Aphidophagous Coccinellids in Alfalfa, Small Grains, and Maize in Eastern South Dakota

In a 13-year study of aphidophagous coccinellids associated with alfalfa (Medicago sativa), maize (Zea mays), and small grain crops in eastern South Dakota, the following species were consistently associated with the crops: Hippodamia convergens, H. tredecimpunctata tibialis, H. parenthesis, Coleomegilla maculata lengi, Coccinella transversoguttata richardsoni, Cycloneda munda, and Adalia bipunctata. All species except A. bipunctata were associated with each of the three crops, while A. bipunctata occurred only in maize. Relative abundances of each species varied among crops and among years. Although only seven species were associated with the crops, additional species were captured on sticky traps stationed adjacent to sampled fields. The species diversity of immature coccinellids did not differ among crops but did differ among years. The diversity of adults differed among crops and years. The site from which samples were taken had no influence on the diversity of immatures or adults. Species relative abundances in alfalfa and small grains were more similar to each other than they were to relative abundances in maize

A Descriptive Study of the Population Dynamics of Adult \u3ci\u3eDiabrotica Virgifera Virgifera\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Artificially Infested Corn Fields

The influence of corn plant phenology on the dynamics of adult western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, populations was studied during 1988 and 1989 in com fields artificially infested with eggs. Fifty percent of adult emergence from the soil occurred by day 194 in 1988 and day 203 in 1989. In both years, adult emergence was synchronized with corn flowering, eggs were recovered in soil samples approximately four days after reproductive females were first observed in the population, and oviposition was essentially complete about 25 days after it began. The number of reproductive female beetle-days accumulating per m2 was similar in both years. Approximately two times as many eggs were laid in 1988 (1239 eggs 1m2) as in 1989 (590 eggs 1m2). The difference in egg density may have been caused by differences among years in the temporal synchrony of reproductive beetles with flowering corn. Daily survival rates of adults were high while corn was flowering; exhibited a gradual decline during grain filling; and decreased rapidly during the grain drying stage

Models and Strategies for Variants of the Job Shop Scheduling Problem

Recently, a variety of constraint programming and Boolean satisfiability approaches to scheduling problems have been introduced. They have in common the use of relatively simple propagation mechanisms and an adaptive way to focus on the most constrained part of the problem. In some cases, these methods compare favorably to more classical constraint programming methods relying on propagation algorithms for global unary or cumulative resource constraints and dedicated search heuristics. In particular, we described an approach that combines restarting, with a generic adaptive heuristic and solution guided branching on a simple model based on a decomposition of disjunctive constraints. In this paper, we introduce an adaptation of this technique for an important subclass of job shop scheduling problems (JSPs), where the objective function involves minimization of earliness/tardiness costs. We further show that our technique can be improved by adding domain specific information for one variant of the JSP (involving time lag constraints). In particular we introduce a dedicated greedy heuristic, and an improved model for the case where the maximal time lag is 0 (also referred to as no-wait JSPs).Comment: Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming - CP 2011, Perugia : Italy (2011

Lattice Point Generating Functions and Symmetric Cones

We show that a recent identity of Beck-Gessel-Lee-Savage on the generating function of symmetrically contrained compositions of integers generalizes naturally to a family of convex polyhedral cones that are invariant under the action of a finite reflection group. We obtain general expressions for the multivariate generating functions of such cones, and work out the specific cases of a symmetry group of type A (previously known) and types B and D (new). We obtain several applications of the special cases in type B, including identities involving permutation statistics and lecture hall partitions.Comment: 19 page

Quantum trajectory phase transitions in the micromaser

We study the dynamics of the single atom maser, or micromaser, by means of the recently introduced method of thermodynamics of quantum jump trajectories. We find that the dynamics of the micromaser displays multiple space-time phase transitions, i.e., phase transitions in ensembles of quantum jump trajectories. This rich dynamical phase structure becomes apparent when trajectories are classified by dynamical observables that quantify dynamical activity, such as the number of atoms that have changed state while traversing the cavity. The space-time transitions can be either first-order or continuous, and are controlled not just by standard parameters of the micromaser but also by non-equilibrium "counting" fields. We discuss how the dynamical phase behavior relates to the better known stationary state properties of the micromaser.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Subsampling in Smoothed Range Spaces

