Measurements of temperature dynamics of ions trapped inside an electron beam ion trap and evidence for ionisation heating

A technique is described whereby measurements of ions extracted from an electron beam ion trap can be used to deduce their temperature dynamics. The measured temperature dynamics shows the expected trend as a function of charge and also gives evidence for Landau-Spitzer heating, ionization heating and evaporative cooling.

Pulsed evaporative cooling of ion cloud in an electron beam ion trap

A technique for producing cold ensembles of trapped highly charged ions is described. The ions, trapped in an electron beam ion trap, can undergo a drastic contraction during the pulsed mode of evaporative cooling, if a truncated Boltzmann distribution is assumed. The underlying theory and the experimental results are presented.

Female reproductive biology of two sympatric incirrate octopod species, Adelieledone polymorpha (Robson 1930) and Pareledone turqueti (Joubin 1905) (Cephalopoda : Octopodidae), from South Georgia

The reproductive biology of two species of endemic Southern Ocean octopods was investigated around the sub-Antarctic islands of South Georgia and Shag Rocks. The females of both the species produce few, large eggs. This appears to be governed by phylogenetic constraint. No evidence was found for ontogenetic migration or seasonality associated with gonad maturation. Based on oocyte length frequency distributions and observations of oocyte development within the ovary, it is possible that both species could have either a single or multiple-batch spawning strategy. Pareledone turqueti ovaries contained fewer larger oocytes than those of Adefieledone polymorpha, which may help to reduce competition for resources immediately after hatching.

Prospects for women's legislative representation in postsocialist Europe: the views of female politicians

Research on women’s political representation in post-socialist Europe has highlighted the role of cultural and political factors in obstructing women’s access to legislative power, such as the prevalence of traditional gender stereotypes, electoral systems, and the absence of a feminist movement. Yet the role of women political elites in enhancing or hindering women’s access to political power in the region has so far remained uncharted. This article seeks to fill some of the existing gaps in this literature by examining the views of women politicians with regard to women’s political underrepresentation and their assessments of strategies for redressing this imbalance. Findings from the analysis reveal that although women politicians recognize gender inequalities in representation as a problem requiring intervention, how the problem is perceived, and the preferred measures to deal with it, is largely shaped by the social and cultural context in which these actors are embedded.

Exile or emigrant? Female ex-prisoners who left Ireland 1850-1921

In the popular mind, the concept of 'emigration' usually refers to people voluntarily leaving one country to go to another in search of a new and better life. It presupposes some degree of choice, although it is accepted that for many emigrants, such as those who left Ireland during the nineteenth century, there were few incentives to stay at home. Current scholarship on voluntary and forced movements of people demonstrates that the distinction between the categories of 'voluntary emigrant' and 'forced exile' is often blurred. Orm Overland's study of refugee communities in the United States highlights the fact that, although the differences between the 'emigrant' and the 'exile' may be clear in extreme cases, this is not always true, as there may be 'pressing political or economic reasons behind a decision to emigrate'. Migration scholars Jan Lucassen and Leo Lucassen also question the adequacy of conceptual models of migration based on what Lindsay Proudfoot and Dianne Hall refer to as the 'straightforward binarism between free and unfree emigration'. The questions raised by these scholars are very relevant to the study of Irish people who left their country during the second half of the nineteenth century immediately after they had been discharged from prison or from Dundrum. Their stories are discussed here against a background of substantial scholarship on emigration from Ireland and on the criminal justice system within Ireland. According to David Fitzpatrick, at least eight million men, women and children emigrated from Ireland between 1801 and 1921. This large-scale movement of people was generally characterised by the voluntary emigration of individuals who funded their own passages. However, it also included schemes of assisted emigration, funded variously by governments, landlords, the poor law authorities, earlier emigrants, and philanthropists. In addition, it included people who were transported from Ireland by means of the criminal justice system a practice that had originated in the seventeenth century. What is less well known is that after the end of transportation from Ireland to eastern Australia in 1853, to Bermuda in 1863 and to Western Australia in 1868, Irish convicts continued to be channelled towards emigration by being offered early release if they agreed to leave Ireland. These people, and especially the women among them, are the subject of this article.

Investigation of resonant inner-shell processes with an electron beam ion trap

The collision processes of highly charged ions with electrons have been studied with an electron beam ion trap. Resonant inner-shell processes such as dielectronic recombination and resonant excitation double autoionization were investigated by observing the number ratio of extracted ions with adjacent charge states. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Injection of metallic elements into an electron-beam ion trap using a Knudsen cell

A method of injecting metallic elements into an electron-beam ion trap (EBIT) is described. The method is advantageous over the conventional coaxial and pulsed injection methods in two ways: (a) complicated switching of injection and extraction beams can be avoided when extracting beams of highly charged ions from the EBIT and (b) a beam of stable intensity can be achieved. This method may be applicable to any metallic elements or metallic compounds that have vapor pressures of similar to 0.1 Pa at a temperature lower than 1900 degrees C. We have employed this method for the extraction of highly charged ions of Bi, Er, Fe, and Ho. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.