Optimizing performances of CsI(Tl) crystals with a photodiode readout

Abstract Tests are described concerning the performances of CsI(Tl) crystals. Particular care was dedicated to the study of the light production and collection of the crystals, that appear to be significantly affected both by the choice of the wrapping materials and by the details of the binding technique. A functional relation between the light pulse height and the coupling of the crystal#photodiode system was deduced. Finally, the influence of this coupling on the energy resolution of the detector is discussed

Extracellular vesicles in human preterm colostrum inhibit infection by human cytomegalovirus in vitro

Breast milk is a complex biofluid that nourishes infants, supports their growth and protects them from diseases. However, at the same time, breastfeeding is a transmission route for human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), with preterm infants being at a great risk of congenital disease. The discrepancy between high HCMV transmission rates and the few reported cases of infants with severe clinical illness is likely due to the protective effect of breast milk. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-HCMV activity of human preterm colostrum and clarify the role of colostrum-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs). Preterm colostrum samples were collected and the EVs were purified and characterized. The in vitro anti-HCMV activity of both colostrum and EVs was tested against HCMV, and the viral replication step inhibited by colostrum-purified EVs was examined. We investigated the putative role EV surface proteins play in impairing HCMV infection using shaving experiments and proteomic analysis. The obtained results confirmed the antiviral action of colostrum against HCMV and demonstrated a remarkable antiviral activity of colostrum-derived EVs. Furthermore, we demonstrated that EVs impair the attachment of HCMV to cells, with EV surface proteins playing a role in mediating this action. These findings contribute to clarifying the mechanisms that underlie the protective role of human colostrum against HCMV infection

Više-fragmentna tvorba u reakcijama 32S+58,64Ni NA 11 A MeV

The characteristic features of the 32S+58,64Ni reaction at 11 A MeV have been investigated to evidence the possible rise of multi-fragmentation processes at low excitation energies. The importance of such phenomena consists in the fact that they could represent the signature of a nuclear phase transition from a liquid to a gas region. Evidence of multi-fragment production is displayed by the present data; even if the yield of such events is compatible with the predictions of statistical models, the partition of the mass of the decaying system cannot be easily reproduced. Some preliminary indications of isospin effects are suggested by looking at the differences between the two reacting systems.Istraživali smo značajke reakcije 32S+ 58,64Ni na 11 A MeV radi pronalaženja mogućeg porasta više-fragmentnih procesa na nižim uzbudnim energijama. Važnost se tih pojava sastoji u tome što bi one mogle predstavljati znakove nuklearnog faznog prijelaza od tekućeg u plinsko stanje. Znakovi tvorbe više fragmenata vide se u dobivenim podacima; no čak ako je i prinos tih događaja u skladu s predviđanjima statističkog modela, razdioba mase sustava koji se raspada ne uspijeva se objasniti. Usporedba dviju reakcija ukazuje na moguće izospinske efekte

Produção e composição bromatológica de genótipos diplóides e tetraplóides de azevém.

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a composição bromatológica e produção de massa seca e de sementes em cinco genótipos de azevém submetidos em diferentes número de cortes, com ênfase no cultivo duplo propósito. Adotou-se o delineamento experimental em blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições e os tratamentos distribuídos em esquema fatorial 5 x 5 (genótipos x número de cortes). Foram utilizados cinco genótipos (Comum, Estanzuela 284, Avance, INIA Titán e São Gabriel) e o número de cortes variou de um até cinco. Foi observada significância (P<0,05) à interação genótipos x número de corte para todas as variáveis analisadas. O aumento do número de cortes determinou maior acúmulo de matéria seca total (folha e colmo), porém menor produção de sementes para todos genótipos estudados. A resposta da composição bromatológica da matéria seca variou conforme o genótipo e o número de cortes. O aumento do número de cortes promoveu menor teor de proteína bruta de folha e colmo para todos os genótipos. Os genótipos apresentaram resposta quadrática quanto ao teor de fibra em detergente neutro de folhas, sendo que o menor teor foi observado quando se realizaram até três cortes. Visando o duplopropósito, deve-se escolher de dois até três cortes, atendendo uma boa produção de matéria seca para os animais, mas também promovendo uma produção de sementes satisfatória

Temperature measurement of fragment emitting systems in Au+Au 35 MeV/nucleon collisions

We report on the results of experiments performed to investigate the Au1Au 35 MeV/nucleon reaction. The reaction products generated in the disassembly of the unique source formed in central collisions and those coming from the decay of the quasiprojectile in peripheral and midperipheral ones ~five different impact parameters! were identified through a careful data selection based on the study of energy and angular distributions. The excitation energies of the fragment sources have been extracted through a calorimetric method and by means of a comparison with model calculations. The nuclear temperatures of these decaying systems have been measured from the relative isotopic abundances and, also for central collisions, from the relative populations of excited states. The temperatures of the quasiprojectile disassembling systems are slowly increasing going towards smaller impact parameter. The relationship between temperature and excitation energy seems to be almost independent of the characteristics of the emitting source. The extracted caloric curve shows a slow monotonic increase with increasing excitation energy. A comparison with data derived from Au fragmentation at much higher incident energies is discussed. @S0556-2813~98!04408-2

Genotyping the hepatitis B virus with a fragment of the HBV DNA polymerase gene in Shenyang, China

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been classified into eight genotypes (A-H) based on intergenotypic divergence of at least 8% in the complete nucleotide sequence or more than 4% in the S gene. To facilitate the investigation of the relationship between the efficacy of drug treatment and the mutation with specific genotype of HBV, we have established a new genotyping strategy based on a fragment of the HBV DNA polymerase gene. Pairwise sequence and phylogenetic analyses were performed using CLUSTAL V (DNASTAR) on the eight (A-H) standard full-length nucleotide sequences of HBV DNA from GenBank (NCBI) and the corresponding semi-nested PCR products from the HBV DNA polymerase gene. The differences in the semi-nested PCR fragments of the polymerase genes among genotypes A through F were greater than 4%, which is consistent with the intergenotypic divergence of at least 4% in HBV DNA S gene sequences. Genotyping using the semi-nested PCR products of the DNA polymerase genes revealed that only genotypes B, C, and D were present in the 50 cases, from Shenyang, China, with a distribution of 11 cases (22%), 25 cases (50%), and 14 cases (28%) respectively. These results demonstrate that our new genotyping method utilizing a fragment of the HBV DNA polymerase gene is valid and can be employed as a general genotyping strategy in areas with prevalent HBV genotypes A through F. In Shenyang, China, genotypes C, B, and D were identified with this new genotyping method, and genotype C was demonstrated to be the dominant genotype