New records of lichens from the Russian Far East. I. Fuscidea submollis and other arctic-alpine species

Summary. Fuscidea submollis Mas. Inoue is reported for the first time from the Russian Far East. Distinctive features of the taxon are discussed, and a comparison with known saxicolous Fuscidea V. Wirth & Vězda species with amyloid medulla is made. Three arctic-alpine species: Sporastatia testudinea (Ach.) A. Massal., Buellia concinna Th. Fr., Amygdalaria panaeola (Ach.) Hertel et Brodo, and Aspilidea myrinii (Fr.) Hafellner are recorded for the first time in the South Far East from the Sikhote Alin Range (Primorye Territory). Calvitimela aglaea (Sommerf.) Hafellner is reported for the first time from Sikhote Alin Range and Primorye Territory. © 2019 Altai State University. All rights reserved.Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, JSPS: 19-54-50010Russian Foundation for Basic Research, RFBRThe reported study was funded by RFBR and JSPS according to the research project № 19-54-50010

Pressure-induced phase transition of Bi2Te3 into the bcc structure

The pressure-induced phase transition of bismuth telluride, Bi2Te3, has been studied by synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements at room temperature using a diamond-anvil cell (DAC) with loading pressures up to 29.8 GPa. We found a high-pressure body-centered cubic (bcc) phase in Bi2Te3 at 25.2 GPa, which is denoted as phase IV, and this phase apperars above 14.5 GPa. Upon releasing the pressure from 29.8 GPa, the diffraction pattern changes with pressure hysteresis. The original rhombohedral phase is recovered at 2.43 GPa. The bcc structure can explain the phase IV peaks. We assumed that the structural model of phase IV is analogous to a substitutional binary alloy; the Bi and Te atoms are distributed in the bcc-lattice sites with space group Im-3m. The results of Rietveld analysis based on this model agree well with both the experimental data and calculated results. Therefore, the structure of phase IV in Bi2Te3 can be explained by a solid solution with a bcc lattice in the Bi-Te (60 atomic% tellurium) binary system.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

p-wave superconductivity in iron-based superconductors

The possibility of p-wave pairing in superconductors has been proposed more than five decades ago, but has not yet been convincingly demonstrated. One difficulty is that some p-wave states are thermodynamically indistinguishable from s-wave, while others are very similar to d-wave states. Here we studied the self-field critical current of NdFeAs(O,F) thin films in order to extract absolute values of the London penetration depth, the superconducting energy gap, and the relative jump in specific heat at the superconducting transition temperature, and find that all the deduced physical parameters strongly indicate that NdFeAs(O,F) is a bulk p-wave superconductor. Further investigation revealed that single atomic layer FeSe also shows p-wave pairing. In an attempt to generalize these findings, we re-examined the whole inventory of superfluid density measurements in iron-based superconductors and show quite generally that single-band weak-coupling p-wave superconductivity is exhibited in iron-based superconductors. © 2019, The Author(s).Japan Science and Technology Corporation, JST: JPMJCR18J4Government Council on Grants, Russian FederationJapan Society for the Promotion of Science, JSPS: 16H04646АААА-А18-118020190104-3The authors thank Prof. Jeffery L. Tallon (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) and Prof. Christian Bernhard (University of Fribourg, Switzerland) for helpful discussions, and also for reading and commenting on the manuscript. EFT is grateful for financial support provided by the state assignment of Minobrnauki of Russia (theme “Pressure” No. АААА-А18-118020190104-3) and by Act 211 of the Government of the Russian Federation, contract No. 02.A03.21.0006. KI and HI acknowledge support by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) Grant Number 16H04646, as well as JST CREST Grant Number JPMJCR18J4. The Article Processing Charge for this publication was provided by Ural Federal University, Russia

Lithographa tesserata (Trapeliaceae, lichenized Ascomycota) new to Japan

The genus Lithographa and the species L. tesserata are reported for the first time for Japan. The species was collected on siliceous rocks in mountain areas of Hokkaido. It is characterized by having crustose areolate thallus, black lirellate ascomata, simple hyaline ascospores and the presence of norstictic acid. Characteristic features of the species based on the Japanese material, distribution, comparison with other species of the genus are provided. In addition, a short description of a specimen of L. tesserata from Sakhalin Island and a comparison with the Japanese material are given. © 2022, Novosti Sistematiki Nizshikh Rastenii. All Rights Reserved.Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Minobrnauka, (121031000117-9)The study of L. S. Yakovchenko was carried out within the state assignment of Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (theme no. 121031000117-9)

An Excellent Monitoring System for Surface Ubiquitination-Induced Internalization in Mammals

Background. At present, it is difficult to visualize the internalization of surface receptors induced by ubiquitination that is taken place at the plasma membrane in mammals. This problem makes it difficult to reveal molecular basis for ubiquitinationmediated internalization in mammals. Methodology/Principle Findings. In order to overcome it, we have generated T-REx-c-MIR, a novel mammalian Tet-on B cell line using a constitutively active E3 ubiquitin ligase, c-MIR, and its artificial target molecule. By applying the surface biotinylation method to T-REx-c-MIR, we succeeded to monitor the fate of surface target molecules after initiation of ubiquitination process by doxycycline (Dox)-induced c-MIR expression. Target molecules that preexisted at the plasma membrane before induction of c-MIR expression were oligo-ubiquitinated and degraded by Dox-induced c-MIR expression. Dox-induced c-MIR expression initiated rapid internalization of surface target molecules, and blockage of the internalization induced the accumulation of the surface target molecules that were newly ubiquitinated by c-MIR. Inhibition of the surface ubiquitination by down-regulating ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2 impaired the internalization of target molecules. Finally, a complex of c-MIR and target molecule was detected at the plasma membrane. Conclusions/ Significances. These results demonstrate that in T-REx-c-MIR, surface target molecule is ubiquitinated at the plasma membrane and followed by being internalized from the plasma membrane. Thus, T-REx-c-MIR is a useful experimental tool t

