Quantifying the impact of insect predators and parasitoids on populations of the apple ermine moth, Yponomeuta malinellus (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae), in Europe

Life tables were developed to assess the significance of natural enemies on the dynamics of apple ermine moth, Yponomeuta malinellus Zeller, in southwestern Germany and to select parasitoid species for use in the biological control of this pest in Canada. During the study from 1993 to 1995 the abundance of Y. malinellus varied from 1.5 to 4.3 tents per 100 leaf clusters indicating that this was a non-outbreak population. From the life tables it was evident that the impact of egg predators accounted for 25-43% of the total generational mortality of Y. malinellus, more than any other known mortality factor. Percent parasitism varied from 18 to 30%, but the impact of parasitoids in relation to the total generational mortality of Y. malinellus from the life tables was remarkably constant at 11-14%. The loss of potential fecundity had an important influence on the generational mortality of Y. malinellus, but declined from 27% to 15% over the course of this study. This decline corresponded with a rise in the net rate of increase R0 from 1.35 in 1993 to 6.8 in 1995, despite the impact of insect predators and parasitoids on the generational mortality. Yponomeuta malinellus was attacked by five different obligate primary parasitoids, a single obligate hyperparasitoid, and three facultative hyperparasitoids. Of these, the oligophagous egg-larval parasitoid Ageniaspis fuscicollis Dalman (Encyrtidae) and the oligophagous larval-pupal and pupal parasitoid Herpestomus brunnicornis Gravenhorst (Ichneumonidae) were selected as potential biological control agents for Canada due to a minimal degree of interspecific competitio

Characterization of all the supersymmetric solutions of gauged N=1,d=5 supergravity

We find a complete characterization of all the supersymmetric solutions of non-Abelian gauged N=1,d=5 supergravity coupled to vector multiplets and hypermultiplets: the generic forms of the metrics as functions of the scalars and vector fields plus the equations that all these must satisfy. These equations are now a complicated non-linear system and there it seems impossible to produce an algorithm to construct systematically all supersymmetric solutions.Comment: Some references and two comments adde

Численная гидродинамическая модель атмосферной дисперсии загрязнений вокруг зданий

The computational fluid mechanics model of is atmospheric dispersion in the vicinity of buildings is developed. The validation of model against field experiment was performed. The application of model to problem of estimation of concentration near contaminated buildings located at the territory of Pridneprovsky Chemical Plant is presented

The supersymmetric solutions and extensions of ungauged matter-coupled N=1,d=4 supergravity

We find the most general supersymmetric solutions of ungauged N=1,d=4 supergravity coupled to an arbitrary number of vector and chiral supermultiplets, which turn out to be essentially pp-waves and strings. We also introduce magnetic 1-forms and their supersymmetry transformations and 2-forms associated to the isometries of the scalar manifold and their supersymmetry transformations. Only the latter can couple to BPS objects (strings), in agreement with our results.Comment: Some misprints and citations correcte

Coronal Temperature Diagnostic Capability of the Hinode/X-Ray Telescope Based on Self-Consistent Calibration

The X-Ray Telescope (XRT) onboard the Hinode satellite is an X-ray imager that observes the solar corona with unprecedentedly high angular resolution (consistent with its 1" pixel size). XRT has nine X-ray analysis filters with different temperature responses. One of the most significant scientific features of this telescope is its capability of diagnosing coronal temperatures from less than 1 MK to more than 10 MK, which has never been accomplished before. To make full use of this capability, accurate calibration of the coronal temperature response of XRT is indispensable and is presented in this article. The effect of on-orbit contamination is also taken into account in the calibration. On the basis of our calibration results, we review the coronal-temperature-diagnostic capability of XRT

Inducing safer oblique trees without costs

Decision tree induction has been widely studied and applied. In safety applications, such as determining whether a chemical process is safe or whether a person has a medical condition, the cost of misclassification in one of the classes is significantly higher than in the other class. Several authors have tackled this problem by developing cost-sensitive decision tree learning algorithms or have suggested ways of changing the distribution of training examples to bias the decision tree learning process so as to take account of costs. A prerequisite for applying such algorithms is the availability of costs of misclassification. Although this may be possible for some applications, obtaining reasonable estimates of costs of misclassification is not easy in the area of safety. This paper presents a new algorithm for applications where the cost of misclassifications cannot be quantified, although the cost of misclassification in one class is known to be significantly higher than in another class. The algorithm utilizes linear discriminant analysis to identify oblique relationships between continuous attributes and then carries out an appropriate modification to ensure that the resulting tree errs on the side of safety. The algorithm is evaluated with respect to one of the best known cost-sensitive algorithms (ICET), a well-known oblique decision tree algorithm (OC1) and an algorithm that utilizes robust linear programming

Optical spectroscopy of (La,Ca)14Cu24O41 spin ladders: comparison of experiment and theory

Transmission and reflectivity of La_x Ca_14-x Cu_24 O_41 two-leg spin-1/2 ladders were measured in the mid-infrared regime between 500 and 12000 1/cm. This allows us to determine the optical conductivity sigma_1 directly and with high sensitivity. Here we show data for x=4 and 5 with the electrical field polarized parallel to the rungs (E||a) and to the legs (E||c). Three characteristic peaks are identified as magnetic excitations by comparison with two different theoretical calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to SCES 200

Yet another star in the Albireo system.: The discovery of Albireo Ad

Stars and planetary system

EUV Spectra of the Full Solar Disk: Analysis and Results of the Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS)

We analyze EUV spectra of the full solar disk from the Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS) spanning a period of two years. The observations were obtained via a fortuitous off-axis light path in the 140 -- 270 Angstrom passband. The general appearance of the spectra remained relatively stable over the two-year time period, but did show significant variations of up to 25% between two sets of Fe lines that show peak emission at 1 MK and 2 MK. The variations occur at a measured period of 27.2 days and are caused by regions of hotter and cooler plasma rotating into, and out of, the field of view. The CHIANTI spectral code is employed to determine plasma temperatures, densities, and emission measures. A set of five isothermal plasmas fit the full disk spectra well. A 1 -- 2 MK plasma of Fe contributes 85% of the total emission in the CHIPS passband. The standard Differential Emission Measures (DEMs) supplied with the CHIANTI package do not fit the CHIPS spectra well as they over-predict emission at temperatures below log(T) = 6.0 and above log(T) = 6.3. The results are important for cross-calibrating TIMED, SORCE, SOHO/EIT, and CDS/GIS, as well as the recently launched Solar Dynamics Observatory.Comment: 27 Pages, 13 Figure

Energy Release During Slow Long Duration Flares Observed by RHESSI

Slow Long Duration Events (SLDEs) are flares characterized by long duration of rising phase. In many such cases impulsive phase is weak with lack of typical short-lasting pulses. Instead of that smooth, long-lasting Hard X-ray (HXR) emission is observed. We analysed hard X-ray emission and morphology of six selected SLDEs. In our analysis we utilized data from RHESSI and GOES satellites. Physical parameters of HXR sources were obtained from imaging spectroscopy and were used for the energy balance analysis. Characteristic time of heating rate decrease, after reaching its maximum value, is very long, which explains long rising phase of these flares.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physic