Molecular Discreteness in Reaction-Diffusion Systems Yields Steady States Not Seen in the Continuum Limit

We investigate the effects of spatial discreteness of molecules in reaction-diffusion systems. It is found that discreteness within the so called Kuramoto length can lead to a localization of molecules, resulting in novel steady states that do not exist in the continuous case. These novel states are analyzed theoretically as the fixed points of accelerated localized reactions, an approach that was verified to be in good agreement with stochastic particle simulations. The relevance of this discreteness-induced state to biological intracellular processes is discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, revtex

Successful Cessation Programs that Reduce Comorbidity May Explain Surprisingly Low Smoking Rates Among Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients

A recent, non-peer-reviewed meta-analysis suggests that smoking may reduce the risk of hospitalization with COVID-19 because the prevalence of smoking among hospitalized COVID-19 is less than that of the general population. However, there are alternative explanations for this phenomena based on (1) the failure to report, or accurately record, smoking history during emergency hospital admissions and (2) a pre-disposition to avoid smoking among COVID-19 patients with tobacco-related comorbidities (a type of “reverse” causation). For example, urine testing of hospitalized patients in Australia for cotinine showed that smokers were under-counted by 37% because incoming patients failed to inform staff about their smoking behavior. Face-to-face interviews can introduce bias into the responses to attitudinal and behavioral questions not present in the self-completion interviews typically used to measure smoking prevalence in the general population. Subjects in face-to-face interviews may be unwilling to admit socially undesirable behavior and attitudes under direct questioning. Reverse causation may also contribute to the difference between smoking prevalence in the COVID-19 and general population. Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 may be simply less prone to use tobacco than the general population. A potentially robust “reverse causation” hypothesis for reduced prevalence of smokers in the COVID-19 population is the enrichment of patients in that population with serious comorbidities that motivates them to quit smoking. We judge that this “smoking cessation” mechanism may account for a significant fraction of the reduced prevalence of smokers in the COVID-19 population. Testing this hypothesis will require a focused research program

Microbial Carbon Assimilation within the Walls of Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vent Chimneys

Carbon is one of the most abundant elements on Earth stored in a multitude of reservoirs and constantly cycled through various processes occurring on our planet. Although it represents only a small percentage of the total carbon on Earth, the biosphere is the most active of all carbon reservoirs. We have a comparatively large knowledge of the surface biosphere and primary production associated with phytoplankton and green plants, as well as respiration of organic compounds. A substantial biosphere, driven by "dark energy" or chemical disequilibria may exist for kilometers beneath the continents and the seafloor. Water-rock reactions at high temperatures mobilize the reducing power of the deep Earth, and upon mixing with seawater produce copious and diverse energy sources which can support autotrophic growth. Several remarkable cases of chemotrophic carbon assimilation have been demonstrated since the discovery of the deep-sea vents more than 30 years ago (e.g. bacterial endosymbionts inhabiting the tube worm trophosome), and the isolation of a number of thermophilic and hyperthermophilic chemolithoautotophs. To date, there are six known pathways of carbon assimilation, including the canonical Calvin Benson-Bassham pathway. All of the most recently discovered pathways have been found in thermophiles and Archaea specifically all likely to occurring at deep-sea hydrothermal vents.  This study seeks to document the occurrence of autotrophic microorganisms in the context of thermal and chemical gradients within the walls of deep-sea vent chimneys. Furthermore, we show that the phylogeny of genes associated with the Calvin Benson-Bassham cycle is associated with the environmental characteristics in which it occurs.  This work has implications for understanding feedbacks between environmental characteristics and carbon assimilation as well as the evolutionary history of carbon fixation pathways. These pathways were likely operative since early in Earth's history, and overlap with conditions which favor the abiotic synthesis of small organic molecules. Research in this realm thus may provide clues to the origins and diversification of carbon fixation pathways as well.  M.S

