Giant Surface Plasmon Induced Drag Effect (SPIDEr) in Metal Nanowires

Here, for the first time we predict a giant surface plasmon-induced drag effect (SPIDEr), which exists under conditions of the extreme nanoplasmonic confinement. Under realistic conditions, in nanowires, this giant SPIDEr generates rectified THz potential differences up to 10 V and extremely strong electric fields up to 10^5-10^6 V/cm. The SPIDEr is an ultrafast effect whose bandwidth for nanometric wires is 20 THz. The giant SPIDEr opens up a new field of ultraintense THz nanooptics with wide potential applications in nanotechnology and nanoscience, including microelectronics,nanoplasmonics, and biomedicine.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Sparse Image Reconstruction for the SPIDER Optical Interferometric Telescope

The concept of a recently proposed small-scale interferometric optical imaging device, an instrument known as the Segmented Planar Imaging Detector for Electro-optical Reconnaissance (SPIDER), is of great interest for its possible applications in astronomy and space science. Due to low weight, low power consumption, and high resolution, the SPIDER telescope could replace the large space telescopes that exist today. Unlike traditional optical interferometry the SPIDER accurately retrieves both phase and amplitude information, making the measurement process analogous to a radio interferometer. State of the art sparse radio interferometric image reconstruction techniques have been gaining traction in radio astronomy and reconstruct accurate images of the radio sky. In this work we describe algorithms from radio interferometric imaging and sparse image reconstruction and demonstrate their application to the SPIDER concept telescope through simulated observation and reconstruction of the optical sky. Such algorithms are important for providing high fidelity images from SPIDER observations, helping to power the SPIDER concept for scientific and astronomical analysis.Comment: 4 Pages, 2 Figures, 1 Tabl

Spider Diagrams: A Diagrammatic Reasoning System

Spider diagrams combine and extend Venn diagrams and Euler circles to express constraints on sets and their relationships with other sets. These diagrams can be used in conjunction with object-oriented modelling notations such as the Unified Modeling Language. This paper summarises the main syntax and semantics of spider diagrams. It also introduces inference rules for reasoning with spider diagrams and a rule for combining spider diagrams. This system is shown to be sound but not complete. Disjunctive diagrams are considered as one way of enriching the system to allow combination of diagrams so that no semantic information is lost. The relationship of this system of spider diagrams to other similar systems, which are known to be sound and complete, is explored briefly

Resistance status of the carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus and the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae to selected acaricides on strawberries.

The carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisduval) and the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, are serious pests of strawberries and many other horticultural crops. Control of these pests has been heavily dependent upon chemical acaricides. Objectives of this study were to determine the resistance status of these two pest species to commonly used acaricides on strawberries in a year-round intensive horticultural production region. LC90 of abamectin for adult carmine spider mites was 4% whereas that for adult twospotted spider mites was 24% of the top label rate. LC90s of spiromesifen, etoxazole, hexythiazox and bifenazate were 0.5%, 0.5%, 1.4% and 83% of their respective highest label rates for carmine spider mite eggs, 0.7%, 2.7%, 12.1% and 347% of their respective highest label rates for the nymphs. LC90s of spiromesifen, etoxazole, hexythiazox and bifenazate were 4.6%, 11.1%, 310% and 62% of their respective highest label rates for twospotted spider mite eggs, 3%, 13%, 432,214% and 15% of their respective highest label rates for the nymphs. Our results suggest that T. cinnabarinus have developed resistance to bifenazate and that the T. urticae have developed resistance to hexythiazox. These results strongly emphasize the need to develop resistance management strategies in the region

The Web of the Spider. Laura Barr Lougee. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan: Cranbrook Institute of Science, 1964. 44 pp. $3.50.

Excerpt: It is a relief to find such a straightforward and objective work as Lougee\u27s The Web of the Spider. Her brief but lucid descriptions of spider anatomy, silk production and web construction will induce appreciation and observation of these much-maligned animals

Molecular Spiders with Memory

Synthetic bio-molecular spiders with "legs" made of single-stranded segments of DNA can move on a surface which is also covered by single-stranded segments of DNA complementary to the leg DNA. In experimental realizations, when a leg detaches from a segment of the surface for the first time it alters that segment, and legs subsequently bound to these altered segments more weakly. Inspired by these experiments we investigate spiders moving along a one-dimensional substrate, whose legs leave newly visited sites at a slower rate than revisited sites. For a random walk (one-leg spider) the slowdown does not effect the long time behavior. For a bipedal spider, however, the slowdown generates an effective bias towards unvisited sites, and the spider behaves similarly to the excited walk. Surprisingly, the slowing down of the spider at new sites increases the diffusion coefficient and accelerates the growth of the number of visited sites.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Ground spider communities in experimentally disturbed Mediterranean woodland habitats

The protected Mediterranean woodland habitats in Israel are undergoing tree encroachment, resulting in loss of open patches with herbaceous vegetation. We suggested that this process results in a ground spider community dominated by shade-loving species. At three Mediterranean woodland sites located along a rainfall gradient, we examined the effects on the ground-spider community of experimental removal of the woody vegetation in 1000 m2 plots by cutting and overall plant biomass reduction by grazing and browsing by livestock. Pitfall traps were placed in replicated plots of four treatments (control, cutting, grazing/browsing, and cutting together with grazing/browsing) and in two different habitat patch types (open, woody). ANOVA and multivariate analyses were performed on family abundance by treatment and habitat patch type. Tree-cutting reduced the number of families in plots at two of the three sites. Grazing did not have a significant effect on the number of families or on the ground spider community composition. The spider community of cut-woody patches was more similar to that of open patches than to that of uncut woody patches. Most spider families separated along an axis of open versus woody patches, with woody habitat families predominating at all sites. Families typical of open habitats were positively associated with cut-woody patches as well. The overall effect on ground spider diversity of such manipulations may depend on the scale of habitat changes

Space spider crane

A space spider crane for the movement, placement, and or assembly of various components on or in the vicinity of a space structure is described. As permanent space structures are utilized by the space program, a means will be required to transport cargo and perform various repair tasks. A space spider crane comprising a small central body with attached manipulators and legs fulfills this requirement. The manipulators may be equipped with constant pressure gripping end effectors or tools to accomplish various repair tasks. The legs are also equipped with constant pressure gripping end effectors to grip the space structure. Control of the space spider crane may be achieved either by computer software or a remotely situated human operator, who maintains visual contact via television cameras mounted on the space spider crane. One possible walking program consists of a parallel motion walking program whereby the small central body alternatively leans forward and backward relative to end effectors

Cyrtophora citricola (Araneae: Araneidae: Cyrtophorinae), a first record for Turkey

We recorded the tent-web spider Cyrtophora citricola (Forsskål, 1775) (Araneidae: Cyrtophorinae) from Turkey for the first time at two sites. Body measurements and a brief description of the female are presented, as well as information on the sites (olive and orange orchards, shrubs) and the accompanying spider fauna

Second-order Nonlinear Optical Microscopy of Spider Silk

Asymmetric $\rm \beta$-sheet protein structures in spider silk should induce nonlinear optical interaction such as second harmonic generation (SHG) which is experimentally observed for a radial line and dragline spider silk by using an imaging femtosecond laser SHG microscope. By comparing different spider silks, we found that the SHG signal correlates with the existence of the protein $\rm \beta$-sheets. Measurements of the polarization dependence of SHG from the dragline indicated that the $\rm \beta$-sheet has a nonlinear response depending on the direction of the incident electric field. We propose a model of what orientation the $\rm \beta$-sheet takes in spider silk.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl