An Andreev molecule is a system of closely spaced superconducting weak links accommodating overlapping Andreev Bound States.
Recent theoretical proposals have considered one-dimensional Andreev ...molecules with a single conduction channel.
Here we apply the scattering formalism and extend the analysis to multiple conduction channels, a situation encountered in epitaxial superconductor/semiconductor weak links.
We obtain the multi-channel bound state energy spectrum and quantify the contribution of the microscopic non-local transport processes leading to the formation of Andreev molecules.
The diversity and evolution of the Red Sea invertebrates in mesophotic and deep-water benthic ecosystems remain largely unexplored. The Palaemonidae is a diversified family of caridean shrimps with ...numerous taxa in need of taxonomic revisions based on recent molecular analyses. The Red Sea mesophotic and bathyal palaemonid shrimps are largely unstudied. During recent expeditions off the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, several palaemonid specimens were collected at a depth range of 88–494 m, spanning the mesophotic and bathyal zones. This material was examined morphologically and genetically to infer phylogenetic relationships among the Red Sea taxa and several other palaemonid genera. The concordant morphological and genetic data led to the description of two new genera and two new species. Moreover, one species was recorded in the Red Sea for the first time, with a new host record, whereas three further deep-water species, which do not occur in the Red Sea, were formally transferred to a different genus. As more exploration efforts are deployed, research on the diversity and evolutionary relationships among marine invertebrates from the Red Sea will further underline the uniqueness of its mesophotic and bathyal fauna.
Coral-dwelling gall crabs (Cryptochiridae) live in an obligate symbiosis with reef-building corals from shallow to deep waters. In particular, crabs of the genus Opecarcinus are known to occur across ...the tropical belt in association with the scleractinian family Agariciidae, down to a depth of 89 m. The Red Sea is a semi-enclosed basin that has long been recognized as a region of high marine biodiversity and endemism, with more than 230 decapod species recorded so far. There, nine Opecarcinus species are recorded from shallow and mesophotic corals. However, the occurrence of Opecarcinus below 30 m depth is documented only in the Saudi Arabian coast of the Northern Red Sea, and the rest of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea has remained unstudied. In this work, we assess the diversity and distribution of Opecarcinus from the mesophotic waters of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea. Through Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Submarines explorations, we collected 10 gall crab specimens associated with Agariciidae corals at mesophotic depths between 47 and 89 m. Two mitochondrial and one nuclear markers were used to obtain crab phylogenetic tree showing that three of the Opecarcinus species known from Red Sea shallow-water corals can also live at mesophotic depths. This is the first assessment of the depth distribution of the genus Opecarcinus in the Red Sea. It provides further evidence of the depth range adaptability of the Opecarcinus -Agariciidae association and highlights the need for a more in-depth investigation of the largely overlooked mesophotic coral-associated fauna.
Introduction The Red Sea is a narrow rift basin characterized by latitudinal environmental gradients which shape the diversity and distribution of reef-dwelling organisms. Studies on Symbiodiniaceae ...associated with select hard coral taxa present species- specific assemblages and concordant variation patterns from the North to southeast Red Sea coast at depths shallower than 30 m. At mesophotic depths, however, algal diversity studies are rare. Here, we characterize for the first-time host-associated algal communities of a mesophotic specialist coral species, Leptoseris cf. striatus , along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast. Methods We sampled 56 coral colonies spanning the eastern Red Sea coastline from the Northern Red Sea to the Farasan Banks in the South, and across two sampling periods, Fall 2020 and Spring 2022. We used Next Generation Sequencing of the ITS2 marker region in conjunction with SymPortal to denote algal assemblages. Results and discussion Our results show a relatively stable coral species-specific interaction with algae from the genus Cladocopium along the examined latitudinal gradient, with the appearance, in a smaller proportion, of presumed thermally tolerant algal taxa in the genera Symbiodinium and Durusdinium during the warmer season (Fall 2020). Contrary to shallow water corals, our results do not show a change in Symbiodiniaceae community composition from North to South in this mesophotic specialist species. However, our study highlights for the first time that symbiont communities are subject to change over time at mesophotic depth, which could represent an important phenomenon to address in future studies.
