Brain MRI: a useful tool for screening of hypertensive patients for silent cerebro-vascular damage

Background: Worldwide hypertension is an important public-health challenge because of its high frequency and concomitant risks of cardiovascular, renal, cerebrovascular disease and death. Current guidelines for the management of hypertension mainly recommend the search for preclinical damage to the heart and kidneys. However, extending this search to other organs, for instance the brain, might improve risk stratification, might optimize antihypertensive therapy and might, in the end help to further reduce the burden of disease attributable to hypertension.Methods: 84 consecutive hypertensive patients with no target organ damage were enrolled in study to find out silent brain damage over a period of one year.Results: Mean body mass index (BMI) of the study population was 28.4±2.5 kg/m2 (range 23.2 to 35.3kg/m2). 33 (39.3%) subjects had white matter lesions. 13 (15.47%) study subjects were found to have vascular changes which included micro angiopathic changes, infarcts and reduced/slow blood flow. 33 (39.3%) subjects were found to have normal brain MRI in the study. Early brain MRI was found to be beneficial in patients who had uncontrolled blood pressure either due to lack of treatment or irregular use of anti-hypertensive treatment. This was true for every age group in general and particularly in subjects above the age of 50 years.Conclusions: The screening of hypertensive patients for silent cerebrovascular damage with brain MRI may be useful in stratifying the risk of future cerebrovascular disease

Sharp change over from compound nuclear fission to shape dependent quasi fission

Fission fragment mass distribution has been measured from the decay of $^{246}$Bk nucleus populating via two entrance channels with slight difference in mass asymmetries but belonging on either side of the Businaro Gallone mass asymmetry parameter. Both the target nuclei were deformed. Near the Coulomb barrier, at similar excitation energies the width of the fission fragment mass distribution was found to be drastically different for the $^{14}$N + $^{232}$Th reaction compared to the $^{11}$B + $^{235}$U reaction. The entrance channel mass asymmetry was found to affect the fusion process sharply.Comment: 4 pages,6 figure

Onset of deformation at N=112N = 112 in Bi nuclei

The high spin states in $^{195}$Bi has been studied by $\gamma$-ray spectroscopic method using the $^{181}$Ta($^{20}$Ne, 6n) fusion evaporation reaction at 130 MeV. The $\gamma\gamma$ coincidence data were taken using an array of 8 clover HPGe detectors. The spin and parity assignments of the excited states have been made from the measured directional correlation from oriented states (DCO) ratios and integrated polarization asymmetry (IPDCO) ratios. The results show, for the first time, the evidence of a rotational like band based on a 13/2$^+$ band head in this nucleus, indicating the onset of deformation at neutron number $N = 112$ for the Bismuth isotopes. The results obtained were found to be consistent with the prediction of the total Routhian surface calculations using Woods Saxon potential. The same calculations also predict a change in shape from oblate to triaxial in $^{195}$Bi at high rotational frequency