Large mass splittings between charged and neutral Higgs bosons in the MSSM

We show that large ($> 100$ GeV) mass splittings between the charged Higgs boson ($H^\pm$) and the neutral Higgs bosons ($H^0$ and $A^0$) are possible in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). Such splittings occur when the $\mu$ parameter is considerably larger than the common SUSY scale, $M_{SUSY}$, and have significant consequences for MSSM Higgs searches at future colliders.Comment: 11 pages, LaTex, 5 figures, version to appear in Phys. Lett.

Estrés parental y desarrollo infantil en niños prematuros

El presente trabajo trata de analizar si los niveles de estrés experimentados por los progenitores inciden sobre el desarrollo mental y motor de un grupo de niños nacidos demasiado pequeños o demasiado pronto. Participaron 19 niños y niñas nacidos, con menos de 36 semanas de gestación (media 29,84) y menos de 1500 gramos (media 1099,89), en el Hospital 12 de octubre de Madrid cuyos padres y madres consintieron participar en este trabajo. Los instrumentos utilizados fueron la Escala BSID-II para obtener los índices del desarrollo mental y psicomotor en los niños cuando alcanzaron la edad 2 años y la PSI de Abidin, para valorar el estrés total de los padres y madres participantes, así como su percepción de Malestar Paterno, Interacción Disfuncional y Niño Difícil. Los datos fueron sometidos a análisis de comparaciones de medias para muestras independientes. Los resultados indican que existen diferencias significativas entre los altos y los bajos niveles de estrés en cuanto a su incidencia en el desarrollo. En general, tanto en las madres como en los padres, cuando se obtiene una puntuación baja de estrés, existe un mejor desarrollo mental y psicomotor en los niños. Estos resultados se discuten a la luz de las investigaciones sobre el tema y se analizan las implicaciones para la elaboración de programas de atención temprana.The current document analyze if the parent’s stress levels influence the mental and motor development of a children’s group being born too young or too small. The participants were 19 preterm children born at the “Hospital 12 de Octubre” of Madrid with less than 36 gestation weeks (mean 29,84) and 1500 grammes (mean 1099,89), whose parents were agree to take part in this study. The employed instruments were the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-II) to obtain the mental and psychomotor index scores of the toddlers at 2 years old; and the Parenting Stress Index Short Form (PSI) of Abidin. to assess the Total Stress of the parents, and their perception of Parental Distress, Dysfunctional Parent-Child Interactions and Difficult Child also. The obtained data were analyzed comparing the means of two independent samples. The results show that there are significant differences in the children’s development depending of the high or low parental stress levels. In general terms, when parents have low levels of stress, a better mental and psychomotor development is observed in their children. These results are discussed in the light of other researches about the issue, being considered as well, their implications for the implementation of early intervention programs.peerReviewe

Higgs quark flavor violation: simplified models and status of general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model

Published: February 25, 2020We study quark flavor violating interactions mediated by the Higgs boson h. We consider observables involving a third generation quark, of both the up and the down quark sectors, like h → bs and t → ch. Using an effective field theory approach we systematically list all the possible tree-level ultraviolet completions, which comprise models with vector-like quarks and/or extra scalars. We provide upper bounds on the flavor violating transitions allowed by current limits stemming from low energy processes, such as meson mixing and b → sγ. We find that scenarios with vector-like quarks always have very suppressed flavor-violating transitions, while a general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model may have a sizeable rate. To study the latter case in detail, we perform a full numerical simulation taking into account all relevant theoretical and phenomenological constraints. Our results show that BR(t → ch) [BR(h → bs)] are still allowed at the sub-percent [percent] level, which are being [may be] explored at the LHC [future colliders]. Finally, we have found that the mild mass-splitting discrepancy with respect to the SM in the Bs meson system can be accommodated in the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model. If confirmed, it yields the prediction BR(h → bs) ≃ 10⁻⁴, if the new contribution to the mass-splitting is dominated by tree-level Higgs boson exchange.Juan Herrero-Garcia, Miguel Nebot, Filip Rajec, Martin White and Anthony G. William

