Adaptive colour change and background choice behaviour in peppered moth caterpillars is mediated by extraocular photoreception

Light sensing by tissues distinct from the eye occurs in diverse animal groups, enabling circadian control and phototactic behaviour. Extraocular photoreceptors may also facilitate rapid colour change in cephalopods and lizards, but little is known about the sensory system that mediates slow colour change in arthropods. We previously reported that slow colour change in twig-mimicking caterpillars of the peppered moth (Biston betularia) is a response to achromatic and chromatic visual cues. Here we show that the perception of these cues, and the resulting phenotypic responses, does not require ocular vision. Caterpillars with completely obscured ocelli remained capable of enhancing their crypsis by changing colour and choosing to rest on colour-matching twigs. A suite of visual genes, expressed across the larval integument, likely plays a key role in the mechanism. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that extraocular colour sensing can mediate pigment-based colour change and behaviour in an arthropod

Quantum Communication through Spin Chain Dynamics: an Introductory Overview

We present an introductory overview of the use of spin chains as quantum wires, which has recently developed into a topic of lively interest. The principal motivation is in connecting quantum registers without resorting to optics. A spin chain is a permanently coupled 1D system of spins. When one places a quantum state on one end of it, the state will be dynamically transmitted to the other end with some efficiency if the spins are coupled by an exchange interaction. No external modulations or measurements on the body of the chain, except perhaps at the very ends, is required for this purpose. For the simplest (uniformly coupled) chain and the simplest encoding (single qubit encoding), however, dispersion reduces the quality of transfer. We present a variety of alternatives proposed by various groups to achieve perfect quantum state transfer through spin chains. We conclude with a brief discussion of the various directions in which the topic is developing.Comment: Material covered till Dec 200

Spin Star as Switch for Quantum Networks

Quantum state transfer is an important task in quantum information processing. It is known that one can engineer the couplings of a one-dimensional spin chain to achieve the goal of perfect state transfer. To leverage the value of these spin chains, a spin star is potentially useful for connecting different parts of a quantum network. In this work, we extend the spin-chain engineering problem to the problems with a topology of a star network. We show that a permanently coupled spin star can function as a network switch for transferring quantum states selectively from one node to another by varying the local potentials only. Together with one-dimensional chains, this result allows applications of quantum state transfer be applied to more general quantum networks.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figur

Do water fountain jets really indicate the onset of the morphological metamorphosis of circumstellar envelopes?

Small-scale bipolar jets with short dynamical ages from 'water-fountain' (WF) sources are regarded as an indication of the onset of circumstellar envelope morphological metamorphosis of intermediate-mass stars. Such a process usually happens at the end of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase. However, recent studies found that WFs could be AGB stars or even early planetary nebulae. This fact prompted the idea that WFs may not necessarily be objects at the beginning of the morphological transition process. In the present work, we show that WFs could have different envelope morphologies by studying their spectral energy distribution profiles. SomeWFs have spherical envelopes that resemble usual AGB stars, while others have aspherical envelopes, which are more common to post-AGB stars. The results imply that WFs may not represent the earliest stage of morphological metamorphosis. We argue further that the dynamical age of a WF jet, which can be calculated from maser proper motions, may not be the real age of the jet. The dynamical age cannot be used to justify the moment when the envelope begins to become aspherical, nor to tell the concrete evolutionary status of the object. A WF jet could be the innermost part of a larger well-developed jet, which is not necessarily a young jet. © 2016 The Authors

Identification of oxygen-rich late/post-asymptotic giant branch stars and water fountains via maser and infrared criteria

The transitional phase between the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and post-AGB phases holds the key to our understanding of the late-stage metamorphosis of intermediate-mass stars. In particular, high velocity jets forming during this phase are suggested to contribute significantly to the shaping of planetary nebulae. For oxygen-rich stars, the rare "water fountains (WFs)" have been regarded as representative objects in this phase, and it is important to identify more of them for further studies. Here we briefly report the results of our latest OH and H2O maser surveys in which a new WF candidate (IRAS 19356+0754) was found. We also performed radiative transfer modelling on the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of all known WFs. It is concluded that WFs might in fact not be the transitional objects, as opposed to previous belief. WFs could be AGB or post-AGB stars with no obvious similarities amongst their SEDs. Further efforts are still needed to improve the identification criteria.This work is supported by a grant awarded to JN from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (project code: HKU 703308P; HKU 704209P; HKU 704710P)

Effects of Fall Dormancy, Cutting Frequency, and K Application Rate on Dry Matter Yield and Nutritive Value of Alfalfa

