Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov State due to Antisymmetric Spin-Orbit-Coupling in Noncentrosymmetric Superconductivity CePt3_3Si

When the inversion symmetry is broken, the spin-orbit coupling reduces the transition temperature of some types of spin triplet superconductivity, which is similar to the case that magnetic field reduces the spin singlet superconductivity due to Zeeman splitting. It is well known that Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state of spin singlet superconductivity is realized near the Pauli limit (or Chandrasekhar-Clogston limit) of external magnetic field. In FFLO state the amplitude of the order parameter is not uniform in space. In this paper we study the FFLO state in the spin triplet superconductivity in the absence of magnetic field due to the spin-orbit coupling. Although the FFLO state is not realized in the simple model with spherical Fermi surface, it will be stabilized if some condition is favorable for it. We discuss the possibility of FFLO state in CePt$_3$Si in the absence of external magnetic field.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, M2S-HTSC VII

Prosodische Variationen der gleichen Ausdrücke und ihre Interpretation

International audienceFür die Realisierung von Sprechhandlungen spielen lexikalische Informationen eine entscheidende Rolle. Jedoch darf die prosodische Seite der Ausdrücke nicht gering geachtet werden, denn die gleichen Ausdrücke können je nach Aussprache unterschiedliche konnotative Bedeutungen haben. Im Japanischen wird häufig darauf hingewiesen, dass die Intonation insbesondere am Ende der Äußerungen die Absicht bzw. Haltung des Sprechers wiederspiegelt. Um sie richtig zu verstehen, wird von den Japanischlernenden gefordert, bestimmte physikalische Veränderungen, wie z.B. Tonhöhe oder Dauer, richtig wahrzunehmen und dem gegebenen Kontext entsprechend zu interpretieren. Im Bereich des Japanischen als Fremdsprache wird die Intonation im Unterricht teilweise intuitiv" behandelt, ohne die genaue Wahrnehmungstendenz der Lernenden zu berücksichtigen, weil sie auch in der Forschung noch ungeklärt ist. In Bezug auf die Wahrnehmung des Wortakzents wurde die Tendenz der Interferenz von der Muttersprache bereits aufgrund empirischer Untersuchungen festgestellt und ausführlich beschrieben (Ayusawa & Nishinuma 1997 u.a.) *.Im Rahmen dieses Beitrags wird die Interferenz der Muttersprache bei Wahrnehmung der Intonation und des Rhythmus der Äußerungen behandelt. Analysiert werden hier die Daten von insgesamt 90 deutschen und japanischen Muttersprachlern. Jeder Teilnehmer antwortete auf 320 Fragen nach der Prosodie, nämlich die Tonhöhe und die Dauer. Die Daten werden statistisch analysiert und unter kontrastiven Gesichtspunkten diskutiert. Dabei werden auch die Ergebnisse von Umfragen berücksichtigt, die anschließend an die Untersuchungen durchgeführt wurde. Es wurde von den japanischen Muttersprachlern erwähnt, dass akustische Variationen der gleichen Ausdrücke bei ihnen unterschiedliche Eindrücke hervorriefen, womit sie auf die zusätzlichen Konnotationen verwiesen.This study which supports the claim of a prosodic interference between L1 and L2, examines the perception of Japanese rhythm and intonation by German students. Four sentences recorded by 10 female Japanese speakers were presented 4 times through headsets to 45 Japanese and to 42 German students. Listeners were asked to determine whether the last syllable (1) had a rising or a falling intonation and (2) was short or long. Variance analysis reveals (1) a significant difference between the Germman and Japanese subjects in the perception of melodic and rhythm variations ; (2) that some infra-liminal F0 variations were judged differently by the German subjects, possibly due to interactions between sentence types and speech sounds

