First Evidence for cos2ß>0 and Resolution of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa Quark-Mixing Unitarity Triangle Ambiguity.

We present first evidence that the cosine of the CP-violating weak phase 2ß is positive, and hence exclude trigonometric multifold solutions of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) Unitarity Triangle using a time-dependent Dalitz plot analysis of B^{0}→D^{(*)}h^{0} with D→K_{S}^{0}π^{+}π^{-} decays, where h^{0}∈{π^{0},η,ω} denotes a light unflavored and neutral hadron. The measurement is performed combining the final data sets of the BABAR and Belle experiments collected at the ϒ(4S) resonance at the asymmetric-energy B factories PEP-II at SLAC and KEKB at KEK, respectively. The data samples contain (471±3)×10^{6}BB[over ¯] pairs recorded by the BABAR detector and (772±11)×10^{6}BB[over ¯] pairs recorded by the Belle detector. The results of the measurement are sin2ß=0.80±0.14(stat)±0.06(syst)±0.03(model) and cos2ß=0.91±0.22(stat)±0.09(syst)±0.07(model). The result for the direct measurement of the angle ß of the CKM Unitarity Triangle is ß=[22.5±4.4(stat)±1.2(syst)±0.6(model)]°. The measurement assumes no direct CP violation in B^{0}→D^{(*)}h^{0} decays. The quoted model uncertainties are due to the composition of the D^{0}→K_{S}^{0}π^{+}π^{-} decay amplitude model, which is newly established by performing a Dalitz plot amplitude analysis using a high-statistics e^{+}e^{-}→cc[over ¯] data sample. CP violation is observed in B^{0}→D^{(*)}h^{0} decays at the level of 5.1 standard deviations. The significance for cos2ß>0 is 3.7 standard deviations. The trigonometric multifold solution π/2-ß=(68.1±0.7)° is excluded at the level of 7.3 standard deviations. The measurement resolves an ambiguity in the determination of the apex of the CKM Unitarity Triangle.

First Observation of CP Violation in B[over ¯]

We report a measurement of the time-dependent CP asymmetry of B[over ¯]^{0}→D_{CP}^{(*)}h^{0} decays, where the light neutral hadron h^{0} is a π^{0}, η, or ω meson, and the neutral D meson is reconstructed in the CP eigenstates K^{+}K^{-}, K_{S}^{0}π^{0}, or K_{S}^{0}ω. The measurement is performed combining the final data samples collected at the ϒ(4S) resonance by the BABAR and Belle experiments at the asymmetric-energy B factories PEP-II at SLAC and KEKB at KEK, respectively. The data samples contain (471±3)×10^{6} BB[over ¯] pairs recorded by the BABAR detector and (772±11)×10^{6} BB[over ¯] pairs recorded by the Belle detector. We measure the CP asymmetry parameters -η_{f}S=+0.66±0.10(stat)±0.06(syst) and C=-0.02±0.07(stat)±0.03(syst). These results correspond to the first observation of CP violation in B[over ¯]^{0}→D_{CP}^{(*)}h^{0} decays. The hypothesis of no mixing-induced CP violation is excluded in these decays at the level of 5.4 standard deviations.

OpenStructure: an integrated software framework for computational structural biology.

Research projects in structural biology increasingly rely on combinations of heterogeneous sources of information, e.g. evolutionary information from multiple sequence alignments, experimental evidence in the form of density maps and proximity constraints from proteomics experiments. The OpenStructure software framework, which allows the seamless integration of information of different origin, has previously been introduced. The software consists of C++ libraries which are fully accessible from the Python programming language. Additionally, the framework provides a sophisticated graphics module that interactively displays molecular structures and density maps in three dimensions. In this work, the latest developments in the OpenStructure framework are outlined. The extensive capabilities of the framework will be illustrated using short code examples that show how information from molecular-structure coordinates can be combined with sequence data and/or density maps. The framework has been released under the LGPL version 3 license and is available for download from http://www.openstructure.org.

Feasibility study on the use of CMOS sensors as detectors in radioguided surgery with ß-- emitters.

Radioguided surgery (RGS) is a medical practice which thanks to a radiopharmaceutical tracer and a probe allows the surgeon to identify tumor residuals up to a millimetric resolution in real-time. The employment of ß- emitters, instead of γ or ß+, reduces background from healthy tissues, administered activity to the patient, and medical exposure. In a previous work the possibility of using a CMOS Imager (Aptina MT9V011), initially designed for visible light imaging, to detect ß- from 90Y or 90Sr sources has been established. Because of its possible application as counting probe in RGS, the performances of MT9V011 in clinical-like conditions were studied.1 Through horizontal scans on a collimated 90Sr source of different sizes (1, 3, 5, 7 mm), we have determined relationships between scan fit parameters and the source dimension, namely A quadratic correlation and a linear dependency of, respectively, signal integrated over scan interval, and maximum signal against source diameter, are determined. Horizontal scan measurements on a source, interposing collimators of different size, aim to determine relationships or correlations between scan fit parameters and source dimension. A quadratic correlation and a linear dependency of, respectively, signal integrated over scan interval, and maximum signal against source diameter are determined. In order to get closer to clinical conditions, agar-agar phantoms containing 90Y with different dimensions and activities were prepared. A 90Y phantom is characterized by a central spot and a ring all around, for simulating both signal (tumor) and background (surrounding healthy tissue). The relationship found between scan maximum and 90Sr source diameter is then exploited to extract the concentration ratio between spot and external ring of the 90Y phantom. This observable, defined as the ratio between the tumor and the nearby healthy tissues uptake simulates the Tumor-to-Non-tumor Ratio (TNR). With the aim of evaluating the sensor's ability to discriminate signal from background relying on the significance parameter, a further 90Y phantom, featuring a well-known and clinical-like activity will mimic the signal only condition. This result is used to extrapolate to different source sizes, after having estimated the background for various TNR. The obtained significance values suggest that the MT9V011 sensor is capable of distinguishing a signal from an estimated background, depending on the interplay among TNR, acquisition time and tumor diameter.

