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Hydrodynamical interaction in circumbinary discs (CBDs) plays a crucial role in various astrophysical systems, ranging from young stellar binaries to supermassive black hole binaries in galactic centres. Most previous simulations of binary-disc systems have adopted locally isothermal equation of state. In this study, we use the grid-based code Athena++ to conduct a suite of two-dimensional viscous hydrodynamical simulations of circumbinary accretion on a Cartesian grid, resolving the central cavity of the binary. The gas thermodynamics is treated by thermal relaxation towards an equilibrium temperature (based on the constant − β cooling ansatz, where β is the cooling time in units of the local Keplerian time). Focusing on equal mass, circular binaries in CBDs with (equilibrium) disc aspect ratio H/R = 0.1, we find that the cooling of the disc gas significantly influences the binary orbital evolution, accretion variability, and CBD morphology, and the effect depends sensitively on the disc viscosity prescriptions. When adopting a constant kinematic viscosity, a finite cooling time (β ≳ 0.1) leads to a binary inspiral as opposed to an outspiral and the CBD cavity becomes more symmetric. When adopting a dynamically varying α-viscosity, binary inspiral only occurs within a narrow range of cooling time (corresponding to β around 0.5).

 

Hydrodynamical interactions between binaries and circumbinary disks (CBDs) play an important role in a variety of astrophysical systems, from young stellar binaries to supermassive black hole binaries. Previous simulations of CBDs have mostly employed locally isothermal equations of state. We carry out 2D viscous hydrodynamic simulations of CBDs around equal-mass, circular binaries, treating the gas thermodynamics by thermal relaxation toward equilibrium temperature (the constant-βcooling ansatz, whereβis the cooling time in units of the local Keplerian time). As an initial study, we use the grid-based codeAthena++on a polar grid, covering an extended disk outside the binary co-orbital region. We find that with a longer cooling time, the accretion variability is gradually suppressed, and the morphology of the CBD becomes more symmetric. The disk also shows evidence of hysteresis behavior depending on the initial conditions. Gas cooling also affects the rate of angular momentum transfer between the binary and the CBD, where given our adopted disk thickness and viscosity (H/r∼ 0.1 andα∼ 0.1), the binary orbit expands while undergoing accretion for mostβvalues between 0 and 4.0 except over a narrow range of intermediateβvalues. The validity of using a polar grid excising the central domain is also discussed.

 

Siderophores belonging to the ferrichrome family are essential for the viability of fungal species and play a key role for virulence of numerous pathogenic fungi. Despite their biological significance, our understanding of how these iron-chelating cyclic hexapeptides are assembled by non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) enzymes remains poorly understood, primarily due to the nonlinearity exhibited by the domain architecture. Herein, we report the biochemical characterization of the SidC NRPS, responsible for construction of the intracellular siderophore ferricrocin. In vitro reconstitution of purified SidC reveals its ability to produce ferricrocin and its structural variant, ferrichrome. Application of intact protein mass spectrometry uncovers several non-canonical events during peptidyl siderophore biosynthesis, including inter-modular loading of amino acid substrates and an adenylation domain capable of poly-amide bond formation. This work expands the scope of NRPS programming, allows biosynthetic assignment of ferrichrome NRPSs, and sets the stage for reprogramming towards novel hydroxamate scaffolds.

 

Background The natural history of disease in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remained obscure during the early pandemic. Aim Our objective was to estimate epidemiological parameters of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and assess the relative infectivity of the incubation period. Methods We estimated the distributions of four epidemiological parameters of SARS-CoV-2 transmission using a large database of COVID-19 cases and potential transmission pairs of cases, and assessed their heterogeneity by demographics, epidemic phase and geographical region. We further calculated the time of peak infectivity and quantified the proportion of secondary infections during the incubation period. Results The median incubation period was 7.2 (95% confidence interval (CI): 6.9‒7.5) days. The median serial and generation intervals were similar, 4.7 (95% CI: 4.2‒5.3) and 4.6 (95% CI: 4.2‒5.1) days, respectively. Paediatric cases < 18 years had a longer incubation period than adult age groups (p = 0.007). The median incubation period increased from 4.4 days before 25 January to 11.5 days after 31 January (p < 0.001), whereas the median serial (generation) interval contracted from 5.9 (4.8) days before 25 January to 3.4 (3.7) days after. The median time from symptom onset to discharge was also shortened from 18.3 before 22 January to 14.1 days after. Peak infectivity occurred 1 day before symptom onset on average, and the incubation period accounted for 70% of transmission. Conclusion The high infectivity during the incubation period led to short generation and serial intervals, necessitating aggressive control measures such as early case finding and quarantine of close contacts. 

A practical and convenient method for the efficient and regio- and stereoselective ring-opening of enantiopure monosubstituted epoxides by sodium azide under hydrolytic conditions is reported. The ringopening of enantiopure styryl and pyridyl (S)-epoxides by N3
in hot water takes place preferentially at the internal position with complete inversion of configuration to produce (R)-2-azido ethanols with up to 99% enantio- and regioselectivity, while the (S)-adamantyl oxirane provides mainly the (S)-1-adamantyl- 2-azido ethanol in excellent yield. In general, 1,2-amino ethanols were obtained in high yield and excellent enantiopurity by the reduction of the chiral 1,2-azido ethanols with PPh3 in water/THF, and then converted into the Boc or acetamide derivatives.