14,081 research outputs found
Lepton masses and mixings in orbifold models with three Higgs families
We analyse the phenomenological viability of heterotic Z(3) orbifolds with
two Wilson lines, which naturally predict three supersymmetric families of
matter and Higgs fields. Given that these models can accommodate realistic
scenarios for the quark sector avoiding potentially dangerous flavour-changing
neutral currents, we now address the leptonic sector, finding that viable
orbifold configurations can in principle be obtained. In particular,it is
possible to accomodate present data on charged lepton masses, while avoiding
conflict with lepton flavour-violating decays. Concerning the generation of
neutrino masses and mixings, we find that Z(3) orbifolds offer several
interesting possibilities.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures. References adde
Irreversible processes and the accelerated-decelerated phases of the Universe
A model for the Universe is proposed where it is considered as a mixture of
scalar and matter fields. The particle production is due to an irreversible
transfer of energy from the gravitational field to the matter field and
represented by a non-equilibrium pressure. This model can simulate three
distinct periods of the Universe: (a) an accelerated epoch where the energy
density of the scalar field prevails over the matter field, (b) a past
decelerated period where the energy density of the matter field becomes more
predominant than the scalar energy density, and (c) a present acceleration
phase where the scalar energy density overcomes the energy density of the
matter field.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Brazilian Journal of Physic
Melhoramento genetico de gado de leite: seleção de vacas e touros.
bitstream/item/103183/1/CT-43-Melhoram-gen-gado-de-leite.pd
The ionizing sources of luminous compact HII regions in the RCW106 and RCW122 clouds
Given the rarity of young O star candidates, compact HII regions embedded in
dense molecular cores continue to serve as potential sites to peer into the
details of high-mass star formation. To uncover the ionizing sources of the
most luminous and compact HII regions embedded in the RCW106 and RCW122 giant
molecular clouds, known to be relatively nearby (2-4 kpc) and isolated, thus
providing an opportunity to examine spatial scales of a few hundred to a
thousand AU in size. High spatial resolution (0.3"), mid-infrared spectra
(R=350), including the fine structure lines [ArIII] and [NeII], were obtained
for four luminous compact HII regions, embedded inside the dense cores within
the RCW106 and RCW122 molecular cloud complexes. At this resolution, these
targets reveal point-like sources surrounded by nebulosity of different
morphologies, uncovering details at spatial dimensions of <1000AU. The
point-like sources display [ArIII] and [NeII] lines - the ratios of which are
used to estimate the temperature of the embedded sources. The derived
temperatures are indicative of mid-late O type objects for all the sources with
[ArIII] emission. Previously known characteristics of these targets from the
literature, including evidence of disk or accretion suggest that the identified
sources may grow more to become early-type O stars by the end of the star
formation process
FCNCs in supersymmetric multi-Higgs doublet models
We conduct a general discussion of supersymmetric models with three families
in the Higgs sector. We analyse the scalar potential, and investigate the
minima conditions, deriving the mass matrices for the scalar, pseudoscalar and
charged states. Depending on the Yukawa couplings and the Higgs spectrum, the
model might allow the occurrence of potentially dangerous flavour changing
neutral currents at the tree-level. We compute model-independent contributions
for several observables, and as an example we apply this general analysis to a
specific model of quark-Higgs interactions, discussing how compatibility with
current experimental data constrains the Higgs sector.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures. Comments and references added. Final version
published in Physical Review
Vaccines in Congenital Toxoplasmosis: Advances and Perspectives
Congenital toxoplasmosis has a high impact on human disease worldwide, inducing serious consequences from fetus to adulthood. Despite this, there are currently no human vaccines available to prevent this infection. Most vaccination studies against Toxoplasma gondii infection used animal models in which the infection was established by exogenous inoculation. Here, we review recent research on potential T. gondii vaccines using animal models in which infection was congenitally established. Endeavors in this field have so far revealed that live or subunit vaccines previously found to confer protection against extrinsically established infections can also protect, at least partially, from vertically transmitted infection. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on the more adequate immune response to protect the host and the fetus in congenital infection. Most of the vaccination studies rely on the assessment of maternal systemic immune responses, quantification of parasitic loads in the fetuses, and survival indexes and/or brain parasitic burden in the neonates. More research must be carried out not only to explore new vaccines but also to further study the nature of the elicited immune protection at the maternal-fetal interface. Particularly, the cellular and molecular effector mechanisms at the maternal-fetal interface induced by immunization remain poorly characterized. Deeper knowledge on the immune response at this specific location will certainly help to refine the vaccine-induced immunity and, consequently, to provide the most effective and safest protection against T. gondii vertical infection.This work was supported by the Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit-UCIBIO, which is financed by national funds from FCT (UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020). AC was supported by FCT Individual CEEC 2017 Assistant Researcher Grant 352 CEECIND/01514/2017
Linear Theory of Electron-Plasma Waves at Arbitrary Collisionality
The dynamics of electron-plasma waves are described at arbitrary
collisionality by considering the full Coulomb collision operator. The
description is based on a Hermite-Laguerre decomposition of the velocity
dependence of the electron distribution function. The damping rate, frequency,
and eigenmode spectrum of electron-plasma waves are found as functions of the
collision frequency and wavelength. A comparison is made between the
collisionless Landau damping limit, the Lenard-Bernstein and Dougherty
collision operators, and the electron-ion collision operator, finding large
deviations in the damping rates and eigenmode spectra. A purely damped entropy
mode, characteristic of a plasma where pitch-angle scattering effects are
dominant with respect to collisionless effects, is shown to emerge numerically,
and its dispersion relation is analytically derived. It is shown that such a
mode is absent when simplified collision operators are used, and that
like-particle collisions strongly influence the damping rate of the entropy
mode.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication on Journal of Plasma
Physic
Desenvolvimento de tecnologias para a melhoria do sistema de criação em cativeiro do pirarucu, Arapaima gigas.
bitstream/item/86403/1/Digitalizar0144.pd
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