Strongly damped nuclear collisions: zero or first sound ?

The relaxation of the collective quadrupole motion in the initial stage of a central heavy ion collision at beam energies $E_{lab}=5\div20$ AMeV is studied within a microscopic kinetic transport model. The damping rate is shown to be a non-monotonic function of E_{lab} for a given pair of colliding nuclei. This fact is interpreted as a manifestation of the zero-to-first sound transition in a finite nuclear system.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

High frequency sound in superfluid 3He-B

We present measurements of the absolute phase velocity of transverse and longitudinal sound in superfluid 3He-B at low temperature, extending from the imaginary squashing mode to near pair-breaking. Changes in the transverse phase velocity near pair-breaking have been explained in terms of an order parameter collective mode that arises from f-wave pairing interactions, the so-called J=4- mode. Using these measurements, we establish lower bounds on the energy gap in the B-phase. Measurement of attenuation of longitudinal sound at low temperature and energies far above the pair-breaking threshold, are in agreement with the lower bounds set on pair-breaking. Finally, we discuss our estimations for the strength of the f-wave pairing interactions and the Fermi liquid parameter, F4s.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted to J. Low Temp. Phy

Transverse spin dynamics in a spin-polarized Fermi liquid

The linear equations for transverse spin dynamics in weakly polarised degenerate Fermi liquid with arbitrary relationship between temperature and polarization are derived from Landau-Silin phenomenological kinetic equation with general form of two-particle collision integral. The temperature and polarization dependence of the spin current relaxation time is established. It is found in particular that at finite polarization transverse spin wave damping has a finite value at T=0. The analogy between temperature dependences of spin waves attenuation and ultrasound absorption in degenerate Fermi liquid at arbitrary temperature is presented. We also discuss spin-polarized Fermi liquid in the general context of the Fermi-liquid theory and compare it with "Fermi liquid" with spontaneous magnetization.Comment: 10 page

Cognitive and psychiatric symptom trajectories 2–3 years after hospital admission for COVID-19: a longitudinal, prospective cohort study in the UK

Background COVID-19 is known to be associated with increased risks of cognitive and psychiatric outcomes after the acute phase of disease. We aimed to assess whether these symptoms can emerge or persist more than 1 year after hospitalisation for COVID-19, to identify which early aspects of COVID-19 illness predict longer-term symptoms, and to establish how these symptoms relate to occupational functioning. Methods The Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of adults (aged ≥18 years) who were hospitalised with a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 at participating National Health Service hospitals across the UK. In the C-Fog study, a subset of PHOSP-COVID participants who consented to be recontacted for other research were invited to complete a computerised cognitive assessment and clinical scales between 2 years and 3 years after hospital admission. Participants completed eight cognitive tasks, covering eight cognitive domains, from the Cognitron battery, in addition to the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire for depression, the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale, the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue Scale, and the 20-item Cognitive Change Index (CCI-20) questionnaire to assess subjective cognitive decline. We evaluated how the absolute risks of symptoms evolved between follow-ups at 6 months, 12 months, and 2–3 years, and whether symptoms at 2–3 years were predicted by earlier aspects of COVID-19 illness. Participants completed an occupation change questionnaire to establish whether their occupation or working status had changed and, if so, why. We assessed which symptoms at 2–3 years were associated with occupation change. People with lived experience were involved in the study. Findings 2469 PHOSP-COVID participants were invited to participate in the C-Fog study, and 475 participants (191 [40·2%] females and 284 [59·8%] males; mean age 58·26 [SD 11·13] years) who were discharged from one of 83 hospitals provided data at the 2–3-year follow-up. Participants had worse cognitive scores than would be expected on the basis of their sociodemographic characteristics across all cognitive domains tested (average score 0·71 SD below the mean [IQR 0·16–1·04]; p<0·0001). Most participants reported at least mild depression (263 [74·5%] of 353), anxiety (189 [53·5%] of 353), fatigue (220 [62·3%] of 353), or subjective cognitive decline (184 [52·1%] of 353), and more than a fifth reported severe depression (79 [22·4%] of 353), fatigue (87 [24·6%] of 353), or subjective cognitive decline (88 [24·9%] of 353). Depression, anxiety, and fatigue were worse at 2–3 years than at 6 months or 12 months, with evidence of both worsening of existing symptoms and emergence of new symptoms. Symptoms at 2–3 years were not predicted by the severity of acute COVID-19 illness, but were strongly predicted by the degree of recovery at 6 months (explaining 35·0–48·8% of the variance in anxiety, depression, fatigue, and subjective cognitive decline); by a biocognitive profile linking acutely raised D-dimer relative to C-reactive protein with subjective cognitive deficits at 6 months (explaining 7·0–17·2% of the variance in anxiety, depression, fatigue, and subjective cognitive decline); and by anxiety, depression, fatigue, and subjective cognitive deficit at 6 months. Objective cognitive deficits at 2–3 years were not predicted by any of the factors tested, except for cognitive deficits at 6 months, explaining 10·6% of their variance. 95 of 353 participants (26·9% [95% CI 22·6–31·8]) reported occupational change, with poor health being the most common reason for this change. Occupation change was strongly and specifically associated with objective cognitive deficits (odds ratio [OR] 1·51 [95% CI 1·04–2·22] for every SD decrease in overall cognitive score) and subjective cognitive decline (OR 1·54 [1·21–1·98] for every point increase in CCI-20). Interpretation Psychiatric and cognitive symptoms appear to increase over the first 2–3 years post-hospitalisation due to both worsening of symptoms already present at 6 months and emergence of new symptoms. New symptoms occur mostly in people with other symptoms already present at 6 months. Early identification and management of symptoms might therefore be an effective strategy to prevent later onset of a complex syndrome. Occupation change is common and associated mainly with objective and subjective cognitive deficits. Interventions to promote cognitive recovery or to prevent cognitive decline are therefore needed to limit the functional and economic impacts of COVID-19. Funding National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Wolfson Foundation, MQ Mental Health Research, MRC-UK Research and Innovation, and National Institute for Health and Care Research

The human–environment nexus and vegetation–rainfall sensitivity in tropical drylands

Global climate change is projected to lead to an increase in both the areal extent and degree of aridity in the world’s drylands. At the same time, the majority of drylands are located in developing countries where high population densities and rapid population growth place additional pressure on the ecosystem. Thus, drylands are particularly vulnerable to environmental changes and large-scale environmental degradation. However, little is known about the long-term functional response of vegetation to such changes induced by the interplay of complex human–environmental interactions. Here we use time series of satellite data to show how vegetation productivity in relation to water availability, which is a major aspect of vegetation functioning in tropical drylands, has changed over the past two decades. In total, one-third of tropical dryland ecosystems show significant (P < 0.05) changes in vegetation–rainfall sensitivity with pronounced differences between regions and continents. We identify population as the main driver of negative changes, especially for developing countries. This is contrasted by positive changes in vegetation–rainfall sensitivity in richer countries, probably resulting from favourable climatic conditions and/or caused by an intensification and expansion of human land management. Our results highlight geographic and economic differences in the relationship between vegetation–rainfall sensitivity and associated drivers in tropical drylands, marking an important step towards the identification, understanding and mitigation of potential negative effects from a changing world on ecosystems and human well-being