Neutral minima in two-Higgs doublet models

We study the neutral minima of two-Higgs doublet models, showing that these potentials can have at least two such minima with different depths. We analyse the phenomenology of these minima for the several types of two-Higgs doublet potentials, where CP is explicitly broken, spontaneously broken or preserved. We discover that it is possible to have a neutral minimum in these potentials where the masses of the known particles have their standard values, with another deeper minimum where those same particles acquire different masses.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure

Anti-inflammatory effect of the antidepressant fluvoxamine – a systematic review

Neuroinflammation corresponds to the immune response of the nervous system to an injury, infection or neurodegenerative disease characterized by the activation of resident glial cells, including microglia and astrocytes, the release of cytokines and chemokines and the activation and migration of leukocytes. Evidence suggests that inflammatory cytokines may be a central factor, affecting multiple neuronal pathways and contributing to the development of depression. Supporting this neuroinflammatory theory, several studies have demonstrated the anti-inflammatory effect of various antidepressant drugs [1]. Fluvoxamine is a selective serotonin uptake inhibitor (SSRIs) used manly in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. Recent evidence pointed that a fluvoxamine early treatment on SARS-CoV-2-infected subjets fully prevented COVID-19 symptoms [2]. Thus, it seems relevant to explore the anti-inflammatory mechanism of fluvoxamine.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The involvement of Nrf2 in depression: systematic review of preclinical studies

Increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and decreased antioxidant defenses are likely to be linked to the development of depressive symptoms. Nrf2 plays an important role in cellular defense against oxidative stress and binds to ARE, which is located in the promoter region of several phase II antioxidant enzymes and associated stress-responsive enzymes. Reduced Keap1-Nrf2 signaling is implicated in the pathogenesis of mood disorders such as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Padrões de referência da pressão plantar no movimento do cão da Serra da Estrela

Neste trabalho caracteriza-se em termos de pressão plantar o movimento do Cão da Serra da Estrela no andamento "Marcha Semelhante ao Pacing" ("Ambladura"). Foram analisados 11 cães Serra da Estrela, isentos de displasia da anca e sem sinais visíveis de patologias que afectem o movimento, recorrendo a um sistema de plataformas de pressão plantar (RSSCAN) com 2 metros de comprimento. Para a caracterização do movimento do Serra da Estrela foi desenvolvido um software de apoio que permite a análise cinética, determinando-se vários parâmetros espaciais, temporais e cinéticos relativos ao movimento do Cão da Serra da Estrela, que poderão servir de referência em futuros estudos sobre patologias do aparelho locomoto

Orthogonal Rational Functions on the Unit Circle with Prescribed Poles not on the Unit Circle

Orthogonal rational functions (ORF) on the unit circle generalize orthogonal polynomials (poles at infinity) and Laurent polynomials (poles at zero and infinity). In this paper we investigate the properties of and the relation between these ORF when the poles are all outside or all inside the unit disk, or when they can be anywhere in the extended complex plane outside the unit circle. Some properties of matrices that are the product of elementary unitary transformations will be proved and some connections with related algorithms for direct and inverse eigenvalue problems will be explained

Investigação - Influência da displasia da anca no movimento característico da raça Cão da Serra da Estrela

A displasia da anca (DA) é uma doença hereditária responsável por uma osteoartrite nestas articulações, que pode passar despercebida ou ser responsável por claudicação e má qualidade de vida dos animais. Esta última situação pode justificar o recurso a tratamentos cirúrgicos, por vezes dispendiosos. O diagnóstico definitivo actual é o exame radiográfico envolvendo a sedação ou anestesia dos animais para a contenção, indispensável para o posicionamento dos animais, imprescindível à obtenção de uma radiografia com a qualidade requerida. Contudo, é expectável que nos animais aparentemente assintomáticos seja responsável por algumas limitações funcionais com interferência directa no tipo de passada ou de distribuição de cargas durante a passada. Uma vez que existem equipamentos informatizados desenvolvidos para a avaliação do movimento nos humanos e animais, estudando variáveis cinemáticas (comportamento das diversas articulações durante o movimento) e cinéticas (distribuição da carga pelos diferentes membros durante a passada) resolvemos aplicar esta tecnologia à avaliação da DA na raça Cão da Serra da Estrela, uma vez que esta raça um modelo ideal devido à elevada prevalência da DA e à grande frequência de casos assintomáticos. Os principais objectivos desta investigação são conhecer variáveis cinemáticas e cinéticas que caracterizem o movimento de animais com DA, de forma a detectar os animais aparentemente assintomáticos

Root and shoot development of corn seedlings as affected by rhizobacteria.

Multifunctional microorganisms are beneficial microorganisms able of promoting plant growth through direct and indirect mechanisms. Because of this, has enormous potential for use when aiming a sustainable agriculture. The objective of this work was to determine the effect of seed inoculation with multifunctional microorganisms on the initial development of corn seedlings. The experiment was carried out under controlled conditions in a completely randomized design, with seven treatments and six replications. Treatments consisted of microbiolization of corn seeds with the rhizobacteria: 1. Burkholderia cepacea (BRM 32111), 2. Serratia marcenses (BRM 32113), 3. Serratia sp. (BRM 32114), 4. Bacillus sp. (BRM 63573), 5. Azospirillum brasilense (Ab-V5), 6. Azospirillum sp. (BRM 63574) and 7. control treatment (no microorganisms). For each experimental unit, 500 mL plastic pots filled with soil and two corn seeds were used. After 14 days the seedlings were removed from the pots, set aside from the ground and photographed with a digital camera. The images presented were analyzed by WinRHIZO 2012 software to determine: total root length, root diameter, total root surface area and root volume. After this, roots and shoots of the seedlings were dried and weighed. Corn seedlings treated with the multifunctional microorganisms Bacillus sp. (BRM 63573), Serratia sp. (BRM32114) and Azospirillum sp. (BRM 63574) presented increased in the root and shoots biomass compared to untreated seeds. The microorganism Azospirillum sp. (BRM 63574) was the one that provided the highest values in the parameters of total root length, root diameter, root volume, root dry mass, shoot dry mass and total dry mass compared to the control treatment. The use of multifunctional microorganisms is a promising alternative to provide greater development of corn seedlings

Factor analysis for plant and production variables in Coffea canephora in the Western Amazon.

The evaluation of morphological characters related to the hulled coffee yield subsidizes the selection of Coffea canephora plants that combine a set of favorable traits. However, the greater the number of traits considered, the more difficult the selection process becomes. In this context, multivariate analyzes can be useful to overcome this problem. The aim of this study was to identify, in a set of agronomic traits of Coffea canephora, the determining factors of biological phenomena and use these factors to recognize patterns of diversity and similarity from biological complexes of interest to the breeder. To this, eleven morphological descriptors were evaluated of 130 clones of the botanical varieties Conilon and Robusta and intervarietal hybrids over two crop years in the experimental field of Embrapa, in the municipality of Ouro Preto do Oeste, state of Rondônia (RO). To group the traits, the multivariate technique of Factor Analysis was used. The effect of genotype x year interaction was significant for the eleven traits analyzed. Based on the scree plot, three factors were established. Factors were interpreted as architecture, vigor and grains with a satisfactory percentage of explained variability. The inter- pretation of the factors highlighted the importance of the Conilon variety to improve the architecture of the Robusta botanical variety. These results show that it is possible to use factor scores to identify varieties and traits that favor higher production of hulled coffee

Portuguese propolis: a source of valuable bioactivities

To FEDER/COMPETE/POCI– Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme, under Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 and FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UID/AGR/04033/2013