Unitarity of the Leptonic Mixing Matrix

We determine the elements of the leptonic mixing matrix, without assuming unitarity, combining data from neutrino oscillation experiments and weak decays. To that end, we first develop a formalism for studying neutrino oscillations in vacuum and matter when the leptonic mixing matrix is not unitary. To be conservative, only three light neutrino species are considered, whose propagation is generically affected by non-unitary effects. Precision improvements within future facilities are discussed as well.Comment: Standard Model radiative corrections to the invisible Z width included. Some numerical results modified at the percent level. Updated with latest bounds on the rare tau decay. Physical conculsions unchange

Physics potential of the ESSνSB

The ESSνSB project proposes to base a neutrino “Super Beam” of unprecedented luminosity at the European Spallation Source. The original proposal identified the second peak of the oscillation probability as the optimal to maximize the discovery potential to leptonic CP violation. However this choice reduces the statistics at the detector and penalizes other complementary searches such as the determination of the atmospheric oscillation parameters, particularly the octant of θ23 as well as the neutrino mass ordering. We explore how these shortcomings can be alleviated by the combination of the beam data with the atmospheric neutrino sample that would also be collected at the detector. We find that the combination not only improves very significantly these drawbacks, but also enhances both the CP violation discovery potential and the precision in the measurement of the CP violating phase, for which the facility was originally optimized, by lifting parametric degeneracies. We then reassess the optimization of the ESSνSB setup when the atmospheric neutrino sample is considered, with an emphasis in performing a measurement of the CP violating phase as precise as possible. We find that for the presently preferred value of δ∼ - π/ 2 , shorter baselines and longer running time in neutrino mode would be optimal. In these conditions, a measurement better than 14º ∘ would be achievable for any value of the θ23 octant and the mass ordering. Conversely, if present and next generation facilities were not able to discover CP violation, longer baselines and more even splitting between neutrino and neutrino modes would be preferable. These choices would allow a 5 σ discovery of CP violation for around a 60 % of the possible values of δ and to determine its value with a precision around 6 ∘ if it is close to 0 or πThis work is supported in part by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie SklodowskaCurie Grant agreements 674896-Elusives, 690575-InvisiblesPlus, and 777419-ESSnuSB, as well as by the COST Action CA15139 EuroNuNet. MB, EFM, and SR acknowledge support from the “Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación” (AEI) and the EU “Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional” (FEDER) through the project FPA2016-78645- P; and the Spanish MINECO through the “Ramón y Cajal” programme and through the Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa Program under Grant SEV-2016-059

Morphological and geochemical features of crater lakes in Costa Rica: an overview.

This paper describes the compositional and morphological features of the crater lakes found in the volcanoes of Rincón de La Vieja, Poás, Irazú, Congo and Tenorio volcanoes (Costa Rica). As evidenced by the distribution of the water and dissolved gas chemistry along vertical profiles, the different fluid sources feeding the lakes reflect the present status of each of the volcanic systems. The chemical features of the Caliente (Poás volcano) and Rincón crater (Rincón de la Vieja volcano) lakes are mainly dependent on i) inputs of magmatic fluids from sub-lacustrine fumaroles and ii) water-rock interaction processes. Conversely, the Irazú lake is mainly affected by the presence of CO2(H2S)-rich fluids discharged from a hydrothermal system, which masked possible magmatic fluid contributions. Rainfall and organic activity are the main factors responsible for the chemical composition of Hule, Botos, Congo and Tenorio lakes. The chemical and isotopic water composition of Botos, Irazú and Hule lakes have displayed no significant variations along the vertical profiles. In contrast, Caliente lake shows a distinctive chemical stratification, mainly involving F-, Cl- and SO4 2-. The behaviour of these compounds seems to be governed by both dissolution of highly acidic species, i.e. HF, HCl and SO2 released from the magmatic environment, and microbial activity. Despite the significant increases with depth of dissolved CO2 at Caliente and Irazú lakes, the hazard for Nyos-type gas eruptions can be considered negligible, since i) the water volumes are too small and ii) the convective heat transfer limits the CO2 recharge rate. The relatively high concentrations of dissolved CO2 measured at the maximum depth of the Hule lake are likely produced by both degradation of organic material and degassing from a deep source. The sporadic episodes of fish deaths recently observed in this lake can be associated with lake overturn processes that have favoured the rise up to the lake surface of deep, oxygen-depleted waters.Journal of limnolog

Advancing Computer Skills for Burmese Refugees in Worcester

The goals of our project were to develop a computer literacy program for the youth of the Worcester Refugee Assistance Project (WRAP) to help them assimilate and prepare for college and future employment, and to create a website for the youth that they use to share their interests, ideas, stories, and culture. To realize these goals, we performed background research and repeatedly visited WRAP to interact with and learn from the youth and volunteers there. We assessed the computer literacy levels of the youth to develop effective teaching tools for them. Through collaboration with various WRAP stakeholders and youth, we created four teaching modules for WRAP that allow its volunteers to teach its youth computer skills, and designed a youth-oriented website for WRAP to use and maintain

Bilateral Internuclear Ophthalmoplegia in a Patient with Devic's Neuromyelitis Optica

An unusual presentation of Devic's neuromyelitis optica (NMO) disease associated with bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO) is described. A 32-year-old pregnant patient was diagnosed with NMO. First symptoms were headache and sudden visual loss in her right eye (RE). Eighteen months ago, she reported other neurologic symptoms such as paresthesia. Based on her visual field, fundoscopy and Ishihara test, she was diagnosed with retrobulbar neuritis of the RE. After delivery, new neurologic symptoms resembling transverse myelitis appeared. She was treated with methylprednisolone and plasmapheresis, which improved her visual acuity; however, a sudden bilateral INO appeared, with adduction defect and nystagmus with abduction in both eyes. No improvement was obtained after treatment with azathioprine and rituximab. Paresis of the legs and the right arm persisted, but double vision and OIN gradually disappeared. At the end, the patient had a residual exophoria in the RE and nystagmus with abduction in the left eye. Prevalence of NMO is lower than one case per one million inhabitants, and it is not likely to affect the encephalic trunk; furthermore, bilateral INO in NMO is rare. Two major criteria and at least two of the three minor ones are required to confirm a NMO diagnosis, and our patient fulfilled these diagnosis criteria

PI3Kα inhibition reduces obesity in mice

Partial inhibition of PI3K is one of the best-validated and evolutionary conserved manipulations to extend longevity. The best known health beneficial effects of reduced PI3K are related to metabolism and include increased energy expenditure, reduced nutrient storage, and protection from obesity. We have previously shown that a dual chemical inhibitor of the alpha and delta PI3K isoforms (CNIO-PI3Ki) reduces obesity in mice and monkeys, without evident toxic effects after long-term treatment. Here, we dissect the role of the alpha and delta PI3K isoforms by making use of selective inhibitors against PI3Kα (BYL-719 also known as alpelisib) or PI3Kδ (GS-9820 also known as acalisib). Treatment of mice with the above mentioned inhibitors indicated that BYL-719 increases energy expenditure in normal mice and efficiently reduces body weight in obese (ob/ob) mice, whereas these effects were not observed with GS-9820. Of note, the dose of BYL-719 required to reduce obesity was 10x higher than the equivalent dose of CNIO-PI3Ki, which could suggest that simultaneous inhibition of PI3K alpha and delta is more beneficial than single inhibition of the alpha isoform. In summary, we conclude that inhibition of PI3Kα is sufficient to increase energy expenditure and reduce obesity, and suggest that concomitant PI3Kα inhibition could play an auxiliary role