (stat) {+1.6- 1.1} (syst) +/-0.4 (lumi) pb, in good agreement with the standard model prediction.Comment: submitted to Phys.Rev.Let

Measurement of the ttbar Production Cross Section in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV using Lepton + Jets Events with Lifetime b-tagging

We present a measurement of the top quark pair ($t\bar{t}$) production cross section ($\sigma_{t\bar{t}}$) in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV using 230 pb$^{-1}$ of data collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We select events with one charged lepton (electron or muon), missing transverse energy, and jets in the final state. We employ lifetime-based b-jet identification techniques to further enhance the $t\bar{t}$ purity of the selected sample. For a top quark mass of 175 GeV, we measure $\sigma_{t\bar{t}}=8.6^{+1.6}_{-1.5}(stat.+syst.)\pm 0.6(lumi.)$ pb, in agreement with the standard model expectation.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables Submitted to Phys.Rev.Let

Search for W' bosons decaying to an electron and a neutrino with the D0 detector

This Letter describes the search for a new heavy charged gauge boson W' decaying into an electron and a neutrino. The data were collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton Collider at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 1 inverse femtobarn. Lacking any significant excess in the data in comparison with known processes, an upper limit is set on the production cross section times branching fraction, and a W' boson with mass below 1.00 TeV can be excluded at the 95% C.L., assuming standard-model-like couplings to fermions. This result significantly improves upon previous limits, and is the most stringent to date.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let