940 research outputs found
Development of Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa L.) Transgenic Plants Expressing a Bacillus Thuringiensis Endotoxin and Their Evaluation Against Alfalfa Caterpillar (Colias Lesbia)
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is the most important forage crop in Argentina, with ca. 6 million cultivated hectares. The production of this crop is limited by the alfalfa caterpillar (Colias lesbia) which causes a loss equivalent to at least 10% of the biomass per year. No natural tolerance against this lepidoptera was found in alfalfa germplasm, hampering the development of tolerant cultivars by conventional breeding. This pest is usually controlled by using chemical insecticides but this has adverse effects on beneficial insects and the environment. Alternatively, low doses of commercial Bt insecticides (40 to 70 g/ha) also proved to efficiently limit the pest. This observation leads to us consider that the development of alfalfa transgenic plants expressing a suitable member of the B. thuringiensis cry gene family could be a useful tool for overcoming this alfalfa yield constraint. The aim of this work was to produce alfalfa transgenic plants expressing a Bt protein and to assess its biological activity against C. lesbia under laboratory conditions
Search for CP Violation in the decays D+ -> K_S pi+ and D+ -> K_S K+
A high statistics sample of photo-produced charm from the FOCUS(E831)
experiment at Fermilab has been used to search for direct CP violation in the
decays D+->K_S pi+ and D+ -> K_S K+. We have measured the following asymmetry
parameters relative to D+->K-pi+pi+: A_CP(K_S pi+) = (-1.6 +/- 1.5 +/- 0.9)%,
A_CP(K_S K+) = (+6.9 +/- 6.0 +/- 1.5)% and A_CP(K_S K+) = (+7.1 +/- 6.1 +/-
1.2)% relative to D+->K_S pi+. The first errors quoted are statistical and the
second are systematic. We also measure the relative branching ratios:
\Gamma(D+->\bar{K0}pi+)/\Gamma(D+->K-pi+pi+) = (30.60 +/- 0.46 +/- 0.32)%,
\Gamma(D+->\bar{K0}K+)/\Gamma(D+->K-pi+pi+) = (6.04 +/- 0.35 +/- 0.30)% and
\Gamma(D+->\bar{K0}K+)/\Gamma(D+->\bar{K0}pi+) = (19.96 +/- 1.19 +/- 0.96)%.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Search for and Using Genetic Programming Event Selection
We apply a genetic programming technique to search for the double Cabibbo
suppressed decays and .
We normalize these decays to their Cabibbo favored partners and find
\Lambda_c^+ \to p K^+ \pi^-\Lambda_c^+ \to p K^-
\pi^+ and D_s^+ \to K^+ K^+
\pi^-D_s^+ \to K^+ K^- \pi^+ where
the first errors are statistical and the second are systematic. Expressed as
90% confidence levels (CL), we find and respectively.
This is the first successful use of genetic programming in a high energy
physics data analysis.Comment: 10 page
Measurement of the relative branching ratio BR(\Xi_c^+ \to p^+ K^-\pi^+)\BR(\Xi_c^+ \to \Xi^- \pi^+ \pi^+)
We report the observation of the Cabibbo suppressed decay \Xi_c^+ \to p
K^-\pi^+ using data collected with the FOCUS spectrometer during the 1996--97
Fermilab fixed target run. We find a \Xi_c^+ signal peak of 202\pm35 events. We
have measured the relative branching ratios BR(\Xi^+_c\to p
K^-\pi^+)/BR(\Xi^+_c\to\Xi^-\pi^+\pi^+)= 0.234 \pm 0.047 \pm 0.022 and
BR(\Xi^+_c\to p \bar{K}^*(892)^0)/BR(\Xi^+_c\to p K^-\pi^+)= 0.54 \pm 0.09 \pm
0.05 .Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
The Target Silicon Detector for the FOCUS Spectrometer
We describe a silicon microstrip detector interleaved with segments of a
beryllium oxide target which was used in the FOCUS photoproduction experiment
at Fermilab. The detector was designed to improve the vertex resolution and to
enhance the reconstruction efficiency of short-lived charm particles.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figure
A Non-parametric Approach to Measuring the \kpi{} Amplitudes in \dpkkpi{} Decay
Using a large sample of \dpkkpi{} decays collected by the FOCUS
photoproduction experiment at Fermilab, we present the first non-parametric
analysis of the \kpi{} amplitudes in \dpkkpi{} decay. The technique is similar
to the technique used for our non-parametric measurements of the \krzmndk{}
form factors. Although these results are in rough agreement with those of E687,
we observe a wider S-wave contribution for the \ksw{} contribution than the
standard, PDG \cite{pdg} Breit-Wigner parameterization. We have some weaker
evidence for the existence of a new, D-wave component at low values of the mass.Comment: 13 pages 3 figure
A Measurement of the Ds+ Lifetime
A high statistics measurement of the Ds+ lifetime from the Fermilab
fixed-target FOCUS photoproduction experiment is presented. We describe the
analysis of the two decay modes, Ds+ -> phi(1020)pi+ and Ds+ ->
\bar{K}*(892)0K+, used for the measurement. The measured lifetime is 507.4 +/-
5.5 (stat.) +/- 5.1 (syst.) fs using 8961 +/- 105 Ds+ -> phi(1020)pi+ and 4680
+/- 90 Ds+ -> \bar{K}*(892)0K+ decays. This is a significant improvement over
the present world average.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, submitted to PR
Study of the decay asymmetry parameter and CP violation parameter in the Lambdac+ --> Lambda pi+ decay
Using data from the FOCUS (E831) experiment at Fermilab, we present a new
measurement of the weak decay-asymmetry parameter alpha(Lambdac) in Lambdac -->
Lambda pi decay. Comparing particle with antiparticle decays, we obtain the
first measurement of the CP violation parameter : A =
[alpha(Lambdac)+alpha(antiLambda_c)]/[alpha(Lambdac)-alpha(antiLambda_c)]. We
obtain alpha(Lambdac)=-0.78+-0.16+-0.13 and A = -0.07+-0.19+-0.12 where errors
are statistical and systematic.Comment: 18 pages, to be submitted to Phys. Lett. B For a list of the FOCUS
collaboration, see http://www-focus.fnal.gov/authors.htm
Observation of a 1750 MeV/c^2 Enhancement in the Diffractive Photoproduction of K^+K^-
Using the FOCUS spectrometer with photon beam energies between 20 and 160
\gev, we confirm the existence of a diffractively photoproduced enhancement in
at 1750 \mevcc with nearly 100 times the statistics of previous
experiments. Assuming this enhancement to be a single resonance with a
Breit-Wigner mass shape, we determine its mass to be
\mevcc and its width to be \mevcc. We find no
corresponding enhancement at 1750 \mevcc in , and again neglecting any
possible interference effects we place limits on the ratio . Our results are consistent with previous
photoproduction experiments, but, because of the much greater statistics,
challenge the common interpretation of this enhancement as the
seen in annihilation experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
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