Positive Analysis of Invasive Species Control as a Dynamic Spatial Process

This paper models control of invasive buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare), a fire-prone African bunchgrass spreading rapidly across the southern Arizona desert as a spatial dynamic process. Buffelgrass spreads over a gridded landscape. Weed carrying capacity, treatment costs, and damages vary over grid cells. Damage from buffelgrass depends on its spatial distribution in relation to valued resources. We conduct positive analysis of recommended heuristic strategies for buffelgrass control, evaluating their ability to prevent weed establishment and to reduce damage indices over time. The high dimensionality of the problem makes full dynamic optimization intractable. However, two heuristic strategies – potential damage weighting and consecutive year treatment – perform well in terms of percent damage reduction relative to no treatment and to static optimization. Results also suggest specific recommendations for deployment of rapid rapid-response teams to prevent invasions in new areas. The long-run population size and spatial distribution of buffelgrass is sensitive to priority weights for protection of different resources. Land managers with different priorities may pursue quite different control strategies, which may pose a challenge for coordinating control across jurisdictions.invasive species, integer programming, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q57, Q58,

Wide range optical studies on transparent SWNT films

We present transmission spectra from the far infrared through the ultraviolet region on freestanding SWNT films at temperatures between 40 and 300 K. Several interesting features are observed in the low-frequency part of the spectrum: the Drude-like frequency dependence of the metallic tubes as well as a (sample-dependent) peak in the conductivity around 0.01 eV. We also studied the accidental nitrate doping of the SWNT samples during purification by nitric acid. Asprepared purified samples exhibit increased metallic absorption and decreased interband transitions; these features disappear on heating in vacuum

Submicron plasticity: yield stress, dislocation avalanches, and velocity distribution

The existence of a well defined yield stress, where a macroscopic piece of crystal begins to plastically flow, has been one of the basic observations of materials science. In contrast to macroscopic samples, in micro- and nanocrystals the strain accumulates in distinct, unpredictable bursts, which makes controlled plastic forming rather difficult. Here we study by simulation, in two and three dimensions, plastic deformation of submicron objects under increasing stress. We show that, while the stress-strain relation of individual samples exhibits jumps, its average and mean deviation still specify a well-defined critical stress, which we identify with the jamming-flowing transition. The statistical background of this phenomenon is analyzed through the velocity distribution of short dislocation segments, revealing a universal cubic decay and an appearance of a shoulder due to dislocation avalanches. Our results can help to understand the jamming-flowing transition exhibited by a series of various physical systems.Comment: 5 page

Universal Pion Freeze-out Phase-Space Density

Results on the pion freeze-out phase-space density in sulphur-nucleus, Pb-Pb and pion-proton collisions at CERN-SPS are presented. All heavy-ion reactions are consistent with the thermal Bose-Einstein distrtibution f=1/(exp(E/T)-1) at T~120 MeV, modified for expansion. Pion-proton data are also consistent with f, but at T~180 MeV.Comment: 1 page, 1 figure; 98' report for GSI-Darmstad

Nonequilibrium phase transition in a driven Potts model with friction

We consider magnetic friction between two systems of $q$-state Potts spins which are moving along their boundaries with a relative constant velocity $v$. Due to the interaction between the surface spins there is a permanent energy flow and the system is in a steady state which is far from equilibrium. The problem is treated analytically in the limit $v=\infty$ (in one dimension, as well as in two dimensions for large-$q$ values) and for $v$ and $q$ finite by Monte Carlo simulations in two dimensions. Exotic nonequilibrium phase transitions take place, the properties of which depend on the type of phase transition in equilibrium. When this latter transition is of first order, a sequence of second- and first-order nonequilibrium transitions can be observed when the interaction is varied.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, one journal reference adde

Estimation of regional differences in wind erosion sensitivity in Hungary

In Hungary, wind erosion is one of the most serious natural hazards. Spatial and temporal variation in the factors that determine the location and intensity of wind erosion damage are not well known, nor are the regional and local sensitivities to erosion. Because of methodological challenges, no multi-factor, regional wind erosion sensitivity map is available for Hungary. The aim of this study was to develop a method to estimate the regional differences in wind erosion sensitivity and exposure in Hungary. Wind erosion sensitivity was modelled using the key factors of soil sensitivity, vegetation cover and wind erodibility as proxies. These factors were first estimated separately by factor sensitivity maps and later combined by fuzzy logic into a regional-scale wind erosion sensitivity map. Large areas were evaluated by using publicly available data sets of remotely sensed vegetation information, soil maps and meteorological data on wind speed. The resulting estimates were verified by field studies and examining the economic losses from wind erosion as compensated by the state insurance company. The spatial resolution of the resulting sensitivity map is suitable for regional applications, as identifying sensitive areas is the foundation for diverse land development control measures and implementing management activities