Gravity enhanced acoustic levitation method and apparatus

An acoustic levitation system is provided for acoustically levitating an object by applying a single frequency from a transducer into a resonant chamber surrounding the object. The chamber includes a stabilizer location along its height, where the side walls of the chamber are angled so they converge in an upward direction. When an acoustic standing wave pattern is applied between the top and bottom of the chamber, a levitation surface within the stabilizer does not lie on a horizontal plane, but instead is curved with a lowermost portion near the vertical axis of the chamber. As a result, an acoustically levitated object is urged by gravity towards the lowermost location on the levitation surface, so the object is kept away from the side walls of the chamber

The Integrated Sachs-Wolfe Signal from BOSS Super-Structures

Cosmic structures leave an imprint on the microwave background radiation through the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect. We construct a template map of the linear signal using the SDSS-III Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Survey at redshift 0.43 < z < 0.65. We verify the imprint of this map on the Planck CMB temperature map at the 97% confidence level and show consistency with the density-temperature cross-correlation measurement. Using this ISW reconstruction as a template we investigate the presence of ISW sources and further examine the properties of the Granett-Neyrinck-Szapudi supervoid and supercluster catalogue. We characterise the three-dimensional density profiles of these structures for the first time and demonstrate that they are significant structures. Model fits demonstrate that the supervoids are elongated along the line-of-sight and we suggest that this special orientation may be picked out by the void-finding algorithm in photometric redshift space. We measure the mean temperature profiles in Planck maps from public void and cluster catalogues. In an attempt to maximise the stacked ISW signal we construct a new catalogue of super-structures based upon local peaks and troughs of the gravitational potential. However, we do not find a significant correlation between these structures and the CMB temperature.Comment: Updated to match journal articl

Populations of grape phylloxera gallicoles on rootstock foliage in Hungary

Populations of gallicole grape phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae FITCH) were monitored in Keszthely, Hungary from June through October 1998 on foliage of the Vitis berlandieri PLANCH. x V. riparia MICHX. rootstock cultivar Teleki 5 C. Though population size peaked in August, leaves from June through September were equally supportive of gallicole development and egg production. Demography varied with leaf position on shoots with the leaf in the terminal position having the most immature populations. Leaves 5 through 7 from the shoot terminal had highest population densities and the highest egg production. Population densities correlated with gall densities. Populations on the rootstock cultivar Rupestris du Lot and Vitis amurensis RUPR. were low but populations were high on the rootstock cultivars 101-14 MGT, T. K. 5 BB and Fercal. However, magnitude of phylloxera eggs/ adult on cultivars tested was not numerically distinguishable. High phylloxera population numbers were correlated with decreased vine productivity as measured by shoot growth

TB95: The Black Flies of Maine

Black flies have been long-time residents of Maine and cause extensive nuisance problems for people, domestic animals, and wildlife. The black fly problem has no simple solution because of the multitude of species present, the diverse and ecologically sensitive habitats in which they are found, and the problems inherent in measuring the extent of the damage they cause. To improve the understanding of the nature of the black fly problem, an inventory of black fly species and habitats was made throughout the state. Previous black fly surveys in Maine have been geographically limited. In the present survey, black flies were collected extensively throughout the state from 1976 through 1978. Presented here is an annotated list of species found, records of black fly species swarming around humans or biting humans, and the succession of species in selected streams and rivers.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1102/thumbnail.jp

Fungal infections of grapevine roots in phylloxera-infested vineyards

Wounds caused by feeding of grape phylloxera on grape roots can become infected with a variety of fungi. Fusarium roseum, F. oxysporum and Pythium ultimum are important in Vitis vinifera Chardonnay wounds whereas F. oxysporum and Cephalosporium sp. are important for the moderately tolerant rootstock AXR#1. Proportion of root lengths infected in the phloem parenchyma were measured in two vineyards through the 1996 growing season and into the winter. Infection rates were highest in spring (as measured in May) but decreased to a low level by the end of summer. There was a second infection peak in fall. We suggest that the decline in fungal infections was due to death of highly infected roots and their removal from the sampled pool of roots. Loss of roots is a logical cause of vine decline and explains why there have been poor correlations between phylloxera populations and vine damage symptoms

