507 research outputs found
Draft genome sequence of the Tibetan antelope
The Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) is endemic to the extremely inhospitable high-altitude environment of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, a region that has a low partial pressure of oxygen and high ultraviolet radiation. Here we generate a draft genome of this artiodactyl and use it to detect the potential genetic bases of highland adaptation. Compared with other plain-dwelling mammals, the genome of the Tibetan antelope shows signals of adaptive evolution and gene-family expansion in genes associated with energy metabolism and oxygen transmission. Both the highland American pika, and the Tibetan antelope have signals of positive selection for genes involved in DNA repair and the production of ATPase. Genes associated with hypoxia seem to have experienced convergent evolution. Thus, our study suggests that common genetic mechanisms might have been utilized to enable high-altitude adaptation
Functional traits and phenotypic plasticity modulate species coexistence across contrasting climatic conditions
Functional traits are expected to modulate plant competitive dynamics. However, how traits
and their plasticity in response to contrasting environments connect with the mechanisms
determining species coexistence remains poorly understood. Here, we couple field experiments
under two contrasting climatic conditions to a plant population model describing
competitive dynamics between 10 annual plant species in order to evaluate how 19 functional
traits, covering physiological, morphological and reproductive characteristics, are associated
with species’ niche and fitness differences. We find a rich diversity of univariate and multidimensional
associations, which highlight the primary role of traits related to water- and lightuse-
efficiency for modulating the determinants of competitive outcomes. Importantly, such
traits and their plasticity promote species coexistence across climatic conditions by enhancing
stabilizing niche differences and by generating competitive trade-offs between species.
Our study represents a significant advance showing how leading dimensions of plant function
connect to the mechanisms determining the maintenance of biodiversity
Does or did the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A operate as a PeVatron?
For decades, supernova remnants (SNRs) have been considered the prime sources
of Galactic Cosmic rays (CRs). But whether SNRs can accelerate CR protons to
PeV energies and thus dominate CR flux up to the knee is currently under
intensive theoretical and phenomenological debate. The direct test of the
ability of SNRs to operate as CR PeVatrons can be provided by ultrahigh-energy
(UHE; ~TeV) -rays. In this context, the historical
SNR Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is considered one of the most promising target for UHE
observations. This paper presents the observation of Cas A and its vicinity by
the LHAASO KM2A detector. The exceptional sensitivity of LHAASO KM2A in the UHE
band, combined with the young age of Cas A, enabled us to derive stringent
model-independent limits on the energy budget of UHE protons and nuclei
accelerated by Cas A at any epoch after the explosion. The results challenge
the prevailing paradigm that Cas A-type SNRs are major suppliers of PeV CRs in
the Milky Way.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, Accepted by the APJ
Measurement of ultra-high-energy diffuse gamma-ray emission of the Galactic plane from 10 TeV to 1 PeV with LHAASO-KM2A
The diffuse Galactic -ray emission, mainly produced via interactions
between cosmic rays and the interstellar medium and/or radiation field, is a
very important probe of the distribution, propagation, and interaction of
cosmic rays in the Milky Way. In this work we report the measurements of
diffuse -rays from the Galactic plane between 10 TeV and 1 PeV
energies, with the square kilometer array of the Large High Altitude Air Shower
Observatory (LHAASO). Diffuse emissions from the inner
(, ) and outer
(, ) Galactic plane are detected with
and significance, respectively. The outer Galactic
plane diffuse emission is detected for the first time in the very- to
ultra-high-energy domain (~TeV). The energy spectrum in the inner Galaxy
regions can be described by a power-law function with an index of
, which is different from the curved spectrum as expected from
hadronic interactions between locally measured cosmic rays and the
line-of-sight integrated gas content. Furthermore, the measured flux is higher
by a factor of than the prediction. A similar spectrum with an index of
is found in the outer Galaxy region, and the absolute flux for
TeV is again higher than the prediction for hadronic
cosmic ray interactions. The latitude distributions of the diffuse emission are
consistent with the gas distribution, while the longitude distributions show
clear deviation from the gas distribution. The LHAASO measurements imply that
either additional emission sources exist or cosmic ray intensities have spatial
variations.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables; accepted for publication in Physical
Review Letters; source mask file provided as ancillary fil
Amplitude analysis of
Utilizing the data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of
fb collected by the BESIII detector at a center-of-mass energy of 4.178
GeV, we perform an amplitude analysis of the decay.
The sample contains 13,797 candidates with a signal purity of 80%. The
amplitude and phase of the contributing wave are measured
based on a quasi-model-independent approach, along with the amplitudes and
phases of the and waves parametrized by Breit-Wigner
models. The fit fractions of different intermediate decay channels are also
reported.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Search for New Hadronic Decays of and Observation of
Ten hadronic final states of the decays are investigated via the
process , using a data sample of events collected with the BESIII detector. The
decay channel is observed for
the first time with a significance of . The corresponding branching
fraction is determined to be (the
first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematical). Evidence for the
decays and is found with a significance of and , respectively. The corresponding branching fractions
(and upper limits) are obtained to be and
. Upper limits on the branching fractions for the final
states , ,
, ,
, , and
are determined at a confidence level of 90\%.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
Study of the doubly Cabibbo-suppressed decays and
Based on 7.33 fb of collision data collected at
center-of-mass energies between 4.128 and 4.226 GeV with the BESIII detector,
the experimental studies of the doubly Cabibbo-suppressed decays and are reported. We determine the
absolute branching fraction of to be
() . No
significant signal of is observed and the upper
limit on its decay branching fraction at 90\% confidence level is set to be
.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 4 table
Observation of
By analyzing events collected with the
BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII collider, the decays of (, 1 and 2) are observed for the first time with
statistical significances of , , and ,
respectively. The product branching fractions of
and are measured. Dividing by the world
averages of the branching fractions of , the
branching fractions of decays are
determined to be ,
, and
for , 1 and 2, respectively, where the first uncertainties are statistical
and the second systematic.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
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