Health benefits of pistachios consumption

The health benefits of nuts, mainly in relation to the improvement of dysmetabolic conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and the related cardiovascular diseases, have been widely demonstrated. Compared to other nuts, pistachios have a lower fat and caloric content, and contain the highest levels of unsaturated fatty acids, potassium, γ-tocopherol, phytosterols and xanthophyll carotenoids, all substances that are well known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. This variety of nutrients contributes to the growing body of evidence that the consumption of pistachios improves health, leading to a greater potential of healthy antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, glycemic control, and endothelial function. The present review examines the nutrients and phytochemicals present in pistachios as well as the potential health benefits of including pistachios in a diet.     

The study of electron energy distribution functions, Swarm parameters, and transition rates in N2+O2 plasma

Using the Boltzman equation electron energy distribution functions, swarm parameters (mean energy, characteristic energy, drift velocity and diffusion coefficient), and transition rates (one for vibrational and one for electronical excitation for each of the gases) for N₂+O₂ (80%+20%) mixture plasma have been calculated. The influence of the applied reduced electric field and the vibrational temperatures on these quantities is studied.     

Biological Assessment of the NO-Dependent Endothelial Function

Nitric oxide (NO) is implicated in numerous physiological processes, including vascular homeostasis. Reduced NO bioavailability is a hallmark of endothelial dysfunction, a prequel to many cardiovascular diseases. Biomarkers of an early NO-dependent endothelial dysfunction obtained from routine venous blood sampling would be of great interest but are currently lacking. The direct measurement of circulating NO remains a challenge due by its high reactivity and short half-life. The current techniques measure stable products from the NO signaling pathway or metabolic end products of NO that do not accurately represent its bioavailability and, therefore, endothelial function per se. In this review, we will concentrate on an original technique of low temperature electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy capable to directly measure the 5-α-coordinated heme nitrosyl-hemoglobin in the T (tense) state (5-α-nitrosyl-hemoglobin or HbNO) obtained from fresh venous human erythrocytes. In humans, HbNO reflects the bioavailability of NO formed in the vasculature from vascular endothelial NOS or exogenous NO donors with minor contribution from erythrocyte NOS. The HbNO signal is directly correlated with the vascular endothelial function and inversely correlated with vascular oxidative stress. Pilot studies support the validity of HbNO measurements both for the detection of endothelial dysfunction in asymptomatic subjects and for the monitoring of such dysfunction in patients with known cardiovascular disease. The impact of therapies or the severity of diseases such as COVID-19 infection involving the endothelium could also be monitored and their incumbent risk of complications better predicted through serial measurements of HbNO.     

Triggering Gel Formation and Luminescence through Donor–Acceptor Interactions in a C3‐Symmetric Tris(pyrene) System

Straightforward modulation of the gelation, absorption and luminescent properties of a tris(pyrene) organogelator containing a C₃‐symmetric benzene‐1,3,5‐tricarboxamide central unit functionalized by three 3,3′‐diamino‐2,2′‐bipyridine fragments is achieved through donor–acceptor interactions in the presence of tetracyanoquinodimethane.     

Spin adducts of group IVB organometallic radicals with Thioketones. an esr study

The radical adducts resulting from the reaction between group IVB organometallic radicals MR₃ (M = Si, Ge, Sn; R = alkyl or aryl) and a number of thioketones of the chromone and flavone series have been investigated by ESR spectroscopy. The spectral parameters obtained for these species have been compared with those of similar adducts of the corresponding ketones. Both classes of radicals adopt an orthogonal conformation, and the differences between the former and the latter paramagnetic species can be accounted for by the different electronegativity of oxygen and sulphur. the effects of substitution of the heterocyclic oxygen with a sulphur or selenium atom on the spin density distribution are likewise explained. INDO calculations have been carried out on the model systems CH₂XSiH₃ (X = O, S).     

Computer-assisted proofs of special function identities related to Poisson integrals

As a by-product of his work, E. Symeonidis obtained in (Comment. Math. Univ. Carol. 44(3):437–460, 2003) indirect proofs of two interesting special function identities involving Gegenbauer polynomials. In (Muldoon, 2004 ) the question of direct proofs was posed. We answer this question by presenting proofs obtained with the help of computer algebra algorithms based on WZ theory.     

Dissipative processes in light heavy ion collisions

The characteristics of the dissipative processes in the collisions of light heavy ion systems at incident energies below 10 MeV/nucleon have been studied. The correlations between different experimental observables show similar trends as those known at much heavier systems and semiempirical relationships are established starting from assumptions on the nature of the microscopic mechanisms. The charge equilibration process in light systems is also studied.     

Strong enhancement of extremely energetic proton production in central heavy ion collisions at intermediate energy

The energetic proton emission has been investigated as a function of the reaction centrality for the system (58)Ni + (58)Ni at 30A MeV. Extremely energetic protons (E(NN)(p) > or = 130 MeV) were measured and their multiplicity is found to increase almost quadratically with the number of participant nucleons, thus indicating the onset of a mechanism beyond one- and two-body dynamics.     

Short-range exchange and correlation energy density functionals: beyond the local-density approximation

We propose approximations which go beyond the local-density approximation for the short-range exchange and correlation density functionals appearing in a multideterminantal extension of the Kohn-Sham scheme. A first approximation consists of defining locally the range of the interaction in the correlation functional. Another approximation, more conventional, is based on a gradient expansion of the short-range exchange-correlation functional. Finally, we also test a short-range generalized-gradient approximation by extending the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof exchange-correlation functional to short-range interactions.