25,537 research outputs found
Aquatic Vegetation, Largemouth Bass and Water Quality Responses to Low-Dose Fluridone Two Years Post Treatment
Whole-lake techniques are increasingly being used to selectively
remove exotic plants, including Eurasian watermilfoil
(
Myriophyllum spicatum
L.). Fluridone (1-methyl-3-phenyl-
5-[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-4(1
H
)-pyridinone), a systemic
whole-lake herbicide, is selective for Eurasian watermilfoil
within a narrow low concentration range. Because fluridone
applications have the potential for large effects on plant assemblages
and lake food webs, they should be evaluated at
the whole-lake scale. We examined effects of low-dose (5 to 8
ppb) fluridone applications by comparing submersed plant
assemblages, water quality and largemouth bass (
Micropterus
salmoides
) growth rates and diets between three reference
lakes and three treatment lakes one- and two-years post treatment.
In the treatment lakes, fluridone reduced Eurasian watermilfoil
cover without reducing native plant cover, although
the duration of Eurasian watermilfoil reduction varied among
treatment lakes. (PDF has 11 pages.
An Optimal Control Model of Technology Transition
This paper discusses the use of optimization software to solve an optimal control problem arising in the modeling of technology transition. We set up a series of increasingly complex models with such features as learning-by-doing, adjustment cost, and capital investment. The models are written in continuous time and then discretized by using different methods to transform them into large-scale nonlinear programs. We use a modeling language and numerical optimization methods to solve the optimization problem. Our results are consistent with ndings in the literature and highlight the impact the discretization choice has on the solution and accuracy.
The life and health challenges of young Malaysian couples: results from a stakeholder consensus and engagement study to support non-communicable disease prevention
BACKGROUND: Malaysia faces burgeoning obesity and diabetes epidemics with a 250% and 88% increase respectively between 1996 and 2006. Identifying the health challenges of young adults in Malaysia, who constitute 27.5 % of the population, is critical for NCD prevention. The aim of the study was two-fold: (1) to achieve consensus amongst stakeholders on the most important challenge impacting the health of young adults, and (2) to engage with stakeholders to formulate a NCD prevention framework.METHODS: The Delphi Technique was utilised to achieve group consensus around the most important life and health challenges that young adults face in Malaysia. Subsequently, the results of the consensus component were shared with the stakeholders in an engagement workshop to obtain input on a NCD prevention framework.RESULTS: We found that life stress was a significant concern. It would seem that the apathy towards pursuing or maintaining a healthy lifestyle among young adults may be significantly influenced by the broader distal determinant of life stress. The high cost of living is suggested to be the main push factor for young working adults towards attaining better financial security to improve their livelihood. In turn, this leads to a more stressful lifestyle with less time to focus on healthier lifestyle choices.CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight a pivotal barrier to healthier lifestyles. By assisting young adults to cope with daily living coupled with realistic opportunities to make healthier dietary choices, be more active, and less sedentary could assist in the development of NCD health promotion strategies<br/
Inferring the three-dimensional distribution of dust in the Galaxy with a non-parametric method: Preparing for Gaia
We present a non-parametric model for inferring the three-dimensional (3D)
distribution of dust density in the Milky Way. Our approach uses the extinction
measured towards stars at different locations in the Galaxy at approximately
known distances. Each extinction measurement is proportional to the integrated
dust density along its line-of-sight. Making simple assumptions about the
spatial correlation of the dust density, we can infer the most probable 3D
distribution of dust across the entire observed region, including along sight
lines which were not observed. This is possible because our model employs a
Gaussian Process to connect all lines-of-sight. We demonstrate the capability
of our model to capture detailed dust density variations using mock data as
well as simulated data from the Gaia Universe Model Snapshot. We then apply our
method to a sample of giant stars observed by APOGEE and Kepler to construct a
3D dust map over a small region of the Galaxy. Due to our smoothness constraint
and its isotropy, we provide one of the first maps which does not show the
"fingers of god" effect.Comment: Minor changes applied. Final version accepted for publication in A&A.
15 pages, 17 figure
Translations and dynamics
We analyze the role played by local translational symmetry in the context of
gauge theories of fundamental interactions. Translational connections and
fields are introduced, with special attention being paid to their universal
coupling to other variables, as well as to their contributions to field
equations and to conserved quantities.Comment: 22 Revtex pages, no figures. Published version with minor correction
Desynchronization of pulse-coupled oscillators with delayed excitatory coupling
Collective behavior of pulse-coupled oscillators has been investigated
widely. As an example of pulse-coupled networks, fireflies display many kinds
of flashing patterns. Mirollo and Strogatz (1990) proposed a pulse-coupled
oscillator model to explain the synchronization of South East Asian fireflies
({\itshape Pteroptyx malaccae}). However, transmission delays were not
considered in their model. In fact, the presence of transmission delays can
lead to desychronization. In this paper, pulse-coupled oscillator networks with
delayed excitatory coupling are studied. Our main result is that under
reasonable assumptions, pulse-coupled oscillator networks with delayed
excitatory coupling can not achieve complete synchronization, which can explain
why another species of fireflies ({\itshape Photinus pyralis}) rarely
synchronizes flashing. Finally, two numerical simulations are given. In the
first simulation, we illustrate that even if all the initial phases are very
close to each other, there could still be big variations in the times to
process the pulses in the pipeline. It implies that asymptotical
synchronization typically also cannot be achieved. In the second simulation, we
exhibit a phenomenon of clustering synchronization
Utilization of purines and other nitrogen compounds nit and ty-1 mutants
Utilization of N compounds by nit and ty-1 mutant
On the constrained structure of duality symmetric Maxwell theory
The constrained structure of the duality invariant form of Maxwell theory is
considered in the Hamiltonian formulation of Dirac as well as from the
symplectic viewpoint. Compared to the former the latter approach is found to be
more economical and elegant. Distinctions from the constrained analysis of the
usual Maxwell theory are pointed out and their implications are also discussed.Comment: Latex, 12 page
A representative sample of Be stars III: H band spectroscopy
We present H band (1.53 - 1.69 micron) spectra of 57 isolated Be stars of
spectral types O9-B9 and luminosity classes III,IV & V. The HI Brackett (n-4)
series is seen in emission from Br 11-18, and FeII emission is also apparent
for a subset of those stars with HI emission. No emission from species with a
higher excitation temperature, such as He II or CIII is seen, and no forbidden
line emission is present. A subset of 12 stars show no evidence for emission
from any species; these stars appear indistinguishable from normal B stars of a
comparable spectral type. In general the line ratios constructed from the
transitions in the range Br 11-18 do not fit case B recombination theory
particularly well. Strong correlations between the line ratios with Br-gamma
and spectral type are found. These results most likely represent systematic
variations in the temperature and ionization of the circumstellar disc with
spectral type. Weak correlations between the line widths and projected
rotational velocity of the stars are observed; however no systematic trend for
increasing line width through the Brackett series is observed.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A (this version correctly formatted
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