How the orbital period of a test particle is modified by the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati gravity?

In addition to the pericentre \omega, the mean anomaly M and, thus, the mean longitude \lambda, also the orbital period Pb and the mean motion $n$ of a test particle are modified by the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati gravity. While the correction to Pb depends on the mass of the central body and on the geometrical features of the orbital motion around it, the correction to $n$ is independent of them, up to terms of second order in the eccentricity $e$. The latter one amounts to about 2\times 10^-3 arcseconds per century. The present-day accuracy in determining the mean motions of the inner planets of the Solar System from radar ranging and differential Very Long Baseline Interferometry is 10^-2-5\times 10^-3 arcseconds per century, but it should be improved in the near future when the data from the spacecraft to Mercury and Venus will be available.Comment: LaTex, 7 pages, 13 references, no tables, no figures. Section 2.3 added. To appear in JCA

Numerical Evidence for Divergent Burnett Coefficients

In previous papers [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 41}, 4501 (1990), Phys. Rev. E {\bf 18}, 3178 (1993)], simple equilibrium expressions were obtained for nonlinear Burnett coefficients. A preliminary calculation of a 32 particle Lennard-Jones fluid was presented in the previous paper. Now, sufficient resources have become available to address the question of whether nonlinear Burnett coefficients are finite for soft spheres. The hard sphere case is known to have infinite nonlinear Burnett coefficients (ie a nonanalytic constitutive relation) from mode coupling theory. This paper reports a molecular dynamics caclulation of the third order nonlinear Burnett coefficient of a Lennard-Jones fluid undergoing colour flow, which indicates that this term is diverges in the thermodynamic limit.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Three Bangor Novels

Three short novels with Bangor as the setting by Burt L. Standish from Top Notch Magazine from 1912. Burt L. Standish was the pen name of Corinna, Maine, native Gilbert Patten. The novels are: Bainbridge of Bangor, The Portals of Chance, and Crucial Fire.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/books_pubs/1266/thumbnail.jp

The relationship between reproduction and mortality in triploid Crassostrea virginica: a matter of economic importance

The goal of this project is to maximize survival for commercially produced triploid Crassostrea virginica oysters in Virginia. Over the last few years, commercial oyster growers in Virginia have reported significant mortality events of triploid oysters during the spring and summer months. The summer of 2014 was the worst yet, as growers across the state reported summer mortality, most severe on the Eastern shore and in some cases as high as 85% of the crop (Karen Hudson, personal communication). Surviving oysters from some of these mortality events were sent to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and several of the triploid oysters examined had significant gonadal development, an unexpected finding considering previous experience with triploid C. virginica suggests they are typically sterile. Genetics may be an explanation for the unusually high reproductive effort and mortality rate, as further investigation revealed much of the seed grown in Virginia is produced by crossing Virginia tetraploids with Maine diploids. The specific objectives are to determine variability in gametogenesis of triploids owing to crosses from different geographic origins and to establish the relationship between this variation and mortality. In February of 2015, two tetraploid broodstocks from Virginia (V) and Louisiana (L) origins were crossed with two diploid brood stocks of Virginia (V) and Maine (M) origin to create four triploid constructs (VVV, VVM, LLV, LLM). Diploid VV, VM, MV, and MM constructs were produced as controls. Seed was deployed to three commercial sites on the Eastern Shore that have experienced severe triploid mortality, as well as to a site on the Rappahannock River and a site on the York River. Oysters will be sampled monthly during the spring and summer months of 2016. Sampling will consist of monitoring growth and survival, as well as assessing the condition, gametogenic characteristics, and reproductive effort of triploids and diploids from each culture at each commercial site. Histology will be the primary tool for assessing the gametogenic characteristics and reproductive effort of sampled oysters

Secular increase of the Astronomical Unit and perihelion precessions as tests of the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati multi-dimensional braneworld scenario