Basidiomicetos xilófilos en bosques implantados de pinus elliottii y pinus taeda

La madera, como sustrato de colonización para numerosos microorganismos ha sido intensamente estudiada en particular en el hemisferio Norte. El significado económico que poseen las grandes extensiones de bosques naturales o implantados, el acopio de troncos a la intemperie como materia prima para la industria de la madera y el papel o la reforestación de zonas intensamente explotadas por el hombre son, entre otros, poderosos argumentos para encarar el estudio de la colonización de sustratos lignicolas y la sucesión de microorganismos que lleva a su deterioro y degradación. Los diversos trabajos que se han realizado encararon el estudio tanto de árboles vivos como de madera muerta, y en cada caso el tratamiento es totalmente diferente. En los árboles vivos la pudrición es el estado final de un largo proceso que se inicia por la producción de heridas e involucra respuestas protectoras, químicas y anatómicas, del árbol e interacciones de microorganismos, ya sea entre ellos y con el hospedante (Shigo, 1975). Este modelo de proceso de la pudrición involucra 3 estados principales: l) respuesta del hospedante a las heridas, expresada en una leve decoloración del xilema como resultado de procesos quimicos que involucran la formación de fenoles y otros componentes; 2) invasión por microorganismos pioneros, que sobrepasan las barreras de protección quimica e invaden el xilema; la decoloración se intensifica como resultado de las interacciones entre los microorganismos invasores y las células vivas del xilema; 3) degradación de las células muertas, que ocurre cuando entran los microorganismos que producen verdaderas pudriciones, especialmente basidiomicetos que invaden y degradan las sustancias de la pared celular. La madera como material inerte, en cambio, no produce respuesta alguna al invasor; solamente puede ser modificada por la acción del organismo, ya sea por destrucción de membranas, penetración a través de las paredes, formación de cavidades en las paredes, sinergismo o antagonismo entre organismos o competencia por nutrientes (Levy, 1975). Los 2 factores principales que influyen en el establecimiento de la pudrición son las condiciones ambientales apropiadas y una adecuada fuente de inóculo, pero ambos pueden no ocurrir simultáneamente. De este modo encontramos que se crean microclimas diferentes según sea la condición del sustrato estudiado. Cuando la madera está en contacto directo con el suelo, las condiciones para la pudrición permanecen más o menos constantes; esta situación difiere radicalmente cuandose trata de madera expuesta no en contacto con el suelo. Los organismos que pueden colonizar en este caso, no tienen reserva de material alimenticio como la que existe en el suelo, sobre todo para sobrellevar las fases tempranas de la invasión (Butcher, 1978), y esto puede limitar su capacidad para invadir ese sustrato. Con base en estas consideraciones, y en los antecedentes que encontramos sobre el tema, nos pareció muy importante iniciar el estudio de los basidiomicetos xilófilos sobre dos especies de notoria importancia económica en nuestro país: Pinus elliottii y Pinus taeda, utilizadas en la industria como maderables para diversos fines y para la elaboración de pasta celulósica. El plan de trabajo se diagramó sobre la base de los siguientes aspectos: 1) Reconocimiento taxonómico y descripción de los basidiomicetos xilófilos sobre P.elliottii y P.taeda en plantaciones de las provincias de Buenos Aires y Misiones. 2) Determinación de la función ecológica de cada especie encontrada dentro de la comunidad fúngica y en relación con los hospedantes. 3) Determinación de las variaciones cuali y cuantitativas de las especies encontradas en función del hospedante, las estaciones del año, y el lugar geográfico.Fil: Blumenfeld, Silvia N.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

Search for low lying dipole strength in the neutron rich nucleus 26^{26}Ne

Coulomb excitation of the exotic neutron-rich nucleus $^{26}$Ne on a $^{nat}$Pb target was measured at 58 A.MeV in order to search for low-lying E1 strength above the neutron emission threshold. Data were also taken on an $^{nat}$Al target to estimate the nuclear contribution. The radioactive beam was produced by fragmentation of a 95 A.MeV $^{40}$Ar beam delivered by the RIKEN Research Facility. The set-up included a NaI gamma-ray array, a charged fragment hodoscope and a neutron wall. Using the invariant mass method in the $^{25}$Ne+n channel, we observe a sizable amount of E1 strength between 6 and 10 MeV. The reconstructed $^{26}$Ne angular distribution confirms its E1 nature. A reduced dipole transition probability of B(E1)=0.49$\pm$0.16 $e^2fm^2$ is deduced. For the first time, the decay pattern of low-lying strength in a neutron-rich nucleus is obtained. The results are discussed in terms of a pygmy resonance centered around 9 MeV

