Gravitational waves during inflation from a 5D large-scale repulsive gravity model

We investigate, in the transverse traceless (TT) gauge, the generation of the relic background of gravitational waves, generated during an early inflationary stage, on the framework of a large-scale repulsive gravity model. We calculate the spectrum of the tensor metric fluctuations of an effective 4D Schwarzschild-de-Sitter metric, which is obtained after implementing a planar coordinate transformation on a 5D Ricci-flat metric solution, in the context of a non-compact Kaluza-Klein theory of gravity. We found that the spectrum is nearly scale invariant under certain conditions. One interesting aspect of this model is that is possible to derive dynamical field equations for the tensor metric fluctuations, valid not just at cosmological scales, but also at astrophysical scales, from the same theoretical model. The astrophysical and cosmological scales are determined by the gravity- antigravity radius, which is a natural length scale of the model, that indicates when gravity becomes repulsive in nature.Comment: Improved version, accepted in Physics Letters

Testing entanglement and Bell inequalities in H →ZZ

We discuss quantum entanglement and violation of Bell inequalities in the H→ZZ decay, in particular when the two Z-bosons decay into light leptons. Although such process implies an important suppression of the statistics, this is traded by clean signals from a "quasi maximally entangled"system, which makes it very promising to check these crucial phenomena at high energy. In this paper we devise a novel framework to extract from H→ZZ data all significant information related to this goal, in particular spin correlation observables. In this context we derive sufficient and necessary conditions for entanglement in terms of only two parameters. Likewise, we obtain a sufficient and improved condition for the violation of Bell-type inequalities. The numerical analysis shows that with a luminosity of L=300 fb-1 entanglement can be probed at >3σ level. For L=3 ab-1 (HL-LHC) entanglement can be probed beyond the 5σ level, while the sensitivity to a violation of the Bell inequalities is at the 4.5σ leve

Recent work on the FESTCAT database for speech synthesis

This paper presents our work around the FESTCAT project, whose main goal was the development of voices for the Festival suite in Catalan. In the first year, we produced the corpus and the speech data needed for build 10 voices using the Clunits (unit selection) and the HTS (Markov models) methods. The resulting voices are freely available on the web page of the project and included in Linkat, a Catalan distribution of Linux. More recently, we have updated the voices using new versions of HTS, other technology (Multisyn) and we have produced a child voice. Furthermore, we have performed a prosodic labeling and analysis of the database using the break index labels proposed in the ToBI system aimed to improve the intonation of the synthetic speech.Postprint (published version

Little Higgs models with a light T quark

We study Little Higgs models based on a SU(3)_1 x SU(3)_2 global symmetry and with two scales (the two vacuum expectation values f_{1,2}) substantially different. We show that all the extra vector boson fields present in these models may be much heavier than the vectorlike T quark necessary to cancel top-quark quadratic corrections. In this case the models become an extension of the standard model with a light (500 GeV) T quark and a scalar Higgs field with a large singlet component. We obtain that the Yukawa and the gauge couplings of the Higgs are smaller than in the standard model, a fact that reduces significantly the Higgs production rate through glu-glu and WW fusion. The T-quark decay into Higgs boson becomes then a dominant Higgs production channel in hadron colliders.Comment: 16 pages, version to appear in NP

Evolutionary dynamics of the repeatome explains contrasting differences in genome sizes and hybrid and polyploid origins of grass loliinae lineages

The repeatome is composed of diverse families of repetitive DNA that keep signatures on the historical events that shaped the evolution of their hosting species. The cold seasonal Loliinae subtribe includes worldwide distributed taxa, some of which are the most important forage and lawn species (fescues and ray-grasses). The Loliinae are prone to hybridization and polyploidization. It has been observed a striking two-fold difference in genome size between the broad-leaved (BL) and fine-leaved (FL) Loliinae diploids and a general trend of genome reduction of some high polyploids. We have used genome skimming data to uncover the composition, abundance, and potential phylogenetic signal of repetitive elements across 47 representatives of the main Loliinae lineages. Independent and comparative analyses of repetitive sequences and of 5S rDNA loci were performed for all taxa under study and for four evolutionary Loliinae groups Loliinae, Broad-leaved (BL), Fine-leaved (FL), and Schedonorus lineages]. Our data showed that the proportion of the genome covered by the repeatome in the Loliinae species was relatively high (average ~ 51.8%), ranging from high percentages in some diploids (68.7%) to low percentages in some high-polyploids (30.7%), and that changes in their genome sizes were likely caused by gains or losses in their repeat elements. Ty3-gypsy Retand and Ty1-copia Angela retrotransposons were the most frequent repeat families in the Loliinae although the relatively more conservative Angela repeats presented the highest correlation of repeat content with genome size variation and the highest phylogenetic signal of the whole repeatome. By contrast, Athila retrotransposons presented evidence of recent proliferations almost exclusively in the Lolium clade. The repeatome evolutionary networks showed an overall topological congruence with the nuclear 35S rDNA phylogeny and a geographic-based structure for some lineages. The evolution of the Loliinae repeatome suggests a plausible scenario of recurrent allopolyploidizations followed by diploidizations that generated the large genome sizes of BL diploids as well as large genomic rearrangements in highly hybridogenous lineages that caused massive repeatome and genome contractions in the Schedonorus and Aulaxyper polyploids. Our study has contributed to disentangling the impact of the repeatome dynamics on the genome diversification and evolution of the Loliinae grasses. Copyright © 2022 Moreno-Aguilar, Inda, Sánchez-Rodríguez, Arnelas and Catalán

