Analysis of diving behavior of Adelie penguins using acceleration data logger

Acceleration data loggers were attached to five adult Adelie penguins at Hukuro Cove, Lutzow-Holm Bay in austral summer 1997/1998. The loggers recorded time series data of speed, depth, surging acceleration and swaying acceleration in flush memories inside. From time series analyses, the frequency of 2- to 3-Hz was found in the surging acceleration during descent in a straight line. The cycle seemed to correspond to wingbeat frequency of the Adelie penguin. The relation between wingbeat frequency and diving depth was that the frequency ranged from 1.5-Hz to 3.0-Hz when the penguins dive in water shallower than 30-m and was over 2.5-Hz in water deeper than 50-m. The acceleration data logger is a powerful tool to estimate kinematic parameters of free-range marine animals

Preliminary report of new method for ECG measurement of exercising birds

To measure the heart rate of diving seabirds, we tested a new method of attaching electrodes and a miniaturized ECG logger with high memory capacity (2 Mbytes) and high frequent sampling (5ms). A needle type electrode was inserted into subcutaneous tissue of Adelie penguins, and an electrode was implanted under the sternum of hens. Both electrodes were connected to a logger attached to the back of the bird. The mean±SD of heart rate of penguins for 3 h and of hens for 1 h during a resting period were 74.9±15.4 bpm and 245.3±12.1 bpm, respectively. The ECG showed electric noise during exercising periods. However, as R peaks were countable in those periods, it was possible to calculate the heart rate during exercising periods from the interval between R peaks. Though the implantation method needs some recovery time for birds after surgery before the ECG measurement, the method reduces the electric noise caused by the locomotor muscle and electrode movement and is suitable to measure the ECG of free-ranging seabirds during dives

Long-read next-generation sequencing for molecular diagnosis of pediatric endocrine disorders

Recent advances in long-read next-generation sequencing (NGS) have enabled researchers to identify several pathogenic variants overlooked by short-read NGS, array-based comparative genomic hybridization, and other conventional methods. Long-read NGS is particularly useful in the detection of structural variants and repeat expansions. Furthermore, it can be used for mutation screening in difficult-to-sequence regions, as well as for DNA-methylation analyses and haplotype phasing. This mini-review introduces the usefulness of long-read NGS in the molecular diagnosis of pediatric endocrine disorders

Phase Diagram for the Hofstadter butterfly and integer quantum Hall effect in three dimensions

We give a perspective on the Hofstadter butterfly (fractal energy spectrum in magnetic fields), which we have shown to arise specifically in three-dimensional(3D) systems in our previous work. (i) We first obtain the `phase diagram' on a parameter space of the transfer energies and the magnetic field for the appearance of Hofstadter's butterfly spectrum in anisotropic crystals in 3D. (ii) We show that the orientation of the external magnetic field can be arbitrary to have the 3D butterfly. (iii) We show that the butterfly is beyond the semiclassical description. (iv) The required magnetic field for a representative organic metal is estimated to be modest ($\sim 40$ T) if we adopt higher Landau levels for the butterfly. (v) We give a simpler way of deriving the topological invariants that represent the quantum Hall numbers (i.e., two Hall conductivity in 3D, $\sigma_{xy}, \sigma_{zx}$, in units of $e^2/h$).Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, eps versions of the figures will be sent on request to [email protected]

Pairing competition in a quasi-one-dimensional model of organic superconductors (TMTSF)2X_{2}X in magnetic field

We microscopically study the effect of the magnetic field (Zeeman splitting) on the superconducting state in a model for quasi-one-dimensional organic superconductors (TMTSF)$_{2}X$. We investigate the competition between spin singlet and spin triplet pairings and the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov(FFLO) state by random phase approximation. While we studied the competition by comparison with the eigenvalue of the gap equation at a fixed temperature in our previous study (Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{102} (2009) 016403), here we obtain both the $T_c$ for each pairing state and a phase diagram in the $T$(temperature)-$h_z$(field)-$V_y$(strength of the charge fluctuation) space. The phase diagram shows that consecutive transitions from singlet pairing to the FFLO state and further to $S_z=1$ triplet pairing can occur upon increasing the magnetic field when $2k_{F}$ charge fluctuations coexist with $2k_{F}$ spin fluctuations. In the FFLO state, the singlet d-wave and $S_{z}=0$ triplet $f$-wave components are strongly mixed especially when the charge fluctuations are strong.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Intergrain Josephson Currents in Multigap Superconductors: Microscopic Origin of Low Intergrain Critical Current and Its Recovery Potential in Iron-Pnictide Materials

