Constraints on new physics from the quark mixing unitarity triangle

The status of the Unitarity Triangle beyond the Standard Model including the most recent results on Delta m_s, on dilepton asymmetries and on width differences is presented. Even allowing for general New Physics loop contributions the Unitarity Triangle must be very close to the Standard Model result. With the new measurements from the Tevatron, we obtain for the first time a significant constraint on New Physics in the B_s sector. We present the allowed ranges of New Physics contributions to Delta F=2 processes, and of the time-dependent CP asymmetry in B_s to J/Psi phi decays.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. v2: numerical error in Delta Gamma_s/Gamma_s corrected. Plots and tables updated. v3: update after ICHEP06, final version published in Phys Rev Letter

Update of the Unitarity Triangle Analysis

We present the status of the Unitarity Triangle Analysis (UTA), within the Standard Model (SM) and beyond, with experimental and theoretical inputs updated for the ICHEP 2010 conference. Within the SM, we find that the general consistency among all the constraints leaves space only to some tension (between the UTA prediction and the experimental measurement) in BR(B -> tau nu), sin(2 beta) and epsilon_K. In the UTA beyond the SM, we allow for New Physics (NP) effects in (Delta F)=2 processes. The hint of NP at the 2.9 sigma level in the B_s-\bar B_s mixing turns out to be confirmed by the present update, which includes the new D0 result on the dimuon charge asymmetry but not the new CDF measurement of phi_s, being the likelihood not yet released.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of the 35th International Conference of High Energy Physics - ICHEP2010 (July 22-28, 2010, Paris

Changing trends of ocular trauma in the time of COVID-19 pandemic

To reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), countries have promoted a range of unprecedented public health responses. These measures aim at reducing the final size of the epidemic as well as its peak in order to decrease the acute pressure on the health-care system [1]. In Italy, the government ordered people to stay home, restricting movements with the exception of work, urgent matters and health reasons. Furthermore, all commercial and productive activities, except those providing essential services, were obligated to remain closed [2]. Ocular trauma represents a serious public health problem and leading cause of visual impairment [3, 4]. The COVID-19 social distancing measures might have a significant impact on the risk of ocular trauma. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed the charts of all patients presenting to an Italian ophthalmological emergency department (the Ophthalmology Unit of the S.Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital in Bologna) to identify all eye injuries. Data were analysed from 10th March 2020 (i.e. the day in which the quarantine measures were applied in our city) to 10th April 2020, and confronted with those of the same period of the previous year (from 10th March 2019 to 10th April 2019). In the 2019 study period, there were 354 eye injuries (15.6% of all patients presenting to the emergency department). In the 2020 study period, eye injuries decreased to 112 (19.9% of all patients). The characteristics of eye injuries in the two study periods are reported in Table 1. During quarantine, the proportion of children and adolescents with eye injuries decreased (from 14.7% to 8.0%, Fig. 1a), while the proportion of males increased (from 66.7% to 75.0%, Fig. 1b). Regarding the mechanisms of injury, the percentage of falls and sport injuries had the highest decrease (respectively, from 6.5% to 0.9% and from 5.9% to 2.7%), while injuries during home activities and injuries with plants had the highest increase (respectively, from 12.4% to 17.0% and from 8.5% to 10.7%, Fig. 1c). The percentage of minor injuries with low risk of vision loss increased (from 93.2% to 94.6%), while major injuries requiring monitoring decreased (from 6.8% to 5.4%, Fig. 1d). There was a striking 68.4% decrease in the number of eye injuries seen in our Unit during the last month. Behavioural changes during the quarantine could be associated with lower risk of trauma. The decreases of sport injuries and of injuries in children during school closure seem to support this hypothesis. However, the drop of patients seeking emergency care affected all injuries, including serious ones potentially associated with vision loss. We believe that some patients may intentionally avoid urgent care rather than risking coronavirus exposure at hospitals. Anecdotal reports suggest that this is also happening for life-threatening medical emergencies such as myocardial infarction and stroke [5, 6]. Since ocular trauma is a major cause of vision loss, the importance of not delaying or avoiding treatment should be stressed to all patients to prevent ocular morbidities

Improved Determination of the CKM Angle alpha from B to pi pi decays

Motivated by a recent paper that compares the results of the analysis of the CKM angle alpha in the frequentist and in the Bayesian approaches, we have reconsidered the information on the hadronic amplitudes, which helps constraining the value of alpha in the Standard Model. We find that the Bayesian method gives consistent results irrespective of the parametrisation of the hadronic amplitudes and that the results of the frequentist and Bayesian approaches are equivalent when comparing meaningful probability ranges or confidence levels. We also find that from B to pi pi decays alone the 95% probability region for alpha is the interval [80^o,170^o], well consistent with recent analyses of the unitarity triangle where, by using all the available experimental and theoretical information, one gets alpha = (93 +- 4)^o. Last but not least, by using simple arguments on the hadronic matrix elements, we show that the unphysical region alpha ~ 0, present in several experimental analyses, can be eliminated.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure

Multitarget microangiopathy in a young healthy man with COVID-19 disease: A case report.

