Spatial and Temporal Distribution and Habitat Selection of Native Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout and Nonnative Utah Chub

Henrys Lake, Idaho, is a renowned trophy trout fishery that faces an uncertain future following the establishment of Utah Chub (UTC) Gila atraria. Utah Chub were first documented in the lake in 1993 and have become abundant over the past two decades. Little is known about the ecology of UTC, but they typically have negative effects on salmonids in systems where they have been introduced. We sought to fill knowledge gaps in UTC ecology and provide insight on potential interactions with Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout (YCT) Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri. Ninety-four YCT and 95 UTC were radio-tagged in spring 2019 and 2020 to better understand potential interactions between YCT and UTC in Henrys Lake. Fish were located via mobile tracking and fixed receivers from June to December 2019 and 2020. In June of both years, YCT and UTC were concentrated in nearshore habitats. As water temperatures increased, UTC were documented in deeper water (mean ± SD = 3.6 ± 1.4 m) and YCT became more concentrated in areas with cold water (e.g., mouths of tributaries, in-lake springs). In July and August, large congregations of UTC were observed. Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout were detected in tributaries from June to August, but no UTC were detected in the tributaries. By late fall (November–December), YCT were located along the shoreline and UTC were detected in the middle of the lake. Both YCT and UTC were observed in areas with dense vegetation. Macrophytes likely provided a food source for UTC and cover from predators for both species. Locations of YCT were negatively related to warm water temperatures, whereas UTC were positively associated with warm water temperatures. Results from this research fill knowledge gaps in UTC and YCT interactions as well as provide valuable insight on the ecology of UTC and adfluvial Cutthroat Trout populations. Furthermore, distribution patterns and habitat selectivity of YCT and UTC in Henrys Lake can be used to inform management decisions for fishery improvement and YCT conservation

Informing Management of Henrys Lake, Idaho, using an Integrated Catch-at-Age Model

Henrys Lake, Idaho, supports a popular fishery for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri and Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout × Rainbow Trout O. mykiss hybrids. A majority of the adult population of fish in Henrys Lake are of hatchery origin that were stocked as fingerlings. The fishery is closed to angling during the late winter and spring months, but fisheries managers are considering opening the fishery year-round with catch-and-release- only regulations or with a two-fish bag limit during the extended season. However, there is concern that the proposed management actions may negatively affect the current fishery. Therefore, we developed an integrated catch-atage model to estimate population parameters for trout in Henrys Lake and used a simulation model to evaluate alternative management actions. Results of this study suggest that catch and release of both Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout and hybrids would increase and that abundance of trout in the spring (i.e., the start of the traditional season) would decrease under both proposed bag limits. Losses in abundance can be mitigated by stocking additional fish as long as no more than approximately 1,520,000 Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout are stocked annually. If catch-and-release-only regulations are implemented during the newly proposed season, total harvest is expected to decrease compared to the current fishery due to additional catch-and-release mortality. Ultimately, managers will need to prioritize harvest or catch-and-release opportunity, both of which provide additional utility to anglers, when choosing how to proceed with bag limit regulations

Magnetic field dependence of the internal quality factor and noise performance of lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors

We present a technique for increasing the internal quality factor of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) by nulling ambient magnetic fields with a properly applied magnetic field. The KIDs used in this study are made from thin-film aluminum, they are mounted inside a light-tight package made from bulk aluminum, and they are operated near $150 \, \mathrm{mK}$. Since the thin-film aluminum has a slightly elevated critical temperature ($T_\mathrm{c} = 1.4 \, \mathrm{K}$), it therefore transitions before the package ($T_\mathrm{c} = 1.2 \, \mathrm{K}$), which also serves as a magnetic shield. On cooldown, ambient magnetic fields as small as approximately $30 \, \mathrm{\mu T}$ can produce vortices in the thin-film aluminum as it transitions because the bulk aluminum package has not yet transitioned and therefore is not yet shielding. These vortices become trapped inside the aluminum package below $1.2 \, \mathrm{K}$ and ultimately produce low internal quality factors in the thin-film superconducting resonators. We show that by controlling the strength of the magnetic field present when the thin film transitions, we can control the internal quality factor of the resonators. We also compare the noise performance with and without vortices present, and find no evidence for excess noise beyond the increase in amplifier noise, which is expected with increasing loss.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

The Detector System for the Stratospheric Kinetic Inductance Polarimeter (SKIP)

The Stratospheric Kinetic Inductance Polarimeter (SKIP) is a proposed balloon-borne experiment designed to study the cosmic microwave background, the cosmic infrared background and Galactic dust emission by observing 1133 square degrees of sky in the Northern Hemisphere with launches from Kiruna, Sweden. The instrument contains 2317 single-polarization, horn-coupled, aluminum lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors (LEKID). The LEKIDs will be maintained at 100 mK with an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator. The polarimeter operates in two configurations, one sensitive to a spectral band centered on 150 GHz and the other sensitive to 260 and 350 GHz bands. The detector readout system is based on the ROACH-1 board, and the detectors will be biased below 300 MHz. The detector array is fed by an F/2.4 crossed-Dragone telescope with a 500 mm aperture yielding a 15 arcmin FWHM beam at 150 GHz. To minimize detector loading and maximize sensitivity, the entire optical system will be cooled to 1 K. Linearly polarized sky signals will be modulated with a metal-mesh half-wave plate that is mounted at the telescope aperture and rotated by a superconducting magnetic bearing. The observation program consists of at least two, five-day flights beginning with the 150 GHz observations.Comment: J Low Temp Phys DOI 10.1007/s10909-013-1014-3 The final publication is available at link.springer.co

