Formation of heavy and superheavy elements by reactions with massive nuclei

The effects of the entrance channel and shell structure on the experimental evaporation residues have been studied by analyzing the ³²S + ¹⁸²W, ⁴⁸Ti + ¹⁶⁶Er and ⁶⁰Ni + ¹⁵⁴Sm reactions leading to ²¹⁴Th^*; the ⁴⁰Ar + ¹⁸¹Ta reaction leading to ²²¹Pa^*; the ⁴⁸Ca + ²⁴³Am, ²⁴⁸Cm, ²⁴⁹Cf reactions leading to the ²⁹¹115, ²⁹⁶116 and ²⁹⁷118 superheavy compound nuclei, respectively. The fusion mechanism and the formation of evaporation residues of heavy and superheavy nuclei have been studied. In calculations of the excitation functions for capture, fusion and evaporation residues we used such characteristics as mass asymmetry of nuclei in the entrance channel, binding energies and shape of colliding nuclei, potential energy surface, driving potential, partial-fusion cross-sections and survival probability of the compound nucleus, ratio at each step along the de-excitation cascade of the compound nucleus. The calculations have allowed us to make useful conclusions about the mechanism of the fusion-fission process, which is in competition with the quasifission process, and the production of the evaporation residues.Received: 22 April 2003, Revised: 26 June 2003, Published online: 18 December 2003PACS: 25.70.Gh Compound nucleus - 25.70.-z Low and intermediate energy heavy-ion reactions - 27.80. + w - 27.90. + b      

Phenylpropanoid glycosides in Italian Orobanche spp., sect. Orobanche

We studied the occurrence of phenylpropanoid glycosides (PhG) in five species of the genus Orobanche L., collected in the Latium region of Italy. The presence of orobanchoside and verbascoside in all four species confirms that these PhGs are taxonomic markers of the genus. The results suggest that O. gracilis form. citrina could be a diverse entity.     

Seminormality and upper semicontinuity in optimal control

This paper concerns the concept of upper semicontinuity of variable sets, precisely the variant of Kuratowski's definition of upper semicontinuity that Cesari has denoted as property (Q). This concept has been used by Cesari in most of his papers on existence theorems for optimal solutions, and later used by Olech, Lasota and Olech, Brunovsky, Baum, Suryanarayana, and Angell. First, criteria are given for property (Q) in addition to those which had been already given previously. Then, it is shown that a slight restriction in the concept can be expressed in a form which is similar to Tonelli's concept of seminormality for free problems of the calculus of variations. Thus, the property (Q) appears to be a generalization to Lagrange problems of control of the well-known concept of seminormality for free problems.This research was partially supported by AFOSR Research Project No. 69-1662.     

Combined Treatment with PI3K Inhibitors BYL-719 and CAL-101 Is a Promising Antiproliferative Strategy in Human Rhabdomyosarcoma Cells

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a highly malignant and metastatic pediatric cancer arising from skeletal muscle myogenic progenitors. Recent studies have shown an important role for AKT signaling in RMS progression. Aberrant activation of the PI3K/AKT axis is one of the most frequent events occurring in human cancers and serves to disconnect the control of cell growth, survival, and metabolism from exogenous growth stimuli. In the study reported here, a panel of five compounds targeting the catalytic subunits of the four class I PI3K isoforms (p110α, BYL-719 inhibitor; p110β, TGX-221 inhibitor; p110γ, {"type":"entrez-protein","attrs":{"text":"CZC24832","term_id":"994587862","term_text":"CZC24832"}}CZC24832; p110δ, CAL-101 inhibitor) and the dual p110α/p110δ, AZD8835 inhibitor, were tested on the RMS cell lines RD, A204, and SJCRH30. Cytotoxicity, cell cycle, apoptosis, and the activation of downstream targets were analyzed. Of the individual inhibitors, BYL-719 demonstrated the most anti-tumorgenic properties. BYL-719 treatment resulted in G1/G0 phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. When combined with CAL-101, BYL-719 decreased cell viability and induced apoptosis in a synergistic manner, equaling or surpassing results achieved with AZD8835. In conclusion, our findings indicate that BYL-719, either alone or in combination with the p110δ inhibitor, CAL-101, could represent an efficient treatment for human rhabdomyosarcoma presenting with aberrant upregulation of the PI3K signaling pathway.     

Modal analysis and intensity of acoustic radiation of the kettledrum

The acoustical features of kettledrums have been analyzed by means of modal analysis and acoustic radiation (p/v ratio) measurements. Modal analysis of two different kettledrums was undertaken, exciting the system both by a hammer and a shaker. Up to 15 vibrational modes were clearly identified. Acoustic radiation was studied using two ways. Based on previous experiments of other researchers, a new parameter, called intensity of acoustic radiation (IAR), has been defined and measured. Results show a strict relationship between IAR and the frequency response function (FRF, which is the v/F ratio), and IAR also strongly relates the modal pattern to acoustic radiation. Finally, IAR is proposed for vibro-acoustical characterization of kettledrums and other musical instruments such as strings, pianos, and harpsichords.