Upper Limit on the molecular resonance strengths in the 12{}^{12}C+12{}^{12}C fusion reaction

Carbon burning is a crucial process for a number of important astrophysical scenarios. The lowest measured energy is around E$_{\rm c.m.}$=2.1 MeV, only partially overlapping with the energy range of astrophysical interest. The currently adopted reaction rates are based on an extrapolation which is highly uncertain because of potential resonances existing in the unmeasured energy range and the complication of the effective nuclear potential. By comparing the cross sections of the three carbon isotope fusion reactions, ${}^{12}$C+${}^{12}$C, ${}^{12}$C+${}^{13}$C and ${}^{13}$C+${}^{13}$C, we have established an upper limit on the molecular resonance strengths in ${}^{12}$C+${}^{12}$C fusion reaction. The preliminary results are presented and the impact on nuclear astrophysics is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, FUSION11 conference proceedin

Reaction mechanisms in 24Mg+12C and 32S+24Mg

The occurence of "exotic" shapes in light N=Z alpha-like nuclei is investigated for 24Mg+12C and 32S+24Mg. Various approaches of superdeformed and hyperdeformed bands associated with quasimolecular resonant structures with low spin are presented. For both reactions, exclusive data were collected with the Binary Reaction Spectrometer in coincidence with EUROBALL IV installed at the VIVITRON Tandem facility of Strasbourg. Specific structures with large deformation were selectively populated in binary reactions and their associated $\gamma$-decays studied. The analysis of the binary and ternary reaction channels is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Paper presented at the Fusion08 International Conference on New Aspects of Heavy Ion Collisions Near the Coulomb Barrier, Chicago. Proceedings to be published by AIP Conference Proceedings Illinois, USA, September 22-26, 200

Unrecorded alcohol consumption in Russia: toxic denaturants and disinfectants pose additional risks

In 2005, 30% of all alcohol consumption in Russia was unrecorded. This paper describes the chemical composition of unrecorded and low cost alcohol, including a toxicological evaluation. Alcohol products (n=22) from both recorded and unrecorded sources were obtained from three Russian cities (Saratov, Lipetsk and Irkutsk) and were chemically analyzed. Unrecorded alcohols included homemade samogons, medicinal alcohols and surrogate alcohols. Analysis included alcoholic strength, levels of volatile compounds (methanol, acetaldehyde, higher alcohols), ethyl carbamate, diethyl phthalate (DEP) and polyhexamethyleneguanidine hydrochloride (PHMG). Single samples showed contamination with DEP (275–1269 mg/l) and PHMG (515 mg/l) above levels of toxicological concern. Our detailed chemical analysis of Russian alcohols showed that the composition of vodka, samogon and medicinal alcohols generally did not raise major public health concerns other than for ethanol. It was shown, however, that concentration levels of DEP and PHMG in some surrogate alcohols make these samples unfit for human consumption as even moderate drinking would exceed acceptable daily intakes

The endothelial glycocalyx prefers albumin for evoking shear stress-induced, nitric oxide-mediated coronary dilatation

Background: Shear stress induces coronary dilatation via production of nitric oxide ( NO). This should involve the endothelial glycocalyx ( EG). A greater effect was expected of albumin versus hydroxyethyl starch ( HES) perfusion, because albumin seals coronary leaks more effectively than HES in an EG-dependent way. Methods: Isolated hearts ( guinea pigs) were perfused at constant pressure with Krebs-Henseleit buffer augmented with 1/3 volume 5% human albumin or 6% HES ( 200/0.5 or 450/0.7). Coronary flow was also determined after EG digestion ( heparinase) and with nitro-L-arginine ( NO-L-Ag). Results: Coronary flow ( 9.50 +/- 1.09, 5.10 +/- 0.49, 4.87 +/- 1.19 and 4.15 +/- 0.09 ml/ min/ g for `albumin', `HES 200', `HES 450' and `control', respectively, n = 5-6) did not correlate with perfusate viscosity ( 0.83, 1.02, 1.24 and 0.77 cP, respectively). NO-L-Ag and heparinase diminished dilatation by albumin, but not additively. Alone NO-L-Ag suppressed coronary flow during infusion of HES 450. Electron microscopy revealed a coronary EG of 300 nm, reduced to 20 nm after heparinase. Cultured endothelial cells possessed an EG of 20 nm to begin with. Conclusions: Albumin induces greater endothelial shear stress than HES, despite lower viscosity, provided the EG contains negative groups. HES 450 causes some NO-mediated dilatation via even a rudimentary EG. Cultured endothelial cells express only a rudimentary glycocalyx, limiting their usefulness as a model system. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

Branching ratio in the electron-capture decay of 7Be

The branching ratio for the electron-capture decay of 7Be to the 478 keV state in 7Li has been measured. 7Be nuclei recoiling near zero degrees from the 1H(7Li, 7Be)n reaction were counted by and implanted into a Si detector placed in the focal plane of an Enge split-pole spectrograph. After determining the total number of implanted 7Be nuclei from the pulse height spectrum, the absolute number of 478 keV γ rays was measured with a Ge(Li) detector. The resulting branching ratio of 10.61±0.23% agrees well with previous measurements