Radiative decay Z_H-> \gamma A_H in the little Higgs model with T-parity

In the little Higgs model with T-parity (LHTM), the only tree-level kinematically allowed two-body decay of the Z_H boson is Z_H-> A_H H and thus one-loop induced two-body decays may have a significant rate. We study the Z_H-> \gamma A_H decay, which is induced at the one-loop level by a fermion triangle and is interesting as it depends on the mechanism of anomaly cancellation of the model. All the relevant two- and three-body decays of the Z_H gauge boson arising at the tree-level are also calculated. We consider a small region of the parameter space where the scale of the symmetry breaking f is still allowed to be as low as 500 GeV by electroweak precision data. We first analyze the scenario of a Higgs boson with a mass of 120 GeV. We found that the Z_H->\gamma A_H branching ratio can be of the order of a tree-level three-body decay and may be at the reach of detection at the LHC for f close to 500 GeV, but it may be difficult to detect for f=1 TeV. There is also an scenario where the Higgs boson has an intermediate mass such that the Z_H-> A_H H decay is closed, the Z_H-> \gamma A_H gets considerably enhanced and the chances of detection get a large boost.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, 2 table

Efeitos de Anestésico Local no Tempo Entre Bólus e na Duração do Trabalho de Parto em Patient-Controlled Epidural Analgesia: Estudo Prospectivo de Dois Regimes de Doses Ultra-Baixas com Ropivacaina e Sufentanil

BACKGROUND: Patient-controlled epidural analgesia with low concentrations of anesthetics is effective in reducing labor pain. The aim of this study was to assess and compare two ultra-low dose regimens of ropivacaine and sufentanil (0.1% ropivacaine plus 0.5 μg.ml-1 sufentanil vs. 0.06% ropivacaine plus 0.5 μg.ml-1 sufentanil) on the intervals between boluses and the duration of labor. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this non-randomized prospective study, conducted between January and July 2010, two groups of parturients received patient-controlled epidural analgesia: Group I (n = 58; 1 mg.ml-1 ropivacaine + 0.5 μg.ml-1 sufentanil) and Group II (n = 57; 0.6 mg.ml-1 ropivacaine + 0.5 μg.ml-1 sufentanil). Rescue doses of ropivacaine at the concentration of the assigned group without sufentanil were administered as necessary. Pain, local anesthetic requirements, neuraxial blockade characteristics, labor and neonatal outcomes, and maternal satisfaction were recorded. RESULTS: The ropivacaine dose was greater in Group I (9.5 [7.7-12.7] mg.h-1 vs. 6.1 [5.1-9.8 mg.h-1], p < 0.001). A time increase between each bolus was observed in Group I (beta = 32.61 min, 95% CI [25.39; 39.82], p < 0.001), whereas a time decrease was observed in Group II (beta = -1.40 min, 95% CI [-2.44; -0.36], p = 0.009). The duration of the second stage of labor in Group I was significantly longer than that in Group II (78 min vs. 65 min, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Parturients receiving 0.06% ropivacaine exhibited less evidence of cumulative effects and exhibited faster second stage progression than those who received 0.1% ropivacaine

Study of in vitro and in vivo extraction of kavalactones of pharmaceutical form containing ground plant drug (Piper methysticum G. Forster)

An evaluation of the extraction of pharmacological markers (kavalactones) of the plant species Piper methysticum (kava-kava) was conducted. Capsules containing ground kava-kava were submitted to an in vitro method using a controlled dissolution system where the extractive mediums were a solution of 0.1M HCl, phosphate buffered solution (pH = 6.8) and distilled water, at 30 and 60 min, and in vivo that was based on the pylorus ligation method in rats. In the in vitro system starting from 6 capsules (3 g) containing the kava-kava powder, the following extractive concentrations of kavalactones were obtained: HCl (30 min.) = 0.93% (27.9 mg), HCl (60 min.) = 1.1% (33 mg), buff. (30 min) = 2.8% (84 mg), buff. (60 min.) = 0.7% (21 mg), water (30 min.) = 0.71% (21.3 mg) and water (60 min.) = 2.6% (78 mg), while in the in vivo method, 1 and 2 h after administration of 500 mg of the kava-kava powder through gavage, the extractive concentrations of total kavalactones were: 1h = 1.31% (6.55 mg) and 2h = 1.41 % (7.05 mg). In the in vitro system a slight difference was observed among the solutions, which were not statistically significant, and the same occurred with the in vivo experiment, although at the time of 2 h after administration it proved more effective in the extraction of kavalactones by the gastric juice, but below the dose recommended for therapeutic use.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Study of in vitro and in vivo extraction of kavalactones of pharmaceutical form containing ground plant drug (Piper methysticum G. Forster)

