Present Status of Chiral Perturbation Theory

The basic ideas and methods of chiral perturbation theory are briefly reviewed. I discuss the recent attempts to build an effective Lagrangian in the resonance region and summarize the known large-N_C constraints on the low-energy chiral couplings.Comment: 6 pages. Invited talk at the 10th International Symposium on Meson-Nucleon Physics and the Structure of the Nucleon (MENU 2004), Beijing, China, August 29 - September 4, 200

Health Coverage for All Californians: Catching Up With the Public: A Report on Dialogues With the Public and With Business and Civic Leaders

Presents findings on healthcare reforms both employers and the public would support. Assesses the public's support for government-sponsored comprehensive coverage, its concerns about a public health system, and implications for future reform proposals

Moving Along the Learning Curve: From Values to Public Judgment: Citizen Dialogues on K-12 Education Reform

Based on dialogues with California's public, policy makers, and other stakeholders, assesses the public's priorities for K-12 reform and support for giving districts more authority and resources to meet state standards. Includes implications for leaders

Form-factors and current correlators: chiral couplings L_10(mu) and C_87(mu) at NLO in 1/N(C)

Using the resonance chiral theory Lagrangian, we perform a calculation of the vector and axial-vector two-point functions at the next-to-leading order (NLO) in the 1/N(C) expansion. We have analyzed these correlators within the single-resonance approximation and have also investigated the corrections induced by a second multiplet of vector and axial-vector resonance states. Imposing the correct QCD short-distance constraints, one determines the difference of the two correlators Pi(t) = Pi_VV(t)- Pi_AA(t) in terms of the pion decay constant and resonance masses. Its low momentum expansion fixes then the low-energy chiral couplings L_10 and C_87 at NLO, keeping full control of their renormalization scale dependence. At mu_0=0.77 GeV, we obtain L_10(mu_0) = (-4.4 \pm 0.9)10^{-3} and C_87^r(mu_0)=(3.1 \pm 1.1)10^{-5}

Theoretical overview on tau physics

Precise measurements of the tau lepton properties provide stringent tests of the Standard Model structure and accurate determinations of its parameters. We overview the present status of a few selected topics: lepton universality, QCD tests and the determination of alpha_s, m_s and V_us from hadronic tau decays, and lepton flavor violation phenomena.Comment: Invited talk at the International Workshop on Tau-Charm Physics (Charm2006), Beijing, China, June 5-7, 2006. 8 pages, 2 figure

Flexible system of multiple RGB-D sensors for measuring and classifying fruits in agri-food Industry

The productivity of the agri-food sector experiences continuous and growing challenges that make the use of innovative technologies to maintain and even improve their competitiveness a priority. In this context, this paper presents the foundations and validation of a flexible and portable system capable of obtaining 3D measurements and classifying objects based on color and depth images taken from multiple Kinect v1 sensors. The developed system is applied to the selection and classification of fruits, a common activity in the agri-food industry. Being able to obtain complete and accurate information of the environment, as it integrates the depth information obtained from multiple sensors, this system is capable of self-location and self-calibration of the sensors to then start detecting, classifying and measuring fruits in real time. Unlike other systems that use specific set-up or need a previous calibration, it does not require a predetermined positioning of the sensors, so that it can be adapted to different scenarios. The characterization process considers: classification of fruits, estimation of its volume and the number of assets per each kind of fruit. A requirement for the system is that each sensor must partially share its field of view with at least another sensor. The sensors localize themselves by estimating the rotation and translation matrices that allow to transform the coordinate system of one sensor to the other. To achieve this, Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm is used and subsequently validated with a 6 degree of freedom KUKA robotic arm. Also, a method is implemented to estimate the movement of objects based on the Kalman Filter. A relevant contribution of this work is the detailed analysis and propagation of the errors that affect both the proposed methods and hardware. To determine the performance of the proposed system the passage of different types of fruits on a conveyor belt is emulated by a mobile robot carrying a surface where the fruits were placed. Both the perimeter and volume are measured and classified according to the type of fruit. The system was able to distinguish and classify the 95% of fruits and to estimate their volume with a 85% of accuracy in worst cases (fruits whose shape is not symmetrical) and 94% of accuracy in best cases (fruits whose shape is more symmetrical), showing that the proposed approach can become a useful tool in the agri-food industry.This project has been supported by the National Commission for Science and Technology Research of Chile (Conicyt) under FONDECYT grant 1140575 and the Advanced Center of Electrical and Electronic Engineering - AC3E (CONICYT/FB0008)

Towards a determination of the chiral couplings at NLO in 1/N(C): L_8(mu) and C_38(mu)

We present a dispersive method which allows to investigate the low-energy couplings of chiral perturbation theory at the next-to-leading order (NLO) in the 1/N(C) expansion, keeping full control of their renormalization scale dependence. Using the resonance chiral theory Lagrangian, we perform a NLO calculation of the scalar and pseudoscalar two-point functions, within the single-resonance approximation. Imposing the correct QCD short-distance constraints, one determines their difference Pi(t)=Pi_S(t)-Pi_P(t) in terms of the pion decay constant and resonance masses. Its low momentum expansion fixes then the low-energy chiral couplings L_8 and C_38. At mu_0=0.77 GeV, we obtain L_8(mu_0)^{SU(3)} = (0.6+-0.4)10^{-3} and C_{38}(mu_0)^{SU(3)}=(2+-6)10^{-6}.Comment: Extended version published at JHEP01(2007)039. A NLO prediction for the O(p6) chiral coupling C_38 has been added. The original L_8 results remain unchange

Personalised Trachea Stent Designer: a Knowledge Feature

Modelling of anatomical parts is usually tackled through triangulated models with specialised Bio-CAD applications. If features beyond anatomy are required, geometry is usually translated into NURBS geometry for further modification in parametric feature based design CAD systems. But, they remain quite unmanageable yet. The authors present, validate and implement into a knowledge feature a methodology that generates an anatomically personalised trachea stent based a point cloud data extracted from a Computerised Axial Tomography with an open-source medical data visualisation application

Pion and Kaon Decay Constants: Lattice vs. Resonance Chiral Theory

The Lattice results for the pion and kaon decay constants are analysed within the Resonance Chiral Theory framework in the large NC limit. The approximately linear behaviour of the observable at large light-quark mass is explained through the interaction with the lightest multiplet of scalar resonances. The analysis of the Lattice results allows to obtain the resonance mass MS=1049 +- 25 MeV and the Chiral Perturbation Theory parameters at leading order in 1/NC.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Persistent warmth across the Benguela upwelling system during the Pliocene epoch

A feature of Pliocene climate is the occurrence of “permanent El Niño-like” or “El Padre” conditions in the Pacific Ocean. From the analysis of sediment cores in the modern northern Benguela upwelling, we show that the mean oceanographic state off Southwest Africa during the warm Pliocene epoch was also analogous to that of a persistent Benguela “El Niño”. At present these events occur when massive southward flows of warm and nutrient-poor waters extend along the coasts of Angola and Namibia, with dramatic effects on regional marine ecosystems and rainfall. We propose that the persistent warmth across the Pliocene in the Benguela upwelling ended synchronously with the narrowing of the Indonesian seaway, and the early intensification of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciations around 3.0–3.5 Ma. The emergence of obliquity-related cycles in the Benguela sea surface temperatures (SST) after 3 Ma highlights the development of strengthened links to high latitude orbital forcing. The subsequent evolution of the Benguela upwelling system was characterized by the progressive intensification of the meridional SST gradients, and the emergence of the 100 ky cycle, until the modern mean conditions were set at the end of the Mid Pleistocene transition, around 0.6 Ma. These findings support the notion that the interplay of changes in the depth of the global thermocline, atmospheric circulation and tectonics preconditioned the climate system for the end of the warm Pliocene epoch and the subsequent intensification of the ice ages