Non-linear conformally invariant generalization of the Poisson equation to D>2 dimensions

I propound a non-linear generalization of the Poisson equation describing a "medium" in D dimensions with a "dielectric constant" proportional to the field strength to the power D-2. It is the only conformally invariant scalar theory that is second order, and in which the scalar $phi$ couples to the sources $\rho$ via a $\phi\rho$ contact term. The symmetry is used to generate solutions for the field for some non-trivial configurations (e.g. for two oppositely charged points). Systems comprising N point charges afford further application of the symmetry. For these I derive e.g. exact expressions for the following quantities: the general two-point-charge force; the energy function and the forces in any three-body configuration with zero total charge; the few-body force for some special configurations; the virial theorem for an arbitrary, bound, many-particle system relating the time-average kinetic energy to the particle charges. Possible connections with an underlying conformal quantum field theory are mentioned.Comment: Revtex, 16 pages. To be published in Phys. Rev.

Nonequilibrium brittle fracture propagation: Steady state, oscillations and intermittency

A minimal model is constructed for two-dimensional fracture propagation. The heterogeneous process zone is presumed to suppress stress relaxation rate, leading to non-quasistatic behavior. Using the Yoffe solution, I construct and solve a dynamical equation for the tip stress. I discuss a generic tip velocity response to local stress and find that noise-free propagation is either at steady state or oscillatory, depending only on one material parameter. Noise gives rise to intermittency and quasi-periodicity. The theory explains the velocity oscillations and the complicated behavior seen in polymeric and amorphous brittle materials. I suggest experimental verifications and new connections between velocity measurements and material properties.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett., 6 pages, self-contained TeX file, 3 postscript figures upon request from author at [email protected] or [email protected], http://cnls-www.lanl.gov/homepages/rafi/rafindex.htm

Structure of unbound neutron-rich 9^{9}He studied using single-neutron transfer

The 8He(d,p) reaction was studied in inverse kinematics at 15.4A MeV using the MUST2 Si-CsI array in order to shed light on the level structure of 9He. The well known 16O(d,p)17O reaction, performed here in reverse kinematics, was used as a test to validate the experimental methods. The 9He missing mass spectrum was deduced from the kinetic energies and emission angles of the recoiling protons. Several structures were observed above the neutron-emission threshold and the angular distributions were used to deduce the multipolarity of the transitions. This work confirms that the ground state of 9He is located very close to the neutron threshold of 8He and supports the occurrence of parity inversion in 9He.Comment: Exp\'erience GANIL/SPIRAL1/MUST

Nuclear break-up of 11Be

The break-up of 11Be was studied at 41AMeV using a secondary beam of 11Be from the GANIL facility on a 48Ti target by measuring correlations between the 10Be core, the emitted neutrons and gamma rays. The nuclear break-up leading to the emission of a neutron at large angle in the laboratory frame is identified with the towing mode through its characteristic n-fragment correlation. The experimental spectra are compared with a model where the time dependent Schrodinger equation (TDSE) is solved for the neutron initially in the 11 Be. A good agreement is found between experiment and theory for the shapes of neutron experimental energies and angular distributions. The spectroscopic factor of the 2s orbital is tentatively extracted to be 0.46+-0.15. The neutron emission from the 1p and 1d orbitals is also studied

Probing pre-formed alpha particles in the ground state of nuclei

In this Letter, we report on alpha particle emission through the nuclear break-up in the reaction 40Ca on a 40Ca target at 50A MeV. It is observed that, similarly to nucleons, alpha particles can be emitted to the continuum with very specific angular distribution during the reaction. The alpha particle properties can be understood as resulting from an alpha cluster in the daughter nucleus that is perturbed by the short range nuclear attraction of the collision partner and emitted. A time-dependent theory that describe the alpha particle wave-function evolution is able to reproduce qualitatively the observed angular distribution. This mechanism offers new possibilities to study alpha particle properties in the nuclear medium.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure