2,266 research outputs found
First Report of the Alfalfa Blotch Leafminer (Diptera: Agromyzidae), and Selected Parasites (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA
Alfalfa blotch leafminer, Agromyza frontella, has been a serious pest of alfalfa, Medicago sativa, in the northeastern U.S. and in eastern Ontario, Canada. Until recently, the western edge of the A. frontella distribution in the U.S. was limited to eastern Ohio. We document for the first time, the occurrence of A. frontella in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Alfalfa stems damaged by A. frontella, based on adult feeding punctures, obvious blotched leafmining or the presence of larvae, were first found in 3 northern Minnesota counÂties during October, 1994. Infested counties included Lake of the Woods, Cook and Lake, all bordering western Ontario, Canada. In 1995, A. frontella was again found in Cook and Lake counties, where 99-100% of the stems, and 18-35% of the trifoliates/stem, contained larvae or exhibited obvious feeding damage. In 1996, following a more expanded survey, a total of 11 and 5 counties, in Minnesota and Wisconsin, respectively, showed some level of A. frontella feeding damage (stem samples ranged from \u3c5 to 100% infested). Based on additional counties surveyed 11 October, 1996, where A. frontella was not found, we now have a reasonable estimate of the southern edge of the distribution in Minnesota and Wisconsin. A total of 2 and 6 A. frontella adults were identified from sweep-net samples taken from fields with obvious feeding damage during 1995 (Lake Co.) and 1996 (Cook Co,), respectively. Three eulophid (Hymenoptera) parasites were reared from A. frontella-infested alfalfa stems collected during October, 1994 in Cook Co., Minn., including: Diglyphus begini, D. pulchripes, and Diglyphus sp., prob. isaea, all of which are new records. Our hypothesis is that A. frontella moved into Minnesota from Ontario Canada, via alfalfa hay purchased by northern Minnesota growers
Space tug propulsion system failure mode, effects and criticality analysis
For purposes of the study, the propulsion system was considered as consisting of the following: (1) main engine system, (2) auxiliary propulsion system, (3) pneumatic system, (4) hydrogen feed, fill, drain and vent system, (5) oxygen feed, fill, drain and vent system, and (6) helium reentry purge system. Each component was critically examined to identify possible failure modes and the subsequent effect on mission success. Each space tug mission consists of three phases: launch to separation from shuttle, separation to redocking, and redocking to landing. The analysis considered the results of failure of a component during each phase of the mission. After the failure modes of each component were tabulated, those components whose failure would result in possible or certain loss of mission or inability to return the Tug to ground were identified as critical components and a criticality number determined for each. The criticality number of a component denotes the number of mission failures in one million missions due to the loss of that component. A total of 68 components were identified as critical with criticality numbers ranging from 1 to 2990
Angular dependence of domain wall resistivity in artificial magnetic domain structures
We exploit the ability to precisely control the magnetic domain structure of
perpendicularly magnetized Pt/Co/Pt trilayers to fabricate artificial domain
wall arrays and study their transport properties. The scaling behaviour of this
model system confirms the intrinsic domain wall origin of the
magnetoresistance, and systematic studies using domains patterned at various
angles to the current flow are excellently described by an angular-dependent
resistivity tensor containing perpendicular and parallel domain wall
resistivities. We find that the latter are fully consistent with Levy-Zhang
theory, which allows us to estimate the ratio of minority to majority spin
carrier resistivities, rho-down/rho-up~5.5, in good agreement with thin film
band structure calculations.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
Phosphorus management for soybeans in Manitoba
Non-Peer ReviewedVery little research has been conducted to determine the best rate, source, placement, and timing of P fertilizer for modern soybean cultivars grown in the Canadian Prairies. In 2013 and 2014, 18 sites were established in Manitoba to measure the effect of different rates of monoammonium phosphate (0, 20, 40 and 80 lb P2O5/ac) and different fertilizer placements (seed-placed, broadcast, side-banded or mid-row banded) on soybean plant stand and seed yield. Stand reduction was rare and did not occur at typical agronomic rates of 20-40 lb P2O5/ac. However, at 80 lb P2O5/ac, stand reductions occurred at 4 sites, most frequently in medium to coarse textured soils or when wide row spacing and low seed bed utilization increased fertilizer concentration in the seed row. Nevertheless, seed yield was reduced below that of the unfertilized treatment at only 2 of the 4 site-years where there was a stand reduction. In both cases where seed yield was reduced, the high rate of seedrow P reduced the stand to less than 100,000 plants/acre, the traditional replant threshold for soybean. Phosphorus fertilization regardless of soil P level, P rate and P placement did not increase biomass or seed yield at any of the 18 site years. Even in soils with very low soil P levels (as low as 3 ppm Olsen P) soybeans were able to explore the soil in order to take up enough P to produce high yields without responding to P fertilizer rate and placement
Feeding site selection by woodland caribou in north-central British Columbia
We examined the foraging habits of the northern woodland caribou ecotype {Rangifer tarandus caribou) at the scale of the individual feeding site. Field data were collected in north-central British Columbia over two winters (Dec 1996-Apr 1998). We trailed caribou and measured vegetation characteristics (species composition and percent cover), snow conditions (depth, density, and hardness), and canopy closure at terrestrial and arboreal feeding sites, and at random sites where feeding had not occurred. Logistic regression was used to determine the attributes of feeding sites that were important to predicting fine scale habitat selection in forested and alpine areas. In the forest, caribou selected feeding sites that had a greater percent cover of Cladina mitis and Cladonia spp, lower snow depths, and a lower percentage of debris and moss. Biomass of Bryoria spp. at the 1-2 m stratum above the snow significantly contributed to predicting what trees caribou chose as arboreal feeding sites. In the alpine, caribou selected feeding sites with a greater percent cover of Cladina mitis, Cladina rangiferina, Cetraria cucullata, Cetraria nivalis, Thamnolia spp., and Stereocaulon alpinum as well as lower snow depths
Cosmic No Hair for Collapsing Universes
It is shown that all contracting, spatially homogeneous, orthogonal Bianchi
cosmologies that are sourced by an ultra-stiff fluid with an arbitrary and, in
general, varying equation of state asymptote to the spatially flat and
isotropic universe in the neighbourhood of the big crunch singularity. This
result is employed to investigate the asymptotic dynamics of a collapsing
Bianchi type IX universe sourced by a scalar field rolling down a steep,
negative exponential potential. A toroidally compactified version of M*-theory
that leads to such a potential is discussed and it is shown that the isotropic
attractor solution for a collapsing Bianchi type IX universe is supersymmetric
when interpreted in an eleven-dimensional context.Comment: Extended discussion to include Kantowski-Sachs universe. In press,
Classical and Quantum Gravit
Finding the Center of Mass of a Soft Spring
This article shows how to use calculus to find the center of mass position of
a soft cylindrical helical spring that is suspended vertically. The spring is
non-uniformly stretched by the action of gravity. A general expression for the
vertical position of the center of mass is obtained.Comment: LaTeX, 7 pages, 2 figures. Minor changes to agree with published
versio
Electrochemical Benzylic C(sp3)−H Acyloxylation
[Image: see text] The development of sustainable C(sp(3))–H functionalization methods is of great interest to the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. Anodic oxidation is an efficient means of producing benzylic cations that can undergo subsequent in situ nucleophilic attack to afford functionalized benzylic products. Herein, we demonstrate the suitability of carboxylic acids as nucleophiles to yield benzylic esters. This method employs a series of secondary benzylic substrates and functionalized carboxylic acids and is demonstrated on a gram scale in flow
Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in YBa_2Cu_4O_8
We report the observation of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the underdoped
cuprate superconductor YBaCuO (Y124). For field aligned along the
c-axis, the frequency of the oscillations is T, which corresponds
to % of the total area of the first Brillouin zone. The effective
mass of the quasiparticles on this orbit is measured to be times
the free electron mass. Both the frequency and mass are comparable to those
recently observed for ortho-II YBaCuO (Y123-II). We show that
although small Fermi surface pockets may be expected from band structure
calculations in Y123-II, no such pockets are predicted for Y124. Our results
therefore imply that these small pockets are a generic feature of the copper
oxide plane in underdoped cuprates.Comment: v2: Version of paper accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letters. Only minor changes to the text and reference
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