Excluding Nontarget Species from Brown Tree Snake, \u3ci\u3eBoiga irregularis\u3c/i\u3e (Reptilia: Colubridae), Bait Stations: Experimental Tests of Station Design and Placement

Bait stations with toxic baits are an emerging technology for eradication of the invasive brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) on Guam, yet potential interferences by nontarget species are largely unknown. We tested the efficacies of three bait station designs together with three commonly used station support structures to exclude nonnative rats (roof rat, Rattus rattus; Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus; Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans) and native coconut crabs (Birgus latro). When directly presented, all species readily consumed the dead neonatal mouse baits (nontoxic) including those replicating decomposing baits in the field. When bait stations were made easily accessible by placement near ground level, all rat species were able to enter all station types, but some individual roof rats and Norway rats exhibited apparent neophobia. When stations were placed up on support structures, simulating those in the field (~1 m above ground level), numbers of station accessions by roof rats and Norway rats remained essentially unchanged, but Polynesian rats then showed almost no inclination to enter stations. However, ability to access entrances of stations ( but not interiors) when on support structures was extremely high for roof rats and appreciable for the other rat species, including Polynesians. The station type currently in widest use, when placed on chain-link cyclone fence, had the highest probability of accession. Crabs readily accessed station entrances but never interiors. The two downward-angled station designs, when placed in simulated vegetation, had the lowest probabilities of accession. In areas where nontarget species are a concern, we recommend use of either of the downward-angled station designs and suspension from vegetation wherever possible

Universal Programmable Quantum Circuit Schemes to Emulate an Operator

Unlike fixed designs, programmable circuit designs support an infinite number of operators. The functionality of a programmable circuit can be altered by simply changing the angle values of the rotation gates in the circuit. Here, we present a new quantum circuit design technique resulting in two general programmable circuit schemes. The circuit schemes can be used to simulate any given operator by setting the angle values in the circuit. This provides a fixed circuit design whose angles are determined from the elements of the given matrix-which can be non-unitary-in an efficient way. We also give both the classical and quantum complexity analysis for these circuits and show that the circuits require a few classical computations. They have almost the same quantum complexities as non-general circuits. Since the presented circuit designs are independent from the matrix decomposition techniques and the global optimization processes used to find quantum circuits for a given operator, high accuracy simulations can be done for the unitary propagators of molecular Hamiltonians on quantum computers. As an example, we show how to build the circuit design for the hydrogen molecule.Comment: combined with former arXiv:1207.174

LTA structures and materials technology

The state-of-the-art concerning structures and materials technology is reviewed. It is shown that many present materials developments resulting from balloon and aircraft research programs can be applied to new concepts in LTA vehicles. Both buoyant and semi-buoyant vehicles utilize similar approaches to solving structural problems and could involve pressurized non-rigid and unpressurized rigid structures. System designs common to both and vital to structural integrity include much of the past technology as well. Further research is needed in determination of structural loads, especially in future design concepts

Multiphase Stirred Tank Bioreactors – New Geometrical Concepts and Scale‐up Approaches

Mainly with respect to biotechnological cases, current developments in the field of impeller geometries and findings for multistage configurations with a specific view on aerated stirred tanks are reviewed. Although often the first choice, in the given case the 6‐straight blade disc turbine is usually not the best option. Furthermore, quantities usable for scale‐up, specifically applicable in this field are discussed. Only quantities taking local conditions into account appear to be able to actually compare different stirrer types and scales.DFG, 56091768, TRR 63: Integrierte chemische Prozesse in flüssigen MehrphasensystemenDFG, 315464571, Interaktion der mechanischen Beanspruchung und der Produktivität von biologischen Agglomeraten in RührfermenternDFG, 256647858, Stoffübergang von aufsteigenden Blasen in reagierenden FlüssigphasenTU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel - 201

Optimized estimator for real-time dynamic displacement measurement using accelerometers

This paper presents a method for optimizing the performance of a real-time, long term, and accurate accelerometer based displacement measurement technique, with no physical reference point. The technique was applied in a system for measuring machine frame displacement. The optimizer has three objectives with the aim to minimize phase delay, gain error and sensor noise. A multi-objective genetic algorithm was used to find Pareto optimal estimator parameters. The estimator is a combination of a high pass filter and a double integrator. In order to reduce the gain and phase errors two approaches have been used: zero placement and pole-zero placement. These approaches were analysed based on noise measurement at 0g-motion and compared. Only the pole-zero placement approach met the requirements for phase delay, gain error, and sensor noise. Two validation experiments were carried out with a Pareto optimal estimator. First, long term measurements at 0g-motion with the experimental setup were carried out, which showed displacement error of 27.6 ± 2.3 nm. Second, comparisons between the estimated and laser interferometer displacement measurements of the vibrating frame were conducted. The results showed a discrepancy lower than 2 dB at the required bandwidth

The Role of Trust in Explaining Food Choice: Combining Choice Experiment and Attribute Best−Worst Scaling

This paper presents empirical findings from a combination of two elicitation techniques—discrete choice experiment (DCE) and best–worst scaling (BWS)—to provide information about the role of consumers’ trust in food choice decisions in the case of credence attributes. The analysis was based on a sample of 459 Taiwanese consumers and focuses on red sweet peppers. DCE data were examined using latent class analysis to investigate the importance and the utility different consumer segments attach to the production method, country of origin, and chemical residue testing. The relevance of attitudinal and trust-based items was identified by BWS using a hierarchical Bayesian mixed logit model and was aggregated to five latent components by means of principal component analysis. Applying a multinomial logit model, participants’ latent class membership (obtained from DCE data) was regressed on the identified attitudinal and trust components, as well as demographic information. Results of the DCE latent class analysis for the product attributes show that four segments may be distinguished. Linking the DCE with the attitudinal dimensions reveals that consumers’ attitude and trust significantly explain class membership and therefore, consumers’ preferences for different credence attributes. Based on our results, we derive recommendations for industry and policy

GLUMIP 2.0: SAS/IML Software for Planning Internal Pilots

Internal pilot designs involve conducting interim power analysis (without interim data analysis) to modify the final sample size. Recently developed techniques have been described to avoid the type~I error rate inflation inherent to unadjusted hypothesis tests, while still providing the advantages of an internal pilot design. We present GLUMIP 2.0, the latest version of our free SAS/IML software for planning internal pilot studies in the general linear univariate model (GLUM) framework. The new analytic forms incorporated into the updated software solve many problems inherent to current internal pilot techniques for linear models with Gaussian errors. Hence, the GLUMIP 2.0 software makes it easy to perform exact power analysis for internal pilots under the GLUM framework with independent Gaussian errors and fixed predictors.