7,829 research outputs found
Screening of organically based fungicides for apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) control and a histopathological study of the mode of action of a resistance inducer.
A range of possible substitutes for copper-based fungicides for control of apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) in organic growing were tested in laboratory and growth chamber experiments in the Danish project StopScab (2002-2004). Eighteen crude plant extracts, 19 commercial plant-based products and 6 miscellaneous compounds were tested for their ability to reduce scab symptoms on apple seedlings. Most of the compounds were also tested for their effect on conidium germination on glass slides. Fourteen of the crude plant extracts, 13 of the commercial plant products and 5 of the miscellaneous compounds showed promising control efficacies when used either preventively or curatively in the plant assay. A histopathological study was carried out on the mode of action of the resistance inducer, acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM), which reduced scab severity and sporulation on apple seedlings in several plant assays when applied as preventive treatment. The effect of the inducer on key pre- and post-penetration events of V. inaequalis was studied and compared to these events in water-treated control leaves. The histopathological study showed that the inducer had its strongest effect on post-penetration events indicated by delayed infection and reduced stroma development. In addition, a small but significant inhibition of conidial germination and a stimulation of germ tube length were observed. This investigation provides new histopathological evidence for the mode of action of ASM against V. inaequalis and serves as a model for evaluation of the mechanisms by which the organically based fungicides reduce infection of V. inaequalis
Tentative detection of ethylene glycol toward W51/e2 and G34.3+0.2
How complex organic - and potentially prebiotic - molecules are formed in
regions of low- and high-mass star-formation remains a central question in
astrochemistry. In particular, with just a few sources studied in detail, it is
unclear what role environment plays in complex molecule formation. In this
light, a comparison of relative abundances of related species between sources
might be useful to explain observed differences. We seek to measure the
relative abundance between three important complex organic molecules, ethylene
glycol ((CHOH)), glycolaldehyde (CHOHCHO) and methyl formate
(HCOOCH), toward high-mass protostars and thereby provide additional
constraints on their formation pathways. We use IRAM 30-m single dish
observations of the three species toward two high-mass star-forming regions -
W51/e2 and G34.3+0.2 - and report a tentative detection of (CH2OH)2 toward both
sources. Assuming that (CHOH), CHOHCHO and HCOOCH spatially
coexist, relative abundance ratios, HCOOCH/(CHOH), of 31 and 35 are
derived for G34.3+0.2 and W51/e2, respectively. CHOHCHO is not detected,
but the data provide lower limits to the HCOOCH/CHOHCHO abundance
ratios of 193 for G34.3+0.2 and 550 for W51/e2. A comparison of these
results to measurements from various sources in the literature indicates that
the source luminosities may be correlated with the HCOOCH/(CHOH)
and HCOOCH/CHOHCHO ratios. This apparent correlation may be a
consequence of the relative timescales each source spend at different
temperatures-ranges in their evolution. Furthermore, we obtain lower limits to
the ratio of (CHOH)/CH2OHCHO for G34.3+0.2 (6) and W51/e2
(16). This result confirms that a high (CHOH)/CHOHCHO
abundance ratio is not a specific property of comets, as previously speculated.Comment: Accepted for publication by A&
On C*-algebras generated by pairs of q-commuting isometries
We consider the C*-algebras O_2^q and A_2^q generated, respectively, by
isometries s_1, s_2 satisfying the relation s_1^* s_2 = q s_2 s_1^* with |q| <
1 (the deformed Cuntz relation), and by isometries s_1, s_2 satisfying the
relation s_2 s_1 = q s_1 s_2 with |q| = 1. We show that O_2^q is isomorphic to
the Cuntz-Toeplitz C*-algebra O_2^0 for any |q| < 1. We further prove that
A_2^{q_1} is isomorphic to A_2^{q_2} if and only if either q_1 = q_2 or q_1 =
complex conjugate of q_2. In the second part of our paper, we discuss the
complexity of the representation theory of A_2^q. We show that A_2^q is *-wild
for any q in the circle |q| = 1, and hence that A_2^q is not nuclear for any q
in the circle.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX2e "article" document class; submitted. V2 clarifies
the relationships between the various deformation systems treate
A deeply embedded young protoplanetary disk around L1489 IRS observed by the submillimeter array
Circumstellar disks are expected to form early in the process that leads to
the formation of a young star, during the collapse of the dense molecular cloud
core. It is currently not well understood at what stage of the collapse the
disk is formed or how it subsequently evolves. We aim to identify whether an
embedded Keplerian protoplanetary disk resides in the L1489 IRS system. Given
the amount of envelope material still present, such a disk would respresent a
very young example of a protoplanetary disk. Using the Submillimeter Array
(SMA) we have observed the HCO 3--2 line with a resolution of about
1. At this resolution a protoplanetary disk with a radius of a few hundred
AUs should be detectable, if present. Radiative transfer tools are used to
