3,140 research outputs found
Effects of Visual Silhouette, Leaf Size and Host Species on Feeding Preference by Adult Emerald Ash Borer, \u3ci\u3eAgrilus Planipennis\u3c/i\u3e Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)
The emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is an invasive species recently established in North America. In large arena bioassays, when given a choice among live green ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh and artificial ash saplings that were hidden or exposed from view, beetles preferred live trees (either visible or hidden) compared to artificial trees that had similar visual silhouettes, confirming that olfactory cues are used to locate hosts. Examination of the effect of leaf size revealed that large leaves attracted more beetles than medium-sized leaves that in turn attracted more beetles than small leaves of the same age. Beetles also consumed more of the large leaves in terms of total leaf area than either medium or small leaves, but the proportion of foliage that beetles consumed relative to total available leaf area, did not differ. When newly emerged adults were fed on green and Manchurian ash, Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr., foliage in a no- choice assay, beetles that were given green ash consumed significantly more foliage compared to those that fed on Manchurian ash, but neither longevity nor beetle body weight differed. Our results suggest that while beetles might use olfactory cues to identify suitable hosts, visual cues also play a role in landing and feeding behavior. Manchurian ash might have greater nutritive value or resistance than green ash, necessitating lower consumption and therefore less damage in nature
Exactly Solvable Model for Helix-Coil-Sheet Transitions in Protein Systems
In view of the important role helix-sheet transitions play in protein
aggregation, we introduce a simple model to study secondary structural
transitions of helix-coil-sheet systems using a Potts model starting with an
effective Hamiltonian. This energy function depends on four parameters that
approximately describe entropic and enthalpic contributions to the stability of
a polypeptide in helical and sheet conformations. The sheet structures involve
long-range interactions between residues which are far in sequence, but are in
contact in real space. Such contacts are included in the Hamiltonian. Using
standard statistical mechanical techniques, the partition function is solved
exactly using transfer matrices. Based on this model, we study thermodynamic
properties of polypeptides, including phase transitions between helix, sheet,
and coil structures.Comment: Updated version with correction
An algorithm for series expansions based on hierarchical rate equations
We propose a computational method to obtain series expansions in powers of
time for general dynamical systems described by a set of hierarchical rate
equations. The method is generally applicable to problems in both equilibrium
and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics such as random sequential adsorption,
diffusion-reaction dynamics, and Ising dynamics. New result of random
sequential adsorption of dimers on a square lattice is presented.Comment: LaTeX, 9 pages including 1 figur
Dependence on temperature and GC content of bubble length distributions in DNA
We present numerical results on the temperature dependence of the
distribution of bubble lengths in DNA segments of various guanine-cytosine (GC)
concentrations. Base-pair openings are described by the Peyrard-Bishop-Dauxois
model and the corresponding thermal equilibrium distributions of bubbles are
obtained through Monte Carlo calculations for bubble sizes up to the order of a
hundred base pairs. The dependence of the parameters of bubble length
distribution on temperature and the GC content is investigated. We provide
simple expressions which approximately describe these relations. The variation
of the average bubble length is also presented. We find a temperature
dependence of the exponent c that appears in the distribution of bubble
lengths. If an analogous dependence exists in the loop entropy exponent of real
DNA, it may be relevant to understand overstretching in force-extension
experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. Published on The Journal of Chemical Physic
Conformal Field Theories in Fractional Dimensions
We study the conformal bootstrap in fractional space-time dimensions,
obtaining rigorous bounds on operator dimensions. Our results show strong
evidence that there is a family of unitary CFTs connecting the 2D Ising model,
the 3D Ising model, and the free scalar theory in 4D. We give numerical
predictions for the leading operator dimensions and central charge in this
family at different values of D and compare these to calculations of phi^4
theory in the epsilon-expansion.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures - references updated - one affiliation modifie
Helix or Coil? Fate of a Melting Heteropolymer
We determine the probability that a partially melted heteropolymer at the
melting temperature will either melt completely or return to a helix state.
This system is equivalent to the splitting probability for a diffusing particle
on a finite interval that moves according to the Sinai model. When the initial
fraction of melted polymer is f, the melting probability fluctuates between
different realizations of monomer sequences on the polymer. For a fixed value
of f, the melting probability distribution changes from unimodal to a bimodal
as the strength of the disorder is increased.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Bootstrapping 3D Fermions with Global Symmetries
We study the conformal bootstrap for 4-point functions of fermions in parity-preserving 3d CFTs, where
transforms as a vector under an global symmetry. We compute
bounds on scaling dimensions and central charges, finding features in our
bounds that appear to coincide with the symmetric Gross-Neveu-Yukawa
fixed points. Our computations are in perfect agreement with the
expansion at large and allow us to make nontrivial predictions at small
. For values of for which the Gross-Neveu-Yukawa universality classes
are relevant to condensed-matter systems, we compare our results to previous
analytic and numerical results.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figure
Bootstrapping 3D Fermions
We study the conformal bootstrap for a 4-point function of fermions
in 3D. We first introduce an embedding
formalism for 3D spinors and compute the conformal blocks appearing in fermion
4-point functions. Using these results, we find general bounds on the
dimensions of operators appearing in the OPE, and also on
the central charge . We observe features in our bounds that coincide with
scaling dimensions in the Gross-Neveu models at large . We also speculate
that other features could coincide with a fermionic CFT containing no relevant
scalar operators.Comment: 45 pages, 8 figures; V2: added references and small clarifications to
match JHEP versio
Fermion-Scalar Conformal Blocks
We compute the conformal blocks associated with scalar-scalar-fermion-fermion
4-point functions in 3D CFTs. Together with the known scalar conformal blocks,
our result completes the task of determining the so-called `seed blocks' in
three dimensions. Conformal blocks associated with 4-point functions of
operators with arbitrary spins can now be determined from these seed blocks by
using known differential operators.Comment: 25 pages; V2: added small clarifications to match JHEP versio
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