Search for the rare decays Bs -> mu+ mu- and B0 -> mu+ mu-

A search for the decays Bs -> mu+ mu- and B0 -> mu+ mu- is performed with 0.37 fb^-1 of pp collisions at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV collected by the LHCb experiment in 2011. The upper limits on the branching fractions are BR (Bs -> mu+ mu-) < 1.6 x 10^-8 and BR(B0 -> mu+ mu-) < 3.6 x 10^-9 at 95% confidence level. A combination of these results with the LHCb limits obtained with the 2010 dataset leads to BR (Bs -> mu+ mu-) mu+ mu-) < 3.2 x 10^-9 at 95% confidence level.Comment: 6+19 pages, 9 figures; minor changes; matches version accepted in Phys. Lett.

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Rock art, ancestors and water: the semiotic construction of landscapes in the central Andes

This thesis focuses on a large complement of rock art on the Fortaleza Ignimbrite (FI), a distinct geological formation, at the headwaters of the Fortaleza and Santa rivers (Ancash, Peru). The pairing of the stratigraphy of carved and painted rock art with the archaeological stratigraphy and radiocarbon results in three puna rock shelters, in both watersheds, and one tomb, down valley in the quechua ecozone, is employed to answer the question of when these works were produced and to develop a typological sequence, and a spatio-temporal map of the styles and traditions for the rock art of the FI, spanning 3,000 years. As landscape art, central Andean rock art offers clues regarding relationships between ancestor veneration and the negotiation of rights to water through time, and as the rock art of the FI sits at the nexus of political, economic and religious realms, and is located at strategic places of power...Esta tesis se centra en un gran complemento de arte rupestre en la Fortaleza Ignimbrita (IF), una formación geológica distinta, en las cabeceras de los ríos Fortaleza y Santa (Ancash, Perú). El emparejamiento de la estratigrafía del arte rupestre tallado y pintado con la estratigrafía arqueológica y el radiocarbono da como resultado tres abrigos rocosos de puna en ambas cuencas y una tumba en el valle de la ecozona quechua para contestar la pregunta de cuándo fueron producidos y desarrollar una secuencia tipológica, de los estilos y tradiciones para el arte rupestre de la IF, que abarca 3.000 años. El arte rupestre andino central ofrece pistas sobre las relaciones entre la veneración de los antepasados y la negociación de los derechos al agua a través del tiempo, y como el arte rupestre de la IF se encuentra en el nexo de los reinos políticos de poder, esta tesis plantea la hipótesis...Doctor en AntropologíaDoctorad