4,613 research outputs found
The presence of webbing affects the oviposition rate of two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae)
Several species of tetranychid mites including Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) construct complicated three-dimensional webs on plant leaves. These webs provide protection against biotic and abiotic stress. As producing web is likely to entail a cost, mites that arrive on a leaf with web are expected to refrain from producing it, because they will gain the benefit of protection from the existing web. Mites that produce less web may then allocate resources that are not spent on web construction to other fitness-enhancing activities, such as laying eggs. To test this, the oviposition rate of T. urticae adult females was examined on leaves with web. As a control, we used leaves where the web had been removed, hence both types of leaves had been exposed to conspecifics previously and were thus damaged. On leaves with web, the oviposition rate of T. urticae females was higher than on leaves where the web had been removed. Therefore, the presence of web constructed by conspecifics enhanced the oviposition rate of T. urticae females. This provides indirect evidence that mites use the web constructed by conspecifics and thereby save resources that can be allocated to other traits that enhance reproductive succes
Inversion of spinning sound fields
A method is presented for the reconstruction of rotating monopole source
distributions using acoustic pressures measured on a sideline parallel to the
source axis. The method requires no \textit{a priori} assumptions about the
source other than that its strength at the frequency of interest vary
sinusoidally in azimuth on the source disc so that the radiated acoustic field
is composed of a single circumferential mode. When multiple azimuthal modes are
present, the acoustic field can be decomposed into azimuthal modes and the
method applied to each mode in sequence.
The method proceeds in two stages, first finding an intermediate line source
derived from the source distribution and then inverting this line source to
find the radial variation of source strength. A far-field form of the radiation
integrals is derived, showing that the far field pressure is a band-limited
Fourier transform of the line source, establishing a limit on the quality of
source reconstruction which can be achieved using far-field measurements. The
method is applied to simulated data representing wind-tunnel testing of a
ducted rotor system (tip Mach number~0.74) and to control of noise from an
automotive cooling fan (tip Mach number~0.14), studies which have appeared in
the literature of source identification.Comment: Revised version of paper submitted to JASA; five more figures;
expanded content with more discussion of error behaviour and relation to
Nearfield Acoustical Holograph
Spin-glass phase transition and behavior of nonlinear susceptibility in the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model with random fields
The behavior of the nonlinear susceptibility and its relation to the
spin-glass transition temperature , in the presence of random fields, are
investigated. To accomplish this task, the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model is
studied through the replica formalism, within a one-step
replica-symmetry-breaking procedure. In addition, the dependence of the
Almeida-Thouless eigenvalue (replicon) on the random fields
is analyzed. Particularly, in absence of random fields, the temperature
can be traced by a divergence in the spin-glass susceptibility ,
which presents a term inversely proportional to the replicon . As a result of a relation between and , the
latter also presents a divergence at , which comes as a direct consequence
of at . However, our results show that, in the
presence of random fields, presents a rounded maximum at a temperature
, which does not coincide with the spin-glass transition temperature
(i.e., for a given applied random field). Thus, the maximum
value of at reflects the effects of the random fields in the
paramagnetic phase, instead of the non-trivial ergodicity breaking associated
with the spin-glass phase transition. It is also shown that still
maintains a dependence on the replicon , although in a more
complicated way, as compared with the case without random fields. These results
are discussed in view of recent observations in the LiHoYF
compound.Comment: accepted for publication in PR
Quantum critical point in the spin glass-antiferromagnetism competition in Kondo-lattice systems
A theory is proposed to describe the competition among antiferromagnetism
(AF), spin glass (SG) and Kondo effect. The model describes two Kondo
sublattices with an intrasite Kondo interaction strength and an
interlattice quantum Ising interaction in the presence of a transverse field
. The interlattice coupling is a random Gaussian distributed variable
(with average and variance ) while the field is
introduced as a quantum mechanism to produce spin flipping. The path integral
formalism is used to study this fermionic problem where the spin operators are
represented by bilinear combinations of Grassmann fields. The disorder is
treated within the framework of the replica trick. The free energy and the
order parameters of the problem are obtained by using the static ansatz and by
choosing both and to allow, as previously,
a better comparison with the experimental findings.
The results indicate the presence of a SG solution at low and for
temperature ( is the freezing temperature). When is
increased, a mixed phase AF+SG appears, then an AF solution and finally a Kondo
state is obtained for high values of . Moreover, the behaviors of the
freezing and Neel temperatures are also affected by the relationship between
and the transverse field . The first one presents a slight
decrease while the second one decreases towards a Quantum Critical Point (QCP).
The obtained phase diagram has the same sequence as the experimental one for
, if is assumed to increase with , and
in addition, it also shows a qualitative agreement concerning the behavior of
the freezing and the Neel temperatures.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys.
Seismic vulnerability of churches in Faial and Pico islands, Azores
Earthquakes represent one of the main cause of serious damage and loss of historic and architectural heritage. Interventions to preserve these building should start with a careful knowledge and assessment of their seismic vulnerability, in order to support any needed retrofitting and strengthening measures.
This paper proposes a procedure to register and diagnose of the level of damage on churches after the occurrence of an earthquake, and also to assess the seismic vulnerability of this type of construction. This procedure was applied to sixteen churches in the Azores islands which were hit by the July 9th 1998 earthquake.
Belfries of church towers are elements with a particular seismic vulnerability. For this reason, and based on the Italian methodology proposed by the Linee Guida (2006), it is applied to belfries of two churches from Pico (Azores), a simplified mechanical model for assessment of seismic vulnerability of this type of structures
Comportamento do Angiostrongylus costaricensis em planorbídeos
Some terrestrial mollusks are natural hosts of Angiostrongylus costaricensis. In the laboratory, this nematode can be maintained in certain planorbids, which are aquatic mollusks and intermediate hosts of Schistosoma mansoni. Mollusks can be infected with Angiostrongylus costaricensis by ingestion of or active penetration by the first-stage larvae. In this work we assessed the ability of Biomphalaria glabrata to attract first-stage larvae of A. costaricensis. Movement of the nematode larvae towards the mollusks was observed after 15 min, 30 min and 1 h. B. glabrata did not attract the first-stage larvae of A. costaricensis in any of the three intervals. The susceptibility of two populations of Biomphalaria tenagophila to infection by A. costaricensis was also determined. One population was genetically selected for the susceptibility to S. mansoni while the other was not. Third-stage larvae were recovered from the snails 30 days after exposure of the two populations to 120 first-stage larvae. All the mollusks were infected. However, a significantly higher number of third-stage larvae were recovered in mollusks not genetically selected.Alguns moluscos terrestres são hospedeiros naturais do Angiostrongylus costaricensis. No laboratório, esse nematódeo pode ser mantido em planorbídeos, que são moluscos aquáticos e hospedeiros intermediários do Schistosoma mansoni. Os moluscos podem ser infectados com A. costaricensis por ingestão ou por penetração ativa de larvas de primeiro estágio. Neste trabalho, testamos a habilidade de Biomphalaria glabrata em atrair larvas de primeiro estágio de A. costaricensis. A movimentação das larvas do nematódeo em direção aos moluscos foi observada após 15 minutos, 30 minutos e 1 hora. B. glabrata não atraiu as larvas de primeiro estágio de A. costaricensis nos três intervalos de tempo. Verificamos também a suscetibilidade de duas populações de Biomphalaria tenagophila à infecção por A. costaricensis. Uma população era selecionada geneticamente para a susceptibilidade ao S. mansoni, enquanto a outra não o era. Larvas de terceiro estágio foram recuperadas dos moluscos 30 dias após a exposição das duas populações a 120 larvas de primeiro estágio. Todos os moluscos estavam infectados. Entretanto, um número significativamente maior de larvas de terceiro estágio foi recuperado em moluscos não geneticamente selecionados.19920
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