Neutrinos Have Mass - So What?

In this brief review, I discuss the new physics unveiled by neutrino oscillation experiments over the past several years, and discuss several attempts at understanding the mechanism behind neutrino masses and lepton mixing. It is fair to say that, while significant theoretical progress has been made, we are yet to construct a coherent picture that naturally explains non-zero, yet tiny, neutrino masses and the newly revealed, puzzling patterns of lepton mixing. I discuss what the challenges are, and point to the fact that more experimental input (from both neutrino and non-neutrino experiments) is dearly required - and that new data is expected to reveal, in the next several years, new information. Finally, I draw attention to the fact that neutrinos may have only just begun to reshape fundamental physics, given the fact that we are still to explain the LSND anomaly and because the neutrino oscillation phenomenon is ultimately sensitive to very small new-physics effects.Comment: invited brief review, 15 pages, 1 eps figure, typo corrected, reference adde

Low Temperature Static and Dynamic Behavior of the Two-Dimensional Easy-Axis Heisenberg Model

We apply the self-consistent harmonic approximation (SCHA) to study static and dynamic properties of the two-dimensional classical Heisenberg model with easy-axis anisotropy. The static properties obtained are magnetization and spin wave energy as functions of temperature, and the critical temperature as a function of the easy-axis anisotropy. We also calculate the dynamic correlation functions using the SCHA renormalized spin wave energy. Our analytical results, for both static properties and dynamic correlation functions, are compared to numerical simulation data combining cluster-Monte Carlo algorithms and Spin Dynamics. The comparison allows us to conclude that far below the transition temperature, where the SCHA is valid, spin waves are responsible for all relevant features observed in the numerical simulation data; topological excitations do not seem to contribute appreciably. For temperatures closer to the transition temperature, there are differences between the dynamic correlation functions from SCHA theory and Spin Dynamics; these may be due to the presence of domain walls and solitons.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure

Right-handed Sneutrinos as Nonthermal Dark Matter

When the minimal supersymmetric standard model is augmented by three right-handed neutrino superfields, one generically predicts that the neutrinos acquire Majorana masses. We postulate that all supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking masses as well as the Majorana masses of the right-handed neutrinos are around the electroweak scale and, motivated by the smallness of neutrino masses, assume that the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is an almost-pure right-handed sneutrino. We discuss the conditions under which this LSP is a successful dark matter candidate. In general, such an LSP has to be nonthermal in order not to overclose the universe, and we find the conditions under which this is indeed the case by comparing the Hubble expansion rate with the rates of the relevant thermalizing processes, including self-annihilation and co-annihilation with other SUSY and standard model particles.Comment: 17 pages v.2: References adde

Aromaterapia no parto

The aim was to investigate the available scientific evidence on the effectiveness of aromatherapy for a better birth experience. This is an integrative review of the literature available on the VHL database platform and PubMed and Scopus databases, with studies published in the last 5 years. The studies were categorized according to the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine table and analyzed according to 5 thematic groups: Country, Methodology, Characteristics of pregnant women, Essential oils used and Results achieved. The studies are mostly from the Middle East and Asia. The pregnant women were, in general, primiparous. The most commonly used essential oils are lavender, rose and chamomile. Application methods are massage, inhalation and diffusion. The effects are a decrease in labor pain, anxiety and delivery time. Aromatherapy is an efficient technology as it allows women to go through the labor process with less anxiety, less pain and faster. New research needs to be carried out with essential oils produced in Brazil in order to identify those most suitable for the Brazilian parturient. Aromatherapy is part of the integral care model for childbirth, where continuous care occurs throughout the process.Objetivou-se investigar as evidências científicas disponíveis sobre a eficácia da aromaterapia para uma melhor experiência de parto. Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura disponível na plataforma de bases de dados BVS e nas bases de dado PubMed e Scopus, com estudos publicados nos últimos 5 anos. Os estudos foram categorizados segundo a tabela Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine e analisados segundo 5 grupos temáticos: País, Metodologia, Características das gestantes, Óleos essenciais utilizados e Resultados alcançados. Os estudos são majoritariamente do Oriente Médio e da Ásia. As gestantes eram, em geral, primíparas. Os óleos essenciais mais utilizados são lavanda, rosas e camomila. Os métodos de aplicação são massagem, inalação e difusão. Os efeitos são diminuição da dor do parto, da ansiedade e do tempo de parturição. A aromaterapia é uma tecnologia eficiente, pois permite que as mulheres atravessem o processo de trabalho de parto com menos ansiedade, menos dor e mais rapidamente. Novas pesquisas precisam ser feitas com óleos essenciais produzidos no Brasil para que se identifiquem aqueles mais adequados à parturiente brasileira. A aromaterapia se insere no modelo de atenção integral ao parto, onde ocorre a assistência contínua durante todo o processo

Aromaterapia no parto

The aim was to investigate the available scientific evidence on the effectiveness of aromatherapy for a better birth experience. This is an integrative review of the literature available on the VHL database platform and PubMed and Scopus databases, with studies published in the last 5 years. The studies were categorized according to the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine table and analyzed according to 5 thematic groups: Country, Methodology, Characteristics of pregnant women, Essential oils used and Results achieved. The studies are mostly from the Middle East and Asia. The pregnant women were, in general, primiparous. The most commonly used essential oils are lavender, rose and chamomile. Application methods are massage, inhalation and diffusion. The effects are a decrease in labor pain, anxiety and delivery time. Aromatherapy is an efficient technology as it allows women to go through the labor process with less anxiety, less pain and faster. New research needs to be carried out with essential oils produced in Brazil in order to identify those most suitable for the Brazilian parturient. Aromatherapy is part of the integral care model for childbirth, where continuous care occurs throughout the process.Objetivou-se investigar as evidências científicas disponíveis sobre a eficácia da aromaterapia para uma melhor experiência de parto. Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura disponível na plataforma de bases de dados BVS e nas bases de dado PubMed e Scopus, com estudos publicados nos últimos 5 anos. Os estudos foram categorizados segundo a tabela Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine e analisados segundo 5 grupos temáticos: País, Metodologia, Características das gestantes, Óleos essenciais utilizados e Resultados alcançados. Os estudos são majoritariamente do Oriente Médio e da Ásia. As gestantes eram, em geral, primíparas. Os óleos essenciais mais utilizados são lavanda, rosas e camomila. Os métodos de aplicação são massagem, inalação e difusão. Os efeitos são diminuição da dor do parto, da ansiedade e do tempo de parturição. A aromaterapia é uma tecnologia eficiente, pois permite que as mulheres atravessem o processo de trabalho de parto com menos ansiedade, menos dor e mais rapidamente. Novas pesquisas precisam ser feitas com óleos essenciais produzidos no Brasil para que se identifiquem aqueles mais adequados à parturiente brasileira. A aromaterapia se insere no modelo de atenção integral ao parto, onde ocorre a assistência contínua durante todo o processo

Deviation of Atmospheric Mixing from Maximal and Structure in the Leptonic Flavor Sector

I attempt to quantify how far from maximal one should expect the atmospheric mixing angle to be given a neutrino mass-matrix that leads, at zeroth order, to a nu_3 mass-eigenstate that is 0% nu_e, 50% nu_mu, and 50% nu_tau. This is done by assuming that the solar mass-squared difference is induced by an "anarchical" first order perturbation, an approach than can naturally lead to experimentally allowed values for all oscillation parameters. In particular, both |cos 2theta_atm| (the measure for the deviation of atmospheric mixing from maximal) and |U_e3| are of order sqrt(Delta m^2_sol/Delta m^2_atm) in the case of a normal neutrino mass-hierarchy, or of order Delta m^2_sol/Delta m^2_atm in the case of an inverted one. Hence, if any of the textures analyzed here has anything to do with reality, next-generation neutrino experiments can see a nonzero cos 2theta_atm in the case of a normal mass-hierarchy, while in the case of an inverted mass-hierarchy only neutrino factories should be able to see a deviation of sin^2 2theta_atm from 1.Comment: 12 pages, no figures, references and acknowledgments adde

Neutrino Masses and Lepton Flavour Violation in Thick Brane Scenarios

We address the issue of lepton flavour violation and neutrino masses in the ``fat-brane'' paradigm, where flavour changing processes are suppressed by localising different fermion field wave-functions at different positions (in the extra dimensions) in a thick brane. We study the consequences of suppressing lepton number violating charged lepton decays within this scenario for lepton masses and mixing angles. In particular, we find that charged lepton mass matrices are constrained to be quasi-diagonal. We further consider whether the same paradigm can be used to naturally explain small Dirac neutrino masses by considering the existence of three right-handed neutrinos in the brane, and discuss the requirements to obtain phenomenologically viable neutrino masses and mixing angles. Finally, we examine models where neutrinos obtain a small Majorana mass by breaking lepton number in a far away brane and show that, if the fat-brane paradigm is the solution to the absence of lepton number violating charged lepton decays, such models predict, in the absence of flavour symmetries, that charged lepton flavour violation will be observed in the next round of rare muon/tau decay experiments.Comment: 33 pages, 9 eps figure

