Th/K and Th/U ratios from spectral gamma-ray surveys improve the mapped definition of subsurface structures

Spectral gamma-ray data can be obtained by non-destructive, automated, rapid and inexpensive survey methods. Previous studies utilise only total count, or total count as well as K, U and Th data. This work examines the use of Th/K and Th/U ratios to define the subsurface extent of partially-buried features at the centimeter to meter scale. On-site results are presented from two case studies as two-dimensional cross-sections. Changes in Th/K and Th/U ratios coincide with the known location of buried structures to within 10cm horizontal resolution. Gradual changes in total count, K, U and Th measurements give a lower horizontal accuracy of 30cmto1m. Grids of data were manipulated in ArcGIS™ using a thin plate spline function to maximise information use and provide ‘easy to interpret’ maps of the survey areas. Unlike total count or individual element maps, Th/K and Th/U ratio maps can be compared to the known location of subsurface structures, vindicating the use of ratio cross-sections and maps in archaeological, geotechnical and forensic applications. It is concluded that the capacity to observe sub-surface features is enhanced through the use of Th/K and Th/U ratios

Thermal Comptonization in Mildly Relativistic Pair Plasmas

We use a Monte Carlo simulation to calculate the spectra of mildly relativistic thermal plasmas in pair balance. We use the exact integral expression for the electron-positron thermal annihilation spectrum, and provide accurate expressions for the Gaunt factors of electron-ion, electron-electron, and electron-positron thermal bremsstrahlung in the transrelativistic temperature regime. The particles are assumed to be uniformly distributed throughout a sphere, and the pair opacity is self-consistently calculated from the energy and angular distribution of scattered photons. The resultant photon spectra are compared with the nonrelativistic diffusion treatment of Sunyaev and Titarchuk, the bridging formulas of Zdziarski, and the relativistic corrections proposed by Titarchuk. We calculate allowed pair-balanced states of thermal plasmas with no pair escape which include bremsstrahlung and internal soft photons. The results are presented in the spectral index/compactness plane, and can be directly compared with observations of spectra from AGNs and Galactic black hole candidates. By comparing with X-ray spectral indices of Seyfert AGNs and compactnesses inferred from X-ray variability data, we find that the allowed solutions for pair equilibrium plasma imply that the temperatures of Seyfert galaxies are $\lesssim 300$ keV. This prediction can be tested with more sensitive gamma-ray observations of Seyfert galaxies. We find that if the X-ray variability time scale gives an accurate measure of the compactness, pair-dominated solutions are inconsistent with the data.Comment: 32 pages with 9 figures, compressed and uuencoded postscrip

Fingerprinting Soft Materials: A Framework for Characterizing Nonlinear Viscoelasticity

We introduce a comprehensive scheme to physically quantify both viscous and elastic rheological nonlinearities simultaneously, using an imposed large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) strain. The new framework naturally lends a physical interpretation to commonly reported Fourier coefficients of the nonlinear stress response. Additionally, we address the ambiguities inherent in the standard definitions of viscoelastic moduli when extended into the nonlinear regime, and define new measures which reveal behavior that is obscured by conventional techniques.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, full-page double-space preprint forma

Verification of High Temperature Free Atom Thermal Scattering in MERCURY Compared to TART

This is part of a series of reports verifying the accuracy of the relatively new MERCURY [1] Monte Carlo particle transport code by comparing its results to those of the older TART [2] Monte Carlo particle transport code. In the future we hope to extend these comparisons to include deterministic (Sn) codes [3]. Here we verify the accuracy of the free atom thermal scattering model [4] by using it over a very large temperature range. We would like to be able to use these Monte Carlo codes for astrophysical applications, where the temperature of the medium can be extremely high compared to the temperatures we normally encounter in our terrestrial applications [5]. The temperature is so high that is it often defined in eV rather than Kelvin. For a correspondence between the two scale 293.6 Kelvin (room temperature) corresponds to 0.0253 eV {approx} 1/40 eV. So that 1 eV temperature is about 12,000 Kelvin, and 1 keV temperature is about 12 million Kelvin. Here we use a relatively small system measured in cm, but by using {rho}R scaling [6] our results are equally applicable to systems measured in Km or thousands of Km or any size that we need for astrophysical applications. The emphasis here is not on modeling any given real system, but rather in verifying the accuracy of the free atom model to represent theoretical results over a large temperature range. There are two primary objectives of this report: (1) Verify agreement between MERCURY and TART results, both using continuous energy cross sections. In particular we want to verify the free atom scattering treatment in MERCURY as used over an extended temperature range; by comparison to many other codes for TART this has already been verified over many years [4, 7]. (2) Demonstrate that this agreement depends on using continuous energy cross sections. To demonstrate this we also present TART using the Multi-Band method [8, 9], which accounts for resonance self-shielding, and Multi-Group method, without self-shielding [9]

