164 research outputs found

    Rare top decay and CP violation in THDM

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    We discuss the formalism of two Higgs doublet model type III with CP violation from CP-even CP-odd mixing in the neutral Higgs bosons. The flavor changing interactions among neutral Higgs bosons and fermions are presented at tree level in this type of model. These assumptions allow the study rare top decays mediated by neutral Higgs bosons, particularly we are interested in t→cl+l−t\rightarrow c l^+l^-. For this process we estimated upper bounds of the branching ratios Br(t→cτ+τ−)\textrm{Br}(t\rightarrow c \tau^+\tau^-) of the order of 10−9∌10−710^{-9}\sim 10^{-7} for a neutral Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV and tan⁥ÎČ=1\tan\beta=1, 1.5, 2, 2.5. For the case of t→cτ+τ−t\rightarrow c \tau^+\tau^- the number of possible events is estimated from 1 to 10 events which could be observed in future experiments at LHC with a luminosity of 300 fb−1\textrm{fb}^{-1} and 14 GeV for the energy of the center of mass. Also we estimate that the number of events for the process t→cl+l−t\rightarrow c l^+l^- in different scenarios is of order of 25002500.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

    Chemical composition, physicochemical evaluation and sensory analysis of yogurt added with extract of polyphenolic compounds from Quercus crassifolia oak bark

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    Introduction: A diet high in calories and saturated fats has been associated with health problems that have been increasing worldwide. Therefore, it is required to increase the number of formulated foods that generate well-being to health. Yogurt is a widely consumed food by all sectors of the population and it can be used as a vehicle to incorporate bioactive compounds. The phenolic compounds present in forest residues, such as those from oak bark, can be used and incorporated into yogurt, to increase its benefits as a functional food. Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a multifunctional yogurt enriched with vegetable oil (2.3% w/w) as a source of omega 6 and 3 and adding nanocapsules (24.5% w/w) of an extract of oak bark from Quercus crassifolia, rich in in phenolic compounds and high antioxidant capacity. Methods: Three yogurt formulations were prepared: F1: yogurt was made with non-fat milk, used as a control, F2: yogurt was prepared with non-fat milk and added with vegetable palm oil, and F3: non-fat yogurt was added with vegetable oil and nanoencapsulated oak bark phenolic extract. The yogurts were characterized in their chemical composition, microbiological analysis, and sensory analysis. Results: The multifunctional product F3 and product F2 presented lactic acid bacteria in concentration of 3.01X106 and 4.73x106, respectively, preserving characteristics of probiotic food. Product F3 presented low levels of syneresis (7.34%) and it was significantly different from the control yogurt (9.01%). The viscosity increased from 150 cP in the control yogurt to 341 cP in F3, due to the increase in the concentrations of solids by nanoencapsulating the phenolic. The wall material used for nanoencapsulation was sodium caseinate and mantodextrin. However, this increase in viscosity did not affect the sensory evaluation of the product. There were no significant differences between the control yogurt and the F2 and F3 products. Conclusion: A yogurt added with vegetable oil and nanoencapsulated oak bark phenolic extract was obtained. It was enhanced by the presence of probiotics, bioactive compounds, and essential fatty acids, and then evaluated and accepted by a sensory panel. Nanoencapsulation is a viable alternative to mask the characteristic astringent taste of phenolic compounds because it was not detected by the panelists

    How Firms Adapt and Interact in Open Source Ecosystems: Analyzing Stakeholder Influence and Collaboration Patterns

