Precision Muon-Related Observables as a Tool to Constrain New Physics Models

We propose a set of precision muon-related observables that serve as a tool to constrain new physics models. Using LEP's precision measurements on the $Z$-boson pole, we derive bounds on the new physics quantum contributions to the decay $Z \to \mu^+ \mu^-$. We show that the new precision observables have a real impact on two specific models that solve the $g-2$ anomaly and provide a sound dark matter candidate.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure

Canonical Analysis of the Jackiw-Teitelboim Model in the Temporal Gauge. I. The Classical Theory

As a preparation for its quantization in the loop formalism, the 2-dimensional gravitation model of Jackiw and Teitelboim is analysed in the classical canonical formalism. The dynamics is of pure constraints as it is well-known. A partial gauge fixing of the temporal type being performed, the resulting second class constraints are sorted out and the corresponding Dirac bracket algebra is worked out. Dirac observables of this classical theory are then calculated.Comment: 15 pages, Latex. Misprint correction

An integrated decision support system for improving wildfire suppression management

Funding Information: This work was financially supported by FCT (National Foundation of Science and Technology) within the Research Unit CTS?Centre of Technology and Systems, UIDB/00066/2020, and the Project forester (PCIF/SSI/0102/2017). We would like to thank the authorities from the municipality of Ma??o, in particular to Engineer Ant?nio Louro, for the valuable support in establishing the user requirements and the feedback for the system?s validation. Special thanks to the Adjunct of National Operations in the National Command of Security Operations (CNOS) part of the National Authority of Civil Protection (ANPC) Alexandre Penha, for their input in the early stages of this work.Wildfires are expected to increase in number, extent, and severity due to climate change. Hence, it is ever more important to integrate technological developments and scientific knowledge into fire management aiming at protecting lives, infrastructure, and the environment. In this paper, a decision support system (DSS) adapted to the Portuguese context and based on multi-sensor technologies and geographic information system (GIS) functionalities is proposed to leverage operational data, enabling faster and more informed decisions to reduce the impact of wildfires. Here we present a flexible and reconfigurable DSS composed of three components: an ArcGIS online feature service that provides operational data and enables a collaborative environment of users that share operational data in near real-time; a mobile client application to interact with the system, enabling the use of GIS technology and visualization dashboards; and a multi-sensor device that collects field data providing value to external services. The design and validation of this system benefitted from the feedback of wildfire management specialists and a partnership with an end-user in the municipality of Mação that also helped establish the system requirements. The validation results demonstrated that a robust system was achieved with fully interoperable components that fulfill the defined system requirements.publishersversionpublishe

Impact of SM parameters and of the vacua of the Higgs potential in gravitational waves detection

In this work we discuss two different phases of a complex singlet extension of the Standard Model (SM) together with an extension that also includes new fermion fields, in particular, a Majoron model equipped with an inverse seesaw mechanism. All considered scenarios contain a global $\mathrm{U}(1)$ symmetry and allow for first-order phase transitions while only two of them are strong enough to favour the detection of primordial gravitational waves (GWs) in planned experiments such as LISA. In particular, this is shown to be possible in the singlet extension with a non vanishing real VEV at zero temperature and also in the model with extra fermions. In the singlet extension with no additional fermions, the detection of GWs strongly depends on the $\mathrm{U}(1)$ symmetry breaking pattern of the scalar potential at zero temperature. We study for the first time the impact of the precision in the determination of the SM parameters on the strength of the GWs spectrum. It turns out that the variation of the SM parameters such as the Higgs boson mass and top quark Yukawa coupling in their allowed experimental ranges has a notable impact on GWs detectability prospects.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figure

Myocardial stretch-induced compliance is abrogated under ischemic conditions and restored by cGMP/PKG-related pathways

Introduction: Management of acute myocardial infarction (MI) mandates careful optimization of volemia, which can be challenging due to the inherent risk of congestion. Increased myocardial compliance in response to stretching, known as stretch-induced compliance (SIC), has been recently characterized and partly ascribed to cGMP/cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG)-related pathways. We hypothesized that SIC would be impaired in MI but restored by activation of PKG, thereby enabling a better response to volume loading in MI.Methods: We conducted experiments in ex vivo rabbit right ventricular papillary muscles under ischemic and non-ischemic conditions as well as pressure–volume hemodynamic evaluations in experimental in vivo MI induced by left anterior descending artery ligation in rats.Results: Acutely stretching muscles ex vivo yielded increased compliance over the next 15 min, but not under ischemic conditions. PKG agonists, but not PKC agonists, were able to partially restore SIC in ischemic muscles. A similar effect was observed with phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor (PDE5i) sildenafil, which was amplified by joint B-type natriuretic peptide or nitric oxide donor administration. In vivo translation revealed that volume loading after MI only increased cardiac output in rats infused with PDE5i. Contrarily to vehicle, sildenafil-treated rats showed a clear increase in myocardial compliance upon volume loading.Discussion: Our results suggest that ischemia impairs the adaptive myocardial response to acute stretching and that this may be partly prevented by pharmacological manipulation of the cGMP/PKG pathway, namely, with PDE5i. Further studies are warranted to further elucidate the potential of this intervention in the clinical setting of acute myocardial ischemia

