5,367 research outputs found
Mating Frequency of European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas
The frequency of mating and polyandry in natural populations are important parameters for understanding evolutionary dynamics. Mating frequency among natural populations of Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) [Lepidoptera: Crambidae] are quite variable. Showers et al. (1974) found 91.1, 73.8, and 71.3% of females had mated during the second flight over 1971-3 at one location in Iowa. During 1971, only 10% mated multiple times, with lower levels of polyandry in subsequent years. In an earlier study in Iowa, Pesho (1961) found that 65-100 % of females had mated and up to 43% had mated more than once. A population in southwestern Ontario averaged 73% mating and 37% polyandry for the 5-year period from 1971-5, a higher rate of polyandry than during the same period in Iowa (Elliot, 1977). In this note, we amplify these previously published results by reporting the mating status of female O. nubilalis captured in light traps in Minnesota, Kansas and Texas. We also provide evidence that some females in natural populations may be sperm-limited
A Monte Carlo Template based analysis for Air-Cherenkov Arrays
We present a high-performance event reconstruction algorithm: an Image
Pixel-wise fit for Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (ImPACT). The
reconstruction algorithm is based around the likelihood fitting of camera pixel
amplitudes to an expected image template. A maximum likelihood fit is performed
to find the best-fit shower parameters. A related reconstruction algorithm has
already been shown to provide significant improvements over traditional
reconstruction for both the CAT and H.E.S.S. experiments. We demonstrate a
significant improvement to the template generation step of the procedure, by
the use of a full Monte Carlo air shower simulation in combination with a
ray-tracing optics simulation to more accurately model the expected camera
images. This reconstruction step is combined with an MVA-based background
rejection.
Examples are shown of the performance of the ImPACT analysis on both
simulated and measured (from a strong VHE source) gamma-ray data from the
H.E.S.S. array, demonstrating an improvement in sensitivity of more than a
factor two in observation time over traditional image moments-fitting methods,
with comparable performance to previous likelihood fitting analyses. ImPACT is
a particularly promising approach for future large arrays such as the Cherenkov
Telescope Array (CTA) due to its improved high-energy performance and
suitability for arrays of mixed telescope types.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure
Adaptation of time line analysis program to single pilot instrument flight research
A data base was developed for SPIFR operation and the program was run. The outputs indicated that further work was necessary on the workload models. In particular, the workload model for the cognitive channel should be modified as the output workload appears to be too small. Included in the needed refinements are models to show the workload when in turbulence, when overshooting a radial or glideslope, and when copying air traffic control clearances
Gamma-ray emission associated with Cluster-scale AGN Outbursts
Recent observations have revealed the existence of enormously energetic
~10^61 erg AGN outbursts in three relatively distant galaxy clusters. These
outbursts have produced bubbles in the intra-cluster medium, apparently
supported by pressure from relativistic particles and/or magnetic fields. Here
we argue that if > GeV particles are responsible then these particles are very
likely protons and nuclei, rather than electrons, and that the gamma-ray
emission from these objects, arising from the interactions of these hadrons in
the intra-cluster medium, may be marginally detectable with instruments such as
GLAST and HESS.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted by MNRA
The GeV-TeV Connection in Galactic gamma-ray sources
Recent observations with atmospheric Cherenkov telescope systems such as
H.E.S.S. and MAGIC have revealed a large number of new sources of
very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-rays from 100 GeV - 100 TeV, mostly concentrated
along the Galactic plane. At lower energies (100 MeV - 10 GeV) the
satellite-based instrument EGRET revealed a population of sources clustering
along the Galactic Plane. Given their adjacent energy bands a systematic
correlation study between the two source catalogues seems appropriate. Here,
the populations of Galactic sources in both energy domains are characterised on
observational as well as on phenomenological grounds. Surprisingly few common
sources are found in terms of positional coincidence and spectral consistency.
These common sources and their potential counterparts and emission mechanisms
will be discussed in detail. In cases of detection only in one energy band, for
the first time consistent upper limits in the other energy band have been
derived. The EGRET upper limits are rather unconstraining due to the
sensitivity mismatch to current VHE instruments. The VHE upper limits put
strong constraints on simple power-law extrapolation of several of the EGRET
spectra and thus strongly suggest cutoffs in the unexplored energy range from
10 GeV - 100 GeV. Physical reasons for the existence of cutoffs and for
differences in the source population at GeV and TeV energies will be discussed.
Finally, predictions will be derived for common GeV - TeV sources for the
upcoming GLAST mission bridging for the first time the energy gap between
current GeV and TeV instruments.Comment: (1) Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC),
Stanford, USA (2) Stanford University, W.W. Hansen Experimental Physics Lab
(HEPL) and KIPAC, Stanford, USA (3) ICREA & Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai
(IEEC-CSIC) Campus UAB, Fac. de Ciencies, Barcelona, Spain. (4) School of
Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, UK. Paper Submitted to Ap
Attitude determination of the spin-stabilized Project Scanner spacecraft
Attitude determination of spin-stabilized spacecraft using star mapping techniqu
The background from single electromagnetic subcascades for a stereo system of air Cherenkov telescopes
The MAGIC experiment, a very large Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescope (IACT)
with sensitivity to low energy (E < 100 GeV) VHE gamma rays, has been operated
since 2004. It has been found that the gamma/hadron separation in IACTs becomes
much more difficult below 100 GeV [Albert et al 2008] A system of two large
telescopes may eventually be triggered by hadronic events containing Cherenkov
light from only one electromagnetic subcascade or two gamma subcascades, which
are products of the single pi^0 decay. This is a possible reason for the
deterioration of the experiment's sensitivity below 100 GeV. In this paper a
system of two MAGIC telescopes working in stereoscopic mode is studied using
Monte Carlo simulations. The detected images have similar shapes to that of
primary gamma-rays and they have small sizes (mainly below 400 photoelectrons
(p.e.)) which correspond to an energy of primary gamma-rays below 100 GeV. The
background from single or two electromagnetic subcascdes is concentrated at
energies below 200 GeV. Finally the number of background events is compared to
the number of VHE gamma-ray excess events from the Crab Nebula. The
investigated background survives simple cuts for sizes below 250 p.e. and thus
the experiment's sensitivity deteriorates at lower energies.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, published in Journ.of Phys.
Decaying dark matter: a stacking analysis of galaxy clusters to improve on current limits
We show that a stacking approach to galaxy clusters can improve current
limits on decaying dark matter by a factor , with respect to a
single source analysis, for all-sky instruments such as Fermi-LAT. Based on the
largest sample of X-ray-selected galaxy clusters available to date (the MCXC
meta-catalogue), we provide all the astrophysical information, in particular
the astrophysical term for decaying dark matter, required to perform an
analysis with current instruments.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, supplementary file available on demand, accepted
for publication in PR
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