We investigate the electronic reconstruction across the tetragonal-orthorhombic structural transition in FeSe by employing polarization-dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) on detwinned single crystals. Across the structural transition, the electronic structures around the  and M points are modified from four-fold to two-fold symmetry due to the lifting of degeneracy in d xz /d yz orbitals.The d xz band shifts upward at the  point while it moves downward at the M point, suggesting that the electronic structure of orthorhombic FeSe is characterized by a momentum-dependent sign-changing orbital polarization. The elongated directions of the elliptical Fermi surfaces (FSs) at the  and M points are rotated by 90 degrees with respect to each other, which may be related to the absence of the antiferromagnetic order in FeSe. Keywords: PACS:Most of the parent compounds of the iron-based superconductors show the tetragonal-orthorhombic structural transition at T s and the stripe-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) order below T N ( T s ) [1,2]. Near the structural transition, an orbital order defined by the inequivalent electron occupation of 3d xz (xz) and 3d yz (yz) orbitals [3][4][5], has been reported by ARPES [6,7] and X-ray linear dichroism measurements [8] in several parent compounds. Experimental and theoretical studies suggested that the structural transition is caused by the electronic nematicity of the spin [9,10] or orbital [11][12][13] degrees of freedoms. Since superconductivity develops when such complex ordered states are suppressed, it is crucial to understand how the phase transitions couple to each other.In Ba(Fe,Co) 2 As 2 , the spin-driven nematicity has been suggested from the phase diagram in which T s and T N closely follow each other as the carrier is doped [14]. The scaling behavior between the nematic fluctuation and spin fluctuation was also reported by the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and shear modulus measurements [10]. On the other hand, in NaFeAs, the orbital-driven nematicity has been proposed by ARPES [11]. In this compound, the structural transition at T s = 54 K is well separated from the AFM transition at T N = 43 K. Inequivalent shift in the xz/yz orbital bands appearing above T s changes the FSs from four-fold to two-fold symmetric shape [11,15], which may be a possible trigger of the stripe type AFM order and the orthorhombicity [11,16]. The variety of iron-based

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) plays a crucial role in the regulation of central dopaminergic systems. We examined the allelic association of a functional polymorphism of the COMT gene with the clinical manifestations and the response to antipsychotics of 100 schizophrenic patients and 201 healthy controls from the general Japanese population. No statistically significant difference was observed in the allele and genotype frequencies between the schizophrenic patients and the healthy controls. The daily neuroleptic dosage that patients received during their maintenance therapy was significantly higher in patients with the L/L genotype than in the other patients (P < 0.05). The present results suggest that the presence of the COMT genotype does not help in evaluating the susceptibility to the development of schizophrenia, but that it may help in the estimation of treatment-resistant features of schizophrenia.

Photoacid generating ligands, 4-(2-nitrobenzy-loxycarbonyl)catechol and 4-(6-nitroveratryloxycarbonyl)catechol, and indium tin and titanium complexes thereof, were synthesized. These metal complexes perform as positive-tone, directly photopatternable indium tin oxide (ITO) or titanium oxide film precursors. After exposure, acid-bearing selectively soluble complexes could be removed to give patterned films upon developing in aqueous base, which were transformable to the corresponding pattern-preserving metal oxide film. Micropatterning of ITO and titanium oxide films was accomplished with the photoreactivity of the 2-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl (NBOC) and 6-nitroveratryloxycarbonyl (NVOC) moiety bearing ligands.

Antiferroic electronic instability in Ba,KFe2As2 persists in the nonmagnetic phase covering the superconducting dome.

The control of acoustic phonons, which are the carriers of sound and heat, has become the focus of increasing attention because of a demand for manipulating the sonic and thermal properties of nanometric devices. In particular, the photoacoustic effect using ultrafast optical pulses has a promising potential for the optical manipulation of phonons in the picosecond time regime. So far, its mechanism has been mostly based on the commonplace thermoelastic expansion in isotropic media, which has limited applicability. In this study, we investigate a conceptually new mechanism of the photoacoustic effect involving a structural instability that utilizes a transition-metal dichalcogenide VTe2 with a ribbon-type charge-density-wave (CDW). Ultrafast electron microscope imaging and diffraction measurements reveal the generation and propagation of unusual acoustic waves in a nanometric thin plate associated with optically induced instantaneous CDW dissolution. Our results highlight the capability of photoinduced structural instabilities as a source of coherent acoustic waves.

Optimization of experimental conditions for spectroelectrochemistry with an optically transparent thin-layer electrode allowed us to determine the redox potential of spinach P700, the primary electron donor of photosystem I, to be +469 mV vs. SHE with significantly high reproducibility (±2 mV for 12 independent samples).

The redox potentials of P700, the primary electron donor of photosystem (PS) I, of spinach and Thermosynechococcus elongatus were determined by means of spectroelectrochemistry with an error range of ±2-3 mV, to find that the redox potential of P700 in T. elongatus is lower by ca. 50 mV as compared with spinach. The shift in the P700 redox potential of PS I core particles prepared by harsh detergent treatments remained to within 10 mV for both organisms. These results show that the 50 mV difference in the P700 redox potential between the two organisms is not a detergent-induced artifact but reflects an intrinsic property of each PS I.

Principles of concentration addition and independent action have been used as effective tools to predict mixture toxicity based on individual component toxicity. The authors investigated the toxicity of a pharmaceutical mixture composed of the top 10 detected active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in the Tama River (Tokyo, Japan) in a relevant concentration ratio. Both individual and mixture toxicities of the 10 APIs were evaluated by 3 short-term chronic toxicity tests using the alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, the daphnid Ceriodaphnia dubia, and the zebrafish Danio rerio. With the exception of clarithromycin toxicity to alga, the no-observed-effect concentration of individual APIs for each test species was dramatically higher than the highest concentration of APIs found in the environment. The mixture of 10 APIs resulted in toxicity to alga, daphnid, and fish at 6.25 times, 100 times, and 15,000 times higher concentrations, respectively, than the environmental concentrations of individual APIs. Predictions by concentration addition and independent action were nearly identical for alga, as clarithromycin was the predominant toxicant in the mixture. Both predictions described the observed mixture toxicity to alga fairly well, whereas they slightly underestimated the observed mixture toxicity in the daphnid test. In the fish embryo test, the observed toxicity fell between the predicted toxicity by concentration addition and independent action. These results suggested that the toxicity of environmentally relevant pharmaceutical mixtures could be predicted by individual toxicity using either concentration addition or independent action.