A Photochemical Organocatalytic Strategy for the α-Alkylation of Ketones by using Radicals

Reported herein is a visible-light-mediated radical approach to the α-alkylation of ketones. This method exploits the ability of a nucleophilic organocatalyst to generate radicals upon SN2-based activation of alkyl halides and blue light irradiation. The resulting open-shell intermediates are then intercepted by weakly nucleophilic silyl enol ethers, which would be unable to directly attack the alkyl halides through a traditional two-electron path. The mild reaction conditions allowed functionalization of the α position of ketones with functional groups that are not compatible with classical anionic strategies. In addition, the redox-neutral nature of this process makes it compatible with a cinchona-based primary amine catalyst, which was used to develop a rare example of enantioselective organocatalytic radical α-alkylation of ketones

The control of abstinence in the treatment of alcohol dependence: the use of Acamprosate in relapse prevention

"The alcoholism can also deal with drug treatments." This is the message that emerges from the press conference of presentation of Campral, trade name of acamprosate, a neuromodulator specifically indicated in the maintenance of abstinence in alcohol-dependent patients.Alcoholism is a disease characterized by: craving, loss of control, tolerance and physical dependence.For many years the prevention of relapse in use of alcohol after detoxification was supported almost exclusively by psychosocial procedures and techniques with modest success. Treatment with acamprosate is a valid tool to complement psychotherapy as it does not cause addiction, abuse or withdrawal of its suspension and does not interfere with other medications that patients often alcoholics must take.To evaluate the effectiveness, our study evaluated the effects of Acamprosate compared to GHB in clinical-physiological and social health in a way indicators of a possible therapeutic success in terms of abstinence from alcohol and social reintegration. The hypothesis of the project is that pharmacotherapy anticraving with acamprosate integrated with psycho-social support, can reduce relapse in alcohol together with the reduction of the risk of abuse arising from the use of GHB. This work purports to be an account of 11 months of observation of patients treated with acamprosate. Results: A total of 36 patients were observed, of which 5, 4 men and 1 woman at the Ser.T Alcamo and 31, 21 men and 10 women at the Ser.T of Palermo. In the fight against alcoholism, this therapy with acamprosate offers significant potential: decreases, in fact, the incidence, severity and frequency of relapses (Fig. 1). As regards the craving, during the period of treatment with acamprosate, there has been a change, in the sense of reduction, of craving for alcohol: if before therapy was in 68% of cases, medium-high, becomes after 3-4 months after therapy in low-nil in 89% of patients observed. It has been recorded that, after 3-4 months after receiving acamprosate, the clinical picture of the patient is greatly improved by referring to biological markers (Fig. 2). Conclusions: The study shows that treatment with acamprosate is an exciting opportunity within a project of integrated care for the treatment of alcohol addiction. The acamprosate may also be used early in the pharmacological treatment of dependence on alcohol to prevent the appearance of excitability neuronal associated abstinence.On the other hand, its use must have a duration sufficient to allow neuronal excitability to normalize in the most enduring possible: the treatment, in fact, is recommended for one year. In any case, the use can be continued even in the face of relapses, with the aim to reduce the frequency or severity.In particular, the strong point seems to be the ability for the user to experience a new sense of normalcy and to remove the desire for significant periods of alcohol

Craniofacial osteomas: From diagnosis to therapy

An osteoma is a benign bone lesion with no clear pathogenesis, almost exclusive to the craniofacial area. Osteomas show very slow continuous growth, even in adulthood, unlike other bony lesions. Since these lesions are frequently asymptomatic, the diagnosis is usually made by plain radiography or by a computed tomography (CT) scan performed for other reasons. Rarely, the extensive growth could determine aesthetic or functional problems that vary according to different locations. Radiographically, osteomas appear as radiopaque lesions similar to bone cortex, and may determine bone expansion. Cone beam CT is the optimal imaging modality for assessing the relationship between osteomas and adjacent structures, and for surgical planning. The differential diagnosis includes several inflammatory and tumoral pathologies, but the typical craniofacial location may aid in the diagnosis. Due to the benign nature of osteomas, surgical treatment is limited to symptomatic lesions. Radical surgical resection is the gold standard therapy; it is based on a minimally invasive surgical approach with the aim of achieving an optimal cosmetic result. Reconstructive surgery for an osteoma is quite infrequent and reserved for patients with large central osteomas, such as big mandibular or maxillary lesions. In this regard, computer-assisted surgery guarantees better outcomes, providing the possibility of preoperative simulation of demolitive and reconstructive surgery

