Neutrino mixing and masses in a left-right model with mirror fermions

In the framework of a left-right model containing mirror fermions with gauge group SU(3)$_{C} \otimes SU(2)_{L} \otimes SU(2)_{R} \otimes U(1)_{Y^\prime}$, we estimate the neutrino masses, which are found to be consistent with their experimental bounds and hierarchy. We evaluate the decay rates of the Lepton Flavor Violation (LFV) processes $\mu \rightarrow e \gamma$, $\tau \rightarrow \mu \gamma$ and $\tau \rightarrow e\gamma$. We obtain upper limits for the flavor-changing branching ratios in agreement with their present experimental bounds. We also estimate the decay rates of heavy Majorana neutrinos in the channels $N \rightarrow W^{\pm} l^{\mp}$, $N \rightarrow Z \nu_{l}$ and $N \rightarrow H \nu_{l}$, which are roughly equal for large values of the heavy neutrino mass. Starting from the most general Majorana neutrino mass matrix, the smallness of active neutrino masses turns out from the interplay of the hierarchy of the involved scales and the double application of seesaw mechanism. An appropriate parameterization on the structure of the neutrino mass matrix imposing a symmetric mixing of electron neutrino with muon and tau neutrinos leads to Tri-bimaximal mixing matrix for light neutrinos.Comment: Accepted by European Physical Journal

Neutrino masses and mixing parameters in a left-right model with mirror fermions

In this work we consider a left-right model containing mirror fermions with gauge group SU(3)$_{C} \otimes SU(2)_{L} \otimes SU(2)_{R} \otimes U(1)_{Y^\prime}$. The model has several free parameters which here we have calculated by using the recent values for the squared-neutrino mass differences. Lower bound for the mirror vacuum expectation value helped us to obtain crude estimations for some of these parameters. Also we estimate the order of magnitude of the masses of the standard and mirror neutrinos.Comment: 13 pages, version submitted to European Physical Journal

Turbulencia empresarial en Colombia : sector de seguros

En el año 2010, la Facultad de Administración de la Universidad del Rosario puso en marcha un proyecto de investigación donde se exploraba el fenómeno de la turbulencia empresarial. En este momento han sido publicados más de 15 documentos donde se realiza la descripción de lo ocurrido en igual número de sectores. En este número se realiza un análisis del sector asegurador, actividad empresarial que contribuye de manera significativa a la economía del país. El trabajo ha sido realizado de manera conjunta por los profesores Natalia Malaver y Hugo Rivera de la asignatura Estrategia de empresa I, con estudiantes del pregrado de la Facultad, quienes se motivaron por encontrar respuestas a la forma como algunas empresas del sector enfrentan la turbulencia sectorial. La estructura del documento incluye una breve descripción del sector; luego un análisis de la turbulencia, y un estudio sectorial realizado aplicando la metodología del Análisis Estructural de Sectores Estratégicos (AESE) desarrollada por el grupo de investigación en perdurabilidad empresarial de la Facultad de Aministración de la Universidad del Rosario

IFE Plant Technology Overview and contribution to HiPER proposal

HiPER is the European Project for Laser Fusion that has been able to join 26 institutions and signed under formal government agreement by 6 countries inside the ESFRI Program of the European Union (EU). The project is already extended by EU for two years more (until 2013) after its first preparatory phase from 2008. A large work has been developed in different areas to arrive to a design of repetitive operation of Laser Fusion Reactor, and decisions are envisioned in the next phase of Technology Development or Risk Reduction for Engineering or Power Plant facilities (or both). Chamber design has been very much completed for Engineering phase and starting of preliminary options for Reactor Power Plant have been established and review here

Long-term X-ray changes in the emission from the anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61

