Synthesizing attractors of Hindmarsh-Rose neuronal systems

In this paper a periodic parameter switching scheme is applied to the Hindmarsh-Rose neuronal system to synthesize certain attractors. Results show numerically, via computer graphic simulations, that the obtained synthesized attractor belongs to the class of all admissible attractors for the Hindmarsh-Rose neuronal system and matches the averaged attractor obtained with the control parameter replaced with the averaged switched parameter values. This feature allows us to imagine that living beings are able to maintain vital behavior while the control parameter switches so that their dynamical behavior is suitable for the given environment.Comment: published in Nonlinear Dynamic

NUP-1 Is a Large Coiled-Coil Nucleoskeletal Protein in Trypanosomes with Lamin-Like Functions

NUP1, the first example of a nuclear lamin analog in nonmetazoans, performs roles similar to those of lamins in maintaining the structure and organization of the nucleus in Trypanosoma brucei

C-axis lattice dynamics in Bi-based cuprate superconductors

We present results of a systematic study of the c axis lattice dynamics in single layer Bi2Sr2CuO6 (Bi2201), bilayer Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 (Bi2212) and trilayer Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 (Bi2223) cuprate superconductors. Our study is based on both experimental data obtained by spectral ellipsometry on single crystals and theoretical calculations. The calculations are carried out within the framework of a classical shell model, which includes long-range Coulomb interactions and short-range interactions of the Buckingham form in a system of polarizable ions. Using the same set of the shell model parameters for Bi2201, Bi2212 and Bi2223, we calculate the frequencies of the Brillouin-zone center phonon modes of A2u symmetry and suggest the phonon mode eigenvector patterns. We achieve good agreement between the calculated A2u eigenfrequencies and the experimental values of the c axis TO phonon frequencies which allows us to make a reliable phonon mode assignment for all three Bi-based cuprate superconductors. We also present the results of our shell model calculations for the Gamma-point A1g symmetry modes in Bi2201, Bi2212 and Bi2223 and suggest an assignment that is based on the published experimental Raman spectra. The superconductivity-induced phonon anomalies recently observed in the c axis infrared and resonant Raman scattering spectra in trilayer Bi2223 are consistently explained with the suggested assignment.Comment: 29 pages, 13 figure

The long-term fate of permafrost peatlands under rapid climate warming

Permafrost peatlands contain globally important amounts of soil organic carbon, owing to cold conditions which suppress anaerobic decomposition. However, climate warming and permafrost thaw threaten the stability of this carbon store. The ultimate fate of permafrost peatlands and their carbon stores is unclear because of complex feedbacks between peat accumulation, hydrology and vegetation. Field monitoring campaigns only span the last few decades and therefore provide an incomplete picture of permafrost peatland response to recent rapid warming. Here we use a high-resolution palaeoecological approach to understand the longer-term response of peatlands in contrasting states of permafrost degradation to recent rapid warming. At all sites we identify a drying trend until the late-twentieth century; however, two sites subsequently experienced a rapid shift to wetter conditions as permafrost thawed in response to climatic warming, culminating in collapse of the peat domes. Commonalities between study sites lead us to propose a five-phase model for permafrost peatland response to climatic warming. This model suggests a shared ecohydrological trajectory towards a common end point: inundated Arctic fen. Although carbon accumulation is rapid in such sites, saturated soil conditions are likely to cause elevated methane emissions that have implications for climate-feedback mechanisms

Variable Modified Chaplygin Gas in Anisotropic Universe with Kaluza-Klein Metric

In this work, we have consider Kaluza-Klein Cosmology for anisotropic universe where the universe is filled with variable modified chaplygin gas (VMCG). Here we find normal scalar field $\phi$ and the self interacting potential $V(\phi)$ to describe the VMCG Cosmology. Also we graphically analyzed the geometrical parameters named {\it statefinder parameters} in anisotropic Kaluza-Klein model. Next, we consider a Kaluza-Klein model of interacting VMCG with dark matter in the Einstein gravity framework. Here we construct the three dimensional autonomous dynamical system of equations for this interacting model with the assumption that the dark energy and the dark matter are interact between them and for that we also choose the interaction term. We convert that interaction terms to its dimensionless form and perform stability analysis and solve them numerically. We obtain a stable scaling solution of the equations in Kaluza-Klein model and graphically represent solutions.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figure

From Climate Change to Pandemics: Decision Science Can Help Scientists Have Impact

