First Canadian Record of \u3ci\u3eHexacola Neoscatellae\u3c/i\u3e (Hymenoptera: Figitidae: Eucoilinae), A Parasitoid of the Shore Fly, \u3ci\u3eScatella Stagnalis\u3c/i\u3e

This paper documents the first occurrence of Hexacola neoscatellae, a shore fly parasitoid, in Canada. The discovery of H. neoscatellae is significant because currently there are no suitable biological control agents available for shore fly control to the floriculture industry

Rotation and Macroturbulence in Metal-poor Field Red Giant and Red Horizontal Branch Stars

We report the results for rotational velocities, Vrot sin i, and macroturbulence dispersion, zeta(RT), for 12 metal-poor field red giant branch stars and 7 metal-poor field red horizontal branch stars. The results are based on Fourier transform analyses of absorption line profiles from high-resolution (R ~ 120,000), high-S/N (~ 215 per pixel) spectra obtained with the Gecko spectrograph at CFHT. We find that the zeta(RT) values for the metal-poor RGB stars are very similar to those for metal-rich disk giants studied earlier by Gray and his collaborators. Six of the RGB stars have small rotational values, less than 2.0 km/sec, while five show significant rotation, over 3 km/sec. The fraction of rapidly rotating RHB stars is somewhat lower than found among BHB stars. We devise two empirical methods to translate the line-broadening results obtained by Carney et al. (2003, 2008) into Vrot sin i for all the RGB and RHB stars they studied. Binning the RGB stars by luminosity, we find that most metal-poor field RGB stars show no detectable sign, on average, of rotation. However, the most luminous stars, with M(V) <= -1.5, do show net rotation, with mean values of 2 to 4 km/sec, depending on the algorithm employed, and these stars also show signs of radial velocity jitter and mass loss.Comment: accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

Speckle Interferometry of Metal-Poor Stars in the Solar Neighborhood. I

We report the results of speckle-interferometric observations of 109 high proper-motion metal-poor stars made with the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. We resolve eight objects -- G102-20, G191-55, BD+19$^\circ$~1185A, G89-14, G87-45, G87-47, G111-38, and G114-25 -- into individual components and we are the first to astrometrically resolve seven of these stars. New resolved systems included two triple (G111-38, G87-47) and one quadruple (G89-14) star. The ratio of single-to-binary-to-triple-to-quadruple systems among the stars of our sample is equal to 71:28:6:1.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted to Astrophysical Bulleti

Particle Dark Energy

We explore the physics of a gas of particles interacting with a condensate that spontaneously breaks Lorentz invariance. The equation of state of this gas varies from 1/3 to less than -1 and can lead to the observed cosmic acceleration. The particles are always stable. In our particular class of models these particles are fermions with a chiral coupling to the condensate. They may behave as relativistic matter at early times, produce a brief period where they dominate the expansion with w<0 today, and behave as matter at late time. There are no small parameters in our models, which generically lead to dark energy clustering and, depending on the choice of parameters, smoothing of small scale power.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; minor update with added refs; version appearing in Phys. Rev.

Endoscopic orbital decompression for Graves' ophthalmopathy

Graves’ disease may occasionally result in significant proptosis that is either cosmetically unacceptable or causes visual loss. This has traditionally been managed surgically by external decompression of the orbital bony skeleton. Trans-nasal endoscopic orbital decompression is emerging as a new minimally-invasive technique, that avoids the need for cutaneous or gingival incisions. Decompression of the medial orbital wall can be performed up to the anterior wall of the sphenoid sinus. This can be combined with resection of the medial and posterior portion of the orbital floor (preserving the infra-orbital nerve). This technique produces decompression which is comparable to external techniques. We present a series of 10 endoscopic orbital decompressions with an average improvement of 4.4 mm in orbital proptosis. There was an improvement in visual acuity in all patients with visual impairment. Endoscopic orbital decompression is recommended as an alternative to traditional decompression techniques.Desmond T. H. Wee, A. Simon Carney, Mark Thorpe and Peter J. Wormal

Convergence and Stability of the Inverse Scattering Series for Diffuse Waves

We analyze the inverse scattering series for diffuse waves in random media. In previous work the inverse series was used to develop fast, direct image reconstruction algorithms in optical tomography. Here we characterize the convergence, stability and approximation error of the serie

Increased H2_2CO production in the outer disk around HD 163296

Three formaldehyde lines were observed (H$_2$CO 3$_{03}$--2$_{02}$, H$_2$CO 3$_{22}$--2$_{21}$, and H$_2$CO 3$_{21}$--2$_{20}$) in the protoplanetary disk around the Herbig Ae star HD 163296 with ALMA at 0.5 arcsecond (60 AU) spatial resolution. H$_2$CO 3$_{03}$--2$_{02}$ was readily detected via imaging, while the weaker H$_2$CO 3$_{22}$--2$_{21}$ and H$_2$CO 3$_{21}$--2$_{20}$ lines required matched filter analysis to detect. H$_2$CO is present throughout most of the gaseous disk, extending out to 550 AU. An apparent 50 AU inner radius of the H$_2$CO emission is likely caused by an optically thick dust continuum. The H$_2$CO radial intensity profile shows a peak at 100 AU and a secondary bump at around 300 AU, suggesting increased production in the outer disk. Different parameterizations of the H$_2$CO abundance were compared to the observed visibilities with $\chi^2$ minimization, using either a characteristic temperature, a characteristic radius or a radial power law index to describe the H$_2$CO chemistry. Similar models were applied to ALMA Science Verification data of C$^{18}$O. In all modeling scenarios, fits to the H$_2$CO data show an increased abundance in the outer disk. The overall best-fit H$_2$CO model shows a factor of two enhancement beyond a radius of 270$\pm$20 AU, with an inner abundance of $2\!-\!5 \times 10^{-12}$. The H$_2$CO emitting region has a lower limit on the kinetic temperature of $T > 20$ K. The C$^{18}$O modeling suggests an order of magnitude depletion in the outer disk and an abundance of $4\!-\!12 \times 10^{-8}$ in the inner disk. The increase in H$_2$CO outer disk emission could be a result of hydrogenation of CO ices on dust grains that are then sublimated via thermal desorption or UV photodesorption, or more efficient gas-phase production beyond about 300 AU if CO is photodisocciated in this region

Draft Genome Sequence of the Salt Water Bacterium Oceanospirillum linum ATCC 11336T

Oceanospirillum linum ATCC 11336T is an aerobic, bipolar-tufted gammaproteobacterium first isolated in the Long Island Sound in the 1950s. This announcement offers a genome sequence for O. linum ATCC 11336T, which has a predicted genome size of 3,782,189 bp (49.13% G+C content) containing 3,540 genes and 3,361 coding sequences

Genome Sequencing of a Marine Spirillum, Oceanospirillum multiglobuliferum ATCC 33336T, from Japan

Oceanospirillum multiglobuliferum ATCC 33336T is a motile gammaproteobacterium with bipolar tufted flagella, noted for its low salt tolerance compared to other marine spirilla. This strain was originally isolated from the putrid infusions of Crassostrea gigas near Hiroshima, Japan. This paper presents a draft genome sequence for O. multiglobuliferum ATCC 33336T