The three-nucleon system as a laboratory for nuclear physics: the need for 3N forces

Recent experimental results in three-body systems have unambiguously shown that calculations based on nucleon-nucleon forces fail to accurately describe many experimental observables and one needs to include effects which are beyond the realm of the two-body potentials. This conclusion owes its significance to the fact that experiments and calculations can both be performed with a high accuracy. In this short review, a sample of recent experimental results along with the results of the state-of-the-art calculations will be presented and discussed.Comment: Commissioned article for Nuclear Physics News, 8 pages, 6 figure

WASA-FRS EXPERIMENTS IN FAIR PHASE-0 AT GSI

We have developed a new and unique experimental setup integrating the central part of the Wide Angle Shower Apparatus (WASA) into the Fragment Separator (FRS) at GSI. This combination opens up possibilities of new experiments with high-resolution spectroscopy at forward 0◦ and measurements of light decay particles with nearly full solid-angle acceptance in coincidence. The first series of the WASA-FRS experiments have been successfully carried out in 2022. The developed experimental setup and two physics experiments performed in 2022 including the status of the preliminary data analysis are introduced.</p

Experimental Studies of Few-nucleon Systems at Intermediate Energies

Systems composed of 3 nucleons are a subject of precise experimental studies for many years. At the first stage the investigations were mainly focused on elastic nucleon-deuteron scattering, slowly extending to systematic measurements of the deuteron breakup reaction. Intermediate energies, below the threshold for pion production, deserve special attention: it is the region where comparison with exact theoretical calculations is possible, while the sensitivity to various aspects of interaction, like subtle effects of the dynamics beyond the pairwise nucleon-nucleon force, is significant. Moreover, the Coulomb interaction and relativistic effects show their influence in the observables of the breakup reaction. All these effects vary with energy and appear with different strength in certain observables and phase space regions, what calls for systematic investigations of a possibly rich set of observables determined in a wide range of energies. The next step in complication of the system are studies of reactions involving 4 nucleons—more sensitive, as expected, to subtle dynamics beyond the pairwise interaction. A brief survey of recent and planned experiments in the 3- and 4-nucleon systems is given

Activation and immunogenicity of Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase toxin

Adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA) was produced and purified in the toxic CyaC-modified form and the unmodified non-toxic form from both B. pertussis and recombinant E. coli strains in sufficient quantity to allow large scale experimentation. Immunoblot analysis of crude and purified CyaA preparations revealed that the toxins were prepared as full length 200 kDa proteins with a small amount of degradation products of lower molecular weight protein in both toxic and non-toxic forms. The in vivo CyaC-modified CyaA toxin produced from recombinant E. coli showed comparable levels of cytotoxic and invasive activity to that produced from B. pertussis but its haemolytic activity was weaker. In addition, the leukotoxin (LktA) from Pasteurella haemolytica was also produced by expression from recombinant plasmids in E. coli, in both the LktC-modified toxic form and unmodified non-toxic form. The A and C proteins of both toxins were produced separately in E. coli and each could be co-expressed on compatible plasmids. This allowed heterologous activation of CyaA by LktC and LktA by CyaC. The LktC- or CyaC-modified LktA of 105 kDa protein was produced and partially purified from recombinant E. coli strains, but the yield of LktA production was low compared to that of CyaA in the same T7 expression system. The LktC-modified CyaA toxin was also produced but showed no cytotoxic or haemolytic activity. Heterologous activation of LktA by CyaC was successful and the toxin was almost as active against bovine lymphoma (BL3) cells as the LktC-modified toxin. However, the heterologous activation by CyaC did not change its specificity for ruminant cells, because no cytotoxic activity against mouse J774.2 cells or haemolytic activity against horse red blood cells was detected. The CyaC-modified LktA showed a greater haemolytic to cytotoxic ratio than LktC-modified LktA. Thus, LktA modified by CyaC was more haemolytic than the LktC-modified form, but nevertheless retained the specificity for ruminant cells which is a feature of the native toxin. Two hybrid toxins derived from CyaA and LktA were also produced and purified. Hybl contained the N-terminal enzymic domain and the pore forming domain from CyaA (amino acids [aa] 1-687), with the remainder of the protein derived from the C-terminal end of LktA (aa 379-953). Hyb2 was created from Hybl by replacement of the LktA C-terminal domain of Hybl with the C-terminal domain of CyaA (aa 919-1706 ). Part of the region concerned with C-modification site of CyaA (aa 688-918) was therefore replaced with the equivalent region from LktA. The Hybl toxin of 150 kDa protein had normal AC enzymic activity, but showed no toxic activity when modified in vivo by CyaC or LktC. In contrast to CyaA, the 200 kDa Hyb2 protein was activated more efficiently by LktC than by CyaC, although the cytotoxic and haemolytic activity of Hyb2 modified with LktC or CyaC was lower compared to recombinant active CyaA modified by CyaC. However, LktC-modified Hyb2 showed more toxic activity against ruminant than against murine nucleated cells, whereas CyaC-activated Hyb2 displayed a similar, but lower, activity against both cell types, indicating that LktC and the region with which it interacted had an influence on the target cell specificity of the activated toxin

