Bait-attending amphipods of the Tonga Trench and depth-stratified population structure in the scavenging amphipod Hirondellea dubia Dahl, 1959

Background The hadal zone encompasses the deepest parts of the world’s ocean trenches from depths of ∼6,000–11,000 m. The communities observed at these depths are dominated by scavenging amphipods that rapidly intercept and consume carrion as it falls to the deepest parts of the trenches. New samples collected in the Tonga Trench provide an opportunity to compare the amphipod assemblages and the population structure of a dominant species, Hirondellea dubia Dahl, 1959, between trenches and with earlier data presented for the Tonga Trench, and other trenches in the South Pacific. Methods Over 3,600 individual scavenging amphipods across 10 species were collected in seven baited traps at two sites; in the Horizon Deep site, the deepest part of the Tonga Trench (10,800 m) and a site directly up-slope at the trench edge (6,250 m). The composition of the bait-attending amphipods is described and a morphometric analysis of H. dubia examines the bathymetric distribution of the different life stages encountered. Results The amphipod assemblage was more diverse than previously reported, seven species were recorded for the first time from the Tonga Trench. The species diversity was highest at the shallower depth, with H. dubia the only species captured at the deepest site. At the same time, the abundance of amphipods collected at 10,800 m was around sevenfold higher than at the shallower site. H. dubia showed clear ontogenetic vertical structuring, with juveniles dominant at the shallow site and adults dominant at the deep site. The amphipods of the deeper site were always larger at comparable life stage. Discussion The numbers of species encountered in the Tonga Trench is less than reported from the New Hebrides and Kermadec trenches, and six species encountered are shared across trenches. These findings support the previous suggestion that the fauna of the New Hebrides, Tonga and Kermadec Trenches may represent a single biogeographic province. The ontogenetic shift in H. dubia between the two Tonga Trench sites supports the hypothesis of interspecific competition at the shallower bathymetric range of the species, and the presence of competitive physiological advantages that allow the adults at the trench axis to exploit the more labile organic material that reaches the bottom of the trench

Green tea halts progression of cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis: an observational report

BACKGROUND: Treatment options in patients with amyloidotic transthyretin (ATTR) cardiomyopathy are limited. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the most abundant catechin in green tea (GT), inhibits fibril formation from several amyloidogenic proteins in vitro. Thus, it might also halt progression of TTR amyloidosis. This is a single-center observational report on the effects of GT consumption in patients with ATTR cardiomopathy. METHODS: 19 patients with ATTR cardiomyopathy were evaluated by standard blood tests, echocardiography, and cardiac MRI (n = 9) before and after consumption of GT and/or green tea extracts (GTE) for 12 months. RESULTS: Five patients were not followed up for reasons of death (n = 2), discontinuation of GT/GTE consumption (n = 2), and heart transplantation (n = 1). After 12 months no increase of left ventricular (LV) wall thickness and LV myocardial mass was observed by echocardiography. In the subgroup of patients evaluated by cardiac MRI a mean decrease of LV myocardial mass (-12.5 %) was detected in all patients. This was accompanied by an increase of mean mitral annular systolic velocity of 9 % in all 14 patients. Total cholesterol (191.9 ± 8.9 vs. 172.7 ± 9.4 mg/dL; p < 0.01) and LDL cholesterol (105.8 ± 7.6 vs. 89.5 ± 8.0 mg/dL; p < 0.01) decreased significantly during the observational period. No serious adverse effects were reported by any of the participants. CONCLUSIONS: Our observation suggests an inhibitory effect of GT and/or GTE on the progression of cardiac amyloidosis. We propose a randomized placebo-controlled investigation to confirm our observation

Flux Phase as a Dynamic Jahn-Teller Phase: Berryonic Matter in the Cuprates?

There is considerable evidence for some form of charge ordering on the hole-doped stripes in the cuprates, mainly associated with the low-temperature tetragonal phase, but with some evidence for either charge density waves or a flux phase, which is a form of dynamic charge-density wave. These three states form a pseudospin triplet, demonstrating a close connection with the E X e dynamic Jahn-Teller effect, suggesting that the cuprates constitute a form of Berryonic matter. This in turn suggests a new model for the dynamic Jahn-Teller effect as a form of flux phase. A simple model of the Cu-O bond stretching phonons allows an estimate of electron-phonon coupling for these modes, explaining why the half breathing mode softens so much more than the full oxygen breathing mode. The anomalous properties of $O^{2-}$ provide a coupling (correlated hopping) which acts to stabilize density wave phases.Comment: Major Revisions: includes comparisons with specific cuprate phonon modes, 16 eps figures, revte

Stokes-operator-squeezed continuous-variable polarization states

We investigate nonclassical Stokes-operator variances in continuous-wave polarization-squeezed laser light generated from one and two optical parametric amplifiers. A general expression of how Stokes-operator variances decompose into two-mode quadrature operator variances is given. Stokes parameter variance spectra for four different polarization-squeezed states have been measured and compared with a coherent state. Our measurement results are visualized by three-dimensional Stokes-operator noise volumes mapped on the quantum Poincare sphere. We quantitatively compare the channel capacity of the different continuous-variable polarization states for communication protocols. It is shown that squeezed polarization states provide 33% higher channel capacities than the optimum coherent beam protocol

The n2EDM experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute

We present the new spectrometer for the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) search at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), called n2EDM. The setup is at room temperature in vacuum using ultracold neutrons. n2EDM features a large UCN double storage chamber design with neutron transport adapted to the PSI UCN source. The design builds on experience gained from the previous apparatus operated at PSI until 2017. An order of magnitude increase in sensitivity is calculated for the new baseline setup based on scalable results from the previous apparatus, and the UCN source performance achieved in 2016

Optically pumped Cs magnetometers enabling a high-sensitivity search for the neutron electric dipole moment

An array of 16 laser-pumped scalar Cs magnetometers was part of the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) experiment taking data at the Paul Scherrer Institute in 2015 and 2016. It was deployed to measure the gradients of the experiment's magnetic field and to monitor their temporal evolution. The originality of the array lies in its compact design, in which a single near-infrared diode laser drives all magnetometers that are located in a high-vacuum chamber, with a selection of the sensors mounted on a high-voltage electrode. We describe details of the Cs sensors' construction and modes of operation, emphasizing the accuracy and sensitivity of the magnetic-field readout. We present two applications of the magnetometer array directly beneficial to the nEDM experiment: (i) the implementation of a strategy to correct for the drift of the vertical magnetic-field gradient and (ii) a procedure to homogenize the magnetic field. The first reduces the uncertainty of the nEDM result. The second enables transverse neutron spin relaxation times exceeding 1500 s, improving the statistical sensitivity of the nEDM experiment by about 35% and effectively increasing the rate of nEDM data taking by a factor of 1.8

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model

We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to track spin wandering. This search improves on previous HMM-based searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the J-statistic, and by analyzing data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run. In the frequency range searched, from 60 to 650 Hz, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At 194.6 Hz, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95% confidence) of h095%=3.47×10-25 when marginalizing over source inclination angle. This is the most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed to be robust in the presence of spin wandering. © 2019 American Physical Society

Search for Tensor, Vector, and Scalar Polarizations in the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background

The detection of gravitational waves with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo has enabled novel tests of general relativity, including direct study of the polarization of gravitational waves. While general relativity allows for only two tensor gravitational-wave polarizations, general metric theories can additionally predict two vector and two scalar polarizations. The polarization of gravitational waves is encoded in the spectral shape of the stochastic gravitational-wave background, formed by the superposition of cosmological and individually unresolved astrophysical sources. Using data recorded by Advanced LIGO during its first observing run, we search for a stochastic background of generically polarized gravitational waves. We find no evidence for a background of any polarization, and place the first direct bounds on the contributions of vector and scalar polarizations to the stochastic background. Under log-uniform priors for the energy in each polarization, we limit the energy densities of tensor, vector, and scalar modes at 95% credibility to Ω0T<5.58×10-8, Ω0V<6.35×10-8, and Ω0S<1.08×10-7 at a reference frequency f0=25 Hz. © 2018 American Physical Society