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    [Context and motivation] Ecosystems developed as Open Source Software (OSS) are considered to be highly innovative and reactive to new market trends due to their openness and wide-ranging contributor base. Participation in OSS often implies opening up of the software development process and exposure towards new stakeholders. [Question/Problem] Firms considering to engage in such an environment should carefully consider potential opportunities and challenges upfront. The openness may lead to higher innovation potential but also to frictional losses for engaged firms. Further, as an ecosystem progresses, power structures and influence on feature selection may fluctuate accordingly. [Principal ideas/results] We analyze the Apache Hadoop ecosystem in a quantitative longitudinal case study to investigate changing stakeholder influence and collaboration patterns. Further, we investigate how its innovation and time-to-market evolve at the same time. [Contribution] Findings show collaborations between and influence shifting among rivaling and non-competing firms. Network analysis proves valuable on how an awareness of past, present and emerging stakeholders, in regards to power structure and collaborations may be created. Furthermore, the ecosystem’s innovation and time-to-market show strong variations among the release history. Indications were also found that these characteristics are influenced by the way how stakeholders collaborate with each other

    Performance of Scheduling Policies in Adversarial Networks with Non-synchronized Clocks

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    In this paper we generalize the Continuous Adversarial Queuing Theory (CAQT) model (Blesa et al. in MFCS, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 3618, pp. 144–155, 2005) by considering the possibility that the router clocks in the network are not synchronized. We name the new model Non Synchronized CAQT (NSCAQT). Clearly, this new extension to the model only affects those scheduling policies that use some form of timing. In a first approach we consider the case in which although not synchronized, all clocks run at the same speed, maintaining constant differences. In this case we show that all universally stable policies in CAQT that use the injection time and the remaining path to schedule packets remain universally stable. These policies include, for instance, Shortest in System (SIS) and Longest in System (LIS). Then, we study the case in which clock differences can vary over time, but the maximum difference is bounded. In this model we show the universal stability of two families of policies related to SIS and LIS respectively (the priority of a packet in these policies depends on the arrival time and a function of the path traversed). The bounds we obtain in this case depend on the maximum difference between clocks. This is a necessary requirement, since we also show that LIS is not universally stable in systems without bounded clock difference. We then present a new policy that we call Longest in Queues (LIQ), which gives priority to the packet that has been waiting the longest in edge queues. This policy is universally stable and, if clocks maintain constant differences, the bounds we prove do not depend on them. To finish, we provide with simulation results that compare the behavior of some of these policies in a network with stochastic injection of packets

    A role for the tfs3 ICE-encoded type IV secretion system in pro-inflammatory signalling by the Helicobacter pylori Ser/Thr kinase, CtkA

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    Two distinct type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) can be identified in certain Helicobacter pylori strains, encoded on mobile genetic elements termed tfs3 and tfs4. Although their function remains unknown, both have been implicated in clinical outcomes of H. pylori infection. Here we provide evidence that the Tfs3 T4SS is required for activity of the pro-inflammatory Ser/Thr kinase protein, CtkA, in a gastric epithelial cell infection model. Previously, purified recombinant CtkA protein has been shown to upregulate NF-kappaB signalling and induce TNF-alpha and IL-8 cytokine secretion from cultured macrophages suggesting that it may potentiate the H. pylori-mediated inflammatory response. In this study, we show that CtkA expressed from its native host, H. pylori has a similar capacity for stimulation of a pro-inflammatory response from gastric epithelial cells. CtkA interaction was found to be dependent upon a complement of tfs3 T4SS genes, but independent of the T4SSs encoded by either tfs4 or the cag pathogenicity island. Moreover, the availability of CtkA for host cell interaction was shown to be conditional upon the carboxyl-terminus of CtkA, encoding a putative conserved secretion signal common to other variably encoded Tfs3 proteins. Collectively, our observations indicate a role for the Tfs3 T4SS in CtkA-mediated pro-inflammatory signalling by H. pylori and identify CtkA as a likely Tfs3 T4SS secretion substrate