Enhancing Coronal Adaptation of Root Canal Fillings with a Modified Single-Cone Obturation Technique: Two Case Reports

The single-cone technique, also known as the hydraulic condensation technique, is widely employed in endodontics. However, the aforementioned method is presented with certain limitations; specifically concerning the coronal seal and the adaptation of the coronal third of a master gutta-percha (GP) with a round cross-section to the coronal dentinal walls of root canals with semi-round or oval cross-sections. Through two case reports, the current article introduces the coronal vertical condensation (CVC) technique; aiming to enhance GP adaptation to canal walls in similar scenarios. In fact, the coronal vertical condensation technique amalgamates the different aspects of warm vertical condensation and single-cone techniques. In CVC, following the placement of the master GP cone, an electrical heat carrier is inserted immediately a few millimeters apical from the canal orifice to remove the coronal portion of the master GP cone. Subsequently, a hand plugger is used to condense GP in the vertical dimension, and the coronal space is backfilled using melted GP. The implementation of CVC technique has demonstrated an improved coronal adaptation of GP with canal walls. The stated technique seems beneficial; especially in the obturation of severely curved canals or root canals with a final preparation shape of variable taper

Practice Patterns Of Clinicians: Assessment Of Malnutrition In Ckd Dialysis And Interventions

With limited information on the practice patterns regarding clinician identification of malnutrition and the use of nutritional interventions in malnourished CKD-5 dialysis patients, a market research survey was conducted by NKF sponsored by Pentec Health to evaluate this amongst renal clinicians. For dialysis patients, results for the top four assessment markers were: decreased appetite; albumin level; decrease in dry weight, quality of life. Most commonly recommended oral supplements (OS) were nutritionally complete renal, diabetic and standard products with most common barriers: out of pocket cost; patient resistance; and reimbursement issues. Nutrition support and food during dialysis responses for outpatients in table below:Nutrition Intervention% of clinicians who would recommendBarriers to Use (Top 3 )Tube Feeding28.0 %Not available at unit; patient resistance; family resistanceIntradialytic Parenteral Nutrition (IDPN)48.7 %Reimbursement ; not available at unit; MD resistanceIntraperitoneal Nutrition (IPN)22.0 %Not available at unit; reimbursement; MD resistanceTotal Parenteral Nutrition (TPN)16.9 %Not available at unit; reimbursement, MD resistanceFood During Hemodialysis83.3 % OS 63.3% FoodDrop in blood pressure, risk of aspiration; hygieneFindings: A clinician gap seems to exist around nutrition support interventions in CKD-5 dialysis patients. Meal provision during dialysis could be expanded. These interventions may improve the nutritional status of dialysis patients

