Preservation of information in a prebiotic package model

The coexistence between different informational molecules has been the preferred mode to circumvent the limitation posed by imperfect replication on the amount of information stored by each of these molecules. Here we reexamine a classic package model in which distinct information carriers or templates are forced to coexist within vesicles, which in turn can proliferate freely through binary division. The combined dynamics of vesicles and templates is described by a multitype branching process which allows us to write equations for the average number of the different types of vesicles as well as for their extinction probabilities. The threshold phenomenon associated to the extinction of the vesicle population is studied quantitatively using finite-size scaling techniques. We conclude that the resultant coexistence is too frail in the presence of parasites and so confinement of templates in vesicles without an explicit mechanism of cooperation does not resolve the information crisis of prebiotic evolution.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted version, to be published in PR

Quantum dynamics in canonical and micro-canonical ensembles. Part I. Anderson localization of electrons

The new numerical approach for consideration of quantum dynamics and calculations of the average values of quantum operators and time correlation functions in the Wigner representation of quantum statistical mechanics has been developed. The time correlation functions have been presented in the form of the integral of the Weyl's symbol of considered operators and the Fourier transform of the product of matrix elements of the dynamic propagators. For the last function the integral Wigner- Liouville's type equation has been derived. The numerical procedure for solving this equation combining both molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo methods has been developed. For electrons in disordered systems of scatterers the numerical results have been obtained for series of the average values of the quantum operators including position and momentum dispersions, average energy, energy distribution function as well as for the frequency dependencies of tensor of electron conductivity and permittivity according to quantum Kubo formula. Zero or very small value of static conductivity have been considered as the manifestation of Anderson localization of electrons in 1D case. Independent evidence of Anderson localization comes from the behaviour of the calculated time dependence of position dispersion.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Creation and Reproduction of Model Cells with Semipermeable Membrane

A high activity of reactions can be confined in a model cell with a semipermeable membrane in the Schl\"ogl model. It is interpreted as a model of primitive metabolism in a cell. We study two generalized models to understand the creation of primitive cell systems conceptually from the view point of the nonlinear-nonequilibrium physics. In the first model, a single-cell system with a highly active state confined by a semipermeable membrane is spontaneously created from an inactive homogeneous state by a stochastic jump process. In the second model, many cell structures are reproduced from a single cell, and a multicellular system is created.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

НЕКОТОРЫЕ АСПЕКТЫ РЕЛИГИОЗНОЙ ЖИЗНИ МОСКОВСКИХ ТАТАР (ПО МАТЕРИАЛАМ ЭТНОСОЦИОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ 2014 ГОДА)

In 2014, the Marjani Institute of History at the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences launched a large-scale research project «The Tatars in the regions of the Russian Federation; religious renaissance and issues of identity. An ethno-sociological investigation into the current situation.» An important part of the research as a whole involved an analysis of the ethno-religious life of Tatars living in Moscow. The majority of those interviewed noted the fundamental signifi cance of Islam for the Tatars, along with a very closely intertwined relationship between Muslim religion and Tatar ethnic identity. The widely held notion of disrupted continuity in transmission of religious knowledge within the Moscow Tatar family is confi rmed. The middle-aged generation has ‘fallen out’ of the religious chain, having been most subject to Soviet ideological indoctrination. As such, religious activity is typically limited to the elderly and young people.Первые результаты исследования «Татары в регионах РФ: религиозное возрождение и проблемы идентичности» выявили особенности этнорелигиозной жизни московских татар. Для большей части респондентов ислам имеет базовое значение, отождествляются мусульманская религиозная и татарская этническая идентичности. Подтверждено мнение о нарушении преемственности в передаче религиозных знаний в структуре современной семьи. Из религиозной цепочки «выпадает» среднее поколение, активное проявление религиозности характерно для пожилых людей, либо для молодежи

Should the teaching of biological evolution include the origin of life?

The development of mainstream research on the origin of life as an outcome of Darwinian evolution is discussed. It is argued that prebiotic evolution and the origin of life should not be excluded from the syllabus and should be part of classes on biological evolution, and that the transition from non-living to living matter is best understood when seen as part of evolutionary biology. The wide acceptance of evolutionary approaches to the study of the emergence of life in European and Latin American countries is discussed

Landau Level Crossings and Extended-State Mapping in Magnetic Two-dimensional Electron Gases

We present longitudinal and Hall magneto-resistance measurements of a ``magnetic'' two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed in modulation-doped Zn$_{1-x-y}$Cd$_{x}$Mn$_{y}$Se quantum wells. The electron spin splitting is temperature and magnetic field dependent, resulting in striking features as Landau levels of opposite spin cross near the Fermi level. Magnetization measurements on the same sample probe the total density of states and Fermi energy, allowing us to fit the transport data using a model involving extended states centered at each Landau level and two-channel conduction for spin-up and spin-down electrons. A mapping of the extended states over the whole quantum Hall effect regime shows no floating of extended states as Landau levels cross near the Fermi level.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.