Sudakov expansions at one loop and beyond for charged scalar and fermion pair production in SUSY models at future Linear Colliders

We consider the high energy behaviour of the amplitudes for pair production of charged leptons, quarks, Higgs bosons, sleptons, squarks and charginos at lepton colliders. We give the general expressions of the leading quadratic and subleading linear logarithms that appear at the one loop level, and derive the corresponding resummed expansions to \underline{subleading} logarithmic order accuracy. Under the assumption of a relatively light SUSY scenario and choosing the MSSM as a specific model, we compare the predictions of the one-loop and of the resummed expansions at variable energy. We show that the two predictions are very close in the one TeV regime, but drastically differ in the few ($2,3$) TeV range.Comment: 43 pages, 13 Encapsulated PostScript figure

Physics of W bosons at LEP

The high-energy and high-luminosity data-taking campaigns of the LEP e^+e^- collider provided the four collaborations, ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL, with about 50000 W-boson pairs and about a thousand singly-produced W bosons. This unique data sample has an unprecedented reach in probing some aspects of the Standard Model of the electroweak interactions, and this article reviews several achievements in the understanding of W-boson physics at LEP. The measurements of the cross sections for W-boson production are discussed, together with their implication on the existence of the coupling between Z and W bosons. The precision measurements of the magnitude of triple gauge-boson couplings are presented. The observation of the longitudinal helicity component of the W-boson spin, related to the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking, is described together with the techniques used to probe the CP and CPT symmetries in the W-boson system. A discussion on the intricacies of the measurement of the mass of the W boson, whose knowledge is indispensable to test the internal consistency of the Standard Model and estimate the mass of the Higgs boson, concludes this review.Comment: To appear in a special issue of Physics Reports celebrating the 50th anniversary of CER

Analysis of risk and prognostic factors in a population of pediatric patients hospitalized for acute malnutrition at the Chiulo hospital, Angola

Malnutrition is a multifactorial pathology in which genetic, epigenetic, cultural, environmental, socio-economic factors interact with each other. The impact that this disease has on the health of children worldwide is dramatic. Severe acute malnutrition in particular is a disease affecting nearly 20 million preschool children worldwide, most of them in Africa and South East Asia

Dietary habits in children of immigrant families from developing countries: an Italian multicentre study

Objectives. The aim of this study was to investigate the dietary habits of immigrant children who come to Italy from developing countries, and of their families. Methods. A multicentre cross-sectional study was carried out from Jan. 1st 2003 to Dec. 31st 2004. The study population comprised 1284 immigrant mothers, 629 infants, and 767 children with more than 2 years of age. A structured questionnaire was employed to inquire retrospectively on dietary habits and, on breastfeeding, complementary breastfeeding, bottle-feeding and weaning. Results. Exclusive and complementary breastfeeding was more frequent and of longer duration among immigrant infants than Italian infants, but not compared to infants living in the immigrants’ native countries, compared to whom breastfeeding was lower and of shorter duration. Age and manner of weaning among immigrant infants were similar to Italian ones. Immigrant children older than 2 years preferred foods from their native countries only in a few cases, and the rates of their morning and afternoon snacks were higher in Italy than in their native countries. In Italy, immigrant children consume eggs, fish, vegetables, legumes, and tea less often, and bread, pasta and oat flakes more often than in their native countries. These dietary habits might likely be related to both being born and having migrated to Italy since more than 4 years. Immigrant families are also inclined to adopt Italian dietary habits. Conclusions. Our investigation suggests that immigrant children and their families are adopting Italian eating habits. Considering the association between diet in infancy and childhood, and the development of some diseases later on in life, paediatricians must pay great attention to dietary habits among immigrant children

Changes in immunohistochemical levels and subcellular localization after therapy and correlation and colocalization with CD68 suggest a pathogenetic role of Hsp60 in ulcerative colitis.

In an earlier work, the role of heat shock protein (Hsp60) in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC) was suggested by its significant increase in the pathological mucosa parallel with an increase in inflammatory cells. More data in this direction are reported in this work. We analyzed by immunohistochemistry biopsies of colon tissue from 2 groups of patients with UC and treated with either 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) alone or in combination with a probiotic. We looked for inflammatory markers and Hsp60. Both the treatments were effective in reducing symptoms but the group treated with both 5-ASA and probiotics showed better clinical results. Amelioration of symptoms was associated with reduction of both inflammation and Hsp60, a reduction that was most marked in the group treated with 5-ASA and probiotics. The levels of Hsp60 positively correlated with those of CD68-positive cells, and double immunofluorescence showed a high index of colocalization of the chaperonin and CD68 in lamina propria. Immunoelectron microscopy showed thatHsp60Fclassically a mitochondrial proteinFwas abundantly also present in cytosol in biopsies taken at the time of diagnosis, but not after the treatment. Our data suggest that Hsp60 is an active player in pathogenesis of UC and it can be hypothesized that the chaperonin is responsible, at least in part, for initiation and maintenance of disease