Photonuclear Reactions of Three-Nucleon Systems

We discuss the available data for the differential and the total cross section for the photodisintegration of $^3$He and $^3$H and the corresponding inverse reactions below $E_\gamma = 100$ MeV by comparing with our calculations using realistic $NN$ interactions. The theoretical results agree within the errorbars with the data for the total cross sections. Excellent agreement is achieved for the angular distribution in case of $^3$He, whereas for $^3$H a discrepancy between theory and experiment is found.Comment: 11 pages (twocolumn), 12 postscript figures included, uses psfig, RevTe

The Negative Impacts of COVID-19 Containment Measures on South African Families - Overview and Recommendations

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported various pneumonia cases (‘Coronavirus Disease 2019’ [COVID-19]) on 31 December 2019 in Wuhan City, China, which has spread to many countries, including South Africa. In response to this, the President of South Africa declared a state of national disaster on 15th March 2020, followed by introducing various COVID-19 containment measures to minimize the spread of the virus. This paper examines the negative impacts that COVID-19 containment measures may have had on the family as a unit of society and furthermore provides recommendations to mitigate the impacts of these measures. It can be concluded that COVID-19 containment measures, specifically the lockdown restrictions, would yield both short-term and long-term impacts on proper family functioning. Several families in South Africa have been impacted financially due to the closure of business which led to the temporary/ permanent unemployment of some breadwinners in the families. This also has had a cascading impact on the food security of families and their ability to afford other basic necessities. Distress as a result of financial challenges or failure to provide for the family alongside spending much time locked down together as a family has also led to violence in the family. This was further exacerbated by the fact that the victims were stuck with the abusers and some could not report or find help due to the restricted movements. Furthermore, since most institutions predominantly moved learning online, results indicated that the lockdown restrictions affected the ability of some individuals especially those from poor families to access formal education during the period due to the lack of digital devices and internet facilities. In order to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 containment measures on the family, there is a need for collaborative efforts at intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community and policy levels using the ecological framework

Heritable symbionts in a world of varying temperature

Heritable microbes represent an important component of the biology, ecology and evolution of many plants, animals and fungi, acting as both parasites and partners. In this review, we examine how heritable symbiont–host interactions may alter host thermal tolerance, and how the dynamics of these interactions may more generally be altered by thermal environment. Obligate symbionts, those required by their host, are considered to represent a thermally sensitive weak point for their host, associated with accumulation of deleterious mutations. As such, these symbionts may represent an important determinant of host thermal envelope and spatial distribution. We then examine the varied relationship between thermal environment and the frequency of facultative symbionts that provide ecologically contingent benefits or act as parasites. We note that some facultative symbionts directly alter host thermotolerance. We outline how thermal environment will alter the benefits/costs of infection more widely, and additionally modulate vertical transmission efficiency. Multiple patterns are observed, with symbionts being cold sensitive in some species and heat sensitive in others, with varying and non-coincident thresholds at which phenotype and transmission are ablated. Nevertheless, it is clear that studies aiming to predict ecological and evolutionary dynamics of symbiont–host interactions need to examine the interaction across a range of thermal environments. Finally, we discuss the importance of thermal sensitivity in predicting the success/failure of symbionts to spread into novel species following natural/engineered introduction

Everyday-Life Business Deviance Among Chinese SME Owners

Despite its prevalence in emerging economies, everyday-life business deviance (EBD) and its antecedents have received surprisingly little research attention. Drawing on strain theory and the business-ethics literature, we develop a socio-psychological explanation for this deviance. Our analysis of 741 owners of Chinese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) suggests that materialism and trust in institutional justice affect EBD both directly and indirectly in a relationship mediated by the ethical standards of SME owners. These findings have important implications for researching deviant business behavior within SMEs