Radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates for H-like Fe XXVI

Aims. In this paper we report on calculations for energy levels, radiative rates, collision strengths, and effective collision strengths for transitions among the lowest 25 levels of the n $\le$ 5 configurations of H-like Fe XXVI.
Methods. The general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package (GRASP) and Dirac atomic R-matrix code (DARC) are adopted for the calculations.
Results. Radiative rates, oscillator strengths, and line strengths are reported for all electric dipole (E1), magnetic dipole (M1), electric quadrupole (E2), and magnetic quadrupole (M2) transitions among the 25 levels. Furthermore, collision strengths and effective collision strengths are reported for all the 300 transitions among the above 25 levels over a wide energy (temperature) range up to 1500 Ryd (107.7 K). Comparisons are made with earlier available results and the accuracy of the data is assessed.

Adrenomedullin Gene Delivery is Cardio-protective in a Model of Chronic Nitric Oxide Deficiency Combining Pressure Overload, Oxidative Stress and Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy

BACKGROUND/AIMS:
Chronic inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis is associated with hypertension, myocardial ischemia, oxidative stress and hypertrophy; expression of the vasodilator peptide, adrenomedullin (AM) and its receptors is augmented in cardiomyocytes, indicating that the myocardial AM system may be activated in response to pressure loading and ischemic insult to serve a counter-regulatory, cardio-protective role. The study examined the hypothesis that oxidative stress and hypertrophic remodeling in NO-deficient cardiomyocytes are attenuated by adenoviral vector-mediated delivery of the human adrenomedullin (hAM) gene in vivo.

METHODS:
The NO synthesis inhibitor, N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 15mg . kg(-1) . day(-1)) was given to rats for 4 weeks following systemic administration via the tail vein of a single injection of either adenovirus harbouring hAM cDNA under the control of the cytomegalovirus promoter-enhancer (Ad.CMV-hAM-4F2), or for comparison, adenovirus alone (Ad.Null) or saline. Cardiomyocytes were subsequently isolated for assessment of the influence of each intervention on parameters of oxidative stress and hypertrophic remodelling.

RESULTS: Cardiomyocyte expression of the transgene persisted for > or =4 weeks following systemic administration of adenoviral vector. In L-NAME treated rats, relative to Ad.Null or saline administration, Ad.CMV-hAM-4F2 (i) reduced augmented cardiomyocyte membrane protein oxidation and mRNA expression of pro-oxidant (p22phox) and anti-oxidant (SOD-3, GPx) genes; (ii) attenuated increased cardiomyocyte width and mRNA expression of hypertrophic (sk-alpha-actin) and cardio-endocrine (ANP) genes; (iii) did not attenuate hypertension.

CONCLUSIONS: Adenoviral vector mediated delivery of hAM resulted in attenuation of myocardial oxidative stress and hypertrophic remodelling in the absence of blood pressure reduction in this model of chronic NO-deficiency. These findings are consistent with a direct cardio-protective action in the myocardium of locally-derived hAM which is not dependant on NO generation.

Electron-impact excitation of Fe II: Effective collision strengths for optically allowed fine-structure transitions

In this paper. we present collision strengths and Maxwellian averaged effective collision strengths for the electron-impact excitation of Fe II. We consider specifically the optically allowed lines for transitions from the 3d(6)4s and 3d(7) even parity configuration states to the 3d(6)4p odd parity configuration levels. The parallel suite of Breit-Pauli codes are utilized to compute the collision cross-sections where relativistic effects are included explicitly in both the target and the scattering approximation. A total of 100 LS or 262-jj levels formed from the basis configurations 3d(6)4s, 3d(7) and 3d(6)4p were included in the wave-function representation of the target, including all doublet. quartet and sextet terms. The Maxwellian averaged effective collision strengths are computed across a wide range of electron temperatures from 100 to 100,000 K, temperatures of importance in astrophysical and plasma applications. A detailed comparison is made with previous works and significant differences were found to occur for some of the transitions considered. We conclude that in order to obtain converged collision strengths and effective collision strengths for these allowed transitions it is necessary to include contributions from partial waves up to L = 50 explicitly in the calculation, and in addition, account for contributions from even higher partial waves through a "top up" procedure.