Adult Female Spruce Bedworm, \u3ci\u3eChoristoneura Fumiferana\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), Dry Weight in Relationship to Pupal Fresh Weight and Case Diameter

(excerpt) The weights of adult insects are often measured in production and population studies in order to estimate such variables as growth rates, food conversion efficiencies, fecundity, and others. For the eastern spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens), both pupal fresh weights and pupal case diameters have been measured as indicators of adult fecundity and adult dry weights (Miller 1957). However, there are no reports explicitly showing the relationship between these metric pupal variables and adult dry weights. This is the goal of this note

Modernisierung der kantonalen Verwaltungen 1990-2008 : Wandel von Administrativstrukturen und Einführung von Verwaltungsreformen = Modernisation des administrations cantonales 1990-2008 : transformations structurelles et gouvernance administrative

De nombreuses études ont été consacrées en Suisse à la promotion de la nouvelle gestion publique (NGP) au niveau des cantons, puis à son évaluation. Or, les chercheurs se sont peu intéressés jusqu'ici aux effets de son introduction sur les structures administratives et les effectifs de la fonction publique. Ils n'ont pas non plus expliqué suffisamment les facteurs ayant favorisé ou freiné la modernisation de l'Etat au-delà de la NGP. Les réformes de l'Etat menées au sein des administrations cantonales dans le cadre de la revitalisation du fédéralisme ont des causes multiples. Cette étude exploratoire tente de décrire les transformations au niveau des structures et de l'organisation de l'Etat depuis le début des années 1990 en analysant le niveau et l'impact des principes NGP ou d'autres facteurs ayant pu jouer un rôle dans la modernisation des administrations: force des partis, degré de professionnalisation des législatifs, taille de la population et des administrations, RPT et revitalisation de la collaboration intercantonale. Il ressort de l'étude qu'un groupe de cantons essentiellement alémaniques, plutôt de taille moyenne à grande (AG, BE, LU, SO, TG, VS, ZH) ont réussi à davantage réformer les administrations selon les principes de la NGP alors que d'autres ont choisi des voies différentes ou médianes (tels que BS, GE, JU, SG, TI, VD). Ces réformes se sont traduites pratiquement partout par un resserrement des structures décisionnelles (modèle ministériel 5/7), par une variation du nombre de services (hausse dans une première phase puis réduction) mais aussi du personnel (plutôt hausse à l'exception de BS et ZH) allant dans le sens d'une convergence des modèles institutionnels déterminée autant par des facteurs externes qu'internes aux cantons. Notre étude montre que la professionnalisation des parlements, davantage développée dans les cantons où le système représentatif est étendu (cantons latins, Bâle-Ville), retarde ou empêche l'essor des principes NGP alors que les cantons alémaniques à démocratie directe plus prononcée favorisent l'autonomisation des processus de réformes administratives avec une capacité de blocage moins grande des parlements

Electron beam driven alkali metal atom source for loading a magneto-optical trap in a cryogenic environment

We present a versatile and compact electron beam driven source for alkali metal atoms, which can be implemented in cryostats. With a heat load of less than 10mW, the heat dissipation normalized to the atoms loaded into the magneto-optical Trap (MOT), is about a factor 1000 smaller than for a typical alkali metal dispenser. The measured linear scaling of the MOT loading rate with electron current observed in the experiments, indicates that electron stimulated desorption is the corresponding mechanism to release the atoms.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Patterning of ultrathin YBCO nanowires using a new focused-ion-beam process

Manufacturing superconducting circuits out of ultrathin films is a challenging task when it comes to patterning complex compounds, which are likely to be deteriorated by the patterning process. With the purpose of developing high-T$_c$ superconducting photon detectors, we designed a novel route to pattern ultrathin YBCO films down to the nanometric scale. We believe that our method, based on a specific use of a focused-ion beam, consists in locally implanting Ga^{3+} ions and/or defects instead of etching the film. This protocol could be of interest to engineer high-T$_c$ superconducting devices (SQUIDS, SIS/SIN junctions and Josephson junctions), as well as to treat other sensitive compounds.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Potential Vorticity Evolution of a Protoplanetary Disk with An Embedded Protoplanet

We present two-dimensional inviscid hydrodynamic simulations of a protoplanetary disk with an embedded planet, emphasizing the evolution of potential vorticity (the ratio of vorticity to density) and its dependence on numerical resolutions. By analyzing the structure of spiral shocks made by the planet, we show that progressive changes of the potential vorticity caused by spiral shocks ultimately lead to the excitation of a secondary instability. We also demonstrate that very high numerical resolution is required to both follow the potential vorticity changes and identify the location where the secondary instability is first excited. Low-resolution results are shown to give the wrong location. We establish the robustness of a secondary instability and its impact on the torque onto the planet. After the saturation of the instability, the disk shows large-scale non-axisymmetry, causing the torque on the planet to oscillate with large amplitude. The impact of the oscillating torque on the protoplanet's migration remains to be investigated.Comment: 17 pages total with 9 figures (Fig.4,5,9 are in .jpg), accepted to Ap

Type I Planet Migration in Nearly Laminar Disks

We describe 2D hydrodynamic simulations of the migration of low-mass planets ($\leq 30 M_{\oplus}$) in nearly laminar disks (viscosity parameter $\alpha < 10^{-3}$) over timescales of several thousand orbit periods. We consider disk masses of 1, 2, and 5 times the minimum mass solar nebula, disk thickness parameters of $H/r = 0.035$ and 0.05, and a variety of $\alpha$ values and planet masses. Disk self-gravity is fully included. Previous analytic work has suggested that Type I planet migration can be halted in disks of sufficiently low turbulent viscosity, for $\alpha \sim 10^{-4}$. The halting is due to a feedback effect of breaking density waves that results in a slight mass redistribution and consequently an increased outward torque contribution. The simulations confirm the existence of a critical mass ($M_{cr} \sim 10 M_{\oplus}$) beyond which migration halts in nearly laminar disks. For \alpha \ga 10^{-3}, density feedback effects are washed out and Type I migration persists. The critical masses are in good agreement with the analytic model of Rafikov (2002). In addition, for \alpha \la 10^{-4} steep density gradients produce a vortex instability, resulting in a small time-varying eccentricity in the planet's orbit and a slight outward migration. Migration in nearly laminar disks may be sufficiently slow to reconcile the timescales of migration theory with those of giant planet formation in the core accretion model.Comment: 3 figures, accepted to ApJ

Two Decades of Huntington Disease Testing: Patient’s Demographics and Reproductive Choices

Predictive testing for Huntington disease (HD) has been available in the United States (US) since 1987, and the Indiana University Predictive Testing Program has been providing this testing since 1990. To date there has been no published description of those who present for such testing in the US. Here we describe demographics of 141 individuals and reproductive decision making of a subset of 16 of those individuals who underwent predictive HD testing between 1990 and 2010 at one site in the US. This study is a retrospective chart review of the “Personal History Questionnaire” participants completed prior to testing. As seen in other studies, most participants were female (64.5 %), in their mid-30s (mean = 34), and had at least one child prior to testing (54 %). Multiple demographic datum points are described, and the reproductive decision making of these at-risk individuals was analyzed using Fisher’s Exact Tests. Of those women who had children before learning of their risk to inherit HD, those who attended church more frequently, had three or more children total, or whose mother was affected with HD were more likely to be comfortable with their choice to have children. We conclude that these demographic factors influence the reproductive decision-making of individuals at risk for HD. Psychologists, clinical geneticists, and genetic counselors may be able to use this information to help counsel at-risk patients regarding current or past reproductive decision making