Measurement of the in-medium K0 inclusive cross section in pi(-) -induced reactions at 1.15 GeV/c.

The K0 meson production by pi(-) mesons of 1.15 GeV/c momentum on C, Al, Cu, Sn, and Pb nuclear targets was measured with the FOPI spectrometer at the Schwer-Ionen-Synchrotron accelerator of GSI. Inclusive production cross sections and the momentum distributions of K0 mesons are compared to scaled elementary production cross sections and to predictions of theoretical models describing the in-medium production of kaons. The data represent a new reference for those models, which are widely used for interpretation of the strangeness production in heavy-ion collisions. The presented results demonstrate the sensitivity of the kaon production to the reaction amplitudes inside nuclei and point to the existence of a repulsive KN potential of 20+/-5 MeV at normal nuclear matter density.

Direct measurement of the Chudakov effect.

Experimental results for the restricted energy loss of pairs created from 1-178 GeV photons in a thin Au target and subsequently passing a CCD detector are presented. It is shown that pairs--when detected close to the creation vertex--suffer a reduced energy loss due to the internal screening of the charges constituting the pair. Furthermore, the ability to measure directly the energy of the pair by calorimetry enables a comparison with theory as a function of energy. The observed phenomenon is in good qualitative agreement with general expectations from the Chudakov effect but indicates a quantitative disagreement with either of two mutually disagreeing theories.

Energetics of midvelocity emissions in peripheral heavy ion collisions at Fermi energies.

Peripheral and semiperipheral collisions have been studied in the system 93Nb+93Nb at 38A MeV. The evaporative and midvelocity components of the light charged particle and intermediate mass fragment emissions have been carefully disentangled. In this way it was possible to obtain the average amount not only of charge and mass, but also of energy, pertaining to the midvelocity emission, as a function of an impact parameter estimator. This emission has a very important role in the overall balance of the reaction, as it accounts for a large fraction of the emitted mass and for more than half of the dissipated energy. As such, it may give precious clues on the microscopic mechanism of energy transport from the interaction zone toward the target and projectile remnants.

Is the electron radiation length constant at high energies?

Experimental results for the radiative energy loss of 149, 207, and 287 GeV electrons in a thin Ir target are presented. From the data we conclude that at high energies the radiation length increases in accordance with the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) theory and thus electrons become more penetrating the higher the energy. The increase of the radiation length as a result of the LPM effect has a significant impact on the behavior of high-energy electromagnetic showers.

Inhaled mycotoxins lead to acute renal failure.

Mysterious deaths of archeologists after opening Egyptian tombs have been suspected, but never proved, to be secondary to inhalation of mycotoxin. We observed a case of acute renal failure (ARF) due to inhalation of ochratoxin A produced by a mould of the species Aspergillus ochraceus. After working 8 h in a granary closed for several months, a farmer and his wife suffered respiratory distress; the woman developed non-oliguric ARF and biopsy revealed tubulonecrosis. A strain of Aspergillus ochraceus producing ochratoxin was isolated from the wheat.

Hongos aislados del plumaje y excremento de gallinas en una industria avicola de Monferrato, Pavia Italia / Fungi isolated from feathers and faeces of hens in an avian industry of Monferrato, Pavia Italy

Mediante cultivos en sustratos queratínicos, diluciones en PDA y un medio selectivo para Cryptococcus neoformans, se evaluó durante 2 períodos estacionales en una industria avicola, la micota presente en el plumaje y excrementos de gallinas sanas y enfermas, con la finalidad de evaluar la frecuencia de presencia de algunos hongos considerados potencialmente patógenos o toxicogénicos. En el plumaje de las aves sanas predominaron Aspergillus fumigatus, A. niger, Penicillium glabrum, mientras en sus excrementos Candida famata, C. guilliermondi. Cryptococcus laurentii, Mucor hiemalis y M. racemosus. El plumaje de las aves enfermas presentó una mayor diversidad de especies, dominando: A. niger, P. purpurogenum, Fusarium equiseti, Chrysosporium Keratinophilum, Chry. indicum, mientras en los excrementos, A. flavus, A. clavatus, A. fumigatus, M. hiemalis y M. racemosus, Candida albicans, C. pseudotropicalis y Cryptococcus laurentii. Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans, se aisló con baja frecuencia en las heces. Estas aves y su habitat, constituyen un ambiente vinculado a la ecología de algunos hongos filamentosos y levaduriformes con capacidad toxicogénica o invasiva, representando un reservorio y una fuente de infección para las aves y el personal de estas industrias

Acute renal failure from inhalation of mycotoxins.

