Observation of a nanophase segregation in LiCl aqueous solutions from Transient Grating Experiments

Transient Grating experiments performed on supercooled LiCl, RH2O solutions with R>6 reveal the existence of a strong, short time, extra signal which superposes to the normal signal observed for the R=6 solution and other glass forming systems. This extra signal shows up below 190 K, its shape and the associated timescale depend only on temperature, while its intensity increases with R. We show that the origin of this signal is a phase separation between clusters with a low solute concentration and the remaining, more concentrated, solution. Our analysis demonstrates that these clusters have a nanometer size and a composition which are rather temperature independent, while increasing R simply increases the number of these clusters.Comment: 19 pages+ 8 figures+ 2 table

Charge centers in CaF2_2: Ab initio calculation of elementary physical properties

Charge centers in ionic crystals provide a channel for elementary interaction between electromagnetic radiation and the lattice. We calculate the electronic ground state energies which are needed to create a charge center -- namely a $F$- and a $H$-center. In well agreement with common understanding the $F$-center results in being accompanied by a small lattice distortion whereas the $H$-center is accompanied by a very large lattice deformation. Opposite to the common understanding the additional positive charge in the charge center results rather to be localized on a F$_4^{3-}$ complex than on a F$_2^-$-complex. From the ground states of the charge centers we derive binding energies, diffusion barriers and agglomeration energies for $M$-center formation. These microscopic quantities are of fundamental interest to understand the dynamic processes which are initiated if the crystals interact with extreme intense deep ultra violet radiation. We further derive the equilibrium concentrations of charge centers in grown crystals.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev. B in Aug. 2006, 11 Fig

Unimpaired Neuropsychological Performance and Enhanced Memory Recall in Patients with Sbma: A Large Sample Comparative Study.

Peculiar cognitive profile of patients with SBMA has been described by fragmented literature. Our retrospective study reports the neuropsychological evaluations of a large cohort of patients in order to contribute towards the understanding of this field. We consider 64 neuropsychological evaluations assessing mnesic, linguistic and executive functions collected from 2013 to 2015 in patients attending at Motor Neuron Disease Centre of University of Padova. The battery consisted in: Digit Span forwards and backwards, Prose Memory test, Phonemic Verbal fluency and Trail making tests. ANCOVA statistics were employed to compare tests scores results with those obtained from a sample of healthy control subjects. Multiple linear regressions were used to study the effect on cognitive performance of CAG-repeat expansion, the degree of androgen insensitivity and their interaction to cognitive performance. Statistical analyses did not reveal altered scores in any neuropsychological tests among those adopted. Interestingly, patients performed significantly better in the Prose Memory test's score. No relevant associations were found with genetic, hormonal or clinical patients' profile. Results inconsistent with previous studies have been interpreted according to the phenomenon of somatic mosaicism. We suggest a testosterone-related and the mood state-dependant perspectives as two possible interpretations of the enhanced performances in the Prose Memory test. Further studies employing more datailed tests batteries are encouraged

Normal tau polarisation as a sensitive probe of CP violation in chargino decay

CP violation in the spin-spin correlations in chargino production and subsequent two-body decay into a tau and a tau-sneutrino is studied at the ILC. From the normal polarisation of the tau, an asymmetry is defined to test the CP-violating phase of the higgsino mass parameter \mu. Asymmetries of more than \pm70% are obtained, also in scenarios with heavy first and second generation sfermions. Bounds on the statistical significances of the CP asymmetries are estimated. As a result, the normal tau polarisation in the chargino decay is one of the most sensitive probes to constrain or measure the phase \phi_\mu at the ILC, motivating further detailed experimental studies.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, gzipped tar fil

Proteasome Lid Bridges Mitochondrial Stress with Cdc53/Cullin1 NEDDylation Status

Cycles of Cdc53/Cullin1 rubylation (a.k.a NEDDylation) protect ubiquitin-E3 SCF (Skp1-Cullin1-F-box protein) complexes from self-destruction and play an important role in mediating the ubiquitination of key protein substrates involved in cell cycle progression, development, and survival. Cul1 rubylation is balanced by the COP9 signalosome (CSN), a multi-subunit derubylase that shows 1:1 paralogy to the 26 S proteasome lid. The turnover of SCF substrates and their relevance to various diseases is well studied, yet, the extent by which environmental perturbations influence Cul1 rubylation/derubylation cycles per se is still unclear. In this study, we show that the level of cellular oxidation serves as a molecular switch, determining Cullin1 rubylation/derubylation ratio. We describe a mutant of the proteasome lid subunit, Rpn11 that exhibits accumulated levels of Cullin1-Rub1 conjugates, a characteristic phenotype of csn mutants. By dissecting between distinct phenotypes of rpn11 mutants, proteasome and mitochondria dysfunction, we were able to recognize the high reactive oxygen species (ROS) production during the transition of cells into mitochondrial respiration, as a checkpoint of Cullin1 rubylation in a reversible manner. Thus, the study adds the rubylation cascade to the list of cellular pathways regulated by redox homeostasis

How light can the lightest neutralino be?

In this talk we summarize previous work on mass bounds of a light neutralino in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. We show that without the GUT relation between the gaugino mass parameters M_1 and M_2, the mass of the lightest neutralino is essentially unconstrained by collider bounds and precision observables. We conclude by considering also the astrophysics and cosmology of a light neutralino.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Particles, Strings and Cosmology (PASCOS2010), Valencia (Spain), July 19th - 23rd, 201

Model-independent constraints on spin observables

We discuss model-independent constraints on spin observables in exclusive and inclusive reactions, with special attention to the case of photoproduction.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Talk by J.-M. Richard at NSTAR 2009, IHEP, Beijing (China), April 19-22, 2009, Proc. to appear in "Chinese Physics C

A T-odd asymmetry in neutralino production and decay

We study CP-violating effects in neutralino production and subsequent decay within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with complex parameters M_1 and mu. The observable we propose is a T-odd asymmetry based on a triple product in neutralino production e^+ e^- -> tilde{chi}^0_i tilde{chi}^0_2, i = 1,...,4, with subsequent leptonic three-body decay tilde{chi}^0_2 -> tilde{chi}^0_1 l^+ l^-, l = e, mu, at an e^+ e^- linear collider with sqrt{s} = 500 GeV and polarised beams. We provide compact analytical formulae for the cross section and the T-odd asymmetry taking into account the complete spin correlations between production and decay. We give numerical predictions for the cross section and the T-odd asymmetry. The asymmetry can go up to 10 %.Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX, 10 figures; v2: typos corrected, published versio