2,279 research outputs found
Mechanisms producing fissionlike binary fragments in heavy collisions
The mixing of the quasifission component to the fissionlike cross section
causes ambiguity in the quantitative estimation of the complete fusion cross
section from the observed angular and mass distributions of the binary
products. We show that the partial cross section of quasifission component of
binary fragments covers the whole range of the angular momentum values leading
to capture. The calculated angular momentum distributions for the compound
nucleus and dinuclear system going to quasifission may overlap: competition
between complete fusion and quasifission takes place at all values of initial
orbital angular momentum. Quasifission components formed at large angular
momentum of the dinuclear system can show isotropic angular distribution and
their mass distribution can be in mass symmetric region similar to the
characteristics of fusion-fission components. As result the unintentional
inclusion of the quasifission contribution into the fusion-fission fragment
yields can lead to overestimation of the probability of the compound nucleus
formation.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, International Conference on Nuclear Reactions on
Nucleons and Nuclei, Messina, Italy, October 5-9, 200
A phase-separation perspective on dynamic heterogeneities in glass-forming liquids
We study dynamic heterogeneities in a model glass-former whose overlap with a
reference configuration is constrained to a fixed value. The system
phase-separates into regions of small and large overlap, so that dynamical
correlations remain strong even for asymptotic times. We calculate an
appropriate thermodynamic potential and find evidence of a Maxwell's
construction consistent with a spinodal decomposition of two phases. Our
results suggest that dynamic heterogeneities are the expression of an ephemeral
phase-separating regime ruled by a finite surface tension
A novel bacterial l-arginine sensor controlling c-di-GMP levels in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Nutrients such as amino acids play key roles in shaping the metabolism of microorganisms in natural environments and in host–pathogen interactions. Beyond taking part to cellular metabolism and to protein synthesis, amino acids are also signaling molecules able to influence group behavior in microorganisms, such as biofilm formation. This lifestyle switch involves complex metabolic reprogramming controlled by local variation of the second messenger 3′, 5′-cyclic diguanylic acid (c-di-GMP). The intracellular levels of this dinucleotide are finely tuned by the opposite activity of dedicated diguanylate cyclases (GGDEF signature) and phosphodiesterases (EAL and HD-GYP signatures), which are usually allosterically controlled by a plethora of environmental and metabolic clues. Among the genes putatively involved in controlling c-di-GMP levels in P. aeruginosa, we found that the multidomain transmembrane protein PA0575, bearing the tandem signature GGDEF-EAL, is an l-arginine sensor able to hydrolyse c-di-GMP. Here, we investigate the basis of arginine recognition by integrating bioinformatics, molecular biophysics and microbiology. Although the role of nutrients such as l-arginine in controlling the cellular fate in P. aeruginosa (including biofilm, pathogenicity and virulence) is already well established, we identified the first l-arginine sensor able to link environment sensing, c-di-GMP signaling and biofilm formation in this bacterium
The in vitro addition of methotrexate and/or methylprednisolone determines peripheral reduction in Th17 and expansion of conventional Treg and of IL-10 producing Th17 lymphocytes in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis.
The aim of our study was to evaluate methotrexate (MTX) and methylprednisolone (MP) effect on peripheral Th17 and Treg subsets in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We enrolled 15 patients (10 early RA and 5 long-standing disease) with active RA and 10 age-matched healthy donors as controls. Frequencies of Th17 and Treg were quantified using flow cytometry before and after in vitro addition of MTX, MP or both drugs. Our results showed a reduction in the overall Th17 population followed by an increase in Th17 IL-10+ and Treg, after in vitro treatment of PBMCs with the drugs in patients with early RA. Long-standing disease patients showed a less evident increase in Treg cells and less enhancement of IL-10 Th17 cells. We suggest that the treatment with MTX and MP could ameliorate RA disease activity by normalizing the distribution/imbalance of Th17/Treg and indicate a new regulatory role of IL-17+ cells in RA patients. \ua9 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Quasifission and fusion-fission in massive nuclei reactions. Comparison of reactions leading to the Z=120 element
The yields of evaporation residues, fusion-fission and quasifission fragments
in the Ca+Sm and O+W reactions are analyzed
in the framework of the combined theoretical method based on the dinuclear
system concept and advanced statistical model. The measured yields of
evaporation residues for the Ca+Sm reaction can be well
reproduced. The measured yields of fission fragments are decomposed into
contributions coming from fusion-fission, quasifission, and fast-fission. The
decrease in the measured yield of quasifission fragments in
Ca+Sm at the large collision energies and the lack of
quasifission fragments in the Ca+Sm reaction are explained by
the overlap in mass-angle distributions of the quasifission and fusion-fission
fragments. The investigation of the optimal conditions for the synthesis of the
new element =120 (=302) show that the Cr+Cm reaction is
preferable in comparison with the Fe+Pu and Ni+U
reactions because the excitation function of the evaporation residues of the
former reaction is some orders of magnitude larger than that for the last two
reactions.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
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