Genetic risk factors in patients with deep venous thrombosis, a retrospective case control study on Iranian population

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) could be manifested as deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE). DVT is usually the more common manifestation and is usually formation of a thrombus in the deep veins of lower extremities. DVT could occur without known underlying cause (idiopathic thrombosis) which could be a consequence of an inherited underlying risk factor or could be a consequence of provoking events, such as trauma, surgery or acute illness (provoked thrombosis). Our aim in this study was to assess the impact of some previously reported genetic risk factors including, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T and A1298C, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1(PAI-1) 4G/5G, prothrombin 20210 and FV Leiden on occurrence of DVT in a population of Iranian patients. Methods: This long-term study was conducted on 182 patients with DVT and also 250 age and sex matched healthy subjects as control group. The diagnosis of DVT was based on patient's history, clinical findings, D-dimer test, and confirmed by Doppler ultrasonography. After confirmation of DVT, both groups were assessed for the five mentioned mutations. The relationship between mutations and predisposition to DVT was calculated by using logistic regression and expressed as an OR with a 95 confidence interval (CI). Results: Our results revealed that FV Leiden (OR 6.7; 95 CI = 2.2 to 20.3; P = 0.001), MTHFR C677T (OR 6.0; 95 CI = 2.2 to 16.4; P < 0.001), MTHFR A1298C (OR 8.3; 95 CI = 4.4 to 15.8; P < 0.001), and PAI-1 4G/5G (OR 3.8; 95 CI = 2.1 to 7.2; P < 0.001) mutations were all significantly associated with an increased risk of DVT. Prothrombin 20210 was found in none of the patients and controls. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that genetic risk factors have a contributory role on occurrence of DVT. © 2015 Hosseini et al

Oral Candidiasis amongst cancer patients at Qods Hospital

Background: Within the past two decades, Candida species have emerged as major human pathogens and are currently the fourth most common cause of nosocomial infection. Propose of this study was to determine the occurrence of oral Candidiasis among cancer patients at Qods hospitals in Sanandaj.Materials and Methods: Sixty cancer patients were examined for oral candidiasis. For all patients, the clinical diagnosis had to be confirmed microbiologically by the presence of yeasts and / or hyphae or pseudohyphae on potassium hydroxide–treated smears of oral swabs. Oral samples were obtained and cultured on Sabouraud's dextrose agar and CHROMagar.Results: 25 out of the 60 patients (41.7%) were males and 35 (58.3%) were females ranging in age from 15 to 79 years. Gastrointestinal cancer and Breast cancer were the most frequent cancer in the studied group, accounting for 65 % and 18.4 % respectively. The mean weight of the patients was 52.67 Kg (range, 38– 80 Kg). Similarly, the mean of hospital stay was 3.58 days (range; 1-9 days). From these patients, 19 Candida spp were isolated; C. albicans alone outnumbered other species and accounted for 73.68% episodes of trash. For C. albicans isolates, the MIC values ranges from 1 to 9 Z g / ml μg / ml for polyenes and from 0.03 to 16 Z g / ml for the azole antifungals. All the Candida albicans had closely related MFCs values.Conclusion: In conclusions, the finding of our study strongly suggest that oral candidiasis is a frequent complication among cancer patients, being C. albicans the main etiological agent.Keywords: Cancer, Oral candidiasis, Candida albicans, Antifungal agentsdoi: 10.4314/ajcem.v12i3.

Transient x-ray diffraction used to diagnose shock compressed Si crystals on the Nova laser

Transient x-ray diffraction is used to record time-resolved information about the shock compression of materials. This technique has been applied on Nova shock experiments driven using a hohlraum x-ray drive. Data were recorded from the shock release at the free surface of a Si crystal, as well as from Si at an embedded ablator/Si interface. Modeling has been done to simulate the diffraction data incorporating the strained crystal rocking curves and Bragg diffraction efficiencies. Examples of the data and post-processed simulations are presented