Monte Carlo integration in Glauber model analysis of reactions of halo nuclei

Reaction and elastic differential cross sections are calculated for light nuclei in the framework of the Glauber theory. The optical phase-shift function is evaluated by Monte Carlo integration. This enables us to use the most accurate wave functions and calculate the phase-shift functions without approximation. Examples of proton nucleus (e.g. p-$^6$He, p-$^6$Li) and nucleus-nucleus (e.g. $^6$He$-^{12}$C) scatterings illustrate the effectiveness of the method. This approach gives us a possibility of a more stringent analysis of the high-energy reactions of halo nuclei.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure

Measurement of the Charged Multiplicities in b, c and Light Quark Events from Z0 Decays

Average charged multiplicities have been measured separately in $b$, $c$ and light quark ($u,d,s$) events from $Z^0$ decays measured in the SLD experiment. Impact parameters of charged tracks were used to select enriched samples of $b$ and light quark events, and reconstructed charmed mesons were used to select $c$ quark events. We measured the charged multiplicities: $\bar{n}_{uds} = 20.21 \pm 0.10 (\rm{stat.})\pm 0.22(\rm{syst.})$, $\bar{n}_{c} = 21.28 \pm 0.46(\rm{stat.}) ^{+0.41}_{-0.36}(\rm{syst.})$ $\bar{n}_{b} = 23.14 \pm 0.10(\rm{stat.}) ^{+0.38}_{-0.37}(\rm{syst.})$, from which we derived the differences between the total average charged multiplicities of $c$ or $b$ quark events and light quark events: $\Delta \bar{n}_c = 1.07 \pm 0.47(\rm{stat.})^{+0.36}_{-0.30}(\rm{syst.})$ and $\Delta \bar{n}_b = 2.93 \pm 0.14(\rm{stat.})^{+0.30}_{-0.29}(\rm{syst.})$. We compared these measurements with those at lower center-of-mass energies and with perturbative QCD predictions. These combined results are in agreement with the QCD expectations and disfavor the hypothesis of flavor-independent fragmentation.Comment: 19 pages LaTex, 4 EPS figures, to appear in Physics Letters

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection ar

MEASUREMENT OF THE τ LIFETIME Mark II Collaboration-SLAC-LBL-Harvard

No abstract availabl

Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Distribution in Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, Parkinson's Disease, and Vascular Dementia: In Vitro Binding Study Using 5-[125I]-A-85380

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) have been implicated in a number of neurological disorders. 5-Iodo-3-[2(S)-2-azetidinylmethoxy]pyridine (5-I-A-85380) is a novel nAChR marker, binding predominantly to the α4β2 subtype. This in vitro autoradiography study describes the distribution of 5-[125I]-A-85380 binding in post-mortem brain tissue from normal elderly individuals and from cases with age-associated dementias of both neurodegenerative and vascular types. The binding distribution of 5-[125I]-A-85380 in normal brain tissue was found to be consistent with the reported distribution of other high-affinity nicotinic ligands. In addition to high thalamic and moderate striatal and temporal cortex density, moderate 5-[125I]-A-85380 binding was also seen in white matter tracts in cingulate, occipital, and temporal areas, indicating the presence of nAChRs along nerve fiber tracts, which has not been reported in other high-affinity nicotinic agonist distribution studies. In Parkinson's disease (PD), loss of striatal 5-[125I]-A-85380 binding closely parallels the loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic markers previously observed. In dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) reduced striatal 5-[125I]-A-85380 binding density, comparable to that in PD, may be a marker of early degeneration in nigrostriatal inputs, while in Alzheimer's disease (AD) reduced striatal 5-[125I]-A-85380 binding could be related to reduced cortical inputs. The reductions of nAChRs seen in AD, DLB, and PD were not apparent in vascular dementia (VaD). In conclusion, 5-I-A-85380 is clearly a useful ligand for both in vitro and in vivo single photon emission tomography human studies investigating disease symptoms and progression, response to acetylcholinesterase-inhibiting drugs and in differentiating primary degenerative dementia from VaD

Bi-allelic variants in <em>TKFC</em> encoding triokinase/FMN cyclase are associated with cataracts and multisystem disease.

