Retention of a Primordial Cold Classical Kuiper Belt in an Instability-Driven Model of Solar System Formation

The cold classical population of the Kuiper belt exhibits a wide variety of unique physical characteristics, which collectively suggest that its dynamical coherence has been maintained through out the solar system's lifetime. Simultaneously, the retention of the cold population's relatively unexcited orbital state has remained a mystery, especially in the context of a solar system formation model, that is driven by a transient period of instability, where Neptune is temporarily eccentric. Here, we show that the cold belt can survive the instability, and its dynamical structure can be reproduced. We develop a simple analytical model for secular excitation of cold KBOs and show that comparatively fast apsidal precession and nodal recession of Neptune, during the eccentric phase, are essential for preservation of an unexcited state in the cold classical region. Subsequently, we confirm our results with self-consistent N-body simulations. We further show that contamination of the hot classical and scattered populations by objects of similar nature to that of cold classicals has been instrumental in shaping the vast physical diversity inherent to the Kuiper belt.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Connection, Trust, and Commitment: Dimensions of Co-creation?

The purpose of this research is to identify a key driver of relationship closeness for service organizations. Based upon the co-creation concept from Service-Dominant Logic, connection is proposed as a new construct rooted in emotional attachment that bolsters the effect of trust and commitment on future intention among customers of a service-intense organization. Causal models are verified with a large empirical sample drawn from an organization in the process of dealing with the increasing sense of depersonalization that has afflicted growing organizations in a variety of industries. The paper distinguishes an important dimension of customer relationships that can be affected by service managers in order to enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction

Socio-Economic Sourcing: Benefits of Small Business Set-Asides in Public Procurement

Purpose Small businesses are critical to economic health and encouraged in government spending by set-asides – annual small business sourcing goals that often are not attained. Little research has explored the negative and risky stigmas associated with small business sourcing. Design/methodology/approach This research explores reduced transaction costs of small business sourcing to government buyers. A survey of 350 government source selections reveals lower transaction costs derived from lower perceived risk of receiving a bid protest and via more efficient source selection processes. Findings Contrary to common bias, the performance level of small businesses is no less than that of large business. Thus, small businesses engender lower transaction costs for correcting supplier’s performance. On the basis of these findings, managerial and theoretical implications are discussed

The Luminosity Function of the Hot and Cold Kuiper belt Populations

Abridged. We have performed an ecliptic survey of the Kuiper belt, with an areal coverage of 8.9 square degrees to a 50% limiting magnitude of r'=24.7, and have detected 88 Kuiper belt objects, roughly half of which received follow-up one to two months after detection. Using this survey data alone, we have measured the luminosity function of the Kuiper belt, thus avoiding any biases that might come from the inclusion of other observations. We have found that the Cold population defined as having inclinations less than 5 degrees has a luminosity function slope alpha=0.82+-0.23, and is different from the Hot population, which has inclinations greater than 5 degrees and a luminosity function slope alpha=0.35+-0.21. As well, we have found that those objects closer than 38 AU have virtually the same luminosity function slope as the Hot population. This result, along with similar findings of past surveys demonstrates that the dynamically cold Kuiper belt objects likely have a steep size distribution, and are unique from all of the excited populations which have much shallower distributions. This suggests that the dynamically excited population underwent a different accretion history and achieved a more evolved state of accretion than the cold population. As well, we discuss the similarities of the Cold and Hot populations with the size distributions of other planetesimal populations. We find that while the Jupiter family comets and the scattered disk exhibit similar size distributions, a power-law extrapolation to small sizes for the scattered disk cannot account for the observed influx of comets. As well, we have found that the Jupiter Trojan and Hot populations cannot have originated from the same parent popuation, a result that is difficult to reconcile with scattering models similar to the NICE model.Comment: Accepted for publication in Icarus. 27 pages, 10 figures, 4 table

A Phenotypic Analysis of Tetrahymena Centrin 2

Basal bodies are microtubule organizing centers responsible for anchoring and organizing the cilium. Cilia are found on nearly every mammalian cell type and are important for various cellular functions including fluid movement and sensing the surrounding environment. A widely conserved component known to be important at basal bodies is centrin, a small Ca2+ binding protein. Centrins divide into two groups based on sequence comparison to the human centrins, hsCETN2 and hsCETN3. Here, we utilized the ciliate Tetrahymena to examine the distinct nature of the two centrin groups through an analysis of Cen2, a hsCETN3 homolog. The results indicate that Cen2 is a basal body component and important for basal body stability and orientation. Our data suggest that the two centrin groups have distinct roles at basal bodies