Neutrino induced coherent charged pion production on nuclei, ν¯μA→μ±π∓A, is a rare inelastic interaction in which the four-momentum squared transferred to the nucleus is nearly zero, leaving it ...intact. We identify such events in the scintillator of MINERvA by reconstructing |t| from the final state pion and muon momenta and by removing events with evidence of energetic nuclear recoil or production of other final state particles. We measure the total neutrino and antineutrino cross sections as a function of neutrino energy between 2 and 20 GeV and measure flux integrated differential cross sections as a function of Q2, Eπ, and θπ. The Q2 dependence and equality of the neutrino and antineutrino cross sections at finite Q2 provide a confirmation of Adler’s partial conservation of axial current hypothesis.
The natural infection of sand flies by Leishmania was investigated in Andean areas located between the Central and Eastern Cordilleras of northern Peru where cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by ...Leishmania (Viannia) peruviana is endemic. Sand flies were captured at five locations along the Utcubamba River in the Department of Amazonas, and morphologically identified under a microscope. Among 422 female sand flies dissected, the most dominant species was Pintomyia verrucarum (320 flies), followed by Pi. maranonensis (83 flies), Pi. robusta (13 flies), and Lutzomyia castanea (6 flies). Genetic analysis of sand flies from these areas together with those from other areas revealed that individuals of Pi. verrucarum were closely related regardless of morphological variation of their spermathecae. On the other hand, individuals of Pi. maranonensis collected in the study area were distant from those of other areas with genetic distances over the intraspecific level but mostly below the interspecific level, suggesting the unique characteristics of sand flies in this area. The natural infection of sand flies by flagellate parasites was detected mainly in the hindgut of each one of Pi. verrucarum and Pi. maranonensis. Both parasite species were identified as L. (V.) peruviana based on cytochrome b and mannose phosphate isomerase gene analyses. In addition, parasite species obtained from the lesion of a patient with cutaneous leishmaniasis in the study area in this period was identified as L. (V.) peruviana. These results strongly suggest that Pi. verrucarum and Pi. maranonensis are responsible for the transmission of L. (V.) peruviana in these areas. This is the first report of the natural infection of Pi. maranonensis by L. (V.) peruviana.
The natural infection of sand flies by Leishmania was examined in the Department of Huanuco of Peru, where cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by a hybrid of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis/L. (V.) ...peruviana is endemic. A total of 2,997 female sand flies were captured by CDC light traps and Shannon traps, of which 2,931 and 66 flies were identified as Lutzomyia tejadai and Lu fischeri, respectively. Using crude DNA extracted from individual sand flies as a template, Leishmania DNA was detected from one Lu. tejadai. The parasite species was identified as a hybrid of L. (V.) braziliensis/L. (V.) peruviana on the basis of cytochrome b and mannose phosphate isomerase gene analyses. The result suggested that Lu. tejadai is responsible for the transmission of the hybrid Leishmania circulating in this area.
We present double-differential measurements of antineutrino charged-current quasielastic scattering in the MINERvA detector. This study improves on a previous single-differential measurement by using ...updated reconstruction algorithms and interaction models and provides a complete description of observed muon kinematics in the form of a double-differential cross section with respect to muon transverse and longitudinal momentum. We include in our signal definition zero-meson final states arising from multinucleon interactions and from resonant pion production followed by pion absorption in the primary nucleus. We find that model agreement is considerably improved by a model tuned to MINERvA inclusive neutrino scattering data that incorporates nuclear effects such as weak nuclear screening and two-particle, two-hole enhancements.
Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for the mass screening of sand flies for Leishmania infection.
•A colorimetric LAMP method of sand flies for Leishmania infection was ...established.•The LAMP method could detect 0.01 parasites from crude sand fly.•The method will be a useful tool for epidemiological studies of leishmaniasis.
Entomological monitoring of Leishmania infection in leishmaniasis endemic areas offers epidemiologic advantages for predicting the risk and expansion of the disease, as well as evaluation of the effectiveness of control programs. In this study, we developed a highly sensitive loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for the mass screening of sand flies for Leishmania infection based on the 18S rRNA gene. The LAMP technique could detect 0.01 parasites, which was more sensitive than classical PCR. The method was robust and could amplify the target DNA within 1h from a crude sand fly template without DNA purification. Amplicon detection could be accomplished by the newly developed colorimetric malachite green (MG)—mediated naked eye visualization. Pre-addition of MG to the LAMP reaction solution did not inhibit amplification efficiency. The field applicability of the colorimetric MG-based LAMP assay was demonstrated with 397 field-caught samples from the endemic areas of Ecuador and eight positive sand flies were detected. The robustness, superior sensitivity, and ability to produce better visual discriminatory reaction products than existing LAMP fluorescence and turbidity assays indicated the field potential usefulness of this new method for surveillance and epidemiological studies of leishmaniasis in developing countries.
Scattering of high energy particles from nucleons probes their structure, as was done in the experiments that established the non-zero size of the proton using electron beams
. The use of charged ...leptons as scattering probes enables measuring the distribution of electric charges, which is encoded in the vector form factors of the nucleon
. Scattering weakly interacting neutrinos gives the opportunity to measure both vector and axial vector form factors of the nucleon, providing an additional, complementary probe of their structure. The nucleon transition axial form factor, F
, can be measured from neutrino scattering from free nucleons, ν
n → μ
p and Formula: see text, as a function of the negative four-momentum transfer squared (Q
). Up to now, F
(Q
) has been extracted from the bound nucleons in neutrino-deuterium scattering
, which requires uncertain nuclear corrections
. Here we report the first high-statistics measurement, to our knowledge, of the Formula: see text cross-section from the hydrogen atom, using the plastic scintillator target of the MINERvA
experiment, extracting F
from free proton targets and measuring the nucleon axial charge radius, r
, to be 0.73 ± 0.17 fm. The antineutrino-hydrogen scattering presented here can access the axial form factor without the need for nuclear theory corrections, and enables direct comparisons with the increasingly precise lattice quantum chromodynamics computations
. Finally, the tools developed for this analysis and the result presented are substantial advancements in our capabilities to understand the nucleon structure in the weak sector, and also help the current and future neutrino oscillation experiments
to better constrain neutrino interaction models.