    The NEXT White (NEW) detector

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    Conceived to host 5 kg of xenon at a pressure of 15 bar in the fiducial volume, the NEXT-White apparatus is currently the largest high pressure xenon gas TPC using electroluminescent amplification in the world. It is also a 1:2 scale model of the NEXT-100 detector for Xe-136 beta beta 0 nu decay searches, scheduled to start operations in 2019. Both detectors measure the energy of the event using a plane of photomultipliers located behind a transparent cathode. They can also reconstruct the trajectories of charged tracks in the dense gas of the TPC with the help of a plane of silicon photomultipliers located behind the anode. A sophisticated gas system, common to both detectors, allows the high gas purity needed to guarantee a long electron lifetime. NEXT-White has been operating since October 2016 at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC), in Spain. This paper describes the detector and associated infrastructures, as well as the main aspects of its initial operation

    A Multi-Stage Model for Fundamental Functional Properties in Primary Visual Cortex

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    Many neurons in mammalian primary visual cortex have properties such as sharp tuning for contour orientation, strong selectivity for motion direction, and insensitivity to stimulus polarity, that are not shared with their sub-cortical counterparts. Successful models have been developed for a number of these properties but in one case, direction selectivity, there is no consensus about underlying mechanisms. We here define a model that accounts for many of the empirical observations concerning direction selectivity. The model describes a single column of cat primary visual cortex and comprises a series of processing stages. Each neuron in the first cortical stage receives input from a small number of on-centre and off-centre relay cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus. Consistent with recent physiological evidence, the off-centre inputs to cortex precede the on-centre inputs by a small (∌4 ms) interval, and it is this difference that confers direction selectivity on model neurons. We show that the resulting model successfully matches the following empirical data: the proportion of cells that are direction selective; tilted spatiotemporal receptive fields; phase advance in the response to a stationary contrast-reversing grating stepped across the receptive field. The model also accounts for several other fundamental properties. Receptive fields have elongated subregions, orientation selectivity is strong, and the distribution of orientation tuning bandwidth across neurons is similar to that seen in the laboratory. Finally, neurons in the first stage have properties corresponding to simple cells, and more complex-like cells emerge in later stages. The results therefore show that a simple feed-forward model can account for a number of the fundamental properties of primary visual cortex

    The plant traits that drive ecosystems: Evidence from three continents.

