Anomaly-free constraints in neutrino seesaw models

The implementation of seesaw mechanisms to give mass to neutrinos in the presence of an anomaly-free U(1)_X gauge symmetry is discussed in the context of minimal extensions of the standard model. It is shown that type-I and type-III seesaw mechanisms cannot be simultaneously implemented with an anomaly-free local U(1)_X, unless the symmetry is a replica of the well-known hypercharge. For combined type-I/II or type-III/II seesaw models it is always possible to find nontrivial anomaly-free charge assignments, which are however tightly constrained, if the new neutral gauge boson is kinematically accessible at LHC. The discovery of the latter and the measurement of its decays into third-generation quarks, as well as its mixing with the standard Z boson, would allow one to discriminate among different seesaw realizations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Identification of autism spectrum disorder using deep learning and the ABIDE dataset

The research was supported by CAPES, Brazilian Ministry of Education (Projeto ACERTA CAPES/OBEDUC 0898/2013; number 23038.002530/2013-93Peer reviewe

Multiply charged naphthalene and its C10H8 isomers: bonding, spectroscopy and implications in AGN environments

Naphthalene (C10H8) is the simplest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and an important component in a series of astrochemical reactions involving hydrocarbons. Its molecular charge state affects the stability of its isomeric structures, which is specially relevant in ionised astrophysical environments. We thus perform an extensive computational search for low-energy molecular structures of neutral, singly, and multiply charged naphthalene and its isomers with charge states +q = 0-4 and investigate their geometric properties and bonding situations. We find that isomerisation reactions should be frequent for higher charged states and that open chains dominate their low-energy structures. We compute both the scaled-harmonic and anharmonic infrared spectra of selected low-energy species and provide the calculated scaling factors for the naphthalene neutral, cation, and dication global minima. All simulated spectra reproduce satisfactorily the experimental data and, thus, are adequate for aiding observations. Moreover, the potential presence of these species in the emission spectra of the circumnuclear regions of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), with high energetic X-ray photon fluxes, is explored using the experimental value of the naphthalene photodissociation cross-section, \sigma_{ph-d}, to determine its half-life, t_{1/2}, at a photon energy of 2.5 keV in a set of relevant sources. Finally, we show that the computed IR bands of the triply and quadruply charged species are able to reproduce some features of the selected AGN sources.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 15 pages, 7 pages, supplementary information available onlin

Pioglitazone Treatment Increases Survival and Prevents Body Weight Loss in Tumor-Bearing Animals: Possible Anti-Cachectic Effect

Cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome characterized by profound involuntary weight loss, fat depletion, skeletal muscle wasting, and asthenia; all symptoms are not entirely attributable to inadequate nutritional intake. Adipose tissue and skeletal muscle loss during cancer cachexia development has been described systematically. the former was proposed to precede and be more rapid than the latter, which presents a means for the early detection of cachexia in cancer patients. Recently, pioglitazone (PGZ) was proposed to exhibit anticancer properties, including a reduction in insulin resistance and adipose tissue loss; nevertheless, few studies have evaluated its effect on survival. for greater insight into a potential anti-cachectic effect due to PGZ, 8-week-old male Wistar rats were subcutaneously inoculated with 1 mL (2x10(7)) of Walker 256 tumor cells. the animals were randomly assigned to two experimental groups: TC (tumor + saline-control) and TP5 (tumor + PGZ/5 mg). Body weight, food ingestion and tumor growth were measured at baseline and after removal of tumor on days 7, 14 and 26. Samples from different visceral adipose tissue (AT) depots were collected on days 7 and 14 and stored at -80oC (5 to 7 animals per day/group). the PGZ treatment showed an increase in the survival average of 27.3%(P<0.01) when compared to TC. It was also associated with enhanced body mass preservation (40.7 and 56.3%, p<0.01) on day 14 and 26 compared with the TC group. the treatment also reduced the final tumor mass (53.4%, p<0.05) and anorexia compared with the TC group during late-stage cachexia. the retroperitoneal AT (RPAT) mass was preserved on day 7 compared with the TC group during the same experimental period. Such effect also demonstrates inverse relationship with tumor growth, on day 14. Gene expression of PPAR-gamma, adiponectin, LPL and C/EBP-alpha from cachectic rats was upregulated after PGZ. Glucose uptake from adipocyte cells (RPAT) was entirely re-established due to PGZ treatment. Taken together, the results demonstrate beneficial effects of PGZ treatment at both the early and final stages of cachexia.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Univ Mogi das Cruzes, Integrated Grp Biotechnol, Lab Adipose Tissue Biol, Mogi Das Cruzes, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Canc Metab Res Grp, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Physiol Lab, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Estadual Maringa, Dept Physiol Sci, Maringa, Parana, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Biomed Engn, Sao Jose Dos Campos, BrazilBoston Sch Med, Dept Biochem, Boston, MA USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Biomed Engn, Sao Jose Dos Campos, BrazilFAPESP: 2010/51078-1FAPESP: 2008/54091-9FAPESP: 2012/51094-1Web of Scienc

Draft of Cheyenne & Arapahoe Report

https://digitalcommons.assumption.edu/mallet-manuscripts/1030/thumbnail.jp

Tris-heteroleptic iridium complexes based on cyclometalated ligands with different cores

