QFT results for neutrino oscillations and New Physics

The CP asymmetry in neutrino oscillations, assuming new physics at production and/or detection processes, is analyzed. We compute this CP asymmetry using the standard quantum field theory within a general new physics scenario that may generate new sources of CP and flavor violation. Well known results for the CP asymmetry are reproduced in the case of V -A operators, and additional contributions from new physics operators are derived. We apply this formalism to SUSY extensions of the Standard Model where the contributions from new operators could produce a CP asymmetry observable in the next generation of neutrino experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, version to be published in Phys.Rev.

Atherosclerotic carotid plaque composition: a 3T and 7T MRI-histology correlation study

Background and Purpose Carotid artery atherosclerotic plaque composition may influence plaque stability and risk of thromboembolic events, and non-invasive plaque imaging may therefore permit risk stratification for clinical management. Plaque composition was compared using non-invasive in-vivo (3T) and ex-vivo (7T) MRI and histopathological examination. Methods Thirty three endarterectomy cross sections, from 13 patients, were studied. The datasets consisted of in-vivo 3T MRI, ex-vivo 7T MRI and histopathology. Semi-automated segmentation methods were used to measure areas of different plaque components. Bland- Altman plots and mean difference with 95% confidence interval were carried out. Results There was general quantitative agreement between areas derived from semi-automated segmentation of MRI data and histology measurements. The mean differences and 95% confidence bounds in the relative to total plaque area between 3T versus Histology were: fibrous tissue 4.99 % (-4.56 to 14.56), lipid-rich/necrotic core (LR/NC) with haemorrhage - 1.81% (-14.11 to 10.48), LR/NC without haemorrhage -2.43% (-13.04 to 8.17), and calcification -3.18% (-11.55 to 5.18). The mean differences and 95% confidence bounds in the relative to total plaque area between 7T and histology were: fibrous tissue 3.17 % (-3.17 to 9.52), LR/NC with haemorrhage -0.55% (-9.06 to 7.95), LR/NC without haemorrhage - 12.62% (-19.8 to -5.45), and calcification -2.43% (-9.97 to 4.73). Conclusions This study provides evidence that semi-automated segmentation of 3T/7T MRI techniques can help to determine atherosclerotic plaque composition. In particular, the high resolution of ex-vivo 7T data was able to highlight greater detail in the atherosclerotic plaque composition. High field MRI may therefore have advantages for in vivo carotid plaque MR imaging

Prevención cardiovascular y de la osteoporosis con terapia hormonal sustitutiva

Se recomienda actualmente que todo médico -sea cual sea su especialidad- aproveche la oportunidad que supone la atención clínica a cualquier mujer postmenopáusica o que se halle en torno a la menopausia para aconsejarle acerca de los beneficios y riesgos que supone la terapia hormonal sustitutiva (THS) con estrógenos y progesterona. Una vez que sea adecuadamente informada de estos beneficios y riesgos, debe ser la propia mujer quien decida si va a iniciar o no esta terapia, teniendo en cuenta no sólo su propio perfil de riesgo sino también sus preferencias. Los beneficios más claros se refieren a la reducción del riesgo de osteoporosis y de fracturas, así como al control y prevención de algunos síntomas frecuentes en la menopausia. Para prevenir la osteoporosis se requiere un uso continuado de IaTHS. También existen cada vez más argumentos que sugieren una reducción del riesgo de un primer episodio coronario. No obstante, no hay pruebas de que laTHS sea útil en la prevención secundaria de la cardiopatía isquémica o aporte alguna protección frente a los accidentes cerebrovasculares. Las desventajas más importantes de la THS se refieren a un mayor riesgo de hiperplasia de endometrio y de cáncer endometrial cuando se usan estrógenos solos, sin combinarlos con progestágenos. También existe un pequeño incremento del riesgo de cáncer de mama cuando se prolonga la THS, también cuando se asocian progestágenos

Non-blind catalogue of extragalactic point sources from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) first 3--year survey data

We have used the MHW2 filter to obtain estimates of the flux densities at the WMAP frequencies of a complete sample of 2491 sources, mostly brighter than 500 mJy at 5 GHz, distributed over the whole sky excluding a strip around the Galactic equator (b < 5 degrees). After having detected 933 sources above the 3 sigma level in the MHW2 filtered maps - our New Extragalactic WMAP Point Source (NEWPS_3sigma) Catalogue - we are left with 381 sources above 5 sigma in at least one WMAP channel, 369 of which constitute our NEWPS_5sigma catalogue. It is remarkable to note that 98 (i.e. 26%) sources detected above 5 sigma are `new', they are not present in the WMAP catalogue. Source fluxes have been corrected for the Eddington bias. Our flux density estimates before such correction are generally in good agreement with the WMAP ones at 23 GHz. At higher frequencies WMAP fluxes tend to be slightly higher than ours, probably because WMAP estimates neglect the deviations of the point spread function from a Gaussian shape. On the whole, above the estimated completeness limit of 1.1 Jy at 23 GHz we detected 43 sources missed by the blind method adopted by the WMAP team. On the other hand, our low-frequency selection threshold left out 25 WMAP sources, only 12 of which, however, are 5 sigma detections and only 3 have fluxes S at 23 GHz > 1.1 Jy. Thus, our approach proved to be competitive with, and complementary to the WMAP one.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

The role of scattered trees and habitat diversity for biodiversity of Iberian dehesas

PosterWe studied 10 dehesas of CW Spain (40º 00’-10’ N, 06º 10’-20’ W), mapping every habitat according to a standardized protocol developed by the European BioBio project. We defined 35 habitat types, with 19 habitat types (split in 85 plots) per dehesa, on average. In one randomly selected plot per habitat type diversity of the four taxa, plants, bees, spiders and earthworms, were assessed. In total, 450 plant species (average of 189 per farm and 36 per habitat), 63 bee species (17.6 and 3.2), 130 spider species (43.8 and 7.4), and 17 earthworm species ( 7.8 and 2.5) were recorded. In each taxa, only some species were very abundant, while most of the species were found only in few farms/habitats. A high proportion of species (ca. 40%) were observed only in just one habitat per farm, indicating that farm biodiversity strongly depends on the habitat diversity. The analysis of unique and shared species among habitats revealed that every habitat contribute significantly to farm biodiversity. By contrast, species richness was poorly explained by the presence of scattered trees, whereas the combination of wood pastures and open pastures was a significant predictor. Summarizing, our extensive survey showed that diversity of the four taxa was strongly related to the existence of a wide mosaic of habitats, including non-productive habitats and linear elements, which harbor a disproportionate number of species compared to the low area occupied. Moreover, these habitats harbor a high number of exclusive species. As a next step, the importance of the spatial arrangement of main and non-productive habitats for biodiversity at the farm and landscape levels, need to be checked