Perturbations in growth trajectory due to early diet affect age-related deterioration in performance

Fluctuations in early developmental conditions can cause changes in growth trajectories that subsequently affect the adult phenotype. Here, we investigated whether compensatory growth has long-term consequences for patterns of senescence. Using three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), we show that a brief period of dietary manipulation in early life affected skeletal growth rate not only during the manipulation itself, but also during a subsequent compensatory phase when fish caught up in size with controls. However, this growth acceleration influenced swimming endurance and its decline over the course of the breeding season, with a faster decline in fish that had undergone faster growth compensation. Similarly, accelerated growth led to a more pronounced reduction in the breeding period (as indicated by the duration of sexual ornamentation) over the following two breeding seasons, suggesting faster reproductive senescence. Parallel experiments showed a heightened effect of accelerated growth on these age-related declines in performance if the fish were under greater time stress to complete their compensation prior to the breeding season. Compensatory growth led to a reduction in median life span of 12% compared to steadily growing controls. While life span was independent of the eventual adult size attained, it was negatively correlated with the age-related decline in swimming endurance and sexual ornamentation. These results, complementary to those found when growth trajectories were altered by temperature rather than dietary manipulations, show that the costs of accelerated growth can last well beyond the time over which growth rates differ and are affected by the time available until an approaching life-history event such as reproduction

Digital Media Use: Differences and Inequalities in Relation to Class and Age

This paper takes a national perspective on issues of digital media use. The paper draws upon the OfCom Media Literacy 2013 survey to explore how digital media use varies in regard to two major social variables – class and age. Both class and age feature predominantly in UK policy on digital access and use. Class and age are invoked as either things that create barriers to access or as issues to be addressed and managed through using digital media. Despite the large body of work on the 'digital divide' there is a more limited literature that explicitly addresses class. The paper seeks to act as an empirical reference point for the development of further debate around the links between class and digital media use. The paper presents a factor analysis of the OfCom data that identifies five main areas of digital media use. These five factors are then subjected to a multiple analysis of variance to explore the effects across, between and within age and class categories. A cluster analysis based on the factors identifies seven main 'User Types' that are again compared across class and age. The paper finds that class and age act relatively independently as predicators of digital media use and neither compound nor mitigate each other's effects. Importantly the paper notes that the greatest levels and breadth of Internet use can be found in NRS social class groups AB and to an extent C1. In contrast the greatest levels of non-use and limited use can be found in NRS social class groups DE. In conclusion the paper notes that age still acts as the major explanatory variable for overall use and some specific types of use, but that class also independently acts to explain patterns of digital media use. As a result any simplistic policy expectations that digital access and use issues will become less relevant as age demographics change have to be questioned

Search for Higgs bosons decaying to tautau pairs in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

We present a search for the production of neutral Higgs bosons decaying into tautau pairs in ppbar collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb-1, were collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We set upper limits at the 95% C.L. on the product of production cross section and branching ratio for a scalar resonance decaying into tautau pairs, and we then interpret these limits as limits on the production of Higgs bosons in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) and as constraints in the MSSM parameter space.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PL

Measurement of three-jet differential cross sections d sigma-3jet / d M-3jet in p anti-p collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV

We present the first measurement of the inclusive three-jet differential cross section as a function of the invariant mass of the three jets with the largest transverse momenta in an event in p anti-p collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. The measurement is made in different rapidity regions and for different jet transverse momentum requirements and is based on a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.7 fb^{-1} collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The results are used to test the three-jet matrix elements in perturbative QCD calculations at next-to-leading order in the strong coupling constant. The data allow discrimination between parametrizations of the parton distribution functions of the proton.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Phys. Lett. B, corrected chi2 values for NNPD

Search for pair production of the scalar top quark in muon+tau final states

We present a search for the pair production of scalar top quarks ($\tilde{t}_{1}$), the lightest supersymmetric partners of the top quarks, in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of {7.3 $fb^{-1}$} collected with the \dzero experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Each scalar top quark is assumed to decay into a $b$ quark, a charged lepton, and a scalar neutrino ($\tilde{\nu}$). We investigate final states arising from $\tilde{t}_{1} \bar{\tilde{t}_{1}} \rightarrow b\bar{b}\mu\tau \tilde{\nu} \tilde{\nu}$ and $\tilde{t}_{1} \bar{\tilde{t}_{1}} \rightarrow b\bar{b}\tau\tau \tilde{\nu} \tilde{\nu}$. With no significant excess of events observed above the background expected from the standard model, we set exclusion limits on this production process in the ($m_{\tilde{t}_{1}}$,$m_{\tilde{\nu}}$) plane.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Lett.

Measurements of inclusive W+jets production rates as a function of jet transverse momentum in ppbar collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

This Letter describes measurements of inclusive W (--> e nu) + n jet cross sections (n = 1-4), presented as total inclusive cross sections and differentially in the nth jet transverse momentum. The measurements are made using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.2 fb-1 collected by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, and achieve considerably smaller uncertainties on W +jets production cross sections than previous measurements. The measurements are compared to next-to-leading order perturbative QCD (pQCD) calculations in the n =1-3 jet multiplicity bins and to leading order pQCD calculations in the 4-jet bin. The measurements are generally in agreement with pQCD predictions, although certain regions of phase space are identified where the calculations could be improved

Measurement of spin correlation in ttbar production using dilepton final states

We measure the correlation between the spin of the top quark and the spin of the anti-top quark in (ttbar -> W+ W- b bbar -> l+ nu b l- nubar bbar) final states produced in ppbar collisions at a center of mass energy sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV, where l is an electron or muon. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb-1 and were collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The correlation is extracted from the angles of the two leptons in the t and tbar rest frames, yielding a correlation strength C= 0.10^{+0.45}_{-0.45}, in agreement with the NLO QCD prediction within two standard deviations, but also in agreement with the no correlation hypothesis.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PL

Search for single top quarks in the tau+jets channel using 4.8 fb−1^{-1} of ppˉp\bar{p} collision data

We present the first direct search for single top quark production using tau leptons. The search is based on 4.8 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=1.96 TeV with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We select events with a final state including an isolated tau lepton, missing transverse energy, two or three jets, one or two of them $b$ tagged. We use a multivariate technique to discriminate signal from background. The number of events observed in data in this final state is consistent with the signal plus background expectation. We set in the tau+jets channel an upper limit on the single top quark cross section of \TauLimObs pb at the 95% C.L. This measurement allows a gain of 4% in expected sensitivity for the observation of single top production when combining it with electron+jets and muon+jets channels already published by the D0 collaboration with 2.3 fb$^{-1}$ of data. We measure a combined cross section of \SuperCombineXSall pb, which is the most precise measurement to date.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Measurement of the ttbar production cross section using dilepton events in ppbar collisions

We present a measurement of the ttbar production cross section sigma(ttbar) in ppbar collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV using 5.4 fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the D0 detector. We consider final states with at least two jets and two leptons (ee, emu, mumu), and events with one jet for the the emu final state as well. The measured cross section is sigma(ttbar)= 7.36 +0.90-0.79 (stat + syst) pb. This result combined with the cross section measurement in the lepton + jets final state yields sigma(ttbar)=7.56 +0.63-0.56 (stat + syst) pb, which agrees with the standard model expectation. The relative precision of 8% of this measurement is comparable to the latest theoretical calculations.Comment: 9 pages, published in Phys. Lett.