Higher-order topological Mott insulator on the pyrochlore lattice.

We provide the first unbiased evidence for a higher-order topological Mott insulator in three dimensions by numerically exact quantum Monte Carlo simulations. This insulating phase is adiabatically connected to a third-order topological insulator in the noninteracting limit, which features gapless modes around the corners of the pyrochlore lattice and is characterized by a [Formula: see text] spin-Berry phase. The difference between the correlated and non-correlated topological phases is that in the former phase the gapless corner modes emerge only in spin excitations being Mott-like. We also show that the topological phase transition from the third-order topological Mott insulator to the usual Mott insulator occurs when the bulk spin gap solely closes.

Non-Hermitian fractional quantum Hall states.

We demonstrate the emergence of a topological ordered phase for non-Hermitian systems. Specifically, we elucidate that systems with non-Hermitian two-body interactions show a fractional quantum Hall (FQH) state. The non-Hermitian Hamiltonian is considered to be relevant to cold atoms with dissipation. We conclude the emergence of the non-Hermitian FQH state by the presence of the topological degeneracy and by the many-body Chern number for the ground state multiplet showing Ctot = 1. The robust topological degeneracy against non-Hermiticity arises from the manybody translational symmetry. Furthermore, we discover that the FQH state emerges without any repulsive interactions, which is attributed to a phenomenon reminiscent of the continuous quantum Zeno effect.

Higher-Order Topological Mott Insulators.

We propose a new correlated topological state, which we call a higher-order topological Mott insulator (HOTMI). This state exhibits a striking bulk-boundary correspondence due to electron correlations. Namely, the topological properties in the bulk, characterized by the Z_{3} spin-Berry phase, result in gapless corner modes emerging only in spin excitations (i.e., the single-particle excitations remain gapped around the corner). We demonstrate the emergence of the HOTMI in a Hubbard model on the kagome lattice, and elucidate how strong correlations change gapless corner modes at the noninteracting case.

Conjugative Transfer of IncP-9 Catabolic Plasmids Requires a Previously Uncharacterized Gene, mpfK, Whose Homologs Are Conserved in Various MPFT-Type Plasmids.

Conjugative transfer of bacterial plasmids to recipient cells is often mediated by type IV secretion machinery. Experimental investigations into the minimal gene sets required for efficient conjugative transfer suggest that such gene sets are variable, depending on plasmids. We have been analyzing the conjugative transfer of Pseudomonas-derived and IncP-9 plasmids, NAH7 and pWW0, whose conjugation systems belong to the MPFT type. Our deletion analysis and synthetic biology analysis in this study showed that these plasmids require previously uncharacterized genes, mpfK (formerly orf34) and its functional homolog, kikA, respectively, for their efficient conjugative transfer. MpfK was localized in periplasm and had four cysteine residues whose intramolecular or intermolecular disulfide bond formation was suggested to be important for efficient conjugative transfer. The mpfK homologs were specifically carried by many MPFT-type plasmids, including non-IncP-9 plasmids, such as R388 and R751. Intriguingly, the mpfK homologs from the two non-IncP-9 plasmids were not required for conjugation of their plasmids, but were able to complement efficiently the transfer defect of the NAH7 mpfK mutant. Our results suggested the importance of the mpfK homologs for conjugative transfer of MPFT-type plasmids.IMPORTANCE IncP-9 plasmids are important mobile genetic elements for the degradation of various aromatic hydrocarbons. Elucidation of conjugative transfer of such plasmids is expected to greatly contribute to our understanding of its role in the bioremediation of polluted environments. The present study mainly focused on the conjugation system of NAH7, a well-studied and naphthalene-catabolic IncP-9 plasmid. Our analysis showed that the NAH7 conjugation system uniquely requires, in addition to the conserved components of the type IV secretion system (T4SS), a previously uncharacterized periplasmic protein, MpfK, for successful conjugation. Our findings collectively revealed a unique type of T4SS-associated conjugation system in the IncP-9 plasmids.

Many-Body Chern Number without Integration.

