Entropies, level-density parameters, and fission probabilities along the triaxially- and axially-symmetric fission paths in 296^{296}Lv

We employ a statistical approach to investigate the influence of axial asymmetry on the nuclear level density and entropy along the fission pathways of a superheavy nucleus, explicitly focusing on the $^{296}$Lv isotope. These pathways are determined within multidimensional deformation spaces. Our analysis reveals a significant impact of triaxiality on entropy. Additionally, suppressing shell effects can alter the fission scenario depending on the available excitation energy. We derive the deformation-dependent level density parameter, which plays a crucial role in estimating the survival probability of a superheavy nucleus. Furthermore, we utilize a set of master equations to obtain the time-dependent fission probabilities and calculate the ratio of decay probabilities for both axial and triaxial paths.Comment: submitted to PR

Multi-step particle emission probabilities in superheavy nuclei at moderate excitation energies

The probabilities of $xn$-, $pxn$-, and $\alpha xn$-evaporation channels in excited superheavy nuclei were evaluated using the Monte Carlo method. The calculations utilized microscopically determined nuclear level densities and were compared with results obtained from the phenomenological Jackson formula. Effective temperatures derived from the microscopic approach were incorporated into the Jackson formula for different evaporation channels at low and moderate excitation energies. Additionally, an analytical formula was introduced to estimate the average kinetic energy of emitted particles in multi-step processes.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Making medications stick: improving medication adherence by highlighting the personal health costs of non-compliance

Poor compliance of prescription medication is an ongoing public health crisis. Nearly half of patients do not take their medication as prescribed, harming their own health while also increasing public healthcare costs. Despite these detrimental consequences, prior research has struggled to establish cost-effective and scalable interventions to improve adherence rates. We suggest that one reason for the limited success of prior interventions is that they make the personal health costs of non-adherence insufficiently prominent, while a higher saliency of these costs may motivate patients to adhere more. In the current research, we test whether an intervention that makes the personal health costs of non-compliance more salient for patients will increase their medication adherence. To do so, we conducted a randomized controlled trial with 16,191 patients across 278 UK pharmacies over an eight-month time period and manipulated the perceived consequences of medication non-adherence. We find that patients who received a treatment highlighting the personal health costs of non-compliance were significantly more likely to adhere to their medication than three comparison groups (odds ratio = 1.84, CI95% [1.37; 2.47]). Shifting patients’ focus to the personal health costs of noncompliance may thus offer a potentially cost-effective and scalable approach to improve medication adherence

Combined inhibition of EZH2 and ATM is synthetic lethal in BRCA1-deficient breast cancer

Background: The majority of BRCA1-mutant breast cancers are characterized by a triple-negative phenotype and a basal-like molecular subtype, associated with aggressive clinical behavior. Current treatment options are limited, highlighting the need for the development of novel targeted therapies for this tumor subtype. Methods: Our group previously showed that EZH2 is functionally relevant in BRCA1-deficient breast tumors and blocking EZH2 enzymatic activity could be a potent treatment strategy. To validate the role of EZH2 as a therapeutic target and to identify new synergistic drug combinations, we performed a high-throughput drug combination screen in various cell lines derived from BRCA1-deficient and -proficient mouse mammary tumors. Results: We identified the combined inhibition of EZH2 and the proximal DNA damage response kinase ATM as a novel synthetic lethality-based therapy for the treatment of BRCA1-deficient breast tumors. We show that the combined treatment with the EZH2 inhibitor GSK126 and the ATM inhibitor AZD1390 led to reduced colony formation, increased genotoxic stress, and apoptosis-mediated cell death in BRCA1-deficient mammary tumor cells in vitro. These findings were corroborated by in vivo experiments showing that simultaneous inhibition of EZH2 and ATM significantly increased anti-tumor activity in mice bearing BRCA1-deficient mammary tumors. Conclusion: Taken together, we identified a synthetic lethal interaction between EZH2 and ATM and propose this synergistic interaction as a novel molecular combination for the treatment of BRCA1-mutant breast cancer.Toxicolog

Thermographics measurements of brake pad lining

Opracowanie nowej generacji hamulców wymaga wykonania pomiarów rozkładów temperatury na powierzchniach jego elementów konstrukcyjnych. W pracy przedstawiono wybrane wyniki takich badań metodami termograficznymi. W rezultacie tych badań określono obszary o podwyższonej temperaturze, temperaturę maksymalną oraz szybkość zmian temperatury. Porównano otrzymane wyniki z pomiarami metodą stykową. Dane otrzymane w wyniku analizy termogramów pozwolą na weryfikację modelu numerycznego hamulca.Braking process has rather short duration (5s÷15s) and during that time the kinetic energy of a vehicle is transformed into heat. Such amount of heat generates thermal shock to braking pads and discs. Development of a new type of brakes requires measuring temperature distributions on their working surfaces. The paper presents some selected results of such measurements performed on a modified IL-68 test rig by means of thermal imaging (Fig. 2). Two types of composite braking pad materials were tested: C/C and 500/EBC. C/C composite is used for aircraft brakes, whereas 500/EBC type is used for brakes of all-terrain ground vehicles. Due to high dynamics of the thermal signal, the measurements were taken in the range from 200?C to 750?C. The data from the thermal images were processed using IR Control software. As a result there were identified the high temperature areas (hot spots), maximum temperature values for each recorded frame and the rate of temperature changes during braking (Fig. 5) as well as cooling down (Fig. 6) phases. The frame-by-frame analysis of the recorded thermal image sequences made it possible to correlate the temperature distribution non-uniformity with structural defects of the tested brake pads. The results of temperature measurements were compared with those obtained from the contact method (Fig. 7). On that basis, the errors of non-contact temperature measurements were estimated. The analysis of the recorded thermal images allowed calculating several thermal parameters, such as thermal time constants of particular brake elements (1), (2). Those data were used to verify the numerical model of the brake. They also can be the guidelines to optimise the brake design with respect to heat transfer aspects