Birds in the Ohio River Valley: Possible Indicators of Environmental Quality

Author Institution: Division of Math/Science, Shawnee State UniversityThe 1987 Boatload of Knowledge provided a unique opportunity to census the birds along the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Louisville. A daily species count and determinations of species diversity on three sections of the River were done. While some difficulties were experienced during the censusing along the River, the overall results, field work plus a literature and information search, point to differences in bird species diversity along the Ohio River. The diversity of birds species corresponds to differences observed in the habitat along the sampled sections of the Ohio River

Comparative transcriptomics enlarges the toolkit of known developmental genes in mollusks

Data used for the phylogenetic analysis of Hox and ParaHox genes, including the respective GenBank accession numbers. (DOC 31 kb

A compact statistical model of the song syntax in Bengalese finch

Songs of many songbird species consist of variable sequences of a finite number of syllables. A common approach for characterizing the syntax of these complex syllable sequences is to use transition probabilities between the syllables. This is equivalent to the Markov model, in which each syllable is associated with one state, and the transition probabilities between the states do not depend on the state transition history. Here we analyze the song syntax in a Bengalese finch. We show that the Markov model fails to capture the statistical properties of the syllable sequences. Instead, a state transition model that accurately describes the statistics of the syllable sequences includes adaptation of the self-transition probabilities when states are repeatedly revisited, and allows associations of more than one state to the same syllable. Such a model does not increase the model complexity significantly. Mathematically, the model is a partially observable Markov model with adaptation (POMMA). The success of the POMMA supports the branching chain network hypothesis of how syntax is controlled within the premotor song nucleus HVC, and suggests that adaptation and many-to-one mapping from neural substrates to syllables are important features of the neural control of complex song syntax

Discovery of two new Galactic candidate luminous blue variables with WISE

We report the discovery of two new Galactic candidate luminous blue variable (cLBV) stars via detection of circular shells (typical of known confirmed and cLBVs) and follow-up spectroscopy of their central stars. The shells were detected at 22 um in the archival data of the Mid-Infrared All Sky Survey carried out with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Follow-up optical spectroscopy of the central stars of the shells conducted with the renewed Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) showed that their spectra are very similar to those of the well-known LBVs P Cygni and AG Car, and the recently discovered cLBV MN112, which implies the LBV classification for these stars as well. The LBV classification of both stars is supported by detection of their significant photometric variability: one of them brightened in the R- and I-bands by 0.68\pm0.10 mag and 0.61\pm0.04 mag, respectively, during the last 13-18 years, while the second one (known as Hen 3-1383) varies its B,V,R,I and K_s brightnesses by \simeq 0.5-0.9 mag on time-scales from 10 days to decades. We also found significant changes in the spectrum of Hen 3-1383 on a timescale of \simeq 3 months, which provides additional support for the LBV classification of this star. Further spectrophotometric monitoring of both stars is required to firmly prove their LBV status. We discuss a connection between the location of massive stars in the field and their fast rotation, and suggest that the LBV activity of the newly discovered cLBVs might be directly related to their possible runaway status.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

Search for direct stau production in events with two hadronic tau-leptons in root s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of the supersymmetric partners ofτ-leptons (staus) in final stateswith two hadronically decayingτ-leptons is presented. The analysis uses a dataset of pp collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of139fb−1, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LargeHadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No significant deviation from the expected StandardModel background is observed. Limits are derived in scenarios of direct production of stau pairs with eachstau decaying into the stable lightest neutralino and oneτ-lepton in simplified models where the two staumass eigenstates are degenerate. Stau masses from 120 GeV to 390 GeV are excluded at 95% confidencelevel for a massless lightest neutralino

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

The Tarantula Massive Binary Monitoring

We present the first SB2 orbital solution and disentanglement of the massive Wolf-Rayet binary R145 (P = 159d) located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The primary was claimed to have a stellar mass greater than 300Msun, making it a candidate for the most massive star known. While the primary is a known late type, H-rich Wolf-Rayet star (WN6h), the secondary could not be so far unambiguously detected. Using moderate resolution spectra, we are able to derive accurate radial velocities for both components. By performing simultaneous orbital and polarimetric analyses, we derive the complete set of orbital parameters, including the inclination. The spectra are disentangled and spectroscopically analyzed, and an analysis of the wind-wind collision zone is conducted. The disentangled spectra and our models are consistent with a WN6h type for the primary, and suggest that the secondary is an O3.5 If*/WN7 type star. We derive a high eccentricity of e = 0.78 and minimum masses of M1 sin^3 i ~ M2 sin^3 i ~ 13 +- 2 Msun, with q = M2 / M1 = 1.01 +- 0.07. An analysis of emission excess stemming from a wind-wind collision yields a similar inclination to that obtained from polarimetry (i = 39 +- 6deg). Our analysis thus implies M1 = 53^{+40}_{-20} and M2 = 54^{+40}_{-20} Msun, excluding M1 > 300Msun. A detailed comparison with evolution tracks calculated for single and binary stars, as well as the high eccentricity, suggest that the components of the system underwent quasi-homogeneous evolution and avoided mass-transfer. This scenario would suggest current masses of ~ 80 Msun and initial masses of Mi,1 ~ 105 and Mi,2 ~ 90Msun, consistent with the upper limits of our derived orbital masses, and would imply an age of ~2.2 Myr.Comment: Accepted for Publication in A&A, 16 pages, 17 figures and 4 table

Late Cenozoic tephrostratigraphy offshore the southern Central American Volcanic Arc: 1. Tephra ages and provenance

We studied the tephra inventory of 18 deep sea drill sites from six DSDP/ODP legs (Legs 84, 138, 170, 202, 205, 206) and two IODP legs (Legs 334 and 344) offshore the southern Central American Volcanic Arc (CAVA). Eight drill sites are located on the incoming Cocos plate and ten drill sites on the continental slope of the Caribbean plate. In total we examined ∼840 ash-bearing horizons and identified ∼650 of these as primary ash beds of which 430 originated from the CAVA. Correlations of ash beds were established between marine cores and with terrestrial tephra deposits, using major and trace element glass compositions with respect to relative stratigraphic order. As a prerequisite for marine-terrestrial correlations we present a new geochemical data set for significant Neogene and Quaternary Costa Rican tephras. Moreover, new Ar/Ar ages for marine tephras have been determined and marine ash beds are also dated using the pelagic sedimentation rates. The resulting correlations and provenance analyses build a tephrochronostratigraphic framework for Costa Rica and Nicaragua that covers the last >8 Myr. We define 39 correlations of marine ash beds to specific tephra formations in Costa Rica and Nicaragua; from the 4.15 Ma Lower Sandillal Ignimbrite to the 3.5 ka Rincón de la Vieja Tephra from Costa Rica, as well as another 32 widely distributed tephra layers for which their specific region of origin along Costa Rica and Nicaragua can be constrained