3,997 research outputs found

    Timing major conflict between mitochondrial and nuclear genes in species relationships of Polygonia butterflies (Nymphalidae: Nymphalini)

    Get PDF
    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Major conflict between mitochondrial and nuclear genes in estimating species relationships is an increasingly common finding in animals. Usually this is attributed to incomplete lineage sorting, but recently the possibility has been raised that hybridization is important in generating such phylogenetic patterns. Just how widespread ancient and/or recent hybridization is in animals and how it affects estimates of species relationships is still not well-known.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We investigate the species relationships and their evolutionary history over time in the genus <it>Polygonia </it>using DNA sequences from two mitochondrial gene regions (COI and ND1, total 1931 bp) and four nuclear gene regions (EF-1α, wingless, GAPDH and RpS5, total 2948 bp). We found clear, strongly supported conflict between mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences in estimating species relationships in the genus <it>Polygonia</it>. Nodes at which there was no conflict tended to have diverged at the same time when analyzed separately, while nodes at which conflict was present diverged at different times. We find that two species create most of the conflict, and attribute the conflict found in <it>Polygonia satyrus </it>to ancient hybridization and conflict found in <it>Polygonia oreas </it>to recent or ongoing hybridization. In both examples, the nuclear gene regions tended to give the phylogenetic relationships of the species supported by morphology and biology.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Studies inferring species-level relationships using molecular data should never be based on a single locus. Here we show that the phylogenetic hypothesis generated using mitochondrial DNA gives a very different interpretation of the evolutionary history of <it>Polygonia </it>species compared to that generated from nuclear DNA. We show that possible cases of hybridization in <it>Polygonia </it>are not limited to sister species, but may be inferred further back in time. Furthermore, we provide more evidence that Haldane's effect might not be as strong a process in preventing hybridization in butterflies as has been previously thought.</p

    Studying the nuclear mass composition of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays with the Pierre Auger Observatory

    Get PDF
    The Fluorescence Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory measures the atmospheric depth, XmaxX_{max}, where the longitudinal profile of the high energy air showers reaches its maximum. This is sensitive to the nuclear mass composition of the cosmic rays. Due to its hybrid design, the Pierre Auger Observatory also provides independent experimental observables obtained from the Surface Detector for the study of the nuclear mass composition. We present XmaxX_{max}-distributions and an update of the average and RMS values in different energy bins and compare them to the predictions for different nuclear masses of the primary particles and hadronic interaction models. We also present the results of the composition-sensitive parameters derived from the ground level component.Comment: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics, TAUP 2011, Munich, German

    Conormal distributions in the Shubin calculus of pseudodifferential operators

    Get PDF
    We characterize the Schwartz kernels of pseudodifferential operators of Shubin type by means of an FBI transform. Based on this we introduce as a generalization a new class of tempered distributions called Shubin conormal distributions. We study their transformation behavior, normal forms and microlocal properties.Comment: 23 page

    Predation on migrating eels (Anguilla anguilla L.) from the Western Mediterranean

    Get PDF
    Nineteen female silver European eels (Anguilla anguilla L.) were tagged with satellite tags and released in the Gulf of Lion in the Mediterranean during the migration seasons 2013 and 2015. Sixteen tags transmitted data: five in the Atlantic Ocean, and eleven in the Mediterranean. Of those, 50% of migrating eels were consumed by marine mammals in each year, all in the Mediterranean. The diving behaviour recorded by the tags after the eels were consumed indicated that the most likely predators were deep diving toothed whales. Measurements of the acoustic target strength of the tag showed a negligible effect on the detectability by whale biosonar. Overall, the observed predation rate was similar to that reported for eels escaping into the Atlantic. However, unlike eels in the Atlantic, which are most vulnerable to predators in the first week of escapement as they traverse the continental shelf and before they reach the refuge of the deep ocean, eels escaping from the Mediterranean were predated in deep water, months after release, likely as a consequence of their migration within a relatively narrow and deep corridor in the Alboran Sea. This emphasises the challenge of accounting for natural mortality in management plans for the long-term recovery of the European eel

    Environmentally driven extinction and opportunistic origination explain fern diversification patterns.