MERCURY vs. TART Comparisons to Verify Thermal Scattering

Recently the results from many Monte Carlo codes were compared for a series of theoretical pin-cells; the results are documented in ref. [3]; details are also provided here in Appendix A and B. The purpose of this earlier code comparison was primarily to determine how accurately our codes model both bound and free atom neutron thermal scattering. Prior to this study many people assumed that our Monte Carlo transport codes were all now so accurate that they would all produce more or less the same answers, say for example K-eff to within 0.1%. The results demonstrated that in reality we see a rather large spread in the results for even simple scalar parameters, such as K-eff, where we found differences in excess of 2%, far exceeding many people's expectations. The differences between code results were traced to four major factors, (1) Differences between the sets of nuclear data used. (2) The accuracy of nuclear data processing codes. (3) The accuracy of the models used in our Monte Carlo transport codes. (4) Code user selected input options. Naturally at Livermore we would like to insure that we minimize the effects of these factors. In this report we compare the results using two of our Monte Carlo transport codes: MERCURY [2] and TART [2], with the following constraints designed to address the four points listed above, (1) Both codes used exactly the same nuclear data, namely the TART 2005 data. (2) Each code used its own nuclear data processing code. Even though these two data processing codes are independent, they have been extensively tested to insure the processed output results closely agree. (3) Both used the same nuclear physics models. This required that some physics be turned off in each code, namely, (a) Unresolved resonance energy region self-shielding was turned off in TART, since this is not currently available in MERCURY. (b) Delayed neutrons were treated as prompt in TART, since this is not currently available in MERCURY. (c) Classical, rather than relativistic, kinematics were used in MERCURY, since relativistic kinematics is not currently available in TART. (4) Both codes used the same input options; both modeled the geometry and materials in exactly the same manner; both used the same number of neutron histories to produce results to within comparable statistical accuracy. These constraints were used to test the accuracy of both our nuclear data processing codes and our Monte Carlo transport codes, while avoiding differences due to the use of different sets of nuclear data, since both of our codes used the same TART 2005 data

What is the nature and extent of evidence on methodologies for monitoring and evaluating marine spatial management measures in UK and similar coastal waters? A systematic map protocol

Background Anthropogenic degradation of marine ecosystems is widely accepted as a major social-ecological problem. The growing urgency to better manage marine ecosystems has led to the increasing application of ‘spatial management measures’ including marine protected areas, sectoral (e.g. fishery) closures, and marine spatial planning. However, the designation of varied spatial management regimes is just the first step; achievement of objectives relies upon effective implementation, monitoring, evaluation and adaptation. Despite spatial management being a core component of the marine management portfolio, to our knowledge, there is no systematic overview of the evidence on methodologies available, and employed, to monitor and evaluate their effectiveness across social, economic and ecological outcomes. Methods This systematic map will examine existing evidence describing methodologies for monitoring the effects, and evaluating the effectiveness, of marine spatial management across ecological, social and economic outcomes. Our aim is to provide a resource for decision-makers, primarily in the UK but also internationally, that supports effective marine management, and to describe the current evidence base. Identification and evaluation of relevant studies will therefore be restricted to coastal countries identified by our Stakeholder Group as being relevant to the UK, and searches will be restricted to the period 2009 to 2019 to align with the current UK policy context. Searches for relevant grey and academic literature, published in English, will be conducted in four bibliographic search engines, Google Scholar, 38 organisational websites and one specialist data repository. Eligibility screening will be conducted first at title and abstract level, and then at full text. Coding and meta-data extraction from eligible studies will include: bibliographic information, general information about the spatial management measure studied, and methodological information on the monitoring and evaluation undertaken. Consistency checking amongst reviewers will be undertaken during screening, coding and data extraction phases. The outcome of the systematic map will be a database that displays the meta-data of identified relevant studies. Findings will be presented in a descriptive report detailing the evaluation approaches and analytical methodologies employed, and data collection methods applied and/or data required by relevant studies to inform evaluations on the effectiveness of marine spatial management measures

Impact of Abamectin on Anagrus Nilaparvatae, an Egg Parasitoid of Nilaparvata Lugens