Seiberg Duality and e+ e- Experiments

Seiberg duality in supersymmetric gauge theories is the claim that two different theories describe the same physics in the infrared limit. However, one cannot easily work out physical quantities in strongly coupled theories and hence it has been difficult to compare the physics of the electric and magnetic theories. In order to gain more insight into the equivalence of two theories, we study the ``e+ e-'' cross sections into ``hadrons'' for both theories in the superconformal window. We describe a technique which allows us to compute the cross sections exactly in the infrared limit. They are indeed equal in the low-energy limit and the equality is guaranteed because of the anomaly matching condition. The ultraviolet behavior of the total ``e+ e-'' cross section is different for the two theories. We comment on proposed non-supersymmetric dualities. We also analyze the agreement of the ``\gamma\gamma'' and ``WW'' scattering amplitudes in both theories, and in particular try to understand if their equivalence can be explained by the anomaly matching condition.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figures, uses psfi

CHANGED AREAS AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION UNDER THE OPTICS OF THE ABC SYSTEM IN ANTIMARY STATE FOREST

This paper addresses ecological restoration in a Conservation Unit - CU, in the Amazon. Its objective was to generate information about the altered areas and possible ecological restoration techniques that can be used in the Antimary State Forest (ASF) to contribute to the CU management plan. In specific terms, this study aimed to: (1) identify and quantify the types of environmental change at ASF; (2) recommend ecological restoration methods and (3) quantify and analyze the costs of ecological restoration, considering the Activity Based Costing – ABC method. To this end, technical visits were made to the altered areas and experimental plots were implanted. The results generated indicate that the environmental changes in the ASF account for 5.5% of the UC area and are pastures in use or abandoned and abandoned agricultural areas. The recommended ecological restoration methods were to conduct assisted natural regeneration with or without planting enrichment seedlings and suggested ecological nucleation were of a low technological degree and easy to obtain inputs. The cost for the method of conducting assisted natural regeneration without enrichment was B$38,538.60/ha, of B$ 20,592.28/ha for the method of conducting assisted natural regeneration with enrichment planting and B$40,405.48/ha for the nucleation method with the costs of the techniques ranging from B$ 1,791.8/ha to B$ 8,224.84/ha. The isolation activity of the area was the mostly costly in all the ecological restoration methods studied

Oceanographic connectivity explains the intra-specific diversity of mangrove forests at global scales

The distribution of mangrove intra-specific biodiversity can be structured by historical demographic processes that enhance or limit effective population sizes. Oceanographic connectivity (OC) may further structure intra-specific biodiversity by preserving or diluting the genetic signatures of historical changes. Despite its relevance for biogeography and evolution, the role of oceanographic connectivity in structuring the distribution of mangrove’s genetic diversity has not been addressed at global scale. Here we ask whether connectivity mediated by ocean currents explains the intra-specific diversity of mangroves. A comprehensive dataset of population genetic differentiation was compiled from the literature. Multigenerational connectivity and population centrality indices were estimated with biophysical modeling coupled with network analyses. The variability explained in genetic differentiation was tested with competitive regression models built upon classical isolation-by-distance (IBD) models considering geographic distance. We show that oceanographic connectivity can explain the genetic differentiation of mangrove populations regardless of the species, region, and genetic marker (significant regression models in 95% of cases, with an average R-square of 0.44 ± 0.23 and Person’s correlation of 0.65 ± 0.17), systematically improving IBD models. Centrality indices, providing information on important stepping-stone sites between biogeographic regions, were also important in explaining differentiation (R-square improvement of 0.06 ± 0.07, up to 0.42). We further show that ocean currents produce skewed dispersal kernels for mangroves, highlighting the role of rare long-distance dispersal events responsible for historical settlements. Overall, we demonstrate the role of oceanographic connectivity in structuring mangrove intra-specific diversity. Our findings are critical for mangroves’ biogeography and evolution, but also for management strategies considering climate change and genetic biodiversity conservation