Stable ring vortex solitons in Bessel optical lattices

Stable ring vortex solitons, featuring a bright-shape, appear to be very rare in nature. However, here we show that they exist and can be made dynamically stable in defocusing cubic nonlinear media with an imprinted Bessel optical lattice. We find the families of vortex lattice solitons and reveal their salient properties, including the conditions required for their stability. We show that the higher the soliton topological charge, the deeper the lattice modulation necessary for stabilization.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Tracking azimuthons in nonlocal nonlinear media

We study the formation of azimuthons, i.e., rotating spatial solitons, in media with nonlocal focusing nonlinearity. We show that whole families of these solutions can be found by considering internal modes of classical non-rotating stationary solutions, namely vortex solitons. This offers an exhaustive method to identify azimuthons in a given nonlocal medium. We demonstrate formation of azimuthons of different vorticities and explain their properties by considering the strongly nonlocal limit of accessible solitons.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Effects of Long-Range Nonlinear Interactions in Double-Well Potentials

We consider the interplay of linear double-well-potential (DWP) structures and nonlinear longrange interactions of different types, motivated by applications to nonlinear optics and matter waves. We find that, while the basic spontaneous-symmetry-breaking (SSB) bifurcation structure in the DWP persists in the presence of the long-range interactions, the critical points at which the SSB emerges are sensitive to the range of the nonlocal interaction. We quantify the dynamics by developing a few-mode approximation corresponding to the DWP structure, and analyze the resulting system of ordinary differential equations and its bifurcations in detail. We compare results of this analysis with those produced by the full partial differential equation, finding good agreement between the two approaches. Effects of the competition between the local self-attraction and nonlocal repulsion on the SSB are studied too. A far more complex bifurcation structure involving the possibility for not only supercritical but also subcritical bifurcations and even bifurcation loops is identified in that case.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Broad‐scale patterns of the Afro‐Palaearctic landbird migration

Aim: Knowledge of broad-scale biogeographical patterns of animal migration is important for understanding ecological drivers of migratory behaviours. Here, we present a flyway-scale assessment of the spatial structure and seasonal dynamics of the Afro-Palaearctic bird migration system and explore how phenology of the environment guides long-distance migration. Location: Europe and Africa. Time period: 2009–2017. Major taxa studied: Birds. Methods: We compiled an individual-based dataset comprising 23 passerine and near-passerine species of 55 European breeding populations, in which a total of 564 individuals were tracked during migration between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, we used remotely sensed primary productivity data (the normalized difference vegetation index) to estimate the timing of vegetation green-up in spring and senescence in autumn across Europe. First, we described how individual breeding and non-breeding sites and the migratory flyways link geographically. Second, we examined how the timing of migration along the two major Afro-Palaearctic flyways is tuned with vegetation phenology at the breeding sites. Results: We found the longitudes of individual breeding and non-breeding sites to be related in a strongly positive manner, whereas the latitudes of breeding and non-breeding sites were related negatively. In autumn, migration commenced ahead of vegetation senescence, and the timing of migration was 5–7 days earlier along the Western flyway compared with the Eastern flyway. In spring, the time of arrival at breeding sites was c. 1.5 days later for each degree northwards and 6–7 days later along the Eastern compared with the Western flyway, reflecting the later spring green-up at higher latitudes and more eastern longitudes. Main conclusions: Migration of the Afro-Palaearctic landbirds follows a longitudinally parallel leapfrog migration pattern, whereby migrants track vegetation green-up in spring but depart before vegetation senescence in autumn. The degree of continentality along migration routes and at the breeding sites of the birds influences the timing of migration on a broad scale

Management of allergic rhinitis symptoms in the pharmacy Pocket guide 2022

Allergic rhinitis (AR) management requires a coordinated effort from healthcare providers and patients. Pharmacists are key members of these integrated care pathways resolving medication-related problems, optimizing regimens, improving adherence and recommending therapies while establishing liaisons between patients and physicians.Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) first published a reference document on the pharmacist's role in allergic rhinitis management in 2004. Several guidelines were developed over the past 20 years improving the care of allergic rhinitis patients through an evidence-based, integrated care approach.This ARIA/EAACI/FIP Position Paper is based on the latest ARIA in the Pharmacy guidelines and provides: (a) a structured approach to pharmacists identifying people with AR and/or allergic conjunctivitis as well as those at risk of poor disease control; (b) an evidence-based clinical decision support tool for optimising the management of allergic rhinitis in the community pharmacy; and (c) a framework of referral to the physician.This document is not intended to be a mandatory standard of care but is provided as a basis for pharmacists and their staff to develop relevant local standards of care for their patients, within their local practice environment. Pharmacy care varies between countries, and the guide should be adapted to the local situation.© 2022 The Authors. Clinical and Translational Allergy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Analysis of the Human Kinome Using Methods Including Fold Recognition Reveals Two Novel Kinases

Background: Protein sequence similarity is a commonly used criterion for inferring the unknown function of a protein from a protein of known function. However, proteins can diverge significantly over time such that sequence similarity is difficult, if not impossible, to find. In some cases, a structural similarity remains over long evolutionary time scales and once detected can be used to predict function. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we employed a high-throughput approach to assign structural and functional annotation to the human proteome, focusing on the collection of human protein kinases, the human kinome. We compared human protein sequences to a library of domains from known structures using WU-BLAST, PSI-BLAST, and 123D. This approach utilized both sequence comparison and fold recognition methods. The resulting set of potential protein kinases was cross-checked against previously identified human protein kinases, and analyzed for conserved kinase motifs. Conclusions/Significance: We demonstrate that our structure-based method can be used to identify both typical and atypical human protein kinases. We also identify two potentially novel kinases that contain an interesting combination o

Impact of amendments on the physical properties of soil under tropical long-term no till conditions

Tropical regions have been considered the world's primary agricultural frontier; however, some physico-chemical deficiencies, such as low soil organic matter content, poor soil structure, high erodibility, soil acidity, and aluminum toxicity, have affected their productive capacity. Lime and gypsum are commonly used to improve soil chemical fertility, but no information exists about the long-term effects of these products on the physical attributes and C protection mechanisms of highly weathered Oxisols. A field trial was conducted in a sandy clay loam (kaolinitic, thermic Typic Haplorthox) under a no-tillage system for 12 years. The trial consisted of four treatments: a control with no soil amendment application, the application of 2.1 Mg ha-1 phosphogypsum, the application of 2.0 Mg ha-1 lime, and the application of lime + phosphogypsum (2.0 + 2.1 Mg ha-1, respectively). Since the experiment was established in 2002, the rates have been applied three times (2002, 2004, and 2010). Surface liming effectively increased water-stable aggregates > 2.0 mm at a depth of up to 0.2 m; however, the association with phosphogypsum was considered a good strategy to improve the macroaggregate stability in subsoil layers (0.20 to 0.40 m). Consequently, both soil amendments applied together increased the mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD) in all soil layers, with increases of up to 118 and 89%, respectively, according to the soil layer. The formation and stabilization of larger aggregates contributed to a higher accumulation of total organic carbon (TOC) on these structures. In addition to TOC, the MWD and aggregate stability index were positively correlated with Ca2+ and Mg2+ levels and base saturation. Consequently, the increase observed in the aggregate size class resulted in a better organization of soil particles, increasing the macroporosity and reducing the soil bulk density and penetration resistance. Therefore, adequate soil chemical management plays a fundamental role in improving the soil's physical attributes in tropical areas under conservative management and highly affected by compaction caused by intensive farming