A 41‑year‑old man presented to the emergency department complaining of decrease of vision in his left eye. Initial examination was consistent with retrobulbar optic neuritis, and an intravenous drip of methylprednisolone was started. On the third day, the fundus examination revealed the appearance of multiple Purtscher‑like cotton‑wool spots in the posterior pole and nasally to the optic disc, slight retinal whitening around the fovea, and cherry‑red spot. The patient reported flu‑like symptoms, and he tested positive at PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test for 2019‑nCoV (2019 novel coronavirus) infection. Assuming possible 2019‑nCoV‑related vascular damage, we prescribed low‑molecular‑weight heparin. The lesions were regressing at follow‑up, and we registered a complete visual recovery

In-room test results at CNAO of an innovative PT treatments online monitor (Dose Profiler)

The use of C, He and O ions as projectiles in Particle Therapy (PT) treatments is getting more and more widespread as a consequence of their enhanced relative biological effectiveness and oxygen enhancement ratio, when compared to the protons one. The advantages related to the incoming radiation improved efficacy are requiring an accurate online monitor of the dose release spatial distribution. Such monitor is necessary to prevent unwanted damage to the tissues surrounding the tumour that can arise, for example, due to morphological changes occurred in the patient during the treatment with respect to the initial CT scan. PT treatments with ions can be monitored by detecting the secondary radiation produced by the primary beam interactions with the patient body along the path towards the target volume. Charged fragments produced in the nuclear process of projectile fragmentation can be emitted at large angles with respect to the incoming beam direction and can be detected with high efficiency in a nearly background-free environment. The Dose Profiler (DP) detector, developed within the INSIDE project, is a scintillating fibre tracker that allows an online reconstruction and backtracking of such secondary charged fragments. The construction and preliminary in-room tests performed on the DP, carried out using the 12C ions beam of the CNAO treatment centre using an anthropomorphic phantom as a target, will be reviewed in this contribution. The impact of the secondary fragments interactions with the patient body will be discussed in view of a clinical application. Furthermore, the results implications for a pre-clinical trial on CNAO patients, foreseen in 2019, will be discussed

Dynamics of charge-displacement channeling in intense laser-plasma interactions

The dynamics of transient electric fields generated by the interaction of high intensity laser pulses with underdense plasmas has been studied experimentally with the proton projection imaging technique. The formation of a charged channel, the propagation of its front edge and the late electric field evolution have been characterised with high temporal and spatial resolution. Particle-in-cell simulations and an electrostatic, ponderomotive model reproduce the experimental features and trace them back to the ponderomotive expulsion of electrons and the subsequent ion acceleration.Comment: 5 figures, accepted for publication in New Journal of Physic

Mimicking human riboflavin responsive neuromuscular disorders by silencing flad-1 gene in C. elegans: Alteration of vitamin transport and cholinergic transmission

Riboflavin (Rf), or vitamin B2, is the precursor of FMN and FAD, redox cofactors of several dehydrogenases involved in energy metabolism, redox balance and other cell regulatory processes. FAD synthase, coded by FLAD1 gene in humans, is the last enzyme in the pathway converting Rf into FAD. Mutations in FLAD1 gene are responsible for neuromuscular disorders, in some cases treatable with Rf. In order to mimic these disorders, the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) gene orthologue of FLAD1 (flad-1) was silenced in a model strain hypersensitive to RNA interference in nervous system. Silencing flad-1 resulted in a significant decrease in total flavin content, paralleled by a decrease in the level of the FAD-dependent ETFDH protein and by a secondary transcriptional down-regulation of the Rf transporter 1 (rft-1) possibly responsible for the total flavin content decrease. Conversely an increased ETFDH mRNA content was found. These biochemical changes were accompanied by significant phenotypical changes, including impairments of fertility and locomotion due to altered cholinergic transmission, as indicated by the increased sensitivity to aldicarb. A proposal is made that neuronal acetylcholine production/release is affected by alteration of Rf homeostasis. Rf supplementation restored flavin content, increased rft-1 transcript levels and eliminated locomotion defects. In this aspect, C. elegans could provide a low-cost animal model to elucidate the molecular rationale for Rf therapy in human Rf responsive neuromuscular disorders and to screen other molecules with therapeutic potential

Irradiation detection of herbal ingredients used in plant food supplements by Electron Spin Resonance on samples pre-treated with alcoholic extraction

This study aimed to verify the applicability of the EN 1787 method for the detection of irradiation in herbal ingredients used in Plant Food Supplements (PFSs). In matrices such as herbs and spices the main limit of the method is the presence of intrinsic radicals responsible for spurious signals leading to complex ESR spectra. To overcome this limit, before ESR measurement a treatment with alcohol has been proposed (Delincée and Soika, 2002; Ahn et al., 2012, 2014). As reported in the literature, this treatment is expected to reduce/eliminate the confounding signals so that the samples may be correctly classified. In this study the efficacy of the pre-treatment was tested on raw herbal ingredients largely used for PFSs, namely Camellia sinensis, Cinnamomum verum, Curcuma longa, Ginkgo biloba, Silybum marianum, Vaccinium myrtillus and Zingiber officinale. Non-irradiated and irradiated (5, 10 kGy) samples were analysed before and after pre-treatment. The results showed a general decrement of signal intensity. In some cases, this was associated with the elimination of some spurious signals, which, however, did not always ensue in an easier interpretation of the ESR spectra. Only for two matrices (Camellia sinensis and Vaccinium myrtillus) was alcoholic extraction crucial for the correct classification of the samples