731 research outputs found
Predicting the dispersal of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from the wastewater treatment plant to the coast
Viral pathogens including SARS-CoV-2 RNA have been detected in wastewater treatment effluent, and untreated sewage overflows, that pose an exposure hazard to humans. We assessed whether SARS-CoV-2 RNA was likely to have been present in detectable quantities in UK rivers and estuaries during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. We simulated realistic viral concentrations parameterised on the Camel and Conwy catchments (UK) and their populations, showing detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations for untreated but not for treated loading, but also being contingent on viral decay, hydrology, catchment type/shape, and location. Under mean or low river flow conditions, viral RNA concentrated within the estuaries allowing for viral build-up and caused a lag by up to several weeks between the peak in community infections and the viral peak in the environment. There was an increased hazard posed by SARS-CoV-2 RNA with a T90 decay rate >24 h, as the estuarine build-up effect increased. High discharge events transported the viral RNA downstream and offshore, increasing the exposure risk to coastal bathing waters and shellfisheries – although dilution in this case reduced viral concentrations well below detectable levels. Our results highlight the sensitivity of exposure to viral pathogens downstream of wastewater treatment, across a range of viral loadings and catchment characteristics – with implications to environmental surveillance
Basic Module Theory over Non-Commutative Rings with Computational Aspects of Operator Algebras
The present text surveys some relevant situations and results where basic
Module Theory interacts with computational aspects of operator algebras. We
tried to keep a balance between constructive and algebraic aspects.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the AADIOS 2012 conference, to be
published in Lecture Notes in Computer Scienc
Long Distance Contribution to and Implications for and
We estimate the long distance (LD) contribution to the magnetic part of the
transition using the Vector Meson Dominance approximation
. We find that this contribution may be significantly
larger than the short distance (SD) contribution to and could
possibly saturate the present experimental upper bound on the decay rate, eV. For the decay , which is driven by as well, we obtain an upper bound on the branching ratio from . Barring the possibility that the Quantum Chromodynamics
coefficient be much smaller than 1, also implies the approximate relation .
This relation agrees quantitatively with a recent independent estimate of the
l.h.s. by Deshpande et al., confirming that the LD contributions to are small. We find that these amount to an increase of in
the magnitude of the transition amplitude, relative to the SD
contribution alone.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX fil
Mixing and the Decay
We reexamine the decay, adding the
effect of mixing to the amplitude calculated with the aid of
chiral perturbation theory and vector meson dominance. We predict the neutral
decay to occur with a width of \omega \to \pi^{0} \pi^{0} \gamma and also analyze the effect of the mixing
on the \omega \to \pi^{0} \pi^{0} \gamma \omega \to
\pi^{+} \pi^{-} \gamma ratio. Several remarks on the effect of
mixing on certain radiative decays of vector mesons are
presented.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, 1 ps-figure. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Field-linked States of Ultracold Polar Molecules
We explore the character of a novel set of ``field-linked'' states that were
predicted in [A. V. Avdeenkov and J. L. Bohn, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 043006
(2003)]. These states exist at ultralow temperatures in the presence of an
electrostatic field, and their properties are strongly dependent on the field's
strength. We clarify the nature of these quasi-bound states by constructing
their wave functions and determining their approximate quantum numbers. As the
properties of field-linked states are strongly defined by anisotropic dipolar
and Stark interactions, we construct adiabatic surfaces as functions of both
the intermolecular distance and the angle that the intermolecular axis makes
with the electric field. Within an adiabatic approximation we solve the 2-D
Schrodinger equation to find bound states, whose energies correlate well with
resonance features found in fully-converged multichannel scattering
calculations
A comparison of precipitation and filtration-based SARS-CoV-2 recovery methods and the influence of temperature, turbidity, and surfactant load in urban wastewater
