554 research outputs found
Universal Scaling of Wave Propagation Failure in Arrays of Coupled Nonlinear Cells
We study the onset of the propagation failure of wave fronts in systems of
coupled cells. We introduce a new method to analyze the scaling of the critical
external field at which fronts cease to propagate, as a function of
intercellular coupling. We find the universal scaling of the field throughout
the range of couplings, and show that the field becomes exponentially small for
large couplings. Our method is generic and applicable to a wide class of
cellular dynamics in chemical, biological, and engineering systems. We confirm
our results by direct numerical simulations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTe
Mutations in the C-terminal region of the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase and their correlation with drug resistance associated mutations and antiviral treatment
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>Replication of HIV-1 after cell entry is essentially dependent on the reverse transcriptase (RT). Antiretroviral drugs impairing the function of the RT currently aim at the polymerase subunit. One reason for failure of antiretroviral treatment is the evolvement of resistance-associated mutations in the viral genome. For RT inhibitors, almost all identified mutations are located within the polymerase; therefore, general genotyping confines to investigate this subunit. Recently several studies have shown that substitutions within the RNase H and the connection domain increase antiviral drug-resistance in vitro, and some of them are present in patient isolates.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of these substitutions and their association with mutations in the polymerase domain arising during antiretroviral treatment.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>We performed genotypic analyzes on seventy-four virus isolates derived from treated and untreated patients, followed at the HIV Centre of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Hospital (Frankfurt/Main, Germany). We subsequently analysed the different substitutions in the c-terminal region to evaluate whether there were associations with each other, n-terminal substitutions or with antiretroviral treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified several primer grip substitutions, but almost all of them were located in the connection domain. This is consistent with other in-vivo studies, in which especially the primer grip residues located in the RNase H were unvaried. Furthermore, we identified other substitutions in the connection domain and in the RNase H. Especially E399D seemed to be associated with an antiretroviral treatment and N-terminal resistance-delivering mutations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Some of the identified substitutions were associated with antiviral treatment and drug resistance-associated mutations. Due to the low prevalence of C-terminal mutations and as only a few of them could be associated with antiviral treatment and N-terminal resistance-delivering mutations, we would not recommend routinely testing of the C-terminal RT region.</p
Quark models of dibaryon resonances in nucleon-nucleon scattering
We look for and resonances by calculating
scattering phase shifts of two interacting baryon clusters of quarks with
explicit coupling to these dibaryon channels. Two phenomenological
nonrelativistic chiral quark models giving similar low-energy properties
are found to give significantly different dibaryon resonance structures. In the
chiral quark model (ChQM), the dibaryon system does not resonate in the
-waves, in agreement with the experimental SP07 partial-wave scattering
amplitudes. In the quark delocalization and color screening model (QDCSM), the
-wave NN resonances disappear when the nucleon size falls below 0.53 fm.
Both quark models give an resonance. At fm, the value favored by baryon spectrum, the resonance mass is 2390 (2420)
MeV for the ChQM with quadratic (linear) confinement, and 2360 MeV for the
QDCSM. Accessible from the channel, this resonance is a promising
candidate for the known isoscalar ABC structure seen more clearly in the
production cross section at 2410 MeV in the recent
preliminary data reported by the CELSIUS-WASA Collaboration. In the isovector
dibaryon sector, our quark models give a bound or almost bound
state that can give rise to a resonance.
None of the quark models used has bound -states that might
generate odd-parity resonances.Comment: 14 pages, 6 tables, 6 figures; added supplementary results,
added/deleted references, added 1 figur
Scalar form factors of light mesons
The scalar radius of the pion plays an important role in CHPT, because it is
related to one of the basic effective coupling constants, viz. the one which
controls the quark mass dependence of F_pi at one loop. In a recent paper,
Yndurain derives a {\it robust lower bound} for this radius, which disagrees
with earlier determinations. We show that such a bound does not exist: the
"derivation" relies on an incorrect claim. Moreover, we discuss the physics of
the form factors associated with the operators \ubar u, \dbar d and \sbar s and
show that their structure in the vicinity of the K \Kbar threshold is quite
different. Finally, we draw attention to the fact that the new data on the
slope of the scalar K_l3 form factor confirm a recent, remarkably sharp
theoretical prediction.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures. v2: minor changes - version to appear on Phys.
