4,816 research outputs found
The Up-Shot of Inelastic Down-Scattering at CDMS-Si
We study dark matter that inelastically scatters and de-excites in direct
detection experiments, as an interpretation of the CDMS-Si events in light of
the recent LUX data. The constraints from LUX and XENON10 require the
mass-splitting between the DM excited and de-excited states to be keV. At the same time, the CDMS-Si data itself do not allow for a
consistent DM interpretation for mass splittings larger than 200 keV. We find that a low threshold analysis will be needed to rule out this
interpretation of the CDMS-Si events. In a simple model with a kinetically
mixed dark photon, we show that the CDMS-Si rate and the thermal relic
abundance can both be accommodated.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures; updated to match PRD versio
Halo Independent Direct Detection of Momentum-Dependent Dark Matter
We show that the momentum dependence of dark matter interactions with nuclei
can be probed in direct detection experiments without knowledge of the dark
matter velocity distribution. This is one of the few properties of DM
microphysics that can be determined with direct detection alone, given a signal
of dark matter in multiple direct detection experiments with different targets.
Long-range interactions arising from the exchange of a light mediator are one
example of momentum-dependent DM. For data produced from the exchange of a
massless mediator we find for example that the mediator mass can be constrained
to be MeV for DM in the 20-1000 GeV range in a halo-independent
manner.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures; updated to match published versio
New or Missing Energy? Discriminating Dark Matter from Neutrino Interactions at the LHC
Missing energy signals such as monojets are a possible signature of Dark
Matter (DM) at colliders. However, neutrino interactions beyond the Standard
Model may also produce missing energy signals. In order to conclude that new
"missing particles" are observed the hypothesis of BSM neutrino interactions
must be rejected. In this paper, we first derive new limits on these
Non-Standard neutrino Interactions (NSIs) from LHC monojet data. For heavy NSI
mediators, these limits are much stronger than those coming from traditional
low-energy scattering or oscillation experiments for some flavor
structures. Monojet data alone can be used to infer the mass of the "missing
particle" from the shape of the missing energy distribution. In particular, 13
TeV LHC data will have sensitivity to DM masses greater than 1 TeV. In
addition to the monojet channel, NSI can be probed in multi-lepton searches
which we find to yield stronger limits at heavy mediator masses. The
sensitivity offered by these multi-lepton channels provide a method to reject
or confirm the DM hypothesis in missing energy searches.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
On the Direct Detection of Dark Matter Annihilation
We investigate the direct detection phenomenology of a class of dark matter
(DM) models in which DM does not directly interact with nuclei, {but rather}
the products of its annihilation do. When these annihilation products are very
light compared to the DM mass, the scattering in direct detection experiments
is controlled by relativistic kinematics. This results in a distinctive recoil
spectrum, a non-standard and or even absent annual modulation, and the ability
to probe DM masses as low as a 10 MeV. We use current LUX data to show
that experimental sensitivity to thermal relic annihilation cross sections has
already been reached in a class of models. Moreover, the compatibility of dark
matter direct detection experiments can be compared directly in
space without making assumptions about DM astrophysics, mass, or scattering
form factors. Lastly, when DM has direct couplings to nuclei, the limit from
annihilation to relativistic particles in the Sun can be stronger than that of
conventional non-relativistic direct detection by more than three orders of
magnitude for masses in a 2-7 GeV window.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, PRL versio
Identification and analysis of gene families from the duplicated genome of soybean using EST sequences
BACKGROUND: Large scale gene analysis of most organisms is hampered by incomplete genomic sequences. In many organisms, such as soybean, the best source of sequence information is the existence of expressed sequence tag (EST) libraries. Soybean has a large (1115 Mbp) genome that has yet to be fully sequenced. However it does have the 6th largest EST collection comprised of ESTs from a variety of soybean genotypes. Many EST libraries were constructed from RNA extracted from various genetic backgrounds, thus gene identification from these sources is complicated by the existence of both gene and allele sequence differences. We used the ESTminer suite of programs to identify potential soybean gene transcripts from a single genetic background allowing us to observe functional classifications between gene families as well as structural differences between genes and gene paralogs within families. The identification of potential gene sequences (pHaps) from soybean allows us to begin to get a picture of the genomic history of the organism as well as begin to observe the evolutionary fates of gene copies in this highly duplicated genome. RESULTS: We identified approximately 45,000 potential gene sequences (pHaps) from EST sequences of Williams/Williams82, an inbred genotype of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) using a redundancy criterion to identify reproducible sequence differences between related genes within gene families. Analysis of these sequences revealed single base substitutions and single base indels are the most frequently observed form of sequence variation between genes within families in the dataset. Genomic sequencing of selected loci indicate that intron-like intervening sequences are numerous and are approximately 220 bp in length. Functional annotation of gene sequences indicate functional classifications are not randomly distributed among gene families containing few or many genes. CONCLUSION: The predominance of single nucleotide insertion/deletions and substitution events between genes within families (individual genes and gene paralogs) is consistent with a model of gene amplification followed by single base random mutational events expected under the classical model of duplicated gene evolution. Molecular functions of small and large gene families appear to be non-randomly distributed possibly indicating a difference in retention of duplicates or local expansion
SoyBase, the USDA-ARS soybean genetics and genomics database
SoyBase, the USDA-ARS soybean genetic database, is a comprehensive repository for professionally curated genetics, genomics and related data resources for soybean. SoyBase contains the most current genetic, physical and genomic sequence maps integrated with qualitative and quantitative traits. The quantitative trait loci (QTL) represent more than 18 years of QTL mapping of more than 90 unique traits. SoyBase also contains the well-annotated āWilliams 82ā genomic sequence and associated data mining tools. The genetic and sequence views of the soybean chromosomes and the extensive data on traits and phenotypes are extensively interlinked. This allows entry to the database using almost any kind of available information, such as genetic map symbols, soybean gene names or phenotypic traits. SoyBase is the repository for controlled vocabularies for soybean growth, development and trait terms, which are also linked to the more general plant ontologies. SoyBase can be accessed at http://soybase.org
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