Kneelike structure in the spectrum of the heavy component of cosmic rays observed with KASCADE-Grande

We report the observation of a steepening in the cosmic ray energy spectrum of heavy primary particles at about 8×10(16) eV. This structure is also seen in the all-particle energy spectrum, but is less significant. Whereas the "knee" of the cosmic ray spectrum at 3-5×10(15) eV was assigned to light primary masses by the KASCADE experiment, the new structure found by the KASCADE-Grande experiment is caused by heavy primaries. The result is obtained by independent measurements of the charged particle and muon components of the secondary particles of extensive air showers in the primary energy range of 10(16) to 10(18) eV. The data are analyzed on a single-event basis taking into account also the correlation of the two observables.     

Shock wave formation in hot nuclear matter

Assuming that nuclear matter can be treated as a perfect fluid, we study the propagation of perturbations in the baryon density at high temperature. The equation of state is derived from the non-linear Walecka model. The expansion of the Euler and continuity equations of relativistic hydrodynamics around equilibrium configurations lead to the breaking wave equation for the density perturbation. We solve it numerically for this perturbation and follow the propagation of the initial pulses.     

Interaction of thorium(IV) with nitrate in aqueous solution: medium effect or weak complexation?

Microcalorimetric titrations were performed to study the Th(IV)/nitrate interaction in aqueous solution. The results show the formation of a weak mononuclear complex of Th(IV) with nitrate and allow the determination of the complexation thermodynamic parameters at 298 K and ionic strength 1.0 mol dm(-3). The reaction is endothermic and entropy driven. Data and comparison with similar actinide(IV) complexes allow to confirm the inner-sphere nature of the Th(NO(3))(3+) complex.     

Determination of nitrogen trichloride (NCl3) levels in the air of indoor chlorinated swimming pools: an impinger method proposal

The quality of the environmental air from indoor swimming pools has been associated with various health risks. Particular attention has focused on the effects of chronic lung exposure to chlorine and its by-products, especially in young children. We developed a simple, non-toxic approach to detect and monitor nitrogen trichloride air levels in the indoor swimming pool environment. The proposed Impinger Method (IM) was used to measure the environmental levels of nitrogen trichloride (NCl₃) in 17 indoor swimming pools located in Northern Italy. This new analytical protocol is based on a colorimetric reaction commonly employed to detect the total and free chlorine levels in water. Specifically, IM allows the entrapment of NCl₃ into a water solution containing diethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPD 1) and Potassium Iodide (DPD 3). NCl₃ from the air environment reacts with DPD 3 releasing iodine, which reacts with DPD 1 and produces a coloration proportional to the amount of NCl₃ from the sampled indoor swimming pool air. Our sampling of the monitored swimming pool environments evidenced a mean NCl₃ level (637?±?220?µg/m³) higher than the recommended WHO value (500?µg/m³). The IM was validated in terms of linearity (R ^2?=?0.996), limit of detection (3.6?µg/m³) and repeatability (CV?=?1.7%), demonstrating easy-to-use characteristics, good efficiency and low cost.     

Effects of low-dose dexamethasone and prednisolone long term administration in beef calf: chemical and morphological investigation

An analytical, pharmacokinetic and histopathologic investigation was conducted by two experimental trials on beef cattle in order to determine fate and effects of dexamethasone and prednisolone, administered to distinct cattle groups at low dosage for long periods of time. In trial 1, eighteen Charolaise beef cattle, male, 17-22-months-old, were divided in three groups: to group A (n=6) dexamethasone-21-sodium-phosphate 0.7 mg day(-1) per os for 40 days was administered; group B (n=6) was orally treated with prednisolone 15 mg day(-1) for 30 days, while group C (n=6) served as negative control. Urine was collected at days 0, 7, 15, 25 and 47 from groups A and C, and at days 0, 8, 18 and 42 from group B. In trial 2, sixteen Friesian cattle, male, 10-17-months-old, were randomly divided into two groups: group D (n=8) was administered prednisolone 30 mg day(-1) per os for 35 days, while group K (n=8) served as control. In both trials, the animals were slaughtered after a 6-days drug withdrawal and thymus and livers were collected and properly stored until the analysis was performed. Quantitative determinations of dexamethasone, prednisolone and its main metabolite, prednisone, in urine and liver samples were conducted by HPLC-MS/MS, after the analytical procedure was optimized and fully validated. The method validation included the assessment of specificity, linearity, precision, trueness, robustness, CC(α) and CC(β) values. By a morphological point of view, severe atrophy of thymus parenchyma was observed in group A, together with a significant (P<0.005) reduction of the mean thymus weight (217±94 g), while group B (646±215 g) presented normal thymus features and weights (group C, 415±116 g). Accordingly, no differences were found in trial 2 for groups D (727±275g) and K (642±173 g). Average dexamethasone concentrations in group A urine samples ranged from 1.4 to 3.0 μg L(-1) during the treatment, while no residue was detected in the urine samples collected 6-7 days after the end of the treatment. Low amounts of dexamethasone (<1 μg L(-1)) were detected in liver samples of group A. All average prednisolone concentrations in group B urine samples (sum of conjugate and free form) turned out to be below 1.0 μg L(-1) during the treatment, despite the much higher concentration administered (15-30 mg day(-1)) with respect to dexamethasone in group A (0.7 mg day(-1)). No prednisolone residues were found in the urine and liver samples taken at the slaughterhouse. The absence of any prednisolone residue in the urine samples of control group animals supports the theory that the origin of this molecule is fundamentally exogenous, at least for this cattle category maintained under unstressing conditions. Remarkable findings are represented by the absence of thymus atrophy in the prednisolone treated animals and the extremely low residue concentrations found in urine during the treatment. Both findings reveal that the detection of illegal growth-promoting treatments with this drug is difficult.     

Constraining the nuclear gluon distribution in eA processes at RHIC

A systematic determination of the gluon distribution is of fundamental interest in understanding the parton structure of nuclei and the QCD dynamics. Currently, the behavior of this distribution at small x   (high energy) is completely undefined. In this Letter we analyze the possibility of constraining the nuclear effects present in xgA$x{g}_A$ using the inclusive observables which would be measured in the future electron-nucleus collider at RHIC. We demonstrate that the study of nuclear longitudinal and charm structure functions allows to estimate the magnitude of shadowing and antishadowing effects in the nuclear gluon distribution.     

On the performance of cooperative systems with distributed linear block coding

Small-scale fading is one of the main problems in wireless communication systems. Multiple transmit/receive antennas, providing spatial diversity, are a common solution to combat fading, but practical constraints at the user location may limit their use. User cooperation is an efficient technique to introduce spatial diversity when multiple antennas are not suitable. In this paper we study the physical-layer performance of a cooperative system based on distributed linear block coding. Analytical results in terms of bit error rate and outage probability are presented when perfect decoding at the user location is assumed. Simulation results in terms of bit error rate are shown, taking into account the impact of errors on decoding and channel estimation at both the user location and the receiver location. Two scenarios are considered, representing uplink communications from static users to a static or mobile base station.