The ocean sampling day consortium

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world’s oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a single day. This will be achievable only through the coordinated efforts of an Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, supportive partnerships and networks between sites. This commentary outlines the establishment, function and aims of the Consortium and describes our vision for a sustainable study of marine microbial communities and their embedded functional traits.

Flexible services for the support of research

Cloud computing has been increasingly adopted by users and providers to promote a flexible, scalable and tailored access to computing resources. Nonetheless, the consolidation of this paradigm has uncovered some of its limitations. Initially devised by corporations with direct control over large amounts of computational resources, cloud computing is now being endorsed by organizations with limited resources or with a more articulated, less direct control over these resources. The challenge for these organizations is to leverage the benefits of cloud computing while dealing with limited and often widely distributed computing resources. This study focuses on the adoption of cloud computing by higher education institutions and addresses two main issues: flexible and on-demand access to a large amount of storage resources, and scalability across a heterogeneous set of cloud infrastructures. The proposed solutions leverage a federated approach to cloud resources in which users access multiple and largely independent cloud infrastructures through a highly customizable broker layer. This approach allows for a uniform authentication and authorization infrastructure, a fine-grained policy specification and the aggregation of accounting and monitoring. Within a loosely coupled federation of cloud infrastructures, users can access vast amount of data without copying them across cloud infrastructures and can scale their resource provisions when the local cloud resources become insufficient.

Measurement of B --> K*gamma branching fractions and charge asymmetries

The branching fractions of the exclusive decays B0-->K(*0)gamma and B+-->K(*+)gamma are measured from a sample of (22.74+/-0.36)x10(6) BB decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric e(+)e(-) collider. We find B (B0-->K(*0)gamma) = [4.23+/-0.40(stat)+/-0.22(syst)]x10(-5), B(B+-->K(*+)gamma) = [3.83+/-0.62(stat)+/-0.22(syst)]x10(-5) and constrain the CP-violating charge asymmetry to be -0.170<A(CP)(B-->K(*)gamma)<0.082 at 90% C.L.

Search for the decay B0-->gammagamma

We present a limit on the branching fraction for the decay B0-->gammagamma using data collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric energy e+e- collider. Based on the observation of one event in the signal region, out of a sample of 21.3x10(6) e+e--->Upsilon(4S)-->BB decays, we establish an upper limit on the branching fraction of B(B0-->gammagamma)<1.7x10(-6) at the 90% confidence level. This result substantially improves upon existing limits.

Measurement of the B--> J/psiK*(892) decay amplitudes

We present a measurement of the decay amplitudes in B-->J/psiK*(892) channels using 20.7 fb(-1) of data collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at PEP-II. We measure a P-wave fraction R(perpendicular) = (16.0 +/- 3.2 +/- 1.4)% and a longitudinal polarization fraction (59.7 +/- 2.8 +/- 2.4)%. The measurement of a relative phase that is neither 0 nor pi, phi = 2.50 +/- 0.20 +/-0.08 radians, favors a departure from the factorization hypothesis. Although the decay B-->/psiK(pi) proceeds mainly via K*(892), there is also evidence for K2*(1430) and K(pi) S-wave contributions.

Measurements of the branching fractions of exclusive charmless B meson decays with eta(') or omega mesons

We present the results of searches for B decays to charmless two-body final states containing eta(') or omega mesons, based on 20.7 fb(-1) of data collected with the BABAR detector. We find the branching fractions Beta(B(+)-->eta(')K(+)) = (70+/-8+/-5) x 10(-6), Beta(B(0)-->eta(')K(0)) = (42(+13)(-11) +/- 4) x 10(-6), and Beta(B(+)-->omega pi(+)) = (6.6(+2.1)(-1.8) +/- 0.7) x 10(-6), where the first error quoted is statistical and the second is systematic. We give measurements of four additional modes for which the 90% confidence level upper limits are Beta(B(+)-->eta(')pi(+)) < 12 x 10(-6), Beta(B(+)-->omega K(+)) < 4 x 10(-6), Beta(B(0)-->omega K(0)) < 13 x 10(-6), and Beta(B(0)-->omega pi(0)) < 3 x 10(-6).

