Hexanes as Deterrents in Tribolium

Citation: Hamblin, M. (2017). Hexanes as Deterrents in Tribolium . 1st Annual Undergraduate Research Experience in Entomology Symposium, November 16, 2016. Manhattam, KS.Red flour beetles are a serious pest to stored grain crops (United States 2015). Many different studies have been and are currently being done to find new anti-feedant deterrents to keep these beetles from infesting or destroying grain stores. I opted to study hexane compounds because hexane extracts significantly indicate antifeedant activity (Rajopadhye et al. 2016). Ethanol extracts have also shown to be useful anti-feedant deterrents (Khan et al 2016). Through my study, I found that a significant number of red flour beetles avoided most of the hexane compounds tested. While it is currently unknown how these compounds would react as long-term deterrents, it has been shown that some of the tested compounds do have the potential to be at least a short term deterrent

High-efficiency receptor-mediated delivery of small and large (48 kilobase gene constructs using the endosome-disruption activity of defective or chemically inactivated adenovirus particles.

The Boltzmann transport equation is commonly considered to be the best semi-classical description of carrier transport in semiconductors, providing precise information about the distribution of carriers with respect to time (one dimension), location (three dimensions), and momentum (three dimensions). However, numerical solutions for the seven-dimensional carrier distribution functions are very demanding. The most common solution approach is the stochastic Monte Carlo method, because the gigabytes of memory requirements of deterministic direct solution approaches has not been available until recently. As a remedy, the higher accuracy provided by solutions of the Boltzmann transport equation is often exchanged for lower computational expense by using simpler models based on macroscopic quantities such as carrier density and mean carrier velocity. Recent developments for the deterministic spherical harmonics expansion method have reduced the computational cost for solving the Boltzmann transport equation, enabling the computation of carrier distribution functions even for spatially three-dimensional device simulations within minutes to hours. We summarize recent progress for the spherical harmonics expansion method and show that small currents, reasonable execution times, and rare events such as low-frequency noise, which are all hard or even impossible to simulate with the established Monte Carlo method, can be handled in a straight-forward manner. The applicability of the method for important practical applications is demonstrated for noise simulation, small-signal analysis, hot-carrier degradation, and avalanche breakdown

Making and doing: critical and cross-disciplinary engagement within interdisciplinary iSchools

Introduction: Like many iSchools, the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto integrates a variety of disciplinary fields (LIS, Records Management, Information Systems and Design, Critical and Cultural theory, Policy, Technology Studies, etc.) and a diversity of institutional foci (libraries, archives, museums, universities, government, corporate contexts, etc.) Such diversity is both an asset and a challenge for the Faculty as we seek to provide professional and academic training for our masters and PhD students and look to engage in collaborative work among faculty members. Importantly, the types of skills and experiences that we collectively bring to bear and the kinds of issues and questions addressed by faculty and graduate students transgress more than just standard disciplinary barriers. In order to address the important social, cultural, and political questions posed by the continuing transformation of information practices, the boundary between material and technical work and reflexive, critical, social scholarship must be bridged. This is a crucial challenge for iSchools ??? how do we bring various perspectives, interests, and backgrounds to bear while staying connected through an emphasis on common theoretical concerns

Standard deviation : standardization and quality control in the mash-up era

Standards touch many aspects of our lives, from purchasing to consuming, to maintaining product consistencies (e.g. ISO 9001). Standardization aids replicating: compliance, quality and durability to diffuse geographic areas, driving innovation by providing constraints (BSI). Historically, standardization was a cornerstone for commerce enabling traders to interact, trusting accurate measures, used in judging a product’s worth. Open Design utilizes Internet-accessible digital making platforms, for creating and disseminating ideas. The rise of Fabrication Laboratories and distributed digital manufacturing (e.g. domestic 3D printing) has increased accessibility of high-quality manufacture. Design agents as well as designers can create products; either for personal use from the bottom-up, or re-appropriate another maker’s solution. Reciprocity is key to the process. As such, in this paper we refer to design agents, rather than applying labels of “professional” or “user”. However, as design agents become enabled to produce complex artefacts, “objective validation” for shared blueprints quality, becomes imminent. For example, 3D printing is reviving DIY toy making, with materials that can degrade overtime, potentially presenting choking hazards. Due to this status quo, the authors are not presenting lawsuit opportunities, but preventative procedures whilst encouraging proliferation of design agent led Open Design. Regulatory requirements for sectors touched by “open phenomenon” are unprepared. How can maker communities, design agents and others lead the way in promoting ways of working that enable robust quality control in open environments? To answer this question, interviews with British Standards Institute (BSI) representatives were triangulated with design workshops. This participatory approach to knowledge creation was chosen due to its inherent compatibility with the theoretical underpinnings of Open Design. This paper presents models exploring “standards integration” for Open Design purposes, enabling design agents to create “compliant” outputs, to benefit all. We conclude that there are possible avenues for standardization, but that this must be tested in the field. #open design, #digital manufacture, #industry standard

