A simple functional form for proton-208{}^{208}Pb total reaction cross sections

A simple functional form has been found that gives a good representation of the total reaction cross sections for the scattering from ${}^{208}$Pb of protons with energies in the range 30 to 300 MeV.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Is friction responsible for the reduction of fusion rates far below the Coulomb barrier?

The fusion of two interacting heavy ions traditionally has been interpreted in terms of the penetration of the projectile into the target. Observed rates well below the Coulomb barrier are considerably lower than estimates obtained from penetration factors. One approach in the analysis of the data invokes coupling to non-elastic channels in the scattering as the source of the depletion. Another is to analyze those data in terms of tunneling in semi-classical models, with the observed depletion being taken as evidence of a ``friction'' under the barrier. A complementary approach is to consider such tunneling in terms of a fully quantal model. We investigate tunneling with both one-dimensional and three-dimensional models in a fully quantal approach to investigate possible sources for such a friction. We find that the observed phenomenon may not be explained by friction. However, we find that under certain conditions tunneling may be enhanced or diminished by up to 50%, which finds analogy with observation, without the invocation of a friction under the barrier.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures embedde

Contraceptive confidence and timing of first birth in Moldova: an event history analysis of retrospective data

Objectives: To test the contraceptive confidence hypothesis in a modern context. The hypothesis is that women using effective or modern contraceptive methods have increased contraceptive confidence and hence a shorter interval between marriage and first birth than users of ineffective or traditional methods. We extend the hypothesis to incorporate the role of abortion, arguing that it acts as a substitute for contraception in the study context.Setting: Moldova, a country in South-East Europe. Moldova exhibits high use of traditional contraceptive methods and abortion compared with other European countries.Participants: Data are from a secondary analysis of the 2005 Moldovan Demographic and Health Survey, a nationally representative sample survey. 5377 unmarried women were selected.Primary and secondary outcome measures: The outcome measure was the interval between marriage and first birth. This was modelled using a piecewise-constant hazard regression, with abortion and contraceptive method types as primary variables along with relevant sociodemographic controls.Results: Women with high contraceptive confidence (modern method users) have a higher cumulative hazard of first birth 36?months following marriage (0.88 (0.87 to 0.89)) compared with women with low contraceptive confidence (traditional method users, cumulative hazard: 0.85 (0.84 to 0.85)). This is consistent with the contraceptive confidence hypothesis. There is a higher cumulative hazard of first birth among women with low (0.80 (0.79 to 0.80)) and moderate abortion propensities (0.76 (0.75 to 0.77)) than women with no abortion propensity (0.73 (0.72 to 0.74)) 24?months after marriage.Conclusions: Effective contraceptive use tends to increase contraceptive confidence and is associated with a shorter interval between marriage and first birth. Increased use of abortion also tends to increase contraceptive confidence and shorten birth duration, although this effect is non-linear—women with a very high use of abortion tend to have lengthy intervals between marriage and first birth

Electron microscopic measurement of the size of the optical focus in laser scanning microscopy

We describe a method for measuring the lateral focal spot size of a multiphoton laser scanning microscope (LSM) with unprecedented accuracy. A specimen consisting of an aluminum film deposited on a glass coverslip was brought into focus in a LSM and the laser intensity was then increased enough to perform nanoablation of the metal film. This process leaves a permanent trace of the raster path usually taken by the beam during the acquisition of an optical image. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was then used to determine the nanoablated line width to high accuracy, from which the lateral spot size and hence resolution of the LSM can be determined. To demonstrate our method, we performed analysis of a multiphoton LSM at various infrared wavelengths, and we report measurements of optical lateral spot size with an accuracy of 20 nm, limited only by the resolution of the SEM

The Link between Malaria and Ferroptosis - A Review

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent cell death characterized by extensive lipids peroxidation, dysfunctional glutathione-dependent antioxidant enzyme system, and alterations in the morphology of the mitochondrial membrane. This cell death plays a role in the pathogenesis of diabetes, neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, arthritis, and cancer. Accumulating evidence suggests that ferroptosis is involved in the pathogenesis of malaria. This evidence includes plasmodium-induced biochemical changes that could affect the susceptibility of host red blood cells and the parasite to ferroptosis and the role of ferroptosis in reducing parasite survival at the liver stage. Ferroptosis is induced by iron-dependent oxidative stress. Given that oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of malaria, ferroptosis could also be involved. Furthermore, the frontline anti-malarial compound dihydroartemisinin exerts an anti-cancer effect through a ferroptosis-mediated mechanism. This suggests that ferroptosis induction could be one of its mechanisms of action against Plasmodium. In this review, we discussed the link between malaria and ferroptosis. Studying ferroptosis could reveal novel biochemical mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of malaria. It may also unravel new modes of action of anti-malarial drugs, the biochemical basis for low drug efficacy, and promising molecular targets for the development of new anti-plasmodial compounds

Modeling, Analysis, and Optimization Issues for Large Space Structures

Topics concerning the modeling, analysis, and optimization of large space structures are discussed including structure-control interaction, structural and structural dynamics modeling, thermal analysis, testing, and design