Measurement of the B(0) and B(+) meson lifetimes with fully reconstructed hadronic final states

The B(0) and B(+) meson lifetimes have been measured in e(+)e(-) annihilation data collected in 1999 and 2000 with the BABAR detector at center-of-mass energies near the Upsilon(4S) resonance. Events are selected in which one B meson is fully reconstructed in a hadronic final state while the second B meson is reconstructed inclusively. A combined fit to the B(0) and the B(+) decay time difference distributions yields tau(B(0)) = 1.546+/-0.032(stat)+/-0.022(syst) ps, tau(B(+)) = 1.673+/-0.032(stat)+/-0.023(syst) ps, and tau(B(+))/tau(B(0)) = 1.082+/-0.026(stat)+/-0.012(syst).

Measurement of J/psi production in continuum e(+)e(-) annihilations near square root of s = 10.6 GeV

The production of J/psi mesons in continuum e(+)e(-) annihilations has been studied with the BABAR detector at energies near the Upsilon(4S) resonance. The mesons are distinguished from J/psi production in B decays through their center-of-mass momentum and energy. We measure the cross section e(+)e(-)-->J/psi X to be 2.52+/-0.21+/-0.21 pb. We set a 90% C.L. upper limit on the branching fraction for direct Upsilon(4S)-->J/psi X decays at 4.7 x 10(-4).

Measurement of the decays B--> phiK and B--> phiK*

We have observed the decays B--> phiK and phiK(*) in a sample of over 45 million B mesons collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II collider. The measured branching fractions are B(B+--> phiK+) = (7.7(+1.6)(-1.4)+/-0.8)x10(-6), B(B0--> phiK0) = (8.1(+3.1)(-2.5)+/-0.8)x10(-6), B(B+--> phiK(*+)) = (9.7(+4.2)(-3.4)+/-1.7)x10(-6), and B(B0--> phiK(*0)) = (8.7(+2.5)(-2.1)+/-1.1)x10(-6). We also report the upper limit B(B+--> phipi(+))<1.4x10(-6) ( 90% C.L.).

Measurement of branching fractions and search for CP-violating charge asymmetries in charmless two-body B decays into pions and kaons

We present measurements, based on a sample of approximately 23x10(6) BB pairs, of the branching fractions and a search for CP-violating charge asymmetries in charmless hadronic decays of B mesons into two-body final states of kaons and pions. We find the branching fractions B(B0-->pi(+)pi(-)) = (4.1+/-1.0+/-0.7)x10(-6), B(B0-->K+pi(-)) = (16.7+/-1.6+/-1.3)x10(-6), B(B+-->K+pi(0)) = (10.8(+2.1)(-1.9)+/-1.0)x10(-6), B(B+-->K0pi(+)) = (18.2(+3.3)(-3.0)+/-2.0)x10(-6), B(B0-->K0pi(0)) = (8.2(+3.1)(-2.7)+/-1.2)x10(-6). We also report 90% confidence level upper limits for B meson decays to the pi(+)pi(0), K+K-, and K0K+ final states. In addition, charge asymmetries have been found to be consistent with zero, where the statistical precision is in the range of +/-0.10 to +/-0.18, depending on the decay mode.

Observation of CP violation in the B(0) meson system

We present an updated measurement of time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in neutral B decays with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory at SLAC. This result uses an additional sample of Upsilon(4S) decays collected in 2001, bringing the data available to 32 x 10(6) BB macro pairs. We select events in which one neutral B meson is fully reconstructed in a final state containing charmonium and the flavor of the other neutral B meson is determined from its decay products. The amplitude of the CP-violating asymmetry, which in the standard model is proportional to sin2 beta, is derived from the decay time distributions in such events. The result sin2 beta = 0.59+/-0.14(stat)+/-0.05(syst) establishes CP violation in the B(0) meson system. We also determine absolute value of lambda = 0.93+/-0.09(stat)+/-0.03(syst), consistent with no direct CP violation.

Measurement of CP-violating asymmetries in B0 decays to CP eigenstates

We present measurements of time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in neutral B decays to several CP eigenstates. The measurement uses a data sample of 23x10(6) Upsilon(4S)-->BbarB decays collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory at SLAC. In this sample, we find events in which one neutral B meson is fully reconstructed in a CP eigenstate containing charmonium and the flavor of the other neutral B meson is determined from its decay products. The amplitude of the CP-violating asymmetry, which in the standard model is proportional to sin2beta, is derived from the decay time distributions in such events. The result is sin2beta = 0.34+/-0.20 (stat)+/-0.05 (syst).