Role of Endogenous NGF in Modulation of Neuro-glial Network in the Spinal Cord of a Rat Model of Neuropathic Pain

Interaction between glial and neuronal cells seems to be necessary for the correct neuronal function and modifications of neuro-glial network strongly contribute to several neurodegenerative processes. Based on NGF activity on DRG and sensory neurons in the spinal cord, we have used the Spared Nerve Injury (SNI) rat model to investigate the role of endogenous NGF in maintaining homeostatic synaptic conditions. We found that restoring the balance of NGF maturation and degradation reduces neuropathic behaviour by reverting the alterations of neuronal and glial components. In addiction, by using neuronally differentiated PC12 cell, we identify a novel mechanism of neuroprotection by NGF that involves modulation of mitochondrial function and autophagy

Preequilibrium GDR excitation and entrance channel angular momentum effects

The energy spectra of the γ-rays emitted in the 35Cl + 92Mo reaction at incident energy E = 260 MeV were measured in coincidence with the ejectiles produced in dissipative reaction events. The cumulative energy spectrum of the γ-rays coming from the decay of the ejectiles was calculated within the statistical model and its comparison to the experimental spectrum evidences an excess in the data for Eγ = 8 to 12 MeV. Such an excess, fitted with a Lorentz curve, is attributed to the preequilibrium GDR γ-decay of the intermediate dinuclear system. The centroid energy of the Lorentz curve corresponds to a dipole oscillation along the symmetry axis of the system and its width is found to be comparable to that of the ground state GDR low energy component of the deformed dinucleus. The small quantal dispersion Δl = (10.3 ± 0.1)ħ of the entrance channel angular momentum, determined by analysing the dissipative fragment angular distribution in the framework of the Strutinsky model, is suggested to limit the broadening of the preequilibrium GDR width

Transfer reactions on light exotic nuclei studied with CHIMERA detector at LNS

The kinematical coincidence method is used to extract angular distribution of elastic scattering and transfer reactions. The detected light particle energy spectra are used to extract the angular distribution with around 1° resolution in the Center of Mass (CM) system. Examples with 10Be beam are presented. In the case of proton scattering, γ-ray coincidences are used to discriminate excited levels population from elastic scattering

Emission of fragments in Ca+Ca reaction at 25 MeV/nucleon

We discuss experimental data concerning 40,48Ca+40,48Ca reactions at 25 MeV/nucleon; the 4π multi-detector Chimera has been used as detection device. Effects that can be attributed to the neutron to proton ratios (N/Z) degree of freedom have been investigated. From the analysis of experimental data it seems that the neutron richness of the interacting system plays an important role on the evolution of fusion-like sources formed in semi-central collisions. In particular, it is observed that the larger is the neutron content and the larger is the emission of heavy residues. Experimental data have been compared with CoMD-II model calculations; a moderately stiff symmetry energy should be used to reproduce satisfactorily the data. A thermodynamical analysis on fusion-like sources has been also performed. In semi-peripheral collisions, isospin diffusion signals have been found. They have been investigated by analyzing isobaric emission (7Li/7Be) of quasi-projectile sources. Experimental data indicate that an incomplete N/Z mixing is reached during the interaction phase

Decay competition for IMF produced in the collisions 78Kr+40Ca and 86Kr+48Ca at 10 A.MeV

Decay modes of excited compound systems 118Ba and 134Ba, produced respectively in the 78Kr+40Ca and 86Kr+48Ca collisions at 10 A·MeV, are investigated. In particular, the competition between the various disintegration path of medium mass compound nuclei, formed by fusion processes, the production of the so referred Intermediate Mass Fragments (IMF), and the isospin dependence of the decay process are studied. Data were taken at the INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS) by using the CHIMERA array. Data analysis is in progress; a first indication on the average-energy angular distributions suggests pre-equilibrium effects affecting the data and the presence of isotopical effects

Strong enhancement of dynamical emission of heavy fragments in the neutron-rich 124Sn+64Ni reaction at 35A MeV

A quantitative comparison is made between the absolute cross sections associated with statistical and dynamical emission of heavy fragments in the 124Sn+64Ni and 112Sn+58Ni collisions experimentally investigated at 35A MeV beam energy using the multidetector CHIMERA. The result shows that the dynamical process is about twice as probable in the neutron-rich 124Sn+64Ni system as in the 112Sn+58Ni neutron-poor one. This unexpected and significant difference indicates that the reaction mechanism is strongly dependent on the entrance-channel isospin (N/Z) content