Mating Success of Gypsy Moth (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) Females in Southern Wisconsin

Mating success of laboratory-reared gypsy moth Lymantria dispar (L.) females exposed for 24 hr on tree boles and its relationship to male moth counts in pheromone-baited traps was studied in southern Wisconsin. The relationship between mating probability of gypsy moth females and male moth counts in traps corresponded to an exponential model that can be used for predicting mating probabilities in sparse isolated populations. Relative attractiveness of females compared with traps was 0.23, which is similar to earlier estimated relative attractiveness of females in Virginia. The mortality of females from predation, however, was found to be significantly lower in Wisconsin than in Virginia, which may contribute to a larger degree of mating success. Increased long-distance dispersal of males could also contribute to the increased mating success of females. The higher rate of spread of gypsy moth populations in Wisconsin compared with other areas may be due to the increased mating success caused by the lower female mortality and higher long-distance dispersal of males

Anomalous population of 10^{10}He states in reactions with 11^{11}Li

Structure with the lowest energy observed in the $^{10}$He spectrum populated in the proton knockout reaction with $^{11}$Li beam has a peak at $1.2-1.5$ MeV. This peak is usually interpreted as a resonant $0^+$ ground state of $^{10}$He. Our theoretical calculations indicate that this peak is likely to be a pileup of $1^-$, $0^+$, and $2^+$ excitations with very similar shapes. %We predict a very specific nature of the $1^-$ excitation in $^{10}$He. Moreover, the ``soft'' $1^-$ excitation appears to be the lowest one in energy. Such an anomalous continuum response is traced to the halo structure of $^{11}$Li providing extreme low energy shift to all the expected continuum excitations. Competitions of the initial state structure (ISS) and the final state interaction (FSI) effects on the spectrum and three-body correlations in $^{10}$He are discussed. Analogous effect of the extreme low-energy shift could also be expected in other cases of $2n$ emitters populated in reactions with halo nuclei. Simplified example of the $^{10}$He spectrum in $\alpha$ knockout from $^{14}$Be, is given. We also discuss limits on the properties of $^{9}$He stemming from the observed $^{10}$He spectrum.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figure

Genome increase as a clock for the origin and evolution of life

BACKGROUND: The size of non-redundant functional genome can be an indicator of biological complexity of living organisms. Several positive feedback mechanisms including gene cooperation and duplication with subsequent specialization may result in the exponential growth of biological complexity in macro-evolution. RESULTS: I propose a hypothesis that biological complexity increased exponentially during evolution. Regression of the logarithm of functional non-redundant genome size versus time of origin in major groups of organisms showed a 7.8-fold increase per 1 billion years, and hence the increase of complexity can be viewed as a clock of macro-evolution. A strong version of the exponential hypothesis is that the rate of complexity increase in early (pre-prokaryotic) evolution of life was at most the same (or even slower) than observed in the evolution of prokaryotes and eukaryotes. CONCLUSION: The increase of functional non-redundant genome size in macro-evolution was consistent with the exponential hypothesis. If the strong exponential hypothesis is true, then the origin of life should be dated 10 billion years ago. Thus, the possibility of panspermia as a source of life on earth should be discussed on equal basis with alternative hypotheses of de-novo life origin. Panspermia may be proven if bacteria similar to terrestrial ones are found on other planets or satellites in the solar system. REVIEWERS: This article was reviewed by Eugene V. Koonin, Chris Adami and Arcady Mushegian

Nova Sagittarii 1994 #1 (V4332 Sagittarii): The Discovery and Evolution of an Unusual Luminous Red Variable Star

We report photometry and spectroscopy of the evolution of Nova Sagittarii 1994 #1 (V4332 Sagittarii) during outburst. We compare the photometric and spectral evolution of this outburst to known classes of outbursts -- including classical novae and outbursts occurring on symbiotic stars -- and find this object does NOT conform to any known class of outburst. The closest match to the behavior of this unusual object is M31 RV, an extremely luminous and red variable object discovered in the bulge of M31 in 1988. However, the temporal behavior and maximum luminosity of the two events differ by several orders of magnitude, requiring substantial intrinsic variation if these two events are members the same type of outburst. Our model of the spectroscopic evolution of this outburst shows that the effective temperature cooled from 4400 K to 2300 K over the three month span of our observations. In combination with line diagnostics in our later spectra, including [OI] lambda 5577 and the dramatic increase in the Halpha to Hbeta ratio, we infer the existence of a cool, dense (N_e ~ 10^{8-9} cm^{-3}) envelope that is optically thick in the Hydrogen Balmer recombination lines (case C). We suggest that a nuclear event in a single star, in which a slow shock drove the photosphere outwards, can power the observed luminosity evolution and the emission spectrum.Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ. 24 pages including 8 embedded postscript figures. Also available at http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~martini/pub

Pauli-principle driven correlations in four-neutron nuclear decays

Mechanism of simultaneous non-sequential four-neutron ($4n$) emission (or `true' $4n$-decay) has been considered in phenomenological five-body approach. This approach is analogous to the model of the direct decay to the continuum often applied to $2n$- and $2p$-decays. It is demonstrated that $4n$-decay fragments should have specific energy and angular correlations reflecting strong spatial correlations of `valence' nucleons orbiting in their $4n$-precursors. Due to the Pauli exclusion principle, the valence neutrons are pushed to the symmetry-allowed configurations in the $4n$-precursor structure, which causes a `Pauli focusing' effect. Prospects of the observation of the Pauli focusing have been considered for the $4n$-precursors $^7$H and $^{28}$O. Fingerprints of their nuclear structure or/and decay dynamics are predicted

Structure of professional values

In this work a model diagnostic professional values using a scale of Thurstone and methods «USCG» Pontlevoy. The proposed model allows for flexible and targeted diagnostics valuesВ данной работе предлагается модель диагностики профессиональных ценностей с помощью шкалы Терстоуна и методики «УСЦД» Фанталовой. Предлагаемая модель позволяет проводить гибкую и адресную диагностику ценносте