Missouri\u27s Feral Hog Task Force: Addressing Increasing Feral Swine Populations

Feral hog (Sus scrofa) populations are expanding in size and distribution in Missouri and other parts of the United States. Increases of this invasive species are a serious concern because of the damage they cause and diseases they carry. Affected stakeholders in Missouri formed a task force in 1998 with sixteen member agencies and organizations to develop a program for the control/eradication of feral hogs in the state. The task force identified three objectives with appropriate supporting strategies to help achieve the ultimate goal: protection of Missouri \u27s public health, agricultural economy, and natural resources through eradication of feral swine in Missouri. The task force has been an essential vehicle in working toward these objectives during a time when member agencies and organizations are tight on funding. The collaboration has accomplished several tasks that could not have been implemented by any single participant. This paper presents the successes and shortcomings of Missouri\u27s efforts and provides recommendations to other states that may implement feral hog control

On the calibration of the relation between geometric albedo and polarimetric properties for the asteroids

We present a new extensive analysis of the old problem of finding a satisfactory calibration of the relation between the geometric albedo and some measurable polarization properties of the asteroids. To achieve our goals, we use all polarimetric data at our disposal. For the purposes of calibration, we use a limited sample of objects for which we can be confident to know the albedo with good accuracy, according to previous investigations of other authors. We find a new set of updated calibration coefficients for the classical slope - albedo relation, but we generalize our analysis and we consider also alternative possibilities, including the use of other polarimetric parameters, one being proposed here for the first time, and the possibility to exclude from best-fit analyzes the asteroids having low albedos. We also consider a possible parabolic fit of the whole set of data.Comment: Accepted by MNRA

The first confirmation of V-type asteroids among the Mars crosser population

The Mars crossing region constitutes a path to deliver asteroids from the Inner Main Belt to the Earth crossing space. While both the Inner Main Belt and the population of Earth crossing asteroids contains a significant fraction of asteroids belonging to the V taxonomic class, only two of such V-type asteroids has been detected in the Mars crossing region up to now. In this work, we searched for asteroids belonging to the V class among the population of Mars crossing asteroids, in order to support alternative paths to the delivery of this bodies into the Earth crossing region. We selected 18 candidate V-type asteroids in the Mars crossing region using observations contained in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Objects Catalog. Then, we observed 4 of these candidates to take their visible spectra using the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR). We also performed the numerical simulation of the orbital evolution of the observed asteroids. We confirmed that 3 of the observed asteroids belong to the V class, and one of these may follow a path that drives it to an Earth collision in some tens of million years

Thorium Energy Futures

The potential for thorium as an alternative or supplement to uranium in fission power generation has long been recognised, and several reactors, of various types, have already operated using thorium-based fuels. Accelerator Driven Subcritical (ADS) systems have benefits and drawbacks when compared to conventional critical thorium reactors, for both solid and molten salt fuels. None of the four options – liquid or solid, with or without an accelerator – can yet be rated as better or worse than the other three, given today's knowledge. We outline the research that will be necessary to lead to an informed choice

Buckling mediated by mobile localized elastic excitations

Experiments reveal that structural transitions in thin sheets are mediated by the passage of transient and stable mobile localized elastic excitations. These ``crumples'' or ``d-cones'' nucleate, propagate, interact, annihilate, and escape. Much of the dynamics occurs on millisecond time scales. Nucleation sites correspond to regions where generators of the ideal unstretched surface converge. Additional stable intermediate states illustrate two forms of quasistatic inter-crumple interaction through ridges or valleys. These interactions create pairs from which extended patterns may be constructed in larger specimens. The onset of localized transient deformation with increasing sheet size is correlated with a characteristic stable crumple size, whose measured scaling with thickness is consistent with prior theory and experiment for localized elastic features in thin sheets. We offer a new theoretical justification of this scaling.Comment: contains link to video

