Generalized seniority for the shell model with realistic interactions

The generalized seniority scheme has long been proposed as a means of dramatically reducing the dimensionality of nuclear shell model calculations, when strong pairing correlations are present. However, systematic benchmark calculations, comparing results obtained in a model space truncated according to generalized seniority with those obtained in the full shell model space, are required to assess the viability of this scheme. Here, a detailed comparison is carried out, for semimagic nuclei taken in a full major shell and with realistic interactions. The even-mass and odd-mass Ca isotopes are treated in the generalized seniority scheme, for generalized seniority v<=3. Results for level energies, orbital occupations, and electromagnetic observables are compared with those obtained in the full shell model space.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures; published in Phys. Rev.

Honey Bees (Apis mellifera, L.) as Active Samplers of Airborne Particulate Matter

© 2015 Negri et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. [CC by 4.0] The attached file is the published version of the article

MR blockade protects against diet induced obesity, adipocyte dysfunction and cardiac inflammation in mice, through browning of the adipose organ and modulation of autophagy

Obesity is a key factor in the development of insulin resistance (IR), cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes etc. Given the near epidemic incidence of obesity in western society there is a clear need for effective treatment options. Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) blockade has shown significant promise in transgenic mouse models of obesity in limiting IR and adipocyte dysfunction, a disease that is independent of classical MR actions (renal). Female 10-weekold C57bl6 mice were fed with normal chow or a high fat (HF) diet for 12 weeks. Mice fed HF diet were concomitantly treated for 12 weeks with drospirenone (DRSP, 6 mg/kg/day), a potent MR antagonist with antiadipogenic activity, or spironolactone (SPIRO, 20 mg/kg/day). Mice fed HF diet showed a significant increase in total body weight, fat mass, mean adipocyte size, expression of white adipose tissue (WAT) marker genes and showed impaired glucose tolerance after intraperitoneal plasma glucose tolerance test. DRSP and SPIRO prevented weight gain and white fat mass expansion induced by HF diet in parametrial, perivescical, and inguinal depots without affecting interscapular fat pad weight. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) confirmed that MR antagonists blocked the HF dietdriven expansion of abdomino-pelvic (parametrial and perivescical) fat volume. High levels of MR mRNA were detected in all depots of adipose tissue. HF fed mice showed no increase in heart or kidney weight and tissue fibrosis. Cardiac macrophage recruitment and osteopontin staining was increased in hearts of HF fed mice and reversed by both MR antagonists. Moreover, both DRSP and SPIRO prevented the impaired glucose tolerance in mice fed HF diet, and countered HF diet-induced up-regulation of WAT markers transcripts and adipocyte hypertrophy. Importantly, MR antagonists increased uncoupling protein 1 (UCP-1) positive brown-like adipocyte content in WAT, and improved metabolic activity of adipose tissue, as indicated by PET/CT imaging. In keeping with this, MR antagonism significantly increased expression of brown-like adipocyte marker genes such PRDM16, CIDEA, beta-3 adrenergic receptor (ADRB3) and UCP-1 in all WAT depots analysed. In exploring the mechanism, we demonstrated that MR antagonism induced brown adipose tissue (BAT) markers, and reduced the autophagic rate, a key remodelling process in adipocyte differentiation, in WAT depots in vivo as well as in primary cultured adipocytes. We conclude that adipocyte MR regulates BAT-like remodeling of WAT through modulation of autophagy. MR blockade therefore has promise as a novel therapeutic option for the prevention of metabolic dysfunctions and the cardiac consequences of obesity. doi:10.1016/j.ijcme.2015.05.012 Transcriptional control of ICAM-1 in human coronary artery endothelial cells by Mineralocorticoid Receptor (MR): Implications for the protective effects of MR antagonists in cardiovascular diseases V. Marzolla, A. Armani, A. Fabbri, I.Z. Jaffe, M. Caprio Laboratory of Cardiovascular Endocrinology, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy Department of Medicina dei Sistemi, Endocrinology Unit, S. Eugenio & CTO A. Alesini Hospitals, University Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy Molecular Cardiology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Boston

Models of radon exhalation from building structures: General and case-specific solutions.

Assessing the radon activity that exhales from building structures is crucial to identify the best strategies to prevent radon from entering a building or reducing its concentration in the inhabited spaces. The direct measurement is extremely difficult, so the common approach has consisted in developing models describing the radon migration and exhalation phenomena for building porous materials. However, due to the mathematical complexity of comprehensively modelling the radon transport phenomenon in buildings, simplified equations have been mostly adopted until now to assess the radon exhalation. A systematic analysis of the models applicable to radon transport has been carried out and it has resulted in four models differing in the migration mechanisms – only diffusive or diffusive and advective – and the presence of inner radon generation. The general solutions have been obtained for all the models. Moreover, three case-specific sets of boundary conditions have been formulated to account for all the actual scenarios occurring in buildings: both perimetral and partition walls and building structures in direct contact with soil or embankments. The corresponding case-specific solutions obtained serve as a key practical tool to improve the accuracy in assessing the contribution of building materials to indoor radon concentration according to the site-specific installation conditions in addition to the material inner properties