Ecology and conservation status of Acanthocinus griseus (Fabricius, 1792) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in Finland

The ecology and occurrence of Acanthocinus griseus in Finland is described to explain why this rarity was excluded from the latest national Red List. Careful examination of several trees inhabited by the species showed that the habitat requirements of A. griseus are in fact rather broad, contrary to previous assumptions. Acanthocinus griseus can breed in almost any part of the trunk of freshly dead, standing spruce and pine trees. All finds were made in normal managed forests or in burned areas. High mortality was observed during the larval stage due to parasitoids and predators. Adults of A. griseus live a cryptic life and larvae are difficult to find without experience, which may explain the low number of observations in Finland. Acanthocinus griseus is clearly an overlooked species and detailed examination of suitable trees would without doubt reveal many new occurrences in this country

Multi-orbital bosons in bipartite optical lattices

We study interacting bosons in a two dimensional bipartite optical lattice. By focusing on the regime where the first three excited bands are nearly degenerate we derive a three orbital tight-binding model which captures the most relevant features of the bandstructure. In addition, we also derive a corresponding generalized Bose-Hubbard model and solve it numerically under different situations, both with and without a confining trap. It is especially found that the hybridization between sublattices can strongly influence the phase diagrams and in a trap enable even appearances of condensed phases intersecting the same Mott insulating plateaus.Comment: Minor change

Meteorus corax Marshall, 1898 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a new species to Finland and Russian Karelia, with an overview of northern species of Meteorus parasitizing beetles

Meteorus corax (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) is reported for the first time from Finland and Russian Karelia. The Finnish specimens were reared from standing dead pine where Monochamus galloprovincialis (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) was presumably the host, and in addition, from firewood presumably from Callidium violaceum (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae). The specimens from Russian Karelia were reared from pupae, which almost certainly originated from the larvae of Pytho depressus (Coleoptera, Pythidae). No parasitic hymenopterans have previously been recorded from the family Pythidae. The genus Meteorus includes several species yet to be found from Finland

Ultracold polarized Fermi gas at intermediate temperatures

We consider non-zero temperature properties of the polarized two-component Fermi gas. We point out that stable polarized paired states which are more stable than their phase separated counterparts with unpolarized superfluid region can exist below the critical temperature. We also solve the system behavior in a trap using the local density approximation and find gradually increasing polarization in the center of the system as the temperature is increased. However, in the strongly interacting region the central polarization increases most rapidly close to the mean-field critical temperature, which is known to be substantially higher than the critical temperature for superfluidity. This indicates that most of the phase separation occurs in the fluctuation region prior to superfluidity and that the polarization in the actual superfluid is modest.Comment: Final published versio

Coupling internal atomic states in a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate via an optical lattice: Extended Mott-superfluid transitions

An ultracold gas of coupled two-component atoms in an optical field is studied. Due to the internal two-level structure of the atoms, three competing energy terms exist; atomic kinetic, atomic internal, and atom-atom interaction energies. A novel outcome of this interplay, not present in the regular Bose-Hubbard model, is that in the single band and tight binding approximations four different phases appear: two superfluid and two Mott phases. When passing through the critical point between the two superfluid or the two Mott phases, a swapping of the internal atomic populations takes place. By means of the strong coupling expansion, we find the full phase diagram for the four different phases.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Loading of bosons in optical lattices into the p band

We present a method for transferring bosonic atoms residing on the lowest s-band of an optical lattice to the first excited p-bands. Our idea hinges on resonant tunneling between adjacent sites of accelerated lattices. The acceleration effectively shifts the quasi-bound energies on each site such that the system can be cast into a Wannier-Stark ladder problem. By adjusting the acceleration constant, a situation of resonant tunneling between the s- and p-bands is achievable. Within a mean-field model, considering 87Rb atoms, we demonstrate population transfer from the s- to the p-bands with around 95 % efficiency. Nonlinear effects deriving from atom-atom interactions, as well as coupling of the quasi bound Wannier-Stark states to the continuum, are considered.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Encountering Change: Job Satisfaction of Sign Language Interpreters in Finland

The organizational system for providing Finnish sign language interpreter services has recently changed, and this change has influenced the whole interpretation service industry. It poses major challenges for the maintenance of job satisfaction among sign language professionals. The level of job satisfaction of sign language interpreters (in this study, N = 135) was surveyed by means of an online questionnaire. While examining this phenomenon, this study mainly addresses the systemic factors in employment conditions. According to the results, the level of job satisfaction among interpreters is quite high; however, it remains clearly lower than the average for Finnish workers. The key factors in job satisfaction are working conditions, changes in the amount of work and the way that it has been organized. Many of these problems are seen to be the result of the recently reformed Kela2-led interpreter booking system and the interpreting service’s bidding system. As a conclusion, we note that, in future, more attention should be paid to the working conditions and job satisfaction of Finnish sign language interpreters. If the level of job satisfaction continues to decrease, not only will interpreters’ health and well-being be at risk, but the quality of service provided to clients may also be impacted