First lattice calculation of the QED corrections to leptonic decay rates

The leading-order electromagnetic and strong isospin-breaking corrections to the ratio of $K_{\mu 2}$ and $\pi_{\mu 2}$ decay rates are evaluated for the first time on the lattice, following a method recently proposed. The lattice results are obtained using the gauge ensembles produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ dynamical quarks. Systematics effects are evaluated and the impact of the quenched QED approximation is estimated. Our result for the correction to the tree-level $K_{\mu 2} / \pi_{\mu 2}$ decay ratio is $-1.22\,(16) \%$ to be compared to the estimate $-1.12\,(21) \%$ based on Chiral Perturbation Theory and adopted by the Particle Data Group.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures; extended supplemental material with 1 table and 1 figure, results unchange

Hematocrit Values Predict Carotid Intimal-Media Thickness in Obese Patients With Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Literature data suggest with some criticism that full-fledged cardiovascular (CV) events (acute or chronic) are likely predicted by blood components, which are reported to be associated with the presence/severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study was aimed at determining which marker(s) derived from blood count, such as white blood cells, neutrophils, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet count, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, hematocrit values were associated with ear or subclinical atherosclerosis, in obese patients of various classes suffering from NAFLD. METHODS: One hundred consecutive obese patients presenting NAFLD at ultrasound, with low prevalence of co-morbidities and no history or instrumental features of CV diseases, underwent carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) assessment by Doppler ultrasonography. All of them were studied taking into account anthropometric parameters, the metabolic profile, and inflammatory markers. RESULTS: White blood cells and neutrophil count showed no statistical association with IMT, which was predicted by the amount of visceral adiposity, as appreciated by ultrasonography. After adjusting for visceral adiposity and smoking status, only age and hematocrit contextually predicted early atherosclerosis, evaluated as IMT. Visceral adiposity was a confounding factor in foreseeing IMT. CONCLUSION: Hematocrit values along with the patient's age suggest an initial atherosclerosis, evaluated as IMT, and if this finding is confirmed in larger cohorts, could be added to other canonical CV risk factors. Inferences can be enhanced by future prospective studies that aim to identify the relationships between incident cardio-metabolic cases and this hematologic parameter

Urban data cultures in post-socialist countries: challenges for evidence-based policy towards housing sustainability

This draft report summarises the initial results from the research project "Urban Data Cultures: Understanding Creation and Management of Housing-Related Information in Post-Communist Republics". This project seeks to better understand the how geographically-varied ‘data cultures’ (i.e. variegated representations, values, norms, epistemologies, practices, infrastructures, standards, power structures, etc, through which data is produced and used) inform the monitoring of progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly as they relate to urban housing. For this pilot module, the countries of Georgia, Ukraine, Albania and Kyrgyzstan have been selected as research settings. Our main methods were: in-depth interviews with officials engaged in housing policy and management at the central, regional and local levels (n=24); notes from informal conversations, workshops and visits to state departments; and an analysis of background policy reports, journalism and academic literature related to the case study countries. On the basis of this material, we explore how management styles of housing data are observably impacted in our field settings by three key dynamics: marketization/decentralization; knowledge and expertise; and the evolution of data sharing infrastructures. We then proceed to outline a five-dimensional model of 'data cultures', comprising: 'relationships between data and decision-making'; 'relationships between the data of particular public organizations and civil society'; 'systematicity of data collection'; 'attitudes towards data sharing'; and 'specialization of data-related functions'. In conclusion, we outline some preliminary recommendations

The impact of SuperB on flavour physics

This report provides a succinct summary of the physics programme of SuperB, and describes that potential in the context of experiments making measurements in flavour physics over the next 10 to 20 years. Detailed comparisons are made with Belle II and LHCb, the other B physics experiments that will run in this decade. SuperB will play a crucial role in defining the landscape of flavour physics over the next 20 years.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure

Coherent QED, Giant Resonances and (e+e−)(e^{+}e^{-}) Pairs in High Energy Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

We show that the coherent oscillations of the e.m. field induced by the collective quantum fluctuations of the nuclear matter field associated with the giant resonances, with frequencies $\omega_{A}\simeq 78A^{-{1/3}}$ MeV, give rise to a significant $(e^+e^-)$ pair production in high energy Heavy Ion collisions. The approximate parameterless calculation of such yield is in good agreement with recent experimental observations.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figure

Dark Matter and Dark Energy via Non-Perturbative (Flavour) Vacua

A non-perturbative field theoretical approach to flavour physics (Blasone-Vitiello formalism) has been shown to imply a highly non-trivial vacuum state. In a previous work, we implemented the approach on a simple supersymmetric model (free Wess-Zumino), with flavour mixing, which was regarded as a model for free neutrinos and sneutrinos. The resulting effective vacuum (called "flavour vacuum") was found to be characterized by a strong SUSY breaking. In this paper we explore the phenomenology of the model and we argue that the flavour vacuum is a consistent source for both Dark Energy (thanks to the bosonic sector of the model) and Dark Matter (via the fermionic one). Quite remarkably, besides the parameters connected with neutrino physics, in this model no other parameters have been introduced, possibly leading to a predictive theory of Dark Energy/Matter. Despite its oversimplification, such a toy model already seems capable to shed some light on the observed energy hierarchy between neutrino physics, Dark Energy and Dark Matter. Furthermore, we move a step forth in the construction of a more realistic theory, by presenting a novel approach for calculating relevant quantities and hence extending some results to interactive theories, in a completely non-perturbative way.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Automated detection of lung nodules in low-dose computed tomography