Involvement of butyrate in electrogenic K+ secretion in rat rectal colon

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), such as acetate, propionate, and butyrate, are synthesized from dietary carbohydrates by colonic bacterial fermentation. These SCFAs supply energy, suppress cancer, and affect ion transport. However, their roles in ion transport and regulation in the intracellular environment remain unknown. In order to elucidate the roles of SCFAs, we measured short-circuit currents (ISC) and performed RT-PCR and immunohistochemical analyses of ion transporters in rat rectal colon. The application of 30 mM butyrate shifted ISC in a negative direction, but did not attenuate the activity of epithelial Na+ channels (ENaC). The application of bumetanide, a Na+-K+-2Cl− cotransporter inhibitor, to the basolateral side reduced the negative ISC shift induced by butyrate. The application of XE991, a KCNQ-type K+ channel inhibitor, to the apical side decreased the ISC shift induced by butyrate in a dose-dependent manner. The ISC shift was independent of HCO3− and insensitive to ibuprofen, an SMCT1 inhibitor. The mucosa from rat rectal colon expressed mRNAs of H+-coupled monocarboxylate transporters (MCT1, MCT4, and MCT5, also referred to as SLC16A1, SLC16A3, and SLC16A4, respectively). RT-PCR and immunofluorescence analyses demonstrated that KCNQ2 and KCNQ4 localized to the apical membrane of surface cells in rat rectal colon. These results indicate that butyrate, which may be transported by H+-coupled monocarboxylate transporters, activates K+ secretion through KCNQ-type K+ channels on the apical membrane in rat rectal colon. KCNQ-type K+ channels may play a role in intestinal secretion and defense mechanisms in the gastrointestinal tract

K+ channels on resting duct cells from rat pancreas

The ductal system of the exocrine pancreas produces HCO3--rich fluid in response to secretin and other stimuli. HCO3- efflux across the luminal membrane is mediated by a Cl--HCO3- exchanger operating in parallel with the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl- channel. Basolateral K+ channels provide an exit pathway for K+ and play a vital role in maintaining the membrane potential, which is a crucial component of the driving force for anion secretion. Measurements of membrane potential with intracellular microelectrodes suggested that Ba2+-sensitive K+ conductance accounts for more than 60% of the total basolateral ionic conductance in resting ducts (1). To identify the Ba2+-sensitive K+ channels, we isolated ducts from normal rat pancreas by collagenase digestion. We first demonstrated that the ducts did not express a vascular endothelial marker PECAM-1 (platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1), but expressed cytokeratin 20, a marker of duct cells (2), using immunofluorescent staining. In addition, monoclonal anti-CFTR antibody was detected near the luminal membrane of these cells. In cell-attached single-channel recordings, we observed three types of K+ channels on basolateral membrane in unstimulated duct cells. The 40 pS K+ channels are likely to mediate whole-cell inwardly rectifying K+ (Kir) currents, which were blocked by extracellular Ba2+ in a voltage-dependent manner. The properties of 90 pS and 170 pS K+ channels are similar to those of Ca2+-activated K+ channels. We then identified Kir2.0 and SK4/IK1 (intermediate conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel) subunits as molecular candidates of the K+ channels using RT-PCR analysis. The present results suggest that these subunits may mediate native K+ currents in resting duct cells. Further functional studies with specific blockers are required to evaluate which of these K+ channels contribute to the resting membrane potential and might be involved in HCO3- secretion

How do non-native speakers perceive Japanese phrase final prosody? An experiment on the perception of pitch and rhythm by Chinese and German subjects

International audienceThis study which supports the claim of a prosodic interference between L1 and L2, examines the perception of pitch and rhythm of Japanese by Chinese and German students. The experiment reported here, used 4 sentences selected from dialogues of role plays recorded by 10 female Tokyo speakers. Stimuli were presented to 45 Japanese and to 77 Chinese students from Beijing. Each stimuli was played 4 times to listeners through headsets. They were asked in two different tasks to determine whether the last syllable was, (1) rising or falling, (2) short or long. Variance analysis reveals a significant difference between subjects for the perception of melodic variation but no interference effect for rhythm.Afin d'examiner l'interférence prosodique entre L1 - L2, nous avons effectué une expérience de perception sur la hauteur et le rythme du japonais auprès de sujets chinois et allemands. Le corpus de la première partie de l'expérience présentée ici est composé de 4 phrases qui sont extraites des dialogues de jeux de rôle interprétés par 10 locutrices de Tokyo. Il a été soumis à 45 étudiants japonais et 77 étudiants chinois de Pékin. Chaque phrase a été présentée 4 fois. Lors de 2 sessions distinctes deux tâches ont été demandées aux sujets : déterminer si la dernière syllable est (1) montante ou descendante; (2) brève ou longue. L'analyse de variance montre une différence significative entre les sujets pour la perception de la variation mélodique mais aucun effet d'interférence pour le rythme. L'analyse en cours pour les sujets allemands semble fournir des conclusions différentes

