Analysis of uranium and isotopic ratio measurement in fish and marine invertebrates from the North Adriatic Sea by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Uranium analysis in fish, echinoderms and shellfish samples collected in the north part of the Adriatic Sea is presented. The aim of the work was to evaluate uranium concentrations in samples of this kind, and also to investigate possible contamination from depleted uranium (DU) in consequence of the war operations previously conducted in that area. DU contamination was checked by measuring the (235)U/(238)U isotope ratio. The samples were dissolved according to the EPA 3052 procedure, and the determinations were performed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), optimized in order to perform isotope ratio measurements with good precision. The method was validated by evaluating the recovery from spiked samples; results in the range 93-107% were obtained. The isotope ratio measurement was evaluated in terms of accuracy and precision by analyzing the certified reference materials IAEA 326 and GBW 07305, and good agreement with the certified values was obtained here also. The concentration of uranium was higher in invertebrate samples than in fish (0.3-2 microg/g of U vs. 0.05-0.1 microg/g, respectively). The isotope ratio measurements for all the samples gave values very similar to the natural ratio, permitting exclusion of the presence of DU.     

Classical scaling theory of quantum resonances

The quantum resonances occurring with delta-kicked particles are studied with the help of a fictitious classical limit, establishing a direct correspondence between the nearly resonant quantum motion and the classical resonances of a related system. A scaling law which characterizes the structure of the resonant peaks is derived and numerically demonstrated.     

Optimization of high-order harmonic generation by adaptive control of a sub-10-fs pulse wave front

We present a method for the optimization of high-order harmonic generation based on wave-front correction of the driving laser beam. The technique exploits wave-front adaptive control by means of a deformable mirror, governed by an optimization procedure.     

An efficient palladium-catalyzed synthesis of cinnamaldehydes from acrolein diethyl acetal and aryl iodides and bromides

The reaction of aryl iodides and bromides with acrolein diethyl acetal in the presence of Pd(OAc)(2), (n)()Bu(4)NOAc, K(2)CO(3), KCl, and DMF, at 90 degrees C until the disappearance of the acetal followed by the addition of 2 N HCl to the crude reaction mixture, affords cinnamaldehydes in good to high yields. A variety of functional groups are tolerated in the aryl halides, including ether, aldehyde, ketone, ester, dialkylamino, nitrile, and nitro groups. The presence of substituents close to the oxidative addition site does not hamper the reaction.     

q-Pseudoconvexity and Regularity at the Boundary for Solutions of the \bar \partial -problem

For a domain of we introduce a fairly general and intrinsic condition of weak q-pseudoconvexity, and prove, in Theorem 4, solvability of the -complex for forms with -coefficients in degree . All domains whose boundary have a constant number of negative Levi eigenvalues are easily recognized to fulfill our condition of q-pseudoconvexity; thus we regain the result of Michel (with a simplified proof). Our method deeply relies on the L ²-estimates by Hörmander (with some variants). The main point of our proof is that our estimates (both in weightened-L ² and in Sobolev norms) are sufficiently accurate to permit us to exploit the technique by Dufresnoy for regularity up to the boundary.     

Effects of delayed recovery and nonuniform transmission on the spreading of diseases in complex networks

We investigate the effects of delaying the time to recovery (delayed recovery) and of nonuniform transmission on the propagation of diseases on structured populations. Through a mean-field approximation and large-scale numerical simulations, we find that postponing the transition from the infectious to the recovered states can largely reduce the epidemic threshold, therefore promoting the outbreak of epidemics. On the other hand, if we consider nonuniform transmission among individuals, the epidemic threshold increases, thus inhibiting the spreading process. When both mechanisms are at work, the latter might prevail, hence resulting in an increase of the epidemic threshold with respect to the standard case, in which both ingredients are absent. Our findings are of interest for a better understanding of how diseases propagate on structured populations and to a further design of efficient immunization strategies.     

N-propargylic beta-enaminones: common intermediates for the synthesis of polysubstituted pyrroles and pyridines.

N-Propargylic beta-enaminones have been used as common intermediates for the synthesis of polysubstituted pyrroles and pyridines. Best results have been obtained using DMSO as solvent. In the presence of Cs(2)CO(3) N-propargylic beta-enaminones are cyclized to pyrroles in good to high yields, whereas omitting bases and using CuBr leads to the selective formation of pyridines.