Black corals (Hexacorallia: Antipatharia) are a major component of mesophotic and deep marine ecosystems. Due to their preference for light deprived environments, black corals have historically been ...considered azooxanthellate, yet recent works have found them in association with dinoflagellates of the family Symbiodiniaceae down to 396 m depth. While corals and Symbiodiniaceae generally establish a symbiotic relationship in shallow water environments, the implications of this association is less well understood at deeper depths, where low light penetration cannot sustain efficient photosynthetic activity for the algae. However, Symbiodinaceae are not obligate autotrophs, and their capacity for heterotrophic feeding categorizes them as mixotrophs. In this study, we investigated the presence and diversity of Symbiodiniaceae associated with the deep-sea black coral Bathypathes thermophila (Antipatharia: Schizopathidae), collected from 204 to 655 m depth in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea. Using high-throughput sequencing of the ITS2 region, we report (1) the deepest record to date of Symbiodiniaceae associated with an anthozoan from 655 m, and (2) the first Red Sea record of Antipatharia in association with Symbiodiniaceae. Our analyses revealed that 14 out of 27 colonies of B. thermophila were associated with Symbiodiniaceae of the genera Cladocopium and Durusdinium . We unveiled 16 novel ITS2 type profiles, possibly unique to black corals and/or to these depths, along with seven profiles that were already known from shallow-water hard corals. No significant pattern was detected in terms of community diversity in relation to depth or sampling locality. Our study supports the existence of black corals-Symbiodiniaceae association and warrants further research to better understand the evolutionary processes and physiological mechanisms driving this association, specifically in light deprived environments.
This White Paper has been formally accepted for support by the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM) and by the World Federation of Intensive and Critical Care (WFICC), put forth by ...a multi-specialty group of intensivists and emergency medicine providers from low- and low-middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HiCs) with the aim of 1) defining the current state of caring for the critically ill in low-resource settings (LRS) within LMICs and 2) highlighting policy options and recommendations for improving the system-level delivery of early critical care services in LRS. LMICs have a high burden of critical illness and worse patient outcomes than HICs, hence, the focus of this White Paper is on the care of critically ill patients in the early stages of presentation in LMIC settings. In such settings, the provision of early critical care is challenged by a fragmented health system, costs, a health care workforce with limited training, and competing healthcare priorities. Early critical care services are defined as the early interventions that support vital organ function during the initial care provided to the critically ill patient-these interventions can be performed at any point of patient contact and can be delivered across diverse settings in the healthcare system and do not necessitate specialty personnel. Currently, a single "best" care delivery model likely does not exist in LMICs given the heterogeneity in local context; therefore, objective comparisons of quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness between varying models are difficult to establish. While limited, there is data to suggest that caring for the critically ill may be cost effective in LMICs, contrary to a widely held belief. Drawing from locally available resources and context, strengthening early critical care services in LRS will require a multi-faceted approach, including three core pillars: education, research, and policy. Education initiatives for physicians, nurses, and allied health staff that focus on protocolized emergency response training can bridge the workforce gap in the short-term; however, each country's current human resources must be evaluated to decide on the duration of training, who should be trained, and using what curriculum. Understanding the burden of critical Illness, best practices for resuscitation, and appropriate quality metrics for different early critical care services implementation models in LMICs are reliant upon strengthening the regional research capacity, therefore, standard documentation systems should be implemented to allow for registry use and quality improvement. Policy efforts at a local, national and international level to strengthen early critical care services should focus on funding the building blocks of early critical care services systems and promoting the right to access early critical care regardless of the patient's geographic or financial barriers. Additionally, national and local policies describing ethical dilemmas involving the withdrawal of life-sustaining care should be developed with broad stakeholder representation based on local cultural beliefs as well as the optimization of limited resources.
