Lateral Ordering of InAs Quantum Dots on Cross-hatch Patterned GaInP

We report the use of partially relaxed tensile as well as compressively strained GaInP layers for lateral ordering of InAs quantum dots with the aid of misfit dislocation networks. The strained layers and the InAs QDs were characterized by means of atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray reciprocal space mapping. The QD-ordering properties of compressive GaInP are found to be very similar with respect to the use of compressive GaInAs, while a significantly stronger ordering of QDs was observed on tensile GaInP. Furthermore, we observed a change of the major type of dislocation in GaInP layers as the growth temperature was modified

Cytoneme-Mediated Delivery of Hedgehog Regulates the Expression of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins to Maintain Germline Stem Cells in Drosophila

Genetic manipulation of the germline stem cell niche in Drosophila ovaries reveals that support cells ensure the maintenance of stem cells by modulating the spread of Hedgehog within the niche

Microarray-Based Approach Identifies Differentially Expressed MicroRNAs in Porcine Sexually Immature and Mature Testes

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNA molecules which are proved to be involved in mammalian spermatogenesis. Their expression and function in the porcine germ cells are not fully understood.We employed a miRNA microarray containing 1260 unique miRNA probes to evaluate the miRNA expression patterns between sexually immature (60-day) and mature (180-day) pig testes. One hundred and twenty nine miRNAs representing 164 reporter miRNAs were expressed differently (p<0.1). Fifty one miRNAs were significantly up-regulated and 78 miRNAs were down-regulated in mature testes. Nine of these differentially expressed miRNAs were validated using quantitative RT-PCR assay. Totally 15,919 putative miRNA-target sites were detected by using RNA22 method to align 445 NCBI pig cDNA sequences with these 129 differentially expressed miRNAs, and seven putative target genes involved in spermatogenesis including DAZL, RNF4 gene were simply confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR.Overall, the results of this study indicated specific miRNAs expression in porcine testes and suggested that miRNAs had a role in regulating spermatogenesis

Search for Periodic Time Variations of the Solar 8^8B Neutrino Flux Between 1996 and 2018 in Super-Kamiokande

We report a search for time variations of the solar $^8$B neutrino flux using 5,804 live days of Super-Kamiokande data collected between May 31, 1996, and May 30, 2018. Super-Kamiokande measured the precise time of each solar neutrino interaction over 22 calendar years to search for solar neutrino flux modulations with unprecedented precision. Periodic modulations are searched for in a data set comprised of five-day interval solar neutrino flux measurements with a maximum likelihood method. We also applied the Lomb-Scargle method to this data set to compare it with previous reports. The only significant modulation found is due to the elliptic orbit of the Earth around the Sun. The observed modulation is consistent with astronomical data: we measured an eccentricity of (1.53$\pm$0.35)\,\%, and a perihelion shift is ($-$1.5$\pm$13.5)\,days.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, and data file: "sksolartimevariation5804d.txt

Measurements of the charge ratio and polarization of cosmic-ray muons with the Super-Kamiokande detector

We present the results of the charge ratio (R) and polarization (Pμ0) measurements using the decay electron events collected from 2008 September to 2022 June by the Super-Kamiokande detector. Because of its underground location and long operation, we performed high precision measurements by accumulating cosmic-ray muons. We measured the muon charge ratio to be R=1.32±0.02 (stat.+syst.) at EμcosθZenith=0.7+0.3−0.2 TeV, where Eμ is the muon energy and θZenith is the zenith angle of incoming cosmic-ray muons. This result is consistent with the Honda flux model while this suggests a tension with the πK model of 1.9σ. We also measured the muon polarization at the production location to be Pμ0=0.52±0.02 (stat.+syst.) at the muon momentum of 0.9+0.6−0.1 TeV/c at the surface of the mountain; this also suggests a tension with the Honda flux model of 1.5σ. This is the most precise measurement ever to experimentally determine the cosmic-ray muon polarization near 1 TeV/c. These measurement results are useful to improve the atmospheric neutrino simulations

Performance of SK-Gd's upgraded real-time supernova monitoring system

Among multi-messenger observations of the next galactic core-collapse supernova, Super-Kamiokande (SK) plays a critical role in detecting the emitted supernova neutrinos, determining the direction to the supernova (SN), and notifying the astronomical community of these observations in advance of the optical signal. On 2022, SK has increased the gadolinium dissolved in its water target (SK-Gd) and has achieved a Gd concentration of 0.033%, resulting in enhanced neutron detection capability, which in turn enables more accurate determination of the supernova direction. Accordingly, SK-Gd's real-time supernova monitoring system (Abe te al. 2016b) has been upgraded. SK_SN Notice, a warning system that works together with this monitoring system, was released on December 13, 2021, and is available through GCN Notices (Barthelmy et al. 2000). When the monitoring system detects an SN-like burst of events, SK_SN Notice will automatically distribute an alarm with the reconstructed direction to the supernova candidate within a few minutes. In this paper, we present a systematic study of SK-Gd's response to a simulated galactic SN. Assuming a supernova situated at 10 kpc, neutrino fluxes from six supernova models are used to characterize SK-Gd's pointing accuracy using the same tools as the online monitoring system. The pointing accuracy is found to vary from 3-7∘ depending on the models. However, if the supernova is closer than 10 kpc, SK_SN Notice can issue an alarm with three-degree accuracy, which will benefit follow-up observations by optical telescopes with large fields of view

Viable Mice with Compound Mutations in the Wnt/Dvl Pathway Antagonists nkd1 and nkd2▿

Gradients of Wnt/β-catenin signaling coordinate development and physiological homeostasis in metazoan animals. Proper embryonic development of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster requires the Naked cuticle (Nkd) protein to attenuate a gradient of Wnt/β-catenin signaling across each segmental anlage. Nkd inhibits Wnt signaling by binding the intracellular protein Dishevelled (Dsh). Mice and humans have two nkd homologs, nkd1 and nkd2, whose encoded proteins can bind Dsh homologs (the Dvl proteins) and inhibit Wnt signaling. To determine whether nkd genes are necessary for murine development, we replaced nkd exons that encode Dvl-binding sequences with IRES-lacZ/neomycin cassettes. Mutants homozygous for each nkdlacZ allele are viable with slightly reduced mean litter sizes. Surprisingly, double-knockout mice are viable, with subtle alterations in cranial bone morphology that are reminiscent of mutation in another Wnt/β-catenin antagonist, axin2. Our data show that nkd function in the mouse is dispensable for embryonic development