Gold fragmentation induced by stopped antiprotons

A natural gold target was irradiated with the antiproton beam from the Low Energy Antiproton Ring at CERN. Antiprotons of 200 MeV/c momentum were stopped in a thick target, products of their annihilations on Au nuclei were detected using the off-line gamma-ray spectroscopy method. In total, yields for 114 residual nuclei were determined, providing a data set to deduce the complete mass and charge distribution of all products with A > 20 from a fitting procedure. The contribution of evaporation and fission decay modes to the total reaction cross section as well as the mean mass loss were estimated. The fission probability for Au absorbing antiprotons at rest was determined to be equal to (3.8+-0.5)%, in good agreement with an estimation derived using other techniques. The mass-charge yield distribution was compared with the results obtained for proton and pion induced gold fragmentation. On the average, the energy released in pbar annihilation is similar to that introduced by ~ 1 GeV protons. However, compared to proton bombardment products, the yield distribution of antiproton absorption residues in the N-Z plane is clearly distinct. The data for antiprotons exhibit also a substantial influence of odd-even and shell effects.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, Revtex 4, to be published in Physical Review

Medical Radioisotopes Produced with Cyclotron Beams in Warsaw

The various production routes of the prospective medical radioisotopes 43Sc, 44gSc, 44mSc, 47Sc, 44Ti/44gSc, 99mTc, 72Se/72As and 211At were investigated by a team from the Heavy Ion Laboratory, University of Warsaw (HIL-UW), the University of Silesia (US) and the National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCNR). Three cyclotrons were employed: the K=160 heavy-ion cyclotron with an internal 32 MeV alpha particle beam and the p/d PETtrace medical cyclotron at HIL and the C30 proton cyclotron at NCNR in Świerk, near Warsaw. The Thick Target Yields, activity at the End of Bombardment (EOB) and the impurities produced in addition to the main isotope are reported. The possible medical applications of these radioisotopes are briefly discussed

Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Assessment of Arterial Stiffening with Age in European and Chinese Populations

As arteries become stiffer with aging, reflected waves move faster and augment late systolic pressure. Few studies have described the age-related changes in both peripheral and central systolic blood pressures in populations. We investigated the age dependency of peripheral (pSBP) and central (cSBP) systolic pressure and pressure amplification (i.e., difference between peripheral and central SBP) in randomly selected participants from European and Chinese populations. Data were collected in 1420 Europeans (mean age, 41.7 years) and 2044 (mean age, 45.1 years) Chinese. In cross-sectional analyses of the population samples cSBP consistently increased more with age than pSBP with the age-related increases being greater in women than men. Repeat assessment of pSBP and cSBP in 398 Europeans and 699 Chinese at a median interval approximately 4 years of follow-up confirmed that also within subjects cSBP rose steeper with aging than pSBP. In conclusion, with aging, pSBP approximates to cSBP. This might explain why in older subjects pSBP becomes the main predictor of cardiovascular complications

Medical radioisotopes produced using the alpha particle beam from the Warsaw Heavy Ion Cyclotron

The internal alpha particle beam of the heavy ion cyclotron operated by the Heavy Ion Laboratory (HIL) of the University of Warsaw has a maximum energy of 32 MeV and currently an intensity of up to 1 p A. This beam is used by the HIL-University of Silesia collaboration for the production of research quantities of 211At, 72Se/72As and 43;44Sc radioisotopes. The produced activities are transported to the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology inWarsaw where research on therapeutic and imaging radiopharmaceuticals based on these radioisotopes is pursued

Heritability and intrafamilial aggregation of arterial characteristics

BACKGROUND: We investigated the heritability and familial aggregation of various indexes of arterial stiffness and wave reflection and we partitioned the phenotypic correlation between these traits into shared genetic and environmental components. METHODS: Using a family-based population sample, we recruited 204 parents (mean age, 51.7 years) and 290 offspring (29.4 years) from the population in Cracow, Poland (62 families), Hechtel-Eksel, Belgium (36), and Pilsen, the Czech Republic (50). We measured peripheral pulse pressure (PPp) sphygmomanometrically at the brachial artery; central pulse pressure (PPc), the peripheral augmentation indexes (PAIxs) and central augmentation indexes (CAIxs) by applanation tonometry at the radial artery; and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) by tonometry or ultrasound. In multivariate-adjusted analyses, we used the ASSOC and PROC GENMOD procedures as implemented in SAGE and SAS, respectively. RESULTS: We found significant heritability for PAIx, CAIx, PPc and mean arterial pressure ranging from 0.37 to 0.41; P </= 0.0001. The method of intrafamilial concordance confirmed these results; intrafamilial correlation coefficients were significant for all arterial indexes (r >/= 0.12; P </= 0.02) with the exception of PPc (r = -0.007; P = 0.90) in parent-offspring pairs. The sib-sib correlations were also significant for CAIx (r = 0.22; P = 0.001). The genetic correlation between PWV and the other arterial indexes were significant (rhoG >/= 0.29; P < 0.0001). The corresponding environmental correlations were only significantly positive for PPp (rhoE = 0.10, P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The observation of significant intrafamilial concordance and heritability of various indexes of arterial stiffness as well as the genetic correlations among arterial phenotypes strongly support the search for shared genetic determinants underlying these traits