Precision measurement of the neutrino velocity with the ICARUS detector in the CNGS beam

During May 2012, the CERN-CNGS neutrino beam has been operated for two weeks for a total of 1.8 10^17 pot in bunched mode, with a 3 ns narrow width proton beam bunches, separated by 100 ns. This tightly bunched beam structure allows a very accurate time of flight measurement of neutrinos from CERN to LNGS on an event-by-event basis. Both the ICARUS-T600 PMT-DAQ and the CERN-LNGS timing synchronization have been substantially improved for this campaign, taking ad-vantage of additional independent GPS receivers, both at CERN and LNGS as well as of the deployment of the "White Rabbit" protocol both at CERN and LNGS. The ICARUS-T600 detector has collected 25 beam-associated events; the corresponding time of flight has been accurately evaluated, using all different time synchronization paths. The measured neutrino time of flight is compatible with the arrival of all events with speed equivalent to the one of light: the difference between the expected value based on the speed of light and the measured value is tof_c - tof_nu = (0.10 \pm 0.67stat. \pm 2.39syst.) ns. This result is in agreement with the value previously reported by the ICARUS collaboration, tof_c - tof_nu = (0.3 \pm 4.9stat. \pm 9.0syst.) ns, but with improved statistical and systematic errors.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, 1 tabl

Measurement of CNGS muon neutrino speed with Borexino

We have measured the speed of muon neutrinos with the Borexino detector using short-bunch CNGS beams. The final result for the difference in time-of-flight between a =17 GeV muon neutrino and a particle moving at the speed of light in vacuum is {\delta}t = 0.8 \pm 0.7stat \pm 2.9sys ns, well consistent with zero.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Women and postfertilization effects of birth control: consistency of beliefs, intentions and reported use

BACKGROUND: This study assesses the consistency of responses among women regarding their beliefs about the mechanisms of actions of birth control methods, beliefs about when human life begins, the intention to use or not use birth control methods that they believe may act after fertilization or implantation, and their reported use of specific methods. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered in family practice and obstetrics and gynecology clinics in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Participants included women ages 18–50 presenting for any reason and women under age 18 presenting for family planning or pregnancy care. Analyses were based on key questions addressing beliefs about whether specific birth control methods may act after fertilization, beliefs about when human life begins, intention to use a method that may act after fertilization, and reported use of specific methods. The questionnaire contained no information about the mechanism of action of any method of birth control. Responses were considered inconsistent if actual use contradicted intentions, if one intention contradicted another, or if intentions contradicted beliefs. RESULTS: Of all respondents, 38% gave consistent responses about intention to not use or to stop use of any birth control method that acted after fertilization, while 4% gave inconsistent responses. The corresponding percentages for birth control methods that work after implantation were 64% consistent and 2% inconsistent. Of all respondents, 34% reported they believed that life begins at fertilization and would not use any birth control method that acts after fertilization (a consistent response), while 3% reported they believed that life begins at fertilization but would use a birth control method that acts after fertilization (inconsistent). For specific methods of birth control, less than 1% of women gave inconsistent responses. A majority of women (68% or greater) responded accurately about the mechanism of action of condoms, abstinence, sterilization, and abortion, but a substantial percentage of women (between 19% and 57%) were uncertain about the mechanisms of action of oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices (IUDs), Depo-Provera, or natural family planning. CONCLUSION: Women who believe that life begins at fertilization may not intend to use a birth control method that could have postfertilization effects. More research is needed to understand the relative importance of postfertilization effects for women in other populations, and in relation to other properties of and priorities for birth control methods. However, many women were uncertain about the mechanisms of action of specific methods. To respect the principles of informed consent, some women may need more education about what is known and not known about the mechanisms of action of birth control methods

