The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany Pinebush

The Albany Pinebush, a pitch pine-scrub oak sand barrens, was examined for robber flies and the results compared to historical records found in the New York State Museum, Albany. Thirty-six species were recorded of which seventeen were new records. Two species, Cyrtopogon laphriformis and Promachus bastardii, last recorded in 1914 and 1931, respectively, were not located in the survey

Runoff modelling in glacierized Central Asian catchments for present-day and future climate

A conceptual precipitation–runoff model was applied in five glacierized catchments in Central Asia. The model, which was first developed and applied in the Alps, works on a daily time step and yields good results in the more continental climate of the Tien Shan mountains for present-day climate conditions. Runoff scenarios for different climates (doubling of CO2) and glacierization conditions predict an increased flood risk as a first stage and a more complex picture after a complete glacier loss: a higher discharge during spring due to an earlier and more intense snowmelt is followed by a water deficiency in hot and dry summer periods. This unfavourable seasonal redistribution of the water supply has dramatic consequences for the Central Asian lowlands, which depend to a high degree on the glacier melt water for irrigation and already nowadays suffer from water shortages

Observations of Subarcsecond Bright Dots in the Transition Region above Sunspots with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph

Observations with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) have revealed numerous sub-arcsecond bright dots in the transition region above sunspots. These bright dots are seen in the 1400\AA{} and 1330\AA{} slit-jaw images. They are clearly present in all sunspots we investigated, mostly in the penumbrae, but also occasionally in some umbrae and light bridges. The bright dots in the penumbrae typically appear slightly elongated, with the two dimensions being 300--600 km and 250--450 km, respectively. The long sides of these dots are often nearly parallel to the bright filamentary structures in the penumbrae but sometimes clearly deviate from the radial direction. Their lifetimes are mostly less than one minute, although some dots last for a few minutes or even longer. Their intensities are often a few times stronger than the intensities of the surrounding environment in the slit-jaw images. About half of the bright dots show apparent movement with speeds of $\sim$10--40~km~s$^{-1}$ in the radial direction. Spectra of a few bright dots were obtained and the Si~{\sc{iv}}~1402.77\AA{} line profiles in these dots are significantly broadened. The line intensity can be enhanced by one to two orders of magnitude. Some relatively bright and long-lasting dots are also observed in several passbands of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory, and they appear to be located at the bases of loop-like structures. Many of these bright dots are likely associated with small-scale energy release events at the transition region footpoints of magnetic loops.Comment: 5 figures, will appear in ApJ

Shape-induced phenomena in the finite size antiferromagnets

It is of common knowledge that the direction of easy axis in the finite-size ferromagnetic sample is controlled by its shape. In the present paper we show that a similar phenomenon should be observed in the compensated antiferromagnets with strong magnetoelastic coupling. Destressing energy which originates from the long-range magnetoelastic forces is analogous to demagnetization energy in ferromagnetic materials and is responsible for the formation of equilibrium domain structure and anisotropy of macroscopic magnetic properties. In particular, crystal shape may be a source of additional uniaxial magnetic anisotropy which removes degeneracy of antiferromagnetic vector or artificial 4th order anisotropy in the case of a square cross-section sample. In a special case of antiferromagnetic nanopillars shape-induced anisotropy can be substantially enhanced due to lattice mismatch with the substrate. These effects can be detected by the magnetic rotational torque and antiferromagnetic resonance measurements.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B, v.75, N17, 200

Sensitivity of the Moment of Inertia of Neutron Stars to the Equation of State of Neutron-Rich Matter

The sensitivity of the stellar moment of inertia to the neutron-star matter equation of state is examined using accurately-calibrated relativistic mean-field models. We probe this sensitivity by tuning both the density dependence of the symmetry energy and the high density component of the equation of state, properties that are at present poorly constrained by existing laboratory data. Particularly attractive is the study of the fraction of the moment of inertia contained in the solid crust. Analytic treatments of the crustal moment of inertia reveal a high sensitivity to the transition pressure at the core-crust interface. This may suggest the existence of a strong correlation between the density dependence of the symmetry energy and the crustal moment of inertia. However, no correlation was found. We conclude that constraining the density dependence of the symmetry energy - through, for example, the measurement of the neutron skin thickness in 208Pb - will place no significant bound on either the transition pressure or the crustal moment of inertia.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, 5 table

The SoLid anti-neutrino detector's readout system

The SoLid collaboration have developed an intelligent readout system to reduce their 3200 silicon photomultiplier detector's data rate by a factor of 10000 whilst maintaining high efficiency for storing data from anti-neutrino interactions. The system employs an FPGA-level waveform characterisation to trigger on neutron signals. Following a trigger, data from a space time region of interest around the neutron will be read out using the IPbus protocol. In these proceedings the design of the readout system is explained and results showing the performance of a prototype version of the system are presented

Hadron-quark mixed phase in hyperon stars

We analyze the different possibilities for the hadron-quark phase transition occurring in beta-stable matter including hyperons in neutron stars. We use a Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach including hyperons for the hadronic equation of state and a generalized MIT bag model for the quark part. We then point out in detail the differences between Maxwell and Gibbs phase transition constructions including the effects of surface tension and electromagnetic screening. We find only a small influence on the maximum neutron star mass, whereas the radius of the star and in particular its internal structure are more affected.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Dimensionality effects on non-equilibrium electronic transport in Cu nanobridges

We report on non-equilibrium electronic transport through normal-metal (Cu) nanobridges coupled to large reservoirs at low temperatures. We observe a logarithmic temperature dependence of the zero-bias conductance, as well as a universal scaling behavior of the differential conductance. Our results are explained by electron-electron interactions in diffusive metals in the zero-dimensional limit.Comment: RevTex, 4 page

Citizens without nations

To broach the question of whether citizenship could exist without (or beyond) community, this paper discusses genealogies of citizenship as membership that binds an individual to the community of birth (of the self or a parent). It is birthright as fraternity that blurs the boundary between citizenship and nationality. After briefly discussing recent critical studies on birthright citizenship (whether it is civic or ethnic or blood or soil) by Ayelet Shachar and Jacqueline Stevens, the paper discusses three critical genealogies of the relationship between birthright and citizenship by Max Weber, Hannah Arendt, and Michel Foucault. Although each provides a critical perspective into the question, Weber reduces citizenship to fraternity with nation and Arendt reduces citizenship to fraternity with the state. It is Foucault who illustrates racialization of fraternity as the connection between citizenship and nationality. Yet, since Foucault limits his genealogical investigations to the 18th and 19th centuries, a genealogy of fraternity of what he calls an immense biblical and Greek tradition remains for Derrida to articulate as a question of citizenship

Reptiles, Squamata, Parque Natural Municipal da Taquara, municipality of Duque de Caxias, state of Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil

Herein we report a list of the reptiles from Parque Natural Municipal da Taquara, municipality of Duque deCaxias, state of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, an area situated in the Atlantic Rainforest Domain. The study wascarried out from September 2006 to October 2008. We recorded 31 species of Squamate reptiles: one species of thefamily Amphisbaenidae; eight species of lizards of the families Anguidae (n = 1), Gekkonidae (1), Phyllodactylidae (1),Polychrotidae (1), Scincidae (1), Teiidae (2), and Tropiduridae (1); and 22 species of snakes of the families Boidae (2),Colubridae (6), Dipsadidae (11), Elapidae (1), and Viperidae (2). Our study indicates that the PNMT is an important area forthe conservation of the Squamate reptile assemblages that inhabit lowlands of Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil