| 1. |
- Adam, R. M., et al.
(author)
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The XXL Survey: LI. Pressure profile and Y SZ -M scaling relation in three low-mass galaxy clusters at z∼1 observed with NIKA2
- 2024
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 684
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. The thermodynamical properties of the intracluster medium (ICM) are driven by scale-free gravitational collapse, but they also reflect the rich astrophysical processes at play in galaxy clusters. At low masses (∼1014M) and high redshift (z≳1), these properties remain poorly constrained, observationally speaking, due to the difficulty in obtaining resolved and sensitive data. Aims. We aim to investigate the inner structure of the ICM as seen through the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) effect in this regime of mass and redshift. We focused on the thermal pressure profile and the scaling relation between SZ flux and mass, namely the YSZ-M scaling relation. Methods. The three galaxy clusters XLSSC 072 (z=1.002), XLSSC 100 (z=0.915), and XLSSC 102 (z=0.969), with M500∼2×1014M, were selected from the XXL X-ray survey and observed with the NIKA2 millimeter camera to image their SZ signal. XMM-Newton X-ray data were used as a complement to the NIKA2 data to derive masses based on the YX-M relation and the hydrostatic equilibrium. Results. The SZ images of the three clusters, along with the X-ray and optical data, indicate dynamical activity related to merging events. The pressure profile is consistent with that expected for morphologically disturbed systems, with a relatively flat core and a shallow outer slope. Despite significant disturbances in the ICM, the three high-redshift low-mass clusters follow the YSZ-M relation expected from standard evolution remarkably well. Conclusions. These results indicate that the dominant physics that drives cluster evolution is already in place by z∼1, at least for systems with masses above M500∼1014M.
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| 2. |
- Aguilar, J., et al.
(author)
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Search for Leptonic CP Violation with the ESSnuSBplus Project
- 2024
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In: Letters in High Energy Physics. - : Andromeda Publishing And Academic Services LTD. - 2632-2714.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ESSνSB is a design study for a next-generation long-baseline neutrino experiment that aims at the precise measurement of the CP-violating phase, δCP, in the leptonic sector at the second oscillation maximum. The conceptual design report published from the first phase of the project showed that after 10 years of data taking, more than 70% of the possible δCP range will be covered with 5σ C.L. to reject the no-CP-violation hypothesis. The expected value of δCP precision is smaller than 8◦ for all δCP values. The next phase of the project, the ESSνSB+, aims at using the intense muon flux produced together with neutrinos to measure the neutrino-nucleus cross-section, the dominant term of the systematic uncertainty, in the energy range of 0.2–0.6 GeV, using a Low Energy neutrinos from STORed Muons (LEnuSTORM) and a Low Energy Monitored Neutrino Beam (LEMNB) facilities.
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| 3. |
- Fouquet, Antoine, et al.
(author)
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Integrative species delimitation and biogeography of the Rhinella margaritifera species group (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae) suggest an intense diversification throughout Amazonia during the last 10 million years
- 2024
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In: Systematics and Biodiversity. - 1477-2000. ; 22:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The accumulation of studies delimiting species in Amazonia has not only shed light on the patterns of its outstanding species richness but also allowed a better understanding of the processes of diversification within this immense region. Nevertheless, vast knowledge gaps remain even for prominent anuran species complexes, such as the Rhinella margaritifera species group. This clade of toads comprises 23 valid species-level taxa, mainly distributed in Amazonia but also in South America’s Dry Diagonal and Atlantic and trans-Andean rainforests. Species boundaries and taxonomy in this group are notoriously complex, with studies suggesting the existence of several unnamed species. Available phylogenetic information suggests an Andean-western Amazonian origin of the group with subsequent diversification within Amazonian lowlands during the last 10 Myr and secondary dispersals into other Neotropical regions. To further test this biogeographic scenario and improve knowledge on species diversity, we used an unprecedentedly large mtDNA sampling (>800 16S sequences) across the clade’s distribution and comprising all but one described species. We delimited 54 Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units, which we tested further based on patterns of variation of a nuclear locus and acoustic and morphological data. This approach confirmed the existence of at least 25 candidate species, 19 of which correspond to currently recognized taxa whereas 30 remained ‘unconfirmed’. Our results clarify the taxonomic status of some species but also suggest multiple introgression events that blur some mtDNA-based species boundaries. Lastly, to provide a temporal framework for the clade’s diversification, we generated a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree based on a mitogenomic matrix, which confirmed a Miocene (∼9 Ma) western Amazonian origin and six major clades in the group, each having initially diversified in different regions within Amazonia. Most of these clades have later dispersed throughout Amazonia during the establishment of the modern Amazonian hydrographic system, i.e., in the last 6 Myr.
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| 4. |
- Aguilar, J., et al.
(author)
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Study of nonstandard interactions mediated by a scalar field at the ESSnuSB experiment
- 2024
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In: Physical Review D. - : American Physical Society. - 2470-0010 .- 2470-0029. ; 109:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper, we study scalar mediator induced nonstandard interactions (SNSIs) in the context of the ESSnuSB experiment. In particular, we study the capability of ESSnuSB to put bounds on the SNSI parameters and also study the impact of SNSIs in the measurement of the leptonic CP phase δCP. Existence of SNSIs modifies the neutrino mass matrix and this modification can be expressed in terms of three diagonal real parameters (ηee, ημμ, and ηττ) and three off-diagonal complex parameters (ηeμ, ηeτ, and ημτ). Our study shows that the upper bounds on the parameters ημμ and ηττ depend upon how Δm312 is minimized in the theory. However, this is not the case when one tries to measure the impact of SNSIs on δCP. Further, we show that the CP sensitivity of ESSnuSB can be completely lost for certain values of ηee and ημτ for which the appearance channel probability becomes independent of δCP.
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| 5. |
- Hilbert, Kevin, et al.
(author)
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Cortical and Subcortical Brain Alterations in Specific Phobia and Its Animal and Blood-Injection-Injury Subtypes: A Mega-Analysis From the ENIGMA Anxiety Working Group.
- 2024
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In: The American Journal of Psychiatry. - 1535-7228.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Specific phobia is a common anxiety disorder, but the literature on associated brain structure alterations exhibits substantial gaps. The ENIGMA Anxiety Working Group examined brain structure differences between individuals with specific phobias and healthy control subjects as well as between the animal and blood-injection-injury (BII) subtypes of specific phobia. Additionally, the authors investigated associations of brain structure with symptom severity and age (youths vs. adults).Data sets from 31 original studies were combined to create a final sample with 1,452 participants with phobia and 2,991 healthy participants (62.7% female; ages 5-90). Imaging processing and quality control were performed using established ENIGMA protocols. Subcortical volumes as well as cortical surface area and thickness were examined in a preregistered analysis.Compared with the healthy control group, the phobia group showed mostly smaller subcortical volumes, mixed surface differences, and larger cortical thickness across a substantial number of regions. The phobia subgroups also showed differences, including, as hypothesized, larger medial orbitofrontal cortex thickness in BII phobia (N=182) compared with animal phobia (N=739). All findings were driven by adult participants; no significant results were observed in children and adolescents.Brain alterations associated with specific phobia exceeded those of other anxiety disorders in comparable analyses in extent and effect size and were not limited to reductions in brain structure. Moreover, phenomenological differences between phobia subgroups were reflected in diverging neural underpinnings, including brain areas related to fear processing and higher cognitive processes. The findings implicate brain structure alterations in specific phobia, although subcortical alterations in particular may also relate to broader internalizing psychopathology.
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| 6. |
- Householder, John Ethan, et al.
(author)
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One sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is dependent on river floodplains
- 2024
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In: NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION. - 2397-334X.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Amazonia's floodplain system is the largest and most biodiverse on Earth. Although forests are crucial to the ecological integrity of floodplains, our understanding of their species composition and how this may differ from surrounding forest types is still far too limited, particularly as changing inundation regimes begin to reshape floodplain tree communities and the critical ecosystem functions they underpin. Here we address this gap by taking a spatially explicit look at Amazonia-wide patterns of tree-species turnover and ecological specialization of the region's floodplain forests. We show that the majority of Amazonian tree species can inhabit floodplains, and about a sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is ecologically specialized on floodplains. The degree of specialization in floodplain communities is driven by regional flood patterns, with the most compositionally differentiated floodplain forests located centrally within the fluvial network and contingent on the most extraordinary flood magnitudes regionally. Our results provide a spatially explicit view of ecological specialization of floodplain forest communities and expose the need for whole-basin hydrological integrity to protect the Amazon's tree diversity and its function.
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| 7. |
- Luize, Bruno Garcia, et al.