    Get PDF
    Combining palaeontological and neontological data offers a unique opportunity to investigate the relative roles of biotic and abiotic controls of species diversification, and the importance of origination versus extinction in driving evolutionary dynamics. Ferns comprise a major terrestrial plant radiation with an extensive evolutionary history providing a wealth of modern and fossil data for modelling environmental drivers of diversification. Here we develop a novel Bayesian model to simultaneously estimate correlations between diversification dynamics and multiple environmental trajectories. We estimate the impact of different factors on fern diversification over the past 400 million years by analysing a comprehensive dataset of fossil occurrences and complement these findings by analysing a large molecular phylogeny. We show that origination and extinction rates are governed by fundamentally different processes: originations depend on within-group diversity but are largely unaffected by environmental changes, whereas extinctions are strongly affected by external factors such as climate and geology. Our results indicate that the prime driver of fern diversity dynamics is environmentally driven extinction, with origination being an opportunistic response to diminishing ecospace occupancy

    On the making and taking of professionalism in the further education workplace

    Get PDF
    This paper examines the changing nature of professional practice in English further education. At a time when neo-liberal reform has significantly impacted on this under-researched and over-market-tested sector, little is known about who its practitioners are and how they construct meaning in their work. Sociological interest in the field has tended to focus on further education practitioners as either the subjects of market and managerial reform or as creative agents operating within the contradictions of audit and inspection cultures. In challenging such dualism, which is reflective of wider sociological thinking, the paper examines the ways in which agency and structure combine to produce a more transformative conception of the further education professional. The approach contrasts with a prevailing policy discourse that seeks to re-professionalise and modernise further education practice without interrogating either the terms of its professionalism or the neo-liberal practices in which it resides

    Transmission loss patterns from acoustic harassment and deterrent devices do not always follow geometrical spreading predictions

    Get PDF
    Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of John Wiley & Sons for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Mammal Science 25 (2009): 53-67, doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2008.00243.x.Acoustic harassment and deterrent devices have become increasingly popular mitigation tools for negotiating the impacts of marine mammals on fisheries. The rationale for their variable effectiveness remains unexplained but high variability in the surrounding acoustic field may be relevant. In the present study, the sound fields of one acoustic harassment device and three acoustic deterrent devices were measured at three study sites along the Scandinavian coast. Superimposed onto an overall trend of decreasing sound exposure levels with increasing range were large local variations in sound level for all sources in each of the environments. This variability was likely caused by source directionality, inter-ping source level variation and multi-path interference. Rapid and unpredictable variations in the sound level as a function of range deviated from expectations derived from spherical and cylindrical spreading models and conflicted with the classic concept of concentric zones of increasing disturbance with decreasing range. Under such conditions, animals may encounter difficulties when trying to determine the direction to and location of a sound source, which may complicate or jeopardize avoidance responses.The project was funded by the Swedish Fishermen Association, the Swedish Board of Fisheries, Aage V. Jensen Foundations, Danish Forest and Nature Agency, The Nordic Research Council and the Carlsberg Foundation. Additional logistical support was furnished by the Oticon Foundation and Reson A/S. A.D. Shapiro received financial support from the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship and the WHOI Academic Programs Office. 35

    Z boson production in p+Pb collisions at sNN√=5.02 TeV measured with the ATLAS detector

