Preferences of Indian Meal Moth Larvae for Different Dog Foods

Indian meal moths (IMM), Plodiainterpuntella, are persistent pests to our foods (Fasulo et al.1998; Plunkett’s Pest Control 2018). When IMMs infest a a food product the resulting value loss is the result of contamination by larvae that leave droppings and silken webs in grain and grain products (Jacob and Calvin 2001). The IMM is an important pest of high-value dog foods and the grain components of these food may influence their infestation. Experiments were conducted with eggs of the IMM to determine if moth larvae would choose and infest the grain-based dog food in comparison to dog foods with a higher meat content. IMM laboratory rearing diet was included for comparison. No-choice and choice tests confirmed the IMM diet to be the most preferred and best for larval development. Forced infestation of 50 IMM eggs on the four different dog foods found difference among them. In two-choice test that require newly hatched larvae to walk to and infest either lab diet or a dog food, the highest proportion of larvae selecting any of the dog foods was on product C, which was a medium quality, grain-free food. These results suggest that IMM infestations in warehouses or consumer’s homes could be prevalent on some dog foods more than others

Oviposition and Larval Development of the Indian Meal Moth, Plodia interpunctella, on Different Breakfast Cereals

Plodiainterpunctella, the Indian meal moth (IMM), is a common pest of grain products. Adult IMMs lay eggs on a food source and once hatched, the larvae consume the product while leaving behind large amounts of frass and silk [1, 2]. The purpose of this experiment was to identify which kind of grain products are at the highest risk of P. interpunctellainfestation by using the lab-rearing diet as a comparison to two different breakfast cereals of the same brand: a frosted cereal and a regular non-frosted cereal. Two-choice tests determined if moths prefer to lay eggs on and which of the choices would b for the larva to develop. At the end of the experiment, it was observed that adult P. interpunctella preferred to lay their eggs on the frosted cereal diet. The frosted cereal diet also proved to be the better of the two for larval survival and growth. This research suggests that frosted cereals may be preferred by this pest, and that such products need special protection during storage

Investigation of the enhanced spatial density of submicron lunar ejecta between L values 1.2 and 3.0 in the earth's magnetosphere: Theory

Initial results from the measurement conducted by the dust particle experiment on the lunar orbiting satellite Lunar Explorer 35 (LE 35) were reported with the data interpreted as indicating that the moon is a significant source of micrometeroids. Primary sporadic and stream meteoroids impacting the surface of the moon at hypervelocity was proposed as the source of micron and submicron particles that leave the lunar craters with velocities sufficient to escape the moon's gravitational sphere of influence. No enhanced flux of lunar ejecta with masses greater than a nanogram was detected by LE 35 or the Lunar Orbiters. Hypervelocity meteoroid simulation experiments concentrating on ejecta production combined with extensive analyses of the orbital dynamics of micron and submicron lunar ejecta in selenocentric, cislunar, and geocentric space have shown that a pulse of these lunar ejecta, with a time correlation relative to the position of the moon relative to the earth, intercepts the earth's magnetopause surface (EMPs). As shown, a strong reason exists for expecting a significant enhancement of submicron dust particles in the region of the magnetosphere between L values of 1.2 and 3.0. This is the basis for the proposal of a series of experiments to investigate the enhancement or even trapping of submicron lunar ejecta in this region. The subsequent interaction of this mass with the upper-lower atmosphere of the earth and possible geophysical effects can then be studied

Mass loading of the Earth's magnetosphere by micron size lunar ejecta. 1: Ejecta production and orbital dynamics in cislunar space

Particulate matter possessing lunar escape velocity sufficient to enhance the cislunar meteroid flux was investigated. While the interplanetary flux was extensively studied, lunar ejecta created by the impact of this material on the lunar surface is only now being studied. Two recently reported flux models are employed to calculate the total mass impacting the lunar surface due to sporadic meteor flux. There is ample evidence to support the contention that the sporadic interplanetary meteoroid flux enhances the meteroid flux of cislunar space through the creation of micron and submicron lunar ejecta with lunar escape velocity