The celebrated work of Niu, Thouless, and Wu demonstrated the quantization of Hall conductance in the presence of many-body interactions by revealing the many-body counterpart of the Chern number. The generalized Chern number is formulated in terms of the twisted angles of the boundary condition, instead of the single particle momentum, and involves an integration over all possible twisted angles. However, this formulation is physically unnatural, since topological invariants directly related to observables should be defined for each Hamiltonian under a fixed boundary condition. In this work, we show via numerical calculations that the integration is indeed unnecessary-the integrand itself is effectively quantized and the error decays exponentially with the system size. This implies that the numerical cost in computing the many-body Chern number could, in principle, be significantly reduced as it suffices to compute the Berry connection for a single value of the twisted boundary condition if the system size is sufficiently large.

[An attempt to evaluate postural control with a magnetic motion capture system].

Measurement of the body sway can be useful in the assessment of the ability to maintain posture. It is, however, difficult to quantitatively evaluate the chronological changes in the equilibrium function in the elderly. Although it is considered that not only sway movement of body center of gravity but also head movement should be measured for essential assessment of postural control, few methods are suitable for a clinical test. In this study, we investigated the head and trunk movement in elderly subjects standing upright, using a magnetic motion capture system to substantiate its usefulness. Seven subjects aged 66 to 83 years old were instructed to stand with their feet close together on the stabilometer with eyes open and then eyes closed for periods of 30 seconds each, while the movement of the head, cervix and lumbar region (MH, MC and ML) were monitored three-dimensionally with the magnetic motion capture system. The obtained data were compared with the movement of the body's center of gravity (MCG). The results were as follows: The MH was the largest, followed by MC and ML, and the ML trace was similar to that of the MCG. MH, MC, ML and the ratio of the MH to ML increased with age, and they were considered to be a valid index for assessment of postural control. A magnetic motion capture system, which can record the movements of the head, cervix and lumbar region accurately and conveniently, is seen as potentially and clinically useful apparatus for evaluation of postural control in dizzy patients, especially the elderly.

Frequency-velocity mismatch: a fundamental abnormality in parkinsonian gait.

Gait dysfunction and falling are major sources of disability for patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). It is presently thought that the fundamental defect is an inability to generate normal stride length. Our data suggest, however, that the basic problem in PD gait is an impaired ability to match step frequency to walking velocity. In this study, foot movements of PD and normal subjects were monitored with an OPTOTRAK motion-detection system while they walked on a treadmill at different velocities. PD subjects were also paced with auditory stimuli at different frequencies. PD gait was characterized by step frequencies that were faster and stride lengths that were shorter than those of normal controls. At low walking velocities, PD stepping had a reduced or absent terminal toe lift, which truncated swing phases, producing shortened steps. Auditory pacing was not able to normalize step frequency at these lower velocities. Peak forward toe velocities increased with walking velocity and PD subjects could initiate appropriate foot dynamics during initial phases of the swing. They could not control the foot appropriately in terminal phases, however. Increased treadmill velocity, which matched the natural PD step frequency, generated a second toe lift, normalizing step size. Levodopa increased the bandwidth of step frequencies, but was not as effective as increases in walking velocity in normalizing gait. We postulate that the inability to control step frequency and adjust swing phase dynamics to slower walking velocities are major causes for the gait impairment in PD.

Reverse optokinetic after-nystagmus generated by gaze fixation during optokinetic stimulation.

Gaze fixation during optokinetic stimulation generates an after-nystagmus with a slow component towards the reverse direction of the optokinetic stimulation. The duration and maximum slow component velocity (SCV) of this "reverse OKAN" were observed by changing the duration, velocity and direction of the optokinetic stimulation in nine normal volunteers. The duration of reverse OKAN increased with increasing stimulation time but was unaffected by changes in the stimulation velocity. The maximum SCV of reverse OKAN decreased with an increase in the stimulation velocity but was not significantly affected by changes in the optokinetic stimulation time. There was no directional difference among the horizontal, upwards and downwards reverse OKANs. The reverse OKAN was thought to be generated by a mechanism different from the velocity storage mechanism which produced optokinetic nystagmus and the first phase of OKAN. Retinal slip during the optokinetic stimulation was considered to be an input to the mechanism which generated the reverse OKAN. We hypothesize that the mechanism causing the reverse OKAN may be a generator of the second phase of OKAN, which was also intimately connected with self-motion sensation during the optokinetic stimulation.