Self-trapping of Fermi and Bose gases under spatially modulated repulsive nonlinearity and transverse confinement

We show that self-localized ground states can be created in the spin-balanced gas of fermions with repulsion between the spin components, whose strength grows from the center to periphery, in combination with the harmonic-oscillator (HO) trapping potential acting in one or two transverse directions. We also consider the ground state in the non-interacting Fermi gas under the action of the spatially growing tightness of the one- or two-dimensional (1D or 2D) HO confinement. These settings are considered in the framework of the Thomas-Fermi-von Weizsacker (TF-vW) density functional. It is found that the vW correction to the simple TF approximation (the gradient term) is nearly negligible in all situations. The properties of the ground state under the action of the 2D and 1D HO confinement with the tightness growing in the transverse directions is investigated too for the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with the self-repulsive nonlinearity.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Progranulin contributes to endogenous mechanisms of pain defense after nerve injury in mice

Progranulin haploinsufficiency is associated with frontotemporal dementia in humans. Deficiency of progranulin led to exaggerated inflammation and premature aging in mice. The role of progranulin in adaptations to nerve injury and neuropathic pain are still unknown. Here we found that progranulin is up-regulated after injury of the sciatic nerve in the mouse ipsilateral dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord, most prominently in the microglia surrounding injured motor neurons. Progranulin knockdown by continuous intrathecal spinal delivery of small interfering RNA after sciatic nerve injury intensified neuropathic pain-like behaviour and delayed the recovery of motor functions. Compared to wild-type mice, progranulin-deficient mice developed more intense nociceptive hypersensitivity after nerve injury. The differences escalated with aging. Knockdown of progranulin reduced the survival of dissociated primary neurons and neurite outgrowth, whereas addition of recombinant progranulin rescued primary dorsal root ganglia neurons from cell death induced by nerve growth factor withdrawal. Thus, up-regulation of progranulin after neuronal injury may reduce neuropathic pain and help motor function recovery, at least in part, by promoting survival of injured neurons and supporting regrowth. A deficiency in this mechanism may increase the risk for injury-associated chronic pain

Interaction of Two Filament Channels of Different Chiralities

We present observations of interactions between the two filament channels of different chiralities and associated dynamics that occurred during 2014 April 18 -- 20. While two flux ropes of different helicity with parallel axial magnetic fields can only undergo a bounce interaction when they are brought together, the observations at the first glance show that the heated plasma is moving from one filament channel to the other. The SDO/AIA 171 A observations and the PFSS magnetic field extrapolation reveal the presence of fan-spine magnetic configuration over the filament channels with a null point located above them. Three different events of filament activations, partial eruptions, and associated filament channel interactions have been observed. The activation initiated in one filament channel seems to propagate along the neighbour filament channel. We believe that the activation and partial eruption of the filaments bring the field lines of flux ropes containing them closer to the null point and trigger the magnetic reconnection between them and the fan-spine magnetic configuration. As a result, the hot plasma moves along the outer spine line toward the remote point. Utilizing the present observations, for the first time we have discussed how two different-chirality filament channels can interact and show interrelation.Comment: 30 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for Publication in Ap

Revealing the intensity of turbulent energy transfer in planetary atmospheres

Images of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn show highly turbulent storms and swirling Q23 clouds that reflect the intensity of turbulence in their atmospheres. Quantifying planetary turbulence is inaccessible to conventional tools, however, since they require large quantities of spatially and temporally resolved data. Here we show, using experiments, observations, and simulations, that potential vorticity (PV) is a straightforward and universal diagnostic that can be used to estimate turbulent energy transfer in a stably stratified atmosphere. We use the conservation of PV to define a length scale, LM, representing a typical distance over which PV is mixed by planetary turbulence. LM increases as the turbulent intensity increases and can be estimated from any latitudinal PV profile. Using this principle, we estimate LM within Jupiter's and Saturn's tropospheres, showing for the first time that turbulent energy transfer in Saturn's atmosphere is four times less intense than Jupiter'

Suicide in circumpolar regions: an introduction and overview

This extended editorial introduces the Special Issue on Suicide and Resilience in Circumpolar Regions, the results of the knowledge synthesis project by an international research team funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and endorsed by the Arctic Council. It focuses on the extent and magnitude of the problem of suicidal behaviours and thoughts from a circumpolar perspective - the variation across Arctic States and their northern regions, the excess risk among some indigenous groups and their demographic characteristics. Much remains to be learned about the design and implementation of youth-focused intervention programmes, especially in a circumpolar comparative framework.Peer reviewe

