Theoretically palatable flavor combinations of astrophysical neutrinos

The flavor composition of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos can reveal the physics governing their production, propagation, and interaction. The IceCube Collaboration has published the first experimental determination of the ratio of the flux in each flavor to the total. We present, as a theoretical counterpart, new results for the allowed ranges of flavor ratios at Earth for arbitrary flavor ratios in the sources. Our results will allow IceCube to more quickly identify when their data imply standard physics, a general class of new physics with arbitrary (incoherent) combinations of mass eigenstates, or new physics that goes beyond that, e.g., with terms that dominate the Hamiltonian at high energy.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures. Matches published versio

Incorporating space into stock assessments of marine species

Spatial management of marine resources requires population dynamic parameters in much greater spatial detail than traditional stock assessments provide. This dissertation presents a suite of methods to improve the spatial prediction of population abundance, fishing and natural mortality and to make greater use of commercial catch data. The main objectives of this dissertation are to determine the efficacy of using the vast amount of data collected by on-board observers on commercial vessels in model-based estimation of abundance and to use the spatial autocorrelation to improve resource mapping and abundance estimation. The first paper presents a methodology for improving variogram estimation when samples exist from multiple years or regions sharing a similar process for generating spatial autocorrelation. In both simulations and in real datasets of oyster abundance the method proposed here reduced the likelihood of failing to obtain a variogram from a set of samples and improved the efficiency of variogram estimation. The second paper presents a simulation of the efficacy of using biased samples for geostatistical predictions. By creating and sampling spatially-autocorrelated datasets in a manner similar to a commercial fishery we found that model-based geostatistics provided a means of obtaining relatively unbiased predictions of abundance using this data. The next paper used catches obtained by onboard observers in the scallop fishery in Georges Bank Closed Area II in 1999 to obtain geostatistical abundance estimates. We used Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) effort data to obtain tows with less than 10% of the total effort. These tows provided geostatistical estimates of initial scallop abundance similar to a preseason fishery-independent survey. Local differences between the observer and survey predictions were driven primarily by data gaps. The last paper obtained spatially-explicit DeLury depletion estimates of dredge efficiency and scallop abundance using VMS data to correct for the actual fished area. Corrected-area efficiency estimates ranged between 20 and 55% with a mean of 45% and maps of abundance closely matched fishery-independent survey estimates. These results indicate that the there is tremendous potential to incorporate commercial fishery data for the purposes of obtaining quantitative resource assessment information

Sudbury Breccia and suevite as glacial indicators transported 800 km to Kentland Astrobleme, Indiana

A glacial erratic whose place of origin is known by direct comparison with bedrock is known as an indicator. In 1971, while visiting the known astrobleme at Kentland, Indiana, Peredery recognized and sampled in the overlying glacial drift deposits a distinctive boulder of Sudbury suevite (black member, Onaping Formation) that normally occurs within the Sudbury Basin as an impact fall-back or wash-in deposit. The rock was sampled (but later mislaid) from a farmer's cairn next to a cleared field. Informal reports of this discovery prompted the other authors to recently reconnoiter the Kentland locality in an attempt to relocate the original boulder. Several breccia blocks were sampled but laboratory examination proved most of these probably to be diamictites from the Precambrian Gowganda Formation, which outcrops extensively in the southern Ontario. However, one sample was confirmed as typical Sudbury Breccia, which outcrops in the country rock surrounding the Sudbury Basin. Thus two glacial indicators were transported by Pleistocene continental glaciers about 820 km over a tightly proscribed path and, curiously, from one astrobleme to another. Brecciated boulders in the Illinois/Indiana till plain are usually ascribed to the Gowganda or Mississagi formations in Ontario. But impact-generated rocks need not be confused. The carbonaceous matrix of the suevite, for example, was sufficiently distinctive to assign it to the upper portion of the black Onaping. The unique and restricted source area of these indicators provide an accurate and reliable control for estimating Pleistocene ice movement

4-Methyl-2,6-bis(phosphonomethyl)phenol dihydrate

The 4-methyl-2,6-bis(phosphomethyl)phenol molecule, which crystallizes with two water molecules per asymmetric unit, has approximate twofold symmetry and is involved in extensive three-dimensional hydrogen bonding in which every available OH group participates. The principal dimensions include P--O 1.4981 (13) and 1.5015 (14) ,~, four P--OH distances in the range 1.5395(14) to 1.5688(13) A, P--C 1.7857(17) and 1.7893 (17) ~k, and O...O intramolecular and intermolecular hydro.gen-bond distances in the range 2.458 (2) to 2.866 (2) A

Food Habits of Large Striped Bass in the Lower Chesapeake Bay and its Tributaries March 1997 - May 1998

Striped bass, Marone saxatilis, are dominant seasonal predators in Chesapeake Bay and support a large recreational and commercial fishery. This document presents the results of a yearlong ( 1997-1998) food habits study of large (\u3e 450mm or 18 inches) striped bass in lower Chesapeake Bay and adjacent ocean waters. These fish comprise the coastal migratory stock and are found in greatest abundance in Chesapeake Bay during the spring and fall. Fish were obtained from a variety of commercial, recreational and fishery-independent sources and were captured by gill, fyke and pound nets as well as recreational hook and line, otter trawl and electroshocking gear. From March of 1997 to May of 1998, stomach contents of 1,988 striped bass were examined. The frequency of occurrence, numerical abundance and weight of prey items in the stomachs were combined into an index of relative importance (IRI). This compound index identifies important food items in the diet of striped bass. Overall, menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus were the dominant prey, not only in IRI but also by weight and frequency of occurrence. Menhaden became an increasingly important forage species as striped bass size increased. Anchovies were second in overall importance and first in numerical abundance. Seasonally, and at different locations, gizzard shad, spot and herring were next in importance in the diet. Blue crabs appeared infrequently in the stomachs sampled and contributed little to the overall weight of stomach contents. Other invertebrates were of lesser importance. Two measures of stomach fullness were employed, a stomach fullness index which measures the relative fullness of the stomach, and the percent frequency of empty stomachs. The highest percentage of empty stomachs was found during the spring months of March and April and also during the summer months of August and September. The highest percentage of full stomachs and the greatest stomach fullness values were found during the fall months of October and November. Gear type, season and location partially determined the fullness of the stomachs and the percentage of empty stomachs but no single variable accounted solely for the observed differences in stomach fullness