model the emission from both continuum and line data. We find that these data
are consistent with theoretical models of a collapsing envelope and Keplerian
circumstellar disk. Models reproducing both the SED and the interferometric
continuum observations reveal that the disk is inclined by 40 which is
significantly different to the surrounding envelope (74). This
misalignment of the angular momentum axes may be caused by a gradient within
the angular momentum in the parental cloud or if L1489 IRS is a binary system
rather than just a single star. In the latter case, future observations looking
for variability at sub-arcsecond scales may be able to constrain these
dynamical variations directly. However, if stars form from turbulent cores, the
accreting material will not have a constant angular momentum axis (although the
average is well defined and conserved) in which case it is more likely to have
a misalignment of the angular momentum axes of the disk and the envelope.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, accepted by A&
NFAT5 genes are part of the osmotic regulatory system in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
Acknowledgements This study was supported by a grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC, BB/H008063/1), UK to DGH and SAM. Funding also came from Research Council Norway for project number 241016 for DGH and EJ. This work was carried out as part of a PhD thesis funded by the Marine Alliance of Science and Technology Scotland (MASTS).Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Singlet-Triplet Physics and Shell Filling in Carbon Nanotube Double Quantum Dots
An artifcial two-atomic molecule, also called a double quantum dot (DQD), is
an ideal system for exploring few electron physics. Spin-entanglement between
just two electrons can be explored in such systems where singlet and triplet
states are accessible. These two spin-states can be regarded as the two states
in a quantum two-state system, a so-called singlet-triplet qubit. A very
attractive material for realizing spin based qubits is the carbon nanotube
(CNT), because it is expected to have a very long spin coherence time. Here we
show the existence of a gate-tunable singlet-triplet qubit in a CNT DQD. We
show that the CNT DQD has clear shell structures of both four and eight
electrons, with the singlet-triplet qubit present in the four-electron shells.
We furthermore observe inelastic cotunneling via the singlet and triplet
states, which we use to probe the splitting between singlet and triplet, in
good agreement with theory.Comment: Supplement available at:
http://www.fys.ku.dk/~hij/public/singlet-triple_supp.pd
Electron transport in single wall carbon nanotube weak links in the Fabry-Perot regime
We fabricated reproducible high transparency superconducting contacts
consisting of superconducting Ti/Al/Ti trilayers to gated single-walled carbon
nanotubes (SWCNTs). The reported semiconducting SWCNT have normal state
differential conductance up to and exhibit clear Fabry-Perot
interference patterns in the bias spectroscopy plot. We observed subharmonic
gap structure in the differential conductance and a distinct peak in the
conductance at zero bias which is interpreted as a manifestation of a
supercurrent. The gate dependence of this supercurrent as well as the excess
current are examined and compared to a coherent theory of superconducting point
contacts with good agreement.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Absolute dimensions of solar-type eclipsing binaries. EF Aquarii: a G0 test for stellar evolution models
Recent studies have shown that stellar chromospheric activity, and its effect
on convective energy transport in the envelope, is most likely the cause of
significant radius and temperature discrepancies between theoretical evolution
models and observations. We aim to determine absolute dimensions and abundances
for the solar-type detached eclipsing binary EF Aqr, and to perform a detailed
comparison with results from recent stellar evolutionary models. uvby-beta
standard photometry was obtained with the Stromgren Automatic Telescope. The
broadening function formalism was applied on spectra observed with HERMES at
the Mercator telescope in La Palma, to obtain radial velocity curves. Masses
and radii with a precision of 0.6% and 1.0% respectively have been established
for both components of EF Aqr. The active 0.956 M_sol secondary shows star
spots and strong Ca II H and K emission lines. The 1.224 M_sol primary shows
signs of activity as well, but at a lower level. An [Fe/H] abundance of
0.00+-0.10 is derived with similar abundances for Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Co,
and Ni. Solar calibrated evolutionary models such as Yonsei-Yale,
Victoria-Regina and BaSTI isochrones and evolutionary tracks are unable to
reproduce EF Aqr, especially for the secondary, which is 9% larger and 400 K
cooler than predicted. Models adopting significantly lower mixing length
parameters l/H_p remove these discrepancies, as seen in other solar type
binaries. For the observed metallicity, Granada models with a mixing length of
l/H_p=1.30 (primary) and 1.05 (secondary) reproduce both components at a common
age of 1.5+-0.6 Gyr. Observations of EF Aqr suggests that magnetic activity,
and its effect on envelope convection, is likely to be the cause of
discrepancies in both radius and temperature, which can be removed by adjusting
the mixing length parameter of the models downwards.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication by A&
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