We present results obtained from X-ray observations of the anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 4U 0142+61 taken between 2000-2007 using XMM-Newton, Chandra and Swift. In observations taken before 2006, the pulse profile is observed to become more sinusoidal and the pulsed fraction increased with time. These results confirm those derived using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and expand the observed evolution to energies below 2 keV. The XMM-Newton total flux in the 0.5-10 keV band is observed to be nearly constant in observations taken before 2006, while an increase of ~10% is seen afterwards and coincides with the burst activity detected from the source in 2006-2007. After these bursts, the evolution towards more sinusoidal pulse profiles ceased while the pulsed fraction showed a further increase. No evidence for large-scale, long-term changes in the emission as a result of the bursts is seen. The data also suggest a correlation between the flux and hardness of the spectrum, with brighter observations on average having a harder spectrum. As pointed out by other authors, we find that the standard blackbody plus power-law model does not provide the best spectral fit to the emission from 4U 0142+61. We also report on observations taken with the Gemini telescope after two bursts. These observations show source magnitudes consistent with previous measurements. Our results demonstrate the wide range of X-ray variability characteristics seen in AXPs and we discuss them in light of current emission models for these sources.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, in emulateapj style. Submitted to Ap

Identification and validation of small molecule analytes in mouse plasma by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry: A case study of misidentification of a short-chain fatty acid with a ketone body

Recently, there has been growing interest in short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and ketone bodies (KB) due to their potential use as biomarkers of health and disease. For instance, these diet-related metabolites can be used to monitor and reduce the risk of immune response, diabetes, or cardiovascular diseases. Given the interest in these metabolites, different targeted metabolomic methods based on UPLC-MS/MS have been developed in recent years to detect and quantify SCFA and KB. In this case study, we discovered that applying an existing validated, targeted UPLC-MS/MS method to mouse plasma, resulted in a fragment ion (194 m/z) being originally misidentified as acetic acid (a SCFA), when its original source was 3-hydroxybutyric acid (a KB). Therefore, we report a modified, optimized LC method that can separate both signals. In addition, the metabolite coverage was expanded in this method to detect up to eight SCFA: acetic, propanoic, butyric, isobutyric, 2-methylbutyric, valeric, isovaleric, and hexanoic acids, two KB: 3-hydroxybutyric, and acetoacetic acids, and one related metabolite: 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyric acid. The optimization of this method increased the selectivity of the UPLC-MS/MS method towards the misidentified compound. These findings encourage the scientific community to increase efforts in validating the original precursor of small molecule fragments in targeted methods

Endoplasmic reticulum stress sensor IRE1α enhances IL-23 expression by human dendritic cells

Producción CientíficaHuman monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) exposed to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) undergo bioenergetic changes that influence the immune response. We found that stimulation with PAMPs enhanced glycolysis in DCs, whereas oxidative phosphorylation remained unaltered. Glucose starvation and the hexokinase inhibitor 2-deoxy-d-glucose (2-DG) modulated cytokine expression in stimulated DCs. Strikingly, IL23A was markedly induced upon 2-DG treatment, but not during glucose deprivation. Since 2-DG can also rapidly inhibit protein N-glycosylation, we postulated that this compound could induce IL-23 in DCs via activation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response. Indeed, stimulation of DCs with PAMPs in the presence of 2-DG robustly activated inositol-requiring protein 1α (IRE1α) signaling and to a lesser extent the PERK arm of the unfolded protein response. Additional ER stressors such as tunicamycin and thapsigargin also promoted IL-23 expression by PAMP-stimulated DCs. Pharmacological, biochemical, and genetic analyses using conditional knockout mice revealed that IL-23 induction in ER stressed DCs stimulated with PAMPs was IRE1α/X-box binding protein 1-dependent upon zymosan stimulation. Interestingly, we further evidenced PERK-mediated and CAAT/enhancer-binding protein β-dependent trans-activation of IL23A upon lipopolysaccharide treatment. Our findings uncover that the ER stress response can potently modulate cytokine expression in PAMP-stimulated human DCs.Plan Nacional de Salud y Farmacia (Proyecto SAF2013-44521-R