Destroy Grasshopper Eggs

Grasshopper infestations of more or less serious proportions have been experienced in South Dakota during the past 10 years. Each fall many questions have been asked the writers concerning the deposit of eggs that was made by the grasshoppers during the growing season just closed and information was sought concerning measures which, if followed, might be effective in destroying the hopper eggs. There are about 112 different species and varieties of grasshoppers in South Dakota. Ordinarily, only four of this number affect our cultivated crops to a damaging extent. These four species are the two-striped, the differential, the red-legged, and the lesser migratory grasshoppers. The two-striped and the differential grasshoppers are robust of body and usually measure between one and one and three-fourths inches in length. The red-legged and the lesser migratory grasshoppers, on the other hand, are smaller, usually measuring less than an inch. These hoppers all live over winter in the egg stage. The eggs are deposited in masses called egg pods. (See more in text.

Local formation of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond by swift heavy ions

We exposed nitrogen-implanted diamonds to beams of swift uranium and gold ions (~1 GeV) and find that these irradiations lead directly to the formation of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers, without thermal annealing. We compare the photoluminescence intensities of swift heavy ion activated NV- centers to those formed by irradiation with low-energy electrons and by thermal annealing. NV- yields from irradiations with swift heavy ions are 0.1 of yields from low energy electrons and 0.02 of yields from thermal annealing. We discuss possible mechanisms of NV-center formation by swift heavy ions such as electronic excitations and thermal spikes. While forming NV centers with low efficiency, swift heavy ions enable the formation of three dimensional NV- assemblies over relatively large distances of tens of micrometers. Further, our results show that NV-center formation is a local probe of (partial) lattice damage relaxation induced by electronic excitations from swift heavy ions in diamond.Comment: to be published in Journal of Applied Physic

An Agency-Directed Approach to Test Generation for Simulation-based Autonomous Vehicle Verification

Simulation-based verification is beneficial for assessing otherwise dangerous or costly on-road testing of autonomous vehicles (AV). This paper addresses the challenge of efficiently generating effective tests for simulation-based AV verification using software testing agents. The multi-agent system (MAS) programming paradigm offers rational agency, causality and strategic planning between multiple agents. We exploit these aspects for test generation, focusing in particular on the generation of tests that trigger the precondition of an assertion. On the example of a key assertion we show that, by encoding a variety of different behaviours respondent to the agent's perceptions of the test environment, the agency-directed approach generates twice as many effective tests than pseudo-random test generation, while being both efficient and robust. Moreover, agents can be encoded to behave naturally without compromising the effectiveness of test generation. Our results suggest that generating tests using agency-directed testing significantly improves upon random and simultaneously provides more realistic driving scenarios.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure

Neodymium-140 DOTA-LM3:Evaluation of an <i>In Vivo</i> Generator for PET with a Non-Internalizing Vector

140Nd (t1/2 = 3.4 days), owing to its short-lived positron emitting daughter 140Pr (t1/2 = 3.4 min), has promise as an in vivo generator for positron emission tomography (PET). However, the electron capture decay of 140Nd is chemically disruptive to macrocycle-based radiolabeling, meaning that an in vivo redistribution of the daughter 140Pr is expected before positron emission. The purpose of this study was to determine how the delayed positron from the de-labeled 140Pr affects preclinical imaging with 140Nd. To explore the effect, 140Nd was produced at CERN-ISOLDE, reacted with the somatostatin analogue, DOTA-LM3 (1,4,7,10- tetraazacyclododecane, 1,4,7- tri acetic acid, 10- acetamide N - p-Cl-Phecyclo(d-Cys-Tyr-d-4-amino-Phe(carbamoyl)-Lys-Thr-Cys)d-Tyr-NH2) and injected into H727 xenograft bearing mice. Comparative pre- and post-mortem PET imaging at 16 h postinjection was used to quantify the in vivo redistribution of 140Pr following 140Nd decay. The somatostatin receptor-positive pancreas exhibited the highest tissue accumulation of 140Nd-DOTA-LM3 (13% ID/g at 16 h) coupled with the largest observed redistribution rate, where 56 ± 7% (n = 4, mean ± SD) of the in situ produced 140Pr washed out of the pancreas before decay. Contrastingly, the liver, spleen, and lungs acted as strong sink organs for free 140Pr3+. Based upon these results, we conclude that 140Nd imaging with a non-internalizing vector convolutes the biodistribution of the tracer with the accumulation pattern of free 140Pr. This redistribution phenomenon may show promise as a probe of the cellular interaction with the vector, such as in determining tissue dependent internalization behavior

