Maize yield in silvoarable systems established under Prunus avium L. in Galicia (NW Spain)

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Influence of culinary process on free and bound (poly)phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of artichoke

Artichokes are an important source of (poly)phenolic compounds, mainly caffeoylquinic acids, which consumption has been associated with health benefits. However, heat treatments have shown to affect the amounts of these bioactive food compounds. In the present study the influence of culinary techniques (boiling, griddling, and frying) on the total (poly)phenolic content of artichokes (Cynara Scolymus cv. Blanca de Tudela) was evaluated by LC-MS/MS. Additionally, the antioxidant capacity of cooked artichokes was evaluated by spectrophotometric methods. A total of 31 (poly)phenols were identified and quantified, being caffeoylquinic acids the most abundant compounds in raw artichokes accounting for more than 95% of total (poly)phenolic compounds. With the different culinary techniques, these compounds suffered degradation but also redistribution, probably due to isomerization and hydrolysis reactions. Frying and griddling showed the lowest content of (poly)phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity suggesting thermal degradation. Boiling also provoked losses, which were mainly due to leaching of phenolic compounds into the water. However, it was the heat treatment that best preserved (poly)phenolic compounds in artichokes

The dynamics of quark-gluon plasma and AdS/CFT

In these pedagogical lectures, we present the techniques of the AdS/CFT correspondence which can be applied to the study of real time dynamics of a strongly coupled plasma system. These methods are based on solving gravitational Einstein's equations on the string/gravity side of the AdS/CFT correspondence. We illustrate these techniques with applications to the boost-invariant expansion of a plasma system. We emphasize the common underlying AdS/CFT description both in the large proper time regime where hydrodynamic dynamics dominates, and in the small proper time regime where the dynamics is far from equilibrium. These AdS/CFT methods provide a fascinating arena interrelating General Relativity phenomenae with strongly coupled gauge theory physics.Comment: 35 pages, 3 figures. Lectures at the 5th Aegean summer school, `From gravity to thermal gauge theories: the AdS/CFT correspondence'. To appear in the proceedings in `Lecture Notes in Physics

Measurement of Bose-Einstein Correlations in e+e- -> W+W- at root(s)=189GeV

We investigate Bose-Einstein correlations (BEC) in W-pair production at root(s)=189GeV using the L3 detector at LEP. We observe BEC between particles from a single W decay in good agreement with those from a light-quark Z decay sample. We investigate their possible existence between particles coming from different W's. No evidence for such inter-W BEC is found

Measurement of the W+W-gamma Cross Section and Direct Limits on Anomalous Quartic Gauge Boson Couplings at LEP

The process e+e- -> W+W-gamma is analysed using the data collected with the L3 detector at LEP at a centre-of-mass energy of 188.6GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 176.8pb^-1. Based on a sample of 42 selected W+W- candidates containing an isolated hard photon, the W+W-gamma cross section, defined within phase-space cuts, is measured to be: sigma_WWgamma = 290 +/- 80 +/- 16 fb, consistent with the Standard Model expectation. Including the process e+e- -> nu nu gamma gamma, limits are derived on anomalous contributions to the Standard Model quartic vertices W+W- gamma gamma and W+W-Z gamma at 95% CL: -0.043 GeV^-2 < a_0/Lambda^2 < 0.043 GeV^-2 0.08 GeV^-2 < a_c/Lambda^2 < 0.13 GeV^-2 0.41 GeV^-2 < a_n/Lambda^2 < 0.37 GeV^-2

Production of Single W Bosons at \sqrt{s}=189 GeV and Measurement of WWgamma Gauge Couplings

Single W boson production in electron-positron collisions is studied with the L3 detector at LEP. The data sample collected at a centre-of-mass energy of \sqrt{s} = 188.7GeV corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 176.4pb^-1. Events with a single energetic lepton or two acoplanar hadronic jets are selected. Within phase-space cuts, the total cross-section is measured to be 0.53 +/- 0.12 +/- 0.03 pb, consistent with the Standard Model expectation. Including our single W boson results obtained at lower \sqrt{s}, the WWgamma gauge couplings kappa_gamma and lambda_gamma are determined to be kappa_gamma = 0.93 +/- 0.16 +/- 0.09 and lambda_gamma = -0.31 +0.68 -0.19 +/- 0.13

Search for an invisibly decaying Higgs boson in e^+e^- collisions at \sqrt{s} = 183 - 189 GeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into invisible particles is performed using the data collected at LEP by the L3 experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 183 GeV and 189 GeV. The integrated luminosities are respectively 55.3 pb^-1 and 176.4 pb^-1. The observed candidates are consistent with the expectations from Standard Model processes. In the hypothesis that the production cross section of this Higgs boson equals the Standard Model one and the branching ratio into invisible particles is 100%, a lower mass limit of 89.2 GeV is set at 95% confidence level

Search for Neutral Higgs Bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model in e+e- Interactions at \sqrt{s} = 189 GeV

A search for the lightest neutral scalar and neutral pseudoscalar Higgs bosons in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is performed using 176.4 pb^-1 of integrated luminosity collected by L3 at a center-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. No signal is observed, and the data are consistent with the expected Standard Model background. Lower limits on the masses of the lightest neutral scalar and pseudoscalar Higgs bosons are given as a function of tan(beta). Lower mass limits for tan(beta)>1 are set at the 95% confidence level to be m_h > 77.1 GeV and m_A > 77.1 GeV