Relation of Superconducting Pairing Symmetry and Non-Magnetic Impurity Effects in Vortex States

Non-magnetic impurity scattering effects on the vortex core states are theoretically studied to clarify the contributions from the sign-change of the pairing function in anisotropic superconductors. The vortex states are calculated by the Eilenberger theory in superconductors with px-wave pairing symmetry, as well as the corresponding anisotropic s-wave symmetry. From the spatial structure of the pair potential and the local electronic states around a vortex, we examine the differences between anisotropic superconductors with and without sign-change of the pairing function, and estimate how twofold symmetric vortex core images change with increasing the impurity scattering rate both in the Born and the unitary limits. We found that twofold symmetric vortex core image of zero-energy local density of states changes the orientation of the twofold symmetry with increasing the scattering rate when the sign change occurs in the pairing function. Without the sign change, the vortex core shape reduces to circular one with approaching dirty cases. These results of the impurity effects are valuable for identifying the pairing symmetry by observation of the vortex core image by the STM observation

Genetic Characterization of Hepatitis C Virus in Long-Term RNA Replication Using Li23 Cell Culture Systems

Background　 　 The most distinguishing genetic feature of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is its remarkable diversity and variation. To understand this feature, we previously performed genetic analysis of HCV in the long-term culture of human hepatoma HuH-7-derived HCV RNA-replicating cell lines. On the other hand, we newly established HCV RNA-replicating cell lines using human hepatoma Li23 cells, which were distinct from HuH-7 cells. 　 Methodology/Principal Findings　 　 Li23-derived HCV RNA-replicating cells were cultured for 4 years. We performed genetic analysis of HCVs recovered from these cells at 0, 2, and 4 years in culture. Most analysis was performed in two separate parts: one part covered from the 5′-terminus to NS2, which is mostly nonessential for RNA replication, and the other part covered from NS3 to NS5B, which is essential for RNA replication. Genetic mutations in both regions accumulated in a time-dependent manner, and the mutation rates in the 5′-terminus-NS2 and NS3-NS5B regions were 4.0–9.0×10−3 and 2.7–4.0×10−3 base substitutions/site/year, respectively. These results suggest that the variation in the NS3-NS5B regions is affected by the pressure of RNA replication. Several in-frame deletions (3–105 nucleotides) were detected in the structural regions of HCV RNAs obtained from 2-year or 4-year cultured cells. Phylogenetic tree analyses clearly showed that the genetic diversity of HCV was expanded in a time-dependent manner. The GC content of HCV RNA was significantly increased in a time-dependent manner, as previously observed in HuH-7-derived cell systems. This phenomenon was partially due to the alterations in codon usages for codon optimization in human cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that these long-term cultured cells were useful as a source for the selection of HCV clones showing resistance to anti-HCV agents. 　 Conclusions/Significance　 　 Long-term cultured HCV RNA-replicating cells are useful for the analysis of evolutionary dynamics and variations of HCV and for drug-resistance analysis

Changes in Serum Protein in Mice Infected with Hymenolepis nana Eggs

We investigated the changes in serum protein contents of male ddY mice following primary and secondary infections with Hymenolepis nana eggs. There was a marked decrease in the total serum protein contents throughout the course of both primary and secondary infections. The reduction of total serum protein contents occurred as early as 1 day after primary and secondary infections and was particularly prominent after secondary infection. A quiet similar pattern of reduction was observed in the levels of serum albumin. The total globulin content increased immediately after primary infection, decreased to nearly the normal level at day 4, and again increased to a peak at day 7 after infection. In secondary infection, elevated total globulin contents decreased to lower than the normal level at day 2 and quickly increased thereafter. The alpha- and beta-globulin contents fluctuated after primary and secondary infections showing a pattern similar to that of total globulin contents. The levels of gamma-globulin increased with moderate fluctuation and reached a maximum level on day 7, showing a 13-fold increase in primary infection and 23-fold increase in secondary infection. The results clearly showed that the changes in the serum protein contents early in the infection process were important to understand the pathogenicity of H. nana

The relationship between attention and avoidance coping in anorexia nervosa: functional magnetic resonance imaging study

[Background] Numerous studies have demonstrated attentional control difficulties and high avoidance coping in patients with anorexia nervosa. Attention is a critical coping resource because it enables individuals to demonstrate self-control and complete goal-directed behaviours. [Aims] We aimed to examine whether attentional control difficulty is related to high avoidance coping, and investigate the neural underpinnings of attentional control difficulties in individuals with anorexia nervosa. [Method] Twenty-three patients with anorexia nervosa and 17 healthy controls completed questionnaires that assessed attention and coping, and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a go/no-go task. [Results] Patients with anorexia nervosa showed weaker attentional control, higher omission error rates and higher avoidance coping compared with healthy controls. Attentional control difficulty was associated with higher avoidance coping in both groups. Functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis showed less deactivation in regions representing internal mental processing, such as the praecuneus, cuneus and left lingual gyrus, during the no-go condition. Moreover, weakened deactivation of the left lingual gyrus was associated with higher commission error rate in the anorexia nervosa group. [Conclusions] Our results suggest that patients with anorexia nervosa may have difficulty in maintaining attention to external ongoing events because of disturbance from internal self-related thought, and support the notion that attentional control difficulties underlie the frequent use of avoidance coping in anorexia nervosa