Bulk Nanocrystalline Thermoelectrics Based on Bi-Sb-Te Solid Solution

A nanopowder from p-Bi-Sb-Te with particles ~ 10 nm were fabricated by the ball milling using different technological modes. Cold and hot pressing at different conditions and also SPS process were used for consolidation of the powder into a bulk nanostructure and nanocomposites. The main factors allowing slowing-down of the growth of nanograins as a result of recrystallization are the reduction of the temperature and of the duration of the pressing, the increase of the pressure, as well as addition of small value additives (like MoS2, thermally expanded graphite or fullerenes). It was reached the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT=1.22 (at 360 K) in the bulk nanostructure Bi0,4Sb1,6Te3 fabricated by SPS method. Some mechanisms of the improvement of the thermoelectric efficiency in bulk nanocrystalline semiconductors based on BixSb2-xTe3 are studied theoretically. The reduction of nanograin size can lead to improvement of the thermoelectric figure of merit. The theoretical dependence of the electric and heat conductivities and the thermoelectric power as the function of nanograins size in BixSb2-xTe3 bulk nanostructure are quite accurately correlates with the experimental data.Comment: 35 pages, 24 figures, 4 tables, 52 reference

Methodological approach for measuring the effects of organisational-level interventions on employee withdrawal behaviour

Background: Theoretical frameworks have recommended organisational-level interventions to decrease employee withdrawal behaviours such as sickness absence and employee turnover. However, evaluation of such interventions has produced inconclusive results. The aim of this study was to investigate if mixed-effects models in combination with time series analysis, process evaluation, and reference group comparisons could be used for evaluating the effects of an organisational-level intervention on employee withdrawal behaviour. Methods: Monthly data on employee withdrawal behaviours (sickness absence, employee turnover, employment rate, and unpaid leave) were collected for 58 consecutive months (before and after the intervention) for intervention and reference groups. In total, eight intervention groups with a total of 1600 employees participated in the intervention. Process evaluation data were collected by process facilitators from the intervention team. Overall intervention effects were assessed using mixed-effects models with an AR (1) covariance structure for the repeated measurements and time as fixed effect. Intervention effects for each intervention group were assessed using time series analysis. Finally, results were compared descriptively with data from process evaluation and reference groups to disentangle the organisational-level intervention effects from other simultaneous effects. Results: All measures of employee withdrawal behaviour indicated statistically significant time trends and seasonal variability. Applying these methods to an organisational-level intervention resulted in an overall decrease in employee withdrawal behaviour. Meanwhile, the intervention effects varied greatly between intervention groups, highlighting the need to perform analyses at multiple levels to obtain a full understanding. Results also indicated that possible delayed intervention effects must be considered and that data from process evaluation and reference group comparisons were vital for disentangling the intervention effects from other simultaneous effects. Conclusions: When analysing the effects of an intervention, time trends, seasonal variability, and other changes in the work environment must be considered. The use of mixed-effects models in combination with time series analysis, process evaluation, and reference groups is a promising way to improve the evaluation of organisational-level interventions that can easily be adopted by others

Efficient HTS DC- Cable for Power Distribution in Hybrid-Electric Aircraft

With respect to a substantial reduction of greenhouse gas emission, noise reduction and combustible consumption in aircraft an increasing interest in hybrid-electric propulsion systems has emerged in the last years. In the frame of a German research project we actually develop a HTS superconducting busbar system for DC currents able to join the different components as generator, motors and battery systems on the plane. Main features of this busbar system are large currents at moderate voltages and in particular low ohmic contacts, including T-type, Y-type and cross connections between system segments, this with a minimization of outer dimensions and weight. The two-pole cable consists of two stacks of REBCO tapes. Compensation of Lorentz forces between the two poles, compensation of thermal length changes and sufficient electric insulation are the major challenges. We will present details of the cable design and first test results on a lab-scale cable demonstrator