Relationship between thermospheric vertical wind and the location of ionospheric current in the polar region

We have been observing vertical winds in the polar thermosphere with a Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) installed at Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska. To introduce a new method to understand thermospheric wind system in the polar region, the vertical wind variations are compared with the peak location of ionospheric current deduced from magnetic field measurements on the ground in a case observed on December 5, 1999. The magnetometer data were obtained at Kaktovik, Fort Yukon, Poker Flat, and Gakona. The method of estimating ionospheric current was obtained from H. Luhr et al. (J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., 56, 81, 1994). The eastward current dominant interval was clearly separated from the westward current dominant one at 1130 UT (～0030 MLT) in this case. The relation between the vertical wind and the location of the ionospheric current was clearly different before and after the boundary. Namely, the downward (upward) vertical wind was found to be dominant equatorward (poleward) of the ionospheric current after 1130 UT, which is consistent with results obtained in many previous works. However, this relation was found to be opposite before 1130 UT: the upward (downward) vertical wind was seen to be equatorward (poleward) of current

Verification of operational solar flare forecast: Case of Regional Warning Center Japan

In this article, we discuss a verification study of an operational solar flare forecast in the Regional Warning Center (RWC) Japan. The RWC Japan has been issuing four-categorical deterministic solar flare forecasts for a long time. In this forecast verification study, we used solar flare forecast data accumulated over 16 years (from 2000 to 2015). We compiled the forecast data together with solar flare data obtained with the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES). Using the compiled data sets, we estimated some conventional scalar verification measures with 95% confidence intervals. We also estimated a multi-categorical scalar verification measure. These scalar verification measures were compared with those obtained by the persistence method and recurrence method. As solar activity varied during the 16 years, we also applied verification analyses to four subsets of forecast-observation pair data with different solar activity levels. We cannot conclude definitely that there are significant performance difference between the forecasts of RWC Japan and the persistence method, although a slightly significant difference is found for some event definitions. We propose to use a scalar verification measure to assess the judgment skill of the operational solar flare forecast. Finally, we propose a verification strategy for deterministic operational solar flare forecasting.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures and 6 tables. Accepted for publication in Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate (SWSC

Thermally induced flow instabilities in two-phase mixtures in thermal equilibrium

Ph.D.Novak Zube

Stalling interkinetic nuclear migration in curved pseudostratified epithelium of developing cochlea

The bending of epithelial tubes is a fundamental process in organ morphogenesis, driven by various multicellular behaviours. The cochlea in the mammalian inner ear is a representative example of spiral tissue architecture where the continuous bending of the duct is a fundamental component of its morphogenetic process. Although the cochlear duct morphogenesis has been studied by genetic approaches extensively, it is still unclear how the cochlear duct morphology is physically formed. Here, we report that nuclear behaviour changes are associated with the curvature of the pseudostratified epithelium during murine cochlear development. Two-photon live-cell imaging reveals that the nuclei shuttle between the luminal and basal edges of the cell is in phase with cell-cycle progression, known as interkinetic nuclear migration, in the flat region of the pseudostratified epithelium. However, the nuclei become stationary on the luminal side following mitosis in the curved region. Mathematical modelling together with perturbation experiments shows that this nuclear stalling facilitates luminal-basal differential growth within the epithelium, suggesting that the nuclear stalling would contribute to the bending of the pseudostratified epithelium during the cochlear duct development. The findings suggest a possible scenario of differential growth which sculpts the tissue shape, driven by collective nuclear dynamics

Retrograde ERK activation waves drive base-to-apex multicellular flow in murine cochlear duct morphogenesis

うずまき管の伸⻑を司る分子活性と細胞群の波を発見 --綱引きによる細胞群の流れと臓器の成長--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-03-09.A notable example of spiral architecture in organs is the mammalian cochlear duct, where the morphology is critical for hearing function. Genetic studies have revealed necessary signaling molecules, but it remains unclear how cellular dynamics generate elongating, bending, and coiling of the cochlear duct. Here, we show that extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation waves control collective cell migration during the murine cochlear duct development using deep tissue live-cell imaging, Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based quantitation, and mathematical modeling. Long-term FRET imaging reveals that helical ERK activation propagates from the apex duct tip concomitant with the reverse multicellular flow on the lateral side of the developing cochlear duct, resulting in advection-based duct elongation. Moreover, model simulations, together with experiments, explain that the oscillatory wave trains of ERK activity and the cell flow are generated by mechanochemical feedback. Our findings propose a regulatory mechanism to coordinate the multicellular behaviors underlying the duct elongation during development

Bubble Lift-off Size in Forced Convective Subcooled Boiling Flow

Forced convective subcooled boiling flow experiments were conducted in a BWR-scaled vertical upward annular channel. Water was used as the testing fluid, and the tests were performed at atmospheric pressure. A high-speed digital video camera was applied to capture the dynamics of the bubble nucleation process. Bubble lift-off diameters were obtained from the images for a total of 91 test conditions. A force balance analysis of a growing bubble was performed to predict the bubble lift-off size. The dimensionless form of the bubble lift-off diameter was formulated to be a function of Jacob number and Prandtl number. The proposed model agreed well with the experimental data within the averaged relative deviation of ±35.2 %