Shape coexistence at the proton drip-line: First identification of excited states in 180Pb

Excited states in the extremely neutron-deficient nucleus, 180Pb, have been identified for the first time using the JUROGAM II array in conjunction with the RITU recoil separator at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyvaskyla. This study lies at the limit of what is presently achievable with in-beam spectroscopy, with an estimated cross-section of only 10 nb for the 92Mo(90Zr,2n)180Pb reaction. A continuation of the trend observed in 182Pb and 184Pb is seen, where the prolate minimum continues to rise beyond the N=104 mid-shell with respect to the spherical ground state. Beyond mean-field calculations are in reasonable correspondence with the trends deduced from experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.

Short-Term Synaptic Plasticity in the Dentate Gyrus of Monkeys

The hippocampus plays an important role in learning and memory. Synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, short-term and long-term, is postulated to be a neural substrate of memory trace. Paired-pulse stimulation is a standard technique for evaluating a form of short-term synaptic plasticity in rodents. However, evidence is lacking for paired-pulse responses in the primate hippocampus. In the present study, we recorded paired-pulse responses in the dentate gyrus of monkeys while stimulating to the medial part of the perforant path at several inter-pulse intervals (IPIs) using low and high stimulus intensities. When the stimulus intensity was low, the first pulse produced early strong depression (at IPIs of 10–30 ms) and late slight depression (at IPIs of 100–1000 ms) of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) generated by the second pulse, interposing no depression IPIs (50–70 ms). When the stimulus intensity was high, fEPSPs generated by the second pulse were depressed by the first pulse at all IPIs except for the longest one (2000 ms). Population spikes (PSs) generated by the second pulse were completely blocked or strongly depressed at shorter IPIs (10–100 or 200 ms, respectively), while no depression or slight facilitation occurred at longer IPIs (500–2000 ms). Administration of diazepam slightly increased fEPSPs, while it decreased PSs produced by the first pulse. It also enhanced the facilitation of PSs produced by the second stimulation at longer IPIs. The present results, in comparison with previous studies using rodents, indicate that paired-pulse responses of fEPSPs in the monkey are basically similar to those of rodents, although paired-pulse responses of PSs in the monkey are more delayed than those in rodents and have a different sensitivity to diazepam

Track A Basic Science

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138319/1/jia218438.pd

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

Tai Chi, Cellular Inflammation, and Transcriptome Dynamics in Breast Cancer Survivors With Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Mind–body therapies such as Tai Chi are widely used by breast cancer survivors, yet effects on inflammation are not known. This study hypothesized that Tai Chi Chih (TCC) would reduce systemic, cellular, and genomic markers of inflammation as compared with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). METHODS: In this randomized trial for the treatment of insomnia, 90 breast cancer survivors with insomnia were assigned to TCC or CBT-I for 2-hour sessions weekly for 3 months. At baseline and postintervention, blood samples were obtained for measurement of C-reactive protein and toll-like receptor-4–activated monocyte production of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF), with a random subsample (n = 48) analyzed by genome-wide transcriptional profiling. RESULTS: Levels of C-reactive protein did not change in the TCC and CBT-I groups. Levels of toll-like receptor-4–activated monocyte production of IL-6 and TNF combined showed an overall reduction in TCC versus CBT-I (P < .02), with similar effects for IL-6 (P = .07) and TNF (P < .05) alone. For genome-wide transcriptional profiling of circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells, expression of genes encoding proinflammatory mediators showed an overall reduction in TCC versus CBT-I (P = .001). TELiS promoter-based bioinformatics analyses implicated a reduction of activity of the proinflammatory transcription factor, nuclear factor-κB, in structuring these differences. CONCLUSIONS: Among breast cancer survivors with insomnia, 3 months of TCC reduced cellular inflammatory responses, and reduced expression of genes encoding proinflammatory mediators. Given the link between inflammation and cancer, these findings provide an evidence-based molecular framework to understand the potential salutary effects of TCC on cancer survivorship

Spectroscopy of ¹⁷C via one-neutron knockout reaction

21st International Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics, Chicago, IL, USA, May 18-22, 2015.A spectroscopic study of ¹⁷C was performed via the one-neutron knockout reaction of ¹⁸C on a carbon target at RIKEN-RIBF. Three unbound states at excitation energies of 2.66(2), 3.16(5), and 3.97(3) MeV (preliminary) were observed. The energies are compared with shell-model calculations and existing measurements to deduce their spin-parities. From the comparison, the states at 2.66(2) and 3.97(3) MeV are suggested to be 1/2⁻ and 3/2⁻, respectively. From its decay property, the state at 3.16(5) MeV is indicated to be 9/2⁺