Role of collectivity in the structure of 120,122,124Sb nuclei

Energy spectra, spectroscopic factors and electromagnetic moments of the low-lying states of 120-124Sb have been calculated in the framework of the interacting boson-fermion-fermion model, and compared with the experimental values. It was found that the collectivity has a significant effect on the energy splitting of the multiplets. The dynamical boson-fermion interaction leads to a smoothing of the energy splitting, while the exchange interaction tends to cause a fourth order polynomial splitting in the E* versus J(J+1) plot. The smoothing of the energy splitting can be interpreted in a quasiparticle picture as the lengthening of the range of the p-n effective interaction. The collective and single particle effects have comparable contributions in the electromagnetic moments, and the single particle part of the transfer operator determines the spectroscopic factors

Contributions of geophysical techniques to the exploration of the Molnár János Cave (Budapest, Hungary)

Located in the centre of the Pannonian basin, one of the hottest basins in Europe withhighaverage heat flow values, Hungary has long been famous for hot water springs and frequent cave occurrences. The Molnár János Cave, an active thermokarstic cave, belonging to the Buda Hills karst system, lies beneatha highly populated district of Budapest. Its large passages are al­most completely filled by lukewarm water. Only the upper part of its largest known chamber rises above the water level, whichoffers an excellent site to examine recent cave generation pro­cesses. However, hitherto, no dry subsurface gateway existed towards this chamber; it was only accessible underwater. In this paper, we present the results of various geophysical investi­gations including GPR, magnetic and seismic methods, carried out in a close cooperation between geophysicists and speleolo­gists. The aim of the measurements was to determine the pre­cise position of the hall relative to a nearby drift. Based upon the successful seismic survey and first break analysis, a precise and efficient boring could be designed to realise the connec­tion. Finally, a passage between the two cavities has been estab­lished and, thus, the chamber of the cave is now accessible to the whole scientific community

Detection of a protein phosphatase 2A holoenzyme in Neurospora crassa.

A high molecular mass (about 280 kDa) protein phosphatase 2A holoenzyme was detected in a crude N. crassa extract by gel filtration coupled with phosphatase activity assays. According to Western blot analysis the holoenzyme consists of a 36-kDa catalytic subunit complexed with an additional, yet unidentified, regulatory subunit(s)

Detection of Ser/Thr protein phosphatases in Neurospora crassa

Protein phosphorylation is a frequent posttranslational modification regulating cellular processes in eukaryotes. The phosphate content of a protein is determined by the conflicting activities of protein kinases and phosphatases. Protein phosphatases were divided into Ser/Thr and Tyr specific groups, depending on the phosphorylated residue in the substrate molecules. The former group was further classified based on enzymatic criteria (reviewed in Cohen 1989 Ann. Rev. Biochem. 58:453-508). Protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) is inhibited by two heat stable proteins termed inhibitor-1 and -2. Protein phosphatase 2A is inhibited by nanomolar concentration of the tumor promoter okadaic acid. Protein phosphatase 2B (PP2B) - also called calcineurin - is stimulated by Ca-calmodulin, and protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C) is a Mg2+ dependent enzyme. Molecular cloning of the catalytic subunits revealed that PP1-PP2A-PP2B consist of a highly conserved superfamily of proteins

Shells and Shapes in the N=28 isotones

International audienceNew experimental results on 43S and 44S reveal that these nuclei are located in a transitional region of shape coexistence between the spherical 48Ca and the oblate 42Si. The origin of the deformation is discussed in terms of the evolution of the single particle energy levels leading to the compression of the energy difference of the orbitals in the sd and pf shells for protons and neutrons, respectively. Therefore, due to quadrupole excitations across the Z = 14 and N = 28 gaps, the intruder configuration in the neutron rich S isotopes became the ground state

Role of collectivity in the structure of 120,122,124Sb nuclei

Energy spectra, spectroscopic factors and electromagnetic moments of the low-lying states of 120-124Sb have been calculated in the framework of the interacting boson-fermion-fermion model, and compared with the experimental values. It was found that the collectivity has a significant effect on the energy splitting of the multiplets. The dynamical boson-fermion interaction leads to a smoothing of the energy splitting, while the exchange interaction tends to cause a fourth order polynomial splitting in the E* versus J(J+1) plot. The smoothing of the energy splitting can be interpreted in a quasiparticle picture as the lengthening of the range of the p-n effective interaction. The collective and single particle effects have comparable contributions in the electromagnetic moments, and the single particle part of the transfer operator determines the spectroscopic factors

Value-based genomic screening. Exploring genomic screening for chronic diseases using triple value principles

Background: Genomic screening has unique challenges which makes it difficult to easily implement on a wide scale. If the costs, benefits and tradeoffs of investing in genomic screening are not evaluated properly, there is a risk of wasting finite healthcare resources and also causing avoidable harm. Main text: If healthcare professionals - including policy makers, payers and providers - wish to incorporate genomic screening into healthcare while minimizing waste, maximizing benefits, and considering results that matter to patients, using the principles of triple value (allocative, technical, and personal value) could help them to evaluate tough decisions and tradeoffs. Allocative value focuses on the optimal distribution of limited healthcare resources to maximize the health benefits to the entire population while also accounting for all the costs of care delivery. Technical value ensures that for any given condition, the right intervention is chosen and delivered in the right way. Various methods (e.g. ACCE, HTA, and Wilson and Jungner screening criteria) exist that can help identify appropriate genomic applications. Personal value incorporates preference based informed decision making to ensure that patients are informed about the benefits and harms of the choices available to them and to ensure they make choices based on their values and preferences. Conclusions: Using triple value principles can help healthcare professionals make reasoned and tough judgements about benefits and tradeoffs when they are exploring the role genomic screening for chronic diseases could play in improving the health of their patients and populations

Unveiling the intruder deformed 02+^+_2 state in 34^{34}Si

The 0$^+_2$ state in $^{34}$Si has been populated at the {\sc Ganil/Lise3} facility through the $\beta$-decay of a newly discovered 1$^+$ isomer in $^{34}$Al of 26(1) ms half-life. The simultaneous detection of $e^+e^-$ pairs allowed the determination of the excitation energy E(0$^+_2$)=2719(3) keV and the half-life T$_{1/2}$=19.4(7) ns, from which an electric monopole strength of $\rho^2$(E0)=13.0(0.9)$\times10^{-3}$ was deduced. The 2$^+_1$ state is observed to decay both to the 0$^+_1$ ground state and to the newly observed 0$^+_2$ state (via a 607(2) keV transition) with a ratio R(2$^+_1$$\rightarrow0^+_1/2^+_1$$\rightarrow0^+_2$)=1380(717). Gathering all information, a weak mixing with the 0$^+_1$ and a large deformation parameter of $\beta$=0.29(4) are found for the 0$^+_2$ state, in good agreement with shell model calculations using a new {\sc sdpf-u-mix} interaction allowing \textit{np-nh} excitations across the N=20 shell gap.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter