Neutrino oscillations and Lorentz Invariance Violation in a Finslerian Geometrical model

Neutrino oscillations are one of the first evidences of physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). Since Lorentz Invariance is a fundamental symmetry of the SM, recently also neutrino physics has been explored to verify the eventual modification of this symmetry and its potential magnitude. In this work we study the consequences of the introduction of Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) in the high energy neutrinos propagation and evaluate the impact of this eventual violation on the oscillation predictions. An effective theory explaining these physical effects is introduced via Modified Dispersion Relations. This approach, originally introduced by Coleman and Glashow, corresponds in our model to a modification of the special relativity geometry. Moreover, the generalization of this perspective leads to the introduction of a maximum attainable velocity which is specific of the particle. This can be formalized in Finsler geometry, a more general theory of space-time. In the present paper the impact of this kind of LIV on neutrino phenomenology is studied, in particular by analyzing the corrections introduced in neutrino oscillation probabilities for different values of neutrino energies and baselines of experimental interest. The possibility of further improving the present constraints on CPT-even LIV coefficients by means of our analysis is also discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication with minor revisions, will appear on European Physics Journal

The Impact of School Tasks on the Leadership Self-Efficacy of Principals and Assistant Principals

State and federal accountability standards for student achievement and school improvement have increased the focus on school leadership, specifically the leadership of school principals and assistant principals. The pressure to lead schools effectively while fulfilling instructional leadership and school management tasks could impact school administrators’ perceptions of their leadership capabilities. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to identify the relationship between the instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks of school administrators and their leadership self-efficacy across multiple demographics. Survey data were collected from 73 school administrators, which quantified the leadership self-efficacy of principals and assistant principals based upon the completion of instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks and their use of time completing instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks. The major findings of the study indicated a positive, linear relationship between leadership self-efficacy and the instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks of school administrators. There was no statistically significant difference between leadership self-efficacy for instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks based upon the role of the school administrator. There was no statistically significant difference between the use of time on instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks based upon the role of the school administrator. The outcomes of this study provide insight into the types of tasks that impact the leadership self-efficacy of principals and assistant principals and could drive the professional learning content of school administrators and the delegation of their tasks. Future research on the leadership self-efficacy of school administrators could involve larger demographic subgroups and extend the study to include additional demographic factors impacting the work of principals and assistant principals

Fast method for the determination of short-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (scl-PHAs) in bacterial samples by In Vial-Thermolysis (IVT)

none8siA new method based on the GC–MS analysis of thermolysis products obtained by treating bacterial samples at a high temperature (above 270 C) has been developed. This method, here named “In-Vial- Thermolysis” (IVT), allowed for the simultaneous determination of short-chain-length polyhydrox- yalkanoates (scl-PHA) content and composition. The method was applied to both single strains and microbial mixed cultures (MMC) fed with different carbon sources. The IVT procedure provided similar analytical performances compared to previous Py-GC–MS and Py- GC-FID methods, suggesting a similar application for PHA quantitation in bacterial cells. Results from the IVT procedure and the traditional methanolysis method were compared; the correlation between the two datasets was fit for the purpose, giving a R2 of 0.975. In search of further simplification, the rationale of IVT was exploited for the development of a “field method” based on the titration of thermolyzed samples with sodium hydrogen carbonate to quantify PHA inside bacterial cells. The accuracy of the IVT method was fit for the purpose. These results lead to the possibility for the on-line measurement of PHA productivity. Moreover, they allow for the fast and inexpensive quantification/characterization of PHA for biotechnological process control, as well as investigation over various bacterial communities and/or feeding strategies.mixedF. Abbondanzi; G. Biscaro; G. Carvalho; L. Favaro; P. Lemos; M. Paglione; C. Samorì; C. TorriF. Abbondanzi; G. Biscaro; G. Carvalho; L. Favaro; P. Lemos; M. Paglione; C. Samorì; C. Torr

Clustering Italian medical texts: a case study on referrals

In the medical domain, there is a large amount of valuable information that is stored in textual format. These unstructured data have long been ignored, due to the difficulties of introducing them in statistical models, but in the last years, the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) has seen relevant improvements, with models capable of achieving relevant results in various tasks, including information extraction, classification and clustering. NLP models are typically language-specific and often domain-specific, but most of the work to date has been focused on the English language, especially in the medical domain. In this work, we propose a pipeline for clustering Italian medical texts, with a case study on clinical questions reported in referral

Conductance of Ideally Cation Selective Channel Depends on Anion Type

poster abstractGramicidin A (gA) is a transmembrane, cation selective ion channel that has been used in many biophysical studies of lipid bilayers, in particular for investigations of lipid-protein interactions and membrane electrostatics. In addition, it was found that ionic interactions with neutral lipid membranes also affect the kinetics of gA channels. Here we report measurements of gA ion-channels for a series of sodium and potassium salts that show an anion-dependence of gA conductance. We find that gA conductance varies significantly with the anion type with ClO4 and SCN producing distinctly larger conductance values than Cl, F, and H2PO4. These results can provide new insights into ion-lipid membrane interactions and ion channel functions in general