# brain: the hypothesis of the genetic link between present moment attention and subjective wellbeing.

<< Considerable evidence supports the role of present-moment attention, a central feature of mindfulness, in subjective wellbeing maintenance and enhancement. >>️

<< Consistent with the “generalist genes hypothesis” and prior evidence, (AA) hypothesized that presence and subjective wellbeing would show a substantial genetic correlation and smaller environmental correlation. >>️

<< This study provides the first evidence known to us showing that present-centered attention, a primary component of mindfulness, has both genetic and environmental overlap with subjective wellbeing. >>️

Kirk Warren Brown, Fazil Aliev, et al. A multivariate twin study of the genetic association between present moment attention and subjective wellbeing. Sci Rep 13, 17456 (2023). doi: 10.1038/ s41598-023-42810-x.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-42810-x 

Also: brain, Zen, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: present moment attention, mindfulness, subjective wellbeing, generalist genes hypothesis. 

# astro: black hole portraits will become more frequent

<< This year marks the fifth anniversary of the release of the first-ever image of a black hole, which revealed the glowing doughnut of the supermassive black hole called M87*. The research team that produced the image—the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration—recently released a second image of that same black hole, which lies 55 million light years from Earth (..). This image comes from an updated version of the EHT and confirms key features of the black hole while also revealing changes over time in the pattern of light emanating from the disk surrounding the object. Starting with this release, the collaboration expects to issue increasingly frequent updates in support of the newly developing field of black hole imaging. >>️

<< “Producing the first image of M87* was a herculean effort and involved creating, testing, and verifying many different schemes and approaches to analyzing and interpreting the data,” says Princeton University astrophysicist Andrew Chael, a member of the EHT Collaboration. “Now we are beginning to transition to a point where we understand our instrument and our analysis frameworks really well, so I think we are going to be releasing results a lot more quickly.” >>

️

Katherine Wright. Black Hole Portraits Will Become More Frequent. Physics 17, 43. Mar 15, 2024. 

https://physics.aps.org/articles/v17/43

Kazunori Akiyama, Antxon Alberdi, et al. The persistent shadow of the supermassive black hole of M 87. 

I. Observations, calibration, imaging, and analysis⋆ The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration. Astron. Astrophys. 681, A79 (2024).

https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2024/01/aa47932-23/aa47932-23.html

Also: astrophysics, black hole, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: astrophysics, black hole

# gst: rearrangements of a jammed 2-D emulsion (during slow compression).

<< As amorphous materials get jammed, both geometric and dynamic heterogeneity are observed. (AA)  investigate the correlation between the local geometric heterogeneity and local rearrangements in a slowly compressed bidisperse quasi-two-dimensional emulsion system. The compression is driven by evaporation of the continuous phase. >>

<< droplets in heterogeneous local regions are more likely to have local rearrangements. These rearrangements are generally T1 events where two droplets converge toward a void, and two droplets move away from the void to make room for the converging droplets. Thus, the presence of the voids tends to orient the T1 events. >>️

<< The presence of a correlation between the structural quantities and the rearrangement dynamics remains qualitatively unchanged over the entire range of packing fractions observed. >>️

Xin Du, Eric R. Weeks. Rearrangements during slow compression of a jammed  two-dimensional emulsion. Phys. Rev. E 109, 034605. Mar 20,  2024.

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.109.034605

Also: drop, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: drops, droplets, droploids 

# brain: apropos of wars ... VR plus tDCS to reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (in military veterans).

<< Key Points. Question. Can therapeutic exposure using virtual reality (VR) be augmented with simultaneously applied transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? >>

<< Meaning. These findings suggest that the use of combined VR exposure plus tDCS could be a promising treatment for warzone-related PTSD. >>️️

Mascha van’t Wout-Frank, Amanda R. Arulpragasam, et al. Virtual Reality and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.5661. Mar 6, 2024.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2815835

Also: brain, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: life, war, brain, VR, tDCS, PTSD, veterans

# gst: near the Hopf boundary, Intermittency and chimera states.

AA << study collective dynamics of networks of mutually coupled identical Lorenz oscillators near a subcritical Hopf bifurcation. Such systems exhibit induced multistable behavior with interesting spatiotemporal dynamics including synchronization, desynchronization, and chimera states. >>️

<< For analysis, (AA) first consider a ring topology with nearest-neighbor coupling and find that the system may exhibit intermittent behavior due to the complex basin structures and dynamical frustration, where temporal dynamics of the oscillators in the ensemble switches between different attractors. Consequently, different oscillators may show a dynamics that is intermittently synchronized (or desynchronized), giving rise to intermittent chimera states. The behavior of the intermittent laminar phases is characterized by the characteristic time spent in the synchronization manifold, which decays as a power law. >>

<< Such intermittent dynamics is quite general and is also observed in an ensemble of a large number of oscillators arranged in variety of network topologies including nonlocal, scale-free, random, and small-world networks. >>️

Anjuman Ara Khatun, Yusra Ahmed Muthanna, et al. Collective dynamics of coupled Lorenz oscillators near the Hopf boundary: Intermittency and chimera states. Phys. Rev. E 109, 034208. March 15, 2024.

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.109.034208

Also: transition, intermittency, chaos, chimera, network, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html

Keywords: gst, transition, intermittency, chaos, chimera, network

# gst: apropos of random walks, intermittent random walks under stochastic resetting

AA << analyze a one-dimensional intermittent random walk on an unbounded domain in the presence of stochastic resetting. In this process, the walker alternates between local intensive search, diffusion, and rapid ballistic relocations in which it does not react to the target. >>

AA << demonstrate that Poissonian resetting leads to the existence of a non-equilibrium steady state. (They) calculate the distribution of the first arrival time to a target along with its mean and show the existence of an optimal reset rate. In particular, (..) the initial condition of the walker, i.e., either starting diffusely or relocating, can significantly affect the long-time properties of the search process. >>

<< the presence of distinct parameter regimes for the global optimization of the mean first arrival time when ballistic and diffusive movements are in direct competition. >>️

Rosa Flaquer-Galmes, Daniel Campos,  Vicenc Mendez. Intermittent random walks under stochastic resetting. Phys. Rev. E 109, 034103. March 4, 2024. 

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.109.034103  

Also: walk, walking, random, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html

Keywords: gst, walk, intermittent random walk, stochasticity, stochastic resetting

# gst: multi-component droplets may exhibit self-lubricating effects

<< Over the past decade, there has been a growing interest in the study of multicomponent drops. These drops exhibit unique phenomena, as the interplay between hydrodynamics and the evolving physicochemical properties of the mixture gives rise to distinct and often unregulated behaviors. >>

<< Of particular interest is the complex dynamic behavior of the drop contact line, which can display self-lubrication effect. The presence of a slipping contact line in self-lubricating multicomponent drops can suppress the coffee-stain effect, conferring valuable technological applications. >>

Huanshu Tan, Detlef Lohse, Xuehua Zhang. Self-Lubricating Drops. arXiv: 2403.01207v1 [physics.flu-dyn]. Mar 2, 2024

https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.01207

Also: drop droplet droploid, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html

Keywords: drop, droplet, droploid, multicomponent drops, drop contact line, self-lubrication