We report an inborn error of metabolism caused by TKFC deficiency in two unrelated families. Rapid trio genome sequencing in family 1 and exome sequencing in family 2 excluded known genetic etiologies, and further variant analysis identified rare homozygous variants in TKFC. TKFC encodes a bifunctional enzyme involved in fructose metabolism through its glyceraldehyde kinase activity and in the generation of riboflavin cyclic 4′,5′-phosphate (cyclic FMN) through an FMN lyase domain. The TKFC homozygous variants reported here are located within the FMN lyase domain. Functional assays in yeast support the deleterious effect of these variants on protein function. Shared phenotypes between affected individuals with TKFC deficiency include cataracts and developmental delay, associated with cerebellar hypoplasia in one case. Further complications observed in two affected individuals included liver dysfunction and microcytic anemia, while one had fatal cardiomyopathy with lactic acidosis following a febrile illness. We postulate that deficiency of TKFC causes disruption of endogenous fructose metabolism leading to generation of by-products that can cause cataract. In line with this, an affected individual had mildly elevated urinary galactitol, which has been linked to cataract development in the galactosemias. Further, in light of a previously reported role of TKFC in regulating innate antiviral immunity through suppression of MDA5, we speculate that deficiency of TKFC leads to impaired innate immunity in response to viral illness, which may explain the fatal illness observed in the most severely affected individual

Restrição alimentar para suínos machos castrados e imunocastrados em terminação Feeding restriction to finishing barrows and immunocastrated swine

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho e as características quantitativas de carcaça de suínos machos castrados e imunocastrados, sob alimentação à vontade ou restrição quantitativa. Foram utilizados 240 animais, com peso inicial de 91,49±3,26kg, distribuídos em delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, em esquema fatorial 2x2 (dois manejos alimentares e duas categorias), com quatro repetições e 15 suínos cada. Suínos sob restrição alimentar apresentaram consumo inferior (P<0,05) em relação aos alimentados à vontade. O consumo de ração não diferiu (P>0,05) entre castrados e imunocastrados. Suínos alimentados à vontade apresentaram maior (P<0,05) ganho de peso em relação àqueles sob restrição. Os imunocastrados apresentaram ganho de peso superior (P<0,05) aos castrados. Houve interação (P<0,05) entre manejo e categorias para conversão alimentar, em que a restrição melhorou a conversão alimentar dos castrados em relação aos imunocastrados. Além disso, os imunocastrados apresentaram melhor (P<0,05) conversão alimentar em relação aos castrados, independente do manejo alimentar. Não houve interação (P>0,05) entre os fatores sobre as características de carcaça. A restrição não afetou (P>0,05) as características de carcaça. Machos imunocastrados apresentaram menor (P<0,05) espessura de toucinho e maior percentual de carne magra na carcaça. A restrição alimentar melhora a conversão alimentar de machos castrados. A restrição alimentar piora o ganho de peso e não altera as características de carcaça dos machos castrados e imunocastrados. Suínos imunocastrados apresentam desempenho superior, menor espessura de toucinho e maior percentual de carne magra em relação aos castrados.<br>The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance and carcass quantitative characteristics of barrows and immunocastrated swine fed ad libitum or under quantitative feeding restriction. Two hundred and forty animals were used, with initial weight of 91.49±3.26kg, distributed in a randomized blocks design, in a factorial scheme 2x2 (two management and two food categories), with four replicates of 15 pigs each. Pigs submitted to dietary restriction had lower consumption (P<0.05) than those fed ad libitum. Feed intake did not differ (P>0.05) between castrated and immunocastrated. Pigs fed ad libitum had higher (P<0.05) weight gain over those submitted to restriction. The immunocastrated showed higher weight gain (P<0.05) than castrated. There was an interaction (P<0.05) between management and categories for feed, in which the restriction improved castrated pigs. Immunocastrated had better (P <0.05) feed conversion compared to castrated, regardless of feed management. There was no interaction (P>0.05) among the factors on carcass traits. The restriction did not affect (P>0.05) carcass traits. Immunocastrated pigs had lower (P<0.05) back fat thickness and higher percentage of lean meat. Dietary restriction improves feed conversion of castrated pigs. The dietary restriction affects weight gain and does not affect carcass characteristics of barrows and immunocastrated. Immunocastrated pigs have higher performance, lower back fat thickness and a higher percentage of lean meat compared to the castrated