[Introduction] This study was conducted to determine the effect of the cutting frequency and K application rate on the dry matter yield (DMY) and nutritive value of new alfalfa varieties in Korea. [Material and Methods] The sowing date and rate were September 21, 2019, and 20 kg/ha, respectively. The treatment was by the split-split plot design, and the main plot was the Fall dormancy (FD) of 3 (Rugged Rancher), 4 (SW4113), and 9 (SW9720), the sub-plot was excess 40 day (LCF), from 31 to 40 days (MCF), and under 30 day (HCF) times of cutting frequency (CF), and the sub-sub plot was 150 (K 150), 300 (K 300), and 450 (K 450) kg/ha of K application rate. The first harvest reached 10% of the flowering, and after the first harvest, it was conducted according to the cutting frequency treatment. The survey contents were investigated as DMY, Crude protein (CP), Neutral detergent fiber (NDF), Acid detergent fiber (ADF), and K content. [Results and Discussion] K 450 of DMY was significantly higher than K 150 (p \u3c 0.05). The CF was not significant at each level (p \u3e 0.05). FD 3 and FD 4 of DMY were significantly higher than FD 9 (p \u3c 0.05). The CP, NDF, and ADF according to FD and CF were significantly different at each treatment (p \u3c 0.05). The CP and ADF according to the K treatment were significantly higher at K 150 than K 300 and K 450 (p \u3c 0.05). In addition, the NDF according to the K treatment was significantly higher in K 150 and K 450 than K 300 (p \u3c 0.05). The K content of alfalfa significantly differed according to the K treatment (p \u3c 0.05). Therefore, it is judged that a high DMY can be expected when the K application rate, cutting frequency, and FD is 450 kg/ha, HCF, and 4, respectively

Renormalons as dilatation modes in the functional space

There are two sources of the factorial large-order behavior of a typical perturbative series. First, the number of the different Feynman diagrams may be large; second, there are abnormally large diagrams known as renormalons. It is well known that the large combinatorial number of diagrams is described by instanton-type solutions of the classical equations. We demonstrate that from the functional-integral viewpoint the renormalons do not correspond to a particular configuration but manifest themselves as dilatation modes in the functional space.Comment: 19 pages, latex, 5 eps figure

Worldsheet Instantons and a Null String Limit of Born-Infeld Theory

For a superstring theory in four spacetime dimensions, we propose a modification of the Born-Infeld action that possesses a well-defined tensionless limit. We interpret this as describing the effective target space dynamics of null strings on a D3-brane. We argue that such a modification can be induced by nonperturbative contributions from instantons in the worldsheet sigma-model describing string propagation on the brane.Comment: 11 pages; Comments and references adde

Methanol observation of IRAS 19312+1950: A possible new type of class I methanol maser

We report the result of a systematic methanol observation toward IRAS 19312+1950. The properties of the SiO, H2O, and OH masers of this object are consistent with those of mass-losing evolved stars, but some other properties are difficult to explain in the standard scheme of stellar evolution in its late stage. Interestingly, a tentative detection of radio methanol lines was suggested toward this object by a previous observation. To date, there are no confirmed detections of methanol emission towards evolved stars, so investigation of this possible detection is important to better understand the circumstellar physical/chemical environment of IRAS 19312+1950. In this study, we systematically observed multiple methanol lines of IRAS 19312+1950 in the λ = 3 mm, 7 mm, and 13 mm bands, and detected six lines including four thermal lines and two class I maser lines. We derived basic physical parameters, including kinetic temperature and relative abundances, by fitting a radiative transfer model. According to the derived excitation temperature and line profiles, a spherically expanding outflow lying at the center of the nebulosity is excluded from the possibilities for methanol emission regions. The detection of class I methanol maser emission suggests that a shock region is involved in the system of IRAS 19312+1950. If the central star of IRAS 19312+1950 is an evolved star as suggested in the past, the class I maser detected in the present observation is the first case detected in an interaction region between an evolved star outflow and ambient molecular gas. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Astronomical Society of Japan

Demon-like Algorithmic Quantum Cooling and its Realization with Quantum Optics

The simulation of low-temperature properties of many-body systems remains one of the major challenges in theoretical and experimental quantum information science. We present, and demonstrate experimentally, a universal cooling method which is applicable to any physical system that can be simulated by a quantum computer. This method allows us to distill and eliminate hot components of quantum states, i.e., a quantum Maxwell's demon. The experimental implementation is realized with a quantum-optical network, and the results are in full agreement with theoretical predictions (with fidelity higher than 0.978). These results open a new path for simulating low-temperature properties of physical and chemical systems that are intractable with classical methods.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, plus supplementarity material