Consumer Preferences for Cluster Raisins: A Focus Group Investigation

The U.S. raisin industry has experienced a decline in acreage and in number of growers in recent years. One firm is trying a novel approach to marketing raisins, namely, by marketing them still attached to the vine. This product is called cluster raisins. In order to explore consumer preferences related to cluster raisins, and to generate new product ideas and preferred marketing methods, two focus group interviews were implemented. Findings included that a young (i.e., 18 - 25 years) market segment would be a recommended target market. Also included are recommendations regarding price, packaging, and methods of increasing consumer awareness. Recommended marketing channels include specialty markets (e.g., Trader Joe's or Whole Foods) and gift baskets.Marketing,

Unveiling the nature of the highly obscured AGN in NGC5643 with XMM-Newton

We present results from an XMM-Newton observation of the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC5643. The nucleus exhibits a very flat X-ray continuum above 2 keV, together with a prominent K-alpha fluorescent iron line. This indicates heavy obscuration. We measure an absorbing column density N_H in the range 6-10 x 10^{23} atoms/cm/cm, either directly covering the nuclear emission, or covering its Compton-reflection. In the latter case, we might be observing a rather unusual geometry for the absorber, whereby reflection from the inner far side of a torus is in turn obscured by its near side outer atmosphere. The nuclear emission might be then either covered by a Compton-thick absorber, or undergoing a transient state of low activity. A second source (christened "X-1" in this paper) at the outskirts of NGC5643 optical surface outshines the nucleus in X-rays. If belonging to NGC5643, it is the third brightest (L_X ~ 4 x 10^{40} erg/s) known Ultra Luminous X-ray source. Comparison with past large aperture spectra of NGC 5643 unveils dramatic X-ray spectral changes above 1 keV. We interpret them as due to variability of the active nucleus and of source X-1 intrinsic X-ray powers by a factor >10 and 5, respectively.Comment: 11 LATEX pages, 12 figures, to appear in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

Drilled by the jet? XMM-Newton discovers a Compton-thick AGN in the GPS galaxy Mkn668

We report the XMM-Newton discovery of the first Compton-thick obscured AGN in a Broad Line Radio Galaxy, the Gigahertz Peaked-Spectrum source Mkn668 (OQ+208). The remarkably flat 2-10 keV X-ray spectrum (observed photon index, \Gamma ~ 0.7), alongside with a prominent iron K-alpha fluorescent emission line, is a clear signature of a Compton-reflection dominated spectrum. Mkn688 represents a remarkable example of discrepancy between X-ray spectral properties and optical classification, as its optical spectrum is characterized by broad and asymmetric Balmer lines. The obscuring matter is constrained to be located within the radio hotspots, in turn separated by about 10 pc. If the jets are piercing their way through a Compton-thick medium pervading the nuclear environment, one could be largely underestimating the radio activity dynamical age determined from the observed hotspot recession velocity. The soft X-ray spectrum is dominated by a much steeper component, which may be due to nuclear continuum electron scattering, or inverse Compton of the - remarkably large - far infrared emission. Soft X-rays are suppressed by a further Compton-thin (N_H ~ 10^21/cm/cm) absorbing system, that we identify with matter responsible for free-free absorption of the radio lobes.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysic

The X-ray nebula around the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC4388

We report on X-ray emission from the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC4388 observed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. A hard X-ray peak is found at the position of the active nucleus suggested by optical and radio observations. Extended soft X-ray emission correlates well with the ionization cone found in optical line emission. A large soft X-ray extension is found up to 16 kpc to the north of the galaxy. Photoionized gas with low ionization parameters (xi<3) appears to be the likely explanation of this emission. The same ionized gas clouds could be responsible for the optical [OIII] emission. Fe K line emission from cold material is found to be extended by a few kpc.Comment: 12 pages, one colour figure included, MNRAS in pres