A theoretical description of energy spectra and two-neutron separation energies for neutron-rich zirconium isotopes

Very recently the atomic masses of neutron-rich Zr isotopes, from $^{96}$Zr to $^{104}$Zr, have been measured with high precision. Using a schematic Interacting Boson Model (IBM) Hamiltonian, the evolution from spherical to deformed shapes along the chain of Zr isotopes, describing at the same time the excitation energies as well as the two-neutron separation energies, can be rather well reproduced. The interplay between phase transitions and configuration mixing of intruder excitations in this mass region is succinctly addressed.Comment: Accepted in European Journal of Physics

The platinum nuclei: concealed configuration mixing and shape coexistence

The role of configuration mixing in the Pt region is investigated. For this chain of isotopes, the nature of the ground state changes smoothly, being spherical around mass $A\sim 174$ and $A\sim 192$ and deformed around the mid-shell N=104 region. This has a dramatic effect on the systematics of the energy spectra as compared to the systematics in the Pb and Hg nuclei. Interacting Boson Model with configuration mixing calculations are presented for gyromagnetic factors, $\alpha$-decay hindrance factors, and isotope shifts. The necessity of incorporating intruder configurations to obtain an accurate description of the latter properties becomes evident.Comment: Accepted in Physical Review

The role of HLA-DP mismatches and donor specific HLA-DP antibodies in kidney transplantation : a case series

BACKGROUND: The impact of HLA-DP mismatches on renal allograft outcome is still poorly understood and is suggested to be less than that of the other HLA loci. The common association of HLA-DP donor-specific antibodies (DSA) with other DSA obviates the evaluation of the actual effect of HLA-DP DSA. METHODS: From a large multicenter data collection, we retrospectively evaluated the significance of HLA-DP DSA on transplant outcome and the immunogenicity of HLA-DP eplet mismatches with respect to the induction of HLA-DP DSA. Furthermore, we evaluated the association between the MFI of HLA-DP antibodies detected in Luminex assays and the outcome of flowcytometric/complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) crossmatches. RESULTS: In patients with isolated pretransplant HLA-DP antibodies (N = 13), 6 experienced antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) and 3 patients lost their graft. In HLAMatchmaker analysis of HLA-DP mismatches (N = 72), HLA-DP DSA developed after cessation of immunosuppression in all cases with 84DEAV (N = 14), in 86% of cases with 85GPM (N = 6/7), in 50% of cases with 56E (N = 6/12) and in 40% of cases with 56A mismatch (N = 2/5). Correlation analysis between isolated HLA-DP DSA MFI and crossmatches (N = 90) showed negative crossmatch results with HLA-DP DSA MFI <2000 (N = 14). Below an MFI of 10,000 CDC crossmatches were also negative (N = 33). Above these MFI values both positive (N = 35) and negative (N = 16) crossmatch results were generated. CONCLUSIONS: Isolated HLA-DP DSA are rare, yet constitute a significant risk for AMR. We identified high-risk eplet mismatches that can lead to HLA-DP DSA formation. We therefore recommend HLA-DP typing to perform HLA-DP DSA analysis before transplantation. HLA-DP DSA with high MFI were not always correlated with positive crossmatch results

Configuration mixing in 188^{188}Pb : band structure and electromagnetic properties

In the present paper, we carry out a detailed analysis of the presence and mixing of various families of collective bands in $^{188}$Pb. Making use of the interacting boson model, we construct a particular intermediate basis that can be associated with the unperturbed bands used in more phenomenological studies. We use the E2 decay to construct a set of collective bands and discuss in detail the B(E2)-values. We also perform an analysis of these theoretical results (Q, B(E2)) to deduce an intrinsic quadrupole moment and the associated quadrupole deformation parameter, using an axially deformed rotor model.Comment: submitted to pr

Spectral properties of a tractable collective Hamiltonian

The spectral properties of a tractable collective model Hamiltonian are studied. The potential energy is truncated up to quartic terms in the quadrupole deformation variables, incorporating vibrational, $\gamma$-independent rotational and axially deformed rotational structures. These physically significant limits are analysed in detail and confronted with well-established approximation schemes. Furthermore, transitional Hamiltonians in between the limits are presented and discussed. All results are obtained within a recently presented Cartan-Weyl based framework to calculate $SU(1,1)\times SO(5)$ embedded quadrupole collective observables.Comment: submitted to PR

Secondary Prevention Through Cardiac Rehabilitation: Position Paper of the Working Group on Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology of the European Society of Cardiology

The purpose of this statement is to provide specific recommendations in regard to evaluation and intervention in each of the core components of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) to assist CR staff in the design and development of their programmes; the statement should also assist health care providers, insurers, policy makers and consumers in the recognition of the comprehensive nature of such programmes. Those charged with responsibility for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, whether at European, at national or at individual centre level, need to consider where and how structured programmes of CR can be delivered to the large constituency of patients now considered eligible for C

Molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in natural Leishmania populations vary with genetic background

The evolution of drug-resistance in pathogens is a major global health threat. Elucidating the molecular basis of pathogen drug-resistance has been the focus of many studies but rarely is it known whether a drug-resistance mechanism identified is universal for the studied pathogen; it has seldom been clarified whether drug-resistance mechanisms vary with the pathogen's genotype. Nevertheless this is of critical importance in gaining an understanding of the complexity of this global threat and in underpinning epidemiological surveillance of pathogen drug resistance in the field. This study aimed to assess the molecular and phenotypic heterogeneity that emerges in natural parasite populations under drug treatment pressure. We studied lines of the protozoan parasite Leishmania (L.) donovani with differential susceptibility to antimonial drugs; the lines being derived from clinical isolates belonging to two distinct genetic populations that circulate in the leishmaniasis endemic region of Nepal. Parasite pathways known to be affected by antimonial drugs were characterised on five experimental levels in the lines of the two populations. Characterisation of DNA sequence, gene expression, protein expression and thiol levels revealed a number of molecular features that mark antimonial-resistant parasites in only one of the two populations studied. A final series of in vitro stress phenotyping experiments confirmed this heterogeneity amongst drug-resistant parasites from the two populations. These data provide evidence that the molecular changes associated with antimonial-resistance in natural Leishmania populations depend on the genetic background of the Leishmania population, which has resulted in a divergent set of resistance markers in the Leishmania populations. This heterogeneity of parasite adaptations provides severe challenges for the control of drug resistance in the field and the design of molecular surveillance tools for widespread applicability