Beta decay of

In this work we study the allowed and forbidden β −-decay transitions from 115Cd to 115In in the framework of the microscopic quasiparticle-phonon model (MQPM) using realistic single-particle model spaces and G-matrix-based effective interactions. Both the 1/2+ ground state and the 11/2− isomeric state in 115Cd decay to various final states in 115In. Results of the calculations are compared with experimental data on partial decay half-lives to probe the wave functions produced by the MQPM. Of special interest is the possible decay branch 1/2+ β 9/2+ that is fourth-forbidden non-unique with a possible ultra-low Q-value associated with it. Accurate measurement of the ground-state-to-ground-state Q-value by, e.g., the Penning trap techniques, is urged to verify the existence of this decay transition. Such ultra-low Q-value transitions could be valuable in measurements of the electron-neutrino mass and studies of the interference of atomic effects

Transgenic Cows That Produce Recombinant Human Lactoferrin in Milk Are Not Protected from Experimental Escherichia coli Intramammary Infection

This is the first study describing an experimental mastitis model using transgenic cows expressing recombinant human lactoferrin (rhLf) in their milk. The aim of the study was to investigate the concentrations in milk and protective effects of bovine and recombinant human lactoferrin in experimental Escherichia coli mastitis. Experimental intramammary infection was induced in one udder quarter of seven first-lactating rhLf-transgenic cows and six normal cows, using an E. coli strain isolated from cows with clinical mastitis and known to be susceptible to Lf in vitro. Clinical signs were recorded during the experimental period, concentrations of human and bovine Lf and indicators of inflammation and bacterial counts were determined for milk, and concentrations of acute-phase proteins and tumor necrosis factor alpha were determined for sera and milk. Serum cortisol and blood hematological and biochemical parameters were also determined. Expression levels of rhLf in the milk of transgenic cows remained constant throughout the experiment (mean, 2.9 mg/ml). The high Lf concentrations in the milk of transgenic cows did not protect them from intramammary infection. All cows became infected and developed clinical mastitis. The rhLf-transgenic cows showed milder systemic signs and lower serum cortisol and haptoglobin concentrations than did controls. This may be explained by lipopolysaccharide-neutralizing and immunomodulatory effects of the high Lf concentrations in their milk. However, Lf does not seem to be a very efficient protein for genetic engineering to enhance the mastitis resistance of dairy cows

Electron spectra in forbidden β decays and the quenching of the weak axial-vector coupling constant gA

Evolution of the electron spectra with the effective value of the weak axial-vector coupling constant gA was followed for 26 first-, second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-forbidden β− decays of odd-A nuclei by calculating the involved nuclear matrix elements (NMEs) in the framework of the microscopic quasiparticle-phonon model (MQPM). The next-to-leading-order terms were included in the β-decay shape factor of the electron spectra. The spectrum shapes of third- and fourth-forbidden nonunique decays were found to depend strongly on the value of gA, while first- and second-forbidden decays were mostly unaffected by the tuning of gA. The gA-driven evolution of the normalized β spectra was found to be quite universal, largely insensitive to the small changes in the nuclear mean field and the adopted residual many-body Hamiltonian producing the excitation spectra of the MQPM. This makes the comparison of experimental and theoretical electron spectra, coined “the spectrum-shape method” (SSM), a robust tool for extracting information on the effective values of the weak coupling constants. In this exploratory work two new experimentally interesting decays for the SSM treatment were discovered: the ground-state-to-ground-state decays of 99Tc and 87Rb. Comparing the experimental and theoretical spectra of these decays could shed light on the effective values of gA and gV for second- and third-forbidden nonunique decays. The measurable decay transitions of 135Cs and 137Cs, in turn, can be used to test the SSM in different many-body formalisms. The present work can also be considered as a (modest) step towards solving the gA problem of the neutrinoless double beta decay.peerReviewe