To the modification of methods of nuclear chronometry in astrophysics and geophysics

In practically all known till now methods of nuclear chronometry there were usually taken into account the life-times of only fundamental states of $\alpha$-radioactive nuclei. But in the processes of nuclear synthesis in stars and under the influence of the constant cosmic radiation on surfaces of planets the excitations of the $\alpha$-radioactive nuclei are going on. Between them there are the states with the excited $\alpha$-particles inside the parent nuclei and so with much smaller life-times. And inside the large masses of stellar, terrestrial and meteoric substances the transitions between different internal conditions of radioactive nuclei are accompanied by infinite chains of the $\gamma$-radiations with the subsequent $\gamma$-absorptions, the further $\gamma$-radiations etc. For the description of the $\alpha$-decay evolution with considering of such excited states and multiple $\gamma$-radiations and $\gamma$-absorptions inside stars and under the influence of the cosmic radiation on the earth surface we present the quantum-mechanical approach, which is based on the generalized Krylov-Fock theorem. Some simple estimations are also presented. They bring to the conclusion that the usual (non-corrected) "nuclear clocks" do really indicate not to realistic values but to the \emph{upper limits} of the durations of the $\alpha$-decay stellar and planet processes.Comment: 6 pages, Standard LaTeX v.2

Hot topics in research: Preventive neuroradiology in brain aging and cognitive decline

Preventive neuroradiology is a new concept supported by growing literature. The main rationale of preventive neuroradiology is the application of multimodal brain imaging toward early and subclinical detection of brain disease and subsequent preventive actions through identification of modifiable risk factors. An insightful example of this is in the area of age-related cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia with potentially modifiable risk factors such as obesity, diet, sleep, hypertension, diabetes, depression, supplementation, smoking, and physical activity. In studying this link between lifestyle and cognitive decline, brain imaging markers may be instrumental as quantitative measures or even indicators of early disease. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the major studies reflecting how lifestyle factors affect the brain and cognition aging. In this hot topics review, we will specifically focus on obesity and physical activity

AD51B in Familial Breast Cancer

Common variation on 14q24.1, close to RAD51B, has been associated with breast cancer: rs999737 and rs2588809 with the risk of female breast cancer and rs1314913 with the risk of male breast cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of RAD51B variants in breast cancer predisposition, particularly in the context of familial breast cancer in Finland. We sequenced the coding region of RAD51B in 168 Finnish breast cancer patients from the Helsinki region for identification of possible recurrent founder mutations. In addition, we studied the known rs999737, rs2588809, and rs1314913 SNPs and RAD51B haplotypes in 44,791 breast cancer cases and 43,583 controls from 40 studies participating in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) that were genotyped on a custom chip (iCOGS). We identified one putatively pathogenic missense mutation c.541C>T among the Finnish cancer patients and subsequently genotyped the mutation in additional breast cancer cases (n = 5259) and population controls (n = 3586) from Finland and Belarus. No significant association with breast cancer risk was seen in the meta-analysis of the Finnish datasets or in the large BCAC dataset. The association with previously identified risk variants rs999737, rs2588809, and rs1314913 was replicated among all breast cancer cases and also among familial cases in the BCAC dataset. The most significant association was observed for the haplotype carrying the risk-alleles of all the three SNPs both among all cases (odds ratio (OR): 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11–1.19, P = 8.88 x 10−16) and among familial cases (OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.16–1.32, P = 6.19 x 10−11), compared to the haplotype with the respective protective alleles. Our results suggest that loss-of-function mutations in RAD51B are rare, but common variation at the RAD51B region is significantly associated with familial breast cancer risk