Mysterious deaths of archeologists after opening Egyptian tombs have been suspected to be secondary to inhalation of mycotoxin, however, the hypothesis has never been verified. Recently, we observed a case of acute renal failure (ARF) undeniably due to inhalation of ochratoxin of Aspergillus ochraceus. After spending 8 h in a granary which had been closed for several months, a farmer and his wife suffered temporary respiratory distress; 24 h later, the woman developed nonoliguric ARF and biopsy revealed tubulonecrosis which healed in 24 days. Toxic substances were not found, but a strain of A. ochraceus producing ochratoxin was isolated from the wheat.

Keratinophilic fungi isolated from soil of Italian parks in the province of Pavia.

Soil samples collected from 9 parks in the Italian province of Pavia were baited with hair and feathers for the isolation of keratinophilic fungi. The dominant species were the teleomorphs Arthroderma gypsea, A. uncinatum, Ctenomyces serratus and Aphanoascus fulvescens with their anamorphs. Among the other species isolated, Amauroascus mutatus, Gymnascella dankaliensis, Gymnoascus intermedius and Gymnoascus reessii were recorded. The distribution of these fungi is discussed and related to previous records.

Alternative splicing in the human gene for the core protein A1 generates another hnRNP protein.

The human hnRNP core protein A1 (34 kd) is encoded by a 4.6 kb gene split into 10 exons. Here we show that the A1 gene can be differentially spliced by the addition of an extra exon. The new transcript encodes a minor protein of the hnRNP complex, here defined A1B protein, with a calculated mol. wt of 38 kd, that coincides with a protein previously designated as B2 by some authors. In vitro translation of the mRNAs selected by hybridization with A1 cDNA produced two proteins of 34 and 38 kd; Northern blot analysis of poly(A)+ RNA from HeLa cells revealed that the abundance of the A1B mRNA was approximately 5% that of A1. The A1B protein was detected by Western blotting with an anti-A1 monoclonal antibody both in enriched preparations of basic hnRNP proteins and in 40S hnRNP particles. The A1B protein exhibits a significantly higher affinity than A1 for ssDNA. The recombinant A1B protein, expressed in Escherichia coli, shows the same electrophoretic mobility and charge as the cellular one.

Superficial mycoses in Italy.

A total of 1244 cases suspected of superficial mycoses were analysed in a period of 12 months in Italy. Dermatophytoses were found in 62.4%; the other common disease was Pityriasis versicolor (44.1%)., The predominant species Epidermophyton floccosum (34,2%) was strikingly high in relation to other statistics; this species was commonest in tinea cruris. Among the other dermatophytes M. canis was predominant (31.3%) commonest in tinea corporis, followed by T. mentagrophytes (17,8%) and T. rubrum (10,3%). A high rate of yeasts was found in tinea manum (81.6%) and tinea pedis (47.7%). ?

Multicentre clinical study with tolciclate in the local treatment of skin mycoses in 1083 patients.

A multicentre clinical trial with tolciclate was carried out in Italy on 1083 patients suffering from skin mycoses (tinea corporis, tinea cruris, tinea pedis, tinea manuum and pityriasis versicolor). Both preparations (1% cream and lotion) showed a good activity evaluated weekly by clinical examinations and mycological assessments, i.e. culture for tineas and microscopy for pityriasis versicolor. Favourable clinical results ranged from 83% to 97% according to diagnoses. Cultural or microscopic conversions obtained in a mean time of about 2 weeks varied from 70% to 91%. Mycological relapses a month after the end of treatment were seen in 6.5% of cases examined. Adverse reactions were observed in 5.6% of patients but the treatment was discontinued only in 2.6%.