A Titanium Nitride Absorber for Controlling Optical Crosstalk in Horn-Coupled Aluminum LEKID Arrays for Millimeter Wavelengths

We discuss the design and measured performance of a titanium nitride (TiN) mesh absorber we are developing for controlling optical crosstalk in horn-coupled lumped-element kinetic inductance detector arrays for millimeter-wavelengths. This absorber was added to the fused silica anti-reflection coating attached to previously-characterized, 20-element prototype arrays of LEKIDs fabricated from thin-film aluminum on silicon substrates. To test the TiN crosstalk absorber, we compared the measured response and noise properties of LEKID arrays with and without the TiN mesh. For this test, the LEKIDs were illuminated with an adjustable, incoherent electronic millimeter-wave source. Our measurements show that the optical crosstalk in the LEKID array with the TiN absorber is reduced by 66\% on average, so the approach is effective and a viable candidate for future kilo-pixel arrays.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Journal of Low Temperature Physic

A millimeter-wave kinetic inductance detector camera for long-range imaging through optical obscurants

Millimeter-wave imaging provides a promising option for long-range target detection through optical obscurants such as fog, which often occur in marine environments. Given this motivation, we are currently developing a 150 GHz polarization-sensitive imager using a relatively new type of superconducting pair-breaking detector, the kinetic inductance detector (KID). This imager will be paired with a 1.5 m telescope to obtain an angular resolution of 0.09° over a 3.5° field of view using 3,840 KIDs. We have fully characterized a prototype KID array, which shows excellent performance with noise strongly limited by the irreducible fluctuations from the ambient temperature background. Full-scale KID arrays are now being fabricated and characterized for a planned demonstration in a maritime environment later this year

A LEKID-based CMB instrument design for large-scale observations in Greenland

We present the results of a feasibility study, which examined deployment of a ground-based millimeter-wave polarimeter, tailored for observing the cosmic microwave background (CMB), to Isi Station in Greenland. The instrument for this study is based on lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors (LEKIDs) and an F/2.4 catoptric, crossed-Dragone telescope with a 500 mm aperture. The telescope is mounted inside the receiver and cooled to $<\,4$ K by a closed-cycle $^4$He refrigerator to reduce background loading on the detectors. Linearly polarized signals from the sky are modulated with a metal-mesh half-wave plate that is rotated at the aperture stop of the telescope with a hollow-shaft motor based on a superconducting magnetic bearing. The modular detector array design includes at least 2300 LEKIDs, and it can be configured for spectral bands centered on 150~GHz or greater. Our study considered configurations for observing in spectral bands centered on 150, 210 and 267~GHz. The entire polarimeter is mounted on a commercial precision rotary air bearing, which allows fast azimuth scan speeds with negligible vibration and mechanical wear over time. A slip ring provides power to the instrument, enabling circular scans (360 degrees of continuous rotation). This mount, when combined with sky rotation and the latitude of the observation site, produces a hypotrochoid scan pattern, which yields excellent cross-linking and enables 34\% of the sky to be observed using a range of constant elevation scans. This scan pattern and sky coverage combined with the beam size (15~arcmin at 150~GHz) makes the instrument sensitive to $5 < \ell < 1000$ in the angular power spectra

Horn-Coupled, Commercially-Fabricated Aluminum Lumped-Element Kinetic Inductance Detectors for Millimeter Wavelengths

We discuss the design, fabrication, and testing of prototype horn-coupled, lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors (LEKIDs) designed for cosmic microwave background (CMB) studies. The LEKIDs are made from a thin aluminum film deposited on a silicon wafer and patterned using standard photolithographic techniques at STAR Cryoelectronics, a commercial device foundry. We fabricated twenty-element arrays, optimized for a spectral band centered on 150 GHz, to test the sensitivity and yield of the devices as well as the multiplexing scheme. We characterized the detectors in two configurations. First, the detectors were tested in a dark environment with the horn apertures covered, and second, the horn apertures were pointed towards a beam-filling cryogenic blackbody load. These tests show that the multiplexing scheme is robust and scalable, the yield across multiple LEKID arrays is 91%, and the noise-equivalent temperatures (NET) for a 4 K optical load are in the range 26\thinspace\pm6 \thinspace \mu \mbox{K} \sqrt{\mbox{s}}

Dilution of Dipolar Interactions in a Spin-labeled, Multimeric Metalloenzyme for DEER Studies

The metallo-β-lactamases (MβLs), which require one or two Zn(II) ions in their active sites for activity, hydrolyze the amide bond in β-lactam-containing antibiotics, and render the antibiotics inactive. All known MβLs contain a mobile element near their active sites, and these mobile elements have been implicated in the catalytic mechanisms of these enzymes. However little is known about the dynamics of these elements. In this study, we prepared a site-specific, double spin-labeled analog of homotetrameric MβL L1 with spin labels at positions 163 and 286 and analyzed the sample with DEER (double electron electron resonance) spectroscopy. Four unique distances were observed in the DEER distance distribution, and these distances were assigned to the desired intramolecular dipolar coupling (between spin labels at positions 163 and 286 in one subunit) and to intermolecular dipolar couplings. To rid the spin-labeled analog of L1 of the intermolecular couplings, spin-labeled L1 was “diluted” by unfolding/refolding the spin-labeled enzyme in the presence of excess wild-type L1. DEER spectra of the resulting, spin-diluted enzyme revealed a single distance corresponding to the desire intramolecular dipolar coupling