TB83: Insecticidal Control of Potato Infesting Aphids in Northeastern Maine

Aphid populations for the growing seasons of 1970, 1971, and 197 2 were variable. It is possible, however, to rate the efficacy of the various insecticides tested in controlling potato-infesting aphids in northeastern Maine. Soil applications of aldicarb and DS 15,647 and foliar application of acephate were the most effective materials tested. The insecticides phosmet (foliar) and phoxim (soil) did not provide much protection against potato-infesting aphids in these tests. Bayer 77,049, parathion, Penick SBP 1382, Sandoz-Wander 52,139 and Uniroyal 840 did not provide effective control of potato-infesting aphids at the rates used in these tests. All other insecticides tested adequately controlled aphid populations, but their effects on the spread of leaf roll varied. Some of the materials tested were experimental materials and not all are available for commercial use.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1112/thumbnail.jp

TB55: Food Lists of Hippodamia (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Food lists for Hippodamia iredecimpunctata (Linnaeus) and the genus Hippodamia as reported in the literature are given. A complete list of citations is included.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1150/thumbnail.jp

Gaussian capacity of the quantum bosonic channel with additive correlated Gaussian noise

We present an algorithm for calculation of the Gaussian classical capacity of a quantum bosonic memory channel with additive Gaussian noise. The algorithm, restricted to Gaussian input states, is applicable to all channels with noise correlations obeying certain conditions and works in the full input energy domain, beyond previous treatments of this problem. As an illustration, we study the optimal input states and capacity of a quantum memory channel with Gauss-Markov noise [J. Sch\"afer, Phys. Rev. A 80, 062313 (2009)]. We evaluate the enhancement of the transmission rate when using these optimal entangled input states by comparison with a product coherent-state encoding and find out that such a simple coherent-state encoding achieves not less than 90% of the capacity.Comment: 12+6 pages, 9 figures. Errors corrected, figures were made clearer, appendix improved and extende

The use of oscillatory signals in the study of genetic networks

The structure of a genetic network is uncovered by studying its response to external stimuli (input signals). We present a theory of propagation of an input signal through a linear stochastic genetic network. It is found that there are important advantages in using oscillatory signals over step or impulse signals, and that the system may enter into a pure fluctuation resonance for a specific input frequency.Comment: 46 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to PNAS on May 27th 2004. The paper is under consideratio

Renormalization group theory for finite-size scaling in extreme statistics

We present a renormalization group (RG) approach to explain universal features of extreme statistics, applied here to independent, identically distributed variables. The outlines of the theory have been described in a previous Letter, the main result being that finite-size shape corrections to the limit distribution can be obtained from a linearization of the RG transformation near a fixed point, leading to the computation of stable perturbations as eigenfunctions. Here we show details of the RG theory which exhibit remarkable similarities to the RG known in statistical physics. Besides the fixed points explaining universality, and the least stable eigendirections accounting for convergence rates and shape corrections, the similarities include marginally stable perturbations which turn out to be generic for the Fisher-Tippett-Gumbel class. Distribution functions containing unstable perturbations are also considered. We find that, after a transitory divergence, they return to the universal fixed line at the same or at a different point depending on the type of perturbation.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Early respiratory viral infections in infants with cystic fibrosis

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.Background Viral infections contribute to morbidity in cystic fibrosis (CF), but the impact of respiratory viruses on the development of airway disease is poorly understood. Methods Infants with CF identified by newborn screening were enrolled prior to 4 months of age to participate in a prospective observational study at 4 centers. Clinical data were collected at clinic visits and weekly phone calls. Multiplex PCR assays were performed on nasopharyngeal swabs to detect respiratory viruses during routine visits and when symptomatic. Participants underwent bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and a subset underwent pulmonary function testing. We present findings through 8.5 months of life. Results Seventy infants were enrolled, mean age 3.1 ± 0.8 months. Rhinovirus was the most prevalent virus (66%), followed by parainfluenza (19%), and coronavirus (16%). Participants had a median of 1.5 viral positive swabs (range 0–10). Past viral infection was associated with elevated neutrophil concentrations and bacterial isolates in BAL fluid, including recovery of classic CF bacterial pathogens. When antibiotics were prescribed for respiratory-related indications, viruses were identified in 52% of those instances. Conclusions Early viral infections were associated with greater neutrophilic inflammation and bacterial pathogens. Early viral infections appear to contribute to initiation of lower airway inflammation in infants with CF. Antibiotics were commonly prescribed in the setting of a viral infection. Future investigations examining longitudinal relationships between viral infections, airway microbiome, and antibiotic use will allow us to elucidate the interplay between these factors in young children with CF

Bivariate phase-rectified signal averaging

Phase-Rectified Signal Averaging (PRSA) was shown to be a powerful tool for the study of quasi-periodic oscillations and nonlinear effects in non-stationary signals. Here we present a bivariate PRSA technique for the study of the inter-relationship between two simultaneous data recordings. Its performance is compared with traditional cross-correlation analysis, which, however, does not work well for non-stationary data and cannot distinguish the coupling directions in complex nonlinear situations. We show that bivariate PRSA allows the analysis of events in one signal at times where the other signal is in a certain phase or state; it is stable in the presence of noise and impassible to non-stationarities.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, revised version submitted to Physica

Paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder and depressive symptoms: clinical correlates and CBT treatment outcomes.

Depression frequently co-occurs with paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), yet the clinical correlates and impact of depression on CBT outcomes remain unclear. The prevalence and clinical correlates of depression were examined in a paediatric specialist OCD-clinic sample (N = 295; Mean = 15 [7 - 18] years, 42 % female), using both dimensional (Beck Depression Inventory-youth; n = 261) and diagnostic (Development and Wellbeing Assessment; n = 127) measures of depression. The impact of depressive symptoms and suspected disorders on post-treatment OCD severity was examined in a sub-sample who received CBT, with or without SSRI medication (N = 100). Fifty-one per-cent of patients reported moderately or extremely elevated depressive symptoms and 26 % (95 % CI: 18 - 34) met criteria for a suspected depressive disorder. Depressive symptoms and depressive disorders were associated with worse OCD symptom severity and global functioning prior to CBT. Individuals with depression were more likely to be female, have had a psychiatric inpatient admission and less likely to be attending school (ps < 0.01). OCD and depressive symptom severity significantly decreased after CBT. Depressive symptoms and depressive disorders predicted worse post-treatment OCD severity (βs = 0.19 and 0.26, ps < 0.05) but became non-significant when controlling for pre-treatment OCD severity (βs = 0.05 and 0.13, ns). Depression is common in paediatric OCD and is associated with more severe OCD and poorer functioning. However, depression severity decreases over the course of CBT for OCD and is not independently associated with worse outcomes, supporting the recommendation for treatment as usual in the presence of depressive symptoms