683 research outputs found
Resolution of the phylogenetic relationship of the vulnerable flesh-footed shearwater (Ardenna carneipes) seabird using a complete mitochondrial genome
Flesh-footed shearwater (Ardenna carneipes) is recognized as vulnerable seabird species in Western Australia and New South Wales, Australia, and its genetic variability and a well-resolved phylogeny is imperative for the speciesâ conservation. Here, we report the first sequenced mitogenome of the Australian A. carneipes. The mitogenome of A. carneipes was 16,370âbp in total length and encompassed 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs, and one non-coding region (D-loop). All of the genes were encoded on the H-strand with the exception of ND6 and eight tRNAs, which is a conserved pattern of the mitogenome for other vertebrates. The mitogenome of A. carneipes was dominated by higher AT (56.5%) than GC (43.5%) content. In the resulting phylogenetic tree using complete mitogenome sequences, flesh-footed shearwater and gray petrel (Procellaria cinerea) grouped together despite the high genetic distance (11.0%) between them, belonging to family Procellariidae. However, the phylogenetic tree was consistent with a previous study using partial nucleotide sequences of the cytochrome b gene. These results highlight that further mitogenome sequences will be required from the closely related species under the genus Ardenna to delineate well-resolved phylogenetic classification at the genus and or species level. The present study provides a reference mitochondrial genome of flesh-footed shearwater for further molecular studies
Long-lived charged Higgs at LHC as a probe of scalar Dark Matter
We study inert charged Higgs boson production and decays at LHC
experiments in the context of constrained scalar dark matter model (CSDMM). In
the CSDMM the inert doublet and singlet scalar's mass spectrum is predicted
from the GUT scale initial conditions via RGE evolution. We compute the cross
sections of processes at the LHC and show that
for light the first one is dominated by top quark mediated 1-loop
diagram with Higgs boson in s-channel. In a significant fraction of the
parameter space are long-lived because their decays to predominantly
singlet scalar dark matter (DM) and next-to-lightest (NL) scalar, are suppressed by the small singlet-doublet mixing
angle and by the moderate mass difference
The experimentally measurable displaced vertex in decays to leptons
and/or jets and missing energy allows one to discover the signal over
the huge background. We propose benchmark points for studies of this
scenario at the LHC. If, however, are short-lived, the subsequent
decays necessarily produce additional
displaced vertices that allow to reconstruct the full decay chain.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Beak and feather disease virus in wild and captive parrots: an analysis of geographic and taxonomic distribution and methodological trends
Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) has emerged in recent years as a major threat to wild parrot populations and is an increasing concern to aviculturists and managers of captive populations. Pathological and serological tests for screening for the presence of beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) are a critical component of efforts to manage the disease and of epidemiological studies. Since the disease was first reported in the mid-1970s, screening for BFDV has been conducted in numerous wild and captive populations. However, at present, there is no current and readily accessible synthesis of screening efforts and their results. Here, we consolidate information collected from 83 PBFD- and BFDV-based publications on the primary screening methods being used and identify important knowledge gaps regarding potential global disease hotspots. We present trends in research intensity in this field and critically discuss advances in screening techniques and their applications to both aviculture and to the management of threatened wild populations. Finally, we provide an overview of estimates of BFDV prevalence in captive and wild flocks alongside a complete list of all psittacine species in which the virus has been confirmed. Our evaluation highlights the need for standardised diagnostic tests and more emphasis on studies of wild populations, particularly in view of the intrinsic connection between global trade in companion birds and the spread of novel BFDV strains into wild populations. Increased emphasis should be placed on the screening of captive and wild parrot populations within their countries of origin across the Americas, Africa and Asia
Effective Lagrangian approach to neutrinoless double beta decay and neutrino masses
Neutrinoless double beta () decay can in general produce
electrons of either chirality, in contrast with the minimal Standard Model (SM)
extension with only the addition of the Weinberg operator, which predicts two
left-handed electrons in the final state. We classify the lepton number
violating (LNV) effective operators with two leptons of either chirality but no
quarks, ordered according to the magnitude of their contribution to \znbb
decay. We point out that, for each of the three chirality assignments, and , there is only one LNV operator of the corresponding type
to lowest order, and these have dimensions 5, 7 and 9, respectively. Neutrino
masses are always induced by these extra operators but can be delayed to one or
two loops, depending on the number of RH leptons entering in the operator.
Then, the comparison of the decay rate and neutrino masses
should indicate the effective scenario at work, which confronted with the LHC
searches should also eventually decide on the specific model elected by nature.
