MONOLITH: a high resolution neutrino oscillation experiment

MONOLITH is a proposed massive magnetized tracking calorimeter at the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy, optimized for the detection of atmospheric muon neutrinos. The main goal is to test the neutrino oscillation hypothesis through an explicit observation of the full first oscillation swing. The sensitivity range for this measurement comfortably covers the entire Super-Kamiokande allowed region. Other measurements include studies of matter effects, the NC/CC and neutrino/anti-neutrino ratio with atmospheric neutrinos and auxiliary measurements from the CERN to Gran Sasso neutrino beam. Depending on approval, data taking with part of the detector could start in 2005. The MONOLITH detector and its performance are described.Comment: 8 pages, contribution to Les rencontres de Physique de la Vallee d'Aoste, March 200

On particle production for high energy neutrino beams

Analytical formulae for the calculation of secondary particle yields in p-A interactions are given. These formulae can be of great practical importance for fast calculations of neutrino fluxes and for designing new neutrino beam-lines. The formulae are based on a parameterization of the inclusive invariant cross sections for secondary particle production measured in p-Be interactions. Data collected in different energy ranges and kinematic regions are used. The accuracy of the fit to the data with the empirical formulae adopted is within the experimental uncertainties. Prescriptions to extrapolate this parameterization to finite targets and to targets of different materials are given. The results obtained are then used as an input for the simulation of neutrino beams. We show that our approach describes well the main characteristics of measured neutrino spectra at CERN. Thus it may be used in fast simulations aiming at the optimisation of the proposed long-baseline neutrino beams at CERN and FNAL. In particular we will show our predictions for the CNGS beam from CERN to Gran Sasso.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to The European Physics Journal

Prospects of measuring sin⁡22Θ13\sin^2 2\Theta_{13} and the sign of Δm2\Delta m^2 with a massive magnetized detector for atmospheric neutrinos

The pattern of oscillation parameters emerging from current experimental data can be further elucidated by the observation of matter effects. In contrast to planned experiments with conventional neutrino beams, atmospheric neutrinos offer the possibility to search for Earth-induced matter effects with very long baselines. Resonant matter effects are asymmetric on neutrinos and anti-neutrinos, depending on the sign of $\Delta m^2$. In a three-generation oscillation scenario, this gives access to the mass hierarchy of neutrinos, while the size of the asymmetry would measure the admixture of electron neutrinos to muon/tau neutrino oscillations (the mixing angle $\Theta_{13}$). The sensitivity to these effects is discussed after the detailed simulation of a realistic experiment based on a massive detector for atmospheric neutrinos with charge identification. We show how a detector, which measure and distinguish between $\nu_\mu$ and $\bar{\nu}_\mu$ charged current events, might be sensitive to matter effects using atmospheric neutrinos, provided the mixing angle $\Theta_{13}$ is large enough.Comment: (8 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Eur.Phys.J.C

Recrutamento da algarobeira (Prosopis juliflora (SW) D.C.) em condições de campo, Petrolina-PE.

A Algarobeira vem apresentando ampla distribuição no Semiárido do Nordeste do Brasil, em decorrência da boa adaptação das condições ambientais e pela dispersão causada pelo pastejo dos animais, que são criados de forma livre, apresentado maiores densidades em locais mais úmidos.1 CD-ROM

Chasing consistency: an update of the TCP gene family of Malus × domestica

The 52 members of the Teosinte-Branched 1/Cycloidea/Proliferating Cell Factors (TCP) Transcription Factor gene family in Malus × domestica (M. × domestica) were identified in 2014 on the first genome assembly, which was released in 2010. In 2017, a higher quality genome assembly for apple was released and is now considered to be the reference genome. Moreover, as in several other species, the identified TCP genes were named based on the relative position of the genes on the chromosomes. The present work consists of an update of the TCP gene family based on the latest genome assembly of M. × domestica. Compared to the previous classification, the number of TCP genes decreased from 52 to 40 as a result of the addition of three sequences and the deduction of 15. An analysis of the intragenic identity led to the identification of 15 pairs of orthologs, shedding light on the forces that shaped the evolution of this gene family. Furthermore, a revised nomenclature system is proposed that is based both on the intragenic identity and the homology with Arabidopsis thaliana (A. thaliana) TCPs in an effort to set a common standard for the TCP classification that will facilitate any future interspecific analysi

Graphs with large palette index

Given an edge-coloring of a graph, the palette of a vertex is defined as the set of colors of the edges which are incident with it. We define the palette index of a graph as the minimum number of distinct palettes, taken over all edge-colorings, occurring among the vertices of the graph. Several results about the palette index of some specific classes of graphs are known. In this paper we propose a different approach that leads to new and more general results on the palette index. Our main theorem gives a sufficient condition for a graph to have palette index larger than its minimum degree. In the second part of the paper, by using such a result, we answer to two open problems on this topic. First, for every $r$ odd, we construct a family of $r$-regular graphs with palette index reaching the maximum admissible value. After that, we construct the first known family of simple graphs whose palette index grows quadratically with respect to their maximum degree.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Markedly Divergent Tree Assemblage Responses to Tropical Forest Loss and Fragmentation across a Strong Seasonality Gradient

We examine the effects of forest fragmentation on the structure and composition of tree assemblages within three seasonal and aseasonal forest types of southern Brazil, including evergreen, Araucaria, and deciduous forests. We sampled three southernmost Atlantic Forest landscapes, including the largest continuous forest protected areas within each forest type. Tree assemblages in each forest type were sampled within 10 plots of 0.1 ha in both continuous forests and 10 adjacent forest fragments. All trees within each plot were assigned to trait categories describing their regeneration strategy, vertical stratification, seed-dispersal mode, seed size, and wood density. We detected differences among both forest types and landscape contexts in terms of overall tree species richness, and the density and species richness of different functional groups in terms of regeneration strategy, seed dispersal mode and woody density. Overall, evergreen forest fragments exhibited the largest deviations from continuous forest plots in assemblage structure. Evergreen, Araucaria and deciduous forests diverge in the functional composition of tree floras, particularly in relation to regeneration strategy and stress tolerance. By supporting a more diversified light-demanding and stress-tolerant flora with reduced richness and abundance of shade-tolerant, old-growth species, both deciduous and Araucaria forest tree assemblages are more intrinsically resilient to contemporary human-disturbances, including fragmentation-induced edge effects, in terms of species erosion and functional shifts. We suggest that these intrinsic differences in the direction and magnitude of responses to changes in landscape structure between forest types should guide a wide range of conservation strategies in restoring fragmented tropical forest landscapes worldwide