A novel approach to Isoscaling: the role of the order parameter m = (N-Z)/A

Isoscaling is derived within a recently proposed modified Fisher model where the free energy near the critical point is described by the Landau O(m^6) theory. In this model m = (N-Z)/A is the order parameter, a consequence of (one of) the symmetries of the nuclear Hamiltonian. Within this framework we show that isoscaling depends mainly on this order parameter through the 'external (conjugate) field' H. The external field is just given by the difference in chemical potentials of the neutrons and protons of the two sources. To distinguish from previously employed isoscaling relationships, this approach is dubbed: m - scaling. We discuss the relationship between this framework and the standard isoscaling formalism and point out some substantial differences in interpretation of experimental results which might result. These should be investigated further both theoretically and experimentally.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Temperature and density of hot decaying 40Ca and 28Si

By means of quantum-fluctuation analysis techniques, temperatures and local partial densities of bosonic and fermionic fragments produced in the decay of hot 40Ca and 28Si projectile-like sources produced in mid-peripheral collisionsat sub-Fermi energies have been obtained. The used method treats bosonic and fermionic fragments differently. The purpose of such treatment is to trace important quantum effects such as fermion quenching or Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) in nuclei

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space. While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes, vast areas of the tropics remain understudied. In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity, but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases. To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge, it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Performance analysis of turbo codes in quasi-static fading channels

The performance of turbo codes in quasi- static fading channels both with and without antenna diversity is investigated. In particular, simple analytic techniques that relate the frame error rate of a turbo code to both its average distance spectrum as well as the iterative decoder convergence characteristics are developed. Both by analysis and simulation, the impact of the constituent recursive systematic convolutional ( RSC) codes, the interleaver size and the number of decoding iterations on the performance of turbo codes are also investigated. In particular, it is shown that in systems with limited antenna diversity different constituent RSC codes or interleaver sizes do not affect the performance of turbo codes. In contrast, in systems with significant antenna diversity, particular constituent RSC codes and interleaver sizes have the potential to significantly enhance the performance of turbo codes. These results are attributed to the fact that in single transmit - single receive antenna systems, the performance primarily depends on the decoder convergence characteristics for E-b/N-o values of practical interest. However, in multiple transmit - multiple receive antenna systems, the performance depends on the code characteristics

In Vivo Assessment Of The Cytotoxic, Genotoxic And Antigenotoxic Potential Of Maná-cubiu (solanum Sessiliflorum Dunal) Fruit

Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal is a native shrub often found in the Amazon Forest. Its fruits, known as maná-cubiu, possess an unusual flavor and are consumed in salads and juices, mainly by the local community of Northern Brazil. Because these fruits are used in traditional medicine as hypoglycemic and hypocholesterolemic agents, it is important to establish whether the consumption of maná-cubiu is safe using in vivo genotoxicity tests. Here, we investigated the genotoxic and antigenotoxic potential of maná-cubiu for doxorubicin (DXR)-induced DNA damage using the micronucleus test and the comet assay in Wistar rats. Moreover, oxidative stress parameters were determined in the heart and liver of the animals by measuring the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), a biomarker of lipid peroxidation, and reduced glutathione (GSH) content. The relative expression of Ptgs2 mRNA in the livers of the animals was also determined. The tests were performed with maná-cubiu pulp (125, 250, 375 or 500. mg/kg body weight - b.w.) by gavage for 14. days, followed by intraperitoneal injection of saline or DXR (16. mg/kg b.w.) immediately after the last gavage, which occurred 24. h before euthanasia. The results showed that maná-cubiu at all tested doses had no cytotoxic effects on bone marrow cells and was not genotoxic to heart or liver cells. In addition, maná-cubiu treatments decreased DXR-induced DNA damage according to the comet assay in heart and liver cells. Reductions in micronucleus frequency in peripheral blood cells occurred at 125, 250 and 375. mg/kg b.w. doses of maná-cubiu, and the TBARS content induced by DXR was also reduced by maná-cubiu. Furthermore, maná-cubiu did not modulate the transcription of the Ptgs2 gene. In conclusion, maná-cubiu pulp fruit was not cytotoxic or genotoxic in Wistar rats, suggesting its safety for human consumption, at least considering genotoxic effects. The antioxidant capacity of maná-cubiu pulp fruit may contribute to the antigenotoxic effects of this fruit at the doses used in this study. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.62121127Aissa, A.F., Bianchi, M.L.P., Ribeiro, J.C., Hernandes, L.C., de Faria, A.F., Mercadante, A.Z., Comparative study of beta-carotene and microencapsulated beta-carotene: Evaluation of their genotoxic and antigenotoxic effects (2012) Food and Chemical Toxicology, 50 (5), pp. 1418-1424Almeida, M.R., Aissa, A.F., Gomes, T.D.U.H., Darin, J.D.C., Chiste, R.C., Mercadante, A.Z., In vivo genotoxicity and oxidative stress evaluation of an ethanolic extract from piquia (Caryocar villosum) pulp (2013) Journal of Medicinal Food, 16 (3), pp. 268-271Boeing, H., Bechthold, A., Bub, A., Ellinger, S., Haller, D., Kroke, A., Critical review: Vegetables and fruit in the prevention of chronic diseases (2012) European Journal of Nutrition, 51 (6), pp. 637-663Bowen, D.E., Whitwell, J.H., Lillford, L., Henderson, D., Kidd, D., Mc Garry, S., Evaluation of a multi-endpoint assay in rats, combining the bone-marrow micronucleus test, the Comet assay and the flow-cytometric peripheral blood micronucleus test (2011) Mutation Research, 722 (1), pp. 7-19Buege, J.A., Aust, S.D., Microsomal lipid peroxidation (1978) Methods in Enzymology, 52, pp. 302-310Carvalho, C., Santos, R.X., Cardoso, S., Correia, S., Oliveira, P.J., Santos, M.S., Doxorubicin: The good, the bad and the ugly effect (2009) Current Medicinal Chemistry, 16 (25), pp. 3267-3285Chang, C.V., Felicio, A.C., Reis, J.E., Guerra Mde, O., Peters, V.M., Fetal toxicity of Solanum lycocarpum (Solanaceae) in rats (2002) Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 81 (2), pp. 265-269de Angelis Pereira, M.C., Carvalho, J.C., Lima, L.M., Caputo, L.R., Ferreira, L.R., Fiorini, J.E., Toxicity of a subchronic treatment with hydroalcoholic crude extract from Solanum grandiflorum (Ruiz et Pav) in rats (2003) Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 89 (1), pp. 97-99Doroshow, J.H., Davies, K.J.A., Redox cycling of anthracyclines by cardiac mitochondria. 2. Formation of superoxide anion, hydrogen-peroxide, and hydroxyl radical (1986) Journal of Biological Chemistry, 261 (7), pp. 3068-3074Fang, Y.Z., Yang, S., Wu, G., Free radicals, antioxidants, and nutrition (2002) Nutrition, 18 (10), pp. 872-879Felzenszwalb, I., da Costa Marques, M.R., Mazzei, J.L., Aiub, C.A., Toxicological evaluation of Euterpe edulis: A potential superfruit to be considered (2013) Food and Chemical Toxicology, 58, pp. 536-544Fenech, M., Micronutrients and genomic stability: A new paradigm for recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) (2002) Food and Chemical Toxicology, 40 (8), pp. 1113-1117Fraga, C.G., Relevance, essentiality and toxicity of trace elements in human health (2005) Molecular Aspects of Medicine, 26 (4-5), pp. 235-244Gilleron, M., Marechal, X., Montaigne, D., Franczak, J., Neviere, R., Lancel, S., NADPH oxidases participate to doxorubicin-induced cardiac myocyte apoptosis (2009) Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 388 (4), pp. 727-731Granados-Principal, S., Quiles, J.L., Ramirez-Tortosa, C.L., Sanchez-Rovira, P., Ramirez-Tortosa, M.C., New advances in molecular mechanisms and the prevention of adriamycin toxicity by antioxidant nutrients (2010) Food and Chemical Toxicology, 48 (6), pp. 1425-1438Hartree, E.F., Determination of protein: A modification of the Lowry method that gives a linear photometric response (1972) Analytical Biochemistry, 48 (2), pp. 422-427Hayashi, M., Morita, T., Kodama, Y., Sofuni, T., Ishidate, M., The micronucleus assay with mouse peripheral-blood reticulocytes using acridine orange-coated slides (1990) Mutation Research, 245 (4), pp. 245-249Holden, H.E., Majeska, J.B., Studwell, D., A direct comparison of mouse and rat bone marrow and blood as target tissues in the micronucleus assay (1997) Mutation Research-Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis, 391 (1-2), pp. 87-89Johanningsmeier, S.D., Harris, G.K., Pomegranate as a functional food and nutraceutical source (2011) Annual Review of Food Science and Technology, 2 (2), pp. 181-201Kumar, M., Kumar, S., Kaur, S., Role of ROS and COX-2/iNOS inhibition in cancer chemoprevention: A review (2012) Phytochemistry Reviews, 11 (2-3), pp. 309-337Liu, R.H., Health benefits of fruit and vegetables are from additive and synergistic combinations of phytochemicals (2003) The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 78 (3 SUPPL.), pp. 517S-520SLiu, R.H., Dietary bioactive compounds and their health implications (2013) Journal of Food Science, 78, pp. A18-A25Macgregor, J.T., Heddle, J.A., Hite, M., Margolin, B.H., Ramel, C., Salamone, M.F., Guidelines for the conduct of micronucleus assays in mammalian bone-marrow erythrocytes (1987) Mutation Research, 189 (2), pp. 103-112Marin, A.M.F., Siqueira, E.M.A., Arruda, S.F., Minerals, phytic acid and tannin contents of 18 fruits from the Brazilian savanna (2009) International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 60, pp. 177-187Marx, F., Andrade, E.H.A., Maia, J.G., Chemical composition of the fruit of Solanum sessiliflorum (1998) Zeitschrift für Lebensmittel-Untersuchung und -Forschung, 206 (5), pp. 364-366Nardi, E.P., Evangelista, F.S., Tormen, L., SaintPierre, T.D., Curtius, A.J., de Souza, S.S., The use of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for the determination of toxic and essential elements in different types of food samples (2009) Food Chemistry, 112 (3), pp. 727-732Pardo, M.A., Efecto de Solanum sessilif lorum Dunal sobre el metabolismo lipidico y de la glucosa (2004) Ciencia e Investigación, 7, pp. 43-48Pfaffl, M.W., A new mathematical model for relative quantification in real-time RT-PCR (2001) Nucleic Acids Research, 29 (9)Rietjens, I.M.C.M., Slob, W., Galli, C., Silano, V., Risk assessment of botanicals and botanical preparations intended for use in food and food supplements: Emerging issues (2008) Toxicology Letters, 180 (2), pp. 131-136Rigano, M.M., De Guzman, G., Walmsley, A.M., Frusciante, L., Barone, A., Production of pharmaceutical proteins in Solanaceae food crops (2013) International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 14 (2), pp. 2753-2773Rodrigues, E., Mariutti, L.R., Mercadante, A.Z., Carotenoids and phenolic compounds from Solanum sessiliflorum, an unexploited Amazonian fruit, and their scavenging capacities against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (2013) Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 61 (12), pp. 3022-3029Rothfuss, A., Honma, M., Czich, A., Aardema, M.J., Burlinson, B., Galloway, S., Improvement of in vivo genotoxicity assessment: Combination of acute tests and integration into standard toxicity testing (2011) Mutation Research, 723 (2), pp. 108-120Salick, J., Cocona (Solanum sessiliflorum) production and breeding potentials of the peach tomato (1989) New crops for food and industry, pp. 257-264. , Chapman and Hall, London, G.E. Wickens, N. Haq, P. Day (Eds.)Sanchez-Lamar, A., Fonseca, G., Fuentes, J.L., Cozzi, R., Cundari, E., Fiore, M., Assessment of the genotoxic risk of Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae) whole fruit extracts (2008) Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 115 (3), pp. 416-422Sedlak, J., Lindsay, R.H., Estimation of total, protein-bound, and nonprotein sulfhydryl groups in tissue with Ellman's reagent (1968) Analytical Biochemistry, 25 (1), pp. 192-205Simunek, T., Sterba, M., Popelova, O., Adamcova, M., Hrdina, R., Gersl, V., Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity: Overview of studies examining the roles of oxidative stress and free cellular iron (2009) Pharmacological Reports, 61 (1), pp. 154-171Singh, N.P., Mccoy, M.T., Tice, R.R., Schneider, E.L., A simple technique for quantitation of low-levels of DNA damage in individual cells (1988) Experimental Cell Research, 175 (1), pp. 184-191Tavares, D.C., Munari, C.C., Araujo, M.G., Beltrame, M.C., Furtado, M.A., Goncalves, C.C., Antimutagenic potential of Solanum lycocarpum against induction of chromosomal aberrations in V79 cells and micronuclei in mice by doxorubicin (2011) Planta Medica, 77 (13), pp. 1489-1494Tice, R.R., Agurell, E., Anderson, D., Burlinson, B., Hartmann, A., Kobayashi, H., Single cell gel/comet assay: Guidelines for in vitro and in vivo genetic toxicology testing (2000) Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, 35 (3), pp. 206-221Udani, J.K., Singh, B.B., Singh, V.J., Barrett, M.L., Effects of Acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) berry preparation on metabolic parameters in a healthy overweight population: A pilot study (2011) Nutrition Journal, 10, p. 45Vieira, P.M., Santos, S.C., Chen-Chen, L., Assessment of mutagenicity and cytotoxicity of Solanum paniculatum L. extracts using in vivo micronucleus test in mice (2010) Brazilian Journal of Biology, 70 (3), pp. 601-606Waters, M.D., Brady, A.L., Stack, H.F., Brockman, H.E., Antimutagenicity profiles for some model compounds (1990) Mutation Research, 238 (1), pp. 57-85Williams, C.S., Mann, M., DuBois, R.N., The role of cyclooxygenases in inflammation, cancer, and development (1999) Oncogene, 18 (55), pp. 7908-7916Wolfsegger, M.J., Jaki, T., Dietrich, B., Kunzler, J.A., Barker, K., A note on statistical analysis of organ weights in non-clinical toxicological studies (2009) Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 240 (1), pp. 117-12