Gata6 Promotes GLI3 Repressor Activities in the Limb

Gli3 is a major regulator of Hedgehog signaling during limb development. In the anterior mesenchyme, GLI3 is proteolytically processed into GLI3R, a truncated repressor form that inhibits Hedgehog signaling. Although numerous studies have identified mechanisms that regulate Gli3 function in vitro, it is not completely understood how Gli3 function is regulated in vivo. In this study, we show a novel mechanism of regulation of GLI3R activities in limb buds by Gata6, a member of the GATA transcription factor family. We show that conditional inactivation of Gata6 prior to limb outgrowth by the Tcre deleter causes preaxial polydactyly, the formation of an anterior extra digit, in hindlimbs. A recent study suggested that Gata6 represses Shh transcription in hindlimb buds. However, we found that ectopic Hedgehog signaling precedes ectopic Shh expression. In conjunction, we observed Gata6 and Gli3 genetically interact, and compound heterozygous mutants develop preaxial polydactyly without ectopic Shh expression, indicating an additional prior mechanism to prevent polydactyly. These results support the idea that Gata6 possesses dual roles during limb development: enhancement of Gli3 repressor function to repress Hedgehog signaling in the anterior limb bud, and negative regulation of Shh expression. Our in vitro and in vivo studies identified that GATA6 physically interacts with GLI3R to facilitate nuclear localization of GLI3R and repressor activities of GLI3R. Both the genetic and biochemical data elucidates a novel mechanism by Gata6 to regulate GLI3R activities in the anterior limb progenitor cells to prevent polydactyly and attain proper development of the mammalian autopod

Variation in Japanese gender-related expressions: Utterance final particles and their phonetic characteristics in young speakers

International audienceOne of the well known characteristics of Japanese is the difference in the speech styles of men and women. However that gender-related phenomenon doesn't seem so acute among the younger generations. This is illustrated by the use of the masculine and feminine forms ('-nda' '-no') of the auxiliary verb '-da'. A sociolinguistic survey shows that the feminine ending form ('-no') is less frequent among women under 30 (Ozaki, 1997). Moreover, Tokyo young female students, make a greater use of the masculine form '-nda' in their friendly speech than older women, particularly in explaining causes but less so in describing situations (Yabe, 2000). Thus among the younger Japanese, lexical and syntactic choices do not seem to be direct functions of speaker gender.Our previous studies have shown that differences in speaker sex were indicated through the phonetic characteristics of gender forms (absent in writing). The most noteworthy observation was the presence of rising and/or falling intonational patterns in utterances with "-nda" endings. The objective of this paper is to develop an experimental procedure with data on gender forms in written and oral material ('-nda', '-no', '-kara', and '-te') and carry out statistical analyses with factors such as context, speaker sex, condition, and lexico-syntactic items. Analyses are expected to reveal the framework of expression of gender. Concomitantly in order to establish comparisons, data from languages in which gender does not play a significant role have been collected. Chinese, Korean, French and German adult learners of Japanese have thus been recorded

Development of Calorie Restriction Mimetics as Therapeutics for Obesity, Diabetes, Inflammatory and Neurodegenerative Diseases

Calorie restriction (CR) is the most robust intervention that decreases morbidity and mortality, and thereby increases the lifespan of many organisms. Although the signaling pathways involved in the beneficial effects of CR are not yet fully understood. Several candidate pathways and key molecules have been identified. The effects of CR are highly conserved from lower organisms such as yeast to higher mammals such as rodents and monkeys. Recent studies have also demonstrated beneficial effects of CR in humans, although we need much longer studies to evaluate whether CR also increases the lifespan of humans. In reality, it is difficult for us to conduct CR interventions in humans because the subjects must be kept in a state of hunger and the duration of this state needed to achieve a clinically meaningful effect is still unknown. Thus, research in this field is focusing on the development of molecules that mimic the beneficial effects of CR without reducing food intake. Some of these candidate molecules include plant-derived functional chemicals (phyto-chemicals), synthetic small molecules, and endocrine molecules such as adipokines. Several studies have already shown that this research field may yield novel drugs for the treatment of age-related diseases such as diabetes. In this article, we describe the target pathways, candidate molecules, and strategies to develop CR mimetics