Caspase-independent programmed cell death triggers Ca2PO4 deposition in an in vitro model of nephrocalcinosis

We provide evidence of caspase-independent cell death triggering the calcification process in GDNF-silenced HK-2 cells

Laboratory Tests of Low Density Astrophysical Equations of State

Clustering in low density nuclear matter has been investigated using the NIMROD multi-detector at Texas A&M University. Thermal coalescence modes were employed to extract densities, $\rho$, and temperatures, $T$, for evolving systems formed in collisions of 47 $A$ MeV $^{40}$Ar + $^{112}$Sn,$^{124}$Sn and $^{64}$Zn + $^{112}$Sn, $^{124}$Sn. The yields of $d$, $t$, $^{3}$He, and $^{4}$He have been determined at $\rho$ = 0.002 to 0.032 nucleons/fm$^{3}$ and $T$= 5 to 10 MeV. The experimentally derived equilibrium constants for $\alpha$ particle production are compared with those predicted by a number of astrophysical equations of state. The data provide important new constraints on the model calculations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

As plantas daninhas e a semeadura direta.

Comportamento das plantas daninhas; Métodos de controle; Tecnologia da aplicação; Novas abordagens.bitstream/CNPSO/18514/1/circtec33.pd

A PMT-Block test bench

The front-end electronics of the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter (Tile Cal) is housed in a unit, called {\it PMT-Block}. The PMT-Block is a compact instrument comprising a light mixer, a PMT together with its divider and a {\it 3-in-1} card, which provides shaping, amplification and integration for the signals. This instrument needs to be qualified before being assembled on the detector. A PMT-Block test bench has been developed for this purpose. This test bench is a system which allows fast, albeit accurate enough, measurements of the main properties of a complete PMT-Block. The system, both hardware and software, and the protocol used for the PMT-Blocks characterisation are described in detail in this report. The results obtained in the test of about 10000 PMT-Blocks needed for the instrumentation of the ATLAS (LHC-CERN) hadronic Tile Calorimeter are also reported.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figure

Critical Behavior in Light Nuclear Systems: Experimental Aspects

An extensive experimental survey of the features of the disassembly of a small quasi-projectile system with $A \sim$ 36, produced in the reactions of 47 MeV/nucleon $^{40}$Ar + $^{27}$Al, $^{48}$Ti and $^{58}$Ni, has been carried out. Nuclei in the excitation energy range of 1-9 MeV/u have been investigated employing a new method to reconstruct the quasi-projectile source. At an excitation energy $\sim$ 5.6 MeV/nucleon many observables indicate the presence of maximal fluctuations in the de-excitation processes. The fragment topological structure shows that the rank sorted fragments obey Zipf's law at the point of largest fluctuations providing another indication of a liquid gas phase transition. The caloric curve for this system shows a monotonic increase of temperature with excitation energy and no apparent plateau. The temperature at the point of maximal fluctuations is $8.3 \pm 0.5$ MeV. Taking this temperature as the critical temperature and employing the caloric curve information we have extracted the critical exponents $\beta$, $\gamma$ and $\sigma$ from the data. Their values are also consistent with the values of the universality class of the liquid gas phase transition. Taken together, this body of evidence strongly suggests a phase change in an equilibrated mesoscopic system at, or extremely close to, the critical point.Comment: Physical Review C, in press; some discussions about the validity of excitation energy in peripheral collisions have been added; 24 pages and 32 figures; longer abstract in the preprin

Properties of the Initial Participant Matter Interaction Zone in Near Fermi-Energy Heavy Ion Collisions

The sizes, temperatures and free neutron to proton ratios of the initial interaction zones produced in the collisions of 40 MeV/nucleon $^{40}$Ar + $^{112}$Sn and 55 MeV/nucleon$^{27}$Al + $^{124}$Sn are derived using total detected neutron plus charged particle multiplicity as a measure of the impact parameter range and number of participant nucleons. The size of the initial interaction zone, determined from a coalescence model analysis, increases significantly with decreasing impact parameter. The temperatures and free neutron to proton ratios in the interaction zones are relatively similar for different impact parameter ranges and evolve in a similar fashion.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Tracing the Evolution of Temperature in Near Fermi Energy Heavy Ion Collisions

The kinetic energy variation of emitted light clusters has been employed as a clock to explore the time evolution of the temperature for thermalizing composite systems produced in the reactions of 26A, 35A and 47A MeV $^{64}$Zn with $^{58}$Ni, $^{92}$Mo and $^{197}$Au. For each system investigated, the double isotope ratio temperature curve exhibits a high maximum apparent temperature, in the range of 10-25 MeV, at high ejectile velocity. These maximum values increase with increasing projectile energy and decrease with increasing target mass. The time at which the maximum in the temperature curve is reached ranges from 80 to 130 fm/c after contact. For each different target, the subsequent cooling curves for all three projectile energies are quite similar. Temperatures comparable to those of limiting temperature systematics are reached 30 to 40 fm/c after the times corresponding to the maxima, at a time when AMD-V transport model calculations predict entry into the final evaporative or fragmentation stage of de-excitation of the hot composite systems. Evidence for the establishment of thermal and chemical equilibrium is discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure