Taxonomy of Phanaeus revisited: revised keys to and comments on species of the New World dung beetle genus PhanaeusMacLeay, 1819 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Phanaeini)

The purpose of this paper is to reassess the taxonomy of Phanaeus MacLeay (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) to accommodate new taxa and changes in taxonomic opinion since the publication of Edmonds’ 1994 revision of the genus. The two subgenera and 13 species groups established by Edmonds (1994) remain unchanged. A revised set of keys with accompanying comments and illustrations separates 54 recognized valid species. Seven recently described valid species are incorporated into the revised classification: Phanaeus blackalleri Delgado-Castillo, 1991; P. bordoni Arnaud, 1996; P. changdiazi Kohlmann and Solís, 2001; P. lecourti Arnaud, 2000; P. martinezorum Arnaud, 2000; P. yecoraensis Edmonds, 2004; and P. zapotecus Edmonds, 2006. The new name Phanaeus sororibispinus Edmonds and Zidek replaces Phanaeus alvarengai Arnaud, 1984, a primary junior homonym of P. alvarengai Pereira and d’Andretta, 1955. Three subspecies recognized in 1994 are elevated to species rank, new status: Phanaeus texensis Edmonds, 1994; P. pilatei Harold, 1863; and P. guatemalensis Harold, 1871. Phanaeus obliquans Bates, 1887 is removed from synonymy and given new status as a valid species. Twelve new junior subjective synonyms (bold) are recognized: P. tridens balthasari Arnaud, 2002 (of P. tridens Castelnau, 1840); P. dzidoi Arnaud, 2000 (of P. palaeno Blanchard, 1843); P. genieri Arnaud, 2002 (of P. amethystinus Harold, 1863); P. prasinus jolyi Arnaud, 2001 (of P. prasinus Harold, 1868); P. kirbyi ledezmai Arnaud, 2002 (of P. kirbyi Vigors, 1825); P. achilles lydiae Arnaud, 2000 (of P. achilles Boheman, 1858); P. chalcomelas grossii Arnaud, 2001 (of P. chalcomelas [Perty, 1830]); P pyrois malyi Arnaud, 2002 (of P. pyrois Bates, 1887); P. tridens moroni Arnaud, 2001 (of P. tridens Castenau, 1840); P. lecourti peruanus Arnaud, 2000 (of P. lecourti Arnaud, 2000); P. endymion porioni Arnaud, 2001 (of P. endymion Harold, 1863); P. pseudofurcosus Balthasar, 1939 (of P. tridens Castelnau, 1840); and P. prasinus trinidadensis Arnaud, 2001 (of P. prasinus Harold, 1868). “Phanaeus viridicollis” Olsoufieff, 1924 (sensu Arnaud 2002) is an unavailable name here considered a color variant of P. pyrois Bates, 1887

What Is The Competency Model For HR Professionals To Prepare Them to Accept Digital Change in the HR Function?

[Excerpt] With changes in the workforce demographics, global economy, and emerging technology, the role of the HR professional has already changed drastically and will continue to do so. The future of work in the digital age is upon us and work environments include an increasing plurality of means to get work done. This entails transformation and reskilling for HR professionals as they partner with business leaders to orchestrate effective human capital solutions. This also presents an opportunity for HR leadership to closely examine the competencies of their workforce and determine the what and the how of upskilling or reskilling to ensure the HR professionals at their company are equipped to contribute in this ever-evolving business environment. HR professionals will increasingly need to be agile, strategic contributors to the businesses they serve, thoughtfully engaged with employees throughout their lifecycle, and be well-versed in data analytics and technologies. With this in mind, it is essential for organizations to prepare now and create action plans for job displacement and reskilling of their workforce

Effects of Highlights on Gloss Perception

The perception of a glossy surface in a static monochromatic image can occur when a bright highlight is embedded in a compatible context of shading and a bounding contour. Some images naturally give rise to the impression that a surface has a uniform reflectance, characteristic of a shiny object, even though the highlight may only cover a small portion of the surface. Nonetheless, an observer may adopt an attitude of scrutiny in viewing a glossy surface, whereby the impression of gloss is partial and nonuniform at image regions outside of a higlight. Using a rating scale and small probe points to indicate image locations, differential perception of gloss within a single object is investigate in the present study. Observers' gloss ratings are not uniform across the surface, but decrease as a function of distance from highlight. When, by design, the distance from a highlight is uncoupled from the luminance value at corresponding probe points, the decrease in rated gloss correlates more with the distance than with the luminance change. Experiments also indicate that gloss ratings change as a function of estimated surface distance, rather than as a function of image distance. Surface continuity affects gloss ratings, suggesting that apprehension of 3D surface structure is crucial for gloss perception.Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-98-1-0108), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research (N00014-95-1-0409), National Science Foundation (IIS-97-20333); Office of Naval Research (N00014-95-1-0657, N00014-01-1-0624); Whitaker Foundation (RG-99-0186

Superconducting magnesium diboride films with Tc \approx 24K grown by pulsed laser deposition with in-situ anneal

Thin superconducting films of magnesium diboride (MgB2) with Tc \approx 24K were prepared on various oxide substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) followed by an in-situ anneal. A systematic study of the influence of various in-situ annealing parameters shows an optimum temperature of about 600C in a background of 0.7 atm. of Ar/4%H2 for layers consisting of a mixture of magnesium and boron. Contrary to ex-situ approaches (e.g. reacting boron films with magnesium vapor at 900C), these films are processed below the decomposition temperature of MgB2. This may prove enabling in the formation of multilayers, junctions, and epitaxial films in future work. Issues related to the improvement of these films and to the possible in-situ growth of MgB2 at elevated temperature are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Consuming Kinshasa : Private developers and their city-building projects during the colonial and post-colonial era.

The contemporary urban landscape of Kinshasa is scattered with numerous billboards presenting shiny 3D-renders of urban megaprojects, often flanked by city-advertising slogans that promise a bright, global and modern future for the city, to its inhabitants. While these – mostly privately developed – utopias are often understood as a contemporary phenomenon, we can trace back their genealogy to both colonial and post-colonial city-building projects. Through a profound analysis of the Galeries Albert 1er – a high-rise building developed by a Belgian real-estate tycoon in 1952 – I aim to reveal how already during the 1950’s the inner-city was greatly shaped by private investors. The project, comprising shops, offices and housing, forwarded a bright future for Léopoldville but mainly provided a racially segregated ‘urban’ environment to an exclusively white public. The paper will then discuss how there is a remarkable echo in this respect with some large-scale urban schemes developed during the Mobutu-era. The most prominent, the Kin-Center – a huge shopping center with a variety of urban functions, developed by a French real-estate group in 1974 – promised to turn the city into a new global metropole, but was rather a city-lite, exclusively accessible to a wealthy public. By focussing on these shopping center cases, the paper puts an often ignored built production on the table, that is to a large extent defined by private investors and their market driven logics. Understanding these principles could however be of great use when assessing the modern-day megaprojects that start to redraw the skyline of Kinshasa