A computer-aided detection (CAD) system for the identification of pulmonary nodules in low-dose multi-detector computed-tomography (CT) images has been developed in the framework of the MAGIC-5 Italian project. One of the main goals of this project is to build a distributed database of lung CT scans in order to enable automated image analysis through a data and cpu GRID infrastructure. The basic modules of our lung-CAD system, consisting in a 3D dot-enhancement filter for nodule detection and a neural classifier for false-positive finding reduction, are described. The system was designed and tested for both internal and sub-pleural nodules. The database used in this study consists of 17 low-dose CT scans reconstructed with thin slice thickness (~300 slices/scan). The preliminary results are shown in terms of the FROC analysis reporting a good sensitivity (85% range) for both internal and sub-pleural nodules at an acceptable level of false positive findings (1-9 FP/scan); the sensitivity value remains very high (75% range) even at 1-6 FP/scanComment: 4 pages, 2 figures: Proceedings of the Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 21th International Congress and Exhibition, Berlin, Volume 2, Supplement 1, June 2007, pp 357-35

Optical phonons, OH vibrations, and structural modifications of phlogopite at high temperatures: An in-situ infrared spectroscopic study

The thermal behavior of optical phonons and OH vibrations of phlogopite (a trioctahedral mica) was examined at temperatures up to 1000 K using in situ infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that with increasing temperature, O–K bands in phlogopite exhibited a relatively strong variation in frequency in a manner similar to those in muscovite. The work revealed that different types of OH bands (fundamentals and combinations) have very different thermal behavior or temperature dependence, and their absorption coefficients are commonly not constant on heating. OH combination bands that are associated with summation processes of multi-phonon interactions commonly show a decrease in their intensities on heating, but in contrast combination bands due to difference processes generally exhibit an increase. This means that temperature dependencies of their absorption coefficients need to be considered when using the Beer-Lambert law to determine or estimate OH contents or hydrogen concentrations at high temperatures. The results showed a structural anomaly associated with a discontinuity in the temperature derivative of the wavenumber of Al–O and Si–O vibrations and O–H stretching near 600 K. However, framework-related phonon modes in the FIR and MIR regions do not suggest a break of the original monoclinic structural symmetry in the investigated temperature region. The complex changes are attributed to temperature-induced alteration of local configuration involving TO4 tetrahedra and a possible change of the orientation of OH dipoles, in addition to a previously reported distortion of MO6 octahedra. Increasing temperature to 1000 K also causes partial dehydroxylation, as evidenced by the disappearance of the OH band near 3623 cm−1 and the decrease in OH band height and area of other OH bands. The study did not record the formation of H2O inside phlogopite as a result of partial dehydroxylation. The work offers new data and findings that have important implications in understanding the complex structural modifications and the behavior of phonon modes and the thermal stability of hydroxyls on approaching the dehydroxylation, as well as the way hydrogen is released from micas at high temperatures. Our data also show that phologpite becomes less transparent with increasing temperature suggesting a change of radiative properties and ability to transmit heat, which could be of interest for modeling thermal-transmission in crustal rocks

Precise limits from lepton flavour violating processes on the Littlest Higgs model with T-parity

We recalculate the leading one-loop contributions to mu > e gamma and mu -> eee in the Littlest Higgs model with T-parity, recovering previous results for the former. When all the Goldstone interactions are taken into account, the latter is also ultraviolet finite. The present experimental limits on these processes require a somewhat heavy effective scale ~2.5 TeV, or the flavour alignment of the Yukawa couplings of light and heavy leptons at the ~10% level, or the splitting of heavy lepton masses to a similar precision. Present limits on tau decays set no bounds on the corresponding parameters involving the tau leptonComment: 41 pages, 11 figures; v3: matches published version in JHE

Light quark masses and pseudoscalar decay constants from Nf=2 Lattice QCD with twisted mass fermions

We present the results of a lattice QCD calculation of the average up-down and strange quark masses and of the light meson pseudoscalar decay constants with Nf=2 dynamical fermions. The simulation is carried out at a single value of the lattice spacing with the twisted mass fermionic action at maximal twist, which guarantees automatic O(a)-improvement of the physical quantities. Quark masses are renormalized by implementing the non-perturbative RI-MOM renormalization procedure. Our results for the light quark masses are m_ud^{msbar}(2 GeV)= 3.85 +- 0.12 +- 0.40 MeV, m_s^{msbar}(2 GeV) = 105 +- 3 +- 9 MeV and m_s/m_ud = 27.3 +- 0.3 +- 1.2. We also obtain fK = 161.7 +- 1.2 +- 3.1 MeV and the ratio fK/fpi=1.227 +- 0.009 +- 0.024. From this ratio, by using the experimental determination of Gamma(K-> mu nu (gamma))/Gamma(pi -> mu nu (gamma)) and the average value of |Vud| from nuclear beta decays, we obtain |Vus|=0.2192(5)(45), in agreement with the determination from Kl3 decays and the unitarity constraint.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure