9,929 research outputs found
Management of the Rice Tungro Virus Vector \u3ci\u3eNephotettix virescens\u3c/i\u3e (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) with Controlled-Release Formulations of Carbofuran
Field trials were conducted in lowland flooded rice in the Philippines to evaluate a number of carbofuran controlled-release formulations in comparison with commercial formulations. The test formulations were based on a biodegradable matrix of pine kraft lignin and were used as granules of different sizes and also in the form of small strips. The release rates were assessed under field conditions by bioassaying rice plants in the field, using adult rice green leafhopper, Nephotettix virescens Distant. The lignin formulations with a high level of active ingredient (15–45% by weight) gave as good or better control than the commercial 3% granules in tests based on three application techniques: broadcast into the floodwater, soil incorporation, and root zone injection. The improvements in control levels of green leafhoppers were most marked with soil incorporation and root zone application. The best lignin-based formulation reduced levels of tungro virus infection from 23% for a conventional flowable carbofuran formulation to 1.0% at an application rate of 0.5 kg (AI)/ha. At the same rate, the grain yield was increased from 3.56 t/ha to 5.5 t/ha, using the controlled-released formulation
Quantum anisotropic Heisenberg chains with superlattice structure: a DMRG study
Using the density matrix renormalization group technique, we study spin
superlattices composed of a repeated pattern of two spin-1/2 XXZ chains with
different anisotropy parameters. The magnetization curve can exhibit two
plateaus, a non trivial plateau with the magnetization value given by the
relative sizes of the sub-chains and another trivial plateau with zero
magnetization. We find good agreement of the value and the width of the
plateaus with the analytical results obtained previously. In the gapless
regions away from the plateaus, we compare the finite-size spin gap with the
predictions based on bosonization and find reasonable agreement. These results
confirm the validity of the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid superlattice description
of these systems.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Quartic Horndeski Cartan theories in a FLRW Universe
We consider the Quartic Horndeski theory with torsion on a FLRW background in
the second order formalism. We show that there is a one parameter family of
Quartic Horndeski Cartan Lagrangians and all such theories only modify the
dispersion relations of the graviton and the scalar perturbation that are
usually found in the standard Horndeski theory on a torsionless spacetime. In
other words, for the theories in this class torsion does not induce new degrees
of freedom but it only modifies the propagation. We also show that for most
Lagrangians within the family of Quartic Horndeski Cartan theories the
dispersion relation of the scalar mode is radically modified. We find only one
theory within the family whose scalar mode has a regular wave-like dispersion
relation
Stability of nonsingular Cosmologies in Galileons with Torsion. A No-Go for eternal subluminality
Generic models in Galileons or Horndeski theory do not have cosmological
solutions that are free of instabilities and singularities in the entire time
of evolution. We extend this No-Go theorem to a spacetime with torsion. On this
more general geometry the No-Go argument now holds provided the additional
hypothesis that the graviton is also subluminal throughout the entire
evolution. Thus, critically different for Galileons' stability on a torsionful
spacetime, an arguably unphysical although arbitrarily short (deep UV) phase
occurring at an arbitrary time, when the speed of gravity is slighlty
higher than luminal , and by at least an amount , can lead to an all-time (linearly) stable and nonsingular cosmology. As a
proof of principle we build a stable model for a cosmological bounce that is
almost always subluminal, where the short-lived superluminal phase occurs
before the bounce and that transits to General Relativity in the asymptotic
past and future.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Line and Continuum Variability in Active Galaxies
We compared optical spectroscopic and photometric data for 18 AGN galaxies
over 2 to 3 epochs, with time intervals of typically 5 to 10 years. We used the
Multi-Object Double Spectrograph (MODS) at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)
and compared the spectra to data taken from the SDSS database and the
literature. We find variations in the forbidden oxygen lines as well as in the
hydrogen recombination lines of these sources. For 4 of the sources we find
that, within the calibration uncertainties, the variations in continuum and
line spectra of the sources are very small. We argue that it is mainly the
difference in black hole mass between the samples that is responsible for the
different degree of continuum variability. In addition we find that for an
otherwise constant accretion rate the total line variability (dominated by the
narrow line contributions) reverberates the continuum variability with a
dependency . Since
this dependency is prominently expressed in the narrow line emission it implies
that the luminosity dominating part of the narrow line region must be very
compact with a size of the order of at least 10 light years. A comparison to
literature data shows that these findings describe the variability
characteristics of a total of 61 broad and narrow line sources.Comment: 30 pages including the appendix, 18 figures including the appendix.
Accepted 2015 September 3. Received 2015 August 24; in original form 2015
July 3 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ
Spin-dependent beating patterns in thermoelectric properties: Filtering the carriers of the heat flux in a Kondo adatom system
We theoretically investigate the thermoelectric properties of a
spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas hosting a Kondo adatom hybridized
with an STM tip. Such a setup is treated within the single-impurity Anderson
model in combination with the atomic approach for the Green's functions. Due to
the spin dependence of the Fermi wavenumbers the electrical and thermal
conductances, together with thermopower and Lorenz number reveal beating
patterns as function of the STM tip position in the Kondo regime. In
particular, by tuning the lateral displacement of the tip with respect to the
adatom vicinity, the temperature and the position of the adatom level, one can
change the sign of the Seebeck coefficient through charge and spin. This opens
a possibility of the microscopic control of the heat flux analogously to that
established for the electrical current
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