A series of tris-heteroleptic iridium complexes of the form [Ir(C^N1)(C^N2)(acac)] combining 2-phenylpyridine (ppy), 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)pyridine (dFppy), 1-phenylpyrazole (ppz), and 1-(2,4-difluorophenyl)pyrazole (dFppz) as the C^N ligands have been synthesized and fully characterized by NMR, X-ray crystallography, UV–vis absorption and emission spectroscopy, and electrochemical methods. It is shown that “static properties” (e.g., absorption and emission spectra and redox potentials) are primarily dictated by the overall architecture of the complex, while “dynamic properties” (e.g., excited-state lifetime and radiative and nonradiative rate constants) are, in addition, sensitive to the specific positioning of the substituents. As a result, the two complexes [Ir(dFppy)(ppz)(acac)] and [Ir(ppy)(dFppz)(acac)] have the same emission maxima and redox potentials, but their radiative and nonradiative rate constants differ significantly by a factor ∼2. Then acetylacetonate (acac) was replaced by picolinate (pic), and two pairs of diastereoisomers were obtained. As expected, the use of pic as the ancillary ligand results in blue-shifted emission, stabilization of the oxidation potential, and improvement of the photoluminescence quantum yield, and only minor differences in the optoelectronic properties are found between the two diastereoisomers of each pair

"Validity of a scale of Latin American perception of fear and concern transmitted by the media during the pandemic (MED-LAT-COVID-19)"

"Introduction: The pandemic has caused fear, especially due to the daily disseminated news; however, there is not an instrument to measure this fear in multiple realities. Objective: To validate a scale for Latin American perception of fear and concern transmitted by the media during the pandemic. Methodology: This is an instrumental study. The survey was based on an instrument which was pre-validated in Peru and submitted to 15 experts in almost 10 countries. Subsequently, thousands of people were surveyed in 13 Latin American countries, whose answers were used for descriptive statistics for validation. Results: Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) generated two re-specifications, where four items were eliminated from the original scale. With these changes, the global goodness of fit (absolute and incremental) were satisfactory (CFI ¼ 0.978; TLI ¼ 0.964; GFI ¼ 0.976; AGFI ¼ 0.949; RMSEA ¼ 0.075 and RMR ¼ 0.029). The first factor measures the media exaggeration (three questions); the second, the fear transmitted by the media (three questions); and the third, the fear transmitted by others different from the media (two questions). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was higher than 0.70 for the scale and its factors. Conclusion: The MED-LAT-COVID-19 scale reported a good adjustment. It has eight items in three factors, which could be measured in an isolated way, or along with other tests that assess mental health in the current pandemic context.

CONSUMO DE ALIMENTO Y ENDULZANTES BAJO CONDICIONES DE ESTRÉS CRÓNICO EN RATA S

Diversos estudios han reportado un aumento en el consumo de alimento bajocondiciones de estrés. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar los efectos delestrés crónico sobre el consumo de comida y agua con glucosa o sucralosaen ratas albinas. Se utilizaron 12 ratas Wistar de tres meses de edad (6 hembrasy 6 machos) divididas en tres grupos. El grupo 1 recibió una soluciónde 200 ml de agua con 5 g de glucosa, el grupo 2 una solución de 200 ml deagua con 2 g de sucralosa y el grupo 3 recibió 200 ml de agua. Además de lasoluciones, todos los sujetos recibieron 50 g de alimento disponibles durantedos horas. El experimento se dividió en 5 fases, las fases 1, 3 y 5 fueron de línea base (10 días). Las fases 2 y 4 fueron los periodos experimentales (3días), en los cuales se aplicó el estímulo estresor mediante una pinza depresión durante las dos horas en las que las soluciones y el alimento estuvierondisponibles. Los resultados indicaron que el estrés modificó el patrónde consumo de agua en el grupo de glucosa y el consumo de alimento en lostres grupos

Exploring the embryonic development of upper beak in Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797: New findings and implications for age estimation

The beak of cephalopods (in particular octopods, where statoliths are not suitable) is a useful tool for age estimation and the aging method provides essential information on cephalopod growth and life cycles. These parameters are valuable in the assessment of population dynamics and stock management. The embryonic development of cephalopod beaks is poorly known. The presence of pre-hatching increments on the reading areas (rostrum and lateral walls) is unclear and there are no data on temperature influence. In this study, egg clusters of Octopus vulgaris were reared at 16, 19, 21, 23, and 26 °C. The extracted upper jaws were observed in order to validate the age of first daily increment formation, assessing the accuracy of age inferred from the two reading areas. Jaw dimensions were also measured in order to explore the development at different temperature conditions. The growth rate was calculated for beaks of rearing condition 21 °C, and the overall dimensions were compared among all incubation temperatures. Three ad hoc developmental stages are proposed for the upper beak of O. vulgaris embryos. Increments on lateral walls appear during the second phase, whereas the first increment on the rostrum is visible only at hatching. Consequently, only the accuracy of age inferred from the rostrum surface is confirmed for the early stages. The growth rate of the rostrum region accounted for a drop in growth during the third phase. Conversely, the growth rate increased until hatching in lateral walls, suggesting that the heterogeneity of the growth rate could be due to the different role played by the beak areas. Temperature influenced beaks in terms of overall size, as embryos reared at a warm temperature (23 °C) were smaller than the others. These results confirm that the incubation environment could alter hatchling characteristics thus affecting the recruitment conditions.Postprint1,58