The ScotoSinglet Model: a scalar singlet extension of the Scotogenic Model

The Scotogenic Model is one of the most minimal models to account for both neutrino masses and dark matter (DM). In this model, neutrino masses are generated at the one-loop level, and in principle, both the lightest fermion singlet and the lightest neutral component of the scalar doublet can be viable DM candidates. However, the correct DM relic abundance can only be obtained in somewhat small regions of the parameter space, as there are strong constraints stemming from lepton flavour violation, neutrino masses, electroweak precision tests and direct detection. For the case of scalar DM, a sufficiently large lepton-number-violating coupling is required, whereas for fermionic DM, coannihilations are typically necessary. In this work, we study how the new scalar singlet modifies the phenomenology of the Scotogenic Model, particularly in the case of scalar DM. We find that the new singlet modifies both the phenomenology of neutrino masses and scalar DM, and opens up a large portion of the parameter space of the original model.Ankit Beniwal, Juan Herrero-García, Nicholas Leerdam, Martin White and Anthony G. William

Regulatory effects of miR-19a on MAD2 expression and tumorigenesis in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is worldwide the sixth most diagnosed and third leading cause of cancer deaths, with poor and late prognosis, probably due to post-surgery adjuvant treatment resistance and lack of a thorough panel of prognostic markers. We have previously shown that mitotic arrest deficient 2 (MAD2, encoded by MAD2L1), a key protein of the spindle assembly checkpoint, is relevant in GC cells; its interference impairs migration and growth, while its overexpression correlates with tumorigenesi

Current perspectives on the use of anti-VEGF drugs as adjuvant therapy in glaucoma

The approval of one of the first anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration one decade ago marked the beginning of a new era in the management of several sight-threatening retinal diseases. Since then, emerging evidence has demonstrated the utility of these therapies for the treatment of other ocular conditions characterized by elevated VEGF levels. In this article we review current perspectives on the use of anti-VEGF drugs as adjuvant therapy in the management of neovascular glaucoma (NVG). The use of anti-VEGFs for modifying wound healing in glaucoma filtration surgery (GFS) is also reviewed. Selected studies investigating the use of anti-VEGF agents or antimetabolites in GFS or the management of NVG have demonstrated that these agents can improve surgical outcomes. However, anti-VEGF agents have yet to demonstrate specific advantages over the more established agents commonly used today. Further studies are needed to evaluate the duration of action, dosing intervals, and toxicity profile of these treatments

Role of a cryptic tRNA gene operon in survival under translational stress

As compared to eukaryotes, bacteria have a reduced tRNA gene set encoding between 30 and 220 tRNAs. Although in most bacterial phyla tRNA genes are dispersed in the genome, many species from distinct phyla also show genes forming arrays. Here, we show that two types of arrays with distinct evolutionary origins exist. This work focuses on long tRNA gene arrays (L-arrays) that encompass up to 43 genes, which disseminate by horizontal gene transfer and contribute supernumerary tRNA genes to the host. Although in the few cases previously studied these arrays were reported to be poorly transcribed, here we show that the L-array of the model cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, encoding 23 functional tRNAs, is largely induced upon impairment of the translation machinery. The cellular response to this challenge involves a global reprogramming of the transcriptome in two phases. tRNAs encoded in the array are induced in the second phase of the response, directly contributing to cell survival. Results presented here show that in some bacteria the tRNA gene set may be partitioned between a housekeeping subset, which constantly sustains translation, and an inducible subset that is generally silent but can provide functionality under particular conditions.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades [BFU2016-77097-P to I.L., A.H.; BIO2017-84066-R to F.J.R-C.]; Agencia Estatal de Investigación [PID2019-104784RJ-100/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 to R.L.I.]; National Science Foundation [MCB-1715840 to M.I.]. RB-M's lab at University of Alicante is a member of Proteored, PRB3 and is supported by grant PT17/0019, of the PE I+D+i 2013-2016, funded by ISCIII and ERDF. Funding for open access charge: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas

Estrés parental y desarrollo infantil en niños prematuros

El presente trabajo trata de analizar si los niveles de estrés experimentados por los progenitores inciden sobre el desarrollo mental y motor de un grupo de niños nacidos demasiado pequeños o demasiado pronto. Participaron 19 niños y niñas nacidos, con menos de 36 semanas de gestación (media 29,84) y menos de 1500 gramos (media 1099,89), en el Hospital 12 de octubre de Madrid cuyos padres y madres consintieron participar en este trabajo. Los instrumentos utilizados fueron la Escala BSID-II para obtener los índices del desarrollo mental y psicomotor en los niños cuando alcanzaron la edad 2 años y la PSI de Abidin, para valorar el estrés total de los padres y madres participantes, así como su percepción de Malestar Paterno, Interacción Disfuncional y Niño Difícil. Los datos fueron sometidos a análisis de comparaciones de medias para muestras independientes. Los resultados indican que existen diferencias significativas entre los altos y los bajos niveles de estrés en cuanto a su incidencia en el desarrollo. En general, tanto en las madres como en los padres, cuando se obtiene una puntuación baja de estrés, existe un mejor desarrollo mental y psicomotor en los niños. Estos resultados se discuten a la luz de las investigaciones sobre el tema y se analizan las implicaciones para la elaboración de programas de atención temprana.The current document analyze if the parent’s stress levels influence the mental and motor development of a children’s group being born too young or too small. The participants were 19 preterm children born at the “Hospital 12 de Octubre” of Madrid with less than 36 gestation weeks (mean 29,84) and 1500 grammes (mean 1099,89), whose parents were agree to take part in this study. The employed instruments were the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-II) to obtain the mental and psychomotor index scores of the toddlers at 2 years old; and the Parenting Stress Index Short Form (PSI) of Abidin. to assess the Total Stress of the parents, and their perception of Parental Distress, Dysfunctional Parent-Child Interactions and Difficult Child also. The obtained data were analyzed comparing the means of two independent samples. The results show that there are significant differences in the children’s development depending of the high or low parental stress levels. In general terms, when parents have low levels of stress, a better mental and psychomotor development is observed in their children. These results are discussed in the light of other researches about the issue, being considered as well, their implications for the implementation of early intervention programs.peerReviewe

Processing and characterisation of standard and doped alite-belite-ye'elimite ecocement pastes and mortars

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2019.105911.Cement and Concrete Research 127 (2020) 105911Here, we report the processing optimisation of two laboratory-prepared alite-belite-ye'elimite ecocements (standard and doped) that release to the atmosphere ~13% less CO2 than Portland Cement during fabrication. The processing was optimised through rheological measurements, where homogeneous pastes and mortars were finally prepared through the study and optimisation of both the superplasticiser content and the water-to-cement ratio. Both parameters were correlated with the phase assembly of selected pastes and compressive strength of the corresponding mortars. After optimisation, mortars with high compressive strengths (~72 and ~77 MPa for the standard mortar, and ~41 and ~75 MPa for the doped one, at 7 and 28 days, respectively) were prepared. Furthermore, the important increase in compressive strength from 7 to 28 days of the optimised mortar prepared from the doped ecocement is due to its composition (the higher content of belite jointly with the reaction of its active polymorph (α'H-belite)).This work is part of the PhD of Mr. Jesus D. Zea-Garcia. This research has been supported by Spanish MINECO and FEDER [BIA2017- 82391-R research project and I3 (IEDI-2016-0079) program]

Anisotropy studies around the galactic centre at EeV energies with the Auger Observatory

Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from Sagittarius $A$. Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and fluorescence detectors (the `hybrid' data set), which have better pointing accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not show any significant localized excess from this direction.Comment: Matches published versio