Slow evolution of elliptical galaxies induced by dynamical friction III. Role of density concentration and pressure anisotropy

In this paper we study the infall, by dynamical friction, of rigid "satellites" taken in a variety of initial configurations and models. We thus measure how dynamical friction depends on the density concentration and on the pressure anisotropy of the host galaxy and, separately, the response of the galaxy during the process. The investigation is carried out by using a numerical laboratory set up in previous papers of this series. We find that the pressure anisotropy present in the host galaxy has little effect on dynamical friction. Instead, the shape of the galaxy density profile is very important. The classical idealized description appears to be applicable to galaxy models characterized by a small density gradient but not to concentrated models. In contrast to the behavior found in small density gradient models, the orbits of satellites captured in concentrated models are not circularized by dynamical friction. The induced evolution in the host galaxy reflects the initial conditions adopted for the captured satellite. Satellites spiraling in on quasi-circular orbits tend to modify the pressure tensor of the host galaxy in the tangential direction and the galaxy shape from spherical to oblate, while satellites captured along quasi-radial orbits tend to induce pressure anisotropy in the radial direction and to generate a prolate shape. This result suggests that the shape of early-type galaxies may result from occasional mergers rather than being directly related to the effectiveness of the radial-orbit instability during the process of formation via collisionless collapse, as often argued in the past.Comment: 16 pages, 18 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic

Disruption time scales of star clusters in different galaxies

The observed average lifetime of the population of star clusters in the Solar Neighbourhood, the Small Magellanic Cloud and in selected regions of M51 and M33 is compared with simple theoretical predictions and with the results of N-body simulations. The empirically derived lifetimes (or disruption times) of star clusters depend on their initial mass as t_dis ~ Mcl^0.60 in all four galaxies. N-body simulations have shown that the predicted disruption time of clusters in a tidal field scales as t_dis^pred ~ t_rh^0.75 t_cr^0.25, where t_rh is the initial half-mass relaxation time and t_cr is the crossing time for a cluster in equilibrium. We show that this can be approximated accurately by t_dis^pred ~ M_cl^0.62 for clusters in the mass range of about 10^3 to 10^6 M_sun, in excellent agreement with the observations. Observations of clusters in different extragalactic environments show that t_dis also depends on the ambient density in the galaxies where the clusters reside. Linear analysis predicts that the disruption time will depend on the ambient density of the cluster environment as t_dis ~ rho_amb^-0.5. This relation is consistent with N-body simulations.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

The foot (Fragmentation Of Target) experiment

Particle therapy uses proton or 12C beams for the treatment of deep-seated solid tumors. Due to the features of energy deposition of charged particles a small amount of dose is released to the healthy tissue in the beam entrance region, while the maximum of the dose is released to the tumor at the end of the beam range, in the Bragg peak region. However nuclear interactions between beam and patient tissues induce fragmentation both of projectile and target and must be carefully taken into account. In 12C treatments the main concern are long range fragments due to projectile fragmentation that release dose in the healthy tissue after the tumor, while in proton treatment the target fragmentation produces low energy, short range fragments along all the beam range. The FOOT experiment (FragmentatiOn Of Target) is designed to study these processes. Target nuclei (16O,12C) fragmentation induced by 150-250 AMeV proton beam will be studied via inverse kinematic approach. 16O,12C therapeutic beams, with the quoted kinetic energy, collide on graphite and hydrocarbons target to provide the cross section on Hydrogen. This configuration explores also the projectile fragmentation of these 16O,12C beams. The detector includes a magnetic spectrometer based on silicon pixel detectors and drift chamber, a scintillating crystal calorimeter with TOF capabilities, able to stop the heavier fragments produced, and a \u394E detector to achieve the needed energy resolution and particle identification. An alternative setup of the experiment will exploit the emulsion chamber capabilities. A specific emulsion chambers will be coupled with the interaction region of the FOOT setup to measure the production in target fragmentation of light charged fragments as protons, deuterons, tritons and Helium nuclei. The FOOT data taking is foreseen at the CNAO experimental room and will start during early 2018 with the emulsion setup, while the complete electronic detector will take data since 2019