Two-nucleon emission in the longitudinal response

The contribution of the two-nucleon emission in the longitudinal response for inclusive electron scattering reactions is studied. The model adopted to perform the calculations is based upon Correlated Basis Function theory but it considers only first order terms in the correlation function. The proper normalization of the wave function is ensured by considering, in addition to the usually evaluated two-point diagrams, also the three-point diagrams. Results for the 12C nucleus in the quasi-elastic region are presented.Comment: 7 pages, 4 Postscript figure

Method to enlarge the hologram viewing window using a mirror module

A liquid crystal panel for a video projector is often used for holographic television. However, its pixel size and pixel number are not enough for practical holographic 3-D display. Therefore, a multipanel configuration is generally used to increase the viewing window and displayed image size, and many spatial light modulators should be used in them. We propose a novel method to increase the viewing window of a holographic display system. The proposed method, which is implemented by using a mirror module and 4-f lens set, is to reconfigure the beam shape reflected by a spatial light modulator. The equipment is applied to a holographic display system, which has only a single spatial light modulator; a hologram could be displayed in a wider viewing window by the equipment than that of the conventional method. By the proposed method, the resolution of the reconfigured spatial light modulator has double resolution in the horizontal direction. Inversely, the vertical resolution is decreased. Even if the vertical resolution is decreased, a viewer could get 3-D effect because humans get more 3-D information in the horizontal direction. We have experimented using a liquid crystal on silicon (LcOS), whose resolution is 4096×2160pixels. The reconfigured resolution by the mirror module is 8192×1080pixels. From the experiments, the horizontal viewing window is almost two times wider than that without the mirror module. As a result, the hologram can be observed binocularly. © 2009 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers

Assessment of BSRN radiation records for the computation of monthly means

The integrity of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) radiation monthly averages are assessed by investigating the impact on monthly means due to the frequency of data gaps caused by missing or discarded high time resolution data. The monthly statistics, especially means, are considered to be important and useful values for climate research, model performance evaluations and for assessing the quality of satellite (time- and space-averaged) data products. The study investigates the spread in different algorithms that have been applied for the computation of monthly means from 1-min values. <br><br> The paper reveals that the computation of monthly means from 1-min observations distinctly depends on the method utilized to account for the missing data. The intra-method difference generally increases with an increasing fraction of missing data. We found that a substantial fraction of the radiation fluxes observed at BSRN sites is either missing or flagged as questionable. The percentage of missing data is 4.4%, 13.0%, and 6.5% for global radiation, direct shortwave radiation, and downwelling longwave radiation, respectively. Most flagged data in the shortwave are due to nighttime instrumental noise and can reasonably be set to zero after correcting for thermal offsets in the daytime data. The study demonstrates that the handling of flagged data clearly impacts on monthly mean estimates obtained with different methods. We showed that the spread of monthly shortwave fluxes is generally clearly higher than for downwelling longwave radiation. <br><br> Overall, BSRN observations provide sufficient accuracy and completeness for reliable estimates of monthly mean values. However, the value of future data could be further increased by reducing the frequency of data gaps and the number of outliers. It is shown that two independent methods for accounting for the diurnal and seasonal variations in the missing data permit consistent monthly means to within less than 1 W m<sup>−2</sup> in most cases. The authors suggest using a standardized method for the computation of monthly means which addresses diurnal variations in the missing data in order to avoid a mismatch of future published monthly mean radiation fluxes from BSRN. <br><br> The application of robust statistics would probably lead to less biased results for data records with frequent gaps and/or flagged data and outliers. The currently applied empirical methods should, therefore, be completed by the development of robust methods

Diabetes status and post-load plasma glucose concentration in relation to site-specific cancer mortality: findings from the original Whitehall study

ObjectiveWhile several studies have reported on the relation of diabetes status with pancreatic cancer risk, the predictive value of this disorder for other malignancies is unclear. Methods: The Whitehall study, a 25year follow-up for mortality experience of 18,006 men with data on post-challenge blood glucose and self-reported diabetes, allowed us to address these issues. Results: There were 2158 cancer deaths at follow-up. Of the 15 cancer outcomes, diabetes status was positively associated with mortality from carcinoma of the pancreas and liver, while the relationship with lung cancer was inverse, after controlling for a range of potential covariates and mediators which included obesity and socioeconomic position. After excluding deaths occurring in the first 10years of follow-up to examine the effect of reverse causality, the magnitude of the relationships for carcinoma of the pancreas and lung was little altered, while for liver cancer it was markedly attenuated. Conclusions: In the present study, diabetes status was related to pancreatic, liver, and lung cancer risk. Cohorts with serially collected data on blood glucose and covariates are required to further examine this area