Chamorchis alpina and Epipactis helleborine in the Murmansk Region, Russia, and assessments of the orchids in the Region using the IUCN Red List Categories

The old record of Chamorchis alpina from Rybachiy Peninsula, Murmansk Region has been confirmed and another old locality reported from Pechenga on the basis of two herbarium specimens collected by Jacob Fellman (H). The specimen from Pechenga was wrongly published as Herminium monorchis in Fellman’s Index plantarum 1831. Chamorchis alpina has not been found in the Murmansk Region since more than 180 years, and it is proposed to be treated as regionally extinct (RE) in the Red Data Books dealing with the Region. Epipactis helleborine, recently reported from the District of Kandalaksha, should be added to the regional Red Data Book as a critically endangered (CR) species. Five species relic for polar latitudes – Calypso bulbosa, Cypripedium calceolus, Epipogium aphyllum, Hammarbya paludosa and Malaxis monophyllos – better belong to critically endangered (CR) than endangered (EN) species. Dactylorhiza traunsteineri, known only from two localities, should be moved from vulnerable (VU) to critically endangered (CR). Dactylorhiza incarnata, small populations of which show drastic fluctuations, should be treated as endangered (EN) instead of vulnerable (VU). Coeloglossum viride, Corallorhiza trifida, Gymnadenia conopsea and Listera cordata should be transferred from VU to a group of species in need of monitoring. Leucorchis albida should be included as Vulnerable in the National Red Data Book of Russia. Dactylorhiza fuchsii should belong to the category of Data Deficient (DD)

Schoenus ferrugineus (Cyperaceae) in Murmansk Region (Russia)

Schoenus ferrugineus L. is one of the diagnostic species of calcareous fens, which are floristically rich and scattered locally in Europe. 25 new occurrences, most of them recent ones, have been found in Russia, mostly from the eastern border areas of the species. The new locality in Murmansk Region, reported here, corresponds to the northern limit of this species in Europe, and is situated about 60 km north of the Arctic Circle. The new site is described and the distribution and ecology of the species in Murmansk Region are discussed. It is proposed to change the status of this species in the Regional Red Data Book to ’Critically Endangered’

Dactylorhiza traunsteineri (Orchidaceae) in Murmansk Region (Russia)

The current distribution of Dactylorhiza traunsteineri (Saut. ex Soó) Soó (= Dactylorhiza lapponica (Laest. ex Hartm.) Soó = D. majalis (Rchb.) P.F. Hunt & Summerh. subsp. lapponica (Laest. ex Hartm.) H. Sund.) in Murmansk Region, Russia, is limited to two occurrences. Almost all the historical herbarium specimens from the area proved to be D. maculata (L.) Soó. The taxonomy of the complex is discussed. A newly discovered population of D. traunsteineri is described in detail. The fitness of northern populations of D. traunsteineri is reduced according to a variety of measures. The species is probably at the risk of extirpation in the north because of narrow phytosociological and ecological amplitudes and low seed production. The status of this species in the regional Red Data Book should be ’Critically Endangered’

Nuclear magnetism in silver at positive and negative absolute temperatures in the low nanokelvin range

We have investigated the susceptibility and entropy in the thermally isolated system of silver nuclei down to 0.8 nK and, at negative temperatures, up to -4.3 nK. Low-frequency SQUID-NMR techniques were employed to measure the dynamic sysceptibility. Curie-Weiss behavior was observed for the static susceptibility both at T>0 and T<0; for FTHETA we deduce -4.4±1.0 nK. Our results show directly that antiferromagnetic nuclear alignment at positive temperatures transforms into ferromagnetic orientation at T<0 in the nuclear-spin system of silver, dominated by exchange interaction.Peer reviewe

Vibronic spectroscopy of an artificial molecule

With advanced fabrication techniques it is possible to make nanoscale electronic structures that have discrete energy levels. Such structures are called artificial atoms because of analogy with true atoms. Examples of such atoms are quantum dots in semiconductor heterostructures and Josephson-junction qubits. It is also possible to have artificial atoms interacting with each other. This is an artificial molecule in the sense that the electronic states are analogous to the ones in a molecule. In this letter we present a different type of artificial molecule that, in addition to electronic states, also includes the analog of nuclear vibrations in a diatomic molecule. Some of the earlier experiments could be interpreted using this analogy, including qubits coupled to oscillators and qubits driven by an intense field. In our case the electronic states of the molecule are represented by a Josephson-junction qubit, and the nuclear separation corresponds to the magnetic flux in a loop containing the qubit and an LC oscillator. We probe the vibronic transitions, where both the electronic and vibrational states change simultaneously, and find that they are analogous to true molecules. The vibronic transitions could be used for sideband cooling of the oscillator, and we see damping up to sidebands of order 10.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Wetting of Superfluid 4He by Liquid 3He