Anagrus nilaparvatae (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) is an egg parasitoid potential for controlling the major pests on rice, the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens [Hemiptera: Delphacidae]).Abamectin is one of insecticides registered for N. lugens. The research was aimed to investigate the impact of contact application of abamectin on the parasitism level of A. nilaparvatae under laboratory conditions. Adults of A. nilaparvatae and the first instars as well as adults of N. lugens were exposed to the residue of abamection inside the test tube. A. nilaparvatae was much more susceptible to abamectin compared to N. lugens. Application of abamectin at the recommended concentration (22.78 ppm) for 30 min caused 100% mortality, and it reduced to 85% when the concentration was decreased to 0.36 ppm. In contrast, the mortality for the first instar of N. lugens was only 15% at 22.78 and no mortality at 0.36 ppm. No N. lugens adults died even when they were exposed to 22.78 ppm. Furthermore, the parasitism test was conducted using 38 days after planting of IR-64 rice variety. Those plants were infested with 50 females of N. lugens for 2 days. A. nilaparvatae were exposed by contact to 0.02, 0.23, and 2.28 ppm of abamectin. The survivors were released to the rice plant containing eggs of N. lugens. Contact application of abamectin reduced parasitism level of A. nilaparvatae as much as 86.34, 70.01, and 28.43% with concentrations of 2.28 ppm, 0.23 and 0.02 ppm, respectively. In addition, the number of parasitoids emerged decreased with increasing concentration of abamectin. These results suggest that abamectin could be detrimental to A. nilaparvatae due to direct mortality, reduced the parasitism level, and decreased the number of progeny produced. IntisariAnagrus nilaparvatae (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) merupakan salah satu parasitoid telur yang berpotensi untuk mengendalikan hama utama tanaman padi, wereng batang padi cokelat (Nilaparvata lugens [Hemiptera: Delphacidae]). Abamektin adalah salah satu insektisida yang terdaftar untuk pengendalian N. lugens. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui dampak aplikasi kontak abamektin terhadap suseptibilitas dan tingkat parasitasi A. nilaparvatae terhadap telur N. lugens pada kondisi laboratorium. Imago A. nilaparvatae serta instar satu dan imago N. lugens dipapar dengan residu abamektin di dalam tabung reaksi. A. nilaparvatae lebih peka terhadap abamektin dibandingkan N. lugens. Aplikasi abamektin pada konsentrasi anjuran (22,78 ppm) selama 30 menit menyebabkan mortalitas A. nilaparvatae 100%, dan mengurangi sampai dengan 85% pada konsentrasi yang lebih rendah 0,36 ppm. Sebaliknya, mortalitas instar satu N. lugens hanya sebesar 15% pada 22,78 ppm dan tidak menimbulkan kematian pada 0,36 ppm. Konsentrasi 22,78 ppm tidak menimbulkan kematian imago N. lugens. Selanjutnya, uji parasitasi dilakukan menggunakan media tanaman padi varietas IR-64 umur 38 hari setelah tanam. Tanaman diinfestasi dengan 50 ekor betina N. lugens selama dua hari. A. nilaparvatae dipapar abamektin dengan metode kontak pada konsentrasi 0.02, 0,23, dan 2,28 ppm. Parasitoid yang mampu bertahan hidup dilepaskan pada tanaman padi yang telah diinfestasi telur N. lugens. Aplikasi kontak abamektin mengurangi tingkat parasitasi A. nilaparvatae sebesar 86,34, 70.01, dan 28,43% pada konsentrasi 2,28; 0,23; dan 0,02 ppm. Selain itu, jumlah parasitoid yang muncul semakin menurun dengan peningkatan konsentrasi abamektin. Hasil ini menunjukkan bahwa abamektin dapat merugikan secara langsung terhadap mortalitas serta mengurangi tingkat parasitasi dan jumlah keturunan A. nilaparvatae

More Legal Transformations for Locality

Distinguished paper award Commercial link : http://www.springerlink.de ALCHEMY/http://www.springer.comProgram transformations are one of the most valuable compiler techniques to improve data locality. However, restructuring compilers have a hard time coping with data dependences. A typical solution is to focus on program parts where the dependences are simple enough to enable any transformation. For more complex problems is only addressed the question of checking whether a transformation is legal or not. In this paper we propose to go further. Starting from a transformation with no guarantee on legality, we show how we can correct it for dependence satisfaction with no consequence on its locality properties. Generating code having the best locality is a direct application of this result