Accuracy of Hidden Markov Models in Identifying Alterations in Movement Patterns during Biceps-Curl Weight-Lifting Exercise

This paper presents a comparison of mathematical and cinematic motion analysis regarding the accuracy of the detection of alterations in the patterns of positional sequence during biceps-curl lifting exercise. Two different methods, one with and one without metric data from the environment, were used to identify the changes. Ten volunteers performed a standing biceps-curl exercise with additional loads. A smartphone recorded their movements in the sagittal plane, providing information on joints and barbell sequential position changes during each lift attempt. An analysis of variance revealed significant differences in joint position (p < 0.05) among executions with three different loads. Hidden Markov models were trained with data from the bi-dimensional coordinates of the joint positional sequence to identify meaningful alteration with load increment. Tests of agreement tests between the results provided by the models with the environmental measurements, as well as those from image coordinates, were performed. The results demonstrated that it is possible to efficiently detect changes in the patterns of positional sequence with and without the necessity of measurement and/or environmental control, reaching an agreement of 86% between each other, and 100% and 86% for each respective method to the results of ANOVA. The method developed in this study illustrates the viability of smartphone camera use for identifying positional adjustments due to the inability to control limbs in an adequate range of motion with increasing load during a lifting task.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reassessment of the type locality of Euptychia stigmatica Godman, 1905, with the description of two new sibling species from Amazonia (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae, Satyrini)

A brief historical review regarding the type locality of Euptychia stigmatica Godman, 1905 was conducted, which suggests that its type locality is actually Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, rather than northeastern Argentina, as previously purported. Consequently, E. stigmatica and its senior synonym E. cyanites Butler, 1871, are regarded to be two species-group names representing a taxon in the euptychiine genus Caeruleuptychia Forster, 1964 known from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. A lectotype is designated for E. cyanites. Additionally, two closely related species are named and described using an integrative approach with morphological and molecular evidence. Caeruleuptychia harrisi Nakahara &amp;amp; Freitas, sp. nov. and C. aemulatio Nakahara &amp;amp; Willmott, sp. nov. both occur in Amazonia and COI barcode data recovered these taxa as part of the caerulea clade of Caeruleuptychia

Atividades terapêuticas em contexto de saúde mental e psiquiatria: Uma reflexão sobre a ação

No âmbito do Estágio V - Enfermagem de Saúde Mental e Psiquiatria, no processo de cuidados à pessoa com doença mental, em fase aguda, em contexto de internamento, foi possível experienciar o desenvolvimento de Atividades terapêuticas. Segundo Zimerman e Osório (1997, p.35), as atividades terapêuticas tem como objetivo “proporcionar ao indivíduo o máximo desempenho e autonomia nas suas funções pessoais, sociais e profissionais”. Após a realização da ação, a “reflexão sobre ela só tem sentido para compreender, aprender e integrar o que acontece” (Perrenoud, 2011, p.31). O processo reflexivo facilita a compreensão da relação existente, entre os conceitos teóricos e situações clínicas experienciadas (Potter e Perry, 2003). Objetivo Partilhar a reflexão sobre o processo de planeamento, implementação e avaliação de atividades terapêuticas em contexto de saúde mental e psiquiatria. Materiais e métodos Relativamente à metodologia optou-se pela reflexão sobre a ação (Santos & Fernandes, 2004). Nessa perspetiva, as etapas orientadoras para uma reflexão estruturada são: Descrição da ação tal e qual é percebida; Reflexão; Síntese/Avaliação da reflexão utilizada (Santos & Fernandes, 2004, p.61). Resultados A apresentação dos resultados segue as etapas previstas na metodologia. As atividades terapêuticas desenvolvidas foram: “Expressão pessoal” e “Recreação/Lazer” (Melo-Dias, 2014). No planeamento adotaram-se critérios específicos de inclusão e exclusão bem como a intenção de livre participação. A implementação das atividades respeitou a Norma nº011/2020 (DGS, 2020). No términus das atividades foram auscultadas as opiniões de cada participante sobre os contributos das mesmas. Conclusões As atividades terapêuticas desempenham um forte contributo para a reinserção social da pessoa com doença mental. A implementação destas atividades integradas na prestação de cuidados global à pessoa com doença mental traduziu-se na integração de aprendizagens necessárias ao desenvolvimento pessoal e profissional. Referências Bibliográficas Direção Geral da Saúde. (2020). Covid-19: FASE DE MITIGAÇÃO Saúde Mental. Norma nº 011/2020 de 18/04/2020; Lisboa:Direção Geral da Saúde. Madeira, A. C. S. C. M. (2014). O estudante de enfermagem no processo de cuidados em contexto de ensino clínico (Doctoral dissertation, Tese de Doutoramento, Universidade do Porto, Porto). Disponível em: https://repositorioaberto. up. pt/bitstream/10216/78973/2/35058. pdf). Melo-Dias, C., Rosa, A., & Pinto, A. (2014). ATIVIDADES DE OCUPAÇÃO TERAPÊUTICA--INTERVENÇÕES DE ENFERMAGEM ESTRUTURADAS EM REABILITAÇÃO PSICOSSOCIAL. Portuguese Journal of Mental Health Nursing/Revista Portuguesa de Enfermagem de Saude Mental, (11). Perrenoud, P. (2011). A Prática Reflexiva do Professor: Profissionalização e Razão Pedagógica. São Paulo: Artmed Editores, SA. Potter e Perry (2003). Fundamentos de Enfermagem: Conceitos e Procedimentos. Santos,E.;Fernandes,A.(2004)–Prática Reflexiva: guia para a reflexão estruturada. In: Revista de Enfermagem Referência Coimbra – ISSN0874-0283-Nº11(Mar.2004), p.59-62. Disponível em: https://rr.esenfc.pt/rr/index.php?module=rr&target=publicationDetails&pesquisa=&id_artigo=2064&id_revista=5&id_edicao= 10 Zimerman, D. O., & Osorio, E. (1997). LC Como trabalhamos com grupos. Porto Alegre.N/

