Thick Domain Walls Intersecting a Black Hole

We discuss the gravitationally interacting system of a thick domain wall and a black hole. We numerically solve the scalar field equation in the Schwarzschild spacetime and show that there exist scalar field configurations representing thick domain walls intersecting the black hole.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

A multifactorial framework of psychobehavioral determinants of coping behaviors: an online survey at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic

Coronavirus disease 2019 dramatically changed people’s behavior because of the need to adhere to infection prevention and to overcome general adversity resulting from the implementation of infection prevention measures. However, coping behavior has not been fully distinguished from risk perception, and a comprehensive picture of demographic, risk-perception, and psychobehavioral factors that influence the major coping-behavior factors remain to be elucidated. In this study, we recruited 2,885 Japanese participants. Major coping-behavior and risk-perception factors were identified via exploratory factor analysis of 50 candidate items. Then, we conducted a hierarchical multiple regression analysis to investigate factors associated with each coping-behavior factor. We identified four types of coping behavior [CB1 (mask-wearing), CB2 (information-seeking), CB3 (resistance to social stagnation), and CB4 (infection-prevention)] and three risk-perception factors [RP1 (shortages of daily necessities), RP2 (medical concerns), and RP3 (socioeconomic concerns)]. CB1 was positively associated with female sex and etiquette. CB2 was positively related to RP1 and RP3. CB3 was positively related to RP1 and leadership, and negatively associated with etiquette. CB4 was positively associated with female sex, etiquette, and active well-being. This parsimonious model may help to elucidate essential social dynamics and provide a theoretical framework for coping behavior during a pandemic

Five major outcomes of digitalization: relevance of a survival personality type during COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic required people to adapt rapidly to the digital transformation of society for social survival, which highlighted the divide between those who can and cannot digitalize. Previous studies investigated factors promoting adaptation to digitalization; however, outcomes from adaptation to a digitalized society have not been sorted into a parsimonious model, even though there should be several multifaceted outcomes (e.g., usefulness, economic profit, and social outcome), each of which is promoted by different factors. If the effects of individual background factors can be revealed, including the technical-environment and survival-relevant personality in relation to each outcome, it would help in the creation of a society where more people play an active role by adapting to digitalization. This study aimed to construct such a model by identifying major outcomes gained in a digitalized society and investigating individual factors that contribute to the degree of gain of each of these outcomes. Five dimensions were identified by online surveys and factor analysis: Socialization (outcomes derived from new social connections created online), Space–time (freedom from time and space constraints), Economics (monetary outcome by using digital services), and Information (ease and amount of acquisition of information) were the positive outcomes, whereas Loneliness (feelings of not being able to keep up with digitization) was identified as a negative outcome. We determined that technical-environmental factors (e.g., familiarity with digital techniques and the amount of money that can be used for digitalization) facilitated gain in four positive outcomes. Notably, leadership and conscientiousness facilitated the Socialization gain while etiquette suppressed it. These factors’ effects would reflect the importance of a personality trait prioritizing construction and maintenance of social relationships. This study implies that material outcomes (i.e., Space–time, Economics, and Information) are promoted by technical-environmental support, whereas social outcomes may additionally require motivation and a positive attitude for purposeful social engagement

Regulation of reactive oxygen species and phytohormones in osmotic stress tolerance during seed germination in indica rice

Climate change due to global warming is now affecting agricultural production worldwide. In rice, one of the most important crops, water limitation due to irregular rainfall in rainfed lowlands during crop growth limits yield. Dry direct-sowing has been proposed as a water-efficient approach to cope with water stress during rice growth, but poor seedling establishment due to drought during germination and emergence is a problem. Here, we germinated indica rice cultivars Rc348 (drought tolerant) and Rc10 (drought sensitive) under osmotic stress induced by PEG to elucidate mechanisms of germination under drought. Rc348 had higher germination rate and germination index under severe osmotic stress of −1.5 MPa, above those of Rc10. Rc348 showed up-regulated GA biosynthesis, down-regulated ABA catabolism, and up-regulated α-amylase gene expression in imbibed seeds under PEG treatment compared to that of Rc10. During germination, reactive oxygen species (ROS) play important roles in antagonism between gibberellic acid (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA). Embryo of Rc348 treated with PEG had significantly greater expression of NADPH oxidase genes and higher endogenous ROS levels, together with significantly increased endogenous GA1, GA4 and ABA contents compared to that of Rc10. In aleurone layers treated with exogenous GA, expression of α-amylase genes was higher in Rc348 than in Rc10, and expression of NADPH oxidase genes was enhanced with significantly higher ROS content in Rc348, suggesting higher sensitivity of GA to ROS production and starch degradation in aleurone cells of Rc348. These results suggest that the osmotic stress tolerance of Rc348 is due to enhancement of ROS production, GA biosynthesis, and GA sensitivity, resulting in a higher germination rate under osmotic stress