Manganese/TiO2 Composites Prepared and Used for Photocatalytic Active Textiles

Manganese/TiO2 composites are prepared by a solvothermal process starting from the precursors titanium propoxide and manganese nitrate. The solvothermal processes are driven at temperatures of 140 °C or 180 °C. The formation of anatase as crystalline TiO2-phase was determined by XRD for preparation conditions at 180 °C. The occurance of crystalline phases in nanometer scale is determined further by TEM. The prepared manganese/TiO2-composites are further investigated as coating onto viscose textile. The photocatalytic activity of those composites was determined by degradation of organic dye stuff under illumination with UV-light. The effect of photocatalytic dye degradation is also investigated in presence of H2O2. The prepared textile coatings exhibit a high capability for dye decomposition under the chosen arrangement of investigations. For this reason, the prepared coated textile materials could be of high interest for industrial applications, for example, as filter material for cleaning waste water from dyeing processes. (doi: 10.5562/cca2097

Turbulent Convection in Stellar Interiors. II. The Velocity Field

We analyze stellar convection with the aid of 3D hydrodynamic simulations, introducing the turbulent cascade into our theoretical analysis. We devise closures of the Reynolds-decomposed mean field equations by simple physical modeling of the simulations (we relate temperature and density fluctuations via coefficients); the procedure (CABS, Convection Algorithms Based on Simulations) is terrestrially testable and is amenable to systematic improvement. We develop a turbulent kinetic energy equation which contains both nonlocal and time dependent terms, and is appropriate if the convective transit time is shorter than the evolutionary time scale. The interpretation of mixing-length theory (MLT) as generally used in astrophysics is incorrect; MLT forces the mixing length to be an imposed constant. Direct tests show that the damping associated with the flow is that suggested by Kolmogorov. The eddy size is approximately the depth of the convection zone, and this dissipation length corresponds to the "mixing length". New terms involving local heating by turbulent dissipation should appear in the stellar evolution equations. The enthalpy flux ("convective luminosity") is directly connected to the buoyant acceleration, and hence the velocity scale. MLT tends to systematically underestimate this velocity scale. Quantitative comparison with a variety of 3D simulations reveals a previously recognized consistency. Examples of application to stellar evolution will be presented in subsequent papers in this series.Comment: 47 pages, 7 figures, accepted by Ap

Structure of the Branched Chain Amino Acid and GTP Sensing Global Regulator, CodY, from Bacillus subtilis

CodY is a branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) and GTP sensor, and a global regulator of transcription in low G + C Gram-positive bacteria. It controls the expression of over 100 genes and operons, principally by repressing during growth genes whose products are required for adaptations to nutrient limitation. CodY consists of a GAF domain that binds BCAAs and a winged helix-turn-helix (wHTH) domain that binds to DNA, but the way in which these domains interact and the structural basis of the BCAA-dependence of this interaction are unknown. To gain new insights, we determined the crystal structure of unliganded CodY from Bacillus subtilis revealing a 10-turn alpha-helix linking otherwise discrete GAF and wHTH domains. The structure of CodY in complex with isoleucine revealed a reorganised GAF domain. In both complexes CodY was tetrameric. Size exclusion chromatography with multiangle laser light scattering (SEC-MALLS) experiments showed that CodY is a dimer at concentrations found in bacterial cells. Comparison of structures of dimers of unliganded CodY and CodY-Ile derived from the tetramers showed a splaying of the wHTH domains when Ile was bound; splaying is likely to account for the increased affinity of Ile-bound CodY for DNA. Electrophoretic mobility shift and SEC-MALLS analyses of CodY binding to 19-36 base-pair operator fragment are consistent with isoleucine-dependent binding of two CodY dimers per duplex. The implications of these observations for effector control of CodY activity are discussed

Radiation from relativistic jets in blazars and the efficient dissipation of their bulk energy via photon breeding

High-energy photons propagating in the magnetised medium with large velocity gradients can mediate energy and momentum exchange. Conversion of these photons into electron-positron pairs in the field of soft photons with the consequent isotropization and emission of new high-energy photons by Compton scattering can lead to the runaway cascade of the high-energy photons and electron-positron pairs fed by the bulk energy of the flow. This is the essence of the photon breeding mechanism. We study the problem of high-energy emission of relativistic jets in blazars via photon breeding mechanism using 2D ballistic model for the jet with the detailed treatment of particle propagation and interactions. The gamma-ray background of similar energy density as observed at Earth is sufficient to trigger the photon breeding. As a result, a jet can convert up to 80 per cent of its total power into radiation. Photon breeding produces a population of high-energy pairs and predicts the spectra in agreement with observations of blazars (e.g. the blazar sequence). It also decelerates the jet at subparsec scales and induces the transversal gradient of the Lorentz factor which reconcile the discrepancy between the high Doppler factors determined from the spectra of TeV blazars and the low apparent velocities observed at VLBI scales. The broad angular distribution of radiation predicted by the mechanism reconciles the observed statistics and luminosity ratio of FR I and BL Lac objects with the large Lorentz factors of the jets as well as explains the high level of the TeV emission in the radio galaxy M87. (abridged)Comment: 18 pages, 12 figure; replaced with the version accepted to MNRA