Pairing and alpha-like quartet condensation in N=Z nuclei

We discuss the treatment of isovector pairing by an alpha-like quartet condensate which conserves exactly the particle number, the spin and the isospin. The results show that the quartet condensate describes accurately the isovector pairing correlations in the ground state of systems with an equal number of protons and neutronsComment: 4 pages, to appear in Journal of Physics: Conference Serie

mTORC2 critically regulates renal potassium handling

The mTOR pathway orchestrates cellular homeostasis. The rapamycin-sensitive mTOR complex (mTORC1) in the kidney has been widely studied; however, mTORC2 function in renal tubules is poorly characterized. Here, we generated mice lacking mTORC2 in the distal tubule (Rictorfl/fl Ksp-Cre mice), which were viable and had no obvious phenotype, except for a 2.5-fold increase in plasma aldosterone. Challenged with a low-Na+ diet, these mice adequately reduced Na+ excretion; however, Rictorfl/fl Ksp-Cre mice rapidly developed hyperkalemia on a high-K+ diet, despite a 10-fold increase in serum aldosterone levels, implying that mTORC2 regulates kaliuresis. Phosphorylation of serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 (SGK1) and PKC-α was absent in Rictorfl/fl Ksp-Cre mice, indicating a functional block in K+ secretion activation via ROMK channels. Indeed, patch-clamp experiments on split-open tubular segments from the transition zone of the late connecting tubule and early cortical collecting duct demonstrated that Ba2+-sensitive apical K+ currents were barely detectable in the majority of Rictorfl/fl Ksp-Cre mice. Conversely, epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) activity was largely preserved, suggesting that the reduced ability to maintain K+ homeostasis is the result of impaired apical K+ conductance and not a reduced electrical driving force for K+ secretion. Thus, these data unravel a vital and nonredundant role of mTORC2 for distal tubular K+ handling

OPTIMIZATION OF TITANIUM NITRIDE FILM SYNTHESIS: CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE STRUCTURE / MICRO-HARDNESS AND DEPOSITION CONDITIONS

The DC sputtering method based on the variation of the potential of target function of nitrogen flow rate, for the deposition of titanium nitride (TiN) films, with the elementary chemical composition close to the stoichiometric one is presented. The process control method used in these experiments is the identification of the nitrogen flow required for the deposition of stoichiometric TiN layers by using the target potential as the reference parameter. The effects of the nitrogen flow, polarization voltage and discharge current on the structure, microstructure and micro-hardness of TiN films was studied

Structure of the quartetting ground state of N=ZN=Z nuclei

The formal equivalence between the quartetting picture and the symmetry restored BCS picture is established for the ground state correlations induced by the general isovector-isoscalar pairing interaction. Multiple ground state structures compatible with the particle number and isospin symmetries are evaluated. The competition of isovector and isoscalar correlations is discussed for the $N=Z$ nuclei above $^{100}$Sn.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Airborne Particulate Contaminants During Refrigeration of Meat in Controled Medium

The transfer of contamination through the airborne route is one of the most significant areas of high-care food production. The food industry specially the manufacturing of the chilled meat products strive for lower levels of the air contamination, therefore lot of experimental and numerical studies considers the concentration of airborne particulate contaminants, such as different species of food spoilage microorganism. In a food processing system concerned with efficient and duration preservation of primary agricultural produce post-harvesting/post-slaughtering, low carbonylic compounds as potential volatile metabolites generated by the micro flora present in the modified atmosphere CO2/O2; N2/O2, etc. of refrigeration areas for wholesale or pre-packaged fresh meat are of major interest together with other risk factors of consumer food safety. Some low aliphatic ketones with high volatility can be seized by smelling even at freezing temperatures in an advanced stage of accumulation. In this paper we suggest a guick method for the measurement of their concentration expressed as MEK starting with values of 1 μg/m3 atmosphere (refrigeration environment) through periodical and/or continuous sampling through aspiration from the proximity of meat surface both pre-packed and stored in standard cells in modified atmosphere (25% CO2; 75% O2) (25% N2; 75% O2) in an ethanol solution of salicylaldehyde 10% (CAS 90-02-8) when it makes up a colorimetrable yellow-orange compound. Assessment can be done continuously in parallel with comparing the colour with a potassium dichromate scale (qualitatively) and also by reporting it to a sampling curve previously prepared (quantitatively). The specificity of the method is affected only by the presence in the refrigeration atmosphere of other toxic volatile metabolites of ketonic nature (acetone, acetoin, 2,3-butane dione)