Scientific knowledge and advances are a cornerstone of modern society. They improve our understanding of the world we live in and help us navigate global challenges including emerging infectious diseases, climate change and the biodiversity crisis. However, there is a perpetual challenge in translating scientific insight into policy. Many articles explain how to better bridge the gap through improved communication and engagement, but we believe that communication and engagement are only one part of the puzzle. There is a fundamental tension between science and policy because scientific endeavors are rightfully grounded in discovery, but policymakers formulate problems in terms of objectives, actions and outcomes. Decision science provides a solution by framing scientific questions in a way that is beneficial to policy development, facilitating scientists’ contribution to public discussion and policy. At its core, decision science is a field that aims to pinpoint evidence-based management strategies by focussing on those objectives, actions, and outcomes defined through the policy process. The importance of scientific discovery here is in linking actions to outcomes, helping decision-makers determine which actions best meet their objectives. In this paper we explain how problems can be formulated through the structured decisionmaking process. We give our vision for what decision science may grow to be, describing current gaps in methodology and application. By better understanding and engaging with the decision-making processes, scientists can have greater impact and make stronger contributions to important societal problems.Christopher M. Baker, Patricia T. Campbell, Iadine Chades, Angela J. Dean, Susan M. Hester, Matthew H. Holden, James M. McCaw, Jodie McVernon, Robert Moss, Freya M. Shearer, and Hugh P. Possingha

Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Child Morbidity: An Australian Longitudinal Study

While an extensive body of literature has demonstrated an association between socioeconomic status and child mortality, there have been relatively few papers which discuss the impact of socioeconomic inequality on child morbidity. This absence of data is partly attributable to methodological problems (need for large samples, the difficulty of assessing morbidity) and partly to the absence of relevant official health statistics. This paper reports results from the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) and its outcomes. The sample comprises 8556 consecutive pregnancies, of which over 90% were followed up to birth. Of those mothers giving birth, approx. 70% of children were successfully given a health assessment five years after the birth (mothers report of the child's health using a set of standard indicators). The results indicate a consistent pattern with the children of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged mothers manifesting the worst health. Thus children living in socioeconomic disadvantage have a higher rate of health service utilisation, more chronic health problems and poorer dental health. The paper discusses some social policies for redressing these inequalities

Observational Consequences of Evolution of Primordial Fluctuations in Scalar-Tensor Cosmology

Evolution of primordial fluctuations in a Brans-Dicke type scalar-tensor gravity theory is comprehensively investigated. The harmonic attractor model, in which the scalar field has its harmonic effective potential in the Einstein conformal frame and the theory relaxes toward Einstein gravity with time, is considered. The evolution of adiabatic initial perturbations in flat SCDM models is examined from the radiation-dominated epoch up to the present. We discuss how the scalar-tensor gravity affects the evolution of metric and matter perturbations, mainly focusing on the observational consequences, i.e., the matter power spectrum and the power spectrum of cosmic microwave background temperature. We find that the early time deviation is characterized only by the large static gravitational constant while the late time behavior is qualitatively different from that in Einstein gravity because the time variation of the gravitational constant and its fluctuation have non-negligible effects. The attracting scalar-tensor gravity affects only small scale modes due to its attracting nature, the degree of which is far beyond the post-Newtonian deviation at the present epoch.Comment: 18 page

How to make complexity look simple? Conveying ecosystems restoration complexity for socio-economic research and public engagement

Ecosystems degradation represents one of the major global challenges at the present time, threating people’s livelihoods and well-being worldwide. Ecosystem restoration therefore seems no longer an option, but an imperative. Restoration challenges are such that a dialogue has begun on the need to re-shape restoration as a science. A critical aspect of that reshaping process is the acceptance that restoration science and practice needs to be coupled with socio-economic research and public engagement. This inescapably means conveying complex ecosystem’s information in a way that is accessible to the wider public. In this paper we take up this challenge with the ultimate aim of contributing to making a step change in science’s contribution to ecosystems restoration practice. Using peatlands as a paradigmatically complex ecosystem, we put in place a transdisciplinary process to articulate a description of the processes and outcomes of restoration that can be understood widely by the public. We provide evidence of the usefulness of the process and tools in addressing four key challenges relevant to restoration of any complex ecosystem: (1) how to represent restoration outcomes; (2) how to establish a restoration reference; (3) how to cope with varying restoration time-lags and (4) how to define spatial units for restoration. This evidence includes the way the process resulted in the creation of materials that are now being used by restoration practitioners for communication with the public and in other research contexts. Our main contribution is of an epistemological nature: while ecosystem services-based approaches have enhanced the integration of academic disciplines and non-specialist knowledge, this has so far only followed one direction (from the biophysical underpinning to the description of ecosystem services and their appreciation by the public). We propose that it is the mix of approaches and epistemological directions (including from the public to the biophysical parameters) what will make a definitive contribution to restoration practice

Multidimensional Conservation Laws: Overview, Problems, and Perspective

Some of recent important developments are overviewed, several longstanding open problems are discussed, and a perspective is presented for the mathematical theory of multidimensional conservation laws. Some basic features and phenomena of multidimensional hyperbolic conservation laws are revealed, and some samples of multidimensional systems/models and related important problems are presented and analyzed with emphasis on the prototypes that have been solved or may be expected to be solved rigorously at least for some cases. In particular, multidimensional steady supersonic problems and transonic problems, shock reflection-diffraction problems, and related effective nonlinear approaches are analyzed. A theory of divergence-measure vector fields and related analytical frameworks for the analysis of entropy solutions are discussed.Comment: 43 pages, 3 figure