University of Geneva

About: University of Geneva is a education organization based out in Geneva, Switzerland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 26887 authors who have published 65265 publications receiving 2931373 citations. The organization is also known as: Geneva University & Universite de Geneve.

Re-equilibration of Zircon in Aqueous Fluids and Melts

Abstract: Natural zircon crystals often show complex secondary textures that cut across primary growth zones. In zircon showing structural damage caused by self-irradiation, such textures are the result of a diffusion-reaction process in which a hydrous species diffuses inwards and “catalyzes” structural recovery. Nanoscale pores develop, solvent elements such as Ca, Al and Fe are gained, and radiogenic Pb is lost. In both aqueous fluids and melts, replacement of zircon with undamaged structure by a coupled dissolution-reprecipitation process can produce similar textures. The reacted domains usually have lower trace element contents and may contain micrometer-sized pores and inclusions of uranium, thorium and/or yttrium phases, originally in solid solution. Both processes have considerable implications for zircon geochronology.

Hand Hygiene among Physicians: Performance, Beliefs, and Perceptions

Abstract: The authors questioned physicians on their beliefs about hand-washing before examining a patient and observed their actual hand-washing practices. Predictors of adherence include being an internist...

Measurement of neutrino oscillation by the K2K experiment

Abstract: We present measurements of {nu}{sub {mu}} disappearance in K2K, the KEK to Kamioka long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. One-hundred and twelve beam-originated neutrino events are observed in the fiducial volume of Super-Kamiokande with an expectation of 158.1{sub -8.6}{sup +9.2} events without oscillation. A distortion of the energy spectrum is also seen in 58 single-ring muonlike events with reconstructed energies. The probability that the observations are explained by the expectation for no neutrino oscillation is 0.0015% (4.3{sigma}). In a two-flavor oscillation scenario, the allowed {delta}m{sup 2} region at sin{sup 2}2{theta}=1 is between 1.9 and 3.5x10{sup -3} eV{sup 2} at the 90% C.L. with a best-fit value of 2.8x10{sup -3} eV{sup 2}.

Adult insulin- and glucagon-producing cells differentiate from two independent cell lineages

Abstract: To analyze cell lineage in the pancreatic islets, we have irreversibly tagged all the progeny of cells through the activity of Cre recombinase. Adult glucagon alpha and insulin beta cells are shown to derive from cells that have never transcribed insulin or glucagon, respectively. Also, the beta-cell progenitors, but not alpha-cell progenitors, transcribe the pancreatic polypeptide (PP) gene. Finally, the homeodomain gene PDX1, which is expressed by adult beta-cells, is also expressed by alpha-cell progenitors. Thus the islet alpha- and beta-cell lineages appear to arise independently during ontogeny, probably from a common precursor.

Recent Plant Diversity Changes on Europe’s Mountain Summits

Abstract: In mountainous regions, climate warming is expected to shift species' ranges to higher altitudes. Evidence for such shifts is still mostly from revisitations of historical sites. We present recent (2001 to 2008) changes in vascular plant species richness observed in a standardized monitoring network across Europe's major mountain ranges. Species have moved upslope on average. However, these shifts had opposite effects on the summit floras' species richness in boreal-temperate mountain regions (+3.9 species on average) and Mediterranean mountain regions (-1.4 species), probably because recent climatic trends have decreased the availability of water in the European south. Because Mediterranean mountains are particularly rich in endemic species, a continuation of these trends might shrink the European mountain flora, despite an average increase in summit species richness across the region.