The Fermi surface of [Formula: see text].

The heavy-fermion compound [Formula: see text] has been studied using the fully relativistic spin-polarized mean muffin-tin orbital method within the local density approximation. Two separate calculations, one where the f electron is treated as a valence electron and the other where it is treated as part of the core, have been performed and the Fermi surface is obtained. The angular-dependent de Haas - van Alphen (dHvA) frequencies are calculated in both cases and they are compared with the experimental dHvA frequencies. We also calculated the electron momentum densities and compared them with the electron - positron momentum densities measured from the two-dimensional angular correlation of electron - positron annihilation radiation. The spin polarization of the Fermi surface is analysed and we present a new interpretation of the experimental data of Harrison et al.

Selection and Nuclear DNA Analysis of Cell Hybrids between Daucus carota and Oryza sativa.

In order to study the fate of the parental genomes in somatic cell hybrids between distantly related species, protoplasts from cultured cells of Daucus carota and Oryza sativa were fused. Selective conditions resulted, exclusively, in the growth of hybrid colonies which combined the capacity to multiply of carrot cells with the natural resistance to A2CA of rice cells. A methodology for measuring the relative contribution of the parental cells to the hybrid nuclear genome has been worked out. This is based both on hybridization of nuclear DNA bound to nitrocellulose filters (dot hybridization) with radioactively labelled nuclear DNA from one of the parents and on agarose gel fractionation of nuclear DNA digested with restriction endonucleases. The dot hybridization analysis, performed on one of the D. carota x O. sativa cell hybrids, showed that the major portion of the nuclear genome is homologous with the carrot partner, with rice contributing only a minor fraction, along with the selected resistance gene(s). The homology was confirmed after agarose gel fractionation of restriction endonuclease BamHI-digested nuclear DNA. Furthermore, strong homology at the level of gene expression between hybrid and carrot cells was shown by polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis of total soluble proteins.

Positron annihilation studies of the f-electron character in actinides.

Measurement of the angular correlation of the electron-positron annihilation radiation complemented with ab initio calculations can provide decisive information about the character of f electrons in actinide compounds. Our studies of the antiferromagnet UGa3 in the paramagnetic phase produce substantial evidence that an unconstrained f-electron itinerant description applies.

Nuclear DNA amplification in cultured cells of Oryza sativa L.

Highly repeated nuclear DNA sequences from suspension cultured cells of Oryza sativa L. cv. 'Roncarolo' have been cloned in pBR322. Ten clones with specific digestion patterns have been randomly selected. Nine sequences appear to be organized in a clustered tandem array while one is interpersed in the rice genome. The clones have been used to gather information on: (a) their modulation in cultured cells as compared to whole plant and (b) their distribution in different rice cultivars belonging to the Japonica or Indica subspecies of Oryza sativa L. Hybridization with nuclear DNA isolated either from suspension or from seedlings of the 'Roncarolo' cultivar revealed extensive quantitative variations, with most cloned sequences showing amplification (up to 75-fold) in cultured cells. Hybridization with nuclear DNA isolated from seedlings or suspension cultured cells from different cultivars belonging to the Japonica or to the Indica sub-species of O. sativa have shown that (a) amplification also occurs in a similar pattern in the case of DNA from the other tested suspension cultured cell types but not in the case of DNA from seedlings; (b) in some cases the tested sequences show minor but significant variations in different rice accessions.

Fermi surface and magnetic structure of TmGa3.

We carry out measurements of the two-dimensional angular correlation of the positron annihilation radiation (2D-ACAR) to reconstruct the complex multisheet Fermi surface (FS) of the cubic rare-earth (RE) compound TmGa3. We discover a correlation between the antiferromagnetic structures and the nesting of the FS along the [110] directions. Moreover, we propose methods to estimate the density of states at the Fermi energy ( EF) and the electronic contribution to the specific heat [we obtain N(EF) = 13.6 states/Ryd cell and gamma = 2.4 mJ/mole K2].

Somaclonal variation versus chemically induced mutagenesis in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.).

A comparison was made of the type and frequency of mutational events found in the progeny of tomato plants regenerated after one passage in vitro with those induced by chemical mutagenesis with ethyl methane sulphonate. Several mutants were recovered in the progeny of regenerated and mutagenized plants of two cultivars of tomato. They can be grouped into the following categories: seedling lethality, male sterility, resistance to Verticillium, short stature, change in number of lateral shoots or in leaf shape. The results indicate that the two sources of variability differ in their effect, changing the spectrum and frequency of the mutants as well as, at least in some cases, their pattern of segregation.