A novel approach to medical radioisotope production using inverse kinematics: A successful production test of the theranostic radionuclide 67 Cu

A novel method for the production of important medical radioisotopes has been developed. The approach is based on performing the nuclear reaction in inverse kinematics, namely sending a heavy-ion beam of appropriate energy on a light target (e.g. H, d, He) and collecting the isotope of interest. In this work, as a proof-of-concept, we studied the production of the theranostic radionuclide 67 Cu (T 1/2 = 62 h) via the reaction of a 70 Zn beam at 15 MeV/nucleon with a hydrogen gas target. The 67 Cu radionuclide alongside other coproduced isotopes, was collected after the gas target on an aluminum catcher foil and their radioactivity was measured by off-line γ-ray analysis. After 36 h post irradiation, apart from the product of interest 67 Cu, the main radioimpurity coming from the 70 Zn + p reaction was 69m Zn (T 1/2 = 13.8 h), which can be reduced by further radio-cooling. Moreover, along with the radionuclide of interest produced in inverse kinematics, the production of additional radioisotopes is possible by making use of the forward-focused neutrons from the reaction and allowing them to interact with a secondary target. A preliminary successful test of this concept was realized in the present study. The main requirement to obtain activities appropriate for preclinical studies is the development of high-intensity heavy-ion primary beams. © 2019 Elsevier Lt

AstroBox2 – Detector for low-energy β -delayed particle detection

Efficient suppression of β-background is essential for studies of low-energy β-delayed charged particle decays of astrophysical interest. A promising method for such studies has been a micro pattern gas amplifier detector where the sample is implanted into the gas volume and the decays that follow are observed with high gain and signal to noise ratio. An upgraded version of the original AstroBox detector has been built and commissioned at Texas A&M; University. Here a description of the new AstroBox2 detector is given, selected results from the commissioning tests are presented, and future perspectives discussed