The Effect of Repeated Low Temperature on Eggs of the Alfalfa Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Three ages of alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal) eggs were exposed to repeated exposures of -15 and -20°C. Fresh-laid eggs were quite susceptible and 3- and 5day old eggs were relatively resistant to -15\u27C, but all ages of eggs showed considerable susceptibility to -20°C, with an average LT50 of 2.2 days. Comparison of this data with similar studies utilizing constant low temperature exposures showed the effect to be independent of temporal interruptions

NASTRAN as a resource in code development

A case history is presented in which the NASTRAN system provided both guidelines and working software for use in the development of a discrete element program, PATCHES-111. To avoid duplication and to take advantage of the wide spread user familiarity with NASTRAN, the PATCHES-111 system uses NASTRAN bulk data syntax, NASTRAN matrix utilities, and the NASTRAN linkage editor. Problems in developing the program are discussed along with details on the architecture of the PATCHES-111 parametric cubic modeling system. The system includes model construction procedures, checkpoint/restart strategies, and other features

An Alternative to Using Fresh Alfalfa for Culturing \u3ci\u3eColias Philodice Eurytheme\u3c/i\u3e Boisduval (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

Various artificial materials were implemented at each life stage of the alfalfa caterpillar, Colias philodice eurytheme Boisduval, to provide effective and economical replacements for alfalfa. Alfalfa substitutes were used for oviposition and feeding. We also developed a favorable laboratory mating environment. Also, the development of a method for removing disease organisms from eggs without increasing egg mortality was an essential facet of this work. The performance of individuals on artificial surfaces was compared with similar individuals reared on greenhouse alfalfa. Green tape oriented at the top of oviposition cages or near some object which could be held on to while ovipositing was the most successful surface. Egg yields on green tape were comparable to those on alfalfa. A dilute bleach wash followed by two water washes required little time, yet provided adequate disease control, and all larval instars thrived on artificial diet. Methods for handling pupae and new adults and the favorable mating environment reduced colony maintenance time yet sumival rates insured propagation of the colony

Scope of Liability under the Alien Tort Statute: The Relevance of Choice of Law Doctrine in the Aftermath of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum

Recently Judge José A. Cabranes, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, issued a decision that drastically undermined the efficacy of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). Writing for the majority in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., 621 F.3d 111 (2d Cir. 2010), Judge Cabranes ruled that corporate entities cannot be held liable under the ATS. This Comment will examine the choice-of-law aspect of that decision, and argue that Judge Cabranes erred in interpreting the ATS to mandate application of customary international law (CIL)

Cellular solid behaviour of liquid crystal colloids. 1. Phase separation and morphology

We study the phase ordering colloids suspended in a thermotropic nematic liquid crystal below the clearing point Tni and the resulting aggregated structure. Small (150nm) PMMA particles are dispersed in a classical liquid crystal matrix, 5CB or MBBA. With the help of confocal microscopy we show that small colloid particles densely aggregate on thin interfaces surrounding large volumes of clean nematic liquid, thus forming an open cellular structure, with the characteristic size of 10-100 micron inversely proportional to the colloid concentration. A simple theoretical model, based on the Landau mean-field treatment, is developed to describe the continuous phase separation and the mechanism of cellular structure formation.Comment: Latex 2e (EPJ style) EPS figures included (poor quality to comply with space limitations

Desegregation and Black Achievement: A Review of the Research

Holmen Paper is one of Sweden’s leading manufacturer of paper, with two Swedish production facilities located in Norrköping and Hallstavik. The European continent constitutes the company’s largest customer base which makes the company’s distribution system an integral part of the business. Historically, much of the produced paper has been transported by vessels, as vessels allow large volumes of goods and deliveries to markets which are difficult to reach with other modes of transportation. On the first of January 2015, a new EU directive enters into force which regulates the allowed fuels for vessel transports. This directive leads to an increase in cost for vessel transports due to more expensive fuels needing to be used to comply with the new rules. Therefore, Holmen Paper is interested in evaluating alternatives to the distribution system used today, focusing on the product flow between the Swedish production facilities. Thereof, the purpose of this study is to evaluate four predetermined scenarios regarding the distribution system from a capacity and cost perspective. The first scenario is based on the same distribution system Holmen Paper is using today, which does not include a product flow between the Swedish production facilities. The other three scenarios, in contrast to the first, do include a production flow between Hallstavik and Norrköping. For these scenarios a particular volume of the produced paper in Hallstavik will firstly be transported to Norrköping, then be placed in the warehouse of finished goods and lastly be loaded on new modes of transportation. For the second scenario, the production flow between Hallstavik and Norrköping is based on a combination between rail and road transports. The third scenario is based on only road transports and the last scenario is based on vessel transports between Hallstavik and Norrköping. To perform an evaluation of each scenario, the authors designed a study-specific course of action whose structure is based on four different steps. The first step was a mapping of the operations at the facilities’ warehouses for finished products. The second step was to use the mapping results to calculate the available capacity in the warehouses. The third step was an estimation of the capacity demand which would arise in each scenario, depending on the design of the product flow. The last step of the course of action is to calculate the cost for providing the necessary capacities which was calculated in the previous step. The costs were based on three theoretically chosen logistic costs, called warehousing cost, inventory cost and transportation cost. After a total of 16 days of time measuring at the production facilities, the authors were able to combine the measurement results with the 2015 projected production volumes and for each scenario calculate a capacity need along with the associated costs. The first scenario meant a capacity need below the available capacity and the lowest yearly cost in a comparison with the other scenarios. The calculations for the second scenario also resulted in a capacity need below the available capacity along with the highest yearly cost. The third scenario’s capacity need exceeded the available capacity. This was regarding loading docks and forklift trucks for lorry loading in Hallstavik, as well as personnel in Norrköping. The costs needed to manage this scenario, which meant an increase in personnel in Norrköping, reached the second highest yearly cost. The calculated capacity need for the fourth scenario was below the current available capacity. The cost for this scenario was calculated as the second lowest. To validate the result, the authors performed sensitivity analyzes where the effects of some of the assumptions and simplifications which has been made to produce the result were tested. The sensitivity analyzes showed that some of the assumptions affected the end result but the authors still deem that the relationship regarding capacity need between the scenarios show a representative image of reality

Seeking meaning: Examining a cross-situational solution to learn action verbs using human simulation paradigm

To acquire the meaning of a verb, language learners not only need to find the correct mapping between a specific verb and an action or event in the world, but also infer the underlying relational meaning that the verb encodes. Most verb naming instances in naturalistic contexts are highly ambiguous as many possible actions can be embedded in the same scenario and many possible verbs can be used to describe those actions. To understand whether learners can find the correct verb meaning from referentially ambiguous learning situations, we conducted three experiments using the Human Simulation Paradigm with adult learners. Our results suggest that although finding the right verb meaning from one learning instance is hard, there is a statistical solution to this problem. When provided with multiple verb learning instances all referring to the same verb, learners are able to aggregate information across situations and gradually converge to the correct semantic space. Even in cases where they may not guess the exact target verb, they can still discover the right meaning by guessing a similar verb that is semantically close to the ground truth