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    Question: A set of easily‐measured (‘soft’) plant traits has been identified as potentially useful predictors of ecosystem functioning in previous studies. Here we aimed to discover whether the screening techniques remain operational in widely contrasted circumstances, to test for the existence of axes of variation in the particular sets of traits, and to test for their links with ‘harder’ traits of proven importance to ecosystem functioning. Location: central‐western Argentina, central England, northern upland Iran, and north‐eastern Spain. Recurrent patterns of ecological specialization: Through ordination of a matrix of 640 vascular plant taxa by 12 standardized traits, we detected similar patterns of specialization in the four floras. The first PCA axis was identified as an axis of resource capture, usage and release. PCA axis 2 appeared to be a size‐related axis. Individual PCA for each country showed that the same traits remained valuable as predictors of resource capture and utilization in all of them, despite their major differences in climate, biogeography and land‐use. The results were not significantly driven by particular taxa: the main traits determining PCA axis 1 were very similar in eudicotyledons and monocotyledons and Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Poaceae. Links between recurrent suites of ‘soft’ traits and ‘hard’ traits: The validity of PCA axis 1 as a key predictor of resource capture and utilization was tested by comparisons between this axis and values of more rigorously established predictors (‘hard’ traits) for the floras of Argentina and England. PCA axis 1 was correlated with variation in relative growth rate, leaf nitrogen content, and litter decomposition rate. It also coincided with palatability to model generalist herbivores. Therefore, location on PCA axis 1 can be linked to major ecosystem processes in those habitats where the plants are dominant. Conclusion: We confirm the existence at the global scale of a major axis of evolutionary specialization, previously recognised in several local floras. This axis reflects a fundamental trade‐off between rapid acquisition of resources and conservation of resources within well‐protected tissues. These major trends of specialization were maintained across different environmental situations (including differences in the proximate causes of low productivity, i.e. drought or mineral nutrient deficiency). The trends were also consistent across floras and major phylogenetic groups, and were linked with traits directly relevant to ecosystem processes.Fil: DĂ­az, Sandra Myrna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - CĂłrdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de CĂłrdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FĂ­sicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Hodgson, J.G.. The University. Department of Animal and Plant Sciences. Unit of Comparative Plant Ecology; Reino UnidoFil: Thompson, K.. The University. Department of Animal and Plant Sciences. Unit of Comparative Plant Ecology; Reino UnidoFil: Cabido, Marcelo Ruben. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - CĂłrdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de CĂłrdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FĂ­sicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Cornelissen, Johannes H. C.. Free University. Faculty Earth and Life Sciences. Department of Systems Ecology; PaĂ­ses BajosFil: Funes, Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - CĂłrdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de CĂłrdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FĂ­sicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: PĂ©rez Harguindeguy, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - CĂłrdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de CĂłrdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FĂ­sicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Vendramini, Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - CĂłrdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de CĂłrdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FĂ­sicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Falczuk, Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - CĂłrdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de CĂłrdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FĂ­sicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Zak, Marcelo RomĂĄn. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂ­ficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂ­fico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - CĂłrdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de CĂłrdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FĂ­sicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de BiologĂ­a Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Khoshnevi, M.. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands; IrĂĄnFil: PĂ©rez RontomĂ©, M. C.. Instituto Pirenaico de EcologĂ­a; EspañaFil: Shirvani, F. A.. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands; IrĂĄnFil: Yazdani, S.. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands; IrĂĄnFil: Abbas Azimi, R. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands; IrĂĄnFil: Bogaard, A. The University. Department of Archaeology and Prehistory; Reino UnidoFil: Boustani, S.. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands; IrĂĄnFil: Charles, M.. The University. Department of Archaeology and Prehistory; Reino UnidoFil: Dehghan, M.. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands; IrĂĄnFil: de Torres Espuny, L.. Instituto Pirenaico de EcologĂ­a; EspañaFil: Guerrero Campo, J.. Instituto Pirenaico de EcologĂ­a; EspañaFil: Hynd, A.. The University. Department of Archaeology and Prehistory; Reino UnidoFil: Jones, G.. The University. Department of Archaeology and Prehistory; Reino UnidoFil: Kowsary, E.. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands; IrĂĄn. Instituto Pirenaico de EcologĂ­a; EspañaFil: Kazemi Saeed, F.. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands; IrĂĄnFil: Maestro MartĂ­nez, M.. Instituto Pirenaico de EcologĂ­a; EspañaFil: Romo Diez, A.. Instituto Botanico de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Shaw, S.. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands; IrĂĄn. The University. Department of Animal and Plant Sciences; Reino UnidoFil: Siavash, B.. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands; IrĂĄnFil: Villar Salvador, P.. Instituto Pirenaico de EcologĂ­a; Españ

    Latino Communities in the United States: Place-Making in the Pre-World War II, Postwar, and Contemporary City

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    Scholarship on Latino communities in the United States has yet to catch up with the rapid growth of this ethnic population in the country. Understanding the Latino urban experience and developing plans to better respond to both the needs of Latino communities and their integration within society is not only relevant, but also urgently necessary. Using the city of Los Angeles as a main lens, in addition to a general look at the urban Southwest, we contribute to the scholarship on the subject with a review of literature on Latino communities. We structure the review as an assessment of the various challenges and opportunities for urban Latinos in the pre-war, postwar, and contemporary city. Focusing on space, culture, economy, and governance, we chart the various roles both the private and public sectors play in meeting these challenges. Our reading of the literature shows that particular government actions in the economic and governance domains in the past had positive impacts on Latino integration, and we call for a similar effort today in addressing contemporary challenges. We conclude by suggesting that future planning scholarship on Latino communities engage the wider urban studies literature, focus on emerging forms of urbanization, and call on planners to sustain increased academic and practical interest in the topic
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