We have investigated optically the spreading of He3 on top of the He4-rich solution in phase-separated helium-mixture films, 20-50 μm thick. In equilibrium, the He3 layer wets the He4-rich phase completely, but nearly circular or stripelike pools of He3-rich phase are stabilized instead when He4 atoms are condensed to the liquid sample at the rate 10 exp 15-5 × 10 exp 15 atoms/cm2s. For the contact angle we obtain about 10 mrad, which suggests a fractional change of the He3 surface tension by a factor of 10 exp −5 from the equilibrium value.Peer reviewe

Observation of nuclear ferromagnetic ordering in silver at negative nanokelvin temperatures

The ferromagnetically ordered state in the nuclear spin system of silver has been reached at negative absolute temperatures by adiabatic nuclear demagnetization at entropies below 0.82 ln2. The ordering, caused by the antiferromagnetic Ruderman-Kittel interaction, was observed below -1.9 nK as a saturation of susceptibility close to -1 and as an increase of the NMR frequencies. Comparison with recent mean-field calculations by Viertiö and Oja suggests a domain configuration. The phase diagram of silver nuclei at T<0 is outlined in the magnetic field versus entropy plane.Peer reviewe

Observations on Superfluid Meniscus in Rotating 3He-B

The parabolic superfluid meniscus has been seen for states in which only (1) the normal or (2) the superfluid component of 3He-B rotates. A reduced, temperature-dependent meniscus (1) was formed at small speeds Ω≲0.21 rad /s. A deeper-than-expected meniscus (2) was observed after a rapid halt of the cryostat, when the normal fluid stops during a short relaxation time, followed by slow decay of the superfluid circulation. The depth of the meniscus (2) was explained by a reactive radial force between the rotating superfluid and the stationary normal liquid.Peer reviewe

Increased brain histamine H(3 )receptor expression during hibernation in golden-mantled ground squirrels

BACKGROUND: Hibernation is a state of extremely reduced physiological functions and a deep depression of CNS activity. We have previously shown that the histamine levels increase in the brain during hibernation, as does the ratio between histamine and its first metabolite, suggesting increased histamine turnover during this state. The inhibitory histamine H(3 )receptor has both auto- and heteroreceptor function, rendering it the most likely histamine receptor to be involved in regulating the activity of histamine as well as other neurotransmitters during hibernation. In view of accumulating evidence that there is a global depression of transcription and translation during hibernation, of all but a few proteins that are important for this physiological condition, we reasoned that an increase in histamine H(3 )receptor expression would clearly indicate an important hibernation-related function for the receptor. RESULTS: In this study we show, using in situ hybridization, that histamine H(3 )receptor mRNA increases in the cortex, caudate nucleus and putamen during hibernation, an increase that is accompanied by elevated receptor binding in the cerebral cortex, globus pallidus and substantia nigra. These results indicate that there is a hibernation-related increase in H(3 )receptor expression in cortical neurons and in striatopallidal and striatonigral GABAergic neurons. GTP-γ-S binding autoradiography shows that the H(3 )receptors in the globus pallidus and substantia nigra can be stimulated by histamine throughout the hibernation cycle, suggesting that they are functionally active during hibernation. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that the histamine H(3 )receptor gene is one of the few with a transcript that increases during hibernation, indicating an important role for the receptor in regulating this state. Moreover, the receptor is functionally active in the basal ganglia, suggesting a function for it in regulating e.g. dopaminergic transmission during hibernation

Negative Absolute Temperatures: 'Hot' Spins in Spontaneous Magnetic Order

Depending on the sign of the spin temperature, +-T, in the picokelvin range, antiferro- and ferromagnetic nuclear order in silver are caused by the same interactions. In rhodium, the antiferromagnetic state is preferred both at T > 0 and at T < 0. The lowest and 'highest' temperatures ever produced and measured, 280 pK and -750 pK, have been reached in the course of these experiments. The results on silver, in particular, show that negative temperatures are real, not fictitious quantities.Non Peer reviewe