Effects of fungal root infection on the vigor of grapevines infested by root-feeding grape phylloxera

The role of fungal pathogens in damage of grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.; cv. Chardonnay) associated with grape phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae FITCH) was investigated. Seven different genera of secondary fungi were isolated from surface-disinfected feeding sites of phylloxera but none from surface-disinfected root tissues undamaged by phylloxera. Damage in vines infested with phylloxera and infected with Fusarium solani (MART.) or with F. solani and Pythium ultimum TROW. was significantly greater than damage in vines infested with phylloxera only. In a greenhouse experiment, total biomass was reduced by 16% in vines infested with phylloxera and 24 to 29% in vines infested with phylloxera and infected with fungus in comparison with control vines. Chlorophyll content, average internode length, shoot biomass, and root biomass in the uninfested, uninfected vines were significantly greater than vines infested with phylloxera or vines infested with phylloxera and infected with F. solani or P. ultimum, or both. Preventative treatment with metalaxyl, benomyl or copper quinolinolate fungicides significantly decreased damage in phylloxera-infested vines in comparison with untreated vines. The implications of this research with respect to management of grape phylloxera are discussed

Population dynamics of grape phylloxera in California vineyards

Field monitoring was conducted to investigate population growth of grape phylloxera, Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (Fitch), in commercial grapevines in California. Phylloxera populations started from very low densities each spring, they increased exponentially and peaked during mid-summer, and then declined from mid-to late-summer. A second population peak was observed in the fall. Populations increased and declined simultaneously across all age classes. Egg populations were highest, followed by 1st and 2nd and then 3rd and 4th instars; adult populations were the lowest. The distribution of age classes as a proportion of the total population indicated a higher intrinsic rate of increase in field vines in spring and early summer than was observed in the laboratory. Densities of phylloxera on tuberosities were highest during the summer and coincided with the population maximum. Densities of phylloxera on nodosities were highest in early spring and in the fall and coincided with periods of root flush. Evaluation of the relationship of soil temperatures to developing phylloxera suggested that decline of phylloxera populations in mid-and late-summer cannot be attributed to temperatures below a developmental threshold. Decreased root quality or quantity and mortality factors may explain this decline. Phylloxera overwintered as 1st or 2nd instars. Analysis of spatial distribution of phylloxera using Taylor's power law and Iwao's patchiness regression indicated that phylloxera populations are aggregated. The significance of this research with respect to phylloxera management is discussed

Improved correction of VIPERS angular selection effects in clustering measurements

AbstractClustering estimates in galaxy redshift surveys need to account and correct for the way targets are selected from the general population, as to avoid biasing the measured values of cosmological parameters. The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS) is no exception to this, involving slit collisions and masking effects. Pushed by the increasing precision of the measurements, e.g. of the growth rate f, we have been re-assessing these effects in detail. We present here an improved correction for the two-point correlation function, capable to recover the amplitude of the monopole of the two-point correlation function ξ(r) above 1 h-1 Mpc to better than 2

Exploring the Time Domain With Synoptic Sky Surveys

Synoptic sky surveys are becoming the largest data generators in astronomy, and they are opening a new research frontier, that touches essentially every field of astronomy. Opening of the time domain to a systematic exploration will strengthen our understanding of a number of interesting known phenomena, and may lead to the discoveries of as yet unknown ones. We describe some lessons learned over the past decade, and offer some ideas that may guide strategic considerations in planning and execution of the future synoptic sky surveys.Comment: Invited talk, to appear in proc. IAU SYmp. 285, "New Horizons in Time Domain Astronomy", eds. E. Griffin et al., Cambridge Univ. Press (2012). Latex file, 6 pages, style files include

Attractancy of Racemic Disparlure and Certain Analogues to Male Gypsy Moths and the Effect of Trap Placement

Traps hung on small trees of 3-8 cm diam and baited with racemic epoxides, hydrocarbons and other analogues related to racemic cis-7,8-epoxy-2-methyloctadecane (disparlure) resulted in male Lymantria dispar L. (gypsy moth) catches statistically indistinguishable from those of unbaited traps. Only (±)-disparlure yielded trap catches statistically above the level of unbaited traps. However, trap placement on trees of ca. 0.5 m diam produced appreciable trap catches, even in unbaited trap