πNN\pi NN coupling determined beyond the chiral limit

Within the conventional QCD sum rules, we calculate the $\pi NN$ coupling constant, $g_{\pi N}$, beyond the chiral limit using two-point correlation function with a pion. We consider the Dirac structure, $i\gamma_5$, at $m_\pi^2$ order, which has clear dependence on the PS and PV coupling schemes for the pion-nucleon interactions. For a consistent treatment of the sum rule, we include the linear terms in quark mass as they constitute the same chiral order as $m_\pi^2$. Using the PS coupling scheme for the pion-nucleon interaction, we obtain $g_{\pi N}=13.3\pm 1.2$, which is very close to the empirical $\pi NN$ coupling. This demonstrates that going beyond the chiral limit is crucial in determining the coupling and the pseudoscalar coupling scheme is preferable from the QCD point of view.Comment: 8 pages, revtex, some errors are corrected, substantially revise

Demographic, clinical and antibody characteristics of patients with digital ulcers in systemic sclerosis: data from the DUO Registry

OBJECTIVES: The Digital Ulcers Outcome (DUO) Registry was designed to describe the clinical and antibody characteristics, disease course and outcomes of patients with digital ulcers associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: The DUO Registry is a European, prospective, multicentre, observational, registry of SSc patients with ongoing digital ulcer disease, irrespective of treatment regimen. Data collected included demographics, SSc duration, SSc subset, internal organ manifestations, autoantibodies, previous and ongoing interventions and complications related to digital ulcers. RESULTS: Up to 19 November 2010 a total of 2439 patients had enrolled into the registry. Most were classified as either limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc; 52.2%) or diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc; 36.9%). Digital ulcers developed earlier in patients with dcSSc compared with lcSSc. Almost all patients (95.7%) tested positive for antinuclear antibodies, 45.2% for anti-scleroderma-70 and 43.6% for anticentromere antibodies (ACA). The first digital ulcer in the anti-scleroderma-70-positive patient cohort occurred approximately 5 years earlier than the ACA-positive patient group. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides data from a large cohort of SSc patients with a history of digital ulcers. The early occurrence and high frequency of digital ulcer complications are especially seen in patients with dcSSc and/or anti-scleroderma-70 antibodies

Spectroscopy of neutron-rich nuclei populated through binary heavy-ion collisions

Neutron\u2010rich nuclei from A\u200a = \u200a50 to A\u200a = \u200a80 have been studied through multi\u2010nucleon transfer reactions by bombarding 208Pb and 238U targets with beams of 48Ca, 64Ni, 70Zn and 82Se. The gamma\u2010array CLARA coupled to the large\u2010acceptance magnetic spectrometer PRISMA gave unambiguous identification of prompt \u3b3 rays belonging to each nucleus. The existence of the N\u200a = \u200a32 sub\u2010shell closure has been corroborated through the study of odd V isotopes, whereas a sizable gap at N\u200a = \u200a34 has been evidenced from the spectroscopy of 51Ca and 52Sc. The evolution of the N\u200a = \u200a50 shell closure far from stability has been studied down to Z\u200a = \u200a31. With the 48Ca beam we have applied for the first time the Recoil Distance Dopple Shift technique to measure lifetimes of neutron\u2010rich nuclei populated in multi\u2010nucleon transfer reactions. Effective charges in the fp shell above 48Ca have been derived. The first implementation of the tracking array AGATA (the so called \u201cDemon\u2010strator\u201d) will be soon coupled to the PRISMA spectrometer at Legnaro. The future prospects with the use of the Demonstrator are also presented

Towards Far from Stability with Euroball

The Euroball \u3b3-detector array has been built with the main purpose of studying high angular momentum phenomena in nuclei. When coupled with powerful ancillary detectors it has proved to be an excellent instrument to explore the properties of very exotic nuclei far from \u3b2-stability. A large fraction of the experiments has been therefore devoted to study both proton-rich and neutron-rich nuclei populated with very low cross sections by using the stable beams provided by the Legnaro and Strasbourg accelerators. In this talk the main emphasis will be on nuclei lying close to the N = Z line where fundamental properties of the nuclear force can be tested with high precision

Spectroscopy of Neutron-rich Nuclei of the A60 region populated through binary heavy-ion collisions

Neutron\u2010rich nuclei of the mass A\u200a = \u200a60 region (from V to Fe) have been studied through multi\u2010nucleon transfer reactions by bombarding a 238U target with beams of 64Ni and 70Zn. Unambiguous identification of prompt \u3b3 rays belonging to each nucleus has been achieved by using the efficient gamma\u2010array CLARA coupled to the large\u2010acceptance magnetic spectrometer PRISMA installed at the Legnaro National Laboratories. With the new data, the existence of the N\u200a = \u200a32 sub\u2010shell closure has been corroborated through the study of odd V isotopes, whereas a new region of deformation appears for neutron\u2010rich Fe nuclei close to N\u200a = \u200a40. The results obtained for all these nuclei are compared with shell model calculations which reproduces quite well the experimental data also for the most neutron\u2010rich nuclei when excitations from the fp shell into the upper g9/2 orbital are allowed

Euroball results on nuclei at high spin and far from stability

Large gamma detector arrays are an essential tool for modern spectroscopy of nuclei both in their high spin regime and far from the stability line. The Euroball spectrometer has been operating for almost six years at the heavy-ion accelerators of Legnaro and Strasbourg covering a broad physics program which led to advances in nuclear structure studies at high angular momentum and of very exotic nuclei. In this talk I will give an overview of the most recent results of Euroball including new types of collective motion at high spin and studies of exotic neutron-deficient nuclei along the N=Z line. I will also briefly mention the new scientific opportunities offered by the Euroball detectors coupled to the FRS, PRISMA and RITU spectrometers at GSI, Legnaro and Jyva\ua8skyla\ua8, respectively

NEW RESULTS FROM EUROBALL

AIP CONFERENCE PROCEEDING