In-situ Micro-Raman spectroscopic analysis of Handprints in Maltravieso Cave (Cáceres), Spain

TECHNART 2015 − Catania, April 27 - 30, 2015; http://technart2015.lns.infn.it/Peer Reviewe

Co-prescription patterns of cardiovascular preventive treatments: A cross-sectional study in the Aragon worker' health study (Spain)

Objectives: To identify cardiovascular disease (CVD) preventive treatments combinations, among them and with other drugs, and to determine their prevalence in a cohort of Spanish workers. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting Aragon Workers'' Health Study (AWHS) cohort in Spain. Participants 5577 workers belonging to AWHS cohort. From these subjects, we selected those that had, at least, three prescriptions of the same therapeutic subgroup in 2014 (n=4605). Primary and secondary outcome measures Drug consumption was obtained from the Aragon Pharmaceutical Consumption Registry (Farmasalud). In order to know treatment utilisation, prevalence analyses were conducted. Frequent item set mining techniques were applied to identify drugs co-prescription patterns. All the results were stratified by sex and age. Results: 42.3% of men and 18.8% of women in the cohort received, at least, three prescriptions of a CVD preventive treatment in 2014. The most prescribed CVD treatment were antihypertensives (men: 28.2%, women 9.2%). The most frequent association observed among CVD preventive treatment was agents acting on the renin-angiotensin system and lipid-lowering drugs (5.1% of treated subjects). Co-prescription increased with age, especially after 50 years old, both in frequency and number of associations, and was higher in men. Regarding the association between CVD preventive treatments and other drugs, the most frequent pattern observed was lipid-lowering drugs and drugs used for acid related disorders (4.2% of treated subjects). Conclusions: There is an important number of co-prescription patterns that involve CVD preventive treatments. These patterns increase with age and are more frequent in men. Mining techniques are a useful tool to identify pharmacological patterns that are not evident in the individual clinical practice, in order to improve drug prescription appropriateness

Tritrophic interactions follow phylogenetic escalation and climatic adaptation

One major goal in plant evolutionary ecology is to address how and why tritrophic interactions mediated by phytochemical plant defences vary across species, space, and time. In this study, we tested three classical hypotheses about plant defences: (i) the resource-availability hypothesis, (ii) the altitudinal/elevational gradient hypothesis and (iii) the defence escalation hypothesis. For this purpose, predatory soil nematodes were challenged to hunt for root herbivores based on volatile cues from damaged or intact roots of 18 Alpine Festuca grass species adapted to distinct climatic niches spanning 2000 meters of elevation. We found that adaptation into harsh, nutrient-limited alpine environments coincided with the production of specific blends of volatiles, highly attractive for nematodes. We also found that recently-diverged taxa exposed to herbivores released higher amounts of volatiles than ancestrally-diverged species. Therefore, our model provides evidence that belowground indirect plant defences associated with tritrophic interactions have evolved under two classical hypotheses in plant ecology. While phylogenetic drivers of volatile emissions point to the defence-escalation hypothesis, plant local adaptation of indirect defences is in line with the resource availability hypothesis

A template method to measure the tt polarisation

This work is supported by the Spanish Research Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigacion) through the grant IFT Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa SEV-2016-0597, by the projects PID2019-110058GB-C21, PID2019-110058GB-C22 from MICINN/AEI/ERDF, and by projects CERN/FIS-PAR/0004/2019, CERN/FIS-PAR/0029/2019 from FCT. The work of P.M.R. is supported through the FPI grant BES-2016-076775. The work of M.C.N.F. was supported by the PSC-CUNY Awards 63096-00 51 and 64031-00 52.We develop a template method for the measurement of the polarisation of tt¯ pairs produced in hadron collisions. The method would allow to extract the individual fractions of tLt¯ L, tRt¯ R, tLt¯ R and tRt¯ L pairs with a fit to data, where L, R refer to the polarisation along any axis. These polarisation fractions have not been independently measured at present. Secondarily, the method also provides the net polarisation of t and t¯ , as well as their spin correlation for arbitrary axes.IFT Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa PID2019-110058GB-C21, PID2019-110058GB-C22, SEV-2016-0597PSC-CUNY 63096-00 51, 64031-00 52Spanish Research AgencyFamily Process Institute BES-2016-076775Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónEuropean Regional Development Fund CERN/FIS-PAR/0004/2019, CERN/FIS-PAR/0029/2019Fundació Catalana de TrasplantamentAgencia Estatal de Investigació

Vegetation Changes Ten Years after Catclaw Mimosa ( \u3cem\u3e Mimosa laxiflora \u3c/em\u3e ) Control with Tebuthiuron in a Short Grass Prairie at Northern Sonora, Mexico

Catclaw mimosa (Mimosa laxiflora) is a native, perennial half-size brush, which invades short grass prairie and competes with desirable species for water, nutrients and light interferes with cattle grazing and reduces range productivity. Tebuthiuron [1-(5-tert-Butyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-1,3-dimethylurea; chemical formula C9H16N4OS] is a granular herbicide used to control invasive shrubby species on rangelands with sustainable forage responses (McGinty et al., 2009). Research trials conducted in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts show that tebuthiuron at rates of 0.5 to 1.5 kg a.i./ha effectively controlled most shrubby species and significant increase forage in the Matorral area in Mexico and USA. Local information regarding catclaw mimosa control and forage production increases sustain after bush control in the short grass prairies does not exist. This study was conducted to evaluate vegetation changes after the application of tebuthiuron at rates of 0 and 1.5 kg a.i./ha to control high infestations of catclaw mimosa in the short grass prairies