An unexpected secular increase of the Astronomical Unit, the length scale of the Solar System, has recently been reported by three different research groups (Krasinsky and Brumberg, Pitjeva, Standish). The latest JPL measurements amount to 7+-2 m cy^-1. At present, there are no explanations able to accommodate such an observed phenomenon, neither in the realm of classical physics nor in the usual four-dimensional framework of the Einsteinian General Relativity. The Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati braneworld scenario, which is a multi-dimensional model of gravity aimed to the explanation of the observed cosmic acceleration without dark energy, predicts, among other things, a perihelion secular shift, due to Lue and Starkman, of 5 10^-4 arcsec cy^-1 for all the planets of the Solar System. It yields a variation of about 6 m cy^-1 for the Earth-Sun distance which is compatible at 1-sigma level with the observed rate of the Astronomical Unit. The recently measured corrections to the secular motions of the perihelia of the inner planets of the Solar System are in agreement, at 1-sigma level, with the predicted value of the Lue-Starkman effect for Mercury and Mars and at 2-sigma level for the Earth.Comment: LaTex2e, 7 pages, no figures, no tables, 13 references. Minor correction

Evaluating conservation strategies for the endangered daisy Schoenia filifolia subsp. subulifolia (Asteraceae): fitness consequences of genetic rescue and hybridisation with a widespread subspecies

Context: To establish translocated populations of threatened plants with the genetic resources to adapt to changing environmental conditions, the source of propagation material is an important consideration. Aim: We investigated the fitness consequences of genetic rescue and admixture for the threatened annual daisy Schoenia filifolia subsp. subulifolia, and the common S. filifolia subsp. filifolia, to inform seed-sourcing strategies for translocations of the threatened subspecies. Methods: We evaluated genetic diversity of two populations of S. filifolia subsp. subulifolia and four populations of S. filifolia subsp. filifolia by using microsatellite markers. We grew seedlings from each study population and cross-pollinated inflorescences within and among populations of the same subspecies, and between subspecies. We evaluated the fitness consequences of each cross by using seed set, seed weight and seed viability. Key results: There was a lower genetic diversity in the small (10 000 plants, Nar = 4.42, He = 0.51) population of S. filifolia subsp. subulifolia, although none of the measures was significantly different, and seed fitness was slightly, although not significantly, reduced in interpopulation crosses compared with the small population. Genetic diversity was similar between the threatened and widespread subspecies; however, the subspecies were genetically divergent (Fst = 0.242–0.294) and cross-pollination between subspecies produced negligible amounts of seeds (<3% seed set). Conclusions: Although genetic rescue or admixture of S. filifolia subsp. subulifolia would not necessarily result in greatly increased levels of genetic diversity or seed fitness, we still consider it a potential option. Negligible seed set in crosses between subspecies indicates that deliberate hybridisation is not a possibility. Implications: Studies of fitness consequences of admixture or genetic rescue are rare yet critical to assessing the benefits of different translocation strategies

Bound on the Dark Matter Density in the Solar System from Planetary Motions

High precision planet orbital data extracted from direct observation, spacecraft explorations and laser ranging techniques enable to put a strong constraint on the maximal dark matter density of a spherical halo centered around the Sun. The maximal density at Earth's location is of the order $10^5$ ${\rm GeV/cm^3}$ and shows only a mild dependence on the slope of the halo profile, taken between 0 and -2. This bound is somewhat better than that obtained from the perihelion precession limits.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Glycogen Concentration In Freeze-Dried Tissues Of Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) Using Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy To Determine The Relationship Between Concentrations Of The Tissues Excised For Histological Sampling And The Remaining Tissues

To improve the accuracy and reproducibility of the previous near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) model for glycogen in the oyster species Crassostrea virginica, a new model using freeze-dried samples was developed. The NIRS glycogen calibration model was developed using 380 individual oyster samples collected between 2014 and 2016 from several locations in the Chesapeake Bay. Homogenized freeze-dried samples were scanned in the near infrared region between 1,000 and 2,500 nm. In parallel, glycogen concentration (GC), measured as percent dry weight, was determined using laboratory-based methods. The two sets of data allowed us to build a NIRS model based on freeze-dried oyster meats, and the model gave a strong prediction of GC [coefficient of determination for validation (R-val(2)) = 0.96 and residual predictive deviation (RPD) = 5.2]. The second part of the study applied the model to determine GC among 39 diploid and 40 triploid C. virginica and determined the strength of the relationship between the GC of tissues excised for histological sampling to the remaining tissue (corpus) to verify assumptions made throughout the literature. There was an estimated R-2 = 0.99 between the GC in the corpus and the tissues of whole oyster meat. Among the samples, two factors, ploidy and size (shell height), had a significant effect on GC