Topological signatures in CMB temperature anisotropy maps

We propose an alternative formalism to simulate cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature maps in Lambda CDM universes with nontrivial spatial topologies. This formalism avoids the need to explicitly compute the eigenmodes of the Laplacian operator in the spatial sections. Instead, the covariance matrix of the coefficients of the spherical harmonic decomposition of the temperature anisotropies is expressed in terms of the elements of the covering group of the space. We obtain a decomposition of the correlation matrix that isolates the topological contribution to the CMB temperature anisotropies out of the simply connected contribution. A further decomposition of the topological signature of the correlation matrix for an arbitrary topology allows us to compute it in terms of correlation matrices corresponding to simpler topologies, for which closed quadrature formulas might be derived. We also use this decomposition to show that CMB temperature maps of (not too large) multiply connected universes must show patterns of alignment, and propose a method to look for these patterns, thus opening the door to the development of new methods for detecting the topology of our Universe even when the injectivity radius of space is slightly larger than the radius of the last scattering surface. We illustrate all these features with the simplest examples, those of flat homogeneous manifolds, i.e., tori, with special attention given to the cylinder, i.e., T-1 topology.

Search for physics beyond the standard model using multilepton signatures in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Searching for planar signatures in WMAP

We search for planar deviations of statistical isotropy in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data by applying a recently introduced angular-planar statistics both to full-sky and to masked temperature maps, including in our analysis the effect of the residual foreground contamination and systematics in the foreground removing process as sources of error. We confirm earlier findings that full-sky maps exhibit anomalies at the planar (l) and angular (l) scales (l; l) = (2; 5); (4; 7); and (6; 8), which seem to be due to unremoved foregrounds since this features are present in the full-sky map but not in the masked maps. on the other hand, our test detects slightly anomalous results at the scales (l; l) = (10; 8) and (2; 9) in the masked maps but not in the full-sky one, indicating that the foreground cleaning procedure (used to generate the full-sky map) could not only be creating false anomalies but also hiding existing ones. We also find a significant trace of an anomaly in the full-sky map at the scale (l; l) = (10; 5), which is still present when we consider galactic cuts of 18.3% and 28.4%. As regards the quadrupole (l = 2), we find a coherent over-modulation over the whole celestial sphere, for all full-sky and cut-sky maps. Overall, our results seem to indicate that current CMB maps derived from WMAP data do not show significant signs of anisotropies, as measured by our angular-planar estimator. However, we have detected a curious coherence of planar modulations at angular scales of the order of the galaxy's plane, which may be an indication of residual contaminations in the full-and cut-sky maps.

Search for microscopic black hole signatures at the Large Hadron Collider

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Search for Signatures of Extra Dimensions in the Diphoton Mass Spectrum at the Large Hadron Collider

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Signatures of primordial non-Gaussianities in the matter power-spectrum and bispectrum: the time-RG approach

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The effect of hydrothermal alteration on the Sr and Nd isotopic signatures of the Barra do Itapirapua Carbonatite, Southern Brazil

The Cretaceous Barra do Itapirapua carbonatite in southern Brazil experienced extensive postmagmatic hydrothermal alteration. In this article, Sr and Nd isotope ratios of coexisting samples of hydrothermally overprinted and of preserved, nonoverprinted carbonatite are presented. Hydrothermal alteration caused strong REE enrichment, leading to the formation of minerals of the bastnaesite group. In the overprinted carbonatite, Nd contents reach 4000 ppm, two orders of magnitude higher than in the fresh carbonatite, but epsilon(Nd) varies only within a range of 3.4 units. In contrast, Sr was leached from the carbonatite during the postmagmatic alteration; hence values of around 10,000 ppm in the fresh carbonatite drop to about 1000 ppm in the overprinted samples. Leaching is accompanied by a variation of Sr isotopic composition toward more radiogenic values, resulting in an increase of 15 units in epsilon(Sr). Variation of Sr isotopic composition is related to postmagmatic alteration and is decoupled from the variation of Nd isotopic composition, ruling out heterogeneities in the mantle source as the main cause of isotopic variability in the data set. Furthermore, this cannot be explained by bulk crustal contamination. A two-step model is proposed in which (1) a REE-rich, carbonatite-derived hydrothermal fluid overprinted the pristine carbonatite, causing REE-enrichment with a relative small change of isotopic composition; and (2) crust-derived hydrothermal fluids percolated the cooling carbonatite, leaching the original Sr from the carbonatite and introducing a more radiogenic Sr isotopic signature. The amounts of carbonatite-derived Nd with primitive, carbonatite-like Nd isotope ratios introduced during the first stage of hydrothermal alteration are high enough to buffer the effect of crust-derived Nd on the Nd isotopic composition of the overprinted carbonatite.