Lett. B. v3: Published version. Values of the measured K-pi radii correcte
Re-imagining the Borders of US Security after 9/11: Securitisation, Risk, and the Creation of the Department of Homeland Security
The articulation of international and transnational terrorism as a key issue in US security policy, as a result of the 9/11 attacks, has not only led to a policy rethink, it has also included a bureaucratic shift within the US, showing a re-thinking of the role of borders within US security policy. Drawing substantively on the 'securitisation' approach to security studies, the article analyses the discourse of US security in order to examine the founding of the Department of Homeland Security, noting that its mission provides a new way of conceptualising 'borders' for US national security. The securitisation of terrorism is, therefore, not only represented by marking terrorism as a security issue, it is also solidified in the organisation of security policy-making within the US state. As such, the impact of a 'war on terror' provides an important moment for analysing the re-articulation of what security is in the US, and, in theoretical terms, for reaffirming the importance of a relationship between the production of threat and the institutionalisation of threat response. © 2007 Taylor & Francis
Correlation Between the Deuteron Characteristics and the Low-energy Triplet np Scattering Parameters
The correlation relationship between the deuteron asymptotic normalization
constant, , and the triplet np scattering length, , is
investigated. It is found that 99.7% of the asymptotic constant is
determined by the scattering length . It is shown that the linear
correlation relationship between the quantities and
provides a good test of correctness of various models of nucleon-nucleon
interaction. It is revealed that, for the normalization constant and
for the root-mean-square deuteron radius , the results obtained with the
experimental value recommended at present for the triplet scattering length
are exaggerated with respect to their experimental counterparts. By
using the latest experimental phase shifts of Arndt et al., we obtain, for the
low-energy scattering parameters (, , ) and for the
deuteron characteristics (, ), results that comply well with
experimental data.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure, To be published in Physics of Atomic Nucle
[Prevalence of claw disorders in swiss cattle farms].
INTRODUCTION
The project «Healthy claws - the foundation for the future» aims to establish a Swiss national claw health monitoring based on digital recordings by claw trimmers during claw trimming. To assess claw health on the participating farms, between-herd prevalence, within-herd prevalence and cow prevalence of all claw disorders based on the «ICAR Claw Health Atlas» were calculated during this study. Claw trimmers underwent an intensive training and examination in order to ensure data quality. To guarantee the representativity of the prevalences, only farm claw trimmings were considered, where ≥ 80 % of the cows in a herd were trimmed. The calculations were based on 7108 cows and 403 heifers from 238 farms, during the period from February 2020 to February 2021. At least one claw disorder was present in 99,2 % of the farms, with 49,6 % of the heifers and 77,7 % of the cows having at least one claw disorder. The high prevalence is seen as a result of all ICAR claw disorders being considered, whereas not all of them are painful and consequently not all of them cause lameness. The absence of lameness assessment limits the evaluation of existing herd problems. High between-herd and cow prevalences were observed for the following claw disorders: heel horn erosion (92,9 %/64,7 %), digital dermatitis (55,9 %/20,7 %), white line disease (81,5 %/17,7 %) and sole hemorrhage (66,4 %/11,6 %). Asymmetric claws, corkscrew claws, scissor claws, horn fissure, interdigital phlegmon, swelling of the coronet and/or bulb and toe necrosis had low prevalences. The proportion of cows treated with a hoof block (0,5 %) was comparatively small in regard of the cows suffering from ulcers (5,6 %) and white line abscesses (2,5 %). The median within-herd prevalence of digital dermatitis was 5,6 %, with a maximal within-herd prevalence of 87,5 %. Despite the contagious nature of digital dermatitis, no increase of between-herd and cow prevalence has been observed in the past ten years throughout Switzerland. Based on this data, the Swiss claw health situation can be monitored, compared over time and improved in the future
Empathy, engagement, entrainment: the interaction dynamics of aesthetic experience
A recent version of the view that aesthetic experience is based in empathy as inner
imitation explains aesthetic experience as the automatic simulation of actions,
emotions, and bodily sensations depicted in an artwork by motor neurons in the brain. Criticizing the simulation theory for committing to an erroneous concept of empathy and failing to distinguish regular from aesthetic experiences of art, I advance an alternative, dynamic approach and claim that aesthetic experience is enacted and skillful, based in the recognition of others’ experiences as distinct from one’s own. In combining insights from mainly psychology, phenomenology, and cognitive science, the dynamic approach aims to explain the emergence of aesthetic experience in terms of the reciprocal interaction between viewer and artwork. I argue that aesthetic experience emerges by participatory sense-making and revolves around movement as a means for creating meaning. While entrainment merely plays a preparatory part in this, aesthetic engagement constitutes the phenomenological side of coupling to an artwork and provides the context for exploration, and eventually for moving, seeing, and feeling with art. I submit that aesthetic experience emerges from bodily and emotional engagement with works of art via the complementary processes of the perception–action and motion–emotion loops. The former involves the embodied
visual exploration of an artwork in physical space, and progressively structures and organizes visual experience by way of perceptual feedback from body movements made in response to the artwork. The latter concerns the movement qualities and shapes of implicit and explicit bodily responses to an artwork that cue emotion and thereby modulate over-all affect and attitude. The two processes cause the viewer to bodily and emotionally move with and be moved by individual works of art, and consequently to recognize another psychological orientation than her own, which explains how art can cause feelings of insight or awe and disclose aspects of life that are unfamiliar or novel to the viewer
Unitarized Chiral Perturbation Theory in a finite volume: scalar meson sector
We develop a scheme for the extraction of the properties of the scalar mesons
f0(600), f0(980), and a0(980) from lattice QCD data. This scheme is based on a
two-channel chiral unitary approach with fully relativistic propagators in a
finite volume. In order to discuss the feasibility of finding the mass and
width of the scalar resonances, we analyze synthetic lattice data with a fixed
error assigned, and show that the framework can be indeed used for an accurate
determination of resonance pole positions in the multi-channel scattering.Comment: 15 pages, 17 figure
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