The Photodissociation of 8B^8B and the Solar Neutrino Problem

The extraction of the photodissociation cross sections of $^8B$ from Coulomb dissociation experiments is investigated. A careful study is done on the contributions of the E1, E2 and M1 multipolarities to the breakup. A comparison with the data of a recent experiment is performed. It is shown that the extraction of the radiative capture cross sections $^7Be(p,\ \gamma)^8B$ which are relevant for the solar neutrino problem is not affected appreciably by Coulomb reacceleration. A non-perturbative model is used for the purpose. Emphasis is put on the perspectives for future experiments which are planned at the University of Notre Dame, RIKEN (Japan), and GSI (Germany). An analysis of the total yields of ``photon-point" processes in inelastic electron scattering is also done.Comment: 23 pages, plain Latex. 12 figures available upon request

Metropolis simulations of Met-Enkephalin with solvent-accessible area parameterizations

We investigate the solvent-accessible area method by means of Metropolis simulations of the brain peptide Met-Enkephalin at 300$K$. For the energy function ECEPP/2 nine atomic solvation parameter (ASP) sets are studied. The simulations are compared with one another, with simulations with a distance dependent electrostatic permittivity $\epsilon (r)$, and with vacuum simulations ($\epsilon =2$). Parallel tempering and the biased Metropolis techniques RM$_1$ are employed and their performance is evaluated. The measured observables include energy and dihedral probability densities (pds), integrated autocorrelation times, and acceptance rates. Two of the ASP sets turn out to be unsuitable for these simulations. For all other systems selected configurations are minimized in search of the global energy minima, which are found for the vacuum and the $\epsilon(r)$ system, but for none of the ASP models. Other observables show a remarkable dependence on the ASPs. In particular, we find three ASP sets for which the autocorrelations at 300$$K are considerably smaller than for vacuum simulations.Comment: 10 pages and 8 figure

The structure of oppositionality: Response disposition and situational aspects

Background: The Amsterdam Scale of Oppositionality (ASO) is a recently developed self-report instrument to measure the full range of oppositionality. It was used to test the assumption that oppositionality can best be conceptualized as a combination of emotions and behaviors varying across contexts, i.e., with parents, peers and authority figures. Method: The sample consisted of 560 boys and 598 girls, aged 8 to 12 years. The thirty items of the ASO, grouped in item parcels, were analyzed using confirmatory factor analyses. Results: Results confirmed the main hypothesis. The best fitting models contained strongly related emotional and behavioral factors and three mutually related situational factors. Oppositionality appeared to be to a large extent situation-specific. Girls are more affected by the situation than boys and show less oppositionality only outside the family context. Conclusions: Results are discussed with respect to the concept of oppositionality, varying expectations for interpersonal consequences, and implications for clinical assessment and studies of inter-informant reliability

New User-Friendly Approach to Obtain an Eisenberg Plot and Its Use as a Practical Tool in Protein Sequence Analysis

The Eisenberg plot or hydrophobic moment plot methodology is one of the most frequently used methods of bioinformatics. Bioinformatics is more and more recognized as a helpful tool in Life Sciences in general, and recent developments in approaches recognizing lipid binding regions in proteins are promising in this respect. In this study a bioinformatics approach specialized in identifying lipid binding helical regions in proteins was used to obtain an Eisenberg plot. The validity of the Heliquest generated hydrophobic moment plot was checked and exemplified. This study indicates that the Eisenberg plot methodology can be transferred to another hydrophobicity scale and renders a user-friendly approach which can be utilized in routine checks in protein–lipid interaction and in protein and peptide lipid binding characterization studies. A combined approach seems to be advantageous and results in a powerful tool in the search of helical lipid-binding regions in proteins and peptides. The strength and limitations of the Eisenberg plot approach itself are discussed as well. The presented approach not only leads to a better understanding of the nature of the protein–lipid interactions but also provides a user-friendly tool for the search of lipid-binding regions in proteins and peptides

Granulocytic sarcoma (chloroma) of the oral cavity: Report of a case and literature review

SummaryA case of granulocytic sarcoma (chloroma) of the palatal mucosa is reported. Granulocytic sarcomas are composed of a localized collection of immature myeloid cells and are considered to be specific lesions of AML or the onset of a blast crisis in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Localization in the oral cavity is rare. A review of the literature showed only thirty-six cases of granulocytic sarcoma in the oral cavity. In this paper we present patient’s data and an overview of the literature

Loss of viability during freeze-thaw of intact and adherent human embryonic stem cells with conventional slow-cooling protocols is predominantly due to apoptosis rather than cellular necrosis

10.1007/s11373-005-9051-9Journal of Biomedical Science133433-44

Exotic ρ±ρ0\rho^\pm\rho^0 state photoproduction

It is shown that the list of unusual mesons planned for a careful study in photoproduction can be extended by the exotic states $X^\pm(1600)$ with $I^G(J ^{PC})=2^+(2^{++})$ which should be looked for in the $\rho^\pm\rho^0$ decay channels in the reactions $\gamma N\to\rho^\pm\rho^0N$ and $\gamma N\to\rho^\pm \rho^0\Delta$. The full classification of the $\rho^\pm\rho^0$ states by their quantum numbers is presented. A simple model for the spin structure of the $\gamma p\to f_2(1270)p$, $\gamma p\to a^0_2(1320)p$, and $\gamma N\to X^\pm (N, \Delta)$ reaction amplitudes is formulated and the tentative estimates of the corresponding cross sections at the incident photon energy $E_\gamma\approx 6$ GeV are obtained: $\sigma(\gamma p\to f_2(1270)p)\approx0.12$ $\mu$b, $\sigma(\gamma p\to a^0_2(1320)p)\approx0.25$ $\mu$b, $\sigma(\gamma N\to X^\pm N\to\rho^\pm\rho^0N)\approx0.018$ $\mu$b, and $\sigma(\gamma p\to X^-\Delta^{++ }\to\rho^-\rho^0\Delta^{++})\approx0.031$ $\mu$b. The problem of the $X^\pm$ signal extraction from the natural background due to the other $\pi^\pm\pi^0 \pi^+\pi^-$ production channels is discussed. In particular the estimates are presented for the $\gamma p\to h_1(1170)\pi^+n$, $\gamma p\to\rho'^{+}n\to \pi^+\pi^0\pi^+\pi^-n$, and $\gamma p\to\omega\rho^0p$ reaction cross sections. Our main conclusion is that the search for the exotic $X^\pm(2^+(2^{++}))$ states is quite feasible at JEFLAB facility. The expected yield of the $\gamma N\to X^\pm N\to\rho^\pm\rho^0N$ events in a 30-day run at the 100% detection efficiency approximates $2.8\times10^6$ events.Comment: 19 pages, revtex, 1 figure in postscipt, some comments and references added, a few minor typos corrected, to be published in Phys. Rev.