The Hyperfine Spin Splittings In Heavy Quarkonia

The hyperfine spin splittings in heavy quarkonia are studied using the recently developed renormalization group improved spin-spin potential which is independent of the scale parameter $\mu$. The calculated energy difference between the $J/\psi$ and the $\eta_c$ fits the experimental data well, while the predicted energy difference $\Delta M_p$ between the center of the gravity of $1^3P_{0,1,2}$ states and the $1^1P_1$ state of charmonium has the correct sign but is somewhat larger than the experimental data. This is not surprising since there are several other contributions to $\Delta M_p$, which we discuss, that are of comparable size ($\sim 1$ MeV) that should be included, before precise agreement with the data can be expected. The mass differences of the $\psi'-\eta_c'$, $\Upsilon(1S)-\eta_b$, $\Upsilon(2S)-\eta_b'$, and $B_c^*-B_c$ are also predicted.Comment: 17 page

Autoantibodies against type I IFNs in patients with life-threatening COVID-19

Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-w (IFN-w) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-a (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men

Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars

The Perseverance rover has explored and sampled igneous and sedimentary rocks within Jezero Crater to characterize early Martian geological processes and habitability and search for potential biosignatures1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Upon entering Neretva Vallis, on Jezero Crater’s western edge8, Perseverance investigated distinctive mudstone and conglomerate outcrops of the Bright Angel formation. Here we report a detailed geological, petrographic and geochemical survey of these rocks and show that organic-carbon-bearing mudstones in the Bright Angel formation contain submillimetre-scale nodules and millimetre-scale reaction fronts enriched in ferrous iron phosphate and sulfide minerals, likely vivianite and greigite, respectively. This organic carbon appears to have participated in post-depositional redox reactions that produced the observed iron-phosphate and iron-sulfide minerals. Geological context and petrography indicate that these reactions occurred at low temperatures. Within this context, we review the various pathways by which redox reactions that involve organic matter can produce the observed suite of iron-, sulfur- and phosphorus-bearing minerals in laboratory and natural environments on Earth. Ultimately, we conclude that analysis of the core sample collected from this unit using high-sensitivity instrumentation on Earth will enable the measurements required to determine the origin of the minerals, organics and textures it contains