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has become a complimentary surveillance tool during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Viral concentration methods from wastewater are still being optimised and compared, whilst viral recovery under different wastewater characteristics and storage temperatures remains poorly understood. Using urban wastewater samples, we tested three viral concentration methods; polyethylene glycol precipitation (PEG), ammonium sulphate precipitation (AS), and CP select™ InnovaPrep® (IP) ultrafiltration. We found no major difference in SARS-CoV-2 and faecal indicator virus (crAssphage) recovery from wastewater samples (n = 46) using these methods, PEG slightly (albeit non-significantly), outperformed AS and IP for SARS-CoV-2 detection, as a higher genome copies per litre (gc/l) was recorded for a larger proportion of samples. Next generation sequencing of 8 paired samples revealed non-significant differences in the quality of data between AS and IP, though IP data quality was slightly better and less variable. A controlled experiment assessed the impact of wastewater suspended solids (turbidity; 0–400 NTU), surfactant load (0–200 mg/l), and storage temperature (5–20 °C) on viral recovery using the AS and IP methods. SARS-CoV-2 recoveries were >20% with AS and 0.05), whilst surfactant and storage temperature combined were significant negative correlates (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). In conclusion, our results show that choice of methodology had small effect on viral recovery of SARS-CoV-2 and crAssphage in wastewater samples within this study. In contrast, sample turbidity, storage temperature, and surfactant load did affect viral recovery, highlighting the need for careful consideration of the viral concentration methodology used when working with wastewater samples
Gauge equivalence in QCD: the Weyl and Coulomb gauges
The Weyl-gauge ( QCD Hamiltonian is unitarily transformed to a
representation in which it is expressed entirely in terms of gauge-invariant
quark and gluon fields. In a subspace of gauge-invariant states we have
constructed that implement the non-Abelian Gauss's law, this unitarily
transformed Weyl-gauge Hamiltonian can be further transformed and, under
appropriate circumstances, can be identified with the QCD Hamiltonian in the
Coulomb gauge. We demonstrate an isomorphism that materially facilitates the
application of this Hamiltonian to a variety of physical processes, including
the evaluation of -matrix elements. This isomorphism relates the
gauge-invariant representation of the Hamiltonian and the required set of
gauge-invariant states to a Hamiltonian of the same functional form but
dependent on ordinary unconstrained Weyl-gauge fields operating within a space
of ``standard'' perturbative states. The fact that the gauge-invariant
chromoelectric field is not hermitian has important implications for the
functional form of the Hamiltonian finally obtained. When this nonhermiticity
is taken into account, the ``extra'' vertices in Christ and Lee's Coulomb-gauge
Hamiltonian are natural outgrowths of the formalism. When this nonhermiticity
is neglected, the Hamiltonian used in the earlier work of Gribov and others
results.Comment: 25 page
Accounting for International War: The State of the Discipline
In studies of war it is important to observe that the processes leading to so frequent an event as conflict are not necessarily those that lead to so infrequent an event as war. Also, many models fail to recognize that a phenomenon irregularly distributed in time and space, such as war, cannot be explained on the basis of relatively invariant phenomena. Much research on periodicity in the occurrence of war has yielded little result, suggesting that the direction should now be to focus on such variables as diffusion and contagion. Structural variables, such as bipolarity, show contradictory results with some clear inter-century differences. Bipolarity, some results suggest, might have different effects on different social entities. A considerable number of studies analysing dyadic variables show a clear connection between equal capabilities among contending nations and escalation of conflict into war. Finally, research into national attributes often points to strength and geographical location as important variables. In general, the article concludes, there is room for modest optimism, as research into the question of war is no longer moving in non-cumulative circles. Systematic research is producing results and there is even a discernible tendency of convergence, in spite of a great diversity in theoretical orientations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69148/2/10.1177_002234338101800101.pd
First lattice QCD estimate of the g_{D^* D pi} coupling
We present the results of the first lattice QCD study of the strong coupling
g_{D^* D pi}. From our simulations in the quenched approximation, we obtain
g_{D^* D pi} = 18.8 +/- 2.3^{+1.1}_{-2.0} and hat(g)_c = 0.67 +/-
0.08^{+0.04}_{-0.06}. Whereas previous theoretical studies gave different
predictions, our result favours a large value for hat(g)_c. It agrees very well
with the recent experimental value by CLEO. hat(g) varies very little with the
heavy mass and we find in the infinite mass limit hat(g)_infinity = 0.69(18).Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures; references added, corrected typos, Comments
added about the continuum limi
Quantum Monte Carlo study of the 3D attractive Hubbard model
We study the three-dimensional (3D) attractive Hubbard model by means of the
Determinant Quantum Monte Carlo method. This model is a prototype for the
description of the smooth crossover between BCS superconductivity and
Bose-Einstein condensation. By detailed finite-size scaling we extract the
finite-temperature phase diagram of the model. In particular, we interpret the
observed behavior according to a scenario of two fundamental temperature
scales; T* associated with Cooper pair formation and Tc with condensation
(giving rise to long-range superconducting order). Our results also indicate
the presence of a recently conjectured phase transition hidden by the
superconducting state. A comparison with the 2D case is briefly discussed,
given its relevance for the physics of high-Tc cuprate superconductors.Comment: 4 pages, 4 Postscript figure
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