We consider smoothed versions of geometric range spaces, so an element of the ground set (e.g. a point) can be contained in a range with a non-binary value in $[0,1]$. Similar notions have been considered for kernels; we extend them to more general types of ranges. We then consider approximations of these range spaces through $\varepsilon$-nets and $\varepsilon$-samples (aka $\varepsilon$-approximations). We characterize when size bounds for $\varepsilon$-samples on kernels can be extended to these more general smoothed range spaces. We also describe new generalizations for $\varepsilon$-nets to these range spaces and show when results from binary range spaces can carry over to these smoothed ones.Comment: This is the full version of the paper which appeared in ALT 2015. 16 pages, 3 figures. In Algorithmic Learning Theory, pp. 224-238. Springer International Publishing, 201

Pipeline network features and leak detection by cross-correlation analysis of reflected waves

This paper describes progress on a new technique to detect pipeline features and leaks using signal processing of a pressure wave measurement. Previous work (by the present authors) has shown that the analysis of pressure wave reflections in fluid pipe networks can be used to identify specific pipeline features such as open ends, closed ends, valves, junctions, and certain types of bends. It was demonstrated that by using an extension of cross-correlation analysis, the identification of features can be achieved using fewer sensors than are traditionally employed. The key to the effectiveness of the technique lies in the artificial generation of pressure waves using a solenoid valve, rather than relying upon natural sources of fluid excitation. This paper uses an enhanced signal processing technique to improve the detection of leaks. It is shown experimentally that features and leaks can be detected around a sharp bend and up to seven reflections from features/ leaks can be detected, by which time the wave has traveled over 95 m. The testing determined the position of a leak to within an accuracy of 5%, even when the location of the reflection from a leak is itself dispersed over a certain distance and, therefore, does not cause an exact reflection of the wave

Thermodynamic fluctuation relation for temperature and energy

The present work extends the well-known thermodynamic relation $C=\beta ^{2}< \delta {E^{2}}>$ for the canonical ensemble. We start from the general situation of the thermodynamic equilibrium between a large but finite system of interest and a generalized thermostat, which we define in the course of the paper. The resulting identity $=1+< \delta {E^{2}}> \partial ^{2}S(E) /\partial {E^{2}}$ can account for thermodynamic states with a negative heat capacity $C<0$; at the same time, it represents a thermodynamic fluctuation relation that imposes some restrictions on the determination of the microcanonical caloric curve $\beta (E) =\partial S(E) /\partial E$. Finally, we comment briefly on the implications of the present result for the development of new Monte Carlo methods and an apparent analogy with quantum mechanics.Comment: Version accepted for publication in J. Phys. A: Math and The

A Morphological and Multicolor Survey for Faint QSOs in the Groth-Westphal Strip

Quasars representative of the populous faint end of the luminosity function are frustratingly dim with m~24 at intermediate redshift; moreover groundbased surveys for such faint QSOs suffer substantial morphological contamination by compact galaxies having similar colors. In order to establish a more reliable ultrafaint QSO sample, we used the APO 3.5-m telescope to take deep groundbased U-band CCD images in fields previously imaged in V,I with WFPC2/HST. Our approach hence combines multicolor photometry with the 0.1" spatial resolution of HST, to establish a morphological and multicolor survey for QSOs extending about 2 magnitudes fainter than most extant groundbased surveys. We present results for the "Groth-Westphal Strip", in which we identify 10 high likelihood UV-excess candidates having stellar or stellar-nucleus+galaxy morphology in WFPC2. For m(606)<24.0 (roughly B<24.5) the surface density of such QSO candidates is 420 (+180,-130) per square degree, or a surface density of 290 (+160,-110) per square degree with an additional V-I cut that may further exclude compact emission line galaxies. Even pending confirming spectroscopy, the observed surface density of QSO candidates is already low enough to yield interesting comparisons: our measures agree extremely well with the predictions of several recent luminosity function models.Comment: 29 pages including 6 tables and 7 figures. As accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal (minor revisions