Electrode recordings and imaging studies have revealed that localized visual stimuli elicit waves of activity that travel across primary visual cortex. Traveling waves are present also during ...spontaneous activity, but they can be greatly reduced by widespread and intensive visual stimulation. In this Review, we summarize the evidence in favor of these traveling waves. We suggest that their substrate may lie in long-range horizontal connections and that their functional role may involve the integration of information over large regions of space.
In this Review, Sato et al. summarize the evidence in favor of traveling waves in primary visual cortex. The authors suggest that their substrate may lie in long-range horizontal connections and that their functional role may involve the integration of information over large regions of space.
Superconductivity is ubiquitous as evidenced by the observation in many crystals including carrier-doped oxides and diamond. Amorphous solids are no exception. However, it remains to be discovered in ...quasicrystals, in which atoms are ordered over long distances but not in a periodically repeating arrangement. Here we report electrical resistivity, magnetization, and specific-heat measurements of Al-Zn-Mg quasicrystal, presenting convincing evidence for the emergence of bulk superconductivity at a very low transition temperature of Formula: see text K. We also find superconductivity in its approximant crystals, structures that are periodic, but that are very similar to quasicrystals. These observations demonstrate that the effective interaction between electrons remains attractive under variation of the atomic arrangement from periodic to quasiperiodic one. The discovery of the superconducting quasicrystal, in which the fractal geometry interplays with superconductivity, opens the door to a new type of superconductivity, fractal superconductivity.
We developed a set of universal PCR primers (MiFish-U/E) for metabarcoding environmental DNA (eDNA) from fishes. Primers were designed using aligned whole mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequences ...from 880 species, supplemented by partial mitogenome sequences from 160 elasmobranchs (sharks and rays). The primers target a hypervariable region of the 12S rRNA gene (163–185 bp), which contains sufficient information to identify fishes to taxonomic family, genus and species except for some closely related congeners. To test versatility of the primers across a diverse range of fishes, we sampled eDNA from four tanks in the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium with known species compositions, prepared dual-indexed libraries and performed paired-end sequencing of the region using high-throughput next-generation sequencing technologies. Out of the 180 marine fish species contained in the four tanks with reference sequences in a custom database, we detected 168 species (93.3%) distributed across 59 families and 123 genera. These fishes are not only taxonomically diverse, ranging from sharks and rays to higher teleosts, but are also greatly varied in their ecology, including both pelagic and benthic species living in shallow coastal to deep waters. We also sampled natural seawaters around coral reefs near the aquarium and detected 93 fish species using this approach. Of the 93 species, 64 were not detected in the four aquarium tanks, rendering the total number of species detected to 232 (from 70 families and 152 genera). The metabarcoding approach presented here is non-invasive, more efficient, more cost-effective and more sensitive than the traditional survey methods. It has the potential to serve as an alternative (or complementary) tool for biodiversity monitoring that revolutionizes natural resource management and ecological studies of fish communities on larger spatial and temporal scales.
The chemical properties of an element are primarily governed by the configuration of electrons in the valence shell. Relativistic effects influence the electronic structure of heavy elements in the ...sixth row of the periodic table, and these effects increase dramatically in the seventh row--including the actinides--even affecting ground-state configurations. Atomic s and p1/2 orbitals are stabilized by relativistic effects, whereas p3/2, d and f orbitals are destabilized, so that ground-state configurations of heavy elements may differ from those of lighter elements in the same group. The first ionization potential (IP1) is a measure of the energy required to remove one valence electron from a neutral atom, and is an atomic property that reflects the outermost electronic configuration. Precise and accurate experimental determination of IP1 gives information on the binding energy of valence electrons, and also, therefore, on the degree of relativistic stabilization. However, such measurements are hampered by the difficulty in obtaining the heaviest elements on scales of more than one atom at a time. Here we report that the experimentally obtained IP1 of the heaviest actinide, lawrencium (Lr, atomic number 103), is 4.96(+0.08)(-0.07) electronvolts. The IP1 of Lr was measured with (256)Lr (half-life 27 seconds) using an efficient surface ion-source and a radioisotope detection system coupled to a mass separator. The measured IP1 is in excellent agreement with the value of 4.963(15) electronvolts predicted here by state-of-the-art relativistic calculations. The present work provides a reliable benchmark for theoretical calculations and also opens the way for IP1 measurements of superheavy elements (that is, transactinides) on an atom-at-a-time scale.