We measure neutrino charged-current quasielasticlike scattering on hydrocarbon at high statistics using the wideband Neutrinos at the Main Injector beam with neutrino energy peaked at 6 GeV. The ...double-differential cross section is reported in terms of muon longitudinal (p_{∥}) and transverse (p_{⊥}) momentum. Cross section contours versus lepton momentum components are approximately described by a conventional generator-based simulation, however, discrepancies are observed for transverse momenta above 0.5 GeV/c for longitudinal momentum ranges 3-5 and 9-20 GeV/c. The single differential cross section versus momentum transfer squared (dσ/dQ_{QE}^{2}) is measured over a four-decade range of Q^{2} that extends to 10 GeV^{2}. The cross section turnover and falloff in the Q^{2} range 0.3-10 GeV^{2} is not fully reproduced by generator predictions that rely on dipole form factors. Our measurement probes the axial-vector content of the hadronic current and complements the electromagnetic form factor data obtained using electron-nucleon elastic scattering. These results help oscillation experiments because they probe the importance of various correlations and final-state interaction effects within the nucleus, which have different effects on the visible energy in detectors.
The FTA card (Whatman) was assessed for its utility as a molecular epidemiological tool in collecting samples from patients with leishmaniasis in Peru because the card has a variety of merits; it is ...less invasive for patients and easy to handle for both physicians and other medical personnel for sample collection or diagnosis, in addition to its simplicity and easy countrywide and/or intercountry transportation for analysis. Samples were collected from 132 patients suspected of having leishmaniasis, and Leishmania species were successfully identified in samples from 81 patients in 15 departments of Peru by cytochrome b and mannose phosphate isomerase gene analyses. Of these, 61.7% were identified as Leishmania (Viannia) peruviana, 22.2% as L. (V.) braziliensis, 12.3% as L. (V.) guyanensis, 2.5% as L. (V.) shawi, and 1.2% as L. (V.) lainsoni. The three predominant species, L. (V.) peruviana, L. (V.) braziliensis, and L. (V.) guyanensis, were mainly found in the Andean highlands, in the tropical rainforest, and in northern and central rainforest regions, respectively. This is the first time L. (V.) shawi has been identified outside Brazil. The present study showed that the FTA card will be a useful tool for the ecological study of different forms of leishmaniasis. Furthermore, collecting samples directly from patients' lesions by using the FTA card eliminates (i) the possibility of contamination of Leishmania isolates during short- and/or long-term passages of culture in vitro in each laboratory and (ii) pain and suffering of patients from taking samples by skin biopsy.
We study neutrino-induced charged-current (CC) π0 production on carbon nuclei using events with fully imaged final-state proton-π0 systems. Novel use of final-state correlations based on transverse ...kinematic imbalance enables the first measurements of the struck nucleon's Fermi motion, of the intranuclear momentum transfer (IMT) dynamics, and of the final-state hadronic momentum configuration in neutrino pion production. Event distributions are presented for (i) the momenta of neutrino-struck neutrons below the Fermi surface, (ii) the direction of missing transverse momentum characterizing the strength of IMT, and (iii) proton-pion momentum imbalance with respect to the lepton scattering plane. The observed Fermi motion and IMT strength are compared to the previous MINERνA measurement of neutrino CC quasielastic-like production. The measured shapes and absolute rates of these distributions, as well as the cross section asymmetries, show tensions with predictions from current neutrino generator models.
Amblyomma cajennense F. is one of the best known and studied ticks in the New World because of its very wide distribution, its economical importance as pest of domestic ungulates, and its association ...with a variety of animal and human pathogens. Recent observations, however, have challenged the taxonomic status of this tick and indicated that intraspecific cryptic speciation might be occurring. In the present study, we investigate the evolutionary and demographic history of this tick and examine its genetic structure based on the analyses of three mitochondrial (12SrDNA, d-loop, and COII) and one nuclear (ITS2) genes. Because A. cajennense is characterized by a typical trans-Amazonian distribution, lineage divergence dating is also performed to establish whether genetic diversity can be linked to dated vicariant events which shaped the topology of the Neotropics.
Total evidence analyses of the concatenated mtDNA and nuclear + mtDNA datasets resulted in well-resolved and fully congruent reconstructions of the relationships within A. cajennense. The phylogenetic analyses consistently found A. cajennense to be monophyletic and to be separated into six genetic units defined by mutually exclusive haplotype compositions and habitat associations. Also, genetic divergence values showed that these lineages are as distinct from each other as recognized separate species of the same genus. The six clades are deeply split and node dating indicates that they started diverging in the middle-late Miocene.
Behavioral differences and the results of laboratory cross-breeding experiments had already indicated that A. cajennense might be a complex of distinct taxonomic units. The combined and congruent mitochondrial and nuclear genetic evidence from this study reveals that A. cajennense is an assembly of six distinct species which have evolved separately from each other since at least 13.2 million years ago (Mya) in the earliest and 3.3 Mya in the latest lineages. The temporal and spatial diversification modes of the six lineages overlap the phylogeographical history of other organisms with similar extant trans-Amazonian distributions and are consistent with the present prevailing hypothesis that Neotropical diversity often finds its origins in the Miocene, after the Andean uplift changed the topology and consequently the climate and ecology of the Neotropics.
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