Puzzling asteroid 21 Lutetia: our knowledge prior to the Rosetta fly-by

A wide observational campaign was carried out in 2004-2009 aimed to complete the ground-based investigation of Lutetia prior to the Rosetta fly-by in July 2010. We have obtained BVRI photometric and V-band polarimetric measurements over a wide range of phase angles, and visible and infrared spectra in the 0.4-2.4 micron range. We analyzed them together with previously published data to retrieve information on Lutetia's surface properties. Values of lightcurve amplitudes, absolute magnitude, opposition effect, phase coefficient and BVRI colors of Lutetia surface seen at near pole-on aspect have been determined. We defined more precisely parameters of polarization phase curve and showed their distinct deviation from any other moderate-albedo asteroid. An indication of possible variations both in polarization and spectral data across the asteroid surface was found. To explain features found by different techniques we propose that (i) Lutetia has a non-convex shape, probably due to the presence of a large crater, and heterogeneous surface properties probably related to surface morphology; (ii) at least part of the surface is covered by a fine-grained regolith with particle size less than 20 microns; (iii) the closest meteorite analogues of Lutetia's surface composition are particular types of carbonaceous chondrites or Lutetia has specific surface composition not representative among studied meteorites

Water quality in the Wingecarribee Shire, NSW

This paper reports on a water quality monitoring program carried out for Wingecarribee Shire Council between March 2002 and July 2004 by University of Wollongong staff and students. Initially 40 sites were sampled on four occasions over three months in a pilot program leading to the selection of sites and parameters for a two year program of monthly monitoring. A range of chemical, physical and biological parameters was measured including nutrients and faecal coliform bacteria on samples collected over the 26 approximately monthly sampling trips. Chlorophyll a, phaeophyton and blue-green algae were also determined over a shorter period. The sampling period included the particularly hot and dry spell September 2002 - January 2003 and a return to less extreme conditions after February 2003. The range of nutrient and coliform data is reported with discussion of the effects of rainfall patterns on nutrients and on faecal coliform counts at the various sites. Small creek sites showed significant changes to nutrient regimes in the long dry spell, whereas the same effect was not apparent in larger river sites. Very wide ranges of faecal coliform counts were found, especially at small creek sites in farmland. Excepting extreme results, generally elevated coliform counts were found when rainfall occurred 0-3 days immediately prior to sampling. Generally lower counts were found in drier weather. The Shire has already implemented some measures to improve water quality in response to this program

Taxonomy of asteroid families among the Jupiter Trojans: Comparison between spectroscopic data and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey colors

We present a comparative analysis of the spectral slope and color distributions of Jupiter Trojans, with particular attention to asteroid families. We use a sample of data from the Moving Object Catalogue of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, together with spectra obtained from several surveys. A first sample of 349 observations, corresponding to 250 Trojan asteroids, were extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and we also extracted from the literature a second sample of 91 spectra, corresponding to 71 Trojans. The spectral slopes were computed by means of a least-squares fit to a straight line of the fluxes obtained from the Sloan observations in the first sample, and of the rebinned spectra in the second sample. In both cases the reflectance fluxes/spectra were renormalized to 1 at 6230 $\textrm{\AA}$. We found that the distribution of spectral slopes among Trojan asteroids shows a bimodality. About 2/3 of the objects have reddish slopes compatible with D-type asteroids, while the remaining bodies show less reddish colors compatible with the P-type and C-type classifications. The members of asteroid families also show a bimodal distribution with a very slight predominance of D-type asteroids, but the background is clearly dominated by the D-types. The L4 and L5 swarms show different distributions of spectral slopes, and bimodality is only observed in L4. These differences can be attributed to the asteroid families since the backgraound asteroids show the same slope distribtuions in both swarms. The analysis of individual families indicates that the families in L5 are taxonomically homogeneous, but in L4 they show a mixture of taxonomic types. We discuss a few scenarios that might help to interpret these results.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures, 2 table

Development of a Superconducting Twin Axis Cavity

Superconducting cavities with two separate accelerating axes have been proposed in the past for energy recovery linac applications. While the study showed the advantages of such cavity, the designs present serious fabrication challenges. Hence the proposed cavities have never been built. The new design, elliptical twin cavity, proposed by Jefferson Lab and optimized by Center for Accelerator Science at Old Dominion University, allows similar level of engineering and fabrication techniques of a typical elliptical cavity. This paper describes preliminary LOM and HOM spectrum, engineering and fabrication processes of the twin axis cavity