We also list the SM additions generating these operators upon integration of
the heavy modes, and discuss simple realistic examples of renormalizable
theories for each case.Comment: Accepted for publication. Few misprints corrected and new references
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Vacuum stability and perturbativity of SU(3) scalars
We calculate the vacuum stability conditions and renormalisation group equations for the extensions of standard model with a higher colour multiplet scalar up to the representation 1 5 0 that leaves the strong interaction asymptotically free. In order to find the vacuum stability conditions, we calculate the orbit spaces for the self-couplings of the higher multiplets, which for the representations 1 5 and 1 5 0 of SU(3)(c) are highly complicated. However, if the scalar potential is linear in orbit space variables, it is sufficient to know the convex hull of the orbit space. Knowledge of the orbit spaces also facilitates the minimisation of the potentials. In contrast to the self-couplings of other multiplets, we find that the scalar quartic couplings of the representations 3 and 8 walk rather than run, remaining nearly constant and perturbative over a vast energy range. We describe the conditions for walking couplings using a schematic model. With these technical results at hand we revise earlier results of generation of new scales with large SU(3) c scalar multiplets. Our results are easily extendable to models of new physics with additional SU(3) or SU(N) gauge symmetries.Peer reviewe
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles at high transverse momenta in PbPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV
The azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles in PbPb collisions at
nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV is measured with the CMS
detector at the LHC over an extended transverse momentum (pt) range up to
approximately 60 GeV. The data cover both the low-pt region associated with
hydrodynamic flow phenomena and the high-pt region where the anisotropies may
reflect the path-length dependence of parton energy loss in the created medium.
The anisotropy parameter (v2) of the particles is extracted by correlating
charged tracks with respect to the event-plane reconstructed by using the
energy deposited in forward-angle calorimeters. For the six bins of collision
centrality studied, spanning the range of 0-60% most-central events, the
observed v2 values are found to first increase with pt, reaching a maximum
around pt = 3 GeV, and then to gradually decrease to almost zero, with the
decline persisting up to at least pt = 40 GeV over the full centrality range
measured.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Search for new physics with same-sign isolated dilepton events with jets and missing transverse energy
A search for new physics is performed in events with two same-sign isolated
leptons, hadronic jets, and missing transverse energy in the final state. The
analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of
4.98 inverse femtobarns produced in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of
7 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. This constitutes a factor of
140 increase in integrated luminosity over previously published results. The
observed yields agree with the standard model predictions and thus no evidence
for new physics is found. The observations are used to set upper limits on
possible new physics contributions and to constrain supersymmetric models. To
facilitate the interpretation of the data in a broader range of new physics
scenarios, information on the event selection, detector response, and
efficiencies is provided.Comment: Published in Physical Review Letter
X-ray emission from the Sombrero galaxy: discrete sources
We present a study of discrete X-ray sources in and around the
bulge-dominated, massive Sa galaxy, Sombrero (M104), based on new and archival
Chandra observations with a total exposure of ~200 ks. With a detection limit
of L_X = 1E37 erg/s and a field of view covering a galactocentric radius of ~30
kpc (11.5 arcminute), 383 sources are detected. Cross-correlation with Spitler
et al.'s catalogue of Sombrero globular clusters (GCs) identified from HST/ACS
observations reveals 41 X-rays sources in GCs, presumably low-mass X-ray
binaries (LMXBs). We quantify the differential luminosity functions (LFs) for
both the detected GC and field LMXBs, whose power-low indices (~1.1 for the
GC-LF and ~1.6 for field-LF) are consistent with previous studies for
elliptical galaxies. With precise sky positions of the GCs without a detected
X-ray source, we further quantify, through a fluctuation analysis, the GC LF at
fainter luminosities down to 1E35 erg/s. The derived index rules out a
faint-end slope flatter than 1.1 at a 2 sigma significance, contrary to recent
findings in several elliptical galaxies and the bulge of M31. On the other
hand, the 2-6 keV unresolved emission places a tight constraint on the field
LF, implying a flattened index of ~1.0 below 1E37 erg/s. We also detect 101
sources in the halo of Sombrero. The presence of these sources cannot be
interpreted as galactic LMXBs whose spatial distribution empirically follows
the starlight. Their number is also higher than the expected number of cosmic
AGNs (52+/-11 [1 sigma]) whose surface density is constrained by deep X-ray
surveys. We suggest that either the cosmic X-ray background is unusually high
in the direction of Sombrero, or a distinct population of X-ray sources is
present in the halo of Sombrero.Comment: 11 figures, 5 tables, ApJ in pres
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