Influence of selected genetic polymorphisms of angiotensinogen, angiotensin-converting enzyme and type-1 angiotensin II receptor on arterial pressure and large artery stiffness parameters - depending on sodium intake

Wstęp Celem pracy było ustalenie związku polimorfizmów G-6A genu AGT, D/I genu ACE i A1166C genu AGT1R z wartościami ciśnienia tętniczego i usztywnienia dużych tętnic oraz ocena zależności między czynnikami genetycznymi i środowiskowymi i ich łącznego wpływu na analizowane parametry. Materiał i metody Badaniem objęto 52 rodziny (82 rodziców i 103 dzieci). U każdego uczestnika dokonano pomiarów ciśnienia tętniczego: obwodowego (metoda konwencjonalna i zapis 24-godzinny) i centralnego (analiza fali tętna), a także właściwości elastycznych dużych tętnic. U osób uczestniczących w badaniu oznaczono dobowe wydalanie sodu z moczem oraz wykonano analizy genetyczne. Wyniki Analizy dotyczące pojedynczych polimorfizmów wykazały zależność między polimorfizmem D/I genu ACE a 24-godzinnym i centralnym ciśnieniem skurczowym (SBPA, SBPC) i tętna (PPA, PPC). Ponadto wykazano obecność istotnych statystycznie interakcji między polimorfizmem D/I genu ACE a dobowym wydalaniem sodu z moczem w odniesieniu do SBPC, konwencjonalnego ciśnienia tętna (PPP), PPC oraz wzmocnienia fali aortalnej (AG). W analizie asocjacji przeprowadzonej między parametrami ciśnieniowymi i usztywnienia ścian naczyń a polimorfizmem D/I w tercylach dobowego wydalania sodu z moczem, w grupie osób homozygotycznych II w porównaniu z nosicielami allelu D, w trzecim tercylu wydalania sodu, obserwowano istotnie statystyczne wyższe wartości SBPC, PPP, PPA, PPC oraz AG, czego nie obserwowano w pierwszym i drugim tercylu. Wnioski W badanej populacji wykazano istotne interakcje między polimorfizmem D/I genu ACE a dobowym wydalaniem sodu z moczem w zakresie wpływu na ciśnienie tętnicze i sztywność tętnic. Allel D genu ACE wykazywał ochronną rolę w grupie osób z wysokim dobowym spożyciem sodu.Background In a population-based and family-based approach we investigated, to what extent blood pressure and large artery stiffness relate to the AGT G-6A, ACE D/I and AGT1R A1166C gene polymorphisms, as well as the interaction between genetic and environmental factors and their joint influence on the aforementioned parameters. Materials and methods We recruited 52 families (82 parents and 103 offspring). Peripheral pressures were derived from conventional and 24h-ambulatory blood pressure measurements, respectively. Central pressures and large artery stiffness parameters were assessed by pulse wave analysis. All participants collected a 24-h urine sample for the measurement of sodium excretion as well as blood sample for the evaluation of genetic analyses. Results In single gene analyzes, significant findings were revealed for ACE D/I polymorphism with respect to 24h-ambulatory and central systolic (SBPA, SBPC) and pulse (PPA, PPC) pressures. In further analyzes, we found an interaction between ACE D/I genotype and 24-h urinary sodium excretion in relation to SBPC, conventional pulse pressure (PPP), PPC and augmentation pressure (AG). In the third tertile of the distribution of sodium excretion we observed significantly increased SBPC, PPP, PPA, PPC and AG in ACE II homozygotes compared to D allele carriers, which was not observed in first and second tertile. Conclusions In the examined group, the interactions between D/I polymorphism of the ACE gene and daily sodium excretion in the urine were revealed, in relation to the parameters of blood pressure and arterial wall stiffness.The D allele of ACE gene showed a protective role in the group of subjects with high daily sodium intake