In recent years, a number of both theoretical and experimental investigations have been performed focusing on the zirconium isotopic chain. In particular, state-of-the-art Monte Carlo shell-model ...calculations predict shape coexistence in these isotopes. In this context, the 94Zr nucleus, which is believed to possess a nearly spherical ground state, is particularly interesting since the purported deformed structure is basedon the low-lying 02+ state, making it amenable for detailed study. In order to provide definitive conclusionson the shapes of the low-lying states, two complementary experiments to study 94Zr by means of low-energy Coulomb excitation were performed. This data will allow the quadrupole moments of the 21,2+ levels to be extracted as well as for the deformation parameters of the 01,2+ states to be determined and, thus, definitive conclusions to be drawn on the role of shape coexistence in this nucleus for the first time. The first experiment was performed at the INFN Legnaro National Laboratory with the GALILEO-SPIDER setup, which, for the first time, was coupled with 6 lanthanum bromide scintillators (LaBr3:Ce) in order to maximize the γ-ray detection effciency. The second experiment was performed at the Maier-Leibnitz Laboratory (MLL) in Munich and used a Q3D magnetic spectrograph to detect the scattered 12C ions following Coulomb excitation of 94Zr targets.
In recent years, a number of both theoretical and experimental investigations have been performed focusing on the zirconium isotopic chain. In particular, state-of-the-art Monte Carlo shell-model ...calculations predict shape coexistence in these isotopes. In this context, the
94
Zr nucleus, which is believed to possess a nearly spherical ground state, is particularly interesting since the purported deformed structure is basedon the low-lying 0
2
+
state, making it amenable for detailed study. In order to provide definitive conclusionson the shapes of the low-lying states, two complementary experiments to study
94
Zr by means of low-energy Coulomb excitation were performed. This data will allow the quadrupole moments of the 2
1,2
+
levels to be extracted as well as for the deformation parameters of the 0
1,2
+
states to be determined and, thus, definitive conclusions to be drawn on the role of shape coexistence in this nucleus for the first time.
The first experiment was performed at the INFN Legnaro National Laboratory with the GALILEO-SPIDER setup, which, for the first time, was coupled with 6 lanthanum bromide scintillators (LaBr3:Ce) in order to maximize the
γ
-ray detection effciency. The second experiment was performed at the Maier-Leibnitz Laboratory (MLL) in Munich and used a Q3D magnetic spectrograph to detect the scattered
12
C ions following Coulomb excitation of
94
Zr targets.
To investigate the association of blood pressure with the other major cardiovascular risk factors in a large population of back-cross to Lyon hypertensive (LH) rats.
Mean arterial pressure was ...recorded in male freely moving Lyon normotensive (LN), LH, F1 and backcross to LH rats aged 30 weeks. Plasma cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, creatinine, urea, fibrinogen and haematocrit levels, and the insulin: glucose ratio were measured in 31-week-old rats and 24h albuminuria in 6-week-old rats.
Adult LH rats exhibited a significant increase in plasma lipids, insulin, fibrinogen, creatinine, urea and haematocrit levels compared with LN rats. In young LH rats, at an age at which blood pressure is slightly increased, albuminuria was increased to a greater extent than expected from their blood pressure levels. In the adult back-cross to LH rats, only the plasma cholesterol level was associated with blood pressure. Moreover, the plasma cholesterol level was related to fibrinogen and haematocrit levels. Finally, in the same rats, albuminuria developed early in life was positively related to hypercholinesterolaemia measured later in life.
Plasma cholesterol, fibrinogen, haematocrit levels and early albuminuria could act synergistically in the enhancement or the development, or both, of vascular and kidney damage in the LH rat. Most interestingly, the association between plasma cholesterol level and blood pressure indicates that, as in essential hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia is a major phenotype associated with hypertension in the LH rat.
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