High accuracy [sup 18]O(p,α)[sup 15]N reaction rate in the 8⋅10[sup 6]–5⋅10[sup 9] K temperature range

The 18O(p,α)15N reaction is of great importance in several astrophysical scenarios, as it influences the production of key isotopes such as 19F, 18O and 15N. In this work, a high accuracy 18O(p,α)15N reaction rate is proposed, based on the simultaneous fit of direct measurements and of the results of a new Trojan Horse experiment. In particular, we have focused on the study of the broad 660 keV 1/2+ resonance. Since Γ∼100–300 keV, it strongly influences the nearly‐zero‐energy region of the cross section by means of the low‐energy tail of the resonant contribution and dominates the cross section at higher energies. Here we provide a factor of 2 larger reaction rate above T∼0.5 109 K based ov…

Alexithymic characteristics in pediatric patients with primary headache: a comparison between migraine and tension-type headache

Background: Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by difficulties in verbal emotional expression and a limited ability to use one’s imagination. Evidence of alexithymic characteristics was found in adults suffering from headache, while little is known about children. The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of alexithymia in two different subgroups of children and adolescents suffering from primary headache. We also looked for correlation between alexithymia in children and in their mothers. Methods: This study involved 89 participants: 47 (11 males, 36 females, aged 8 to 17 years) suffering from tension-type headache (TTH), and 42 (18 males, 24 females, aged 8 t…

Benign Nocturnal Alternating Hemiplegia Of Childhood: A New Case.

Juvenile migraine and allodynia: results of a retrospective study.

Background There are only 2 small sample studies investigating allodynia in the pediatric population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of allodynia during cephalalgic attacks in a juvenile population with primary headaches and its association with other symptoms of migraine. Methods We reviewed all medical records of patients with primary headache consecutively seen during a 2-year period. Frequency of allodynia was evaluated, by means of a questionnaire, consisting of 6 questions (for example: Do you avoid touching your head when you have a migraine attack?). Results Two hundred thirty children suffering from primary headache were seen during the study period. Two hundre…

West syndrome followed by juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: a coincidental occurrence?

Background: West syndrome is an age-dependent epilepsy with onset peak in the first year of life whose aetiology may be symptomatic or cryptogenic. Long-term cognitive and neurological prognosis is usually poor and seizure outcome is also variable. Over the past two decades a few patients with favourable cognitive outcome and with total recovery from seizures were identified among the cryptogenic group suggesting an idiopathic aetiology. Recent research has described two children with idiopathic WS who later developed a childhood absence epilepsy. Case presentation: We reviewed the medical records of patients with West syndrome admitted to the our Child Neuropsychiatry Unit in the last 15 y…

Migraine and cranial autonomic symptoms in children and adolescents: a clinical study.

The frequency of cranial autonomic symptoms in children affected by primary headaches is uncertain. The aim of our study was to estimate the frequency of symptoms in pediatric headaches and correlate it with main migraine characteristics. A questionnaire investigating the presence of cranial autonomic symptoms was administered to all children with primary headache for 2 years. A total of 230 children with primary headache (105 males, 125 females) were included. Two hundred two children were affected by migraine and 28 (12.2%) by other primary headaches. Cranial autonomic symptoms were significantly complained by migraineurs (55% vs 17.8%) ( P < .001) and by children with higher frequenc…

Clustering in non-self-conjugate nuclei

First measurement of the 18O(p,α)15N cross section at astrophysical energies

International audience; The 18O(p,α)15N reaction rate has been deduced by means of the Trojan horse method. For the first time the contribution of the 20 keV resonance has been directly evaluated, giving a value about 35% larger than the one in the literature. Moreover, the present approach has allowed to improve the accuracy by a factor 8.5, as it is based on the measured strength instead of spectroscopic measurements. The contribution of the 90 keV resonance has been also determined, which turned out to be of negligible importance to astrophysics.

Benign nocturnal alternating hemiplegia of childhood: a new case with unusual findings

Abstract It has been described a neuro developmental disorder labelled “Benign nocturnal alternating hemiplegia of childhood” (BNAHC) characterized by recurrent attacks of nocturnal hemiplegia without progression to neurological or intellectual impairment. We report a female patient who at 11 months revealed a motionless left arm, unusual crying without impairment of consciousness and obvious precipitating factors. The attacks occur during sleep in the early morning with lack of ictal and interictal electroencephalographic abnormalities, progressive neurological deficit, and cognitive impairment. Unlike previous reports of BNAHC our patient come from a family with a history of both migraine…

Few-body problems in nuclear astrophysics

Few-body methods provide very useful tools to solve different problems important for nuclear astrophysics. Some of them are discussed below.

Study of a-cluster states of 22Mg from resonance scattering of a post-accelerated 18Ne radioactive ion beam

An experiment aimed at the study of the α-cluster structure of 22Mg was performed at the Louvain la Neuve RIB facility. Preliminary results from a first feasibility run will be presented.

Benign myoclonic epilepsy in infancy followed by childhood absence epilepsy

Abstract Benign myoclonic epilepsy in infancy (BMEI) is a rare syndrome included among idiopathic generalized epilepsies (IGE) and syndromes with age-related onset. Recently, it has been shown that a few patients with BMEI later had other epilepsy types mainly IGE but never childhood absence epilepsy (CAE). We report a patient who at 11 months of age showed isolated myoclonic jerks occurring several times a day. The ictal video-EEG and polygraphic recording revealed generalized discharge of spike-wave (SW) lasting 1–2s associated with isolated bilateral synchronous jerk involving mainly the upper limbs controlled by valproic acid (VPA). At 6 years and 8 months the child developed a new elec…

Molecular Structures in T=1 states of 10B

Multi-center (molecular) structures can play an important role in light nuclei. The highly deformed rotational band in 10Be with band head at 6.179 MeV has been observed recently and suggested to have an exotic alpha:2n:alpha configuration. A search for states with alpha:pn:alpha two-center molecular configurations in 10B that are analogous to the states with alpha:2n:alpha structure in 10Be has been performed. The T=1 isobaric analog states in 10B were studied in the excitation energy range of E=8.7-12.1 MeV using the reaction 1H(9Be,alpha)6Li*(T=1, 0+, 3.56 MeV). An R-matrix analysis was used to extract parameters for the states observed in the (p,alpha) excitation function. Five T=1 stat…