Comparison of ozone profiles from DIAL, MLS, and chemical transport model simulations over Río Gallegos, Argentina, during the spring Antarctic vortex breakup, 2009

This study evaluates the agreement between ozone profiles derived from the ground-based differential absorption lidar (DIAL), satellite-borne Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), and 3-D chemical transport model (CTM) simulations such as the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROC-CTM) over the Atmospheric Observatory of Southern Patagonia (Observatorio Atmosférico de la Patagonia Austral, OAPA; 51.6°S, 69.3°W) in Río Gallegos, Argentina, from September to November 2009. In this austral spring, measurements were performed in the vicinity of the polar vortex and inside it on some occasions; they revealed the variability in the potential vorticity (PV) of measured air masses. Comparisons between DIAL and MLS were performed between 6 and 100hPa with 500km and 24h coincidence criteria. The results show a good agreement between DIAL and MLS with mean differences of ±0.1ppmv (MLS-´DIAL, n,=-) between 6 and 56hPa. MIROC-CTM also agrees with DIAL, with mean differences of ±0.3ppmv (MIROC-CTM-´DIAL, n,=-23) between 10 and 56hPa. Both comparisons provide mean differences of 0.5ppmv (MLS) to 0.8-0.9ppmv (MIROC-CTM) at the 83-100hPa levels. DIAL tends to underestimate ozone values at this lower altitude region. Between 6 and 8hPa, the MIROC-CTM ozone value is 0.4-0.6ppmv (5-8%) smaller than those from DIAL. Applying the scaled PV (sPV) criterion for matching pairs in the DIAL-MLS comparison, the variability in the difference decreases 21-47% between 10 and 56hPa. However, the mean differences are small for all pressure levels, except 6hPa. Because ground measurement sites in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) are very sparse at mid-to high latitudes, i.e., 35-60°S, the OAPA site is important for evaluating the bias and long-Term stability of satellite instruments. The good performance of this DIAL system will be useful for such purposes in the future.Fil: Sugita, Takafumi. National Institute for Environmental Studies; JapónFil: Akiyoshi, Hideharu. National Institute for Environmental Studies; JapónFil: Wolfram, Elian Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa. Ministerio de Defensa. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa. Centro de Investigación en Láseres y Aplicaciones; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Salvador, Jacobo Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa. Ministerio de Defensa. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo Estratégico para la Defensa; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa. Centro de Investigación en Láseres y Aplicaciones; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; ArgentinaFil: Ohyama, Hirofumi. National Institute for Environmental Studies; Japón. Nagoya University; JapónFil: Mizuno, Akira. Nagoya University; Japó

A Study on the Relationship between Children's Developmental Stages and Sense of Color

It is well known that human sensitivity to color and expressive ability varies with age and gender. In addition, the perception, understanding, and comprehension of color vary according to developmental stage and color-related experiences. This study is one approach to research to clarify the relationship between such "sense of color" as above and the developmental stages of children. In this study, the coloring behavior of teenage subjects; elementary school, junior high school, and university students, to coloring book images were investigated using iPads. The characteristics of coloring and color schemes used in the coloring books were analyzed to explore the relationship with the developmental stages of the children. The coloring book images, mandala-like patterns, used in the investigation were designed originally based on some preliminary investigations. In addition, the original palette of colors systematically arranged in hues and tones was specified to quantitatively analyze the characteristics of the colors used in the coloring book. The results showed that the hues of colors used with high frequency in coloring books changed as the developmental stage progressed and that the range of tones by the combination of saturation and lightness widened. It was also found that the color schemes were simple and easy to understand at younger ages, while the complexity of the color schemes increased as the children grew older

A system for recognizing numeric strings from topographical maps

The paper proposes a system for recognizing numeric strings from topographical maps, which is composed of an automatic recognition stage and an interactive recognition stage. In this method, uncertain numeric strings extracted through the automatic recognition stage based on topographical map features only are confirmed and corrected by the interactive recognition stage. Therefore one can obtain highly precise recognition results. The method was applied to numeric string recognition from a map image which includes 102 strings made up of 249 numerals. As a result, 95.1% of 102 numeric strings were correctly recognized.Third International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition, August 14-16, 1995, Montreal, Canad

Optical Versus Mid-Infrared Spectroscopic Classification of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

The origin of huge infrared luminosities of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIGs) is still in question. Recently, Genzel et al. made mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy of a large number of ULIGs and found that the major energy source in them is massive stars formed in the recent starburst activity; i.e., $\sim$ 70% -- 80% of the sample are predominantly powered by the starburst. However, it is known that previous optical spectroscopic observations showed that the majority of ULIGs are classified as Seyferts or LINERs (low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions). In order to reconcile this difference, we compare types of emission-line activity for a sample of ULIGs which have been observed in both optical and MIR. We confirm the results of previous studies that the majority of ULIGs classified as LINERs based on the optical emission-line diagnostics turn to be starburst-dominated galaxies based on the MIR ones. Since the MIR spectroscopy can probe more heavily-reddened, inner parts of the ULIGs, it is quite unlikely that the inner parts are powered by the starburst while the outer parts are powered by non-stellar ionization sources. The most probable resolution of this dilemma is that the optical emission-line nebulae with the LINER properties are powered predominantly by shock heating driven by the superwind activity; i.e., a blast wave driven by a collective effect of a large number of supernovae in the central region of galaxy mergers.Comment: 15 pages, 2 tables, and 3 eps figures. The Astrophysical Journal (Part 1), in pres

Characteristics of Atmospheric Wave-Induced Laminae Observed by Ozonesondes at the Southern Tip of South America

Fluctuations of ozone concentrations with dimensions of a few kilometers (i.e., ozone laminae) are frequently found in ozone-sounding profiles. We used ozonesonde measurements made at the southern tip of South America to examine the relationship between ozone laminae and atmospheric waves near the edge of the polar vortex and on the leeward side of the Andes Mountains. Laminar structures are formed by vertical and horizontal displacements of isopleths due to gravity waves and by isentropic advection of vortex air filaments with low ozone concentration due to Rossby wave breaking. We extracted components of these ozone fluctuations by applying a high-pass filter to the observed ozone profiles and normalizing them to background concentrations, which were extracted with a low-pass filter. Ozone fluctuations due to displacements caused by gravity waves were individually evaluated with experimental data. We assumed that the residuals between the observed and gravity wave-induced fluctuations were Rossby waves-induced fluctuations. We found that the gravity wave-induced variability was larger in the upper troposphere than in the lower stratosphere and was a maximum in winter. Rossby wave-induced variability showed a distinct seasonal pattern in the lower stratosphere and accounted for a large portion of the observed variability. We also examined the relationship between gravity wave-induced and Rossby wave-induced ozone variability and the differences in equivalent latitudes between the sonde positions and the polar vortex edge. We found that variability was larger inside than outside the polar vortex.Fil: Ohyama, Hirofumi. Nagoya University; JapónFil: Mizuno, Akira. Nagoya University; JapónFil: Zamorano, F.. Universidad de Magallanes; ChileFil: Sugita, Takafumi. National Institute For Environmental Studies; JapónFil: Akiyoshi, Hideharu. National Institute For Environmental Studies; JapónFil: Noguchi, Katsuyuki. Nara Women's University; JapónFil: Wolfram, Elian Augusto. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa. Centro de Investigación en Láseres y Aplicaciones; ArgentinaFil: Salvador, Jacobo Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa. Centro de Investigación en Láseres y Aplicaciones; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; ArgentinaFil: Benitez, Griselda Carolina. Ministerio de Defensa. Secretaria de Planeamiento. Servicio Meteorológico Nacional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Low- and Medium-Dispersion Spectropolarimetry of Nova V475 Sct (Nova Scuti 2003): Discovery of an Asymmetric High-Velocity Wind in a Moderately Fast Nova

We present low-resolution ($R\sim 90$) and medium-resolution ($R\sim 2500$) spectropolarimetry of Nova V475 Sct with the HBS instrument, mounted on the 0.91-m telescope at the Okayama Astrophysical Observatory, and with FOCAS, mounted on the 8.2-m Subaru telescope. We estimated the interstellar polarization toward the nova from the steady continuum polarization components and H$\alpha$ line emission components. After subtracting the interstellar polarization component from the observations, we found that the H$\alpha$ emission seen on 2003 October 7 was clearly polarized. In the polarized flux spectrum, the H$\alpha$ emission had a distinct red wing extending to $\sim +4900$ km s$^{-1}$ and a shoulder around $+3500$ km s$^{-1}$, showing a constant position angle of linear polarization \theta_{\rm *}\simeq 155\arcdeg\pm 15\arcdeg. This suggests that the nova had an asymmetric outflow with a velocity of $v_{\rm wind}\simeq 3500$ km s$^{-1}$ or more, which is six times higher than the expansion velocity of the ionized shell at the same epoch. Such a high-velocity component has not previously been reported for a nova in the `moderately fast' speed class. Our observations suggest the occurrence of violent mass-loss activity in the nova binary system even during the common-envelope phase. The position angle of the polarization in the H$\alpha$ wing is in good agreement with that of the continuum polarization found on 2003 September 26 ($p_{\rm *}\simeq 0.4$--0.6 %), which disappeared within the following 2 d. The uniformity of the PA between the continuum polarization and the wing polarization on October 7 suggests that the axis of the circumstellar asymmetry remained nearly constant during the period of our observations.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A

Piezo1-pannexin-1-P2X3 axis in odontoblasts and neurons mediates sensory transduction in dentinal sensitivity

According to the “hydrodynamic theory,” dentinal pain or sensitivity is caused by dentinal fluid movement following the application of various stimuli to the dentin surface. Recent convergent evidence in Vitro has shown that plasma membrane deformation, mimicking dentinal fluid movement, activates mechanosensitive transient receptor potential (TRP)/Piezo channels in odontoblasts, with the Ca2+ signal eliciting the release of ATP from pannexin-1 (PANX-1). The released ATP activates the P2X3 receptor, which generates and propagates action potentials in the intradental Aδ afferent neurons. Thus, odontoblasts act as sensory receptor cells, and odontoblast-neuron signal communication established by the TRP/Piezo channel-PANX-1-P2X3 receptor complex may describe the mechanism of the sensory transduction sequence for dentinal sensitivity. To determine whether odontoblast-neuron communication and odontoblasts acting as sensory receptors are essential for generating dentinal pain, we evaluated nociceptive scores by analyzing behaviors evoked by dentinal sensitivity in conscious Wistar rats and Cre-mediated transgenic mouse models. In the dentin-exposed group, treatment with a bonding agent on the dentin surface, as well as systemic administration of A-317491 (P2X3 receptor antagonist), mefloquine and 10PANX (non-selective and selective PANX-1 antagonists), GsMTx-4 (selective Piezo1 channel antagonist), and HC-030031 (selective TRPA1 channel antagonist), but not HC-070 (selective TRPC5 channel antagonist), significantly reduced nociceptive scores following cold water (0.1 ml) stimulation of the exposed dentin surface of the incisors compared to the scores of rats without local or systemic treatment. When we applied cold water stimulation to the exposed dentin surface of the lower first molar, nociceptive scores in the rats with systemic administration of A-317491, 10PANX, and GsMTx-4 were significantly reduced compared to those in the rats without systemic treatment. Dentin-exposed mice, with somatic odontoblast-specific depletion, also showed significant reduction in the nociceptive scores compared to those of Cre-mediated transgenic mice, which did not show any type of cell deletion, including odontoblasts. In the odontoblast-eliminated mice, P2X3 receptor-positive A-neurons were morphologically intact. These results indicate that neurotransmission between odontoblasts and neurons mediated by the Piezo1/TRPA1-pannexin-1-P2X3 receptor axis is necessary for the development of dentinal pain. In addition, odontoblasts are necessary for sensory transduction to generate dentinal sensitivity as mechanosensory receptor cells

Unexpected A-form formation of 4′-thioDNA in solution, revealed by NMR, and the implications as to the mechanism of nuclease resistance

Fully modified 4′-thioDNA, an oligonucleotide only comprising 2′-deoxy-4′-thionucleosides, exhibited resistance to an endonuclease, in addition to preferable hybridization with RNA. Therefore, 4′-thioDNA is promising for application as a functional oligonucleotide. Fully modified 4′-thioDNA was found to behave like an RNA molecule, but no details of its structure beyond the results of circular dichroism analysis are available. Here, we have determined the structure of fully modified 4′-thioDNA with the sequence of d(CGCGAATTCGCG) by NMR. Most sugars take on the C3′-endo conformation. The major groove is narrow and deep, while the minor groove is wide and shallow. Thus, fully modified 4′-thioDNA takes on the A-form characteristic of RNA, both locally and globally. The only structure reported for 4′-thioDNA showed that partially modified 4′-thioDNA that contained some 2′-deoxy-4′-thionucleosides took on the B-form in the crystalline form. We have determined the structure of 4′-thioDNA in solution for the first time, and demonstrated unexpected differences between the two structures. The origin of the formation of the A-form is discussed. The remarkable biochemical properties reported for fully modified 4′-thioDNA, including nuclease-resistance, are rationalized in the light of the elucidated structure

2015年の昭和基地でのNOおよびオゾンの地上ミリ波モニタリング観測

第6回極域科学シンポジウム分野横断型セッション：[IM] 横断　中層大気・熱圏11月17日（火）　国立極地研究所１階交流アトリウ