An evaluation of the extraction of pharmacological markers (kavalactones) of the plant species Piper methysticum (kava-kava) was conducted. Capsules containing ground kava-kava were submitted to an in vitro method using a controlled dissolution system where the extractive mediums were a solution of 0.1M HCl, phosphate buffered solution (pH = 6.8) and distilled water, at 30 and 60 min, and in vivo that was based on the pylorus ligation method in rats. In the in vitro system starting from 6 capsules (3 g) containing the kava-kava powder, the following extractive concentrations of kavalactones were obtained: HCl (30 min.) = 0.93% (27.9 mg), HCl (60 min.) = 1.1% (33 mg), buff. (30 min) = 2.8% (84 mg), buff. (60 min.) = 0.7% (21 mg), water (30 min.) = 0.71% (21.3 mg) and water (60 min.) = 2.6% (78 mg), while in the in vivo method, 1 and 2 h after administration of 500 mg of the kava-kava powder through gavage, the extractive concentrations of total kavalactones were: 1h = 1.31% (6.55 mg) and 2h = 1.41 % (7.05 mg). In the in vitro system a slight difference was observed among the solutions, which were not statistically significant, and the same occurred with the in vivo experiment, although at the time of 2 h after administration it proved more effective in the extraction of kavalactones by the gastric juice, but below the dose recommended for therapeutic use.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Structural and insulator-to-metal phase transition at 50 GPa in GdMnO3

We present a study of the effect of very high pressure on the orthorhombic perovskite GdMnO3 by Raman spectroscopy and synchrotron x-ray diffraction up to 53.2 GPa. The experimental results yield a structural and insulator-to-metal phase transition close to 50 GPa, from an orthorhombic to a metrically cubic structure. The phase transition is of first order with a pressure hysteresis of about 6 GPa. The observed behavior under very high pressure might well be a general feature in rare-earth manganites.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures and 2 table

Mechanisms of Cr(III) biosorption onto residual brewer's yeast

The knowledge and understanding of metal-biomass interactions is crucial to develop and maximize biosorption processes potential to the concentration, removal and recovery of heavy metals from dilute solutions, as well as to define strategies to regenerate and reuse biosorbent in multiple cycles (Ahluwalia and Goyal, 2007; Volesky, 2001). It also turns possible biosorption optimization at a molecular level, including biomass genetic modification to induce changes in morphologic and physiologic characteristics in order to increase metal uptake (Srinath et al., 2002; Volesky, 2001). To reach that purpose, and considering that several mechanisms may contribute to the overall metal uptake depending on the metal and the biosorbent used, environmental factors, and the cell metabolic activity (Dhankhar and Hooda, 2011), it is necessary to study in detail the interactions established in each biosorption system. Heavy metal biosorption involves a combination of several passive accumulation processes, that may include: i) physical adsorption; ii) chemisorption, including ion exchange, coordination, complexation and chelation; iii) and inorganic precipitation (Ahluwalia and Goyal, 2007; Wang and Chen, 2006). According to Gadd (2004), metal-microorganism interactions may be seen as natural strategies to remove, recover or diminish metal toxicity in organic or inorganic forms. Different organisms exhibit different responses to the exposure to toxic ions, varying from transport through cellular membrane, biosorption onto cell walls, entrapment in extracellular structures, precipitation, complexation and redox reactions

Murine infection with bioluminescent Leishmania infantum axenic amastigotes applied to drug discovery

Leishmaniasis is an important vector-borne neglected tropical disease caused by Leishmania parasites. Current anti-Leishmania chemotherapy is unsatisfactory, justifying the continued search for alternative treatment options. Herein, we demonstrate that luciferase-expressing Leishmania infantum axenic amastigotes, unlike promastigotes, are highly infectious to BALB/c mice and thus generate a robust bioluminescent signal in target organs, such as the liver and the spleen, as early as two weeks after infection. Treatment with the reference drugs amphotericin B and miltefosine was effective at reducing parasite burdens. This model allows the assessment of treatment efficacy using whole-mouse bioluminescence imaging without the need to wait several weeks for spleen infections to be detectable by this non-invasive method. In conclusion, we propose the use of this model in an initial approach to evaluate the treatment efficacy of promising chemical entities without having to sacrifice large numbers of animals or to wait several days for a readout.We thank Carla Oliveira from i3S for the support with the statistical analysis. Part of the content of this manuscript has been released as a pre-print in BioRxiv (https://doi.org/10.1101/326355). This work was financed by FEDER - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020 - Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior in the framework of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031013 (PTDC/SAU-PAR/31013/2017). This work also received funds from: Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000012 “Structured program on bioengineered therapies for infectious diseases and tissue regeneration” of Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) and through the Research Unit No. 4293; Individual funding from FCT through SFRH/BD/123734/2016 (to DC), SFRH/BD/121252/2016 (to PC) and CEECIND/02362/2017 (to JT)

River sediment yield classification using remote sensing imagery

The monitoring of water quality is essencial to the mankind, since we strongly depend on such resource for living and working. The presence of sediments in rivers usually indicates changes in the land use, which can affect the quality of water and the lifetime of hydroelectric power plants. In countries like Brazil, where more than 70% of the energy comes from the water, it is crucial to keep monitoring the sediment yield in rivers and lakes. In this work, we evaluate some stateof- the-art supervised pattern recognition techniques to classify different levels of sediments in Brazilian rivers using satellite images, as well as we make available an annotated dataset composed of two images to foster the related research

Building with sugar and corn

Two alternative and highly sustainable building techniques are presented and described. The techniques are sugar reinforcement of earth based material and corncob based thermal isolation material. Some experimental results highlight the advantages and disadvantages of these two proposed techniques whose study is still beginning. The water resistance of earth based materials may be increased by adding a certain amount of sugar. On the other hand, corn cob material may have a similar thermal behavior as the common thermal insulation materials currently used in the building industry