    Get PDF
    The ATLAS Collaboration has measured the inclusive production of Z bosons via their decays into electron and muon pairs in p+Pb collisions at √ sNN = 5.02 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are made using data corresponding to integrated luminosities of 29.4 nb−1 and 28.1 nb−1 for Z → ee and Z → ””, respectively. The results from the two channels are consistent and combined to obtain a cross section times the Z → `` branching ratio, integrated over the rapidity region |y ∗ Z | < 3.5, of 139.8 ± 4.8 (stat.) ± 6.2 (syst.) ± 3.8 (lumi.) nb. Differential cross sections are presented as functions of the Z boson rapidity and transverse momentum, and compared with models based on parton distributions both with and without nuclear corrections. The centrality dependence of Z boson production in p+Pb collisions is measured and analyzed within the framework of a standard Glauber model and the model’s extension for fluctuations of the underlying nucleon-nucleon scattering cross sectionFil: Aad, G.. Aix-Marseille UniversitĂ©; FranciaFil: Abbott, B.. Oklahoma State University; Estados UnidosFil: Abdallah, J.. Academia Sinica; ChinaFil: Abdinov, O.. Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences; AzerbaiyĂĄnFil: Aben, R.. University of Amsterdam; PaĂ­ses BajosFil: Alconada Verzini, MarĂ­a Josefina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Alonso, Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Arduh, Francisco Anuar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Dova, Maria Teresa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Monticelli, Fernando Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Wahlberg, Hernan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Otero y Garzon, Gustavo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Oficina de CoordinaciĂłn Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de FĂ­sica de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de FĂ­sica de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Piegaia, Ricardo Nestor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Oficina de CoordinaciĂłn Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de FĂ­sica de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de FĂ­sica de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Reisin, Hernan Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Oficina de CoordinaciĂłn Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de FĂ­sica de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de FĂ­sica de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Sacerdoti, Sabrina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Oficina de CoordinaciĂłn Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de FĂ­sica de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de FĂ­sica de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Zieminska, D.. Indiana University; Estados UnidosFil: Zimine, N. I.. Joint Institute for Nuclear Research ; RusiaFil: Zimmermann, C.. UniversitĂ€t Mainz; AlemaniaFil: Zimmermann, S.. Albert-Ludwigs-UniversitĂ€t; AlemaniaFil: Zinonos, Z.. Georg-August-UniversitĂ€t; AlemaniaFil: Zinser, M.. UniversitĂ€t Mainz; AlemaniaFil: Ziolkowski, M.. UniversitĂ€t Siegen ; AlemaniaFil: Ćœivković, L.. University of Belgrade; SerbiaFil: Zobernig, G.. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Zoccoli, A.. UniversitĂ  di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Nedden, M. zur. Humboldt University; AlemaniaFil: Zurzolo, G.. UniversitĂ  di Napoli; ItaliaFil: Zwalinski, L.. Cern - European Organization For Nuclear Research; SuizaFil: The ATLAS Collaboration. No especifica

    Measurement of the production of a W boson in association with a charm quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

    Get PDF
    The production of a W boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 4.6 fb^-1 of pp collision data at sqrt(s)=7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. In events in which a W boson decays to an electron or muon, the charm quark is tagged either by its semileptonic decay to a muon or by the presence of a charmed meson. The integrated and differential cross sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W-boson decay are measured. Results are compared to the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD calculations obtained from various parton distribution function parameterisations. The ratio of the strange-to-down sea-quark distributions is determined to be 0.96 +0.26 -0.30 at Q^2=1.9 GeV^2, which supports the hypothesis of an SU(3)-symmetric composition of the light-quark sea. Additionally, the cross-section ratio sigma(W^+ + bar{c})/sigma(W^- + c) is compared to the predictions obtained using parton distribution function parameterisations with different assumptions about the s-bar{s} quark asymmetry.Fil: ATLAS Collaboration, G. AAd, F. Monticelli, et al. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de FĂ­sica La Plata; Argentina. Cern - European Organization For Nuclear Research; Suiz

    Measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry parameter αb and the helicity amplitudes for the decay Λ0b→J/ψ+Λ0 with the ATLAS detector

    Get PDF
    A measurement of the parity-violating decay asymmetry parameter, αb, and the helicity amplitudes for the decay Λb0→J/ψ(ÎŒ+ÎŒ-)Λ0(pπ-) is reported. The analysis is based on 1400 Λb0 and Λ¯b0 baryons selected in 4.6  fb-1 of proton-proton collision data with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. By combining the Λb0 and Λ¯b0 samples under the assumption of CP conservation, the value of αb is measured to be 0.30±0.16(stat)±0.06(syst). This measurement provides a test of theoretical models based on perturbative QCD or heavy-quark effective theory.Fil: F. Monticelli.Fil: Atlas Collaboration
    • 

    corecore