Effects of the Hydroethanolic Extract of Lycopodium selago L. on Scopolamine-Induced Memory Deficits in Zebrafish

This scientific research focused on the production of hydroethanolic extract of the plant species Lycopodium selago L. (L. selago) by the ultrasound-assisted extraction (USAE) and the identification of biocompounds with high antioxidant activity is of interest for possible phytotherapeutic treatment against Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The extract was phytochemically analyzed to investigate polyphenols, flavonoids, and identify the sesquiterpenoid alkaloid huperzine A (HupA), which is known in the literature for its great relevance in AD. Evaluation and comparison of the antioxidant activity of the extract were performed by four complementary spectrophotometric methods (DPPH, FRAP, ABTS, ORAC). In vitro tests of the extract showed an excellent reciprocal link between the concentration of polyphenols and the measurement of the antioxidant activity of the extract with the sesquiterpenoid HupA. To confirm the antioxidant activity, L. selago hydroethanolic extract was administered in vivo to zebrafish (Danio rerio) with a pattern of scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment. Moreover, this study explored a possible correlation between the expression of oxidative stress markers in the brain tissue with the behavior of the scopolamine zebrafish model. In vivo tests showed that this fern could be used as a nutritional supply and as a phytotherapeutic method to prevent or treat various neurodegenerative diseases that call for high-nutritive-value medications

Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Pers. Ethanolic Extract with Antioxidant Properties on Scopolamine-Induced Memory Deficits in a Zebrafish Model of Cognitive Impairment

Hericium erinaceus (H. erinaceus) is a rare and appreciated fungal species belonging to the division Basidiomycota used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine for its medicinal value. This species of mushrooms brings the most diverse benefits for the human body, and can have beneficial effects for treating Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study investigated whether ethanolic extract from the fungal biomass of H. erinaceus enhances cognitive function via the action on cholinergic neurons using the scopolamine (SCOP)-induced zebrafish (Danio rerio) model of memory impairment. The ethanolic extract from the fungal biomass of H. erinaceus was previously obtained using an ultrasonic extraction method (UE). The administration of H. erinaceus extract to zebrafish, with a pattern of AD induced by scopolamine, showed an improvement in memory evaluated by behavioral and biochemical tests on brain tissue. These results suggest that H. erinaceus has preventive and therapeutic potentials in managing memory deficits and brain oxidative stress in zebrafish with AD

Opinionated texts in social media: A proposal for evaluative judgement methodology

The paper reports on a pilot study devoted to the analysis of opinions expressed by Facebook discussants related to the immigration crisis in Europe. Opinions were conceptualised as the subjective expression of evaluation. The data were investigated in line with an original, tripartite typology consisting of 46 criteria of evaluative language coming from distinct scholarly traditions: media studies, linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis. Generally speaking, the proposed templates proved effective when mapped onto social media data; however, as there is a partial overlap of some of the categories used in the pilot study, the number of categories needs to be reduced in the subsequent investigation. The secondary objective of this paper is to present computational tools employed in the study, which, as the study shows, can enrich research methodology in communication studies, and these comprise the “R” package used for data visualisation and lexical and sentence-based embeddings based on LLM.Niniejszy artykuł stanowi raport z badania pilotażowego poświęconego analizie opinii wyrażanych przez dyskutantów na Facebooku na temat kryzysu imigracyjnego w Europie. Opinie rozumiane są w tym badaniu jako subiektywne wyrażanie oceny. Dane zostały przeanalizowane według zaproponowanej trójczłonowej typologii składającą się z 46 kryteriów języka oceniającego. Kryteria te pochodzą z różnych tradycji naukowych: medioznawstwa, językoznawstwa i krytycznej analizy dyskursu. Zaproponowane szablony okazały się skuteczne w odniesieniu do danych z mediów społecznościowych; jednakże, ze względu na częściowe nakładanie się niektórych kategorii użytych w badaniu pilotażowym, w dalszych badaniach liczba kategorii musi zostać zmniejszona. Drugim celem tego artykułu jest przedstawienie narzędzi komputerowych użytych w niniejszej analizie. Jak wskazuje zaprezentowana analiza narzędzia te mogą wzbogacić metodologię badań w dziedzinie komunikacji. Zastosowane narzędzia to pakiet „R” używany do wizualizacji danych, biblioteki Python oraz osadzenia (embeddings) leksykalne i zdaniowe oparte na LLM.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio