An Annotated Checklist of Wisconsin Mutillidae (Hymenoptera)

A survey of Wisconsin velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) conducted from literature searches, collection inventories, and two years of field work (2001-2002) yielded 28 species in three subfamilies. Of these, 23 species (representing 82% of the Wisconsin fauna and a 460% increase in the known species richness) are new state species records, having not previously been recorded in the published literature from the state. The known distributions of all Wisconsin species are reported by region and county, along with pertinent phenological, natural history, and other collection information, when known

High voltage power supply

A high voltage power supply is formed by three discrete circuits energized by a battery to provide a plurality of concurrent output signals floating at a high output voltage on the order of several tens of kilovolts. In the first two circuits, the regulator stages are pulse width modulated and include adjustable ressistances for varying the duty cycles of pulse trains provided to corresponding oscillator stages while the third regulator stage includes an adjustable resistance for varying the amplitude of a steady signal provided to a third oscillator stage. In the first circuit, the oscillator, formed by a constant current drive network and a tuned resonant network included a step up transformer, is coupled to a second step up transformer which, in turn, supplies an amplified sinusoidal signal to a parallel pair of complementary poled rectifying, voltage multiplier stages to generate the high output voltage

An improved soft X-ray photoionization detector

Photoionization detector with an alumina shell, a beryllium foil window, and a xenon gas fill measures small incident photon fluxes from soft X rays. It has high spectral selectivity and quantum efficiencies, and a long shelf life. It minimizes electrical leakage and recontamination, and will hold a high vacuum

Higher diversity of Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae populations in arable soils than in grass soils

The bacterial genetic diversity after long-term arable cultivation was compared with that under permanent grassland using replicated paired contrasts, Pea-nodulating Rhizobium leguminosarum populations were sampled from pairs of arable and grass sites at four locations in Yorkshire, United Kingdom, isolates were characterized using both chromosomal (16S-23S ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism) and plasmid (group-specific repC PCR amplification) markers. The diversities of chromosomal types, repC profiles, and combined genotypes were calculated using richness in types (adjusted to equal sample sizes by rarefaction), Shannon-Wiener index, and Simpson's index. The relative differences in diversity within each pair of sites were similar for all three diversity measures, Chromosomal types, repC profiles, and combined genotypes were each more diverse in arable soils than in grass soils at two of the four locations. The other comparisons showed no significant differences. We conclude that rhizobial diversity can be affected by differences between these two management regimens. Multiple regression analyses indicated that lower diversity was associated with high potential nitrogen and phosphate levels or with acidity

Work domain analysis and intelligent transport systems: Implications for vehicle design

This article presents a Work Domain Analysis (WDA) of the road transport system in Victoria, Australia. A series of driver information requirements and tasks that could potentially be supported through the use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are then extracted from the WDA. The potential use of ITS technologies to circumvent these information gaps and provide additional support to drivers is discussed. It is concluded that driver information requirements are currently not entirely satisfied by contemporary vehicle design and also that there are a number of driving tasks that could be further supported through the provision of supplementary systems within vehicles

A soft X-ray photoionization detector

Direct current xenon-filled ceramic ionization chamber used as radiation detector in solar and astrophysical observations from rockets and satellite

Red Crossbill Invasion of Northwestern Arkansas during 2012-2013

An irruption of Red Crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) occurred in primarily northwestern Arkansas starting in November of 2012 and lasting to the end of May of 2013. Based on recordings of call notes, most birds around Fayetteville were Type 2, the large-billed ponderosa pine crossbill, associated with a variety of conifer species. Birds recorded in Carroll County were Type 3, the small-billed western hemlock crossbill, and they were associated with small cones on shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata). One recording was obtained in Fayetteville of Type 5, the lodgepole pine crossbill, only the third recording east of the Great Plains. Crossbills at the Fayetteville Country Club were observed eating algae (Cladophora sp.) during the months of December and January, a behavior rarely reported for passerines. During March, crossbills appeared at sunflower bird feeders, which is a relatively recent phenomenon associated with low conifer seed abundance. The first two Arkansas specimens of crossbills (probably Type 3) were obtained from birds that struck windows near feeders. This is only the third recorded irruption of crossbills in Arkansas in the last 43 years, suggesting that crossbills rarely travel this far south in search of cone crops

Laser-Doppler gas-velocity instrument

Three-D instrument using a laser light source measures both turbulence and mean velocity of subsonic and supersonic gas flows. This instrument is based on the measurement of the Doppler frequency shift of light waves scattered by moving particles in the gas stream