Human-umbilical cord matrix mesenchymal cells improved left ventricular contractility independently of infarct size in swine myocardial infarction with reperfusion

Funding Information: This work was funded by: i) national funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the scope of the Cardiovascular R&D Center - UnIC (UIDB/00051/2020 and UIDP/00051/2020); ii) “la Caixa” Banking Foundation and FCT under the project code LCF/PR/HP17/52190002”; iii) the QREN project 2013/30196; and iv) the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), under the Lisbon Portugal Regional Operational Program and National Funds through FCT [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030985]. RNG and TLL were funded by the FCT individual fellowships [SFRH/BD/144490/2019] and [PD/BD/127997/2016], respectively. Funding sources had no interference in the design of the study, study governance, data collection and analysis, nor in manuscript writing or its scientific and intellectual content. Publisher Copyright: 2023 Raposo, Cerqueira, Leite, Moreira-Costa, Laundos, Miranda, Mendes-Ferreira, Coelho, Gomes, Pinto-do-Ó, Nascimento, Lourenço, Cardim and Leite-Moreira.Background: Human umbilical cord matrix-mesenchymal stromal cells (hUCM-MSC) have demonstrated beneficial effects in experimental acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Reperfusion injury hampers myocardial recovery in a clinical setting and its management is an unmet need. We investigated the efficacy of intracoronary (IC) delivery of xenogeneic hUCM-MSC as reperfusion-adjuvant therapy in a translational model of AMI in swine. Methods: In a placebo-controlled trial, pot-belied pigs were randomly assigned to a sham-control group (vehicle-injection; n = 8), AMI + vehicle (n = 12) or AMI + IC-injection (n = 11) of 5 × 105 hUCM-MSC/Kg, within 30 min of reperfusion. AMI was created percutaneously by balloon occlusion of the mid-LAD. Left-ventricular function was blindly evaluated at 8-weeks by invasive pressure-volume loop analysis (primary endpoint). Mechanistic readouts included histology, strength-length relationship in skinned cardiomyocytes and gene expression analysis by RNA-sequencing. Results: As compared to vehicle, hUCM-MSC enhanced systolic function as shown by higher ejection fraction (65 ± 6% vs. 43 ± 4%; p = 0.0048), cardiac index (4.1 ± 0.4 vs. 3.1 ± 0.2 L/min/m2; p = 0.0378), preload recruitable stroke work (75 ± 13 vs. 36 ± 4 mmHg; p = 0.0256) and end-systolic elastance (2.8 ± 0.7 vs. 2.1 ± 0.4 mmHg*m2/ml; p = 0.0663). Infarct size was non-significantly lower in cell-treated animals (13.7 ± 2.2% vs. 15.9 ± 2.7%; Δ = −2.2%; p = 0.23), as was interstitial fibrosis and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in the remote myocardium. Sarcomere active tension improved, and genes related to extracellular matrix remodelling (including MMP9, TIMP1 and PAI1), collagen fibril organization and glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis were downregulated in animals treated with hUCM-MSC. Conclusion: Intracoronary transfer of xenogeneic hUCM-MSC shortly after reperfusion improved left-ventricular systolic function, which could not be explained by the observed extent of infarct size reduction alone. Combined contributions of favourable modification of myocardial interstitial fibrosis, matrix remodelling and enhanced cardiomyocyte contractility in the remote myocardium may provide mechanistic insight for the biological effect.publishersversionpublishe