First flea (Siphonaptera) records for Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge, Central Alaska

Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge (KNWR) was established in 1980 in Central Alaska. Collections of mammal fleas began in 1991. Six species resulted: Catallagia dacenkoi Ioff, Corrodopsylla curvata (Rothschild), Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes Baker, Megabothris calcarifer (Wagner), Amalaraeus dissimilis (Jordan) and Peromyscopsylla ostsibirica (Scalon). Ten species of fleas were previously recorded from the upper Koyukuk River watershed. One female specimen each of C. curvata and Ct. pseudagyrtes from the KNWR are the only new fleas added to the upper watershed list

First flea (Siphonaptera) records for Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge, Central Alaska

Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge (KNWR) was established in 1980 in Central Alaska. Collections of mammal fleas began in 1991. Six species resulted: Catallagia dacenkoi Ioff, Corrodopsylla curvata (Rothschild), Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes Baker, Megabothris calcarifer (Wagner), Amalaraeus dissimilis (Jordan) and Peromyscopsylla ostsibirica (Scalon). Ten species of fleas were previously recorded from the upper Koyukuk River watershed. One female specimen each of C. curvata and Ct. pseudagyrtes from the KNWR are the only new fleas added to the upper watershed list

Ion-Neutral Coupling in Solar Prominence

Coupling between ions and neutrals in magnetized plasmas is fundamentally important to many aspects of heliophysics, including our ionosphere, the solar chromosphere, the solar wind interaction with planetary atmospheres, and the interface between the heliosphere and the interstellar medium. Ion-neutral coupling also plays a major role in the physics of solar prominences. By combining theory, modeling, and observations we are working toward a better understanding of the structure and dynamics of partially ionized prominence plasma. Two key questions are addressed in the present work: 1) what physical mechanism(s) sets the cross-field scale of prominence threads? 2) Are ion-neutral interactions responsible for the vertical flows and structure in prominences? We present initial results from a study investigating what role ion-neutral interactions play in prominence dynamics and structure. This research was supported by NASA

Random Tensors and Planted Cliques

The r-parity tensor of a graph is a generalization of the adjacency matrix, where the tensor's entries denote the parity of the number of edges in subgraphs induced by r distinct vertices. For r=2, it is the adjacency matrix with 1's for edges and -1's for nonedges. It is well-known that the 2-norm of the adjacency matrix of a random graph is O(\sqrt{n}). Here we show that the 2-norm of the r-parity tensor is at most f(r)\sqrt{n}\log^{O(r)}n, answering a question of Frieze and Kannan who proved this for r=3. As a consequence, we get a tight connection between the planted clique problem and the problem of finding a vector that approximates the 2-norm of the r-parity tensor of a random graph. Our proof method is based on an inductive application of concentration of measure

Universal relation between longitudinal and transverse conductivities in quantum Hall effect

We show that any critical transition region between two adjacent Hall plateaus in either integer or fractional quantum Hall effect is characterized by a universal semi-circle relationship between the longitudinal and transverse conductivities, provided the sample is homogeneous and isotropic on a large scale. This conclusion is demonstrated both for the phase-coherent quantum transport as well as for the incoherent transport.Comment: REVTEX 3.0, 1 figure, 4 pages. SISSA-08179

Voltage control of magnetocrystalline anisotropy in ferromagnetic - semiconductor/piezoelectric hybrid structures

We demonstrate dynamic voltage control of the magnetic anisotropy of a (Ga,Mn)As device bonded to a piezoelectric transducer. The application of a uniaxial strain leads to a large reorientation of the magnetic easy axis which is detected by measuring longitudinal and transverse anisotropic magnetoresistance coefficients. Calculations based on the mean-field kinetic-exchange model of (Ga,Mn)As provide microscopic understanding of the measured effect. Electrically induced magnetization switching and detection of unconventional crystalline components of the anisotropic magnetoresistance are presented, illustrating the generic utility of the piezo voltage control to provide new device functionalities and in the research of micromagnetic and magnetotransport phenomena in diluted magnetic semiconductors.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review Letters. Updates version 1 to include a more detailed discussion of the effect of strain on the anisotropic magnetoresistanc

Invasion success of a Lessepsian symbiont-bearing foraminifera linked to high dispersal ability, preadaptation and suppression of sexual reproduction

Among the most successful Lessepsian invaders is the symbiont-bearing benthic foraminifera Amphistegina lobifera. In its newly conquered habitat, this prolific calcifier and ecosystem engineer is exposed to environmental conditions that exceed the range of its native habitat. To disentangle which processes facilitated the invasion success of A. lobifera into the Mediterranean Sea we analyzed a ~ 1400 bp sequence fragment covering the SSU and ITS gene markers to compare the populations from its native regions and along the invasion gradient. The genetic variability was studied at four levels: intra-genomic, population, regional and geographical. We observed that the invasion is not associated with genetic differentiation, but the invasive populations show a distinct suppression of intra-genomic variability among the multiple copies of the rRNA gene. A reduced genetic diversity compared to the Indopacific is observed already in the Red Sea populations and their high dispersal potential into the Mediterranean appears consistent with a bridgehead effect resulting from the postglacial expansion from the Indian Ocean into the Red Sea. We conclude that the genetic structure of the invasive populations reflects two processes: high dispersal ability of the Red Sea source population pre-adapted to Mediterranean conditions and a likely suppression of sexual reproduction in the invader. This discovery provides a new perspective on the cost of invasion in marine protists: The success of the invasive A. lobifera in the Mediterranean Sea comes at the cost of abandonment of sexual reproduction