Mass loading of the Earth's magnetosphere by micron size lunar ejecta. 2: Ejecta dynamics and enhanced lifetimes in the Earth's magnetosphere

Extensive studies were conducted concerning the indivdual mass, temporal and positional distribution of micron and submicron lunar ejecta existing in the Earth-Moon gravitational sphere of influence. Initial results show a direct correlation between the position of the Moon, relative to the Earth, and the percentage of lunar ejecta leaving the Moon and intercepting the magnetosphere of the Earth at the magnetopause surface. It is seen that the Lorentz Force dominates all other forces, thus suggesting that submicron dust particles might possibly be magnetically trapped in the well known radiation zones

On the segmentation and classification of hand radiographs

This research is part of a wider project to build predictive models of bone age using hand radiograph images. We examine ways of finding the outline of a hand from an X-ray as the first stage in segmenting the image into constituent bones. We assess a variety of algorithms including contouring, which has not previously been used in this context. We introduce a novel ensemble algorithm for combining outlines using two voting schemes, a likelihood ratio test and dynamic time warping (DTW). Our goal is to minimize the human intervention required, hence we investigate alternative ways of training a classifier to determine whether an outline is in fact correct or not. We evaluate outlining and classification on a set of 1370 images. We conclude that ensembling with DTW improves performance of all outlining algorithms, that the contouring algorithm used with the DTW ensemble performs the best of those assessed, and that the most effective classifier of hand outlines assessed is a random forest applied to outlines transformed into principal components

Radiative Capture of Protons by Be9

The gamma rays from the capture in Be9 of protons of energy between 0.27 and 1.2 Mev have been studied using large scintillation crystals. Excitation functions of the gamma rays leading to the 0-, 0.72-, 1.74-, 2.15-, 3.58-, and 5.16-Mev states of B10 were computed from the measured gamma-ray spectra. In addition to the resonances previously known to exist at 0.33-, 0.99-, and 1.086-Mev proton energy [corresponding to (1-) 6.88-, (2-) 7.48-, and (0+) 7.56-Mev states in B10], evidence was found only for the p-wave resonance near 1 Mev [(2+) 7.5-Mev state in B10] postulated by Mozer and by Dearnaly and for the influence of higher lying states. This work leaves unexplained the large isotopic-spin impurity of the 6.88-Mev level. Appreciable nonresonant capture was found for the transitions to the 0-, 0.72-, 3.58-, and 5.16-Mev states, which is probably not s-wave for the latter two transitions. Accurate energy measurements and coincidence work showed that the 5.16-Mev level of B10 is populated in preference to the 5.11-Mev level, contradicting earlier work of Clegg. Also, experimental evidence has been found which appears to be in contradiction to the 0+ spin assignment for the 7.56-Mev level of B10 and raises doubts about the 2+ spin assignment of the 5.16-Mev level

Simulation of truncated normal variables

We provide in this paper simulation algorithms for one-sided and two-sided truncated normal distributions. These algorithms are then used to simulate multivariate normal variables with restricted parameter space for any covariance structure.Comment: This 1992 paper appeared in 1995 in Statistics and Computing and the gist of it is contained in Monte Carlo Statistical Methods (2004), but I receive weekly requests for reprints so here it is

Bioactive ceramic-reinforced composites for bone augmentation

Biomaterials have been used to repair the human body for millennia, but it is only since the 1970s that man-made composites have been used. Hydroxyapatite (HA)-reinforced polyethylene (PE) is the first of the ‘second-generation’ biomaterials that have been developed to be bioactive rather than bioinert. The mechanical properties have been characterized using quasi-static, fatigue, creep and fracture toughness testing, and these studies have allowed optimization of the production method. The in vitro and in vivo biological properties have been investigated with a range of filler content and have shown that the presence of sufficient bioactive filler leads to a bioactive composite. Finally, the material has been applied clinically, initially in the orbital floor and later in the middle ear. From this initial combination of HA in PE other bioactive ceramic polymer composites have been developed