(author)
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Geography and ecology shape the phylogenetic composition of Amazonian tree communities
- 2024
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In: JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY. - 0305-0270 .- 1365-2699.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aim: Amazonia hosts more tree species from numerous evolutionary lineages, both young and ancient, than any other biogeographic region. Previous studies have shown that tree lineages colonized multiple edaphic environments and dispersed widely across Amazonia, leading to a hypothesis, which we test, that lineages should not be strongly associated with either geographic regions or edaphic forest types. Location: Amazonia. Taxon: Angiosperms (Magnoliids; Monocots; Eudicots). Methods: Data for the abundance of 5082 tree species in 1989 plots were combined with a mega-phylogeny. We applied evolutionary ordination to assess how phylogenetic composition varies across Amazonia. We used variation partitioning and Moran's eigenvector maps (MEM) to test and quantify the separate and joint contributions of spatial and environmental variables to explain the phylogenetic composition of plots. We tested the indicator value of lineages for geographic regions and edaphic forest types and mapped associations onto the phylogeny. Results: In the terra firme and v & aacute;rzea forest types, the phylogenetic composition varies by geographic region, but the igap & oacute; and white-sand forest types retain a unique evolutionary signature regardless of region. Overall, we find that soil chemistry, climate and topography explain 24% of the variation in phylogenetic composition, with 79% of that variation being spatially structured (R-2 = 19% overall for combined spatial/environmental effects). The phylogenetic composition also shows substantial spatial patterns not related to the environmental variables we quantified (R-2 = 28%). A greater number of lineages were significant indicators of geographic regions than forest types. Main Conclusion: Numerous tree lineages, including some ancient ones (>66 Ma), show strong associations with geographic regions and edaphic forest types of Amazonia. This shows that specialization in specific edaphic environments has played a long-standing role in the evolutionary assembly of Amazonian forests. Furthermore, many lineages, even those that have dispersed across Amazonia, dominate within a specific region, likely because of phylogenetically conserved niches for environmental conditions that are prevalent within regions.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Aguilar, J., et al.
(author)
-
Study of nonstandard interactions mediated by a scalar field at the ESSnuSB experiment
- 2024
-
In: Physical Review D. - : American Physical Society (APS). - 2470-0010 .- 2470-0029. ; 109:11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper, we study scalar mediator induced nonstandard interactions (SNSIs) in the context of the ESSnuSB experiment. In particular, we study the capability of ESSnuSB to put bounds on the SNSI parameters and also study the impact of SNSIs in the measurement of the leptonic ?? phase ???. Existence of SNSIs modifies the neutrino mass matrix and this modification can be expressed in terms of three diagonal real parameters (???, ???, and ???) and three off-diagonal complex parameters (???, ???, and ???). Our study shows that the upper bounds on the parameters ??? and ??? depend upon how Δ?231 is minimized in the theory. However, this is not the case when one tries to measure the impact of SNSIs on ???. Further, we show that the ?? sensitivity of ESSnuSB can be completely lost for certain values of ??? and ??? for which the appearance channel probability becomes independent of ???.
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| 10. |
- Chen, Zhishan, et al.
(author)
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Fine-mapping analysis including over 254 000 East Asian and European descendants identifies 136 putative colorectal cancer susceptibility genes
- 2024
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 15:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 200 common genetic variants independently associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, but the causal variants and target genes are mostly unknown. We sought to fine-map all known CRC risk loci using GWAS data from 100,204 cases and 154,587 controls of East Asian and European ancestry. Our stepwise conditional analyses revealed 238 independent association signals of CRC risk, each with a set of credible causal variants (CCVs), of which 28 signals had a single CCV. Our cis-eQTL/mQTL and colocalization analyses using colorectal tissue-specific transcriptome and methylome data separately from 1299 and 321 individuals, along with functional genomic investigation, uncovered 136 putative CRC susceptibility genes, including 56 genes not previously reported. Analyses of single-cell RNA-seq data from colorectal tissues revealed 17 putative CRC susceptibility genes with distinct expression patterns in specific cell types. Analyses of whole exome sequencing data provided additional support for several target genes identified in this study as CRC susceptibility genes. Enrichment analyses of the 136 genes uncover pathways not previously linked to CRC risk. Our study substantially expanded association signals for CRC and provided additional insight into the biological mechanisms underlying CRC development.
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