The impact of mid‐latitude oceanic frontal zones with sharp meridional sea‐surface temperature (SST) gradients on the middle atmosphere circulation during austral winter is investigated by comparing ...two idealized experiments with a high‐top gravity wave (GW) permitting general circulation model. Control run is performed with realistic frontal SST gradients, which are artificially smoothed in no‐front run. The control run simulates active baroclinic waves and GW generation around the mid‐latitude SST front, with GWs propagating into the stratosphere and mesosphere. In the no‐front run, by contrast, baroclinic‐wave activity is significantly suppressed, and GWs with smaller amplitude are excited and then dissipated at higher altitudes in the mesosphere. Westward wave forcing in the winter hemisphere was more pronounced in the control run up to ∼0.03 hPa, resulting in a more realistic reproduction of the middle atmospheric polar vortex. The results demonstrate the importance of realistic mid‐latitude ocean conditions for simulating the middle atmosphere circulation.
Plain Language Summary
The impact of the mid‐latitude oceanic fronts characterized by sharp sea‐surface temperature (SST) gradients is investigated using a global gravity‐wave permitting atmospheric model that represents the troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere. Two idealized experiments were conducted with different SST profiles. Control run features a realistic SST profile characterized by frontal SST gradients in mid‐latitudes, while they are smoothed out artificially in the “no‐front” run. In winter the no‐front run simulates significantly suppressed generation of synoptic‐scale cyclones and anticyclones, which results in reduced upward propagation of higher‐frequency gravity waves into the stratosphere, exerting marked impact on the large‐scale circulation extending as high as the mesopause. Notably higher gravity wave activity in the control run leads to a weaker, and more realistic wintertime polar vortex in the stratosphere and mesosphere. This study emphasizes the potential influence of mid‐latitude oceanic conditions on the atmospheric circulation, not only in the troposphere but also throughout the stratosphere and mesosphere.
Key Points
High‐top global model simulations are conducted to examine the impact of a mid‐latitude oceanic front on the atmospheric circulation
The oceanic front enhances tropospheric baroclinic‐wave activity and generation of gravity waves propagating into the middle atmosphere
The enhanced gravity waves act to reduce cold bias of the wintertime polar vortex in the Southern Hemisphere middle atmosphere
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that preferentially targets the optic nerves and spinal cord. The clinical presentation may suggest ...multiple sclerosis (MS), but a highly specific serum autoantibody against the astrocytic water channel aquaporin-4 present in up to 80% of NMO patients enables distinction from MS. Optic neuritis may occur in either condition resulting in neuro-anatomical retinal changes. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has become a useful tool for analyzing retinal damage both in MS and NMO. Numerous studies showed that optic neuritis in NMO typically results in more severe retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell layer thinning and more frequent development of microcystic macular edema than in MS. Furthermore, while patients’ RNFL thinning also occurs in the absence of optic neuritis in MS, subclinical damage seems to be rare in NMO. Thus, OCT might be useful in differentiating NMO from MS and serve as an outcome parameter in clinical studies.
The chemical characterization of the heaviest elements at the farthest reach of the periodic table (PT) and the classification of these elements in the PT are undoubtedly crucial and challenging ...subjects in chemical and physical sciences. The elucidation of the influence of relativistic effects on their outermost electronic configuration is also a critical and fascinating aspect. However, the heaviest elements with atomic numbers Z ≳ 100 must be produced at accelerators using nuclear reactions of heavy ions and target materials. Therefore, production rates for these elements are low, and their half-lives are as short as a few seconds to a few minutes; they are usually available in a quantity of only a few atoms at a time. Here, we review some highlighted studies on heavy actinide and light transactinide chemical characterization performed at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency tandem accelerator facility. We discuss briefly the prospects for future studies of the heaviest elements.
•Long-range connections exert facilitatory or suppressive impacts on neurons in the V1, depending on network activity level.•Suppressive impacts are mediated by decreased levels of network ...excitation.•Long-range reciprocal connections between the visual and motor cortices streamline information flow between the two.
The cerebral cortex can perform powerful computations, including those involved in higher cognitive functions. Cortical processing for such computations is executed by local circuits and is further enriched by long-range connectivity. This connectivity is activated under specific conditions and modulates local processing, providing flexibility in the computational performance of the cortex. For instance, long-range connectivity in the primary visual cortex exerts facilitatory impacts when the cortex is silent but suppressive impacts when the cortex is strongly sensory-stimulated. These dual impacts can be captured by a divisive gain control model. Recent methodological advances such as optogenetics, anatomical tracing, and two-photon microscopy have enabled neuroscientists to probe the circuit and synaptic bases of long-range connectivity in detail. Here, I review a series of evidence indicating essential roles of long-range connectivity in visual and hierarchical processing involving numerous cortical areas. I also describe an overview of the challenges encountered in investigating underlying synaptic mechanisms and highlight recent technical approaches that may overcome these difficulties and provide new insights into synaptic mechanisms for cortical processing involving long-range connectivity.
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