453 research outputs found
Search for universality in one-dimensional ballistic annihilation kinetics
We study the kinetics of ballistic annihilation for a one-dimensional ideal
gas with continuous velocity distribution. A dynamical scaling theory for the
long time behavior of the system is derived. Its validity is supported by
extensive numerical simulations for several velocity distributions. This leads
us to the conjecture that all the continuous velocity distributions \phi(v)
which are symmetric, regular and such that \phi(0) does not vanish, are
attracted in the long time regime towards the same Gaussian distribution and
thus belong to the same universality class. Moreover, it is found that the
particle density decays as n(t)~t^{-\alpha}, with \alpha=0.785 +/- 0.005.Comment: 8 pages, needs multicol, epsf and revtex. 8 postscript figures
included. Submitted to Phys. Rev. E. Also avaiable at
http://mykonos.unige.ch/~rey/publi.html#Secon
Athéisme et sécularisme au Kenya. Les tribulations des Atheists In Kenya (AIK)
As affirmed by the 2010 constitution, the Republic of Kenya is a secular country that promises both freedom of faith and freedom from religion. In practice, however, the realm of religion in Kenya is highly normative. The 2010s have seen the rise of a group seeking to challenge this status quo: Atheists in Kenya (AIK). The group met with fierce resistance, and its attempt to register as a legal society ended before the countryâs High Court. AIKâs activism turned it into a social movement that demands a reexamination of the close ties between religion and the State. It is thus an important participant in a wide debate on secularism in Kenya. In addition, AIK may be read as a testimony to the countryâs present stage of democratization, which allows â if sometimes reluctantly â for new modes of social action and for the expression of claims that were formerly kept in check.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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Bacterial pathogens and resistance causing community acquired paediatric bloodstream infections in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background
Despite a high mortality rate in childhood, there is limited evidence on the causes and outcomes of paediatric bloodstream infections from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to characterize the bacterial causes of paediatric bloodstream infections in LMICs and their resistance profile.
Methods
We searched Pubmed and Embase databases between January 1st 1990 and October 30th 2019, combining MeSH and free-text terms for âsepsisâ and âlow-middle-income countriesâ in children. Two reviewers screened articles and performed data extraction to identify studies investigating children (1âmonth-18âyears), with at least one blood culture. The main outcomes of interests were the rate of positive blood cultures, the distribution of bacterial pathogens, the resistance patterns and the case-fatality rate. The proportions obtained from each study were pooled using the Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation, and a random-effect meta-analysis model was used.
Results
We identified 2403 eligible studies, 17 were included in the final review including 52,915 children (11 in Africa and 6 in Asia). The overall percentage of positive blood culture was 19.1% [95% CI: 12.0â27.5%]; 15.5% [8.4â24.4%] in Africa and 28.0% [13.2â45.8%] in Asia. A total of 4836 bacterial isolates were included in the studies; 2974 were Gram-negative (63.9% [52.2â74.9]) and 1858 were Gram-positive (35.8% [24.9â47.5]). In Asia, Salmonella typhi (26.2%) was the most commonly isolated pathogen, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (7.7%) whereas in Africa, S. aureus (17.8%) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (16.8%) were predominant followed by Escherichia coli (10.7%). S. aureus was more likely resistant to methicillin in Africa (29.5% vs. 7.9%), whereas E. coli was more frequently resistant to third-generation cephalosporins (31.2% vs. 21.2%), amikacin (29.6% vs. 0%) and ciprofloxacin (36.7% vs. 0%) in Asia. The overall estimate for case-fatality rate among 8 studies was 12.7% [6.6â20.2%]. Underlying conditions, such as malnutrition or HIV infection were assessed as a factor associated with bacteraemia in 4 studies each.
Conclusions
We observed a marked variation in pathogen distribution and their resistance profiles between Asia and Africa. Very limited data is available on underlying risk factors for bacteraemia, patterns of treatment of multidrug-resistant infections and predictors of adverse outcomes
Neuronal and glial prostaglandin D synthase isozymes in chick dorsal root ganglia: a light and electron microscopic immunocytochemical study.
Homogenates of chick dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and in vitro cultures of DRG neurons are known to synthesize prostaglandin (PG) D2. To specify the PGD synthase isozymes controlling PGD2 synthesis in DRG and to identify the DRG cells responsible for this synthesis, we applied polyclonal antibodies raised against rat brain or rat spleen PGD synthase isozymes to vibratome or cryostat slices of DRG previously fixed with a formaldehyde-lysine-periodate mixture and permeabilized with Triton X-100. The immunoreactivity indicating rat spleen PGD synthase, a glutathione (GSH)-requiring enzyme, was located in satellite cells encompassing particular large neurons of class A and in Schwann cells myelinating and enwrapping their initial axonal segments. In contrast, the immunoreactivity of rat brain PGD synthase, a GSH-independent enzyme, was restricted to particular ganglion cell perikarya: 33% of the DRG neurons were immunostained for rat brain PGD synthase, including 2% of large class A neurons and 40% of small class B neurons. Only 3.3% of rat brain PGD synthase-immunoreactive small B neurons coexpressed substance P, indicating that the immunoreactive neurons belong to the B1 subclass. By electron microscopy, 71 of 72 immunoreactive DRG cells were identified as small B neurons of the B1 subclass, and 71 of 77 B1 neurons were immunoreactive for rat brain PGD synthase. These results demonstrate that PGD2 formation in DRG is regulated by two isozymes: the GSH-requiring isozyme located in satellite and Schwann cells and the GSH-independent isozyme-confined to small B1 neurons
Kinetics of ballistic annihilation and branching
We consider a one-dimensional model consisting of an assembly of two-velocity
particles moving freely between collisions. When two particles meet, they
instantaneously annihilate each other and disappear from the system. Moreover
each moving particle can spontaneously generate an offspring having the same
velocity as its mother with probability 1-q. This model is solved analytically
in mean-field approximation and studied by numerical simulations. It is found
that for q=1/2 the system exhibits a dynamical phase transition. For q<1/2, the
slow dynamics of the system is governed by the coarsening of clusters of
particles having the same velocities, while for q>1/2 the system relaxes
rapidly towards its stationary state characterized by a distribution of small
cluster sizes.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, uses multicol, epic, eepic and eepicemu. Also
avaiable at http://mykonos.unige.ch/~rey/pubt.htm
Ballistic annihilation kinetics for a multi-velocity one-dimensional ideal gas
Ballistic annihilation kinetics for a multi-velocity one-dimensional ideal
gas is studied in the framework of an exact analytic approach. For an initial
symmetric three-velocity distribution, the problem can be solved exactly and it
is shown that different regimes exist depending on the initial fraction of
particles at rest. Extension to the case of a n-velocity distribution is
discussed.Comment: 19 pages, latex, uses Revtex macro
Reaction-diffusion fronts with inhomogeneous initial conditions
Properties of reaction zones resulting from A+B -> C type reaction-diffusion
processes are investigated by analytical and numerical methods. The reagents A
and B are separated initially and, in addition, there is an initial macroscopic
inhomogeneity in the distribution of the B species. For simple two-dimensional
geometries, exact analytical results are presented for the time-evolution of
the geometric shape of the front. We also show using cellular automata
simulations that the fluctuations can be neglected both in the shape and in the
width of the front.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to J. Phys.
Synchronization in coupled map lattices as an interface depinning
We study an SOS model whose dynamics is inspired by recent studies of the
synchronization transition in coupled map lattices (CML). The synchronization
of CML is thus related with a depinning of interface from a binding wall.
Critical behaviour of our SOS model depends on a specific form of binding
(i.e., transition rates of the dynamics). For an exponentially decaying binding
the depinning belongs to the directed percolation universality class. Other
types of depinning, including the one with a line of critical points, are
observed for a power-law binding.Comment: 4 pages, Phys.Rev.E (in press
Physics of the interior of a spherical, charged black hole with a scalar field
We analyse the physics of nonlinear gravitational processes inside a
spherical charged black hole perturbed by a self-gravitating massless scalar
field. For this purpose we created an appropriate numerical code. Throughout
the paper, in addition to investigation of the properties of the mathematical
singularities where some curvature scalars are equal to infinity, we analyse
the properties of the physical singularities where the Kretschmann curvature
scalar is equal to the planckian value. Using a homogeneous approximation we
analyse the properties of the spacetime near a spacelike singularity in
spacetimes influenced by different matter contents namely a scalar field,
pressureless dust and matter with ultrarelativistic isotropic pressure. We also
carry out full nonlinear analyses of the scalar field and geometry of spacetime
inside black holes by means of an appropriate numerical code with adaptive mesh
refinement capabilities. We use this code to investigate the nonlinear effects
of gravitational focusing, mass inflation, matter squeeze, and these effects
dependence on the initial boundary conditions. It is demonstrated that the
position of the physical singularity inside a black hole is quite different
from the positions of the mathematical singularities. In the case of the
existence of a strong outgoing flux of the scalar field inside a black hole it
is possible to have the existence of two null singularities and one central
singularity simultaneously
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