Efficacy and safety of a soy isoflavone extract in postmenopausal women: A randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled study

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of soy isoflavone on climacteric symptoms in postmenopausal women.Design: In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, a total of 80 women (mean age =55.1 years), who reported 5 or more hot flush episodes per day, were randomized to receive either 250 mg of standardized soy extract (Glycine max AT) a total of 100 mg/day of isoflavone (n=40) or placebo (n=40). Exclusion criteria included: contra-indication for hormone therapy (HT), chronic gastrointestinal diseases, and users of HT within the preceding 6-months. For 10-months, climacteric symptoms were evaluated using a score card and the menopausal Kupperman index. Compliance and safety were also assessed. At baseline and the end of the study, lipid and hormonal profiles, as well as vaginal, mammographic and ultrasonographic parameters were measured. The t-test, Wilcoxon test and ANOVA were used in the statistical analysis.Results: At baseline, the mean number of hot flushes was 9.6 +/- 3.9 per day in the isoflavone group and 10.1 +/- 4.9 in the placebo group (p>0.05). After 10 months, there was a significant reduction in frequency of hot flushes among isoflavone users when compared to those on placebo (3.1 +/- 2.3 and 5.9 +/- 4.3, respectively) (p<0.001). Kupperman index mean values showed a significant reduction in both groups. However, soy isoflavone was significantly superior to placebo, in reducing hot flush severity (69.9% and 33.7%, respectively) (p<0.001). Endometrial thickness, mammography, vaginal cytology, lipids and hormonal profile did not change in both groups. No serious adverse event related to isoflavone treatment was reported.Conclusions: the soy isoflavone extract exerted favorable effects on vasomotor symptoms and good compliance, providing a safe and effective alternative therapeutic for postmenopausal women. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.

CYTOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE BRAZILIAN BLIND CATFISH PIMELODELLA-KRONEI AND ITS PRESUMED ANCESTOR, P-TRANSITORIA

Karyotypes of the blind catfish Pimelodella kronei from three different caves in the southwestern part of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, and of its presumed ancestor Pimelodella transitoria were examined. Chromosome number and formula, as well as C-banding pattern and NOR location were found to be the same in both species, supporting the hypothesis of a close relationship and even conspecificity of P. kronei and P. transitoria.

A phase III randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial to determine the efficacy of low level laser therapy for the prevention of oral mucositis in patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation

Introduction Oral mucositis (OM) is a significant early complication of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). This phase III randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study was designed to compare the ability of 2 different low level GaAlAs diode lasers (650 nm and 780 nm) to prevent oral mucositis in HCT patients conditioned with chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy.Materials and methods Seventy patients were enrolled and randomized into 1 of 3 treatment groups: 650 nm laser, 780 nm laser or placebo. All active laser treatment patients received daily direct laser treatment to the lower labial mucosa, right and left buccal mucosa, lateral and ventral surfaces of the tongue, and floor of mouth with energy densities of 2 J/cm(2). Study treatment began on the first day of conditioning and continued through day +2 post HCT. Mucositis and oral pain was measured on days 0, 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, and 21 post HCT.Results the 650 nm wavelength reduced the severity of oral mucositis and pain scores. Low level laser therapy was well-tolerated and no adverse events were noted.Discussion While these results are encouraging, further study is needed to truly establish the efficacy of this mucositis prevention strategy. Future research needs to determine the effects of modification of laser parameters (e.g., wavelength, fluence, repetition rate of energy delivery, etc.) on the effectiveness of LLE laser to prevent OM.

Low-level laser therapy for pain relief after episiotomy: a double-blind randomised clinical trial

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Using the Euclidean Distance as a Mechanism Distance between Signatures to the Detect Spam and Phishing Scams

Spams and Phishing Scams are some of the abuse forms on the Internet that have grown up now. These abuses influence in user's routine of electronic mail and in the infrastructure of Internet communication. So, this paper proposes a new model messages filter based in Euclidian distance, beyond show the containment's methodologies currently more used. A new model messages filter, based in frequency's distribution of character present in your content and in signature generation is described. An architecture to combat Phishing Scam and spam is proposed in order to contribute to the containment of attempted fraud by mail.