We microscopically examine the intergrain Josephson current in iron-pnictide superconductors in order to solve the puzzle of why the intergrain current is much lower than the intragrain one. The theory predicts that the intergrain Josephson current is significantly reduced by the $\pm$s-wave symmetry when the incoherent tunneling becomes predominant and the density of states and the gap amplitude between two bands are identical. We find in such a situation that the temperature dependence of the intergrain Josephson current shows an anomalously flat curve over a wide temperature range. Finally, we suggest important points for increasing the intergrain current.Comment: Title was change

Possible anomalous Doppler shift effect in superconductor Sr2_{2}RuO4_{4}

The effect of the Doppler shift is studied in a model for the $\alpha$-$\beta$ bands of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ consisting of two hybridized 1D bands. Assuming a superconducting gap with nodes in the diagonal directions, we examine the oscillation of the surface density of states and the thermal conductivity under a rotating magnetic field. Upon varying the strength of the hybridization, the oscillation in these quantities is found to exhibit 2D to 1D crossover. In the crossover regime, which corresponds to the actual Sr$_2$RuO$_4$, the thermal conductivity exhibits a two-fold-symmetry oscillation, while the four-fold-symmetry component in the oscillation is barely detectable

The ESCRT System Is Required for Hepatitis C Virus Production

BACKGROUND: Recently, lipid droplets have been found to be involved in an important cytoplasmic organelle for hepatitis C virus (HCV) production. However, the mechanisms of HCV assembly, budding, and release remain poorly understood. Retroviruses and some other enveloped viruses require an endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) components and their associated proteins for their budding process. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To determine whether or not the ESCRT system is needed for HCV production, we examined the infectivity of HCV or the Core levels in culture supernatants as well as HCV RNA levels in HuH-7-derived RSc cells, in which HCV-JFH1 can infect and efficiently replicate, expressing short hairpin RNA or siRNA targeted to tumor susceptibility gene 101 (TSG101), apoptosis-linked gene 2 interacting protein X (Alix), Vps4B, charged multivesicular body protein 4b (CHMP4b), or Brox, all of which are components of the ESCRT system. We found that the infectivity of HCV in the supernatants was significantly suppressed in these knockdown cells. Consequently, the release of the HCV Core into the culture supernatants was significantly suppressed in these knockdown cells after HCV-JFH1 infection, while the intracellular infectivity and the RNA replication of HCV-JFH1 were not significantly affected. Furthermore, the HCV Core mostly colocalized with CHMP4b, a component of ESCRT-III. In this context, HCV Core could bind to CHMP4b. Nevertheless, we failed to find the conserved viral late domain motif, which is required for interaction with the ESCRT component, in the HCV-JFH1 Core, suggesting that HCV Core has a novel motif required for HCV production. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that the ESCRT system is required for infectious HCV production

Evaluation of Spin-Triplet Superconductivity in Sr2RuO4

This review presents a summary and evaluations of the superconducting properties of the layered ruthenate Sr2RuO4 as they are known in the autumn of 2011. This paper appends the main progress that has been made since the preceding review by Mackenzie and Maeno was published in 2003. Here, special focus is placed on the critical evaluation of the spin-triplet, odd-parity pairing scenario applied to Sr2RuO4. After an introduction to superconductors with possible odd-parity pairing, accumulated evidence for the pairing symmetry of Sr2RuO4 is examined. Then, significant recent progress on the theoretical approaches to the superconducting pairing by Coulomb repulsion is reviewed. A section is devoted to some experimental properties of Sr2RuO4 that seem to defy simple explanations in terms of currently available spin-triplet scenario. The next section deals with some new developments using eutectic boundaries and micro-crystals, which reveals novel superconducting phenomena related to chiral edge states, odd-frequency pairing states, and half-fluxoid states. Some of these properties are intimately connected with the properties as a topological superconductor. The article concludes with a summary of knowledge emerged from the study of Sr2RuO4 that are now more widely applied to understand the physics of other unconventional superconductors, as well as with a brief discussion of relatively unexplored but promising areas of ongoing and future studies of Sr2RuO4.Comment: 31 pages, 35 figures, published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. as a review article of Special Topic